A HORROR MOVIE-A-DAY-A-THON KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY-A-THON
Saturday, October 20th-Ghostbusters (1984) Written by Dan Aykroyd & Harold Ramis Directed by Ivan Reitman
Stars Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Rick Moranis
When three parapsychology experts are canned, they go into business for themselves as "Ghostbusters."
I have fond memories of this movie from childhood, it was one of my favorites then and today it is still probably in my Top Ten movies of all time list. I enjoyed the hell out of it as a kid, but especially once you're old enough to appreciate all of the nerdy jokes contained within, it's about twenty times better. While Ghostbusters is very much a comedy, there are definitely some pretty terrifying moments (the gargoyle dog things, anyone?) throughout the film. I typically make it a point to watch this movie at least once a month or so, and there are very few movies that I can do that with. Question-Does Ghostbusters stand the test of time? Answer-Yes. FINAL GRADE: A+
Sunday, October 21st-Ghostbusters II (1989) Written by Dan Aykroyd & Harold Ramis Directed by Ivan Reitman
Stars Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Rick Moranis
The out of work Ghostbusters are called into active duty when a river of slime begins causing mysterious spectral disturbances in New York City.
As a general rule of thumb, most horror/sci-fi sequels aren't really that great (with the obvious exception of Aliens and Evil Dead II), but Ghostbusters II, while not surpassing the first film, is definitely still as good as the original. Probably the biggest contribution to this is the fact that the same creative team (Reitman, Ramis and Aykroyd) as the original helmed this project and that the core cast remains the same (even Annie Potts as secretary Janine Melnitz). The script and the jokes are definitely as strong this time around, and the romance between Louis (Moranis) and Janine is pretty entertaining to watch. If all sequels were this solid, I wouldn't be as opposed to them. FINAL GRADE: A-
Monday, October 22nd-Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) Written & Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace
Stars Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, Dan O' Herlihy
A Halloween mask making company is gonna kill a bunch of kids because of something to do with Stonehenge or some stupid bullshit like that...I don't really care.
The first Halloween by John Carpenter was a groundbreaking horror film that gave us the terrifying horror icon Michael Myers and basically invented the slasher genre. Does this film have anything to do with any of the things mentioned in the previous sentence? With the exception of John Carpenter doing the music and executive producing this piece of shit, the answer is no. Nobody in the film seems to care about anything that's going on, particularly when Tom Atkins' character responds "Who cares?" when the girl he's railing hears someone being killed in the next room. There's nothing redeeming about this film at all, even the moments to laugh at the film are too few and far between to make this a Batman The Movie type of experience. Do yourself a favor and just give this movie a pass. FINAL GRADE: F
Tuesday, October 23rd-The Crow (1994) Written by David J. Schow & John Shirley Directed by Alex Proyas
Stars Brandon Lee, Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott
On the anniversary of the murder of him and his fiancee, a rock guitarist comes back to avenge the murders with a mysterious Crow that grants him supernatural powers.
Based on the comic by James O' Barr and Brandon Lee's final film (he was killed during the shooting when a prop gun misfired a lodged round and struck him), I originally saw this film when I was eleven years old and was drawn to the dark tone of it (much like Tim Burton's Batman films from that period of time) and I was a fan of action films with a touch of the supernatural to them. Lee's action sequences are always fun to watch (his only other film I'd seen was Rapid Fire but his martial arts scenes are badass, and one should only hope so since he's, y'know, the son of Bruce Lee). Regardless of the irritating Hot Topic/Goth subculture who hail this film and regularly dress like Brandon Lee's character, The Crow really is a great film and easily worth a viewing if you haven't seen it yet. FINAL GRADE: A
Wednesday, October 24th-The Faculty (1998) Written by Kevin Williamson Directed by Robert Rodriguez
Stars Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, Jordana Brewster, Clea Duvall, Shawn Hatosy
Six students learn that their school faculty have become host to an alien parasite.
Is this the most original sci-fi/horror film? No. In fact, the film even references (repeatedly) its Invasion of the Body Snatchers/Puppetmasters-like plot and there is even a scene where the six main characters perform a test to find out who among them is human and who is alien which is lifted almost straight out of John Carpenter's The Thing. While not reinventing the wheel by any means, it serves its purpose as the 90s update of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (one of my favorite films, by the way) and is entertaining regardless of the over used core story. Like Rodriguez' other entry on my list (From Dusk Till Dawn), I have the same feeling of being let down at the very end of the film for some reason, because it just seems like there should be more to it than there is, but I don't know what it is. FINAL GRADE: B
Thursday, October 25th-The Rocky Horror Show (2007) Written by Richard O' Brien
Stars a bunch of people from OU I don't know and one kid I went to high school with
A straight laced couple break down outside the bizarre castle of cross-dressing mad scientist Frank-n-Furter.
I've seen the movie version, and for the most part I enjoy it. I think it drags on once it reaches the cabaret floor show portion, but everything up to that is pretty solid. Sarah took me along to see this last Thursday, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The performers were very entertaining, but I discovered that my biggest gripe was actually with the audience participation/call-and-response portion of the show. Some of the audience jokes were funny, but mostly they were just annoying (as if I needed another excuse to be irritated with theater people). All in all though, it was a fun experience and if nothing else it was a night out with Sarah so the show wasn't too bad. FINAL GRADE: C+
Friday, October 26th-John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) Written by Bill Lancaster Directed by John Carpenter
Stars Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David
An assimilating alien organism is let loose upon a group of scientists at an Arctic research station, and they quickly become uncertain of who among them is human and who is the Thing.
Is this my favorite John Carpenter film? Probably. Based on the novella Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell, Jr., Carpenter's film (a remake of the Howard Hawks 1951 joint The Thing From Another World) is a much more visually disturbing film as well as building suspense among the main characters when they each begin to doubt who amongst them is still human. The creature effects are both horrifying and revolting at the same time, and most importantly Kurt Russell is doing what he does best...being a fucking badass motherfucker, and in the end, that's really what every movie needs. FINAL GRADE: A+
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
My Name Is Codename:Peabrain, My Mission Is Revenge
A HORROR MOVIE A DAY-ATHON KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY-A-THON
Monday, October 15th-Frailty (2001) Written by Brent Hanley Directed by Bill Paxton
Stars Bill Paxton, Matthew McConaughey, Powers Boothe
A man confesses to an FBI agent the story of his family's mission from God to purge the earth of supposed demons masquerading as human beings.
I remember buying this movie from C&R Entertainment Exchange (God rest its soul) when I had a $5 credit and I couldn't find anything else. It's taken me four months to finally get around to watching it, and I wasn't disappointed. It's Billy Pax's directorial debut, and it's pretty fucking solid for his first time in the directing chair for a feature. The story of a father consumed by a holy quest that from the outside looks like the ravings of a religious nut is greatly told and the plot twists are pretty interesting at the conclusion as well (although I would've liked a bit more closure on one issue). The acting is superb and I love me some Billy Pax! FINAL GRADE: A-
Tuesday, October 16th-Club Dread (2004) Written by Broken Lizard Directed by Jay Chandrasekhar
Stars Broken Lizard (Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, Eric Stolhanske), Bill Paxton, Brittany Daniel
A killer is on the loose at Coconut Pete's famed hedonistic resort of Pleasure Island.
Now, there are those who might dispute the legitimacy of this as a horror film because it's from the same guys who gave us Super Troopers and Beerfest. Well, goddammit, this is my show and I say it counts because while it's a comedy it's definitely a slasher film at its heart. As a horror film, it's nothing new but it's a nice backdrop for some great jokes and hilarious scenes (in particular, a Pac-Man sequence where a dude in a pear costume is hunted down and killed in a hedge maze). It also has Bill Paxton at I dare say his funniest as the Jimmy Buffet mock-up, Coconut Pete. All in all, it's also probably my favorite Broken Lizard movie thus far. FINAL GRADE: B+
Wednesday, October 17th-30 Days of Night (2007) Written by Steve Niles and Stuart Beatty Directed by David Slade
Stars Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Ben Foster
Vampires stumble onto the town of Barrow, Alaska where night lasts for 30 days and the sun won't come out for a month.
I read the comics immediately when I learned that this movie was coming out and tore through the entire series in roughly two days and was pretty stoked...I was even more stoked when the opportunity to catch an advance screening two days prior to the film's release presented itself. The film was amazing, but the audience apparently thought we were watching Epic Movie or some other laugh-a-thon. Also, the "Oh, shit, don't go into that room" guy was sitting directly behind me. Annoying audience aside, though, the film was pretty tense and surprisingly well paced considering that the comics mainly just deal with the town's remaining few survivors hiding and cowering for all but about the first and last issues and the vampires looked creepy as all fuck. I'll probably try and catch it again without an annoying audience, but regardless, it whipped ass. FINAL GRADE: A-
Thursday, October 18th-Grindhouse presents Planet Terror (2007) Written & Directed by Robert Rodriguez
Stars Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Marley Shelton, Michael Biehn, Jeff Fahey, Bruce Willis
When a biochemical weapon is unleashed on the small town of Texas, an ex-go go dancer and mysterious tow truck driver are the survivors' only hope against an army of mindless, savage zombies.
I love just about everything about this film, and it doesn't hurt that I rock a boner for just about anything Robert Rodriguez does. So imagine my pleasant surprise when he tackles a zombie/horror flick! The dialogue is hilarious, the characters are phenomenal (I'm partial to Rodriguez' El Wray and Biehn's Sheriff Hague) and the action sequences are fun to watch. I enjoyed this portion of Grindhouse significantly more than Tarantino's Death Proof, and I think it has everything to do with the fact that Rodriguez wanted to only pay a slight homage to the genre as opposed to just straight up remaking the genre, and that's why Planet Terror stands a little better on it's own. FINAL GRADE: A+
Friday, October 19th-Grindhouse presents Death Proof (2007) Written & Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Stars Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Tracie Thoms, Zoe Bell
A murderous psychopath stalks women in his death-proof stunt car.
It took a second viewing of this film outside of the theater for me not to absolutely despise it. The DVD cut, while a little bit longer, is much more bearable when you have the option of stopping the movie and taking a piss break if you want. Kurt Russell is phenomenal and is pretty much the reason I gave this film a second chance this week. I previously talked about Tarantino's screenplay for From Dusk Till Dawn and how it was free of his typical pop culture junkie laden dialogue and that I liked his work a lot when he avoided doing that sort of thing. Death Proof, however, did not get that memo. While I still enjoy the film, I find that my biggest complaint with it is the tangents about car flicks (Vanishing Point) and the entire barroom sequence with the jukebox seemingly filled with nothing but albums from STAX gets a bit entertaining. I get it, Quentin, you like a bunch of obscure shit that most average people today could give a fuck less about! Also, the feet thing...still kinda creepy. Get over it! But those gripes aside, I was able to enjoy the film much more this time around if for no reasons other than 1) Kurt Russell=fucking badass and 2) I could laugh at Tracie Thoms' jokes because I was able to separate her from her involvement in the film version of RENT. FINAL GRADE: B-
Monday, October 15th-Frailty (2001) Written by Brent Hanley Directed by Bill Paxton
Stars Bill Paxton, Matthew McConaughey, Powers Boothe
A man confesses to an FBI agent the story of his family's mission from God to purge the earth of supposed demons masquerading as human beings.
I remember buying this movie from C&R Entertainment Exchange (God rest its soul) when I had a $5 credit and I couldn't find anything else. It's taken me four months to finally get around to watching it, and I wasn't disappointed. It's Billy Pax's directorial debut, and it's pretty fucking solid for his first time in the directing chair for a feature. The story of a father consumed by a holy quest that from the outside looks like the ravings of a religious nut is greatly told and the plot twists are pretty interesting at the conclusion as well (although I would've liked a bit more closure on one issue). The acting is superb and I love me some Billy Pax! FINAL GRADE: A-
Tuesday, October 16th-Club Dread (2004) Written by Broken Lizard Directed by Jay Chandrasekhar
Stars Broken Lizard (Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, Eric Stolhanske), Bill Paxton, Brittany Daniel
A killer is on the loose at Coconut Pete's famed hedonistic resort of Pleasure Island.
Now, there are those who might dispute the legitimacy of this as a horror film because it's from the same guys who gave us Super Troopers and Beerfest. Well, goddammit, this is my show and I say it counts because while it's a comedy it's definitely a slasher film at its heart. As a horror film, it's nothing new but it's a nice backdrop for some great jokes and hilarious scenes (in particular, a Pac-Man sequence where a dude in a pear costume is hunted down and killed in a hedge maze). It also has Bill Paxton at I dare say his funniest as the Jimmy Buffet mock-up, Coconut Pete. All in all, it's also probably my favorite Broken Lizard movie thus far. FINAL GRADE: B+
Wednesday, October 17th-30 Days of Night (2007) Written by Steve Niles and Stuart Beatty Directed by David Slade
Stars Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Ben Foster
Vampires stumble onto the town of Barrow, Alaska where night lasts for 30 days and the sun won't come out for a month.
I read the comics immediately when I learned that this movie was coming out and tore through the entire series in roughly two days and was pretty stoked...I was even more stoked when the opportunity to catch an advance screening two days prior to the film's release presented itself. The film was amazing, but the audience apparently thought we were watching Epic Movie or some other laugh-a-thon. Also, the "Oh, shit, don't go into that room" guy was sitting directly behind me. Annoying audience aside, though, the film was pretty tense and surprisingly well paced considering that the comics mainly just deal with the town's remaining few survivors hiding and cowering for all but about the first and last issues and the vampires looked creepy as all fuck. I'll probably try and catch it again without an annoying audience, but regardless, it whipped ass. FINAL GRADE: A-
Thursday, October 18th-Grindhouse presents Planet Terror (2007) Written & Directed by Robert Rodriguez
Stars Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Marley Shelton, Michael Biehn, Jeff Fahey, Bruce Willis
When a biochemical weapon is unleashed on the small town of Texas, an ex-go go dancer and mysterious tow truck driver are the survivors' only hope against an army of mindless, savage zombies.
I love just about everything about this film, and it doesn't hurt that I rock a boner for just about anything Robert Rodriguez does. So imagine my pleasant surprise when he tackles a zombie/horror flick! The dialogue is hilarious, the characters are phenomenal (I'm partial to Rodriguez' El Wray and Biehn's Sheriff Hague) and the action sequences are fun to watch. I enjoyed this portion of Grindhouse significantly more than Tarantino's Death Proof, and I think it has everything to do with the fact that Rodriguez wanted to only pay a slight homage to the genre as opposed to just straight up remaking the genre, and that's why Planet Terror stands a little better on it's own. FINAL GRADE: A+
Friday, October 19th-Grindhouse presents Death Proof (2007) Written & Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Stars Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Tracie Thoms, Zoe Bell
A murderous psychopath stalks women in his death-proof stunt car.
It took a second viewing of this film outside of the theater for me not to absolutely despise it. The DVD cut, while a little bit longer, is much more bearable when you have the option of stopping the movie and taking a piss break if you want. Kurt Russell is phenomenal and is pretty much the reason I gave this film a second chance this week. I previously talked about Tarantino's screenplay for From Dusk Till Dawn and how it was free of his typical pop culture junkie laden dialogue and that I liked his work a lot when he avoided doing that sort of thing. Death Proof, however, did not get that memo. While I still enjoy the film, I find that my biggest complaint with it is the tangents about car flicks (Vanishing Point) and the entire barroom sequence with the jukebox seemingly filled with nothing but albums from STAX gets a bit entertaining. I get it, Quentin, you like a bunch of obscure shit that most average people today could give a fuck less about! Also, the feet thing...still kinda creepy. Get over it! But those gripes aside, I was able to enjoy the film much more this time around if for no reasons other than 1) Kurt Russell=fucking badass and 2) I could laugh at Tracie Thoms' jokes because I was able to separate her from her involvement in the film version of RENT. FINAL GRADE: B-
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
There's Only One Thing That I Really Need
A HORROR MOVIE-A-DAY-A-THON KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY-A-THON
Tuesday, October 9th-The Evil Dead (1981) Written & Directed by Sam Raimi
Stars Bruce Campbell, Sarah York, Hal Delrich, Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker
A group of college students vacationing in an isolated cabin in the woods read a passage from the Necronomicon Ex Mortis (Book of the Dead) and summon an ancient evil that seeks to consume their mortal souls.
Each installment of the Evil Dead trilogy has served to do something different, I think. The first film is a genuinely terrifying horror experience with just a little bit of comedy thrown in, but overall...man, is the first one creepy. Particularly the fucked up animations during the end sequence that make most Tool videos look normal in comparison. The pacing could be a bit better, but other than a pretty solid horror flick. FINAL GRADE:B
Wednesday, October 10th-Evil Dead II (1987) Written by Sam Raimi & Scott Spiegel, Directed by Sam Raimi
Stars Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley, Denise Bixler
Bruce Campbell returns as Ash in the sequel to the horrifying Evil Dead. Trapped in the woods, Ash must try to survive through the night against a demonic force that has been unwittingly released again.
The sequel is probably my favorite out of the trilogy, primarily because I think it has the right mix of comedy, horror and Ash finally beginning to look like something more of the hero with the well defined chin. The scene in which Ash's hand turns evil and he is forced to fight himself alone is worth the price of admission. Groovy. FINAL GRADE: A
Thursday, October 11th-Army of Darkness (1992) Written by Sam & Ivan Raimi Directed by Sam Raimi
Stars Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert
Picking up where Evil Dead II left off, Ash arrives in medieval times where he must quest for the Book of the Dead before an army of Deadites can be unleashed upon the world.
Army really steps the series up in terms of the action and comedy aspect, but the horror seems to take a backseat this time out. Some of Raimi's technical innovations are still present and while the movie might not be as horrifying as the first in the trilogy, it certainly stands on its own as each installment in the trilogy has done. Also, this is where Ash finally becomes a walking catch-phrase factory. FINAL GRADE: B+
Friday, October 12th-From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) Written by Robert Kurtzman & Quentin Tarantino Directed by Robert Rodriguez
Stars George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis
Brothers Seth and Richie Gecko, on the run from the law, kidnap a family and cross the border into Mexico. Upon reaching their destination, a seedy Mexican bar, they quickly learn that the bar's regulars are not what they seem.
Easily one of my favorite horror movies, because if you know nothing about this movie going in then you definitely don't expect it to turn into a vampire movie halfway in. It seems like a typical heist vehicle with an amazing Clooney behind the wheel, and then all of a sudden there are fucking vampires. Unlike Tarantino's other screenplays, there is little in the way of lengthy pop culture diatribes save for brief mentions of The Wild Bunch and Peter Cushing in Hammer horror films, and I don't mind one bit. Probably my only real gripe with the movie is that it's really amazing, right up until about the last five minutes. I don't know what could be different about it to change that, but once the credits start to roll I feel very slightly let down. Either way, still an enjoyable flick. FINAL GRADE: B+
Saturday, October 13th-28 Days Later (2002) Written by Alex Garland Directed by Danny Boyle
Stars Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns, Christopher Eccleston
A hospitalized man wakes up in England to discover that a violent outbreak of the Rage virus has turned most of the population into violent, zombie-like creatures and left few survivors.
Scariest zombie film ever? If not, it's definitely pretty close to it. While not a standard zombie film per se, it's certainly an important film within the genre, even if its zombies are anything but the standard fare. The social commentary within that has become a staple of any zombie text worth a damn is definitely present, and the zombies themselves are scary as all get out. If you want a movie that'll make you piss your pants, 28 Days Later is your best bet. FINAL GRADE: A+
Sunday, October 14th-Silver Bullet (1985) Written by Stephen King Directed by Daniel Attias
Stars Corey Haim, Gary Busey, Everett McGill
A small town is terrorized by a series of brutal murders, and a kid in a wheelchair thinks it's a werewolf.
I regrettably admit that I've not seen nearly as many werewolf films as I would like to in my life, and truthfully the only one that I can say I've seen which is worth a damn is An American Werewolf in London. Based on Stephen King's novella, Cycle of the Werewolf, Silver Bullet starts out strong as a horror film with everything done right to build tension and suspense along the way. In particular, the scene where a town mob sets out into the fog covered woods to track the killer is a great scene, and truly one of the better moments in this film. The story gets a bit too "family values" at points, and that detracts from the film overall. There is some very unnecessary and confusing narration from the main character's older sister throughout the film, and it makes me wonder if I'm watching a coming of age film or a fucking movie about killer werewolves on the rampage. The werewolf of the film (the town's priest) is on a mission from God, and uses his judgment as a holy man to determine the victims he will take when the moon is full. I like this plot element A LOT. But then there's more stuff about family and blah blah blah, and it kind of neuters the film a bit in the long run. If this were a forty minute short with the bullshit cut out, it'd be perfect. FINAL GRADE: C
In other news, Sarah (the lady, for those of you who don't know) is amazing and I'm going down to OU for Halloween next week. I'm pretty excited about that. 'Til then, later days Bromfield Faces.
Tuesday, October 9th-The Evil Dead (1981) Written & Directed by Sam Raimi
Stars Bruce Campbell, Sarah York, Hal Delrich, Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker
A group of college students vacationing in an isolated cabin in the woods read a passage from the Necronomicon Ex Mortis (Book of the Dead) and summon an ancient evil that seeks to consume their mortal souls.
Each installment of the Evil Dead trilogy has served to do something different, I think. The first film is a genuinely terrifying horror experience with just a little bit of comedy thrown in, but overall...man, is the first one creepy. Particularly the fucked up animations during the end sequence that make most Tool videos look normal in comparison. The pacing could be a bit better, but other than a pretty solid horror flick. FINAL GRADE:B
Wednesday, October 10th-Evil Dead II (1987) Written by Sam Raimi & Scott Spiegel, Directed by Sam Raimi
Stars Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley, Denise Bixler
Bruce Campbell returns as Ash in the sequel to the horrifying Evil Dead. Trapped in the woods, Ash must try to survive through the night against a demonic force that has been unwittingly released again.
The sequel is probably my favorite out of the trilogy, primarily because I think it has the right mix of comedy, horror and Ash finally beginning to look like something more of the hero with the well defined chin. The scene in which Ash's hand turns evil and he is forced to fight himself alone is worth the price of admission. Groovy. FINAL GRADE: A
Thursday, October 11th-Army of Darkness (1992) Written by Sam & Ivan Raimi Directed by Sam Raimi
Stars Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert
Picking up where Evil Dead II left off, Ash arrives in medieval times where he must quest for the Book of the Dead before an army of Deadites can be unleashed upon the world.
Army really steps the series up in terms of the action and comedy aspect, but the horror seems to take a backseat this time out. Some of Raimi's technical innovations are still present and while the movie might not be as horrifying as the first in the trilogy, it certainly stands on its own as each installment in the trilogy has done. Also, this is where Ash finally becomes a walking catch-phrase factory. FINAL GRADE: B+
Friday, October 12th-From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) Written by Robert Kurtzman & Quentin Tarantino Directed by Robert Rodriguez
Stars George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis
Brothers Seth and Richie Gecko, on the run from the law, kidnap a family and cross the border into Mexico. Upon reaching their destination, a seedy Mexican bar, they quickly learn that the bar's regulars are not what they seem.
Easily one of my favorite horror movies, because if you know nothing about this movie going in then you definitely don't expect it to turn into a vampire movie halfway in. It seems like a typical heist vehicle with an amazing Clooney behind the wheel, and then all of a sudden there are fucking vampires. Unlike Tarantino's other screenplays, there is little in the way of lengthy pop culture diatribes save for brief mentions of The Wild Bunch and Peter Cushing in Hammer horror films, and I don't mind one bit. Probably my only real gripe with the movie is that it's really amazing, right up until about the last five minutes. I don't know what could be different about it to change that, but once the credits start to roll I feel very slightly let down. Either way, still an enjoyable flick. FINAL GRADE: B+
Saturday, October 13th-28 Days Later (2002) Written by Alex Garland Directed by Danny Boyle
Stars Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns, Christopher Eccleston
A hospitalized man wakes up in England to discover that a violent outbreak of the Rage virus has turned most of the population into violent, zombie-like creatures and left few survivors.
Scariest zombie film ever? If not, it's definitely pretty close to it. While not a standard zombie film per se, it's certainly an important film within the genre, even if its zombies are anything but the standard fare. The social commentary within that has become a staple of any zombie text worth a damn is definitely present, and the zombies themselves are scary as all get out. If you want a movie that'll make you piss your pants, 28 Days Later is your best bet. FINAL GRADE: A+
Sunday, October 14th-Silver Bullet (1985) Written by Stephen King Directed by Daniel Attias
Stars Corey Haim, Gary Busey, Everett McGill
A small town is terrorized by a series of brutal murders, and a kid in a wheelchair thinks it's a werewolf.
I regrettably admit that I've not seen nearly as many werewolf films as I would like to in my life, and truthfully the only one that I can say I've seen which is worth a damn is An American Werewolf in London. Based on Stephen King's novella, Cycle of the Werewolf, Silver Bullet starts out strong as a horror film with everything done right to build tension and suspense along the way. In particular, the scene where a town mob sets out into the fog covered woods to track the killer is a great scene, and truly one of the better moments in this film. The story gets a bit too "family values" at points, and that detracts from the film overall. There is some very unnecessary and confusing narration from the main character's older sister throughout the film, and it makes me wonder if I'm watching a coming of age film or a fucking movie about killer werewolves on the rampage. The werewolf of the film (the town's priest) is on a mission from God, and uses his judgment as a holy man to determine the victims he will take when the moon is full. I like this plot element A LOT. But then there's more stuff about family and blah blah blah, and it kind of neuters the film a bit in the long run. If this were a forty minute short with the bullshit cut out, it'd be perfect. FINAL GRADE: C
In other news, Sarah (the lady, for those of you who don't know) is amazing and I'm going down to OU for Halloween next week. I'm pretty excited about that. 'Til then, later days Bromfield Faces.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Were Those Zombies That I Saw Over At The Shopping Mall?
Okay, two-fold entry. First the continuation of the Horror Movie-A-Day-A-Thon Keeps The Doctor Away-A-Thon.
Monday, October 8th-Tremors II:Aftershocks (1996) Written by Brent Maddock & S.S. Wilson, Directed by S.S. Wilson
Stars Fred Ward, Christopher Gartin, Michael Gross and Helen Shaver
Earl Bassett, survivor of the previous Tremors film, is contracted by the Mexican government to kill subterranean worms that have been killing off the workers on one of their oil fields. The job's easy enough, until, as the tagline states, the worms turn!
Now, for some reason I can never remember anything about the first Tremors except that Kevin Bacon was in it. The sequel has always stuck out in my mind for some unexplainable reason, and I know that I've enjoyed it ever since the first time I saw it when I was about sixteen years old. That's saying a lot, particularly considering the sequel was direct-to-video, which usually is code for "This movie sucks. No, seriously. You'll kill yourself if you watch this." With that in mind, Aftershocks is a pretty entertaining hour and a half. It's certainly not reinventing the wheel as far as horror/comedy goes, but I really enjoy the characters (particularly a crotchety Fred Ward as the lead and Michael Gross as a paranoid survivalist nut) and the movie's just long enough so that it doesn't get stagnant or boring. FINAL GRADE: B-
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Now, to change gears. I'll keep this part short and sweet. But ladies, try to contain yourselves and dry your eyes because Dustin Meadows!=No longer on the market. More details next time!
Monday, October 8th-Tremors II:Aftershocks (1996) Written by Brent Maddock & S.S. Wilson, Directed by S.S. Wilson
Stars Fred Ward, Christopher Gartin, Michael Gross and Helen Shaver
Earl Bassett, survivor of the previous Tremors film, is contracted by the Mexican government to kill subterranean worms that have been killing off the workers on one of their oil fields. The job's easy enough, until, as the tagline states, the worms turn!
Now, for some reason I can never remember anything about the first Tremors except that Kevin Bacon was in it. The sequel has always stuck out in my mind for some unexplainable reason, and I know that I've enjoyed it ever since the first time I saw it when I was about sixteen years old. That's saying a lot, particularly considering the sequel was direct-to-video, which usually is code for "This movie sucks. No, seriously. You'll kill yourself if you watch this." With that in mind, Aftershocks is a pretty entertaining hour and a half. It's certainly not reinventing the wheel as far as horror/comedy goes, but I really enjoy the characters (particularly a crotchety Fred Ward as the lead and Michael Gross as a paranoid survivalist nut) and the movie's just long enough so that it doesn't get stagnant or boring. FINAL GRADE: B-
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Now, to change gears. I'll keep this part short and sweet. But ladies, try to contain yourselves and dry your eyes because Dustin Meadows!=No longer on the market. More details next time!
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
A Horror Movie-A-Day-A-Thon Keeps The Doctor Away-A-Thon
Well, as you can see from the lengthy title I've decided to start what will become an annual October tradition for me, the Horror Movie-A-Day-A-Thon Keeps The Doctor Away-A-Thon in which I watch one horror movie a day for the entire month of October. I'm a few days behind, but am slowly catching up. Thus far, my viewing schedule has been as follows-
Monday, October 1st-A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) Written & Directed by Wes Craven
Stars Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund
Nightmare follows a group of teenagers who are being stalked in their sleep by the vengeful spirit of long-dead child murderer Freddy Krueger. Krueger kills the teenagers in their dreams and they die in real life, so to where can they escape? Dun dun dun.
Robert Englund is always memorable as the darkly comedic Freddy Krueger, and while I like later installments in the Nightmare series better, the original is no slacker. FINAL GRADE: B
Tuesday, October 2nd-Gremlins (1984) Written by Chris Columbus, Directed by Joe Dante
Stars Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates
In Gremlins, Billy is given a Mogwai for Christmas with three rules-Keep them out of the light, never let them near water and never ever feed them after the midnight. When these rules are broken, Gremlins are born from Billy's new pet and wreak havoc across town on Christmas Eve.
This movie has been a favorite of mine since childhood and one of only three movies that ever frightened me as a child (the other two being Jaws and Alien). It's as funny as it is scary, and really well rounded for a comedy/horror film. Big ups. FINAL GRADE: A
Wednesday, October 3rd-Phantoms (1998) Written by Dean Koontz, Directed by Joe Chappelle
Stars Ben Affleck, Rose McGowan, Peter O' Toole, Liev Schreiber and Joanna Going
Small mountain town besieged by an ancient evil from below...or something. It can turn into water, or octopi or...whatever it wants to, I guess.
Yes, the same Phantoms in which Ben Affleck is the bomb in. However, that's about where the good parts of this movie end. It reminded me very much of John Carpenter's The Thing (which I'll talk about later this month) but only in terms of creature design and none of the story elements that made that movie amazing. I really just stopped caring because the plot was so vague and convoluted and at the end I had more questions than answers. FINAL GRADE: C-
Thursday, October 4th-The Frighteners (1996) Written by Fran Walsh & Peter Jackson, Directed by Peter Jackson
Stars Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Jeffrey Combs, Jake Busey, Chi McBride
Psychic investigator Frank Bannister has the ability to commune with the dead, and with the aid of a few undead associates he scams the small town of Fairwater. But when Death comes to town, Frank's the only one who can put an end to a series of brutal murders.
If you loved the Lord of the Rings trilogy, you have this movie to thank. If you hated it, you have this movie to blame. After ordering 30+ computers for the CG effects in Frighteners, Jackson needed a huge project to justify the money spent on the computers. Frighteners is as scary as it is funny, and nothing about it feels stagnant or cliche. Michael J. Fox is great as the lead and Jeffrey Combs is overly creepy as FBI Agent Milton Dammers. FINAL GRADE: A+
Friday, October 5th-John Carpenter's The Fog (1980) Written by Debra Hill & John Carpenter, Directed by John Carpenter
Stars Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, Tom Atkins, Hal Holbrook
On the 100th anniversary of Antonio Bay, a mysterious fog infiltrates the town, bringing with it the ghosts of wronged sailors seeking revenge.
I'm a huge John Carpenter fan, but this is probably one of my least favorite of his pictures solely for the fact that it really only feels like a John Carpenter film for about the first fifteen minutes and the last half hour of the film. Everything in between feels out of place save for one or two moments of horror-filled revelations that advance the story. All in all, a good John Carpenter film but definitely not his best. FINAL GRADE: B-
Saturday, October 6th-House On Haunted Hill (1999) Written by Dick Beebe, Directed by William Malone
Stars Geoffrey Rush, Famke Janssen, Taye Diggs, Peter Gallagher, Ali Larter, Chris Kattan, Jeffrey Combs
Eccentric millionaire and theme park tycoon (played wonderfully by Rush) offers five strangers $1,000,000 to stay overnight in an asylum with a disturbing history.
A remake of a classic horror film. While the remake certainly doesn't reinvent the wheel, Geoffrey Rush (who bears a striking resemblance to Vincent Price in the film) alone is worth the price of admission and the sequence in the creepy chamber thing with Jeffrey Combs is pretty goddamn intense. Nothing new, but definitely some freaky moments that make it worth checking out. FINAL GRADE: B-
Sunday, October 7th-The Wicker Man (2006) Written & Directed by Neil LaBute
Stars Nicolas Cage, Ellen Burstyn, Kate Beahan, Leelee Sobieski
A remake of the 1973 cult classic of the same name, Neil LaBute's remake completely misses the fucking point. The basic plot points are the same (man goes to pagan isle in search of a missing girl, is too conservative/close-minded/stuck up his own ass to give the villagers anything but a shitty attitude and ultimately is sacrificed to the Wicker Man to improve their crops when it is revealed that he was baited into coming to Summer Isle in the first place), but that's where it ends. It's basically 100 minutes of Nicky Copes yelling at and hitting women and freaking out and well, just being Nicolas Cage. The most insulting point, however is when the missing girl runs back into the arms of the villagers and each villager decides to, in roundtable discussion, explain the big conspiracy of how and why Cage was lured to the island. So on top of assuming that his viewers don't want to see a good film, LaBute also assumes that everybody watching is completely fucking stupid and can't put two and two together. This anti-climactic exposition is far worse than any I've ever read in Golden/Silver Age comics where the writers never ever leave anything to the reader's imagination.
This is not a movie. This is a crime against humanity. Save yourself two hours and watch the YouTube highlight reel. Seriously. FINAL GRADE: F+
I'm gonna try to break the weeks in half so it's not as much reading and not as much writing, but that's gonna be the format for the rest of the month. Any real updates will be posted as separate blog entries.
These are the films I'm looking at for the rest of the month-
28 Days Later
30 Days of Night
Alien
Aliens
Army of Darkness
Bubba Ho-Tep
The Crow
Darkman
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Event Horizon
Evil Dead
Evil Dead II
The Faculty
From Dusk 'Til Dawn
Ghostbusters
Halloween (1978)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Ravenous
Shaun of the Dead
Slither
If anybody would care to join me for these, let me know and I'll adjust my viewing schedule as needed. I'm also open to suggestions, because I've still got three or four days I need to cover.
Monday, October 1st-A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) Written & Directed by Wes Craven
Stars Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund
Nightmare follows a group of teenagers who are being stalked in their sleep by the vengeful spirit of long-dead child murderer Freddy Krueger. Krueger kills the teenagers in their dreams and they die in real life, so to where can they escape? Dun dun dun.
Robert Englund is always memorable as the darkly comedic Freddy Krueger, and while I like later installments in the Nightmare series better, the original is no slacker. FINAL GRADE: B
Tuesday, October 2nd-Gremlins (1984) Written by Chris Columbus, Directed by Joe Dante
Stars Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates
In Gremlins, Billy is given a Mogwai for Christmas with three rules-Keep them out of the light, never let them near water and never ever feed them after the midnight. When these rules are broken, Gremlins are born from Billy's new pet and wreak havoc across town on Christmas Eve.
This movie has been a favorite of mine since childhood and one of only three movies that ever frightened me as a child (the other two being Jaws and Alien). It's as funny as it is scary, and really well rounded for a comedy/horror film. Big ups. FINAL GRADE: A
Wednesday, October 3rd-Phantoms (1998) Written by Dean Koontz, Directed by Joe Chappelle
Stars Ben Affleck, Rose McGowan, Peter O' Toole, Liev Schreiber and Joanna Going
Small mountain town besieged by an ancient evil from below...or something. It can turn into water, or octopi or...whatever it wants to, I guess.
Yes, the same Phantoms in which Ben Affleck is the bomb in. However, that's about where the good parts of this movie end. It reminded me very much of John Carpenter's The Thing (which I'll talk about later this month) but only in terms of creature design and none of the story elements that made that movie amazing. I really just stopped caring because the plot was so vague and convoluted and at the end I had more questions than answers. FINAL GRADE: C-
Thursday, October 4th-The Frighteners (1996) Written by Fran Walsh & Peter Jackson, Directed by Peter Jackson
Stars Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Jeffrey Combs, Jake Busey, Chi McBride
Psychic investigator Frank Bannister has the ability to commune with the dead, and with the aid of a few undead associates he scams the small town of Fairwater. But when Death comes to town, Frank's the only one who can put an end to a series of brutal murders.
If you loved the Lord of the Rings trilogy, you have this movie to thank. If you hated it, you have this movie to blame. After ordering 30+ computers for the CG effects in Frighteners, Jackson needed a huge project to justify the money spent on the computers. Frighteners is as scary as it is funny, and nothing about it feels stagnant or cliche. Michael J. Fox is great as the lead and Jeffrey Combs is overly creepy as FBI Agent Milton Dammers. FINAL GRADE: A+
Friday, October 5th-John Carpenter's The Fog (1980) Written by Debra Hill & John Carpenter, Directed by John Carpenter
Stars Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, Tom Atkins, Hal Holbrook
On the 100th anniversary of Antonio Bay, a mysterious fog infiltrates the town, bringing with it the ghosts of wronged sailors seeking revenge.
I'm a huge John Carpenter fan, but this is probably one of my least favorite of his pictures solely for the fact that it really only feels like a John Carpenter film for about the first fifteen minutes and the last half hour of the film. Everything in between feels out of place save for one or two moments of horror-filled revelations that advance the story. All in all, a good John Carpenter film but definitely not his best. FINAL GRADE: B-
Saturday, October 6th-House On Haunted Hill (1999) Written by Dick Beebe, Directed by William Malone
Stars Geoffrey Rush, Famke Janssen, Taye Diggs, Peter Gallagher, Ali Larter, Chris Kattan, Jeffrey Combs
Eccentric millionaire and theme park tycoon (played wonderfully by Rush) offers five strangers $1,000,000 to stay overnight in an asylum with a disturbing history.
A remake of a classic horror film. While the remake certainly doesn't reinvent the wheel, Geoffrey Rush (who bears a striking resemblance to Vincent Price in the film) alone is worth the price of admission and the sequence in the creepy chamber thing with Jeffrey Combs is pretty goddamn intense. Nothing new, but definitely some freaky moments that make it worth checking out. FINAL GRADE: B-
Sunday, October 7th-The Wicker Man (2006) Written & Directed by Neil LaBute
Stars Nicolas Cage, Ellen Burstyn, Kate Beahan, Leelee Sobieski
A remake of the 1973 cult classic of the same name, Neil LaBute's remake completely misses the fucking point. The basic plot points are the same (man goes to pagan isle in search of a missing girl, is too conservative/close-minded/stuck up his own ass to give the villagers anything but a shitty attitude and ultimately is sacrificed to the Wicker Man to improve their crops when it is revealed that he was baited into coming to Summer Isle in the first place), but that's where it ends. It's basically 100 minutes of Nicky Copes yelling at and hitting women and freaking out and well, just being Nicolas Cage. The most insulting point, however is when the missing girl runs back into the arms of the villagers and each villager decides to, in roundtable discussion, explain the big conspiracy of how and why Cage was lured to the island. So on top of assuming that his viewers don't want to see a good film, LaBute also assumes that everybody watching is completely fucking stupid and can't put two and two together. This anti-climactic exposition is far worse than any I've ever read in Golden/Silver Age comics where the writers never ever leave anything to the reader's imagination.
This is not a movie. This is a crime against humanity. Save yourself two hours and watch the YouTube highlight reel. Seriously. FINAL GRADE: F+
I'm gonna try to break the weeks in half so it's not as much reading and not as much writing, but that's gonna be the format for the rest of the month. Any real updates will be posted as separate blog entries.
These are the films I'm looking at for the rest of the month-
28 Days Later
30 Days of Night
Alien
Aliens
Army of Darkness
Bubba Ho-Tep
The Crow
Darkman
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Event Horizon
Evil Dead
Evil Dead II
The Faculty
From Dusk 'Til Dawn
Ghostbusters
Halloween (1978)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Ravenous
Shaun of the Dead
Slither
If anybody would care to join me for these, let me know and I'll adjust my viewing schedule as needed. I'm also open to suggestions, because I've still got three or four days I need to cover.
Monday, October 1, 2007
There Are No Saints, There Are No Patriots
Last night was the Strike Anywhere show in Columbus, and as always it was an amazing show. It was my first time seeing them with new guitarist Mark Miller and he's an excellent replacement for former guitarist Matt Sherwood.
The opening act was a local C-Bus band called Overated. They were okay and put on a decent show, but I'm worried that once President Bush is out of the White House, they, like many other current politically charged bands, they may not have anything to write about (especially if Hil Rod makes it into the White House and does everything they want). I hope this is not the case, because they were pretty cool dudes (and a dame). Also, for some reason their guitarist/singer decided to announce to the audience that he liked me because I was up front rocking out to their set and that I reminded him of a big, angry looking teddy bear. Side note on their set-Some random dude who apparently knew the band decided to run up onstage during the band's set to their bass player (a girl who is obviously a very forward thinking, feminist type who was wearing a Planned Parenthood shirt) and slapped her on the ass. Way to set gender relations back by about a hundred years, dude.
The next band was Cloak/Dagger. I got really excited because 3/4 of the band looked like the biggest nerds in the world, and for those who don't know, nerds typically play the best punk rock and hardcore music. However, this was not the case. The singer started off doing some Steven Tyler-esque rock god preening during the first few songs, and at one point was holding the mic stand behind his head and shoulders like a weight bar which resulted in a Jesus Christ pose. How utterly droll. Also, the dude doesn't seem to know how to hold a microphone because every time he sang into it the speakers buzzed and my eardrums bled.
Finally, Strike Anywhere took the stage and their set was as follows.
YOU'RE FIRED
SEDITION
INFRARED
LAUGHTER IN A POLICE STATE
LIGHTS GO OUT
HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY
TIMEBOMB GENERATION
WE AMPLIFY/BLAZE
CHALKLINE
EARTHBOUND
ALLIES
TO THE WORLD
PRISONER ECHOES
SUNSET ON 32nd
REFUSAL (encore)
Basically, the only songs they need to play live now are IN THE FINGERNAILS, 'TIL DAYS SHALL BE NO MORE and YOU ARE NOT COLLATERAL DAMAGE and they will have played everything live that I really want to see, barring they decide to do a complete discography show (if only!). As always, an amazing show and still my favorite band.
"There are no saints, there are no patriots, designer gods fulfill their prophecies, but they're not talking to me, how many false enemies will it take 'til we see? Where we fall, where we fight, blackout in the daylight!"
The opening act was a local C-Bus band called Overated. They were okay and put on a decent show, but I'm worried that once President Bush is out of the White House, they, like many other current politically charged bands, they may not have anything to write about (especially if Hil Rod makes it into the White House and does everything they want). I hope this is not the case, because they were pretty cool dudes (and a dame). Also, for some reason their guitarist/singer decided to announce to the audience that he liked me because I was up front rocking out to their set and that I reminded him of a big, angry looking teddy bear. Side note on their set-Some random dude who apparently knew the band decided to run up onstage during the band's set to their bass player (a girl who is obviously a very forward thinking, feminist type who was wearing a Planned Parenthood shirt) and slapped her on the ass. Way to set gender relations back by about a hundred years, dude.
The next band was Cloak/Dagger. I got really excited because 3/4 of the band looked like the biggest nerds in the world, and for those who don't know, nerds typically play the best punk rock and hardcore music. However, this was not the case. The singer started off doing some Steven Tyler-esque rock god preening during the first few songs, and at one point was holding the mic stand behind his head and shoulders like a weight bar which resulted in a Jesus Christ pose. How utterly droll. Also, the dude doesn't seem to know how to hold a microphone because every time he sang into it the speakers buzzed and my eardrums bled.
Finally, Strike Anywhere took the stage and their set was as follows.
YOU'RE FIRED
SEDITION
INFRARED
LAUGHTER IN A POLICE STATE
LIGHTS GO OUT
HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY
TIMEBOMB GENERATION
WE AMPLIFY/BLAZE
CHALKLINE
EARTHBOUND
ALLIES
TO THE WORLD
PRISONER ECHOES
SUNSET ON 32nd
REFUSAL (encore)
Basically, the only songs they need to play live now are IN THE FINGERNAILS, 'TIL DAYS SHALL BE NO MORE and YOU ARE NOT COLLATERAL DAMAGE and they will have played everything live that I really want to see, barring they decide to do a complete discography show (if only!). As always, an amazing show and still my favorite band.
"There are no saints, there are no patriots, designer gods fulfill their prophecies, but they're not talking to me, how many false enemies will it take 'til we see? Where we fall, where we fight, blackout in the daylight!"
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