The Day of the Locust is based on the novel of the same name which is on several lists of Greatest novels of the 20th Century. The story is an unromantic look at the often romanticized Golden age of Hollywood in the 1920s and 30s. The movie shows the seedy side of Hollywood and also shows what happens to all those people who went into Hollywood to fulfill their dreams, only to see Hollywood become their land of broken dreams. Burgess Meredith was nominated for an Oscar as alcoholic former vaudevillian father of Karen Black's character, who never quite made it to the big time. The movie not only shows unfulfilled dreams, but everywhere throughout the film there are signs of the darker side of Hollywood, one of the first scenes of the film shows a tour group at the famous Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, and the tour guide is talking about all the people that have jumped off the letters and committed suicide. Later a set collapses during the shooting of a film showing the more dangerous side of Hollywood, and you get to see the more inhuman side when you find out that even if anybody would have died in the collapse it wouldn't have mattered to the producers of the film. But no matter what the film is showing whether it's a cockfight or an androgynous child mocking the films main characters in song, the cinematography is at once gorgeous, and gritty. Another main element of the story is the film's female lead Karen Black who is pretty much single handedly responsible for the film's at times overwhelming sexuality. Black plays a woman who's fickle character is best described as a combination between Scarlet O'hara, Blanche from Streetcar Named Desire, and Jenny from Forest Gump, so in other words every mans downfall/worst nightmare. She and her carelessness (this is from a man's point of view mind you) with her sexuality is at least partially responsible for ruining most of the film's male's lives, or at least breaking their hearts. If for nothing else her inability to decide what she wants and the consequences that has to the people around her, makes for an interesting psychological study. The film has since become a cult classic for several reasons: the cast is amazing, Burgess Meredith, Karen Black, Donald Sutherland, Billy Barty, Geraldine
Page, Jackie Earle Haley as a ten year old in drag, William Atherton, and a cameo by the great B-movie director William Castle; and then the dynamics of the main male characters (I feel a connection with both and I think a lot of people might), and of course the ending. This film has an epic horrific LSD inspired nightmare of an ending that takes the film from a look at the darker side of Hollywood, to an over the top symbolic representation of an inhuman dog-eat-dog world. That attack on that age of Hollywood may be a bit harsh in my opinion but it's how the author and the director wanted it portrayed. This film is directed by John Schelisinger (Midnight Cowboy, Marathon Man, Pacific Heights) and the film has a lavish score composed by five time Oscar winning John Barry (the James bond theme). I highly enjoyed it though except for the very ending, and even though it is long it builds and builds and makes the climax worth waiting for. I give it a 5/5 from a technical standpoint, and a 4.5/5 as for my enjoyment of the film. You can watch the trailer below:
This is John Carpenter (legendary horror director)'s second film, he still hasn't made a horror movie at this point yet. His first film was a Sci-fi comedy (Dark Star [1974]), and this one is an action/crime-thriller. The movie does feel like a horror movie at times though. The film is about a police precinct that is being moved across town in L.A. California. The film takes place on the precinct's last day of operation. A police officer on his first day on the job is assigned to watch over the precinct for its final 24 hours. The trouble begins however when a gang who recently had several of its members killed/arrested by cops from precinct 13, decide to get revenge, and attack the precinct. There are only five people trapped inside left to fend off the seemingly endless hordes of criminals trying to get in and kill them all. The movie is really similar to Night of the Living Dead (1968). The protagonist in both films is black, there are only four to five people trapped inside trying to fend off seemingly endless hordes of inhuman monsters (the criminals in Precinct are completely dehumanized and never talk while they are attacking, and the audience is completely disconnected from them), and the trapped people in both have an argument about retreating to the basement. The movie also has a stellar 80s-esque score (composed by Carpenter) that helps intensify the mood. I really did enjoy this one, pretty much everyone knows John Carpenter for his horror movies (Halloween, The Thing, etc.) but this was the first of his action movies (Big Trouble in Little China, Escape
from New York, They Live) and it's good, but what is most striking about it to me is how
funny it is. People tend to overlook the comedy element of Carpenter's movies but so many of them are so funny, and in my opinion this is his funniest; Here's an example: A secretary in the station is pouring the new police officer a cup of coffee and asks "Black?" meaning "would you like your coffee black?" and the African American officer responds smiling "Have been for over 30 years!" This being an early film of Carpenter's, there are no big name stars (but the little girl from Escape to Witch Mountain [1975] is in it) in it. Apparently this film was remade in 2005 with Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne. This is an all around great thriller, looks great, sounds great, is written great and acted great. The only thing it could have done better to make a full-fledged action flick instead of one with a horror vibe, would have been to develop the enemy's character more, instead of them being faceless and nameless. I give it a 4.5/5. This film is available to stream instantly on Netflix. You can view the trailer below:
The Sentinel was dismissed by many when it came out as a kind of knockoff of The Exorcist (1973), or being a kind of combination of similar supernatural horror films like The Omen (1976) or Rosemary's Baby (1968) but I found it a very unique, scary, and interesting story, as well as a well made and possibly influential film. The story centers around a woman who rents out an apartment in New York only to learn her apartment building is the gateway to hell, and the building is owned by secret group of priests who are in charge of guarding it and making sure hell's evil is never unleashed. The film is directed by Michael Winner (of the Death Wish series), and the screenplay was written by the author of the novel the film was based on, the film also has a fantastic musical score by Gil Melle (The Andromeda Strain, and several famous TV show themes from the 70s & 80s), and one of the most star studded casts that have ever been in a horror movie,
featuring many up and coming stars as well as falling ones: Chris Sarandon, Burgess Meredith, Ava Gardner, Jose Ferrer, Arthur Kennedy, Martin Balsam, John Carradine, Eli Wallach, Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Berenger, Richard Dreyfuss (as an extra), Sylvia Miles, and Beverly D'angelo. This film's story may strike some of you reading about it as similar to Ghostbusters, and it is, (an apartment building in New York is used to resurrect a demon to end the world) and this movie also has a similar look and feel to Ghostbusters as well, but that only adds to the enjoyment for me because I have always wanted to find a movie with a similar vibe to it. The film is very visually striking; There are Terrifying dream sequences, and some almost iconic shots of John Carradine (his face is on the DVD cover/movie poster), and the apartment building is very old and full of character, and a lot of the rooms in the building are very lavishly furnished, also throw in the fact that the main character is a fashion model and her boyfriend's a rich lawyer, and the film has a lush cosmopolitan vibe. The film's story is very interesting to me and I wish I could say more, but I don't want to give away anything. The film is also pretty scary actually. My only gripe with this one is that during its climax when the legions of hell awake most of them are physically disfigured. Now I'm not sure what kind of message the film was trying to send with that imagery, but when I see disabled veterans and people suffering with horrible physical deformities, I don't know about you but I don't see those people as the inhabitants of hell, so I'm not sure if that was supposed to relate to an old verse from the bible or something, but I feel most people would see that part as offensive,
and maybe that is one of the reasons why this film has been pushed into obscurity. The film also has a vibe similar to some of Lucio Fulci's films, and similar to a Mia Farrow movie called The Haunting of Julia (1977 [aka Full Circle]), and The Entity (1983). It is immensely underrated though in my opinion, and if you like supernatural horror flicks I highly recommend it. I give it a 4.75/5 ( I would have given it a 5/5 but it scared me a bit more than I thought it would, in the sense of disturbing me more than I would have liked). The film is featured in all the movie books I have including Rue Morgue Magazine's 200 Alternative Horror Films you Need to See, and it is also featured on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments. You can view the trailer below (there are some spoilers in it though):
I've been meaning to write a review of this one for quite a while, I saw it a while ago and just never got around to it because I didn't feel as strong of an urge to write about this one as I did Black Christmas, or the original Child's Play, or Fright Night, or Badlands, or any of the other movies I really loved. This one was ok, better than the average horror movie sequel, but still on par to some of the other movies I've reviewed (or have seen but have yet to write about) is just ok. I liked that they kept the kid and Chucky as the same actors from the first movie. I also liked how this one was more humorous than the first (the sequels seem to get progressively funnier as they go). The plot is that the toy company who made the Good Guy dolls rebuilt the insidious Chucky to try aid their defense in court against the mother the police officers and the child, but they realize the error of their ways too late when Chucky kills some of the workers and escapes to go back to pursuing Andy from the first movie. This one is less believable than the first, and a little less scary than the first, but this one does have its moments.
The highlight of the film for me is no question the last 20 minutes or so when Chucky is chasing the kids through the maze of Good Guy dolls in the toy factory. Nothing is quite as scary as running away from a killer through a maze that has his face all over the walls. I also liked how this movie picked up right after the first Child's Play, just like Halloween 2, so that the sequel isn't a different story with one same character, but a continuation of the first story. Overall I give this a 3.75/5, it's better than most horror sequels, but I wouldn't classify it as one of the better sequels in the horror genre either. The movie is available to be streamed on Netflix, and you can watch the trailer below (You can also listen to the cheesy novelty song they made to promote the series "The Chucky Rap", that I recently discovered, here):
This film is kind of like a bridge between Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, in my opinion. It is not as scary as Evil Dead II, but not as illogically funny as Army of Darkness. It's also similar to Shaun of the Dead (2004) in many ways, like the main character being British, the humor is similar, and there's a fat guy and skinny guy that are best friends and killing zombies. This movie is based on The Dylan Dog comics. Dellamorte is the caretaker of a Cemetery in Italy, where the died have a bad habit of rising a week after their death. The feel of the film is a mixture of neo noir, zany black comedy, horror, and a cynical look at love and life. The romance part of the film is similar to that of the original TV show Dark Shadows, in that the main character keeps finding different incarnations of his lost love. This
one has a huge cult following, but I liked it less and less as the film progressed. The film starts off as interesting and funny, and the main character is likable and easy to be empathetic with, but the character does a 180 in the last 15 minutes of the film, and though it is believable that he would be crushed and cynical at that point, I did not find it believable that he would make the decisions that seemed SO far out of his character, even if he was crushed. I also thought this was going to be more of an adventure film but the horror and comedic aspects of the film seem to be just a distraction from what the director intended to be the meat of the picture, which is his musings on love and death.So what I did dislike of the film was its indecisiveness with its plot (the plot seems to switch at times which makes it seem like you're watching several different movies with the same characters, which though interesting, I felt was poorly executed), its feel, and the convictions of its characters, but because both life and death are unpredictable it still kind of works. It is pretty funny at times, and the acting is well done. So I give it a 4/5, you can view the trailer below:
1974 was one hell of a year for the horror genre, arguably the two most influential horror movies (and arguably two of the most influential films of all time too) were released within ten days of each other, the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Black Christmas. Black Christmas was the first film to do many things, it was the first Christmas horror film (first holiday horror film as well), it was the first sorority horror movie, it was the first horror film where you never see the killer, the first where ending is never clearly resolved, the first to do the big twist with the phones (think When a Stranger Calls[1979] or [2006]), and the one which the director was most proud of, the first realistic look at college life in the US. Bob Clark may have become most famous for the 80s comedies Porky's (1982), or the immortal holiday cult classic A Christmas Story (1983), but like many and most famous directors, he started in the horror genre. Like most directors he only viewed making horror films as a necessity to pay the bills until he would later be big enough to make the films he wanted to do, but those who have seen his horror films usually agree that they are some of the best ever made. This film is about a serial killer stalking the residents of a college sorority around Christmas. This film came out four years before Halloween (1978) which would set the horror world ablaze creating the slasher craze which would eventually in one way or another affect every horror movie ever made after the 70s. When I watched this one I had no idea of the historical significance it had and I was just like "wow this is pretty similar to Halloween, it's really good though, and hey they stole that part from When a Stranger Calls!" When in reality When a Stranger Calls blatantly ripped off this film. This film even if you have seen all the movies it influenced before you see these one, it still feels great. The film is still scary, still funny, and the juxtaposition of the killings around "the most peaceful time of the year" still works great. While The Texas Chainsaw Massacre influenced horror movies to eventually go down the path of extreme violence and gore, this film is just as influential in the way that it is stylized and shies away from being extremely graphic (though it does have its
moments).This film truly still feels fresh, especially in its portrayal of the college students, I felt like they were similar to some people I've met being a current college student. The film is also notable for its young stars Olivia Hussey (Romeo and Juliet) Margot Kidder(Superman), and Keir Dullea (2001: a Space Odyssey). It should almost be a crime that this film has dwelt in obscurity while the other films that were influenced by it prospered enormously. This film does have pretty devout cult following that it has gathered over the years though, including such celebrity fans as Steve Martin (in the documentary in the bonus features on the disc, Olivia Hussey said he told her it's one of his favorite movies and he's seen it 23 times), and a little guy named Elvis Presley, who watched it every year around Christmas until he died, and since then Priscilla and Lisa Marie have kept up the tradition every year since.The film also had a remake in 2006 which earned the approval of Bob Clark, the remake is notable in the sense that it sets out to resolve some of the loose ends left by the original. The film's most famous scene is when a girl is asphyxiated by a plastic bag over her head. This film is a part of Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments, and I give it a 5/5. You can view the trailer below:
Another influential and ahead of its time horror movie, Raw Meat would pave the way for countless stories about underground mutants killing people in the subways, like C.H.U.D.(1984), (see my review) Creep (2004), and Clive Barker's short story and film The Midnight Meat Train (2008), and even The Descent (2005) takes a page from this film's book. When an important member of the British government goes missing in a subway station, the local police force takes the matter into their hands, and a somewhat manic Donald Pleasance (The Great Escape, Halloween) leads the investigation. Sir Christopher Lee also makes an appearance in the film, though his is much smaller. It turns out the lone survivor of a group of construction workers that got stuck in the subway tunnelsmany years ago (for so long
that the survivors resorted to cannibalism and inbreeding to survive) is responsible for the recent disappearances and murders in the subway. This movie is surprisingly funny, Donald Pleasance is a real hoot, and there are also times when the audience is called to feel empathy or even sympathy for the cannibal killer, (and it is rather effective at doing so), and then of course there are times when the film's atmosphere (dark London subways) is very disturbing/unsettling and freaky. This film was ahead of its time for the amount of graphic detail and gore it shows. There are some plot holes if you look hard enough and try to scientifically analyze everything, but you shouldn't be doing that for this film anyway. I thoroughly enjoyed it even though I don't like gore (the gore is ahead of its time but not necessarily a lot by today's standards), I would recommend watching this one in total darkness though, because I watched almost the whole thing with a light on, and then turned it off for the last 20 minutes or so, and it was a lot freakier in the dark.The monster could have seemed less human Also you'll never think of/hear the line "Mind the doors!" the same way again. I give it a 4.25/5. This film is mentioned in Rue Morgue magazine's 200 Alternative Horror Films You need to See. You can view the trailer below:
If you ask any film buff who Ingmar Bergman is/was, they would most likely tell you he's one of the greatest directors of all time, if you were to ask me who he is, I'd say one of my favorite directors. Bergman is known for his art house films, and such ground breaking pictures such as The Seventh Seal (1957). It is not a rare or strange occurrence for a Bergman film to be dark in nature, or to have dark over/undertones, (the Seventh Seal is about a Knight playing chess with Death) but Hour of the Wolf is Bergman's only official horror movie. Like a lot of Bergman's films, this one can be confusing at times, but I believe if you pay enough
attention to the beginning and end of the story, then you should have a good enough understanding of the film. The story is about an artist (Max von Sydow) who struggles with inner demons, which appear to be physically manifesting themselves and affecting his wife just as badly as they do himself. Now when I say demons in this context, I'm referring to the artist's inner mental struggles and guilt. There is a phrase that is bookended in the film (told at the beginning and the end) that best sums up this film's plot: "Do you think it is possible that if a woman loves a man enough for such a long time, that eventually she becomes like that man?" This film has some of the trippiest imagery Bergman ever used, and you almost feel that you're going crazy along with the main character. It is of course left to interpretation however if what happens to the character is actually happening to him or not, (that gives it a similar feel to The Innocents [1961]) but that of course was intentional. The movie has several allusions to classic horror movies/literature/concepts, one of them being an actor who looks exactly like Bela Lugosi, and another being the presence of Poe's raven. I really liked this one, the only thing that bothered me was that the plot was sometimes hard to follow, but as I mentioned before, the ending in my opinion more or less justifies that. I give it a 4.75/5, view the trailer below:
I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did/do. The movie starts off by really showcasing the futuristic sport that it's about: Rollerball, which is like a combination of a roller derby, a chariot race and football. I'm not a sports guy, so the fact that the first 10-20 minutes of the film are nothing but coverage of the Rollerball game made me lose interest pretty quick. Don't get me wrong I enjoy the action of the game and those scenes later on in the film (they get more and more violent each time they play, and I read somewhere that this film contains some of the more violent stunts ever put to film), but those scenes are more enjoyable as we learn more about the main character (played by James Caan) and are emotionally invested in the character and what happens to him, the first scene is basically just designed to showcase what the game is and how it's played. Though the action is great and the visuals are dated something fierce, the true appeal of this film lies in the realm of the philosophical. Rollerball is set in a futuristic dystopian society where corporations rule the world and control the masses. The corporations designed the sport of rollerball to demonstrate the futility of the individual and thus keep people living, acting and thinking in herds because groups are much easier to control than individuals. So in other words one team might be better than another, but no individual player should be idolized (example: The Broncos vs. Peyton Manning), problems occur however when one Jonathan E. of the Houston team starts setting and breaking all records in the game. The fans become
obsessed with Jonathan and the corporations consequently want him to retire, when Jonathan refuses however the corporations keep changing the rules of the game to decrease the likelihood of Jonathan's survival in the game, even if it means killing all the other players in the process as well. In a world where the super bowl is as big of an event as it is (and considering that it is also controlled by the corporations who sponsor it), it's very easy to see some of the dangers of Rollerball paralleled in real life. One thing that is also illustrated in the film is "the man" trying to keep the people "down" and under control by taking away their education and ability to learn (all books have been processed into computers and nobody has access to them, or cares about them anymore) because sport is valued above knowledge. Some of the issues hit very close to home with current problems in society. Rollerball can also be taken deeper too in the sense that Jonathan goes on a sort of moral/spiritual/personal quest to find meaning in his life and "what's it all about?" by asking one of the future's super computers (think Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). Another interesting way to look at Rollerball is that it is a futuristic commentary on communism/socialism. Ultimately though Rollerball is about the triumph of the human spirit/will in adverse circumstances. A surprisingly intellectual film under the guise of an action movie, and enjoyable as both, it is interesting that Rollerball has become the cult classic that it is. The acting is top notch from supporting actors John Houseman (in one of his best known roles) and knighted English actor Sir Ralph Richardson, not to mention James Caan giving one of the best performances of his career. As I mentioned before though, the visuals have dated, and the film does drag a little at times, but it is relatively easy to follow, and though it is deep it is not verbose. It is also worth mentioning this is one of the many sci-fi stories that influenced the ever so popular Hunger Games series, and that the film was remade in 2002. I give this one a 4.5/5, you can view the trailer below:
Make no mistake, this film is messed up. Ravenous takes place in the 1800s during the Mexican-American war. The story is set at a military outpost in the mountains of northern California. A man who has been wandering through the wilderness for 3 days arrives at the outpost telling the men about the misfortune he has suffered since embarking with his family to California. He and the rest of his party got stuck in the mountains ran out of food, ate all their horses and oxen, and then eventually started eating each other (based on true story of the donner party). The man then tells the soldiers that there are still two people alive trapped in the cave and he begs them to go look for them, the soldiers comply and follow the man to the cave only to realize no one was left alive and that they just walked into a trap. This film is very different, it is a period piece, but because of its quick editing and Tarantino-esque grittyness ( as well as a semi rock soundtrack and a very high David Arquette, and Guy Pearce in the lead role) this film has a definite distinct 90s feel. The formula for the film is two parts horror, one part morality tale, and one part black comedy (this is the darkest of dark humor). The tagline for the film: "You are who you eat" pretty much says it all, of all the films out there about cannibalism that I know of though, I would have to say this is the most well made of them all (from a technical aspect). The film also has some really good twists in it and it is very psychological, but in a way that challenges everything you've ever been taught about what's right and wrong, and I didn't really like that to say the least. If cannibal movies are your thing though by all means give this one a watch, but it was a bit too disturbing for my taste (no pun intended), so much so that I found myself still disturbed by it days after seeing it. I give it a 5/5 for how well made it is, but weighing my actual enjoyment of the film a give it a 3.5/5; You can view the trailer below:
Just watched this one last night. This is another one that I've been meaning to watch for forever, but just never got around to it, but I finally got around to it and it's well worth a watch. For those of you that aren't familiar with this movie's premise, here it is: Bruce Campbell plays an elderly Elvis (the real one who switched lives with an impersonator back in the 70s) living in a nursing home in texas with a black man who's convinced he's JFK (Ossie Davis), and their nursing home and its residents are under attack by an ancient mummy, and Elvis and black JFK have to save the day (that is quite possibly one of the craziest sentences I've ever written). If you are a sane intelligent human being, chances are you read that synopsis and said "oh my god, that sounds crazy," for some of you it should make sense though if I told you the movie was directed by Don Coscarelli (Phantasm series, John Dies at the End (2012). For those of you who don't know the insanity that is Don Coscarelli let me explain/describe the other movies he's best known for: Phantasm (1979) is the story of a boy and a disgruntled Ice cream man battling a demonic/alien mortician named "the tall man" and a metal flying orb with blades on it that drills through peoples skulls, and John Dies at the End (2012) (which I previously reviewed) is about two college aged men who take a mysterious drug called "soy sauce" and become paranormal interdimensional warriors. So this film fits perfectly into Coscarelli's usual brand
of craziness. Bruce Campbell is hilarious and very believable as an elderly Elvis who regrets switching identities with an impersonator so he could escape fame and start over, he misses Priscilla, Lisa Marie, and the fame. But with the arrival of the mummy wreaking havoc on the Shady Oaks rest home he has found a new reason to live; to save the shady oaks residents. The chemistry between Cambpell and Ossie Davis is perfect and the movie is laugh out loud funny. It's also great to see Campbell in another role after Army of Darkness (1992) where he can call everybody "baby" and be "the king" again. The movie is relatively low budget (like most of coscarelli's movies) but the makeup and special effects are effective. Also make no mistake, though this is a definite comedy, it is a horror movie, a horror-comedy, the creepy atmosphere in the old folks home at night is very well done. The humor is pretty vulgar, that's just a head's up in case vulgar humor's not your thing. There are also lots of great lines like " I hate to tell you this Jack, but Kennedy wasn't black." "I know that, they dyed me this color!" If you're a fan of wacky movies, or horror movies/horror comedies, I highly recommend this one. Also if you like either Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) or The Big Lebowski (1998) this one has a similar wacky feel to it. I give it a 4.5/5; This film is available to be streamed on Netflix, and it is also available through Xfinity OnDemand with Comcast. For some reason Blogger won't let me upload the trailer I want as a youtube clip so I'll put the link to the better version of the trailers for it here.
I don't have a lot to say about this one. It's about a small cruise of people (think Gilligan's Island) getting stranded on an island that was once used to experiment on Nazi soldiers to try create the perfect soldier that couldn't die, and could also survive/attack underwater. So yes this could quite possibly be the only film about underwater Nazi zombies, and Peter Cushing (Star Wars episode IV, Horror of Dracula, Dr. Who) is the Nazi commander who used to be in charge of the zombie operation. The only other notable names in the movie are John Carradine (Grapes of Wrath, The Howling, The Sentinel [1970s version] several dracula films), and Brooke Adams (Days of Heaven, The Dead Zone). The movie is a low
budget flick with a similar feel to a Roger Corman flick from the 70s: very gritty, limited makeup or costume effects, and film mostly during the day. The movie has some pretty good POV scenes as well as zombie stalking scenes shot underwater. The zombies are always creepy whenever they're shown too because they do everything in unison. The acting is all pretty well done considering the plot's premise and the movie's budget. The last notable thing that should be mentioned about the film is how wonky its soundtrack is. The film has a lot of very ominous unusual synthesizer tones that are at sometimes very slow and heavy, and at others super frantic and high pitched creating a near fever-dream of an atmosphere that is very effective for creating a very fitting atmosphere for this film (it's really similar to another little known classic 70s horror Let's Scare Jessica to Death[1971]). My only problem with this film though is that it does tend to drag in some spots and seem rather boring at times, so I give it a 4.25/5. You can view the trailer below:
This film is based on the novella My Talks with Dean Spanley by Lord Dunsany. It is set in turn of the century England among the middle to upper class and is about an English man who meets once a week with the town's new minister/priest who has an interesting stance on the concept of reincarnation. The film was made in New Zealand and stars Peter O'toole in one of the better performances to come out of the latter end of his career, and Sam Neill as the Dean. This is very unique and I found it very refreshing. At first glance it looked like an intellectual film about people meeting to talk about reincarnation, but that's only the best description I can give without ruining the surprise of the film, even though that description isn't the most accurate. I feel this film is best to go in fairly cold to, in other words don't read much about it and only see the trailer if you must (you might be able to figure it out from there, but I wasn't), because the whole thing that makes this film so fresh and unique is best to discover on your own as the main character discovers it half way through. This film is full of wonderful quotes like "I wonder if one can be a dog and not have fleas." This film can be taken very seriously and analyzed very deeply (there's tons of symbolism) but it can also just be enjoyed superficially without thinking too deeply about things, it's really funny in parts, and very heartwarming without being corny or cheesy. If you like Downton Abbey, I'd say give this a chance, but on that note you don't have to like Downton Abbey to like this (admittedly I'm not an Abbey fan). The film has an 85% critic approval rating and an 80% audience approval rating on rotten tomatoes.com, and I give it a 5/5. You can view the trailer below:
Nightbreed is a movie that was doomed to obscurity for several reasons: one being a horrible marketing campaign ( the movie was marketed as a slasher film when it is actually an alternative super hero movie), and the studio did not give Clive Barker final cut when he was directing it, so the studio cut out a lot of what Barker originally wanted in it, as well as changed how he wanted things to be (i.e. the ending). This film is based on a short story by Clive Barker (originally titled Cabal), about a man who is being mislead by his evil psychiatrist to think that he (the client) is responsible for a series of murders lately. The man also has recurring nightmares about inhuman creatures and a place called Midian, the man ventures out to the town where the murders occurred and it just has to be next to "Midian" a cemetery, the man wanders through the cemetery and gets attacked by two creatures who threaten to kill him, after being bit by one of the creatures though, the man learns he can no longer die and he becomes one of "The Nightbreed" and joins them in their underground city of Midian. The man (known as Boone) then has to help defend Midian against his evil former psychiatrist who hopes to destroy Midian.This film is part slasher film, but the more overwhelming important part of the film/plot is that it is an alternative super hero movie (think if Clive Barker made The X-Men, or if the cenobites from Hellraiser were good guys). The creaures, or "mutants", in the movie
tell the viewer that they've always been around but misunderstood by man, and that because of mankind's ultra violent treatment towards them the creatures, they had to retreat underground. The movie is one of the few major acting roles for acclaimed horror director David Cronenberg (he's the main villain), his acting is pretty horrible when he plays the doctor, but when he plays the killer his acting improves ten fold.The movie has a great 90s vibe to it, some offbeat humor, an interesting concept as well as characters, and AMAZING costumes special effects and makeup. The underground city definitely is reminiscent of the bar in Mos Eisley in Star Wars a New Hope. Danny Elfman also scored the film. This film was a commercial and critical failure when it came out, but it has since become a cult classic. For years a special print of the movie known as "The Cabal Cut", has been touring and playing exclusively on the convention circuit for the last five to ten years, ( a print that has restored as much of the movie as they can find over the years, [the negatives of the film were destroyed in a fire). Well I mention this because later this year The Cabal Cut will finally be getting an official DVD release sometime later this year. I generally love Clive Barker's movies (his dissatisfaction with this film led to him only directing one last film after this one), and this film is pretty great, the only thing I dock it for, is having some minor-moderate logic flaws/plot holes. Other than that though I give it a 4.25/5: you can view the trailer below:
I had heard mixed reviews about this one for a long time, and I thought the story had strong ties to witchcraft or the occult ( I love horror movies but I tend to stay away from that subject matter, that's the only stuff that really spooks me too bad) so it took me a while to get around to it. That all being said though, the film deals with ancient Native American burial grounds (always a great start for a horror movie), it fits into the "killer kid" sub-genre of horror, has Stephen King appear as a priest, Fred Gwynne (the actor most known for being Herman Munster from the tv series The Munsters) is a main character, and The Ramones contribute a couple songs to the soundtrack (including the title theme which was their highest charting single ever on The Billboard charts). Also the story is based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, but it is influenced by the classic horror folk tale "The Monkey's Paw". That all should make the movie sound great because it is, I loved every minute of it. The acting was terrific by everyone involved ( I should also mention the child actor who played the son is probably best known for his roles as a friend of Michelle Tanner on the classic 90s sitcom Full House, and Kindergarten Cop[1990]), the cinematography and special effects are great, it's a terrific drama for a lot of the film, but it is also funny and definitely freaky in parts. The story is about a family moving to New England and shortly after they arrive their cat dies. The family's neighbor then shows the dad of the family a place where he can bury his cat so that it will come back to life. Shortly after tragedy strikes the family, the husband is tempted to use the magic of the secret burial ground again. There are a lot of King's trademarks here, a New England setting, a psychic connection with the young girl, and strong dramatic overtones. This is also the movie that made Mary Lambert (the director of the film whose other claim to fame is directing some of the most famous music videos of the 80s)'s career. The film is listed on Bravo's list of 100 Scariest Movie Moments, but I would advise to not watch the segment about the movie until after you see it. I give it a 5/5, you can view the trailer below:
The Ward is the latest film directed by one of my favorite directors, John Carpenter. It is a story about four or five girls in their teens/early 20s, living in a special security ward in an insane asylum during the 1960s. A new girl arrives and quickly learns this ward is no normal place. The film has wonderful cinematography, wonderful creepy hospital atmosphere, as well as a really nice 60s feel to it at times (a highlight is a dance scene in the ward set to a sixties vinyl single playing on the phonograph). The acting is also really good, but this movie is far from perfect. A lot of the scares in the film are given away by the musical score, or are just really predictable/cliche at times. The movie's mystery does remain a mystery for most of the movie, but I felt the ending was fairly anticlimactic as well as fairly predictable. This movie goes from an interesting compelling unique story to almost a "cop out" of a psychological thriller. The film turns out to be similar to another film I've reviewed on this blog called Identity (2003). There aren't any big name stars in this one, but all of the girls are fairly recognizable from various movies and TV shows made within the last ten years. This film is available to stream on Netlfix, and I give this one a 3.25/5, you can view the trailer below:
I normally don't like films by Lucio Fulci, they are usually far too graphic and gory for me, and this film was no exception. Fulci's most famous film is 1979s Zombie: We're Going to Eat you! also known as "Zombi 2". Fulci's horror movies are famous for their gore (think Dario Argento's typical violence taken up a notch). Fulci also has some films famous for their Gothic imagery though, and this is one of those (the other one being The Beyond). I liked the cinematography as a whole, very similar to an Argento film, and I liked the fact that they actually filmed part/parts of this film on location in New York, because typically if foreign low budget independent movies are set in US cities, they film them in a different country and just try to get away
with it (Inferno[1980] for example). The sets and music were also really good. The adult actors were good, but the little boy annoyed me though ( they also dubbed his voice with a voice that did not seem to fit his age or looks). Plot wise I thought the story was very confusing, the boy's nanny seemed to have some sort of connection to the murders and such, but that was never really explained. The husband also had a secret and it's confusing if his secret was an affair, or something connected to the murders, not to mention the ending didn't really make much sense either (also similar to an Argento film that way). Plus I found the "monster"'s costume to be really fake, it didn't really have a face, it was horrible. And of course as I mentioned before it was far too gory for my taste, I'm talking Dead Alive (1992)[aka Braindead] levels of gore here. Too many limbs everywhere and too much bizarre mutilation, and when all that is shown, the camera sits on it for WAY too long in my opinion, a la David Cronenberg style. I give this one my lowest rating yet, a 2/5. I should also mention that like most of Dario Argento's films, and old Spaghetti Westerns, this film is dubbed in english, even though some actors and characters in it did speak english. This one is available to stream on Hulu.com, you can also view the trailer below:
Page, Jackie Earle Haley as a ten year old in drag, William Atherton, and a cameo by the great B-movie director William Castle; and then the dynamics of the main male characters (I feel a connection with both and I think a lot of people might), and of course the ending. This film has an epic horrific LSD inspired nightmare of an ending that takes the film from a look at the darker side of Hollywood, to an over the top symbolic representation of an inhuman dog-eat-dog world. That attack on that age of Hollywood may be a bit harsh in my opinion but it's how the author and the director wanted it portrayed. This film is directed by John Schelisinger (Midnight Cowboy, Marathon Man, Pacific Heights) and the film has a lavish score composed by five time Oscar winning John Barry (the James bond theme). I highly enjoyed it though except for the very ending, and even though it is long it builds and builds and makes the climax worth waiting for. I give it a 5/5 from a technical standpoint, and a 4.5/5 as for my enjoyment of the film. You can watch the trailer below:
