Halloween Horrorfest: Arachnophobia

 

Scary movies can be a subjective thing. What creeps one person out may not faze another person at all. One thing that has always given me the heebie jeebies has been bugs, especially large swarms of them all over the place. Anytime I see that in a movie or T.V show I start squirming and feeling very uncomfortable. I'm not exactly sure where this particular aversion comes from, perhaps seeing Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom at an impressionable age. Regardless of why, I bring this up because beyond all reason, one of my favorite creature features is Arachnophobia.  

While working as a photographer on a remote expedition in Venezuela, Jerry Manley (played by Mark L. Taylor) is killed by a particularly rare spider they discovered in a remote area being studied by entomologist James Atherton (played by Julian Sands). When his body is shipped home to the small town of Canaima, California, the same lethal spider hitches a ride along in the coffin. Upon arrival, the spider is able to sneak out of the morticians office and winds up in the yard of the newly arrived Jennings family. They have just moved to town because Ross Jennings (played by Jeff Daniels) is set to take over the medical practice of retiring town physician Sam Metcalf (played by Henry Jones), except Metcalf has decided he's not retiring leaving Ross without any patients. Meanwhile, in Ross' barn, the new Venezuelan spider has mated with a local spider, creating a horde of exceptionally deadly spiders that begin making their way throughout the town. While the first couple of deaths are chalked up to natural causes, when an exam of another victim by Ross shows the spider bite and the toxicology report confirms it, he realizes what they are dealing with. Only after they call in James Atherton and his colleague Chris Collins (played by Brian McNamara) do they put all the pieces together and realize they are dealing with an exceptionally lethal new breed of spider. With help from a quirky local exterminator Delbert McClintock (played by John Goodman), it falls to them to find and take out these spiders before they kill anyone else. The problem is Ross suffers from Arachnophobia - the debilitating fear of spiders. 

The film was directed by Frank Marshall from a script by Don Jakoby and Wesley Strick. The film strikes a perfect balance between cringe inducing horror and comedy. This was Frank Marshall's feature debut after being Steven Spielberg's producing partner for a number of years and I felt he did quite well his first time out. He balances the tense moments with the more humorous moments to craft a very entertaining film. They waste no time in setting up the main villain of the film, a large spider referred to as the General, who is discovered in a remote part of the Venezuela jungle who then proceeds to hitch a ride back to camp in a backpack. It's not long after they get back to camp that we get the first attack and see just how deadly the spider venom is. They handle each of the spider attacks quite well, tracking each of the spiders as they move in and expertly building suspense. They used a mix of real spiders for the soldier spiders and an animatronic spider for the much larger General, designed and created by a pre-Mythbusters Jamie Hyneman no less. The film is shot very well by Mikael Salomon capturing the majesty of the remote wilds of Venezuela as well as the almost idyllic charms of the small town, which contrasts nicely with the intensity and fun of the film itself. Topping things off is a fun score by Trevor Jones. I loved the music and the diversity of themes throughout, especially the one he crafts for exterminator Delbert McClintock that stands out as much as the character does. 

The film is well cast, starting with Jeff Daniels in the lead role. He is great in the role of everyman hero who has to conquer his fears to save the day, made all that much harder since spiders leave his frozen in fear. So much so that he has to call his wife, Molly (played by Harley Jane Kozak) to come take care of one they find as they move in early in the film. Harley Jane Kozak plays off Daniels well as Molly, showing support for their decision to move and is far more into embracing small town life than Ross is. They have an easy rapport and feel like a couple that has been married for quite awhile. Henry Jones plays his role as the cranky Dr. Metcalf with great relish, making it easy for the audience to hate him as he not only leaves Ross high and dry when he changes his mind about retiring but then proceeds to bad mouth him to other residents in town when Ross' patients start dropping dead. Julian Sands does well in the role of the driven entomologist James Atherton, who is driven by his curiosity at perhaps the expense of common sense. Still, he handles the expositional dialogue explaining the nature of this new breed of spider quite well. This is contrasted nicely with Brian McNamara's far more practical and careful Chris Collins. And then there was John Goodman as Delbert. Goodman effortlessly steals every scene he is in as the slightly eccentric but affable local exterminator who takes his job very seriously. I just couldn't help but smile every time he was on screen. He brings a lot of the comic relief to the movie which Goodman handles quite easily.     

Overall, despite my aversion to movies featuring large swarms of bugs, or in this case arachnids, Arachnophobia still remains a favorite of mine. It captures a perfect balance between scares and humor making the film just straight up fun to watch from beginning to end. In the end, that's all I would want from a movie like this and it delivers it well.

Halloween Horrorfest: Doctor Sleep

 

One of my favorite scary movies has always been Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, so when I first heard Stephen King had written a sequel to the novel that film was based on, I couldn't help but wonder what approach the inevitable movie adaptation would take since the movie and book of The Shining are in many ways quite different. Yet, Director Mike Flanagan set out to do the impossible and craft a faithful adaptation of King's novel while also making a satisfying sequel to Kubrick's film. 

Dan Torrance (played by Ewan McGregor) is still traumatized by the events he experienced as a child at The Overlook Hotel. To try and numb the effects and suppress his Shining ability, he has become an alcoholic. After reaching rock bottom, he relocates to a small town in New Hampshire and soon meets Billy Freeman (played by Cliff Curtis). Billy recognizes Dan's troubles all too well and helps Dan secure lodging and introduces him to the local chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous. There, Dan meets Dr. John Dalton (played by Bruce Greenwood) who helps Dan get a job at the local hospice as a overnight orderly. At the same time, Dan is surprised to find himself connecting through his Shining ability to a young girl named Abra (played by Kyliegh Curran), whose Shining ability may be even more powerful than Dan's. Things take a dark turn when her abilities are also picked up by a group of psychic vampires known as the True Knot that feed on the "steam," the Shining ability of others, especially kids. Their leader, Rose the Hat (played by Rebecca Ferguson), picks up on Abra first when Abra finds herself connected to the True Knot's latest victim, a young boy named Bradley Trevor (played by Jacob Tremblay). Since the shining ability has become increasingly rare, someone as powerful as Abra makes for an enticing target for the starving True Knot. Dan becomes Abra's best hope of not only saving her from their clutches but also destroying the True Knot once and for all, leading to a showdown at the condemned and boarded up Overlook Hotel. 

Director Mike Flanagan, who also wrote the screenplay, manages to walk a fine line with this movie, at once crafting a largely faithful adaptation of Stephen King's original novel while also functioning as a genuine sequel to Stanley Kubrick's iconic original film. Yet, the film works brilliantly. It helps that much of the story of this film is so different and separate from the first film so it really only required minor tweaks for much of the film. For example, Dick Halloran survived in the original novel and died in Kubrick's film and therefore appears in this as a ghost to Dan or in the novel the Overlook burned down and therefore the climax took place at the lot where the hotel once stood, whereas in this film we actually get to see the Hotel still standing, although abandoned and showing worn down. The other hurdle was the film does feature a number of flashbacks to Dan's childhood shortly after his time at the Overlook. Since almost 40 years had passed since the original film, reuniting the cast was not a realistic option and instead wisely recast the roles with actors that could make the roles their own, while also remaining familiar to fans of the first film. Also, since he re-cast the roles of Wendy, Danny, and Dick Halloran, he and his talented crew methodically re-create certain iconic moments from the first film for this one as flashbacks, which actually works for quite well in the film. Flanagan does a good job streamlining the book's narrative, trimming a few extraneous details from the novel but otherwise remaining reasonably faithful to the story, with the biggest change being the ending (which I will not spoil here). It is clear Flanagan is a fan of Kubrick's original film too, as he sneaks in little nods to the first film throughout this one for his fellow fans to enjoy throughout and even strategically re-uses some iconic music cues from the first film as well which helps bridge between the two films.        

Ewan McGregor does quite well as Dan Torrance. He really captures Dan's struggles, both with his shining ability as well as his substance abuse. He really captures Dan's arc from hitting rock bottom to putting his life together to his growing bond with Abra and need to help protect her from the True Knot. Rebecca Ferguson is magnificent as Rose the Hat (named as such because she compulsively wears a top hat as a signature of sorts), creating a formidable villain for Dan and Abra to go up against, along with her fellow members of the True Knot. She is vicious and nasty, yet so cool and seductive, which she needs to be to lure her victims into her trap. She has no qualms about killing kids and consuming their "Steam" to prolong her life. From her first greeting with her catchphrase of "Well, hi there," I was fascinated by her character. She is absolutely terrifying, but Ferguson really brings her to three dimensional life. Rose has needs and wants, the primary one being finding those with the Shining to keep her group fed. Kyliegh Curran is great as Abra, giving her character a real strength and cunning all her own. At the tender age of thirteen, she shows a great resourcefulness and skill with her power, even using it to trap Rose the Hat on her own on two separate occasions when Rose was using her own psychic abilities to try and track Abra and managing to inflict real, actual physical damage in the process. Kyliegh is fantastic in the role and reals shows just how clever and capable Abra is on her own. Cliff Curtis does well in the role of Billy Freeman, who takes Dan under his wing and helps him get his life together. It's a warm and sensitive performance that hits just the right note. I also have to single out Jacob Tremblay as Bradley Trevor. He may only be in a couple scenes, generally agreed upon as the hardest scenes in the movie to watch, but he absolutely sells those moments when he is in the clutches of the True Knot. 

Overall, Doctor Sleep was, for me at least, a worthy follow-up to Kubrick's original film. It helps that it has it's own separate story to tell rather than re-hashing the original film, adding such magnificent characters as Rose the Hat and Abra. We do get to see the Overlook Hotel again though as Dan weaponizes it's evil to try and fight the True Knot and I will admit I did get chills seeing that iconic setting again. Yet, the film stands on it's own as well as a genuinely satisfying film from beginning to end. I loved every minute, even if it does have a lengthy run-time of two and a half hours (and a director's cut that clocks in at a full three hours!). I never felt that it ran long and loved every minute of the film. But with such an engaging plot and compelling characters, how could I not?

Halloween Horrorfest: Death Becomes Her

Until I re-watched it again for this review, it had been ages since I had last seen Death Becomes Her. I remember seeing it as a kid several times and really enjoying it for the humor and impressive Special Effects while other aspects of it went a bit over my head. Seeing it again as an adult, the themes and humor hit all that much more. Then again, my sense of humor has frequently drifted towards a darker side, so one's mileage may vary. 

Madeline Ashton (played by Meryl Streep) is a narcissistic and selfish actress performing on Broadway when she meets her friend Helen Sharp (Goldie Hawn) and her fiancé, reknowned plastic surgeon Ernest Menville (played by Bruce Willis) backstage. Madeline and Ernest hit it off and before Helen knows it, the two have run off together and gotten married, leaving her behind. Helen naturally sinks into a deep depression over the next seven years, growing more and more obsessed with getting even with Madeline, even going so far as watching an old movie she did where her character dies and rewinding the death scene over and over again. She even winds up in a mental hospital for a time. Meanwhile, married life has taken it's toll on Madeline and Ernest. Her career has faded and she is constantly worried about how much she is aging. Ernest has lost his ability to practice and has been relegated to becoming a mortician, sending him spiraling into alcoholism. To their surprise, they get invited to a book launch party for the release of a book written by Helen. They are both even more surprised to see Helen, now looking gorgeous and youthful. This inspires Madeline to follow up on a mysterious business card she got at a spa for Lisle von Rhuman (played by Isabella Rossellini). Lisle offers Madeline a potion promising rejuvenation along with eternal life and beauty. She purchases the potion and takes it, almost immediately regaining her youth. Meanwhile, Helen meets up with Ernest and seduces him. She convinces him to help her kill Madeline and then the two can be together again. When Madeline returns home and gets into a fight that results in Madeline falling down the stairs and breaking her neck. While Ernest calls Helen to tell her what happened, he doesn't notice that Madeline magically revives and in his shock considers her resurrection a miracle. When Helen shows up to find out what has been going on, Madeline discovers what Helen and Ernest had been plotting and greets Helen with a shotgun blast to the abdomen. Of course, they quickly discover Helen also took their potion, leaving Ernest in quite the predicament with two undead women who are going to need his unique talents as an undertaker.  

The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis from a script by David Koepp and Martin Donovan. The film plays out as a black comedy with horror elements that I frequently found hilarious. There is a certain exaggerated quality to the film that adds to the humor of the film. When I found out that they had originally been toying with this film being a spin-off from the then current HBO series Tales from the Crypt, which was co-produced by Robert Zemeckis, I was not surprised. The film strikes a very similar tone as many of the episodes from that series did, especially with the ongoing theme of scheming and selfish people getting their due comeuppance. Much like the series, this movie very much has a certain tongue in cheek sensibility to it that I love. There is a lot of humor derived between the two bickering frenemies which only escalates when they both discover the other is effectively immortal, leading to such comedic bouts of violence as sword fighting with shovels with Ernest just wandering off resigned to having to patch them both up later. The filmmakers utilized pretty cutting edge special effects for the film to depict some of the injuries sustained throughout the film, including Madeline's head being twisted all the way around or a large, perfectly round hole in Helen's stomach that the other actors can see right through. Even now, almost 30 years later, the special effects still hold up reasonably well except for a couple, all done with CGI effects done by Industrial Light and Magic. I also have to give credit to the fantastic score by Alan Silvestri that sets the campy mood for the film perfectly. 

The film has an fantastic cast, especially the main trio of stars. Meryl Streep is clearly having a lot of fun playing the vain Madeline Ashton as she obsesses over her looks and even insists her maid compliment her on her looks every morning. It's a very entertaining performance as Meryl hits just the right notes with the character. Helen Sharp is a departure of sorts for Goldie Hawn from her usual bubbly and warm characters and I really enjoy it. Helen Sharp has her own obsession with getting even with Madeline Ashton and is clearly willing to do whatever it takes, including a rather elaborate murder plot (that needs to be seen to be believed). Bruce Willis likewise is playing against type as this sort of nebbish, neurotic and beaten down man who has more or less given up and is hiding from life in a bottle. It remains a refreshingly different performance from the actor and really shows his skills as a comedic actor. 

Overall, revisiting Death Becomes Her reminded me of what a fun movie it is, especially in the intervening years after I discovered and became a fan of the Tales from the Crypt horror anthology series. It is a slice of wicked fun that is perfect for the Halloween season and perhaps a bit more unique than the usual seasonal fare. It is a film that has gone on to become a bit of a cult classic, especially with LGBT audiences with Madeline Ashton and Helen Sharp in particular being favorite characters for drag queens to portray. It is certainly one I enjoyed just as much as when it came out, perhaps even more so now.          

No Time to Die

 

No Time to Die marks Daniel Craig's fifth and final outing as James Bond and I can say with great relief that he is going out on a high note. The film fires on all cylinders to give us one last, epic outing with Craig as James Bond, with an intriguing plot that brings the era full circle, spectacular stunts and just the right amount of humor to make this a very satisfying film. 

James Bond (played by Daniel Craig) is vacationing in Southern Italy with Madeleine Swann (played by Lea Seydoux) when they are ambushed by Spectre assassins. Realizing there was no one else who knew they were there besides him and Madeleine, he leaves her at a train station and the two part ways. Five years later, Bond is pulled back into action when an MI-6 scientist Valdo Obruchev (played by David Dencik) is kidnapped. He was working on a cutting edge bio-weapon called Project Heracles, which contains Nanobots and is spread like a virus but is harmless except to the person or people that strain is specifically programmed to kill. Bond meets up with Felix Leiter (played by Jeffrey Wright) and his associate Logan Ash (played by Billy Magnusson) who ask for Bond to help them to try and retrieve Obruchev and the weapon.  They track them to a SPECTRE meeting in Cuba for Blofeld's (played by Christoph Waltz) birthday, where Bond meets up with another CIA agent, Paloma (played by Ana de Armas). Blofeld leads the meeting using a remote "bionic eye" device and orders his agents to kill Bond with the bionic mist from Project Heracles. However, to everyone's surprise, the mist kills the SPECTRE agents instead. Turns out Obruchev was working with a mysterious new villain who has his own vendetta against SPECTRE, Lyutsifer Safin (played by Rami Malek), and reprogrammed the virus. Pulled back into MI6 duty by M (played by Ralph Fiennes) and Moneypenny (played by Naomie Harris) sets out to stop Safin and destroy this dangerous new weapon with the new 007, Nomi (played by Lashana Lynch) only to find his path once again crossing with Madeleine, who has her own connections to both Safin and Blofeld.

The film was directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga from a script he co-wrote with Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. The film is a wonderful return to form for Bond and a fitting final outing for the Daniel Craig era. Fukunaga and his crew create a epic film, filled with globe trotting adventure, just the right amount of humor, genuinely impressive action sequences and some genuinely shocking plot twists too. The film is a long one, clocking in at roughly 2 hours and 45 minutes, but they keep the pace up so I didn't really feel that it was that long. The filmmakers manage to pull off some inventive action sequences, including a truly impressive motorcycle jump and a sequence of people repelling down a elevator shaft not using ropes but rather a special harness and intricately placed electromagnets. Who knows if that's actually possible but it was very cool and certainly something I had never seen before. Still, the filmmakers give the film room to breathe, giving us such wonderful character moments throughout the film. Not only does it give time to properly play out the complicated relationship between James and Madeleine, but we also get some wonderful character moments with the other series mainstays, including a glimpse of Q's home life when Bond and Moneypenny accidentally interrupt him at home as Q (played by Ben Whishaw) is getting ready for a dinner date. For all the humorous moments and all the action sequences, it's the fact that they took the time for scenes like this, while also being integral to the plot that really made this entry shine for me. It's all capped off nicely with a fantastic Hans Zimmer score. I loved the way that he not only integrated the classic Bond theme, but also some pieces of John Barry's score from one of my favorite Bond movies, On Her Majesty's Secret Service.  

Daniel Craig gives it his all for his final outing as Bond. This is an older James Bond, begrudgingly dragged back into service after thinking he had retired. It's a fantastic performance and you can really get a sense that all the events of the previous films have really taken their toll on him. Lea Seydoux does well again in the role Madeleine Swann and has more to play in this outing as the film reveals far more about her character's past as well as her connections to both SPECTRE and our new villain Safin. She does a magnificent job showing her character's inner turmoil without saying a word. Rami Malek makes for a very interesting Bond villain. He's not physically imposing but he is very smart and cunning which he uses to great effect against Bond. Malek hits the right note to make Safin a very creepy villain who you can tell is always thinking, always several steps ahead of everyone else. Lashana Lynch really impresses as Nomi and I wouldn't mind seeing her get a spin-off series of her own. She plays off Daniel Craig quite well as there is some animosity between the two since she inherited his 007 moniker. Christoph Waltz makes the most of his near cameo appearance in the film, giving the character the same charming menace he did in SPECTRE. Ben Whishaw continues to be a joy to watch as Q and it was fun to see him outside the lab and see a little bit of his personal life. Likewise, as someone who enjoyed her turn with Daniel Craig in Knives Out, it was fun to see Ana de Armas show up to briefly assist James Bond in Cuba and participate in a surprisingly amusing gunfight. Ralph Fiennes is reliably good as M, who we get a sense all these years later is feeling the toll the job has had on him and the countless hard decisions he has made are having their effect, especially since one of them sets the plot in motion.

Overall, No Time to Die is a worthy finale for the Daniel Craig era and is certainly one of the best of his series of films. It is epic and scope, but thrilling, exciting, and frequently actually pretty humorous too. Craig finishes his time as James Bond on a high note and that's all I could have hoped for. Still, at the end of the film as that ever present final credit, "James Bond Will Return" comes up I found myself wondering where will they go from here? I, for one, can't wait to find out.           

Halloween Horrorfest: Halloween Kills

 

Finally arriving after a yearlong delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we finally have the hotly anticipated follow-up to Halloween, Halloween Kills. It is an aptly titled sequel too as this is one brutal entry in the series as Michael Myers once again hacks and slashes his way through Haddonfield. But the hotly contested question everyone seems to be debating is it any good? 

The film more or less picks up right where the last one left off. Her house in flames, Laurie (played by Jamie Lee Curtis), Karen (played by Judy Greer) and Alyson (played by Andi Matichak) are fleeing to the local hospital to get Laurie's wounds treated. Meanwhile, back at Laurie's inferno, Michael Myers (played by James Jude Courtney) has escaped and dispatches an entire firefighting unit before heading back to Haddonfield to resume his night of terror. At a local bar, some of the other survivors of the original 1978 murders have gathered to commemorate that historical night. Tommy Doyle (played by Anthony Michael Hall), leads a toast to those who died that night. Also attending are Marion Chambers (played by Nancy Stephens), Lindsey Wallace (played by Kyle Richards) and Lonnie Elam (played by Robert Longstreet). When news hits that Michael Myers had escaped and returned to Haddonfield, Tommy is quick to organize a group to go out and find Michael and take him down for good. Laurie is badly injured and recovering from major emergency surgery when a surprise arrival shows up in the hospital, Officer Frank Hawkins (played by Will Patton). Karen surmises that Michael must be on his way to the hospital to finish what he's started while Alyson is reunited with her boyfriend Cameron. Despite her mother's objections, she sneaks out and joins the vigilante mob with Cameron to find and kill Michael once and for all. 

The film was once again directed by David Gordon Green from a script he co-wrote with Danny McBride and Scott Teems. While the previous film focused on the untreated trauma of Laurie Strode and how that had effected her family, this one casts a wider net with a look at how Michael's crimes impacted the community as a whole both in 1978 and in 2018 as the community descends into chaos and hysteria as the panic grows. They make sure Michael gives plenty of reason for their to be a panic as he leaves countless dead bodies in his wake as he makes his way through town. Still, there is something thrilling about watching the residents of Haddonfield rise up and collectively fight back against the Boogeyman, especially those directly impacted by the original events, such as Tommy, Lindsay and Marian. I just wish the movie had taken a little time to get a sense of where each of these characters were 40 years later and get more of a sense of what their life was like. Of course, since this is a horror movie, not all of them are going to make it to the end credits. That being said, some of these folks may be brave but they are also spectacularly stupid. If you know for sure there is someone in your house and there's a mad killer on the loose, shouldn't the first instinct be to get out of the house, rather than go looking for the killer? Especially if you're only armed with a tiny paring knife from a charcuterie board? Or if you've discovered where Michael Myers is hiding, do you A. Call the police to come and blow him to kingdom come or B. go investigate on your own confident you can take down one of the most lethal serial killers of all time by yourself? It's this continued character idiocy that takes this film down a notch, although Green and company do still manage to craft some intense thrills along the way. 

Much like Halloween II, Jamie Lee Curtis doesn't get much to do this film except occupy a hospital bed and preach about how "evil must die tonight". Still, she gives it her all and really shows how determined Laurie is to keep going and try to take Michael down for good. Anthony Michael Hall does surprisingly well as an adult Tommy Doyle, who not unlike Laurie appears to have similarly been impacted by that Halloween night 40 years ago. He drives a beater of a car and still hangs around his hometown. He gives real grit and determination to Tommy though, and in maybe my favorite moment of his even pledging to Laurie that he was going to protect her now, just like she did for him all those years ago. Judy Greer gets a bit more to do in the film, especially in the second half when she discovers where her daughter Alyson has gone and goes out after her. Andi Matichak continues to impress as Alyson, showing her character's pure rage towards Michael and all he has done to her family. She is more than ready to fight and makes Alyson a character to root for, even as she makes some rather boneheaded decisions. Kyle Richards makes a welcome return to the screen, reprising her role as Lindsay Wallace all these years later. She really gives her character strength and resourcefulness as she finds herself coming face to face with Michael herself. I also loved the supporting turns by Scott MacArthur and Michael McDonald as Big John and Little John, a fun and loving gay couple who happen to live in a rather notorious piece of Haddonfield real estate. 

Overall, Halloween Kills casts a wider net than the original film but doesn't quite have the same impact the original film did. Because it has a larger cast and scope, it doesn't take the same time to establish the characters as the original film did before the mayhem broke out. Still, taken as a straightforward slasher flick, it does deliver the thrills and is an intense film from beginning to end. It does set the stage for what I am confident will be a grand finale in Halloween Ends, currently due out next year. As it stands on it's own though, it's not as bad as some fans are making it out to be. It's certainly got the scares and Michael is as vicious as he's ever been. And it certainly does have something to say about mob mentality and vigilante justice. But it also feels like more of the same. It doesn't feel like the story has moved forward at all. Still, I am still very curious to see how this all impacts the next movie. If you're a fan, it delivers the goods, even if it is a bit rough in spots.          

Halloween Horrorfest: The Blob (1988)

 

The 1988 remake of The Blob is another one of those movies I can't believe I waited so long to see in it's entirety. I remember seeing the VHS box time and time again as I perused the horror section of the local video store and I always dismissed it in favor of more popular titles. It wasn't until it made it's Blu-Ray debut and I saw the filmmakers behind it that I realized I needed to sit down and give it a watch. 

A meteorite crashes on the outskirts of the small town of Arborville in Northern California. An elderly homeless man (played by Billy Beck) discovers the meteorite and discovers there is a pinkish-purple goo inside. The goo quickly adheres itself to the man's arm. In distress, he runs off and crosses paths with local teen Brian Flagg (played by Kevin Dillon). Seeing he was in trouble, Brian chases after the elderly man to try and help and they end up running into Meg (played by Shawnee Smith) and Paul (played by Donovan Leitch) who were on their way to a date. The three teens rush him to the local hospital in hopes of helping him. The man is put in an exam room and Meg and Paul try to fill out the intake forms. Disgusted with the lack of care the hospital was giving the man, Brian leaves. When she goes to check on the man, Meg makes the horrifying discovery that the goo that adhered to his hand has now devoured most of the man's body and the blob was growing. When Meg goes to the police, her claims about the Blob are initially dismissed and Brian, who has a history of delinquent behavior, is initially picked up in relation to the man's death. Realizing they have nothing to hold him on, he is released. When Brian and Meg cross paths again, she tells him about what she witnessed. Although initially skeptical, any doubts he has are quickly resolved when the now even bigger Blob attacks the diner. They quickly realize it's going to be up to them to not only warn the entire town of the literally growing danger, but figure out how to stop this gelatinous monstrosity before it devours the entire town.

The film was directed by Chuck Russell from a script he co-wrote with Frank Darabont. The two do a fantastic job updating the original 1958 original film with a bit of humor while also keeping the thrills and scares coming at a brisk pace. They manage to establish early on that any one can die in this movie and they stick to it throughout the film as the Blob's rampage grows. The film does come up with some memorable sequences, including on expanding the famous movie theater sequence from the original film, where we get to see the Blob attacking people in the movie theater as others flee, including plucking one obnoxious audience member right out of his seat and up to the ceiling where the Blob is hanging out. Other notable sequences include a poor guy getting pulled down a sink drain by the Blob that is somehow both absurd and horrifying as well an intense chase through the sewers between the Blob and Meg, her younger brother Kevin (played by Michael Kenworthy) and Kevin's friend Eddie (played by Douglas Emerson) that is very tense. The effects work by Tony Gardner and his crew with the Blob is quite impressive for the most part. There are a couple shots where the Blob is chasing someone that looks pretty fake, but for the most part it's quite convincing. Things get especially gruesome anytime it attacks someone as they basically dissolve under it. 

Shawnee Smith rocks it as Meg, showing a strength and resilience that would rank her among the top tier of horror heroines for me. She doesn't hesitate to run into the fray, whether it is running into the local movie theater to rescue her younger brother pick up a gun and try and take down the Blob herself. Smith does great as the character and is impressive throughout. Kevin Dillon does well as the rebellious Brian and finds a nice balance to the character. He may have a problem with authority and a snarky attitude, but deep down he does care about his fellow townspeople and wants to do the right thing. Candy Clark has a nice supporting turn as Fran, the owner of the local diner. She fills the character with a lot of warmth and is the kind of character in a movie like this that you want to see make it to the end. Del Close has an interesting turn as Reverend Meeker who sees the appearance of the Blob as a sign of the apocalypse as the chaos of the ever growing gelatinous monster slowly drives him insane. 

Overall, Chuck Russell and Frank Darabont did a great job updating the classic original to a more modern sensibility, keeping what worked while tweaking a few things and adding a few new twists to make it fit the new time period. The improved effects work only makes the titular monster all the more frightening and formidable. Critics at the time didn't seem to think much of it, which would probably be why it took me so long to finally getting around to it. It's is a film that has largely aged very well and holds up as genuinely entertaining monster movie thrills with just the right amount of humor thrown in. It's one I have thoroughly enjoyed every time I've watched it. If you've got a hankering for monster movie mayhem or you're looking for an overlooked gem for this Halloween season, this would be a good one to check out.          

Halloween Horrorfest: There's Someone Inside Your House

 

The slasher movie is a perennial horror subgenre that continues to come back with new offerings time and time again. Netflix's latest entry is There's Someone Inside Your House and is a refreshing mix of old school and modern sensibilities when it comes to the genre. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it should satisfy genre fans just fine. 

When a callous teen football star Jackson Pace (played by Markian Tarasiuk) is brutally murdered in his home by a masked killer, it sends shockwaves throughout his small town high school. Shortly after the crime, a video is sent via text message exposing the reason Jackson was killed: his extreme hazing of fellow football player, the openly gay Caleb Greely (played by Burkely Duffield). It doesn't take long for Caleb to be suspected as the killer, in retribution for the assault he experienced as part of the hazing, despite him being at the game at the time of the crime. Meanwhile, another group of friends that include Makani Young (played by Sydney Park), Alex (played by Asjha Cooper), Rodrigo (played by Diego Josef), Darby (played by Jesse LaToruette) and Zach (played by Dale Whibley) find the sudden outpouring of emotion for Jackson a little hard to stomach considering how awful he was to Caleb and the others. They even take Caleb into their circle when he's shunned by his usual friends as they suspect him being behind Jackson's murder. When a second classmate is murdered, the outwardly chipper and secretly cruel Katie Koons (played by Sarah Dugdale), with her darkest secret of being a white supremacist being exposed shortly after everyone realizes something serious is going on. There is a serial killer working their way through the student body, intent on exposing their victim's darkest secrets in the process. Makani, who has her own deep, dark secret and her friends fear they may be the next targets of this burgeoning serial killer who likes to wear a mask of the face of each of their intended victims.

The film was directed by Patrick Brice from a script by Henry Gayden and based on the novel of the same name by Stephanie Perkins. The filmmakers manage to create a film that is at once a throwback to the early 80's heyday of slasher flicks with the theme of past sins coming back to haunt the main characters was a common one for those films. Yet, the film feels rather contemporary as well. It doesn't get bogged down in the tropes of the genre and instead focuses more on the Whodunnit aspect of the story. To their credit, they did manage to keep me guessing even if an early suspect I had did turn out to be the perpetrator. I also appreciated the diverse cast, including an out gay character and a non-binary character. Patrick Brice and his crew do manage to craft some memorably tense sequences in the film including some suitably gruesome death scenes that genre fans have some to expect from movies like this. 

The film assembles a cast of likable and fresh faced actors led by Sydney Park as Makani Young. Her character is easily the most fleshed out of the cast as Makani has recently moved from Hawaii to live with her grandmother due to a tragic incident in her past. Park does a good job conveying her character's inner turmoil as she attempts to deal with that trauma while putting on a brave face for her friends. But she also fear that same secret will put her directly in the killer's crosshairs. Burkely Duffield manages to make the most of his role, creating a lot of sympathy for his character as he finds himself unfairly ostracized. Dale Whibley is clearly having fun playing Zach, the rebellious rich kid who loves embarrassing his uber-conservative  (and secret Nazi collector) father. Jesse LaTourette gives a good performance as the fiercely independent, non-binary Darby and was easily one of my favorite characters in the movie. 

Overall, There's Someone Inside Your House is a pretty standard slasher flick. But as a genre throwback, it's a reasonably satisfying watch with some genuinely scary moments. It assembles a cast of characters that I found myself genuinely caring about and wanting to see make it to the end of the movie, which is always the mark of a good entry in the genre. It's a refreshingly pure genre exercise without any of the post-modern meta humor that films like Scream made popular, it's made well and is entertaining while it lasts.