Horror-tober 13: 2001 Maniacs

Some college kids are headed to Florida for spring break. Of course they plan to party hard during the week, but they are also supposed to be writing a History term paper. When they drive through a southern town (called Pleasant Valley) on the way they will get the history lesson of their lives, or deaths more like. The South will rise again! 

Welcome to Pleasant Valley!

It has been a number of years since I last saw this one, but even for the shlocky-ness of the plot, it had left a mark on me that I wanted to revisit. I remembered some of the death scenes very vividly and also remembering thinking it was utterly stupid. It is. But, it is also pretty fun. Mayor Buckman (Robert Englund) is the patriarch of this sleepy little southern town and Granny Boone (played by iconic Lin Shaye) the matriarch. Aside from the terrible acting in most of this film, these two shine in their roles as cannibalistic ghosts. That's right, if you haven't seen it, I just ruined it for you. They're ghosts. That eat people. I mean, there's a "You ARE what they eat" tagline and gravestones on the cover. It's really not all that surprising. But, really anything Robert Englund is in is a gem in my book. I haven't watched the Masters of Horror - Dance of the Dead with him yet, but a friend of mine really likes it so that might appear on the list next year. Also has a short appearance by horror director Eli Roth in it. Overall, basically what you would expect for a gore-fest set in the deep south with stupid college spring breakers and racist, cannibalistic ghosts. The death scenes are hilarious and sort of creative. My favorite was when the Mayor was talking to a victim and he spits in his eye, except not in his eye but on the eye patch and he put a handkerchief on it like he was so offended and hurt. It's those subtleties in the humor of this movie that gives it the 3-skull rating it deserves. 

Horror-tober 6: The Babadook

Although one from a more recent past than others I often feature on Throwback Thursday, I felt like I needed a revisit.

A single mother (Amelia) struggles with disciplining her unruly 6-year old boy (Sam). He makes weapons to fight "monsters," which gets him in trouble at school. To add to the trouble, she finds it impossible to love him because she lost her husband in a car accident when he was driving her to the hospital to give birth. As her son's 7th birthday rolls around he discovers a strange pop-up book in his room. Shortly after, they are haunted by the creature in the book, the Babadook.

It is rare to find a movie that truly is terrifying, and not just in a scary monster sort of way. It took a second watch for me to really see that it wasn't all about the creature. The other "monster" or "demon" in this film is that of the pain of loss and the inability to "move on". Everyone copes differently with loss and when something so tragic happens, it is hard to move on and not play the blame game. In this case, Amelia finds it difficult to love her son, in a way blaming him for the loss of her husband. This movie is much a drama as it is a horror. Believing the Babadook to be a figment of Sam's imagination she resorts to medicating him to try to control his outbursts. However, the Babadook plays on her emotions and when she finally lets him "in", it is Sam that has to save his mom from the clutches of the Babadook. The visuals were stunning and the acting, even from the young Sam, was so good. The Babdook is truly a unique and well done film. There are still questions when you get to the end and some of the plot doesn't quite make sense. But it is an all around great horror movie that also plays on deeper emotions and human psyche. 

Horror-tober 15: Corpse Bride

Corpse Bride is Tim Burton's claymation follow-up to The Nightmare Before Christmas. A young man by the name of Victor is betrothed to Victoria, a young lady that he has never met. Both Victor and Victoria's families believe they are entering their children into the arrangement so as to gain riches. When Victor first sees Victoria, is like love at first sight. He is no longer nervous about the arrangement but he bumbles all over the rehearsal. In an attempt to clear his head he runs off to the woods and practices his vows. He nails them, but he also mistakenly proposes to a corpse (Emily) and finds himself in the land of the dead.   

No surprise that Nightmare was a huge influence in my childhood as it was for many of my generation. Corpse Bride isn't nearly as good, but has great imagery, story, and characters. The realm of the living is drab and gray, whereas the realm of the dead is full of vibrant colors, music, and "life." Very much a typical aesthetic of Burton films. The music in Corpse Bride, in my opinion, is not as good as the music in Nightmare. But it jives well with the film and it isn't overdone. The character development is good and the overall story is pretty good too.

My rating:

Joey's rating: 

Horror-tober 8: Scream

Another pick honoring the memory of the legend, Wes Craven, and one of my favorites. I have a feeling there will more than a few of his featured this year.

I feel like this one doesn't really need a synopsis because I assume most people have seen it, at least from my generation. Even those that aren't that into horror movies have, or at least have an idea of what it is about from the Scary Movie spoof franchise.

This one makes my top 10 horror list (I actually have never made one before, but I know that this one would be on it if I did along with Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street) because it is in itself an homage to the horror genre. It has some obvious references, like the killer tormenting his victims by asking them trivia questions about horror movies, the opening scene closely resembling When a Stranger Calls, and the "rules" of a scary movie. But it has other smaller references including cameos by some of the horror genre's well known faces (i.e. Linda Blair), a reference to directors Wes Craven and John Carpenter when Tatum (Rose McGowan) says the situation is like a Wes Carpenter film, and the janitor is wearing a sweater and hat like those worn by Freddy Kreuger in A Nightmare on Elm Street and is actually played by Wes himself. There are also many references to Halloween.

Scream has some great moments, and intelligent writing and directing. It is also funny and satirizes the horror genre cliches; example, as Randy (Jamie Kennedy) is watching Halloween and screaming, "Turn around Jamie!" at Jamie Lee Curtis all while the killer is creeping behind him, and Sydney (Neve Campbell) and the camera guy are watching it in the news van and screaming at him to turn around. So good. I recently also discovered a lot of Jamie Kennedy's and Matthew Lillard's (Stu) lines were ad-libbed. Even after watching after some 10 plus years, I still really like this one.

My rating:

Joey's rating:

Horror-tober 1: Shaun of the Dead

What is there not to like about Shaun of the Dead? I have seen this movie very many times, and each time I find something more to like about this little gem.

Shaun of the Dead is set in a little suburb town in England. Shaun (Simon Pegg) and Liz have been together for 3 years, but she has grown weary of going to the same pub with Shaun and his friend Ed (Nick Frost), so she dumps him. Shaun and Ed go to the same pub, the Winchester, to drink away his sorrows. That night, Shaun decides he will get Liz back and change his life. That morning, nothing seems different except there is a strange girl in the backyard. Shortly after, Shaun and Ed discover there is something very wrong with her.

Alright, enough of the synopsis. That is really just to point out how unique this film is. It is not a spoof on zombie movies. But a comedy, with some romance, and a zombie twist. It is also as much a buddy comedy, as it is apparent how long Shaun and Ed have been friends and how tight that friendship is throughout the film. As can be said for the real-life friendship between Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The humor is pretty light-hearted and quite clever. On the zombie end, it stays pretty true to the original zombie standard: they're slow and consumed by their hunger for flesh. They are not light on the carnage in this film either. When poor David (Dylan Moran) is consumed by the zombies, he is eviscerated and torn apart in front of his friends.

A fun little game to play while watching this one is to make note of the people you see that are alive and then later when you see them dead or undead as is the case with those that are zombies. That is something that makes this film so much fun, it is pretty solid in plot and details all the way to the end. I guess, except that the outbreak is contained pretty quickly. But it also brings back the soildity in the details of the film, where early you see some television programs, that later the surviving zombies are featured on.

Snakehips alive

Snakehips dead

There is also this little surprise for fans of Spaced which is something I hadn't noticed until this viewing of it. Bottom right corner, it's Tyres, the raving bike messenger! I knew that Daisy (Jessica Hynes) was in it, but never noticed Tyres until now.

Tyres raving as a zombie

I hold this one in high esteem, and have to give it 5 skulls. Also, Joey has said he will join me on a few movies this year, and he gives this one 4 skulls.

Joey's rating:

My rating:

Event Horizon

Science-fiction horror for a Throwback Thursday.

There is nothing I like more than a good Sci-Fi horror movie. To this day, the Aliens series is by far one of my favorites. But it could be said that many horror films have some element of science fiction, zombies created by a virus, futuristic and apocalyptic worlds where cannibals run rampant are a few examples. But often many don't actually take place in space or on another planet. Event Horizon is one of those that I haven't seen in a long time, but I can recall almost every little detail. It is a sign of a good film, especially for a horror film. One of Paul W.S. Anderson's (Resident Evil franchise) first feature length films (aside from Mortal Kombat), and it doesn't let you down on suspense or gore.

The "core" or engine of the ship

The Event Horizon is revealed to be a ship capable of folding space, like creating a wormhole, to travel to worlds yet unexplored. On its first test, it disappeared without a trace and after being lost for seven years it has reappeared. A team is unknowingly sent, with the scientist who created the Event Horizon, to recover it and its crew. When they arrive at the ship and go aboard they quickly find that there are no survivors among the crew. In fact one of the crew members is found to be a "corpsicle" as one of the characters calls it. Corpsicle. Ha. Anyway, stuff goes down when the core is reactivated and our team find themselves trapped on a terrifying ship. There is a solid cast in the film as well, with Laurence Fishburne as the captain and Sam Neill as the scientist. The effects are hauntingly disturbing and pretty well done and the set is very aesthetically appealing as well.

Inside the ship

A few notes about some scenes. Originally the doctor, played by Jason Isaacs, identified the transmission they had received as "liberate me" or save me in Latin. However, when s*** starts going down he reexamines it and realizes it is actually "Liberate tutame ex inferis," save yourself from Hell. I'm not a Latin expert and looking at discussions online, it is apparently incorrect. But for setting the mood of the movie, it works. Did the Event Horizon travel beyond into a sort of Hell for those seven years? Or did the ship itself become something else?

A scene of Hellish gore

Another one I somehow convinced Joey to watch with me, and he had this to say about it, "Not quite as good as I remember it, but it's got a nice slow build." He gives it 3.5 skulls and I give it 4.5. Maybe I am rating it so highly because I have such a fondness for it as a part of the formative years in my life for horror movies, but I don't care! It is still a solid horror film in my book, but the transition to the electronic music at the credits is a little laughable.

My rating:

Joey's rating: 

Day of the Dead

First Throwback Thursday of the fest.

I couldn't justify waiting till Monday for a zombie flick, so I picked one that it has been over 10 years since I first saw it. I could have picked any number of Romero films but I chose this one because out of all of them, it was the one I remembered the least.

A zombie test subject

I know it has been a long time since I saw this one, because I don't remember any of the "smart" zombie aspect of the film. When I first saw Land of the Dead in theaters I was intrigued by the idea that zombies could have enough brain power to remember their lives before undeath and sort of learn. That is also a subject Romero touched on in this classic. The story jumps right into some time after the first outbreak. A group of military personnel and some civilians hole themselves up in an underground bunker, periodically flying a helicopter to check cities nearby for survivors. We aren't sure who the civilians are until the story builds and we learn that they are a group of scientists that are trying to discover what makes zombies tick and maybe if there is a cure for them. The doctor they all call "Frankenstein" has questionable morals but discovers a particular zombie he names "Bub" that is very capable of higher brain function. He appears to remember a past life, saluting the soldiers and brandishing a gun.

Bub saluting

The zombies are in a way evolving, while the underground bunker setting and the barbaric attitude of the soldiers and "Dr.Frankenstein" make it seem as if the living are devolving back into cavemen. Of course, the practical effects of the time are a little hokey but at the same time impressive and fun to watch.

A head used for a death scene of one of the soldiers for the film

The film itself is a little slow, but the material, story and the bits of good gore towards the end are what make it one worth watching. I give it 3.5 skulls, I like it but I don't love it.

Pumpkinhead

Pumpkinhead terrified me as a child, and of all of those featured on Throwback Thursday to date, is the one that has been the longest since I first saw it.

Pumpkinhead was the directorial debut for special-effects guru, Stan Winston (Jurassic Park). The story takes place in some small backwoods town. It shows a farmer and market owner Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) and his son. One day at the shop, some young city folk show up with their motorcycles and fancy sports car as they are heading to a cabin in the woods for some weekend fun. Tragedy strikes and the young boy is killed in a reckless motorcycle accident, and the one responsible flees the scene leaving the others to try to find help. Grieving for his son, Ed seeks the aid of a witch. It is beyond her power to bring the child back, but she provides him another solution. She suggests calling forth the legendary revenge demon, Pumpkinhead, to exact his revenge on those responsible for the senseless death of his son. Pumpkinhead is released and begins taking out the youths, one by one. Ed is somehow connected to the demon and through its eyes witnesses their deaths - which forces him to doubt his rash decision. He tries to call the demon back, but it is too late. The other towns folk won't help because they know if they interfere, the demon will come for them too. But Ed knows he has to do something to try to save the others before their fate is also sealed by Pumpkinhead. 

The stuff of my childhood nightmares

A grieving father

The witch helps invoke Pumpkinhead

Pumpkinhead's revenge befalls one of the teens

Winston has a good eye for visuals in this movie, and of course the creature design for Pumpkinhead is outstanding. He also has some good character development, although the small town hick people are a little trite. When the movie gets really disturbing for me is when the demon begins to take on the face of Lance Henriksen. Of all of the scares, this time around, that is the one that will stick with me in my now adult life. Otherwise, I can say that I am over my childhood fear of Pumpkinhead. 

Pumpkinhead-Henriksen hybrid face *shutter*

Overall, I enjoyed the re-watch and the re-visit to a childhood nightmare. For the nostalgia and because, in my opinion, it holds up pretty well for effects, creature design and story, I give it a 3.5-skull rating.

My rating:

Feast

This one is a little more recent of a re-watch for me and the first that my boyfriend had decided to join in on! Throwback Thursday here we come!

Feast came out of the Project Greenlight show in 2005. A sort of reality, competition show for first-time filmakers and produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, Greenlight ran for three seasons, this film being a part of the third and final one. It is directed by John Gulager and he has since gone on to make two sequels to this original.  

Judah Friedlander faces off with a monster

With an "all-star" cast, Feast was a recommendation from my boss when I worked at Hollywood Video. I was not disappointed when I first saw it, and enjoyed the re-watch. Henry Rollins, Jason Mewes and Judah Friedlander were all a part of this - they are the all-star cast to me. Also, legendary Clu Gulager of Return of the Living Dead fame - probably only because it was directed by his son, but fun to see him in it nonetheless. Feast challenges horror movie expectations in a humorous way. Each character's future is shown in the first 20 minutes or so, which is a play on the parody of the film. Each character is either a bar patron or works at the establishment that they later find themselves trapped inside. Our "hero" dies the instant he is introduced, and many other characters fall to a similar demise very quickly in one of the first scenes. The culprit? Powerful, and disgusting monsters dressed in hides and skulls of dead animals relentlessly attempting to get the humans inside. Aside from some of the more disturbing scenes (inter-species rape) Feast is a fun and gory romp from start to finish. And for a low-budget film the effects are done pretty well, and are surprisingly not too cheesy.

Henry Rollins and Jenny Wade

Clu Gulager as the bartender

Joey said, "It was alright. Judah Friedlander was really annoying." Judah Friedlander is indeed annoying in this movie, but I guess it is fitting for that character.  


My rating:

Joey's rating:

Cemetery Man

Like Re-Animator before it, it has been a long time since I have seen Cemetery Man.

Michele Soavi was the protege of Dario Argento, but he completely comes into his own style in this film, bringing us camp, sex, and downright bizarre themes throughout. It is a story about Francesco Dellamorte, a cemetery caretaker and his mentally handicapped assistant, Gnaghi, and their exploits defending the town from the undead. As the caretaker, Dellamorte lives on the property, every night the dead rise and knock at his door and he dispenses them without even a blink of an eye. None of the people of Buffalora know that the dead return after 7 days, and all think that Dellamorte is impotent. He isn't and one day he notices a beautiful woman mourning her dead husband, and falls madly in love with her.

Dellamorte shows the unnamed woman the ossuary, which she is oddly turned on by

It is delightfully raunchy and gory, with a dark sense of humor. Soavi has a good eye and presents some striking visuals throughout the film. He also has a good sense of storytelling, and the film is interesting and even a little complex at times. It delves into the idea of life and death, as its Italian title suggests Dellamorte Dellamore, but in a fun and darkly humorous way - never taking itself too seriously. Rupert Everett plays the character in an almost effortless way. Every line delivered perfectly and cynically, defining the character even more. But Francois Hadji-Lazaro as Gnaghi, outshines him a little. The character is strange and appears to be mute, only saying "Nyah," yet Dellamorte always understands him and even has conversations with him. It is also an oddly romantic film. Both characters find and lose love and may even pull at your heartstrings a little. For some reason I remembered this movie a little differently from when I first saw it, but I did enjoy re-visiting it for the most part.

The depiction of the Grim Reaper

Gnaghi finds love in death

My rating:

Sorry for the late posts, I got caught up in many things all at once.

Re-Animator

Ah, Throwback Thursdays might prove to be my favorite of the days. I really do enjoy re-watching some of my favorite flicks. Especially those I haven't seen in a very, very long time. I was fairly young, in my mid-teens, when I first saw Re-Animator and I had a recent discussion with a friend about it. So, it is the first to grace the Thursday category of the fest, to my infinite pleasure.

Stuart Gordon adapted the film from an H.P. Lovecraft story, "Herbert West: Re-Animator." Sadly I haven't read the tale (gasp!). So I will make it a point to read it now, and maybe add a little tidbit about how well or not it was adapted later on this month. Although Gordon has made few films in the horror genre, he definitely made an impact with this one. It has become a cult classic and with a little research I discovered, like Evil Dead before it, it has been adapted into a musical. Full of wonderfully done '80s gore and probably the strangest "sex" scene in a horror film, Re-Animator does not disappoint. All of it flows so well, never a dull moment, and the music is quirky and sets the mood well. It also has a delightfully dark sense of humor. But of course, none of it would be as good without Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West, they really could not have cast a better actor in the role.

He is astonishingly believable as the estranged and obsessed scientist. West is so determined and invested in his research, nothing and no one, stands in his way. Not to discredit the story, the directing, and the other actors in the film which are all just as good, but in my humble opinion it is probably Combs' portrayal that makes this film such a cult favorite.

I recommend if you have not seen this film, that you go straight to your local video rental store or Netflix (something!) and spend the 86 minutes of your time to enjoy it. I imagine that Re-Animator will remain a horror/cult classic for many years to come.   

Even though it is one of my favorite films, it does not receive a full 5-skull rating. It gets a humble 4.5, it is good, but not quite top. And in comparison to Gordon's film Dolls, which I give a 4, it is better. However, if it was purely for Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West, it would be a 5.

My rating: