Very Scary Productions - Thoughts For The Month Archives 2006

SUBJECT: Some cool movies from 2005.

For my first Thoughts For The Month column of the new year I’d like to talk about some of the movies I enjoyed in the previous year. Below is a list of my Best Movies of 2005.

HORROR:

Cry Wolf - This is a movie I never expected to be putting on a best-of-the-year list. In fact, if I remember correctly my friend and I only went to see the film because there wasn’t anything more interesting playing in theaters that weekend. I had heard something about the movie and from what I could tell it sounded like a typical modern “trendy” teen slasher picture - in other words attractive teenagers being stalked by a masked killer. And apparently they had added in the technology element, in this case instant messaging and the internet, in the vein of the 2002 film FeardotCom. Well much to my surprise I found myself enjoying this very appealing mystery concerning a group of high school students at a high-class private boarding school who send out a fake E-mail about a killer supposedly stalking the campus. The plot and characters were engaging and the movie kept me guessing all the way through right up to an unexpected twist in the final moments of the film. Cry Wolf features a cast of talented young actors who play their parts well, especially Julian Morris as clever and suave new student Owen, and Lindy Booth as redheaded Dodger, a girl who is equal parts tough, clever, mysterious and sensitive. Musician/actor John Bon Jovi has a supporting role of a teacher who may or may not be involved when it appears that a real murderer has indeed begun stalking the campus. Gore hounds will probably be disappointed in this PG-13 rated effort due to the fact that there is hardly any blood to be seen. In fact the movie is edited in a quick-cut, MTV-style way. However I believe an extended cut of the film has recently been released on DVD, so there may be more graphic mayhem to be had than what was seen in theaters.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose - This was another PG-13 horror film that I found to be intriguing. The title character here is a teenage girl played by Jennifer Carpenter who purportedly became possessed while attending college and subsequently died under the care of her parish priest Father Moore (Tom Wilkinson).

Her story is told through flashbacks as Father Moore is on trial, being charged in her death. The other major player in the film is his lawyer Erin Bruner, played by Laura Linney. Erin is a career-minded professional who doesn’t believe in things like demon possession and exorcisms but must defend the priest using the possibility that these things may exist as her main arsenal of evidence. Her internal struggle with her beliefs is as much a main focus in the film as is the question of what exactly happened to Emily Rose. Emily’s life and the events leading up to her death are shown in flashbacks as testimony is put forth in the trial. Strong acting from the leads really anchors this film and makes it compelling. Laura Linney paints a full picture of her tough but increasingly questioning lawyer character, while Jennifer Carpenter gives an impressive performance in an incredibly physically demanding role. The scenes of her possession and exorcism are often truly chilling. All in all this film is perhaps two parts intense legal drama, one part horrific exorcism story which together present an absorbing tale of a shocking, tragic and mysterious death and the lives affected by it.

George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead - See my August 2005 Thoughts For The Month column to read about why I liked the fourth entry in Mr. Romero’s zombie saga.

Malevolence - This movie from Anchor Bay Entertainment is a bit of a throwback to early 1980’s slasher films like Friday the 13th. It concerns a group of bank robbers who hide out in an abandoned house in the middle

of nowhere after a robbery. Their plans go awry when it turns out a house nearby is occupied by a masked, deranged killer. The movie is generally suspenseful in the same way that many slasher films from the 1980’s were, and it’s evident before long that some of these hapless crooks are in for a gruesome demise. Because I kept thinking to myself this or that part of the movie reminded me of Friday the 13th or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or whatever, it could be called derivative. However despite this (or because of it) I mostly enjoyed the film. And the ending which explained who/what the killer was proved to be interesting enough if not entirely unpredictable. This is the type of picture that should appeal to horror fans who like films with a harder edge. It’s also nice to see a company like Anchor Bay, known primarily for their DVD releases, get a movie into wide (if brief) theatrical distribution.

NON-HORROR:

Batman Begins - Finally we are given another good Batman picture. Not since the dark and twisted Batman Returns (still a favorite of mine) has the masked crusader been this brooding and true to form. In Batman Begins the talented Christian Bale takes over the role of the Dark Knight in a movie directed by Christopher Nolan, who impressed me years ago with his unusual independent film Memento. Here he restarts the Batman franchise in a film which focuses quite heavily on the story of how a young Bruce Wayne became Batman in the first place. This movie is much less campy and comical in nature than were the two previous entries in the franchise, which is a fact that should please many fans. Christian Bale gives the role his own personal touch, as Michael Keaton did in the first two Tim Burton-directed films. He is also supported well by a high-caliber cast including Liam Neeson as his mentor, Morgan Freeman as a worker at Wayne Enterprises, screen legend Michael Caine as faithful family butler Alfred, Katie Holmes as the determined District Attorney, and Gary Oldman as an honorable cop named Jim Gordon, who will one day go on to become Police Commissioner of Gotham City. The movie also stars scene stealer Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane (aka Scarecrow). Although Scarecrow was not always the main focus in the film, his scenes were some of the most memorable because of the creepiness that the actor imbued the character with. I’m not sure whether it’s his looks or his delivery or, more likely, a combination of both, but Cillian Murphy is definitely one to watch. Additionally the movie features some stylish, if sometimes too over-the-top, action sequences. However the characters and story always remain the primary focus in this film, and although the picture ran a tad too long for my taste, this Batman is a worthy addition to the series indeed.

Derailed - This was another movie that I wound up seeing just because there was nothing more interesting playing that weekend. It was also another movie I didn’t expect to like, but wound up being pleasantly surprised with. In Derailed two married strangers named Charles and Lucinda, played by Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston, meet on a train and subsequently go on to have an affair. One night they discreetly get a room at an out-of-the-way hotel, but are rudely interrupted in their extramarital bliss by nasty thug Philippe LaRoche (Vincent Cassel), who viciously beats Charles and then presumably has his way with Lucinda. Following this the clever criminal blackmails Charles with an escalating series of threats. Now while this movie hasn’t gotten the best reception from critics, I for one found it to be interesting and for the most part unpredictable. Every time I was sure I new where things were headed there was a new wrinkle. And the things I did see coming didn’t detract much from the overall story. The lead actors here do a good job, but despite the presence of high-profile Jennifer Aniston the movie really belongs to the two male leads and the exchanges between them. Charles is a likable guy who is easy to root for even though he makes a series of bad decisions in order to protect the privacy and safety of a woman he still doesn’t know all that well, while Vincent Cassel plays a

simply nasty fellow with a French accent. There is also an unexpected twist at the end that really surprised me, but apparently may not have surprised everyone, making this the type of film that will be praised by some but easily picked apart by others. If nothing else I’d say Derailed is well worth watching just to find out which camp you fall into.

Caution: The following paragraph about “A History of Violence” contains some plot details which could be considered spoilers.

SUBJECT: Movie Recommendation: "King Kong (2005)"

Filmmaker Peter Jackson brings us another masterpiece.

It’s funny how quickly things can change sometimes. In one of my early Thoughts For The Month columns

I talked about how I rarely use this space to recommend or criticize movies. As regular readers of my column have seen however, over the past couple years I’ve begun writing more movie reviews and recommendations. This is partly because I’m such a big fan of movies, and talking about them is often just too hard to resist. Having a website makes it especially hard to resist. Another contributing factor to my writing more reviews has been because over the last five years or so more and more horror movies have been remade. As I’ve mentioned previously, I generally have mixed feelings regarding this trend, not wanting to see classic (and sometimes not-so-classic) Hollywood horror films be tarnished with a bad remake. Fortunately (and surprisingly) some of the more recent remakes have been better than expected. This brings me to the topic for this month’s column.

I have to admit that when I first heard filmmaker Peter Jackson was planning to remake King Kong

I wasn’t very excited. Although I’ve been a huge Peter Jackson fan for a long time now, well before his incredible success with the Lord of the Rings trilogy of films, King Kong was just never one of my favorite movies. When it comes to classic monsters, the continuing adventures of the mighty Godzilla

have always appealed to me more, although admittedly King Kong vs. Godzilla still remains a standout Godzilla picture in my book. Naturally though I knew I’d be going to see the new King Kong, and after coming out of the theater I was reminded once again what an incredibly talented filmmaker Peter Jackson is.

The story in this latest version of King Kong is similar to that of the earlier film versions. In 1930’s depression-era New York City an unemployed vaudeville performer named Ann Darrow is hired by Hollywood filmmaker Carl Denham to be the leading lady in his latest epic masterpiece. He also hires

a playwright named Jack Driscoll to write the script, and along with other actors and production personnel they head off on a tramp steamer in search of the mysterious and uncharted Skull Island. Once there they discover the island is inhabited by not-so-friendly natives who provide sacrifices to the giant ape King Kong. Before long the natives have captured Ann Darrow as the next sacrifice and it’s up to the crew and movie people aboard the ship to rescue her. Before that can happen however they must face all types of prehistoric dinosaurs and insects that inhabit the island, as well as King Kong himself. So goes the story for the first two-thirds of the movie, with the ending sequence being set in New York where the giant ape has been brought after being captured. It is there Carl Denham finally gets his long sought-after moment

in the spotlight, and King Kong meets his tragic fate.

There are so many things to like about this new King Kong that it’s hard to decide where to begin.

First and foremost the entire cast is exceptional, especially the leads. Naomi Watts, who came to prominence in the American Ring movies, among other films, has both natural beauty and emotional

depth that serve her well as famous damsel-in-distress Ann Darrow. Jack Black paints a vivid portrait

of an obsessed filmmaker driven towards achieving success at any cost in a portrayal that is over-the-top but never crosses the line into camp or caricature. (Although admittedly it is often humorous to watch as Denham holds onto his camera for dear life even in moments when he should be thinking more about saving his own life). And Adrien Brody provides solid support to these two in the role of Jack Driscoll,

a man whose heart belongs to the theater but who winds up becoming a larger-than-life sort of hero

trying to save Ann from the dangers around her. The supporting cast is also solid, including Thomas Kretschmann as ship Captain Englehorn, and, of course, Andy Serkis as King Kong. But more about

that later...

This film also has great action sequences, cinematography and special effects. Following a long opening where we get to know the main characters well and follow them on their adventure at sea, things really

heat up after the boat makes a rough landing at Skull Island. From here on in the film is full of hair-raising action and mayhem, from the filmmakers’ grisly encounters with the natives (some of the scariest scenes in the film) and deadly dinosaurs that inhabit the island, to Kong’s final battles with the combat planes attacking him in New York City. The dinosaur sequences in particular are nothing short of spectacular.

The computer-created beasts are as striking and vivid as anything seen in previous dinosaur epics, and the scenes where they interact with the human actors are generally smooth and believable. One extended chase scene in particular involving Ann, Kong and several T-Rex dinosaurs was particularly riveting because of its sheer inventiveness. It also provides one of the most memorable shots in the film (although there were many) where Ann winds up standing in the middle of a face-off between Kong and a nasty and determined T-Rex. Add to this a scene where our intrepid rescuers battle a nightmare forest full of creepy-crawly worms and assorted bugs, and we have a film that should delight many fans of both action and giant monster epics.

SUBJECT: The Decline of the Theatrical Movie Experience

This year I did something I haven’t done in a long, long time. This year I actually sat through the entire Oscar Awards show. Being a filmmaker and huge movie buff I suppose I have a special obligation to watch this show, considering it is a ceremony honoring the best movies, actors, directors, etc. of each year. However the fact of the matter is that I usually find it to be too long and drawn out for my tastes. Some of this probably has to do with being accustomed to the MTV-style pacing of so many programs, movies etc, and just the overall fast-paced society we live in. Another reason is that the show always airs on a Sunday night, which means Monday morning and the start of the work week is just around the bend. For whatever reason though, this year I did somehow manage to make it through the whole show, and I’m glad I did. While overall the telecast was about what I’ve come to expect from these shows, complete with emotional acceptance speeches and drawn-out musical numbers, this year I heard something that made my ears stand up. I heard comments about the merits of seeing movies on the big screen, as well as a rather sarcastic comment referring to DVD’s. If memory serves me correctly, this latter comment was about nobody considering how great some part of a movie would look on the DVD. Now normally I might not make too much of this, because everybody, including celebrities, has their opinion. However I think these comments were specifically targeted towards the increasing awareness that the Hollywood movie industry is slumping as far as theatrical box office is concerned. This is something I’ve heard a lot about and something I’ll talk about in this column.

Before I start discussing the reasons for this theatrical decline let me first say that I’m the kind of moviegoer that Hollywood could definitely use more of. For as long as I can remember I’ve gone to the movies on average once a week. To this day most of my weekends begin on Friday evening sitting in a theater (usually with a longtime friend of mine) for the latest Hollywood offering. In recent years, since the resurgence of the horror genre, I’ve been an especially happy camper. However the fact of the matter is that most people I know do not go (to the movies) half as often. In fact when I’m discussing films with people other than my filmmaker friends, or when I hear others discussing the latest theatrical releases, I most often hear comments about waiting for the DVD, or waiting until the movie comes to television. I even know several people who say they haven’t been to the movies in years. To me this is almost unimaginable, but the reality is that people just aren’t going like they used to.

Not surprisingly there are many factors involved with this decreasing attendance rate. I believe one reason is because of rising ticket prices. *As with all things price is often an important consideration, and with ticket prices now hovering just under the $10.00 mark (at least in Upstate New York), it’s easy to see why someone would be content to wait for a movie to come out on DVD rather than head to their local multiplex. Back in the 1980’s movie tickets cost a fraction of that amount, and as years have gone by they’ve steadily increased. For a whole family to make a trip to the movies it now costs a large chunk of change just for tickets alone, and if refreshments are added to the bill it can be a costly night out. Of course movie ticket prices aren’t unique in this sense, as the cost of most things have gone up over the years, but the fact that technology has given consumers cheaper alternatives to theaters makes these increased ticket prices even more detrimental to the movie industry then they might have been otherwise.

One complaint often leveled against Hollywood nowadays has been the lack of originality and new story ideas. Much has been written as of late about how sequels and remakes mostly dominate the schedule of new releases. Considering that Hollywood movies now cost enormous amounts of money to produce and market,

it’s not too surprising that major studios would lean towards sticking with proven commodities rather than risking large amounts of cash on more original, but unproven, ideas. Whether or not the trend towards recycling old ideas is a major factor in declining theater attendance is unclear, as certain types of films (such as horror movies) have actually been doing well lately with many sequels and remakes. This year’s Oscar Award winning films were not anywhere near what could be called top box-office champs, while conversely many low-budget horror films, most without the benefit of big-name Hollywood stars in their casts, performed exceedingly well in theaters. More likely once again it really comes down to simple economics, with huge marketing and production costs making it harder and harder for movies to turn a profit theatrically.

** In examining alternatives to watching a movie in theaters it’s easy to see how the popularity of DVD and pay-per-view cable, not to mention other technology that competes for a consumers’ time such as video games and computers, contributes heavily to the decrease in box office revenue. The home video explosion started with the advent of VHS tape and movie rentals, which gave viewers the option of seeing a movie at home well after a films theatrical run. Now with DVD the movies are hitting the rental and sale shelves at increasingly faster rates, making the choice to “wait for the DVD” even more appealing. And with the added storage capacity of DVD’s (not to mention the ease of use and control they offer the viewer) the extra features on many DVD releases really give the viewer a lot more content for much less money. Indeed this is most likely the reason why we were treated to remarks on the Oscars about there being no place like a theater to see a movie. My take on it is that there are truths to both sides of the argument. I still think sitting with a crowd of strangers in a darkened theater in front of a huge screen is a unique, and in many ways unmatched, experience. However sitting at home, or at a friend’s home, in front of a smaller (but ever-increasing in size) screen with DVD remote in hand is also not too shabby. The theaters still have that unique, larger-than-life quality going for them that only those with the biggest, most expensive theater-quality home projection systems can currently come close to matching. DVD’s have price going for them. And in the end economics always seems to play the most important role. Whether theatrical exhibition will remain a powerful component in Hollywood or whether it will continue in a slow and steady decline as home viewing options replace it remains to be seen. Personally I can’t imagine my weekends starting without those exciting moments of anticipation as the theater lights dim and the opening credits role.

* I believe $10.00 is something of a price ceiling for movies. I think over the years many people (myself included) have been generally willing to accept the slow, incremental increases in movie ticket prices, but now that the double digit mark has been reached any further increases will be met with increasingly slumping sales. I also think this particular dollar amount holds true as a fair ceiling figure for other entertainment items as well, such as music CD prices. However that would be a whole separate column.

** I might also point out that independent filmmakers like me represent one of those “other options” competing for consumer attention. Independent and underground film and video makers increasingly distribute their works on DVD and the internet, providing yet another alternative to viewers.

SUBJECT: What is a Horror Film anyway? - Some random thoughts.

As 2006 rolls along horror films continue to do big business at the box office. It seems that the horror film revitalization which arguably began with the Wes Craven/Kevin Williamson collaboration Scream in late 1996 still shows no signs of slowing. For the past few months just about every weekend has seen the debut of a new fright flick, and upon checking the box office numbers the following Monday, more often than not each of these movies has sat atop the chart for opening weekend gross. Actually, horror movies have been especially strong since around the second half of 2005 and have continued to gain momentum into the New Year. And it doesn’t seem to be limited to just one particular type of horror film either. Unlike in the years following the success of Scream, when self-referential horror films and movies centered on fresh-faced teen television stars were all

the rage, more recent films have been a bit more diverse. For example, the first two entries in the incredibly popular Saw movie franchise have taken blood and gore to new extremes for mainstream releases, while the recently successful release Hostel added copious amounts of nudity and sex to the mix as well. On the other end of the spectrum, a movie I really liked was the remake of the 1970’s classic When A Stranger Calls, which was definitely one of those films in the less is more category. Here we didn’t get a look at the killer until the very end of the movie, after a long series of tense, foreboding and bloodless scenes. This film also did extremely well at the box office, suggesting that no one single approach to the genre is the only formula that can be effective.

Thinking about these various approaches leads me to the question of what exactly a “Horror Film” is anyway.

The horror film genre is one that has such a plethora of categories and subcategories that it’s really surprising

so many diverse types of films could be grouped together under one inclusive label. * (Actually, that’s probably one of the reasons the word “thriller” is often employed.) When I was younger I tended to think of movies centering on monsters and the supernatural as being the primary type of film that fell under the horror category. This is probably because I grew up mainly on 80’s Slasher Films when characters like Freddy Krueger, Jason Vorhees and other masked madmen ruled movie screens and VCR’s throughout the nation. These films were often very extreme with their shocking images of blood, gore and severed body parts, and this combined with their not-quite-human monstrous killers helped cement the definition of what a horror film was. (These monsters in fact followed in a long tradition of screen monsters dating back to the early days of cinema when vampires, werewolves, mummies and other strange creatures stalked across movie screens.) However as I’ve watched more and more movies over the years I’ve come to see that the horror genre really encompasses many different styles and types of films. For example, a seminal moment came for the genre with the 1991 Oscar-Award Winning film The Silence of the Lambs, which presented a very human monster in the form of Dr. Hannibal Lecter (played fabulously by Anthony Hopkins) doing very monstrous things. Another example of this type of human monster would be Annie Wilkes (played by Kathy Bates) from the Stephen King adaptation Misery, (released a year before The Silence of the Lambs) which told the story of an obsessed fan torturing a

helpless writer. Thus movies about human psychos and Serial Killers came to be added under my now expanded umbrella encompassing what a horror film could be.

Another type of movie that sometimes falls into the horror film category is the Exploitation Film. This category

of film usually centers on gratuitous nudity and sex scenes and is primarily voyeuristic in nature. While soft-core adult dramas like the ones aired on late-night pay cable are mainly drama-oriented in nature, movies heavy on exploitation elements which contain some horrific moments often are called horror films. The so-called Scream Queen Films come to mind here. Scream Queen Films generally feature women who scream while being chased and attacked by all forms of monster, human and otherwise. They also tend to be films in which the ladies in peril often wear little or nothing in terms of clothing, which is why they are also considered exploitation films. (In fact many actresses have built entire careers around this category of film.) Some movies straddle the line and lean equally between nudity, sex and on-screen carnage. For example the Friday the 13th sequels are notorious for an overabundance of gratuitous nudity and teen sex. In fact their plots have most often depended heavily on it. Going down the budgetary ladder, films such as The Slumber Party Massacre series would also fall into this category, with groups of lovely, scantily-clad young ladies getting together and providing tempting targets for the local psycho. On that note it’s also worth mentioning that since the explosion in low-cost digital video equipment and the corresponding increase in no-budget and B-grade horror film productions, exploitation elements have played a big role in many productions. Today there are several independent production companies that successfully specialize in what could be called the sexploitation genre, often cloaked by the horror umbrella. This makes sense because nudity and sex scenes can be an easy hook for independent filmmakers to use in advertising and promotion, as well as an affordable way to compete with larger productions that often have budgets and star power on their side.

A final question I’ll ask is how comedy fits under the horror film umbrella. ** Many films that are categorized as horror films are actually more funny than scary. For example, a movie like Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive, while being one of the goriest films I’ve ever seen, is really quite hysterical and rarely one that induces gasps of fear. It’s a movie that is truly deserving of the title "Horror Comedy". For some films in fact this label is used, probably in part to attract fans who want something a bit lighter than a true “Horror Film”. Another good example of a “Horror Comedy” (and another one I liked) besides Dead Alive is the 1999 film Idle Hands.

SUBJECT: Highlights from my trip to the Chiller Theatre Summer Extravaganza 2006

The last time I wrote a column about the Chiller Theatre Toy, Model & Film Expo was May 2003, so I thought another one was due. This past weekend (the first weekend in June) I attended the Chiller Theatre Summer Extravaganza 2006, and I must say that an extravaganza is definitely what it was. The twice-a-year Chiller Theatre show is usually unmatched in sheer number of guests, and the lineup this time around was especially impressive to this film aficionado. The guest count totaled around 75 and featured actors, musicians, models, wrestlers and more, including Michael Gross, Michael Rooker, Megan Gallagher, David Hess, PJ Soles, Kane Hodder and Star Trek: The Next Generation alumni Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner (just to name but a small few). This show also marked a change of venue for the convention, with the proceedings being moved to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Secaucus, New Jersey, and a change from the month of April to June. The festival organizers had a good setup for the dealer & guest rooms in this hotel with everything being easily accessible, and I especially appreciated the fact that the Crowne Plaza has a large two-story parking garage which made parking quick and easy. I’m told that many years ago this hotel was actually the original location for the convention, so this change in venue was probably just a return to a familiar place for many convention devotees.

On this trip I drove to New Jersey with a friend of mine and met some other friends at the show. After getting our tickets my buddy and I first headed to one of the guest rooms where we spent awhile talking to singer Annabella Lwin, lead vocalist for 1980’s pop sensations Bow Wow Wow. As I mentioned in my previous column on this East Coast convention, one thing that distinguishes the Chiller Theatre show from other Horror-themed conventions is the fact that they have guests from outside the horror genre as well, including singers, classic television stars, wrestlers, etc. I’m a huge 80’s music fan in addition to being a horror film fan, so for me meeting Anabella was a great experience because it brought back memories of the early days of MTV when videos such as the Bow Wow Wow hit I Want Candy ruled the airwaves. Ms. Lwin was very friendly and personable and it was a pleasure talking with her and posing for pictures. She was also nice enough to tell us about the cover artwork for the Bow Wow Wow EP The Last of the Mohicans, which was interesting to say the least. Hopefully

I’ll get to hear more great music from this talented singer in the very near future.

Next we made our way through some of the other guest rooms where highlights included seeing live bats courtesy of the NJ Batman, and speaking to veteran actor Tom Bower, who played the gas station attendant in the recent remake of The Hills Have Eyes. For some reason I must have missed seeing the NJ Batman exhibit at past shows, so it was really interesting to see live bats up close. The nice folks in charge were good enough to tell us a bit about the particular species of bats they had with them, while I got some great photos as well.

* In another room actor Tom Bower was joined by what might be called a row of movie bad guys from such films as The Hills Have Eyes remake and Land of the Dead. It was interesting to note also that genre favorite Dee Wallace-Stone was on the other side of that same room. I'd almost forgotten that along with films such as The Howling and Cujo, she was also in the original version of The Hills Have Eyes. I’ll have to watch the 1977 original again sometime soon. As I mentioned before the number of guests at Chiller Theatre really is amazing, and one can easily spend a whole day chatting with all these diverse, talented people.

After going through the guest rooms my friend and I headed for the dealer rooms where I purchased a couple independent films on DVD at bargain basement prices as well as a very cool Friday the 13th t-shirt with a design I hadn’t seen before. There were in fact several t-shirts on display that I can’t recall having seen in the past, so it was a tough choice picking out that shirt. (I definitely have a couple Nightmare on Elm Street shirts and one Carnival of Souls shirt in the back of my mind as possible purchases for my next trip to New Jersey.) And speaking of DVD’s, it really is amazing how this format has almost completely taken over the floor space at the show nowadays. I remember years ago when I first started attending how it was mostly VHS tapes, however now the discs dominate. This of course just mirrors the market in general, with DVD’s dominating sales at retail stores, and VHS surviving mainly in rental sections (alongside DVD) in some video stores. A good thing about this is that dealers at the convention now offer some great bargains on VHS tapes.

We spent the last couple hours at the convention basically going through the rooms a second (and sometimes third) time in order to compare prices and make sure we hadn’t overlooked some hidden gem among the merchandise. After meeting back up with the rest of our group we then headed out of New Jersey back towards Upstate New York, but not before stopping at a favorite New Jersey diner on the way to discuss guests, movies and everything else that makes up the Chiller Theatre convention. All in all it was a fun-filled day. Anyone who loves horror movies, television stars, famous wrestlers, models, etc., should really head to New Jersey for this one-of-a-kind event.

* To read my review of George A. Romero's Land of the Dead see the August 2005 TFTM column.

To find out more about the convention, visit my Links page to connect to the Chiller Theatre website.

SUBJECT: Hot Summer Nights, Killer Robots, and Movies from Back in the Day - A nostalgic look back at the 1980’s horror films "Chopping Mall" and "Night of the Comet".

* In previous columns I’ve talked about the merits of digital video and how this exciting technology has helped to begin democratize moviemaking. That is, it has given people the resources needed to produce video that is of professional quality. I certainly remember back about ten years ago, when I began pursuing my dream of making movies, how the main formats available to most consumers were VHS and 8mm video. A few of my early short films were produced using these consumer camcorder formats, and I also remember vividly the primitive “pause and click” method we used for editing these movies as well. Looking at these films now I’m often amazed at how well they turned out given our limited resources. After those first few movies things began to get easier of course, as digital camcorders, computers and editing software packages came into the picture. And now with the powerful presence of the internet, movies of all types, genres and lengths produced on low-cost video from all over the world can be viewed by audiences hungry for new content. As I’ve often said, it truly is an amazing time to be an independent filmmaker. However this makes me think how different things were when I was growing up as a teenager. Back in the 1980’s I was very much unaware of how it would have ranged from difficult to impossible to make my own movies given the lack of affordable equipment available. This was okay though because at that time I hadn’t even had my first inklings about the possibility of making my own movies. However

I was a huge movie fan, and I remember how exciting it was when VCR’s and pay cable allowed me to discover some of the memorable B-movies produced during that decade. I wax nostalgic for these movies from “back in the day” now after having gotten together with some friends recently for an outdoor, summer backyard viewing (via video projector) of a couple of 1980’s horror chestnuts. Oddly enough we watched a couple films starring a couple of the same actors. Our selections were the 1986 Action/Horror/Exploitation killer-robots-on the-loose film Chopping Mall, and the more straightforward Science Fiction/Horror hybrid Night of the Comet from 1984.

Caution: The following paragraphs discussing Chopping Mall and Night of the Comet contain some plot details which could be considered spoilers.

It’s really interesting that we chose these two particular films to watch. Chopping Mall is a movie I believe I first saw on home video, probably at least a couple years after it was made. It’s one of those films that no doubt gained some cult status thanks to the home video revolution. ** The movie was directed by Jim Wynorski, who over the years has produced and/or directed a long string of action, comedy, and horror movies, many of which could be placed under the general umbrella category of Exploitation. Here he takes us to a suburban mall where a group of security robots (called Protector Robots) are being employed to protect the premises. The designer of the robots assures a captive audience that the potentially lethal machines are perfectly safe and reliable, and that a simple mall identification card is all that is needed for them to differentiate intruders from mall staff. Well it doesn’t take a genius to guess that this spells trouble for somebody other than criminals, and after a lightning storm plays havoc with the robots’ control system this quickly becomes the case for a group of teenagers working at the mall who decide to party after hours. (It’s just amazing the things lightning can do in these films, isn’t it.) First the robots kill the technicians in the control booth and then they start patrolling the mall, after which things get ugly. The teens here are what one might expect in a film such as this, and include a group of young guys and gals who mainly just think about partying and having sex, along with a couple of nerdy types. *** The most recognizable faces (at least to this horror and b-movie fan) in the group are actresses Kelli Maroney as the nerdy girl and Re-Animator co-star (and soap star) Barbara Crampton as a whiny party-girl. **** I won’t go into a play-by-play, but let me just say that this movie operates pretty much by the rules of the slasher film with the robots sitting in for the masked killer. Therefore even in a mall well-stocked with potential weapons it’s pretty obvious right from the start who is going to be dead meat and who’s most likely going to survive.

Having not seen this movie in quite some time I’d forgotten how funny and enjoyable it is. Chopping Mall really is a good example of campy, low-budget B-horror. As I said before it strictly follows the formula set down by the slasher films of the early 1980’s. And because it’s so obvious from the start, or at least as soon as the teen characters are introduced, that this formula is being strictly adhered to, the movie quickly inspires a Mystery Science Theater-type reaction. Or at least it did with the live audience I was part of. Other elements also add

to the hilarity, including the fact that the slow-moving robots are rather comical-looking and are armed with outrageous high-tech weapons (including lasers) more suitable for some kind of a war than patrolling a mall.

Add to this gratuitous nudity, signature 80’s synthesizer music, cheesy dialog, a mall well-stocked with automatic rifles and propane tanks, and a hilarious end credit shot, and one can see that this film really is made for a drive-in movie screen.

Lovely Scream Queen Kelli Maroney returned once again to grace our outdoor movie screen in the 1984 flick Night of the Comet, a story about a comet which wipes out all but a small group of humans on earth. Here Maroney and Catherine Mary Stuart star as valley girl sisters in high school who wake up to find that everybody they knew has been reduced to a pile of red dust. They later learn they were inadvertently spared that grisly fate because they had both spent the night protected by steel structures. Soon the sisters team up with a Native American man and must fight off partially exposed survivors turned into savage, cannibalistic zombies, as well as a group of desperate scientists bent on developing a serum at all costs.

Night of the Comet is a much more straightforward, serious movie than Chopping Mall, and overall is a very solid production from start to finish. Set in the 1980’s, this film features a rather creepy and believable premise, solid acting throughout, and convincing zombie makeup. The scenes with the women being pursued by the zombies are suspenseful and work effectively because of the fact that many of the ghouls are part human and part zombie and therefore twice as deadly. There are also some comical touches added that work nicely while never changing the overall grim tone of the film, such as when the girls go shopping at a suburban clothing store while dancing around to the eighties classic Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.

Like Chopping Mall, Night of the Comet is a movie that most likely found its audience on the small screen during the home video revolution. I remember I first saw this movie on pay cable, and seeing it again recently made me appreciate it all the more. While it doesn't feature any over-the-top special effects, this movie is entertaining throughout and just the kind of film to watch on a big screen with an audience of movie lovers.

Long live hot summer nights and B-horror movies from Back in the Day!

* For a discussion of the merits of digital video technology see the October 2002 TFTM column.

** Other films by Jim Wynorski include Not of This Earth (the remake with Traci Lords), Sorority House Massacre II and Hard to Die. To see his entire lengthy filmography visit The Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com).

SUBJECT: DVD Horrors Movie Review: “Night Train to Terror”

When it comes to horror movies set aboard (or involving) a train, a couple films come directly to mind. Although a scan through The Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) might reveal more titles, off hand I usually think of the 1973 Christopher Lee-Peter Cushing film Horror Express and the very cool Jamie Lee Curtis slasher film Terror Train from 1980. While going through the offerings of a recently purchased “horror classics” DVD boxed set however, I came across another entry in this subgenre that I can now add to that list. The 1985 horror movie Night Train to Terror is an anthology film that features God and Satan on a train discussing the fate of a group of people. The stories of these mortals provide the bulk of the film, while discussions between the two higher powers about their souls and a 1980’s early MTV-style band singing and dancing in the next car round out the bill. If this short description already sounds bizarre, trust me it's just the tip of the iceberg.

As white-haired, grandfatherly-looking God and sinister, smooth-talking Satan end their early discussions, they look out the window onto the first anthology segment which is The Case of Harry Billings. Harry (John Phillip Law) is a man who is involved in a car accident on his wedding night which kills his wife. The unfortunate guy wakes up in a creepy insane asylum where he is treated to shock therapy before being drugged, hypnotized

and made to kidnap innocent victims whose body parts are to be sold to medical schools by a pair of sinister doctors. As if this isn’t enough, the head psycho at the ward is a big brute named Otto (played menacingly by Richard Moll billed as Charles Moll) who has his way with the unfortunate women before slicing and dicing them up. This segment is a crazy, bloody horror romp featuring gore and body parts everywhere along with enough bare breasts and nudity to fill any exploitation film quota. The story moves along at a brisk pace and should be satisfying to those who like horror stories that don’t hold back on the carnage. Be warned however that this installment of the anthology is definitely not for the squeamish.

The second segment offers up The Case of Gretta Connors (Merideth Haze), who the off-screen narrator informs us is a musician from a small town. While working at a carnival selling popcorn to pay the bills she is picked up by a rich eccentric named George Youngmeyer and quickly given a starring role in his line of adult films. Soon after this a handsome young medical student sees Gretta in one of these films, falls instantly in love with her, and quickly lures her away from Youngmeyer to be his girlfriend. Well as one may guess this doesn’t sit well with the rich older gentleman, and he soon plans his revenge. First through finesse and then by the use of force he gets the two lovebirds to join his exclusive “death club”, which consists of him and his eccentric friends getting together playing Russian Roulette-type games. Here he hopes to eliminate the young man and here is where the real fun begins. The first game features a deadly stop-motion winged beetle, the second a giant computer (with an appropriately goofy computer voice) that sends shocks of varying intensity to the strapped-in-their-chairs participants, and the third a wrecking ball swinging overhead in a scene reminiscent of the old story The Pit and the Pendulum. The winged beetle, which is just one in a line of stop-motion and claymation characters to appear in the film, is particularly entertaining. I also liked the segment with the computer where one member of the wacko group gets fried and goes up in smoke. It’s good horrific fun to say the least and overall this story is very amusing.

Segment number three is The Case of Claire Hansen (Faith Clift), which is a story that actually revolves around a rich, handsome young man who appears not to have aged a day in hundreds of years and may be some kind of servant of Satan. Claire is a respected surgeon and wife to a Nobel Prize-winning author (Richard Moll again) who has written a book basically denouncing any forms of higher power in the universe. Claire is instructed by a priest that she must rip out the demon’s heart and place it in a sacred box in order to defeat the evil, while at the same time a detective (played by cult film actor Cameron Mitchell) is hot on the trail of the wealthy young playboy. This story somehow seems a little more serious than the preceding segments, but is however a bit muddled and meandering with too many characters. Things only really get entertaining during some of the death scenes where various characters get killed in outrageous sequences featuring stop-motion and claymation effects. Gore hounds will most likely also appreciate the final scene that has innards flying all over the room

as Claire tries to extract the demon’s heart.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I found this weird film among a boxed-set collection of “horror classics”. Whether I personally would call Night Train to Terror a classic of the horror genre is something I’m still not sure about. However I will say that it really is quite entertaining in a bizarre, cheesy kind of way. This is a movie where God and Satan are billed in the credits as Himself and Lu Sifer, respectively. And then there is the 1980’s band playing and dancing to the same song (“Everybody But You”) consistently throughout the movie. Now I’m a huge fan of all things 80’s, and I rarely ever use the word cheesy to describe the music of that decade. But if ever that word did fit a musical group it would have to be these people. However, that being said, in the bizarre universe aboard the Night Train to Terror it just seems natural that this brand of cheese would be in vogue.

One final note here: According to information found on The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) this anthology was made up of an unfinished feature film and condensed versions of two 1980’s horror films. Apparently The Case of Harry Billings was made from an unfinished feature-length movie, while The Case of Gretta Connors was edited from the 1983 film Death Wish Club, and The Case of Claire Hansen from the1980 film Cataclysm.

SUBJECT: Movie Review - "Snakes on a Plane"

I have to admit I initially missed the boat on this film. By that I mean I wasn’t aware of all the internet hype, buzz,

or whatever one wants to call it, about Snakes on a Plane. Sure the movie trailer looked interesting, but not enough to have me talking endlessly about it before the film was released. However I’m happy to say that despite it not being a movie I was highly anticipating, I found the film to be a fun and (if I may say so) pleasant surprise.

In Snakes on a Plane a young man named Sean Jones (Nathan Phillips) witnesses the brutal murder of a prosecutor at the hands of the ruthless Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson). When Mr. Kim sends men to assonate Sean, FBI agent Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson) comes to the rescue. He later boards a plane with Sean headed

for Los Angeles where Sean will testify against the villain. However Mr. Kim has other ideas and manages to

get crates on board the plane containing about 450 dangerous, poisonous snakes. As one can imagine things get pretty ugly for those aboard the flight when the snakes, which are being driven crazy by pheromones, are released. Other characters on board include a rap music star and two members of his entourage, a kick boxer,

a couple young boys taking their first flight alone, and some resourceful stewardesses, among others.

The majority of the movie focuses on snake attacks and Agent Flynn trying to find a way to save people and keep the plane from crashing.

The person I went to see this film with was expecting it to be a serious crime drama because the newspaper we looked at discussed the aforementioned crime element in the description. However despite this plotline taking up a small portion of the beginning of the movie, once the plane takes off the film definitely moves in a different direction. For me the direction became clear as soon as they showed a shot from behind of a sexy young woman in tight pants and clearly visible thong panties rushing to the bathroom to smoke and make out with her boyfriend. Once thong panty woman and her boyfriend strip and go at it we enter horror film territory, as the snakes also arrive to (of course) spoil all the fun for these two lovebirds. Following this scene total chaos ensues as the snakes begin attacking everyone in sight. Surprisingly the movie offered up quite a bit of blood and gore, along with some cringe-inducing scenes of snakes getting up-close and personal with peoples’ private parts. The nasty creatures were quite convincing and scary, probably because the shots were a nicely-done blend of real snakes, mechanical snakes, and CGI, which overall was seamless even though I knew some shots were

just too dynamic to be real. The tension is ratcheted up as the surviving characters are forced to barricade themselves in a small section of the plane, and the craft veers hopelessly out of control because of the damage the critters have caused to some circuits. At the same time however, a slight element of camp is woven throughout the film due in part to the colorful b-movie characters and dialog. Besides the now famous line by Samuel L. Jackson which he yells when he becomes frustrated by the whole situation, there are many other

lines that had me laughing hard. None of it is stupid dialog, but rather dialog that is perversely funny given the

grave situation the people are in. Overall Snakes on a Plane successfully manages to slither (pun intended) between action, horror and comedy, while thankfully never quite crossing over into total camp. I thoroughly enjoyed this film because it managed to make me jump out of my seat, laugh out loud, and (almost) cry.

Put simply, Snakes on a Plane is one of the most enjoyable b-movies I’ve seen in a long time. Kudos to Samuel L. Jackson for picking a fun project like this, and kudos also to the goods folks at New Line Cinema

for proving once again that they haven't totally lost their independent spirit.

SUBJECT: A Classic Horror Film revisited - The return of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” to the big screen this past September.

Note: The following discussion of A Nightmare on Elm Street contains some plot details which could be considered spoilers.

Those who have read through my Biography page know that I talk very fondly of the 1984 horror classic

A Nightmare on Elm Street. * In fact, to this day I still consider it my favorite horror film. I first saw the picture around 1986 on home video, about the time the second movie in the series (aptly titled A Nightmare on

Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge) had come out. Oddly enough, prior to seeing A Nightmare on Elm Street I can’t remember having had much interest in the horror genre. However this film about an average teenage girl fighting to stay alive and overcome a terrifying and seemingly unstoppable force captured my imagination. Soon after this I watched the second film in the series on video, and from that time on, starting with A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3: Dream Warriors, I looked forward to each sequel that debuted in theaters. As most know by now, the character of Freddy Krueger (played by Robert Englund) went on to become a horror film icon and is arguably one of the most compelling villains in cinema history. However for me it really was the drama and human element in that first film that made it so memorable. Now, over twenty years later, I’ve finally had the chance to do something I didn’t think I’d ever get to do...experience this 1980’s classic with an audience in a modern state of the art multiplex.

When I first saw the promotion for the screening preceding the movie trailers before Snakes on a Plane (see the September 2006 TFTM column) I was thrilled. Seeing A Nightmare on Elm Street in theaters was kind of like a daydream I’d given up on long ago. After purchasing tickets and realizing it was actually going

to happen, I was really psyched but at the same time wondering how the experience would hold up to my expectations. Would I still view the movie with the same reverence I’ve always had for it even after seeing a plethora of more modern (and bigger-budget) Hollywood films since? Would there be a big crowd at the movie theater or just a few die-hard, long-time fans? Would the audience still dig the movie? And would the film seem dated or would it hold up well? Now these may not seem like overly weighty (or even necessary) questions, but admittedly they are thoughts that crossed my mind. After all, this movie was important to me and highly influenced my viewing habits for years to come. I believe A Nightmare on Elm Street worked so well because it blended mind-bending, horrifying graphic imagery with very plausible human drama in a new and unpredictable way. For those not familiar with the film, the story is set in a suburban neighborhood where several teenaged friends are having similar scary dreams about a boogeyman who is trying to kill them. This fiend, Fred Krueger or “Freddy”, is dressed in dingy clothes, is horribly burned, and uses a homemade razor-tipped glove to terrorize them. As it turns out, he is the nightmare incarnation of a real-life murderer who was burned alive by the parents of the teens, and now this evil spirit is getting back at these people by going after their children. Unfortunately for the teens, this particular demon has the power to transcend the dream world

in that whatever he’s able to do to someone in their dreams happens physically, allowing him to continue his murderous ways even after death. As the film series would go on over the years Freddy would come more to the forefront, becoming the star of each installment and devising new and ever cleverer ways of killing. (In fact an extra feature at this screening was an approximately half-hour montage of “Freddy’s Greatest Kills”, which showcased all the death scenes throughout the Nightmare on Elm Street films). ** However in the first film Freddy was mostly in the shadows and the movie really focused on young Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp), the protagonist and “final girl”. It was a very human drama about a teenaged girl who (as was actually stated in the movie) goes through three days of hell. She witnesses the gruesome and initially unexplainable deaths of several of her friends and then must use every resource at her disposable both from within and without to fight to stay alive. She also comes to realize that her very flawed parents cannot help

her, and that there is a dark underbelly to her small suburban town which on the surface seems so bright and sunny. It was my identification with this character and her plight that kept me transfixed on this amazing story. And of course having a character one can strongly identify with and watching that character grow, in this case from innocent teenaged girl into responsible young woman who takes charge of her situation and life, is a

key element in any good storyline.

I’m happy to say that as far as horror films go this one definitely stands the test of time in most respects. The most visceral moments in the movie still retain much of their impact, particularly the deaths of Tina (Amanda Wyss) and Nancy’s boyfriend Glen (Johnny Depp). Most of the scenes where Freddy is pursuing Nancy are still as suspenseful and heart-pounding as I remember them being, and the special effects for the most part are still impressive despite the lack of CGI effects. The soundtrack also still works well and is appropriately eerie and disturbing. The scene where Freddy bursts through the large mirror on Nancy’s bedroom door and the ensuing fight they have in her room is still one of my favorite moments in the film.

One thing I noticed right away at this screening was that the audience was made up of mainly younger people - mostly teenagers from what I could gather. Although I found this to be a bit surprising, as I expected it to be mostly older, long-time fans, it was also cool to see that kids were into this movie. Also the theater was fairly full, alleviating any worries I might have had that nobody would care about seeing an older film such as this on the big screen. This also relates to my question about whether or not the film would seem dated or hold up well. Although the audience was definitely into the movie, I have to admit there were bits of laughter here and there throughout the showing. Now I’ve always felt A Nightmare on Elm Street is generally not a humorous film, with the exception of possibly a couple lines of dialogue. This movie came out 22 years ago however, and was produced on a relatively meager (by Hollywood standards anyway) budget. Comparing it to the visual sophistication of today’s movies, coupled with the sophistication of today’s moviegoers, did at times understandably make it seem dated, especially to this younger audience. I’ve witnessed this kind of reaction before, and the fact is that modern horror movies (and other genres for that matter) have to be written in an ultra-hip style in order to avoid eliciting laughter from younger audiences. It’s all about generational differences. Knowing this lessened the blow when the crowd laughed in scenes I still viewed in exactly the same way I’ve always viewed them. Overall my reverence and enjoyment of the film wasn’t impacted much by the audience, and I have to say there were even a few nuances in the movie here and there that I noticed for the very first time. I also believe, as