Constantine Review

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.

Here is a trailer for the film Constantine:



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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Second Look: Believers Review

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.

I reviewed Believers before, but today I decided to take a second look.

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.

Here’s a trailer for the movie Believers:


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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Audition Review

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.

Here is a trailer for Audition:


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's Book of Blood Poster and Trailer

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 Review

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!

Here is a trailer for The 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.

And as a bonus for you Simpsons fans, you may have noticed that The Fly was referenced as a part of The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror from Season 9 and here’s a screen grab for you guys:



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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Primer Review

This review has been bought/sold for an upcoming time travel book.

The Dead Zone Review

The Dead Zone is a 1983 movie featuring a more serious Christopher Walken and provides a very scary story, if you allow yourself to stick with it, because it is another Stephen King slow burner.

The movie surrounds a school teacher who finds himself in a car accident and sits in a coma. He then wakes up and 5 years have passed by and all of his former life situations have passed on and are different. He also notices he has a new power, the power to see a person past, present, and future by just touching them.

Here is a trailer for the 1983 Science Fiction classic The Dead Zone:


John Smith, our character, transitions into regular life however he’s nothing more than an outcast instead of a teacher. He is eventually thrown into a scary world when he helps track a serial killer who’s baffled authorities. After this he meets a politician who is going to cause a nuclear war, and he must stop him at all costs. He takes things into his own hands and even tries to get the future president Shot, and after failing at his attempt, he ends up touching him one last time to see that the future has been changed, but in the process he dies.

The Stephen King Novel “The Dead Zone” is a very large book to go through, as is most of Stephen King’s stories, and this film seems very long to me. Walken is way more serious in this movie than in recent years, and he tends to be hard to watch, considering that the movie has to take time to elapse time and show you Johnny’s transition from happy go lucky guy to fortune teller. (for lack of a better word) The length of the film is not over 2 hours, but it sure feels that way at times.

The director, David Cronenberg, definitely lends his hands to this movie with some great scenarios. He shows you the fear of human emotion is such a dry and often times lengthy transformations of human condition, and deep rooted psychological fear. One such time is the suicide attempt via a pair of scissor’s, where the camera slowly shows you the methodical and very much Asian ritualistic suicide that is to occur, but not necessarily showing you the gore that is to come.



Why The Dead Zone is Scary: The scariest part of this film is the fact that John has no control. He gets into the accident and lays there for 5 years and life goes on. One of my personal fears is that life goes on without me and I am not remembered or waited for. John’s girlfriend moves on and gets married and has children, she does not wait for him. It’s hard to ask someone to wait given the circumstances. Car Accidents so severe that you are in a coma are not TOO unlikely even today, and the reality of such things causes fear and separation amongst many horror fans.

If your visceral senses are not shaken at all by this, then consider Walken’s character and his NEW power of sorts. He now sees the future by touch, and unlike the movies where the hero is somewhat celebrated, he is shunned as a weirdo and even after he helps the Police find a killer he’s not the same teacher and tutor he once was. He’s lost his “normalcy”. Imagine if you couldn’t return to that which you were, and the focal point of your loss is due to a car accident?

Not scary for you? Then consider knowing that someone that is going to be going into power will cause the end of the world. Think of the anxiety and fear that you will have if you know something and no one believes you! Not only that, consider the pressure of having to do something, lest the world dies and you did nothing.

The Dead Zone is scary on a very human emotional level. It’s a piece of science fiction horror that doesn’t rely heavily on gore, and jump scenes but rather unfolds in a very odd and nightmarish way. It is a credit to Cronenberg for showing this film without relying on cheap ploys and letting the acting really carry the fear and shock value that is needed for this category. It’s scary to me to think that some might claim to know the future and really see the future to an extent that no one believes them. I for one would hate to know too much, because with great knowledge comes great sorrow. This is the epitome of the message found in The Dead Zone, a very scary film on an emotional level, not necessarily on a visual level. A strong adaptation to the Stephen King novel of the same name, but NOT a well paced movie. I recommend The Dead Zone for Stephen King fans and Christopher Walken fans alike, however it’s far too slow for my particular tastes. The Dead Zone offers enough science fiction and true human emotion to garner it a scary film, just not the most entertaining of films at times.



Bonus points: A great parody of The Dead Zone was featured on The Simpsons a few years back when Ned Flanders has the same ailment as our hero in this film. In the “Ned Zone” Ned Flanders must stop Homer Simpson from killing the world with a Nuclear Explosion and eventually shoots him, and doesn’t change the future after all. A much better presentation of the same idea, if you ask me.

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