Movies that leaves you scratching your head
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Saturday, March 24, 2012
Horror Movie re-make misses
Friday, March 23, 2012
Worse horror movies ever part 2
It doesn't get too much worse than these "stinkers"
worse horror movies ever part 1
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Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Hellraiser- a very dark and disturbing movie
“Some things in life aren’t meant to be explored or delved into”.
-MonsterMovieMan
I’m a firm believer that people should not screw with the following things, black magic, voodoo, the occult or the box that was one of the subjects of the movie Hellraiser.
Hellraiser is a really dark horror movie. And when I say “dark” I mean it in the sense that it wasn’t the typical knife-wielding mad man style horror movie. It was anything but, in fact, the title tells you almost all you need to know about this movie.
Movies such as this make me think the writer, in order to come up with the inspiration necessary to write this type of material had to be into some really deep shit, I mean, black magic or possibly satan worship. Something I’ve thought a time or two about the king of the macabre himself, Stephen King.
Clive Barker the director was also the writer adapting the screenplay from a novel he penned some years back. I can’t say that I’ve read the book or that I would even want to, but I will say this if the book is anything like the Hellraiser movies then it has to be pretty disturbing, because if Hellraiser is nothing else, it is certainly disturbing.
For the uninitiated, the movie begins as we see a man by the name of Frank (Sean Chapman) sitting with another man in what appeared to be the country of India. The man simply asks him, “Mister what’s your pleasure”? He responds by saying “The box…I want the box”. The camera then pans down to the two separate stacks of money the man “forks over” for the box. Clearly he expected something special from it.
What he expected was sensual pleasures the likes he never experienced before. Not only did he not get “his rocks off” what he got was so much more than anything he could have imagined.
When he pressed the box at a certain point a doorway into “hell” and the demons standing at that “doorway” waiting to be summoned suddenly make an unwelcome appearance.
But these demons, the cenobites as they are called, can only be summoned or released if the box is opened. Obviously, no one in their right mind would open the box, if they knew by doing so would release demons that, by the way, take sadistic pleasure in torturing their victims.
After opening the box he mistakenly calls forth the cenobites who then proceed to kill him. Actually we can only surmise that that is what happens to him from the sight of a number of hooks tearing into his flesh and the agonizing screams he sends forth.
When they were done with him he probably felt like if not the Marquis De Sade himself had worked him over maybe a group of his disciples.
The very next scene we are introduced to two of the cenobites as they enter what looks like some type of torture chamber. A number of chains dangle from the ceiling with chunks of human flesh attached to hooks, undoubtedly belonging to the recently departed.
And on the floor 3 or 4 pieces of a man’s face. The hand of one of the cenobites comes into the frame holding one piece of the face and joins it with the others as if forming a puzzle.
One of the truly strange things about this movie is that fact that not only is Frank resurrected by the blood of his brother that leaks upon the general area where he was killed but in order for him to fully “come back” Claire, his brother’s wife and Frank’s lover (emphasis on the word lover) is tasked by Frank to seduce unsuspecting men and bring them to him so he can kill them for their blood, reasoning that if some blood brought him back from the dead, then more blood is undoubtedly what’s needed to complete his return to the “land of the living”.
At this point Frank looks as if someone has ran him through a meat slicer, completely removing his outer layer of skin, leaving him with the appearance of a disgusting life like cadaver covered in fully exposed muscle dipped in blood.
Although, I’ve seen the movie a number of times something that is rare for me when it comes to movies I don’t like, but I will say this about the movie, it consistently succeeds in moving me each time I see it.
Stirring some type of emotion with in the viewer is the responsibility of the writer and director. Regardless of the movie and or the genre, if we as the audience haven’t been moved after watching a movie, then the writer and director failed at their job.
If the movie (horror in particular) doesn’t revolt or shock us or in some sense make us want to turn away from the screen because of the nature of what’s unfolding before our eyes then again the two individuals responsible for this happening, the writer and director have failed in this regard and the movie for all intents and purposes can be considered a failure.
Again, this movie moved me. It moved me because of its disturbing subject matter. How can someone not be stirred to emotion when the subject of a movie deals with demons, hell and torture? A subject that most people have a problem with regardless of their religious affiliation.
I don’t think anyone would dispute the fact that the demons are frightening and the leader of them, who goes by the name of “pinhead” portrayed extremely well by actor Doug Bradley, is in a word, unsettling to say the least. I would think because the movie isn’t very good that most horror fans affinity for the movie begins and ends with the character.
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Friday, March 16, 2012
Freddie Krueger - a nightmare unto himself
Freddie Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street was created from the mind of Wes Craven, the same man that brought horror fans the “Scream” series of movies. I would venture to say its no way he could have known that when he sat down to create the character that later would be embodied by the extremely talented actor Robert Englund he would be creating an iconic horror figure that would stand the test of time as not only one of horror fan’s favorite villains but one of the greatest to ever to grace the big screen.
In retrospect, do you remember how Freddie Krueger came to be the mythic figure we came to know and love? If not, here’s the tale of his genesis. The story goes that some years before where the beginning of the movie picks up he was killed in a fire and a number of the town’s people were said to be responsible for his death.
But think about this for a moment. How would “A Nightmare on Elm Street” have turned out if there weren’t a Freddie Krueger or some other central mythic nightmarish-figure to haunt the characters in their dreams?
The importance of having this type of antagonist for this type of movie could not be overstated. He had to be someone who not only was extremely dangerous and who could elicit fear at his very appearance but would also be motivated by one of the strongest human desires, the desire for revenge. Wes Craven understood the need for his antagonist having each of these attributes if his vision for the movie was to be.
Freddie Krueger wasn’t just someone the characters in “A Nightmare on Elm Street” dreamed about or coincidentally saw in their dreams; nor was he just the subject of their dreams. He was a lot more than that. To each of them, he was a nightmare, a nightmare unto himself.
From which there was no waking up, from which there was no escape. When you and I lie down at night on the other hand, and occasionally experience a nightmare despite its effect upon us at that moment there is something deeply engrained in our psyches that provides solace, allowing us to know that if and when we awake, everything will be okay, it’ll be as it was.
Our pulse rate may be elevated and our heart still may be racing, but that level of comfort will yet be there in the end. The characters in the movie unfortunately weren’t afforded that luxury.
Wes Craven did something with his antagonist’s that made him, not only more frightful but also dangerous. What he did was blur the lines between the dream world and reality. This was evident when Freddie would follow the kids from their dreams into the real world.
If you can remember the female character that while dreaming wrestles with Freddie and when she awakes she’s holding his dirty hat? That was when we as the audience really came to see what these characters were up against. We knew there was no getting away from this guy.
Did Wes Craven envision the character as “death”, or possibly the grim reaper? Only one can surmise. If he did or didn’t, only he can answer that, but I don’t think it would be a stretch to compare Freddie Krueger to “death” or better yet the “angel of death”. However, unlike the angel of death who comes for a person’s soul, Freddie only wanted blood.
If all it would have taken were a pot of coffee in order to stave off sleep, and therefore that nightmarish blood lustful villain, like the female character tried, then it would have been as simple as drinking some coffee. But it wasn’t that simple was it? At some point she would have to sleep, she knew there was no getting around that fact. She knew despite whatever the amount of coffee she consumed, eventually the coffee and the effects of its caffeine would give way to what her body would crave more so at that moment, and that being sleep.
“A Nightmare on Elm Street” was what I would call an instant classic the day it was released. The premise was good and very much original, but the catalyst behind the story, what drove it, what absolutely allowed that premise to work can be summed up in just two words, Robert Englund.
Cast anyone else in the role and the story we all loved and remember seeing back in the 80’s would have taken on a whole different dynamic, it would have also left us with a completely different impression. You only have to look to the most recent remake of the movie, where the iconic actor was noticeably absent from the lead role to appreciate just how much Robert Englund brought to the role of Freddie Krueger which with out question helped to make “A Nightmare on Elm Street” what we remembered it to be, a truly good horror movie.
Friday, March 9, 2012
10 Best horror movie quotes
Halloween
“What’s the boogie man”?
Saw
“I wanna play a game”
Poltergeist
“Their here”
Jaws
“We’re gonna need a bigger boat”
Candyman
“Join me and be my victim”.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
“One, two, Freddy's coming for you. Three, four, better lock your door. Five, six, grab your crucifix. Seven, eight, gonna stay up late. Nine, ten, never sleep again…”
An American Werewolf in London
“Oh shit David what is that”?
The Sixth Sense
“I see dead people”
Hellraiser
“No tears please, it’s a waste of good suffering”
The Exorcist
Father Karras: "Well, then let's introduce ourselves. I'm Damien Karras".
Demon: "And I'm the Devil. Now kindly undo these straps".
What's your favorite horror movie quote
Sunday, March 4, 2012
The sickest people ever put on film
Horror films or otherwise:
Can you think of anyone more sick than these people? Let us know.
Friday, March 2, 2012
The bad horror movie, a common occurence in Hollywood. Will it ever end?
I don’t think it would be a stretch for me to say that Hollywood has put out a plethora of absolutely terrible horror movies over probably the last 30 or 35 years.
Follow along as I attempt to establish “the why” behind this common occurrence in Hollywood.
I’ve seen many horror movies, as I’m sure you have over the years and in the process I had to painfully endure watching not just really bad horror movies but horror movies that weren’t even remotely good or entertaining.
A few of those movies for me, and the memories they evoke reside in that certain place within my gray matter where every other bad memory I’ve amassed over the course of my life resides.
I submit for your approval, every movie in the “Child’s Play” series. Don’t laugh, but if you are in the minority of us that actually thought any of those movies were in fact pretty good and you saw “Dead and Breakfast” well then you probably for some strange reason enjoyed that sorry movie too.
And all you zombie movie lovers, “eat your heart out”, if you even for one moment thought that the movie “Zombie Strippers” was a good movie and worth the “watch”.
Robert Englund and Jenna Jamison, for the uninitiated, had the ignominious distinction of having acted in the movie and notwithstanding their respective star-power there was no denying Zombie Strippers was a very bad movie.
Unfortunately, the “landscape” of motion picture history over the aforementioned time frame has been “littered” all too often with these types of “poorly conceived” stories.
I’m reminded of a time not long ago when movies like John Carpenter’s Halloween or Steven Spielberg’s Jaws or Poltergeist were standards during their time by which all other horror movies that were suddenly “flooding” the theaters were judged.
During this time, the late 70’s early to mid 80’s it seemed that for every “Halloween” or movie like “Halloween” that enjoyed not only theatrical success but critical acclaim and was more importantly a hit among the “horror-moviegoer-fandom” there were probably 9 more horror movies that were again, not very good and were frankly a waste of good “coin”.
Is it possible that there is something inherent to the “horror movie premise” that lends itself to bad story telling, and therefore “bad filmmaking”? Could this be the reason for the “glut” of garage we’re seeing?
If you think that that is the case then my response to you is this. Not so fast my “horror fiend”. A solid believable premise is always good for any type of movie. And so I will assure you that “the horror movie” hasn’t achieved any unique status in the area of “bad filmmaking”. I know what you’re thinking though.
Still, why all the bad horror flicks?
Okay, go with me if you will on a “retrospective trip” into the recesses of your “gray matter” and think for just one moment of the litany of terrible horror movies you’ve seen you would probably see that each of these movies shared a number of things in common. If you knew exactly what to look for you would see that other than the obvious element of each of them not being very good, the scripts that formed the bases of what you saw on the screen all lacked certain story elements.
I apologize for the sudden lesson in “script writing ” if you think it’s misplaced but all movies in Hollywood, at the script level follow some type of formula, but whether the writer has followed the formula or not, it won’t guarantee that what he has written and what is put on screen will be watch able.
So in that regard horror movies aren’t unique in what constitutes a bad horror movie verses what constitutes some other type of bad movie one might see. A bad movie is still a bad movie no matter what kind of movie it may be.
Despite its genre, the universal elements of good storytelling must be in place in order for any movie to have a chance at giving the audience what it expects to see when they” put down” their hard earned dollar.
And speaking of dollars, we’ve come to the $64,000 question.
Why do we as audiences keep coming? Despite our belief that the movie to which we’ve heard about and whose trailer we’ve seen will probably not meet our expectations, we will still stand in line and pay our money to see it.
Why?
The answer is simple; Hollywood knows they’ve got us. They know it only takes one good horror movie to hook someone and make him or her a fan for life. For some fans that moment took place long ago.
Like the moment we saw the trailer for the movie Jaws, we knew we had to see it and at that instant we believed, at least I did, that having to stand in a line that stretched around the block didn’t at all seem out of the ordinary and would be worth it if that’s what it called for.
Or it happened when “The Exorcist” hit the theaters. Despite how truly frightening the movie appeared to be and all of what was being said about the movie. As far as the strange things that happened on the set of the movie during its “shooting” or how different audience members were said to have vomited while watching it or the different ones who ran from the theater due to being unable to handle the disturbing subject matter, some of us nonetheless had to absolutely see this movie.
And for some others, for people like myself that moment really took place probably a few years prior to Steven Spielberg telling us” not to go into the water” or “little Regan’s head began spinning around”.
It was the first time I had seen some of the classics like Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolfman. It was my induction or “baptism” into the whole horror movie phenomenon that had captured so many fans hearts.
So as you can see, it doesn’t matter what the movie is. Whether it’s a good story with a solid premise or not, with a good solid cast or not, it just doesn’t matter to Hollywood. If they can get it made they will do so.
From all the aforementioned “trash” to the really good original stories like Paranormal Activity and” The Blair Witch Project” to many of the rehashed movies like the previously mentioned Frankenstein and the most recent Wolfman, the filmmakers in Hollywood know that if they make it we audiences will come, whether the movie is good, bad or otherwise.
Again, its because they’ve “got us”, we’re “hooked” and they know it.
It’s some type of strange hold they have over us. One similar to the psychological “grip” the individual has over the person who spots the wallet laying on the ground and to which, they have determined to lay claim, and despite it suddenly moving because of the string attached they continue to follow suit, in hopes of laying possession before someone else is able to do so.
Why?
Because of the promise of what may be inside. And once they get it, well by then, its already too late.
Be sure to read: Ten must-see horror flicks
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