Category Archives: Horror

1974 Films, British, British Horror, Christopher Lee, Horror, Horror-Camp, Peter Cushing, Telly Savalas

Horror Express-1974

December 30, 2015 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Horror Express-1974

Director Eugenio Martin

Starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing

Scott’s Review #311

Reviewed December 30, 2015

Grade: B

Horror Express (1974) is a fun 1970s Spanish/British horror film starring legendary horror actors Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.

A horror version of Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express with a bit of camp thrown in, it is an entertaining late-night experience, on a low-budget level.

It is the early 1900’s, and while traveling from Shanghai to Moscow, via the Trans-Siberian Express, a British anthropologist named Professor Alexander Saxton (Lee) brings an enormous, mysterious crate on board that contains a creature he discovered in a cave.

What we know is it has something to do with human evolution.

A fellow passenger, Doctor Wells (Cushing), and various other passengers become suspicious of the crate and demand to have it opened.

Things go awry and victims begin to be murdered by the creature (an ape-like monster) and left with eyes completely white with missing pupils and irises.

The best part of Horror Express is the setting. The cozy train is a perfect backdrop for the events taking place and it makes the film exciting as the different cars are set-decorated nicely.

This lends itself to a sense of entrapment and being unable to escape the creature as it roams freely from car to car.

For being a low-budget film, the train sets are quite believable, as are the sounds of the train. It feels like the actors are on a real train as the tooting horns and the sounds of the tracks are authentic.

Having actors as big as Lee and Cushing gives the film respect in horror circles and both actors do believable work.

This film would not have been as good without the talents (and name recognition) of both.

There are also interesting supporting characters and I didn’t find the acting to be too over-the-top as is known to occur in similar types of horror films.

Specifically, the countess’s role and the appearance of Telly Savalas as a Cossack officer investigating events are interesting.

Fans of this genre of horror will understand that suspension of disbelief is necessary as the plot gets a bit goofy- something about the creature taking the information from the victim’s brain and the victims subsequently turning into zombies- it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

Especially towards the end, as some drunken Russians and some weird resurrections happen, but that is somehow okay.

For a late-night viewing with some spirits, you can’t ask too many questions and Horror Express (1974) is a decent flick.

1974 Films, Andrea Martin, Christmas, Horror, Independent, Independent Horror, John Saxon, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, Olivia Hussey, Scott's Top 100 Films, Scott's Top 20 Horror Films

Black Christmas-1974

December 29, 2015 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Black Christmas-1974

Director Bob Clark

Starring Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder

Top 100 Films #36 Top 20 Horror Films #11

Scott’s Review #309

Reviewed December 29, 2015

Grade: A

Black Christmas (1974) is one of my favorite horror films of all time and, in my opinion, an under-appreciated classic. Somehow it is just not the first, second, or third film mentioned when most discuss the influential horror films of years past.

My hubby and I make sure to watch it every holiday season.

It largely influenced Halloween (another love of mine) from the killer’s point of view camera shots to the seasonal element.

It is quite horrifying in several key scenes, in fact, and I am proud to list it as one of my favorite films.

Black Christmas is a must-see for fans of the horror genre.

The setting (a cold and snowy Christmas) is perfect and the film is shot quite dark. There are Christmas lights and carolers for a great winter holiday effect. Most of the film takes place at night and the location is primarily inside a huge, rather creepy, sorority house. The ambiance is well thought out.

Several sorority girls, led by boozy Barb (Margot Kidder) and sweet-natured Jess (Olivia Hussey), prepare to depart for the holiday season by having a small farewell Christmas party. Recently, the girls have been harassed by a prank caller spouting nonsensical gibberish daily.

As in true horror fashion, the girls are systematically offed one by one as events turn dire. Two sub-plots that ultimately merge with the central plot include Jess’s pregnancy by suspicious boyfriend Peter and the search in the park for a missing young girl.

The best part of Black Christmas is that it is an honest, raw film, made on a small budget, that does not include gimmicks or contrivances.

It has authenticity.

A disturbing film for sure, one victim being posed in a rocking chair continuously rocking back and forth next to the attic window, while said victim is bound in plastic wrap, holding a doll, mouth, and eyes wide, is one of the most chilling in horror film history.

The nuances of the killer also scare and the brilliance of this is that his motivations are mysterious and unclear (in large part the success of Michael Meyers as well). We never fully see the killer except for his shape and eyes, and that is the brilliance of the film.

The one slight negative to the film is the decision to make the cops appear incompetent. The desk sergeant, in particular, is a complete dope- one wonders how he got his job- as a sexual joke by one of the girls goes over his head while the other detectives laugh like fools.

Why is this necessary? I suppose for comic relief, but isn’t that the purpose of Mrs. Mac, the overweight, boozy sorority mother? Her constant treasure hunt for hidden booze (the toilet, inside a book) is comical and fun.

Her posing and posturing in front of the mirror (she is a very frumpy, average woman) are a delight and balance the heavy drama.

The conclusion of Black Christmas is vague and fantastic and works very well. Due, once again, to the police errors, the final victim’s fate is left unclear as we see her in a vulnerable state, unaware that the killer is looming nearby.

We only hear a ringing phone and wonder what happens next.

My admiration for Black Christmas (1974) only grows upon each viewing as I am once again compelled, to notice more and more ingenious nuances in the film.

Can’t wait until next Christmas to watch it again.

2014 Films, Daniel Zovatto, David Robert Mitchell, Horror, Independent, Independent Horror, Jake Weary, Maika Monroe

It Follows-2014

December 23, 2015 scottmet99 Leave a comment

It Follows-2014

Director David Robert Mitchell

Starring Maika Monroe, Debbie Williams

Scott’s Review #306

Reviewed December 23, 2015

Grade: A-

It Follows (2014) is a mysterious, unique, dreamlike (or shall I say nightmarish!) independent horror film that is a pleasant throwback to old-school horror films (my favorites!), with a supernatural twist thrown in.

The film is directed very well by newcomer David Robert Mitchell containing wonderful cinematography and creative camera angles.

This film is not glossy and has a raw, almost videotaped feel, which I found quite wonderful. The film was shot entirely in and around Detroit giving it a cold, industrial look.

The film begins on a dramatic note leaving the viewer immediately curious.

A young woman flees her suburban home and nervously stands on the street looking back at her house. A neighbor asks if she needs help. She returns, collects her things, and hurriedly drives to the beach. She suspects something or someone is watching her. She tearfully phones her father and tells him she loves him.

The next scene appears to be the following morning and the woman is lying murdered on the beach in a grotesque position- her leg strangely bent.

This is a fantastic way to begin the film.

From this point, the premise is quickly revealed. The main character is Jay (Maika Monroe), an attractive college-aged girl. She lives with her sister Kelly and is good friends with their next-door neighbors Paul and Yara. An additional neighbor and classmate, Greg, also figures into the plot.

Jay is on a date with Hugh and things are going well. They attend a classic film. They sneak into a deserted lot and have sex. Afterward, Hugh chloroforms Jay and the weirdness begins.

A strange woman appears and Hugh tells Jay she must pass on a curse. Otherwise, an entity in the form of another person that nobody else can see but the victim will get Jay and she will be doomed.

I love the throwback elements to 1970s and 1980s horror but it’s vague when the film is set- purposely so I imagine- as many cars are 1970s and 1980s models. Only one cell phone is used throughout, but mostly the time could be present or past.

Even the houses appear dated.

Story-wise, It Follows is tough to figure out and open to a certain level of interpretation. Is the film anti-sex? Is the story a metaphor for sexually transmitted diseases?

The victims become possessed by the entity after sex and then must pass it to another unwitting victim, sexually.

I notice some similarities to John Carpenter films- specifically the classic Halloween from 1978. Jay sits in a classroom (ironically in the back row next to the window ala Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween) and sees a strange old woman slowly lumbering towards her, eyes fixed on her.

Later, the three principal girls casually walk around the neighborhood engaging in small talk similar to the characters of Laurie, Lynda, and Annie on Halloween.

The ending- a scene in the indoor community swimming pool where the kids try to catch the spirit is a bit hokey and unresolved. However, I did enjoy the final scene- a peaceful one in which I was unsure if the entity had been destroyed or remained.

A sequel perhaps?

I give It Follows (2014) major props for its styling, and creativity while giving classic horror fans a good old-fashioned treat without much CGI necessary.

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: Best Director-David Robert Mitchell, Best Cinematography, Best Editing

1978 Films, Comedy, Dario Argento, David Emge, Gaylen Ross, George A. Romero, Horror, Horror Zombie, Horror-Comedy, Ken Foree, Satire, Scott Reiniger, Tom Savini

Dawn of the Dead-1978

November 26, 2015 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Dawn of the Dead-1978

Director George A. Romero

Starring Ken Foree, Gaylen Ross

Scott’s Review #289

Reviewed November 26, 2015

Grade: B+

One of the better installments by the famed horror-comedy director, George A. Romero, though inferior to my favorite film of his, Night of the Living Dead (1968), Romero focuses slightly more on the comedy aspect with Dawn of the Dead (1978).

For horror fans, there is plenty of gore to satisfy bloodthirsty viewers.

This film is glossier and slicker than its predecessor was.

On a slightly larger budget than Night of the Living Dead, the events are in suburban Pennsylvania, at a local mall.

An unknown phenomenon has made non-buried humans change form into flesh-eating zombies that prey on other human beings.

A group of survivors hunker down in a suburban mall and begin a life of adequacy. They utilize the contents of the mall until events threaten their existence. They must form a militant operation to survive.

The four survivors are Stephen (David Emge) and Francine (Gaylen Ross), two staff members of a local television station, and Roger (Scott Reiniger) and Peter (Ken Foree), two SWAT team members whom they meet in the ensuing chaos.

The quartet steals a helicopter and travels a short distance to the mall.

Having viewed Dawn of the Dead many times, I am a fan of the film, but not an enormous fan, and it hovers below my Top Twenty Five Horror Films list (as of this review).

The main flaw is how it delves into the personal lives of Stephen and Francine midstream, a fact I find meaningless and stalls the plot.

Francine has realized that she is pregnant and I do not understand the point of slowing down the action for this purpose.

I am a huge fan of character development (even in the horror genre!), but this development does not work.

Still, the lengthy portion of the film of over two hours (highly unusual for horror), enamored me.

The scenes in the mall are fantastic and the action in the final act is thrilling.

Reminiscent of my youth and hours spent as a child, along with my mother and siblings, being paraded around the local mall, the look of the mall in Dawn of the Dead brings back a flood of memories.

From the fake green plants to the mannequins, the pool of water filled with coins, and the redundant, but lovely Muzak in the background.

Romero, as he did with Night of the Living Dead, provides a social element to the film.

The onset of materialism and consumerism captured the United States in the late 1970s and 1980s and Romero focuses on it. It’s taken me a couple of viewings to catch onto this point. The zombies stupidly walk around the mall in a numbing fashion mirroring how many people did during the day.

One character mentions that the zombies are drawn to the mall because it is familiar, much like people frequented the malls at that time frivolously spending away their time and money.

Some of the deaths, including one main character, are haunting. As the character suddenly “turns”, it is frightening to see them in this new light compared to how they once were.

And, comically, my favorite zombie character is the nurse. Wearing a uniform (white shoes, classic nurse cap, and white suit) she is creepy yet mesmerizing in her body and facial expressions as she lumbers around the mall.

It makes me smile each time I see her.

Dawn of the Dead (1978) is one of the better, more interesting zombie films. I just wish the relationship drama, mainly in the center, had been modified since it slows down the pace.

Still, a good, fun, late-night flick.

2010 Films, Art, Horror, International Horror, Scott's Top 10 Most Disturbing Films, Serbian

A Serbian Film-2010

October 13, 2015 scottmet99 Leave a comment

A Serbian Film-2010

Director Srdan Spasojevic

Starring Sergej Trifunovic

Top 10 Disturbing Films #6

Scott’s Review #282

Reviewed October 13, 2015

Grade: B

A Serbian Film is a 2010 Serbian horror film that attempts, and succeeds, in breaking down every possible taboo barrier, albeit in a stylish, admirable, artistic way.

The film is not for the faint of heart and even die-hard, gross-out horror fans might find it too shocking to view.

It is not so much the gore that is challenging- horror aficionados have seen this before, but rather the blatant display of the subject matter at hand, which delves full speed ahead into pornography, including rape (both sexes), necrophilia (sex with corpses), and child sexual abuse, that is both tough and sickening to watch.

Priding myself in being able to take anything that is thrown my way in the world of film, I admired A Serbian Film’s bravery in going places rarely gone before in film.

I felt, however, that the story was not too compelling or particularly well written and that the primary goal was to shock the audience rather than tackle a great story.

Intriguing to note is A Serbian film has been banned in several countries, for the obvious controversial content.

Milos is a semi-retired porn star, now happily married to the beautiful Marija and living a peaceful existence. While they struggle financially, they share an adequate life while raising their six-year-old son Petar.

One day Milos runs into a fellow porn star, Lejla, who suggests he contact a powerful porn producer and return to the business, citing an enormous windfall to be had since the producer is making more “artistic” films these days.

Milos cannot resist the potential money and meets with the mysterious man named Vukmir. One thing leads to another and he is once again lured back into the porn industry. What he is not told is the premise or details of the film he is to appear in, only to show up at the designated filming location.

Predictably this leads to disaster and the main plot of the film emerges. Milos is drugged to become a “stud”, bedding and beating almost anything that breathes…..or doesn’t breathe if you catch my drift.

Brazen is a polite way of describing this film. It is perverse and goes way out there. Milos, while drugged, begins to do crazy stuff, not realizing what he is doing, and spirals further out of control as the drugs increase.

The producer, in the film’s brief attempt at a social slant, cites child pornography as in popular demand as online viewers clamor for this new form of “art”.

Two scenes stand out as gruesome to view. One involves a pregnant porn star giving birth- she does so and her counterpart proceeds to rape the screaming baby- the new mother grins in sinister pleasure.

In another, Milos rapes his son, Petar, while Milos’s brother, rapes Milos’s wife. Of course, being heavily under the influence, Milos does not realize what he is doing, but the film succeeds in shocking and disgusting the audience.

Both of these horrific scenes have nothing to do with the story and are included to shock elicit a reaction from the viewer.

My criticism of the film is that the grotesque scenes have little to do with the story and are arguably not needed to further the plot.

Shocking for the sake of being shocking, the film reminds me in a way of Salo, a brutal art film from 1975, which focuses not on horror, but on the horrific time of Nazi-ism.

Salo is a masterpiece because it contains a powerful, thought-provoking story.

A Serbian Film (2010) is a brave film, but ultimately the story achieves nothing more than being a disturbing film that I never need to see again.

2015 Films, Comedy, Dark Comedy, Deanna Dunagan, Ed Oxenbould, Horror, Kathryn Hahn, M. Night Shyamalan, Olivia DeJonge, Peter McRobbie, Thriller

The Visit-2015

September 24, 2015 scottmet99 Leave a comment

The Visit-2015

Director M. Night Shyamalan

Starring Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Kathryn Hahn

Scott’s Review #276

Reviewed September 24, 2015

Grade: B

A modern-day thriller/horror/comedy hybrid (admittedly it is tough to classify this film as exclusive horror with the dreaded and watered-down PG-13 rating) directed by M. Night Shyamalan, The Visit (2015) has its moments of genuine scary frights and surprises.

It contains a wonderful twist at the end but suffers from some clichés, one severely unlikeable character, and suspensions of disbelief.

Bringing grandparents to the forefront of the film is a clever idea, albeit, stereotypically, The Visit is a decent watch, but laden with a few misfires.

Paula (Kathryn Hahn), a single mother on the outs with her parents for some years, but recently reunited, sends her two children- Rebecca and Tyler, for a week, to stay at their grandparent’s farmhouse, whom they have never met.

At the kids prompting, Paula decides to go on a romantic vacation with her new boyfriend.

Naturally, when the kids arrive at Grandma and Grandpa’s strange events happen. The children are warned never to go into the basement, not to leave their bedrooms after nine-thirty pm, plus the grandparents have a creepy, weird, look to them.

Rebecca and Tyler, in true modern horror fashion, arguably contrived at this point, record all the events (think Paranormal Activity from 2007) and begin to realize there is something rotten in the state of Denmark.

The Visit contains positives and negatives.

The mother and the two kids live in New Jersey and the grandparents in Pennsylvania. That is one state away, yet Rebecca and Tyler have never met, seen photographs, spoken to their grandparents on the phone, not even to discuss the impending visit.

The kids constantly use Skype to communicate with Mom throughout their visit, but doesn’t occur to anyone to chat with the grandparents before embarking on a week-long visit to introduce themselves.

This is a convenient plot manipulation.

Another negative is the film contains one of the most annoying characters in recent memory, Tyler. I am baffled as to whether this was intentional or unintentional.

The kid is about twelve years old and is written as dumb as possible. There are at least three to four endless scenes of him rapping, mostly to the video camera, that I found to be an utter waste of valuable screen time and lends nothing to the plot.

Filler and for a ninety-minute movie, unnecessary.

In the end, though, I got the last laugh, as the character, a germophobe, has his face smeared with human excrement.

The third negative I observed is the constant “old people jokes”, which bordered on the offensive after a while. The grandparent’s unusual behavior was blamed numerous times on their age as if all elderly people were scatterbrained, daffy, or just downright strange.

Many seniors are intelligent, useful, and lively so there was a feeling of disrespect towards the elderly that I could not shake. The film could have portrayed the grandparents with more dignity than it chose to.

Now for some positives, the compelling twist at the end of the film I did not see coming and I loved that about The Visit.

Rarely is the audience surprised anymore, especially in the horror genre, and I was. Having replayed the film in my mind the plot makes perfect sense, but is a positive in the heart of the climax.

On the subject of the conclusion, The Visit has a unique slow-motion/dreamlike feel and an odd, classical-type musical score playing throughout the ending that adds much depth to the typical thriller-type music heard in most genre films.

The oven scene inevitably viewed by all during early trailers for The Visit is excellent. When Grandma convinces Rebecca to crawl completely inside her oven to clean it we know this will not end well.

Additionally, the look and texture of the setting, an old deserted farmhouse in a small, rural town in the middle of nowhere has a feeling of being trapped.

This successfully provides a scary backdrop for the film and all the elements scream horror.

The Visit (2015) has genuine scares and will make the viewer jump, and perhaps even shriek. That is what good horror does yet I am still unsure if this film is more horror or comedy.

Unintentionally so, perhaps.

2014 Films, Ana Lily Amirpour, Elijah Wood, Horror, Independent, Independent Horror, International, International Horror, Persian, Sheila Vand

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night-2014

August 24, 2015 scottmet99 Leave a comment

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night-2014

Director Ana Lily Amirpour

Starring Sheila Vand

Scott’s Review #271

Reviewed August 24, 2015

Grade: A-

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is a highly creative, unique, independent horror film from 2014.

One of the many reasons I am a fan of independent cinema is to discover and promote little-seen gems.

The dialogue is in Persian and the cinematography is in black and white, which is unique in modern film. I notice similarities between this film and Let the Right One In, 2008, (both the English and the Swedish versions) in the frigid mood and love story enveloped within.

This film is the debut of director Ana Lily Amirpour and what a marvel she could become. Despite obvious influences by other directors, A Girl Walks Home At Night has a brilliant freshness and seems original and unpredictable.

The title accurately depicts the main story. A teenage girl (Sheila Vand) walks around the dark streets of a city aptly named Bad City in the Iranian underworld.

The film is shot in southern California and could double for Detroit.

The girl, who has no name, has strange encounters with a myriad of peculiar individuals, including what appears to be a transgender prostitute, a vicious drug dealer, a nice yet mysterious young man named Arash, Arash’s father, who is hooked on drugs, and a mysterious cat.

She then embarks on a tender flirtation with Arash.

The overall plot, which I found secondary to the look of the film, centers around The Girl’s encounters with these individuals and their encounters and relationships with each other.

The Girl is a lonely vampire and feels isolated from society, but it is unclear what she is looking for. She is both destructive and sweet depending on the circumstance.

She takes her aggression out on the bad.

The most striking and impressive aspect is its dark moody atmosphere. Brooding and cold-looking, the city reeks of death and loneliness. The Girl speaks very little so her expressions are what the viewer will notice.

Her eyes delve into her soul.

She is the most interesting of the characters, but the others, specifically Arash and the transgender prostitute have potential and we are curious to explore more about them.

Arash and his father have more depth than any of the supporting characters- Arash painfully lets his drug-riddled father stay with him and attempts to assist him with his issues.

One assumes that since the father’s wife (Arash’s mother) has died suddenly, he has taken a downward spiral, but this is only suggested to the audience.

We do know for sure where she is- in one scene we see the father angrily look at a photo of a middle-aged woman and is destroyed by her absence. He believes that the woman has taken on the body of the mysterious cat.

Arash caring for his father is a fascinating role reversal.

Wouldn’t we expect the young man to have a drug problem and the father the caregiver? This is interesting in itself.

The influences are plentiful, but most notable from a director standpoint is David Lynch. The black and white filming along with the viewer’s point of view in one scene involving a car driving down a dark highway resembles the Lynch film Lost Highway (1997).

The moody background music and the slow but methodical pacing give A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night a Lynch feel. One curious element is The Girl’s interest in 1980′ pop music- her bedroom wall riddled with Madonna and similar pop stars from the 1980’s posters.

The Girl even admits to listening to a sappy Lionel Richie tune.

It is unknown if it even could BE the 1980’s as time seems unimportant. The film strangely combines edgy, alternative filmmaking with commercial pop references.

I half expected The Girl to break into a rendition of “Pour Some Sugar On Me”.

My thought is that perhaps Amir intends to portray the Girl’s desire to fit into mainstream society knowing that a vampire never can. This theory is proven when The Girl is melancholy when Arash buys her a hamburger, knowing she cannot enjoy it as he does.

Creative, with a dreary atmosphere, and intelligently thought out, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014) is a strange, murky experience in film experimentation.

Amirpour is a fresh, new director worth watching for.

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: Best First Feature, Best Cinematography

2015 Films, A.B. Stone, Comedy, Corin Nemec, Horror, Horror-Comedy, Lowest Rated Films, Made for Television, Robert Englund, Skye Lourie, Yancy Butler

Lake Placid vs. Anaconda- 2015

August 16, 2015 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Lake Placid vs. Anaconda- 2015

Director A.B. White

Starring Robert Englund

Scott’s Review #267

Reviewed August 16, 2015

Grade: D

To say that Lake Placid vs. Anaconda (2015) is a bad film is being generous. It is poorly made, written, and acted.

Containing every horror and comedy cliché in the book, it is not a film to take seriously and is best watched late at night amongst adult spirits.

The premise is ludicrous, the acting way overdone, and all characters are “types” and one-dimensional.

Having seen the original Lake Placid (1999) and Anaconda (1999) films (and they were not so great themselves), I was unaware that this is the fifth film for both franchises and is a crossover.

Premiering on the Syfy network in mid-2015, it is a made-for-television feature, and the lack of any real gore is apparent for this reason.

Robert Englund and Yancy Butler, stars of other franchise installments, make return appearances. Sadly, this one has no Betty White or Jennifer Lopez (stars of the original Lake Placid and Anaconda, respectively).

Lake Placid vs. Anaconda is not trying to be great or necessarily art, but rather an idiotic late-night experience. I did not rate the film a solid ‘F’ since it knew what it was and did not try to take itself too seriously, which I respect at least.

The story begins in the middle of the woods near Clear Lake, Maine, as an illegal experiment occurs inside a truck. The serum is being illegally extracted from a sedated crocodile to sell to a giant corporation for profit.

Jim Bickerman (played by horror legend Englund) has been paid handsomely to provide information for the plot to happen.

A villainous corporate schemer is on hand to oversee the events. Inevitably, something goes wrong and the crocodile wakes up and gets loose, encountering large anacondas, also on the loose.

From this point, we are introduced to other inane characters that round out the film, including a group of bitchy sorority sisters on their way to Clear Lake presumably to pledge and party, and Sheriff Reba (Yancy Butler) and her bumbling team of police officers.

Also integral to the story is one of the sorority sisters (Bethany) fathers, Will, who attempts to help Sheriff Reba rescue everyone from the killer reptiles.

Side stories include the laugh-out-loud pledge attempts by some of the sorority wannabees (one is forced to dig a hole in the sand large enough for her to hide in within twenty minutes), a friendship between the only two sensible girls, Bethany and Margot, a high leveled female executive intent on capturing the serum for riches, and a burgeoning romance between Reba and Will.

Silly personified, the film is meant to be goofy and the actors play their roles as they are foolishly written. There is not a shred of realism to the film and none of the characters have any depth.

The worst offender from a character standpoint is humorously my favorite. Tiffani is the comically vicious sorority queen. With her constant berating of the new pledges, she regularly demands that they get in the water and swim for her entertainment.

Ultimately, the girls are attacked by the crocodile in the water, allowing for multiple camera shots of the girls swimming underwater while scantily clad.

Is this a 1980s low-budget horror throwback? When the crocodile emerges to land the remaining girls flee for safety.

In a hilarious scene, Tiffani and one of her minions are cornered by the vicious crocodile. The minion asks what they should do and Tiffani replies with, “I have an idea”, and promptly pushes the minion towards the crocodile where she is chewed to bits allowing Tiffani to escape.

Later, predictably, Tiffani receives her comeuppance.

I find myself perplexed as to why this film was even made. With a shoestring budget, dated CGI effects, little blood, and a silly plot one assumes that the franchise’s predecessors were similar ventures.

Laced with one dumb scene after another and tough to take seriously, Lake Placid vs. Anaconda (2015) is as poor filmmaking as they come, but certainly to be taken with a grain of salt and enjoyed for its campy badness.

Horror-comedy for a boozy Saturday night.

1965 Films, Bette Davis, British, British Horror, Hammer Horror, Horror, Jill Bennett, Seth Holt, Thriller, Wendy Craig

The Nanny-1965

July 11, 2015 scottmet99 Leave a comment

The Nanny-1965

Director Seth Holt

Starring Bette Davis

Scott’s Review #256

Reviewed July 11, 2015

Grade: B

The Nanny is a 1965 Hammer productions thriller starring legendary film icon Bette Davis as a mysterious nanny caring for a ten-year-old boy named Joey.

Joey has recently been released from a mental institution and returned home to resume everyday life, but has he been “cured”?

There is obvious tension between Joey and Nanny, but the audience doesn’t know what that tension is precisely. Why do they dislike each other? Why is Joey afraid of her?

As the plot unfolds, the suspense and tensions thicken as various events occur and Joey’s parents and Aunt Pen are further fleshed out. Past events are revisited, and the story becomes thrilling.

At one point, long before Joey’s return home, his younger sister has drowned, and the circumstances are vague. It has devastated the family, including Nanny. Joey has been blamed for her death, though he insists that Nanny is the culprit.

Nobody except the neighbor girl believes Joey, and the audience wonders who to believe and who to root for: Joey or Nanny. Davis, like Nanny, brings a warmness to her character, but is she sincere? Is it an act? Is Joey a sweet boy or maniacal?

These questions race through the audience’s minds as the film progresses. When Virginia, the mother, eats tainted food, the obvious conclusion is that the Nanny poisoned it since she prepared it. But why? Did she do this?

As the plot is slowly explained, there are a few chills, though the ending is not too surprising.

Any film starring Bette Davis is a treasure, though admittedly, it is not her finest work. Still, her finest work is challenging to match.

The Nanny is a good film, though not great. It is shot in black and white, which is a nice touch for a thriller.

The main reason to watch Davis’s performance is that it is always mesmerizing. Traditionally playing gruff, mean, or bitchy parts (especially in her later years), The Nanny allows Davis to play a sympathetic role.

She is seemingly sweet, proper, well-organized, and a perfect nanny on paper.

The role of Virginia, played by Wendy Craig, is a bit too neurotic and slightly over-acted. She is rather one-note as the fretting mother worried about her son. The character of the father is also a bit one-dimensional.

The Nanny is more of a classic thriller from the 1960s that is often lumped together with some of Bette Davis’s other films around the same period (Dead Ringer-1964, Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte-1964, and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? -1966), and are in large part superior to The Nanny. As a stand-alone, it is a decent film.

1981 Films, Horror, Horror-Comedy

An American Werewolf in London-1981

July 2, 2015 scottmet99 Leave a comment

An American Werewolf in London-1981

Director John Landis

Starring David Naughton, Griffin Dunne

Scott’s Review #253

Reviewed July 2, 2015

Grade: B

A melding together of British-American horror and comedy, An American Werewolf in London (1981) provides entertainment while also being a campy and silly comedy.

While two American buddies, Jack and David, traverse the countryside of England with backpacks in tow, a spring break jaunt of sorts, one is viciously attacked and killed by a strange werewolf setting off a series of strange occurrences that play out over the remainder of the film.

From this point, the film is told from the perspective of one of the males as the other appears to him in visions warning of his inevitable demise into a werewolf.

An American Werewolf in London does not intend to mock the genre of horror but is certainly campy and over-the-top.

Despite cult classic accolades being thrust upon the film which I respect, it is not among my favorites.

I would have preferred it tilt more towards the horror classification rather than the comedy because it comes across as some sort of a spoof as the main characters overact.

The film has a silly quality to it. It is light fare instead of dark or morbid and even the kills are meant to be fun, not horrific. In a way, it is almost cheesy and that is not a compliment.

This is not to say that the film is completely subpar. It is decent, but not very believable and I think that is a distraction and a missed opportunity.

However, my favorite characteristics of this film are the makeup/special effects and the musical score which features such fitting treats as “Moondance”, “Bad Moon Rising”, and “Blue Moon”.

Sense an intelligent theme? The makeup, especially during the reanimation sequences is creative and still impressive today considering the film was made in 1981.

Besides, the best scene of the film is undoubtedly the “Slaughtered Lamb” scene when Jack and David stumble upon the aptly named pub filled with interesting, blue-collar-looking locales.

When one of the tourists inquires about a mysterious five-pointed star on the wall the pub dwellers become angry and cold leading the young men to be confused and intrigued.

This scene is filled with interest and I only wish the pub characters had more of a chance to shine as they seem benevolent and filled with potential backstory.

I would have enjoyed learning more about the history of these folks.

Sadly, the focus is by and large on Jack and David and a poorly constructed love interest- Nurse Alex Price, who is not to be taken at all seriously and played for one-dimensional laughs.

A lighthearted, sort of fun late-night flick, An American Werewolf in London is a cult film, though I would not agree with the cult classic distinction.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Makeup (won)

2014 Films, Australian, Essie Davis, Horror, Jennifer Kent

The Babadook-2014

June 14, 2015 scottmet99 Leave a comment

The Babadook-2014

Director Jennifer Kent

Starring Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman

Scott’s Review #247

Reviewed June 14, 2015

Grade: B

The Babadook (2014) is an Australian (English language) psychological horror film that tells the story of a mysterious, haunted book, that torments its owner or owners.

Touted as one of the scariest films of 2014 I kindly beg to differ, though admittedly the film does contain some genuine frights and jumps.

What has happened to the horror genre where frightening films have not been made since the 1970s?

Exceptions like The Conjuring (2008) must be mentioned.

The Babadook attempts to be scary without CGI or any extravagant effects but has a classic feel.

Amelia, the mother in the story, has tragically lost her husband, Oskar, in a terrible car crash on the way to the hospital to give birth to her son Samuel. Now six years old, Samuel begins to exhibit signs of psychological problems as he becomes terrified of an imaginary monster.

After a child’s book, Mr. Babadook mysteriously appears in their home and Amelia reads it to Samuel, even stranger events occur throughout their house.

The film has remnants of The Sixth Sense (1999)- a loner, bullied kid is haunted and a disbelieving single Mom touting along as a ghost story or who is alive or dead questions are explored.

The father, Oskar, is instrumental in the storytelling. Because of this, the viewer is often confused throughout, but that is not necessarily a knock on The Babadook.

It is not exactly clear to me if Amelia is the central character or if that honor belongs to Samuel- the interesting part of the film is the relationship between mother and son.

The Babadook is a scary story. Can a book come to life and haunt? So says the film and that is worth thinking about.

In horror, there can be some ridiculous premise that is so unrealistic it cannot even be fathomed.

Where the film suffers in my view is that it is not that scary. Having something jump out at you or some other surprise is nice, but where is the terror? The exact motivations of the book also remain unclear.

I admire The Babadook for attempting to bring back old-school horror to modern audiences and telling a solid, haunting story.

However, the film did not quite measure up to the hype surrounding it.

The great film reviews are a bit much as I do not believe The Babadook (2014) is quite on the level of one of the scariest films ever made.

1973 Films, British, British Horror, Britt Ekland, Christopher Lee, Edward Woodward, Horror

The Wicker Man-1973

May 31, 2015 scottmet99 Leave a comment

The Wicker Man-1973

Director Robin Hardy

Starring Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee

Scott’s Review #245

Reviewed May 31, 2015

Grade: B+

The Wicker Man is a cult horror film from 1973 that is considered one of the finest by horror critics.

While the film does not enamor me quite as much as some other favorites in the horror genre (Halloween, Rosemary’s Baby, The Shining, Dressed to Kill, and Suspiria) immediately spring to mind while thinking of 1970s-style horror gems, I cannot help but admire The Wicker Man’s creativity and religious overtones.

Despite not awarding the film a solid “A” rating, I look forward to viewing this film again and, perhaps over time, as some films do, it will see an adjustment in scoring.

Set on an island in the Scottish Hebrides, named Summerisle, a devout Christian (Edward Woodward) named Sergeant Howie travels to the island in search of a missing young girl named Rowan Morrison, thought to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

The inhabitants are vague, aloof, or hostile towards the policeman. He immediately is disturbed to notice the group worships Celtic gods and notices other strange acts of worship and sexual behavior (a naked dance), which he resists and disapproves of.

He is tempted by a gorgeous seductress, Willow, played by Britt Ekland- most notably known as a Bond girl in The Man with the Golden Gun, and butts heads with the island leader, Lord Summerisle, played by horror legend Christopher Lee.

As he attempts to locate the missing girl, he uncovers some very dark goings-on around the island as the annual Mayday harvest celebration is about to occur. He deduces that Rowan is slated to be the sacrifice at the celebration and he races to find her before it is too late.

But is there more to the island than meets the eye?

The Wicker Man is not mainstream fare and that is what I admire most about it, as well as its British flare. It strives to challenge the norm in horror and question who is right and who is wrong and who the audience should champion.

Religion and the occult have been portrayed in horror films for eons, but rarely given a normal face. Typically, the villains are scary, horrid, or even cartoonish, clearly defined as bad.

Despite all of the townspeople being in on the sacrifice, they are seemingly ordinary appearing. They raise their kids, farm, run stores, and teach the kids in a classroom setting.

On the surface, they appear wholesome and that is part of what makes The Wicker Man so scary. Rosemary’s Baby did the same thing.

Typically, any sort of satanic overtones or human/animal sacrifices, frighten audiences, especially if the culprits could be their neighbors, friends, or even loved ones. The realness is unnerving.

Differing, controversial, religious beliefs are a prevalent theme throughout The Wicker Man as are elements of good vs. evil.

The film is not predictable. It delves into questions of morals and beliefs- for example, Howie is a virgin- saving himself for marriage and trying to be a good, decent person.

He is the moral center of the film and, in his belief, everyone on the island is either perverted, crazy or a sinner.

By this logic, Howie looks down on others who are dissimilar to him and comes across as preachy. I do not get the impression that the film wants the audience to love Howie- or hate him.

The balance between the old gods (Christianity) and new gods (Celtic paganism) makes the film interesting.

The shocking conclusion involving an enormous, life-sized burning wicker man is terrifying beyond belief and by far the best part of the film, as the hero must come to terms with his fate.

The final thirty minutes are quite spectacular from the final twist through the ending.

My lack of an exceptional grade for The Wicker Man stems from it being a tad too slow-moving. Perhaps a few additional jumps or frights along the way would have been beneficial, but, on the other hand, it is not a scary film, nor does it try to be.

It is, however, quite intelligent and, I suspect will increase my enjoyment with each subsequent viewing.

A fine addition to the relics of classic horror, The Wicker Man (1973) is a creative, mysterious, and left-of-the-center film.

1972 Films, Alfred Hitchcock, Anna Massey, Barry Foster, Horror, Scott's Top 100 Films, Scott's Top 20 Horror Films

Frenzy-1972

May 17, 2015 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Frenzy-1972

Director Alfred Hitchcock

Starring Jon Finch, Barry Foster

Top 100 Films #24 Top 20 Horror Films #8

Scott’s Review #244

Reviewed May 17, 2015

Grade: A

Frenzy (1972) is a latter-day Alfred Hitchcock film that returns the masterful director to his roots in London, England, Hitchcock’s country of origin, and where his early films were made.

As with numerous other Hitchcock stories, the protagonist is falsely accused of murder and struggles mightily to prove his innocence before time runs out and he meets his doom.

The film is quite British, with an entirely British cast, and mixes in a humorous side story of the primary investigator’s wife, a horrid cook, who prepares exotic, yet tasteless meals for her husband.

This comic relief perfectly balances the heavy drama encompassing the main murder story as Frenzy is one of Hitchcock’s most violent and graphic.

Made in 1972- post-movie sanctions, he was able to get away with much more explicit content. A neck-tie murderer, who also rapes his female victims, is on the loose in London.

In the opening sequence, we see a dead woman floating in the Thames River during broad daylight, nude, except for a neck-tie that she has been strangled with. A crowd of spectators races to see what all the fuss is.

We then meet the central character of the film- down-on-his-luck bartender Richard Blaney, who is fired from his job as a bartender by his hateful boss.

Blaney has a loyal girlfriend in Babs, a barmaid at the same local watering hole. Babs is sexy, yet plain. He also has a successful ex-wife, Brenda, who runs a dating company. Blaney regularly sponges money and dinners from Brenda. Also in the picture is successful fruit-market trader, Bob Rusk, who is a friend of Blaney’s.

All four of these central characters have much to do with the main plot.

As events begin to unfold, the film is not a whodunit as traditionally it could have been. Instead, the audience knows very quickly who the murderer is and their motivations, which is an interesting twist in itself.

Regardless of this knowledge, the film is quite compelling as a classic Hitchcock horror thriller.

It is interesting for Hitchcock fans to compare this film with many of his earlier works. Released in 1972, at a point in film history where aforementioned sensors were more lax, it is the first Hitchcock film to feature nudity.

It is also the film of Hitchcock’s that features the most brutal rape/murder scene of all, surpassing the shower scene from Psycho, in my opinion.

The victim’s ordeal is prolonged, as she begins praying, thinking she will only be raped, at first unaware that her attacker is also the neck-tie murderer and her life is running short. This leads to a sad, gruesome outcome for her.

One of the most interesting murder scenes takes place off-camera and is an ingenious idea by Hitchcock. The neck-tie murderer lures a victim to his apartment complex under the guise of being a friend of hers.

They walk upstairs to his unit and go inside, all the while the camera remains poised outside of the apartment so the viewer only imagines the horrors occurring inside.

The camera then slowly goes back down the stairs and out onto the street and looks up at the murderer’s window. The fact that the victim is one of the principal characters makes one’s imagination run wild as to what is transpiring inside the apartment and the viewer is filled with grief.

This is a brilliant choice by Hitchcock and so effective to the story.

Another great scene is the potato truck sequence.

As the neck-tie murderer has dumped his victim, like garbage, into a potato sack, he is panicked to realize that she has taken his pin from his jacket and presumably clenched it in her fist as a clue, despite her demise.

What will he do now?

The long scene features the murderer inside the potato truck attempting to unclench his pin from her hand and escape the moving truck without being caught.

It is my favorite scene in Frenzy.

Frenzy (1972) is a return to triumph for Hitchcock, after the complex Topaz (1969) and Torn Curtain (1966), underappreciated political thrillers made a few years before this film.

He returns to the horror genre like gangbusters throwing some good, sophisticated British humor into his recipe for good measure.

What a treat this film is.

1974 Films, British, British Horror, Christopher Lee, Horror, Horror-Camp, Peter Cushing

Madhouse-1974

April 3, 2015 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Madhouse-1974

Director Jim Clark

Starring Vincent Price, Peter Cushing

Scott’s Review #233

Reviewed April 3, 2015

Grade: B-

Madhouse, a 1974 British horror film, stars horror icon Vincent Price who portrays a sympathetic Hollywood actor who is unsure of his sanity after the grisly murder of his trophy fiancé whom he may or may not have been responsible for murdering.

Mainly set in London, Madhouse also stars famed British actors in the latter stages of their careers, such as Peter Cushing, and is a treat for classic British horror fans.

The look of the film is stylistic and effective in the mood- the story, while silly, is also fun.

Paul Toombes (Price) is a famed actor notorious for his character of Dr. Death in a successful film franchise. He seemingly has it all and is the envy of his contemporaries- wealth, notoriety, and a glamorous blonde fiancé named Ellen.

After Ellen is murdered by someone dressed as Dr. Death, Paul is unable to remember the circumstances or his whereabouts during the murder.

After spending years in a mental institution in a confused state he is summoned to London to mount an acting comeback of sorts, reprising his Dr. Death alter-ego.

As the bodies begin to pile up, a whodunit commences- is Paul Toombes the killer, or is someone impersonating him?

The film itself is quite pleasing to a horror fan like me. The deaths, while silly, are fun and campy.

Mostly all female victims, a comical aspect is how the victims, when cornered by the killer, simply scream and stand there waiting to be sliced.

Wouldn’t they fight back in real life?

This film is certainly not realism at its finest but is a fun horror film. It is a bit exaggerated and over-the-top in a campy way but is also true to the 1970s style with the point of view scenes from the killer’s perspective.

A wonderful aspect of this film is real clips of old Vincent Price films (The Raven, The Pit and the Pendulum, and House of Usher) to name a few, featuring deceased horror god Boris Karloff and Basil Rathbone.

Since the plot involves Price’s character being a former horror actor this is a wonderful opportunity to showcase long-ago classic horror films and it works perfectly.

I enjoyed the television scenes within the film plot as Paul revives his career and shoots a series for the BBC- the film chooses interesting, haunting sets and Cushing’s character of Herbert Flay and his zany wife reside in a spooky, vast mansion with eerie spiders that the wife is obsessed with.

The set pieces are great and very Halloween-like. And the spider-eating-flesh scene is excellent!

The tag team of Price and Cushing is fun to watch- both horror stalwarts connect well and both actors play off of each other successfully.

They had a ball while making this film.

Towards the end of the film, the plot becomes confusing and the big reveal as to the killer’s identity and the motivations surrounding is a disappointment.

The conclusion to the film is silly and makes little sense, although that is secondary to a film of this genre that borders on camp.

Madhouse (1974) is an enjoyable midnight flick starring two of the top classic horror icons.

1973 Films, British, British Horror, Diana Rigg, Horror, Horror-Camp, Ian Hendry, Jack Hawkins, Robert Morley, Vincent Price

Theatre of Blood-1973

March 23, 2015 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Theatre of Blood-1973

Director Douglas Hickox

Starring Vincent Price, Diana Rigg

Scott’s Review #230

Reviewed March 23, 2015

Grade: B

Theatre of Blood (1973) stars Vincent Price, a long-time fixture in the classic/campy horror scene, as a demented Shakespearean theatre actor who enacts revenge on the critics who fail to recognize him with a coveted award that he cherishes.

Price, as always frighteningly good, delivers a campy, but not ridiculous, turn as the crazed actor.

Price’s appearance alone- tall, wiry, with sinister facial expressions, poises him perfectly to believability in any dastardly role he portrayed in his heyday and the performance he gives as Edward Lionheart is no exception.

Not solely a campy, melodramatic horror film, Theatre of Blood rises above that categorization with humorous tributes to Shakespeare and a unique chronicle of the Shakespearean works used to systematically off the critics one by one about the Shakespearean story- quite frankly in a comical and witty way.

Price eerily dresses in many different elaborate costumes to commit the murders- a wine-tasting expert, and a television host, among other interesting characters, and oftentimes, taunts his victims before permanently dispensing them.

The film is quite British in tone and humor and done in a tongue-in-cheek manner so that the murders are not to be taken at all too seriously.

The critics themselves- seven or eight of them- are deliciously fun. One is a loud boisterous fat man who always has his beloved poodles at his side.

What happens to him and the dogs is better left unsaid.

Another is an uptight, sophisticated woman (played by Price’s real-life wife Coral Browne). Several of the critics are created as comic villains so their demises are not all too devastating for the audience as they are rather unlikeable characters, to begin with.

I found myself rooting for Lionheart and looking forward to the next murder!

One criticism involves Diana Rigg, who plays Price’s daughter Edwina, accomplice to his dirty deeds. Well known for her starring role in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and the 1960s Avengers series, Rigg has little substance to do in Theatre of Blood.

Perhaps by 1973, her film career was on the downturn and she was not winning the coveted roles any longer. I would have loved to see her sink her teeth into a meatier role.

A side-kick, Edwina could have done much more.

The film belongs to Price and the unique storytelling of Shakespearean works made only possible by this great actor.

Not overly serious and played for some laughs, Theatre of Blood (1973) is successful in its telling of an interesting British horror story.

It’s a nice late-night treat for fans of the British horror genre especially.

1974 Films, Gunnar Hansen, Horror, Independent, Independent Horror, John Dugan, Marilyn Burns, Scott's Top 10 Most Disturbing Films, Scott's Top 100 Films, Scott's Top 20 Horror Films, Tobe Hooper

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre-1974

December 31, 2014 scottmet99 Leave a comment

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre-1974

Director Tobe Hooper

Starring Marilyn Burns

Top 100 Films #35

Top 20 Horror Films #10

Top 10 Disturbing Films #5

Scott’s Review #209

Reviewed December 31, 2014

Grade: A

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) is one of the grittiest, raw, frightening horror films that I have ever seen and still holds up incredibly well in present times.

Containing a documentary-like look it is incredibly scary in its grainy, visual, real-life feel. It is not psychological horror- it is in-your-face, brutal horror.

The perception of an incredibly hot, sticky, backwoods Texas summer is incredibly well done and only adds to the terror.

A group of five teenagers travels to the vast fields of Texas- aka- the middle of nowhere, presumably on a road trip. On their drive, they pick up a strange hitchhiker who ends up stabbing one of the teens and cutting his arm.

Spooked by this odd occurrence, they stop for gas and directions, but veer off course and accidentally wind up at a slaughterhouse owned by cannibals.

The group of teens is led by Sally Hardesty, played by Marilyn Burns.

As the teens are chopped off grotesquely, similar to a slew of similar fashioned, but less interesting horror films to follow, Sally winds up the lone survivor of the group.

Burns plays the first “final girl”, a title made famous in horror films as the last female remaining alive- it was almost always a female- to take on the maniacal killer.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre features one of the horror genre’s best villains- Leatherface.

The viewer knows little about him since he does not speak- is he mentally disabled? Is he an intelligent man? He is disguised behind a mask made of strewn-together human skin and wields a scary chainsaw.

We know nothing about him- only that he loves to kill.

The ambiguity is immeasurable.

Besides the way that the film is shot, another shocking element is the reality of the story. Could this happen to the viewer? The answer is yes of course it could. How many times have we been driving and gotten lost in surroundings unfamiliar to us?

There are no supernatural beings or CGI effects in this film- only a group of youngsters crossing paths with maniacs and this could happen in real life. This realization adds to the fright.

The famous- or infamous- dinner scene is revolutionary in disgust and distaste. The family attempts to serve Sally as dessert to the elderly patriarch and as he begins to suck blood from Sally’s finger, it will force the squeamish to turn away.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a short film, running at only 84 minutes, but the breathtaking finale- Sally running through the endless woods followed by Leatherface, seems interminable. Will he catch her? How can she possibly escape?

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) is dirty, ugly, and intense. It is no-holds-barred brutality. It is one of the best horror films ever made.

1962 Films, Anna Lee, Best Film of the Year, Bette Davis, Horror, Joan Crawford, Maidie Norman, Maxine Cooper, Robert Aldrich, Scott's Top 100 Films, Scott's Top 20 Horror Films, Victor Buono

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?-1962

November 14, 2014 scottmet99 Leave a comment

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? -1962

Director Robert Aldrich

Starring Bette Davis, Joan Crawford

Top 100 Films #71 Top 20 Horror Films #18

Scott’s Review #193

Reviewed November 14, 2014

Grade: A

Baby Jane kicked off a trend, prominent throughout the 1960s, of aging Hollywood actresses starring in horror films (interestingly, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford each did two—the others being Dead Ringer and Strait-Jacket), with varying degrees of success.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (1962), directed by Robert Aldrich, stars Davis and Crawford as, ironically enough, two aging Hollywood actresses, Jane and Blanche Hudson.

Jane (Davis), a child star in the 1920s nicknamed Baby Jane, with an adorable signature song, “I’ve Written a Letter to Daddy,” has long since faded from the spotlight but continues to dress in her Baby Jane costume, consisting of a little girl dress with hair in curls and ribbons.

Blanche, however, garnered her success as an adult in the 1930s until a tragic accident, which left her wheelchair-bound and subsequently ruined her career, became a popular film star, much more popular than Jane.

Blanche and Jane now while away the years away in a crumbling mansion in Los Angeles. Blanche is entirely dependent on her unbalanced sister for care. Jane is resentful of Blanche’s success and popularity and plans to re-launch her career in her once-famous alter ego.

The film has macabre comedic elements but never veers too far over the edge into camp or foolishness. It is also a very psychological film, as Jane mentally abuses Blanche and plays mind games with her to gain the upper hand.

Davis had a ball with this role as her appearance alone is frightful- a grown woman of a certain age in blonde curls, pancake makeup, and a baby doll dress- she looks hideous!

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane reminds me quite a bit of Billy Wilder’s masterpiece Sunset Boulevard in several ways- both feature successful stars of years past with delusions of returning to their former fame, both feature older women more than a tinge unbalanced, both films are set in sunny Los Angeles.

Two of the film’s supporting actors are well cast, adding much to this film and must be given recognition- Victor Buono, later made famous for his role of King Tut in the popular late 1960’s television series Batman, is highly effective as the opportunist sloth, Edwin Flagg, who aids Jane in her comeback attempt.

Maidie Norman as the Hudson sisters’ black housekeeper, Elvira, loyal to Blanche but never a fan of Jane’s, slowly becomes wise to Jane’s sinister plot and does a wonderful acting job when she stands up to the manipulative sister- for 1962, a black maid verbally assaulting a white woman employer was still somewhat taboo and kudos to the film for bravely going there is a highly effective scene.

The fact that Davis and Crawford famously despised each other in real life gives the audience an edge in scenes where the two women fight and claw at each other physically and verbally.

The film has wonderfully quotable dialogue- “We got rats in the cellar,” Jane utters matter-of-factly as she serves Blanche a cooked rat on a bed of lettuce for lunch one day and cackles fiendishly when she hears Blanche screams of disgust.

One aspect of the film that has taken me three viewings to become aware of and that I love is the musical score throughout the film- it features multiple and creepy versions of Jane’s signature song, “I’ve Written a Letter to Daddy,” with varying tempos.

This film must use suspension of disbelief. Why does Blanche not pound and scream at her bedroom window to alert the neighbor of trouble instead of casually tossing a note out the window?

Blanche struggles to descend steps by sliding down them and then cannot slide across the floor to escape the mansion, which is silly. The film is so gripping that I happily overlook these errors and instead enjoy the suspenseful film with two actresses, rivals onscreen and off-screen, that make this film a bit too realistic, a realism that makes for delightful film watching.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Actress-Bette Davis, Best Supporting Actor-Victor Buono, Best Sound, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Costume Design, Black-and-White (won)

2014 Films, Alfre Woodard, Annabelle Wallis, Horror, James Wan, John R. Leonetti, Ward Horton

Annabelle-2014

October 17, 2014 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Annabelle-2014

Director John R. Leonetti

Starring Annabelle Wallis

Scott’s Review #186

Reviewed October 17, 2014

Grade: B+

Annabelle (2014) is a classic, edge-of-your-seat, ghost story that is effective in its creepiness and element of surprise.

Set in California circa 1969, John (Ward Horton) and Mia Gordon (Annabelle Wallis) are an all-American happy young couple.

He is a Doctor and she is beautiful and pregnant with their first child. They attend church each Sunday, are friendly with the neighbors, and have a strong sense of community.

As a surprise, John bestows a life-sized doll on Mia as a present and addition to her existing collection of interesting dolls. Soon strange events begin to occur: a home invasion, a fire, a bizarre experience in an elevator, and creepy drawings by the neighbor’s children.

The film eventually dives into murkier territory when a strange, religious woman, played by Alfre Woodard, is introduced, and the film then shifts focus to spirits, taking one’s soul, and the occult.

What sets Annabelle apart from similar horror contemporaries is the power of suspense. We as the audience know something bad will happen, but we don’t know when.

Unlike many horror films that slice and dice for shock value, Annabelle does not. Rather, foreshadowing and anticipation are common within the film, making the eventual jumps scarier!

Mia’s constant use of an electric sewing machine and Mia’s attentive watching news coverage of the Manson murders are clues as to what will come next.

A scene set in the middle of the night as a home invasion takes place next door is shot exceptionally well, like Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1955), with no dialogue. What the audience sees inside the house from across the yard as violence occurs- is frightening.

Within the same scene we know the home invasion will gravitate to Gordon’s house, but when will it strike?

Another effective scene shows a seemingly innocent little girl running towards another character in a separate bedroom but turns into a maniacal fiend and the foot thudding makes this terrifying.

I found myself genuinely scared during a few scenes!

Wisely choosing to avoid the all too frequent CGI effects, Annabelle instead goes the traditional route with genuine scares harvested from the unknown and the feeling of anticipation and dread of events to come.

The fantastic musical score composed by Joseph Bishara adds to the anticipation. Annabelle is a prequel to the equally scary The Conjuring (2013). The very first scene is, in fact, the same scene from that film where two nurses explain how they obtained the doll, named Annabelle, and cannot get away from her.

The final act delves into the spiritual world of evil- a soul (presumably Mia’s or her babies) must be sacrificed to relinquish the curse put upon her by Annabelle’s original owner.

A surprising figure aids in the conclusion of this film. Annabelle (2014) is an old-school horror film done very well.

2013 Films, Eric England, Horror, Independent, Independent Horror, LGBTQ+ Films, LGBTQ+ Horror, Najarra Townsend

Contracted-2013

October 12, 2014 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Contracted-2013

Director Eric England

Starring Najarra Townsend

Scott’s Review #184

Reviewed October 12, 2014

Grade: B-

It seems that many reviewers of Contracted (2013) are looking for a deeper meaning to the film or debating whether a particular scene was a rape or a consensual sexual act.

I looked for neither and just took the 2013 independent horror film at face value. I do not view the film as particularly worth over-analyzing or delving too much beneath the surface.

The plot is rather basic. Samantha is a young woman on the outs with her girlfriend Nikki. She goes to a party where her friend Alice gets her drunk and Samantha winds up talking to a handsome stranger named BJ.

Samantha agrees to have sex with him in his car, but at one point begs him to stop. It is unclear what transpires.

The next morning Samantha wakes up feeling strange- she assumes she is hung-over, but gradually her hair, teeth, and fingernails begin to fall out and her eyes are hideously bloodshot.

Her symptoms slowly worsen as she transforms into a strange monster.

In the mix are supporting characters, Riley, who is in love with Samantha even though she is a lesbian and rebuffs all of his advances, and Samantha’s Mom, who is convinced that Samantha is using drugs again (which she is).

I did not find the film to be a metaphor for punishing women or lesbians for a one-night stand- I viewed it as a fun, Saturday late-night, horror flick.

If I were to dissect the film critically, the premise is rather absurd- a young woman turning into a zombie/monster after having sexual relations with a stranger.

Silly, but I am not expecting highbrow art from this type of film. The acting- especially of the actress portraying Samantha is below average at best- and horrid at worst.

The three central female characters (Samantha, Nikki, and Alice) are presumably all lesbians or bisexual, especially, Nikki, is irritated when a man dares to hit on her as if they should magically already know she is a lesbian.

The character of Nikki is very unlikeable- she seldom returns Samantha’s phone calls and continually pushes her away.

I did not buy any of the three as lesbians- not to be stereotypical, but they each had feminine only, qualities.

The way Samantha’s mother kept insisting that Samantha was on drugs became irritating by the fifth time she brought it up. Why did Riley pursue Samantha ad-nauseam when he was aware that she was a lesbian? What is BJ’s motivation for presumably giving Samantha a drug? She was already drunk enough to have sex with him- why did he want to turn her into a monster?

This plot point is unclear.

The film is not character-driven, is strictly plot-driven, and like most horror films, is meant to be that way. The finale of the film is quite satisfying as Samantha’s fate, along with her mother’s, is left up in the air.

The same cannot be said for Nikki or Alice as both receive their just desserts.

Contracted (2013) is not a masterpiece, but is a fun little horror film to be enjoyed. Just don’t ask too many questions.

1999 Films, Best Film of the Year, Bruce Willis, Donnie Wahlberg, Haley Joel Osment, Horror, M. Night Shyamalan, Olivia Williams, Scott's Top 100 Films, Scott's Top 20 Horror Films, Thriller, Toni Collette

The Sixth Sense-1999

October 8, 2014 scottmet99 Leave a comment

The Sixth Sense-1999

Director M. Night Shyamalan

Starring Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment

Top 100 Films #56 Top 20 Horror Films #15

Scott’s Review #182

Reviewed October 8, 2014

Grade: A

The Sixth Sense is a psychological thriller/horror film directed by M. Night Shyamalan, made in 1999, about ghosts, that was an incredible box-office and critical success at its time of release and made the line, “I see dead people” universally imitated.

Bruce Willis stars as Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a successful and admired child psychologist, who lives a perfect life with his wife Anna in Philadelphia.

Enjoying a romantic night at home, Malcolm and Anna are interrupted by a deranged former patient- played by an unrecognizable Donnie Walhberg.

Malcolm is shot by the patient, who also shoots himself, and the story picks up a year later as Malcolm takes an interest in Cole, a troubled 9-year-old boy, played by Haley Joel Osment. Cole is a peculiar boy- an outcast taunted at school, who can see the dead.

He’s worried, over-worked mother, Lynn, is played by Toni Collette. Meanwhile, Malcolm and Anna appear to be going through marital problems and lack any meaningful communication with each other.

Anna begins to be pursued by a new beau much to Malcolm’s chagrin. Malcolm and Cole develop a special bond as Malcolm convinces Cole to speak to and help the ghosts that he sees rather than be terrified of them.

As the plot slowly unfolds, Cole helps a recently deceased girl named Kyra Collins, who is around his age. Kyra gives Cole a videotape that reveals she was murdered and proves who killed her.

The subsequent scene is my favorite- there is a haunting quality to it and the camera follows the events interestingly- slowly and sedately.

The setting is a service at Kyra’s house where family and friends are gathered to pay respects and support Kyra’s parents. Malcolm and Cole arrive and present Kyra’s father with the plain videotape.

The entire scene is powerful in its simplicity yet high emotional value. It is slow, but devastating in its climax and reveals. Small nuances are revealed- why is Kyra’s mother wearing bright red when the other guests are all wearing black? Will Kyra’s younger sister be the next victim?

Superlative filmmaking.

A scene involving Cole’s teacher is riveting- being able to sense aspects of people’s pasts Cole realizes his teacher had a stuttering problem as a child. When his teacher is condescending towards Cole, the young boy explodes with rage and begins a chant of “Stuttering Stanley” which reduces the teacher to childhood traumas.

Yet another powerful scene involves Cole and his mother sitting in a car caught in traffic- Cole admits the truth of his skill of seeing dead people to her and introduces an emotional story to her as proof.

This is a scene where Toni Collette shines brightly.

Well over a decade since The Sixth Sense was released, most people know the twist and subsequent surprise ending and it is such a joy to go back, see the manipulations in the story and individual scenes, add them all up, and revel in the clever way that Shyamalan puts them all together.

The Sixth Sense is not dated and is quite fresh, holding up tremendously, and I personally still get chills during the big reveal all these years later.

But more than this pleasure, the film is written beautifully. Somewhere between horror and psychological thriller, it successfully tells a ghost story with interesting characters and jumps-out-of-your-seat thrills that are not contrived and predictable in the traditional horror film way.

From an acting perspective, Bruce Willis is amazing and under-appreciated as Malcolm- he is calm, cool, and collected and his performance is quite understated as the inquisitive and pensive psychologist.

More praise should have been reaped on Willis.

Haley Joel Osment gives an astounding performance of a lifetime- he emits an image to the audience of being strange yet sympathetic and he relays his very frightening fear of the ghosts so well that the pain and conflict he endures is evident on his face.

Toni Collette is effective as the scared, concerned, haggard mother. Collette and Osment were rewarded with Academy award nominations- sadly Willis was not.

Shyamalan was subsequently ridiculed for his later films (The Village-2001, and Unbreakable-2001) – perhaps the manipulation and trickery from The Sixth Sense angered some people.

The Sixth Sense (1999) is a film that remains with you for days, weeks, even years and can be revisited and rediscovered for an intelligent, chilling good time.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director-M. Night Shyamalan, Best Supporting Actor-Haley Joel Osment, Best Supporting Actress-Toni Collette, Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, Best Film Editing

1973 Films, Brian De Palma, Charles Durning, Horror, Margot Kidder, William Finley

Sisters-1973

September 29, 2014 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Sisters-1973

Director Brian De Palma

Starring Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt

Scott’s Review #178

Reviewed September 29, 2014

Grade: B+

Directed by stylistic film genius Brian De Palma, Sisters (1973) is an early entry in the famed director’s repertoire and a direct homage to the classic films of Alfred Hitchcock.

The film stars Margot Kidder as a French-Canadian model named Danielle Breton, who shares a Staten Island, NY apartment with her demented twin sister Dominique. For many years Danielle and Dominique were conjoined twins and only recently surgically separated.

After a romantic date with a new acquaintance, Danielle begins to feel ill and Dominique murders the new boyfriend after he surprises, who he thinks is Danielle, with a birthday cake.

But is it Dominique or is it Danielle?

Meanwhile, a neighbor, Grace Collier played by Jennifer Salt, witnesses the murder from across the alley, and in a highly dramatic scene, involving the victim attempting to scrawl “help” on the window, Grace gets the police involved.

The authorities are skeptical and unsympathetic to Grace’s claims since she works as a newspaper reporter and is constantly challenging the police department in her articles.

Finally, when the police do search Danielle’s apartment, no dead body is found. This sets off the plot for the remainder of the film as Grace looks for the missing body on her own (in Nancy Drew’s style) with the help of a detective she hires, Joseph Larch, comically played by Charles Durning.

One point to mention about Sisters is that the film is a blueprint for De Palma films to come, but that does not mean it is not engaging on its own merits- it pales in comparison to other De Palma gems that followed, such as Carrie and Dressed to Kill.

It feels raw and slightly underdeveloped compared to those aforementioned films.

Danielle’s ex-husband and doctor, Eli, while creepy and sinister, is not fully explored, and his relation to events taking place is a bit vague throughout much of the film.

Techniques such as the split-screen showing simultaneous action oftentimes relating to each other are introduced in this film and are a marvel to watch as so much of the plot is revealed in these sequences- activity in Grace’s apartment contrasts with and interchanges perfectly with action in Danielle’s apartment- highly effective and suspenseful.

DePalma uses many Hitchcock influences, but in no way steals them- the idea of a set of conjoined twins with mental illness was taken from a real-life story of Soviet twins.

Viewers familiar with Psycho will smile during the murder scene as influences are apparent- Rear Window is certainly referenced as countless scenes of the camera looking into Danielle’s or Grace’s apartment or the camera looking out onto a street scene or someone with binoculars spying out of their apartment and into someone else’s apartment across the street- very visually oriented.

The Hitchcock similarities continue with the musical score- it is composed by Bernard Hermann, a frequent collaborator of Hitchcock films- think Vertigo.

After all of the psychological build-up throughout the first hour of the film, the final thirty minutes or so, taking place within the confines of a mental asylum, is confusing and unrealistic, as various flashbacks and dream sequences are used, even using one character taking the place of another in a dream- edgy and unique, but tough to follow and organize properly.

Grace is assumed to be a newly admitted mental patient seemed far-fetched. What exactly transpired between Danielle and Dominique present and/or in the past?

Even though events are explained, I found myself scratching my head a bit after the film.

For fans of Brian De Palma films, Sisters (1973) is a perfect movie experience to show the influence to come and not a bad film on its own either.

1963 Films, Alfred Hitchcock, Best Film of the Year, Elizabeth Wilson, Ethel Griffies, Horror, Jessica Tandy, Karl Swenson, Richard Deacon, Rod Taylor, Scott's Top 100 Films, Scott's Top 20 Horror Films, Suzanne Pleshette, Tippi Hedren, Veronica Cartwright

The Birds-1963

September 22, 2014 scottmet99 Leave a comment

The Birds-1963

Director Alfred Hitchcock

Starring Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor

Top 100 Films #2 Top 20 Horror Films #2

Scott’s Review #173

Reviewed September 22, 2014

Grade: A

The Birds is one of director Alfred Hitchcock’s finest works.

Made in 1963, following Psycho, it continues Hitchcock’s run of successes, both commercially and critically.

It is set in northern California (in San Francisco and Bodega Bay) and tells the story of unexplained bird attacks in a peaceful small bay town.

Tippi Hedren plays Melanie Daniels, a wealthy socialite from San Francisco who drives to Bodega Bay to pursue a love interest, Mitch Brenner.

Mitch, played by Rod Taylor, is a successful attorney who meets and shares a flirtation with Melanie the day before at a San Francisco pet store. He regularly visits his mother (Jessica Tandy) and sister (Veronica Cartwright) in Bodega Bay.

Once Melanie arrives in town, birds begin periodically attacking the locals living in the sleepy community.

The Birds is a film that has held up incredibly well and is as exciting and horrifying today as it was in the past.

One intriguing aspect of the film is that it offers no rhyme or reason for the bird attacks, which keeps the viewer guessing when a gull swoops down and attacks innocent Melanie.

It is entirely mysterious and open to interpretation- are birds fed up with being caged?

Are the love birds that Melanie purchased the cause of the attacks? Do the birds hate humans? Why do they attack the children? Why do they peck the eyes of their victims out?

One could spend hours debating these questions.

A major creative success of the film is its elimination of a musical score. The eerie silence and the loud sounds of the birds attacking create a haunting dynamic.

My favorite scene of The Birds features Melanie sitting on a wooden bench in the schoolyard, enjoying a cigarette. Behind her is a deserted jungle gym. She barely notices a tiny bird innocently fly past her and land on the jungle gym.

She continues smoking her cigarette. The viewer sees what Melanie cannot- as slowly, hundreds of birds land on the jungle gym behind her.

Without music, this scene is deadly silent and dramatic, switching from close-ups of Melanie to long shots of the birds gravitating behind her.

Another interesting aspect of The Birds is the character relationships- Mitch’s mother, Lydia, is afraid of losing her son, so she initially despises Melanie; Mitch’s ex-girlfriend, schoolteacher Annie Hayworth, strikes up a close friendship with Melanie- one might expect them to be rivals.

A hysterical mother lashes out at Melanie, calling her evil and blaming her for the attacks.

During the long periods of calm, one wonders when the next attack will occur—and we know it will. We looked for clues as to what triggers the attacks, but we found none.

This makes for brilliant and suspenseful filmmaking. They hardly come better than the masterpiece The Birds (1963).

Oscar Nominations: Best Special Effects

1960 Films, Alfred Hitchcock, Anthony Perkins, Best Film of the Year, Horror, Janet Leigh, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, Pat Hitchcock, Scott's Top 100 Films, Scott's Top 20 Horror Films, Vera Miles

Psycho-1960

September 6, 2014 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Psycho-1960

Director Alfred Hitchcock

Starring Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins

Top 100 Films #1 Top 20 Horror Films #1

Scott’s Review #165

Reviewed September 6, 2015

Grade: A

Psycho (1960) is the film to end all films, and not just within the horror genre- at the time of release, it transcended the art of cinema to a new level and has influenced generations of films since, and still holds up incredibly well today.

It is undoubtedly one of the greatest Alfred Hitchcock films and one of the greatest films ever made.

Hitchcock took considerable risks and dove from the thriller to the horror genre with Psycho.

The story involves a young woman named Marion Crane, superbly played by Janet Leigh. Marion lives in Phoenix, Arizona, and sees her boyfriend (the dashing John Gavin) for frequent afternoon rendezvous at cheap motels when he is in town because they are both struggling financially.

She is presented with an opportunity, via her job, to steal $40,000 and flee the state to start a new life with her beau. She seizes the opportunity.

On the run, she stops at a run-down Bates motel where she meets owner Norman Bates, hauntingly played by Anthony Perkins.

Perkins and Leigh have fantastic chemistry together, and the audience picks up on it—is it romantic? Is there a mysteriousness to it? Something is odd about Norman. They bond over a quiet meal of sandwiches at the motel while discussing life and his ailing mother.

The famous shower scene and the shocking twist after the film are now almost taken for granted since most people already know about them, but I can only imagine the shock viewers felt when they first saw these two delights.

To this day, both are still suspenseful.

Fortunately, when I saw this film for the first time, I did not know the ending, and I am glad I didn’t because it took my breath away.

To kill off the leading actor at the start of the film halfway through was a novel idea and mind-blowing at the time of release (1960).

This act had the audience’s mouths open in disbelief, asking, “What now?” “How can this be followed?” This act later influenced the original Scream (1996) film and surprised audiences again.

Per Hitchcock, no one could enter the film after it had started, and viewers were persuaded not to reveal the ending- oh, how I wish that occurred these days.

An aspect of the success and longevity of Psycho is the chemistry between Perkins and Leigh, who got along famously while shooting Psycho, and more importantly, the likability of Norman Bates. There is a rooting value for him even though he is the villain.

When Marion’s car is only half-submerged in a lake containing her dead body, we root for it to sink entirely because of Norman. The concerned look on Norman’s face has a sense that affects the audio at this point in the story. Norman is troubled and wo, undead, and the audience does not have history.

Let’s not forget Janet Leigh. The audience sympathizes with her predicament. She is hopelessly in love with her man, steals money, is conflicted, and, at her core, is a friendly, decent, kind woman.

Halfway through the film, Marion’s sister Lila, played by Vera Miles, is introduced as a detective and becomes more of a suspense/mystery as they search for Marion and investigate the Bates Hotel and Norman Bates himself.

Miles then takes center stage as the lead in the film, which is intriguing.

The film then returns to horror at the terrific and terrifying conclusion, which will shock first-time viewers.

The musical score (especially the shrill strings) is incredibly effective and influenced other horror films to come (Friday the 13^th immediately comes to mind).

Psycho is a film that can be enjoyed and studied over again.

Oscar Nominations: Best Director-Alfred Hitchcock, Best Supporting Actress-Janet Leigh, Best Art Direction, Black-and-White, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White

1980 Films, Angie Dickinson, Brian De Palma, Dennis Franz, Horror, Keith Gordon, Michael Caine, Nancy Allen, Scott's Top 100 Films, Scott's Top 20 Horror Films, William Finley

Dressed to Kill-1980

September 2, 2014 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Dressed to Kill-1980

Director Brian De Palma

Starring Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, Michael Caine

Top 100 Films #13 Top 20 Horror Films #5

Scott’s Review #164

Reviewed September 2, 2014

Grade: A

Dressed to Kill (1980) is Brian De Palma’s greatest work throughout his storied career.

Set in New York City the film is essentially divided into two halves.

The first half centers around Angie Dickinson, who plays a bored housewife named Kate. She is unhappy in her marriage and seeks therapy from a psychiatrist played by Michael Caine, to whom she makes sexual advances.

She is unfaithful to her husband yet is a kind, intelligent, cultured woman. She adores her son and loves her husband but is utterly unfulfilled with life.

Do we, the audience sympathize with her? Does she get what she deserves? Is she a victim? One powerful scene involves a wide-eyed little girl who cannot stop staring at Kate. Can she sense Kate’s shenanigans? Does she sense her conflict? Does Kate feel guilt?

Kate is a complex character and brilliantly played by Dickinson, who gives the character sexiness, softness, and appeal.

After a shocking event in a high-rise elevator rivaled only by the shower scene in Psycho (1960) in its surprise and terror, the remainder of the film belongs to Nancy Allen, who plays a prostitute named Liz, determined to solve a mystery to clear her name.

De Palma sets the dreamlike tone with a sizzling opening shower scene sure to make the prudish blush in its explicitness, which I found deliciously sexy.

A ten-minute museum sequence speaks volumes without dialogue as Kate has a cat-and-mouse flirtation with a stranger.

The brilliance of Dressed to Kill is its versatility and complexity and contains one surprise after another, from the elevator scene to the final reveal to the final stage itself.

It is part horror film part thriller and always stylish.

The film was not well regarded upon its release, but over the years has been respected due to its creativity and excellent mood. Many scenes are shot in slow motion adding an effect to them.

Dressed to Kill (1980) is simply brilliant on every level.

2012 Films, Dario Argento, Horror, Horror-Camp, Marta Gastini, Rutger Hauer, Thomas Kretschmann

Argento’s Dracula-2012

August 22, 2014 scottmet99 Leave a comment

Argento’s Dracula-2012

Director Dario Argento

Starring Thomas Kretschmann, Marta Gastini

Scott’s Review #158

Reviewed August 22, 2014

Grade: C-

As a huge fan of Dario Argento, his classic horror films such as Suspiria (1977) and Deep Red (1975) would surely land in my Top fifty of all time, not just in the horror genre, this film is a bit of a mess.

The story, as I understand it, involves a young man named Harker, who is hired by Count Dracula to work in his castle as a Librarian. His wife Mina arrives later in the story and is the focal point of the film from that point on.

Another female named Tania rises from the dead to seduce and bite Harker. Dracula intervenes and wants to claim Harker as his own. From this point on, Harker’s wife Mina attempts to look for her husband within the halls of Dracula’s castle.

The plot is difficult to keep track of, not compelling, and not one of Argento’s finest efforts.

An homage to Hammer horror films of the 1950s and 1960s, the film comes across as too campy, poorly performed, and some miscasts among the actors.

The actor who plays Count Dracula is not convincing and seems a strange choice for the part- too nice looking?

It feels like Argento did not know whether to make the film serious or go for being completely over the top. Since when can Dracula change forms into a grasshopper, owl, and other creatures besides a bat?

Other characters like the Priest were introduced for no other purpose than to be killed.

On the positive side, the art direction is amazing. The film is filled with creepy sets, especially inside the mansion, and has a distinct 1970s feel to it. The ambiance is highly effective at portraying a spooky, dark setting.

All in all, though, Argento’s Dracula (2012) is a disappointing experience, and much better films of the same subject matter have been covered in the past.

Welcome to my blog! 1,450 + reviews posted! My name is Scott Segrell and I reside in Stamford, CT. My blog is a diverse site featuring tons of film reviews I have written since I launched my site in 2014. I hope you enjoy perusing the site for latest or greatest films or to search for your own favorites to see how we compare. Please take a look at my featured sections at the top of the page which change often! Utilize the tags and category links.