First watches...
ALICE SWEET ALICE
(Alfred Sole, 1976)
This pretty crazy early slasher follows a troubled young woman believed to have killed her younger sister during her first communion. (The film is actually called Communion in some territories.) Bodies start piling up leading everyone to question if the young woman is a cold blooded killer. It's an American film but has that early giallo feel. I'm not sure it totally works, but the elevated camp feel and histrionic performances keep things entertaining. Quite a bit of un-PC stuff, too. With Linda Miller, Paula Sheppard, and a young Brooke Shields appears briefly. GRADE: B-
BLUE VELVET
(David Lynch, 1986)
Probably should have saved this for next year's 40th anniversary and did a double feature with Mulholland Drive which will celebrate its 25th. But, hey, who knows what the next year will bring? In a sleepy Northwest town, a college student (Kyle MacLaughlin, nice ass!) returns home to watch after his dad's business after he falls ill. He gets involved with a lounge singer (Isabella Rossellini) who is being abused by a criminal (Dennis Hopper) and his crew of Roy Orbison-crooning weirdos. This is the third Lynch film I've watched this year after Wild At Heart (liked) and The Elephant Man (loved!), I think it falls right in between those for me. I liked its dreamlike take on a 50's teen movie with flashes of a modern nightmare. With Laura Dern and Dean Stockwell. GRADE: B+
THE BODY SNATCHER
(Robert Wise, 1945)
In the 1830's, a young medical student is attempting to help a young girl who has lost the use of her legs. He studies with a doctor who he soon learns has a nefarious way of getting cadavers. Notable for being the final teaming of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, this chiller has some disquieting moments. Literally, the film's best scene is one where a woman in the street is heard singing off camera until she isn't. Wise, of course, would go on to be at the top of the horror game with 1963's The Haunting. (And eventually win two directing Oscars.) GRADE: B-
MIRROR, MIRROR
(Marina Sargenti, 1990)
A goth girl (Rainbow Harvest, great name!) moves to a new place with her eccentric mother (Karen Black, underutilized) where an antique mirror in their home causes her to develop supernatural abilities. She uses it to enact revenge on the mean, popular kids in her class. Carrie it's not. It's funny how she's stylized and even bears a resemblance to Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice. This was never boring, but doesn't totally work and there are so many other similar films that are much better. After watching, I discovered this had three sequels one of which had Mark Ruffalo. GRADE: C+
RED PLANET
(Antony Hoffman, 2000)
I tried to watch the other mars themed movie from that year first, Mission to Mars, but it was hard to get a copy of. Hopefully, I get it by year's end. In the year 2025, Earth is dying and Mars has been set up to be inhabitable by humans. (Well, weren't we optimistic?) A group of astronauts arrives attempting to set up the start of human life, but they crash land and find the engineered environment destroyed. It mostly looks great, but it's so generic and hard to care about anything happening. With Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Tom Sizemore. GRADE: C
SOYLENT GREEN
(Richard Fleischer, 1973)
In the dystopian future of 2022, a detective (Charlton Heston) investigates the murder of a ration manufacturer employee only to uncover a conspiracy. Featuring one of the most famous twist endings, it's not a surprise people only talk about the ending because the rest of it is pretty mediocre. Snowpiercer from a decade or so ago did similar themes much better. The final scene of Edward G. Robinson's character is easily the most memorable scene in the film, and that's not even considering that the actor died shortly before the film was released giving that scene even more weight. A bit surprised this has never been remade. GRADE: C
TRICK OR TREAT
(Charles Martin Smith, 1986)
A metalhead high schooler gains mysterious powers after finding hidden recordings on his recently deceased favorite rocker's records. A blend of horror comedy that isn't really scary or particularly funny, it nevertheless mixes the two so perfectly that it's fairly engaging for most of its runtime. It feels like something that could have been a classic, but settles for cult curiosity more than anything. It features cameos by Gene Simmons and Ozzy Osbourne, the latter amusingly playing a priest trying to ban rock and roll from schools. With Marc Price and Tony Fields. GRADE: B-
Rewatches...
CANDYMAN: FAREWELL TO THE FLESH
(Bill Condon, 1995)
Ok, no offense to "Your Sister Is A Werewolf" but "Farewell to the Flesh" might be the better subtitle. Before he was an Oscar winning screenwriter, Condon directed this follow-up to the 1992 classic. I haven't seen the original in some time, but I remember it being mostly elegant with some third act problems. I don't think this sequel is as good, but it is bit more consistent. After her brother is put in jail for murder, a teacher in New Orleans investigates the Candyman legend and discovers a shocking link to her family that puts her and everyone around her in danger. It dives into the legend and adds a nice layer that makes the hooked menace a bit more sympathetic. Tony Todd returns, just as sexy and scary as he was in the first. GRADE: B
DUEL
(Steven Spielberg, 1971)
Just realized this is the third Spielberg film I watched this fest, but this is a fitting one because it was his first film. It debuted in the states on television, but they added scenes and it was released theatrically internationally. I watched this 20 or so years ago and really liked it. The road thriller is one of my fave horror subgenres and its easy to see the influence this film had on later films. A very simple premise: a working man (Dennis Weaver) driving in California crosses paths with a trucker hellbent on killing him. No reason is ever given. Spielberg had the magic touch from the beginning as this is essentially one long chase film and remains suspenseful and beautifully shot for its entire brief runtime. Funny note: I watched this with my parents and they didn't like it at all. GRADE: B+
FRIGHT NIGHT
(Tom Holland, 1985)
Not that Tom Holland. Fun mix of vampire horror and comedy in which a horny teenager (William Ragsdale) discovers that his new neighbor (Chris Sarandon) is a bloodsucker murdering people at night. He enlists the help of a cheesy late night horror movie host (Roddy McDowell) to put the bloodshed to an end. I have a enjoyable time with this but I'm not totally in love with it the way some people are. It's definitely a cult favorite. I've never seen the sequel which is hard to track down, but I found the 2011 remake to be average. The small ensemble is excellent, also featuring Married With Children's Amanda Bearse. GRADE: B
HOUSE OF WAX
(Jaume Collet-Serra, 2005)
A group of college friends on a road trip have car trouble and end up in a desolate small town where a wax museum holds some deadly secrets. Released at the height of the horror remake trend of the aughts, this is one of the better ones. It completely abandons the storyline of the Vincent Price original. Not without its flaws, the first act drags on too long and the characters are mostly assholes. It picks up tremendously once they actually get to the title location, leading to a spectacular final act showcasing the jaw dropping production design. Decent kills, too! I loved that movie theater playing Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?. With Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray and his delicious nipples, and yes, you get to see Paris Hilton die. GRADE: B
LORD OF ILLUSIONS
(Clive Barker, 1995 - Director's Cut)
I haven't seen this since watching in on VHS sometime in the 90's. I thought it was fine, but I decided to watch the recent 4K of the Director's Cut. It adds about 13 minutes back into the film. I liked it this time, but I'm officially in Barker's corner for the way he filmed Scott Bakula in this. Love have mercy. It's been awhile since I've seen a horror movie where the male lead is so blatantly sexualized. More of that please. Bakula plays a private eye hired to investigate the disappearance of a magician. Bodies start piling up, and it leads to a cult surrounding an illusionist who died years before. Good mix of potboiler noir and fantastical horrors. With Famke Janssen and Kevin J. O'Connor. GRADE: B
SE7EN
(David Fincher, 1995)
Hey, that's the title card! I thought about watching this outside of Horrorfest so I could do a double feature with Showgirls. They both opened the same weekend - the original "Barbenheimer". The 90's had a lot of influential films and this might lead the pack. Every serial killer film and TV police procedural since probably owes a lot to Fincher's classic. Two cops, one about to be retired and the other a young hotshot, investigate a killer claiming his victims using the seven sins. It builds wonderfully to the final 20 minutes - an absolute gut punch of an ending. Some of the earlier grisly scenes probably aren't as shocking thirty years on, but that ending is still a doozy. And it works despite the presence of that actor. With Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, and Gwyneth Paltrow. GRADE: A-
THE SHINING
(Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
It's been ages since I've watched this the whole way through. It's a movie that's always on TV especially this time of year, so it's mostly been bits and pieces over the years. With the snowy Colorado setting, that gorgeous hotel, Hollywood's biggest star, and one of its most acclaimed directors, this is horror on a grand scale. It also proves that the best King adaptations make significant changes to his stories. A writer (Jack Nicholson) takes a job as the winter caretaker to the Overlook Hotel, where his wife (Shelley Duvall) notices changes in him and their psychic son. Nicholson leans heavily into his inherent "off-ness" while Duvall is perfect as the emotionally dwindling wife. Her Razzie nom for this, along with Kubrick's, is proof why that organization is a joke. Another one with one of the best Treehouse of Horror parodies. With Danny Lloyd and Scatman Crothers. GRADE: A
TALES FROM THE CRYPT: DEMON KNIGHT
(Ernest Dickerson, 1995)
I was so excited to see this back in the day I think I rented it the day it came to VHS. And I was disappointed. I wasn't quite a horror fiend just yet. I've seen bits and pieces over the years and my opinion of it grew. It's well directed and the ninety minutes just fly by. A mysterious drifter (William Sadler) checks into a hole in the wall motel while on the run from a demon (a seductive Billy Zane) who wants to unleash the apocalypse. The design of the demons is unsettling, while the deep cast comprised mostly of great character actors nails the tone. Easily the best of the two theatrical (and an additional direct to DVD one that I watched a few years back) sequels, though I'm not sure if I'll be revisiting Bordello of Blood next year. With Jada Pinkett, Thomas Haden Church, and CCH Pounder delivering all her lines to perfection. GRADE: B+
TALES FROM THE HOOD
(Randy Cundieff, 1995)
Outside of the two sequels - which I haven't seen - I can't think of any other anthology horrors with an exclusively Black angle. Executive produced by Spike Lee, this follows a mortician who tells four tales of terror to a trio of young drug dealers. The first involves police corruption and the murder of an activist, the second follows a young man facing a vicious domestic monster, the next is about a Southern politician haunted by the ghosts of the slaves in his plantation estate, and the last is about a criminal learning the consequences of his actions. The third is the most memorable one, certainly the one that I vividly remembered after all these years. Not entirely sure the fourth one works as its supposed to, though. This is a solid anthology dealing with themes that are sadly still relevant decades later. With Clarence Williams III, David Alan Grier, and Corbin Bernsen. GRADE: B
TIM BURTON'S CORPSE BRIDE
(Tim Burton & Mike Johnson, 2005)
A Victorian man practicing his wedding vows accidentally marries an undead bride after she rises from the dead thinking he proposed to her. Pretty simple plot and only 77 minutes, this didn't quite get into the zeitgeist the way The Nightmare Before Christmas did. That's a bit of a shame because this is just as good. I appreciate that the directors chose the make the undead world so colorful with the regular world having that dreary grayscale look that Burton so loves. Good musical numbers and a stacked cast, featuring the voices of Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Emily Watson. GRADE: B+
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