A Nod to the Classics
Since this week I'll be focusing my attention on classic monsters, I thought this would be the perfect time to share this little gem. Last year around this time, horror movie aficionado Greg Nicotero made his directorial debut with a short film entitled The United Monster Talent Agency. This eight minute short is a nod to all those greatest of the classic Universal monsters, with a few additional tips of the hat to some more recent classics. A few of the faces you may or may not recognize here include: Jeffrey Combs, Frank Darabont, Eli Roth, Robert Rodriguez, Derek Mears, and Sam Witwer, among others.
THE UNITED MONSTER TALENT AGENCY - Greg Nicotero by davehouseofhorrors
THE UNITED MONSTER TALENT AGENCY - Greg Nicotero by davehouseofhorrors
Week 1 - Welcome to October
"October Country . . .
that country where it is always turning late in the year. That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and midnights stay. That country composed in the main of cellars, sub-cellars, coal bins, closets, attics, and pantries faced away from the sun. That country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts. Whose people passing at night on the empty walks sound like rain . . ."
From "October Country" by Ray Bradbury
From "October Country" by Ray Bradbury
So here's the thing, rather than doing seven posts a week I'm going to start posting once a week covering all of the films I've watched over the past seven days. So four weeks, four posts, leading up to a three day countdown to Halloween. Some weeks will see a general theme to the sorts of films I watch. For example, next week I'm going to be doing classic Universal monsters remakes, so I'll be covering Dracula (1992), Frankenstein (1994), Hollow Man (2000), Wolf (1994), etc. I'll still probably be posting each day what I'm watching. I will also be implementing a ranking system to grade each movie on a number scale from 0 to 10; though to be honest, there's no such thing as a perfect movie, so there's probably no way I'll ever go over a 9. Also, there will be a few special posts about this or that - TV shows, books, etc - and, since this is my favorite month of the year, leading up to my favorite day of the year, and because Halloween isn't all about horror, I will be reviewing a few non-horror movies that have marked this time of year for me since I was a kid.
This week there wasn't really a theme so much as I just watched some of my favorite contemporary horror films mixed with one or two I had heard about but hadn't seen yet.
Saturday, Oct. 1st - Mimic Director's Cut (1997)
I've loved Mimic since I first saw it when I was twelve. I had intended to review it last month but then I heard about the forthcoming Director's Cut. I'm glad I waited. Guillermo Del Toro's American debut is a Frankenstein style cautionary tale about the dangers of science tampering with nature, this time in the form of a breed of genetically engineered insects created to wipe out a virus plaguing New York City. Three years after the release of the bugs, called the Judas breed, rather than dying off as planned, they've evolved, growing and reproducing in the subways and sewers, and learning to imitate their prey, humans. When I was younger these monstrous bugs scared the crap out of me the way they could disguise themselves and walk right past you on a dark street without being recognized. Del Toro, who is known for his more character driven stories, has always made it clear that this was the only movie he had made that he didn't like because the studio, wanting a scare a minute type movie, stepped in and took over during editing. With the Director's Cut however, Del Toro seems to have fixed this to some degree. There isn't a big difference time wise, some scenes were cut, others added, some extended, coming out just nine minutes longer than the original cut, but the difference is certainly noticeable. The clean up for Blu-ray also helps a great deal quality wise. In my opinion this is one of the greatest Frankenstein-esque stories since Mary Shelley's own.
Score: 9/10 - A must see creature feature.
Sunday, Oct. 2nd - Outcast (2010)
I only found out about Outcast because I was having Doctor Who separation issues after the season finale and found this film while snooping around on Karen Gillan's IMDB page. A mother and her teenage son have spent their entire lives running, in hiding from the boy's father. Now they've stopped running and are trying to settle as best they can. But daddy has pulled out all the stops to find them, and with a few new tricks up his sleeve, he's right on their tail. As something monstrous has begun picking people off in the apartment complex where the mother and son are living, the son is falling in love for the first time, but this new relationship will be severely tried amongst the unfolding chaos surrounding the boy. I'm still not sure if this is supposed to be a werewolf movie of sorts or if the creature in question is just supposed to be some outrageous monster, but that lack of distinction certainly doesn't hurt. Though pretty slow at times, this was still a fun movie full of dark magic and monsters. The only thing that really bugged me about the film was the love story aspect which felt forced. Otherwise, the cast was great, the story was entertaining, and the creature effects were outstanding.
Score: 6/10 - A strange monster movie.
Monday, Oct. 3rd - Dead Mary (2007)
I picked up this film at random from Blockbuster a few years ago expecting some low budget cheese fest based on the corny cover art. What I got was an interesting, Evil Dead-like story about a group of friends staying the weekend at a rural cabin and facing off against some unknown supernatural force that possesses people, turning them into monsters, sparking paranoia among the group and forcing them to turn on one another. My first thought when the movie ended was, my god, it's an Evil Dead remake. In essence, it might as well be. This movie is a little slow to start, opting to spend time on characterization rather than diving straight into the horror. Unfortunately, the horror aspect isn't all that intense once it gets going, but there are one or two scenes that I absolutely love. What I think I enjoy most about this film is how open ended it is. We're led to believe that whatever the darkness is that's terrorizing this group has begun its work before the even starts and will continue once the credits roll, as though we're only seeing a small portion of what's really happening. Overall, for such a seemingly low budget film, it does its job well.
Score: 7/10 - Definitely for fans of Evil Dead.
Tuesday, Oct. 4th - Scream 4 (2011)
I've already seen this movie almost half a dozen times since it hit theaters and decided that I would wait to review it the day it came out to DVD; today. So, if you can't tell, I absolutely loved this movie. I saw the first Scream on Halloween night when I was twelve and I've been a huge fan of the franchise ever since - though Scream 3 did sting a bit. This latest installment is just as great as the original. Like the first film, Scream 4 returns us to the town of Woodsboro just as Sidney Prescott makes her homecoming, and where a now married Dewey and Gale live. But no sooner has Sidney arrived than a new string of murders begins, this time trying to recreate or remake the events of the original story but with a new "meta" twist. One of the things that makes this franchise so great is that, unlike any other horror movie franchise, the three main characters of the first film have managed to survive this long. Unfortunately Sidney, Dewey, and Gale, while still a major presence in this film, have taken a bit of a backseat to the new young cast which includes Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, and Rory Culkin. Some fans seem to have more of a problem with this than myself. In my opinion it was the revitalizing presence of the younger cast that made this movie as good as it is. In a recent interview, Wes Craven said that his original vision for the film, which made a much bigger deal of trying to emulate the original, would have run for nearly three hours and so had to be cut. Personally, I would love to see a three hour cut, cut that's just me. One of the cut scenes, which recreated an easily recognizable scene from the original Scream, can be seen here. Also, an alternate opening scene, which I actually prefer to the theatrical version, can be seen here. As much as I loved this film, I'll keep my fingers crossed that we'll one day get to see a three hour Director's Cut.
Score: 9/10 - Another A+ to the Craven/Williamson team.
Wednesday, Oct. 5th - Splinter (2008)
This is one of those movies where the name kept showing up so much on the horror subreddit that eventually I just couldn't ignore it anymore. So I went in knowing absolutely nothing and with no expectations. That didn't help. In this story a couple, out camping for their anniversary, are hijacked by and ex-con and his drugged out girlfriend. but when they breakdown at a rural gas station they find themselves trapped by some indescribable creature that both feeds on and possesses any living being. Unfortunately I was very unimpressed by Splinter. The creature effects were interesting enough and gave me a definite The Thing vibe, and the acting wasn't bad, but that's about the only good I have to say about it. There was a definite lack of originality, there were no surprises, and there are a couple of plot holes. From what I've seen in general, genre fans in general seem to love this movie, but I can't see the appeal. So I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't waste my time on this movie again.
Score: 4/10 - Cool creature, cool idea . . . not much else.
Thursday, Oct. 6th - Cabin Fever (2002)
Usually I'm not a big fan of over-the-top gore in movies because I think it tends to be used as a cheap gimmick to gross people out rather than scare them. Cabin Fever is one of the few cases where excessive gore actually serves a function. In this film debut from Splat Pack member Eli Roth, a group of friends renting a remote cabin in the woods fall victim to a flesh eating virus which threatens to wipe them out one at a time. That is, if the locals don't get them first. Roth did a great job blending humor into the earlier scenes of this movie to help build a strong character foundation and draw the audience in, making it all the more difficult when we have to watch these people die slow, agonizing deaths. I can't remember any other movies of the killer disease variety that doesn't include zombies or some kind of monster/possession. Maybe that's why, almost ten years later, I'm still impressed by how well this film does its job. In other words, this is certainly not a movie for hypochondriacs.
Score: 8/10 - Excessive gore done right.
Friday, Oct. 7th - Jennifer's Body (2009)
This is one of those movies that catches way too much hate from horror fans in my opinion. When best friends Needy and Jennifer go out to a concert, a fire destroys the venue and Jennifer gets carted off by a shady, emo band. But when Jeniffer turns up again something is horribly wrong. Now she's eating boys left and right, and Needy will have to stand up against her demon possessed childhood friend. I've loved this movie from the first time I saw it in theaters and it has held up on every viewing since. The major factor in whether or not someone likes this movie seems to be whether or not you like Diablo Cody's writing. If you enjoyed the quick, snappy dialogue of Juno, then chances are you you'll like Jennifer's Body just fine. I'll admit, I can see how Cody's style might not be for everyone, but this movie is exactly what she intended it to be, just a fun horror movie. Also, I was never a fan of Megan Fox until this movie. A huge horror fan herself, Fox does a fin job of playing the stereotypical high school hottie, but does an even more outstanding job as a demonic, man-eating monster. So, whether or not my horror movie fan card is revoked for saying this, Jennifer's Body is one of my favorite horror films of the past decade.
Score: 8/10 - Fun! Lots of fun!
Day 30 - Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)
I already expressed my enjoyment of killer scarecrow movies back when I reviewed Husk. I wasn't really planning on doing another one for this countdown but then I came across this old made for TV gem broken into pieces on YouTube. You can watch it for yourself here:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7
In a small town, when a young girl is thought to have been killed by Bubba, a mentally handicapped local man, a group of vigilantes set out to instil their own justice, eye for an eye. When the group finds the man disguised as a scarecrow they shoot him dead, no questions asked. Then the truth comes out that the girl in question is alive, that it was a dog that attacked her, and that the now dead Bubba in fact saved her life. After lying in court that the killing was in self defense, the four murderers get off scot-free. Or so they think. One by one each man begins to see a scarecrow wearing the same clothes as Bubba, and after these sightings each man dies, leaving those still alive in a state of panic. Who is this mysterious person paying back justice for Bubba's death? Or could Bubba still be alive and enacting his revenge? Or worse, could it be his spirit seeking vengeance?
This movie was really just a bit of old, cheesy fun. There isn't anything all that special about it, but at the same time there really isn't anything wrong with it. This film is almost more of a murder mystery thriller than it is a horror movie, particularly since you never see the killer until the very end, but the horror element is still there. Something I did like, that I suppose had to be the case since this was intended for a TV audience, was the way the kills were handled; there is absolutely no gore to this movie. Now don't get me wrong, I do enjoy gore when it's used properly, but it has always seemed to me that 80's horror was always marked by over the top - for the time - kills filled with lots of red-paint-like blood. Personally I'm a bigger fan of the implied gore, where you know something horrific is happening just out of sight, or of those kills that find more inventive and less brutal ways to kill people, which is generally the case in DNotS.
I would generally recommend this to those fans of 80's horror movies or of made for TV movies. Like I said, there really isn't anything special here, but is just a good bit of fun.
Day 31 = Mimic The Director's Cut (1997).
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7
In a small town, when a young girl is thought to have been killed by Bubba, a mentally handicapped local man, a group of vigilantes set out to instil their own justice, eye for an eye. When the group finds the man disguised as a scarecrow they shoot him dead, no questions asked. Then the truth comes out that the girl in question is alive, that it was a dog that attacked her, and that the now dead Bubba in fact saved her life. After lying in court that the killing was in self defense, the four murderers get off scot-free. Or so they think. One by one each man begins to see a scarecrow wearing the same clothes as Bubba, and after these sightings each man dies, leaving those still alive in a state of panic. Who is this mysterious person paying back justice for Bubba's death? Or could Bubba still be alive and enacting his revenge? Or worse, could it be his spirit seeking vengeance?
This movie was really just a bit of old, cheesy fun. There isn't anything all that special about it, but at the same time there really isn't anything wrong with it. This film is almost more of a murder mystery thriller than it is a horror movie, particularly since you never see the killer until the very end, but the horror element is still there. Something I did like, that I suppose had to be the case since this was intended for a TV audience, was the way the kills were handled; there is absolutely no gore to this movie. Now don't get me wrong, I do enjoy gore when it's used properly, but it has always seemed to me that 80's horror was always marked by over the top - for the time - kills filled with lots of red-paint-like blood. Personally I'm a bigger fan of the implied gore, where you know something horrific is happening just out of sight, or of those kills that find more inventive and less brutal ways to kill people, which is generally the case in DNotS.
I would generally recommend this to those fans of 80's horror movies or of made for TV movies. Like I said, there really isn't anything special here, but is just a good bit of fun.
Day 31 = Mimic The Director's Cut (1997).
Day 29 - Wake Wood (2011)
It seems I have a lot of catching up to do, so here it goes.
I only heard about this movie last week when I stumbled on a trailer for it on YouTube. From the trailer I couldn't really tell what the movie was supposed to be about, but from what I could tell, it was produced by the legendary Hammer Films, seemed to have a definite cult vibe, and there were people covered in blood. So I gave it a go.
Wake Wood is the story of Patrick and Louise, who, after the recent death of their young daughter, Alice, move to the small town of Wake Wood to try and start over. But there's something mysterious going on in this rural town whose inhabitants share a strange secret. After witnessing a bizarre ritual one night at the home of Patrick's employer - played by Timothy Spall, the only person I recognized in this film - the couple soon discover that the townsfolk have the ability to return the dead to life. But there are rules:
1. Once resurrected, the person must stay within the boundary of the town.
2. They can only remain alive for three days.
And perhaps most importantly,
3. The person in question cannot have been dead for more than one year.
Give the opportunity to bring Alice back, the couple jump at the chance. But in bringing their daughter back from dead they've told a lie and already broken one of the rules. Alice isn't back long before things begin to go wrong. Animals are being discovered, mutilated. Soon people are too. When Alice came back she didn't come back right, now they'll have to get her back in the ground.
This was a pretty fun movie. I really enjoyed the overall tone of the film. And who isn't a fan of kids being scary? Put simply, Wake Wood is a nice amalgam of Pet Sematary and The Wicker Man, with maybe a tough of The Bad Seed. There's a bit of a surprise to the ending as well which I appreciated. There were a few things I didn't like though. The thing that bothered me most were the killings we witness. Though there isn't anything really wrong with them, they just felt very boring and unimaginative to me; maybe I'm just tainted. This seemed like it might have been fixed had these scenes been filmed a bit differently so as to add a bit intensity and savagery to them, to make the audience feel it; I'm seeing a Rob Zombie-esque death scene in my head. Also, this is clearly a fairly low budget movie, and while most of the time this is a nonissue, there are a few moments in the film where there seemed a slight drop in quality. Neither of these are really major issues though.
This film is much more character driven rather than being driven by action so you shouldn't go into this expecting big scares and gore. The horror factor here is definitely more of the creeping, eerie style more than anything else. Overall I would definitely suggest Wake Wood. Though I wouldn't recommend watching with children nearby.
Day 30 = Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981).
I only heard about this movie last week when I stumbled on a trailer for it on YouTube. From the trailer I couldn't really tell what the movie was supposed to be about, but from what I could tell, it was produced by the legendary Hammer Films, seemed to have a definite cult vibe, and there were people covered in blood. So I gave it a go.
Wake Wood is the story of Patrick and Louise, who, after the recent death of their young daughter, Alice, move to the small town of Wake Wood to try and start over. But there's something mysterious going on in this rural town whose inhabitants share a strange secret. After witnessing a bizarre ritual one night at the home of Patrick's employer - played by Timothy Spall, the only person I recognized in this film - the couple soon discover that the townsfolk have the ability to return the dead to life. But there are rules:
1. Once resurrected, the person must stay within the boundary of the town.
2. They can only remain alive for three days.
And perhaps most importantly,
3. The person in question cannot have been dead for more than one year.
Give the opportunity to bring Alice back, the couple jump at the chance. But in bringing their daughter back from dead they've told a lie and already broken one of the rules. Alice isn't back long before things begin to go wrong. Animals are being discovered, mutilated. Soon people are too. When Alice came back she didn't come back right, now they'll have to get her back in the ground.
This was a pretty fun movie. I really enjoyed the overall tone of the film. And who isn't a fan of kids being scary? Put simply, Wake Wood is a nice amalgam of Pet Sematary and The Wicker Man, with maybe a tough of The Bad Seed. There's a bit of a surprise to the ending as well which I appreciated. There were a few things I didn't like though. The thing that bothered me most were the killings we witness. Though there isn't anything really wrong with them, they just felt very boring and unimaginative to me; maybe I'm just tainted. This seemed like it might have been fixed had these scenes been filmed a bit differently so as to add a bit intensity and savagery to them, to make the audience feel it; I'm seeing a Rob Zombie-esque death scene in my head. Also, this is clearly a fairly low budget movie, and while most of the time this is a nonissue, there are a few moments in the film where there seemed a slight drop in quality. Neither of these are really major issues though.
This film is much more character driven rather than being driven by action so you shouldn't go into this expecting big scares and gore. The horror factor here is definitely more of the creeping, eerie style more than anything else. Overall I would definitely suggest Wake Wood. Though I wouldn't recommend watching with children nearby.
Day 30 = Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981).
HOLD
I know I'm late on a post or two, but everything is being put on hold until Sunday as I've elected to participate in the 24 Hour Comic Day. This means I have 24 hours to write, draw, ink, color and digitize a 24 page comic. I'm two hours in and already panicking. So, unless I have a meltdown and give up, all posts and what not will wait until tomorrow.
The nature of my comic being a horror story, I'll post it on here when it's complete.
Otherwise,
HAPPY OCTOBER 1st. Let the countdown to Halloween begin.
The nature of my comic being a horror story, I'll post it on here when it's complete.
Otherwise,
HAPPY OCTOBER 1st. Let the countdown to Halloween begin.
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