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.
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'm really beginning to love Clive Barker's writing. Candyman had wonderful social commentary and actually scared me in some parts (that doesn't normally happen). The story is wonderfully interesting and I think I will have to see one of the sequels now. It's refreshing to see a Black character as a horror villain and especially a complex one who not only makes you afraid of him but simultaneously endears you to him as well. The music was designed not to give away any of the jump scares the movie featured, unlike a typical horror movie. It's also refreshing to see a horror movie set in such an urban environment as the Chicago projects (filmed in a real project) where so much real horror and sadness actually takes place. also the actress in the film was under hypnosis for a lot of scenes, that was really effective, and if you think Wicker Man when you think "not the bees!" think again, It's also a wonderful psychological study of people and urban legends. Phillip Glass's scores tend to get on my nerves at times though, and it was a bit too bloody for me at times, so I give it a 4.75/5, view trailer below:
