070.- [JOHN CARPENTER'S] IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS (1995, ARROW 4K UHD). Streaming on TUBI, ROKU CHANNEL.
John Trent (Sam Neill) is a cocky but effective insurance fraud investigator who gets results. Hired by Arcane Publishing boss Jackson Harglow (Charlton Heston) to find the missing author (Sutter Cane) of a highly-anticipated horror novel ('In The Mouth of Madness') expected to sell well, Trent gets more than he bargained for when he and Harglow's assistant Linda Styles (Julie Carmen) travel to a small East Coast town (Hobb's End) that doesn't exist on any map or record. Backed by KNB EFX Group's make-up talents, some decent ILM special effects and a well-written script by New Line Cinema boss Michael De Luca, John Carpenter (who sneaks some rockin' tunes into the score) has fun with the premise that a Stephen King-meets-H.P. Lovecraft-type star writer could compose horror prose so compelling it'd drive his readers insane. He doesn't have much screen time, but Jürgen Prochnow lives up to the movie's mesianic description of what Sutter Cane would be like.
Neill's descent into madness is fun to watch, even if it comes at the expense of great actors (Bernie Casey, David Warner, John Glover) getting reduced camera time. As expected, Arrow's 4K transfer and bounty of bonus features are impeccable. The 90's were not kind to Carpenter, but this third and final installment of his 'Apocalypse Trilogy' (after "The Thing" and "Prince of Darkness") is one of his few directorial highlights from that difficult era (ERA!). 4.0 ANAKIN SKYWALKER PAPER DELIVERY ROUTES (out of five).
071.- CAMPFIRE TALES (1997, AMAZON PRIME). Also streaming on PLEX, TUBI, THE ROKU CHANNEL.
Four teenagers are stranded after the driver of their vehicle (Jay R. Ferguson's Cliff) crashes it on the side of the road. Lighting a fire in a nearby abandoned church, members of the group start telling scary stories to pass the time until another vehicle drives by. 'The Honeymoon' has Ron Livingston playing newlywed hubby to his Long Island gal while driving an RV to Vegas. 'People Can Lick Too' ends just when it was about to get good, but features a young Alex McKenna (Sadie Adler on the "Red Dead Redemption" videogames) on the other end of an internet chat with a sexu@l pred@tor. 🥵🥶 An opening B&W segment, 'The Hook,' has the two biggest stars to come out of this anthology (James Marsden and Amy Smart). Too bad the last segment, 'The Locket,' has the weakest premise and forgettable actors. Looking/feeling more 80's than its late 90's period (particularly the resolution of the stranded teens story), "Campfire Tales" is inoffensive, somewhat sexy (we get side boob... twice! 😶) and just violent enough to get by as a mostly forgotten DTV horror anthology. 3 WEDDING RINGS SCRAPPING ROOFTOP METAL (out of five).
072.- DEEP SPACE (1991, TUBI). Also streaming on FAWESOME, ROKU CHANNEL, PLEX.
A Roger Corman two-for-one special: yet another ripoff of "Alien," but also a remake of Corman's own 1982 space flick "Forbidden World" (which itself was heavily inspired by Ridley Scott's '79 classic). An emergency signal from a research facility on planet Phaebon summons Commander Steve Krieger (Marc Singer, showing off his still-rocking-at-43 "Beastmaster" dad bod) and his sidekick robot Tinpan (Rodger Halston) to what at first appears to be a false alarm. As soon as the duo arrives at Phaebon the "Alien" playbook (small living organism turns big and nasty, air vents to travel undetected, not enough firepower to restrain the random creature attacks, etc.) is slavishly followed, except for some sexy time between Krieger and Dr. Salinger (Laura Mae Tate) and ridiculously low production values. A young Bryan Cranston (looking like baby Phil Hartman) is saddled playing the a-hole chief scientist trying to keep the monster alive at the expense of his co-workers. I'll watch anything with Marc Singer at least once, so the best part of watching "Dead Space" is that I never have to watch it again. 😁 2.4 SPACE BATTLE SCENES RECYCLED FROM CORMAN'S "BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS" MOVIE (out of five).
BONUS: 30 DAYS OF PINK PANTHER & FRIENDS, DAY 13! 073.- THE ANT AND THE AARDVARK: FROM BED TO WORSE (6/16/1971, DVD). Streaming on YOUTUBE and INTERNET ARCHIVE.
The last of the 17 "Ant... Aardvark" cartoons, although the Aardvark's last words ('I think I'll be right back') hints that the animators were hoping they'd be contracted to do more. After both Ant and Aardvark are hit by a vehicle, both end up in an animal hospital with their legs in casts and an angry dog between them. As Aardvark continues to try and eat Ant, the kind nurse watching over them (voiced by Athena Lord) springs into action. While it didn't go out at the top of its game, the last entry in this animated series was still a fun ride. 3.5 RHINO HORNS IN PLASTER CASTS (out of five).
074.- THE PINK PANTHER: PSST PINK (9/15/1971, DVD). Streaming on YOUTUBE.
Remember the movie "Rubber" about a sentient tire? This isn't quite that, but the new tire that rolls away from the Pink Panther as he tries to change a flat seems to have a life of its own as it bounces around town. From electrical wires to a flagpole, and from zoo cages to a garage full of lookalike brothers, this is one busy runaway tire. A nicely-paced toon that uses music to great effect (slower as the Panther climbs a really tall building by foot). 4 $1.50 BALCONY TICKETS TO A CROWDED MOVIE THEATER (out of five).
Watching videos is bad for your health (seven word review)
Though I have been aware of this tale of a cursed video tape since the early 2000s, I have not seen any of the original Japanese films or the American remake. I decided that this J-Horror classic was a blind spot worth filling today.
Stories of vengeful spirits are not new in Japanese folk tradition or horror cinema. A spirit that can project itself through technology is undoubtedly more of a modern idea. Watching Ring almost thirty years since it was made, the idea of technology being a conduit for evil is not as novel as it probably seemed in the late 1990s. I will admit that there was a feeling of nostalgia seeing TVs that did not communicate with you and cars that did not have any kind of screen to deal with. And there is reminder that what is old is new with the resurgence of VHS.
I liked Ring, am not blown away by it. The pacing did not bother me, but modern viewers might find it very slow. I tend to like slow-burn horror, anyway. Unpacking the mystery of the story took up a lot of my thoughts. I did find the appearance of Sadako to be unnerving, but I cannot say I was scared. The atmosphere worked for the story.
After her father dies, a young woman finds out he had funded a convent on a remote island for decades, so she travels there to learn why. What she finds is an isolated community of nuns performing strange rituals, along with secrets about her own past.
But the plot is incidental, this movie relies on atmosphere and vibes, and it does it quite well. The cinematography is gorgeous and together with the sound design builds a rising tension for pretty much the entire runtime. The acting's a bit shaky at times though, and the often haphazard ADR doesn't help.
Damn, I didn't expect this to be so heavy, with the racism, and police brutality, and bullying, and domestic abuse, and ghosts of slavery, and gang violence. It's intense stuff, and very well done, but when your supernatural horror veers this hard into real-life horror (pictures of actual lynchings and the KKK), it stops being as much fun. In the end, I enjoyed the kooky framing story the most. I appreciate the balls it takes to challenge your audience this way, and I'm certainly glad I watched it, but maybe it wasn't the best fit for Junespoitation.
This weekend I was thinking of proposing watching this to my wife, but she beat me to the punch with requesting Vampire’s Kiss! Next is to find out if she was actually serious :)
A young woman (Mia Sara) travels to Romania in search of her long lost father (Anthony Perkins). Spookiness ensues. I was hoping to discover a forgotten Stuart Gordon classic but unfortunately this isn't it. It was pretty boring and generic and I assume inhibited by its TV-movie budget. I've always liked Mia Sara and it does have Anthony Perkins playing a vampire doing a Bela Lugosi-style accent, but that's about all it has going for it.
Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Puppet Master! No, no, no, no, it's The Toy Maker. But this is everything I've ever wanted out of those underwhelming Puppet Master movies. My eye caught Brian Yuzna in the opening credits, and I knew I was in good hands.
The director of this movie (Martin Kitrosse) is the script supervisor for every Tarantino movie. He probably got once chance at directing, and frankly, I think he nailed it. Too bad it was the 5th instalment in an already faltering series.
Chad Lowe and Christy Swanson should have listened to Richard Farnsworth. CJ Graham (Part 6 Jason Voorhees) plays a silent, lumbering, relentless and ultimately unscary villain. But hey, if Ben Stiller can escape from this Asylum-level production, there’s hope for everyone.
[Extremely Norm McDonald voice]: I bet it’s spelled B-O-R-E-D!
A mostly forgettable, cheap sequel that brings nothing new to the table (or Ouija board). That being said there’s one standout moment where a character is killed by taking a full-size wrecking ball straight to the face and it is an astonishing entry into the person-very-noticeably-replaced-by-a-dummy hall of fame, complete with a fantastic vehicle explosion. If only anything in the entire rest of the movie could have lived up to that one scene, we’d have had a (very) minor classic on our hands.
WOLF (1994) A publishing exec gets bit by a wolf. Now he has wolf-ish tendencies that give him the edge in his career while he clashes with all the high society types in his life. Director Mike Nichols is going for psychological horror, using werewolf-isms to examine human nature, etc. Beneath their expensive suits and polite manners, businessmen are just wild animals. Get it?!? Jack Nicholson is in his element as the devil-may-care guy talking trash during posh business meetings and fancy dinner parties. But otherwise, this is really boring. As things unravel and become more of a thriller in the end, I was checked out. There’s a better version of this movie, and it’s American Psycho.
30 days of fan films, day 13: SUNWALKER (2002) Buffy (of vampire slayer fame) and her friends deal with a new form of vampire that’s more powerful than before. This movie’s extremely bottom-basement low budget, and the actress playing Buffy left halfway through production, necessitating rewrites on the fly. But even in these circumstances, you have to admire the ambition of these things. The YouTube version includes a bunch of production notes, for a fun “warts and all” look at how this was made. If nothing else, it’s a valuable snapshot of where fandom was in 2002.
Agree with you on "Wolf," Mac. It's a werewolf movie, but the filmmakers seem ashamed they're making a werewolf flick and de-fang the characters of interesting personalities. It's also no fun, not too sexy, and wastes a killer supporting cast with a visibly checked-out Nicholson. 🫡
I lived in Chicago when this was filmed (also The Fugitive, Rookie of the Year, and Judgment Night!). For some reason, the talk around Candyman scared me so bad that I had never watched it until now. I think if I had known that Philip Freaking Glass had done the music for it, I never would have been worried. After finally watching it, it's not terribly scary, but it's really interesting and has a couple of stand out performances.
By the way, there is a scene early on where Virginia Madsen walks into a lecture hall and the professor is talking about folklore by saying "Does anyone remember when people were buying alligators as pets a few years ago? And then getting bored and flushing them down the toilet, so now, the sewer system is full of blind, albino alligators?" Well, this exact speech was spoken WORD FOR WORD by Jennifer Warren in the movie I watched three days ago, "Night Moves" from 1975! I thought I was having a stroke. I've never experienced anything like this, and most likely wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't just seen it. Is this simply a coincidence, or did the writer of Candyman take a speech from a Gene Hackman movie from 17 years earlier?
Dug into a couple of Arrow box sets today for a Japanese double feature.
Tetsuo 2: Body Hammer (1992, dir. S. Tsukamoto)
Disturbing body horror, with some "mild mannered" man has his son kidnapped by skin heads. This somehow leads to him growing firearms. The ending is bonkers. I thought the original was Eraserhead level of opaque. This is really straight forward by comparison.
Shikoku (1999, dir. S. Nagaski)
Very different from Tetsuo 2. Bit of a possession, revenge, ghost story set in rural Japan. Definitely a slow-burn.
This kinetic Ozploitation body horror effort seemed appropriate today considering temperatures in the PNW are pushing triple digits. Big Pharma is pushing poison pills on the citizens of Anytown, Australia, with explosive results. Excessively messy practical effects magic courtesy of Bob Carron, know by sickos everywhere for his work on Peter Jackson’s BRAINDEAD/DEAD ALIVE. Sleazy, satiric, goopy fun on par with 1987’s STREET TRASH in tone and tastelessness. Kinda loved it.
Hartnett kinda rules, though maybe that's just nostalgia. The one arm pulldown will always be cool. This JLC being a badass and fighting Michael is so much better than anything in the new trilogy.
Movie has way too many goofy fake outs, including Cool J's death where they clearly had someone else in frame.
Overall fun rewatch. Think I still prefer Resurrection.
I don't know if I'd call it horror, but it sure fits in Junesploitation anyway! Super sleazy men set out to hunt down a women's softball team. Formulaic and the right side wins, but I wish it was more impressive in some way other than the exorbitant amount of slow-motion used.
I noted this down from a Friday Night Double Features last year, so a big thanks to Patrick and Adam!
I was giggling at so many jokes throughout. From references like Brooke Shields dissing Blue Lagoon 2, to silly sight gags... I really dug the humor. The "freaks" were also super cool, and ranged from so well designed to hilariously basic. Alex Winter, Megan Ward, Bill Sadler, and so many others... great cast for this super fun flick!
Very solid! Probably 25 too long, it drags at parts, and has a main character who's actions make no sense (truly insane things happen then she just...goes to class). But the direction is really strong, you can really see why Amenabar went on to have the career he had.
I watched Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh. I love Tony Todd and I love New Orleans so this was an easy sell for me.
Nothing can touch the original, but I did like the additional lore in this one and there’s some cool artwork. Philip Glass does the score again, and there’s also a New Orleans DJ voicing over some scenes which I found fun.
The scene where the protagonist scratches Candyman’s face and bees come out was pretty rad.
Also I love seeing Bill Nunn in a movie, so bonus points.
This was my first full viewing of an Ernest movie. I can see why kids would really like it.
For kid/gateway "horror," it's just the right amount of scary and gross. The troll costume is pretty gnarly. Kids get turned into little wooden dolls. It's just enough to push a kid out of their comfort zone, but Ernest is always there, being silly and reminding them it's probably going to be all right. As for Ernest's brand of comedy, not every gag is a diamond, but he commits 100%, and he is funny some of the time. The parents are mostly dopes and the kids get to help save the day.
The Day of the Beast (1995, dir. Álex de la Iglesia)
A Spanish-Italian production listed as a dark comedy horror movie. The cultural gap might be a factor, but the tone just didn't feel right for me for those labels.
There were some funny parts, but the 3 main characters were more interesting to me than the actual thrust of the story (which ended pretty low key).
070.- [JOHN CARPENTER'S] IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS (1995, ARROW 4K UHD). Streaming on TUBI, ROKU CHANNEL.
ReplyDeleteJohn Trent (Sam Neill) is a cocky but effective insurance fraud investigator who gets results. Hired by Arcane Publishing boss Jackson Harglow (Charlton Heston) to find the missing author (Sutter Cane) of a highly-anticipated horror novel ('In The Mouth of Madness') expected to sell well, Trent gets more than he bargained for when he and Harglow's assistant Linda Styles (Julie Carmen) travel to a small East Coast town (Hobb's End) that doesn't exist on any map or record. Backed by KNB EFX Group's make-up talents, some decent ILM special effects and a well-written script by New Line Cinema boss Michael De Luca, John Carpenter (who sneaks some rockin' tunes into the score) has fun with the premise that a Stephen King-meets-H.P. Lovecraft-type star writer could compose horror prose so compelling it'd drive his readers insane. He doesn't have much screen time, but Jürgen Prochnow lives up to the movie's mesianic description of what Sutter Cane would be like.
Neill's descent into madness is fun to watch, even if it comes at the expense of great actors (Bernie Casey, David Warner, John Glover) getting reduced camera time. As expected, Arrow's 4K transfer and bounty of bonus features are impeccable. The 90's were not kind to Carpenter, but this third and final installment of his 'Apocalypse Trilogy' (after "The Thing" and "Prince of Darkness") is one of his few directorial highlights from that difficult era (ERA!). 4.0 ANAKIN SKYWALKER PAPER DELIVERY ROUTES (out of five).
071.- CAMPFIRE TALES (1997, AMAZON PRIME). Also streaming on PLEX, TUBI, THE ROKU CHANNEL.
ReplyDeleteFour teenagers are stranded after the driver of their vehicle (Jay R. Ferguson's Cliff) crashes it on the side of the road. Lighting a fire in a nearby abandoned church, members of the group start telling scary stories to pass the time until another vehicle drives by. 'The Honeymoon' has Ron Livingston playing newlywed hubby to his Long Island gal while driving an RV to Vegas. 'People Can Lick Too' ends just when it was about to get good, but features a young Alex McKenna (Sadie Adler on the "Red Dead Redemption" videogames) on the other end of an internet chat with a sexu@l pred@tor. 🥵🥶 An opening B&W segment, 'The Hook,' has the two biggest stars to come out of this anthology (James Marsden and Amy Smart). Too bad the last segment, 'The Locket,' has the weakest premise and forgettable actors. Looking/feeling more 80's than its late 90's period (particularly the resolution of the stranded teens story), "Campfire Tales" is inoffensive, somewhat sexy (we get side boob... twice! 😶) and just violent enough to get by as a mostly forgotten DTV horror anthology. 3 WEDDING RINGS SCRAPPING ROOFTOP METAL (out of five).
072.- DEEP SPACE (1991, TUBI). Also streaming on FAWESOME, ROKU CHANNEL, PLEX.
ReplyDeleteA Roger Corman two-for-one special: yet another ripoff of "Alien," but also a remake of Corman's own 1982 space flick "Forbidden World" (which itself was heavily inspired by Ridley Scott's '79 classic). An emergency signal from a research facility on planet Phaebon summons Commander Steve Krieger (Marc Singer, showing off his still-rocking-at-43 "Beastmaster" dad bod) and his sidekick robot Tinpan (Rodger Halston) to what at first appears to be a false alarm. As soon as the duo arrives at Phaebon the "Alien" playbook (small living organism turns big and nasty, air vents to travel undetected, not enough firepower to restrain the random creature attacks, etc.) is slavishly followed, except for some sexy time between Krieger and Dr. Salinger (Laura Mae Tate) and ridiculously low production values. A young Bryan Cranston (looking like baby Phil Hartman) is saddled playing the a-hole chief scientist trying to keep the monster alive at the expense of his co-workers. I'll watch anything with Marc Singer at least once, so the best part of watching "Dead Space" is that I never have to watch it again. 😁 2.4 SPACE BATTLE SCENES RECYCLED FROM CORMAN'S "BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS" MOVIE (out of five).
BONUS: 30 DAYS OF PINK PANTHER & FRIENDS, DAY 13!
Delete073.- THE ANT AND THE AARDVARK: FROM BED TO WORSE (6/16/1971, DVD). Streaming on YOUTUBE and INTERNET ARCHIVE.
The last of the 17 "Ant... Aardvark" cartoons, although the Aardvark's last words ('I think I'll be right back') hints that the animators were hoping they'd be contracted to do more. After both Ant and Aardvark are hit by a vehicle, both end up in an animal hospital with their legs in casts and an angry dog between them. As Aardvark continues to try and eat Ant, the kind nurse watching over them (voiced by Athena Lord) springs into action. While it didn't go out at the top of its game, the last entry in this animated series was still a fun ride. 3.5 RHINO HORNS IN PLASTER CASTS (out of five).
074.- THE PINK PANTHER: PSST PINK (9/15/1971, DVD). Streaming on YOUTUBE.
DeleteRemember the movie "Rubber" about a sentient tire? This isn't quite that, but the new tire that rolls away from the Pink Panther as he tries to change a flat seems to have a life of its own as it bounces around town. From electrical wires to a flagpole, and from zoo cages to a garage full of lookalike brothers, this is one busy runaway tire. A nicely-paced toon that uses music to great effect (slower as the Panther climbs a really tall building by foot). 4 $1.50 BALCONY TICKETS TO A CROWDED MOVIE THEATER (out of five).
RING (1998, dir. Hideo Nakata)
ReplyDeleteWatching videos is bad for your health (seven word review)
Though I have been aware of this tale of a cursed video tape since the early 2000s, I have not seen any of the original Japanese films or the American remake. I decided that this J-Horror classic was a blind spot worth filling today.
Stories of vengeful spirits are not new in Japanese folk tradition or horror cinema. A spirit that can project itself through technology is undoubtedly more of a modern idea. Watching Ring almost thirty years since it was made, the idea of technology being a conduit for evil is not as novel as it probably seemed in the late 1990s. I will admit that there was a feeling of nostalgia seeing TVs that did not communicate with you and cars that did not have any kind of screen to deal with. And there is reminder that what is old is new with the resurgence of VHS.
I liked Ring, am not blown away by it. The pacing did not bother me, but modern viewers might find it very slow. I tend to like slow-burn horror, anyway. Unpacking the mystery of the story took up a lot of my thoughts. I did find the appearance of Sadako to be unnerving, but I cannot say I was scared. The atmosphere worked for the story.
Dark Waters (1993, dir. Mariano Baino)
ReplyDeleteAfter her father dies, a young woman finds out he had funded a convent on a remote island for decades, so she travels there to learn why. What she finds is an isolated community of nuns performing strange rituals, along with secrets about her own past.
But the plot is incidental, this movie relies on atmosphere and vibes, and it does it quite well. The cinematography is gorgeous and together with the sound design builds a rising tension for pretty much the entire runtime. The acting's a bit shaky at times though, and the often haphazard ADR doesn't help.
Tales from the Hood (1995)
ReplyDeleteDamn, I didn't expect this to be so heavy, with the racism, and police brutality, and bullying, and domestic abuse, and ghosts of slavery, and gang violence. It's intense stuff, and very well done, but when your supernatural horror veers this hard into real-life horror (pictures of actual lynchings and the KKK), it stops being as much fun. In the end, I enjoyed the kooky framing story the most. I appreciate the balls it takes to challenge your audience this way, and I'm certainly glad I watched it, but maybe it wasn't the best fit for Junespoitation.
The 'Burbs (1989): Suburbia-sploitation... Nobody does suburb-weird like Joe Dante. Unnecessary upgrade to 4k, that explosion at the end really pops.
ReplyDeleteThis weekend I was thinking of proposing watching this to my wife, but she beat me to the punch with requesting Vampire’s Kiss! Next is to find out if she was actually serious :)
DeleteI just realised i got the wrong day and thought it was Free Space. I guess 1989 is close enough to 1990 😵💫
DeleteDaughter of Darkness (1990, dir. Stuart Gordon)
ReplyDeleteA young woman (Mia Sara) travels to Romania in search of her long lost father (Anthony Perkins). Spookiness ensues. I was hoping to discover a forgotten Stuart Gordon classic but unfortunately this isn't it. It was pretty boring and generic and I assume inhibited by its TV-movie budget. I've always liked Mia Sara and it does have Anthony Perkins playing a vampire doing a Bela Lugosi-style accent, but that's about all it has going for it.
Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Puppet Master! No, no, no, no, it's The Toy Maker. But this is everything I've ever wanted out of those underwhelming Puppet Master movies. My eye caught Brian Yuzna in the opening credits, and I knew I was in good hands.
ReplyDeleteThe director of this movie (Martin Kitrosse) is the script supervisor for every Tarantino movie. He probably got once chance at directing, and frankly, I think he nailed it. Too bad it was the 5th instalment in an already faltering series.
DeleteHIGHWAY TO HELL (1991)
ReplyDeletedir. Ate de Jong
Chad Lowe and Christy Swanson should have listened to Richard Farnsworth. CJ Graham (Part 6 Jason Voorhees) plays a silent, lumbering, relentless and ultimately unscary villain. But hey, if Ben Stiller can escape from this Asylum-level production, there’s hope for everyone.
Witchboard 2: The Devil’s Doorway
ReplyDelete[Extremely Norm McDonald voice]: I bet it’s spelled B-O-R-E-D!
A mostly forgettable, cheap sequel that brings nothing new to the table (or Ouija board). That being said there’s one standout moment where a character is killed by taking a full-size wrecking ball straight to the face and it is an astonishing entry into the person-very-noticeably-replaced-by-a-dummy hall of fame, complete with a fantastic vehicle explosion. If only anything in the entire rest of the movie could have lived up to that one scene, we’d have had a (very) minor classic on our hands.
WOLF (1994)
ReplyDeleteA publishing exec gets bit by a wolf. Now he has wolf-ish tendencies that give him the edge in his career while he clashes with all the high society types in his life. Director Mike Nichols is going for psychological horror, using werewolf-isms to examine human nature, etc. Beneath their expensive suits and polite manners, businessmen are just wild animals. Get it?!? Jack Nicholson is in his element as the devil-may-care guy talking trash during posh business meetings and fancy dinner parties. But otherwise, this is really boring. As things unravel and become more of a thriller in the end, I was checked out. There’s a better version of this movie, and it’s American Psycho.
30 days of fan films, day 13: SUNWALKER (2002)
Buffy (of vampire slayer fame) and her friends deal with a new form of vampire that’s more powerful than before. This movie’s extremely bottom-basement low budget, and the actress playing Buffy left halfway through production, necessitating rewrites on the fly. But even in these circumstances, you have to admire the ambition of these things. The YouTube version includes a bunch of production notes, for a fun “warts and all” look at how this was made. If nothing else, it’s a valuable snapshot of where fandom was in 2002.
Agree with you on "Wolf," Mac. It's a werewolf movie, but the filmmakers seem ashamed they're making a werewolf flick and de-fang the characters of interesting personalities. It's also no fun, not too sexy, and wastes a killer supporting cast with a visibly checked-out Nicholson. 🫡
DeleteCandyman (1992)
ReplyDeleteI lived in Chicago when this was filmed (also The Fugitive, Rookie of the Year, and Judgment Night!). For some reason, the talk around Candyman scared me so bad that I had never watched it until now. I think if I had known that Philip Freaking Glass had done the music for it, I never would have been worried. After finally watching it, it's not terribly scary, but it's really interesting and has a couple of stand out performances.
By the way, there is a scene early on where Virginia Madsen walks into a lecture hall and the professor is talking about folklore by saying "Does anyone remember when people were buying alligators as pets a few years ago? And then getting bored and flushing them down the toilet, so now, the sewer system is full of blind, albino alligators?" Well, this exact speech was spoken WORD FOR WORD by Jennifer Warren in the movie I watched three days ago, "Night Moves" from 1975! I thought I was having a stroke. I've never experienced anything like this, and most likely wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't just seen it. Is this simply a coincidence, or did the writer of Candyman take a speech from a Gene Hackman movie from 17 years earlier?
Dug into a couple of Arrow box sets today for a Japanese double feature.
ReplyDeleteTetsuo 2: Body Hammer (1992, dir. S. Tsukamoto)
Disturbing body horror, with some "mild mannered" man has his son kidnapped by skin heads. This somehow leads to him growing firearms. The ending is bonkers. I thought the original was Eraserhead level of opaque. This is really straight forward by comparison.
Shikoku (1999, dir. S. Nagaski)
Very different from Tetsuo 2. Bit of a possession, revenge, ghost story set in rural Japan. Definitely a slow-burn.
BODY MELT (1993, Phillip Brophy, Australia)
ReplyDeleteThis kinetic Ozploitation body horror effort seemed appropriate today considering temperatures in the PNW are pushing triple digits. Big Pharma is pushing poison pills on the citizens of Anytown, Australia, with explosive results. Excessively messy practical effects magic courtesy of Bob Carron, know by sickos everywhere for his work on Peter Jackson’s BRAINDEAD/DEAD ALIVE. Sleazy, satiric, goopy fun on par with 1987’s STREET TRASH in tone and tastelessness. Kinda loved it.
Halloween H20 (1998)
ReplyDeleteHartnett kinda rules, though maybe that's just nostalgia. The one arm pulldown will always be cool. This JLC being a badass and fighting Michael is so much better than anything in the new trilogy.
Movie has way too many goofy fake outs, including Cool J's death where they clearly had someone else in frame.
Overall fun rewatch. Think I still prefer Resurrection.
Blood Games (1990, dir. Tanya Rosenberg)
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I'd call it horror, but it sure fits in Junesploitation anyway! Super sleazy men set out to hunt down a women's softball team. Formulaic and the right side wins, but I wish it was more impressive in some way other than the exorbitant amount of slow-motion used.
Freaked (1993, dir. Alex Winter, Tom Stern)
ReplyDeleteI noted this down from a Friday Night Double Features last year, so a big thanks to Patrick and Adam!
I was giggling at so many jokes throughout. From references like Brooke Shields dissing Blue Lagoon 2, to silly sight gags... I really dug the humor. The "freaks" were also super cool, and ranged from so well designed to hilariously basic. Alex Winter, Megan Ward, Bill Sadler, and so many others... great cast for this super fun flick!
Thesis (1996)
ReplyDeleteVery solid! Probably 25 too long, it drags at parts, and has a main character who's actions make no sense (truly insane things happen then she just...goes to class). But the direction is really strong, you can really see why Amenabar went on to have the career he had.
I watched Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh. I love Tony Todd and I love New Orleans so this was an easy sell for me.
ReplyDeleteNothing can touch the original, but I did like the additional lore in this one and there’s some cool artwork. Philip Glass does the score again, and there’s also a New Orleans DJ voicing over some scenes which I found fun.
The scene where the protagonist scratches Candyman’s face and bees come out was pretty rad.
Also I love seeing Bill Nunn in a movie, so bonus points.
Ernest Scared Stupid (1991)
ReplyDeleteThis was my first full viewing of an Ernest movie. I can see why kids would really like it.
For kid/gateway "horror," it's just the right amount of scary and gross. The troll costume is pretty gnarly. Kids get turned into little wooden dolls. It's just enough to push a kid out of their comfort zone, but Ernest is always there, being silly and reminding them it's probably going to be all right. As for Ernest's brand of comedy, not every gag is a diamond, but he commits 100%, and he is funny some of the time. The parents are mostly dopes and the kids get to help save the day.
The Day of the Beast (1995, dir. Álex de la Iglesia)
ReplyDeleteA Spanish-Italian production listed as a dark comedy horror movie. The cultural gap might be a factor, but the tone just didn't feel right for me for those labels.
There were some funny parts, but the 3 main characters were more interesting to me than the actual thrust of the story (which ended pretty low key).