Welcome back folks. Pretty busy week. And while horror month is in full force with the majority being of the genre, the top two spots are fully not in the genre. So, pretty interesting turn of events eh? Whatever, I find it funny. Take a look at what I've delved into once more and enjoy the ride. Thanks.
House of 1000 Corpses (October 12th, 2014)
Director: Rob Zombie
Starring: Bill Moseley, Sherri Moon Zombie, Chris Hardwick, and Sid Haig
This is most definitely the work of a first time director. It is a very amateurish movie that tries very hard to be violent and clever, but falls flat on it's face most of the time. It's filled to the brim with cliches of the genre, stupid assholes getting picked off by crazy rednecks. But it has a weird structure where the murders don't start for a long time. That and the movie all of a sudden turns supernatural and it is a tonal clash that brings whatever modest entertainment was there before. It's really kinda crazy the leap Zombie made from this to The Devils Rejects. Not just in film making talent, but in fixing all the problems that this movie had. These characters are barely reminiscent in the movies. It's almost like this is the camp fire story of the Firefly family. There are two saving graces in this movie. Mosely and Haig. Mosely is very different as Otis in this as he is as Otis in the sequel. But he is still a great performer who brings life to a pretty terribly written role, making him magnetic in a different way than he will later on. And Haig is just Haig, a great B movie magician who is transfixing with dialogue, making Spaulding a hell of a guy to watch. Everyone else is either stranded with nothing roles (like Hardwick) or are just not good at all. Sherri Moon isn't the greatest actress in the world, but she has done good stuff after this. But here she is awful, a shrill pain in the ass that doesn't shut the fuck up. And again, she kinda does really good work as Baby in the sequel. This movie is pretty garbage, but I'll give it a pass as an exercise for a man who'd go onto make a handful of movies (some flawed) that I really like. Overall though, I'd say pass on this.
Fright Night (October 13th, 2014)
Director: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, Imogen Poots, and David Tenant
This is the kind of remake that should be made. Take a movie that isn't exactly perfect and try to do something new with it. And this movie works pretty well, never exactly reaching classic status or even greatness. But it has a good energy to it and a lot of that is due to Farrell. Farrell is on fire in this movie, really going for broke. He plays the vampiric role as a smooth talking douche, but also plays him a bit like Wile E Coyote. He's a cartoon and is having an absolute blast. It adds a lot to the proceedings. Not that everyone else isn't good. David Tenant actually gets to show that he has talent, instead of riding the wave of playing a pretty shitty sci fi icon. I'd like to see him tackle some more stuff outside of tv. Poots is always an adorable addition to a movie, but is in a thankless role. And Yelchin plays the typical blank hero, but gives him enough quirk to not be useless. The cool thing this movie does that is different than the original is that it forgoes any mystery that Farrell is a vamp. Where the original went for a Rear Window-esque mystery, this just kinda skips act 1 and goes into it. And it works for the most part. It's a fun movie with some good beats. I'd recommend it, if only for Farrell.
Edge of Tomorrow (October 13th, 2014)
Director: Doug Liman
Starring: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, and Brandon Gleeson
It's a shame that this came out after Oblivion sort of hurt Cruises reputation, because this movie is awesome. It doesn't really matter that this didn't make money in the long run because it's not like a sequel is needed, but that it sends a message that fun Sci Fi can't be done. But it can, and it doesn't have to be 3 hours of Michael Bay jerking off onto his audience he seemingly can't stand. Long story short, this movie is the sci fi war version of Groundhog Day. Except it doesn't happen because some deity or what have you decides the protagonist needs to learn a lesson. There's sci fi reasons it happens and it's explained, although Cruise does go through a change. The move smartly uses Cruises smarmy charm as a deficiency, making him a smug coward who tries to use his words to stay safe. It's sort of brilliant, and it shows how smart that writer Christopher McQuarrie is who is now gonna be a constant collaborator with Cruise (previously in Valkyrie and Jack Reacher, coming up with MI 5). Cruise is great, but Blunt is a revelation. Nothing I've seen her in has really wowed me until now. She is a badass with real emotion underneath the armor, not just some damsel and she sells it like a boss. While Oblivion sort of put people off Cruise, the marketing didn't help. They sold this as a dead serious action movie, when in actuality it's a really funny movie with a good heaping of clever. It's hilarious watching Cruise die over and over. What keeps this from being a classic is the ending. Without getting into it, it's a huge cop out that changes what the movie was. It's unearned and really deflates the movie. It felt like a studio note and it really sucks. But, it doesn't kill the proceeding 99% of the movie, so it is highly recommended.
Pet Semetary (October 14th, 2014)
Director: Mary Lambert
Starring: Dale Midkiff, Denise Crosby, Miko Hughes, and Fred Gwynne
This is a movie that could have been a classic and it has elements in it that are really great. But with a short run time that moves through the story too quickly and some effects towards the end that are kind of laughable and added with some bland acting it kind of hobbles the movie. Following a young family as they move to a small, idyllic town in Maine, things aren't what they seem and a darkness comes out of hiding. Even having read the book, this is a movie that surprisingly goes very dark. It's always a surprise to see a movie go right out and kill a kid, but this movie goes for it. There is a lot of unsettling stuff here, from the dead kid to the flashback of a sick sister, this movie may leave some a little more than unsettled. Midkiff plays the patriarch of this family and he is serviceable. Crosby is ok as the wife, who gets the short end of the stick despite being pretty fleshed out in the book. Hughes is very adorable as the little boy, a real cutey that makes it even tougher considering his fate. But the MVP is Gwynne, perfectly portraying the older Maine man who becomes very close to this family, but also accidentally dooms them. Towards the end though, when the kid comes back to life and starts to kill, it gets a little silly with some puppetry and camera tricks to make it seem like this two year old is killing. It's dated like a lot of 80s horror movies, more ambitious than they could realistically reach. But it's a noble, not exactly failure, but double instead of a home run.
Sleepy Hollow (October 16th, 2014)
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Michael Gambon, and Christopher Walken
Hey look, the last good movie Burton actually made. And even in that, it shows a lot of problems that would go on to plague him more as he went on. First off, the story is boring and way too convoluted. It also goes for a murder mystery approach instead of being a horrific fairy tale. The horseman, when played by Walken, looks way too much like a early version of Edward Scissorhands. Depp tries but fails at the mincing ninny he has lazed into in his career, never being as funny as Burton or himself think. And honestly, this is a surprisingly ugly looking movie. Typically you can at least be ok with his visuals, but this was just not a good looking movie. And worst of all, the violence is surprisingly tame. And not in a bloodless way. It somehow manages the task of being very graphic and bloody, but being bland and it doesn't look like it hurts. It's a very clean movie when it shouldn't be. But despite being quite a mess, it is a fun movie to watch. There is an energy to the movie and the cast, aside from Depp, is fun to watch. This isn't for everyone, and it comes with only the barest of recommendations.
Fury (October 17th, 2014)
Director: David Ayer
Starring: Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Shia LaBeouf, and Jon Berenthal
It's nice to see Ayer out of cop flicks. He doesn't change things up too much, this being a bit more like the WWII version of Sabotage and Training Day, but it's a breath of fresh air. It's also nice to see a movie set in WWII that doesn't make every single solider look like the best person to have ever lived. Like in any big group, there are some absolute shit heels, and this movie is filled with them. It's also nice to see some ugly violence and make the war seem nasty. And it's also great to see Ayer get more great performances out of some good actors, and a great performance out of the much maligned LaBeouf. He's an actors director and it shows very much here. The action scenes are also really unique, being more tank battles than straight up shoot outs. The finale is also a claustrophobic nightmare of violence. And he even manages to bring some real emotion and heart to a scene in the middle section of the movie. But it's not perfect, and that's mainly from the structure of the movie. We follow Lerman as a rookie being trained by Pitt and his crew to the harsh realities of war. But having it set in about a 24 hour time period, the movie feels rushed in the arc of Lerman. And Pitts arc feels muddled, not really coming through completely or believably. It drops the movie down and keeps it away from greatness. But this is still a rock solid movie with a lot to like. It's also another sign that Ayer is a great choice to take on Suicide Squad for DC. Morally murky action movie filled with lovable lowlives? That's Ayers bread and butter. This comes recommended.
Survival of The Dead (October 18th, 2014)
Director: George A. Romero
Starring: Alan Van Sprang, Kenneth Welsh, Kathleen Munroe, and Richard Fitzpatrick
After the debacle that was Diary of The Dead, it's nice to see a minor comeback for Romero. This is a far from perfect movie, and not even his best zombie movie of the decade (Land of The Dead ftw). But it has a nice story to it, a mixture of horror and western that is nice to see. It's also nice to see a more personal story, about a family feud playing out in the apocalypse. The performances are alright, the same sort of average quality thats a Romero staple (not really a performance guy). It's also a bit slower than usual from him, his age starting to show in the movie. There's plenty of violence to keep things interested for gore fans, but it's sadly a cgi affair for a good part which is a shame from the man who kick started Tom Savinis career. It's a perfectly serviceable movie, but it is flawed and won't satisfy everyone. But if you can dig into this worthy (but lower) entry in Romeros zombie output, there is some fun to be had.
Top Movies
1. Edge of Tomorrow
2. Fury
3. Fright Night
4. Survival of The Dead
5. Pet Semetary
6. Sleepy Hollow
7. House of 1000 Corpses
Top 5 Moments
1. Training Montage - Edge of Tomorrow
2. Gage Goes Into The Street - Pet Semetary
3. Fight in Peter Davids Home - Fright Night
4. The Lunch Scene - Fury
5. The Murder Ride - House of 1000 Corpses
Top 5 Performances
1. Emily Blunt - Edge of Tomorrow
2. Colin Farrell - Fright Night
3. Fred Gwynne - Pet Semetary
4. Shia LeBeouf - Fury
5. Sid Haig - House of 1000 Corpses
- Tom Lorenzo
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