October 31st, 2010 - Halloween 2

This is it, the end. I've got to be honest with everyone, I was kind of looking forward to the end of this all week. Feeling a bit burnt out, the strain of making the time every day to watch a movie and write a review was getting to me. That said, now that it's here, I'm sad to see it go. The challenge was a lot of fun, and I hopefully grew a bit as a writer during all of this. Now this isn't the end. This whole twisted idea was to motivate me to write a blog more regularly, and I think it did the trick. It won't be daily, but hopefully weekly, I'll have a review or a opinion to share with everyone. Now, on to the movie.

Now you know I had to review a Halloween movie today. It's a law or something. I suppose I should specify that this is Rob Zombie's Halloween 2, not Carpenters. And I have to say, I really like this flick, which is surprising because I really didn't like his Halloween remake. It seems that Zombie is really good at sequels, but not quite so hot at setting up a universe. Look at House of a 1000 Corpses. It's a decent movie, but not that great. Certainly not worth all the hype it got before release. The Devil's Rejects, however, was fucking awesome. It was like a wrong version of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, complete with ending freezeframe. It just makes the wait for Werewolf Women of the SS 2 that much harder.

So after the events of the first film, Laurie is traumatized and living with friends. Loomis has struck gold with an exploitative memoir of his relationship with Michael. And Michael himself is dead, though his body has gone missing. Bad things happen soon after. The thing is, it's not really a slasher. It's more cerebral and weird than that. More of this movie takes place in the dream world than Inception, and Michael is painted as a more sympathetic character than most. It's an interesting take on the character, and one that isn't trying to be anything like the original continuty. I thought it was great.

It's also a very different style than anything that came before it. It feels almost more like a 70's giallo film. Primary colours are everywhere, and different colour filters and lights are in almost every shot. It also has some of the best shot composition Zombie's ever done. I've said it before that more horror films need to strive to be beautiful, and this is very nearly that.

The acting is also excellent. Malcolm McDowell as Loomis stands out especially in my mind. His character is wracked by guilt by everything that has happened, but refuses to acknowledge it. Instead, he focuses on his book, and trying to dodge criticism from all sides. It's fascinating to watch.

I know this movie is pretty despised in most circles, and I get that. It's very weird, you could argue it doesn't make much sense, and it feels very different from all that came before it. I don't nessesarily think that's always a bad thing, though. It defied expectations, and did some very interesting things. It may have failed at some of them, but it's always interesting to watch. There is a shortage of really excellent kills though. Most of them are just Michael stabbing someone over and over with a very large knife, which is a shame. The sound design does sell the brutality of it.

Halloween 2 is, in my opinion, a very cool film. Most people don't like it, and you probably won't either, but it should be seen. If only to judge for yourselves. And with that, I'm done. The sick thing is, I may be watching another movie tomorrow. I may have a few things to say about it. In any case, I will be back sooner than you know. Happy Halloween!

October 30th, 2010 - Inside

Alright, so this is the first time I've blogged drunk. I saw The Social Network and it seemed to work out okay for Mark Zuckerberg. Also, Zuckerberg is apparently not in the dictionary on Facebook, which is hilarious. Almost as hilarious as Facebook not being in the dictionary. Wow, this went on a tangent quickly. Hurm, on to the movie.

Inside is freaking awesome. Bloody and mean and funny. To condense the story more than I usually do. Pregnant woman loses husband in car accident. Another woman decides she wants the baby. Night before C-section, other woman shows up with pair of scissors. Bad things happen. Very bad things....

This is an unpleasant movie. Gruesome things happen to pretty much everyone who gets screentime. On the plus side, the less time you have on screen before your death, the faster it takes to die. That said, there is a certain elegance and humor to most of the kills that make them much more palatable. You have to have a very dark sense of humour, but most of the deaths are kind of funny.

It's also very well shot. It all takes place inside the main character house. There are no exterior shots, no glimpses of anything beyond what we see. It's terrifying and claustrophobic and is done all so well. They went out of their way to think of creative ways to shoot the same, very small, bathroom and shoot it well. This is some of the best cinematography I've seen, horror film or not.

The acting is very good. I could nitpick the smaller roles, especially the cops that come later on in the proceedings. The two main actresses are outstanding. The killer especially, played by Beatrice Dalle. I didn't recognize her as the blind woman from the Paris segment of Night on Earth until just now. Makes me wonder where casting directors have been all this time.

Inside is a harrowing ride, and probably the best of the recent French new wave of horror. Martyrs, Frontiers, even High Tension are all just pretenders to the throne. A great example with what can be done with a small budget and some creativity, it needs to be seen by all self-respecting horror fans at once.

October 29th, 2010 - Near Dark

This is going to be a short one, so all apologies. It's rather late, and I've got to be up early and then have a ZWA screening to attend, and then a Halloween party, a wife to kill and Guilder to frame for it. I'm swamped. This is another classic one, which is a bit boring to read I know but not to worry. Rather late tomorrow night, I've got something no one here has seen, guaranteed.

Near Dark is what Twilight wishes so hard it was. A heartfelt vampire love story with cool characters, loads of action and some great cinematography. It's not quite as good as Let The Right One In, but it tries damned hard. And it reunites 3 of the best actors from Aliens, so bonus.

Caleb is a nice, regular teenager living in a tiny Southern town with a truck and only stop traffic light to slow him down. One night, he spies a new girl in town and decides to work his magic. They hit it off, and she too, decides to work her magic. With her teeth. Caleb tries to bolt, but doesn't get too far in the rising sun. He gets picked up by the clan of vampires and is slowly shown their ways. Along the way, Caleb and May fall in love, and Caleb's father and little sister go looking for him.

This is a damned good looking film. Gorgeous shots of the Southwest are the order of the day. Probably because this wasn't quite the movie the director set out to make. Most people know Kathryn Bigelow for last year's Hurt Locker or maybe Point Break, but this may be her finest work. She set out trying to make a Western, but when funding fell through, she reworked the project to include vampires, which were in high demand in the late 80's.

She also gets great performances from everyone involved. And I'm not just talking about Lance Henrickson, Bill Paxton and Jeanette Goldstein. Even Adrain Pasdar, as Caleb, does stronger work than Heroes would lead you to believe. The child actors are the weakest link, but I never wanted to stab any of them, which is a step in the right direction.

Man, it seems like every time I say I'm going to write a short review I ramble on and on. Near Dark deserves to be talked about though. It respects the vampire mythology, adds some twists of its own, has fun, and looks fucking amazing doing it. And it has Bill Paxton in full-blown psycho mode. Bonus.

October 28th, 2010 - Phantasm

Wow, only 3 days left. And I haven't gotten near everything I wanted to watch done yet. Guess I'll have to do this more regularly. Also, you may have noticed I haven't done my live blogging of the Saw movies yet. There is a good cause for this, which will be revealed shortly. Let's just say that it will three times as awesome now. Approximately.

This is another film I haven't seen for ages. I remember it being way scarier that it was. I also remember it being way less trippy. Jody is looking after this little brother Mike after their parents die. Mike is paranoid of Jody leaving him and follows him everywhere. Meanwhile, the town's citizens are dying mysteriously and Mike starts to suspect that the Tall Man who works in the mortuary in responsible. He starts to investigate and of course, bad things happen.

This is a really bizarre movie. Like Demons it follows it's own sort of internal logic and feels very dreamlike as a result. Not a whole lot is properly explained either, which just adds to the effect. The acting is pretty good, with the standout being Angus Scrimm as the The Tall Man. The effect is lessened because I met Angus Scrimm a few years ago and he is rather short. Like, a good foot shorter than me. So that was a huge disappointment which kind of tainted the film for me. Le sigh.

The director, Don Coscarelli, is probably more well known these days for his film Bubba Ho-tep. It's a bit of a shame, because as awesome as that movie is, Phantasm really deserves to be better know. And for more than those awesome flying silver balls that fuck you up. Those stand the test of time, but the movie surrounding them is pretty badass too. Definitely a great one to watch if you're young and impressionable and are just getting into horror but are bored with all the Friday's and Nightmare. It's a strange, cerebral trip, and one worth taking.

October 27th, 2010 - Rosemary's Baby

I can't believe I haven't seen this before. I'm a huge Polanski fan, I love Satanism, and I adore evil children movies. One of those things makes me a bad person, but I'll leave it to you to decide which. I also really like John Cassavetes, because he made dying of alcoholism looks damned cool. So the fact that it took me 25 years to see this movie is kind of shameful.

Rosemary and Guy are a nice young couple who have recently moved into a gorgeous New York apartment. Their friend, Hutch, warns them of the dark history the building has, but they pay no mind. Guy is a struggling actor while Rosemary is a housewife that seems keen on the whole reproducing thing. Soon after they move in they meet their new neighbors, a pleasant elderly couple. Guy becomes close of them and eventually gets his big break. It was at the expense of the original actor going blind suddenly, but show biz is tough. Afterwards, Guy decides the time is right to have a baby. When they try to conceive though, Rosemary gets faint and has all kind of wacky fever dreams about naked old people and congress with the Devil. The next day she's pregnant. Bad things happen.

This is a damned creepy movie. I mean that, it's really unsettling. It moves slow, but Polanski uses that to wring every bit of tension from the premise he can. You're never quite sure whether Rosemary is just freaking out because of the pregnancy or if there is actually a plot against her. And the ending is fantastic. You couldn't get away with something like that in a big studio film nowadays. Which is probably why this one has remained untouched by the remake hounds in Hollywood.

The acting is all fantastic. I have to admit, I haven't seen Mia Farrow in much. After this though, I'm tempted to seek more stuff out. And she's adorable with her short hair. John Cassavetes is cooler than cool, of course. And Ruth Gordon is great as the Satanic neighbor who only wants the best for Romemary. It's a class act.

I wish they would keep making movies like this in Hollywood. Tentpole horror, treated seriously and with a budget. Horror needs to get out of the realm of the low budget tax write off it's stuck in. I'm sure most of you have already seen this, but if you haven't please check it out. Remind yourself how great studio films used to be, and how horror used to be more than a low risk, high reward investment. And it's bloody scary to boot.

October 26th, 2010 - Demons

This was a tough call. I watched a few different horror flicks today, and it was a toss up. I ultimately chose Demons though because it's easily the least known, and I had never seen all of it before. Bits and pieces here and there. Late night TV or clips in some montage. I always like finding something new and passing it on, even if its something as cultish as Demons.

It all takes place at a film premiere at an old cinema. It's a fairly packed house watching the film, which deals with demon possession, Nostradamus, and a creepy metal mask. Funnily enough, there is an identical mask in the lobby of the theater. A girl tries it on and ends up cutting herself. Bat things happen. Demons slowly start taking over all the cinema-goers, all the exits are bricked off, and all survivors are trapped on the balcony.

This is, objectively, not the best movie. The acting is mediocre at best and the dubbing is hilariously bad. Not that the dialogue is anything special. Thing happen for no real reason, not much is explained, and it end with the most out there deus ex machina I've seen. Elitist film lovers be warned, you will not like this.

This is, in my opinion however, a bloody awesome movie. All of the negatives I listed above just aid in it's nightmare like atmosphere. It's really well shot, and the lighting is amazing. Bava was wearing his Dario Argento association on his sleeve throughout, and it helps the movie in all the right ways. The kills are awesome, and plentiful. There's a particularly nasty one involving two pieces of metal rebar that had everyone cheering. The movie takes some wild twists, and it does feel like anything could happen.

Like I said, this is certainly not for everyone. And those who will like it have probably seen it by now. That said, if you like over the top horror movies, and are willing to buy it's dream logic, it doesn't get much more fun than Demons

October 25th, 2010 - Hunger

Well, this was a pisser of a day. My internet is out for most of it, and then Rob Ford gets elected mayor. At least the movie was pretty god, right? Perhaps not.

It's not a bad movie. It's actually a pretty sweet premise. 5 strangers are kidnapped and locked in a cave at the bottom of a well. They have plenty of water, but no food. They do, however, have a scalpel and it doesn't look like the door will open for another month or so. Bad things happen. It's a cool premise, ripe for all sort of moral grey areas and gore. The kidnapper's motivation is interesting as well. It seem plausible, and was unsettling in it's own right.

Problem is that once they set everything up, they do nothing with it. The characters are all one-note and predictable. There's the jerk, the hero, the survivor girl, the innocent and the wild card. Except for one character dying slightly earlier than I expected to, there were no real surprises. It also doesn't help that not one of the characters are likable or relatable in any way. Now, part of this is due to the reason they were all brought together. It's a neat idea which I won't ruin here, but it throws our sympathies from the moment we find out. In many ways, it puts us in the killer's shoes, which should be an interesting place to be, or at least an uncomfortable one. The filmmakers find that perfect place, though, between keeping him vague and defining his personality that we can't project ourselves on to him, or for him to be a well rounded character. It's a shame.

It also put me off right from the start with an opening which is almost entirely in darkness. Again, I feel that they were trying to put us in the characters situation, but ended up just pissing me off. It just came across as being badly underlit. It's a shame, because the actors are all pretty solid. Like I said, they don't have a lot to work with, but they all try their best. And it has Linden Ashby, who's fucking badass, as anyone who saw Mortal Kombat will attest. It's a shame, really. This should have been awesome. The idea was there, the cast was there, they money was there. The script and the director dropped the ball.

Hunger is worth a look. It's part of the Fangoria Frightfest lineup that came out last month. This is the first I've seen, and I'm curious enough to see more. Throw it on in the middle of a movie marathon, and you won't remember it in the morning, but it'll make for some fun drunken moral debating the night of.