Cannibal Holocaust

 

 

 

Cannibal Holocaust 1980

Director: Ruggero Deodata

Writer: Gianfranco Clerici

Starring Robert Kerman, Francesca Ciardi, Perry Pirkanen. Luca Barbareschi, Salvatore Basile, Ricardo Feuntes and Carl Gabriel Yorke

 

    There are very few films that live up to their notoriety, but Cannibal Holocaust definitely lives up to it’s reputation.  It is a film that is unflinching in it’s showing of brutality and every time I view it the film still hits me like a sledge hammer.  It is a film that really goes with the documentary feel and makes it it’s own.  People believe The Blair Witch Project to be a gripping and realistic pseudo horror documentary but Holocaust did it first and better.  This is a film that has graphic depictions of real animal torture and even though that is reprehensible for being shown on screen, if you don not watch that footage in the film it loses some of its power.  It is a film that really shows the brutal reality of human nature and you really loathe the characters in the film and truly feel that they deserve the actions that are taken against them.  This is a important film that should not be just seen as another grind house exploitation film about cannibalism but a film that has something to tell us about human cruelty and its repercussions.

    The plot basics are this, Professor Harold Monroe (Kerman) a anthropologist form New York heads to the wilds of the amazons to search for answers to what happened to a group of documentary filmmakers who have disappeared without a trace.  He comes in contact with two primitive tribes and discovers the remains of the crews bodies along with the footage they filmed.  He is able to make a deal with the chieftain and gets the footage and returns with it to New York.  He views the footage in detail which chronicles the travels of Alan Yates (Yorke), Faye Daniels (Ciardi), and their 2 cameramen, Jack Anders (Pirkanen) and Mark Tomaso (Barbareschi) through the Amazonian forest.  It appears that they terrorized the tribes to get the best out of their footage.  Monroe is approached by TV executives who wants him to edit a watchable version of the documentary, but he tries to talk them out of it as they have not watched the final footage he has witnessed.  Finally he gets them to watch it and the unspeakable acts that happen on screen and they see the error of their ways.

    This is a powerful film.  The direction by Deodata is strong and powerful and he is unflinching with his camera work on showing all of the brutality and violence.  It has a grainy documentary feel that really works and the film would not have worked as well without this visual style.  The script is tight and fast.  It sets up the story very well and it is great how it goes from the adventure of Monroe in the Amazon too what Yates and company does in the jungle.  The maliciousness and cruelty of Yates and his crew is palatably sleazy and evil that the viewer really begins to loathe these characters.  The cast is very good.  Kerman is very good and is really the heart of the soul of the film trying to bring back some humanity in what he is a witness too.  Yorke is great as the sleazy director Yates.  With each scene he antes up the cruelty of his character and it really pays off.   Ciardi is also exemplary as Faye and at first you think she may be a sympathetic character but it soon becomes clear that she is on board with whatever Yates has planned for the natives.  The acting of Pirkanen is great too, he does a great job of adding to the depravity of the film crews actions.  The SFX and effects are brutally realistic.  The most glaring example of this is the native the crew finds that is impaled from anus to mouth, that is a brutal visual that will stay with you long after witnessing the movie.  The use of the animal torture and cruelty needs to be spoken of too.  Though it is horrible to watch, to really witness the entire achievement of the film it needs to be seen as a crucial part of why this film works.  The score by Riz Ortolani is a integral part of the film as well.  It is haunting and melancholic and when they play it as the film crew is tormenting the natives is really powerful stuff.  This is a film that any connoisseur of grind house and exploitation films should see, though they may be scarred internally after witnessing it.

This one gets 5 out of 5 

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Commando

 

 

 

Commando 1985

Director: Mark L. Lester

Writer: Steven E. de Souza

Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Dan Hedaya, Vernon Wells, James Olson, David Patrick Kelly, Alyssa Milano, Bill Duke, Drew Snyder, Chelsea Field and Bill Paxton

 

    If there was a picture to the definition of over the top action movie in the dictionary, Commando would be the prime example.  This is a film that has everything, a great hero, a snide villain, great action sequences and classic one liners.  This is a film that gets everything right.  Arnold gives one of his best performances, John Matrix is a defining role for him that will pave the way for many of his other action roles in the coming years.  The film also has one of the greatest film villains in the personifying acting of Vernon Wells.  The film is quick and breezed by at a clip and never overstays it’s welcome.  The fight scenes are dramatic and action packed.  With the final assault on the villains lair being the icing on the cake and is one action sequence I have yet to see topped. This is a film that is critic proof, no matter what critics say about the film it is still heralded as a action film classic and I totally agree with this sentiment.  Sometimes you just need to shut off your brain and enjoy a good ass kicking and Commando delivers that.

    The plot basics are this, John Matrix (Schwarzenegger) is a retired special agent for the United States Government and is enjoying a idyllic life with his young daughter Jenny (Milano).  This life becomes interrupted when old members of Matrix’s squads who are supposed to be living life in anonymity are being picked off one by one.  The people hunting his squad down find him and kidnap his daughter and force him to overthrow a president in a Latin country for a old enemy of Matrix’s Arius (Hedaya).  He has 18 hours before he lands at his destination and they are expecting a call that he is there or they will kill Jenny.  Matrix has 18 hours to rescue his daughter before they notice that he has escaped from the flight.  With the help of a stewardess (Chong) Matrix swathes through a bloody trail of vengeance to find Jenny.  This all leads to him finding Arius hidden island fortress where his old friend and now hated enemy Bennett (Wells) is holding Jenny as bait and is waiting for Matrix to show up.

    This is just a entertaining and action packed movie.  Lester has a great action style with his direction.  His filming of the car chase between Sully and Matrix is heart quickening and the climax of the scene is timeless and classic and still gets a grin out of me every time I see it.  He also does a good job at the beginning with the tender moments between Matrix and Jenny and it really makes you see that he will do anything to save her.  The script is really very comic book influenced and that really works in it’s favor.  All the characters are pretty stereotypical but that really works in its favor.  From Matrix as the stoic and flawless hero too Bennett as the sneering and malicious villain it all works.  Another thing that really works in the film is all the one liners that really paved the way for most action films to follow.  The cast does an exemplary job.  Schwarzenegger as Matrix is a solid machismo hero and he hearkens back to the days of film heroes such as Steve Reeves.  Wells as Bennett is amazing as well.  He plays a great sneering villain and delivers his lines with a great sense of conviction.  Chong is great as Matrix’s partner in crime and at first she is a unwilling accomplice but soon comes around to his way of thinking.  Hedaya is great as the sneering wannabe Tony Montana.  Milano does a great job as Jenny, Matrix’s daughter, she is weak at points but also at times has the same strength in character as her father.  The film is rounded out by solid supporting roles by Kelly and Duke.  They are great villain flunkies and carry their roles well.  The SFX and effects in the film are amazingly well done and very cinematic.  The best example of this is the tool shed fight scene toward the climax of the film.  Great use of all the tools lying around and they spare no expense on bloodying up the screen during this carnage filled scene.  This is just a solidly fun and entertaining action film that gets better with each viewing.  It is a definite must see for fans of the action film genre.

This one gets 5 out of 5

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Friday Flashbacks: The Lost Boys

 

 

The Lost Boys 1987

Director: Joel Schumacher

Writers: Janice Fisher, James Jeremias and Jeffrey Boam

Starring Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Dianne Wiest, Barnard Hughes, Edward Herrmann, Kiefer Sutherland, Jamie Gertz, Corey Feldman, Jamison Newlander, Brooke McCarter, Billy Wirth, Alex Winter and Chance Michael Corbett

 

    This is for many the epitome of great vampire films, and I have to agree, it is only surpassed by The Horror of Dracula in my book.  People who think Twilight is a good vampire film are doing themselves and the horror genre a disservice by not seeing this film and giving it the proper respect that it is due.  This is a film with a wry sense of humor and vampires with no compunction about killing.  It is a film that really works well with the idea of putting a vampire story in small town USA.  Doing that, it makes it easy for the vampires to run the town and have their pick from its ample food chain.  The allusions to Peter Pan and immortality are another ingredient that really make the film work.  It also has one of the greatest twist endings I have ever witnessed in a film.  M. Night Shamaylan could take a cue from Schumacher here.  The film has a solid cast, a great premise, a addictive and mesmerizing score and some outstanding special effects which all come together to make this film a seminal horror classic.

    The plot basics are this, a divorced mother, Lucy (Wiest) and her two sons, Michael (Patric) and Sam (Haim) move in with their oddball and reclusive grandfather (Hughes) in the sleepy town of Santa Clara.  The town is plagued by bikers and mysterious deaths.  Sam is drawn too 2 brothers (Feldman and Newlander) who run a comic book shop and purport to be vampire hunters.  While Michael becomes entrenched into a gang of bikers run by the enigmatic David (Sutherland). Meanwhile, Lucy has met a older gentleman, Max (Herrmann) and they begin to date.  Michael is entranced by the girl (Gertz) who is entrenched with the bikers and after he drinks something he begins to sleep all day and only go out at night.  It seems that he is being transformed into a vampire and this causes Sam and the vampire hunters to spring into action to find the head vampire and kill him before Michael transforms completely into one of the undead.  This all leads to a epic showdown at Sam and Michael’s grandfather’s house that will end bloody and violently.

    This is a outstandingly well done film.  Schumacher’s direction is really tight and I feel is by far his best directed piece.  He really balance well the sense of terror of vampires with the caustic sense of humor that pervades the film.  His use of the locales is great too, I especially love the underground cave where the vampires sleep and the scene where Sam and the Frog brothers hunt down the vampires there is a phenomenal scene.  The script is a true masterpiece.  It is funny as hell, but still does not lose the sense that this is a horror film.  The suspense of who the master vampire is, is kept till the nail biting end and it is the strength of the script that really pulls it off.  The characters of the Frog brothers and Sam provide most of the humor in the film, and they do it well, though it never takes away from the scary aspects of the film.  The cast is exemplary. The standout performances are by Sutherland and Feldman.  Sutherland makes a great evil and appealing character and you can really understand why Michael is attracted to his way of life.  Feldman is great as Edgar Frog and steals every scene of the film he inhabits.  One of the best examples of this is when he discovers Michael is a vampire and is ready to slay him then and there.  Haim and Patric are great as the 2 brothers too.  Patric plays a good tortured hero type.  While Haim is excellent as the brother who is out of his depth when he finds out what his brother is turning into. Wiest gives a great performance as the clueless parent.  Herrmann gives yet another one of his solid performances as Max.  Hughes is great as the kooky grandfather who may know more than he lets on.  The SFX and effects in the film are outstanding.  Greg Cannom does a great job.  The blood and slime flies copiously and there is no better example of this than the bathtub filled with holy water scene.  The final ingredient in this great vampire tale is the music.  The music sticks with you long after you watch the film and if you ever hear the opening chords of “Thou Shalt Not Kill” your memory immediately goes to the opening scenes of the film.  That is very powerful stuff.  This is a film any self respecting vampire fan must see.

This one gets 5 out of 5

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Jennifer;s Body

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jennifer’s Body 2009

Director: Karyn Kusama

Writer: Diablo Cody

Starring Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, Adam Brody, Sal Cortez, Ryan Levine, Juan Riedinger, Chris Pratt, Kyle Gallner, J.K. Simmons, Amy Sedaris and Cynthia Stevenson

 

    This was a film I had been itching to see for awhile, as it looked like it was hearkening back to the 80′s style of horror films such as Night of the Demons and Sorority Babes in the Slime Bowlarama.  I am happy to say it did not disappoint, I really felt as if I was transported back to the 80′s in this film.  What is funny is you think the best thing about the film would be Megan Fox but I believe Amanda Seyfried really out shined her.  The writing helped a lot too, it was as if they combined the 80′s style of horror films with the writing style of Joss Whedon.  This could have easily been rewritten as a lost episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  It also touches upon the theme of disintegrating relationships that run rampant through high school.  It shows that even if Jennifer had not become a demon that the friendship between her and Needy  would have fallen apart anyway, as they really had no connection with each other.  I think that is one of the distinguishing things about the film that really makes it work and not make it feel like every other throwaway horror film.

    The plot basics are this, Needy (Seyfried), a reserved bookworm and Jennifer (Fox), a arrogant and full of herself cheerleader are beyond all reasons best friends.  They have nothing in common and this changes even more when after going to a rock club to see a band that Jennifer is obsessing over and she agrees to go along with the band in their van.  Jennifer then appears at Needy’s house covered in blood and not looking well at all.  She disappears but Needy sees her in school the next day as if nothing strange has happened.  Jennifer has changed though, because now she has a taste for human blood and begins to sate her appetite for destruction with any boy who will jump at the chance to bed down with her.  Needy begins to investigate and discovers that the band she was with are Satanic followers and tired to make Jennifer a virgin sacrifice, but she was not a virgin and somehow the demon they were sacrificing too inhabited the shell of her body.  Needy tires to tell her boyfriend, Chip (Jimmy Simmons) about her discovery, but he does not believe her.  Needy must now find a way to destroy Jennifer’s demonic rampage before it devours her boyfriend.

    This is a funny and thrill filled film.  The direction by Kusama is very colorful.  The film is made with a very broad stroke filled with vibrant colors.  It really makes the film come alive.  The way the blood drips off the screen is palatable.  She also has a keen eye for what works visually in the film and that makes it all the more entertaining to watch.  The script by Cody, is razor sharp and you can really see what a true love she has for the horror genre.  There are many touches of homages in the story, such as Carrie and Night of the Creeps.  The characters are nicely crafted too, especially when it comes to Needy.  The film would not have worked as well as it did without her narration.  Also, her transformation from nerdy bookworm to ass kicking anti heroine is a great point of the story.  The cast is great, Fox is sexy as always and plays a great demonic presence in the film.  The shining star of the cast though is Seyfried, she really carries the film and has a great presence that you will keep thinking about long after the film.  I loved when she explained what a “kicker” was.  It also has some great supporting performances in J. K. Simmons, Amy Sedaris and Cynthia Stevenson.  They really play totally clueless adults marvelously.  The SFX and effects are pulled off bloody well.  The bile spewing scenes are some of my favorites and remind me a lot of Evil Dead 2.  The soundtrack to the film is also a major point for the film.  They picked every song used in the film accurately well and I do not believe the film would have worked as well as it did without the musical cues.  This is a film that really brings back the glory days of the 80′s high school themed horror films and is well wroth checking out even if you cannot stand Megan Fox.

This one gets 4 out of 5

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Saw VI

 

Saw VI 2009

Director: Kevin Greutert

Writers: Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton

Starring Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Mark Rolston, Peter Outerbridge, Athena Karkanis, Samantha Lemole and Tanedra Howard

 

    The Saw series seems to get a lot of negativity and I just do not see why that is.  With each succeeding film it builds on the last one, creating a rich tapestry that gets deeper and more complex with each film.  I would say that this is a series that most viewers need to be on the ground floor with or they will certainly be lost.  The latest in the franchise, I think is the best one yet.  It has some great twists and turns and does not end in the way you expect it will.  Tobin Bell is back giving even more layers to Jigsaw and the social commentary on health care could not have come at a better time.  The traps are creative and decidedly bloody as always.  The most important thing though is seeing how everything fits together and it gives the viewer a great pay off at the ending.  In my book, this is the only horror franchise that is still running strong and I cannot wait to see where the next film goes.

    The plot basics are this, it picks up immediately after the ending of Saw V, where Hoffman (Mandylor) has finally got the better of his pursuer Peter Strahm and it seems as if now that his continuing of the legacy of Jigsaw will go on uninterrupted.  That is until JIll (Russell) reveals what was left in the box John (Bell) left her.  It also seems that their is a deeper investigation into Strahm, spearheaded by agent Lindsay Perez (Karkanis) and this will put a damper on Hoffman’s latest victim William Easton (Outerbridge) a health insurance agent who has a tendency to deny anyone who doesn’t fit his specific formula of coverage.  Now, Hoffman is meting out his brand of justice on Easton, for what he has done to countless people who needed help, such as John.  As Easton goes through his lessons, it seems that Hoffman is getting led astray by the investigation on Jigsaw and it seems as if his incognito status may be gone.  It all leads to a ending where all parties re converge and it does not end well for many of them.

    This was a phenomenally well done film.  Unlike the last Saw Film which was for most parts a dark and depressing affair, this one has a wicked sense of humor to it, and it really seems to revel in it.  The direction by Greutert is tight.  He sets up the traps well and films them beautifully.  The best example of this is the merry go round trap[ which was just beautifully evil.  He also does great with the quieter moments, such as the discussion between Jill and John over their life.  The script is smart and witty.  You see more unseen sides of Jigsaw in the film, and that is surprising, as you would not expect to see anything new after the character has been dead for 3 films,.  The characters of Jill and Hoffman are utilized well too.  The cast is exceptional.  Mandylor really makes you loathe Hoffman and really hope he does get caught.  Russell is great as JIll and gives a great layered performance, not something you would expect from the actress who is best known for Private School.  Bell is amazing as always and gives a great performance that really makes you feel the anger for the health care system that he does.  It is nice to see Smith back again too and she gives the viewers some revelations that you do not see coming.  The SFX aned effects are amazing.  They are brutal and mesmerizing to watch.  The final trap is the icing on the cake.  It is something so original and creative that you cannot believe you are seeing it.  This is a great addition to the series and I just hope that the Saw series continues to surprise me in this fashion.

This one gets 5 out of 5

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Orphan

 

 

Orphan 2009

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Writer: David Johnson

Starring Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, CCH Pounder, Jimmy Bennett, Margo Martindale, Aryana Engineer and Rosemary Dunsmore

 

    The child as a evil entity ala “the Bad seed” is a tried and trued formula for both the horror genre and the psychological thriller genre and Orphan is the latest model of this.  IT is not your typical version of this kind of film, but at first you believe it is.  Though , in the final act of the film it drops a bombshell of a twist that will make you gasp and will make you slap yourself for not figuring out as all the signs were there to point it out to you.  This is the 2nd Dark Castle film by Collett-Serra and just like House of Wax this is a film that surprises you and also thoroughly entertains you.  It is anchored by 2 great performances in Farmiga and Fuhrman.  The film pushes you in one direction, but then pulls the rug out from under your feet and takes you in a entirely new direction.  The film also is very Hitchcockian,  it sets up the suspense very well and knocks the viewer senseless in the direction the violence takes in the film.  The tension is palatable in the film and it really works because you care about the characters in the film.  They are not one dimensional, but characters that are fully realized and well rounded with all their strengths and weaknesses.

    The plot basics are this, Kate (Farmiga) is recuperating from a horrible miscarriage and to help her recuperate from that , her and her husband, John decide to adopt a older child at a local Catholic orphanage.   they meet Esther (Fuhrman), a Russian girl who is very personable and really connects with them.  They take her home to meet their other children Max (Engineer), their almost deaf young daughter and Daniel (Bennett).  Daniel is hostile to her, but everyone else is warm and inviting to her.  Certain incidents begin to happen that revolve around Esther and Kate is beginning to believe that Esther is manipulative and twisted.  But John does not believe her and thinks she is dropping back into her post partum depression.  Kate contacts the nun (Pounder) who set the adoption wheels in motion and informs her that Esther has a troubled and mysterious past.  Esther sees what is going on and takes steps to remedy the situation.  While Kate is still apprehensive about Esther and she will soon discover that what is lurking behind her facade is far worse than she could ever dream of.

    This is a intense and taut film that really surprises the viewer.  The direction by Collett-Serra is done aptly well.  He uses the methods of his direction very well.  He also films the scenes of blood and carnage very well.  One prime example of this is the opening scene where Kate is reliving her miscarriage, it is both bloody and harrowing and really sets up the tenseness that you will feel watching the film.  The script is another solid ingredient in the film.  The character of Kate is really the main viewpoint of the film and she is handled ably well.  You believe that she has many issues, but slowly you come to her line of reasoning as you see what Esther is capable of.  Esther is a excellent villain for the film.  At first she is personable and engaging, but as you delve deeper into her character you see that something is not quite right there.  The scene in which she threatens to castrate Daniel is a great example of this.  The cast really does wonders in this film.  Farmiga is captivating to watch as you see her fight her bouts with recurring alcoholism and her paranoid fears about Esther.  Fuhrman really creates a very memorable horror icon in Esther.  She is engaging and yet decadently malevolent.  She really steals many of the scenes she is in.  Sarsgaard is good as well, but he is overshadowed by the other two performances.  The SFX and effects in the film are done brutally well.  The one scene involving a arm in a vise is very cringe inducing.  This is definitely one of the best horror films to have come out last year and a very original one at that.  This will be a film I will continue to revisit.

This one gets 5 out of 5

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Edge of Darkness

 

Edge of Darkness 2010

Director: Martin Campbell

Writers: William Monahan and Andrew Bovell

Starring Mel Gibson, Danny Huston, Ray Winstone, Bojana Novakovic, Shawn Roberts, David Aaron Baker, Jay O. Sanders, Denis O’Hare, Damian Young, Catarina Scorsone and Tom Kemp

 

    Mel Gibson has been seen more behind the cameras than in front of them late.  It is good to see him in a starring role again and this film is a good one for his talents.  This is the best film he has starred in by my estimation since 1999′s Payback.  IT is basically a action revenge thriller.  But it is more than that.  It reminds me if they combined Taken with Silkwood.  The film is very intense and does not shy away from showing the propensity for violence a film like this has.  IT is anchored by very 3 strong character driven performances by Gibson, Huston and Winstone.  The young actress that play’s Gibson’s daughter is amazingly good too.  The film has a political conspiracy bent to the entire story that I was not expecting, but it worked within the parameters of the film very well.  Gibson has lost none of his intensity when it comes to action films and this film is no different.  The film also has a bittersweet melancholy flowing throughout the film too and I think that makes it a deeper and more hard hitting film.

    The plot basics are this, Thomas Craven (Gibson) is a veteran homicide detective on the Boston Police force and his daughter Emma (Novakovic) has taken some time off from working as an intern to visit her father.  It seems something is really upsetting her and she is quite sick.  She finally decides to go to the hospital and as they leave his house, someone shoots Emma with a shotgun, killing her almost instantly.  At first Thomas thinks it was someone with a vendetta against him, but as he begins to investigate he finds that there was more to her death and it had to do with her work.  It seems that she found some rotten dealings going on by the CEO of her company, Jack Bennett (Huston) and she was silenced for that.  With the help of a mysterious man, (Winstone) Craven is put on the right path and begins to learn the corruption that was going on a corporate and government level.  He has many obstacles in his path, but nothing will prevent him from finding who killed Emma and why.

    This was a intense and highly provocative film.  The direction by Campbell is top notch.  HE sets up the scenes of intensity very well and really makes the viewer jump out of his seat several times.  The way he balances it with the bittersweet flashback scenes of Thomas and Emma is heart wrenching and very bittersweet.  The script is very tight.  You really get a feeling for Thomas and Emma, and even though Emma leaves the story quickly her presence is felt throughout the entire film.  The main villain, which is personified in Jack Bennett is quite oily and malevolent, you really hate him from the first moment he appears.  The character of Jedburgh is almost like a Obi-Wan type of character that pushes Thomas in the right direction.  He also has some of the best lines in the film.  The cast is exceptional.  Gibson really commands this performance and you are really rooting for him to succeed and to find some peace for his daughter.  He also, is still a very macho action presence that has only gotten better with age.  Huston once again proves that he is the go to guy for villainy.  He is oily and twisted in this film and you really want him to die horribly.  Winstone is also phenomenal.  He really steals the film in any scene he is in and his final scene in the film is outstanding.  Novakovic is breathtaking as Emma, in the opening moments of the film, you become enraptured of her and begin to feel for her just as much as her father does.  That is hard to do when the actor only has a limited screen presence.  The SFX and effects of the film are outstanding.  The blood flies copiously in many scenes that are peppered throughout the film.  The gory detail of the shotgun blast is just one that will make everyone cringe.  It is a relief to see that Mel Gibson, still has the chops for this kind of film, and I really hope he doesn’t take 10 years to make another good movie again.

This one gets 4 out of 5    

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Shattered Lives

 

Shattered Lives 2009

Director: Carl Lindbergh

Writer: Carl Lindbergh

Starring Lindsay Lieno, Joe Stezar, Skyler Caleb, Ellyse Deanna, Wendy Dominguez, Gary Kohn, Brianna Nakutis, Christina Rosenberg and Lucia Sullivan

 

    This is yet another in what seems to be an interminable glut of DTV horror films from Lionsgate.  I was hoping that this one would be better than Psycho Ward, but somehow this film is even worse.  As if that is even possible.  The film starts off really well, with a great opening of some dumb college guys getting slaughtered, but then it switches to some ABC after school special about bad parenting.  The lead characters in the film are unsympathetic to say the least and the cake has to go to the mother of the little girl.  I have not seen such an appalling mother figure since Faye Dunaway in Mommy Dearest.  But, at least that is a entertaining film.  This film seems to plod around aimlessly and you wonder if it is ever going to make a point and when it finally does you think to yourself “this is why I wasted 90 minutes of my time?”  The use of the clowns at first I thought would be a nice touch, but all they are were annoying and added little if any suspense to the film.  This is just a shoddily made film, and it seems no one knew what the hell type of film they were making.

    The plot basics are this, 2 college buddies are watching a movie when someone comes to their door..  It is someone in a mask and it immediately begins to viciously kill the 2 men.  We then meet Rachel (Lienn) a little girl with a mother (Deanna) who seems to resent her daughter at every turn.  It seems the mother, Lisa, feels like she is in a horrid marriage and has been sleeping around with anyone she finds just to ease the boredom of her life.  This makes Rachel very unhappy and she wants for her father and her to be happy, but her mom is a miserable person, who it seems is unable to love anyone, let alone herself.  This starts to cause psychological problems for Rachel that develops in the appearance of 2 imaginary friends, clowns to be exact.  At first they seem harmless, but not long afterwards they start talking Rachel into carrying knives around and goading her into attacking her mother.  She finally succumbs to the clowns and kills her mother.  Flash forward years later and Rachel is trying to come to terms with the clowns and what they have done to her mind.  She thinks she is cured but they reappear.  The question is will they cause her to snap or will she be strong enough to fight the urge to kill someone else?

    This is a poorly shot and framed film.  The direction by Lindbergh is laughable at best.  The film changes direction so many times after a while you do not even care what happens, you just want the film to be over.  The opening scene seems like it was shot with a fisher price camera and when he decides to throw a arbitrary sex scene in the film it just seems totally pointless.  The script is even worse.  The characters seem to have no motivation.  For instance, Lisa, the mother is a horrible bitch but there is never any explanation for this, she just is.  I would have liked to have seen some reasoning behind this.  Also, the whole demonic clowns thing seemed pointless as they never did anything and whenever you thought they would the story switched to some other pointless and tertiary thing within the plot.  The cast is not much better.  Except for Lienno as the little girl they are all forgettable.  She is a very good child actor and portrays all the varied emotions a girl going through these problems should show.  I hope to see her in better things than this.  Deanna as Lisa has by far the most laughable performance.  She tries to be balance being mean and spiteful with being sexy and she fails miserably.  They should have gave her part to Tara Reid instead, she would have given a Oscar worthy performance compared to the horribleness that Deanna subjects the viewer too.  The SFX and effects are pretty atrocious too.  The main use of them is in the opening scene and the kills are amateurish and cheesy looking.  The clowns makeup made them look like bad rip offs of Pennywise.  All in all, this is a poorly made film that leaves nothing to recommend it to anyone.  Stick with Uwe Boll movies if you want bad but entertaining horror films.

This one gets 0 out of 5

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Friday Flashbacks: Starman

 

Starman 1984

Director: John Carpenter

Writers: Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon

Starring Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Charles Martin Smith, Richard Jaeckel, Robert Phalen, Tony Edwards, John Walter Davis, Ted White, Dirk Blocker, M.C. Gainey and George “Buck” Flowers

 

    This film is probably John Carpenters most bittersweet and benign film.  At it’s heart the film is about lost and found love and the strength of the human heart to overcome the boundaries of species difference and language barriers.  At it’s simplest though, the film is a chase film and that is why it works so well.  It can be a love story for the people who are into that aspect or it can be a rousing chase film for the viewers who are more into the more masculine aspects of the film.  The film is cemented by a bravura performance by Jeff Bridges, who received a Oscar nomination for his outstanding work in this film,  The film moves at a brisk pace and takes the viewer on a roller coaster ride till the heartfelt and somewhat tragic and yet still hopeful ending that it ends on.  As I revisit this film it seems to me that it is Carpenter’s answer to Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind.  I think this is a superior film too, as it does not fall into the schmaltzy overtones that Spielberg has to hit you over the head with.  This film is haunting and touching and it has a organic flow to it that many stories like this do not have and that is what makes it a all the more of a standout film.

    The plot basics are this, due to the Voyager exploratory ships that were sent out to investigate outer space in the 70′s, one of the ships comes in contact with a inhabited planet and after the denizens investigate they send a ambassador (Bridges) to Earth to meet them and start a dialog between the two worlds.  He enters the Earth’s atmosphere and he is shot down by Norad.  The ship is damaged but he survives and he lands near a lake where a recently widowed woman, Jenny Hayden (Allen) lives.  The visitor comes out and takes the guise of her recently deceased husband, which of course freaks her out.  After her initial distress she comes to trust the Starman and decides to aid him in his quest.  He only has 3 days to reach the crater in Arizona, so he can get back home before he dies on Earth.  A government team is hot on his trail led by Mark Shermin (Smith) and they will stop at nothing to retrieve the Starman so they can experiment on him and learn all they can about his world.  Along the way Jenny falls for the Starman and it all leads to a climactic showdown in Arizona.

    This is a awesome film.  The direction by Carpenter is flawless as always and he really shows that he can do a film that has no horrific elements in it.  He still makes it readily watchable and gets the viewer well entrenched with the film from the beginning.  His use of the landscape is very well done too.  The final chase scenes through Arizona are breathtaking to watch.  The script is another great addition to the film.  The characters of Jenny and the Starman are very fully realized and never seem like they are cartoonish, but seem very organic and completely believable.  The final twist at the end of the film really connects you with the characters too and that is one of the defining characteristics of the film.  The cast is extraordinary.  Bridges plays the Starman with a great sense of empathy and curiosity and does this mostly with body language.  Allen as Jenny is great as well.  The way she at first freaks and then gradually comes to terms with what is happening and begins to fall for him is a great example of a talented actress.  Smith as the villain of the piece is great too and he has a certain charm to him that you never quite hate him as much as you should.  The SFX and effects of the film are astounding too, I loved the transformation scene in the beginning, it was both eerie and beautiful.  The score by Jack Nitzche has a very sentimental and evocative feel to it and really amps up the emotions that you witness during the film.  This film was quite a change of pace for Carpenter and it shows that he is at home within any genre and this film is definitely a SF classic.

This film gets 5 out of 5

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Psycho Ward

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Psycho Ward 2007

Director: Patrick McBrearty

Writer: Christopher Lee Thompson

Starring Jaqueline Bettis, Bobby Horvath, Liam Card, Tim Clark, Sandy Lai, Nicole Brown, Nick Montgomery, Sabrina Couture, Eva Redpath, Ryan Barrett and Jim Kosmenko

 

    Psycho Ward is yet another addition to the interminable list of low budget DTV horror films that Lionsgate seems to glut the shelves with.  And this is by far one of the worst ones I have ever had the displeasure of watching.  This is a film that rips off many great horror films, and quite badly I might add.  The film has shades of See None Evil, Saw and Session 9 just to name a few.  The film really has no likable or sympathetic characters and after I was finished viewing the film, I thought what was the whole point of this film.  The whole exercise is pointless, especially when they make this big deal of the final girl making out of the asylum and yet she still loses.  It seems to me that they were breaking one of the cardinal rules of the slasher film.  You really need one girl to survive or the entire crux of the chase and conflict of the film is rather pointless.  The one thing good I can say about the film is the kills and the gore scenes were pretty good.  But overall this is by far one of the worst horror films I have seen in awhile.

    The plot basics are this, a group of college students are on a research outing and are planning on doing a documentary on the sordid history of a long closed psychiatric ward.  They plan on studying and examining the area where some supposed urban legends took place.  Little do they know though is that one of the residents (Kosmenko) of the ward still resides there.  They somehow get lost and locked inside the asylum and are randomly picked off one by one.  Soon, there are only 2 survivors, Professor Richard Magellan (Card) and a member of his filming crew, Lisa (Bettis) and now they have to use their wits and ingenuity to evade the maniac and to try to find a way out of the nightmare that they have become embroiled in.

    This is a really poorly done film.  The direction by McBrearty is really shoddy, as he has no style of his own and just tries to ape films like Saw and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remakes.  The use of  filming the proceedings too reminds me of Blair Witch Project and by comparison that film is now Citizen Kane.  The script is not much better.  It has the standard tropes of a slasher film, but there are really no characters that the viewer can grasp and side with.  They are all annoying and forgettable caricatures.  The killer you do not see much of and he has no discernable mannerisms that make him any different form any other number of would be slasher villains.  The worst transgression of the script though, is the ending it was just a shoddy and poorly framed ending and by the time you get to that point, it is like who really fucking cares anymore.  The cast does not fare much better.  Bettis does a decent job as Lisa, but she really doesn’t have much to work with.  Basically all that is required of her is to run and scream a lot and too look fetching in a tight T-shirt.  Card as the heroic lead tries to put up a good front but his acting style makes William Shatner look restrained.  Kosmansky as Darrell Coombs does a decent job as the killer though, he really puts no defining mannerisms into the character, all he does is portray yet another hulking and lumbering brute.  The SFX and effects in the film are the only shining star of the film.  The blood flows copiously and they do not shy away from having the camera leer at it.  The best example is when Sandy Lai is ripped apart and guts fly everywhere.  It was a nice touch, but was too little too late for this travesty of a film.  If there is one thing I can say to all horror fans out there, avoid this film like it was the fucking bubonic plague.

This one gets 1 out of 5

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