The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 508: Episode 508 (Predator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Classic Action Films)
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Mark and John Leavengood (@MFFHorrorCorner on Twitter) discuss the 1987 action classic Predator. Directed by John McTiernan, and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Bill Duke and an often discussed helicopter, the movie focuses on what happens when a group of elite soldiers are hunted by an intergalactic trophy hunter. In this episode, they also talk about creature design, giraffes, and mud fights. Enjoy
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MY CALL: Despite some over-the-top death scenes, this is much more of a crime thriller mystery than a death or gore-rich horror flick. While not so rewatchable, it offers an “off the beaten path” genre experience I found quite novel. MORE MOVIES LIKE Wolfen: For more Native American horror of the era, I’d recommend Scalps (1983), Poltergeist II (1986), Creepshow 2 (1987) or The Manitou (1978).
Okay, begin movie. So our wolf—and we know it’s a wolf because of the movie posters and title—sneaks up on a guy as we see through his POV predator vision. Guy pulls a gun and… THWOP! The wolf cleanly “chops off” the guy’s hand somehow? Whaaaaa? Did the wolf use… a sword? Well, however silly it may sound, the bloodletting is gruesomely heavy and the horror scenes offer a well-executed intensity as two more people are massacred. So there’s that. But be warned that this is not at all the silly 80s horror fare that my description of the opening scene may suggest. Quite to the contrary, this is a very serious, plotty, and humorless affair in the horror genre… with a rather over-the-top execution of horror effects.
Investigating this slaughter is New York cop Dewey Wilson (Albert Finney; Looker). With some insight from his stylish coroner (Gregory Hines; Eve of Destruction), Wilson comes to find there is no sign of a standard weapon use in these murders. A curious case indeed. And as Wilson digs deeper into a series of similar murders, these wolves slit throats (somehow) and then carefully hide the bodies to be later discovered enshrouded by maggots far from the murder scene. The “wolf bite decapitation” scene was a splendor, however silly. Delivered all with a very straight face. This is a very serious movie without much in the way of jokes or tongue-in-cheek horror humor.
Wilson is led to an animal specialist indicating wolf attacks, and even humorous radical hypotheses of Native American shapeshifters. And who could blame Wilson? He literally speaks to Native Americans claiming to be able to shift form and later has an interesting encounter with one such naked Native (Edward James Olmos; Blade Runner) frolicking and snarling around the beach like a wolf in the moonlight.
This is a well-made film. I’d say it’s pretty good. But I’d warn that the pacing leaves something to be desired in terms of blood and horror. Director Michael Wadleigh’s only horror movie is really more of a mystery crime thriller revolving around a horror theme. It’s not the kind of “fun rewatchable” horror movie to which most fans flock, and it lacks the quotables and visuals that would otherwise keep it regular in online conversations. But it offers an “off the beaten path” experience that I found quite satisfying.
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MY CALL: This goretastic 80s zombie movie is just what the discerning zombie fan needs. A variety of zombies and zombie attacks frequent the running time from start to finish with loads of pleasingly gross visual effects. There’s also ample nudity (for better or worse) and chonky monster make-up. A fun watch MORE MOVIES LIKE Burial Ground: Easily the best choices include Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978), Dead & Buried (1981), Fulci’s Zombie (1979), and then City of the Living Dead (1980), The House by the Cemetery (1981) and The Beyond (1981)—the last three being Fulci’s Gates of Hell trilogy.
Several wealthy couples return to their seasonal countryside mansion. Based on the scenes following their arrival, this is a romantic retreat rich with sex scenes and nudity. But I mean, it’s nice to see these middle-aged couples are still so amorous. They can’t keep their hands off each other. There’s even a very off-putting bit of incest between preteen Michael (the tiny 26-yr old actor Pietro Barzocchini) and his mother Janet (Karin Well) that’ll take you by surprise.
Unfortunately for this family, their archaeology professor houseguest/friend has recently awakened the living dead in the nearby catacombs. So as the affluent begin their vacation, the dead begin stirring. Some rise from their crypts and begin to pilgrimage toward the mansion, others rise from beneath only inches of soil and grass on the grounds, and some even rise from sarcophagi covered in plants in the garden! And like all Italian zombies we’ve scene, these undead want to eat the living and they can only be stopped with fire or severe head trauma. Where these zombies differ is their intelligence. While not particularly clever, these zombies know when to retreat, they arm themselves, they chop their way into the barricaded mansion with axes, and they climb up the walls to reach windows.
A fine quality in this classic is its pacing. From the opening scenes, we get a steady presentation of a variety of zombie scenes with a wide range of make-up styles. There are loads of zombies, clearly having died in different traumatic ways.
These zombies are pretty gnarly, both in terms of clunky lower(ish) budget effects and general chonky disposition. Many zombies are very lacerated, covered in gross skin flaps and lipless toothy maws. Some are as basic as crude papier-mâché whereas others exhibit carefully detailed latex work. The major value here is how many different zombies there are and how frequently we see them. A lot of zombies grace the screen and there is a lot of action in this movie.
The gore is likewise very satisfying. Zombie mobs tear open abdomens and pull out whole organs, there’s a cheeky scythe decapitation gag, a woman (Antonella Antinori; Maya) has her face pulled through broken glass, and a boy even bites off his mother’s nipple all on-screen! Yup, this is a must-see for 80s zombie fans and fans of wild Italian horror for sure. Director Andrea Bianchi (Maniac Killer) has served genre fans well! Such a shame he didn’t make more horror films.
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 507: The Last of the Mohicans, Wes Studi, and Michael Mann
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Mark and Erik discuss the 1992 historical epic The Last of the Mohicans. Directed by Michael Mann, and starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Wes Studi and Russell Means, the book adaptation took Mann out of his comfort zone and the end result is a thrilling experience. In this episode they also talk about waterfalls, massive battle scenes and the excellent soundtrack. Enjoy!
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 506: Our Favorite Moments From the Mission: Impossible Franchise
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Mark and DJ Valentine (@TryingToBeDJV on Twitter) talk about their favorite moments from the six Mission: Impossible films that have been released since 1996. They also discuss exploding gum, massive stunts, and Tom Cruise’s excellent running. Enjoy!
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MY CALL: Dear Lord, these movies just keep finding ways to be worse than the “worst sequel” that came before it. Don’t watch this drivel! MORE MOVIES LIKE Children of the Corn VII: Children of the Corn (1984)spawned many video-era sequels over the years (1992, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2011, 2018) leading to the most recent remake (2020/23). Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (1992) was dumber but funner, and Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995) seems to follow this yet dumber and yet wildly funner pattern to delightful “bad movie hidden gem” perfection. It’s not totally awful, but I’d skip Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (1996). However, Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (1998) and Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return (1999) are both definite hard pass recommendations.
TIMELINE: CotC 1 ended with the cornfields of Gatlin burning with the defeat of an ancient Corn God. But of course, many of Isaac’s still living disciples remained devout to “He who walks behind the rows.” So yeah, sequels. CotC 2 transpired in the week following Vicky and Bert’s escape from the town and Micah is the new child Messiah. Similar to CotC 2, CotC 3 ends when Eli and his corn Bible are destroyed. However, his urban harvest would then be spread around the world in the commodities market. CotC 3 largely ignored the fact that it was a sequel, feeling more like a standalone story. But that doesn’t matter since CotC 4 and CotC 5 likewise ignored all of its predecessors as well, feeling more like stories “based on” CotC. In truth, no CotC sequel acknowledges any other previous sequel except for CotC 2 and CotC 6, which brought Isaac back along with some trumped-up prophecy. They are all either standalone movies of related story content or direct sequels to the original. As far as franchise continuity goes, this is a shame. Since there basically is no continuity at all.
In search of her missing grandmother, Jamie (Claudette Mink; Tamara) visits her apartment in Omaha Nebraska to discover the building has been condemned and is weirdly populated by weird creepy kids. Jamie moves into her grandma’s place during her search. The grandmother’s building address is 666 and the edifice is besieged by overgrown corn… in the middle of the city… how quaint. The kids in this building look like low budget theater ghost kids from a stage play—blank faces and pale. This movie instantly feels regrettably awful.
The tagline for this movie is “the all-new, terror-filled chapter.” Someone should be liable for this injustice in misrepresentation. Director Guy Magar (Retribution) seems to think placing creepy kids in scenes will make the movie for him. It doesn’t. This vapid flick sucks.
The spiderwebs are shiny plastic, no doubt from a Halloween Spirit store. The corn bleeds when you bite into it; there’s a horrendously bad CGI scene of a girl with maggots pouring from her mouth; and corn wreaths on apartment doors seem to harbinger death. The kids throw a guy off the roof and push a man in a wheelchair down the stairs. Frankly, this should have been hilarious. But this was awful.
Jamie’s ‘stripper with a heart of gold’ neighbor (Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe; Black Christmas, Final Destination 3, Wrong Turn 2) flashes the viewers, runs a bath, and is drowned by killer cornstalks (in her bathtub) after a kid drops in some magic corn kernels that act like Jack’s murderous Beanstalk Beans. Michael Ironside (The Vagrant, Prom Night II, Still/Born, Extraterrestrial, Scanners, Turbo Kid) is in this movie and I still don’t care! Again, this movie is awful.
Turns out her grandmother survived an evangelical tent fire as a child. It was a religious cult congregation of kids led by a boy preacher—unfortunately, his name is not Isaac. Clearly, this movie is in no way a sequel. Rather this is another reimagining (and squandering) of King’s classic and beloved source material. And it sucks for it.
Truly terribly executed is the arrival (out of nowhere) of Job, the boy preacher. Even at first glance I cannot take this kid seriously. But really, none of these creepy kid actors are carrying their weight for convincingly creepy kid performances. It’s all garbage.
The finale of this drivel is just a bunch of burnt-faced kids chasing Jamie around the building. An ineptly managed neighborhood haunted house attraction would be far more effective than this movie. Corn attacks her, it bleeds when cut, and this leads to nothing interesting. Then the building explodes, and no one cares. The evil corn creatures from CotC 3 really could have breathed some life into this limp finale. But alas, I guess the best of these sequels remain in Corn Hell with He Who Walks Behind the Rows. This is so bad.
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MY CALL: Ugh… just another empty CotC sequel really. In fact, it’s a direct sequel to the original, ignoring the other sequels much as, well, many of the other sequels. MORE MOVIES LIKE Children of the Corn 666: Children of the Corn (1984)spawned many video-era sequels over the years (1992, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2011, 2018) leading to the most recent remake (2020). Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (1992) was dumber but funner, and Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995) seems to follow this yet dumber and yet wildly funner pattern to delightful “bad movie hidden gem” perfection. It’s not totally awful, but I’d skip Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (1996). However, Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (1998) is a definite hard pass recommendation.
TIMELINE: CotC 1 ended with the cornfields of Gatlin burning with the defeat of an ancient Corn God. But of course, many of Isaac’s still living disciples remained devout to “He who walks behind the rows.” So yeah, sequels. CotC 2 transpired in the week following Vicky and Bert’s escape from the town and Micah is the new child Messiah. Similar to CotC 2, CotC 3 ends when Eli and his corn Bible are destroyed. However, his urban harvest would then be spread around the world in the commodities market. CotC 3 largely ignored the fact that it was a sequel, feeling more like a standalone story. But that doesn’t matter since CotC 4 and CotC 5 likewise ignored all of its predecessors as well, feeling more like stories “based on” CotC. In truth, no CotC sequel acknowledges any other previous sequel except for CotC 2. They are all either standalone movies of related story content or direct sequels to the original. As far as franchise continuity goes, this is a shame. Since there basically is no continuity at all.
Can we please just all agree that more 90s CotC sequels is not necessarily a good thing? Well, here we go with the 5th 90s sequel of Children of the Corn (1984).
Heading back to Gatlin where she was born, teenager Hanna (Natalie Ramsey; Cherry Falls, Cruel Intentions 3) seeks her biological father. After a quick stop in Gatlin General to check her head after a car accident, we learn that Hannah’s birthday is Halloween, the only doctor (Stacy Keach; Escape from New York, Body Bags, Class of 1999) in town is not very welcoming, and all the kids in the hospital feel like denizens of a mental ward dream from a Nightmare on Elm Street sequel. Oh, and our original 1984 Messiah Isaac (John Franklin) awakens in the hospital that very day from his nineteen-year coma—where he lay presumably since we last saw him in the final scenes of Children of the Corn (1984), when we saw him killed and returned as a zombie of sorts to drag Malachi to Corn Hell… and then fell into a coma?
The movie lets us know right away that the locals have been waiting for Hannah for a long time, because it was prophesied. It seems that most of the young locals are “the children of the children” of the corn. And that little nugget is perhaps the most interesting thing about this otherwise completely unengaging story.
At the hospital, the sheriff (Alix Koromzay; The Haunting, Mimic 1-2), doctor and a local literally have a conversation including the phrase “the prophesy says…” So this is written like a Horror for Dummies screenplay. And dare I say that even after the mediocrity of CotC 5, this CotC 6 is definitely the most video-drivel of the series.
This is all incredibly contrived, even for a CotC sequel. People talk about obvious details way too much as if the “characters” were actively concerned that the “audience” won’t be able to keep up with the very simple plot. We’re beaten over the head with it. “The prophecy. The prophecy. She came back in time for the prophecy. It’s her. It’s really her—from the prophecy! We’ve been waiting for 19 years.” It’s a bit much. But I guess it falls right in line with the likes of the 90s video-era mediocrity surrounding its release (e.g., Warlock 3, Pumpkinhead 2-3, Leprechaun 4-5, Wishmaster 2-4).
So Isaac has a child…? When did he have this kid? I mean, it had to have been during or before the events of Children of the Corn (1984). It’s just that his character seemed so… asexual. And Hannah’s mother (Nancy Allen; RoboCop 1-3, Dressed to Kill, Poltergeist III, Strange Invaders, Carrie) is sort of in on the whole prophecy… yet sort of not. Proper explanations of this parenthood go totally unexplained.
As for the bad 90s-ness, there’s a lot of that. A machete-wielding teen invites Hannah to a party in the cornfields called The Harvest; creepy chanting kids are brandished on screen ineffectively; and the death scenes are hot garbage. Not that an after-the-fact literally smoking Stacy Keach isn’t amusing. But… worst electrocution death ever. There is one decently visceral death scene in which a teenager is vertically scythed in half (momentarily on screen). We don’t see it all. But we see enough for it to be satisfying. This was easily the best horror visual in the movie, and the only visual worth mentioning other than Keach’s hokey Tales from the Crypt death.
When the ritual to realize the prophecy finally comes about, the delivery is so upsettingly weak. There’s just zero gravity, and no satisfaction of tension or anticipation because, well, there was none. This ritual hasn’t been earned at all. This is where some over-the-top-ness and bad CGI would be so welcome to embrace the bad of this movie. But the budget couldn’t even handle that. The ending falls completely flat on its face.
Better than CotC 5 and probably CotC 4, CotC 6 is essentially the best of the worst three. Even with Isaac back as the evil leader, this sequel is completely empty. Valueless. The very idea of Isaac is squandered in the awful writing. Its greatest saving grace is that, like CotC 2, this is one of the only sequels that is truly a sequel to the original story! This movie is lame 90s drivel.
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Mark and Nicholas Rehak (@TheRehak on Twitter) discuss the 1984 cult classic Repo Man. Directed by Alex Cox, and starring Emilio Estevez, Harry Dean Stanton, Tracey Walter, and a mysterious Chevrolet Malibu, the movie focuses on what happens when a young punk becomes a repo man. In this episode, they also talk about Mitch Hedberg, Iggy Pop, and most pits. Enjoy!
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John’s Horror Corner: Evil Dead Rise (2023), a worthy sequel to the distinctly superior Evil Dead (2013).
MY CALL: Yes, I miss the cabin in the woods setting. And yes, Fede Alvarez’ film was much better and captured the meanness of it all so perfectly. But you know what? I still thought this was a well-made, goretastic, brutally insidious delight. So there! MORE MOVIES LIKE Evil Dead Rise: Like a lot of gore and a lot of feistiness? Here’s a stylistic mix for you… The Cabin in the Woods (2012), Final Destination 5 (2011), Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010), Drag Me to Hell (2009),and of course Evil Dead (2013), Evil Dead 2 (1987) and The Evil Dead (1981).
Boldly following in the footsteps of Fede Alvarez’ Evil Dead (2013), writer and director Lee Cronin (The Hole in the Ground) approaches our belovedly brutal franchise for his second feature film. The cinematography boasts eerie shots of trees converging upon a triangular cabin in an otherwise gorgeous, sunny forest. Possessed vomiting (Anna-Maree Thomas); a brutally abrupt hair-clump-yanking scalping (Mirabai Pease); and an eye-twitching disembodied head (Richard Crouchley) give our cold open the fleshy exposed skulltastic wildfire that the franchise deserves. The director of photography, the scoring, the effects… are all on fire setting the dire yet feisty tone. Even if this sequel leads us to the big city, it naturally had to start with a cabin in the woods.
Horror in the big city SIDEBAR: If you want more confined skyscraper, hotel and apartment building horror, consider Shivers (1975), The Shining (1980), Demons 2 (1986), Dark Tower (1987), Poltergeist III (1988), Shakma (1990), Gremlins 2 (1990), [REC] (2007), 1408 (2007), Devil (2010), The Belko Experiment (2016) and Mayhem (2017).
Cut to the city in California, where Beth (Lily Sullivan; Picnic at Hanging Rock, Monolith, Dark Place) is dropping in on her sister Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland; Blood Vessel, The Mist, Vikings) and her kids Danny, Kassie and Bridget, who live in a condemned building scheduled for implosion. When an earthquake exposes cursed possessions of generations past, the book and recordings of Evil Dead fame are among them. Cue evil!
Much of Evil Dead’s iconography continues through Evil Dead Rise. The Book of the Dead is harrowing as always; we summon a Kandarian demon; the POV of evil forces torpedoes via shaky cam whilst roaring through city streets and hallways; and the infamous “tree scene” is recreated with electrical wires in the elevator… but this time, it’s less of sex crime.
Now with the elevator no longer functioning and the stairs collapsed from the earthquake, Beth and the kids are trapped on the 14th floor with Ellie, who is… just not feeling herself. Once possessed, Ellie becomes a slinky, crawly, contorty fiend capable of vomiting more gobbledygook than any human body could possibly produce. It’s deliciously gross.
From here the horror violence is mean and bloody, and the dialogue is a bit insidious. We enjoy some face-biting madness leads to an eyeball gag reminiscent of Henrietta’s eye-popping from Evil Dead 2; the cheese grater gag was vicious; so much more vomit and blood and mean stabbery; the bloodiest elevator scene I’ve seen in a long while; and an evil-spirited Dead by Dawn chant. Oh, and then there was the many-limbed abomination reminding me of The Church (1989), Zygote (2017) or The Color Out of Space (2019) followed by a groaty meat-grinder finale.
I must admit that having an Evil Dead movie not take place in a remote cabin in the woods feels more than a bit off, and I did rather very much prefer Evil Dead (2013) to Evil Dead Rise. But at the same time, just how many times did we want to see that old yarn reimagined in such confines? Okay, maybe a bunch. And while Rise never really reached the dire OMFG atmosphere of the original or rebooted Evil Dead (2013), it still does an impressive job if you can resist comparing them so directly… which, I know, is hard.
Ultimately this was VERY entertaining, VERY flesh-laceratingly brutal, extremely bloody (as well it should be), and generally well made. It was definitely missing something for me—not a lot, but that extra Evil Dead layer of mean hopelessness that wasn’t gripped as tightly as I wanted. But it also was definitely awesome to watch and it scratched a very itchy Evil Dead itch for me. So having issued my biggest criticism of the film, I hope they keep making more. This was dire and feisty, my favorite combination of horror flavors.
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Mark and Zanandi (@ZaNandi on Twitter) found an interesting question about the Scream franchise on Reddit and they had to answer it. Which Ghostface killer from the Scream franchise would be better off on their own? Is it Jill? Is it Mickey? It definitely isn’t Stu.
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions (we love random questions). We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker.
Movies, Films & Flix 