Quick Look: Tell No One (2006)

Tell No One is an excellent French film, that I highly recommend seeing.  It is based on the book of the same name, written by American author Harlan Coben.  It is directed by Guillaume Canet, and stars Francois Cluzet and Marie-Josee Croze.  It is not rated, but I would treat like an 'R' for language, violence, and brief nudity.  The language spoken is French.

Alexandre Beck (Cluzet) is arriving at a depressing anniversary.  It has been 8 years since his wife Margot (Croze) was murdered, and the killer was never caught.  He is portrayed as a man ready to move on, but with still a touch of grieving widow.  Except something strange happens on the anniversary day - he receives an email from her.  It has a video clip attached to it, and she appears to be alive and well.  The narrative warns him to 'tell no one' about her message and that they are both being watched.

**spoiler alert**

2 persons are soon murdered where his wife's body was found those 8 years ago, so the police who suspected him of his wife's murder (but could not prove it), now suspect Alex's involvement in this recent crime.  It turns out there is, in fact, a conspiracy at hand, and Alex becomes a Hitchcockian "wrong man".

A friend of Alex's is soon killed and the police get a warrant for his arrest, so he must go on the run from both the "bad guys" (who we still do not know what their motives are), and the police; all while trying to prove his innocence in multiple crimes, as well as discover what happened to his wife, and where is she now.  All roads appear to lead back to that night 8 years ago, and as Alex unravels the mystery we find that those closest to him were hiding dark secrets.

This is perfectly paced thrill ride that is extremely well directed, and the actors played out their roles beautifully, by all involved.  Even though it is a foreign film and I needed to read the subtitles, it is like my mind took over, becoming so engrossed with the story that when it was over, I almost forgot that I had been reading them, all along.  The action sequences (namely Alex escaping both the police and the bad guys) are all very believable, which often is not the case in films similar to this one.  The characters were all developed to the point that you felt attached to them, yet this movie did not drag with unneeded fluff.  The plot unfolded in such a way as not to leave elements left for the audience to either have to guess or to have to "suspend the disbelief" of what transpired, and the ending was perfect.  It is rare feat for all elements (story, acting, directing, production, music) to all come together, and Tell No One is definitely one of these films.

Final Thought: I have read Coben's book, which was excellent, and normally book to movie adaptions have to "lose" something to insure on-screen time constraints are met, but I can honestly say that the film is as good as the book.  Any elements that were altered, actually might have worked to make the film more believable.  Coben himself has also praised the movie.
There is an American production of this movie in the works now, which I do not believe will measure up to this one, as no American remake I have ever watched stood up to its foreign counterpart.

Review: 8MM (1999)

People in the Movie:  Nicholas Cage (Con Air, Gone in 60 Seconds, National Treasure), Joaquin Phoenix (Signs, Walk the Line)

Director: Joel Schumacher

Pigeonhole: Drama / Mystery / Suspense

The Basics: A recent widow named Mrs. Christian discovers an 8mm film in her dead husband’s safe that depicts a young girl being murdered by a man in a black leather mask, and it does not appear to be staged.  She hires private investigator Tom Welles (Cage) to discover if the film is an authentic “snuff-film”.  Welles, with the help of an adult book store clerk named Max Christmas (Phoenix), delves into the dark, disturbing world of underground pornography to locate the people who created the film and what really happened to the girl.  When it is over, he may have wished he hadn’t taken the case. 

Recommendation: This is an unsettling movie to watch due to the subject matter.  It does not come off as glamorous, and there is no Hollywood ending.  It is a very well done film that is believable, and that is why I would caution against anyone who might not be comfortable with the topics I have mentioned.  ‘R’ rating is for violence, language, sexuality (as in pornographic material), and subject matter.

My Take: This, as I noted, is a very good film, the only thing that kept it from being ‘excellent’ was the ending, which I will get to shortly.  I would note that 8MM, in my opinion, is one of Cage’s best acted roles.   

**spoiler alert** Welles starts off by attempting to identify the victim.  With a little research into missing person’s cases, he discovers the girl’s name was Mary Ann Mathews.  He then travels to speak to Janet Mathews, Mary Ann’s mother, about what may have happened to her.  After a brief examination of Mary Ann’s room, and reading a diary entry about going to Hollywood, Welles heads to California.

Working the angle of how the film was made, Welles goes to an adult video store and questions Max about snuff films.  Max attempts to warn Welles off about continuing this case and what they might “see”, but deciding to persist, the two then proceed to track leads into the world of underground pornography.  Very much like Dante’s Inferno the deeper they go, the worse it gets. 

They finally come across Eddie Poole (James Gandolfini), a slimy talent recruiter for porn movies, who eventually leads them to an equally shady director named Dino Velvet.  We soon learn that Velvet may have produced the 8mm film.  Welles, attempting to set up a “sting” of sorts, tells Poole he wants to finance Velvet to make a film with the man who was in the original 8mm, who is being called “Machine”.  The meeting is set up, and Welles decides to go in alone, without Max.  Velvet, Poole, and Machine all show up, but Welles’ plan quickly crumbles as Mrs. Christian’s attorney steps out of a car, too.  The light bulb takes the final proverbial twist, and we learn that the film is, in fact, authentic, that Mr. Christian had his attorney commission the film with Velvet– and now Welles’ life in danger.  Velvet has Machine pull a bloodied Max out of their car, who they threaten to kill if Welles does not turn over the original 8mm film to them.  Welles hands it over, and they destroy it, but then promptly kill Max, as well.  And here is where the movie steps a little out of bounds…

The bad guys are about to kill Welles when he informs them that Christian paid 1 million dollars to have the snuff film made – most of which the attorney obviously pocketed himself, and subsequently infuriating Poole, Machine, and Velvet.  The group begins fight amongst themselves and guns are pulled; Velvet and the attorney end up dead, Poole escapes, and Welles hurts Machine, but he also gets away.  Now in “revenge mode” Welles hunts down Poole, and quickly calls Janet asking permission to kill him.  She agrees.  He also locates Machine, and before killing him as well, he unmasks a very plain looking middle aged guy with glasses – meant to contrast what we might have expected in our minds.  Of course, the ultimate irony is that Welles is killing these men with more hatred and violence in his heart than how Mary Ann’s murder happened.   

Starting from the aforementioned meeting through Tom killing Machine, 8mm was at times just slightly to the side “not so believable”, in my opinion.  This segment felt somewhat disjointed from the rest of the movie, and almost appeared like the direction was to try to take it to a slam-bang Hollywood ending, but could not reconcile how to do that with all the elements on the table.  I will note that Cage did a very good job and stayed within the Welles character through to the end.

Final Thought:  By the conclusion of the movie, everyone minus Tom and Janet that had any knowledge of the 8mm snuff film is dead.  Mrs. Christian committed suicide, leaving payments for Tom and Mrs. Mathews, and a written apology.  It was an extremely melancholy ending to this film, as Tom ponders all that he has seen and done in the past few weeks.  This is one of the reasons I escalate 8MM beyond a typical police style procedural/investigation story; because there were consequences for all the parties, and because the film was believable enough to make me want to look a little more suspiciously at people, in general, and what secret activities they could be involved in.   

Politically Flavored Movies

On this Election Day 2012 check out a few of my favorite politcally themed movies:

Wag the Dog (1997) - The president's "spin doctors" led by Robert DeNiro create a fake war with the help of Hollywood director Dustin Hoffman, to divert the public's attention away from a sex scandel during election.  My Take:  Great acting, great directing and enough material to make a person wonder what exactly is the truth we see on TV or read about...

Primary Colors (1998) - John Travolta portrays a man running for president (with many similarities to prior man who held the office, in reality) while his staff works to garner support as well as cover up past indiscretions.  The story is somewhat told through the eyes of a naive young man, who quickly learns how deep loyalty lies, and how far people will go to support this candidate.  My take: The movie was clearly "based" on Bill Clinton, and the scary (good) part is that I do not know if we as the audience should have accepted or hated how the actions played out.  It makes you think.

Dave (1993) - This is a fun, light-hearted comedy: Kevin Kline is a temp agency owner who physically resembles the sitting president.  The president has stroke so the preisdent's staff brings in Kline to act as "puppet" while they keep the country running the way they want.  Kline, being an admirable person and genuinely concerned about the country has other plans.  My take: The comic moments make this worth seeing, and the supporting actors including Sigourney Weaver, Frank Langella, and Ving Rhames are great.   

Quick Look: Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)

Hell on Earth, interesting title and somewhat descriptive considering the product that ended on the screen for the third film of the Hellraiser series.  This movie stars Doug Bradley in a kind of a dual role, and Terry Ferrell; it is directed by Anthony Hickox.  Clive Barker the original creator of Hellraiser had a limited role as an executive producer.  'R' rating is for violence, language, sexuality.

Where the first two films provide insight into the human condition, and portray a realm of dark experience and figures beyond our own limited earthly comprehension, this installment sadly crumbles into horror cliche.  The subtle scares, dark environment, and moderated use of horrific imagery have been replaced with bad dialogue, a cheesy late 80's glam look, and a half-hearted attempt at a splatter film.

**spoiler alert**   

Pinhead (Bradley) has split into two entities - his demon visage which we are all familiar with, the "pure evil" is now trapped in the Pillar of Souls (an approx. 8 foot tall, 2x2 feet stone pillar) we saw appear at the end of the prior film; and his original human soul, Eliot Spencer (Bradley) which we also briefly encountered in the prior movie.  Eliot seems to be in limbo, neither in the living world, nor in the hell dimension, although we do not really know for sure.  The Pillar of Souls is creepy looking - it looks like it has faces and contorted bodies sculpted into its 4 side - including the face of Pinhead.  It is purchased by a sleazy club owner named JP Monroe from an art gallery.  Pinhead, still in the Pillar, tells JP he wants him to help him collect enough victims so he can escape the Pillar, and of course JP agrees.  Pinhead eventually escapes the Pillar and kills some people.

Joey Summerskill (Ferrell) is a sad-sack TV reporter, who begins investigating a story at JP's club, possibly linked to our plot.  Eliot then starts communicating with Joey in her dreams, telling her about his evil half - now separated from his human soul as described - is basically attempting to run around earth killing people, like most evil demons tend to do.  It is up to Joey to stop Pinhead.  She, with Eliot's help and a lame whimper "go to hell", stops him.

I want point out that the element of introducing us to Eliot's prior human existence was an entertaining idea, but it was not executed in a way that gave us any better attachment to him as a character, or develop the history of Pinhead in the Hellraiser mythology.  So basically it was a waste, other than to see Doug Bradley without the Pinhead make-up on.

Having Pinhead degenerate in a cliche spewing, mass-murdering, evil-laugher is probably what ruined this film for me.  The Cenobites were originally dispassionate beings who only acted as they were called upon, to do.  Bradley just happened to the be one that had an awesome sounding voice that lent itself to being the "leader".  The idea that Pinhead was evil all along, but being "balanced" internally by his former human soul, was ludicrous, and basically spits on the prior history.

The bottom line is that this film offered nothing entertaining in my opinion; and very little plot-wise or element wise, towards future installments in the Hellraiser mythology.  This is my least favorite of the Hellraiser sequels, and I suggest not bothering to waste your time with it.     

Extras:

- The Pinhead character was supposed to have been ended in number 2; his popularity is what led to his continued existence.

Happy Birthday : Dolph Lundgren

How you lost the fight in Rocky 4 is beyond me...

Bob's Quick Look: Silent Hill: Revelation (2012)

This film takes place 6-7 years after the events of “Silent Hill.” Sharon is about to turn 18 and is starting a new school; the fifth school since going on the run with her father. We find out that Rose had found a way to return her to the world of the living, but she herself in still trapped in Alessa’s tangent nightmare world. But the people stuck in that world, namely the sinister cult that first burned the little girl alive and created the demon, wants her back. She comes home to find her father abducted and members of the cult chasing her down. So she returns to the nightmare to find him and find a way to get them both out.
*Spoiler Alert* Even though this movie does not stand up to the original, it still has things going for it, This is a good movie to see in 3D with blood and blades flying out of the screen. The creature design remains consistent with the first film, mixing new characters in with the favorites (yes Pyramid Head is back, he’s my favorite also.)
While there are good number of “jump scares” and a decent amount of blood in this film, it abandoned a lot of the atmosphere, ambiance, tension, and overall eeriness that made the first film so wonderful. It felt like they mixed in elements of teen slasher horror and “Saw” like torture porn and they came off as a little overpowering and slightly cheesy.
The movie did answer many questions left by the first movie; namely were Rose and Sharon dead or what? In this movie we learn they are not. They slipped into that tangent reality created by the little girl who was unjustly burned as a witch. The question now becomes how did they get into this universe? In the first movie how did the cop get in but Sean Bean’s character go into the town without leaving our world? How did Rose get Sharon out? Members of the cult could perform a ritual and go into the real world? Why not bug out and leave Alessa alone in her misery? Granted I've only seen this movie once so I might have missed something. Also, I am only somewhat familiar with the video games, so these things may make sense to those who have played through the series. But, not every movie goer is a gamer, and these things need explanation.
The ending made me feel a third movie is in the works. The father chooses to stay in the world to find Rose and Sharon and her companion ride away on an ominous truck ride, which most horror fans know always leads to bad things.
For the most part this is an enjoyable movie, but failed to live up to the original movie in terror and story factors. I’m not the hugest fan of 3D because of the gimmick and the price hike on movie tickets, but this is a good one to see in 3D.

Interesting note - This film is based on the 3rd game of the series. Sharon’s alias, Heather, is the same and she wears the same vest worn by the game’s main character.

On Halloween Eve : links to all the horror films we have written so far

Here is the link into our horror reviews vault.

http://james-movie-night.blogspot.com/search/label/horror

Review: Silent Hill (2006)

People in the Movie:  Radha Mitchell (Pitch Black), Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings, TV’s Game of Thrones (s.1) ), Laurie Holden (TV’s The Walking Dead)

Director:  Christophe Gans

Pigeonhole:  Horror / Video Game

The Basics: Silent Hill is a series of horror video games, and the movie is based on elements from several of the different games. 

Rose (Mitchell) and Chris (Bean) have an adopted daughter named Sharon (Jodelle Ferland) who has been sleepwalking and having night terrors in which she keeps repeating the phrase “Silent Hill”.  Rose decides to travel to the town of Silent Hill, against Chris’ wishes, in an attempt discover more about Sharon’s past and to help her move past whatever is disturbing her dreams.  Rose quickly learns that Sharon’s dreams are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, that Silent Hill is a terrifying hell on earth that no one may be leaving.     

Recommendation: Visually speaking, this is one of the all-time great horror films I have ever seen.  It truly is like a video game come to life.  Fans of the games should like it, and fans of horrific imagery should love it.  ‘R’ rating is for violence, gore, and images.  If you are not otherwise familiar with video games, I might suggest watching a trailer before seeing this movie because it demonic type horror, which may not appeal to some people.   

My Take: Silent Hill is an outstanding movie visually, but where many films in this genre would let the effects be “enough”, the producers and director took the time to create and develop an interesting back story and to progress the plot throughout.  This film is almost 2 hours long, which is not typical horror (at usually 90ish minutes).

**spoiler alert** Rose takes Sharon to Silent Hill, but has a minor car accident literally pulling over the town line.  Rose blacks out during the crash and awakes to find Sharon gone, so she proceeds on foot to find her.  The town appears abandoned, there is a fog seemingly everywhere, as well as grey ash is falling from the sky.  Rose sees a little girl running through the town, so she chases after her, but never seeming to catch up.  Rose hears a strange alarm sound and blackness envelops the environment.  Strange human sized demons start coming towards her so she is forced to hide out in one of the abandoned buildings.

Meanwhile, Chris has also driven to Silent Hill to look for Rose and Sharon but strangely there is no ash falling, or fog.  After being escorted out of Silent Hill by the police, Chris breaks into the city hall of a nearby town looking for Silent Hill’s old records and discovers the town was abandoned due to underground coal mine fire that is still burning.  But everything is not as it seems, and the tragedy that occurred there seems to be linked somehow to Sharon.

Rose eventually makes contact with fanatical cult still in Silent Hill who appear to live in a church, and they are led by a woman named Christbella.  It seems that this cult is obsessed with witch burnings, and that many years ago they made the decision to burn a little girl born out of wedlock to “cleanse” her.  This event is what has led to what is happening in Silent Hill.  She survived the burning, but her hate and anger grew opening the gate into this nightmarish reality where demons walk, and now it is time for the cultists to pay for their sin of not protecting an innocent child.  The final standoff is quite horrifying, I must admit.

The conclusion is also entertaining, because one would think since the cult has been vanquished, that all would be back to normal, at least for Sharon and Rose – but it isn’t.  Even though we see them leave Silent Hill and return home, their atmosphere is in the fog; and then Chris is shown also in the home, without the fog, and he cannot see Sharon and Rose.  Silent Hill sequel, here we come.

    

Final Thought/Extras/For Fun: The element of the abandoned town due to the coal mine fire came from the true story of Centralia, PA where the fire is still burning today…   

Review: The Fog (2005)

People in the Movie:  Tom Welling (TV’s Smallville), Maggie Grace (TV’s Lost), Selma Blair (Hellboy, The Sweetest Thing, Cruel Intentions)

Director:  Rupert Wainwright

Pigeonhole:  Thriller / Horror

The Basics: This is a remake/ reboot of the 1980 John Carpenter film of the same name.  The residents of Antonio Bay island, a small fishing village and tourist location off the coast of northern California (or Oregon), are about to celebrate the unveiling of a statue honoring their 4 founding fathers, Patrick Malone, David Williams, Richard Wayne, and Norman Castle.  A mysterious fog rolls in one night, and the town starts to experience some strange happenings, that soon escalate up to murder.  It appears the town’s original prosperity was built on a disturbing secret, and now the descendants of the founders all become entangled in this ghostly revenge story.

Recommendation: This movie is somewhat difficult for me to reconcile.  It has its good points and bad, which I will detail below.  ‘PG-13’ rating is for semi-violent images, and a scene of sexuality.  In my opinion, the movie is exactly what it appears to be: a PG-13 rated thriller, light on the horror, relying on the attractiveness of the leads and some pretty decent effects to offset the poor acting and shaky story.  I would give it chance, but I understand how many people hold a negative opinion of the movie.  The 'Unrated' version is not noticeably different than the theatrical cut. 

My Take: The fact that John Carpenter and Debra Hill were involved with the film is what led me to see it.  The 1980 version was an entertaining indie-budget, R rated horror film, while this installment is more of a big budget Hollywood “romantic thriller” that was pointed towards a teen audience.

**spoiler alert** So to cut to the chase, the “secret” is that Antonio Bay’s 4 founding fathers, back in 1871, sold half of the island to a rich man named William Blake who was going to set up a leper colony for a small group of people from their former community in British Columbia.  Malone, Williams, Wayne, and Castle take a row boat out to meet Blake’s ship, the Elizabeth Dane, in the bay but rather than welcome the new residents, they intentionally trap all the passengers below decks, steal all of their gold and valuables, and set fire to the ship killing everyone on board.  Basically this was a devious 19^th century heist, but it seems that the 4 held this secret and no one was the wiser in Antonio Bay about where the new-found wealth came from or the sunken ship that was burning in the harbor.

The now-descendents of these “criminals”, and the main characters of the film are: Nick Castle (Welling), who is local fisherman and charters boat rides; Elizabeth Williams (Grace), Nick’s girlfriend who has recently returned from a 6 month trip to New York; Father Malone, the local priest who seems to know about the prior conspiracy and is now drowning his guilt in alcohol; and Stevie Wayne (Blair), a single mother who is the local DJ and broadcasts her show out of a lighthouse.

The fog we soon learn is a medium in which in the ghosts of these doomed passengers, led by William Blake, are seeking their revenge on Antonio Bay for their murders those years ago.  

What I Liked: The special effects were eye catching.  Even though some of the better effects moments were digital, it worked without going overboard and created an ominous environment – not scary, but at least ominous.

- The flashback scenes to 1871 that were interwoven as the story unfolded were entertaining, and offered a nice counter-perspective to the crime that was committed against them, purely because they had leprosy.

- The soundtrack was very good.  The top 40 pop music being played, as well as the score worked very well, and I would consider this one of the highlights of the film.

- Tom Welling was a decent enough as Nick and seems to come off as the working class hero sort.  I would call his performance “not noticeable”, which is probably a good thing here.

What was Lame: The story felt more like a romance novel, and the production was like a TV show on the CW.  In my opinion, it came off as formulaic and predictable, like everyone was going through the motions, but no one was really scared or worried as the events unfolded.

- Maggie Grace had “Laura Dern syndrome” throughout the film.  She had the exact same expression on her face despite any action going on at different times.  And let me be clear – she was not expressionless; it is more of a confused/ concerned look regardless of whether she was supposed to be happy, sad, or scared.  Being the lead female character, I expected a lot more.   

- Selma Blair should have been the most interesting character as Stevie, but she was not believable as the single mom.  The pop music DJ role I could buy, but she was not convincing as a mother in fear for her child’s life as the plot got towards the end.  I should note that could have been direction, not acting.  It is also implied that Stevie was seeing Nick while Elizabeth was gone, but that angle was not really developed well.  The lighthouse radio station was also not used to its advantage as a location where many good scares could have happened.

The ending: I have not decided yet, but this film could make the ‘worst movie endings’ list.  It is revealed the Elizabeth Williams is the reincarnation of William Blake’s wife, so as the ghost of Blake is standing in the graveyard with proof of the original deception, which he gives to Nick, Elizabeth decides to go be with Blake, and dissolves into a ghost - much to Nick’s dismay.  Cheesy is the best word I can muster to describe the scene.        

Side by Side: The original, of course, wins out.  Because the effects were low budget, everything felt more real and organic.  While I might call the original dated now, it is still good for scares because Carpenter created tension with timing, music, and environment and the actors all filled their roles very believably.

Final Thought/Extras/For Fun:  Carpenter and Debra Hill who both created the original produced this newer version, although Hill died shortly before filming began…

    

Awesome movie quotes: Clerks (1994)

"Did he just say 'making fuck'?"

What's your favorite scary movie?

Tell us: what is your favorite scary movie, or scary movie moment?

Review: Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)

People in the Movie:  Donald Pleasence, Paul Rudd

Director:  Joe Chappelle

Pigeonhole:  Horror / Slasher

The Basics: Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers takes place six years after the events of Halloween 5.  This film attempts to bring back an old character, Tommy Doyle (Rudd), from the original film; continues to use mainstays Dr. Sam Loomis (Pleasense) and Michael Myers; and introduce a new plot element into the Michael Myers mythology.  This new facet presents to the audience the idea that Michael has been driven to kill since he was a child, because he has been under the influence of the “Curse of Thorn”.  It is up to Tommy and Dr. Loomis to stop Michael (again) and to protect Jamie Lloyd’s newborn baby, as well as several members of Laurie Strode’s extended family.

Recommendation: Fans of the series and Halloween mythology should see this for the following 2 reasons: Donald Pleasence died shortly after filming had ended, so this Halloween was his last.  It is Paul Rudd’s film debut, so fans of his could enjoy it – although since he is more of a comedic actor and Tommy Doyle is not a comedic role, maybe not. 

Otherwise, the theatrical release** of this film is not-so-great.  It is a disjointed slasher flick that pretends to have a plot, but since it is only 88 minutes nothing gets developed.   

As a standalone (meaning you had not watched any of the proceeding films) you would be completely lost.  ‘R’ rating is for violence, language, and brief sexuality.

** I would recommend finding a copy of the Producers Cut (which would still be considered bootleg right now), either online, a used DVD place, or the like.  There are far fewer plot holes, and had that version been edited and “done up” just a little more, this installment could have been a very good ending to the Loomis character and continuation of Michael Myers storyline. 

My Take:  As cliché as most horror films plots get deep into their respective series, the problems that are reported (after the fact) about what went on behind the scenes is also as trite.  Unfortunately these cliché “behind the scenes” problems lead to a final product that seems to be universally disliked among Halloween fans, myself included.

**spoiler alert**

The Good: The idea of bringing back a character from the original film, who was a child at the time of the original killings and now grown up, was actually a decent idea.  Tommy is shown to be a little obsessed in wanting answers for Michael’s continuing reign of terror in Haddonfield.  Rudd did as good of a job as he could have, seeing that his character was given very little development time. 

The truth is an entire film could have been driven by Tommy’s character alone, using his initial encounter with Michael as the defining moment of his life to that point, and his now desire to move forward.  But, this was not the route taken.

The story and plot on the surface actually seem entertaining.  If I heard a 2 minute pitch for this film or watched a 2 minute teaser trailer with the elements that are here, I could visualize Halloween 6 being one of the better sequels.  It was the execution that failed. 

The Bad:  I do not know why, but it seems like the residents of Haddonfield are not very smart, and have no sense of history considering all the murders that have taken place in their town.  The idea that John Strode and his family moved into the old Myers’ house, and everyone in the family other than John had “no idea” about Michael Myers and the murders was ridiculous.

There was zero development of Jamie Lloyd’s story, other than having the baby while in the “Cult’s” captivity, and subsequently being killed barely minutes into the film after escaping.  It’s a tough enough stretch to believe a teenage girl would give birth then have to go on the run seemingly hours later, but even worse that the character that was built up for the 2 prior installments and was taken out with seemingly little regard.  I still believe that no character should ever be safe in a horror sequel, but disrespecting a character that is central to a storyline, like this, just drives down my appreciation for this film (or any that employ that tactic).

The “Curse of Thorn” plot element was executed horribly.  To me, using this idea is a complete cop-out, and almost excuses all of Michael’s prior murders as him being driven by external supernatural forces, rather than him just being evil incarnate.  I believe it is a much more terrifying thought that a child in Anytown, USA, could pick up knife and stab his sister to death because he chose to do so, rather than him not having a choice because a “curse” forced him to.  Even more absurd, at the end of the film we see this Cult was trying to somehow genetically engineer or control the “evil” that is the Curse of Thorn, using Michael, his niece’s child, and another boy.  But, as always the case in horror films, trying to control or reason with evil most often results in ones death, and fortunately that is the case with the members of the Cult. 

I will note that this element (The Curse), in theory, could have worked if maybe there was more back-story or development.  For example, if the Cult had knowingly allowed Michael to be cursed from the beginning and then lost control of him, so that Haddonfield was an innocent town being victimized by the Curse, like a plague or disease in ancient times, then it may have been more palatable as a plot driver. 

But it was not put forth like this.  Instead we get a clumsy “throw it at the wall and see if it sticks” type of story and the bottom line is that this is one of, if not the worst installment in the Michael Myers mythology.    

Final Thought/Extras/For Fun:  Based on the information that is out there (online, fanzines, interviews, etc..), it appears that the film and story were cut, re-cut, and edited so many times – from both internal editing, as well as re-filming done due to reactions from test audiences - that what story/plot was originally intended is probably not even close to what finally ended up on screen for the theatrical release.    

- An original title for the film was Halloween 666: The Origin of Michael Myers, but after a series of alterations the writer Daniel Farrands jokingly noted to call it the Curse of MM, and that stuck.

- Apparently there were plans to release the Producer’s Cut, noted on the Halloween: 25 Years of Terror DVD, however, Disney owns the rights, and nothing is imminent as far as the future release date, as of right now.

- As I noted above, it is sad to see Donald Pleasence, the forever good-guy of Halloween, go out in a film like this.  RIP, Sam Loomis.

- The fates of Tommy, Danny, Kara, and Jamie’s baby are not otherwise tied up here, or in future Halloween films.

Bob's Quick Look - Sinister (2012)

In this film, Ethan Hawke plays a true crime writer seeking to reclaim his pedestal as a best selling author.  He moves his family into a house where another family was previously murdered and the daughter had gone missing - much to the dismay of local law enforcement.  In the attic he finds a box of home movies of not only that family’s murder, but the murders of other families from across the country spanning decades.
What begins as a mystery of murder and abduction becomes a walk along the thin line where the worlds of the living and the beyond converge. Ellison begins finding the same occult symbol and the image of a strange (what looks like a) man in all of the films and realizes the closer he comes to the answers he seeks, the closer he and his family come to joining the dead.
*Spoiler Alert* This is a good example of a movie whose makers should have been a little more careful about how the trailer was made. First, the trailer made the movie look like Ellison stumbles onto the demon early on, and the action of the film becomes a fight between him and the demon, Baghuul. While the supernatural elements of this movie come to light fairly early, the nature of the demon does not until much later in the film.
Second, I feel that it provides too much plot development which should have been left to the movie. Specifically that Baghuul was known as the 'eater of children's souls'.  If you come to the movie with this in mind, the second you learn about the missing children is when the ending of the movie becomes predictable, especially when it comes to a scene where the missing children haunt the house.
Disregarding the trailer, this movie does have a very interesting story.  I especially liked how the plot wasn't carried solely on the shoulders of the events of the murders and the haunting. Rather than being an event driven story with a cast of 2 dimensional characters to fill in the blanks, we have a character driven story complete with man vs. man and man vs. self conflicts with characters that are well developed and believable (which is becoming rare in Hollywood horror).  There are some good fright moments here along with elements that might make one cringe.
Try not to keep the trailer in mind, but I would recommend this movie for fans of supernatural horror and psychological thrillers alike. The R rating is for violence and a little language.

3 (More) Little Known Facts: Hellraiser (1987)

A few more cool things about Hellraiser (1987) :

-In "The Hellbound Heart," the novel upon which this film is based, "Pinhead" was not the lead cenobyte. The lead Cenobite was a female with hooks and chains connecting the parts of her face. Also, the heads of "Pinhead's" nails were capped with diamonds.

-The film was supposed to be called, "The Hellbound Heart," but the studio thought the name sounded too romantic.

-The character Andrew Robinson plays in the film was named Rory in the novella, but was renamed Larry for the film. Robinson also convinced Clive Barker to change his final line from the scripted "fuck you," to the line that appears in the film; "Jesus wept."

3 Little Known Facts: Hellraiser (1987)

- Doug Bradley's character was originally written as "Priest" in early drafts of this film, and then referred to as the "Lead Cenobite" in the shooting drafts, not Pinhead.  Pinhead was a nickname that stuck in drafts of the sequels.

- During the post production party Doug Bradley found it odd that the crew were ignoring him, considering his role in the film, then he realized no one there had ever seen him without his make-up, so no one recognized him.

- The concept of the cube being the key to hell was based on an urban legend about an object called the Devil's Toy Box.