"Oh, shut up Louis!"
There has always been something I've always enjoyed about Neil Jordan's adaptation of Anne Rice's novel Interview with the Vampire. Epic in scope with lush production design and a fantastic cast, along with a dose of black humor for good measure, it's a film I've always consistently enjoyed.
One night in San Francisco, in a hotel room a journalist named Malloy (played by Christian Slater) meets a mysterious man named Louis (played by Brad Pitt). He begins to tell Malloy about his life as a vampire and how he became one after meeting a vampire named Lestat (played by Tom Cruise) while living in 18th Century Louisiana. We then follow Louis over the next 200 some years as a vampire and his time with Lestat and later their adopted "daughter" Claudia (played by Kirsten Dunst), who Lestat has also turned into a vampire. The film follows them as they live their lives as vampires throughout the next 200 years leading up to present day.
Neil Jordan directed the film from a script by the novel's writer, Anne Rice, and he also did an uncredited re-write himself. The film strikes a nice balance between humor and horror to remain consistently entertaining as it charts the relationship between Louis and Lestat from their first meeting, to their early days together to basically becoming an old, bickering married couple and beyond. The production design of the film is top notch with fantastic costumes and period details to match as the story moves from colonial Louisiana to 19th century Paris and back again. There is a sort of gothic beauty to the film that permeates every frame. They did a fantastic job capturing the different time periods the film takes place in.
The acting in the film is across the board quite good. Tom Cruise was clearly having a blast playing Lestat and his enthusiasm is infectious as he is easily my favorite character in the movie. Brad Pitt is saddled with the wet blanket that is Louis and his character is certainly the less flashier of the two roles. He agrees to let Lestat make him a vampire, but resists killing other people and drinking their blood, a necessary act that a vampire needs to do to survive. Lestat is continually frustrated by Louis and Louis's whining leading to the refrain quoted above. The fact that Pitt managed to make Louis likable at all is a testament to his acting ability. Kirsten Dunst manages to turn in a fantastic performance as Claudia, who is turned into a vampire as a little girl and over time matures emotionally but not physically, a woman forever trapped in the body of a little girl. The character's arrested development is one of the more fascinating components of her character and Dunst manages to capture that brilliantly as well as portraying Claudia's more cunning and lethal talents equally well.
Overall, Interview with the Vampire has long been a favorite of mine since I saw it shortly after it came out on VHS in the mid-90's. It's rare to see a movie like this that is so handsomely produced, with such depth and scope. It's a fantastic watch for both it's story and it's visuals and one I continue to enjoy no matter how many times I've seen it.
I am the first to admit that Critters 2 is not as good as the first one, but it is still a reasonably fun movie in it's own right, as well as, if memory serves, it's the only Easter set horror movie, at least that I know of (and I cringe knowing that some of my friends will respond with a list of schlocky horror movies about demonic Easter Bunnies or Serial Killers wearing a bunny mask, etc.).
Brad Brown (played by Scott Grimes) is returning to his home town of Grover's Bend to spend some time with his Grandma for Easter (apparently the rest of the family doesn't particularly care about Grandma). After the events of the first film and the notoriety that followed, the Browns left Grover's Bend and moved to Kansas City. His return is noted by several of the town members as he is a bit of a local celebrity. He tries to dodge the attention, especially since not all the town members believed his stories of vicious alien monsters. Meanwhile, a large pile of Critter eggs have been found in the old Brown family barn and are sold off to be used as Easter eggs. It's not long before the Critters hatch and start attacking the town folk again. Brad teams up with the plucky daughter of the local newspaper editor, Megan (played by Liane Curtis), and disgraced former mayor Harv (played by Barry Corbin) to stop the Critters once and for all. Also returning to the scene are the two intergalactic bounty hunters as well as Charlie (played by Don Keith Opper), who left with them at the end of the first film, after receiving notice that there were still Critter lifeforms on Earth.
Mick Garris, who would go on to make several films with Stephen King, took the directorial reins on this one and did a nice job at opening things up a bit. The scope of this film is a bit bigger as the action takes place throughout the town rather than isolated to one farmhouse. He also co-wrote the script with David Twohy and this outing adds more humor to the film than the first film, which more or less played things straight. At the same time, the Critter action is upped as well as the body count as several town members fall to the ferocious little furballs. The film once again moves at a brisk pace, getting the action moving fairly quickly. The acting is decent with Scott Grimes and Liane Curtis taking the lead roles in the film and doing a decent job. Barry Corbin takes over the role of former town sheriff from M Emmett Walsh in the first film and actually does a better job than the previous actor. Corbin understands what kind of movie he is in and finds the right notes to play, quietly stealing every scene he's in.
Overall, Critters 2 doesn't match the first film, but it finds enough new ideas to make it a reasonably entertaining follow-up. Much like Gremlins 2, this follow-up much more focuses on the humor (although Gremlins 2 was far more clever in it's humor), but retains enough monster mayhem that includes a giant ball of Critters chasing the townfolk to be thrilling as well. It's a decent follow-up and certainly better than the two direct to video sequels that followed (that I will not be reviewing, just so you know). So, there is that at least.
When I was growing up, they would show movies on channel 29 on Saturday afternoons when there weren't sporting events to show and one movie they showed a lot, and I mean a lot, was Critters. Needless to say, I have a lot of nostalgia for this silly little monster movie.
Just outside the rural Kansas town of Grover's Bend, a rogue spaceship carrying a horde of little furball monsters known as Krites, or as the humans come to call them, Critters. The Critters make their way across the countryside until they come to the farm belonging to the Brown family. Witnessing the crash, the father, Jay (played by Billy Green Bush) and son Brad (played by Scott Grimes) go out into the field to investigate. After discovering a mostly devoured cow carcass and not much else, they return to the farm, with the Critters in pursuit. The Critters begin to attack the farm house, cutting the power and shooting poisonous quills at the Brown family, first attacking Jay and then later Helen. After Brad rescues his sister April (played by Nadine Van der Velde) from the Barn, where she was making out with her boyfriend (played by Billy Zane), the family takes refuge in their farmhouse and try to fend off further attacks from the Critters. Meanwhile, two intergalactic bounty hunters arrive on the scene with the mission of finding and eradicating the vicious little furballs.
Stephen Herek directed the film and keeps it moving at a nice pace as it wastes no time getting going. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Dominic Muir and the two found a nice balance between scary and funny that made the movie a hoot to watch. The film has some nice flourishes with the unique creature design of the monsters and how they roll around like furry bowling balls. I also appreciated the trigger happy bounty hunters as they make their way through the town searching for the Critters, repeatedly causing chaos and destruction everywhere they go until finally Brad, who had gone for help, finds them and leads them back to his house. There is also a nice touch with an unlikely friendship between Charlie (played by Don Keith Opper), who works on the family's farm and Brad that wound up paying off wonderfully at the end of the film.
There are several reasons why I've always like Critters. One was that it was a fun little creature feature that I remember had me on the edge of the seat as a kid as I watched this family try to fend off these nasty little creatures that were little more than fur and teeth. But the film also had a wicked sense of humor to it at the same time that I also really enjoyed as the film wears it's B-movie roots on it's sleeve. I think that a big part of the appeal watching it as a kid was the fact that the main hero of the movie turns out to be the pre-teen son, Brad. Naturally, this would strike a chord with me as someone of roughly the same age watching it on t.v as this plucky young kid with an affinity for fireworks, including a homemade one that is practically a stick of dynamite (you know that's paying off later), and fights man-eating alien monsters. The film is also, in retrospect, relatively tame with a PG-13 rating and not too violent, while providing plenty of thrills and a brisk pace as the film clocks in at roughly an hour and twenty minutes.
Overall, this is a film that is very much tinted by nostalgia. I'm not sure I could be critical of it if I wanted to. But there is nothing to criticize really. The film is a silly little monster movie and it knows it. I'm able to accept it on those terms and am just as entertained by it now as I was as a kid. There's a scene in the original live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie where one of the Ninja Turtles, Raphael, is seen exiting a theatre showing the movie, muttering, "Where do they come up with this stuff?"
To which I reply, "Shut up, Raph, Critters ruled."
In the early Eighties, there was a glut of slasher flicks that came out, spawning from the success of the likes of Halloween and Friday the 13th. One of the more notable, or dare I say notorious, of these films was 1981's The Burning. Notable not just for make-up maestro Tom Savini's shockingly realistic gore effects, but also for having a staggering number of future Hollywood notables both in front of and behind the camera. Since we're having a bit of Indian Summer here in Minnesota, I felt inspired to take another look at this little piece of vintage 80's horror.
One summer night at an upstate New York summer camp, a prank several teens play on the mean caretaker of the camp, Cropsey (played by Lou David), goes horribly wrong as Cropsey winds up being accidentally set on fire and horribly burned. A year later, driven insane from the excruciating pain, Cropsey returns to the camp seeking vengeance against those responsible. He sets his sights on a group of campers heading out for an overnight campout led by counselors Todd (played by Brian Matthews) and Michelle (played by Leah Ayres). Among the campers are such rapscallions as misfit Alfred (played by Brian Backer), Woodstock (played by Fisher Stevens), horndog Dave (played by Jason Alexander) among others. Soon it becomes a fight for survival between the campers and the deranged Cropsey.
There are a few things that in retrospect make The Burning stand out among the other slasher films of the era. For starters, it had an unusually strong cast that includes the screen debuts of Jason Alexander, Fisher Stevens, and Holly Hunter. The film was also the first film produced by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, who also helped develop the story along with his brother Bob Weinstein, with assistance from other writers that include Brad Grey, who has been the President of Paramount Pictures for the last ten years.
Also, the film is notable for the content of the film itself. From the showpiece raft massacre scene the film is famous for, and is just as shocking if you know it's coming, to the overall effects from make-up maestro Tom Savini, who manages to create some of the most startling and realistic effects I've seen in a film of this type. The film also breaks from convention in how movies like this usually play out. I won't spoil it but the characters in the film are allowed to be intelligent and make intelligent decisions, like if you should get the hell out of a place, they do that. It's a refreshing change of pace for a genre that got very stale very quickly. The film itself has not aged well and is clear it takes place in the eighties with the gloriously funky early eighties score by Rick Wakeman filling the speakers. But yet, despite it's age, the film still works as an effective scary movie and fans of horror movies of the era should find much to enjoy here.
Overall, The Burning is an above average, if slightly obscure entry in the 80's slasher movie era. With it's better than average cast, the film is a bit more bearable than the average horror film of the era as the actors actually create characters you care about. Well, for the most part. There are still the odd few jerks you don't mind seeing go down. For fans of the genre, there is plenty here to recommend the film.
I can't believe it's been 20 years since The Frighteners was released. It was the first Peter Jackson film I saw and it was a bit of a transitional film for him from the low budget horror films he started out making and the big budget films like Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, or King Kong. Naturally, I was also a huge fan of Michael J. Fox (still am, actually) and scary movies, as well as being a Peter Jackson fan after the fact, so it was natural I would have a lot of affection for this goofy, spooky movie.
Frank Bannister (played by Michael J. Fox) gained the ability to see spirits after a tragic car accident left him injured and his wife dead. Since then, he has been eeking out a living in the small town he lives in, offering his psychic services to the bereaved and living in the half built house he was building for his wife. When he needs a few extra bucks he gets his three ghost buddies, Cyrus (played by Chi McBride), Stuart (played by Jim Fyfe) and The Judge (played by John Astin) to fake a haunting which he then pretends to exorcise for a fee. The town has also been experiencing a string of strange deaths that all appear to be heart attacks. When Bannister witnesses one of the attacks first hand, he realizes it is a supernatural being baring a striking resemblance to the Grim Reaper that is carrying out the killings. The wife of one of the victims, Dr. Lucy Lynskey (played by Traci Alvardo), teams up with Bannister to try and figure out what is going on after reaching out to him after her husband's death. Complicating matters is FBI Agent Milton Dammers (played by Jeffrey Combs), a deeply disturbed and troubled man who is convinced that Frank is responsible for the murders.
Peter Jackson directed the film as well as co-writing it with his frequent collaborator Fran Walsh. They managed to create a delightfully spooky ghost tale with Jackson's trademark goofy energy. The film tends to lean more towards comedy than horror, but that's ok with me even though there are some genuinely creepy and intense moments as well, especially as the film speeds towards it's climax. The film is an inventive take on some well worn ghost story tropes and finds some neat ways to twist the plot in the process. Michael J. Fox gives a strong performance and manages to handle both the sillier and more serious aspects of the plot well and certain scenes allow him to show off his more dramatic side as well. Jeffrey Combs likewise makes a memorable turn as Milton Dammers, an FBI Agent who is given all the strange and unusual cases. Clearly, it has left him more than a little disturbed. Combs gives a wonderfully eccentric performance that is both very funny and at the same time a little sad.
The film is quite special effects heavy with plenty of CGI effects, especially with the Grim Reaper spirit. Many of the effects have not aged well, but some others remain quite good such as the effects with the ghosts and their various levels of decay and appearance. This film also marked the birth of Peter Jackson's effects house as we know as well as, after seeing how the effects worked with The Frighteners and needing to figure out what to do with all the computers he acquired to do those effects, decided to try and tackle The Lord of the Rings.
The Frighteners is a film I have enjoyed ever since I saw it back in 1996 and still do today. It's a fun and spooky film with a unique take on the ghost story genre while having that unique Peter Jackson manic energy that was his trademark in his early films. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but it's one I've always liked.
Every so often, I will encounter a film that really surprises me. I'll sit down all ready to watch a movie and think I know what I'm in for and then the film manages to pull the rug out from me and really, genuinely surprise me. That was what happened when I watched the film You're Next. From the ridiculous title to the overly familiar home invasion horror film set-up, I thought I knew how this movie was going to play out. Much to my surprise, the filmmakers anticipated this and repeatedly threw in curveball after curveball, keeping me on my toes the whole way through.
The Davison family is gathering at their large, rural country home to celebrate the wedding anniversary of their parents, Aubrey and Paul (played by Barbara Crampton and Rob Moran). Their son Crispian (played by A.J Bowen) is bringing his girlfriend Erin (played by Sharni Vinson) home to meet his family for the first time. Also arriving are Crispian's two brothers, Felix (played by Nicholas Tucci) and Drake (played by Joe Swanberg) As the family gathers for dinner, old rivalries between the siblings begin to re-emerge. Just as the tempers begin to flair, crossbow bolts start sailing through the dining room windows, attacking the family. The house is under attack by three lethal killers in animal masks. The Davisons have an unexpected ace up their sleeve in Erin though. She quickly springs into action, getting the family out of the line of fire and securing the house. However, their cell phone signals are jammed and with no way to call for help, they need to figure out a way to get help while also fending off the attacks of the three killers outside.
That's it, that's all the plot summary you're getting from me on this one. Director Adam Wingard and screenwriter Simon Barrett created a brutal and thrilling horror flick with a liberal dose of dark humor. They seem to relish in planting surprises for who they know their main audience will be, horror buffs. There were scenes that were set up for me to expect one thing only to be completely caught off guard when it was something else entirely. The film is still a home invasion film and it does follow those genre conventions to an extent, but at the same time knows when to tweak those expectations and play with the audience.
One thing the film doesn't do is make their characters complete morons. There may be some desperate actions made by some characters, but given the situation, I can see why they made those decisions. Especially with the character of Erin. I think a big reason why I loved this movie was her character. There has been an annoying trend in movies like this where the heroine will hit the killer once or twice, the killer slumps over and the heroine drops the weapon and wanders off only to be attacked again. This always drove me crazy in movies and this film finally addresses this with a marvelous (and brutal) scene where Erin doesn't do that and instead repeatedly wails on her attacker until she basically caves his head in. The first time I watched this movie I wanted to stand up and cheer because that is exactly what you should do in that situation. She continues to show a fantastic level of ingenuity and cleverness throughout the film that I don't think I've seen in a horror movie since Nancy Thompson in A Nightmare on Elm Street.
You're Next is a visceral and at times grisly horror film that also at times has it's tongue firmly planted in it's cheek as it blends dysfunctional drama with a slasher movie creating a strange but entertaining brew of a film. It's a nasty and twisted little film and I have to admit I enjoyed every minute of it.
There are certain films that I have nostalgic ties to, memories associated with them that may prevent me from being overly critical towards a certain film. One of those films was John Carpenter's Village of the Damned. I freely admit that the film is not one of Carpenter's best. But it is still one I enjoy a lot, in part because I distinctly remember going with my Dad and my Brother to go see it at the local theater one spring evening while my Mom was out of town visiting family.
The Northern California coastal town of Midwich suddenly experiences a strange occurrence that causes every living resident and animal to suddenly lose consciousness. This event lasts for six hours and as soon as it started, it stops and everyone wakes up. Well, everyone who hasn't had the misfortune of been driving when it started, or in one grisly case, was grilling and subsequently fell asleep on said grill. The event has attracted the attention of Army Doctor Susan Verner (played by Kirstie Alley) and local physician Alan Chaffee (played by Christopher Reeve), who makes the alarming discovery that ten women in town, including his own wife, are all pregnant with the time they became pregnant dating back to the day of the black out. Soon, the children are born and all but one are healthy babies, with one coming out stillborn.
As the children grow, they begin to demonstrate incredible mental powers, including the ability to read minds and control the actions of others. Each one has white, silvery hair and they remain isolated from the other children moving around town, marching in a row with girls on one side and boys on the other. The lone standout is David (played by Thomas Dekker), who is the outcast of the group since the girl he was supposed to be paired with didn't survive. As a result, his development is different as he begins to gain human emotions while the others remain cold and calculating. This becomes a growing concern with the leader of the group, Mara (played by Lindsey Haun). Meanwhile, at the urging of David's mother Jill (played by Linda Kozlowski), Alan takes the post of teacher to the children because most of the other adults are terrified of the children. He tries to teach them something about humanity and caring for one another with little success and frequently butting heads with his own daughter, Mara. As it becomes clear that the children intend to conquer rather than co-exist and as the bodies of anyone that gets in their way begin to pile up, it becomes clear that a full scale confrontation between the two sides is inevitable.
I don't know if it's just the age I was when I saw the film for the first time or the fact that I saw it before the original film but I always kind of dug this movie. I'll be the first to admit that it's not a perfect movie, but it's got enough going on in it to make it entertaining and thought provoking. Pairing these cold, calculating and emotionless kids who may have these incredible powers but an inability to feel against normal humans and have them interact with one another creates some engrossing drama. The film has a strong cast, with Christopher Reeve as his usual stoic hero character gets a few juicy scenes to sink his teeth into when trying to talk with the children and find out if there is anything remotely human about them. Kirstie Alley gets to play a different character in this as a much more shady and slightly sinister character. Her character's interest in what is going on is mostly academic and wants to study the children. Linda Kozlowski gets some strong scenes as well as she recognizes pretty quickly that her son, David, is different from the rest and continuously tries to reason with him that he doesn't have to follow the other kids. They also found some great actors to play the children, especially Thomas Dekker as David and Lindsey Haun as Mara. Those two had the biggest parts and both nailed them wonderfully. Dekker is so wonderfully expressive especially as things progress and he does a great job showing David's growing discomfort with the other children's actions. Lindsey Haun in many ways has the tougher role having to portray the sinister and evil Mara, a character wise well beyond her years and she manages to create a genuinely chilling character, an impressive feat for an actress who was only nine years old at the time.
There is something about this movie that has stuck with me over the years. It's far from being one of John Carpenter's best films (although it probably has one of his best scores, which Carpenter co-wrote with Dave Davies). I can admit that freely. The film has a curious pacing and there really isn't much tension or suspense in the film. But the themes of humanity, compassion and empathy versus cold, emotionless, strictly intellectual beings and exploring who truly are the superior beings is an intriguing one and carries through the film's rougher patches. There are moments and scenes that stuck with me for the whole 21 years since the movie was released, so that has to say something for the film, right? I never owned the film on VHS and did eventually pick up the DVD when I found it in a bargin bin at Wal-Mart several years ago and was surprised how well I remembered it. I also more recently acquired the Blu-Ray released by Scream Factory because I was intrigued by the Special Features, which includes a documentary featuring both John Carpenter and several of the children now all grown up, which was a fascinating and fun watch. Re-watching it again for this review, I can see where people would criticize the film and they are valid points. But, I still enjoyed it and maybe even enjoyed it more now than I had in the past. So, there's that, at least.
