Quicksilver Highway (1997)

On paper this movie is amazing, in execution, not so much. I must say I love anthology TV series' (Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Night Gallery, Tales From The Crypt, Tales From the Darkside) and I wish there were more of them still around nowadays, because I love short singular stories, and it's a big time saver too to not have to watch a full season of a TV show and follow a story arc. But when it comes to movies, there are very few really good anthology movies out there (tying the short stories together in one coherent movie. Some of the best anthology movies (horror related) are Dead of Night (1945), Tales From the Crypt (1972), Stephen King's Cat's Eye (1985), The Twilight Zone Movie (1983), and Trick 'r Treat (2007). Other anthology movies such as VHS (2012, which I haven't seen) and Creepshow (1982, which I didn't like) are also some of the more famous anthology movies. Now Quicksilver Highway is a great premise: get two stories by two of the greatest minds in horror ever (Clive Barker, and Stephen King), and piece them together by a mysterious traveling character who lives in an undisclosed location (and in a trailer similar to Doctor Who's Tardis, bigger on the inside than the outside) in the american southwest to tell the tales and have arguably the greatest horror director from the TV world, Mick Garris (The Stand (1994) mini series, and Masters of Horror (2005-2007)), to direct and cinema legend Christopher Lloyd to star. However like other anthology movies 

that boast stories from great authors ( I'm looking at you Creepshow's 1&2) the stories they pick are some of the weakest of the authors' careers. The set locations in the U.S. southwest are great and creepy on their own (reminiscent of Near Dark (1987) and The Hitcher (1986)) but the rest of the movie is weak. Some of the actors are decent in here but there are more bad actors and over actors than good ones here, and I'm tempted to blame Garris's direction because I saw similar effects in Masters of Horror episodes. Christopher Lloyd's character is the narrator and he supposedly makes a living collecting rare objects and travelling the back roads of america taking a good look at the country's seedy underbelly. For anybody out there who has ever listened to any old radio shows, this premise might seem familiar. The 1930s and 40s radio shows The Whistler and The Mystrerious Traveler were also about mysterious travelers roaming the country telling and witnessing stories. Though I like the premise of the character (I loved the Whistler and Mysterious Traveler radio shows), the execution was lacking to me and you could tell this movie was put together after a failed attempt at a TV pilot was made. Lloyd's character first off looks more like a weird hobo than he does scary or even intriguing. Lloyd's costume has a cape and lace similar to Rutger Hauer's in The Hitcher. Plus Lloyd is also wearing a dog collar-esque ladies choker around his neck with symbols representing his 

stories decorated on it. Lloyd also sports a bizarre bowl-cut moptop hairdo. As for the stories themselves the first is called "The Chattery Teeth" by Stephen King and is about a man who picks up a murderous hitch hiker and is saved by a sentient pair of novelty toy wind up teeth. The second story Clive Barker's 'The Body Politic," and is about a man's hands becoming sentient and separating themselves from the man's body and starting a war between mankind and "hand-kind." First of all as I said before the acting is poor for the most part but it's the worst in the Barker story. In the hands (no pun intended) of the right writers and directors the whole "possessed hand" story can be good, but it always runs the risk of becoming way too campy and almost always succumbs to that fate. Some titles that execute the "possessed hand" story well are The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) starring Peter Lorre, and Body Parts (1991). The actor in this film with the possessed hands is ridiculous looking and super hammy. However the other redeeming quality of this movie is the special effects. Special effects wise, the teeth and the hands (when severed) are well done and some of the best sentient objects moving on their own scenes put to film. The other thing that I didn't like about this movie was that apart from the stories shared sentient object theme, the stories have nothing in common and they don't even bother to connect the narrator from point "a" to point "b," or have anything to do with the "dark side of america". There is one other cool thing about this movie though, Clive Barker and acclaimed director John Landis (Blues Brothers, American Werewolf in London, Animal House) have cameos in the second segement of this made for TV movie. Overall I have to give this movie a 2/5, and you can watch the trailer here.

Pet Sematary 2 (1992)

Every review I could find about this movie mentioned its over the top gore, and while I usually have the same policy towards gore as CGI (only use it when absolutely necessary) and thought I could just ignore it and make my review focus on the deeper meaning of the film, I find that the goriness of the film is all I can think about after watching this one. I absolutely loved the first Pet Sematary by Stephen King (as you can see in my review of the film at the link) but this one just isn't the same. Now that being said I still think the film is decent if you're a fan of the first because there are a lot of similarities: the evil pet, pretty much everyone dying, several references to the events of the first film, similar sets used, and of course a great Ramones song playing at the credits. The sheer amount of gore is the film's main weakness, but other weaknesses include its trying to hard to be a teen movie. There are all sorts of angsty "teens have problems" scenes, but in the grand scheme of the film they are totally irrelevant to rest of the events in the film, except that they help to emphasize that the main [teen] characters of the film are outcasts whose only true friends have died (the main boy's mom, and the fat boy's dog). This movie has an unlikely hodgepodge of B celebrities: Anthony Edwards (Goose from Top Gun), Edward Furlong (the boy from Terminator 2), Lisa Waltz (Brighton Beach Memoirs, Starry Night), Jared Rushton (Tom Hanks's friend from Big, Honey I Shrunk the Kids) and Clancy Brown (Shawshank Redemption, Highlander, and the voice of Mr. Krabs from Spongebob Squarepants). The movie also has some unexpected black humor in it, most of which comes from Clancy Brown's character (the dinner table scene, and the teen with motorcycle scene). As with the first movie when people or animals die the characters then bury them in the special Native American burial ground behind the Pet Cemetery and they come back to life, but usually 

with a murderous streak in them. Furlong's character is obviously messed up psychologically after the death of his mom at the beginning of the film, and he only continues to get more messed up as the film goes on and more people die. But at one point he becomes so messed up (as does his world around him) that this weird synergy is created and it's almost as if his misfit character has found a place he belongs (albeit among the dead/undead), and that is probably one of the best/weirdest and most unique moments of the film, because you don't really know what will happen next (except that he will resurrect his mother). The only other thing worth mentioning about this one is that it has one of the most realistic looking car wrecks I've ever seen in the movies, and I have no idea how they could have damaged the car the way they did without the people inside actually getting killed. And there's a crazy scene where a guy pops the eyes out of a 

taxidermied pug dog (who you think is alive at first).  Also I liked the dog in this movie. In my opinion the dog is much scarier than the cat from the first movie. I should also mention this movie is pretty hard to find at the moment, except if you have Xfinity on demand with Comcast it is currently available there. I give the film a 3.25/5, and you can view the trailer below:

Tourist Trap (1979)

This is a very obscure cult classic, but unlike many obscure classics that are good and have seemingly no reason to be (no famous or noteworthy names attached to the project) Tourist Trap has people that add to its unique eccentric style. Most notably Robert A. Burns, the art director from the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, was involved with Tourist Trap designing the creepiest mannequins I have ever seen, and being responsible for the also very effective special effects that made them come alive. Composer Pino Donaggio, most remembered for his scores for several Brian De Palma films, Carrie (1976) Dressed to Kill 

(1980), Blowout (1981), as well as Jo Dante's Piranha (1978) and Howling (1981) and Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now (1973), did a very bizarre carnival-esque score for the film. The plot of the film centers around these college aged kids going on a road trip who decide to stop at a tourist trap along the way; Slausen's Wax Museum. Unfortunately for the kids this is a real tourist trap, and the museum's owner and his crazy "brother" are turning the tourists into mannequins. It is also worth mentioning that the lead character/killer is played by the former star of the 50s TV series The Rifleman: Chuck Conners. As mentioned  before the film has several unique quirks about it (the score, the lifelike mannequins, main actor cast against type) and my favorite is the fact that the killer also has telekinetic powers, forget the 
predictable plot twist, now that's truly

unexpected. Like many great horror flicks from the 70s and 80s this was not a success on its initial release, but it found an audience when it was aired on cable TV in the 80s, garnering none other than Stephen King as one of its many fans. King praises it in his Danse Macabre book as an obscure classic saying that the film "“wields an eerie spooky power, as wax figures begin to move and come to life in a ruined, out-of-the-way tourist resort.” The film was recently released on Blu-ray so it is now more accessible than its ever been. It is truly a unique take on the slasher film, considering it has no blood (there is a little actually, but basically none) or nudity in it and is rated PG, but just like Texas Chainsaw, it feels a whole lot more graphic than it is. The film is featured on Rue Morgue Magazine's 200 Alternative Horror Films You Need to see  list/book. I give it a 4.5/5, you can view the trailer below:

Pet Sematary (1989)

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:

Knightriders (1981)

One might not think this would be the followup to George Romero's internationally successful genre redefining political commentary/horror flick Dawn of the Dead (1978). But in some ways it makes sense, this is Romero's most personal film. This flick follows a travelling renaissance fair troupe lead by Ed Harris (in his first lead role) that puts on dangerous stunt shows and jousts on motorcycles. Ed Harris's character has made it his life dream to make this travelling troupe based on principles similar to that of the knights of King Arthur, he and his troupe live by a code. But trouble arises when reality threatens to destroy the dream he has made in the form of corporate america destroying the little man and/or what he stands for (publicity agents want to commercialize the motor cycle shows). This is so personal for Romero because he was going through the same personal struggle when it came to film making, he had worked long and hard to make a name for himself as an independent film maker, but after the success of Dawn of the Dead he was debating whether or not to "sell out," and his decision to remain independent gave him similar results to Harris's character in the film, they both saw the people around them leave and "sell out".

All that being said this film does have some depth to it but for the majority of the film it is just plain fun. It is super laid back, you get to see all the life behind the scenes of the fair and it mostly feels like one big party, complete with a scene or two of singing around the campfire. In addition to the laid back vibe and fun feel of the film seeing a modern take on some of the legends of King Arthur are creatively re-envisioned here: Merlin is a tattooed harmonica playing wiseman/doctor, the black knight is present, what happens between Lancelot and Guinevere happens, and Harris is the well loved king. Not to mention the motorcycle jousts stunts and battles are all wonderfully choreographed and exciting (except for the final one which I actually had to fast forward through).This film has some of the most dangerous/elaborate/well performed motor cycle stunts ever filmed. Now for the negatives of the film: it did not need to be as long as it was, it's two and a half hours long, there are also some big logical fallacies/plot holes towards the second half of the movie, the ending is sad (normal for a Romero movie) but the ending could have been executed better IMO (I can't say much more about it without giving it

away). The acting is top notch though, Harris gives a wonderful performance as well as does Tom Savini the famous horror movie makeup artist (Friday the 13th series, Dawn of the Dead, and TheBurning) as Morgan the black knight. It is mentionable that Stephen King has a cameo as "hoagie man" and his real life wife plays "wife of hoagie man," you can find them in the crowd in an early scene. Cracked.com has written an article about Knightriders calling it 5 insane moments from the manliest movie ever made. It is also mentioned in a book I own called 500 Essential Cult Films: The Ultimate Guide by Jennifer Eiss. I give it a 4/5, you can view the trailer below:

Maximum Overdrive (1986)

There are tons of classic movies based on works by Stephen King; Carrie, Cujo, The Shining, Christine, Pet Sematary, Firestarter, Creepshow, Children of the Corn, The Dead Zone, Salem's Lot, Silver Bullet, The Green Mile, Stand by Me, The Shawshank Redemption, Hearts in Atlantis, IT, Misery, and The Running Man, to name "a few". But until 1986 Stephen King was just a writer and every movie adaptation of his work to that point had been made by other people, this movie changed all that. Now imagine you were a producer in 1986 and Stephen King came into your office saying "I'm not happy with any film versions of my work so I'd like to direct my own film, adaptations of my work have been so successful, just think how good this one'll be! And it will be starring 80s young hunk Emilio Estevez, and it will have soundtrack done by my favorite band AC/DC!" Sounds too good to be true doesn't it? Well you're right, it has all those elements but Stephen King is what he is, a writer, plus he tends to prefer the worse movie

versions of his work, (He hated Kubrick's version of the Shining and prefers the made for TV Tim Roth version). This is the first and only movie King himself has ever directed. This movie has become a cult classic primarily only because of how bad it is. It does have some things going for it, the cars are cool, the special effects and explosions are cool and stuff like that. The film's plot is very confusing as the movie progresses, at first all technology on earth goes crazy because earth is passing through the tail of a very unusual comet, but as the plot goes on it becomes clear the machines have minds of their own and aliens are somehow involved, taking away most of the story's believably. Everyday objects are running on their own and they're all deadly too, this is meant to instill a fear of the stuff we take for granted, and it partially works. The trucks are scary, an electric knife/saw goes nuts, and a man is fried by a pinball machine, but it reaches a point where it all becomes laughable. A man is killed by a soda vending machine shooting him in the crotch, seen here:

 There's a killer ice cream truck, and a man is laying dead on his front lawn having been run over by his own lawnmower, and the very first scene of the movie is Stephen King himself trying to get money from an ATM and instead of giving him the money the machine calls him an asshole repeatedly, seen below:

 Plus the film is just plain gross at times, there's a scene where Emilio Estevez is talking to a man on the toilet doing "his business" which is unfortunately audible. The music is great though, the explosions and stuff are cool, the main truck has the face of the Green Goblin from Spider Man on it, but that's about it for this one. I give it a 3.25/5. I do recommend the trailer though, Stephen King is hilariously crazy in it, seen below:

The Crawling Eye (1958)

Though some may love the name it often gets overlooked by serious moviegoers for obvious reasons. Those who look for and enjoy serious dramas the likes of Schindler's List, won't necessarily lean towards a film titled "The Crawling Eye". But here's what you should know about it and why those other people are missing out: The Misfits wrote a song about it, Stephen King is a fan and referenced the film in IT, and John Carpenter said it was a main inspiration for The Fog(1980). The movie was developed from the ruins of a failed British TV series (The Trollenberg Terror) The film is about aliens that hide in a mountain pass always hiding in fog. The aliens start decapitating mountain climbers and prepare for a descent to the village below. The plot is centers around a woman medium who has a psychic connection with the aliens. The film is very well acted, superbly filmed from a cinematography standpoint, and unlike most 50s "B-movies" it is very logically sound. The movie's feel is similar to Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945) or The original version of The Thing (1951 aka The Thing from Another World). Just like classic creature films like Cat People (1942) rarely do you ever see the monster, until the end. This is also probably one of the first films to cover the subject of decapitation, and it did a really good job with the special effects (ahead of most 1950s standards). Mystery Science Theater 3000 did do an episode on this movie, but trust me it's still legit. I give it a 4.5-5/5, I'd advise against watching the trailer because it shows the monster, and in my opinion knowing what the monster looks like is worth waiting for. This film is featured on Rue Morgue Magazine's list of 200 Alternative Horror Films You Need to See.

Stephen King's The Dead Zone (1983) original

 This one was really good, the story is very compelling and I can see why the novel was successful, as well as why both a remake and TV series (of the same name, lasted from 2002-06) were successful based off of this story. Everyone says it's one of Christopher Walken's best roles and I have to agree, plus I love movies/TV shows about psychics or psychic powers and connecting to "the other side" or predicting/altering the future. It's also nice to see Cronenberg direct a movie that doesn't have to be SO violent (unlike his other films), although it does have one very violent moment. I give the film a 4.75/5, (my ratings also take into consideration the genre of the film, so while the Funhouse I gave a 5/5 that's because it'a a perfect horror film to me, The Dead Zone is more of a mix of genres but overall a drama I'd have to say and not deserving of the highest ranked of dramas, even though it's still good, IMO). This film (along with several others I've reviewed) is on the list of Bravo's 100 Scariest Moments, as well as featured in the book Horror! by Kim Newman. Trailer below: