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Monthly Archives: April 2012

Trailer of The Day: The Dark Knight Rises

Apr 30

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Reblogged from Its Latin for Cookies!:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqi80y_trailbmdkr_fun

This is the trailer set to premiere in front of the Avengers movie this Friday and that fans could get a sneak peak of by unlocking screens of it on the official TDR movie site. My nerdgasm after watching this was quite explosive.

Please hurry July 20, please hurry July 20!!
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DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW

Apr 29

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DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW-United States-Made for TV-1981

Directed by Frank De Felitta

Screenplay by J.D. Feigelson

Story by J.D. Feigelson and Butler Handcock

We’re rednecks, we’re rednecks

We don’t know our ass from a hole in the ground

We’re rednecks, we’re rednecks….

-Randy Newman

Forget about this film being a TV movie; Dark Night of the Scarecrow is as scary as any theatrical film you are likely to see. This gem of a horror film about four stupid rednecks that gun down a defenseless and innocent mentally challenged man in cold blood, only to be picked off one by one by an unseen killer is the real deal. Director Frank De Felitta lets the tension build up and that only serves to make the scenes that we don’t see all the creepier. Remember, this is television in 1981; so they can’t actually show a guy getting chewed up by a wood chipper or the rotting corpse of a dead man. Everything has to be implied and that is exactly what makes this film a strong entry in the horror genre. Writer J.D. Feigelson gives us a teleplay that brought to my mind the demons that haunted my southern upbringing as I was growing up in the 1970’s and 1980’s. The characters in the film may look different and act different, but I was reminded of the crimes of Donald “Pee Wee” Gaskins and of the Gaffney Strangler, both serial murderers of the South in the past. Don’t misunderstand me; the film has nothing to do with them. It merely revives those old memories of my past.

Charles Durning is redneck sleaze as the leader of the bigoted vigilante mob that brings about an end to the life of the innocent Bubba Ritter. I don’t think there’s any part that Durning can’t play. Quite frankly I believe he was unfairly looked over for a Best Supporting actor Oscar for “Tootsie.”

Although his role is short, Larry Drake reminds us all why he was picked to play the role of Benny Stulwicz on L.A. Law. Drake was so convincing in the role (as he is here), that people actually treated him as if he was slow. That is the sign of a talented actor.

Finally, Dark Night of the Scarecrow keeps us guessing as to the identity of the mysterious and unseen killer. We are given suspects, but one by one they are eliminated. That makes perfect sense. After all, doesn’t not knowing seem scarier than the truth? Oh, and not to mention a final scene that sent chills down my spine.

TRIVIA

Strother Martin was originally scheduled to play the part of Otis Hazelrig, but passed away before the film could be made. However, a few lines of script suggested by Martin remained in the final film, but spoken by Charles Durning, who eventually played the part.

Charles Durning did most of his own stunts of the climatic chase scene when he’s running away from the tractor. A double can be seen for a few shots with darker hair.

All the nocturnal scenes were shot night for night.

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Posted in Films Released in 1981, Made For TV Movies, Movies, Revenge Horror Films

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TIME AFTER TIME

Apr 29

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TIME AFTER TIME-United States-1979

David Warner as Jack the Ripper aka John Leslie Stevensen

Directed by Nicholas Meyer

Story by Steve Hayes

Written by Nicholas Meyer

Based on the novel by Karl Alexander

H.G. Wells travels across time in pursuit of Jack the Ripper in the granddaddy of all mashups, Time After Time. Yes, I know the term applies more to computer jargon than it does to movies, but what else can you call it? A film that combines the science fiction of Wells and the true life horror of the Ripper can only be described as a mashup. What’s amazing about it is that on paper the whole thing sounds like absolute rubbish. Don’t let that fool you; Time After Time is one of the most intriguing and entertaining films, not to mention one of the most underrated.

Malcolm McDowell is brilliant as Wells, a man who wants so badly to believe in a futuristic utopian society. Wells is quite literally a man out of time as he searches for the Ripper in 1979 San Francisco. Everything is new to him, from McDonalds to taxicabs. The scene where Wells hails a taxi by mimicking the actions of the woman before him is hilarious. Wells is assisted in his quest by the always talented and lovely Mary Steenburgen. Every time I’ve watched Time After Time I become a fan of hers all over again.

Equally brilliant is David Warner in the role of John Leslie Stevenson aka ‘Jack the Ripper’. As much as Wells is completely out of place in 1979, Stevenson is more at home than he ever was in London of 1888. In the 2001 film “From Hell”, the Ripper tells Inspector Abberline that ‘men will say I gave birth to the 20th century.’ What makes that quote so amazing is that it took a science fiction/horror hybrid from 1979 to prove it right. Serial killers, war, bullying, hate crimes; Jack the Ripper truly did give birth to the 20th century.

TRIVIA

The movie theater where Wells and Amy see the film was the same one which showed The Exorcist in an exclusive engagement. The infamous San Francisco serial killer, Zodiac, saw the film there, too.

The movie’s title inspired Cyndi Lauper‘s song “Time After Time”, when she browsed a copy of TVGuide for “imaginary song titles”.

Corey Feldman’s first film role.

Nicholas Meyer’s first choice to play the Ripper was Edward Fox. Mick Jagger also considered for the part, but Meyer couldn’t see Mick Jagger convincingly playing a Harley Street surgeon.

The tune played by Jack the Ripper’s Pocket watch is based on Chants d’Auvergne, “The Spinner”.

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Posted in Films Released in 1979, Movies, Sci-Fi/Horror Hybrids

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THE INNKEEPERS

Apr 27

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THE INNKEEPERS-United States-2011

Sara Paxton as Claire

Pat Healy as Luke

Kelly McGillis as Leanne Rease-Jones

Written and Directed by Ti West

With a ghost story, it’s all about the pacing. You have to keep the audience at a near breaking point of suspense, or else you will lose them. The tension has to be stretched to that specific point where they want to turn their eyes away from the screen; yet at the same time there is nothing they want more than to see what happens next. The Innkeepers, the latest film from The House of the Devil director Ti West, builds up the suspense and the tension to the point of where you feel that your mind is twisted like rubber. You’re stretched so tightly that just one more thing will send you over the edge.

The Innkeepers is the story of two hotel clerks, Luke and Claire, and their last weekend at the Yankee Pedlar Inn. The inn is going out of business and with only a small handful of guests the two of them decide it would be a perfect time to find out if the inn is haunted. Did a woman named Madeline O’Malley hang herself at the Yankee Pedlar? Is her ghost doomed to remain there? Will Luke and Claire find the answers they’re looking for? What, are you waiting for me to answer the questions? I mean, seriously, I just review the films. If you want an entire plot synopsis then go to Wikipedia. Better yet, watch the movie.

All joking aside, The Innkeepers is a winner. Sara Paxton and Luke Healy are both very good in their titular roles and Kelly McGillis has a reserved and eerie charm as one the hotel’s final living guests. In my opinion, Ti West is a director to watch. The Innkeepers and the House of the Devil are excellent horror films; but I get the feeling there’s greatness right around the corner. He need only take his time. After all, it’s all about the pacing.

NO TRIVIA

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Posted in Films Released in 2011, Ghost Films, Movies

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TRIANGLE

Apr 26

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TRIANGLE-United Kingdom/Australia-2009

Melissa George as Jess

Henry Nixon as Downey

Emma Lung as Heather

Liam Hemsworth as Victor

Written and directed by Christopher Smith

Triangle is a horror film disguised as a suspense film that wants to be a horror film. There are all the elements of a suspense film, but there’s enough blood and supernatural (psychological) activity to warrant calling it a horror movie. Viewing the DVD cover, I expected a movie that could be considered The Strangers at Sea. Instead I got an old Yogi Berra saying mashed up into “its deja vu all over again meets the Strangers on a boat.”

Melissa George is a single mother with an autistic child who is both a blessing and a bother to her. She loves him dearly, but she has no time to herself. She leaves him, presumably at school, to go sailing with friends. The boat is capsized during a storm and they take refuge on what appears to be an abandoned cruise ship. This is when the weird starts. If I were to tell you what happens, it would seem ridiculous. I can assure it’s not, although it may be guilty of the occasional plot hole. What I can tell you is that Triangle is an entertaining film that has you wondering in circles up to and including the very end. In fact, I believe it’s safe to say that Yogi Berra would have been very proud. It is indeed deja vu all over again.

TRIVIA

Lindsay Lohan was rumored to play the lead role. Martin Henderson was also considered for a role in this film.

The film makes many oblique references to The Shining. The number 237 crops up, which was the same number of the spooky hotel room Danny was forbidden to go into; there are also words written on a mirror, a ballroom and an axe.

It is possible to see the set of the ship at Southport Spit, Southport, Queensland, Australia on Google Earth. The exact coordinates are -27.97293,153.426902.

½

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Posted in Australian Horror Films, British Horror Films, Films Released in 2009, Movies

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TROLLHUNTER

Apr 25

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TROLLHUNTER-Norway-2010

Otto Jespersen as Hans,trolljegeren

Glenn Erland Tosterud as Thomas

Johanna Mørck as Johanna

Tomas Alf Larsen as Kalle

Directed by André Øvredal

Written by  André Øvredal and Håvard S. Johansen

Leave it to the Norwegians to make a mockumentary about a trio of college students who follow a guy around while he hunts and kills trolls. Here in America we get Bigfoot and the Blair Witch. Well, I guess Norway had to compete with us somehow or another. I’m not being racist or xenophobic here; I’m just saying that nobody does troll hunting like some big bearded Norwegian named Hans. I’m serious as a heart attack here. Just follow the guy around and you will learn all kinds of troll information. For instance, did you know that trolls eat Christians? There is a scene in this very movie where Hans plays ‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus‘ on the loudspeaker and this big freaking  troll gets all sex nuts and retard strong and starts chasing him. Another poor Christian fella gets eaten alive! I am not kidding and I am not making fun of Christians; I’m just stating the stone cold Gospel according to trolls.

Do you know why they put up those big metal towers with the super-duper high voltage power lines? It sure as hell isn’t to keep your curling iron running. It’s to keep trolls out of populated areas. Also did you know that are two classes of Trolls? There are Mountain trolls and there are woodland trolls. But after that there are several sub-classes within the two classes. Did you know that when you kill a troll it either turns to stone or explodes, depending on its age? You didn’t know that? What in the hell would you people do without me? Oh wait, don’t answer that. You’d just watch Trollhunter and find out all this info.

Anyway, I’m having fun with this review because I get the odd feeling that the filmmakers had a lot of fun making Trollhunter. The film plants its tongue so deeply into its cheek that it grows roots. There’s even a ‘we found this footage, but we didn’t find the people who shot it’ type of disclaimer at the beginning and the end of the film. Plus, if you’re up on your entire childhood fairy tales there’s a fantastic homage to one involving three billy goats.

I don’t have a lot to gripe about with Trollhunter. My only problem with the film is that it’s too long and tends to drag a little at the end. Other than that, it’s a pretty damn good little movie. Now if you will excuse me I need to do some troll research on Wikipedia.

TRIVIA

Summit Entertainment bought the rights to produce an American remake before this film’s initial release.

The HDDs used by the students are LaCie Rugged portable drives.

½

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Posted in Films Released in 2010, Foreign Horror Films, Movies, Norwegian Horror Films

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THE ASPHYX

Apr 24

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THE ASPHYX-United Kingdom-1973

Robert Stephens as Sir Hugo Cunningham

Robert Powell as Giles Cunningham

Directed by Peter Newbrook

Written by Brian Comport

Based on a story by Christina Beers and Laurence Beers

In 1982 I had been discharged from the United States Air Force and was living in Plattsburgh, a small town in upstate New York. I met a young man there who was the film critic for the local newspaper. We became good friends as it seemed that we were both fans of horror films. My friend owned an 8mm projector and every Friday night at a local bar whose name I cannot remember he would show a different film. Because of him I was able to see films such as Brides of Dracula, Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter and the film that is the subject of this review, The Asphyx.

The Asphyx can only be declared as a cautionary tale. If immortality were in our reach as it is for Sir Hugo Cunningham, would we be wise to accept it? As he photographs a person at the precise moment of death, Sir Hugo notices a dark smudge on three different photographs that were all taken with different equipment and at different times by different photographers. Hugo comes to the conclusion that the smudge is the person’s soul, or Asphyx; and that if he can trap it and control it that the person will become immortal.

The film raises the question of immortality and whether or not we have the right to achieve it; and if we do then at what price? We would never die, but we would watch as our loved ones pass away one by one until we are alone. I for one cannot say that I would want such a thing. What of remorse or guilt? Isn’t death supposed to be the final end to those emotions? The Asphyx asks these questions within its story line, but it leaves us to form our own conclusions. Personally, I feel that’s the best thing it could have done.

Looking back, after I left Plattsburgh I lost contact with my friend. I hope he is doing well. I miss those Friday nights with Dracula, Captain Kronos and of course, The Asphyx. I wonder if this review is my way of thanking him.

NO TRIVIA

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SCREAM OF THE BANSHEE

Apr 23

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SCREAM OF THE BANSHEE-United States-Made for TV-2011

Laura Holly as Professor Isla Whelan

Lance Henriksen as Broderick Duncan

Directed by Steven C. Miller

Written by Anthony C. Ferrante

Story by Anthony C. Ferrante and Jacob Hair

BAD MOVIE!! BAD MOVIE!! Sorry, I had to smack this one on the nose with a rolled up newspaper. The damn thing pissed all over my carpet. I guess that’s what I get when I watch a movie with the SyFy label on it. Fucking trickster; it had the After Dark label on it, too. That’s what made me give it a chance. It’s like George Bush said: After Dark kind of good, SyFy very bad.

A bunch of Irish Knights from the 12th century trap a banshee and a group of dumbass archaeological students and their professor let it loose in this piece of shit movie. After they let it loose they have to figure out how to trap it. That’s the whole damn plot of this movie. This thing is so bad my mind began to wander all over the place. Scream of the Banshee is directed by Steven C. Miller so I thought Steve Miller and was hoping they would play ‘Jet Airliner’ or maybe ‘The Joker’ in the movie. I see Lauren Holly and start thinking about the very first time I saw her on Picket Fences. She was wearing a black bikini and bringing chocolate cake in a dream to the sheriff’s son. That memory caused an odd side effect that I will not go into further detail about. Oh, look, Lance Henriksen is in this movie. The DVD box says “Lauren Holly and Lance Henriksen”; so you would think he would be in the damn movie for more than five minutes.

The banshee looks like the Wicked Witch of the West after somebody dropped a giant box of oatmeal on her head. Yes folks, it is official; this movie sucks worse than a Kardashian on date night. Who said that? I said that!

NO TRIVIA

½

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Posted in After Dark Originals, Films From The After Dark Horrorfest series, Films Released in 2011, Made For TV Movies, Movies, SyFy Movies

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LADY IN WHITE

Apr 22

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LADY IN WHITE-United States-1988

Len Cariou as Phil Terragarossa

Alex Rocco (R) as Angelo 'Al' Scarlatti

Written and Directed by Frank LaLoggia

Lady in White is one of the most engaging and saddest ghost stories I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. The tale of a murdered child and the ghost of her mother and her lament as she searches fruitlessly for a child that she has lost in a horrible and violent way is a depressing yet sweet motion picture. Even watching the deleted scenes there is a feeling of sadness that one cannot escape. There is not one moment where we do not feel a loss. There is not one moment where we do not feel a longing for the days that this film represents.

So, my question is why does a film like this only receive a rating of 6.6 on the Internet Movie Database? That’s not exactly a stellar mark, even though it is an above average rating. Here’s my reasoning; Lady in White represents a time of innocence, a time when people were kinder to one another. A time when we cared for each other in an individual way and did not think only of ourselves and what was important to us. A time when being a child meant that you didn’t have to worry that someone would think about hurting you, much less act on it. A time when a family was a family and not a unit where a person was separate from their mother or their father or their son or daughter, but instead we were one and the same. A time when we didn’t have the internet, or cell phones, or anything that made life easier to live; a time when we lived life each and every day as it came to us, no matter what. A time before anger, a time before there was stress and strife.

Lukas Haas’ performance as Frankie Scarlatti, the young boy who witnesses a ghostly re-enactment of the murder of a 10 year-old little girl, gives what may well be one of the best performances of his career. Frankie is all wide-eyed wonder and he represents a time for us when we believed in ourselves and in each other and maybe, just maybe in the things that we cannot see.

I’m sorry if this review rambles. I’m sorry if it isn’t even a review at all. What I don’t apologize for is the way that I feel. Writer/director Frank LaLoggia’s only crime is that he may be too sentimental. But the final question that I ask you is why the hell is that so damn wrong? Lady in White is a film he should be proud of.

TRIVIA

Rochester, New York, native Frank LaLoggia based the film on a popular and long-standing local urban legend known as “The White Lady.” Legend has it that the White Lady had a daughter who disappeared at the hands of a predatory young suitor, and so the White Lady roams the lake front to this very day, searching for her missing daughter. The supposed residence of the White Lady is actually the base of a demolished hotel that was built in the 1800s. Known as the White Lady’s Castle, it has become a popular tourist attraction and party site for teenagers.

Director Frank LaLoggia asked his friend Richard Jay Silverthorn, who portrayed the adult Lucifer in Fear No Evil, to create a mask that Frankie would use that was “representative of Bela Lugosi’s guise in Dracula”. Compare that mask at 05:50 with the statuette of Count Dracula at 49:48. Unfortunately, this connection is lost on most viewers who, immediately on seeing it, think the mask is of Richard Nixon.

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SEE NO EVIL

Apr 20

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SEE NO EVIL-United States-2006

Glen "Kane" Jacobs as Jacob Goodnight

Christina Vidal as Christine

Directed by Gregory Dark

Written by Dan Madigan

What do you get when you cross a billion-wrestling promotion with a movie featuring one of its key Superstars and directed by a guy famous for films like “Hootermania”, “Between the Cheeks III” and “New Wave Hookers II”? You get “See No Evil”, WWE Films excursion into the horror genre starring their walking horror film Glen ‘Kane’ Jacobs; only he just goes by Kane here. Kane plays Jacob Goodnight, a pissed off 400 pound psychopath with a rusty plate screwed into his skull and a really mean looking hook and chain. Jacob’s ‘peaceful’ existence is disturbed by a group of delinquents assigned to community service to clean up the abandoned hotel he’s living in. You can only imagine what happens next. Jacob pitches in and helps the gang and becomes a much better person for it. Okay, I was just fucking with you. What the hell do you think he does? He slaughters them. The worst is when one of the delinquents tells him that wrestling is faked. Yeeesh!! Okay, just kidding there, too.

There’s a subplot involving two of the gang trying to find some money hidden in the walls that goes nowhere. Not only that, but the women in the film all look like they’re trying to pose when they stand still for any length of time. Let’s also not forget all the double entendres in this film. I guess that’s what happens when you hire a porno director to make your horror movie.

But seriously, did the WWE have to get a guy known for porno movies to helm this film? There are thousands of able-bodied directors just dying to get their shot at the big time and they hire a guy that’s the cinematic equivalent to a pimp. The movie has its moments, don’t get me wrong; I just think they would have done a lot better job hiring a legitimate director. I’m sorry if anyone disagrees with me, but to me a director who guides his actors by saying ‘Get on your knees and play with his rod’ or ‘Aim at her boobs’ is not a real filmmaker.

Next thing you know Disney will be hiring porno directors. That will bring new meaning to ‘someday my prince will come’.

TRIVIA

The tagline “This summer, evil gets Raw” refers to the WWE wrestling show Glenn Jacobs(Kane) appears on, _”WWE Monday Night RAW” (2005)_.

Jacob Goodnight’s name is never mentioned in the film. It was originally included in a monologue by Steven Vidler, but the scene ran too long and it was absentmindedly cut out.

Glenn Jacobs (Kane) has stated that the best thing about making this movie (due to the hectic amount of traveling as a professional wrestler) was the opportunity it gave him to sleep in the same bed for two months.

 

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Posted in Films Released In 2006, Movies, Slasher Films

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