Recently watched:

Recently, there have been pretty slim pickings on new releases of horror movies.
I am here to report that I have seen three recently released films.
All of them used up 90 minutes or so rather sufficiently.
NONE of them are anything to write home about.
So I'm writing here instead.
First on the slab:

Prom Night.

NO, silly fools, not the one with Jamie Lee Curtis.
The one from 2008 that starred a very annoyingly vapid Brittany Snow in the female lead.
This version pretty much shares name only with the original from 1980.

If I really must go into details, I'll make it quick...
1) Donna (Snow) has been waiting her whole life (!) for her senior prom!
2) A few years ago an obsessed teacher stalked her and killed her family trying to get to her.
3) Surprise! The teacher/maniacal killer has escaped from prison and is on his way to the prom to find Donna!
4) Many of Donna's friends meet an untimely demise.
That's pretty much it.

Nothing new here. There was no stellar acting or anything. No tricky plot twist.
It wasn't awful, but it'll do in a pinch - like if all you have in front of you is this movie or say... Borderline Cult... then I'd go with Prom Night.

Next is "Lost Boys: The Tribe"

Wow.
Why on earth was this movie made?

The original was such a major 80's horror staple. Totally campy and fun, with a bit of horror thrown in and some pretty good actors in the leading roles. Almost believeable.

This is dreck. Although, the lead vampire is apparently played by Angus Sutherland - Kiefer's half brother. That doesn't mean he has the acting chops of big brother. I mean, I've never seen him in anything else and wonder if this is all just an homage to the older Lost Boys...

Same plot though. A brother and sister move to Santa Carla after their parents die in a car crash. They are going to live with their aunt, who in turn lets them rent (yes she makes them pay!) a tiny house she apparently owns. As if two kids (late teens if I'm not mistaken) could afford their own place... don't they go to school? I doubt working at the local Dairy Queen could pay the rent in coastal California.

Of course they almost immediately meet up with the vampires in town. The sister falls in love with the lead vamp (naturally!), and in turn the brother enlists the 'services' of Corey Feldman again to help extinguish the bloodsuckers. There is supposedly a cameo at the end of the movie, after the credits roll, with Corey Haim - but as bad as he now looks, I am half glad I ripped this out of the DVD player toot sweet.

Oh my. Anyway, I'd have to say it was more of a rip-off than a straight-forward sequel. And it wasn't even updated well.
The ending was really non-climactic and therefore rather boring.
Like Prom Night, it wasn't awful - and maybe it would scare some 12 year olds that snuck in to see it, but I thought it was a useless sequel (?) to say the least.

By the by, Tom Savini does have a short cameo role in the beginning of the film, but even it is way overblown and overacted - and not in a fun, campy way...
Shame on you Tom.



And lastly we have 'Awake'..


Now this is a movie that I thought had a very interesting premise.
A guy (Hayden Christensen) goes in for a heart transplant and once they load him up with anesthesia, the guy finds out that he can still hear the doctors talking, shuffling around getting things prepped for surgery, making some comments that he shouldn't be privy to, and then - in the most grim moment of the film - the scalpel is introduced to the flesh.

Ok, STOP.
I was pretty psyched up to this point.
Then when Hayden started screaming (in his mind of course) when the cutting began, it was just too fake. He did not sound realistic. Wouldn't you be literally screaming bloody murder? "No, no, aarrrgghh!" isn't gonna cut it, boy! I could just totally imagine him in a sound booth, cutting his dialogue. He didn't convince me that he was "awake" - I mean, wouldn't you just pass out from the pain if that actually did occur? Especially when they started with the rib spreaders...

There is a central mystery aside from just the 'anesthetic awareness' situation, but it isn't really very strong. Great actors such as Lena Olin and Terrence Howard are wasted. Jessica Alba plays Hayden's too-sexy wife (she's great at looking gorgeous in all her films and that's about it) - she has a secret. Don't they all?

So all in all, not a great trio to pick from. I suppose I liked 'Awake' best due to it's somewhat original storyline, but it still didn't have any major selling points. It was also so SLOOOOW.

Hopefully there will be some good stuff coming out soon - we are rapidly approaching the spooky season, you know.
I'm looking forward to seeing these upcoming DVD releases:
'The Strangers'
'An American Crime'
'Mother of Tears'
'Stuck'
'Rest Stop 2: Don't look back'
'Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead'
'Pathology'

And in theaters: my Halloween-time regular at the theater - the latest in the Saw series: Saw V.

Later!

Crazies only, please.

Insanitarium is a 2008 film starring the 'gardener' from Desperate Housewives, Jesse Metcalfe - who looks equally at home in a mental institution. (Equally as good-looking, too - even while heavily medicated and/or running from cannibals.)

It tells the story of Jack (Metcalfe) , whose sister Lily (Kiele Sanchez) has been institutionalized in an asylum that does not allow visitors. Apparently their parents are dead (and the mother had a history of psychosis as well) and Lily is all Jack has.

Jack unwisely decides to fake being nutso so as to get himself committed so he can see his sister and make sure she is alright. You know, just pop in, act a little crazy, get said sister, get out.
At first, things go alright - he is gaining knowledge about the place, meeting people who may be able to help him on his quest, etc. Then things all go downhill - the doctor in charge there (played by the always over-the-top Peter Stormare) is doing some kind of freaky tests on the patients using an experimental drug he designed - and the drug changes them into cannibalistic blood-lusting crazies. Lovely.
Jack does manage to find his sister, as well as a fellow friendly and not-quite-crazy patient, and a helpful nurse - and together they attempt to escape the institution just as the experiments go a little south and they convieniently have full-on psychos running amuck.

It's very much like an analogy I read: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest vs. 28 Days Later...
Once 'infected', these patients are just no-holds-barred whacko. There is bone ripping and chewing and blood and guts galore in the second half of this movie. Everyone seems to be covered head to toe in buckets of blood. In particular the human-eating freaks.

Good thing is, though, the freaks can die. They are not zombies, do not reanimate or come back to life, and once you sink a knife in them they are done.

But there are alot of them.

Not the brightest crayon in the box, this movie lacks an entirely cohesive plot, but it does make up for it in gruesome violence and loads of gore. Definately a B-grade schlocky film, but worth a look.

ELBISREVERRI

Ok, I have heard an unbelieveble amount of hype (good and bad) about this film so I thought it was high time I finally check it out. Glad I watched it alone cause I cannot imagine watching this with anyone else - not even someone I have been married with for over 18 years. It is best to experience this by yourself. Watch it and you will understand what I mean.

Irréversible is a movie that is written, directed, filmed and edited by the director Gaspar Noe.
I have no idea what gave him the idea to do this movie, and frankly, I don't think I really want to know.
It is a disturbing piece of work on soooo many levels.
It has actually won many critical awards. This is somewhat unnerving as well.

I will say this. It is different than anything I have ever seen.

I cannot really say I enjoyed it, as how does one truly enjoy watching a near-ten minute long nasty (and I mean NASTY) rape scene. Seriously!
I understand, on some level, the fame the movie has received, and I can imagine there are many people (in particular, horny guys) who see this film just for the stunningly pretty Monica Bellucci.

That aside, this is one screwed up mess of a movie. It has subtitles, which ordinarily do not bother me. However, it also has totally delusional, vomit-inducing camera work. The camera spins and turns and basically shows dim lit alleys, guy-on-guy sex, and creepy clubs spinning by. That, combined with the subtitles, makes for quite a dizzying experience.
I imagine the director is aiming to make a point of some kind. The entire movie is told in reverse chronological order, with the rape somewhere in the middle - even though it is the theme the whole movie is riding on. It actually works, though.

In the beginning (end?) of the film, Pierre (Albert Dupontel) and Marcus (Bellucci's real-life husband, Vincent Cassel) are frantically running through the streets of some French city, assumingly Paris, seeking out a low-life nick-named 'Tenia' (or in some cases, le tenia - literally meaning 'the tapeworm') because (as you eventually find out) he has (violently) anal-raped Marcus's girlfriend Alex (Bellucci) and beat her to a pulp so cruelly so that she is in a coma. Pierre is Alex's ex-boyfriend, so he & Marcus both have a vengence against this Tenia dude like you've never seen. They finally seem to track him down in a gay club with a choice name - RECTUM.
Oy vey.

That is pretty much the movie in a nutshell, and to say more would ruin this interestingly different movie that even with the grim subject matter and seriously annoying musical (?) score, I couldn't stop watching.
There is a scene involving a fire extinguisher that has been hyped a great deal, and it really does deliver a powerful punch. As does the rape. If you do not cringe, fidget in your seat, and feel dirty afterward - you are not human.
There is a bit of a surprise and devastating ending (or should I say beginning?) that many won't see coming.

In any event, I think this film is worth a look, if for nothing other than the intriguing way the director has put this thing together. I will say again, I've never seen anything like it.

That doesn't mean I ever want to see it again, though.

Ladies have skeletons too!

Ahh... Demi Moore.

Men love her, women want to be her.
My hubby wants her to talk dirty to him just so he can hear her husky, sexy voice.

The perpetually young-looking former Mrs. Bruce Willis and the current Mrs. Ashton Kutcher has been more about tabloids than movies as of late, and let's face it - if you were lucky enough to marry someone 15 years your junior, you'd want to brag too!

But you know, she started out in horror as well.
In the 1982 shit-fest "Parasite".


Parasite (1982)

Now Demi has gone on to make alot of memorable (in one way or another) films (Ghost, Striptease, Indecent Proposal -to name a few)... but she has also done a fair amount of work in the genre.
I can't really count her as one of my favorite actresses or anything (though I do have a soft spot in my heart for the old 80's standby 'St Elmo's Fire'!) but I did enjoy more than a few of the following flicks:



Disclosure (1994) - perfect casting, actually - in both roles.



Ghost (1990) - her best, no doubt.



Half Light (2006) - liked this alot, actually, and it has a great music score.

Mortal Thoughts (1991) - Can barely remember this...?

The Scarlet Letter (1995) - E-gads this was baaaddd.

The Seventh Sign (1988) - another piece of crap

Mr. Brooks (2007) - not bad if you can tolerate Kevin Costner.

In closing,

I just can't see her on stage at the Academy Awards anytime soon.

Let's just leave it at that.

Kevin's Skeleton

Kevin Bacon has such a prolific movie career that there is literally a trivia game
( Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon ) named after him.

In 1980, he starred in the first film of one of the genre's biggest franchises - Friday the 13th.

Here he is getting the old arrow through the neck - love that scene.

It has been said that Kevin won't talk about or own up to one of his very first actual starring roles - that he is ashamed of the movie.
Well honey, seems to me you've continued to make tons of other films that slide right into the genre in one way or another.
He's played serial killers (more than once), a vengeful dad, a pedophile, a molesting boy's school guard, a nut-job scientist, and more than a few outright criminals, among other roles.

I, for one, am a big fan and always look forward to his 'every-guy' character acting.

Some of his more prominent genre roles include:

Death Sentence (2007)

Mystic River (2003)

Flatliners (1990)

Hollow Man (2000)

Murder in the First (1995)

The River Wild (1994)

Sleepers (1996)

Stir of Echoes (1999)

The Woodsman (2004)

Trapped (2002)

Wild Things (1998)

and last but not least, the crap-tastic:

Tremors (1990)

Looking forward to much more from this great actor in the future.
And in the meantime, Kevin, try not to forget where you came from.

(that's gonna leave a mark......)

Skeletons in the closet

For my own personal amusement, I have decided to post a series of photos of people who got their start in my favorite genre. Whether or not they own up to it, history (and photos and film) do not lie. Face it, many of our favorite and most popular stars got their start in horror movies.

The first example is of course, Johnny Depp. Anyone who knows me knows he is my favorite actor, no question.

And the movie? A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Playing Glen, the main character (Nancy)'s boyfriend in 1984, he had the misfortune of dying one of the most unusual deaths in horror. Death by bed-suck.

Good ole' Freddy found Glen in his dreams and sucked him into his bed, along with his tv and other odds and ends. A volcano of blood then erupted and splashed all over the entire room. Quite unique, even for a horror movie.

Look how young and downright cute he was...
(still ain't too shabby, to say the least)

Johnny had a cameo in 'Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare' - shows he's not afraid to fess up to his roots.

Unlike alot of stars, Johnny has never tried to hide from his 'horror-ble' beginnings.

In fact, he has thrived on dark, brooding, and sometimes even malicious characters.

Examples would include:

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Sleepy Hollow (1998)

The Astronaut's Wife (1999)

The Ninth Gate (1999)

From Hell (2000)

Pirates of the Caribbean (2003-2007)

Secret Window (2004)

Sweeney Todd (2007)

Here's hoping he doesn't lose his feel for the genre anytime soon.

O.T.I.S.

I just found a cool site I have to share:

O.T.I.S. aka Odd Things I've Seen.

I wish I could say I know the 'author' of this site but he has chosen not to include his name, stating that his 'name, as well as his life, is unimportant'...

It's basically a blog and good photos about a bunch of strange, unusual, famous and infamous places in the world.
Such as The Danvers State Hospital in Massachusetts (home of 'Session 9' fame)....
The Great Pyramid in Egypt, The Lizzie Borden House, The Exorcist stairs, etc...

Whoever he is, he is a good writer - and he's went alot of places I am quite interested in , as well as a few I've already been to - such as the House of Seven Gables in Salem, Mass. (as seen below)...


photo: O.T.I.S.

It is also obvious the blogger is well-read, as he has pictures and text of many visits to famous literary heroes homes, birthplaces, and honorary statues.

I've had fun reading it - hope you do too.

The Master's Abode

My cousin Jackie recently moved to Maine and on a day trip up to Bangor she took this photo for me because she knows how much I adore and admire Stephen King.

This is one of his two homes in Maine (I believe his winter home is in Florida) - he's had it a long time because I remember seeing a black & white photo of it back in say perhaps... 'The Shining' days. I think it is his primary residence. He used to pass out candy to trick-or-treaters years ago but then it got too... overcrowded... as you can well imagine.

Front gate - how cool is that?
I do believe he commissioned an iron-worker to craft the entire fence around his home.

Just thought I'd share...

ShuDDer with fear?

Well I cannot say this is the scariest film I have ever seen, by a long stretch.
But I can say I didn't hate it as much as all the reviews I have read, pretty much everywhere.

Shutter is a 2008 remake of a 2004 Thai horror film. This American version stars Joshua Jackson of Dawson's Creek fame and Australian actress Rachael Taylor (who completely ditches the accent)...
The film opens at their wedding reception where it is quickly noted that they are leaving pretty much immediately for a working honeymoon in Tokyo, where Ben (Jackson) has landed a fairly lucrative photography deal and Jane (Taylor) is basically along for the ride.

Once in Japan, they are driving on a dark road in route to the cabin they are staying in temporarily until they get to Tokyo. With Jane driving, they suddenly hit something in the middle of the road. Jane sees a young woman - Ben sees nothing. They also wreck the car but are not injured. Going back to the road to look for the woman, they are unable to find her - leading Ben (and the police) to think they hit an animal.

Unsettled, Jane has a rough time adjusting to her new life in Tokyo. They hunker down in their new loft apartment and Jane wanders the city streets while Ben works photo shoots with some lovely ladies (flirt flirt).
Jane soon is frightened several times by visions of what she thinks is the young woman they hit on the road. Ben, in turn, has several very expensive photos he has taken be ruined by some unusual streaky lights on the photos. He starts to get nervous....

Jane takes the freak show on the road, asking around and finding an underground magazine that specializes in 'ghost photograpy'. At first she thinks the photos are fakes, but the editor then shows her a room of what he says are the real thing.

Meanwhile, Ben is also affected by strange apparitions and more messed up photos. He finally realizes the 'ghost' they are seeing is someone that he knew. It is, in fact, a woman he had a relationship with in the past but he dumped her due to her turning into a stalker-nut job. Megumi (his fling) is apparently dead. They go to her apartment and find her near-mummified body. They have her cremated and buried. They flee Tokyo and head back to New York.  But as in all typical horror movies, Megumi just isn't finished ... (of course).


Like most other remakes of Japanese (or in this case Thai) horror movies, there is a dark haired creepy ghost-girl. Nothing new to report there. However, I was pretty fascinated by the whole ghost photography thing. I watched some of the extras on the DVD, telling the history of ghost photographs, and also the history of Japanese ghosts.

Yurei, basically meaning 'ghost' in Japanese, are a long-standing part of Japanese culture and history. In the movies 'The Ring' and in particular 'The Grudge', we learned that if someone is killed in a violent or shocking manner, the dead are presumed to turn into Yurei - to avenge their death. They hold a grudge (!) and are not settled until their souls are satisfied and content.
Not an easy task, if you have noticed.

In any event, I actually enjoyed 'Shutter' and thought the acting was pretty fair. I don't really know why it was so universally panned. It did make over $43 million at the box office, so someone went to see it.
I have a hard time finding things wrong with horror movies and I guess this is no different. Or maybe it's just cause I was a Pacey fan from way back!

Films to die for... or so they say.

Two films I recently got from Netflix are two of the 'After Dark HorrorFest' series - where each year there are "8 Films to Die For" and they are supposed to be "too graphic, too disturbing, and too shocking for general audiences". Ok, right. I'll be the judge of that.

First I saw Borderland.

I didn't know any of the actors except Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, in a complete character turn-around from that role) and Rider Strong (Cabin Fever).

After an initial gory sequence to set up who the bad guys are, it starts out like most typical movies of this kind. Some college-age guys are looking to score and have some fun so they take off to the Borderland - the area where Texas and Mexico meet, notorious for drugs and other illegal activities.

They (almost too quickly) find some women, eat some magic mushrooms, smoke some weed and drink some drinks. They head off to a local carnival so the rides can make them sick. (that doesn't happen but it should have!)
Then one of the dudes decides to go home alone and for some reason takes a ride offered by one of the said bad guys (who, in their right - or even messed up- mind, would do this?) They take him to a farm of some sort and proceed to hang him upside down like a butchered hog. It's obvious he's going to be someone's hobby.

The other dudes eventually start looking for their friend when he never comes back to the hotel and eventually contact police who are not at all helpful and in fact seem petrified of the men they assume have abducted this young man.

These criminals are involved in a Satanic cult, are drug lords, and have taken to kidnapping tourists and apparently sacrificing them in the name of Satan.

The pursuit to find their friend is basically the rest of the movie, which almost turns into a 'shoot-em-up' type of film before it is all said and done. There is a moderate amount of gore but no real sense of reason or continuity throughout.

Sean Astin really does shock here as a sadistic thug. It's hard to see Samwise be so cruel!


Borderland is supposedly based on actual events, and the dvd extras delve into that story if you care to watch them. I do remember the Matamoros story- it broke when a 21 y/o American tourist disappeared there in 1989 and was later to be found murdered by this cult. Supposedly tons of bodies were discovered in shallow graves around the property. Nice.

In any event, the movie had its moments. I wouldn't say it's purchase-worthy or even a 'must-see', but it passed the time sufficiently.


The same cannot be said for Crazy Eights.

Actually, it isn't really that bad. It is more confusing than anything - and me explaining it here won't be easy.

So, here we have a group of six thirty-somethings who have come back to their small hometown to attend the funeral of a close childhood friend. The cast is really quite impressive, with some regulars of the genre (Dina Meyer of the 'Saw' series, Traci Lords of porn star fame as well as several low budget horror outings, Frank Whaley (from 'Vacancy' and 'Pulp Fiction') as well as George Newbern (Brian from 'Father of the Bride'), and Gabrielle Anwar (Scent of a Woman)...

Anyway, of course the friend has a letter for them, detailing that they are to find a time capsule they made years ago, hidden in a certain trunk, located in a deserted barn nearby. They all seem to have trouble remembering this event. Though they all admit to having been plagued with bad dreams and odd recollections throughout their lives.

However- they do, in fact, find this trunk, but when they haul it out of the barn and open it, besides the dolly and the slingshot, a small skeleton of a child is inside. One guy, Brent (Whaley) decides he's outta there, and the rest have to follow 'cause he has the keys. They try to leave but the road keeps going in circles, and they drive past the same decrepit old plantation-type house over and over. Brent thinks he sees a little girl in the yard, so he decides they should all go ask her if she knows how to reach the main road.

Of course they then cannot find the girl.

The investigate the house, after splitting into two groups. One of the men, Wayne (Dan DeLuca) gets injured, breaking his leg after falling down some cellar steps... (not much for being careful I guess) ... They drag him further into the basement (which surprisingly still has electric. Go figure) and try to splint it.

Once inside they all become overwhelmed by the house and memories that overcome them that they cannot explain. They find pictures of themselves as little children on the walls, and come to realize they must have been orphans who grew up together there at that very house.

But something very bad is lurking there as well. I don't want to give everything away, but suffice it to say - there is a reason they have all been 'summoned' back here. One by one, they must face their fears and their ultimate destiny.

I actually thought the premise and the beginning of the movie seemed pretty good, but as time went on and they were trying to tie things together and wrap things up, it just got more and more convoluted for me. By the end I was saying: WTF?

There are a few truly creepy scenes, which almost made it worth it, and the actors did the best with the material they had.....I guarantee if they had casted nobodies, this would have been unwatchable.

In the end, this kinda falls rather flat for me.

And I had heard this was one of the best of the '8 films to die for'.... well it isn't making me slit my throat any time soon. Oy.

Happy 4th of July

Razor blade or chainsaw?

Must mention something I saw on MSN the other day.

There was an article about this game that you can play, free of charge, on the internet.
It's nasty. And controversial.
It makes you feel sick when you play it but you will have to try it because curiousity will just get to you until you do.

It's called The Torture Game.
The link I have here is the second edition (Torture Game 2)...

There are no real rules, you just click play and there is this dude, hanging there - and you have various implements of torture (chainsaw, razor, gun, etc) and you.... torture the dude. Seriously.
I can't decide whether it is truly messed up or good for anxiety. Probably both.

But it's a hot topic and I'm sure all the psychologists out there are saying that if you get any kind of enjoyment out of it then you should probably have your head examined. Yeah, whatever.

But it kinda makes you feel like you're in the middle of a Saw movie or something..

You'll try it too, I know you will.

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/439144

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Thanks for the ride, lady!

Sometimes I like a good anthology movie.
This isn't one of them.
No, just kidding! I happen to like Creepshow 2 even better than the first one.
(Though that "Crate" story in the original one is by far the best - I love love love the scene where Hal Holbrook fake-shoots his trampy, loud-mouthed, drunk of a wife Adrienne Barbeau right between the eyes. Classic!)

Anyhoo -
Creepshow 2 is a real campy treat. Instead of the five tales of the macabre that we got in part one, we get three longer, tighter stories here.

The first, 'Old Chief Woodenhead' stars a couple of old school Hollywood stars - George Kennedy and Dorothy Lamour. The old fogies own a general store in a desolate, run-down, one horse town somewhere in the southwest. They have been supporting the townsfolk (mostly American Indians) by letting them buy on credit, and one day one of the higher-ups brings a bag of precious stones and jewels for the elderly couple to hold as a lein on their debts.
That night the couple is robbed and unfortunately killed by some local youths who proceed to steal the valuable gems as well. The wooden Indian statue out at the storefront (Old Chief Woodenhead) then tracks them down to exact some revenge for his good-hearted, well-meaning owners. It is the most inferior tale of the three but still worth a look.

The second tale 'The Raft' - appears in Stephen King's book Skeleton Crew, but differs somewhat. The bones of the story are still there though. Simply put, two couples go to a lake to hang out (get high, get laid) on a wooden raft that has apparently been there for this reason for some time. It is a deserted area and when they swim out to the raft, one of them notices a duck being sucked down into the water by what looks like an oil slick. It's all downhill from there, kiddies. The special effects here leave a bit to be desired, but it's passable and still effective.

The third story - by far my favorite - is 'The Hitchhiker'...
A wealthy woman is getting ready to leave a hotel room after a romp with her regular gigolo. She is running late, talking to herself the whole way home - devising excuses to tell her husband regarding her tardiness. She drops a cigarette, fumbles trying to find it, slides all over the exit ramp, and smacks her car right into a black hitchhiker in a yellow slicker. She freaks out and, after hearing a truck coming, drives off leaving the man for dead. Being that this IS a horror movie, you just know damn well that dude ain't dead.
Special notice should be given to the truck driver in this scene - it's Stephen King himself, making a Hitchcock-like cameo. Funny!

Another cameo (though you cannot tell it is him) is Tom Savini starring as 'The Creep'.

There's no rocket science to this script, and it wouldn't win any prizes for quality content, but it is a true guilty pleasure that I'm happy to own.

The AFI pisses me off.

Recently, AFI (http://www.afi.com/10top10/) aired a tv show called "10 Top 10", in which they chose ten genres and picked what they thought (?) were the best ten films within that genre.

Besides the serious disagreements I had with the films and/or their order of placement on said lists- (Chaplin's 'City Lights' as best romantic comedy? Ugh.... '2001' as best Sci-Fi flick? Kubrick hard-on alert!... 'Raging Bull' over 'Rocky' for best sports film? And no 'Seabiscuit'? OY! ) - they did not include the HORROR genre. This just flat out pissed me off. The fact that "Courtroom Dramas" made the list just amazed me - and perhaps they thought including separate categories for sci-fi and mystery would pacify all us horror-hounds.
I think not.
I mean, how about Psycho? Silence of the Lambs? Dracula? Halloween? Hell, what about JAWS for pete's sake? These are all major milestones in movie cinema. They really missed the mark here.

(To be fair, they also didn't include action, adventure, musicals, martial arts, documentary, romance, foreign, straight-out dramas, childrens.... wondering if there might be a part 2 coming along? Including the horror genre, that makes ten more...)

Anyhow,
I didn't want to mess with what the ten most influential horror movies might be - that's a rough list to conjure. Too many great movies.
So I thought I would take a stab (no pun intended) at listing the ten horror movies that most made a lasting impression on me throughout my life. I've got nearly 40 years of memories... well, make that 28 years... don't think I watched many before the age of 12)

So, here goes. In my personal viewing order (not order of release) as best I can remember....

10) Friday the 13th - Ahh... my first horror movie and was it a doozy. I was 12. The folks went out for the evening and I was home alone for one of the first times at night. Showtime was having some kind of horror-fest and guess what was on? Yepper. I don't think I slept for a week. But I was exhillerated and psyched for more. It was only the beginning. For Kevin Bacon, too.

9) When a Stranger Calls - Who thought up this movie? Holy crap. When you're like, 13 and just starting to babysit - then you see this movie? The first half hour of this could not be scarier or make a bigger impression on a young girl. "Have you checked the children?".... maybe that is why I never wanted kids?

8) A Nightmare on Elm Street - Freddy when he still scared the pants off of people instead of making them pee their pants with laughter. I think I saw this at a slumber party or something.
All I know is when Freddy was in that dank wet alley and he had those creepy long arms and made that squeaky sound with his finger-knives.. whoa.
And I gotta give Freddy props for killing the beautiful Johnny Depp in such a bloody fine fashion. It was my 'first time' with Johnny.... and my most recent was Sweeney Todd.
We've come full circle, honey.

7) JAWS - This is actually in my top three favorite movies (the other two being #1 Sideways and #3 Forrest Gump) with good reason. It is a fantastic movie. Who hasn't heard the famous line about the bigger boat, or how Jaws is to a beach vacation as Psycho is to taking a shower. You just don't wanna.
To this day, I cannot be near the ocean's edge without thinking of Brody leaning over the edge of the boat and throwing the chum in the water and old Brucey suddenly surfacing, mouth open - nothing but teeth. Farewell and adieu, to you fair spanish ladies.....

6) Halloween - Michael Myers rocks my world. He's my favorite horror movie villian and I do believe, given the chance, he would kick Jason and Freddy's sorry asses. I have watched every incantation of Mikey in all his many sequels, including Rob Zombie's most recent, but of course this one holds up the best, with good reason. The scene where Laurie is in her bedroom and looks out the window and sees Michael standing in amongst the laundry on the line... then he's gone.... It is so much more effective than any other piece of dreck movie that has come along since.
Just.....plain.....scary.

5) Psycho 2 - I love the original Psycho, it's one of my favorites. So when this came out I had to see it, and did so at the drive in with a few friends. I was wondering what Norman had been up to for the last 22 years. A well-done sequel, in my opinion. Nothing really special about it, but Perkins is just so effective in the role, and the score by Jerry Goldsmith is one of my favorites.
Pre-retirement Meg Tilly does well as the niece of original victim Marion (Janet Leigh) Crane.
You have to wonder, during the course of watching this movie - is Norman up to his old tricks again?

4) Hellraiser - Clive Barker is a nutjob. What on earth made him think this shit up? Thank goodness he did, cause the world would be so much more boring without his inventive take on the sadomasochistic bloodbath that is this movie. Seriously - it is a deranged look at pain with pleasure and all things in between. He created an icon in Pinhead, who was actually not even supposed to be a main character. With a storyline more demented than Charles Manson, this is one not to be missed. I can still close my eyes and see that dude being ripped apart with chains and hooks. Even 'Saw' doesn't have that visceral of an effect.

3) The Blair Witch Project - After seeing this movie, I couldn't go to my basement to let my dog outside. Seriously. And I have no idea why. The shaky, motion-sickness inducing camera shots can be misleading and distracting for some, but once you put that aside - this film will get to you. You start believing - though you know for a FACT it is totally fiction - that there just might be something out there in those woods. I have never looked at our camp in the northern woods quite the same after seeing this. Matter of fact I'm not sure I've even went into those woods since this film...
The very last scene of the movie, for most everyone I have talked to, is so disturbing. It really is the icing on the cake. Love it or hate it, it makes an impression.

2) Dawn of the Dead (2004) - What a fantastic re-make. I love it. I could watch it again and again. What the director did with this Romero staple is upgrade it to today's standards. I simply love what they did with this. The cast is outstanding, the music is perfect, the vamped up storyline rocked, and the zombies are upgraded and apparently on acid. No more lumbering around aimlessly with arms outstretched... these dudes are flying at you at maximum speed.
Favorite part? The dancing to Richard Cheese's version of Disturbed's 'Down with the Sickness'.
Sweet.

1) Shaun of the Dead - Wow, I love this movie. Absolutely meant to be a comedy, it has so many great elements in it, as well as some full-on gore. Sharp, ingenious, and totally witty with a vengence, it is a bloody good time to say the least.
Shaun is just trying to save his friends and family from becoming the living dead. I bought this on a whim, before even renting it - one of the very few times I have ever done that - and it worked out for me. I can quote lines until the cows come home.

"Ed: Any zombies out there?
Shaun: Don't say that!
Ed: What?
Shaun: That!
Ed: What?
Shaun: The zed-word. Don't say it!
Ed: Why not?
Shaun: Because it's ridiculous!
Ed: Alright... are there any out there though?
Shaun: [looking out the door mail slot, he sees an empty street] I don't see any. Maybe it's not as bad as all that.
Shaun: [turns his head and sees a pack of zombies] Oh, no, wait, there they are.

So anyway, those are my ten. Not the ten best of all time by any stretch, and not my ten favorites... just ten movies that I will never forget. They have all been influential and made me the messed up individual I am today.

Later.

R.I.P. Stan Winston

The bad news: Stan Winston, special effects guru (age 62), died yesterday at his home in California after a years-long battle with multiple myeloma.

The good news: What a legacy of fantastic work he leaves for us to continue to marvel at.
Besides his FOUR Academy Awards for his work on Terminator 2, Jurassic Park and Aliens, as well as his countless other nominations, his prolific body of work includes some of the following genre flicks:


Leviathan


Edward Scissorhands


Predator


Interview with the Vampire


Lake Placid


Alien (all)


The Thing

Jurassic Park (all)

Friday the 13th, part 3

Terminator (all)

Pumpkinhead (which he directs and it is a personal fave of mine)

Wrong Turn (also directs)



and Iron Man...

Of course that is only a smattering of his work in the horror genre. He was famous for many other films, mainstream included - such as Batman Returns, AI, Pearl Harbor, Big Fish, etc...

He was in the midst of several projects (Terminator 4, Jurassic Park IV to name a few) at the time of his death. The projected outcome for that work is unknown at this time, but I am willing to bet his work at the Stan Winston Studios will continue under his good name.