John’s Horror Corner: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), perhaps the most rewatchable of the series and loaded with creative and fun kills.
MY CALL: Featuring a very different setting and more creative kills, this may be the most re-watchable NOES film. The franchise is getting slightly sillier, but it remains eerie and dark. MOVIES LIKE Dream Warriors: First off, you should first see the original A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985). Other classics everyone should see include Poltergeist (1982; discussed at length in our podcast episode #16), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), and The Hills Have Eyes series (1977). For more recent horror with a similar sense of humor try Wishmaster (1997) and Hatchet (2006).
The saga continues as Freddy returns to kill off “the last Elm Street kids,” whose parents took part in burning the child murderer Fred Krueger to death years ago. Director Chuck Russell (The Blob) delivers this third franchise installment in a mental hospital (6 years after the events of part 1) which houses several teenagers who all share the same nightmare of a man with claws on one hand, a burnt face and an ugly sweater. Coming to their aid, Nancy (Heather Langenkamp; A Nightmare on Elm Street) returns to Springwood with a Master’s Degree in psychology and supports the young patients’ claims, which are largely dismissed as mass hysteria by the staff. How convenient [diabolical laugh].
The five troubled teen patients are an eclectic bunch and include Patricia Arquette (Stigmata), Rodney Eastman (I Spit on Your Grave) and Jennifer Rubin (Screamers, Bad Dreams). You’ll also enjoy a young Laurence Fishburne (Event Horizon, The Colony) as an orderly to round out a solid cast in this surprisingly well written horror movie in which, as seems to be a trend in the NOES franchise, Freddy’s menace becomes increasingly iconic of sick humor rather than terror.
The by-now iconic Freddy (Robert Englund; Wishmaster, Hatchet) returns as the same demonic power with the red and green sweater, a single clawed glove, a face still-moistly burned beyond recognition, and a penchant for painfully raking his claws over metal objects. However, unlike part 1 and Freddy’s Revenge, Freddy is now more outspoken and no longer hides in the shadows like a mysterious boogeyman. He has a much more active role on screen.
What makes this sequel completely dissimilar to its predecessor is that it doesn’t take place in the residences or high school on Elm Street. The mental hospital offers an eerie new medium for Freddy, and a convenient one since the hospital staff readily considers the teen deaths (as they mount in the story) to be the suicides of troubled youth!
Another interesting touch is that, in their nightmares with Freddy, each of the teen dreamers retains a sort of special power they always had in their dreams. A wheelchair-bound Dungeons and Dragons dork becomes a physically capable wizard, the hard-ass attitudinal token black guy has super strength, the drug addict becomes a mohawked punk knife fighter, the mute gains the ability to speak, and our heroine becomes an acrobat. These abilities help them combat Freddy in the dreamworld while, in turn, Freddy uses their fears and weaknesses against them.
This third installment also plays with the rules of Freddy’s dreamscape. In part 1 we were introduced to the terrifying notion that someone can kill us in our dreams (and we really die!) and Nancy was able to pull Freddy into reality, part 2 removed from us not only control of our dreams but also control of our body while awake, and now in Dream Warriors people can pull each other into their dreams and Freddy is able to depart the dream world and enter reality on his own—which doesn’t seem to follow “the NOES rules.” That last bit (Freddy choosing to crossover into reality) may seem like a horrible rule violation, but I forgive it. It happened only once, it was prefaced with his increased power from accumulating souls, and it made for a great scene in which he possessed his own burnt remains (a charred skeleton) to prevent Nancy’s father (John Saxon; Blood Beach, A Nightmare on Elm Street) from burying his remains on holy ground. Watching the skeleton battle Nancy’s father and the hospital psychiatrist was pure joy!
This sequel has also (thankfully) steered clear of the perverse awkward unease of Freddy’s Revenge, instead offering more diverse kills to the Krueger formula. The wrist tendon puppeteering scene was brilliant and very hard to watch; “welcome to prime time, bitch” is one of Freddy’s best lines ever; a cripple faces the wheelchair from Hell; an addict meets a syringe-fingered Freddy; Joey and the sexy Freddy-succubus nurse was a great teen-fantasy-gone-wrong; and the Freddy-snake swallowing scene was appropriately shocking, unique and gross. Overall, this was the Freddy movie that started making the kills “fun” in addition to being creative. Freddy’s dreamscape has become a twisted carnival funhouse.
This is the kind of sequel the franchise deserves! We call back to many elements that worked before, like replacing shadowy, steam-spewing boiler rooms and the creepy power plant where Freddy worked in life with the junkyard where his remains were hidden; instead of face impressions on Nancy’s bedroom wall and Freddy’s form emerging through Jesse’s stomach and his claws piercing through his fingertips, we find Freddy manifesting himself through a television set; where once Freddy licked through the phone or lengthily licked the stomach of Jesse’s love interest, he now tethers a teenager’s limbs in a sick fantasy; and rather than slicing off his own fingers or revealing his own brain, he uncovers his soul-embedded chest. Also continuing to flavor the franchise, we revisit Nancy’s dilapidated dreamworld house and unnerving little girls, likely the ghosts of Freddy’s victims. I should add that I still enjoy ALL of the practical effects in all three of the first NOES films. Sometimes the simplicity makes it more gross, weird, off-putting, or even a bit funny; and thrillingly FUN.
Oh, right! And Dream Warriors has contributed to the Freddy mythology in the form of Amanda Krueger, a ghostly nun tells the horrible story of Freddy’s conception, the product of rape in a mental hospital. “Son of a hundred maniacs.”
Being presented in a completely different style, this is not comparable to the original. It remains a fun movie experience and well worth the ride for the first time or for a good re-watch. It certainly made me smile.
Share this post:
Hello all. Mark here
The world is chock full of horror films that have over performed despite the fact they are soul crushingly bad. Movies like Annabelle, The Gallows and Ouija get nationwide releases while smaller gems slip under the radar. The point of this post is highlight films that should have a larger audience in the US. They may have been popular in Korea, Canada or the UK but they’ve been criminally under watched here in the states. All five of these films are original, distinct and hit way above their weight. They create new monsters, worlds and languages. You kinda have to watch these films and you can find them all on Netflix.
Movies like Pontypool are rare because they are are told organically and are in no way reactive. They are confidently made and the point is to tell a solid story and not appeal to the lowest common denominator (jump scares!). I love that I was sitting on the edge of my seat while people talked about other people dying. The editing and fantastic cinematography capture every angle of the radio booth and the performances inside are gloriously refreshing. Pontypool did something different and that is a beautiful thing for horror lovers.
.
Byzantium is chock full of dysfunctional families, Gemma Arterton chewing scenery and a waterfall that pours blood. The visuals are spectacular and you will have a hard time forgetting anything from this movie (that is a good thing). Byzantium builds a new vampire world and actually makes it interesting! Neil Jordan (Interview With the Vampire) uses every directing trick in his book and the end product is a beautifully filmed and occasionally very bloody film.
.
Ravenous is an odd little film. Dismissed upon initial release in 1999 it has picked up a cult following that has made the recent Blu-ray release an event. The film is characterized by a quirky soundtrack, bonkers performances and the famous line “he was licking me!” It is clear to see why this film is so adored. Like most cult classics it has an off-kilter vibe that features performances with personality. I love how it subverts clichés and feels like a hybrid because of the sudden directorial shifts. Ravenous has a personality all its own and can stand alongside films like Evil Dead, The Warriors and Donnie Darko.
.
Grabbers is fun, charming and rewatchable. It is a little Irish film that focuses on villagers who have to stay drunk to stay alive. The best thing about Grabbers is that it is immensely likable and doesn’t become a one-note shlock fest. It follows in the foot steps of Gremlins, Attack the Block and Tremors with its infusion of horror, comedy and oddness. You will cheer for the eventual drunk heroes as they battle ill-tempered aliens. You need to appreciate a film that features the greatest death via alien flick ever. It is pretty amazing.
.
The Host
I love The Host. I lived in Korea for a year and every time I went past the Han river I always checked to see if a mutated monster was causing havoc. The Host tells the age old story of a family battling a child kidnapping monster. It is bonkers, fun and very original. I love the special effects and the cast is perfect. Director Joon-ho Bong (Snowpiercer, Mother) knows how to create fun set pieces and the dynamic between the family is perfect. Kang-ho Song (Snowpiercer, Thirst, The Good, the Bad & the Weird) is one of my favorite actors and you will love every moment of him bumbling his way to victory. Watch this movie!
Share this post:
Pontypool: A Fantastic Canadian Horror Film That Puts a New Twist on the Zombie Genre
.
I’m not sure why it took my so long to watch Pontypool. It is a fantastic independent horror film that puts a new spin on the zombie world. It plays like Stephen King’s Cell met a Twilght Zone episode and spawned something completely different. I love how it captures a zombie outbreak in a completely new way. We get four characters, one radio station and words as weapons. Director Bruce McDonald works wonders with very little and I love the trust he has in his actors. Stephen McHattie, Lisa Houle and Georgina Reilly do a fantastic job of reacting to reports and dealing with the insanity unfolding around them.
.
The story revolves around three people narrating the end of the world (think War of the Worlds). They work in a radio station that is located in a small Canadian town called Pontypool. The night starts off weird as over the hill shock jock Grant Mazzy (McHattie) sees a disheveled woman on the side of the road. It gets even weirder as reports start coming in that the world is going to crap. The events find him narrating the carnage while stuck in the radio station. I love how Pontypool captures dread via three people sitting around and it proves to be a fantastic experiment. I put the movie on as background while writing and several minutes in I was totally captivated.
Tony Burgess wrote the book “Pontypool Changes Everything” and he was fortunate enough to write the screenplay for Pontypool. You can tell he poured lots of love into the script and he lucked out with a solid director and editor. It is rare when watching people react to a tense situation fills you with dread. I love how the ending is purposefully vague and a tense zombie film with very little zombies is pretty awesome. Pontypool and Session 9 would make a badass double feature and I love how both films mess with their genres.
Movies like Pontypool are rare because they are are told organically and are in no way reactive. They are confidently made and the point is to tell a solid story and not appeal to the lowest common denominator (jump scares!). I love that I was sitting on the edge of my seat while people talk about other people dying. The editing and fantastic cinematography capture every angle of the radio booth and the performances inside are gloriously refreshing. Pontypool did something different and that is a beautiful thing for horror lovers.
Watch Pontypool on Netflix.
Share this post:
The MFF Podcast #26: Spring and Creep, two new wave horror hybrids
You can stream all episodes on BlogtalkRadio or download the podcast on Itunes.
If you get a chance please REVIEW, RATE and SHARE the pod!
We hope you enjoyed our previous episode on: The MFF Random Awards of Summer 2015.
SUMMARY: This week the MFF crew discusses the recent horror releases Creep and Spring, the best punchers of film, our feelings about the upcoming Christmas horror Krampus, and the Jamie Kennedy moments that actually mattered. Spoilers abound.
We also answer such important questions as…
“What movies make you go crazy like Key and Peele go crazy about Liam Neeson films?”
“Is there such a thing as a horror film that doubles as a romance…with tentacles?”
“What are our favorite Jamie Kennedy films?”
“What mental disorder afflicts Mark Duplass’ character in Creep?”
“Who throws the best cinematic punches?”
Sit back, relax and learn about everything you missed.
If you haven’t seen some of these movies, be comforted that we will geekily inform you as to why you should watch them.
You can listen to us on with your mobile app OneCast, or download the podcast on Itunes.
If you get a chance please REVIEW, RATE and SHARE the pod!
Share this post:
TRAILER TALK: Krampus; a twisted Christmas-themed horror fantasy film by Michael Dougherty, the man behind Trick ‘r Treat and the upcoming Trick ‘r Treat 2.
Ever since Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010) I’ve been waiting for the next great holiday horror movie. Rare Exports was pretty good and I consider it a very special holiday horror fantasy that holds a place in my heart, but it didn’t quite live up to the two short films (“Rare Exports, Inc.” (2003) and “Rare Exports: The Official Safety Instructions” (2005)) that generated all the hype leading to its creation.
But there is hope!!! Michael Dougherty—the brilliant mind that wrote and directed the much celebrated Halloween horror anthology Trick ‘r Treat (2007) and is working on the upcoming Trick ‘r Treat 2—has returned to bring us the twisted cautionary Christmas fairy tale of Krampus.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO OUR REVIEW OF KRAMPUS (2015)
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO OUR KRAMPUS PODCAST
The plot is simple. A boy who has a bad Christmas ends up summoning a Christmas demon to his family home. Here’s the trailer:
This looks DELIGHTFUL!!!
I know, I know. We get so excited about trailers only to get all hyped up and have our hearts broken. But hold on a sec. You recognized a lot of faces in that trailer, didn’t you? This has an impressive cast, so evidently Dougherty’s script made a strong impression. Among them are Adam Scott (Hellraiser: Bloodline, Piranha 3D), Toni Collette (Fright Night, The Sixth Sense), David Koechner (Final Destination 5, Cheap Thrills) and Conchata Ferrell (Edward Scissorhands, Two and a Half Men). The cast has a fair share of horror experience and plenty of comedy experience as well.
This film doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously, which is good—great, in fact. The trailer is littered with holiday humor, including chaotic shopping and crotchety family members clashing with more uppety ones (e.g., Adam Scott and David Koechner eating at the dinner table). It also has a lot of dark scenes like evil toys and a giant Krampus on the roof. This has a lot of promise!!!
Moreover, Doughertys’s Trick ‘r Treat was an impressively nuanced Halloween anthology with diverse effects and expertly interwoven stories. The movie blew away my expectations and it now leaves me hopeful that Dougherty has just as lovingly and patiently architected Krampus.
This film is not to be mistaken for the Santa Claus vs Krampus movie A Christmas Horror Story, which is also coming out in the near future and features infected zombie elves and a white demon Krampus with a hooked chain. Here’s the TRAILER for that one:
This could also be decent; probably bad b-movie fun. But it doesn’t appear to have the same potential to be “good” like Krampus does.
Share this post:
John’s Horror Corner: Creepshow (1982), a classic, campy, nostalgic horror anthology from Stephen King and George Romero!
MY CALL: This is one of the more campy and fun anthologies from the days before anthologies were the “in” thing. Looking for a film that features sea zombies, silly murderous revenge, alien weeds, angry arctic man-eating primates and goofy bug infestations? Then this may be for you.
OTHER HORROR ANTHOLOGIES: Some other anthologies include (in order of release date): Black Sabbath (1963), Tales from the Crypt (1972), The Vault of Horror (1973), The Uncanny (1977), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), Stephen King’s Cat’s Eye (1985), Creepshow 2 (1987), Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990), Necronomicon: Book of the Dead (1993), Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996), Campfire Tales (1997), 3 Extremes (2004), Trick ‘r Treat (2007), Chillerama (2011), Little Deaths (2011), V/H/S (2012), The Theater Bizarre (2012), The ABCs of Death (2013), V/H/S 2 (2013), The Profane Exhibit (2013), The ABCs of Death 2 (2014) and V/H/S Viral (2014).
Much like Tales from the Crypt (1972) and The Vault of Horror (1973), Creepshow sweeps us away to a youthful horror comic nostalgia characterized by uncomplex (often unreasonably silly) stories of various hokey campy flavors. So if you’re one to analyze plots or the decisions of characters, you’ll surely find yourself frustrated. Consider this film to be scary only for much younger and more virginal horror fans and more of a nostalgic throwback to lifetime lovers of the genre. Not that I know anything about it, but I’ve read that this is an homage to 1950s EC horror comics. It certainly does have a comicbook-esque simplicity to the stories.
Featuring five stories written by Stephen King and directed by George Romero (Dawn of the Dead), this anthology is often revered as a fan favorite. The movie opens with a young boy, his Creepshow comicbook, and a disapproving father, and we subsequently flip through the comic pages in cartoon clip scenes delivering us to the short stories within…
Father’s Day is about murdered father who returns as a zombie to exact his revenge on…you guessed it…Father’s Day. This is an excellent example of how analyzing the plot will only upset you. Our zombie father’s grave is right next to his estate and, for whatever reason, it’s only after years and years of posthumous family Father’s Day dinners that the undead patriarch randomly rises. I found it enjoyably hokey and laughed. But make no mistake, this is stupid. LOL. The highlight for me was seeing a young Ed Harris (Snowpiercer) dancing the night away.
The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill offers a similar pleasure in that we find a young Stephen King playing a seemingly retarded hillbilly who discovers a meteor in his backyard. The meteor cracks open and oozes a glowing slime which our simpleton touches and finds himself “infected” with some sort of alien weed that grows all over his body, house and yard. The plot may be simple, but it’s not dumb. Sure, there are some hilariously stupid sequences with lame dialogue, but these are the fantasies of a simpleton. So it makes sense. It is funny, a bit creepy, and ends in a brutally practical manner.
Something to Tide You Over may have been the most dramatically engaging of the stories, about a methodical husband (Leslie Nielsen; Dracula, Dead and Loving It) who exacts his revenge against his adulterous wife and her lover (Ted Danson) in a rather cruel way…and he records it!!! In this story the humor is subtle and dark, and only campy in the very end for our surprise ending. This and the remaining stories are all a bit more mature.
The Crate is far-fetched but I certainly enjoyed the ride. A professor (Hal Holbrook; The Unholy) with a domineering alcoholic wife (Adrienne Barbeau; The Thing, Swamp Thing) encounters a crate that has been long forgotten in storage in the zoology department. Inside the crate waits a hungry, humanoid monster from an Antarctic expedition at the dawn of the century. This story features the most elaborate plot.
They’re Creeping Up On You was by far my least favorite story of the anthology (followed by Father’s Day). Some rich business man with an overly modern, tech-rich condo and a roach-centric germophobic hypochondriasis finds himself plagued with his perceived incompetence of others and a domestic insect infestation. This drives him mad and drove me to boredom. Roaches crawling all over everything is not creepy or satisfying to me; it’s just dumb. That’s what this short story was: dumb.
OVERVIEW: I found the middle three short stories to be very engaging and the first and last to be considerably less satisfying (with Creeping Up being almost intolerably awful while maybe drawing one grin). This anthology would have been considerably better in my opinion if it was limited to the middle three stories (Jordy, Tide and Crate) and reduced from 120 to 90 minutes. But I know some people (e.g., the occasional Amazon reviewer) rather enjoyed Father’s Day and Creeping, so I’ll just say the middle stories are what won me over and got me to buy this.
In either case, this is a classic anthology from the days before anthologies were the “in” thing. You should probably watch it.
Share this post:
The MFF Podcast #25: The MFF Random Awards of Summer 2015
Hello all. Mark here.
The MFF podcast is back and we are diving into the world of Summer Random Awards. You can download the pod on Itunes or head over to Blog Talk Radio to stream it. If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
If you’ve been reading the site for some time you know that we love our random awards. Nothing says job well done like bestowing awards like “best sea beast enclosure” and “best usage of jerky demons.” We here at MFF love all things cinematic and random and this podcast dives headlong into gloriously random conversations.
The award for best fake mustache goes to Jason Statham in Spy!
Sit back, relax and listen to three guys discuss the the best cinematic leg kicks of summer 2015!
You can listen to the pod on Blog Talk Radio or head over Itunes so you can download, rate, review and share. Thanks!
Share this post:
MFF Amazon/Netflix Streaming Recommendations: Ewan McGregor Edition
Hello all. Mark here
Ewan McGregor is one of my favorite actors. The dude can sing, fight, charm, ride motorcycles and climb through really dirty toilets. He has had an eclectic career where he has played a clone (The Island), Jedi (Phantom Menace) and a guy with stellar medieval hair.
The reason I am writing this post is because of the fantastic documentaries he made with Charley Boorman called Long Way Round and Long Way Down. These documentaries focus on Ewan and Charlie riding around the world on BMW motorcycles. I recently found out they were on Netflix so I scoured Amazon Prime and Netflix in order to find the best Ewan McGregor films that are streaming right now.
Long Way Round/Long Way Down (Netflix)
Long Way Round and Long Way Down are the kind of documentaries that make you want to do something with your life. I know that you are a busy person and there is never enough time in the day. However, if you watch these documentaries try to absorb the proceedings and appreciate the journey. They chronicle McGregors and his friend Charlie Bormans ride all the way around the world. I’ve read the companion books and I appreciate the journey because it isn’t sugar coated by “reality TV.” These documentaries cover the warts and all trek that takes them to some beautiful places.
.
Son of a Gun (Amazon Prime)
Son of a Gun is a twisty Australian crime thriller that has a stellar cast and fun story. You can tell Ewan McGregor loves every second of playing the bad guy and it shows in his performance. The movie is worth a watch for the final 10 minutes. Ewan McGregor holds the screen like none other and you actually feel bad for the murderous criminal. I hope Son of a Gun opens up more bad guy doors for Ewan because he is really good in this film. Also, Alicia Vikander (A Royal Affair, Man from U.N.C.L.E, Ex-Machina) is always good.
.
Beginners (Netflix)
What I love about Beginners is that it isn’t about starting a relationship. It is about people finding somebody who they want to share the hard times with. So many times people fall in love then realize they don’t like each other and split. It takes a commitment to stay together after the meet cute fades. Beginners may be occasionally too cute by half but it tells a heartfelt story about two likable people who “meet cute” then get into the real stuff. McGregor and Melanie Laurent (Inglorious Bastards) have fantastic chemistry and their indie romance is a thing of indie beauty.
.
Trainspotting (Netflix)
Danny Boyle is one of the my favorite directors. Trainspotting was his second film and it hit the world like a bomb. The cast is stellar and Ewan McGregor does a fantastic job spouting the iconic dialogue. I love Trainspotting and hearing Irvine Welsh’s dialogue onscreen is always welcome.
Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a f**king big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suit on hire purchase in a range of f**king fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the f**k you are on Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing f**king junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, f**ked up brats you spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose life… But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin’ else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you’ve got heroin?
.
Big Fish (Netflix)
Big Fish is a fantastic Tim Burton joint. It is loaded with oddities, glorious visuals and Alison Lohman (Matchstick Men, Drag Me To Hell) being stellar as always. Ewan McGregor does a fantastic job playing the younger version of Albert Finney (?) and his moments on screen are meant to be larger than life and weirder than heck. I love this scene below because it shows McGregor can be cheeky whilst getting the living daylights beat out of him.
.
Share this post:
Hello all. Mark here.
It is a good time to be a fan of horror. In the last two years there has been a welcome explosion of horror hybrids that defy expectations and are critically beloved. They are all confidently made and have done a great job of taking a tired genre and making it fresh. None of these films are reactive and their creators could care less about trends. They’ve forged their own way through the horror jungle and come through as their own beasts. If you are into horror hybrids featuring freaky masks, cheeky vampires, squishy romances and body mutilation you are in luck with these films!
If you are into 21st century horror make sure to check out these posts centering around the best the 21st century has had to offer the horror genre.
MFF Reader Poll Results: The top 21 horror films of the 21st century.
.
Creep (Netflix)
Creep has a grounded realism that focuses on two very lonely people. One person resorts to answering craiglist ads for money while the other has obvious mental problems. Together they form a weird duo brought together by loneliness. Their day filming spirals into a controlled chaos in which clues are unraveled and the term “Chekhov’s axe” takes new meaning.
Creep doesn’t reinvent the found footage wheel but it takes the genre into unexpected territory. The footage isn’t nausea inducing and the video diary brings an organic vibe to a man holding a camera for way too long. It is a tiny little thing that is getting national press. It doesn’t feature CGI and the locations are scarce but it features a good idea and enough vision to get it in front of audiences. If you are looking for inspiration and want to create something in the film world I totally recommend you watch this film. It is simple, smart and builds to a brutal conclusion. Let me know what you think when you watch it!
.
Housebound (Netflix)
Housebound is a glorious horror hybrid that plays equal parts funny, scary and outrageous. It is a pure horror hybrid that features the fun insanity that goes with New Zealand horror films. It plays like a Peter Jackson horror film teamed up with The People Under the Stairs and formed something completely different. Housebound exemplifies the current crop of horror hybrids because it refuses to be pegged down into any genre. It is pure filmmaking at its best and I can’t wait to see what director Gerard Johnstone does next.
.
What We Do in the Shadows (Redbox, VOD)
What We Do in the Shadows is a glorious comedy/horror mockumentary that centers around four vampires who live in New Zealand. The horror hybrid blends comedy with lots of gore and features some of funniest characters of the last several years. It is a creative blast of niceness and violence that will most certainly become a cult classic. The 85 minute film is so full of one-liners, sight gags and hilarious characters you need to watch it more than once.
.
Wyrmwood: The Road of the Dead (Netflix)
Wyrmwood is a fantastic Australian micro-budget zombie film that is taking the horror world by storm. It was a labor of love by directors Kiah and Tristan Roache-Turner who initially planned on a six month shoot and saw that expand to a 3 1/2 year labor of love. The budget jumped from 20,000 to 150,000 and Screen Australia had to throw in 800,000 to get it finished. The script changed drastically and so did the characters. However, the final product is a bonkers delight that is loaded with blood, bruises and zombies that can fuel vehicles. It is like Mad Max met a zombie film and then became something else entirely. You kinda have to appreciate a singular vision that was filmed on weekends and holidays.
.
Honeymoon (Netflix)
Little horror films like Honeymoon don’t come around very often. They take a familiar subject (body snatching) and make something original out of it. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel but it gets a lot of mileage out of its story. Rose Leslie and Harry Treadaway fully commit themselves to whatever is thrown their way and they draw you in with their chemistry. First time feature director Leigh Janiak handles the tension building well and you can tell she has thought this movie out with great detail.
.
The Babadook (Netflix)
The Babadook is a visually arresting horror hybrid that proved to be an amazing calling card for director Jennifer Kent. The Babadook is the type of movie that transcends genre and much like Rosemary’s Baby adds class to the horror world. The fact that The Babadook was universally praised by critics while featuring a truly bonkers plot proves that we are in a solid time for horror. I love what Kent said abouthorror filmmaking to New York Magazine.
I continue to watch modern horror films, despite the constant disappointment. I don’t think a lot of the filmmakers making horror now know its worth, or realize the potential of the genre. Just because it’s a horror film doesn’t mean it can’t be deep. I think a lot of filmmakers who make horror now go in with dubious motives — money, predominantly. They want to make a film that will feel like a theme-park ride, and ultimately make a lot of money.But horror is a pure form of cinema. I think there are some modern-day filmmakers our there who understand that. The films that will stand the test of time are the ones that have depth
.
Spring (Amazon Prime)
Spring plays like Before Sunrise met An American Werewolf in London and spawned something like Species but totally different. It is an earthy film that plays with romance, love, loss and lots of squishy things. The critics have rallied around it (89% RT) and it is part of a recent low-budget horror revival. Spring has proven itself to be a genre lifter that take old ideas and makes them original.
A neat example of where Spring veers from the horror path is in the meet cute. The two characters lock eyes, she is obviously out of his league and when he approaches she immediately invites him back to her apartment (think Species). He is caught off guard and begins to wonder whether she is trying to rob, kill or trick him. He declines the offer and instead tries to set up a coffee date. It is a neat moment that plays against type.
.
It Follows (Redbox, Netflix)
It Follows has a unique style that blends a lurking sense of dread with absolute urgency. It isn’t afraid to mess with the genre while sticking to well-worn tropes. If you combined All the Real Girls with Nightmare on Elm Street and threw in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, Elephant and The Sixth Sense you would have something sorta resembling the film.
Director David Robert Mitchell (The Myth of the American Sleepover) takes my favorite aspects of horror (urgency, dread, patience) and combines them with a beautifully simple story about the dangers of sex. Mitchell lets the film breath and this allows the rabbit and hare story to unfold organically. The teens sleepless state creates a dreamy atmosphere that is captured nicely by the lingering camera and patient editing. The film moves at a methodically slow pace yet you have a hard time catching your breath.
.
Cheap Thrills (Amazon Prime)
Director E.L. Katz who formerly wrote for Fangoria does a great job of capturing the claustrophobia, humor and horror of the night of escalating dares. He draws strong performances from the cast and elevates the material to where even the most conservative of film critic appreciates the work. The film can be frustrating and vague but I think that will only further discussion and leave more to the imagination of the viewer. It leaves you with questions in which there are no easy answers.
The movie has a nasty streak that will alienate many but capture a solid cult following. It wears you out but it doesn’t drain you with depravity. It walks a tight rope of gore and despair but manages to not fall into a nothingness abyss. David Koechner and Sara Paxton remain mysterious throughout as we never get any revelations about them. Are they really a couple? Have they done this before? The questions are welcome because it leaves you to come up with the answers.
.
The Guest (Netflix)
The Guest is a pure genre experiment that is equal parts nasty and fun. It borrows heavily from other films (I love this Grantland article) but it adds something different to the norm. Director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett got the idea for the film after a double header of Halloween and The Terminator. Wingard had this to say about it:
The Alien and Michael Myers movies … you couldn’t really put together what they were. They were these like shapes. They were terrifying in their obscurity. That’s something that’s influenced so many people. Horror, in many ways, went way down that rabbit hole for many years. People are still riffing on those concepts, with the masks and facelessness of the killers and stuff. And I thought, What would it be like to do the inversion of that? What if Michael Myers, instead of being this shapeless guy following you around town from a distance, what if he lived in your house?
The Guest is bloody, gory and at times very uncomfortable. The goth techno soundtrack blares loudly while Dan Stevens kicks ass in a nearly monotone voice. I had to laugh as everybody chooses to ignore the oddness of Steven’s because of his clean cut looks and relaxed persona. There is obviously something wrong with him but he honeypots (Thank you The Interview) everyone into ignoring his constant violent actions.
.
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Netflix)
Scott Weinberg of The Horror Show sums up this movie perfectly:
It may take a while before Dracula is scary again, but until that time we can certainly appreciate little vampire tales like the willfully and enjoyably strange A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, which is the first feature from Ana Lily Amirpour, and feels like a sly and respectful homage to filmmakers as disparate as Nicholas Ray, Rod Serling, Anthony Mann, and Jim Jarmusch. Sort of a western, kind of a sci-fi story, sometimes a film noir thriller, and most assuredly a beautifully black-and-white portrayal of two wildly different young people who come to forge an unlikely relationship, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is what one might call an “arthouse film,” in that it’s often more interested in mood, tone, music, and frame composition than it is in a straightforward narrative – but one doesn’t need a traditional plot-driven structure to appreciate this eclectic, serene, and sometimes powerfully moving film.
ddd
Share this post:
You can stream all episodes on BlogtalkRadio, stream old episodes at the Sharkdropper website, or download the podcast on Itunes.
If you get a chance please REVIEW, RATE and SHARE the pod!
We hope you enjoyed our previous episode on: Analyzing the Cheek Embracing World of Nicholas Sparks Films.
SUMMARY: This week the MFF crew discusses the Trailers for upcoming movies of the end of Summer and Fall 2015, the interchangeable versatility of Tom Cruise and Bill Murray, and some hypothetical fights revolving around the Predator movies.
This episode’s trailers include Pod, Black Mass, Harbinger Down, Everest, Victor Frankenstein, The End of the Tour, Memories of the Sword, Sicario, No Escape, The Hateful Eight, The Transporter: Refueled and The Last Witch Hunter.
We also answer such important questions as…
“Will The End of the Tour be the most touching and humbly quote-brimming film of the year?”
“What movies would benefit from replacing Tom Cruise with Bill Murray?”
“How will Victor Frankenstein be like Sherlock Holmes?”
“Could Snake Plisskin take out the Predator faster than Dutch and his commandos?”
“How do we really feel about Vin Diesel or the Predator using a sword?”
Sit back, relax and learn about everything you missed.
If you haven’t seen some of these movies, be comforted that we will geekily inform you as to why you should watch them.
You can stream the pod at the Sharkdropper website, listen to us on with your mobile app OneCast, or download the podcast on Itunes.
If you get a chance please REVIEW, RATE and SHARE the pod!
Proudly sponsored by the audiobook company Audible, your new MFF podcast episode is here!
Movies, Films & Flix 