When it comes to scary movies, sometimes less is more. The Haunting is a prime example of this. Holding it's reputation as one of the scariest movies ever made, it accomplishes much of it's tension through atmosphere and sound design alone. Still, 54 years later this movie still remains one of the more effective haunted house movies ever made.
In an effort to prove the existence of the paranormal, Dr. John Markway (played by Richard Johnson) has secured a lease on the infamous Hill House mansion to conduct a paranormal investigation. He has recruited two women, the meek Eleanor (played by Julie Harris) who has a past with poltergeist activity and the fiercely independent psychic Theodora (played by Claire Bloom). Also accompanying them is the skeptical Luke Sanderson (played by Russ Tamblyn), who stands to inherit the house from the current owner, Mrs. Sanderson (played by Fay Compton). The house has quite the history, being the setting of several deaths, including the wife of the original owner, who died in a carriage crash as the approached the house for the first time. The owner eventually remarried, but she died in the house as well after a fall down the stairs. Their daughter lived in the house' nursery her entire life, rarely leaving and eventually dying in the house as well. The ownership of the house fell to Mrs. Sanderson, who maintains ownership but the house remains unoccupied aside from a small staff who keep up the place but do not stay after dark. This means that after dark, the investigating team will be alone in the isolated mansion, far from town or the nearest neighbors. As the group settles in, the paranormal activity starts, with the group discovering cold spots, hearing loud banging noises they can't find the source of, and doors closing or opening on their own as well as other odd occurrences. The longer they remain in the house, the more the activity intensifies, with a specific target becoming clear: Eleanor.
The film is directed by Robert Wise from a script by Norman Gidding, adapting the novel by Shirley Jackson. Wise decided to film in Black and White as he felt the format helped accentuate the dark shadows of the house which helps create a spooky atmosphere for the film. It was a conscious decision of the filmmakers to not show much in terms of actual ghosts, leaving it up to the audience's imaginations as well as to allow them to interpret if the place was indeed haunted or all in the character's heads. This makes the film that much more frightening in a lot of ways because so much of it is left up to the audience's imagination.
The acting in the film is quite good, with Julie Harris being the big standout as Eleanor. Harris portrays the character quite well as someone who has had an extremely hard life, she had to take care of her invalid mother for much of her adult life until she passed away and has left her with some severe guilt over it. She leapt at the chance to participate in the investigation but when the ghosts of Hill House center their attention on her, she threatens to unravel, so much so that Dr. Markway wants to send her home. Harris does a great job portraying this and makes Eleanor a very sympathetic character where in lesser hands she could have been quite annoying. Claire Bloom is also good as the far more extroverted Theo and makes an interesting pair with Eleanor. Richard Johnson does well, portraying the academic Dr. Markway and does well portraying the excitement his character experiences at the various paranormal occurrences through the film, as well as his growing concern over Eleanor's safety as things escalate. Russ Tamblyn is good as the skeptic Luke, watching him slowly transition from someone trying to explain away the so-called supernatural activity at the beginning to someone who suggests they burn the place to the ground by the end.
The Haunting still stands as a superior classic ghost story and one that understands the role the audience plays in a scary movie by giving them room to fill in the gaps with their own imagination and beliefs and in the process most likely make the film that much scarier. The film was infamously remade in 1999 by director Jan DeBont but was by far the inferior film, overloading the film with subpar CGI overkill. Of the two, this one would be the one to check out and still holds up all these years later.
30 Days of Night is a unique entry in the genre of vampire movies with both how it portrays the creatures as well as the setting and how the story is told. It is extremely well produced, intense, scary and memorable. It also turns 10 years old this month, making it one I really needed to revisit this year.
Barrow, Alaska is a far north city near the arctic circle that every winter experiences 30 days of continuous night. People are preparing for the last dusk to fall on the town as town Sheriff Eban Oleson (played by Josh Hartnett) is investigating some strange occurrences around town, including everyone's stolen cell phones discovered destroyed and burned outside of town. Things get more complicated with the arrival of his ex-wife Stella (played by Melissa George) as well as the arrival of a cryptic stranger (played by Ben Foster) who only warns them that "they" are coming. Soon the town discovers what "they" are: a group of vicious, hungry vampires led by a man named Marlow (played by Danny Huston) that have eyed Barrow as their personal smorgasbord for the next month, as there will not be any sunlight to hurt them. Outmatched by the super strong and violent monsters, a small band of survivors, including Eben, Stella and Eben's younger brother Jake (played by Mark Rendell) band together to try and survive the next 30 days until the sunlight can return.
The film was based on the graphic novel by Steve Niles, who also wrote the script along with Stuart Beattie and Brian Nelson. It was originally always meant to be a film, but when they couldn't get it made they did it as a graphic novel instead. The film was directed by David Slade and together they have created an intense and memorable film that finally presented a vampire flick with some serious teeth to it (both literally and metaphorically). They do a great job of creating the snow laden, isolated community of Barrow that you really get the sense that these people are on their own, which amplifies the growing dread of the film for me.
The performances in the film are strong, led by Josh Hartnett. Hartnett does a great job as the sort of everyman hero who is understandably out of his depth when a horde of vampires show up in town and start killing everyone. Flying by the seat of his pants, he does the best he can to save as many as possible and find a safe haven for them until the sun comes up again. Hartnett does a good job showing both the strength and fear his character is experiencing. Melissa George is good too as Stella and the two of them make a good team. Danny Huston makes for a suitably frightening vampire as the lead vamp Marlow, a role all the more difficult as the vampires all speak in their own language. Ben Foster turns in a creepy supporting role as the Stranger who sneaks into town to prep it for the Vampire's arrival while cryptically warning them of what's to come as well.
30 Days of Night is one of the better horror movies I've seen in the last ten years with a unique use of both setting and it's take on vampire mythology to set it apart. It's intense, uncompromising and edge of your seat entertainment. When it comes to scary movies, does it get any better than that?
The latest entry in the Amityville saga is Amityville: The Awakening, a film that had it's release delayed no less than five times. Originally shot in 2014 for a release for 2015, the film is just now seeing release, quietly released on Google Play with a planned Blu-Ray release planned for November. Usually, delays for a film's release is considered a very bad sign. But this one seemed downright cursed.
Belle Walker (played by Bella Thorne) has just moved with her mother Joan (played by Jennifer Jason Leigh), little sister Juliet (played by McKenna Grace), and brain dead twin brother James (played by Cameron Monaghan) into 112 Ocean Ave in Amityville, NY. The reason for the move is so they could be closer to Dr. Milton (played by Kurtwood Smith), a neurologist that Joan hopes can treat her son. Meanwhile, he's confined to the first floor on constant life support. At school, apparently the whole school got a memo that Belle is the new resident of the Horror house on Ocean Ave and have taken in upon themselves to mock her for it. She finds a couple sympathetic friends, Terrence (played by Thomas Mann) and Marissa (played by Taylor Spreitler), who fill her in on her new home's sordid history, something Bella was unaware of. Turns out Mom was aware of it though and didn't feel the need to burden her kids with it. But the more time she spends in the house, strange things start occurring and at the same time James begins to make a miraculous recovery, something Belle fears the evil forces residing in the house may be facilitating for their own ends.
The film was written and directed by Franck Khalfoun and really made an effort to create a film that would feel like a genuine follow-up to the original film and the first couple sequels. For the first time in a long time, the filmmakers actually went out of their way to genuinely recreate the original house as seen in the original film, as well as the first two sequels, which is something I appreciated and something that drove me crazy about the later films as well as the remake. Why I care is anyone's guess, I suppose, especially for a series of films about a event that has been completely debunked. At the same time, Khalfoun adds an interesting touch by having the previous Amityville films exist within the film's universe, going so far as having Belle, Terrence, and Marissa watching the original 1979 film in the house. This adds a curious amount of self-awareness to the film as it exists both as a sequel to the original 1979 film, yet that film also exists within the film. It's a cute touch, nonetheless. The film does also find an intriguing premise that breaks it free from some of the other entries. Even if the film is rather tepid as far as the scares go, it was surprisingly watchable. I was still fairly confident in where the movie was going to go and was pretty predictable, but it was at least something a little different as far as this franchise goes.
The acting in the film was decent with Bella Thorne leading the film as Belle. She made for a decent protagonist, a girl in her senior year of high school and has to move to a new town and new school because of her comatose, bedridden brother. Jennifer Jason Leigh makes the best of what I'm sure was a paycheck movie for her as Joan, who absolutely refuses to give up on her son James, leading her to make some rather questionable choices (like moving her family into 112 Ocean Ave) in a desperate attempt to save her son. Leigh does a good job portraying that frustration and determination, as well as occasionally showing a darker side to the character that rather reminded me of her character from Single White Female. Cameron Monaghan does a good job as James, even if he is basically stuck in bed for the film, he still gives the performance his all and is rather convincing as a bedridden paraplegic slowly making an incredible recovery back to life. I also liked Thomas Mann's performance as Terrence, the dorky friend who knows everything about the Amityville haunting and proposes they watch the original film in the actual house. Of course, it may be because I recognized those elements in myself because I am not going to lie, I would probably jump at the chance to watch The Amityville Horror in the actual house too. But I'm just that kind of nerd, I guess.
Overall, Amityville: The Awakening isn't the hot mess that it's repeated delays would suggest. It's far from a great horror movie either and is surprisingly tame with little in the way of actual scares. But, much to my surprise, it is rather watchable which is more than I can say for the bulk of the sequels in this sorry franchise.
It's always been a bit baffling to me about what makes The Amityville Horror that popular, that memorable, that it has spawned so many sequels, prequels, and even a remake. Perhaps it is because it is reportedly based on a true story that it was able to more easily tap into people's fears. Or just the idea of achieving the American Dream, the dream house that turns into a nightmare, was something that many Americans could relate to. Whatever it was, this low-budget 1979 spook story spawned quite a legacy.
George and Kathy Lutz (played by James Brolin and Margot Kidder) have been looking for a new home for their new family and think they have found the perfect home in the small town of Amityville in Long Island, NY. They can barely afford it, but the deal is too good to pass up. The only thing that gives them pause is the fact that the prior family to live in the house was murdered by the eldest son. Despite that, they decide to make an offer with the intention of scrimping and saving for their new home. Upon moving in, strange things start to occur. At first it's small things, such as things disappearing, cold drafts, toilets filling with black slime, the usual homeowner problems. Things escalate when a priest, Father Delaney (played by Rod Steiger), comes to bless the house and is swarmed by a hoarde of flies and becomes violently ill until being told by a loud voice to "Get out!" The same thing happens to Kathy's sister, who happens to be a nun. George starts becoming increasingly irritable and can not feel warm in the house, so when he's not out back chopping firewood he's in the living room, huddled by the roaring fireplace. They also begin to have strange dreams, usually waking up at 3:15 a.m, which is when the murders occurred. Despite it all, the Lutz family is determined to remain, in part because they have sunk all their money into the house and have nowhere else to go.
The film was directed by Stuart Rosenberg from a script by Sandor Stern from the "non-fiction" book by Jay Anson. There is a certain straight-forward way they tell the story that I suppose works for the film. It covers the various events the Lutz family claim they went through pretty much beat by beat with the book. The problem is that the film is rarely, if ever all that scary. It trots out every haunted house cliche imaginable, but yet aside from frequent shots of the exterior of the house, with those quarter-circle windows illuminated (and a late in the film image of a floating, glowing red eyed pig that is more funny than scary), there is really no personification of the evil haunting the place. It's just random things that happen in the house that are apparently evil. This may be enough as the film clings to that "Based on a True Story" moniker, even while including such hammy scenes like a psychic family friend exclaiming there is a portal to hell in their basement. There are also moments of apparent demonic activity away from the house, as the forces prevent Father Delaney from returning to the house as well as trying to attack him in his church, neither one particularly explained.The big saving grace of the film is the genuinely creepy score by Lalo Schifrin.
The acting in the film is pretty over the top, with both James Brolin and Margot Kidder being the biggest offenders, but at least it's entertaining. With Margot Kidder going into hysterics randomly or James Brolin screaming out randomly, "It's tearing me apart!" like the evil forces of the house have prompted him to give his best James Dean impression. Rod Steiger does reasonably well as Father Delaney, but for the most part he's separate from the main action of the film aside from his first scene in the house.
I have had an interest in the Amityville haunting for a long time, ever since I first read the book. The thing is though, the more I researched it the more I realized that at least the book was largely fabricated, if not the entire story itself. Large parts of the book have been called into question as people researched records around that time that would correspond to things said to have happened there. Which is why I treat both the book and the movie, along with it's 2005 remake, with a grain of salt. The level of paranormal activity they said occurred there, along with the fact that no other residents of the home after the Lutz family left have experienced anything paranormal in the house leads me to believe it's a hoax.My feelings further solidified as I researched more and more off and on over the years and realized that the stories changed as the years passed, especially as the kids started to speak about their experiences, with one of them even releasing a documentary of their own called My Amityville Horror, that just further murkied the waters.
There is something I have always found compelling about this story, despite all the complaints and criticisms that I mentioned above. Even though I'm fairly sure it was a hoax, or at least exaggerated, from what really happened only makes me wonder all the more why I keep coming back to it. There is just something about this story that has continued to exist in the public consciousness, returning time and time again. Perhaps it just taps into the dark side of the American Dream, owning the dream home and having it go bad on you, revealed here in the most extreme way. That fear of the dream turning into a nightmare. It's something most people can relate to on some level. Clearly, this must be the case as the film spawned a large franchise of sequels and spin-offs, with the first two follow-ups taking place in the same house and subsequent films following cursed items from the house, such as a lamp, clock and dollhouse. The newest entry in this series, Amityville: The Awakening was just released to view for free through Google Play before it's release on Blu-Ray and DVD later this year and I will be taking a look at it next.
It's funny that The Babysitter, newly released on Netflix, comes out a week or so after Better Watch Out as the two feel thematically similar in the context of a babysitting job gone horribly wrong. There are drastic differences in the plot and how it plays out, but both have a similarly dark and twisted sense of humor that runs through both films.
Twelve year old Cole (played by Judah Lewis) has been left in the care of his beloved babysitter Bee (played by Samara Weaving) for the weekend while his parents (played by Ken Marino and Leslie Bibb) are off on trip. Cole and Bee always have a great time together as the two seem to get one another, which has led Cole to develop a bit of a crush on Bee. This all changes one night as he decides to stay up and sneak out to see what she gets up to after he is sent to bed. He witnesses Bee sitting around in a circle in the living room with a group of her friends, including Max (played by Robbie Amell), Allison (played by Bella Thorne), Sonya (played by Hana Mae Lee), John (played by Andrew Bachelor), and Samuel (played by Doug Haley). What at first seems like an innocent game of spin the bottle takes a dark turn when he witnesses Bee murder Samuel in ritualistic murder. Realizing that his beloved babysitter and her friends are in fact psychotic Satanic cultists leaves Cole reeling. He also realizes that Bee and her friends know he saw what they did, beginning a long night of Cole trying to escape and defeat the crazy cultists that have invaded his home.
The film was directed by McG from a script by Brian Duffield and I can say this definitely feels like a McG film. It is wonderfully and ridiculously over the top mix of horror and comedy that only a director that totally embraces that kind of lunacy could pull off. I also appreciated how intricately the film plotted itself out, setting up certain elements that were going to pay off in the ways the audience expects until the film pulls the rug out from under the viewer and subverts it in a memorably funny way. The filmmakers do a great job of messing with the viewer's expectations of what is going to happen at any turn in the film, which is certainly something I appreciated and enriched the viewing experience for me. Any time a movie can make me stop and go, "wait, what?" is a memorable one for me (there are of course exceptions to this rule, such as when I say it to something incredibly stupid or not well thought out from the filmmaker, but in this case the film did it in a unique and fun way). The filmmakers manage to pull this off a couple times in the film to nice effect.
The acting in the film was good, with Judah Lewis making for a good pint size hero that grows up alot over the course of one night as he defends himself from the various cult members, but does well showing how clever and cunning his character can be as well. Samara Weaving was good as Bee, who despite her Satanic leanings, still really cares about Cole and as the film goes on I was never really quite sure where her allegiances really were. Robbie Amell has an amusing turn as bad boy Max, of of Bee's friends.
The Babysitter premiered on Netflix last weekend and was a suitably fun horror comedy. It has a certain "heightened reality" mentality to it that may turn some viewers off of it and is very tongue in cheek throughout. It also was very stylish and has a wickedly fun sense of humor to it as well. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I certainly dug it.
