John’s Horror Corner: Ghost Story (1981), a slow burn horror-mystery about romance, revenge, and a haunting spanning generations.
MY CALL: This haunted classic better serves audiences seeking an engaging dark romantic thriller-mystery over horror, as the horror seems to come second—though truly horrific when presented. It’s more of an intriguing slow burn boasting occasional gooey gory imagery. MORE MOVIES LIKE Ghost Story: Perhaps The Changeling (1980) and Crimson Peak (2015).
A group of elderly men (incl. Fred Astaire) sit around a fireplace donning tuxedos and brandy in hand, telling campfire-style ghost stories and toasting to their secret society. They and their sons are haunted by nightmares of a woman’s ghost and, after some of them die strange deaths, Don (Craig Wasson; A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, Schizoid, Carny)—son and brother to the deceased—returns to his home town to investigate.
Early scenes depict two men (one young, one old) frightened by a woman with a zombified face. One of them falls out a window to his death completely naked and the green-screening (or perhaps rotoscoping, at the time) will make you giggle. But make no mistake, this film’s tone is quite grave.
This film plays out more like a romantic thriller or a heavy drama than horror. The first flashback segment is fueled by an enthusiastic sex scene and an abundance of nudity. We learn of Don’s past love Alma (Alice Krige; Sleepwalkers, Stay Alive, Children of Dune), her secrecy of her own past and her strong interest in his, and her trance-like sleepwalking during which she says some creepy things that alienate Don in their relationship. We also flashback to the youth of the Chowder Society and their close relationship to a young lady named Eva, which also ends poorly.
I remember seeing this film with my mother on our movie night when I was maybe 13 (in the early 90s). At the time, it quite startled me and the image of a decaying skeletal corpse bride always stuck with me. The disturbing imagery of the spectral woman’s various states of decay remains effective, although their delivery (i.e., scare tactics) wasn’t so shocking in execution. You may be caught off guard, but nothing particularly terrifying graces the screen. The special effects are not frequent, but they are grotesque and gooey with putrefied flesh, and well-dispersed throughout the film. These visually were striking and memorable.
The pace is rather slow in terms of horror, but not in terms of drama or intrigue; the story is actually quite rich. Director John Irvin (Hamburger Hill, Raw Deal) has only this one significant contribution to horror, which I liken to such memorable thriller/horror genre-benders as The Changeling (1980) and Crimson Peak (2015). I find this to be a great horror choice for a Sunday afternoon. Just not a great horror movie for anyone looking for atmospheric dread or popcorn scares.
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The MFF Podcast #176: Predicting the 2009 Academy Awards
You can download or stream the pod on Spotify, Itunes, Stitcher, Tune In, Podbean, or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.
The MFF podcast is back, and this week we’re predicting the 2009 Academy Awards. Our annual trend of predicting decade-old awards continues on the podcast, and in this episode you will hear us talking about Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler, and famous actors crushing grapes. What we love about the 2009 Academy Awards is how it completely ignored The Dark Knight (aside from Ledger), and proceeded to nominated movies like The Reader for Best Picture. The 2009 awards marked a significant change in the Best Picture format, and we love how the Academy finally got around to nominating the superhero film Black Panther in 2019
He totally deserved the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
If you are a fan of the podcast make sure to send in some random listener questions so we can do our best to not answer them correctly. We thank you for listening and hope you enjoy the pod!
You can download or stream the pod on Spotify, Itunes, Stitcher, Tune In, Podbean, or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
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John’s Horror Corner: Final Destination 3 (2006), still loads of shocking gory fun, but missing the heart and soul of the first two.
MY CALL: If Final Destination (2000) is a great horror film and Final Destination 2 (2003) is a great horror movie, then FD3 is really a fun “flick.” Great for shocks and gore, but it lacks the soul of part 1 and the feistiness of part 2. MORE MOVIES LIKE Final Destination: All the Final Destination sequels except for maybe part 4 (The Final Destination) starting with Final Destination (2000) and Final Destination 2 (2003), and the Saw films (2004-2017) if you’re up for much more brutal death scenes.
Franchise SIDEBAR: Final Destination (2000) ended strong with Alex (Devon Sawa; Idle Hands, The Exorcism of Molly Hartley), Clear (Ali Larter; House on Haunted Hill, Resident Evil 3/4/6) and Carter (Kerr Smith; My Bloody Valentine, The Forsaken) having beaten Death’s design and finally enjoying a drink in Paris… that is, until they realize they made one mistake (in Alex’s seat diagram analysis) as death takes Carter and the screen goes black! When Final Destination 2 (2003) opens, we learn that the survivors of Flight 180 all ultimately died mysterious deaths except for Clear, that all of the victims of FD2 were connected to the survivors of Flight 180, and that they had also evaded Death’s plan (during the events of FD1). FD2 ended with survivors and their fate remains unknown.
Wendy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead; 10 Cloverfield Lane, Black Christmas), Jason (Jesse Moss; Still/Born, Tucker and Dale versus Evil, Extraterrestrial), Kevin (Ryan Merriman; Halloween: Resurrection) and Carrie (Gina Holden; Saw 3D) are high school seniors enjoying the rides at the carnival. The obvious abnormalities observed by Wendy readily cue us that she is our heroine as warning signs build to a frightful premonition that would save her classmates from a deadly rollercoaster malfunction.
With most deaths occurring off-screen and barely passable CGI effects, the rollercoaster death scene that introduces us to our cast of victims pales in comparison to the interstate death scene dawning FD2. However, it has its moments when a teenager’s torso is torn off leaving a gut-topped lower body in the car seat, and the menace of the malfunctions was every bit as entertaining as the death itself.
Director James Wong (Final Destination) has returned and he’s clinging tightly to his FD1 playbook throughout this sequel, especially with this opening sequence. After Wendy’s premonition, a fight breaks out resulting in the ejection of her classmates: Kevin, Ian (Kris Lemche; Ginger Snaps), Erin (Alexz Johnson), Frankie (Sam Easton; Decoys 2, The Butterfly Effect), Lewis (Texas Battle; Boggy Creek, Wrong Turn 2), Ashley (Chelan Simmons; See No Evil 2, Tucker and Dale versus Evil) and Ashlyn (Crystal Lowe; Wrong Turn 2).
Cheapening the character development, one of the survivors cites everything learned (i.e., the rules of Death’s design) during FD1 in a quick exposition dump. I wasn’t thrilled with the overall writing. But as cliché as they’re written, I really appreciated the sincere yet shallow Mean Girls-ish Ashley and Ashlyn, whose vapid dialogue drew giggles—the actresses nailed their roles. It’s funny that I appreciated their lines and delivery (call it bimbo humor done well), but these were the characters that introduced nudity to the FD franchise (the very act of which is often considered a cheap tactic and which often draws eyerolls even if I’m amused).
Our first real excitement is the tanning bed scene—and no, not for the nudity. Ashley and Ashlyn are doing their best to look their best for the memorial of their lost classmates when Death’s breeze blows their way. The scene has great energy. The girls are singing along to the stereo in their tanning beds and it’s almost endearing—I think they’re my favorite characters. But… things start to go wrong, of course. These poor girl’s end up cooking and blistering as they scream and claw for their lives trapped in their tanning beds until the glass below them shatters, they fall onto the UV bulbs and they burn alive!
The execution of the actual deaths remains every bit as feisty, shocking and gory as we’d hope—the mark of any good horror movie relying on death scenes for its tempo. We see victims painted red in blood, piles of intestines, heads crushed and splattered, smashed and fragmented torsos, and huge chunk-rending engine propellers slicing heads. From chop to frappe, this sequel basically applies all different settings of a food processor to its victims. Anyone who loves a good death scene will surely enjoy FD3.
However, the chain reactions that build to the deaths seem rather uninspired, uncreative and unelaborate compared to FD1-2—and those were the very things that cultivated dread or even excitement; you know, the things that made these movies work! We no longer have that same “thrill of the chase” as Death creeps closer. And that’s a shame. But again, to be fair, once Death is upon his victim, it’s fun to watch.
All told, this sequel is very entertaining but falls well behind Final Destination 2 (2003). FD1 is clearly the better film, and FD2 is most fun and rewatchable. Still I’d recommended this to anyone looking for some mindless in the form of shocking blood splatter.
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The MFF Podcast #175: The Legendary Captain Ron
You can download or stream the pod on Spotify, Itunes, Stitcher, Tune In, Podbean, or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.
You voted for it, and we delivered! The MFF podcast is back, and we’re celebrating our 175th episode by talking about the 1992 cult classic Captain Ron. We’ve made it a new habit to talk about a Kurt Russell movie on every 25th episode (starting with Big Trouble in Little China on our 150th episode) and we had a great time talking about Ted’s Island, chili dogs and the importance of enunciating when saying “guerrillas.” In this podcast, we answered every listener question we received and dug through all the facts about Ron to figure out who exactly he is (We’re still not sure who he really is). If you are a fan of Captain Ron you will love this podcast.
Captain Ron is the best.
If you are a fan of the podcast make sure to send in some random listener questions so we can do our best to not answer them correctly. We thank you for listening and hope you enjoy the pod!
You can download or stream the pod on Spotify, Itunes, Stitcher, Tune In, Podbean, or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
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MY CALL: A perfectly enjoyable sequel rich with a diversity of special effects and demons, weighing in with just enough bad words to earn an R-rating. Inferior in premise, writing and impact compared to The Gate (1987), but that’s what often happens with horror sequels. MORE MOVIES LIKE The Gate 2: Trespassers: The Gate (1987), of course! Other films featuring folks who summon power-granting evils they cannot control include Evilspeak (1981) and Wishmaster (1997).
Just a few years after the what should have been the most traumatic event he’d ever experience, Terry (Louis Tripp; The Gate) looks back at his past foray in demon summoning not as something that shouldn’t have ever been done, but instead as something that should have been done right. With occult Sumerian calligraphy scribed across his arms and hands, he returns to Glen’s now abandoned house (the site of part 1) to call upon the Old Gods when he is interrupted by Moe (Simon Reynolds; Saw IV, The Skulls II, Cold Creek Manor, P2), John (James Villemaire; Zombie 5: Killing Birds, Matinee) and Liz (Pamela Adlon; Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Louie), the three of whom Terry tutors in demonology so they may all wish their hearts’ desires.
They conjure a diminutive demon from The Other Side and shortly thereafter, their wishes seem to come true—cars, money, Terry’s dad gets a good job after a long stint of alcoholic unemployment. Only, with time, their wishes may not turn out exactly as expected.
It’s kinda’ hokey, but I love the scene where Terry has to wrangle the escaped demon in his bedroom. This little demon has a lot of personality—he enjoys a birdcage swing, hisses at the naming of his demon lords, and prances around for attention. Writer Michael Nankin (The Gate) and director Tibor Takács (I Madman, The Gate, The Outer Limits, Mansquito) both return to bring us this sequel to my childhood favorite The Gate (1987) and, along with the now older and more mature fans of part 1, they bring an R-rated sequel. Despite being rated-R, this sequel feels less serious than its predecessor. It’s more feisty and sophomoric, and I honestly struggle to see why this is R and the other is PG-13 outside of maybe profanity.
As their wishes are bastardized, it’s almost silly (one might even say “crappy”). And one seriously bitten by the minion undergoes some gooey changes; essentially a lot of gooey awfulness goes down in a men’s room stall as John’s skin melts and ummm “excretes” from his body.
Besides the gooey effects, we enjoy a lot of the tiny minion demon and some stop-motion animation for the fully transformed John-demon. We actually end up with more than one man-sized demon, the effects of which are mixed from “okay” to pretty good with one stop-motion demon, one body suit monster effect, and one latex and prosthetics. It’s a nice mix of effects. The Other Side—likely named after Poltergeist II (1986) and conceptually designed considering Phantasm I-II (1982, 1986)—offers a neat other-worldly altar for the final confrontation.
When comparing to part 1, I’d say the characters here are more shallow and it was hard to invest in them. Even Terry—the teenager who once summoned demons in 1987 and died a horrible traumatic death but was somehow spared in the end—decided to summon demons again!!!! While this does honestly makes for a “fun” horror movie, it doesn’t make for a sympathetic protagonist. But, like part 1, the pacing has no slow parts as we jump right into the action and keep it coming. I’d say this is a fun watch, but probably not nearly as rewatchable was part 1.
In the end, I’d highly recommend this to fans of The Gate (1987) for at least a one-time watch, fans of bad 80s-era horror would likely enjoy this for the range in effects and good pacing, but anyone looking for a good horror “film” should look elsewhere.
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John’s Horror Corner: Final Destination 2 (2003), bringing more humor, more splattering gore, and more elaborate death scenes.
MY CALL: Much more gore and bloody excitement, as sequels tend to deliver. Every bit as fun as FD1 but somehow it feels like less of a masterpiece a more of an awesome rollercoaster I want to ride over and over again. MORE MOVIES LIKE Final Destination: All the Final Destination sequels except for maybe part 4 (The Final Destination) starting with Final Destination (2000), and the Saw films (2004-2017) if you’re up for much more brutal death scenes.
Franchise SIDEBAR: Final Destination (2000) ended strong with Alex (Devon Sawa; Idle Hands, The Exorcism of Molly Hartley), Clear (Ali Larter; House on Haunted Hill, Resident Evil 3/4/6) and Carter (Kerr Smith; My Bloody Valentine, The Forsaken) having beaten Death’s design and finally enjoying a drink in Paris… that is, until they realize they made one mistake (in Alex’s seat diagram analysis) as death takes Carter and the screen goes black! When FD2 opens, we learn that the survivors of Flight 180 all ultimately died mysterious deaths except for Clear.
Exactly one year after the incident of Flight 180, on their way to Daytona Beach, Kimberly (A.J. Cook; Wer, Wishmaster 3), Dano (Alejandro Rae; The Thaw), Frankie (Shaun Sipos; Texas Chainsaw 3D, The Grudge 2, The Skulls 3) and Shaina (Sarah Carter; Skinwalkers, Wishmaster 3) have pulled onto the interstate. As if director David R. Ellis’ (Asylum, Shark Night 3D, The Final Destination) sole purpose in life was to one-up the opening kill sequence in Final Destination (2000), we enjoy an outstanding pile-up extravaganza complete with lumber harpooning through windshields and bodies, cars doing 75mph-cartwheels toward other cars, trucks plowing through exploding cars packed with horrified drivers’ faces, and a man burning in agony as a truck rends its way through his shrapnel. It’s the kind of scene you’ll find yourself rewinding because it’s loaded with nuance contributing to the tragedy. Bravo, Mr. Director. Over 120 seconds of pandemonium onslaught. You definitely have my attention. [hitting REW button now]
But fear not, it was just a daydream, right? Well, not for Kim, who prevents all the other cars from her pile-up premonition from getting on the interstate. A police officer (Michael Landes; Shot Caller) gathers all the survivors to exchange information—Kim along with Evan (David Paetkau; Disturbing Behavior), Tim (James Kirk; Final Destination), Kat (Keegan Connor Tracy; White Noise), Rory (Jonathan Cherry; House of the Dead, Another Wolfcop), Eugene (Terrence ‘T.C.’ Carson; Stan Against Evil), Isabella (Justina Machado; The Purge: Anarchy) and Nora (Lynda Boyd). They part ways, and now it’s time for Death to correct the “mistake.”
The “crappy apartment lottery winner” death scene is a treat. As Evan prepares a disgusting meal, Death peppers red herrings across the screen from stray squirts of oil near the flames to accidental magnets in microwaves. As if being punished for his taste in frozen fish sticks, a kitchen oil fire starts as his hand is stuck in the sink drain and the microwave threatens to explode at him. Even after escaping his exploding apartment, he is killed by way of his own filthy littering habit. Take that!
In this sequel we have two different informative characters: Clear (Ali Larter) explains to Kim how to detect the presence of Death and to recognize the signs, and the mystically prophetic coroner (Tony Todd; Candyman, Night of the Living Dead, Final Destination 1-3/5, Wishmaster, Hatchet II) chews the scenery as he offers advice on how to defeat Death… with a smile! In just two films, Todd has created perhaps my favorite recurring exposition cameo character in a franchise.
Moving on, the “dentist office death scene” is another joyous confluence of red herrings. A fish tank leaks and shorts out an outlet, window-slamming birds startle the dentist (and us!) as he picks and injects and drills his patient, building to the ultimate splattertastic death.
Shifting from a rollercoaster of feisty red herrings to a more uneasy scenario is the “elevator prosthesis” death scene, which forces us to endure a haphazardly fast cultivation of dread as a terrified victim suffers a brutal death. But not all of the deaths are elaborate. FD1 had the shockingly abrupt bus death scene, and now FD2 has the “air bag death scene”—a scene which make me cackle—and the “barb wire fence” death scene—which was… just… just check out this epic GIF!
At this point we should address that all CGI effects and stunts exceed anything we saw in FD1. Not only are the effects vastly superior, but the gore has been amplified as victims are impaled through the head, torsos practically explode from projectile lumber impact, blood spurting decapitation, full body splatter liquification, compound insta-slicing dismemberment, and chunky salsa gory explosions.
So the effects are much better and the death scenes perhaps more interesting. How about the characters? Following FD1 suit, our slightly older cross-section of survivors starts out with a bit more skepticism than our FD1 teen ensemble. But as they learn to work together and figure out what they’re facing, their interactions grow more interesting, their characters co-develop, and we invest in them. The most demonstrably endearing (yet funny) example was when Rory, assuming he’d die before her, asked Kim to clean the porn and drugs out of his apartment (if he died) so that his mother wouldn’t find anything that would break her heart. It’s… yeah, I know we’re talking about porn and drugs, but it’s kinda’… sweet. Yet another positive, this sequel offers more humor than FD1. A lot more. Sure, that can mean less dread. But the movie ends with a closing scene every bit as goretastically silly as you’d find in Dead Snow 2 (2014) or Tucker and Dale versus Evil (2010).
All told, this sequel made me jump less but giggle more, with a similar amount of OMG shock. FD1 is clearly the better film in my eyes, but FD2 is more rewatchable. Both are highly recommended by this fan!
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John’s Horror Corner: Grace (2009), a “baby horror” film about a blood-feeding infant.
MY CALL: Although certainly not for recent parents of infants, this explores the psychosis of raising a monster—all be it at a slow pace. Not much horror action, but still somewhat interesting. MOVIES LIKE Still/Born: For more pregnancy/baby horror, try Rosemary’s Baby (1968), The Unborn (1991), The Unborn (2009), The Night Feeder (1988), It’s Alive (1974, 2009), Inside (2016), Inside (2007), Still/Born (2017) and Good Manners (2017; As Boas Maneiras).
Some couples do everything right in order to have a healthy baby. Follow a schedule for insemination, perhaps fertility drugs, major adjustments to trendy diets, even environmentally conscious car purchases considering the future their children may inherit. Maddy and Michael (Stephen Park; Slither) are that couple. They drive a hybrid, drink soy milk, and seek alternative methods of childbirth.
After a car crash causes the death of her husband and her unborn child in the womb, Madeline (Jordan Ladd; Cabin Fever, Hostel II, Club Dread) carries her (deceased) baby to term. The birth scene is a scream fest complete with blood-clouded water and a macabre fetus. But impossibly, her child—covered in necrotic wounds—comes to life!
Maddy’s baby seems perfectly healthy… for a while. Eventually, her little baby Grace starts to smell, suspiciously attracts flies, and breastfeeding turns into blood-feeding. Maddy experiments with blood-filled baby bottles. When the livestock blood won’t do, she offers her own—and it eventually takes its toll on Maddy. So, desperate, Maddy approaches the next level: human victims to feed her child.
Far from any high-octane, energized horror, the blood is abundant, but “gore” per se is limited to lacerations (but they look good). This is not a “death scene” movie. The true horror in all this is Maddy’s own mania and the crazy mother-in-law (Gabrielle Rose; Jennifer’s Body, Beneath, The Stepfather), despite not being the focus of the film.
The writing, dialogue, acting and line delivery fell short of my theatrical hopes and ranged comfortably average to maaaaybe above average for a direct-to-DVD horror film that takes itself seriously. This film lacks the style or filmmaking acumen of its contemporaries. But it’s fine; entertaining; a bit slow(ish) but not boring. I can’t say I’m overly excited for whatever Paul Solet (Tales of Halloween) does next.
The end packed the best momentary visual shock but, in terms of story, it was a bit hokey-cliché. The nature of the film leads me to advise that parents of infants probably shouldn’t watch this. Otherwise, I’d lightly recommend this broadly to horror fans willing to take a chance.
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The MFF Podcast #174: Batman Forever and Sandwiches
We love this poster.
You can download or stream the pod on Spotify, Itunes, Stitcher, Tune In, Podbean, or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.
The MFF podcast is back, and this week we’re talking about Joel Schumacher’s 1995 superhero movie Batman Forever. Batman Forever is a bonkers film that features lots of neon, overacting and insane action scenes involving incredibly long grappling hooks. We love how wild this movie is, and appreciate how Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Val Kilmer and Nicole Kidman embraced the insanity and produced all-in performances that have left us with many questions and theories. In this podcast, you will hear us talk about pre-battle sandwiches, black light gangs and the security at Wayne Manor. If you are a fan of Batman Forever you will love this podcast.
So much neon…
If you are a fan of the podcast make sure to send in some random listener questions so we can do our best to not answer them correctly. We thank you for listening and hope you enjoy the pod!
You can download or stream the pod on Spotify, Itunes, Stitcher, Tune In, Podbean, or LISTEN TO THE POD ON BLOG TALK RADIO.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
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John’s Horror Corner: Curse IV: The Ultimate Sacrifice (1988; aka, Catacombs), a B-movie that clearly has nothing to do with any other “Curse” movies.
MY CALL: This film features some nice shots and set design, but is otherwise rather boring in terms of horror, scares, effects, action, death scenes… pretty much everything that makes a horror movie “fun.” IF YOU LIKE THIS WATCH: Well, The Curse (1987) and Curse II: The Bite (1989), then maaaaybe even Curse III: Blood Sacrifice (1991; aka Panga). I feel as if the later in the franchise you find yourself, the lower the quality of the sequel.
This is the first Curse movie to have a director whose career didn’t both start and end with a Curse film—two directors had only ever directed one film (a Curse film), and the director of part 1 only made two other films of which I’ve never heard before researching this. Director of Curse IV, David Schmoeller (Tourist Trap, Puppet Master, Netherworld) has made successful films both before and after touching the Curse franchise, which makes me hope this may be the best installment in the series—although I’d be wrong. Adding to the oddity of this film (broadly released in 1993, but made in 1988), it is “part IV” but it was produced between the releases of parts I and III.
Franchise Continuity SIDEBAR: Adapted from Lovecraft’s “The Colour out of Space”, the first “curse” (The Curse) involved melty-fleshed zombies created from an other-worldly ooze that infected the water supply from meteorite contamination (in Tennessee). Clearly having nothing to do with the first film, Curse II: The Bite (1989) followed a man infected by a radioactive snake bite and mutated into a snake-handed, snake-regurgitating monster in Arizona. Then Curse III: Blood Sacrifice (1991; aka Panga) predated the other two stories, taking place across the world in East Africa in the 1950s when an angry witch doctor summoned a Sea Demon (from the Black Lagoon) to kill a bunch of white people posing affront to his culture. There seems to be no connection between these curses at all! Our fourth cursed film brings us to a 16th century Italian abbey where a demon has long been entrapped.
Produced by Charles Band (Puppet Master 1-13, Tourist Trap, Subspecies I-IV, Creepazoids), it should come as no surprise that this lower budget horror swings for the fences in terms of both effects and sets. Opening in a monastery in 1506, a brotherhood of monks banish a demon in the cellars. This fiend spits acidic bile and demonstrates other magical threats as it is locked away. Meanwhile, the filming sites are impressive—particularly shots of the Italian countryside and the abbey. I also enjoyed the catacombs sets; very elaborate.
Almost 500 years later a young American woman (Laura Schaefer; Ghost Town, Freddy’s Nightmares) visits the Abbey for her studies. As soon as she arrives the entrapped demon begins to influence its surroundings and a monk is dragged into a grave a buried alive.
At this point, it’s not uncommon to endure a slow 45-60 minutes of exposition and this film is no exception. However, we do enjoy cool shots of catacombs and the abbey throughout leading to the monks discovering that the entrapped evil long considered fiction, is real!
This is when things would normally get fun in 80s horror. The ancient evil animates Christ on the cross, which kills a monk with the nail pulled from his feet! But alas, that might be the only scene worth our time. Next it possesses a woman and uses really dumb telekinesis to beat up monks before it reveals its ugly self and just does more of the same. Hardly any blood, basically no gore, and barely anything coming close to a worthy jumpscare (or real scare). Disappointingly, the finale wasn’t worth the wait. A totally boring final fight with a lame ancient evil. Sigh.
This was all sorts of not good and, for horror and effects, I’d rank it the worst of the Curse series. At least Curse II (1989) tried to show off its lousy effects as much as it could, and The Curse (1987) was a B-movie delight! I’d go watch them instead.
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John’s Horror Corner: Final Destination (2000), reflecting on a brilliant movie designed entirely around elaborate death scenes.
MY CALL: This film turned death scenes into a celebration of fun jumpy anxiety and it did so with a good story and great intertwined characters. The fact that this death scene-driven horror film relies little on special effects and gore, and more on timing and teasing our nerves, makes it timeless! MORE MOVIES LIKE Final Destination: All the Final Destination sequels except for part 4 (The Final Destination), and the Saw films (2004-2017) if you’re up for much more brutal death scenes.
A high school French class is about to depart for Paris on Flight 180, but they’re in for more of an experience than baguettes and cathedrals…
Director James Wong (Final Destination 3) has a knack for cultivating teen drama, immature angst, and amusing ironic tension. From the moment high schooler Alex (Devon Sawa; Idle Hands, The Exorcism of Molly Hartley) boards the plane he notices scratch-like damage at the plane’s door, scuff marks on the wing, and even his food tray has a malfunction. After a terrifying dream of the plane losing cabin pressure and exploding, Alex freaks out and screams that the plane is going to explode, getting himself, several grumpy classmates and one of their teacher chaperones (Kristen Cloke; Black Christmas) forcibly removed from the flight. Naturally, when the plane actually does explode, Alex has to answer a few questions along with his surviving classmates: Billy (Seann William Scott; Road Trip, American Pie), Tod (Chad Donella; Disturbing Behavior, Saw 3D), Carter (Kerr Smith; My Bloody Valentine, The Forsaken), Terry (Amanda Detmer; Drop Dead Gorgeous, Boys and Girls) and Clear (Ali Larter; House on Haunted Hill, Final Destination 2, Resident Evil 3/4/6).
So what is it about the Final Destination films that make them work? Sure, building a movie around clever death scenes sounds like a good gimmick, but what multi-victim horror movies aren’t also doing that without relying on it as a premise? The Saw franchise did something similar, but it felt totally different. I’d say the Saw films worked because of excellent writing in terms of story and development, whereas the Final Destination films thrive on how well written the characters are. Their fates are all interconnected so they have more “real” interactions with each other fleshing them out. We see this as the students are boarding the plane, after they are ousted from the plane, at the memorial service for the students that were lost… Sean William Scott’s character asking questions about asking a girl out as if Alex was some sort of prophet illustrated a lot about the character. All of the characters are rich, and they become richer as their fear mounts and they learn more about what’s happening to them. Even the FBI agents have their cheeky moment.
The bathroom death scene (Chad Donella) was so elaborate, with excellent camerawork zooming in on a leaky toilet valve, the water menacingly and unnaturally creeping closer to the victim as we anticipate a horrible slip while he’s shaving or trimming nose hairs, and then WHAM! A shocking, well-executed death that we didn’t see coming! This first death scene set the standard for the film and taught the audience that we’d endure one red herring after another, and to expect the unexpected in the spirit of fun.
Reinforcing these expectations, the city coroner (Tony Todd; Candyman, Night of the Living Dead, Final Destination 1-3/5, Wishmaster, Hatchet II) explains the rules, that Death is indeed coming for them and he will have his due. Tony Todd chews the scenery, but in a most inviting manner for horror fans. Now it’s up to Alex and Clear to try to “beat” Death and save the remaining survivors of Flight 180.
This film is good at shocking us in ways that make us jump, and then giggle (assuming you laugh, even if awkwardly, at death scenes). The bus death scene is abrupt, well-timed, and I yelled with a smile at the screen. So now between surprise death scenes and hyper-elaborate schools of red herrings swimming by, we’re paying attention to every prop and moving object on screen searching for the next cause of death. The kitchen death scene presents just such a rollercoaster of anticipation. Now, we know a death is about to happen, and who is going to die. But this spoils nothing. That is the fun of this movie! We see a knife block, a tricky gas burner, leaks near electronics, sharp objects here and there, and that’s just the start to another chain of events in the next big death scene.
What other movies ever did this before 2000? Often the Saw films are attributed to the influence of Cube (1997) and Se7en (1995), but I feel that Final Destination deserves a bit of credit as well for bringing a more elaborate art to the death scene. The primary difference is that Final Destination focuses on the actual “chase” of the death scene after its victims whereas Saw focuses on the suffering (and often brutal physical and psychological torturing) of the victim already trapped.
The CGI effects may be a bit wonky by current standards, but the imagery is effective nonetheless. On the plane victims are engulfed in fire and jettisoned out of an opening from the explosion, seats and all. However, the bloodwork is solid and there is an outstanding decapitation! But truth be told, this death scene-driven horror film relies little on special effects and gore, and more on timing and teasing our nerves. And for that, this film is timeless.
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