There was a brief time, back at the turn of the century, when for a few short years we would get a nifty new horror movie from a production company headed by Robert Zemeckis and Joel Silver called Dark Castle Productions every Halloween. They weren't earth shattering, and a couple were remakes of old William Castle movies, but they were fun. The best of the bunch was The House on Haunted Hill.
Amusement Park magnate Steven Price (played by Geoffrey Rush) has planned a very special birthday party for his wife Evelyn (played by Famke Janssen), being held at her request at the notorious house on haunted hill, a former sanitarium that was the site of countless gruesome mass murders. Rather than going with her guest list he cooks up one of his own, but to his surprise when the arrive for the party, a whole new group of strangers were invited instead (it's made clear the house itself, or the evil that resides within, edited the guest list further). The guests that arrive are Sara Wolfe (played by Ali Larter), Eddie Baker (played by Taye Diggs), Melissa Marr (played by Bridgette Wilson) and Dr. Donald Blackburn (played by Peter Gallagher). There to welcome them is the house's current owner and caretaker Watson Pritchett (played by Chris Kattan). Steven is baffled at the strangers appearance at the party, but resolves to carry on anyway. The plan is for each guest to remain in the house for twelve hours. Anyone surviving until morning gets a prize of 1 million dollars. However, Pritchett wants to immediately leave as soon as he gets paid by Steven and encourages the others to leave with him. Before he can, the house's lockdown system, from the days it was an asylum, goes into effect and effectively locks everyone in the house for the next 12 hours. While Price has set up some gags himself to keep everyone on their toes, there are also plenty of very real homicidal ghosts as well as a much darker evil in the house eager to play with their new guests.
The film was directed by William Malone from a script by Dick Beebe and is based on the 1959 original William Castle film. The film is a solid remake of the original film, keeping the basic premise, but building on it. The biggest addition is that the mansion used to be an insane asylum and all the assorted scares that come from that. The film is designed to be popular entertainment, so it's fitting that one of the main characters designs rollercoasters (which figures in directly in a memorable introductory scene for Steven Price) since the film very much is a rollercoaster ride. It's wild, it's fast and it's got plenty of twists and turns to keep the audience guessing. The production design on the film is really impressive with the look of the house very much drawing from early 20th century styles that make for some very interesting choices. Then, as the film descends into the basement levels, things get decidedly grimier and creepier, as any decent horror flick should. The film also has some really solid effects work by Gregory Nicotero and Robert Kurtzman.
The film has a great cast led by Geoffrey Rush, who is clearly having the time of his life playing Steven Price, whose name and look were clearly taken from Vincent Price, who played a similar role in the original film. Rush takes a great deal of relish trading zingers with his wife, Evelyn. He's basically doing everything but literally gnawing on the scenery. Is it a great performance? Probably not, but it's entertaining as hell and is one of my favorite roles of his. Famke Janssen meets Rush beat for beat and zinger for zinger as Evelyn Price. Their marriage is very much on the rocks as the two delight in antagonizing one another. Ali Larter does well in the much more straight role as Sara Wolfe, who turns out to be pretty resourceful as a character as the film goes on and partners up with Taye Diggs' Eddie Baker who likewise is pretty resourceful as the two characters to really take Pritchett's warnings seriously and try to find a way out of the house. Chris Kattan is amusing as Watson Pritchett, spouting off his fair share of one liners as he tries to explain all the creepy stuff happening in the house. Peter Gallagher is also a lot of fun as Dr. Donald Blackburn, who has a few secrets of his own that are revealed over the course of the film.
House on Haunted Hill was looked on particularly favorably by critics upon it's release back in 1999, but it has developed a fan base since then. It's probably not one that people would categorize as a "great" film, but it is a really fun one, especially if you're in the right frame of mind. It's a movie that knows exactly what it is and is perfectly happy being just as wild, crazy and fun as it wants to be. It's not high art, but then again it was never meant to be in the first place.
I remember when Jennifer's Body, acclaimed screenwriter Diablo Cody's follow-up to the indie darling Juno, first came out and was met with reactions that varied from indifference to outright hostility. The problem was that Juno fatigue had set in by that point and the populace had grown tired of Cody's too clever for it's own good dialogue, so this film was met with a collective shrug and a real division critically, with one side loving it and the other side hating it. I was certainly intrigued to see a horror movie written by someone like Diablo Cody and definitely fell into the former category, but even I kind of forgot about it as the years passed. Then a funny thing happened. The film began to develop a cult following over the past nine years, enough so that it was recently screened at the Alamo Drafthouse earlier this fall. Intrigued, I decided to give it another look this Halloween season.
Anita "Needy" Lesnicki (played by Amanda Seyfried) and Jennifer Check (played by Megan Fox) have been best friends since their "sandbox days", living in the small town of Devil's Kettle, MN. Over the years, Jennifer grew more and more popular, but also selfish and conceited. Still, Needy has remained friends with Jennifer through it all and Jennifer surely must find it a boost to her own self esteem keeping the nerdier Needy by her side. One night, Jennifer takes Needy with her to a local dive bar to see an indie rock band Low Shoulder play. A suspicious fire breaks out in the bar, causing several deaths as Needy and Jennifer narrowly escape. Meeting up with the band outside, including lead singer Nikolai (played by Adam Brody), who invite Jennifer to come with them. Despite Needy's protests as she feels something is very wrong with this scenario (Nikolai being rather indifferent to the burning people fleeing Club Inferno is a big red flag), Jennifer elects to leave with the band, abandoning Needy at the club. When Jennifer re-appears, she is a very different person. All of her worst tendencies have been dialed up and even worse, boys at the school start turning up dead. As Needy realizes that Jennifer is behind it and she has changed into something else, she knows she needs to do something about it, while trying to keep her beloved boyfriend Chip (played by Johnny Simmons) out of Jennifer's crosshairs.
The thing that makes this film a little more unique in the pantheon of horror films is that it is a film told from a distinctly female perspective, with screenwriter Cody and director Karyn Kusama, and sadly that was then and still is today a rare thing in the horror genre. It uses the horror elements to examine the dynamics of a toxic friendship and ultimately female empowerment, especially with the character of Needy. She has a great arc in the film, starting out as a very passive character, but when she realizes something is really wrong with Jennifer she rises to the challenge to do something about it. She doesn't really have any scream queen-esque moments typical to horror films, but does understandably have some moments of utter shock at what is happening around her. But the film also delves into the relationship between Jennifer and Needy, where Jennifer keeps her around even when she becomes popular and even still wants to be pals and have slumber parties after she's been turned into a boy killing succubus from hell. It's only then that Needy begins to realize the true nature of their friendship. As with any great horror film, the subtext to the story is what makes it better. That said, it is still a pretty gnarly film with plenty of good scary scenes mixed in with Diablo Cody's usual biting wit (although even I will admit the dialogue is at times eye-rollingly corny).
The cast in the film is quite good, led by Amanda Seyfried who lends a sort of nerdish girl next door vibe to Needy but makes her relatable as well. Seyfried also does a good job handling her characters progression from passive hanger-on to heroine well. Megan Fox, who much of the advertisement was based around and especially on how "hot" she looks (which just shows that they had no idea how to properly sell this movie). But to be fair, she handles the role of Jennifer quite well and her progression from popular girl to full blown murderous demon. She's probably not that great of an actress, but she manages to handle the material quite well. Johnny Simmons manages to make Chip, Needy's boyfriend, one of the more understanding, sweet and innocent horror boyfriends I've seen in awhile. It's refreshing change of pace for the genre. It's also interesting to see the role swapped with the boy character, Chip in the case, being more or less the damsel in distress with Needy having to rescue him from the demonic Jennifer. Adam Brody is amusingly evil as the lead singer of the indie band Low Shoulder, who sacrifices Jennifer, somehow thinking she's a virgin, to Satan for fame and fortune (because apparently that's what it takes to make it in today's music scene). J.K Simmons has an amusing supporting role as an eccentric teacher at the school and has a fair share of funny moments in the film.
I think Jennifer's Body deserves a second look. Yes, it's not perfect and sometimes it's just a little too "hip" for it's own good. But it also has a bit more to it than your average teenage horror flick. It also has the fact that it is told from a decidedly female perspective in a genre that is overwhelmingly male oriented, which makes this film all the more refreshing. Maybe, now that most of the Diablo Cody hoopla has died down, this film can get a fair shake. It certainly did find it's audience...eventually.
I want to begin this review with a preface by stating I love the movie Practical Magic. It's got it's problems, sure, but it has a lot of charm to it as well and it's the central relationship between the two sisters at the core of the film the wins me over every time. It's a movie that continually wants to identify as a fun romantic comedy, but there is more than a little darkness to it that fights against that every step of the way. But now, 20 years since it was released (!), I figure it's a good time for a revisit.
Sally Owens (played by Sandra Bullock) and her sister Gillian (played by Nicole Kidman) are the latest generation in a family of witches dating back to the colonial times, centered on a small island in Massachusetts. Due to a pledge made by a long ago descendant never to love again when her true love left her to be banished to that same island, due to her own bitterness it became a curse to the entire family that any Owens woman that truly falls in love, their husband is ultimately doomed. This is what led to Sally and Gillian to wind up being raised by their two aunts, Jet (played by Dianne Wiest) and Frances (played by Stockard Channing). Jet and Frances having accepted being the outcasts on the island and take pride in their unique lives while Sally resists her magical heritage, just wanting to be happy and winds up marrying and settling down with a local guy and Gillian gets a bad case of wanderlust and hits the road, never looking back. Tragedy strikes for Sally, which sends her and her two young daughters back to Aunt Jet and Frances. Things take a dire turn when Gillian calls Sally for help, stuck in a relationship with a very dangerous man named Jimmy Angelov (played by Goran Visnjic). When Jimmy catches up to them, Sally tricks him into ingesting some tequila laced with belladonna, except she used too much and winds up accidentally killing him. Panicking, they take him back to the Aunts' house and use a spell to try and resurrect him, which only complicates matters with the violent ghost of Jimmy now haunting Sally and Gillian. Things only get more complicated when a cop, Gary Hallett, (played by Aiden Quinn) shows up on their doorstep looking for Jimmy.
The film was directed by Griffin Dunne from a script credited to Robin Swicord, Akiva Goldsman, and Adam Brooks, based on the novel by Alice Hoffman. The fact that there are three different writers on the film may account for some of the sharp tonal shifts this film has in it. From an opening recounting the Owens family history, to the two young sisters essentially being orphaned to light romantic comedy as the respective sisters fall in love to dark tragedy when the curse claims Sally's husband to thriller when Sally goes to rescue Gillian from the abusive Jimmy to dark comedy to genuinely creepy ghost/possession horror and then back to romantic comedy, including a moment early in the film scored to Faith Hill's "This Kiss" that sticks out even more like a sore thumb now than it did 20 years ago. Tonally, this movie is all over the place. I know, it sounds like I hate this movie but yet somehow I don't. Hidden within all of this is a really great story about the bond between two sisters who through everything are always there for one another. That is what makes the movie work for me. That and the two Aunts. I love Frances and Jet, despite the dubious ethics of them selling love spells for money. And the house, I was crushed when I found out it was just a set. The production design in this movie is fantastic.
The film does assemble a fantastic cast for the film. Sandra Bullock leads the group as Sally Owens, the more pragmatic member of the family. She shuns most the magic her family is known for and runs a botanicals shop in town. She handles the various stages her character goes through quite well and adds a certain charm to the film as well. Nicole Kidman lets loose with the wilder Gillian, who adds a certain fly by the seat of her pants, carefree sensibility to her character, traveling the country and going through men faster than anyone can keep track ("Someday she'll find a guy that goes through her," cracks Aunt Frances at one point early in the film in an amusing bit of foreshadowing). Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest were clearly having a blast playing the two aunts, delighting in gossiping and meddling in people's lives when they weren't having an impromptu round of Midnight Margaritas. But they also have some of the best lines in the film, including the gem "When are you going to realize that being normal is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage!" Aidan Quinn does well with his every man charm thrust into some very extraordinary circumstances. He has a challenge with this movie being the main romantic lead who doesn't turn up until the movie is more than half over, but he has some good chemistry with Sandra Bullock and they manage to pull it off well enough.
Practical Magic is the type of movie that is somehow greater than the sum of it's parts. It has a charm to it that is irresistible to me, even as the movie jumps erratically in tone. It has a little bit of everything to it and makes for not too heavy Halloween viewing. The critics certainly were not kind to it when it was released back in 1998, but over time it has gained a bit of a cult following. At least I know I'm not alone in my love for this crazy little movie.
With Jamie Lee Curtis' triumphant return to her Scream Queen roots with the newest Halloween, I felt inspired to take a look back at one of her earliest films. After the original 1978 Halloween turned out to be a hit, Jamie wound up doing several similar thrillers, including a follow-up to that film, Halloween II. One of the more distinctive films of that run, and of the slasher film boon of the early 80's in general, was a little film called Terror Train. With it's unique setting on a train and some inspired casting choices made this one stand out a little for me.
A group of college students belonging to the Sigma Phi fraternity have rented an excursion train for their annual New Years Eve bash, and it's a costume party no less. Along for the ride are fraternity heads Doc (played by Hart Bochner) and Mo (played by Timothy Webber), Mo's girlfriend Alana (played by Jamie Lee Curtis), her friend and Doc's girlfriend Mitchy (played by Sandee Currie), their friend Jackson (played by Anthony Sherwood) and class clown Ed (played by Howard Busgang), along with assorted others all looking to have a good time. Also along for the ride is train conductor Carne (played by Ben Johnson), who is worried a train full of drunk college students spells trouble. Also on board to provide some entertainment is a Magician (played by David Copperfield. Yes, that David Copperfield). However, someone else has come aboard, a killer with a score to settle as he stalks Alana and her friends through the train, taking them out one at a time and adopting their costume as their own.
Originally conceived pretty blatantly as Halloween on a train, this film was written by T.Y Drake from a concept by David Grodnik. The film was the directorial debut of Roger Spotiswoode who gamely tackled the challenges of filming a movie that largely takes place on a train. The close quarters of the film and the frequently tight framing, while a realistic part of filming on a real train also gives the film a nice feeling of claustrophobia that adds to the suspense of the picture. From a storytelling point of view, the film is a pretty by the book slasher flick, although as one of the earliest entries in the genre it is one of the films that laid the groundwork for the films the immediately followed it just as much as genre mainstays such as Halloween or even Friday the 13th. It does throw in a few red herrings to keep the audience guessing who the killer is, which is a bit of a surprise or at least was for me the first time I saw to oh so many years ago. The film does have some plot points that are just a little too convenient, like the fact that there is no radio on the train (granted it's an excursion train not a coast to coast passenger train), which seems like something too negligent for a real train company to be okay with, or their insurance carriers for that matter.
The cast is a pretty strong one, with Jamie Lee Curtis already established as the Scream Queen as our resident final girl. She gives her a lot of character and spunkiness that I really liked. Her character in this one isn't as vulnerable as some others and really knows how to stand up for herself and others, either to her obnoxious friends or the killer. Veteran character actor Ben Johnson, who got his start with the likes of John Ford, shows up here playing the train's conductor, Carne. He certainly adds a lot to what is basically a straight-forward heroic character who has to step up and try to keep order as things begin to descend into chaos as people discover there is a killer on board. Hart Bochner makes for a perfectly detestable and obnoxious twerp as Doc, who delights in pranking others. It's a role he would refine further and most memorably as Ellis in Die Hard. And yes, perhaps one of the things this movie is most notorious for is a rare acting role for world famous magician David Copperfield, who is actually pretty decent here, not that the role was much of a stretch for him. But after growing up on his T.V specials and even seeing a couple of his live shows, it's weird to see him show up in a cheap 80's slasher flick.
In the end, Terror Train is probably only going to be of any real interest to fans of the genre it comfortably sits in. It's nothing revolutionary and follows the formula pretty much to the letter. But it does innovate here and there, has a couple good twists and is solidly made. If you're a sucker for early 80's slasher flicks like I am, it's worth checking out.
"Do you read Sutter Cane?"
In the Mouth of Madness is a movie I have had a fondness of for a very long time. It was film that I and a group of my similarly horror obsessed friends greatly enjoyed for just how weird and creepy it is. Part apocalyptic horror, part noir mystery, part monster movie, it's a unique blend of a movie that has stuck with me.
As the film opens, John Trent (played by Sam Neill) is being brought into a a psychiatric hospital, frantic and raving mad. He meets with Dr. Wrenn (played by David Warner) and recounts his recent past. We move into an extended flashback as John explains he was an insurance investigator investigating the disappearance of bestselling author Sutter Cane (played by Jurgen Prochnow), who disappeared while completing his hotly anticipated new book. Upon meeting with Kane's publisher, Jackson Harglow (played by Charlton Heston), Trent begins his investigation with Kane's editor Linda Styles (played by Julie Carmen) accompanying him. He purchases copies of all of Cane's previous books in hopes of finding a clue of where to start his search. He notices a red line on each of the covers and combines the covers to find the pattern forms a map. Trent and Styles head out to follow the map and after a very strange drive from New York wind up in the thought to be fictional town of Hobb's End from Sutter Cane's novels. But things soon are revealed not to be what they seem as Trent and Styles find Cane and discover an ancient evil is preparing to be unleashed, bringing about the end of the known world as the line between fiction and reality begin to blur.
John Carpenter directed the film from a script by Michael De Luca. The film draws inspiration from the works of H.P Lovecraft dealing with both the nature of "reality" and also the themes of sanity and the impact that contemplating one's reality has on it. They also draw influence from Stephen King and his massive popularity as an author as part of the crafting of the Sutter Cane character (even though Cane outsells Stephen King, as Styles points out at one point). Carpenter and De Luca do a great job of unraveling the plot step by step along with Trent as he figures out what exactly is going all, all the while his sanity starting to slip. To bring the creatures of the other world to life, KNB Effects craft some impressive and imaginative monsters to terrorize Trent throughout the film. John Carpenter once again does the score for the film alongside Jim Lang and it's one of his more underrated ones.
The film has a strong cast, led by Sam Neill, who brings a great everyman quality to John Trent and is able to balance both sides of his character quite well, both the insane and crazed John we see at the beginning and end of the film and the more sane and in control John we see for the majority of the film. Jurgen Prochnow makes for an intriguing villain as Sutter Cane, a man who is gleefully welcoming the apocalypse and takes pleasure in writing about it in his books, taking the info fed to him from the soon to arrive monsters to craft his novels of horror. Julie Carmen is good as Sutter Cane's editor and does a great job with her character, especially as the film develops. John Glover makes an amusing appearance as Saperstein, one of the orderlies at the mental hospital Trent is taken to. Glover plays the role in such a way that it becomes clear that maybe Saperstein isn't exactly firing on all cylinders himself. Anyway, I just point it out because his performance cracks me up every time.
In the Mouth of Madness is one of John Carpenter's more underrated films, but is also one of his best, with a twisty plot that keeps the viewers guessing. It's a wild ride to be sure that may even leave a few viewers questioning what is real. That's what John Carpenter has always been good at, whether it was in The Thing, They Live, or here. But then again, isn't that the point? It's certainly a film that plays well, especially in this day and age.
The Halloween series can be a confusing one. With four separate timelines to try and keep track of across now eleven movies. I can't blame the filmmakers of the latest installment for wanting to hit the reset button hard and take things back to basics. For Halloween 2018, it is just the original John Carpenter classic and this sequel, taking place 40 years later. As for how this one turned out, to put it simply it isn't just the best Halloween sequel, it just might be the best Halloween movie.
Laurie Strode (played by Jamie Lee Curtis) was left deeply traumatized by her experiences with Michael Myers on Halloween night 40 years ago that left three of her friends dead. Ever since then, she has dedicated her life to learning how to protect herself and her loved ones. This dedication, more obsession, has cost her two marriages and a healthy relationship with her daughter, Karen (played by Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (played by Andi Matichak). Meanwhile, two podcasters, Aaron Korey (played by Jefferson Hall) and Dana Haines (played by Rhian Rees) are investigating the Halloween murders that occurred in the first film and visit Michael Myers (played by Nick Castle) as he resides in Smith's Grove sanitarium. They present him with the mask he wore that night and try to get him to speak. Getting nothing, they depart and meet with Laurie Strode, who is less than cordial to them. That night, Michael is being transported to another mental hospital when the bus crashes and Michael escapes. Knowing that Michael is going to head back to Haddonfield, Laurie leaps into action with only one objective in mind, protect her family and put Michael Myers down once and for all.
The film is directed by David Gordon Green from a script he co-wrote with Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley. The three of them managed to craft a worthy follow-up to the original film. They take their time in setting up the characters and letting the audience get to know them and their relationships so that when things do descend into chaos in the second half, there are the emotional stakes there to make the payoff that much more meaningful, while also working in some surprises I didn't see coming. There is also an interesting duality between this film and the 1978 original, with specific moments from the original film recalled, but with Laurie in the place of Michael, symbolically suggesting Laurie has become just as much a predator in the last 40 years as Michael has, yet not going so far as to suggest she is a monster like him, more a worthy adversary. In the process, the decision was made to discard all of the sequels, even Halloween II, and all the baggage that came with them. Honestly, after seeing the film I have to agree that this was the best decision. The first sequel had a curious revelation that Michael and Laurie were brother and sister in a plot twist that never totally made sense. By discarding that, along with the ending to that movie where Michael basically gets burned alive and by all logic should be very, very dead, Michael is free to be the random serial killer he was originally envisioned as and that is when he was always the scariest. Green sets up one long tracking shot as Michael goes from one house to another, murdering the occupants of each house and it is deeply frightening. That said, the film contains little homages to each of the sequels, even Halloween III: Season of the Witch, as little Easter Eggs for fans such as myself. This film is clearly made with the love of three fans of the original film, as well as the series as a whole while crafting their own film full of it's own surprises at the same time. John Carpenter even makes his long awaited return to the series as both an executive producer and perhaps even more importantly crafts the score for the film, filled with both the same themes we know from the original film alongside some brand new ones.
Jamie Lee Curtis is nothing short of stunning in this movie, playing Laurie as a woman who is barely keeping it together mentally. She has struggled with alcohol and her hyper-vigilant nature has cost her nearly every relationship she has had in her life. It really shows the toll of her untreated deep psychological trauma from that night 40 years ago has had on her. It has cost her a meaningful relationship with her daughter, Karen, who Laurie raised to be the same as her, in the middle of nowhere outside Haddonfield, until Karen finally rejected it and was taken away from her by Social Services. Her granddaughter Allyson tries her best to mend the relationship, but even she can see the toll Laurie's lifestyle has had on her. All of this is brought to life by Curtis in a performance I actually found deeply emotional. Likewise, Judy Greer is equally great as Karen and her scenes with Jamie Lee Curtis are fantastic. Greer is an actress who I have quickly become a fan of and is equally adept at both drama and comedy but here is definitely stretching her dramatic acting muscles. I also really liked Andi Matichak as Allyson, whose character is stuck navigating the gulf between her mother and grandmother with their estrangement of sorts. She's a really great character and Matichak plays it wonderfully. I also have to call out Jibrail Nantambu as Julian, the little boy one of Allyson's friends is babysitting in the film. This little dude manages to steal every one of his scenes and adds some much needed humor to an otherwise tense and suspenseful flick.
Halloween 2018 is a worthy follow-up to the original made by people who understand what made the original film so great and then revisiting the characters from that film 40 years down the road and seeing where they are. A lot of care went into this film in it's plotting and it shows. I can honestly say, as a fan of the series as a whole (minus the Rob Zombie remakes though), that this is the best of the sequels. Is it better than the original? That's probably up for debate, but it is neck and neck. It's a movie I have been anxiously awaiting ever since it was announced and to summarize it all, it was worth the wait.
Prince of Darkness is a unique film in the pantheon of "demonic" films with a strong melding of science and religion to inform it's plot line. It is this element more than anything that makes this film stand apart from the usual films of this genre and interestingly enough one that initially turned me off to it. The first time I saw this film, I wasn't crazy about it and only when I watched it again this past spring in preparation for a John Carpenter panel I was on did my opinion change and change dramatically.
Quantum Physics Professor Howard Birack (played by Victor Wong) is invited by a Priest (played by Donald Pleasence) to an abandoned church to study a unique find. The object of their research is a large, sealed cylinder filled with swirling green liquid. Professor Birack assembles a team of students to assist him in investigating this bizzare and mysterious cylinder. Among the students is the wisecracking Walter (played by Dennis Dun), reserved Kelly (played by Susan Blanchard), and lovers Brian (played by Jameson Parker) and Catherine (played by Lisa Bount). They set up labs and sleeping quarters within the large church and begin researching the cylinder. They decipher text next to the cylinder identifying the contents as the embodiment of Satan. Outside, a group of homeless people, led by Alice Cooper no less, begin to surround the church, seeming to be in a trance and kill anyone who tries to leave. Things escalate even further when some of the green liquid is ejected from the cylinder to certain students, possessing them. The unaffected students begin having strange dreams of a cloaked figure leaving the church with a voice telling the dreamer they are receiving a transmission from the future, warning them to prevent these events from occurring. As more students become infected by the green liquid, with one chosen to become the living embodiment of Satan, it becomes clear it's going to come down to the remaining students, their professor and the priest to prevent the beginning of what will become Armageddon.
John Carpenter wrote the film in addition to directing it, feeling inspired to tell a familiar tale of good vs. evil but mix it with scientific theory and Quantum Physics, which he had been reading at length about at the time. He also adds another unique twist on the "devil" movie genre with the Anti-Christ as it were spending the better part of the movie as a giant canister of swirling green liquid that reminded me of those slushie machines you see in gas stations, only slightly more ominous. The fact that Carpenter is able to make such a ridiculous concept work so well is a testament to his skill as a filmmaker. There is also a simplicity to his filmmaking that I have always admired. He got his start making independent films and this film was very much in line with those when the film he made prior to this, Big Trouble in Little China, underperformed. He knows the parameters he has to film within and what he can make work with the resources he has and makes it work beautifully. He also shoots the film in his usual widescreen ratio, which gives the film a lot more grandeur than usual and also knows how to use the frame to his advantage. The film also has another great score from John Carpenter and Alan Howarth that adds a great feeling of foreboding to the film.
The film has a fantastic cast headed by Donald Pleasence as the Priest. He is very much in his element here, once again tackling lines about the nature of good and evil, not too far removed from his famous role as Dr. Loomis from Carpenter's Halloween. There is just something about Pleasence that makes him so compelling in these types of roles. Victor Wong is the other side of the coin, representing the hard science side of this film and he is an interesting casting choice for the role. I love seeing him in this role and his scenes with Pleasence as they together try to make sense of the universe and what they are dealing with from their respective viewpoints. Dennis Dun is amusing as the wisecracking Walter, one of Professor Birack's students. His reactions when things start getting really crazy helped break the tension for me as they were pretty over the top and funny.
Prince of Darkness exists as one of the more underrated John Carpenter films but is worth a look for a more unique spin on the whole biblical apocalypse sub-genre. It's a little more unpredictable and weird than one might expect. But at the same time, I can understand the mixed reaction to it, because it took a second viewing for me to really warm up to it. But all these years later, it is started to develop a cult following, like most of Carpenter's films. It's worth checking out though, if you're in the mood for something creepy that's a little bit different than the usual scary movie fare.
I still distinctly remember the first time I saw John Carpenter's The Thing. It was a warm, sunny weekday July afternoon and it was showing on cable. I was probably no older that twelve or thirteen at the time, home on summer vacation. I knew of the movie by reputation from a book on movie monsters that I read many times in the school library (the fact that this movie was featured in a book on movie monsters clearly written for kids is hilarious to me now because this was easily one of the most terrifying movies I have ever seen in my entire life). It was a warm July afternoon and after watching it I was chilled to the bone.
At the onset of Winter at the Antarctic Research Outpost 31, a group of U.S scientists are biding their time, trying to stave off cabin fever when their peace is interrupted by a helicopter from the nearby Norwegian camp, with one of the men trying to shoot a fleeing Husky dog with a rifle. They land at Outpost 31, where the dog is trying to find refuge and continue to try and kill it. In the ensuing confusion, they wind up accidentally blowing up the helicopter when one of the Norwegians tries to use a grenade to kill the dog, while the other shooter is shot and killed by Garry (played by Donald Moffat). After sorting through the wreckage and trying to make sense of what happened, the camp doctor, Copper (played by Richard Dysart) decides that he should go to the Norwegian camp and convinces one of the camp's helicopter pilots, R.J McReady (played by Kurt Russell) to fly him over there to check it out. They come across a camp that is completely destroyed, with many of the buildings a smoldering wreck. Everyone else is dead and among the wreckage they find some odd and disturbing remains, as well a giant block of ice that something was cut out of. Taking what research they can find and the remains back to their camp, they begin to decipher what they found. Meanwhile, the dog that came from the Norwegian camp is put in with the other dogs in the camp kennel. Once alone, the dog begins to transform, attacking the other dogs. Clark (played by Richard Masur), who looks after the dogs, discovers what is happening and alerts the others, who are horrified at what is happening. They use a flamethrower to seemingly kill the monster, which one of the camp scientists, Blair (played by Wilford Brimley), then examines the remains of. What they discover is that it is a creature that mimics other lifeforms perfectly. Since the dog had the run of the camp until it was put in the kennel that night, the men quickly realize it could have infected and replicated any of the men in the camp. Paranoia and distrust quickly set in as none of the men know who of the others is still human or a thing. One thing becomes clear though, they need to figure out who is who and fast before this thing has a chance to reach civilization, where it could spread among the entire population.
John Carpenter directed the film from a script by Bill Lancaster. The film is technically a remake of the Howard Hawks film, The Thing From Another World, but is actually a closer adaptation of the novella that film was based on, "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell, Jr., which the original film deviated from significantly. Carpenter does a fantastic job of creating a growing sense of dread and tension as the film works towards it's climax until it becomes almost unbearable at the end of the film as the film repeatedly surprises us with who is the Thing and who is still human. The Thing is brought to life with the incredible practical effects work by Rob Bottin, who worked tirelessly to bring the various forms of the alien creature to life. The production design of the film is perfect as well, filmed outside Juneau, Alaska, with the sets built well ahead of time to allow them to be covered with a significant level of snow. This approach lends the film a convincingly frigid atmosphere. It also establishes them as isolated and alone, which only helps to amp up the tension. The score by Ennio Morricone is a nice finishing touch as it's pulsing beat puts me on edge almost as soon as I hear it.
The cast of the film is stacked with great performances. Kurt Russell leads the group as R.J McReady, a no nonsense kind of guy who quickly takes command as they find themselves having to deal with this strange and lethal monster. Wilford Brimley has a good performance as one of the camp's scientists, Blair, who is one of the first to realize what they are dealing with and the ramifications if it ever got to a civilized area. Brimley does a great job handling both sides of his character, the quiet reserved scientist and then later the more panicked and crazed Blair when he realizes he can't let any of the others escape. Richard Masur has an interesting turn as Clark, the dog handler of the group, a character who was always more comfortable around the sled dogs than the people at the camp. He also does a great job walking the tightwire of sorts with his character where as the film goes on you are never quite sure if he's human or not. Keith David makes a memorable appearance in the film as Childs, and adds a strong and forceful presence to the film that has always been memorable to me.
It's funny to think back on John Carpenter's The Thing as a film that was initially not well received by critics nor did it do well commercially (to be fair, it was released in the Summer of 1982, where America was in love with a far more lovable alien called E.T: The Extra Terrestrial. Today though it is a highly regarded film and considered by many to be John Carpenter's masterpiece, a conclusion I can agree with. With nerve shredding tension, jaw dropping effects and filled with fantastic performances that actually make you care about the characters, this film reigns as one of the scariest films I have seen, ever since that one July afternoon so long ago.
I've been a fan of Stephen King's works since I was a kid, devouring his novels and enjoying most of the adaptations of his books and short stories. I even have some affection for a couple of the worst movies to come from his works, one being Maximum Overdrive, and the other being Sleepwalkers. I'm going to get this out of the way right away. This is a terrible movie. But it's also one of those terrible movies that is so out there, so bonkers that if watched in the right spirit, is pretty damn awesome.
Charles Brady (played by Brian Krause) has moved to a small town in Indiana with his mother Mary (played by Alice Krige). The two share a close relationship, a very close relationship if you catch my drift. Turns out they are not even human, but immortal beings known as Sleepwalkers, shapeshifters that feed on the life-force of virgins, travelling from town to town. The male sleepwalker, Charles in this case, is the one that seduces and steals the life-force from the female virgin and then feeds it to the female Sleepwalker during lovemaking. Since Charles and Mary are apparently the only two left, this has left them with a rather incestuous relationship. Charles' latest mark is Tanya Robertson (played by Madchen Amick), a student at the local high school. As he begins courting Tanya, he also has to try his best to cover his own tracks when suspicions from his past come calling.
What makes Sleepwalkers such a memorable viewing experience is the wildly varying tone that screenwriter Stephen King and Director Mick Garris maintain throughout the film. It can go from a cute meet cute scene between Charles and Tanya at the local movie theater to a completely insane one where Charles turns cat boy monster, rips a threatening man's hand off, gives it back to the guy and tells him, "You're right, people should keep their hands to themselves. Here's yours." It's that sort of dichotomy through out the film as it yo-yos from this sort of small town Americana to completely batshit crazy throughout the film and changes on a dime each time. Normally a movie with such a lack of consistency would drive me crazy, but somehow it works here. That being said, throughout the movie you're more likely to burst out laughing than be scared.
The performances here are actually good. Brian Krause really nails both sides of his role, the charming boy next door and then the vicious monster spouting wisecracks that would make Freddy Krueger grimace. Alice Krige is great as Mary, finding that right balance between sweet and creepy that she does so well. Madchen Amick does well as Tanya, giving her character that great girl next door vibe while also proving to be more resourceful than she might seem. It was fun to see Lyman Ward and Cindy Pickett, best known as Ferris Bueller's parents, reunite here as Tanya's parents. The film is also stuffed with cameos from the likes of Stephen King, Joe Dante, Clive Barker, Tobe Hooper, John Landis, Mark Hamill and Ron Perlman all finding their moment to chew the scenery a little (Stephen King's cameo with his character nervously announcing, "I ain't taking the wrap for this" is particularly amusing given the quality of the film).
Whether or not someone would enjoy this movie will depend greatly on whether or not they can appreciate a movie that is so bad it's good. Because this movie definitely falls into that category with it's gonzo plot and wildly diverging tone. But, with a few friends to help make fun of it and perhaps a couple of beers it can be a hilariously fun time.
Pumpkinhead was a film I was always aware of with it's VHS cover staring at me every time I looked through the Horror section of the local video store (for the kiddies out there, it was like scrolling through Netflix, except you left the house and went to another building to rent an actual physical copy of the movie). But, for some reason it never really appealed to me until I finally saw it a few years back and I was kind of sorry I had waited so long.
Ed Harley (played by Lance Henriksen) lives a simple but peaceful life with his young son, Billy (played by Matthew Hurley). The two live in the rural countryside and Ed runs a small grocery store. One day, a group of campers stop by the shop on the way to a cabin to relax and do some dirt bike riding. One of the campers, Joel (played by John D'Aquino), decides to ride his dirt bike around the open hills around the store while he friends shop at the store. Tragedy strikes when Billy accidentally gets hit by Joel and is mortally wounded. Joel wants to flee the scene since he's on probation for a similar accident while fellow campers Chris (played by Jeff East) and Tracey (played by Cynthia Bain) want to go for help. When Ed discovers what has happened, he takes Billy's body to a local witch who lives in the backwoods, Haggis (played by Florence Schauffer), in hopes she can help. She tells him she cannot resurrect his son, but tells him she can give Ed what he really wants, but there is a price. She summons the vengeance demon known as Pumpkinhead, who sets out to deliver vengeance on the campers responsible for Billy's death. Ed soon realizes that the ritual has given him a direct connection to the demon and quickly regrets his actions, but it may already be too late as he sets out to stop the monster he unleashed.
Famed special effects wizard Stan Winston made his directorial debut with this film, working from a script he developed along with writers Gary Gerani and Mark Patrick Carducci. His approach to the film is one that feels largely timeless as he gives the film a strong dark fairy tale/fable quality that really helps set a certain tone to the film. He keeps the film tightly focused and doesn't focus on extraneous details, giving the film a lean run time that clocks in at barely an hour and thirty minutes. But the themes it touches on are what make the film stick, especially the theme of vengeance and how destructive it can be as explored through the film's main character. Vigilante justice was a popular trend for films of the 80's, when this film came out so it's interesting to see a film that really explores, through the medium of a horror film, what something like that could actually do to a person. He initially calls out for it but when he gets it he immediately regrets it and tries to stop it, in this case personified in the monstrosity that is Pumpkinhead. The film is also well designed with some fantastic production design and cinematography that adds a more classic horror movie feel to the proceedings, especially for a film made in an era when the genre was generally still in Slasher movie mode.
Lance Henriksen gives one of his better performances as Ed, conveying a lot in a short amount of time, especially for the affection his character has for his young son and the deep mourning he has with his son's sudden death. This is important for the rest of the film to work and Henriksen pulls it off wonderfully. He also does a good job at conveying his character's remorse when Pumpkinhead starts unleashing his vengeance. Florence Schauffer is memorably creepy as Haggis, the one who conjures up Pumpkinhead. Jeff East and Cynthia Bain do well as the "innocent" members of the group of campers, who spend the bulk of the movie trying to get away from the titular monster, but they do well with what material they have to make their characters suitably likable enough to want them to live.
Pumpkinhead is a film that has slowly grown in reputation over the years as audiences have discovered it. With a lean plot, a fantastic performance from Lance Henriksen and some genuinely creepy atmosphere, this makes for a decent horror offering for the Halloween season.
