I picked this one up because of its rep as a big cult classic and I heard it was a "so bad it's good" movie, but overall it treaded the line between being an actual "good" movie and a "so bad its good" movie. So overall I would say it's just a "bad" movie, but one did have some entertainment value to it. The film is about exactly what it sounds like, a "maniac cop" that goes around killing innocent people, but what's interesting is that the killer may or may not be an undead former police officer (that is what attracted me to this film). The film has somewhat of a traditional 80s slasher feel to it, but it tries to hard to be an intelligent mystery with a twist (which it's not), the twist and overall "mystery" are pretty predictable and have easily found solutions (they actually show you the name tag on the uniform of the killer in the movie's opening sequence). Tom Atkins plays the cop who is on the trail of the maniac cop throughout most of the film, and Bruce Campbell (who appeared in this film and it's 1st sequel in between filming Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness) plays the prime suspect who claims he's innocent. I loved Tom Atkins in The Fog, Halloween III, and of course Night of the Creeps, he's still good in this film but I think the writing was a little hokey overall for everyone in this film. Bruce Campbell really shines with his typical slapstick style towards the end of the film, and that quite frankly is the best part of this movie. In the last 15-20 minutes or so is when the most action occurs, Bruce Campbell starts being Bruce Campbell, the maniac cop is revealed and all the good stuff happens, the rest of the film is not as entertaining as the ending. Also another problem with the film is when they finally do reveal the killer's face the makeup is so bad and actors face is so bizarre that all the ominous scary atmosphere of the film and persona of the killer gets washed away with the first glimpse of the killer's face, which needless to say is a big let down. The titular cop is played by cult and B-movie veteran Robert Z'dar (along with his inhumanly large jaw, which is all natural by the way), and he went on to reprise his role in the film's following two sequels. The film itself is directed by William Lustig who aside from this film and its sequels is most known for the infamously gorey 80s slasher Maniac. Overall the film was alright but it could've been so much better if it made up its mind and went with full on seriousness, or full on wackiness, it was too in-between for me so I give it a 3/5. It did have a great tag-line though: "You have the right to remain silent...forever!" You can watch the trailer below:
Every summer I like to watch a summer camp movie, I always like watching movies during the season in which they take place. This movie is famous for its "twist" ending, and it spawned several sequels. This movie is similar to the first two Friday the 13th films and The Burning, and in my opinion is better than the Friday films, but not as good as The Burning. The acting is pretty bad at parts, what makes this film interesting is its exploration of sexuality that you normally didn't see in films much around this time, let alone low budget teen horror movies (I speak of sexuality here as more of a gender/sexuality issue than just showing everybody sleeping around, which is what is more usually common in these types of films). All this being said the "twist" at the end while interesting and different, didn't really affect or change the incidents that occurred during the plot, in other words it's not hard to figure out who the killer is and the whole film makes you think the mystery and "twist" will change who you think it is, it doesn't and is a let down because of it. I give the film a 3/5; You can watch the whole film on Youtube here, and you can watch the trailer below:
Possession is one of the most bizarre films I've ever seen. It's an art house film that delves into the horror genre, but arguably is not about "possession" at all, unless you're talking about Sam Neill's character struggling with the fact he doesn't own his wife, or you argue how one's anger and fear and other emotions might "possess" someone. Because the film does not deal with demonic possession is what attracted me to the film in the first place, I must admit considering myself a religious person I do not personally handle films of that type well. This film was up for some big awards at Canne (including the Palme D'or) the year it came out and Isabelle Adjani won the best Actress prize for her role (the most powerful scene of the film is when she goes into a fit of madness, arguably "being possessed" in the U Bahn station, in which she was actually put into a state of hypnosis by the director). The synopsis of this film is that it is about a failing relationship between Adjani and Neill's characters and the love triangle that exists when Adjani starts seeing another man. She eventually stops coming home and nobody knows where she goes or what she does during the days anymore, but Adjani has a secret, she has just given birth to a Lovecraftian Cthulu type monster and hides it in an apartment. The film shows that complications can come from unexpressed feelings or unresolved emotions and issues and manifest themselves in the most horrific of ways (similar to Cronenberg's The Brood). The film takes place in Berlin before the wall fell, and having just been there for the first time this summer, it is interesting to see how things have changed, and what things have remained the same. Make no mistake this is an Art House film, much more so than it is a horror film, so be prepared for Bergman-esque shots and soliloquy, confusion and SO much symbolism. The
film's symbolism is very hard to understand and is a contributing factor as to what makes this film feel exhausting to the viewer, a different review of the film had this to say about the film: " You're left feeling a bit like the characters, struggling with an experience beyond the power of language to exorcise." And I love symbolism in film and go out of my way to heavily analyze it normally, but as soon as I tried to interpret what was said a million more questions come up and ultimately I'd forget the original idea, and I have read other reviews of people saying the same thing happened to them. While the film is one of the most unique, bizarre and exhausting things I've ever seen, it is wonderfully acted and shot cinematography wise. The film is indeed a unique experience. While it may be becoming easier to find as of late (you can buy it on amazon for about $20 or so) for the longest time it was not available on any video format, but somebody uploaded a bootleg copy of it to youtube and you can see the whole film here. I give the film a 3.5/5, you can watch the trailer below:
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:
I've been told to see this one for years, and I'm glad I finally did. It's one of the most influential horror films ever made, and for good reasons. The bizarre and haunting score for the film was composed by legendary Oscar winning film composer Maurice Jarre (Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago), the screenplay was written by the team of Boileau-Narcejac who are known for such film legends as Diabolique (1955), and Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958). The cinematography by Eugen Schufftan (Port of Shadows [1938], The Hustler [1961]) blends the styles of Jean Cocteau (Beauty and the Beast [1946]) with F.W. Murnau (Nosferatu [1922]). John Carpenter has even hinted that the famous Michael Myers' mask was inspired by the woman's mask in Eyes Without a Face, and let's not forget the Billy Idol hit song of the same name that was inspired by the film. Eyes is a french horror film about a doctor who is constantly trying to find a way to restore his daughter's face after she was disfigured in a car accident that he caused. As a result of the accident and her disfigurement, the daughter wears an eerie lifeless doll-like mask. In his search to repair her face however he has sought out experimental alternative methods that science and the medical profession would normally shun, he robs women of their faces in order to transplant them onto his daughter. Although the film's director insists the film's doctor is not a "mad doctor" this film influenced countless mad doctor/scientist movies that came after it. The doctor who at first sees normal turns out to be a cold emotionless sociopath, with no concern
of his victims. Along with the splendid music and cinematography, the acting is also flawless here. Although the film may seem a little dated (but in a way I can't quite put my finger on) it still stands the test of time feels less dated than some other films of a similar style from its era (Carnival of Souls [1962] for example). The only flaw I could see in this film was that the daughter's mask while great in its effect, was not actually a mask as you could see her lips move whenever she was "wearing" the mask and tried to speak. There were also some times when the film felt a little slow, but I feel as with many art house films, that was intentional and actually added to the unsettling feeling of the film. I give it a 5/5. The film is on the Criterion collection, and thus available on Hulu Plus. The film is also featured in Rue Morgue Magazine's 200 Alternative Horror Films You Need to See. Here's a link to a trailer someone constructed for the film.
I had high hopes for this one because I'm a huge fan of The Monster Squad (1987) and Night of the Creeps was the first film for the Monster Squad's director Fred Dekker (House[1986], Robocop 3[1993]). Night of the Creeps is a wonderful cross genre film, with parts of it fitting into Sci-fi, horror, comedy, action, romance, slasher, and everything in between. Night of the creeps is one part tribute to 50s Sci-Fi B films, one part teen scream (horror movie that appeals to teens), one part parasitic alien film, one part detective film, and one part crazy Animal House-esque comedy. With all those areas to cover it would be fairly easy to mess up in any one of them or have the film not feel like a whole, but Dekker wrote a phenomenal screenplay for the film and never at any point do the films different genre components take away from the strength of the plot or the film as a whole. This is as classic as 80s movies get, the movie has all the classic 80s sterotypes but at the same time it has so many things most 80s movies, or movies in general for that matter, don't have. The film's highlights include a wonderful wise cracking character who happens to be crippled (you don't so many disabled people in movies in general and this film creates a wonderful character who's strong despite his affliction), great catchy phrases from the detective character (every time he answers a phone or acknowledges someone he says "Thrill Me!"), killing zombies with Flame Throwers, explosions, lawn mowers and more, puppet aliens, great special effects and wonderful Animal House inspired Frat antics. The plot is that parasitic aliens have gotten lose into town the night of the college's formal dance, there's a lot more to it than that but it's best to just see it. Sure there were some parts where the acting is poor or some lines that make no sense (such as the detective shouting "it's Miller time!" while killing a zombie), but overall the screenplay is absolutely wonderful, and so are the actors. The special effects were made by some of the soon to be greatest make-up and special effects artists in Hollywood. Everyone usually raves about the actor Tom Atkins and his performance as the hard boiled detective in this movie, and while I love his character and his dialogue, I don't think it's a role that couldn't have been pulled
off just as well by another actor, though this is probably his best loved role. This film is a huge cult classic and ultimately was denied success in its time like so many genre bending films because people didn't know how to market it. The film is also insanely quotable with my favorite line being the one that is echoed in the poster up there: "I've got good news and bad news girls, the good news is your dates are here" "What's the bad news?" "They're dead." The film has endured over the years because of its intense cult following, and we can only hope that they will keep it around for as long as films can be accessed on one format or another. I give it a 5/5. The movie is featured in Rue Morgue Magazine's 200 Alternative Horror Films You Need to See book, and you can watch the trailer below:
If you enjoyed Wayne's World (1992), This is Spinal Tap (1984), Strange Brew (1983), Anvil: The Story of Anvil (2008) or The Big Lebowski (1998), then boy have I got a movie for you. This is a Canadian cult classic about two metal head hicks from Alberta who are just as entertaining and deserving of a fan following as Wayne or Garth, Bob or Doug McKenzie, or Walter and The Dude. The film is shot mockumentary style just like Spinal Tap, so the people in the film are all actors and the characters are all fictional but they feel just like real people and the movie is very realistic (for the most part). There is no real plot except for the development of the characters. Terry and Dean the main characters are two
metalhead/stoner bums who are concerned more with partying than anything else pretty much. Dean's character does develop testicular cancer though and one of the main characters die, so the film has some serious tones but the film handles them with such hilarity that you won't even notice the seriousness that much. This movie is full of wonderful quotable lines like "I recommend you try another sport...like knitting!" or "Turn up the good button turn down the suck button! I think you broke the knob off!" Just as Walter and the Dude have bowling as a pass-time, Terry and Dean have beer and fighting. I didn't stop to count but I wouldn't be surprised if over a hundred beers were consumed by the duo on-screen. The film tends to speak to people in their 20s who might be in or just out of college and who are failing to cope with the hardships of maturity and the real world after school. I found the movie endlessly entertaining and I highly recommend it and hope it catches on here in the states. I also watched the sequel which was made ten years after and is more of the same but with far more serious overtones and more well polished production value. I give the first one a 5/5 and the second a 3.5/5. You can view the trailer below:
