I’m still on vacation, and probably won’t be posting another solid review until the first of December sometime. I did want to take a few moments to tell you about the great finds that await those of you out there that aren’t snobby about how you get your horror movies. I for one am a true lover of horror movies and like to purchase them often, even if the format isn’t dvd or blu-ray.
Case in Point, I was at a Pawn Shop here in Moscow, Idaho. (on vacation) I ran into a bunch of vhs tapes stacked and selling for about a buck each. Sure, most vhs tapes aren’t worth a second look at all, but there were a few good quality non former rental videos. The first one that I found in near mint condition was an original vhs tape of “Salem’s Lot”. It had the original artwork and looked amazing. It’s hard to keep these originals in good shape, and upon closer examination, I noticed that this was NOT a former rental at all. So I bought it.
My second find was a cool looking vhs tape from the uk for the film “Rituals” and the cover art really sold me on the purchase.
Before I bought these, my family asked why I would buy vhs? I have a dvd and vhs player combo. It ha both inputs in one and for horror movie fans some dvd’s aren’t available right now. Not only that, dvd’s are nice and all but sometimes a vhs tape is just as good if you’re looking for the original cover art, and original edit. Sometimes on dvd you get some greater features, but a good majority of the time I go years before I sit down and hear the commentary on these things.
So today, I want to admonish anyone out there that is on the fence about buying a vhs horror film, go for it. It’s cheap, and still good. I do it often, and don’t really mind. Maybe you won’t either.
I’ll be back the first week of December with our whole month of “HOLIDAY TERROR”.
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One of the worst things about horror are adaptations of Stephen King books, short stories, and novellas. No one really gets it right, and while I don’t think that there is a definitive greatest Stephen King movie list, I think that Silver Bullet is a strong contender for one of the better adaptations, even if I’m alone in thing this sort of thing. Stephen King’s Silver Bullet is a scary werewolf movie, even if you’re not a fan of the execution of this film.
The movie revolves around a small town, and a new string of murders that are plaguing the area. These murders are often covered up by the coroner and are never truly revealed as happenings of a Werewolf…until a kid discovers a deep dark secret, and then things go into high gear!
One of Gary Busey’s less psychotic roles, playing a good intentioned, unbelieving uncle (who happens to be an alcoholic), he actually looks young and sane. The rest of the cast play their roles well and I enjoyed it on an entertainment level. The initial set up takes some time to play out, however it isn’t really scary at first. We are introduced to the cast of characters with ease, as the murders play out as a back drop, you suspect a few people before the story turns on a dime and shows you who the culprit really is. I don’t know if you will catch it right away, but it is not exactly something that I was expecting, at least not the first time I saw it.
The main protagonist is bound to a wheelchair. One cool scene, that has nothing to do with horror, is that the kid gets an awesome upgrade thanks to his uncle. He gets this sweet looking, super wheel chair! That’s right, it’s awesome, and something that was most likely inspired by the imagination of a young child, rather than an adult, but then again, this film was made in the 80’s and these outlandish paleo-future ideas were the norm amongst Hollywood writers and director’s at the time. (Main example, Back to the Future and the hover-board)
The antagonist of this film is a werewolf, but who is the wolf? That’s the crux of these types of movies, and it’s not something that is done in movies often. Usually the occult is the vocal point of animalistic rage, or monster movies in general. If the occult is not named right away, it is implied through various sequences, and this film relies on a Judeo-Christian tinge to frighten viewers, and proclaim that people should watch out, lest wolves truly be in sheep’s clothing!
Just like in “The Howling” we get a combination of first person action and third person action. As a fan of video games, I really love the first person shots from the werewolf’s perspective where the hands are extended and the action is being followed through your television. It’s really a cryptic and weird camera perspective, and is done well for the time.
As far as its place in history, this film came out in 1985, meanwhile “The Howling” came out in 1981, and the camera angles and sequences seem stolen here. However, there aren’t a lot of scholars of horror that argue the intricacies of such a notion. Wes Craven’s “Cursed” and the Jack Nicholson movie “Wolf” also borrow subtle motions from the 1981 cult classic, but it can easily be said that they are all borrowing elements from MGM’s “The Wolf Man” from 1941 or dare I even say 1920’s? Or even the John Landis film “An American Werewolf in London”, which is regarded as one of the better werewolf movies since it was one of the first movies to film a long form transformation scene.
While on the topic of visuals, the formation of the silver bullet is done in quite the throwback to professional iron working, or maybe I’m just giving it too much credit. There are also great plays with the shadows as we see the main antagonist rise from beneath them, almost romanticizing the werewolf as a sexual predator, as we are seeing an abuse of power.
Why Silver Bullet is scary: Stephen King has been noted as being somewhat religious, and if not religious completely at least well versed in religious iconography and notion. In his novels he uses Christianity as the focal point to his villains madness (The Shining, The Stand, Misery), and in this film he really pushes the envelope to the extreme. The scary part of this film is not just the usual that no one believes the kid about the werewolves, but more over the fact that the most trusting person is the villain and the most obvious villain is not the villain!
Ok, let me settle down a little. Gary Busey plays a drunk. He shouldn’t be trusted, and he uses the drink as a crutch to somehow muster up enough courage to fight off the werewolf. However, the fight is not just his own, as Marty gets in on the action and we get a very exciting final fight of sorts. Seriously, the final fight is teased for so much of the film that when it finally goes down you get into it, if not initially, then definitely when Gary Busey gets thrown through a book shelf, creating a stand out point to get up and yell at your screen!
In regards to scary notions, this movie presents a Pastor as the villain. The Pastor is well trusted and the community is not quick to believe that he is doing anything wrong, let alone being a Werewolf. This is timely in many ways. We hear stories from victims of child abuse ranging from Catholic Priests to Youth Pastors, and that’s just religious sectors. Abuse is a sad thing, and this movie plays up the religious leader role to a tee, and if you’re reading into this a lot more than usual (like me) you’ll notice that this film sometimes parallels the notion that religious leaders are not only sometimes involved in criminal acts, but when accused, they aren’t always found guilty by the community or the leaders. I know, I’m reaching far for this one, but it seems to me that Stephen King has made a somewhat cautionary tale about abuse of power and how scary it is that those that we have trusted have caused so much pain our lives and the lives of others.
If that’s not scary, and it just seems too outlandish. Then the Cryptozoology aspect of the werewolf mythos is scary enough for you. Sure, I’m not exactly too scared about wolves coming to get me. However, we can all relate to the idea that sometimes the most trusted people screw you over the most.
I admit, Silver Bullet is not the greatest werewolf movie in the world. In fact, for some, Corey Haim’s over acting, Gary Busey’s under acting and Stephen King’s obvious jab at religious figures is just not the makings for a great horror film. Stephen King’s Silver Bullet offers a good enough thrill and scare for fans of Stephen King adaptations, but might be a little shallow in the true horror department. This movie is not gorey, doesn’t really have a lot of sexuality, and really swings the pendulum between disbelief between the notions of who is more righteous: the drunk uncle or the Baptist minister. I would recommend Silver Bullet to some fans, but not everyone is going to enjoy the obvious meddling with werewolf traditions and some blatant rip-offs of previous werewolf films like “The Howling”, but maybe I just like that film too much. I’m not sure.
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Here we are past the mid point of the month and I hope that you are all having a good time reading these diatribes of mine. I am posting 3 times a week rather than 5 times a week so that I have more time to compile my thouhts on these reviews and give you more time to read them. I like posting 5 times a week but I feel that sometimes it gets lost with so much information throwing at you. So I hope that's well with everyone here.
So here we are at another edition of From The Mailbag. I respond to some comments and you get your five minutes of fame on my blog. Not that it has a huge readership, but it's nice to know that I don't just leave your comments to die. I actually read them and if I don't respond in post, I will do so here! So without further ado LETS DO THIS!!!!
This is a bad ass movie. I always catch it when it's playing on TV. You pretty much nailed it where it's not so much the death and gruesomeness of the deaths that make this flick scary, but the fact that the "hero" is in utter confusion as he realizes he is not who he thought he was. Good stuff.
Metallman, I too catch this on late night tv every now and again and can't help but stop and watch. I don't even mind the edits and lesser time stamp, this thing is so moody and quite pscyhological. The desperation in Cusack's eyes in the courtroom as he figures it all out is intense and really nerve racking. Great stuff indeed.
I too think that a Re-make is not necessarily a bad thing, regarding this film. [though I have to disagree on shot-by-shot re-makes ~ too me, those are pointless! I would rather see a fresh spin on the original]
On a side note - I agree about folks willingly giving up their freedom without a second thought - now that is scary!
Thank you, thank you! I try to come up with some relevant scary points on these films as they are suppose to induce fear. At least a little bit.
As for the shot by shot re-makes, you're probably right. However, this one has some poor quality edits and shots, and it's probably due in large part to the financing of the film. This had such a weak budget, I mean it cost less than a porno film of that era.
As for my whole freedom thing, it's true everyday. I hate how people are so blind to their freedoms and yet protest the patriot act here in the U.S. Idiots! They need to realize that in the country I'm from originally (Mexico) there are a lot less freedoms and a true disdain for government. Here in the U.S the disdain is just a passing phase.
CaroleMcDonnell said in response to my Primer Review:
that was the hardest film to follow...and all those parallel folks. I really have to try to force myself to sit through it yet another time. -C
It is hard to watch. It's so cerebral and slow at times. It really doesn't hold back anything at all. It really pushes the boundaries of entertainment and really doesn't dumb anything down. If you can't make it through the first two or three times, give up on this one. It's only scary to me because I'm a fan of science fiction, time travel and the likes. Otherwise I'd have thrown in the towel towards the end of this film as it really is a weird resolve.
I first saw The Fly just a couple of months ago. I've been a Goldblum fan since way back, but this really impressed me. I think, even now, the effects hold up pretty darn well and the concept is very much relevent to todays science. What with all these scientists talking about gene splicing and mixing animals with people... one question immeditately comes to mind, "Have these people not watched The Fly?"
Yeah, this movie is so relevant, and yet no one really takes it as such. It's hard to do so, considering that today people are more worried about a fictitious weak economy than what scientists are doing with research and science in general. Oh well. The effects were pretty cool for the time, and it's been a while since anyone really went back and talked about the Fly in general. Thanks for the comment!
That concludes our latest and greatest From The Mailbag, and I want to thank everyone who has commented on these posts, thank you so much. Keep coming back for more horror reviews. I'm cooking up a themed December post, since it is the holidays, maybe holiday horrors, but I don't know. If you have suggestions let me know, and I'll consider them. If you want to jump in and do a guest post also let me know. If you're in the giving mood use the links found on this site at your disposal, they cost you no extra and they help me out a little. I do mean very little. Like pennies on the dollar.
I'll be on vacation next week, but will have my laptop and have a few reviews on tap, so watch out for those. Thank you again.
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Identity has one of the worst premises in horror movie history. That is my opinion, don’t take it to the bank. I personally dislike anything to do with split personalities, recovered memory, or identity crisis endings. I don’t like them at all, but have always seemed to enjoy horror movies until the reveal. Identity, however, did something that I didn’t think could be done, they one upped the Identity crisis theme with a reveal that left me gasping when it was all said and done, and the very last moments of this movie were well worth the travel time involved. Identity is a very scary movie, even if it might not all be what it seems.
*Note, this is a fan made edit, since the original trailer was taken down.
Identity opens up with two stories that don’t seem to connect at all. The larger of the stories is about 5 people that end up stranded at a motel. Each of them have a secret, and each of them share something in common. Things start to go bad as one by one, each person dies a very horrific death and the story starts to unfold in a very unconventional way.
As we see our first death, the members start to turn on each other and each one is blamed for deaths that follow until there is only a couple people left. While this pressure cooker heats up, we get taken to a court room where a lawyer is arguing a case for his client. He states that his client is mentally ill and suffers from multiple personality disorder. The viewer is not quite sure why they are being shown this, but it is a major focal point of the story later on. This sort of odd storytelling is often done in literature, specifically in a recent book that I read “American Gods” by Neil Gaiman. Gaiman works his magic through a main storyline, only to give you pages upon pages of interior story arcs that seem to be parallel to a subplot that you’re reading, but are located in different areas. It’s not too unlike his “Sandman” series either. Where the stories are not really a sum of the plots but more or less strings of fantasy that may or may not be relevant to the reader; Identity plays these tricks on you but in very subtle ways.
The quality of the film is good. The budget was nearly 30 million dollars and the studio had some heavy hitters acting. John Cusack plays our lead, Amanda Peet, Ray Liotta, John C. McGinley, Rebecca De Mornay, Jake Busey, and other notables all make up the supporting cast and do a fine job in detailing their shock and secrecy in this film. As the remaining members figure out that the secret they share is a birthday, things start to really spin out of control as we see John Cusack pop up in the courtroom as the person being prosecuted.
Each character is defined by either their profession or their past. We have the criminal, the single girl, a family with a small child (who eventually gets killed too, sad…I know), The Detective, the Rich lady, the limo driver, and some others, that I don’t remember. Eventually some of them use these professions to justify insults and reactions to the unfolding stories. Eventually the friction causes concern and the drama turns worse as each person is killed in different ways.
As you’re hitting yourself, wondering why in the world I just ruined the movie for you, I must state that the key elements that I just told you are NOT the reveal and only lend themselves as surface scratches to the bigger plot twist that is awaiting you if you watch Identity. In fact, there are several twists that jump at you in the course of this film, which is probably why it was so popular at the time of its release in 2003. The advertising campaign that surrounded this did not mention anything about the illusion or magic trick like sequences that make you think of “The Prestige” all over again. If nothing else, this movie has to be praised for the way it was handled marketing wise. No other horror movie that I can remember played the bait and switch so well like Identity did in 2003. That’s not a bad thing though, as it surely delivered some refreshing twists and turns not too unlike a Goosebumps book by R.L Stine.
Why Identity is scary:Identity is scary initially because the way each stranger is dying mysteriously. They are gruesome deaths, and as panic sets in, we see just how bad human nature really is. Whether it’s being stuffed in an industrial clothes dryer or getting a baseball bat shoved down your throat, these murders are mysteries surrounding them play out in a very real and horrific way. We don’t always see them, but we see the aftermath of each and each one is almost vomit inducing. The gore is not played up, but it gives you just enough detail to make you a bit queasy. The fact that the unknown is played up, alongside a stormy night, makes this movie more than just a thriller and start to get into horror territory.
Sharing a birthday is not too uncommon, but sharing a birthday with 4 different people all of which are stuck together in one place at one time, that’s creepy too. I’ve met a few people with my birthday of Valentines day, and my sister shares it too, but I’ve never met a lot of people in the same place at the same time who share that day or have been in dire consequences with people that share my date of birth. This is a creepy detail in the film and not knowing what everything entails offers a very scary detail. The location causes some uneasiness too, with this hotel looking a lot like the set of “The Devil’s Rejects” or “Vacancy” just to name a couple of movies that feature terror inducing hotels.
One of the scariest things about this film is not that you can’t trust anyone, it’s that you can’t trust yourself. Cusack’s character really believes that he’s the hero, and when he realizes that he’s not in control of the situation at all, and that he is deceived the shock is traumatic to say the least. Ever had a nightmare that felt so real that you swore it was really happening? Ever done something so wrong that you didn’t even realize that it was you? This movie tries to play on that simple emotional distrust that we all have inside ourselves, that fine line between self awareness and insanity. The movie also plays with our mind’s eye continually telling us that things are not real and that they are only dreams. It’s a really scary notion to wake up and find your world upside down, and to realize that your secrets are also the secrets of those around you.
There are two great sequences that close this film. We get the standard shock ending with all that is tranquil and simple, a finality that makes us feel all safe and fuzzy inside. However, it turns into shock as the killer snaps, and we get the reality of the situation. I won’t go into the other shock because if I do, I will give away the whole reveal and the movie’s tone relies heavily on this swerve.
Like I said at the beginning of this review, I hate identity crisis plots. Even though many classics and contemporaries rely heavily on the identity angle as a plot structure, I just don’t like it. I know, that means I don’t like “Psycho”, “Secret Window”, “Jacob’s Ladder”, “Session 9”, “The Shining”, “Fight Club”, “High Tension”, “The Number 23”, and many others, right? Wrong. I just think it’s a cheap way out, that doesn’t mean that it can’t be done well. I thought it was done well in this film as it offered up a little more than say “Secret Window” did. I liked the pacing of this film and I liked the parallel storylines that ultimately ended with one hell of a jump scare, if I do say so myself. This movie plays more on your psychological fear of identity rather than placing a killer in the role of amnesiac, and that my friends, is scary. Identity is a scary thrill ride, and while it is not filled with sex and gore, it is filled with enough of a plot and good character acting to keep even the harshest critics from taking a dump on it. Plus, you have to admit that it’s nice to see John Cusack in a role where he’s not playing the recently dumped, single cool guy. Isn’t it?
As a Bonus, I want to mention a recent identity crisis story that you may or may not have realized. Do you recall the recent episode of "American Dad"? Roger is convinced that someone has stolen his identity, but nope...it was just him and his own personal identity crisis. Oh and yes...I'm aware of the new Christian Slater show about this...see..the whole Identity Crisis thing is not only in horror it's all over the place!
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The year was 1972 and a young Wes Craven put out a film that was deemed very scary for the times. It’s true, it was insanely scary for the time. So if we all jump into our time machine and visit 1972. Last House on the Left is a scary movie but at times it doesn’t hold up that well. However, for this review I’m really going to try and fit my mind into the 1970’s rather than reviewing it in modern tone. It’s a very hard thing for me to do, but I’m going to give it a shot, since everyone has either already seen it, read reviews of it, or holds it up to a mantle as a classic.
The Last House on the Left is a movie about a couple of college girls that go out for a party and end up meeting up with escaped convicts who kill them. The plot thickens when they show up at a house where the girl’s parents live, and the parents find out who’s in their house. Last House on the Left becomes an epic revenge film, and despite it’s hokey ending and stupid song structure, it is revered.
Like I said in the initial paragraph of this review, we are going to have to use our imagination a little and head to the 1970’s. 1972 to be exact, and while some of us weren’t born yet, we know enough about the early 70’s to know what its like. Forget Freddy, forget Jason, forget a lot of the movies that have molded modern horror. Horror before 1972 is not too gruesome, and is not as extreme, so with that in mind lets consider the film.
We know from looking back that the film quality could be huge, but for this film the budget wasn’t very high. The acting was also subpar, and while I liked David Hess as our villain, I couldn’t help but note his striking resemblance to several pornographic stars from the same era. Especially looking a lot like a guy from the epic film “Debbie Does Dallas”, I digress. The movie is still higher quality than a lot of the modern straight to dvd movies that we are being sold these days, and the actual execution of the parts to make a whole are well done and feel like a real movie, at times.
The themes in this movie are harsh. We see urination, humiliation, presumed under age molestation and overall exploitation, and for the time this was severely taboo. For a mainstream film to have these themes was a major no-no and Craven paid for it; the film went on to be pawned off by critics as “exploitative trash” and presumably neglected by mainstream audiences. It’s funny, considering that in 1972, the biggest box office draw was “The Godfather”, which was not light on heavy themes. (like a horse head in a bed) For 1972, the imagination of your average adult and teenager was most likely not as desensitized as 36 years later, and the idea of someone molested and killed in the fashion of this film would be downright appalling.
While some might argue that smut was being sold in those days, you will have to remember that Hustler (one of the harder magazines of the 70’s) didn’t come out until July of 1974. But Jorge, some of you might be pushed to interject, didn’t Penthouse come out in 1965? Yes. You’re right, nice observation, Penthouse did start in the 60’s but while it showed genitalia and pubic hair, it did not show penetration, and it did not exploit its models through humiliation, urination, or forced lesbian sexual themes. Nor did it really flirt with bondage, as Craven does towards the end of this film. In fact, the themes in Last House on the Left and hardcore pornography the likes that we are seeing today didn’t even happen until the early 80’s at the very earliest. So these sexual exploitative scenarios are rough on the 1972 through 1980’s modern man. Remember also that home video is not general common place, so if you didn’t see The Last House on the Left in its theatrical run, you probably didn’t get a second or first shot at watching this film until 1975 when Betamax became a feasible way to watch films. Once again derailing the desensitization of culture and allowing bias to reign on what is and what isn’t exploitation and taboo.
Why The Last House on the Left is scary: Some movies are easy to define as scary, and some others aren’t. This falls into the easy category. However, I am going to go a little left of the bulls eye on the scary notion of this film. Yes, it is scary to get abducted by criminals and abused. Yes it is scary to find that your daughter has been killed and yes it is scary to plot revenge. However, the scariest moments of this film are found in the set up.
People fear a police state right now. I am constantly hit by the media about fear. If it is not the media saying that our economy sucks, it’s the leftist idiot next to me saying that Orwell’s 1984 is correct and Big Brother is going to get us. I don’t believe that, I believe more on the side of Huxley’s argument from Brave New World, that we are not going to get taken over, we are going to willingly give up our freedoms. Don’t believe me? Think about the Iphone, the biggest selling phone. It has gps, it has internet, and it’s easily tracked. You willingly give up your freedom for the phone…and no one gives it second thought. That said, consider the police in this film. The police see a weird looking car broken down on the side of the road, and they know that there are criminals on the loose. However, instead of investigating the situation, one officer calmly says “We have better things to do”. Oh really? Police negligence is now a standard in horror films. It seems that the Police never believe that anything is wrong, and it becomes the crux of 80’s horror. (Jason Series, Nightmare on Elm Street Series, Halloween) and of course tribute films: Cabin Fever, Death Sentence, Saw, Dead Silence, and of course House of 1,000 Corpses, each present a familiar stench of police carelessness or disbelief of sorts. None greater than this film’s stupid cops letting escapees go without a warning; the scariest thing to me is not police brutality, but more over the fact that the police might get so tired of people calling them out on things that they won’t help us when we need them, even if it doesn’t look like we need help initially. Sure, some might say that the small move at the beginning of this film isn’t scary, the bigger picture of cops not caring is something that is scary. The subtle negligence of the cops leads to a far scarier world for the women involved and even at the end…a scary moment in film cinema and oftentimes unnoticed by callous reviewers.
The second scary thing in this film is much more subtle then the first. I would like to call this part the “what now” part of the film. The parents exact their revenge, things get out of hand and the police finally show up, but are way too late and stupid anyways, but the parents are left with the “what now” stare as the film closes. What now is right! You got your revenge, you have avenged your daughter’s death, you are a big man right? You’re big, right? NO. You dumb idiot, you are just like them, sadistic in your revenge, horrible in your return of violence to those that harmed you, and that is scary. Human emotional response is so hard to swallow if the implied reaction to losing a loved one is to kill the villain! Seriously, think about that for a moment. If you lose someone to a tragic murder, and actually get them back, you don’t feel justified, you don’t feel good. Do you? I don’t know. The look on the parents faces at the end of the film tell it all, and Craven could’ve done a great deed with allowing the camera to fade and give us a sad musical number at the end. Instead, we get some hokey country song and stupid television show credits. The scary part of the film is how extreme the revenge is. We’re talking about gore, and extreme chainsaw action! This is pre-Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974 by the way) and while we don’t see the overtly gorey situation, your imagination runs forward and you imagine the gore take flight; which is a scary thing on its own. What’s scarier, the gore effects of the actions? Or the fact that these people are so quick to react in this fashion; at no point do they call the cops, they just go for the gusto, and win! But nobody wins, and maybe that’s the broader message.
Now let’s get back to our own time.
Looking back this film is not overtly extreme. It doesn’t show you a lot of gore, it doesn’t give you the whole enchilada (mmmmMMmmm) right away. Seriously, it’s not that bad. We’ve seen far more gore in our recent years than ever before, and by today’s standard this film isn’t that good. It has it’s moments. It gets extremely scary when the lights go out and you have the dad with a shotgun trying to kill the captors! The lighting and shadows of that scene are still stirring after you finish watching the film, and it’s more scary to not see the sequence, then to have it well lit.
The Last House on the Left is going to get a remake, and after seeing the original again, maybe it’s not so bad to get it remade. The film quality is not all there and it really can use an update, assuming they don’t change the script. I wouldn’t mind a frame for frame update like Gus Van Sant’s “Psycho” is. It might not go down like that, but it wouldn’t be so bad if it did. I highly recommend The Last House on the Left. View it twice, once with the mindset of someone that isn’t desensitized by horror, and then again with your modern eyes.
As a bonus, check out the VHS cover of this film. The director of Friday the 13th was a produce on Last House on the Left, just to clear that up. Not bad huh?
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Hellblazer, the epic comic book series from Vertigo comics, gets a full film translation in this Keanu Reeves’ science fiction horror film. Constantine is somewhat scary, but is more science fiction than true horror picture, but it does share some horrific scene’s and therefore it deserves a closer look.
Constantine follows an anti-hero by the name of John Constantine, he’s a supernatural exorcist of sorts, and is trapped between heaven and hell. The movie follows a story arc of a suicide and Constantine is called in to find out whether or not it is in fact true. Along the way we meet a slew of uncanny characters, and face death and hell.
Constantine features a lot of computer animation, but it’s done fairly well and is faithful in a lot of ways to the source material. The movie follows a good pacing between straight action and horror elements. The initial sequences of exorcism are definitely poignant in their creepiness. The fear in the eyes of what I can only assume are Latino immigrants seems genuine, and the effects and textures involved are top notch, creating a very surreal and horrific situation that rivals any of the “Exorcist” films. The demon in the mirror takes away from the dramatic scene, but up to that point it’s quite the frantic exorcism.
The trip to hell is another great piece of technical green screen work. Constantine’s trip to hell leaves him smoky and ridiculous. This part of the film is like reading Dante’s Inferno all over again, as your imagination can’t dream up this sort of thing easily.
Constantine differentiates himself from other comic book hero’s by drinking hard liquor, smoking cigarettes, and driven into deep depression. With the “hero” moniker give to him thanks to Vertigo Comics, he has a slew of cool weapons that help him combat the evil that passes through hell onto earth.
Constantine is not without its own faults. Keanu is not a glorious actor, and while I think he does a fine job portraying John Constantine, he isn’t that great in my opinion. The comic book character lends himself more to that of “Fight Club’s” Tyler Durden and even appears to look like Brad Pitt to me. The movie has some dry spots, and some of the action sequences are really stupid. There are some physics related problems that rival some other ghost movies like “White Noise” or “Pulse”. Shia LaBeouf is in this film and while I enjoy his work here, he’s not that great in this role and that might be due in large part to Keanu’s laid back portrayal of Constantine. It seems a bit more reserved than I would expect from the Comics, which show a little more emotion.
Why Constantine is Scary:Constantine is hard to categorize as a horror film. I admit, this isn’t straight forward horror, but it has horror elements. These elements deal with the supernatural more than physical slashing and killing. At this point I will talk about a couple of scary situations that come up in this film, and finish off with the overall bigger picture. So stay with me, as I’m sure I’ll go somewhere with this, sooner than later.
The message that is sent via Constantine, is that religion and religious leanings do not protect you from demonic oppression. We see this in bold with the Priest who tries to drink himself into a stupor to avoid seeing the demons that are attacking him. His cross does not help him at all, and he eventually is killed in a liquor store as the demon doesn’t allow him to drink any of the liquor he is grabbing at. For those of you out there that are religious, or believe that religion or spirituality can help you at all, this should scare you a little bit. It is unnerving to consider that even someone who is esteemed “holy” can not thwart demonic oppression. This is far worse than an exorcist who can not exorcise a demon, because possession doesn’t necessarily infringe on the body of the priest. I know I’m reaching here, but consider the thought. The scenario I speak of for this point is directly related to the liquor store death sequence of the priest who struggles through to his death and his precious alcohol can not save him this time. Is this to also say that alcoholism is not a crutch that can save you from death? Is there subliminal messages being sent through this scenario? No. Constantine chain smokes, drinks heavy liquor and is unharmed. Is this because he’s got a higher purpose? Maybe. However, that is too far away from the initial thought that I’m trying to send across, the focal point of my initial argument is that it is scary to consider that even after you pray, read your bible, and try to seek God, the oppression of demons or even hell can come upon you and end your life, regardless of your commitment. That folks, is a scary notion.
The second scary part of Constantine, is that there are people that can not go to heaven and are rejected by hell. Constantine’s back story isn’t explained too much in this film, and those that aren’t comic book readers won’t really understand why John Constantine is doing what he does. The subplot of the film aside, we are really looking at a bigger picture. Constantine is thwarting the possession of the “Spear of Destiny” from getting into the wrong hands. If the spear gets into the wrong hands, evil will dominate the Earth and bring on hell. I like that subtle and I do mean very subtle reference to Doom 2: Hell on Earth. I’m sure it was unintentional. Back to the scary part, what if you couldn’t go to heaven and couldn’t go to hell? Rather you were stuck in between, fighting evil in hopes of someday being allowed back into heaven, that my friends, sucks and is scary.
At this point, you are probably ready to throw in the towel on this. I don’t blame you. Seriously, I’m trying hard to get this seemingly harmless film into a better light than it gets. Most people pawn this film off as a horrible comic book adaptation. It’s not so, it’s actually quite faithful to the source material, it’s just a little over the top at times. I admit, this movie isn’t for everyone, but if you think about the things that are being proposed here, your imagination can create quite a big amount of fear. That fear is probably not on the forefront of viewers that are watching Constantine, but for the sake of this site I think that Constantine is a scary film.
However, the reason that it doesn’t get a lot of credit is because our society is so jaded on religious and horror themes that this films overall dark tone just becomes another piece of the ubiquitous nature of Christianity in America. I recommend Constantine as a good piece of science fiction with a religious tone, however, I don’t think it’s that great of a film. I think it is interesting on a lot of levels, if you are open to what it has to offer. However as a horror and/or science fiction film it is tough for many viewers. If you’re an avid comic book reader, maybe consider picking up Hellblazer Volume 1 and read some good adult comic book stories with some stellar artwork.
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Today I introduce to you a new on going series of writings that I will add to the site periodically. I am titling these "Second Look" and I will take another look at previously reviewed films. The second time around I will focus not on the story and dvd as a whole but more over the tones and scary notions that I think of while watching the film or thinking about the film. These won't be as frequent as reviews, but it is an important thing for this site, as I dwell on a lot of films even after reviewing them.
Disclaimer: This second look does not mean to shove religion down anyone's throat, but rather it is a wake up call of sorts for those of you that may not question a lot of things. I'm a christian, and even in my faith I question a lot of things and don't like to just be fed dogma.
Believers is a straight to dvd movie that was directed by Daniel Myrick who directed “The Blair Witch Project”. The story is simple and straight forward, as it follows two paramedics and how they uncover an ends time cult.
The film isn’t very well made, and it was released through Raw Feed, who also did “Rest Stop”, “Sublime”, “Otis” and “Rest Stop 2”. This is the epitome of straight to dvd fair, but the horror found here is two fold and I wanted to take a second look to talk about it.
First and foremost the fear of cults is real. I’m not too scared now, but when I lived in Los Angeles, I would get visited by Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and other people trying to convince me of their religious beliefs. Now, I’m not overtly just shoving these religions down throats, and I’m not openly going to debate the religious connotations involved with all these religions, but the fact that people believe these people in droves is scary. The more you dive into these religions via books like “Kingdom of the Cults” or “Cults in Our Midst” you start to see how coerced people are that are joining these cults. This film depicts the end result, rather then the recruiting process.
Cults are nothing too new in our society. I recently saw “Witness to Jonestown” and was in near tears at points when survivors talked about the final hours of Jonestown, alongside footage of the final hours, and how gripping the whole scenario played out. If you’re not familiar with Jonestown, here’s the very condensed version: Jim Jones was a preacher that came along and convinced thousands of people that they were called to help the poor, take in widows, help others and love God. With that he started a church and gained major influence on people and politics. He then convinced his group to move to the jungles of South America and build a utopian community. All was going seemingly well until family members started to get concerned and a news crew alongside a senator flew to Jonestown and discovered some very awful things overall. What happened next was the biggest mass suicide of religious proportions in recent history. Few survived and roughly 1,000 people died. It was sad.
The idea of a diehard doomsday cult scares me and scares a lot of people. What saddens me is the fact that people jump into these things and they are sincere! They are not brain washed initially, they start with good intentions, and somehow it just snowballs. Heaven’s Gate Cult is another example that is quite scary and each of those followers died via suicide, convinced that they are going to get onto a comet. Cults are nothing new, and I recommend everyone read a little about them and not be deceived by anything out right. Do your homework! Don’t be droids, please.
The second scary issue that has been on my mind recently is the “What If?” factor that is involved with this film. The ending is not the traditional ending, as the cult was right! Sorry for spoiling it for you guys, but come on, you saw that coming if you read my review of Believers previously. The Cult warns of a coming end of the world, and as one of the paramedics closes the door we see the beginning of the comets hitting earth and the end of life as we know it. Being a Christian, I personally have heard so many debates over the book of Revelations and the “end of days”, that I have a hard time believing any new analysis of the book. I personally am putting my trust in God and not going to blindly follow any end days ideology. However, the Bible is not the only thing that talks about the end times. The Y2K scare was huge, and some were calling for the end of days, and we had nothing. But there was enough hysteria that I personally knew people that were stock piling water and supplies because things were going south fast. Books were published and I wasn’t fooled. Some thing that 2012 is going to bring the end thanks to the Mayan Calendar and most likely won’t inspire the end. Myself being alive for whatever the end of the world is, scares me a great deal. I don’t dwell on it, but it is one of the only things in life that can make me sick to my stomach.
Believers is NOT a great film. However, taking a second look, it has enough of a push into cult behavior to trigger some messed up dreams. The what if factor, combined with the real life cults that abound, create a moody little piece of cinema, and so I recommend checking Believers at least once, and see if that closing of the door towards the end doesn’t freak you out a little bit.
As a Bonus, to lighten the mood, cults are not an old topic. They were the subject of a hilarious romp on the Simpsons! Marge ends up escaping from the clutches of “The Leader” and it was a hilarious episode from Season 9. Cults in the mainstream are also not new, as we heard of a polygamy case recently. Also do you recall Waco Texas? There was a big cult there too. Point is, we are fragile people sometimes, and this film might not be overtly about cults at large, but it made my brain think a little more than usual, and you know what? That’s why horror is important.
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Asian cinema is making some insane movies, and they are so serious on their delivery. The U.S hasn’t made anything this creepy in the last 20 years and I’m glad to say that they haven’t remade this one just yet.
Audition follows a normal businessman who seeks a wife via an unorthodox search. He holds auditions to find an actress, but really what he is looking for is a new mate. The women come in one by one, and our main character Shigeharu Aoyama is fascinated by this seemingly quiet, and reserved woman Asami. He then searches her background only to find out that Asami is an insane and deeply frightening person.
Takashi Miike creates such a deadpan and moody atmosphere with this film. The shots and photography are so bright and surreal, and remind me a lot of “Lost in Translation” at times, with long shots of translucent light, or washed out Japanese business culture, and it’s weird to consider that this is a real world (Japan), because I live so far away from it. I don’t know if it’s really like that, but the place just seems so far away and this mood is a credit to the director and cinematographer.
Sound is a key to this film as you don’t see a lot of the gore. People want to say that this film is deeply disturbing for its blood and gore, but there is none. This movie is grotesque due to the man in the sack. There is a severely crippled and sickening dude in a bag that is fed vomit, and the movie doesn’t hold back, as you watch this unfold with unflinching action. This is probably the sickest thing that most American horror fans have seen in a long time, as the film came out in 1999 and really hit the ground running amongst hardcore fanatics. This is done with such careful photography and intelligence that it rivals the sick scenes from “Old Boy” and “Perth” for insanity and photography. These are so beautiful in their grotesque and hardcore manner, that you will probably feel a bit conflicted in how it unfolds.
The pacing of the film will leave a lot of people bored. This film, at least when I saw it, wasn’t dubbed into English. You have to read the text and it’s so calm at times. Like I previously noted, there is a lot of stillness and calm to the film, and the tension builds quite nicely. It seriously plays with your emotions and conditions, as it tries really hard to make sure your heart rate is not too crazy by the time it pulls the carpet from under you. It’s a slow search initially, and there is not a ton of action, much like “Hard Candy” or “High Tension” it leads you down one path, only to make a loud noise on another plane that you didn’t expect coming. This is done so well that you start to wonder when the gore is coming or when the death toll is going to rise. You expect this film, due in large part to how much people have talked about it, to slap you in the face and grab you by the shirt, but it warms up to you with some long winded shots and low level sounds.
Why Audition is Scary:Audition scares the crap out of you, not because of the grotesque vomit eating bagged human, but because of what happens. How trusting are we? Sometimes love blinds us so much that we allow people too much access. This movie is a prime example of that. The main character goes a long way to find out about this woman that he has painstakingly searched for and it comes back to really bite him in the end. The woman that he’s fantasizing about turns up in his house, drugs him, and proceeds to cut his limbs off with such great glee and ease. This methodical and medical dissection of the main character is genius and is overtly scary in the way it plays out. Our main character can not scream and just tries to escape from his body and endure.
He is saved by his son in the end, and we see the death of our villain, but the damage has been done by the time the credits roll. Audition plays on our fear of the internet age, even if it wasn’t the intention of the director and screenplay writer. Consider how many times people find love online and they don’t know the person, yet they are so trusting through the course of their relationship. Not just that, consider the fact that many serial killers were very good at convincing women and/or lovers to trust them. This kind of behavior is also seen in films such as “Fear”, “Gacy”, “Ted Bundy” and even “The Silence of the Lambs” where our psychotic villains convince the world around them to trust them until they snap and show their true colors. Audition does this in such a smart way, through the course of the film, only to find the main character in a deadly game.
Audition is scary because it is a model of us. Sometimes we are so desperate to gain companionship or love, that we will blind ourselves to outside influence and allow others to not only speak into our lives but put ourselves into dangerous situations all in the course of this courtship. I’m not saying that Aoyama deserves this, but he slowly lets his guard down until he puts himself into this very dangerous position, and only by sheer luck of his son coming home to find him in a dire position, does he see salvation from what surely will be his death, if not a far worse future. Beauty is deceitful, and life has a lot of layers that people try to hide, Aoyama doesn’t realize this through his search for a mate in a very unorthodox way.
Audition is a nightmare in a lot of ways. It’s so subtle at times, but it also provides such a heavy handed and grotesque human condition, that by the time the apex of tension hits, you’re already putty in your seat and the director has your heart racing. This is not supernatural, and that’s what makes it so scary. Audition is a great piece of Asian horror, and is a welcome addition to horror fans across the world. It is unflinching in its disdain for human brevity, but at the same time has enough gusto to guide your imagination into seeing what may not really be there. Audition is a scary movie, there’s no argument there, and I hope that the U.S horror community doesn’t touch it or remake it, because it won’t work.
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Clive Barker really got shortchanged with Midnight Meat Train, but here is something that is going to make believers out of a lot of people; Clive Barker presents Book of Blood and we've got the poster alongside the trailer! This is looking awesome!
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The Fly is a slice of science fiction horror, and rightfully so, with its overt technological twist and clever acting by Jeff Goldblum, The Fly is quite scary and far fetched in 1986, but now?
The Fly is about a scientist working on a teleportation device, who accidentally splices his dna code with that of a fly. He then slowly transforms into a super human, then digresses into a full sized fly!
Jeff Goldblum plays the scientist role well and he legitimately sounds smart. He sounds just as smart here as he did in “The Life Aquatic”, “Jurassic Park” or even “Igby Goes Down”. Geena Davis is ok as the love interest and journalist, but Goldblum carries most of the film with his slow transformation into a mad scientist and eventual transformation of the fly.
The film is a straightforward love story and things aren’t really scary initially, but when the Scientist can’t seem to get his teleportation pods to transfer living things, he starts to really get obsessive. His obsession turns deadly when he slowly deteriorates into a full scale monster. Initially he isolates himself, wanting no one to see him, but then he allows his love interest to see him and things start go get really bad at this point as he is falling apart into a zombie like state, and his attempts to reverse the process don’t work at all. To throw a wrench into the machine, Veronica (Davis) is pregnant and now Brundle (Goldblum) is dead set on fusing everyone together to be one!
There are a few jump scenes here and there including one terrible birth scene where Veronica delivers a maggot! Then we get the horrific final transformation scenes which are a credit to the visual effects of the time. The film was made in 1986 and some of the electricity and make up effects are ahead of its time completely, and a great example of how you can mix grotesque with art, without sacrificing terror.
The director is notorious for showing you the complexities of the human emotion, and just like he did in “Videodrome” he once again plays the “Jeckyl and Hyde” angle with the scientist growing deeper and deeper into psychosis. Cronenberg did the same thing in “The Dead Zone” although with less grotesque characters and plot endings. This however is a whole different “beast” to say the least.
Why The Fly is Scary:The Fly seems laughable now, but in 1986 the world of transportation and scientific discovery was still rampant. Not only were movies being produced in regards to time travel “Back to the Future” there was also a lot to be discovered in the world of biochemistry. If the notion of time traveling and teleportation really don’t scare you at all, then the scary parts maybe reconciled to something you may not have considered previously.
The idea that the monster really grows mentally from desperation and loss of ones own mind is a scary idea. If you were given super human abilities would you also lose it? If you then found out that you had a child on the way with someone you loved, would you not fight to stick around a little longer? Furthermore, is the destruction of ones outer appearance really a catalyst for an interior demise? These questions need to be asked in order to properly dissect the films scary notions. The human mind is a lot more scary than just seeing the fly emerge from the chamber and start to kill or become sickening to look at.
The scariest thing besides the human emotion of desperation, fear, and trauma has to be the fact that we don’t really hear about rogue scientists in today’s culture. It seems to be an archetype that lived well in the era where you couldn’t get information immediately delivered to you. Is this to say that the internet is to blame for the decline in popularity of the mad scientist? I think it is plausible if you think about it. Prior to the internet and instant satisfaction and delivery of information, it seems that the world always viewed science in a scary light. Consider Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, where the Scientist’s obsession with his projects helps him create life. Consider also Lovecraft and his tales of reanimation, or the constant pummeling of robotic empire uprisings that paved the way to the United States’ fear of anything robotic like in “I Robot”, “Terminator”, “Total Recall”, “Robocop”, “Westworld” and many other examples of film and television where the main concern is a robotic takeover. Fear of the unknown aside, the sheer fact that anytime a mutation occurs that mixes the dna with human or creates a new strand of dna for an animal they automatically must attack to survive. Oh and if the animal is peaceful or wants to be left alone, man still marches to their lair and tries to snuff them out anyways; all in the name of fear. This last point occurs prominently in the horror and thriller region, as well as all vampire films. The reason why it is scary is not so much that we are not getting a lot of films based on this “mad scientist” idea as much as we are learning to trust scientists way too much, and when there is no healthy skepticism, that’s when bad stuff happens like global pandemics.
Why fear robots and not scientists? Why fear dna mutations? Because The FLY! The Fly was scary in 1986 due in large part to the grotesque nature of the half human half fly. Not only that, we got to see that flies are disgusting creatures by having a human sized fly come to life. Now I’m grossed out by flies, and poop, but that’s for another day. I recommend The Fly as a healthy science fiction horror film, but it might not be as scary as it was when I was 3 years old in 1986. The Fly also spawned an ill fated sequel, but the first initial installment was quite the creature feature 22 years ago.
Oh and yes, I have seen "The Fly (1958)" and the sequels that spawned. I'll review those set of films at a latter date. Don't fret.
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