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Category Archives: Films Released in 1985

FRIGHT NIGHT

Jan 14

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FRIGHT NIGHT-United States-1985

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William Ragsdale as Charley Brewster

William Ragsdale as Charley Brewster

Amanda Bearse as Amy Peterson

Amanda Bearse as Amy Peterson

Roddy McDowall as Peter Vincent

Roddy McDowall as Peter Vincent

Written and Directed by Tom Holland

Okay, so they re-made Fright Night in 2011. The remake starred Colin Farrell (Total Recall) and some other people that no one knew or cared about and it lasted at the box office about as long as a fart in a windstorm. In fact I’m pretty sure that on opening day it was windy, I passed gas and pfffttt the movie was out of theaters. But let’s just put all that aside for now and focus on a more pertinent question; why in the hell would you even bother to remake Fright Night when the 1985 original was so damn cool in the first place? It’s 9 in the morning and I worked all night; so I’m going to bed and we will continue this discussion later.

Okay, I’m back. I was discussing the un-necessity of a remake of Fright Night. In a nutshell the movie is about this horror film geek boy named Charlie Brewster (William Ragsdale, Herman’s Head, The Reaping) who discovers that his new neighbor, Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon, The Princess Bride), is indeed a bloodsucking vampire. His best friend, Evil Ed (Stephen Geoffreys, 976-Evil, Mr. Hush) and his girlfriend, Amy (Amanda Bearse, Married with Children) think he’s pretty much off his rocker. Therefore, the only one left who believes Charlie is Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall, Planet of the Apes), a reluctant and aging horror film star. The story is almost irrelevant to the level of the brass ring of coolness that Fright Night grabs a hold of and hangs on to for dear life. “You’re so cool, Brewster!!” becomes a rallying cry that Fright Night lives by frame by frame. So I ask again; why the hell do you need a remake? It’s just another example of a Hollywood that’s quickly running out of ideas.

TRIVIA

The character Peter Vincent is named for two actors well-known for their appearances in horror movies: Peter Cushing and Vincent Price.

A puppet that was created for, but not used in, another Columbia Pictures production,Ghostbusters, is visible in Fright Night.

Tom Holland had total control in the casting decisions. The only suggestion he got was from Guy McElwaine who asked Holland to meet his friend Roddy McDowall, who’d be cast. In an interview Holland said that “it was a terrific suggestion”.

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Posted in Films Released in 1985, Movies, Vampire Films

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THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD

Jul 3

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THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD-United States-1985

Clu Gulager as Burt

James Karen as Frank

Don Calfa as Ernie

Linnea Quigley as Trash (Special editing by Yours Truly :D )

Directed by Dan O’Bannon

Screenplay by Dan O’Bannon

Story by Rudy Ricci and Russell Streiner

Book by John Russo

“The Return of the Living Dead” is rock ‘n’ roll, zombies, comedy, horror and action melted down into one hell of a movie. It’s “Abbot and Costello Meet the Night of the Living Dead” and “Assault on Precinct 13” if it featured zombies and were directed by the Farrelly Brothers. This film never takes itself seriously and if you try to read too much into it or take it as anything more than a horror film with a sense of humor then you are either a complete dumb-ass with no sense of how to enjoy yourself. This movie is fun with a capital ‘F’ and there’s no two ways around it.

A deadly chemical is released into the air and pretty soon the dead have risen and are in search of one thing and thing only and that’s the brains of the living. Now, might I remind you that these re-animated sons of bitches and their life-challenged buddies don’t care to eat the rest of you; just the brains. The brains take away the pain of dying, of feeling their bodies rotting. Well, shit, that is an explanation straight from the cadaver’s mouth and I never would have thought of it. Zombies suffer the same pain I do when I pass by a TV and I hear Snookie or any one of the Kardashians and their mindless drivel. If zombies need brains and human need to get rid of zombie the answer to the equation is quite simple. Lure them to the set of a reality TV series and watch them starve to death. Everyone knows there is no nutritional value in a Kardashian or Jersey Shore cerebellum.

TRIVIA

The two heroes of the movie are names Burt and Ernie, obviously an ironic reference to the popular Sesame Street characters, right? Wrong. Turns out Dan O’Bannon didn’t know he was using the names of the two beloved children’s show’s puppets (from liner notes in the Collector’s Edition DVD).

John A. Russo wrote a script called “The Return of the Living Dead” at the same time that George A. Romero was doing Dawn of the Dead. An independent producer, Tom Fox, bought Russo’s script. He set up production and gave the script to Dan O’Bannon. O’Bannon refused to direct it as it was written. He felt that it was too much of a serious attempt at making a sequel to Night of the Living Dead, and did not want to “…intrude so directly on Romero’s turf.” It was re-written with more humor.

Some of the zombie extras were paid more to eat real calf brains in the film. Dan O’Bannon didn’t want the actors to do anything he wasn’t willing to do and ate some raw calf brains first in front of them.

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Posted in Films Released in 1985, Movies, Zombie Films

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STEPHEN KING’S SILVER BULLET

Apr 7

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STEPHEN KING’S SILVER BULLET-United States-1985

Gary Busey as Uncle Red

Everett McGill as Reverend Lowe

Directed by Daniel Attias

Screenplay by Stephen King

Based on the novella “Cycle of the Werewolf” by Stephen King

I used to read Stephen King’s books as if my very life depended on it. I literally soaked up every word of every page. Carrie, The Shining, Christine I loved each and every one of them. But I was always a little disappointed. Mr. King wrote about vampires, telekinetic teenagers, clairvoyant schoolteachers and even a haunted 1958 Plymouth Fury. But he seemed to avoid my favorite supernatural beastie, the werewolf.

Then along came a little book entitled Cycle of the Werewolf. Finally, King had penned a tiny masterpiece of lycanthropic literature. Even the premise of the story was a winner. He based the werewolf’s attacks on the lunar cycles as they tuned in with all the holidays. But the real kicker was the illustrations. Not just any illustrations, mind you; these were drawn by none other than comic book artist extraordinaire, Bernie Wrightson! Can you imagine my pleasure? I devoured that little book in one sitting.

Now, cut to a few years later when I find out there was going to be a movie based on COTW*. I was more excited than a ‘virgin on prom night’ (quote from the movie). I was ready for this one, ladies and gentlemen. Bring it on! Ah-ooooo! Werewolf time!

If this article were a movie, now would be the time where everyone is all excited and then all of a sudden you hear that sound effect of a needle scratching across a record player signaling the end of that spontaneous joy. For everything that Cycle of the Werewolf is, Silver Bullet is not. What makes it even worse is that King wrote the screenplay based on his own work. What was he thinking?

The story still revolves around paraplegic pre-teen Marty Coslaw and his discovery of a werewolf in the little town of Tarker’s Mills. Marty is portrayed by the late Corey Haim, who back in 1985 was the teen heartthrob of the day. You could pretty much see his face on the cover of Tiger Beat and 16 magazines all the time, so he was a good choice for the role of Marty as he brought a familiar face to draw the young crowd into the theater. On the feminine side, we have Megan Follows cast as Marty’s sister. To say that Megan pretty much acts rings around the grown-ups would be a gross understatement. Follows is reliable in everything she appears in and Silver Bullet is no exception.

Then we come to Gary Busey as Uncle Red. Is there an actor more qualified for the title of “Goofy as a Corn Dog”? Well, wait, there’s Charlie Sheen, so I take that back. With Busey in Silver Bullet, you have an actor who is at the end of his career as a bankable commodity. It’s too bad, really, because the man can act. As Uncle Red (Uncle Al in the novella), Busey achieves a camaraderie with the two young co-stars that is a wonder to behold. He’s good, dammit.

So, my problem is not with the acting. My problem with Silver Bullet lies in the telling of the tale. King tries to make the town of Tarker’s Mills the kind of place where everybody knows everybody and nobody has any secrets. He tries so hard to make the people of the town seem real to us that the more he tries the more they seem like actors in a movie.

The werewolf attacks are completely predictable. Each victim is foreshadowed long before their deaths. You just know the pregnant girl is going to get it. You secretly thank the beast for doing away with the loudmouth redneck. Unless you’re a six year old kid there’s just no excitement to it. Don’t even get me started on the way the werewolf looks, either. Just think Cujo meets E.T. the Extraterrestrial and you have a pretty good idea of how bad he looks. Topping it all off, there is this horrible ’80′s music from some band that doesn’t know whether it wants to be Dire Straits or Kajagoogoo.

If you love Stephen King, werewolves and scary shit, avoid Silver Bullet. If you still want to see it after all I’ve told you then don’t say I didn’t warn you.

TRIVIA

Early drafts of the film’s script, including the pressbook release, it stated that the werewolf speaks. In the actual film itself, the werewolf does not speak at anytime.

Producer Dino De Laurentiis was very unhappy with the werewolf used in the film. He was disappointed in both the way it looked and the way the costumed actor moved. This proved to be a bit of an insult to the actor wearing the suit as he was an accomplished modern dancer and was hired specifically for his movement skills.

Shooting started without a proper werewolf suit.

COTW stands for Cycle of the Werewolf and not Compulsive Obsessive Transvestites in Walgreens. Just so you know.

½

 

 

 

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Posted in Films Based on Novels or Short Stories, Films Released in 1985, Movies, Stephen King Films, Werewolf Films

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FRIDAY THE 13th PART 5: A NEW BEGINNING

Apr 26

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FRIDAY THE 13th PART 5: A NEW BEGINNING-United States-1985

Directed by Danny Steinmann

Story by Martin Kitrosser and David Cohen

Screenplay by Martin Kitrosser, David Cohen and Danny Steinmann

Would someone please tell me why this is even a part of the Friday the 13th series? Did the producers and studio bigwigs not learn anything from Halloween III: Season of the Witch? If you are going to make a Friday the 13th movie it must have Jason Voorhees in it. Not in a flashback, not in a dream sequence. Jason Voorhees must be the machete wielding, teenager hacking antagonist. Fans of this series will not settle for just any idiot wearing a hockey mask, I don’t care what reason he has for putting it on and acting like our beloved Mr. Voorhees.

Also, would someone please tell me where they got the actors for this one? Did K-mart run a blue light special on actors? I suppose since the idiots in the studio were on a roll and decided to make a Friday film without Jason, they may as well use bargain-bin actors in it, too. I mean, hey, the real Jason got to kill Crispin Glover for crying out loud. Who does this fake loser get to obliterate but some guy whose biggest acting job was the lead in his sixth grade production of “Annie, Get Your Gun”.

So, do you get the feeling I think this movie suck? You’d be right. I do think it sucks, but I’d watch it over Twilight any day of the week. Take care and stay scared, everybody!!

Trivia

The film was originally written to have Corey Feldman as the star, reprising the role of Tommy Jarvis. However, he was already working on The Goonies (1985), so the script was rewritten to have Feldman’s appearance limited to a cameo.

Tommy’s opening dream was different in the original script, and arguably made him seem more of a suspect later on. It opens as more of a continuation from the ending of the previous film – The Final Chapter – as a young Tommy is taken to the same hospital as Jason’s corpse. Then, in a sudden fit of psychotic rage, young Tommy winds up attacking half the hospital staff trying to get to the morgue and finding Jason’s bloodied body. Once he had finally found the body, Jason suddenly rises from the autopsy table. Immediately after this, the adult Tommy wakes up in the van en route to the Pinehurst house.

This is the second movie of the series in which Jason Voorhees is not the killer.

1/2

Posted in Films in the Friday The 13th Series, Films Released in 1985, Movies, Sequels, Slasher Films

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H.P. LOVECRAFT’S RE-ANIMATOR

Apr 16

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Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West

Bruce Abbott as Daniel Dan Cain

 

Barbara Crampton as Megan Halsey

 

David Gale as Dr. Carl Hill

 

  

 
Directed by Stuart Gordon  Screenplay by Dennis Paoli, William J. Norris and Stuart Gordon

Based on the story “Herbert West, Re-Animator” by H.P. Lovecraft
 
    Talk about a humdinger of a horror film! Re-Animator is one of the goriest, craziest, funniest and downright bizarre horror films of all time. I’m not sure if this movie is what H.P. Lovecraft had in mind when he wrote the original story, but this is what horror fans get and it’s exactly what horror fans want. This film puts the ‘go’ in gore and the ‘ho’ in horror.
    Herbert West is a brilliant, if slightly crazy medical student who just so happens to be doing experiments in the re-animation of dead tissue. He’s broken the six to twelve minute barrier (for keeping a dead body re-animated)  and before you know it dead cats and dead people are coming back to life, headless corpses are cavorting with pretty young co-eds and our young Mr. West is smack dab in the middle of it all.
    One of the best things about this film, besides the over the top gore and Jeffrey Comb’s wonderfully hammy acting, is the dialogue. Most of the funniest lines in the film come from Combs as Herbert West.
 
West: (At Dr. Hill’s re-animated and decapitated talking corpse) “Who’s going to believe a talking head. Get a job in a sideshow.”
West: (Again at Dr. Hill) I must say, Dr. Hill, I’m VERY disappointed in you. You steal the secret of life and death, and here you are trysting with a bubble-headed coed. You’re not even a second-rate scientist!
West: (After his roommate has discovered his cat dead.) I was busy pushing bodies around as you well know and what would a note say, Dan? “Cat dead, details later”?
    I could go on and on with the dialogue. There is just no end to the terrific one-liners that run throughout this film. Oh, and let’s not forget the best scene in the whole movie. What? You don’t know what scene I’m talking about? I’ll give you a hint: She’s naked and he’s headless. She’s strapped to a table and he’s going south. Good times.
Re-Animator is by far one of the best and goriest horror comedies to come along in quite some time. It would be 1992 and the release of Sam Raimi‘s Army of Darkness before it would find an equal.
Simply put, if Army of Darkness is the Blazing Saddles of horror comedies, then H.P. Lovecraft’s Re-Animator is the Young Frankenstein.
    Oh, and if you still don’t know what scene I’m talking about all I can say is just buy the damn movie already.
 
Trivia
 
The first man who is re-animated at the morgue (who goes on to kill the dean) is Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s body double.
The special effects department went through 25 gallons of fake blood during the shoot.
Stuart Gordon and Dennis Paoli originally intended to be faithful to H.P. Lovecraft’s story, but the film ultimately has little in common with the story, which was intended to be a parody of “Frankenstein”.
 
 
 
 

 

Posted in Films Based on Novels or Short Stories, Films Released in 1985, Movies

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