Tag: Movie Review

Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)

Posted on by fenrisfil

Tonight’s movie review comes courtesy of Walt Disney and Ray Bradbury in the dark carnival story “Something Wicked This Way Comes” from 1983. A movie with a complex and troubled production, at one point it was to star Kirk Douglas and at another it was going to be directed by Sam Pekinpah. It is based off of Ray Bradbury’s book by the same name, though that book was originally intended to be a screenplay (But the movie fell through, so it became a novel and was only later adapted back to a screenplay).

Other names attached to this at various times included Steven Spielberg directing and Christopher Lee or Peter O’Toole as the villain. The movie ended up with Jack Clayton directing… mostly. After a dispute with Disney over the movies tone and the bad performance of the test screening he was effectively replaced and the studio spent six months and $15m on reshoots. He wasn’t the only person sent packing though as they also scrapped the entire score written by Georges Delerue, which they had decided was too dark in tone. Delerue was replaced by James Horner who provided a score that emphasized the small town America feel a bit more and the terror a bit less. The film also dumped it’s editor Argyle Nelson Jr. and had assistant editor Barry Gordon take his place instead.

Beware The Autumn People.

With Kirk Douglas no longer available and O’Toole and Lee too expensive the casting settled on Jason Robards as the heroic father “Charles Holloway” and Jonathan Price as the sinister “Mr. Dark”. For the child leads Vidal Peterson was cast as “Will Holloway” and Shawn Carson as “Jim Nightshade”. Strangely enough Vidal was dark haired and Shawn blonde, but they had their hair dyed the opposite to play their respective roles. This was basically on Bradbury’s insistence that Carson was perfect for the Jim Nightshade role. Because of the reshoots there is at least one scene where the kids are noticeably older. The cast is capped off with Diane Ladd and Pam Grier (As the mysterious “Dust Witch”).

This is a story about regrets, pining for days gone by, the bond between a father and son and of course evil beings that feed on misery. In this story said evil beings materialize in the form of a carnival and set their sights on a small sleepy American town in Illinois called “Green Town”. We see the story unfold through the eyes of the two boys Will and Jim a mischievous pair that see more than they should have and threaten the evil Mr. Dark’s plans. The hero of the piece though is Will’s father Charles who must overcome his own doubts, regrets and weariness to rise to the battle ahead.

Then Rang The Bells Both Loud And Deep.

So this is a Disney movie and that is apparent on screen. Though this is in their more adult period and several years after they broke into that market with “The Black Hole” (1979), it is still geared to be family entertainment and of course focusing on the kids as protagonists places this into a fairly safe category of child friendly horror.That’s not to say that it doesn’t manage to achieve some menace and creepiness. There’s only really one notable horror scene outside of straight character interaction and your mileage may vary with it depending on how well you get on with spiders. Overall though I’d say it’s quite well balanced and I suspect Disney made the right move in toning things down.

I have listened to the original soundtrack from Delerue and it’s actually a superb soundtrack, but it does come across as some kind of epic horror. James Horner however was clearly aiming for something more specific in his version and bring out a bit of the quaintness of the small town setting and a bit of quirkiness where the carnival is involved while maintaining a sense of wonder and mystery. The horror elements are still there but like the film itself it is finely balanced. You can tell Horner was given specific direction here because this really doesn’t sound like his other work of the period. As I mentioned with my “Wolfen” review, as talented as Horner is a lot of his soundtracks sound very similar. Not this one! This could be a Danny Elfman score.

No Man’s a Hero To Himself.

The focus on the relationship between a father and son is nice to see and gives a heartwarming conclusion. While Disney rarely does such things these days, it was pretty common in the 80’s to have this kind of traditional family tale. But it’s a timeless thing as there will always be fathers and sons. The focus on regrets and missing the past is another timeless theme and the evil that comes to take advantage of that… well it sort of reminds me of modern studios rebooting all our beloved franchises of the past. In a way the villain is symbolic of modern Disney!

Speaking of the villain, Jonathan Price who wasn’t especially well known at this point, is very good. While Pam Grier’s Dust Witch is certainly creepy, she rarely interacts with the heroes, while Mr. Dark gets a lot of dialogue and delivers it with both mystery and menace. On some occasions I thought perhaps he was talking a bit too much, but overall he was the highlight of the movie. Not that there are any weak links here really. Even the creepy side characters with their blank expressions manage to be menacing without having to do much but stare blankly and occasionally smile.

By The Pricking Of My Thumbs.

So in conclusion, this is a solid movie and I wish Disney still made them like this. It’s not too adult for kids or too childish for adults, it has enough elements to it to just about call it a horror, but manages to be a heartwarming family tale on top of that. It’s reasonably well acted and we actually got two great soundtracks out of it. What leaves me a little bit torn is I’m just not sure if a darker version could have been more interesting, at least for me personally. Plus had they been able to pull off the planned CGI (Yes, in the 80’s!) it could have been quite visually spectacular too.

This is a high 6.5/10 that I will definitely be rounding up to a 7 for my IMDB score. For me though I felt it was a little lacking in places where they could have pushed elements a bit further and so falls just short of a straight 7. That doesn’t mean I don’t recommend it though (6.5 is still high from me). If you want a Halloween movie you can play for the whole family (Including kids) this would be an excellent choice.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Invaders From Mars (1953)

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Tonight’s movie is a classic B-Movie Science Fiction Horror from the fifties. “Invaders from Mars” hit the theaters in 1953 and was the first movie to hit the big screen about alien body snatchers. This is far more Sci-Fi than Horror but it’s close enough to make my October viewing. It was also remade in the 1980’s by Tobe Hooper, so it was enough of a Horror to attract one of the genre’s masters to the remake. This version was written by Richard Blake and directed by William Cameron Menzies. It was an independent production based on an original script.

Body Snatchers!

Viewing Invaders From Mars for the first time seventy years after it came out requires us to have a little perspective on things. Obviously it has a lot of similarities to the Body Snatchers story, which is much more famous and manages a remake about once every couple of decades. However it’s worth noting that the first Body Snatchers movie came out three years after this one and even the novel on which it is based came out a year after this. However, while there may have been some influence it’s worth noting that Robert Heinlein’s story “The Puppet Masters” pre-dates both of these as it was released in 1951.

So why was this trope so common in the 50’s? Well, the Red Menace of course. I’m sure you already knew that since you can’t read anything about 50’s science fiction and horror without pages of someone talking about communism. So I’m not going to waste much of your time on that. That said, an insidious presence trying to take over a community from the inside for nefarious reasons is just as valid today as it was then (Perhaps more so), so it’s a great example of how timeless a movie can be when it’s message is kept as subtext and metaphor and isn’t too on the nose.

The Insidious Presence

This is very much a movie of two halves. The first part is Body Snatchers light. As mentioned above, not a knock off due to the timing of releases, but it doesn’t drive the concept anywhere near as hard as “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. The other key difference is this movie has a child protagonist (“David”) who we follow from start to finish. David is played by Jimmy Hunt, who largely retired from acting not long after this movie but did return to take on the small role of the police chief in the 80’s remake. For what it’s worth he does a pretty good job here. Not the best performance I’ve seen from a child actor but perfectly serviceable.

The first half of the movie kicks off when David spots what appears to be a UFO landing in a Sandpit area near his house. After his father goes to check it out, he comes back changed. David starts to notice several other people have been changed including his mother, a girl neighbor of his and the Chief of Police. He eventually is listened to by a friendly police office and a Doctor that meet up with a local Astronomer that knows the boy and his father who confirms the boy isn’t prone to making stuff up. This is where the story shifts and the Martians deception becomes a lot less of an issue.

Turning The Tables

The second half of the movie is instead about the army trying to find a way to defeat these martians. At this point it becomes a fairly standard Sci-Fi affair but with a slight twist at the end of the story maybe being a dream (Or not, it’s unclear form the ending). This second half is pretty reasonable for a B-Movie Sci-Fi of the 1950’s, but doesn’t feature much of note outside of a pretty cool design for the Martian “Intelligence”, who was basically the Meekon with tentacles. Considering the effects limitations and budget this is surprisingly well executed. That said, there is a great deal of repeat footage in this section (Both of military convoys

The first half though is where most of the horror aspects lay and it’s done pretty well. Victims being sucked down into the sand by martians, the changed people’s cold aggressive attitude (Including a hard slap to David from his “Father” fairly early on) and the mystery of what they are up to all play out rather well. The only issue with once we reach that halfway point most of this impact is lost and honestly by that point the kid largely just gets in the way of the narrative.

Conclusion

All told though this is a pretty solid B-Movie. It shows a great deal of imagination and it’s a shame this film is mostly forgotten due to the large shadow cast by Don Siegel’s 1956 masterpiece “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. Next year I will try and fit Hooper’s remake into my October viewing. That said, the second half is notably weaker than the first, the ending is an anti-climax and frankly the movie hasn’t aged that well. This is worth viewing if you are into 1950’s B-Movies or are a movie buff in general, but otherwise probably not worth the effort tracking down. I’m scoring this (In the context of the modern day) at a high 5.5/10.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10.

Lords of Chaos (2018)

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Tonight I’m reviewing “Lords of Chaos” from 2018. This is based on a true story and while changes have been made for dramatic effect I cannot emphasize enough that the reality may be stranger than fiction. This is also a story of additional interest to me as someone that has spent most of their life studying and working around music and musicians, so getting a fly on the wall view of one of the most messed up music scenes in history is fascinating.

Black Metal.

This is the story of the Norwegian Black Metal scene of the early 90’s. It’s focus is Mahem (Band), Helvete (Record Store) and Deathlike Silence Productions (Label) founder Øystein Aarseth, a.k.a. “Euronymous”. The movie is directed by Jonas Åkerlund, with a screenplay by Akerlund and Dennis Magnusson. It is based off the book by the same name by Michael Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind. It’s worth noting though Åkerlund is mostly known for music videos, he does have ties to the Black Metal scene as a former drummer of the band “Bathory”. While not part of this particular scene, they were a big influence on it.

Before moving on, I should add that since this is based on a fairly well know true story, most of this review is full of spoilers. So I won’t be pointing each one out, it’s just too hard to talk about this movie without mentioning the events. You have been warned!

Voice Of A Tortured Skull.

The star of the movie is Rory Culkin (Macaulay’s brother) as the notorious Euonymous. In many ways the film is also a bit of a Neo-Noir since it gives the doomed character the role of narrator alongside being the protagonist. In the film, Euronymous is portrayed as having a role in the scene lands some way between the role John Lydon and Malcom MacClaren had in the Punk Scene of the 1970’s. He thrives on being deliberately controversial and antagonistic, but there is a big question of how much of it is genuine and how much is just marketing. The truth of that is something that has been debated since the 90’s, but this movie definitely pushes the idea that he was only ever about the hype and never really believed in any of it.

The secondary character of our story Kristian ‘Varg’ Vikernes (Played by Emory Cohen) is portrayed as a bit of a Sid Vicious character. A fan and scene member that is determined to turn all of the hype into reality. I would call him a true believer, but as pointed out by some journalists that interview him during one scene his beliefs are actually very broad and vague. He’s vaguely a Satanist but also supports the Norse Gods and is vaguely a Nazi. When we meet him, he is embarrassed by having a “Scorpions” patch on his jacket, which he goes home and removes shortly after. He’s basically portrayed as obsessed with what people think of him and determined to be the most Black Metal of the Black Circle (The group of friends within the scene).

Funeral Fog.

If not clear yet, the movie doesn’t have much respect for these characters. The rest of the group is portrayed as mostly stupid and easily lead. There are the occasional exception where someone walks away from the craziness, starting after the suicide of Mahem’s original front-man “Dead” (played by Jack Kilmer). Euonymous’ reaction to the suicide is to immediately turn it into a hype/publicity exercise, taking a series of photos , and creating necklaces with skull fragments, which he would give to circle members. This causes band member “Necrobutcher” to quit in disgust. But for better or worse the incident helped really kick off the scene both in reality and in this story.

When Vikernes joins the group, after some initial mocking (For not drinking or eating meat) he ends up the one that takes things to the next level by going out and burning down a nearby Church. Euonymous attempts to take credit for, for “Inspiring” him. This clearly plants the first seeds of doubt into Vikernes that the scene founder may not be the man he thought he was. The stunt increases the hype surrounding the scene and leads to the circle becoming competitive. From then on each member sets out to try and be the most outrageous on the scene.

From The Dark Past.

Several more Churches are burned down, but things escalate further when one of the members “Faust” commits a murder. Between all this we see Culkin doing a great job of showing a character torn between a desire to stay on top of the scene as the main guy while also realizing he’s way over his head and may not be able to stop what he has unleashed. After Varg Vikernes foolishly goes to the media the rift between him and Euonymous grows to a boiling point. This leads Vikernes to commits the final black act of the movie, killing our narrator and protagonist.

What we are looking at here is how a community can become toxic, where the need to fit in and peer pressure can drive people to do outrageous acts. It also shows how buying into ones own hype can lead to self destruction. In the end, the most infamous act of the scene is the murder of it’s founding member. There is definite poetry to this since in the movie he is portrayed as being obsessed with creating a legacy through infamy. Whether that reflects the real Euonymous or not is something we will probably never know.

Cursed in Eternity.

In regards to the violence in the movie, we’re only really talking about two murders but they are portrayed as realistically and brutally as possible. The scenes are actually quite disturbing and that seems fitting consider we are seeing fictional depictions of real murders.

This is a cautionary tale for sure, warning of the dangers of hype, nihilism, peer pressure and the desire to fit in. This isn’t the only music scene that lead to extreme self destruction from those that couldn’t tell the difference between reality and hype, though it may have become the most messed up generally. Usually the true believers only end up destroying themselves, but sometimes they ruin other lives. If you want to understand how people become extremists and terrorists examining the psychology behind the Early Norwegian Black Metal scene wouldn’t be a bad place to start.

Buried by Time and Dust.

This is a movie both fascinating and disturbing, but also occasionally funny. It’s well performed and has a powerful message. To think this could only happen in one scene would be foolish. Young people, easily influenced and determined to fit in can be very dangerous. If we build a world that encourages narcissism and nihilism how do we expect it to end up? I’m not sure if that is all deliberate commentary by the director but it’s what I took from the movie. Anyway, I’m giving this a 7/10.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

Wolfen (1981)

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Tonight’s horror movie is cult 80’s Werewolf movie “Wolfen”. I came across this via a cult movie facebook group and being a fan of Werewolves it was a no brainer to check out as part of my October Challenge for this year. The movie is based on the Whitley Strieber novel “The Wolfen” from 1978 (Strieber also wrote “Communion” and “The Hunger”, both becoming cult movies in their own right. If you know about “Communion” you will be aware that Strieber claims to have been a victim of Alien abduction himself, though that abduction is alleged to have happened several years after writing “The Wolfen”.

Huff and Puff

The movie is directed by Michael Wadleigh, who is mostly famous as a cinematographer for live music documentaries. Most notably he directed the Oscar winning Woodstock documentary. This however is his only feature film which makes him a peculiar choice. Similarly the screenwriter David Eyre had only penned one previous movie, the Western “Cattle Annie and Little Britches” (1980). No lack of experience for the movies star though, Albert Finney who had a very high profile career in the 70’s.

The main support comes from Diane Venora, though there is a smaller supporting role for Edward James Olmos, who plays a Native American suspected of knowing something about the attacks. Omost was always able to shine even in small roles and he does once again here.

One of the first things of note is the James Horner soundtrack. The thing with Horner in this period is his soundtracks largely were interchangeable. This movie is in between “Battle Beyond the Stars” (1980) and “The Wrath of Khan” (1982) and the soundtrack is incredibly similar to both, despite this being a Horror and those Sci-Fi Space Operas. However, even if similar it’s still good and even the more grandiose themes actually fit with this particular horror, so I’ll give the similarities a pass.

Wolf-Vision™

In regards to effects and gore, this movie has become quite dated. The visual effects to show the “Wolf Vision” are reminiscent of Predator and given this movie is from several years earlier it’s entirely possible Wolfen influenced the later more famous movie. However in Predator those effects actually mean something (The Predator seeing heat), while here it’s literally just to let us know we are seeing the monster’s point of view. It’s not like the visuals reflect how a wolf would see things (Which would mostly be smells).

The gore meanwhile is somewhat lacking for an 80’s movie, but advancements in that department were fairly new and this movie was probably in production before those techniques had really spread through the industry. The movie features a lot of dismemberment, but each time it is done by showing the victim about to be hit, then showing some nearby pavement and someone off camera obviously throws the fake limb to the floor. It’s actually sort of funny. Still, despite that, the film mostly practices a “What you don’t see” approach and that part works very well for it.

Wolfen Down Your Senators

Despite being from 1981, this is a movie that definitely belongs among 70’s horror and the backdrops, filming style and especially the “Technology” has 1970’s written all over. Really everything outside of the Soundtrack fits better in the Seventies. Not that this is a problem, since the tone of the story is more in line with movies from that decade anyway. It actually feels more like a Drama or Science Fiction Film for the most part. Reminding me a lot of the Quatermass movies/shows and I think Finney would have made a great Quatermass has the opportunity came up.

It’s important to note thishis isn’t your standard Werewolf story. The Wolfen aren’t technically Werewolves, they are an entirely different species of intelligent, supernatural wolves that have lived secretly among mankind for centuries. This is actually a “Man shouldn’t mess with Nature” story, with strong ties to the Native American community.. These it’s worth noting are changes from the book, Wadleigh is an environmental activist so it’s not a big surprise to see him rework the story in this manner.

Bark At The Moon

Really for a first time director, Wadleigh did a pretty good job and his inexperience likely lead to some of the more creative choices, including the Wolf-Vision™. But is this a great Werewolf(ish) movie? Not really. It’s hard not to compare this to “American Werewolf in London” and “The Howling”, both of which also came out the same year. But while those were ground breaking and have been heavily imitated since, Wolfen’s paws are firmly in the past. This is a 70’s movie at heart for good or ill.

However as I mentioned this isn’t really a Werewolf movie, so it deserves some slack in that regard. The movie definitely has a lot of charm to it too and I can see why it became a cult favourite. The performances and music are above average, the visuals are mixed bag of good and bad and the plot is unique but not especially compelling. This just about hits a 6/10.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

Mirrors (2008)

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For tonight’s October horror review I’m watching the Kiefer Sutherland horror “Mirrors” from 2008. As the name suggests this is a horror revolving around mirrors. It’s not the most original concept as many horrors have made use of mirrors. The mirror scare is a well know trope and going further films like John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness had the devil try and enter our world through a mirror (And this was a two way portal too). Similarly the movie Legend has The Lord of Darkness able to use mirrors as portals and the end of Phantasm has The Tall man attack from within a Mirror.

ediS rehtO ehT

This movie itself is loosely based on a Korean horror called “Into the Mirror” (2003). Quite often with these Americanized versions they lose the depth and subtext of the originals and instead offer up fairly dry by the numbers interpretations. This version was directed by Alexandre Aja, with a screenplay from Aja and Gregory Levasseur. Looking into it (As I’ve not seen the Korean movie), it appears Aja threw away the original scripts that were a direct remake and went in his own direction only utilizing a few aspect (And hence why the movie is not called “Into the Mirror”). A bold strategy for sure. I’m not sure it paid off however.

What this version does have going for it is Keither Sutherland, a solid veteran actor with several decent horrors to his name. He plays ex-cop turned security guard “Ben Carson”. He is joined by Paula Patton as his wife and Amy Smart as his sister. The focus is very much on Sutherland though and that is for the best. In brief he was a detective but is on suspension (For reasons that factor into nothing) and has taken a job as a night security guard at an old shut down department store (Which had been gutted by a fire several years previously). While there he begins seeing things in the mirrors and realities something very evil resides behind them. I’ll be hitting spoilers now, so skip to the end if you don’t want spoilers.

rirroM rirroM

Ben has a lot of elements to his backstory that never really factor in that much to his story. His suspension is talked about briefly and moved on from. His alcoholism is talked about briefly, thrown in as a reason why people don’t believe what he tells them and then forgotten. When he discovers his sister has been murdered Sutherland does his best with the scene, but the plot seems barely bothered by it following this. Indeed the police having found a woman with her jaw physically torn off her while she lay in the bath seem fairly unconcerned.

But that’s far from the only thing that shows the lazy writing behind this. The evil itself is a demon that passed from the woman it had possessed into the mirror world. That demon can kill anyone, anywhere there is a reflective surface and we are told it then feeds on the souls of that person. Yet despite that it is obsessed with returning to the body of the woman it possessed, thereby losing those powers and being vulnerable to being killed. This is especially silly given the woman is very old at this point and you can’t imagine her body would last that long. But the demon really wants out for some reason and the good guys want to give it what it wants apparently just assuming that will be a better situation.

noisulcnoC

So nonsensical plot and poor character writing aside, was there anything to this movie? Well there are a few scenes with some cool mirror horror in it. We have some creative visuals, though none of it is really anything truly original (As I mentioned, mirror tropes are common in Horror). The most original elements were when the characters reflections appear, do harm to themselves and that harm impacts the viewer. The problem is the mirror monster is only as powerful as the plot needs it to be at that point. It’s unclear if it likes messing with people first. When Ben has brought the vessel the monster seeks to the building, it continues to vaguely try and murder his family, but in ways that suggest it doesn’t really want to kill them (Especially given what happened to Ben’s sister).

So overall, between the visuals and having Sutherland as lead there was enough to entertain me for the duration. It helps the plot doesn’t drag, it just rarely makes sense and often feels lazy and generic. The truth is it probably could have done with a few more character moments which could have been traded for a few less plot hoops to jump through before we find out what it’s actually all about. Given that conclusion was a disappointment, the journey feels somewhat pointless. This movie just about scrapes a 5/10.

Rating: 5 out of 10.

Tourist Trap (1979)

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At the crossroads between the gory slashers of the 1980’s and the gritty, anything goes horrors of the 1970’s sits this David Schmoeller directed classic supernatural pro-slasher from 1979. Produced for Charlie Band’s production company and considered one of the better movies he produced (Which given he’s made over 300, that’s a good accolade). Originally this was intended to be directed by John Carpenter, but the deal fell through on terms (It’s unclear if this was on pay, Carpenter getting final cut or something else) and Schmoeller was asked to direct his own pitch.

The Trap

Written by Schmoeller and J. Larry Carroll, the movie features Chuck Connors (Who would later play the main villain in the 80’s “Werewolf” series) as Slauson, a psychotic with supernatural powers including the ability to animate mannequins. The main support come from Jocelyn Jones and Jon Van Ness. In the timeline of horror this sits between Halloween and Friday the 13th and while it is mostly supernatural it definitely has slasher elements. So let’s see if it still holds up 44 years later.

The set up is fairly standard horror stuff (It wasn’t as cliché in 1979, but it wasn’t exactly original either), a group of young adults travelling through the California desert get a flat tire and end up taking refuge in an old tourist trap (That has been shut down since they built the highway through the area). They meet old man Slauson who appears to live there alone after his wife died and his brother went to Hollywood to build animatronics. Naturally they start getting picked off one by one until we’re left with a final girl (It wasn’t always a girl, but is here).

Psionic Psycho

But this isn’t a standard slasher. It actually seems to draw influence from a variety of 70’s horrors. Not just the gritty proto-slashers like “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974), “The Town That Dreaded Sundown” (1976), “The Hills Have Eyes” (1977) and of course “Halloween” (1978), but also supernatural films like “Carrie” (1976), and “The Omen” (1976). Slauson’s abilities are never explained (And didn’t need to be). He is unnaturally strong, can move objects with his mind and cause mannequins to act like they are alive. Even on occasion giving them the appearance of being human. He can also do this in reverse: Turning people into mannequins. It seems the destiny of his victims is to end up as mannequins for his macabre collection.

These abilities are paired with a playful sadism where he seems to enjoy toying with his victims to elicit the maximum amount of terror. Even at one point deliberately causing a victim to die of fright. Though it’s clear Slauson is mad, it’s never quite clear how mad. For a while he pretends to be his brother Davey and acts like he is even saying he wants to kill Slauson, but once the ploy is revealed his brother is forgotten. More confusing perhaps is how he talks to his mannequins. Given his powers, this perhaps isn’t as crazy as it first appears.

Death, Dolls and Doctor Phibes

Cast wise, the youngsters were all fine. Nothing special, even for the final girl, but nothing bad either. But this is Connors’ movie and he puts in a solid and believable performance. Especially effective was his monotone voice when he is in psycho mode that really increased the creepiness. The music matches the movies tone of quirky and creepy in equal measures. I would have preferred it a little less quirky, but it’s still a good score that does it’s job well. Well enough that I actually found myself listening while I write this review.

While a lot of the set up, chase and cat and mouse games between Slauson and his victims feel quite dated by today’s standards, the movie excels with the creepiness of the murder scenes and the variety it manages while maintaining the overall theme. We have death by telekinesis, death by animatronics, a torture murder that could have come straight out of a Doctor Phibes’ film (Another clear influence) and a death by… <SPOILER> … randomly turning into a mannequin. <END SPOILER> I also liked the general grittiness of it, simple touches like having a victim’s teeth bleed as he desperately tries to bite through the ropes binding him to save a woman from being killed. It all helps the feel.

The Ending (SPOILERS)

The ending of the movie is an interesting one and leaves it a little open to interpretation. As I mentioned one murder involves a character going from about to attack Slauson with an axe to turning into a mannequin and having their arm and then head pulled off. After this all the mannequin’s become life like with the mannequin of Slauson’s wife taking on a human form. The final girl kills Slauson and then drives off with the mannequin versions of her friends in her car…. Yes it’s a very strange ending.

I can’t help but wonder if we are meant to conclude that all the characters other than Slauson, including the final girl were mannequins all along. That theory could go as far as saying the whole thing is just a crazy guy playing with his dolls. Perhaps. Alternatively maybe Molly has just gone mad herself now (Seems to be Wikipedia’s view) or maybe she’s not mad (But still obviously traumatized) and just didn’t want to leave her friends remains, even in doll form, in the Tourist Trap.

Yes, this 1979 movie has Trollface in it decades before it became a meme.

Conclusion

This is a bit of a hidden gem and likely a lot of fun for fans of 70’s horror. The movie is gritty, smart and ridiculous in equal measures. It does feel notably cheap though and shares a flaw in common with a lot of modern horrors in that I didn’t really care about any of the victims. However this is a 40+ year old film in a very saturated Horror genre that still manages to feel original. That pushes my score up to a narrow 6.5/10. This deserves it’s status as a cult classic.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Possessor (2020)

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Last October I was introduced to Brandon Cronenberg, son of David Cronenberg through his movie “Infinity Pool” (2022). While it wasn’t one of my top films of the year, I was impressed by Brandon’s style and interested by both the similarities and differences with his father. So for this years Halloween Challenge I had a look for anything else directed by Brandon and found “Possessor”. It actually scores higher than Infinity Pool on IMDB (and more than Brandon’s only other feature film “Antiviral” (2012). So it seemed worth a shot. Possibly several shots and a few stabbings. Let’s find out!

Familiar Territory.

Written and Directed by Brandon Cronenberg, possessor stars Andrea Riseborough (as “Tasya Vos”) and Christopher Abbott (As “Colin Tate” and “Tasya Vos” in Tate’s body). It also has a support role for Jennifer Jason Leigh (Who also starred in David Cronenberg’s “Existenz” (1999)) and Sean Bean who you naturally assume is not going to survive the movie, but I’m not giving spoilers. The set up is very much something from a Science Fiction Action movie and had it been in that genre I’d probably comment on it not being especially interesting. However, this is Brandon Cronenberg, so I’m not expecting explosions and car chases.

Much like with Infinity Pool, the plot here is based on a fairly out there science fiction concept, in this case taking control of another persons body and using it to perform assassinations. Both movies are also sort of casual about it, the movie doesn’t appear to be set notably in the future and there is no real explanation about the technology. It ultimately is not about the tech and instead more about human psychology and the film uses the technology to examine that.

What It Is About And What It Really Is About.

True to form, the story seems barely interested in the actual assassination job for which Vos was hired, instead it is really about her mental state and that of her victims. This is a film about identity and the dark desires that hide in the back of peoples’ minds and provides a conclusion that is… well, very Cronenberg. Like with Infinity Pool, the classic Body Horror stuff you tend to expect from the family is present but used sparingly (Except on the marketing material, where it’s overused to the point that it could be called misleading).

What grounds the film more in Horror than Sci-Fi is we are looking at the main characters journey into her own darkness. Shedding her humanity (Much of which seemed to be faked, reacting as people would expect instead of how she feels). While this is laid out for the viewer fairly early on, the journey still offers some surprises and there are perhaps some double meanings behind a few of the scenes. Pacing wise it is a little slow with probably too much focus on people having sex (Another Cronenberg trait) but neither of these are particularly problematic. The film has a feel of a dream and the Jim Williams soundtrack is clearly designed to emphasize this.

Dark Desires

Abbott and Riseborough put in solid performances. Both play Vos, but in Abbots case only while she is in Tate’s body. This means Abbott has to convince the viewer he is two different people in one body, in some cases including Vos pretending to be Tate and others in a way that is meant to feel like it could be either. He does this pretty well. Risenborough meanwhile gets to play Vos as herself, which is largely unemotional and cold, but underneath that a character disturbed and frustrated by her own emotions. She does it well.

Overall I feel about this movie a lot like I did with Infinity Pool. It is interesting and well executed. However, it is a pretty linear feeling journey where we always feel like we are just slowly plodding from A to B. There is a little bit of depth but not enough to really drive discussion. The technology involved is one that obviously opens a lot of philosophical debate (Like in Infinity Pool) and yet Brandon (Again) ignores most of that to hyper focus on a fairly simple character journey.

Once again this feels like taking a David Cronenberg film and watering it down a bit to make it more accessible to the audience. The end result is a movie I definitely enjoyed, but will probably not watch a second time. I can’t help but feel Brandon has an all time great Horror in him, but this isn’t it. It is instead a narrow 6/10.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

Deadly Friend (1986)

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For today’s review I’m checking in on an 80’s Wes Craven movie that somehow never made it on to my screen until now. This is “Deadly Friend” from 1986. Sandwiched between two of Craven’s best movies 1984’s “Nightmare on Elm Street” and 1988’s “Serpent and the Rainbow” you’d think this was peak Craven, but Wes was never particularly consistent and this movie doesn’t have the best reputation. Then again neither did “Shocker” from 1989 and that is one of my top guilty pleasures (Most of which are in the Horror genre, naturally). So let’s see where this one lands.

BB Thing

The movie was written by Bruce Joel Rubin (Ghost, Jacob’s Lader) and is based off the novel “Friend” by Diana Henstell. It Stars Kirsty Swanson (The future big screen “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”) as “Samantha”, a girl with an abuse drunk father and Matthew Labyorteaux as “Paul”, a boy genius that has just moved into the area.

The plot is more than a little far fetched since right at the start we are introduced to “BB”, a full AI robot that Paul seems to have just thrown together in his spare time. Of course being a horror we are introduced to it strangling a would be thief trying to steal from the family car, not realising the robot was in the back. As the family come back to the car, the robot lets the thief go, but clearly we are meant to know this AI was always dangerous.

Two Minds, One Rampage

Choking aside the first half of the movie has shades of your standard 80’s family movie. The robot reminds me a little of Johnny 5 from Short Circuit (But cheaper, which makes sense given it’s not a military construction), but with a very 80’s slasher movie set up where we are introduced to a string of obnoxious characters that we all know won’t be making it to the end of the movie. None of this is bad though, just a little bit quirky and if you grew up in the 80’s likely a little nostalgic.

The second half of the movie is more of a mixed bag. Following BB’s demise at the hands of a shotgun totting grumpy old woman and Samantha’s at the hands of her father, the pair are effectively merged into the titular “Deadly Friend”. Paul determined to save Samantha (Who is brain dead and about to have her life support cut off) comes up with a crazy idea to use the chip from BB to fix her brain (Likening it to a simpel pacemaker). This is clearly a bad idea, but Paul is a bit of a mad scientist, totally oblivious to the slightly psychotic nature of the AI he created.

Bad Makeup

The biggest problem here is that Kirsty Swanson with excessive black eye shadow and doing the zombie walk isn’t exactly terrifying. But I don’t blame her for that, the set up of being a basically a cyborg zombie doesn’t leave a lot you can do as an actor to be terrifying, it really is down to the make up job and directing and this is one of the laziest make up jobs in monster movie history. They could have ramped up the cyborg part a bit or alternatively not had her be a total zombie, so she can move quickly. But we got what we got. The two main revenge scenes are actually pretty good, though one plays more seriously and the other just made me laugh out loud for the cartoon gore (Spoiler: This features a full on head explosion).

Ultimately the movie feels very confused, like it was trying to be a bit of everything and as a result didn’t really achieve anything of note. Despite a few good scenes and an interesting concept, the movie ultimately just doesn’t work. This narrowly scrapes a 5.5/10, not terrible but definitely one of Wes Craven’s weakest.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10.

Maniac Cop 2 (1990)

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There are an endless number of Horror franchises out there. Some big, some small. Quite a few of them I have only seen the first movie and never got around to the sequels. One such movie is Maniac Cop. The original movie starred Tom Atkins, Bruce Campbell and Laurene Landon and ended with the apparent demise of the titular character in a watery grave at the end. Of course anyone that watched Horror movies in the 80’s knows that’s basically a guarantee of a return in a sequel and so here we are!

Director William Lustig (Who also directed “Maniac” which I’ll be reviewing later in October) and Writer Larry Cohen both return for this sequel and so it’s no surprise to find it continues directly on from the end of the first film and see’s the return of both Campbell and Landon. However the leads for this movie are actually Robert Davi (One of my favourite Bond Villains) and Claudia Christian (Of “Babylon 5” fame, but also made an appearance in my October Horrothon last year in “The Hidden” (1987)). Lustig has a habit of swerving with his leads and never hesitates to kill one off for shock value, so expect this movie to follow that pattern (Though I’m not dropping direct spoilers).

Cunning Stunts

The first thing to note here is I like the way the story is continued. It’s difficult to cover without spoilers, but it’s worthy of note for a horror sequel to maintain such solid continuity. Of course it helps when you have the same writer and director, but it’s certainly refreshing. The second thing to note is the stunts. For a 1990 horror movie, it is somewhat surprising in the number and quality of stunts here.

There is a very solid car chase, a scene where Claudia Christian (Or rather her stunt double) is handcuffed outside an out of control car and has to somehow try and steer it while being flung around and last but not least there is a climax that features a lot of stunt men being set on fire, with the killer himself spending a lot of time wondering around while on fire! It’s pretty impressive for a $4m horror film ($9m with inflation). The movie also features a “Terminator” like scene where Cordell invades the police station and clears house. Basically lots of cool stuff to enjoy visually in this.

Cops and Killers

Character wise the movie revolves primarily around four characters. Claudia Christians “Susan Riley”, Robert Davi’s “Detective McKinney”, The Maniac Cop “Matt Cordell” (Played by Robert Z’Dar, who the following year would become an even more infamous cop in “Samurai Cop”) and Leo Rossi’s “Turkel”, a serial killer that has been murdering local strippers. Davi puts in a pretty neutral performance and seems less interested in the movie the further on it goes, Rossi overacts, though given his character is a psycho it mostly works and Christian puts in a solid performance hitting all the right notes when requires.

The real protagonist of the story though is Cordell and Z’Dar does a pretty decent job given he’s playing a zombie cop. The other three are just there to move the plot on as required. McKinney is the hero of the day, but not because of any challenge he had to overcome and he doesn’t face off with Cordell or really have any notable action scenes, he just helps clear Cordells name (At least clear his name pre-zombie-psycho-rampage). Susan’s importance largely rolls off for the final act, while Turkel turns up half way through and is only really there to be manipulated. His character has the least depth of the four, but he doesn’t really need any for the plot to work.

Conclusion

Overall, this is a surprisingly good sequel to a moderately decent 80’s slasher. I think I may even prefer it to the original. My only real negative is I would have liked to have seen more of Bruce Campbell, but then since this is after Evil Dead 2 it probably would have taken too much attention away from the killer, so perhaps it’s for the best. Largely for the cool factor and the stunts this just about reaches 6.5/10.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023)

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The second movie of my 2023 October Horrorthon is one I’ve been looking forward to for a fair while. This is a Dracula movie with a bit of a twist in that it focuses on one specific chapter from Bram Stoker’s Novel. As the name suggests this is about Dracula’s journey to England on board a vessel known as “The Demeter”. For those that haven’t read the book, it’s worth noting it is an epistolary novel, that is the story is conveyed via a series of letters, diary entries and logs. This chapter in particular is written in the form of the Captain’s Log. This gives a lot of freedom in telling this story on screen since the source material is intentionally vague.

The Long Journey ahead

The movie is directed by André Øvredal (Troll Hunter, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark) and written by Bragi F. Schut (Escape Room) and Zak Olkewicz (Bullet Train). The cast features some strong acting talent (If not the biggest name draws) with Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton, The Tragedy of MacBeth) taking the lead, and Game of Thrones alumnis Liam Cunningham (As the Captain) and Aisling Franciosi (A Stowaway) offering the main support.

The first thing to note here is that Hawkins’ character of “Clemens” is original to this movie. Clemens is a Doctor looking to travel back to England, as a man of Science he naturally will have to face that the world has more to it than he can easily understand. In the book the crew had sailed with the Captain many times, but this tweak in minor. Anna (Franciosi) is also an addition and a little more against the source material as she is a stowaway (In the book they searched the ship thoroughly and found no one not meant to be there). Still it’s a reasonable change and her role is important to the story, as she is the primary exposition character.

Nosferatu

The most interesting element of the film is Dracula himself, who is presented in a far more monstrous form than we are used to. It is a little reminiscent of Count Orlok in “Nosferatu” (1922), a film that still holds up shockingly well for a hundred and one year old silent movie. I appreciate this approach not just because I’m a fan of Nosferatu but because I like Vampires that are actually terrifying. This is about as opposite to something like “Twilight” that you can get. On top of this they kept his presence mysterious and minimal so as to maintain the atmosphere of terror throughout.

Despite the miniscule amount of source material (Honestly, it’s barely a chapter), you may be concerned that with a nearly two hour run time things may drag but the pacing is spot on and builds perfectly to it’s climax. In regards to the characters, none really stand out but they do have depth and all fill their roles adequately and believably. As I mentioned at the start this is a strong cast of quality actors, none of them are big name draws but for a horror film you don’t really need that.

Having Your Cake And Eating It Too

The film manages the impressive feat of both maintaining accuracy to the source while putting their own twist on the story and it does it in a way that adds to the original instead of taking away from it. This is a rare example of an adaptation actually getting to have it’s cake and being able to eat it. All too often there is a battle between staying true to the source and finding something new to say. but here that is a non-issue. Of course it helps when you are adapting something short and deliberately vague!

In conclusion, while not the best Dracula film ever made this is a strong entry into the mythos and refreshingly original. Vampires are finally scary again! This is a 7/10.

Rating: 7 out of 10.