Day 258: The Omen

The Omen

So is he the son of Satan or Lassie?

If there is a child in a horror movie, they're either going to be a victim or the spawn of evil. I've expressed my general disdain for how most children are portrayed in horror. They're either incredibly stupid, incredibly annoying, or both. It's even worse when the entire movie is based around said child doing stupid things and making situations for more dangerous than they have to be. The other side of the coin are movie where the child is evil. These can be hit or miss depending on the the individual execution of each movie, but these have a far better track record than horror involving normal kids. Sure some have kids being possessed or infected with some disease, but you can't beat having the child of Satan.

The Omen is a 1976 horror/suspense movie starring Gregory Peck (To Kill A Mockingbird, The Yearling) as Robert Thorn. Robert and his wife Katherine's (Lee Remick, Damn Yankees, Anatomy Of A Murder) newborn son dies in a hospital in Italy. Unaware to Katherine, Robert is coerced by a priest named Father Spiletto to take another newborn child who's mother died in childbirth. Concerned for Katherine's well being, Robert portrays this new child as their biological son, naming him Damien. Soon after, Robert is named the United States ambassador to Great Britain and the family moves to a fancy estate in Britain. A few years later, strange events begin to occur around the house. During his birthday party, Damien's nanny unexpectedly hanged herself in front of all the party-goers. She is quickly replaced by the odd Mrs. Baylock (Billie Whitelaw, Frenzy, Tangiers) who vows to protect Damien at all cost. A priest named Father Brennan (Patrick Troughton, Scars Of Dracula, The Moonraker) begins to follow Robert, trying to warn him about Damien and his true origins. After initially brushing him off, Robert listens to Brennan as he explains that Damien is the offspring of the devil, intent on killing Katherine, her unborn child, and eventually Robert himself. After their meeting, the priest dies after a pole on a church impales him after being struck by lighting. The events continue as Damien, riding his tricycle, knocks into his mother, sending her over a railing and onto the floor below. She survives, but has a miscarriage. Photographer Keith Jennings (David Warner, Titanic, Planet Of The Apes) has been investigating these incidents, discovering each picture he took of the victims foretold their fate. An accidental self-picture reveals that Keith himself is in danger. Keith and Robert investigate Damien's origins, believing that he is actually the Antichrist. leading to a trip to Italy. They discover his true mother's grave, finding a skeleton of a jackal inside. Next to her is the grave of Robert's true son. They open it to reveal that his child was murdered with the purpose of replacing him with Damien. While Robert is away, Katherine is shoved out of a window by Mrs. Baylock, killing her. Robert and Keith go to Israel to meet an archaeologist named Bugenhagen. Bugenhagen tells Robert that Damien should have a “666” birthmark on his body and that Robert must kill Damien with specific knives before it is too late. He refuses, throwing the knives away. When Keith retrieves them, a truck accidentally rolls towards him, causing a sheet of glass to slide off and decapitate him. All alone, Robert returns home to Great Britain. Will he find the birthmark and be able to kill Damien before he destroys the world?

"Eat your damn vegetables!"

The Omen has the perfect balance of suspense and horror. We, the audience, know that something is not right with Damien and can see things unfolding much sooner than the characters. There is danger around every corner and while the characters believe them to be accidents or coincidences, we know the truth and want to leap into the screen to tell them. It's not often that a movie can cause an entire audience to call for killing a child, but The Omen manages to do it. The movie has a relatively slow, but steady pace which lays out what is going to happen without rushing scenes to get to a major event. While that's good for increasing suspense, it does make for a long run-time of about an hour and fifty minutes. While no scenes are unnecessary, the length does get to be a bit much at times.

For a movie based around an evil child, we don't actually see Damien commit true acts of violence. Sure he knocks into his mother, but he never explicitly hurts people. The violence comes from supernatural and natural means, all of which are clever and competently achieved. There is some blood, but not much by today's standards. Keith's beheading is quite impressive and helps bring the movie to a new level of shock. Gregory Peck is very good as Robert Thorn and David Warner is a solid foil. I should mention that the music in The Omen is great and makes the movie far scarier. Composer Jerry Goldsmith (Chinatown, Rudy) received an Oscar for his work and is well-deserved. The theme “Ave Satani” is a combination of orchestral music and strong choral chants in Latin. It is startling and jarring while giving credence to the religious themes in the movie. The ending of the movie is well-done, not revealing too much, but leaving the audience shocked and afraid.

Still not as evil as Snooki's child

The Omen proves that not every child in a horror movie has to be annoying or stupid. While the violence and overall theme is scary, The Omen really makes it mark with subtle looks and implications of things to come. The line "Look at me, Damien. It's all for you!" is a horror movie classic and can still shock audiences today. The movie has a great amount of suspense, but does get drawn out for an unusually long time. The acting and directing is very good and the music is classic. The story is pretty basic and I would have liked a little more time spent on Damien himself, since he is the central purpose of the movie. While there is a remake and numerous sequels out there, make sure to see the original movie first.

8/10

Day 257: From Within

From Within

You better call your optometrist

Religion has a big place in the horror genre, probably more than any other style of movie. How often do you see religion addressed in a car chase movie like The Fast And The Furious or a teen comedy? While various religious themes are explored in horror, it's the execution that truly makes the themes matter. Religion is a delicate subject even for those who are not religious. That doesn't mean movies should question or even criticize religion, it just needs to be done in a way that is smart and thought-provoking. Just throwing a few priests and demons into the mix just won't cut it. It's also important to have a point to making your movie.

From Within is a 2008 supernatural horror movie starring Elizabeth Rice (Mad Men, Forgetting The Girl) as Lindsay. A teenage boy named Sean Spindle reads an encatation from a black book and commits suicide in front of his girlfriend, Natalie (Rumer Willis). Covered in blood, a hysterical Natalie runs into a clothing store owned by her father, saying that someone is following her. Lindsay and her alcoholic mother Trish are in the store and witness Natalie stab herself in the throat with a pair of scissors. That night, Natalie's father is haunted by a dark figure and begins to hear strange voices. He is found the next day dead from an apparent suicide. The next day, Lindsay witnesses her boyfriend Dylan (Kelly Blatz, Prom Night, Glory Daze), who is the son of the town pastor, beating on Aidan Spindle (Thomas Dekker, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Sean's brother. Dylan blames Aidan for the recent rash of deaths in the town. Some years back, Aidan and Sean's mother was labeled a witch by the town and died under mysterious circumstances. Many blamed her for the death of a local man. Lindsay takes Aidan home and treats his injuries, making a connection with him. The suicides in town continue, seemingly spreading from to each person who witnesses the previous suicide. Each person sees an evil version of themselves and is forced to commit suicide. Aidan tells Lindsay about his mother and how she used to practice witchcraft. He warns her to leave Grovetown before it is too late. A religious fervor is sweeping the town, led by Dylan. That night, Lindsay is kidnapped by Dylan and her mother's boyfriend Roy (Adam Goldberg, Saving Private Ryan, A Beautiful Mind) and brought to the church for a religious cleansing. Later, Trish sees her evil doppleganger and is forced to kill herself. Lindsay finds her body and the curse that is sweeping across the town is now inside her. How will she be able to rid herself of the curse before it is too late?

Over, under, in and out. That's what noose tying is all about.

 

From Within tries hard to make a point about religion, but any impact they tried to make lands with a thud. There is little subtlety to the movie, though it never reaches the point where I feel like I've been hit with a cross in order to make a point. In fact, I think they managed to miss some opportunites for bringing up religion in the movie. While I am no expert on Christianity, I know that suicide is considered a sin. In a movie that contains a large number of suicides, the fact that it is a sin is never really brought up. It's a missed opportunity in which the act could have been discussed both in religious and psychological terms. Why no coming to grips with the sin or dealing with the psychological ramifications felt by other people?

One major problem with From Within lies within the general idea of the movie itself. The movie reminds me far too much of two other movies: M. Night Shyamalan's “The Happening” and “Fallen” starring Denzel Washington. The Happening revolves around the population committing mass suicide and Fallen involves a supernatural killing passing from person to person. What do you get when you combine both movies and add a dash of religion? You get From Within. I constantly had the feeling of “I've seen this before” while watching the movie. It's fairly predictable from about 20 minutes in what is going on and what is going to happen, all the way to the “surprise” ending. I want to be clear that I am not accusing the movie of plagiarizing or stealing ideas, because From Within is it's own movie. The similarities were just too much for me to ignore. It was also an interesting choice to use high schoolers as the focus of the movie. Despite being portrayed as such, they never really act like they're in high school, but nonetheless lack the gravitas and experience to pull off the major religious themes the movie was attempting. Again, this is a missed opportunity as the movie could have explored suicide in the context of high school students which could have been poignant and powerful. Instead we get a rather plain story about a curse and a witch, with a son who looks like he belongs in 30 Seconds To Mars.

The movie is low-budget, but director Phedon Papamichael Jr. (cinematographer on The Ides Of March and 3:10 To Yuma) manages to produce some decent scares. Most of fear comes from quick shots of the dopplegangers, decked out in pale makeup and contact lenses. There are a few scenes using special effects which look decent, but they never dominate the film. The acting is fine, though certain scenes are a bit overacted. Adam Goldberg puts in the best performance as the born-again criminal Roy, which is funny considering Goldberg is half Jewish and played the lead character in “The Hebrew Hammer”. He doesn't play a large part in the movie, though he does give a strong, albeit brief, part at the end. The movie does have a decent amount of violence, but it's mostly self-inflicted. For people with issues regarding suicide, there may be some difficult scenes to watch.

"We'll finish this at the Abecrombie & Fitch, bro!"

From Within isn't a particularly bad movie, it's just not very good. The general idea for the movie is decent, though it has been done before in one form or anything. By invoking Christianity as a main theme, the movie painted itself into a corner and failed to deliver. No great commentary is made and no point is driven. Things just kind of happen and there's a sprinkling of religious fervor and that's about it. They did not explore the ideas of sin and suicide and they ignored the difficulties of suicide and high school. Even with a supernatural bent, they are still real-life issues and could have added a degree of authenticity to the movie. Instead, we get a cookie-cutter horror movie with a few mediocre scares that may be more suitable for a late night slumber party than your typical horror fan.

4.5/10

Day 256: The Brood

The Brood

Hands up, baby, hands up!

I've reviewed a few David Cronenberg movies before and the major constant in each movie is physical transformation. We've seen it in The Fly and Videodrome with scary results. Cronenberg's mental and psychological transformations are matched to the physical thanks to fantastically graphic special effects. His capability to combine the gruesome special effects and tense atmosphere make for fun and scary horror movies. Can the same be said for a movie by Cronenberg that I had never really heard of?

The Brood is a 1979 horror movie starring Art Hindle (Paradise Falls, Dallas) as Frank Carveth. Frank's estranged wife Nola (Samantha Eggar, Hercules, Metalocalypse) has been receiving treatment from psychotherapist Hal Raglan (Oliver Reed, Gladiator, Tommy). Raglan runs the Somafree Institute where he performs an experimental form of therapy called “psychoplasmics”. Frank allows his five-year old daughter Candice to visit her mother at the institute and is shocked to find her covered in bruises. Frank informs Raglan of her injuries and tells him that he will no longer bring Candice to see her mother. Wanting to protect Nola and her progress, Raglan intensifies her sessions hoping to quickly solve her issues. He learns that Nola was abused by her mother and neglected by her father, leading to her current fragile mental state. Frank considers legal action against Raglan and seeks out a former patient of the doctor who claims the treatment gave him cancer. While meeting with the former patient, Candice stays with Nola's mother, Juliana. A crashing noise is heard in the kitchen and when Juliana goes to check, she is viciously attacked and murdered by what appears to be a dwarf or child. The police inform Frank of the murder and explain that Candice has been traumatized by the incident. Nola's father Barton returns to attend Juliana's funeral and tries to visit Nola. Raglan turns him away and Barton plans to take revenge on Raglan. While Frank goes to check on Barton, Candice's teacher Ruth Mayer stays at home to watch her. She answers the phone, which has Nola on the other line. Believing that Ruth is Frank's new love interest, Nola becomes enraged. Frank finds Barton murdered by the same small child from before. He confronts the child who dies during the altercation. An autopsy reveals the child has strange deformities such as being asexual, color blind, toothless, and without a navel, suggesting it was burn unnaturally. Raglan quickly closes Somafree, discharging all of the patients in order to focus only on Nola. When Candice returns to school, two dwarf-children kill Ruth and kidnap Candice, bringing her to Somafree. Frank learns from a discharged patient that Nola was Raglan's “queen bee” and the children live in a shed on the Somafree compound. When he arrives, Haglan explains to Frank that the dwarf children come from Nola, an accident byproduct of her psychplasmic sessions. She is telepathically linked to them as her rage causes them to kill. Will Frank be able to save his daughter and stop Nola before it's too late?

"But I don't wanna go to bed!"

The Brood is probably one of Cronenberg's more straight-forward films, but that doesn't mean it's your average horror movie. The movie is laid-out with a good mystery, giving the audience slow drips of information. While the slow reveal makes for a good mystery, it does feel a little too slow at times. Things don't really pick up until the first murder which does take a little while to get to. Any good mystery forces the audience to question just exactly what is happening on who is to blame and The Brood accomplishes this very well. The misdirection with Dr. Raglan is a good plot twist as for most of the movie, I suspected he was the villain. The slow build also creates a sense of horror and dread as the dwarf killers are slowly revealed. They make unnatural sounds and grunts which make the scenes more frantic and terrifying. We don't see them right away and their unnatural natural makes everything quite strange. The movie has a great, creepy atmosphere thanks in part to the usage of string musical flourishes. It's not quite the music from “Psycho”, but it's very close.

Most of the movie is all a build to the big reveal at the end and it is quite a reveal. As I mentioned before, most of Cronenberg's work involves physical transformation horror. Only until the very end did we see this signature plot device involving Nola and it's very disturbing. Without giving too much away, the scene is both gruesome and graphic, which forced the film to be censored in certain places. It earned the film a spot on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments. The movie has some very good, if a bit graphic, scenes of violence with a large amount of blood. Most of the special effects and makeup are used on the dwaves and on Nola at the end. Both look very good as both are natural-looking, but distorted just enough to make the audience uncomfortable. The acting is good and believable and Cronenberg is able to create characters the audience cares about. Samantha Eggar is particularly good at portraying Nola's frantic insanity. The movie doesn't quite reach the exploitation genre, but it skirts the area with the scenes of what appear to be children murdering adults. 

That smile could light up a room

The Brood is well-made, but there's just something about it that doesn't create that spark of greatness found in other Cronenberg movies. Maybe it's the straight-forward nature or the disconnected big reveal at the end that just didn't set my world on fire. The action and violence is good and the mystery is quite entertaining. There are some scary scenes, but I never felt overwhelmed with fear or suspense. The movie does contain the usual Cronenberg physical transformations, but they don't come until the end which was disappointing. The movie has it's good moments and is by no means bad, it just doesn't really reach the level of his future movies. It's a good introductory movie to David Cronenberg's work and worth a watch if you're new to him.

7/10

Day 255: Masters Of Horror: Imprint

Masters Of Horror: Imprint

Need copies? Come on down to Imprint.

If the United States is the pioneer of the modern horror movie than Japan is the explorer. Just when you think you've seen everything horror has to offer, Japanese horror writers and directors take you in strange, unknown directions. Just one you think you've seen everything, they take it to another level going for more shocks, more blood, more gore, and more horror. More is not always better as a good story is worth more than just gory special effects and makeup. While those things may initially scare us, true horror lies within the unsettling moments of the story and the acting. I certain phrase, a turn of events, or even a specific look by an actor can turn a mediocre movie into a truly chilling watch.

Masters Of Horror: Imprint is a story from the horror anthology directed by Takashi Miike (Audition, One Missed Call). Set in the Victorian era, an American journalist named Christopher (Billy Drago, Demon Hunter, The Lords Of Salem) is traveling through Japan looking for his lost love, a prostitute named Komomo. He arrives at an island inhabited only by prostitutes and spends the night with a quite prostitute with a facial deformity. She tells Christopher that Komomo killed herself because he did not come to rescue her in time. Distraught, Christopher seeks solace in sake and asks the girl to tell him a story. She tells him of her life, explaining that her mother was a midwife and was forced to sell her into slavery after her drunken father killed himself. She explained that as a young child, she learned that bad people go to hell and good people go to heaven. Eventually, she ended up on the island with Komomo. Komomo was the most popular girl on the island, causing a lot of jealousy among the older prostitutes. When the Madame's ring is stolen Komomo was brutally tortured by the other girls until she confessed. Overcome with shame and agony, Komomo hanged herself. Disbelieving the story, Christopher asks her to tell the truth. The girl retells the story, which is far more darker than the first. She explains that her mother performed abortions and that the monk who taught her of heaven and hell had molested her. She also reveals that her father had raped her and she beat him to death. Despite Komomo's kindness, the girl planted the stolen ring on her. After her torture, the girl killed Komomo, justifying her actions as a way to save her from hell for being associated with bad people. Unconvinced, Christopher demands for the entire truth. The girl also reveals that her parents were brother and sister, making her the product on incest. She was actually born with a parasitic twin; a hand with a face growing out of her head. It was this “sister” that commanded her to kill her father and steal the Madame's ring. The hand begins to speak in Komomo's voice, bringing Christopher to the brink of madness. What does this all mean and what will happen?

"I just remembered I have an early meeting. You're a super girl. Gotta go!"

This may be the weirdest of all the Masters Of Horror movies. Beyond some of the cultural nuances, the story itself takes so many different twists and turns that you're never really sure what you're watching. I think part of this problem is attributed to the Masters Of Horror format, forcing the story to fit into an hour-long television episode. As a full-length, Imprint would have had the appropriate amount of time to foreshadow and draw the big surprises out. Everything is rushed in an hour and the little intricacies that would have made for a complete watch were left out. The multiple-stories within a story reminded me of the Jet Li movie “Hero”. It's an interesting plot device, but I felt the execution was a bit lacking. Again, this can be attributed to the short run-time of the movie. Too much happens too quickly while only the last 15 minutes provide anything truly interesting. As I've stated before, I am not a fan of torture in movies and Imprint goes way overboard. I won't get into specifics, but if you're squeamish, you should just skip over this part altogether. It's no surprise that the man behind “Audition” directed Imprint. This episode never actually made it to television as Showtime felt it was too violent and gruesome, even for cable. It is hard to watch even for those who think they are desensitized.

The 800-pound elephant in the room is the talking hand coming out of a woman's head. It is certainly creepy, but it's just a little too weird. It's almost on par with the necrophila scene from Masters Of Horror: Haeckel's Tale. Almost. I think they would have been better off portraying it as an undeveloped Siamese twin. I know they were going for a “voices in her head” theme, but really, it's just a hand with a face growing out of a woman's head. It reminded me too much of the martial arts spoof “Kung Pow!: Enter The Fist” where the main character's tongue had a face on it. The sets look very good and Miike creates some beautiful and creative scenes. The subtext of what is really hell is always an interesting topic. It's brought up a few times throughout the movie, but not enough to truly convey any feelings or ideas. If they wanted to discuss one's personal Hell, they should have devoted more time to that than gratuitous torture. The ending was interesting and could actually be left up to one's interpretation. While some can see it simply for what it is, I believe that Christopher may have been in his own personal Hell the entire time. I could be wrong, but the movie does a good job of leaving things open for interpretation. The horror in the movie is a mixture of harsh violence, brutal abuse, and personal anguish. 

Seriously? Seriously.

Masters Of Horror: Imprint is certainly the most unique horror story in the series. It doesn't contain the humor seen in a majority of the episodes and goes off in a much darker direction. The story itself is interesting, though more time was needing to properly explain things. Because of the time constraints, pacing is also an issue as things feel rushed. More time would have allowed for foreshadowing and slower reveals. The movie contains a lot of violence, blood, and gore with a torture scene that is difficult to sit through. The inclusion of the hand sister is just a little too weird and goofy for me. I think something a little more subtle would have worked better. Miike still manages to make it creepy and unsettling, so it could have been far more ridiculous. Imprint is an interesting, if unpleasant watch. Some may like it and others may hate it. I'm somewhere in the middle as I like the themes and ideas, but could have done without the torture or the hand sister. Give Imprint a shot if you're feeling adventurous, but be prepared.

6/10

Day 254: Cloverfield

Cloverfield

A little too much off the top

I loved monster movies as a little kid, specifically the Japanese monsters. Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, and Ghidorah were some personal favorites. I still have toys of those monsters tucked away in a box somewhere. Looking back on them now, they seem quaint and almost goofy, but there was just something special about them as a child. I liked the way they looked and sounded and enjoyed their different special powers and abilities. They were something out of a comic book only brought to life, destroying cities as people fled in terror. Whatever the reason, monster movies have a special place in my heart and in the hearts of people across the globe. You can see a monster movie in a language you don't understand, but you can still comprehend what is going on. It's that universal appeal that makes me wonder why we don't see more monster movies. Luckily, we have Cloverfield.

Cloverfield is a 2008 science fiction horror movie produced by J.J. Abrams (Star Trek, Super 8) directed by Matt Reeves (Felicity, Let Me In). Shot in the “found footage” style, taken from a hand-held camera recovered by the United States Department of Defense. The footage we see is now government property and designated as part of the “Cloverfield” case. The beginning of the video starts with Rob Hawkins (Michael Stahl-David, The Black Donnellys, My Generation) greeting his formerly platonic friend Beth (Odette Yustman, The Unborn, Operation: Endgame) in bed. The footage cuts to two weeks later to Rob's brother Jason and his girlfriend Lilly planning Rob's going away party. Rob will be moving to Japan for a new job and all of his friends have gathered to wish him well. Jason gives the camera to his friend Hud (T.J. Miller, Yogi Bear, Happy Endings) to get testimonials from everyone at the party. Hud tries to speak with Marlena (Lizzy Caplan, Mean Girls, 127 Hours) whom he has a crush on, but she continuously brushes him off. Beth arrives at the party with another man, upsetting Rob. As Jason and Hud try to console Rob, a large explosion rocks New York City. Initially believed to be an earthquake, the party empties out into the street. The head of the Statue of Liberty comes crashing into the street, complete with scratch marks on it. An enormous monster is seen walking through the streets of New York, smashing and collapsing buildings. Rob, Jason, Hud, Lilly, and Marlena start to evacuate the city by walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. Rob receives a phone call from Beth, saying that she is hurt and needs his help. At the same time, the monster's gigantic tail crashes into the bridge, killing Jason and causing the group to flee back into Manhattan. The group venture's into Midtown Manhattan, taking refuge in a subway station. They make their way into the tunnels where they are attacked by vicious arachnid-like creatures that came from the gigantic monster. One of the creatures tries to drag Hud off, but Marlena saves him, being bitten in the process. They make their way to a department store, which is filled with doctors and military personnel. Marlena begins to bleed from her eyes and is whisked away to a cordoned-off area where she appears to literally explode. An officer informs Rob, Hud, and Lilly that the last evacuation helicopters leave at 0600 and after that, the “Hammer Down” protocol will be enacted, thus destroying the city. They make their way to Beth's apartment where they find her injured, but alive. Will they be able to make it out of the city before the city is destroyed by the monster or the military?

"Worst Thanksgiving Day Parade ever!"

Normally, I;m not the biggest fan of the “found footage” style of horror movies. Most of the time, they're a vehicle to get cheap scares on a tiny budget. In Cloverfield's case, budget was not an issue as there are a large amount of special effects and computerization. The found footage style works for Cloverfield because it puts the audience right in the middle of the action. Most found footage horror involves a small group of people alone in a scary place. Cloverfield is in the most populated city in the world. There are lots of extras and scenes take place near iconic buildings and areas. There are lots of extras and the inclusion of the military makes the movie into a big blockbuster. We are on the ground with the characters as they flee in terror. The movie cleverly shows the audience brief glimpses of the monster throughout the movie, never fully revealing it until the final act. It will take some time to get used to the shaking camera, but it does not reach the level of “Bourne Identity” shakiness. There is plenty of action throughout the movie with lots of scares and thrills to keep the audience entertained. The movie is fairly believable other than the scene where the group has to climb a tilting building to get to Beth. It was a bit too much for me to suspend my disbelief. The acting and directing are both very good and help make the movie feel more complete.

The monster itself looks great. It's design is fairly unique with it's giant legs and harsh features. The movie smartly includes the smaller monsters to create even more danger. Rather than just avoiding the big monster, the characters now have to worry about smaller, vicious monsters that can hide just about anywhere. The origin of the monster is never revealed in the movie, though there is an intricate back-story that can be researched online. It would have been nice just to have a few clues as to what exactly is going on. It's kind of like in zombie movies where zombies just appear and that's the end of discussion. I don't need things spelled out for me, but just showing a news clip of a theory would have been enough. Hud asks these same questions about the monster, so it's not like they ignored the idea. There were rumors that the monster was actually going to be Cthulhu from the H.P. Lovecraft mythos and I was disappointed when it was not.The movie had an expansive and in-depth viral marketing campaign, complete with multiple websites posing as legitimate businesses or products that can be seen in this movie as well as other J.J. Abrams films. I leave all that searching up to you as I'm just going through what I have seen in the movie.

It's hard to ignore how much Cloverfield reminds me of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The crumbling buildings in New York City, the panic in the streets, people running from a dust cloud and walking through the streets in a haze are straight out of real life. It is very difficult to watch, especially for people who lived through that tragedy. Some have been angry at the filmmakers for exploiting the attacks and making it part of entertainment. While I can't say if having these scenes is right or wrong, it is hard to ignore the similarities. It's these similarities that make the scenes more powerful than if the movie took place in another big city. It's up to you to decide if you want to watch something like that. It's not a focal point of the movie by any means, but it may bring forth some unexpected feelings, emotions, and memories. Speaking of emotion, underneath all the monster-fleeing is the love story between Beth and Rob. It is actually a pretty touching story as we see scenes from their day at Coney Island spliced between footage of the monster attack. The ending may actually choke you up a bit.

"Do I have something stuck in my teeth?"

Cloverfield is a fun monster movie that is full of action and scares. The special effects are great and the monster looks perfect. The inclusion of smaller monsters increases the danger and horror as they spring out at a moment's notice. The found footage style works for the story thanks to the large budget which creates an air of legitimacy to the story. If this was a small budget movie, it just wouldn't have worked in the way that. The acting and directing are both solid, though there was a scene or two that were a bit too hard to believe. I would have liked a little more information on what the monster is or where it came from, but you can read about that online if you're truly interested. There are scenes that will remind you or the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which make the scenes more terrifying, but may upset some people. Overall, Cloverfield is a really good monster movie and for someone who doesn't particularly care for sequels, I would actually like to see more of Cloverfield. That's a pretty high compliment.

9/10

Day 253: Piranha 3D

Piranha 3D

Get ready for Sharktopus vs. Piranhazilla

Horror parodies and satires are nothing new. Horror, as a genre, is so over-the-top and ridiculous that jokes need to be made at it's expense. In recent years, thanks to the Scary Movie franchises, even the parodies have become parodies. While they may be good for a chuckle or two, they're mostly just painful exercises in what not to do. Comedy movies can have horror in them and horror movies can have comedy. We've seen it work before, but it seems to be difficult to combine the two into a cohesive, entertaining story. Of course, it doesn't hurt when you throw in lots of nudity and gore.

Piranha 3D is a 2010 horror movie starring Steven R. McQueen (Minutemen, The Vampire Diaries) as Jake Forester. It's spring break at Lake Victoria and the area is full of drunk party goers. A small earthquake splits the lake floor, causing ancient piranhas to be released from a hidden underwater lake. Jake meets Derrick Jones, the creator and owner of Wild, Wild Girls, an amateur adult movie business. Derrick hires Jake to take him to the best spots are the lake. James' mother, Sheriff Julie Forester (Elisabeth Shue, Hollow Man, Adventures In Babysitting) discovers a mutilated body from the lake, but don't close the lake due to fears of the town losing business. She asks Derrick to babysit his younger brother and sister, but ditches them to go out on a boat with Derrick. They are joined by two actresses, Danni and Crystal, as well as Jake's crush, Kelly (Jessica Szohr, Tower Heist, Love Bite). Meanwhile, Julie takes a team of seismologist divers, including Novak (Adam Scott, Veronica Mars, Leap Year) to explore the cavern exposed by the earthquake. The divers are devoured by the piranhas, who begin to invade the entire lake. They take a captured piranha to marine biologist Carl Goodman (Christopher Lloyd, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Back To The Future) to figure out what it exactly is. Carl discovers that the piranhas are a prehistoric, long-thought extinct piranha that has survived by adopting cannibalism. Eventually, Jake sees his brother and sister stuck on a nearby island and uses the boat to pick them up. They hit some rocks and begin to sink, taking on piranhas in the process. At the same time, more piranhas invade the lake, eating hundreds of drunken college kids. Will Julie be able to save the partiers and will Jake be able to save the people on his boat?

Joker fish

I expected the worst from Piranha 3D, as the commercials and previews made it seem like a big screen attempt at a terribly SyFy channel movie. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the movie actually had a lot more more depth and action than the usual animal attack movies. The two biggest differences between Piranha and typical SyFy movie is the amount of nudity and gore. I'm not sure if I watched an unrated version, but there was more nudity in Piranha that most late-night Cinemax movies. Not that I'm complaining, but there is a copious amount of topless women and a full-nude swimming scene. On top of all that nudity is some of the best gore in a horror movie I've seen in years. There is no shortage of blood, bones, and guts throughout most of the movie. We get the “best” of both worlds with a scene featuring a piranha taking a bite out of computerized penis. Yes, really. Writer/director Alexandre Aja (Mirrors, The Hills Have Eyes) gives the audience what it wants in both regards, giving us just enough of a story to get us into the movie, but never overplaying his hand. There really isn't much to the movie other than nudity and violence, so Citizen Kane, this is not.

The movie has a surprisingly deep cast, including Elisabeth Shue, Ving Rhames, Jerry O'Connell, Christopher Lloyd, and small cameos by Eli Roth and Richard Dreyfuss. Shue is good in her authoritative role and Rhames plays his usual tough guy. Jerry O'Connell is very entertaining and natural as a sleazy porn maker. I swear that's a compliment. The money used to get such a cast probably put a dent in the special effects budget because, to be honest, the piranhas look cartoonish. I guess you're asking a lot from a movie where the main selling points is “breasts in 3D”, but it still would have been nice if the fish looked more realistic. Speaking of 3D, the version I watched was in regular 2D, so it was a little funny watching scenes clearly made for 3D, but seeing no effect. The makeup and prosthetics look good for all the injured swimmers which certainly helps keep the movie from becoming completely ridiculous.

"I've had it up to hear with these piranhas!"

Piranha 3D won't change the way we look at movies and it won't make you afraid to get in the water, but it will entertain you. It's simple, to-the-point, and loaded with violence and nudity. The story is nothing special, but it gets us from A to B. Obviously, this movie is for the younger audience and should probably not be watched during Family Movie Night. The acting is good for what is required, especially given the silly premise. There is a ton of violence and heaps of gore, enough to make any horror fan happy. The special effects are a little silly looking and border on cheap SyFy channel material. It's goofy and ridiculous, but it is self-aware, so it's OK. If you need something to watch with friends or need a light-hearted gore-a-thon, Piranha is a good choice.

7.5/10

Day 252: Alien

Alien

Scrambled or sunny-side up?

If horror movies have taught us anything (and believe me, they have) it's that aliens are evil creatures bent on world domination and/or human-eating. Sure, some movies want to portray the aliens as benevolent creatures, such as “A.I.” or “Close Encounters Of The Third Kind” but the majority of alien-based movies go straight for horror. A mixture of the unknown and the potential for easy scares is just too hard to pass up. While there have been scary alien-based movies for decades, there is one movie that stands above the rest, not just in terms of scares, but in terms of actual importance.

Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror movie written by Dan O'Bannon (Heavy Metal, Total Recall) and directed by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Gladiator). The movie stars Sigourney Weaver (Ghostbusters, Galaxy Quest) as Officer Ripley. Ripley works on commercial towing spaceship Nostromo which is towing a refinery filled with ore back to Earth. The seven member crew receives a transmission of unknown origin from a nearby planet. Ordered by their employer, the Nostromo detaches from the refinery and lands on the planet. The landing is rough, damaging the ship and forcing part of the crew to make necessary repairs. Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt, Top Gun, Contact), the navigator Lambert (Veronica Cartwright, The Birds, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers), and Officer Kane (John Hurt, Midnight Express, 1984) explore that planet in hopes of finding the signal's source. They discover the signal is coming from an ancient alien spacecraft. Inside, they find the fossilized remains of a giant alien which appears to have had something break it's ribs from the inside. The Nostromo's computer deciphers part of the signal, revealing it to be some sort of warning. Kane discovers a chamber filled with alien eggs. One egg opens, releases a creature that attaches itself to Kane's face. Ignoring quarantine procedures, science officer Ash (Ian Holm, Lord Of The Rings, The Aviator) brings Kane into his lab to try and remove the alien from his face. Their attempt is unsuccessful when they cut the creature, revealing it's blood to be a highly corrosive acid that eats through multiple levels of the ship. Eventually the creature detaches on it's on, dying in the process. Kane appears to be well, but during a dinner, he experiences sever chest pains and convulsions. A small alien bursts from his chest and escapes into the spaceship. The crew tries to track the alien down, only to discover that it has grown into a giant, vicious monster. One by one the crew is killed by the alien. Ripley discovers that Ash has been ordered to return the alien to their employer, regardless of the crew's safety. Ash attacks Ripley, but she is saved by Lambert and Parker (Yaphet Kotto, The Running Man, Live And Let Die) the ship's engineer. It is revealed that Ash is actually an android put on the ship to retrieve the alien. How will Ripley defeat the alien and reach Earth safely?

Arby's strikes again

Thanks to the numerous sequels, comic books, action figures, and video games, we all know what the full-grown alien looks like. Of course, the original movie hides the alien for a majority of the movie, giving us only a few glimpses throughout the almost 2-hour long movie. We see the head, teeth, giant arms and legs, but rarely do we ever see the entire creature. Much like Steven Spielberg's “Jaws”, Alien gives the audience just enough of a look to scare us, but allows our imagination to carry the fear even further. The spaceship is a good setting for the movie as it creates a sense of both claustrophobia and helplessness. The knowledge that no one can help you is just as terrifying as the alien itself. A lot of the movie's horror comes from that anticipation. I mean, the movie is called “Alien” so you know that you're going to get something, you're just not sure what. The cat-and-mouse game with the alien heightens the suspense and leads to some chilling thrills. In all of it's forms, the alien looks great. It is monstrous with it's giant, phallic-like head, drooling mouth, sharp teeth, and unnaturally long arms and legs. The sets look good as well with a nice juxtaposition between the white, sterile interior ship and the dark, grimy underbelly of the vents and basements. By today's standards, the shots of the spaceship clearly look like models and reminded me of Star Wars, but they served their purpose well enough.

Gimme some sugar, baby

The decision to make a female the lead character and hero was an important one as it was uncommon at the time. Though Sigourney Weaver was not a well-known movie actress at the time, she is strong and forceful throughout the entire movie. Even when she is shown in her underwear to convey vulnerability, she is still in control. Ian Holm is quite enjoyable as the cold, calculating Ash. The reveal that Ash was an android was quite unexpected, almost a little too much for my liking. It makes sense in terms of the story, I just would have liked a little more foreshadowing. The rest of the cast is just as good, playing their parts very well. It should be noted that the cast skews a bit older than your typical horror/thriller, especially at the time. This adds an air of credibility to the characters and their actions. They're not just stupid teenagers going into the abandoned house, they're highly-trained professionals in a dangerous situation they have no control over. The violence and action is pretty consistent in the movie, though some patience is required in the beginning.

Does this make my hair look big?

Alien is a fun and scary thrill ride that has influenced countless horror and sci-fi movies. The pacing and suspense really make the movie what it is, helped along by good special effects. Even a simple strobe light, when placed on the alien, creates a far more terrifying experience than one would expect. Sigourney Weaver is great as Ripley and Ian Holm is just as good as Ash. While later movies focused on the aliens themselves, the original teased the audience with the creature, giving us just enough to let our imaginations run wild. Ridley Scott combines both horror and sci-fi genres well and is able to capture both the action and fear that make the movie entertaining. If you've never seen any of the Alien franchise, start with the original and you won't be disappointed.

8.5/10