Strange Behavior (1981)
This was the second pleasant surprise so far during the horror fest (the first being Day of the Dead ). I have never heard of this movie before and only selected it because the description on Netflix sounded interesting. I was looking for an early 80's slasher film to make up for New Year's Evil being lackluster, so I gave it a shot.
There is actually some originality in this film that puts it above the rest of the cheap Halloween/Friday the 13th knockoffs from the same era. There are multiple killers and why they are performing the murders is a mystery that the film builds up nicely along the way. Also, with the multiple killers, the film makes each kill different - the first is only shown by the shadow of the act, which makes the killer appear to be a Michael Myers-type mask-wearing maniac, but then the camera pans back to show it is just a normal man; the second act is perpetrated by someone wearing a very creepy mask. Another nice feature of this movie is that the murder scenes all build tension really nicely without ruining it with "scary" music or fake scares.
The middle tends to drag a little, as the mystery of what is going on is being unravelled, but its still a fairly good low-budget scare that doesn't let its low-rent status hold it back. Definitely worth checking out.
Shock Waves (1977)
There were two words in the description of this film that jumped out at me and instantly made me want to watch it - "Nazis" and "Zombies". How could you pass up a film about Nazi zombies? Plus, it has Peter Cushing in it. That clinched it.
Other than wanting to see Nazi zombies, I didn't have very high expectations for this film, so I couldn't really be disappointed. However, I wish they would have done more with the Nazi zombies. The plot of the film sounds pretty interesting. Passengers on a boat somewhere on the ocean stumble across an island that seems deserted after they have a run in with another ship that damages their vessel. It turns out the mysterious ship is full of the remnants of a secret Nazi squad of soldiers that were turned into zombie-types that could survive underwater. The squad was thought destroyed at the end of the war, but they survived and come ashore on the island to menace the people from the first boat. The problem is that it takes forever to get to the part of the movie where the zombies come in. Once they start attacking, things pick up (the fact that they can just attack right out of the water is a nice twist), but the chase scenes weren't especially scary or exciting. Overall, not a bad movie, but it could have been more (there is another, more recent, Nazi zombie movie - Dead Snow - in my Netflix queue that I am going to check out to see what they do with the concept).
Mark of the Witch (1970)
This is a film that I enjoyed way more than I should have. However, it was more due to the circumstances under which I watched it than the actual film itself. It was unseasonably nice the other day, so, after work, I took my laptop out on the deck to watch this movie, smoke a cigar, drink a Great Lakes Nosferatu (is there a better named beer for watching horror films?) and enjoy the weather. Since the back of my house isn't in the sun, it was an almost dusk-like atmosphere. That, coupled with the fact that the version of this movie on Netflix Instant is terrible scratchy (the film even jumps and skips a few seconds here and there), created a very drive-in movie-like experience. That made me nostalgic for drive-ins, which added to my movie watching experience.
The movie itself is kind of a mess: a bunch of college students inadvertently summon the spirit of a 300 year old witch and she possesses one of the students. The witch sets about seeking revenge for her death and also the deaths of 3 members of her coven. There is way too much talking and too little going on in this film (plus the acting is terrible - this film is EXTREMELY low budget, and doesn't even have a Wikipedia page, usually a sign that it is bottom of the barrel) to recommend it, but my experience was enjoyable.
(There was no trailer available for this one...)
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
2010 Horror Fest Pt. 5
The Plague of the Zombies (1966)
Turner Classic Movies is showing old horror movies Friday nights in October. The first 3 Fridays have been devoted to offerings from Hammer Studios, which has allowed me to get a much larger exposure to the Hammer catalog than I had before this month. Unfortunately, I missed the first 40 minutes of this one - I thought it was DVR'ing but I neglected to set it to record. However, I really enjoyed what I saw and it wasn't hard to pick up the plot - an English village is being affected by a plague of zombies of the voodoo, not brain eater, variety. It had the trademark sets from the other Hammer films I have seen - old English manors, misty cemeteries, etc. As I get further in to this horror marathon, I think that these types of movies from the 50's and 60's may be my favorite type of horror film - they aren't necessarily scary, but they are creepy and atmospheric, the dialog and plots are rarely cheesy, and the performances are are rarely over the top.
The Devil's Bride (1968)
This was the second Hammer film from TCM last Friday night, and the first I have seen with Christopher Lee where he is not Dracula. In even more of a change, he is the hero of the movie, rather than the villain. Its a credit to his talent that he is able to pull off both types of roles equally well.
The Devil's Bride is about a cult in the 1930s who's members, English aristocrats, are trying to summon Satan himself. Lee plays a family friend of the cult's newest member who attempts to save his friend and stop the ritual. The leader of the cult (played by the same actor who portrayed Blofeld in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever), has the scary magnetism that you would expect a cult leader to have. This is a solid supernatural thriller that builds the tension well right up until the end. Another classic from Hammer.
(This is the trailer for the British version, The Devil Rides Out...)
New Year's Evil (1980)
New Year's Evil struck me as what a made-for-TV version of a slasher film would have been like in the early 80s. The production values were all low rent, there wasn't a lot of blood, all the kills happen off screen, and the dialog and acting were bad.
The plot revolves around a Punk/New Wave music program (or, at least what Hollywood in the early 80's thought that type of music program would be like - the first band on the show looked and sounded like an early hair metal group) holding a New Year's Eve special where viewers could call in and vote for their favorite song of the year. The show takes place in California, and someone calls in and says he is going to kill someone at the stroke of midnight in every time zone, finishing up with the host of the program (a woman named "Blaze", who is way to old to be hosting this type of program, and who comes off as more of a forced sultry lounge singer than a Punk/New Wave queen) at the stroke of midnight local time.
I did like the idea that the killer had a plan in place, rather than the film being about a bunch of random murders, or murders that only seemed random until the big explanation at the end. That was a nice change of pace. However, other than that, there is not a whole lot of originality in this movie (the only other inspired bit is one of the victims was asphyxiated with a giant bag of weed - I enjoyed that). It wasn't boring, it was just middle of the road. Nothing stood out to recommend it, just as nothing stood out to not recommend it.
Turner Classic Movies is showing old horror movies Friday nights in October. The first 3 Fridays have been devoted to offerings from Hammer Studios, which has allowed me to get a much larger exposure to the Hammer catalog than I had before this month. Unfortunately, I missed the first 40 minutes of this one - I thought it was DVR'ing but I neglected to set it to record. However, I really enjoyed what I saw and it wasn't hard to pick up the plot - an English village is being affected by a plague of zombies of the voodoo, not brain eater, variety. It had the trademark sets from the other Hammer films I have seen - old English manors, misty cemeteries, etc. As I get further in to this horror marathon, I think that these types of movies from the 50's and 60's may be my favorite type of horror film - they aren't necessarily scary, but they are creepy and atmospheric, the dialog and plots are rarely cheesy, and the performances are are rarely over the top.
The Devil's Bride (1968)
This was the second Hammer film from TCM last Friday night, and the first I have seen with Christopher Lee where he is not Dracula. In even more of a change, he is the hero of the movie, rather than the villain. Its a credit to his talent that he is able to pull off both types of roles equally well.
The Devil's Bride is about a cult in the 1930s who's members, English aristocrats, are trying to summon Satan himself. Lee plays a family friend of the cult's newest member who attempts to save his friend and stop the ritual. The leader of the cult (played by the same actor who portrayed Blofeld in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever), has the scary magnetism that you would expect a cult leader to have. This is a solid supernatural thriller that builds the tension well right up until the end. Another classic from Hammer.
(This is the trailer for the British version, The Devil Rides Out...)
New Year's Evil (1980)
New Year's Evil struck me as what a made-for-TV version of a slasher film would have been like in the early 80s. The production values were all low rent, there wasn't a lot of blood, all the kills happen off screen, and the dialog and acting were bad.
The plot revolves around a Punk/New Wave music program (or, at least what Hollywood in the early 80's thought that type of music program would be like - the first band on the show looked and sounded like an early hair metal group) holding a New Year's Eve special where viewers could call in and vote for their favorite song of the year. The show takes place in California, and someone calls in and says he is going to kill someone at the stroke of midnight in every time zone, finishing up with the host of the program (a woman named "Blaze", who is way to old to be hosting this type of program, and who comes off as more of a forced sultry lounge singer than a Punk/New Wave queen) at the stroke of midnight local time.
I did like the idea that the killer had a plan in place, rather than the film being about a bunch of random murders, or murders that only seemed random until the big explanation at the end. That was a nice change of pace. However, other than that, there is not a whole lot of originality in this movie (the only other inspired bit is one of the victims was asphyxiated with a giant bag of weed - I enjoyed that). It wasn't boring, it was just middle of the road. Nothing stood out to recommend it, just as nothing stood out to not recommend it.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
2010 Horror Fest Pt. 4
Shock (1977)
Shock is a film from the other master of Italian horror (along with Dario Argento), Mario Bava. It was Bava's final film before his death, but it is the first of his movies that I have seen. I enjoyed it enough that I will definitely check out other entries in his catalog.
Shock is the story of a woman who, along with her son and second husband, move back into the house in which she lived with her first husband, and where he killed himself. From the moment they move in, its apparent that his spirit is still inhabiting the place, and is intent on terrorizing his former wife. There are a couple of nice twists and turns along the way, and the actor playing the son has some creepy scenes when he is possessed by his father's spirit. Its not a great movie by any means (and I am expecting that there are few great films among Bava's previous films based on his reputation as one of the all-time greats), but it was an effective little thriller.
(This was the only English trailer I could find for this film, and it is under it's alternate title Beyond the Door II, which was an attempt to cash in by making it seem like Shock was a sequel to a totally unrelated movie...)
Flesh for Frankenstein (1973)
As I said in my review of The Toolbox Murders , I said that horror films can come in many forms (gory, campy, etc.). This one falls decidedly into the category of WEIRD. Now, knowing ahead of time that this movie is also known as Andy Warhol's Frankenstein (he is the producer), I expected a certain amount of weirdness. This film managed to surpass any of my expectations in that department.
Flesh... is a retelling of the Frankenstein story that revolves it completely around sex. Not in a way that is meant to titillate, lie a soft-core Skinimax version, but in that sex, in one way or another, is the driving force behind everything that happens. The Baron is married to his sister, but it is a sexless marriage that was done in order to secure their inheritance (I think - the film is a little unclear on the reason). The wife satisfies her urges by sleeping with whatever servant or peasant she can get into her bedroom. The Baron, on the other hand, suppresses his urges and instead focuses on hos work - creating a set of male and female creatures from the pieces of corpses that will obey his commands, and eventually procreate to give him an entire race of subjects to command.
All of that sounds weird enough, but doesn't really do this film justice in expressing HOW weird it is - for example, the Baron loses control of his urges in one scene and takes them out on his female creature by humping her in an open incision by her gall bladder. Later, when the baron's assistant decided he deserves a reward for his loyalty, and wants to have sex with the female creature, he thinks that the way to do it is to follow the Baron's earlier example so he eviscerates her in order to perform the act (but that results in her death). That's the kind of weirdness I am talking about.
If you can get over all that, its not really a bad film (although the random attempts to put 3D effects into the movie, since that is how it was released to the theaters, tend to be annoying). Flesh tries to emulate the horror films of the 50s and 60s and does a decent job of it. Just be prepared for exactly what type of film this is before you start watching.
Deep Red (1975)
After my disappointment with Dario Argento's Opera , I wanted to go a little farther back in his catalog to find a film I would enjoy a little more (I wanted a viewing experience closer to Suspira than Opera). Deep Red was a much better film than Opera, but it had its flaws as well.
Deep Red is the story of a murder that is witnessed by an English pianist in Italy, and the resulting publicity makes him, and everyone around him, a target for the killer. Argento does a really good job creating an atmosphere of terror through the use of the pounding musical score and the sets - every character seems to live in a sprawling apartment that has many narrow corridors and isolated rooms where the killer could be around any corner. Deep Red also contains one of the creepiest scenes I have come across in a horror film: one of the victims realizes he is not alone in his house, and, just as he expects the killer to enter the room, a mechanical doll (with the type of extremely disturbing face that all dolls used to have) comes flying into the room instead in an effort to distract. It was pretty chilling.
There were 2 major areas that kept this from being a great film. First, it was about 25 minutes too long. The plot starts to wander when the main character is trying to determine the identity of the killer. It could have been tightened up a little. Also, for some reason, the characters would switch back and forth between English and Italian, sometimes in the same conversation. It was a little jarring. I would have preferred that they kept it all in Italian with sub-titles.
Shock is a film from the other master of Italian horror (along with Dario Argento), Mario Bava. It was Bava's final film before his death, but it is the first of his movies that I have seen. I enjoyed it enough that I will definitely check out other entries in his catalog.
Shock is the story of a woman who, along with her son and second husband, move back into the house in which she lived with her first husband, and where he killed himself. From the moment they move in, its apparent that his spirit is still inhabiting the place, and is intent on terrorizing his former wife. There are a couple of nice twists and turns along the way, and the actor playing the son has some creepy scenes when he is possessed by his father's spirit. Its not a great movie by any means (and I am expecting that there are few great films among Bava's previous films based on his reputation as one of the all-time greats), but it was an effective little thriller.
(This was the only English trailer I could find for this film, and it is under it's alternate title Beyond the Door II, which was an attempt to cash in by making it seem like Shock was a sequel to a totally unrelated movie...)
Flesh for Frankenstein (1973)
As I said in my review of The Toolbox Murders , I said that horror films can come in many forms (gory, campy, etc.). This one falls decidedly into the category of WEIRD. Now, knowing ahead of time that this movie is also known as Andy Warhol's Frankenstein (he is the producer), I expected a certain amount of weirdness. This film managed to surpass any of my expectations in that department.
Flesh... is a retelling of the Frankenstein story that revolves it completely around sex. Not in a way that is meant to titillate, lie a soft-core Skinimax version, but in that sex, in one way or another, is the driving force behind everything that happens. The Baron is married to his sister, but it is a sexless marriage that was done in order to secure their inheritance (I think - the film is a little unclear on the reason). The wife satisfies her urges by sleeping with whatever servant or peasant she can get into her bedroom. The Baron, on the other hand, suppresses his urges and instead focuses on hos work - creating a set of male and female creatures from the pieces of corpses that will obey his commands, and eventually procreate to give him an entire race of subjects to command.
All of that sounds weird enough, but doesn't really do this film justice in expressing HOW weird it is - for example, the Baron loses control of his urges in one scene and takes them out on his female creature by humping her in an open incision by her gall bladder. Later, when the baron's assistant decided he deserves a reward for his loyalty, and wants to have sex with the female creature, he thinks that the way to do it is to follow the Baron's earlier example so he eviscerates her in order to perform the act (but that results in her death). That's the kind of weirdness I am talking about.
If you can get over all that, its not really a bad film (although the random attempts to put 3D effects into the movie, since that is how it was released to the theaters, tend to be annoying). Flesh tries to emulate the horror films of the 50s and 60s and does a decent job of it. Just be prepared for exactly what type of film this is before you start watching.
Deep Red (1975)
After my disappointment with Dario Argento's Opera , I wanted to go a little farther back in his catalog to find a film I would enjoy a little more (I wanted a viewing experience closer to Suspira than Opera). Deep Red was a much better film than Opera, but it had its flaws as well.
Deep Red is the story of a murder that is witnessed by an English pianist in Italy, and the resulting publicity makes him, and everyone around him, a target for the killer. Argento does a really good job creating an atmosphere of terror through the use of the pounding musical score and the sets - every character seems to live in a sprawling apartment that has many narrow corridors and isolated rooms where the killer could be around any corner. Deep Red also contains one of the creepiest scenes I have come across in a horror film: one of the victims realizes he is not alone in his house, and, just as he expects the killer to enter the room, a mechanical doll (with the type of extremely disturbing face that all dolls used to have) comes flying into the room instead in an effort to distract. It was pretty chilling.
There were 2 major areas that kept this from being a great film. First, it was about 25 minutes too long. The plot starts to wander when the main character is trying to determine the identity of the killer. It could have been tightened up a little. Also, for some reason, the characters would switch back and forth between English and Italian, sometimes in the same conversation. It was a little jarring. I would have preferred that they kept it all in Italian with sub-titles.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
2010 Horror Fest Pt. 3
Before I get started, this post was supposed to contain at least 1, but possibly all, of the first three Friday the 13th films. I found out last week that they were available on Netflix Online, and I was very excited, as I hadn't watched them in years. However, when I went to watch them this week, they were no longer available. That is terrible timing on the part of Netflix...
Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1968)
This film is a big improvement over the previous Hammer Dracula film I watched (Dracula A.D. 1972). This is the third of the Hammer "Dracula" films, and forth vampire film by the studio overall. However, it is the first to star Christopher Lee in the title role since the original, The Horror of Dracula, in 1958. He doesn't appear in the movie until about 40 minutes in (he has to be resurrected from his death at the end of Horror...), but he manages to own the picture with a great, menacing portrayal, despite the fact that he doesn't have one word of dialog in the entire film! Instead, he relies on his sinister gaze and intimidating bearing to convey the evil of Dracula. You really don't need much more than that to have an effective Dracula film, and this one succeeds. I am a sucker for films like this that use creepy old castles or manors to create an atmosphere of foreboding and hidden evil around any corner. There isn't much to the plot - Dracula needs to be resurrected, and when he does, he tries to feed and create more vampires. You really don't need much more than that to have an effective Dracula film, and this one succeeds.
The Toolbox Murders (1978)
As I said last year in my first post on my love of horror movies, I said that I like them all: scary, campy, gory, weird, good and bad. I have watched a lot of bad horror movies in my time, but have enjoyed a lot of them. However, there is one thing that a horror movie can never be and still manage to be enjoyable, and that is boring. And The Toolbox Murders is a BORING movie. So boring that I finally gave up and fast forwarded through the last 20 minutes in order to see how it ended.
The shame is that the movie had a pretty solid start, and a decent final scene. Unfortunately, what happened in between those parts was a slog. There were way too many stretches of nothing happening, and an excruciating monologue by the killer (whose identity they revealed out of nowhere about 40 minutes in) that I am sure was meant to establish how crazy and unhinged he is, but instead almost put me to sleep (in the middle of the day).
As I said above, the only thing I really liked about the movie was the beginning. The movie starts right of with a bang - the killer shows up and starts his murder spree. As you can tell from the title, the killer uses various items from his tool box to dispatch his victims, so its a nice change of pace from your standard butcher knife killings that most slasher films employ. Another thing I liked was how, instead of an added on musical score, the film uses the music that the first victim is playing in her apartment to accompany the kill. This is always an effective technique and adds an extra sense of scary realism when it is used in place of a musical score (its scarier because it makes the scene seem like something that is really happening instead of something that is taking place in a movie).
Unfortunately, after those opening scenes, there is nothing else in this movie that could make me recommend it.
Day of the Dead (2008)
This is the semi-remake of the classic 3rd film in George Romero's Dead zombie series. Its also the first pleasant surprise of my 2010 horror fest. I really wasn't expecting a whole lot from this film - I remember it not getting very good reviews when released and it was direct to video. I decided to give it a shot anyway. I am glad I did.
The plot is super thin - people start getting sick, the military shuts down the town, and the sick turn into zombies and go on a rampage. However, it works. The zombies (they are of the super fast, come out of nowhere variety rather than the slow, mindless, shambling type of the Romero films) are particularly menacing and creepy, and the film manages to convey the sense that you are being smothered, by both the situation and the swarms of zombies themselves, that zombie flicks should. It definitely owes (ripped off) a lot from 28 Days Later, but if you are a fan of zombie films its worth checking out.
Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1968)
This film is a big improvement over the previous Hammer Dracula film I watched (Dracula A.D. 1972). This is the third of the Hammer "Dracula" films, and forth vampire film by the studio overall. However, it is the first to star Christopher Lee in the title role since the original, The Horror of Dracula, in 1958. He doesn't appear in the movie until about 40 minutes in (he has to be resurrected from his death at the end of Horror...), but he manages to own the picture with a great, menacing portrayal, despite the fact that he doesn't have one word of dialog in the entire film! Instead, he relies on his sinister gaze and intimidating bearing to convey the evil of Dracula. You really don't need much more than that to have an effective Dracula film, and this one succeeds. I am a sucker for films like this that use creepy old castles or manors to create an atmosphere of foreboding and hidden evil around any corner. There isn't much to the plot - Dracula needs to be resurrected, and when he does, he tries to feed and create more vampires. You really don't need much more than that to have an effective Dracula film, and this one succeeds.
The Toolbox Murders (1978)
As I said last year in my first post on my love of horror movies, I said that I like them all: scary, campy, gory, weird, good and bad. I have watched a lot of bad horror movies in my time, but have enjoyed a lot of them. However, there is one thing that a horror movie can never be and still manage to be enjoyable, and that is boring. And The Toolbox Murders is a BORING movie. So boring that I finally gave up and fast forwarded through the last 20 minutes in order to see how it ended.
The shame is that the movie had a pretty solid start, and a decent final scene. Unfortunately, what happened in between those parts was a slog. There were way too many stretches of nothing happening, and an excruciating monologue by the killer (whose identity they revealed out of nowhere about 40 minutes in) that I am sure was meant to establish how crazy and unhinged he is, but instead almost put me to sleep (in the middle of the day).
As I said above, the only thing I really liked about the movie was the beginning. The movie starts right of with a bang - the killer shows up and starts his murder spree. As you can tell from the title, the killer uses various items from his tool box to dispatch his victims, so its a nice change of pace from your standard butcher knife killings that most slasher films employ. Another thing I liked was how, instead of an added on musical score, the film uses the music that the first victim is playing in her apartment to accompany the kill. This is always an effective technique and adds an extra sense of scary realism when it is used in place of a musical score (its scarier because it makes the scene seem like something that is really happening instead of something that is taking place in a movie).
Unfortunately, after those opening scenes, there is nothing else in this movie that could make me recommend it.
Day of the Dead (2008)
This is the semi-remake of the classic 3rd film in George Romero's Dead zombie series. Its also the first pleasant surprise of my 2010 horror fest. I really wasn't expecting a whole lot from this film - I remember it not getting very good reviews when released and it was direct to video. I decided to give it a shot anyway. I am glad I did.
The plot is super thin - people start getting sick, the military shuts down the town, and the sick turn into zombies and go on a rampage. However, it works. The zombies (they are of the super fast, come out of nowhere variety rather than the slow, mindless, shambling type of the Romero films) are particularly menacing and creepy, and the film manages to convey the sense that you are being smothered, by both the situation and the swarms of zombies themselves, that zombie flicks should. It definitely owes (ripped off) a lot from 28 Days Later, but if you are a fan of zombie films its worth checking out.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
2010 Horror Fest Pt. 2
Still no title yet for my movie fest. Ghoul-o-vision? Spooktacular? Nah...
Zombiemania (2008)
I enjoyed this, but it was a completely different film than I thought I was watching. I intended to watch American Zombie ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765430/ ), which is a mockumentary about what it would be like if zombies were real. However, I didn't pay close enough attention to what I was selecting from my Netflix Instant queue, and instead I got this - an ACTUAL documentary about zombies in our culture. It was a quick (57 minutes), breezy review of zombie books and movies, featuring clips and interviews with the main people behind zombies both past and present (like George Romero and Max Brooks) as well as actors, writers and critics. Not a bad way to blow an hour, although I still intend to watch American Zombie before the end of the month...
The House of the Devil (2009)
This is another movie that I have seen already. in this case, though, I re-watched it on purpose. I know I enjoyed it during the first viewing, but I was watching it late at night and (due to the time and a few beers) I dozed off and on through the last 30 minutes. Therefore, I wanted to give it another go.
The House of the Devil is an homage to horror films from the late 1970s and early 1980s. It even includes a statement at the beginning that it is based on true events - a trick used often by other films from that era, whether it was true or not. The director, Ti West, used several other techniques that were straight out of the horror movies of the time, like a freeze frame of the final scene under the closing credits. West also shot the movie on 16mm film to give it a retro look. The characters had 70s/80s hairstyles, and all the music played (other than the "scary music") was from the time period.
All of this attention to detail to make this feel like a much older film would have been a waste if the movie itself were lacking, but fortunately that was not the case. House is a very suspenseful throwback that relies on the scenery, the situation and the characters to scare you, rather than loud music and cheap fake outs like a lot of movies today. The story is pretty simple: a college student in need of money agrees to babysit for a family that turns out to be a satanic cult, and needs her for a ritual. Rather than through a convoluted plot, the film instead uses a creepy old house, ill-lit rooms, and lack of music to create a sense of isolation and of not being alone all at the same time. The tension ratchets up until the scary music finally kicks in and things speed up to creepy concluding sequence that has some nice twists.
Zombiemania (2008)
I enjoyed this, but it was a completely different film than I thought I was watching. I intended to watch American Zombie ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765430/ ), which is a mockumentary about what it would be like if zombies were real. However, I didn't pay close enough attention to what I was selecting from my Netflix Instant queue, and instead I got this - an ACTUAL documentary about zombies in our culture. It was a quick (57 minutes), breezy review of zombie books and movies, featuring clips and interviews with the main people behind zombies both past and present (like George Romero and Max Brooks) as well as actors, writers and critics. Not a bad way to blow an hour, although I still intend to watch American Zombie before the end of the month...
The House of the Devil (2009)
This is another movie that I have seen already. in this case, though, I re-watched it on purpose. I know I enjoyed it during the first viewing, but I was watching it late at night and (due to the time and a few beers) I dozed off and on through the last 30 minutes. Therefore, I wanted to give it another go.
The House of the Devil is an homage to horror films from the late 1970s and early 1980s. It even includes a statement at the beginning that it is based on true events - a trick used often by other films from that era, whether it was true or not. The director, Ti West, used several other techniques that were straight out of the horror movies of the time, like a freeze frame of the final scene under the closing credits. West also shot the movie on 16mm film to give it a retro look. The characters had 70s/80s hairstyles, and all the music played (other than the "scary music") was from the time period.
All of this attention to detail to make this feel like a much older film would have been a waste if the movie itself were lacking, but fortunately that was not the case. House is a very suspenseful throwback that relies on the scenery, the situation and the characters to scare you, rather than loud music and cheap fake outs like a lot of movies today. The story is pretty simple: a college student in need of money agrees to babysit for a family that turns out to be a satanic cult, and needs her for a ritual. Rather than through a convoluted plot, the film instead uses a creepy old house, ill-lit rooms, and lack of music to create a sense of isolation and of not being alone all at the same time. The tension ratchets up until the scary music finally kicks in and things speed up to creepy concluding sequence that has some nice twists.
Monday, October 4, 2010
2010 Horror Fest Pt. 1
I need to come up with a title for my October horror movie extravaganza, like how AMC (back when they still showed old movies) always had "MonsterVision" every Halloween. I'll see if I can think of something before the end of the month.
I hadn't intended to start in with the horror movies this quickly, but after mentioning them at the the end of my last entry I got in the mood. So, with an entire evening to myself (the wife really does not like horror movies), and a awesome pumpkin ale to get me in the mood (Heavy Seas "Great Pumpkin" imperial pumpkin ale), I decided to jump right in. I went for a mix of different horror genres to kick things off, so we have an '80s slasher film, a classic black & white atmospheric cult film, a Hammer Horror classic, and finally a selection from the most famous Italian horror director, Dario Argento.
The House on Sorority Row (1983)
This film has apparently attained cult classic status among slasher film fans (according to IMDB, Quentin Tarantino selected it for his very first film fest in 1996). While not a great example of that type of film, it does have a few things that set it apart from most. First, the victims are not just innocent people caught up in a terrible situation (such as the camp counselors in Friday the 13th) . The members of the sorority play a prank on an old woman (who admittedly deserved it) that goes awry and they leave her for dead. Second, the film doesn't follow the "If you have sex, you die" rule that almost every slasher film since the original Halloween swears by. Lastly, the final sequence was well crafted - I honestly did not see where the killer was hidden amongst all the clown/harlequin effects (and having the killer dressed as a jester clown added a good bit of creepiness that the killer was lacking from his few appearances throughout the movie). While the movie really wasn't scary, it also avoided trying to scare you with any "false" scares (another thing that sets it apart from other slasher flicks), which is always appreciated.
Carnival of Souls (1962)
While there are certain films that I watch every year during my marathon (I always watch the original Halloween during my all-day, end of month viewing, for example), I try and make sure that the films I select are ones that I have not seen (unless there is something I am in the mood to re-watch). It wasn't until about a 3rd of the way through Carnival of Souls that I realized I had already seen it (in fact, I am pretty sure I watched it during my Halloween day marathon a few years ago). Luckily for me, it was a movie that I really enjoyed (if I would have wasted my time on a crappy movie I had previously viewed, I would have been pissed). Carnival is a low budget film, but it is a great example of how not to let a lack of money hinder the quality of the film. Rather than employ make-up and effects that scream bargain basement, this film uses low key make-up and haunting organ music for the ghouls that are terrorizing the main character. Organ music can be a cliche that is over used in older horror films, but in this one it fits. The female lead is an organ player for a church, so carrying over the music she plays as part of her job to scenes away from the church works nicely as a way to ratchet up the tension. Church organist Mary is involved in a car accident at the beginning of the film that send her vehicle off a bridge into the water. She survives, but is afterward haunted by visions of a ghastly creature with an appearance similar to a scary version of Beetlejuice (this is not a knock - the ghoul is decidedly creepy). This film is a case where the fact that it was shot in black & white is an advantage - color would only have shown emphasize the low budget instead of being hidden by the b&w. The ending sequence with a literal "Dance of the Dead" leading to the climax was very well done and a pre-cursor to the ball room scenes in The Shining. Definitely recommended for fans of classic horror.
Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)
This is the 7th sequel from Hammer Studios to their 1958 remake of Dracula. For fans of classic horror films, you can break the great films as having come from one of 3 eras: The original Universal Pictures era of Lugosi and Karloff (1930-1939), the second Universal Pictures era of Lon Chaney, Jr. and other monster features, like the Creature from the Black Lagoon (1941-1956), and the Hammer Studios era that resurrected Dracula, Frankenstein and the Mummy for a new generation of fans (1954-1974). Many of the Hammer films featured Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing (especially in the Dracula films, where Lee was Dracula and Cushing portrayed whatever member of the Van Helsing family was required for the plot). Both actors brought excellent performances to whatever role they were tackling, and helped establish Hammer as the premiere horror studio of their time.
Since this was the 7th sequel to their Dracula film - also known as Horror of Dracula (which was almost the film that occupied this spot until, 5 minutes in, I realized I had already seen it during a previous Halloween fest. How the heck did I keep track of what films I have seen before I had Netflix to rate them?) - I should have realized that this one would not hold up to the quality and fame of most Hammer pictures (I only watched this one instead of the earlier sequels because the others were not available on Netflix online). As you could tell from the title, this was an attempt to movie their Dracula series to modern times. The movie kicks off with a "swinging" London party that reminded me of a cross between Austin Powers and an episode of The Monkees - not the type of imagery you want to invoke in a horror film. It was an off choice to start off with a scene that was so silly, when the tone of the movie shifts to horror right after that and never shifts back. Another odd choice was to reduce the screen time for Dracula himself (although, as usual, Lee makes the most of what time he does have). There was way too much time spent on his acolyte, Johnny Alucard, and his plot to resurrect Dracula.
Overall, this film comes off as more cheesy than scary, and I would recommend checking out the original and the earlier sequels than jumping right to this one as I did (fortunately, TCM ran a few of them Friday night, so I DVR'd and will be watching them as the month goes on).
Opera (1987)
Opera is the 3rd film by Italian horror master Dario Argento that I have seen (it was his 11th film as a director overall). The 2 previous films - Suspira and Inferno - were both classic examples of Italian horror. They were creepy, atmospheric, scary films where Argento used music, lighting and distinctly European scenery to create a sense of terror around every corner. Based on those previous films, I was really looking forward to this movie. Unfortunately, this was the first major disappointment of the 2010 film fest (while Dracula A.D. 1972 was disappointing, I had already prepared myself for that fact due to how far along in the series it came).
This is a tremendously uneven film. There are definitely things I like about it - the way the killer forces them main character Betty to watch his killings is inspired; the chase through Betty's apartment and AC ducts was decidedly tense. However, these are completely outweighed by what I didn't like. First, the soundtrack. The main character is an opera singer and most of the plot revolves around an opera. As a consequence, most of the soundtrack is opera. That was fine - I like the use of opera in horror films. I think it helps create a creepy atmosphere of ancient evil. However, every so often, in scenes away from the opera house, Argento used some incredibly cheesy hair metal that was very distracting, and took me out of the film every time it was on. I have no problem when watching older movies that use (now completely out of date) contemporary music in the soundtrack, as long as it is used in the whole film, which allows it to become part of the film. In this case, it was so jarring compared to the rest of the soundtrack that it was all I could think of when it was playing.
The other major fault of this film was the utter stupidity displayed by most of the characters. In most horror films, you expect a little stupidity from the characters in order to make the plot move along (its pretty much a necessity to make horror work). However, there was none of that exhibited in the 2 earlier Argento films that I watched, so it was a let down and came off as really lazy.
I hadn't intended to start in with the horror movies this quickly, but after mentioning them at the the end of my last entry I got in the mood. So, with an entire evening to myself (the wife really does not like horror movies), and a awesome pumpkin ale to get me in the mood (Heavy Seas "Great Pumpkin" imperial pumpkin ale), I decided to jump right in. I went for a mix of different horror genres to kick things off, so we have an '80s slasher film, a classic black & white atmospheric cult film, a Hammer Horror classic, and finally a selection from the most famous Italian horror director, Dario Argento.
The House on Sorority Row (1983)
This film has apparently attained cult classic status among slasher film fans (according to IMDB, Quentin Tarantino selected it for his very first film fest in 1996). While not a great example of that type of film, it does have a few things that set it apart from most. First, the victims are not just innocent people caught up in a terrible situation (such as the camp counselors in Friday the 13th) . The members of the sorority play a prank on an old woman (who admittedly deserved it) that goes awry and they leave her for dead. Second, the film doesn't follow the "If you have sex, you die" rule that almost every slasher film since the original Halloween swears by. Lastly, the final sequence was well crafted - I honestly did not see where the killer was hidden amongst all the clown/harlequin effects (and having the killer dressed as a jester clown added a good bit of creepiness that the killer was lacking from his few appearances throughout the movie). While the movie really wasn't scary, it also avoided trying to scare you with any "false" scares (another thing that sets it apart from other slasher flicks), which is always appreciated.
Carnival of Souls (1962)
While there are certain films that I watch every year during my marathon (I always watch the original Halloween during my all-day, end of month viewing, for example), I try and make sure that the films I select are ones that I have not seen (unless there is something I am in the mood to re-watch). It wasn't until about a 3rd of the way through Carnival of Souls that I realized I had already seen it (in fact, I am pretty sure I watched it during my Halloween day marathon a few years ago). Luckily for me, it was a movie that I really enjoyed (if I would have wasted my time on a crappy movie I had previously viewed, I would have been pissed). Carnival is a low budget film, but it is a great example of how not to let a lack of money hinder the quality of the film. Rather than employ make-up and effects that scream bargain basement, this film uses low key make-up and haunting organ music for the ghouls that are terrorizing the main character. Organ music can be a cliche that is over used in older horror films, but in this one it fits. The female lead is an organ player for a church, so carrying over the music she plays as part of her job to scenes away from the church works nicely as a way to ratchet up the tension. Church organist Mary is involved in a car accident at the beginning of the film that send her vehicle off a bridge into the water. She survives, but is afterward haunted by visions of a ghastly creature with an appearance similar to a scary version of Beetlejuice (this is not a knock - the ghoul is decidedly creepy). This film is a case where the fact that it was shot in black & white is an advantage - color would only have shown emphasize the low budget instead of being hidden by the b&w. The ending sequence with a literal "Dance of the Dead" leading to the climax was very well done and a pre-cursor to the ball room scenes in The Shining. Definitely recommended for fans of classic horror.
Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)
This is the 7th sequel from Hammer Studios to their 1958 remake of Dracula. For fans of classic horror films, you can break the great films as having come from one of 3 eras: The original Universal Pictures era of Lugosi and Karloff (1930-1939), the second Universal Pictures era of Lon Chaney, Jr. and other monster features, like the Creature from the Black Lagoon (1941-1956), and the Hammer Studios era that resurrected Dracula, Frankenstein and the Mummy for a new generation of fans (1954-1974). Many of the Hammer films featured Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing (especially in the Dracula films, where Lee was Dracula and Cushing portrayed whatever member of the Van Helsing family was required for the plot). Both actors brought excellent performances to whatever role they were tackling, and helped establish Hammer as the premiere horror studio of their time.
Since this was the 7th sequel to their Dracula film - also known as Horror of Dracula (which was almost the film that occupied this spot until, 5 minutes in, I realized I had already seen it during a previous Halloween fest. How the heck did I keep track of what films I have seen before I had Netflix to rate them?) - I should have realized that this one would not hold up to the quality and fame of most Hammer pictures (I only watched this one instead of the earlier sequels because the others were not available on Netflix online). As you could tell from the title, this was an attempt to movie their Dracula series to modern times. The movie kicks off with a "swinging" London party that reminded me of a cross between Austin Powers and an episode of The Monkees - not the type of imagery you want to invoke in a horror film. It was an off choice to start off with a scene that was so silly, when the tone of the movie shifts to horror right after that and never shifts back. Another odd choice was to reduce the screen time for Dracula himself (although, as usual, Lee makes the most of what time he does have). There was way too much time spent on his acolyte, Johnny Alucard, and his plot to resurrect Dracula.
Overall, this film comes off as more cheesy than scary, and I would recommend checking out the original and the earlier sequels than jumping right to this one as I did (fortunately, TCM ran a few of them Friday night, so I DVR'd and will be watching them as the month goes on).
Opera (1987)
Opera is the 3rd film by Italian horror master Dario Argento that I have seen (it was his 11th film as a director overall). The 2 previous films - Suspira and Inferno - were both classic examples of Italian horror. They were creepy, atmospheric, scary films where Argento used music, lighting and distinctly European scenery to create a sense of terror around every corner. Based on those previous films, I was really looking forward to this movie. Unfortunately, this was the first major disappointment of the 2010 film fest (while Dracula A.D. 1972 was disappointing, I had already prepared myself for that fact due to how far along in the series it came).
This is a tremendously uneven film. There are definitely things I like about it - the way the killer forces them main character Betty to watch his killings is inspired; the chase through Betty's apartment and AC ducts was decidedly tense. However, these are completely outweighed by what I didn't like. First, the soundtrack. The main character is an opera singer and most of the plot revolves around an opera. As a consequence, most of the soundtrack is opera. That was fine - I like the use of opera in horror films. I think it helps create a creepy atmosphere of ancient evil. However, every so often, in scenes away from the opera house, Argento used some incredibly cheesy hair metal that was very distracting, and took me out of the film every time it was on. I have no problem when watching older movies that use (now completely out of date) contemporary music in the soundtrack, as long as it is used in the whole film, which allows it to become part of the film. In this case, it was so jarring compared to the rest of the soundtrack that it was all I could think of when it was playing.
The other major fault of this film was the utter stupidity displayed by most of the characters. In most horror films, you expect a little stupidity from the characters in order to make the plot move along (its pretty much a necessity to make horror work). However, there was none of that exhibited in the 2 earlier Argento films that I watched, so it was a let down and came off as really lazy.
Friday, October 1, 2010
1978
This is the first post in a new series I have come up with in order to get on a more regular writing schedule. I am going to randomly pick a year between 1974 (the year I was born) and 2010 and list my favorite CDs from that year. A few rules: I am sticking to CDs that I actually own. I am going to exclude any compilations or greatest hits albums (although I won't rule out live albums). Depending on the year, the list will either be 5 or 10 albums (there will be some years where I have fewer CDs from which to choose, and there is no reason to include discs just to pad the list to 10).
The first year I selected was 1978 (I used a random number generator). 1978 was a transition year in music, where Punk was fading away and New Wave was rising (all 5 records on the list are New Wave of a sort).
5.) The Police - Outlandos d'Amour
Its really hard to imagine that the Sting of the last 20 years is the same person responsible for the the music of The Police. I don't know if Andy Summers and Stuart Copeland were much more a part of the success of the band than they are given credit, or if Sting just either lost the touch or completely changed. At any rate, The Police (along with the band at #3 on this list) were one of the bands that helped bring New Wave to the mainstream by crafting songs that were catchy enough to gain radio airplay. "Can't Stand Losing You" and "Roxanne" are both mainstays of classic rock stations today.
4.) Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food
Talking Heads came up in the NY Punk scene (their first gig was opening for the Ramones at CBGB in 1975), but they never really fit in with the rest of the acts. While their music had a decided punk sound, it also combined pop, funk, and world music among other sounds. That helped them to outlast the decline of punk, as a lot of what they were doing in their music was what became New Wave. More Songs... was their second album, and the first to start getting them noticed. It is one of those albums that didn't sell all that well when released, but is now considered a classic (it appeared on both Rolling Stone's all-time Top 500 and Pitchfork's Top 100 of the '70s).
3.) The Cars - The Cars
The Cars are another New Wave band that is a constant fixture on classic rock radio rotations today. However, while they released 6 albums that sold very well (4 of them hit the Billboard Top 10), the majority of the songs for which they are known came from their self-titled first release: "Good Times Roll", "My Best Friend's Girl", Just What I Needed", "You're All I've Got Tonight", "Bye Bye Love", "Moving In Stereo". Years of use in bad commercials and movie trailers have played out some of these songs, but that doesn't change the fact that that is one hell of a list of singles from a debut release.
2.) Blondie - Parallel Lines
Blondie is another act that started in the Punk scene but wasn't really "Punk". They were definitely New Wave before people knew what that was. Parallel Lines was their 3rd album and the one that rocketed them to stardom based on 6 hit singles and the fact that they had a pretty blond lead singer in Debbie Harry who was perfect for the transition popular music was making into a visual medium that started around this time.
1.) Elvis Costello and the Attractions - This Year's Model
This is Costello's second album and the first with his backing band The Attractions, who would stick with him for his next 9 albums. Elvis Costello's early music was a mix of New Wave, Punk and Pub Rock. Pub Rock was the British precursor to Punk - a back to basics approach to music that came about as a reaction to the growing spectacle of Prog and Glam Rock. Punk took up that bare bones attitude and ran with it, pushing Pub Rock aside, but for a short time it was pretty popular. Costello took the brash attitude of Pub and Punk rock and melded it with a songwriting ability that few of his contemporaries possessed, resulting in a sound that was in your face and beautiful at the same time.
Note: Today is October 1st, which means its now time for my annual personal Horror Movie Festival/Marathon. As with last year , what started as a 1 day occurrence (http://oldmanattheshow.blogspot.com/2009/10/october.html) has now transformed into a month-long undertaking, with a day-long marathon at the end. As a result, most of my blog posts for the next month will be related to horror movies (although the occasional music or TV post may pop up if something inspires me).
The first year I selected was 1978 (I used a random number generator). 1978 was a transition year in music, where Punk was fading away and New Wave was rising (all 5 records on the list are New Wave of a sort).
5.) The Police - Outlandos d'Amour
Its really hard to imagine that the Sting of the last 20 years is the same person responsible for the the music of The Police. I don't know if Andy Summers and Stuart Copeland were much more a part of the success of the band than they are given credit, or if Sting just either lost the touch or completely changed. At any rate, The Police (along with the band at #3 on this list) were one of the bands that helped bring New Wave to the mainstream by crafting songs that were catchy enough to gain radio airplay. "Can't Stand Losing You" and "Roxanne" are both mainstays of classic rock stations today.
4.) Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food
Talking Heads came up in the NY Punk scene (their first gig was opening for the Ramones at CBGB in 1975), but they never really fit in with the rest of the acts. While their music had a decided punk sound, it also combined pop, funk, and world music among other sounds. That helped them to outlast the decline of punk, as a lot of what they were doing in their music was what became New Wave. More Songs... was their second album, and the first to start getting them noticed. It is one of those albums that didn't sell all that well when released, but is now considered a classic (it appeared on both Rolling Stone's all-time Top 500 and Pitchfork's Top 100 of the '70s).
3.) The Cars - The Cars
The Cars are another New Wave band that is a constant fixture on classic rock radio rotations today. However, while they released 6 albums that sold very well (4 of them hit the Billboard Top 10), the majority of the songs for which they are known came from their self-titled first release: "Good Times Roll", "My Best Friend's Girl", Just What I Needed", "You're All I've Got Tonight", "Bye Bye Love", "Moving In Stereo". Years of use in bad commercials and movie trailers have played out some of these songs, but that doesn't change the fact that that is one hell of a list of singles from a debut release.
2.) Blondie - Parallel Lines
Blondie is another act that started in the Punk scene but wasn't really "Punk". They were definitely New Wave before people knew what that was. Parallel Lines was their 3rd album and the one that rocketed them to stardom based on 6 hit singles and the fact that they had a pretty blond lead singer in Debbie Harry who was perfect for the transition popular music was making into a visual medium that started around this time.
1.) Elvis Costello and the Attractions - This Year's Model
This is Costello's second album and the first with his backing band The Attractions, who would stick with him for his next 9 albums. Elvis Costello's early music was a mix of New Wave, Punk and Pub Rock. Pub Rock was the British precursor to Punk - a back to basics approach to music that came about as a reaction to the growing spectacle of Prog and Glam Rock. Punk took up that bare bones attitude and ran with it, pushing Pub Rock aside, but for a short time it was pretty popular. Costello took the brash attitude of Pub and Punk rock and melded it with a songwriting ability that few of his contemporaries possessed, resulting in a sound that was in your face and beautiful at the same time.
Note: Today is October 1st, which means its now time for my annual personal Horror Movie Festival/Marathon. As with last year , what started as a 1 day occurrence (http://oldmanattheshow.blogspot.com/2009/10/october.html) has now transformed into a month-long undertaking, with a day-long marathon at the end. As a result, most of my blog posts for the next month will be related to horror movies (although the occasional music or TV post may pop up if something inspires me).
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