Quick Look: Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)

A prequel to a prequel, Paranormal Activity 3 begins with Katie bringing a box of VHS tapes over to her sister, Kristi's house to store. On the next camera shot, the basement is ransacked and the tapes are missing. Then we see what is on the tapes. The tapes were made in 1988 when Kristi and Katie were children. Their mother's live-in boyfriend is a videographer who, like in the previous two movies, sets up video cameras around the house to investigate a series of strange occurrences, and his cameras pick up more than he bargained for.

*Spoiler Alert* There really isn't much in this film that hasn't been seen in either of the other two films. There's creepy/possesed sleepwalking, loud noises through the surround system, a girl getting pulled off camera, and the male lead becoming obsessed over the process while his girlfriend becomes exceedingly agitated. There were a couple of cool effects such as the sheet that appears behind the babysitter in the form of a classic ghost them collapsing, but other than that, nothing really new. What is new is the story of the film which tries to explain the origins of the demon that has been stalking the family since 1988. Throughout the film, Kristi speaks to an "imaginary" friend named Toby who we are led to believe is the beast. The family flees to grandma's house where the origin comes to a head. I know I warned of spoilers, but I'm not giving this one away. Sorry. You know what you're going to get with this movie, but I would still recommend catching it in the theaters if you enjoy pov horror flicks. Just like the first two installments, the film does a good job using the surround sound system to create atmosphere. And, if you haven't seen the first two movies, no problem, it does just fine as a stand alone. If you have seen the other two movies, don't expect anything new.

Happy Birthday: Winona Ryder & Richard Dreyfuss

Winona - my favorite moive of hers is Heathers

Richard - my favorite of his is Jaws

Happy Birthday: John Cleese

Of Monty Python fame...

Bob's Full Review: The Evil Dead (1981)

Principal Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor (as Hal Delrich), Betsy Baker, Theresa Tilly (as Sarah York)
Director: Sam Raimi
Genre: Horror

The Basics:  Five friends rent a cabin in the woods for a weekend of partying.  While exploring the house they find an old tape recorder and an array of ancient artifacts, including a book bound in human skin.  Listening to the tape made by the cabins previous owner, they learn that the items came from an excavation site of the ruins of an ancient city, and the book, titled “Book of the Dead,” was a record of the forest demons, the people of the city.  The recording of the cabin’s owner includes him reading a passage of the book, which turns out to be the resurrection spell that wakes the sleeping demons.  
Ash’s (Campbell) four friends are attacked by the evil spirits who use the forest to beat/rape them and posses their flesh, turning them into demonic zombie-like creatures.  
Can Ashe survive til morning?

Recommendation: Fans of indie horror and cult cinema will get into this one.  This film was not rated by the MPAA until 1994 where it got an NC17 for intense violence, blood, and gore (the DVD box lists the film as unrated.)

My Take:  This film is another good example of what can be done with a small budget and some imagination.  The estimated cost was $350,000 and what was produced was one of the true classics of horror cinema. 
This is also a good example of “claustrophobic” horror in which the people being hunted are confined to a small space and cannot escape (see James’ review of Alien.)  The cabin in the woods setting has been a staple of horror films since “Night of the Living Dead,” where they couldn’t leave because the cabin was surrounded by zombies.  The claustrophobia in this film comes from the fact that when characters try to leave the woods, they are attacked by the trees which forces them to stay in the cabin, which I found to be an effective plot device as well as a good scare factor.  
This film also shows that Raimi is not afraid to be brutal to his characters.  One girl is literally raped by the demon possessed forest and another’s face is set on fire while she is inhabited by evil spirits.  While gruesome, scenes such as these show a creative mind at work.  There are plenty of haunted cabin movies out there where the victims are merely stabbed to death and/or chopped apart by some idiotic “manic.” 
I also like the demonic take on what is essentially a zombie movie.  Even though the “Book of the Dead” goes by a different name in this film, it is based on “The Necronomicon,” which is a fictitious book invented by H.P. Lovecraft and mentioned in a number of his works published in the 1920s.  And as a matter of fact, the book was renamed Necronomicon for Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness.   Raimi does a good job weaving the elements of the occult, demonic possession and zombie horror to create a terrifying movie experience.  
Very little is actually known about the five characters.  The group is two guys, their girlfriends, and Ash’s sister.  But other than that, nothing is known about them or their lives before they go to the cabin.  In one sense, I might have wanted know a little about who I am watching die, and creating back story for a character could have led to some more horrifying means by which the demons could attack them.  On the other hand, leaving out back story helped Raimi “get on with the terror” without having to slow down the movie with what might feel like superfluous conversation.  So I’ll bow to the professional on this one.  
The make up effects in this movie were amazing given the tight budget.  Even in 1978, when the film was shot, $375,000 was not a lot to work with.  In later interviews, the actors would say that Evil Dead was a very hard movie to shoot partially because of their creature makeup, particularly the solid white contact lenses that made them blind and had to be removed after 15 minutes due to the severe discomfort.  It was also bitterly cold during principal photography and the ladies shot several outside scene in thin fabric night clothes.  
Even though Ash is the lone survivor of this movie, I would hesitate to call him the main character of the film.  Again, without back story, it is hard to establish any character as central.  I say Ash survives despite being nailed by the demon wind at the very end because of Evil Dead 2, where Ash is very clearly the hero of the picture, but I’ll save that for later.
All in all, this is a very good horror film.  Even if one does not like horror films, one must acknowledge this movie as an American classic that should be studied.

Statistics:

Cast Performance:  Good.  All five actors do a great job performing their roles without hamming it up, which occasionally happens with horror films. 

Violence/Gore: Intense.  Lots of blood and bodily harm.  Definitely not for the squeamish.

Nudity: A little.  One scene where the demon wind is peeping a girl getting undressed, and the forest rape scene are the two instances.  These add up to about 4 seconds of breast shot.  The story did not call for anything more than that.

Ambiance/Music: Effective.  We get the typical horror film score, but pair that with the creepy atmosphere, the end result racks the nerves.  The film was shot in an actual abandoned cabin in the woods, which made the atmosphere all the more chilling.  

Overall Rating: 4.5/5 on the Bob Kline Scale. 

Interesting notes: Richard DeManincor and Theresa Tilly went by different stage names for this film because they were members of the screen actors guild and would have been penalized for working on a non-union production. 
Also, the cabin where the film was shot has since burned down and the only remaining structure is the fireplace.  No one will give complete directions to its location due to the fact that fans of the film kept stealing its bricks.  

Interesting new Christian Bale film, check it out

http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/trailers/the-flowers-of-war-trailer-rhunt.php

Quick Look: Bad Lieutenant (1992)

A nice indie film directed by Abel Ferrara and starring Harvey Keitel as the title character.  In fact, we never learn his name, he is called either 'LT' or Lieutenant throughout the film.
The story takes place in New York City, with Keitel spending most of time engaging in some type of deplorable act; taking drugs, being drunk, having sex with hookers, gambling and stealing drugs, then turning around and doing business with drug dealers.  We are not supposed to feel sympathy for him, yet there is still a humanness in the portrayal that you almost feel sorry for.  Ferrara seemed to take the idea that sometimes the only thing separating a cop from the criminal, is a badge.
The deeper the gambling hole gets, and the more intoxicated Keitel seems, the more you realize what the outcome of this movie will be.  The Lieutenant also gets involved in a rape case involving a nun being attacked, and she later tells Keitel, she forgives her assailants.  He does not understand this, implying at one point he would go so far as to kill them for her - yet in the end all becomes clear.

 

Happy Birthday: Christopher Lloyd & Jeff Goldblum

Chris Lloyd - will forever be the crazy Dr. Brown from Back to the Future

Jeff Goldblum - while not one my favorite actors, he was very well cast for Jurassic Park

Full Review: Halloween II (1981)

People in the Movie:  Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis,

Director:  Rick Rosenthal

Pigeonhole:  Horror / Slasher

The Basics:  Beginning literally the moment Halloween ended, Halloween II picks right up.  Laurie Strode (Curtis) having survived Michael Myers’ attack is being taken to the hospital due to the injuries she suffered (a cut arm and fractured ankle from a fall, seen in the prior film).  Michael is still on the loose, with Dr. Loomis (Pleasence) in pursuit.  The rest of the town is in shock of the violence they are now learning took place this same evening.  We learn there is a “personal factor” as to why Michael is targeting Laurie.  The majority of the movie is spent with Michael killing his way through the hospital attempting to reach her.     

Recommendation: If you are planning on watching any more of the Halloween series, you should see this.  Semi-entertaining sequel and splatter film.  As a standalone (meaning if you had not seen the original) it could survive, but early on you would wonder how the characters got to where they are now, and why.  “R” rating is for violence, language and nudity. 

My Take: Halloween II is a very 80’s slasher cliché type of film.  Rick Rosenthal did a decent job to capture the ambiance of the original Halloween, but as far as real scares go, I was left wanting.  There was no real feeling of dread or suspense, but more like a predicable falling of dominos.  Where in Halloween the killing was almost secondary to the story, in number two the killings are what drive the movie.  There was significantly more blood splatter the second time around, and like many horror/slasher films of the time, you want to almost “predict” out loud who will be next to die. 

**spoiler alert** The only new plot information, that was even semi-interesting in number two, is that we learn Laurie Strode is Michael Myers’ sister.  She was a baby when Michael killed his older sister Judith, and soon after, the Myers’ parents are killed in a car accident, so the Strodes adopted Laurie and never told her about Michael to protect her.  However, during a flashback, Laurie does seem to remember seeing/visiting Michael at Smith’s Grove sanitarium when they were children.   This reveal was extremely weak, in my opinion, and did nothing as far as making Michael’s stalking and killing somehow more palatable.  Laurie is Michael’s sister.  Michael killed his older sister so now he has to kill his younger sister?  What a cop-out.

There was a small reference to Samhain, the Gaelic festival, in the film as Dr. Loomis is tracking Michael’s movements after he was shot in the prior movie.  Michael had written it on a blackboard in the school.  Samhain was not really addressed, but was more a foreshadowing to how the movie ends; with Michael and Dr. Loomis seen burning to death in an operating room that was leaking highly flammable oxygen and ether from some gas tanks.  Dr. Loomis believed this was the only way to stop Michael, so he ignited the gas himself.

Leading up to the ending we witnessed Michael making his way through town to the hospital, killing staff and other people, while Loomis and a deputy (the sheriff was too distraught after finding his daughter Annie dead) search for clues.  Loomis gets temporarily sidetracked as he is called back Smith’s Grove by the governor, when he conveniently learns that Laurie is Michael’s sister (he did not know this until now).  He promptly heads for the hospital for the final stand off.

Laurie’s part in the film, compared to the original, is overly simplistic.  She meets a paramedic who appears to like her; his name is Jimmy.   She spends a little amount of time in the hospital in a daze, due to a reaction to some meds (where she has the aforementioned vision about Michael), and spends the rest of the time fleeing from Michael through the hospital.  Laurie never really appeared scared, but more like it was “here we go again”.   As I noted – predictable and cliché.

Final Thought/Extras/For Fun:  According to John Carpenter and Debra Hill the creators of the original film, the Michael Myers/Laurie Strode storyline was ended to have ended at this film.  Hollywood, of course, would not allow that to happen… The Gaelic/Celtic factor is brought back up in #6 The Curse of Michael Myers…

Full Review: The Lost Boys (1987)

People in the Movie:  Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Kiefer Sutherland, Jami Gertz

Director:  Joel Schumacher

Pigeonhole:  horror / teen/ vampire / comedy

The Basics:  Two brothers Michael (Patric) and Sam (Haim) move to Santa Clara, CA, and soon discover an interesting secret; the local teen-bikers are vampires.  Michael becomes interested in girl a named Star (Gertz), whom he sees on the boardwalk one night.  She hangs out with the bikers, and so Michael gets entangled with them, soon becoming a “half-vampire”.  It’s up to Sam and his new friends Edgar (Feldman) and Alan Frog, who happen to be vampire “hunters”, to rescue Michael before his blood lust leads him to his first kill, as well as dispensing with the murderous vampire gang.   

Recommendation:  Falls into the “sexy vampire” genre and will likely have appeal to that audience.  Fans of the “2 Corey’s” movies will obviously like this, as well.  I like it for both reasons.  “R” rating is for violence.

My Take: A nice, fun flick that has some intense moments, but still mixed with enough comic relief to not take itself too seriously.  The Lost Boys also has a very good soundtrack that works very well within the movie, and is worth checking out for just the music itself.  There is nothing new in the way of vampire lore, or the “formula” of the movie, but the characters, all relatively new at that time, keep it entertaining and the story moves at a fast enough pace not to get bogged down.  I was also impressed with the vampire make-up, simple but scary looking. 

**spoiler alert** Using the term “bikers” above, I feel should be clarified; these are not black leather jacket wearing guys on Harleys, these are the rebellious 80’s teen-types (although Sutherland and Patric were both 21 at the time of filming) who ride dirt-bike motorcycles and look more like fans of Def Leppard and Bon Jovi. 

We learn early the center of activity for teens in Santa Clara is the boardwalk, which is also where it appears the vampire gang stalks their victims.  In the opening scene of the movie we witness David (Sutherland) and his 3 cohorts selecting who will be future prey for them.  The boardwalk is also where Michael first sees Star, and soon meets David and company, as well as Sam meeting Edgar and Alan Frog at a comic book shop where they work.

Michael, caving into peer pressure and wanting to be with Star, is initiated into the gang by being tricked into drinking David’s blood from an old wine bottle.  He is now a half-vampire, but will not become a full vampire until after his first kill (and feeding).  We also learn that Star and Laddie (a unisex looking kid who tags along with Star) are both half vampires.  Sam, meanwhile, meets the somewhat strange Frog brothers at the comic shop, where they want Sam to read some horror comics they claim are “survival guides”.  They are self-proclaimed vampire hunters, but we learn they have no experience actually confronting live vampires.  Sam is skeptical at first, but Michael begins to exhibit vampire-like characteristics including being translucent in a mirror, and then losing control of his ability to fly in a particularly laugh-filled scene, so Sam decides to join in the proverbial “fight” to help his brother.  I also must add that Sam and Michael’s grandpa has a very funny supporting role.

A few plot holes and criticism’s I do feel are worth mentioning:

- Santa Clara is introduced as the “murder capital of the world” in the beginning of the film, yet the vampires appear to dispose of their victim’s bodies, also evidenced by the missing persons signs and posters seen everywhere.  So the murders are not at the hands of the vampires, then?

- Laddie’s character had no point whatsoever, and why would this group of guys want a little kid vampire tagging along?  Star with their groups makes sense, but not Laddie.

- Star tells Michael that he was supposed to be her first kill the afternoon they have sex.  Does this make any sense?  Why would David want Star to kill another vampire?  Would Michael even die?  Or would his body heal itself?

- Exactly how long have Star and Laddie been half-vampires?  The movie would have us believe that Michael, after a few days, is losing control of himself, so how is it that Star and Laddie are running around just fine.

- Max, the head vampire had allegedly been in Santa Clara a long time, why were only 4 vampires, and 2 half vampires to his charge?

Final Thought/Extras/For Fun:  Santa Clara, CA is a fictional town, but based on Santa Cruz, where the movie was filmed… Feldman and Sutherland starred together previously in the movie Stand By Me… Edgar and Alan Frog are named for Edgar Allen Poe…

Classic movie quote: Dracula (1931)

(Wolves howling in the background) "Listen to them.  Children of the night.  What music they make."

Voted as the #83 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).

Happy Birthday: Jean-Claude Van Damme

Happy Birthday: Mike Judge & Michael McKean

Mike Judge- creator of Beavis and Butthead, and Office Space like 2 movies I still quote today

Michael Mckean of Spinal Tap, hello Cleveland

Full Review: Nightmare on Elm St. 4: The Dream Master (1988)

People in the Movie:  Robert Englund, Lisa Wilcox

Director:  Renny Harlin

Pigeonhole:  Horror / Teen Slasher / Comedy

The Basics:  Freddy Krueger is quickly resurrected after his “burial” in the prior film, and begins terrorizing a new group of teenagers.  Alice Johnson (Wilcox), the new protagonist, must find a way to defeat the “Dream Master”.

Recommendation:  If you are fan of the Nightmare on Elm Street series, you should see it.  Otherwise, it’s pretty much a waste of time.  As a standalone (meaning you have never seen any of the previous films) you would likely be completely lost throughout.  “R” rating is for violence, nudity, and language – and possibly poor story writing.

My Take: **spoiler alert** Kristen (now being played by Tuesday Knight), Joey and Kincaid from ‘Dream Warriors’ are quickly dispatched early in this film.  I thought this was a bit of a cop-out considering the effort put into creating, developing, and having these kids who fought and survived the prior movie, get taken out so quickly.  In a slightly bigger “movie leap”, Kristen transmits her ability bring people into her dreams to Alice right before Kristen dies at Freddy’s hand, and hence why Alice becomes the new lynchpin.

The movie unfolds with the now-typical formula; Freddy needs souls to given him his power, and he has to replace the souls he lost with his defeat in Nightmare 3.  The bodies pile up, Freddy cracks a handful of one-liners as he is killing each new teen victim, and then there is the proverbial final standoff.  The reveal, this time, is that Freddy is the Dream Master, the gate keeper of bad dreams, while Alice is the gate keeper of good dreams.  Alice shows Freddy his own reflection, “evil revealing itself, to itself” (huh?) and he is beaten again.  Until next year.

This film, much like Freddy’s Revenge, felt like a producer/studio trying to make a quick buck on the Nightmare name, without giving any thought to story, casting, or direction.  It’s to the point that Freddy’s attacks seem cliché, and what is even worse they try to rescue them with one-liners and comedy.  Freddy’s glove swimming around to the Jaws theme, then putting on sunglasses at the beach to kill Kristen, come on, seriously?      

Final Thought/Extras/For Fun:  This is the highest grossing film of the Nightmare series, which is rather sad considering the on-screen product… Patricia Arquette did not want to reprise her role as Kristen Parker, as she was pregnant at the time of filming… Wes Craven wanted to write a screenplay that somehow would involve time travel in dreams, but that got canned, so other than character credit he had little else to do with this movie…   

Full Review: Nightmare on Elm St 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

People in the Movie: Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Patricia Arquette

Director:  Chuck Russell

Pigeonhole:  horror/ teen slasher

The Basics:  Six years after the first film, Nancy Thompson (Langenkamp) returns to help the “last of the Elm Street children”, the kids of the parents who burned Freddy to death, as they are all in a psychiatric institution for various reasons related to sleep disorders.  Freddy Krueger (Englund) is back (did he ever leave?), killing teenagers in their dreams, and we learn a little more about his personal history, as well.  The bodies pile up, and once again the potential victims fight to stay awake and defeat Freddy before he collects their souls.

Recommendation:  This Nightmare installment gets decent marks for story, casting, special effects, and direction.  A must see for the Nightmare series fan, and horror fans alike.  As a standalone (meaning if you watched this without having seen the prior movies) it can work, nothing takes place that is not otherwise explained.  “R” rating is for violence, language and nudity.

My Take: This installment feels like the true sequel to #1; the story gets back to Freddy being a stalker in kids’ dreams, and Nancy returns to aid a group of teens all in a mental institution stemming from Freddy’s coming after them while they sleep.  This is the film we learn Freddy was the “bastard son of a 100 mad men”, as well.  His mother was a nun who accidentally got locked in a wing of the mental institution for the criminally insane, who was subsequently raped by many of the inmates, and became pregnant.  The ending is decent, and had the series ended here (ha-ha, like that would have happened) it would have felt complete.

 **spoiler alert**  The story opens to a girl named Kristen Parker (Arquette) who we see is crafting a model of Nancy’s old house on Elm Street.  She seems to be fighting to stay awake, but succumbs and enters a bad dream where she approaches the now abandoned Thompson house and encounters a little girl who she enters the house with.  Kristen appears to wake up and she wanders into her bathroom where Freddy now attacks her and cuts her wrist.  Her mother enters the bathroom where the audience sees Kristen holding a razor blade and her wrist is bleeding.  Kristen is sent to Westin Hills for the suicide attempt where she the meets a group of teen patients, who also happen to be slasher movie sterotypes: Joey (a teen who does not speak), Taryn (an ex-drug addict), Kincaid (a street thug type), Jennifer (a wannabe actress who self mutilates), Will (geeky type in a wheelchair) and Phillip (a sculptor/artist who sleep walks).  They are all currently under the care of Dr. Neil Gordon (Craig Wasson) and soon enters Nancy Thompson, the new hire.  Nancy, of course, quickly realizes the teens all have sleep disorders because they are the last of the previously noted “Elm St. children”, and Freddy is stalking them. 

A nice twist in this film, one that I am sure helped to overcome some writing obstacles, is that Kristen is able to pull other sleeping people into her dreams.  It is decided that they (the Elm Street kids) will use this strength to unite against Freddy – hence the title Dream Warriors (although no one ever actually refers to them as such).  This turns out to be futile as Freddy is never hurt in the dream world.  Freddy quickly begins killing the teens one at a time, usually utilizing one victim’s talents or character flaws against them and sometimes delivers a one-liner in the process.  For example, in one particularly disturbing scene, Taryn is cornered in an alley by Freddy where his fingers are now large syringes, and Taryn's track marks now turn into little mouths, she panics, and Freddy OD's her.  The best scene, in my opinion, was where Phillip appeared to be sleepwalking, but the audience sees Freddy using Phillip's veins to pull him like a marionette, before he eventually "jumps" off a building.  This was very much like the scary, intense scenes we loved from the first film.

Freddy is eventually “taken down” this time with the help of a nun who informs Neil of Freddy’s gruesome origin.  Neil is also told by the nun that Freddy’s spirit is restless because he was not buried on hallowed grounds.  So this little subplot leads Neil to Nancy’s father, the police Lt., who continues to remain skeptical about Kruger’s involvement, despite the outcome of the first film.  Lt. Thompson took Freddy’s bones and placed them in a truck of car in a junk yard.  Nancy’s father is subsequently killed while he and Neil are burying Freddy’s skeleton using holy water and a cross (which we see Freddy’s essence come apart and disappear).  The nun who aided Neil is later revealed to have been Freddy’s mother’s ghost, Amanda Krueger, aka Sister Mary Helena.   

Overall, the special effects are much more elaborate, and it works to give the audience more of a scary nightmare-like feel to it.  I like that we see Craven’s “handprints” on this film, although his full screenplay was not used.  I did not feel Nancy needed to die, the way it unfolded did not feel right to me with how the Nightmare series has played out, especially considering her role in the first film.

Final Thought/Extras/For Fun:  The hard rock band Dokken recorded the song “Dream Warriors” specifically for this movie.  This is one of the first times that a rock band recorded a song specifically for a movie, in this fashion … Laurence Fishburne has a minor role in this film as an orderly…

Happy Birthday: Tim Robbins

My favorite of his is Bull Durham with Shawshank Redemption being a close second