"I made a choice.  I made a choice to provide a counterbalance to all those things that we hold good and pure.  You chose journalism, okay?" - Leslie Vernon

I started seeing the ads for this film a couple years ago in ToyFare and Wizard Magazines.  The advertisements seemed to show a wannabe killer who looked up to the greats: Freddy, Jason and Michael.  At least, that’s how it looked to me.  When I found the DVD at Wal-Mart, I just had to pick it up to see what it was like.  The fact that it also had Robert Englund and Zelda Rubenstein both in it was just a major bonus to me.

The film opens with a documentary-style narration, discussing the three previously-mentioned killers as if they had lived (and featuring a cameo appearance by Kane Hodder as Freddy’s former neighbor), before we see the narrator/reporter speaking in front of the house of Leslie Vernon.  The reporter, Taylor, along with her cameramen, Todd and Doug, are there to interview Leslie and follow him around as he plans out his first major spree.  He lets Taylor in on several of the "trade secrets"… finding a location to stage the spree in, then finding a "survivor girl" with a good circle of friends to go after.  But as the time gets closer and closer to the day of the spree, will Taylor and her two friends be able to just stand by as observers, or will their consciences get the best of them?

I absolutely loved this movie.  Getting to see the preperation and planning through the eyes of the film’s killer, rather than the effects from the POV of the victims, was very refreshing.  One of my favorite scenes in the movie took place in the library, where the librarian, Mrs. Collinwood (played by Zelda Rubinstein) is giving Leslie’s "survivor girl" Kelly some exposition.  Seeing this and having been a fan of the series Scariest Places on Earth, I’m totally convinced that Zelda Rubinstein should do narration on every single movie, TV show, video game, audiobook, you name it, her voice is THAT good.

The acting in this film was pretty good.  For most of the film, it’s shot in documentary style… somewhat like Cloverfield, except for the fact that you don’t have a monster attacking every five minutes.  Starring as the title character is Nathan Baesal, who was also in the ABC series Invasion.  He played the character with so many emotions… witty, excited, scary, and, in the end, downright terrifying.  Angela Goethals played Taylor, our intrepid reporter.  She’s probably best known for being on 24, but she also played in Home Alone as Linnie, the relative that calls Kevin "les incompetantes".  Playing Doc Halloran, Leslie’s "Ahab" as he puts it, is Robert Englund.  He reminds me strongly of Donald Pleasance’s Dr. Loomis character from Halloween, as is no dougt the intention here.

I can’t recommend this movie highly enough.  It’s funny, it’s scary, and it gives an alternate view on the slasher films we grew up watching.  I give this a well-deserved 5 out of 5.  And so, as always, until next time, this is your friend Red Hawk signing out!

Bookmark This Story!

Hide Sites

"Once you’ve been to hell, everything else pales in comparison!" - Hoax

Welcome to day two of Robert Englund Week, and today we’re checking out his directorial debut, 976-EVIL.  Growing up, my mother was pretty lenient on what kinds of movies I could watch.  She let me watch scary ones as early as two years old, but she always made sure I knew that it was all make believe and that the things I saw in the movies couldn’t really hurt me (not that that always helped any nightmares I might’ve had afterwards).  The one subject she drew the line at was demons.  She has always been somewhat religious, if not church-going, and demons always rubbed her the wrong way, thus, I had to miss out on a lot of some of the films I might otherwise have seen: Bava and Argento’s Demons series, Night of the Demons, Blood on Satan’s Claw, lots of classics (and probably not-so-classics) that I missed.  Well, now that I’m older, I can revisit some of the lost films of my youth, and that’s what I did with this one.

The film focuses on two young men: Hoax, a good-natured, put-upon geek and his cousin, Spike, who’s more self-confident and cool.  Both live with Hoax’s mother, Lucy, who’s extremely religious.  The center of the movie is the phone line, 976-EVIL, which provides callers with their "HorrorScope" when they dial 666.  Spike tries it after losing his bike in a poker game with his friends, school bullies Marty and his three cronies (who happen to all be Hoax’s arch-enemies).  Later, when Hoax tries the line, he embraces it fully as his means to exact revenge…

This film illustrates one of the major horror movie points: don’t harrass or otherwise hurt the weak kid, as he’ll usually come back with some painful form of revenge for you.  This film genre doesn’t get used as much anymore, possible because of the school shootings at Columbine and other places, but it’s good to see a classic example of this type of film.  Mr. Englund’s direction in the film was well-done, it seemed to me.  No camera angle felt extraneous, the action stayed pretty constant once it picked up steam, and I really enjoyed the makeup and special effects work in the film.

Hoax was played by Stephen Geoffreys, who also "Evil" Ed Thompson in 1985’s vampire film Fright Night.  At times in the film, I identified with him, though was extremely glad that I never had it as bad as he seemed to.  Mr. Geoffreys played the role well, and by the end, with the demon makeup on, he looked even more like he did as Evil in Fright Night.  Patrick O’Bryan played Spike, the tough guy who nonetheless stood up for his cousin.  His resume is rather lean on the Internet Movie Database, with the last film on the list 976-EVIL II, reprising his role.  In a bit part, the part of Mark Dark, owner of the company that runs 976-EVIL, was Robert Picardo, who some Trek fans may recognize for his role as the holographic Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager.  He was also in Gremlins 2, as well as playing the voice of Johnnycab in Total Recall, and one of two garbagemen (the other being Dick Miller) in The ‘burbs.

I enjoyed this movie.  It was a little bit slow in the early parts, but definitely picked up.  There were a couple of deaths in the film that seemed to be added in as filler (the cop at the beginning, and the lady in the middle of the film, for those who’ve seen it), but all in all, the film worked out well.  I feel pretty good giving this one a 4 out of 5.  Not too bad for Robert Englund’s directorial debut (and I’m sure I heard his voice as a preacher on Hoax’s mother’s television, also).  And so, until next time, this is Red Hawk signing out!

Bookmark This Story!

Hide Sites

"You love the music.  I am the music." - Erik Destler

Today starts the week I’ve been waiting for most of all, Robert Englund Week.  Sure, everyone knows Mr. Englund best as Freddy Krueger, but I want to look at some of his other work this week, starting with this somewhat lesser known gem from 1989, with Mr. Englund starring as the Phantom himself, Erik Destler.  Let’s take a peek, shall we?

The film starts with a view of the modern Manhattan skyline (well, modern for 1989… one of the first closeup shots we see is of the World Trade Center).  Once the credits finish, we meet Christine, who heads to the music library to meet her friend, Meg, who has been looking for something unique to sing at her next audition.  Meg hands her some papers together, with the name "Don Juan Triumphant" as the title.  As Meg goes to find some more of the papers, Christine starts to sing from the first page, and sees blood rise up through the notes, coating her hands… only for all of it to disappear once Meg appears again.

At the audition, none of the people are that good, until Christine comes on and sings the song.  As she sings, she sees visions of an applauding audience, when a sandbag comes loose and hits her head, knocking her through a mirror.  As the mirror breaks, she’s transported into 1881 London, where she’s the understudy for La Carlotta, the diva of the London opera for their performance of Faust.  After she recovers, we see glimpses of Erik, himself, as he fixes his mask of skin… it covers severe burn marks on his face.  After one of the stagehands jokingly accuses the Phantom of causing the accident that befell Christine, Erik, himself, makes an appearance and deals with the stagehand when he’s alone… gutting him on the catwalk…

When this movie first came out, I wanted to see it in the theater, but ended up getting talked into Shocker, instead (which was also a good film).  Instead, I had to wait to see this when it came out on video, and I enjoyed it then, also.  This might actually have been one of the first steps towards me actually enjoying the theater… however, I was 12 at the time this first came out, so who knows, really?  As I said, I enjoyed this rendition of the story… that being said, I have to admit that it’s the only version I’ve ever seen.

The casting in this film is first-rate.  Robert Englund did really well as the Phantom, using his wit and sense of humor where it was needed, letting his actions speak for himself at other times.  He brought out both the Phantom’s tenderness towards Christine, as well as his sadistic side when dealing with those who would prey on himself or her.  Rather than being the tragic hero that’s usually the norm for the character nowadays, he plays him as the anti-hero, the antagonist to Christine and her boyfriend’s happiness.  Jill Schoelen played Christine with grace, beauty and charm.  I definitely thought she was a good choice for the part, and her voice (if that was her singing) was perfect for the role.  She was also in The Stepfather, Cutting Class and Popcorn.  Playing her boyfriend, Richard, is Alex Hyde-White, star of the unreleased Roger Corman-produced Fantastic Four movie (as Mr. Fantastic), as well as acting in Pretty Woman, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and The Toy.  Bill Nighy played the part-owner of the opera house, Martin Barton.  He’s better known as Slartibartfast in the Hollywood adaptation of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Viktor in Underworld and Underworld: Evolution, and Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, as well as Shaun’s step-father, Philip, in Shaun of the Dead.

If you’re in the mood for a Phantom without a ton of musical songs in it, this one’s for you, especially if you want a bit of blood stacked on top of it.  It’s got alot going for it: powerful emotions from the Phantom, a tragic backstory on his condition, the joy and sorrow of the heroine, Christine, everything works well together, and I have no reservations giving this film a 5 out of 5.  So, as always, until next time, this is Red Hawk signing out!

Bookmark This Story!

Hide Sites

"I was moving to Hollywood next month to be famous, now I’m going to die out here with all of you assholes!" - Jenna

Day Four of Tony Todd Week brings us a somewhat more recent movie, one that got pretty high critical reviews.  When I first saw the box for the DVD at Wal-Mart, I decided to pick it up.  One thing that drew me to the film was the mention on the back of Kane Hodder, Robert Englund and Tony Todd being in the film which, to me, makes just about any film alot better.  So, sit down, grab yourself a drink, maybe something to eat… then again, maybe not… and join me on a Louisiana Swamp Ghost Tour for Hatchet!

We open on a father and son (the father played by Robert Englund!) going alligator hunting in the middle of the night.  The father, Sampson, said he saw a fourteen footer in the swamps and he wants to catch it.  The son, Ainsley, is doing nothing but complaining and Sampson starts badmouthing him.  Finally, after a near miss when taking a leak off the side of the boat, Ainsley goes ashore to finish up restroom matters, he heads back to the boat to find Sampson basically torn to pieces… a fate that Ainsley soon experiences for himself.

Cut to some Mardi Gras footage and we meet our main heroes, Ben and Marcus, along with some unnamed friends (one of whom was played by the director, Adam Green).  Marcus brought Ben along to the party hoping to help him get his mind off of the girl who dumped him, but all the exposed women just make him think of her.  Instead, Ben wants to go on one of the many swamp ghost tours of the area, mainly the one that a couple friends of his went on the year before.  Approaching the tour guide, Reverend Zombie’s, door, Ben and Marcus find a closed sign on it, but Ben knocks anyway.  Reverend Zombie answers it and tells him he’s not allowed to do night tours anymore, after what happened… "that night".  Instead, he directs them to Madame Laveau’s, where they meet a small group of people also waiting to go on the tour: Marybeth, a quiet, sullen girl who keeps to herself; Misty and Jenna, a pair of girls doing topless movie shoots for Shapiro, a film director; Mr. and Mrs. Permatteo, an older, midwestern couple; and the tour guide, Shawn, who promptly takes their money for the tour.

Once they get to the boat, Shawn tries to start it up, while someone on the water in a rowboat tries to yell out a warning to the group.  Shawn finally gets it going and they all wave to the person (not having heard him yell out the name "Victor Crowley") and starts off on the tour.  Ben’s friend Marcus is less than enthused to be there and he does his best to basically complain as much as possible, but for the most part, the start of the tour goes off without a hitch.  Shawn arrives at his destination and turns off the lights of the boat so they can watch for ghost lights over the water (which Mr. Permatteo debunks as swamp gas), then Shawn turns the lights on again… and everyone catches a glimpse of a deformed face watching them before it jumps back out of sight…

This movie was definitely a good one, but did it live up to the hype?  In my opinion, I think that it did.  It’s look and feel reminds me alot of the classic 80s slasher films, ala the Friday the 13th series.  Once Victor Crowley appears on screen, the action doesn’t let up much until the end.  That being said, I have to make one disclaimer here: this film is GORY!  There are a LOT of gruesome death scenes, lots of spraying blood, so anybody who’s squeamish in that regard should probably bow out of seeing it.  The only real drawback for me was how abruptly the film ended, though there’s talks of a Hatchet 2, so we’ll see what happens there.

The actors in here are pretty good, with a mix of newcomers and classic faces.  Previously mentioned were Robert Englund (Sampson), Kane Hodder (both Victor Crowley and his father) and Tony Todd (Reverend Zombie), but that’s just a small helping of some of the horror talent assembled here.  Playing Sampson’s son Ainsley is Joshua Leonard, who some horror fans might remember from The Blair Witch Project, as well as 2004’s Madhouse and this year’s Prom Night remake.  Joel Moore plays our hero, Ben.  He’s not especially muscular or strong, so I was able to identify with him pretty well.  He’s also in 2004’s comedy Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, as well as having wrote, produced, directed and starred in last year’s Spiral with Amber Tamblyn, who you’ll remember from my previous Grudge 2 review).  Deon Richmond played Marcus, Ben’s best friend and reluctant tourist.  He played the sullen, bored friend perfectly, and also provided some bits of comedy to the film (which was already funny, and scary, to begin with).  You can also find him in Scream 3 and Not Another Teen Movie.  Mercedes McNab played Misty, the ditzy blonde actress really well.  She also played on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series and Angel series as Harmony, and what surprised me is she also played the bratty girl scout Amanda Buckman in the first two Addams Family films.  Richard Riehle played Mr. Permatteo well.  I recognized him right away as Tom Smykowski from Office Space, what I didn’t realize is that the guy has 205 film and television credits under his belt.  VERY prolific actor, with a big following!  Finally, Mrs. Permatteo was played by Patrika Darbo, who was also in The ‘burbs, Spaced Invaders, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, and she voiced a sheep in Babe.  She was also most recently in Madhouse with Joshua Leonard.

Overall, I give this film a 4 out of 5.  I laughed alot with it, I enjoyed the 80s horror references, and there’s even a kill reminscent of Kane Hodder’s Jason days.  So, until next time, remember to stay out of the swamp, and this is Red Hawk signing out!

Bookmark This Story!