John’s Horror Corner: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Wes Craven’s creation of Freddy Krueger remains creepy even today
MY CALL: Not as scary as it used to be but every bit as fun, Wes Craven’s original Nightmare is a creation that no horror fan should be without. A little hokey by today’s standards, but also still creepy. MOVIES LIKE A Nightmare on Elm Street: Other classics everyone should see include Poltergeist (1982; discussed at length in our podcast #16) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), The Hills Have Eyes series (1977). For more recent horror with a similar sense of humor try Wishmaster (1997) and Hatchet (2006).
Now over 30 years old, I think it’s safe to say this is a horror classic…and it’s a classic I still enjoy and revere. However, like many “classics,” there are aspects of this film that will disappoint horror fans reared by films of the last 10-20 years. The effects are dated (although I love these practical effects still much as I do those in The Thing and The Fly), the plot and characters are a bit hokey at times (but that’s forgivable in the horror genre), and it feels more campy by today’s standards when it felt drop dead serious at the time of its release. So I contend that it is my duty to defend the importance of the classics to our younger readers and assign some homework to those who have not yet seen the pre-remake/reboot Freddy Krueger.
This film opens with a nightmare, and an inherently creepy one at that. We are taken to a shadowy, steam-spewing boiler room where a mysterious stalker rakes his “claws” across old pipes as he slowly advances upon his prey, his dreaming victim Tina. The evil assailant swipes his claws at her and she awakens with her nightgown shredded four-fold. Rattled by the experience, Tina shares her horrible dream with her friends Rod, Nancy (Heather Langenkamp; Star Trek Into Darkness) and Glen (Johnny Depp; Tusk, Dark Shadows), who have all eerily had similar dreams about the same “clawed” killer.
Written and directed by Wes Craven (Cursed, Deadly Friend, Deadly Blessing), we are introduced to the terrifying notion that someone (or something) can hunt and kill us in our dreams…and you really die! Our killer is Fred Krueger (Robert Englund; Wishmaster, Hatchet), a demonic power with an ugly red and green sweater, a single clawed glove, and a face still-moistly burned beyond recognition. As a villain, Freddy is iconic and has graced the screen for 9 films!
This film may not have the emotional power of Poltergeist (1982; discussed at length in our podcast #16) or the blunt-force trauma holy shit factor of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), but is instead its own entirely different animal. Freddy gives us hints of a twisted sense of humor as he cuts off his fingers and slices open his own maggot and pus-filled chest or licks Nancy and laughs through a possessed phone, but (unlike many of the sequels) there is nothing slapstick or comedic about it really. He is a twisted and pure evil. It’s intended to be sick and disturbing, not funny (to anyone but Freddy, that is)—although fans laugh at it today. We find these kinds of scenes delivered with a deliberate humor in Hatchet (2006), Wishmaster (1997) and so many more releases of the past 20 years…and also blatantly more deliberate in later installments of the Nightmare on Elm Street or Leprechaun franchises.
Simply meant to be terrifying back in 1984, Freddy looks a little hokey today—in a fun way. He runs down alleys like a crab with a limp waving his glove hand in the air, he jumps atop Nancy and rolls around instead of wisely slicing at her, laughs after mutilating himself. My movie companion actually said the movie, at times, felt a little dorky. And I couldn’t agree more.
Starkly contrasting these “dorky” scenes are dream sequences with a bodybagged Tina calling for help and being dragged away through the school hallway, the boiler room scenes, the harrowingly weird death scene of Nancy’s mother towards the end, Tina’s gravity defying death scene, and Freddy’s twisted laughter in the boiler room. These scenes remain “effective” to me, but they lack the right kind of production to remain sufficiently creepy or scary today (even with all the lights off as I watch). Of course, I’m a bit numbed by the hundreds of horror films I’ve seen. Perhaps these scenes will make you all quiver a bit. If not those, then at least the little girls jumping rope while reciting Freddy’s dark nursery rhyme.
Whoa! A cool death scene in any decade.
Timelessly creepy.
Look for John Saxon (Blood Beach, Enter the Dragon) and Lin Shaye (Insidious Chapter 3, The Signal) as we watch Nancy and her friends discover what drives Fred Krueger, learn his origin, and figure out how to defeat him through a combination of booby traps and bringing Freddy from the dream world into reality. Just try to ignore the lamely written controlling nature, denial and alcoholism of Nancy’s mother. It should also be noted that as Nancy, Langenkamp (not Robert Englund) carries the film. Freddy is done well with creepy execution, but he has almost no lines and little screen presence until the end. It’s Nancy who validates our fears, rallies awareness despite her parents’ disbelief, and battles Freddy.
Without going into detail, I should add that I still enjoy ALL of the practical effects in this film. Sometimes the simplicity makes it more gross, weird, off-putting, or even a bit funny.
The ending is deliberately sort of silly and illogical. But that was and remains a fun staple of horror—twists, even if stupid, that make us smile. If there was a deliberately funny moment, it had to be the last scene with the car and Nancy’s mother being cartoon-yanked through a tiny window on the front door.
Is that prop a blow-up doll?
This is a truly fun movie experience and worth the ride, even if you laugh today in 2015 whereas others screamed back in 1984.
If you need another trusted opinion, check out this review from Rivers of Grue.
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Movies I Love: The Great Googa Mooga Known as Evolution
Sometime science stinks. That’s the game we play baby.
Everybody has a film they’ve watched dozens of times. For some reason a particular movie will connect and prove to be perfect background fodder or comfort food. Most of these movies are not on the AFI top 100 or considered classics. However, they have tons of personality (think Big Trouble in Little China) and get better with each viewing. I’ve probably watched 2001’s Evolution more than any other film. It ranks alongside Ernest Scared Stupid, Hot Fuzz, Hot Tub Time Machine, The Replacements, Goon, Star Wars, Shawshank Redemption, Knight’s Tale and Indiana Jones as my most watched movies of all time.
Come on, come on, my widdle red lobster. Come on, my sexy little crustracean. Come on…
The creature design from Phil Tippett (Star Wars, Willow, Starship Troopers, Dragonheart, Robocop) is wonderfully varied and each beast has a distinct personality that ranges from deadly to squishy.
Ivan Reitman’s (Stripes, Ghostbusters, Dave) Evolution is a perfect HBO/TBS/TNT film because it is a breezy little thing that features relationships that hold up. I love the little moments when David Duchovny throws a hat thirty feet into a trash can or Orlando Jones is solid gold dancing in an elevator. Evolution is packed with fantastic dialogue, funny moments and likable characters. It has its faults and Reitman even admitted that he “mucked up the ending a little bit.” However, I love the bumps and bruises and think they give the movie more personality. I love that it was Julianne Moore’s idea to be a klutz. I love Sean William Scott singing “you are so beautiful” to trap a flying creature. I love that Orlando Jones gets a fly in his leg, they threaten amputation and Duchovny says “Isn’t there anything else you can do? He thinks he’s an athlete.”
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The stand outs of Evolution are David Duchovny and Orlando Jones. They come across as intelligent frat boy professors who have no problem rescuing one another from giant alien sphincters and saying “liar, liar, pants on fire.” They have a lived in relationship that feels organic and enjoyable. Whether they are hitting on students, harassing ex-girlfriends about stolen shirts or dealing with Sean William Scott they are relaxed and cool. I love how they keep a straight face throughout the proceedings and there is genuine hurt when Jones learns that Duchovny lied to him about his military work. Roger Ebert summed them up nicely with this quote:
Kane (Duchovny) and Block (Jones) have a nice double-act together; like the characters in “Ghostbusters,” they talk intelligently, possess wit and irony, and are not locked into one-liners. Jones even gets a laugh out of a significant nod, which is not easy in a film at this decibel level.
I would love it if Jones was cast as a character in the X-Files remake. It annoys me that he hasn’t gotten better roles. He is funny, smooth, intelligent, immensely likable and can keep a straight face when saying “Great Googa Mooga!”
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Evolution revolves around a meteor falling to earth and spawning a cornucopia of attacking aliens. Their evolution is unprecedented as they grow from cells to slugs to cute/deadly creatures in days. The government gets involved and screws everything up (No! No government. I know those people) and it is up to two adjunct professors, a pool boy and Julianne Moore to defeat the creatures. I loved the odd couple pairings and all four have wonderful chemistry. Even when the comedy revolves around butt exploration you can’t help but smile as the actors fully commit.
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I think the reason I like this movie so much is because it is an unpredictable hybrid that wears its niceness on its sleeve. I love that it builds to Orlando Jones getting sucked into an alien’s butt while Duchovny yells “Give me back my friend, you big sphincter!” It features good people who are willing to be sucked into big sphincters because they know their friends will bail them out. It is a big budget film that actually features an original idea. It may not be Shakespeare but it is more fun that it has any right to be.
Evolution is a re-watchable delight that doesn’t come around often enough. If you haven’t watched it check it out and let me know what you think!
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Proudly sponsored by the audiobook company Audible, your new MFF podcast episode is here!
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!
We hope you enjoyed our previous episodes on: Mad Max Fury Road and Poltergeist 1982 vs. 2015 (Ep 16) and Kung Fury, WolfCop, Zombeavers and Three Toed Sleuths (Ep 17).
SUMMARY: This week the MFF crew discusses Jurassic World (2015) and the latest chapter of the Insidious franchise (2010-2015), reflect on the history of their prequels, and bicker over nonsensical fights between Kurt Russell’s and Dwayne Johnson’s movie characters. This episode is pretty much nothing but spoilers and loads of smarmy comments. You have been warned. 😉
We also answer such important questions as…
“Who would win in a fight between Kurt Russell from Soldier and The Rock from The Scorpion King?”
“What makes Elise the most courageous character in the Insidious franchise?”
“How did life turn out for Tommy Boy?”
“In Jurassic World, why didn’t they just text when the cell service worsened?”
“Just how many of Dr. Grant’s warnings were ignored in Jurassic Park?”
And how did Elise end up with that handy lantern in The Further?
This week’s podcast is based on the following articles:
John’s Horror Corner: Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015), another exceedingly creepy chapter in this franchise.
Insidious 3: A Fantastic New Chapter To Further the Insidious World.
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!
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When I was a child, my mother would tell me a story about how the Devil roams the Earth. Sometimes, she said, he would take human form so he could punish the damned on Earth before claiming their souls. The ones he chose would be gathered together and tortured as he hid amongst them, pretending to be one of them. My mother’s story would always begin the same way, with a suicide paving the way for the Devil’s arrival. And it would always end with the deaths of all those trapped.
I am a big fan of Devil. It is an under appreciated horror film that starts strong and doesn’t overstay its welcome. It has a refreshing lack of pretense and it simply wants to tell the world a new story. Shakespeare it ain’t but it was never intended to be the next Exorcist, Omen or Sixth Sense. The horror landscape has a dearth of original ideas so it pains me when something trying to be original gets dismissed before it ever hits the movie screens. Co-writer John (The Horror Leviathan) summed up this film well with this quote:
This movie was fun and unique. As serial-moviegoers isn’t that what we want? Something different and enjoyable? Something that doesn’t feel like a recycled idea with a new director and different actors?
The problem is that the film was associated with M. Night Shyamalan in 2010. After four years that featured Lady in the Water, The Happening and The Last Airbender Shyamalan’s stock was diminished and his twisty style had become a punchline. I remember sitting in a theater when the Devil preview played. When the title “Produced by M. Night Shyamalan” appeared the audience groaned and I knew the film never had a chance. Devil was bound to fail because public opinion was so against M. Night at the moment and people didn’t want some BS twist and melodramatic turn.
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This scene from The Happening didn’t help public opinion.
That lack of interest is a shame because Devil is a neat little one-off film that features a claustrophobic vibe and singular story. The 52% Rotten Tomatoes rating is better than the standard horror film rating and it is light years ahead of the 25% average of Shyamalan’s prior three films. Devil features one of the coolest openings of recent memory and I loved the grey and off-kilter vibe it established.
Philly upside down. The opening credits were simple, effective and established immediate dread.
Cinematographer Tak Fujimoto (Silence of the Lambs, Sixth Sense, Devil in a Blue Dress) used the setting as a playground and let the camera whiz around while using every trick in the book to keep the film rolling. He works wonders with the $18 million dollar budget and gives the film a neat visual flair. Moments from this film are burnt in my memory because of the beautiful work Fujimoto achieves.
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Director John E. Dowdle (Quarantine, As Above So Below) and screenwriter Brian Nelson (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night) do a fine job taking Shyamalan’s idea and stripping it down into a neat package. They’ve streamlined the proceedings and nary a moment is wasted. The 80 minute run time tells a neat story that may feel heavy handed but never overbearing. The religious angle turned off a lot of viewers but I dig the idea of a world turned upside down after a suicide. The death leaves a window open for the Devil to collect souls. However, Devil turns the tables on the bad guy and leads to a story of redemption and forgiveness. Also, I’m gonna go on the record and say that I didn’t mind the toast falling jelly side down. It is an earnest moment that too many jaded people scoffed at. I am in the minority when I appreciate the usage of toast to prove the Devil is nigh.
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The young and mostly unknown cast do a fine job of being stuck in an elevator. They are left purposefully mysterious and we learn more about them as the film rolls along. I loved seeing Bokeem Woodbine back in the spotlight and Chris Messina (The Mindy Project) does a fine job as the troubled detective. There are no Shyamalan uber twists and it plays out like a whodunit involving the Devil. There are little hints that can lead you astray and when the lights turn out you have no clue what will happen. I love how almost every character has hints of red on their outfits and that allows you to speculate who might be the evil one. I watched Devil with my friend and we both guessed wrong as to who the Devil was. The film has a wildcard vibe and that is rare in today’s cinema.
Original stories are rare nowadays and this film suffered because of its association with M. Night Shyamalan. The problem is the expectations were too jaded and this fun horror film got lost in the shuffle. It you get a chance check it out on Netflix and let me know what you think.
What movies do you think deserve a second chance?
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John’s Horror Corner: V/H/S Viral (2014), another found footage horror anthology with a couple of cool short stories
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This article is rich with images you do not want your boss to see when he’s looking over your shoulder at work. View at your own risk.
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MY CALL: There are certainly better horror anthologies out there, but I really enjoyed two of the stories herein. Looking for a film that features egomaniacal magicians, horrifying elderly nudity, alternate dimensions, demonic genitals, “sort of” zombies, a fork frenzy massacre, Mexican Satanists and an evil ice cream truck? Then this may be for you—of course, with very small doses of everything. 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), Creepshow (1982), 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), 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) and The ABCs of Death 2 (2014). 
A found footage episodic horror anthology, the movie opens with the overarching horror story. These short films vary substantially in filming style, acting, gore, direction and writing quality. Below is a summary of each short film and, sometimes, a cheeky quote…
Overarching Story. This opens with scattered videos of a man recording his girlfriend. They seem quite happy until their clips lead to a terrible accident in which his girlfriend disappears and suddenly calls his phone–flickering in and out and apparently in trouble (via Skype call). Everything hereafter strangely seems to revolve around a police chase with an ice cream truck as people who the boyfriend knows keep dying in weird ways as we go from story to story. Meanwhile, this story continues intermittently and then concludes the anthology.
Dante the Great. Dante (Justin Welborn; The Signal, The Crazies, The Final Destination) was once a struggling wannabe magician living in a trailer park who somehow came into possession of Houdini’s cloak. This cloak gave him real magical powers and, subsequently, fame and megalomania. He telekinetically dissects a rabbit with a thought, levitates people, teleports them, breaks their bones (this was REALLY cool), guts them…but this power comes at a price. The cloak needs to be fueled. By what you may wonder…?
I really enjoyed Dante the Great, directed by Gregg Bishop (The Other Side, Dance of the Dead). The pacing was perpetually entertaining and the ending was cliché but fun. It reminded me of Lord of Illusions (1995) with a dash of The Craft (1996).
Parallel Monsters. A man creates a portal to another dimension that is exactly the same as his own…except that everything is mirrored in this twisted story. He meets “himself” who thinks the same, invented the same machine at the same time to cross dimensions and they used it at the same time. The two (versions of the same) men are giddy with discovery and decide to “trade” universes for 15 minutes. Only, once the switch is made, it seems that things are a bit more different than expected. Even morality and the general sense of “good” is reversed.
“Oh, look. An alternate dimension me. What could possibly go wrong?”
Directed by Nacho Vigalondo (The Profane Exhibit, The ABCs of Death), this Spanish language short film starts out fantastically—we sit back wondering “what’s going to go wrong”—but veers into the bonkers zone towards the end. Not just the off the deep end, but into the “demonic genitals” end. That said, I loved this. The storytelling gets a bit slow in the middle, but you’re bewildered in the horror of this “other world” and we get some nice surprises. 
Bonestorm. A group of teen skateboarding troublemakers recording a webseries about their ill-conceived stunts decide to venture to a secret spot in Tijuana, Mexico to party and finish their project. They encounter an earthquake tremor, a deeply disturbed woman who appears to be in a trance, long decayed remains, small shrines and a skate arena complete with a pentagram drawn across the floor. The kids don’t seem to consider that anything is wrong. Stupid. Not just the kids, but the story, acting, filming, writing, effects…smh. 
The extremely shaky GoPro shots offer nothing to the story other than mirroring the chaos of these teens’ judgment. This film relies on entropy for entertainment, but it’s not working for me at all. Some kid gets blood on the pentagram, a bunch of weirdoes show up to tear the kids apart, and there’s apparently some sort of “Hell Beast.” Cultists chant, wear cultish outfits, light blood on fire with black magic…things just get more stupidly bonkers, and not in a way that I find cool or funny. This feels like a gory acid trip written by a flunky. The gore is abundant and ill-executed—it almost draws a smile. And no sense can be made from the mayhem. 
It should come as no surprise that the men behind this film were the least experienced in terms of directing.
SUMMARY: Far too much attention is dedicated to the over-arching story, which offers nothing but incomprehensible chaos. It isn’t clever. However, some of the deaths will please viewers with surprises. While it tries to show us a lot, the wraparound story is less engaging than the much simpler ones used in V/H/S (2012) and V/H/S 2 (2013). I could have done without this wraparound story altogether. It ends the anthology in a major disappointment and isn’t creepy or scary, nor twisty or explicative. Trick ‘r Treat (2007) did this all much better, with a wraparound story that actually connected the stories instead of simply serving as a gift bag with a bunch of random stories therein. 
People may complain up and down (in some reviews I’ve read) about Dante the Great and Parallel Monsters. But these are exactly what I wanted! They’re stories I haven’t seen or heard before and they were done adequately. Good or bad, they were at least adequate and (for me) fun. The wraparound story and Bonestorm were simply a waste of film, both of which being so mundane and flat out awful that I’d be all the happier if they were altogether omitted at the expense of the film’s running time. 
I guess I was pleased with this movie. Not overall, but because I got two interesting stories out of it (hidden among the other crap). 
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“My Father’s Day Movie Tribute” to my father
It’s Father’s Day. So I thought I’d share some of my fondest movie experiences that I had with my father. Some kids write cards. I write movies articles…
Total Recall (1990). Okay, I know. Not a very “father’s day” sort of movie. But let me explain…
I would spend several weeks with my father in Florida every summer in my youth. It was mid-June in 1990 and I was 9 ½ years old when my father decided to take me to see Total Recall. Now, I know what you’re thinking…it was 1990, before the internet and mainstream swearing on TV desensitized children, I was not even 10, so what was my dad thinking taking me to see this? In his defense, the summer before we went to New York and I saw Evil Dead 2 (1987) with my uncles and I had already seen A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 (1988) with another uncle. I loved both! So it was safe to say I was fine with on-screen violence and blood.
Anyway, my dad took me to see a movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger, a three-breasted woman, aliens, lots of killing, the grossest Siamese twin ever, Sharon Stone and the best Arnold spazz-out scene ever (when he’s dying in the atmosphere of Mars). I remain eternally grateful as this likely had an impact on making a movie nerd out of me.
As if that wasn’t enough, as we were exiting the theater we encountered my Godfather and his wife and son (who was 12 or 13 at the time). They, too, were on their way to see Total Recall as we were on our way out. So…we snuck in and watched it AGAIN.
So I got a double dose of polymastic aliens, screaming Arnold, wrestling Sharon Stone and Kuato the slimy creepy beer gut alien doing a palm reading.
Best summer ever with the best dad ever. LOL.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
A great flick for loads of random laughs. If you haven’t seen Steve Martin play Ruprict the monkey boy then you’ve missed out! I’d say this is Martin at his best and Caine at his standard greatness.
The humor holds up for me, even decades later. But even funnier is watching my father’s elated reactions to the movie. He laughs before the funny things even happen sometimes.
Love Actually (2003).
This movie really affected me. I was 22 and I thought I’d be single for life…and then this movie infused a sense of longing into my bloodstream. So many great actors in such likable roles finding love in unexpected places, rediscovering love and humility, or recognizing how they have wronged each other (and then trying to make up for it).
And The Walking Dead‘s Rick Grimes is in it!!!! Pre-zompocalypse, of course–no beard.
This was the movie that got me to like Hugh Grant (and all his movies) and to value Alan Rickman for more than his villainous Hans Gruber. The cameos were numerous (Shannon Elizabeth, January Jones, Elisha Cuthbert) and the Martin Freeman’s before-he-was-famous story was so sincere while comically masked in nudity.
This looks inappropriate. However, these scenes are actually quite sweet, featuring a kind and soft spoken Martin Freeman making small talk with his crush and eventually asking her out.
And how about Hugh Grant’s adorable dance scene:
I saw this film four times in theaters. Once by myself, twice with friends, and a fourth time with my dad. Why? Well, I loved the movie soooo much (one of my favorites, really) and I wanted the people closest in my life to see it—even if that meant seeing it four times in a month!
I love horror, gore, action, explosion, effects and biceps…yet I also felt touched by this movie. Give it a shot. Maybe watch it with your father.
Car Wash (1976) is one of those zany movies that works better when you are of the age to have seen it right when it came out. I’d say the same for the Cheech and Chong movies.
Featuring Richard Pryor and George Carlin, two of the dirtiest mouths of their time. Love them.
When I visit my father he may suggest watching one of these (since I bought them all for him) and often it’s only as a last resort that I succumb. These flicks are my dad’s guilty pleasure. Car Wash especially.
A River Runs Through It (1992)
Touching moments of brotherhood, fatherhood, family and a simpler time…This one makes me miss my family, especially my father, but only in the best of ways. Since I live over 1000 miles away from them it’s very much as if I am on a desert island. Robert Redford’s direction and wisely prosaic narration spin a soothing tale rich with quote-worthy lines.
This movie exudes beauty both emotionally and in its cinematography. Not to mention great performances by Brad Pitt, Tom Skerritt, and perhaps Craig Scheffer’s best performance ever.
I only watch this movie with my father, and only about once every few years. But if he asked, I’d watch it with him every day. Were I to find myself the last man on Earth with only one film to keep me company and the memories of watching it with my father, I’d never feel alone. Not for a moment. I love you, Dad. Happy Father’s Day.
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Hello all. Mark here.
More beer and MFF podcasts!
The Audible sponsored MFF pod is back! We want to thank everyone for pushing us to the “What’s Hot” section on Itunes and we promise to keep bringing the educated randomness, Kurt Russell facts and slightly answered questions.
We dedicated this pod to the world of Midnight Monster movies. These B-movie gems allow Wolves to be cops and Raptors to be equipped with lasers. We talk about Kung Fury, Zombeavers, WolfCop and the best cinematic beavers (nothing dirty!). As always our conversations go off the rails and into the glorious land of randomness. We promise that MFF is the only place that comes up with a film called “Three toed Sleuth.”
You can download the pod on Itunes or you can head to the Sharkdropper website to stream the pod.
Enjoy. Rate. Share. Review. Share. Thanks!
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The Best Transformation Scenes of Horror, Part 1: Tales from the Darkside (1990), Zombeavers (2014) and Wolfcop (2014)
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This article is rich with images you do not want your boss to see when he’s looking over your shoulder at work. View at your own risk.
Transformation scenes are often the coolest things we see in horror films–especially when they’re executed with practical effects. Some of my favorite transformation scenes are also the most gory and brutal. So today I’m highlighting some transformations in which the “new form” (be it a werewolf or otherwise) pushes its way out of the “old” (human) form.
The Company of Wolves (1984)
These are gory, abrupt and to the point; like the human skin was just an ill-fitting suit entrapping a monster. This same approach has been used before and many times since. The first film (that comes to mind anyway) using this transformation method was The Fly (1986). Now I know what you’re thinking, Brundelfly’s transformation was a slow mutation and his human form was almost gorily “molted” off as would be done by an insect. However, the final phase involved tearing through his own chrysalised flesh as if it were some sort of walking, talking pupation stage. The same tactic was utilized for the werewolf flick The Company of Wolves (1984) and The Howling (1981), and far later by the werewolf character from Hemlock Grove (2013-present; Netlfix show).
The Howling (1981)
In kind of a funky way, this tactic was used by Freddy Krueger when he turned a tough teen into a roach in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 (1988). While on the topic of Freddy, he turns into a lot of things–basically never featuring transformation scenes. Shame.
The Thing (1982), which offers unpredictably protean changes in which chest cavities become bear trap-like toothy maws and self-detaching heads grow eye stalks and spider legs and crawl away. Or Society (1989), in which there is a ton of transformation but very little of it being witnessed and it is more in the form of merging/melding people together in inordinately macabre manners. That said, the horrific practical effects were delightful.
But enough of this banter. Here are a few transformations that I really enjoyed. Stay tuned for future installments in this series of articles…
Tales from the Darkside (1990), the short story Lover’s Vow.
Lover’s Vow features a man who swears a vow of secrecy to a gargoyle to keep its existence a secret. When he breaks this vow, it turns out that the women he married (who he met the same night he took the gargoyle’s vow) is actually the gargoyle!!! What’s sick here isn’t the fact that they had two children together, but rather that–upon breaking the vow–the gargoyle tears its way out of its human skin (again, his wife’s skin!!!) to punish the oathbreaking husband. Enjoy the imagery:
Just tore right our of her. I like it.
Zombeavers (2014)
Admittedly, this transformation scene is less transformative (perhaps largely due to budgetary limitations). But the claws and teeth form in the right manner for my theme today. This is also probably not one of the truly “best” transformation scenes in terms of quality or detail, but it made up for it with silliness and unexpectedness. I think it deserves to be here.
Quite a pleasure was the transformation of a bitten girl into a werebeaver zombie (or werezombeaver?)—not unlike what happened in Black Sheep (2006). These infected victims behave as if they caught a beavered up version of the Evil Dead’s (2013) contagious zombie-demonism. After being infected, a young woman twerks her tail—YES, she grew a beaver tail—and terrorizes her friends with her buck teeth which pushed their way through her front teeth. She even bites off a guy’s penis in the spirit of Piranha 3D (2010). Yikes!
In the MoviesFilmsandFlix Podcast Episode 17, we discuss the transformation scene of Zombeavers (2014) in gruesome detail. So please tune in and enjoy.
Wolfcop (2014)
This is here for its “Holy Shit Factor.” This film is pure lycanthropic lunacy and the gritty, sloppily gory painfulness of the transformation scene will bring sophomoric glee to your inner gorehound. Faces split and are torn away, slaws erupt from fingertips and skin sloughs off like mange in this slapstick werewolf flick. The worst is what happens to his manhood…in the MoviesFilmsandFlix Podcast Episode 17, we discuss the transformation scene Wolfcop (2014) in gruesome detail. These images hardly do it justice:
I hope you enjoyed these gore-slathered movie memories and perhaps you have been directed to new things you need to see for yourself.
CLICK HERE to go to “Best Transformations” PART 2
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I love the Insidious series because it plays like a roller coaster built on top of a fun house that was placed upon an active volcano. The three films are super low-budget marvels that rely upon practical effects, smart decisions and fantastic cardigans.
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The Insidious world excels in creating likable characters and introducing original bad guys (very important). It may have started as a Poltergeist knockoff but it is becoming its own juggernaut. The third film is missing James Wan’s (Conjuring, Saw, Fast 7) horror maestro touch but director/writer Leigh Whannell steps in admirably. This prequel is a massive step up from the terrible Annabelle and features some truly memorable moments.
Insidious 3 revolves around a family being harassed by an absolute form of jerky evil. The family is in mourning after the mother/wife passed away and one night the daughter tried to reach out to her via seance. However, in the Insidious world if you call out for one person every spirit/demon can hear you. An evil spirit attached himself to her and begins to reign hell upon the family. This leads them to reach out to the MVP’s of the Insidious world Specs (Whannell), Tucker (Angus Sampson) and Elise Rainer (Lin Shaye).
If you’ve watched the first two films you’ve grown to love this trio who imbue the proceedings with humor, warmth and heart. These three people do not need to rid the populace of evil demons. They put themselves in danger for the greater good and willingly put their souls up for grabs. Elise’s story line is especially neat because every time she enters the Further she puts her life on the line. I love how she still goes into the land of smoke and dark hallways when there is a crazy “lady” in black waiting to choke her to death.
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Insidious 3 relies heavily upon the infamous horror trope called jump scares. Normally, I would be annoyed at the shock tactic that uses quick cuts, loud music and big bumps to illicit jumps. However, because Insidious is so aware of its fun house appeal the jump scares actually work. It was a blast sitting in the theater and listening to the packed house jump, squirm and scream along as poor Quinn (Stefanie Scott) is constantly harassed by the demon who can’t breathe.
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The biggest surprise is that I actually liked this prequel. Normally I find myself annoyed at the over explanation of plot, character and evil (Think The Thing, Halloween, Paranormal Activity, Texas Chainsaw). However, this film adds to the Insidious lore and doesn’t hurt it. The world is expanded and not stuck in a corner. It makes perfect sense that evil denizens of The Further would harass people around the world. I also like how it shows the beginning of a beautiful friendship between Specs, Tucker and Elise.
Insidious 3 is a fantastic surprise the features an elderly female hero, many scares and successful world building. I am on board for the fourth film and can’t wait for further exploits of Tucker, Specs and Elise.
Check out John’ review to read a roller coaster of a review. Does he like it? Does he dislike it? Does he simultaneously like and dislike it?
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Dogs in Horror Movies, Part 1: Zombeavers (2014), Blood Beach (1980) and The Boogens (1981)
“Animals in horror” has always been a fun topic to address. Today I want to talk about dogs. Dogs are very versatile tools in horror movies. The dog can be the evil antagonist, a pet or minion of the bad guy, a harbinger of danger (serving more as a storytelling device than a character) or as a heroic character. Today I have randomly chosen to highlight 3 horror movie dogs in no particular reason and with no particular theme. Enjoy…
Zombeavers (2014); Gosling the Jack Russell Terrier. Now, dogs are typically heroic in horror movies–even if their heroism leads to their demise. But this poor pup never stood a chance with these jerks.
So the 20-something victims and their dog are stranded on a dock-raft on a lake besieged by zombie beavers. In an effort to create a diversion, some jerky bro throws his girlfriend’s dog in the water to serve as a decoy and draw away the zombeavers so that he could safely swim to shore. He SACRIFICED the dog!!!! That’s like pure evil.
The poor dog (Gosling) gets eaten. The offending bro gets his when he has his scrotum bitten off by a werezombeaver! Even the guy’s friend, the buffoon wearing the knit winter hat while swimming in a lake in summer, gets his. He has his foot bitten off and later he also turns into a werezombeaver. Yes! I said a werezombeaver. Like a werewolf, but a were-zombie-beaver. That’s a thing now people…and an appropriate punishment, I think.
That poor dog. SMH.
Blood Beach (1980)
In the opening scene a lady is walking her dog on the beach and she is pulled into the sand by some “thing” which we later learn is a giant scrotum flower monster. As she is pulled down screaming, far before the release of Tremors (1990) by the way, her dog frantically barks for help.
A cat would have just watched her with contempt. I’m just saying dogs are better pets in horror movies, that’s all.
Sadly, the dog is later found dead and beheaded near a small sinkhole in the sand. However, the police pathologist claims that the dog’s head was not cut off but literally pulled off by something with “long strong fingers and very sharp fingernails.” Essentially, it is only because of the dog that we have any reason to suspect an inhuman culprit. So, in a round-about way, the dog was a major help in the investigation. Go, dogs!!!
Moving on…
The Boogens (1981)
This golden oldie features likable characters and some pesky little tentacle monsters that are never explained. It’s really just for those who appreciate great dog characters and the slow-burns of the 70s and 80s in which you don’t see the monster until the very end.
Tiger, the dog character, is used very well. Most dogs in horror movies just bark at basement doors and harbinger the presence of a slasher in unlit hallways, often causing distractions leading to their owners’ demise. Tiger actually helps develop the viewers’ relationship with the main characters. He’s a cute dog and he gets many of his own scenes; you’ll like him. Most notable among the dog scenes was after the dog investigated the monster and was killed…
This dog owner is dumb! Yes, by all means, move in for a closer look at whatever rended the metal floor grating. Whatever it was, it couldn’t possibly do the same to you!
I mean, you saw THIS [above] and it looks like your dog’s hair is on it…
So this dog WAS here…and now it’s NOT…but its fur is on the grating. I wonder what could have happened…
This chick had it coming. She probably wasn’t even a good dog owner.
In loving memory of Tiger.
Stay tuned for more Dogs in Horror…
Movies, Films & Flix 