| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2008 7:28 am |
||||||||||
 |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
 |
|
| RECENT POSTS: | |
|
• Terror times three: Your top three horror movies October 31 • Trends in Terror: Influences on horror movies October 30 • Go, go Godzilla!: Creature Features October 29 • Got gore?: The slasher films October 28 • Scream Queen's Horror Movie Quiz October 27 |
|
|
|
| Archives: | |
|
|
|
|
| RELATED ARTICLES: | |
|
• 'Twilight' better than you may expect November 21 • 'Bolt': For a wonder dog, 'Bolt' manages average tricks November 21 • 'Fuel': Film presents a winning argument against Big Oil November 21 • 'Slumdog Millionaire' is good, but hype's excessive November 21 • 'Days and Clouds': Italian film examines the collapse of a lifestyle November 21 • 'JCVD' twists Van Damme's persona November 21 • 'A Christmas Tale': Capable cast pulls off dysfunctional family yarn November 21 • 'Obscene': Film tells story of publisher who broke cultural taboos November 21 • Movie talk: 'Faust' opera at Alderwood November 21 • Topspot November 21 |
|
|
|
|
ADVERTISEMENT |
|
|||||||||||||||||
Happy Halloween! Once you’ve recovered from the sugar rush via all the work treats — tell the truth, you’ve already pushed your face into those bags of candy you bought for trick-or-treaters, haven’t you? — and crawled home from that Halloween party, what better way to relax than to curl up in front of the TV to watch shrieking and bloodletting. Two of the top three horror movies you posted, under the “favorite horror movies” Scream Queen entry, I’ve already blathered on and on about — and, lordy, you don’t want me to do it again, do you? — and you’ve likely seen these movies numerous times anyway. So here are some interesting tidbits about these films you may not have known. All the information is cribbed from the Internet Movie Database’s Web site (imdb.com). “THE SHINING” Fun with Stanley
Stanley Kubrick, notorious for his retakes, demanded 127 takes from Shelley Duvall in one scene. Coulda been a tourism contender Pick your cliche Alternate ending Here’s who? But who’s counting D’oh! “ROSEMARY’S BABY” Deja boo Eww Two words: Hair Masters Don’t try this at home Um, what year is it? “HALLOWEEN” Here’s your No. 1 favorite movie pick, that classic that’s 30 years and 6 days old, Jamie Lee Curtis’ first feature film and, made on a budget of $320,000, the highest-grossing independent movie ever made at the time. Excellent choice, my loyal subjects. Zipping from pregnancy to birth
How “Halloween” became, well, “Halloween” Sunny, balmy Illinois Yul never guess D’oh! again With this blog entry and the end of October, I abdicate my Scream Queen throne and slink back into the dungeon to resume my role of Editorstein’s Igor. Thank you — big time — for sticking it out with me. Writing this blog was a blast for me, and a fabulous excuse not to clean house or vacuum. I expect to need horror-moviehab after tonight. As a humble thank-you for your patronage, the video to the right (scroll up) is “Night of the Living Dead” (1968) in its entirety. Have fun, horror-movie fans, and stay scary. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
In horror movies, art doesn’t just imitate life, art breaks into life’s home, kills it and then steals its identity to stalk the one they really want to fillet. Current events, and more precisely the fears that accompany them, always have been and always will be mirrored in horror films. In the atomic age, there was a rush of irradiated beasties enough to eat the whole planet. Twice. Lots of cinematic bad times up in the stars during the space age. And war frequently worms its way into horror movies, even if it’s a off-screen metaphor. Is it a coincidence that reports and allegations of torture in connection with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars (not to mention atrocities taking place in African and Baltic nations) predate the likes of “Saw,” Hostel” or coughripoffcough? “Turistas” I don’t think so. As mass communication has improved over the decades, we’ve learned more about deadly contagious disease, are more aware of outbreaks and are introduced to newly discovered diseases. Thrillers, sci-fi and, of course, horror movies have been all over that. Think “Infection,” “Cabin Fever,” the rage virus of “28 Days Later” and its sequel. (Although I don’t consider “28 Days” or “Weeks” diseases. Virus or not, c’mon, they’re zombie movies.) Communication itself has been soaked up by horror movies, and I think our high-tech gadgets are going to continue to be co-stars even more in the years to come before they collectively become tired and then silly. But right now, all the recent computers, cell phones, cell cameras, camcorders, etc., of “Kairo” and “Pulse,” “The Ring,” “Diary of the Dead,” “Quarantine” and “One Missed Call” — and there’s more — are going to play even more prominent roles in more films because we are definitely on a roll here. Similarly, I think we’ll continue to see more “citizen cameramen,” although we’ve already had quite a lot: “The Blair Witch Project,” “Cloverfield,” “Diary of the Dead,” “Quarantine” and the “REC” on which it was based, and the inevitable tiresome knock-offs, especially as those technologies improve and become more and more accessible (read that affordable) to normal people like us. By the way, the movie version of “Cell,” Stephen King’s 2006 novel of apocalypse by cell phone, is slated for release next year. I also think there’s more to be mined from reality shows. If you haven’t seen “My Little Eye,” you should check it out. I definitely recommend “Series 7: The Contenders,” although you might think it too much of a stretch to call it a horror movie. It’s darned close enough for me. But “Are You Scared?”? No, you won’t be. Sociopolitical statements aren’t going away, and I think the state of the environment/global warming will become an explosive fad in the near future. Sci-fi (or “science thriller”) is going to be all over this as well as horror — none of this is hard to predict, of course — but I wonder how many will fall on the revenge-of-the-Earth side and how many are going to be straight-up cause and effect. I also wonder if the movie-trend aspect will just naturally fizzle out from audience weariness, or if it will reach a plateau only when the real-life damage is personal enough that Mother Nature, Get Your Gun is something no one’s willing to buy a movie ticket for. Prepare for a lot of slaps to the face with a big green hand. I think we’ll see an uptick in movies directly or indirectly tied to war whenever most troops pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan or whenever general consensus is that the wars are over. And, obviously, remakes will continue to fall from above like acid rain. All of the above is just your Scream Queen’s opinion, but I think you can count on more remakes. Quick notes on a couple of movies opening tomorrow, Halloween. “The Haunting of Molly Hartley” appears to me to be a PG-13 teen thriller; I’m not in its demographic. “Splinter” also opens tomorrow; I took this description off the Web: “During a camping trip, a young couple is carjacked by another couple, but the foursome encounters a bigger problem in the form of a parasitic creature that absorbs the corpses of its victims.” This R-rated film currently has an 83 percent rating on RottenTomatoes.com, based on the percentage of positive reviews it’s received. That high of a rating is pretty darned good. See the trailer by scrolling back up a bit; it's over to the right of this column. Tune into Scream Queen tomorrow as we take a look at some behind-the scenes trivia of your favorite horror movies, and I give you a heartfelt farewell as Halloween marks the end of the Scream Queen blog. And I’ll leave you with a small, humble treat. No tricks. Really. No, really. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
The bloody beating heart of our beloved genre reaches far back in cinema history: the hordes of killer insects, the gigantic anti-companion animals, the aliens, the monsters that crawl out of the swamp or mist or from the very ground you’re standing on right now! If it’s been decades since you’ve watched “The Creature from the Black Lagoon” — or if, heaven forbid, you’ve never seen it — think about giving it another go. Especially by modern capabilities, it’s so deliciously cheesy, so lovably low-budget. And you gotta love the king of the reptiles, Godzilla, that sweet gift from our friends in Japan. Arrigato. I’m just speculating here, but I wonder if that’s not the horror movie with the most sequels. Sure, he might make sushi out of Tokyo, but look how many times he’s saved the city by slaying Mechagodzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah or whoever. And then he has the good manners to die or trundle back into the sea, God bless his cold little heart. And, raise your hands, who’s got that “Godzilla” Blue Oyster Cult song on their iPod, on CD, eight-track even? Yep, there you go. From 1915’s “The Golem,” usually credited as the first creature feature — that’s excluding 1910’s “Frankenstein from the creature label — those little scamps just keep on giving. What I think of as the golden age of scifi and horror creatures, the 1950s to maybe mid-’60s, I’ve often missed. I watched them when I was very young — oddly, my mother had no problem with that but I had to beg forEVER to see the relatively mild “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane” — or I’ve watched them through the eyes of “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” But gotta give a shout-out to “It Came From Outer Space,” “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “The Fly.” So, except for my beloved Godzilla, I started watching movies as a concious human being in the early ‘70s, and creatures for me means one thing. Ba dum. Ba dum. Oh, yeah, baby, it’s Bruce. I saw “Jaws” when it first came out in 1975; unfortunately, the friend sitting right behind me already had. He reached out and grabbed my shoulder at the precise moment that head popped out in the breached hull of the fishing boat. I thought I was going to black out from the adrenalin-soaking I got. Maybe I’m easy, but I never thought the shark looked cheesy. (As you probably know, the shark was dubbed “Bruce,” at least that’s what they called it on a good day.) I thought he looked pretty freakin’ dangerous, and I continue to have respect for nature’s little eating machines. And that’s a hugely major part of “Jaws’” appeal. This bad boy didn’t drop in from outer space, wasn’t wearing a latex body suit or look anything like a house spider manipulated to look big enough for a walk-on in “Jurrasic Park.” Nope, you don’t need to look any further than off your own shoreline. Yes, “Jaws” can happen to you. And does, as you might have noticed in the newspaper from time to time. Besides that, the shark frightens not just because of its size and speed, its power and, hoo boy, those teeth. It’s those solid-black eyes devoid of emotion. Negotiating survival isn’t happening, and it’s not going to get bored and give up as if you were a Dec. 26 toy. Live and let die is all you get, and you, dear swimmer or sailor, are lunch. And that’s a bone chiller. And I just love Robert Shaw’s soliloquy as Quint about the tragedy of the USS Indianapolis, which wasn't covered in any of my history classes. A few years later, along comes a sweet remake of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” and then “Alien,” a film in many ways a dead opposite of “Jaws.” You will never encounter the mythical creatures of “Alien” unless you have, um, problems bigger than these “xenomorphs,” and the threat is confined to a small group of people who are many light-years away. But with acid for blood and a “tongue” with bite that can take you out with one thrust — and characters that lead you to care about their fates — makes an impressive creature, which makes for one fine atmospheric thriller. I love the creature’s design. I also liked “The Thing” remake, “Predator” (although I don’t think of it so much as a horror movie), “Tremors” and “Screamers” (I’m betting most think of this as scifi, though), and “Lake Placid,” as you know, is one of my guilty pleasures. I also liked Peter Jackson’s “King Kong” remake, or at least I liked a lot of it. To a lesser extent, there’s “Snakes on a Plane” and “Black Sheep.” There’s one from earlier this year I could mention, but it’s a spoiler. One creature feature I’m going to nag you about again is 2006’s “The Host.” This South Korean film, aka “Gwoemul,” has “please, American directors, make a ruinmake out of me” scratched all over it; you’ll definitely want to check out the original. You should find this in the horror or foreign-language section of a DVD rental store, and it is well worth your time. Tootle on over to my earlier blog entry, “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” to watch the trailer. Still with me? I’m impressed; I didn’t mean to gas on and on. Well, not this much, anyway. If you haven’t petrified, check out the video over to the right of the scene in “Jaws” when Quint recounts his USS Indianapolis tale. It’s an extended version that includes the scar-comparison banter that precedes it. Tomorrow, we’ll take some guesses at horror-movie trends, and then on Friday we’ll take a look at amusing tidbits from some of your favorite horror movies, and I will bid you farewell and heartful thanks for your kind Scream Queen patronage this month. Excuse me while I haul out my iPod... ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
That gift of the ‘70s just keeps on giving, and will keep giving with remakes of the slasher classics either fairly recently released or in production. I again offer that Stephen King quote: “I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I’ll go for the gross-out. I’m not proud.” And, of course, shame and Hollywood don’t go together any more than Leatherface and personal hygiene. I consider “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” (1974) the daddy of the slasher genre (the constant screaming toward the end tends to get on my royal nerves, though). The typical slasher-film formula has evolved, but the basics of “Chain Saw’s” story continue to be picked up, most notably in Rob Zombie’s “House of 1000 Corpses” and “The Devil’s Rejects.” “Carrie” isn’t a slasher movie, of course, but I think the critically acclaimed novel and subsequent film, for which Sissy Spacek’s performance was a big fat plus, was a huge nudge to the slasher genre. There’s an awful lot of blood at the end to achieve that level of commercial success. But if “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” is the slasher genre daddy, then “Halloween” is Big Mama. (I’m so glad the original title, “The Babysitter Murders,” was discarded.) Despite the attempts of several sequels and a remake I thought was insulting, nothing’s fit to tie “Halloween’s” ragged, bloody shoelace. You got your group of teenagers, nearly all girls in this case, getting picked off one by one by an evil maniac wielding a knife, a perennial favorite of slasher films. The teenagers “deserve” what they get because the smoke, drink, get high and have sex. The virginal, grade-A student survives. Like in many slasher films to come, the heroine is a relative of the killer. You’ll notice, however, there’s not a lot of blood and gore onscreen. The blood and body count increases in “Prom Night,” then it’s really upped in “Friday the 13th,” the film that launched a thousand sequels and rip-offs. This movie is unique also because while Jason has slashed his way to horror-movie and pop culture icon, he only reared his hockey-masked head in the last seconds of the film; his mother was the killer in the movie. The next blockbuster slasher film, “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” popularized an important tweak. Freddy Krueger isn’t flesh and blood; he’s pepperoni pizza because he’s come back from the dead and he’s, well, something else. I really liked the freshness and creativity “Nightmare” offered (and this slasher speaks to his victims, unlike his strong and silent predecessors). I think that’s why horror movie fans are drawn to slasher films, to see how creative the deaths, how clever the set-up. Including those fans that are, what the heck, just there for the splatter. I’ll close out the history lesson; we already know what follows are unrelenting waves of sequels, copy cats and now remakes. Honestly, when the villain ends up in outer space, it’s time for the franchise to rest in peace. But like Michael Meyers, they just won’t die. Boundaries have gotten a lot of push, too, and I don’t just mean blood ‘n’ gutswise. “Cube,” for example, has a slasher-similar storyline. I consider the “Saw” sequels to be slasher movies — I’m not buying passive-aggressive poster child Jigsaw’s contention that he’s never killed anyone. C’mon, of course he has. And you gotta give a shout-out to “Scream,” and its gleeful skewering of slasher cliches. I’ll leave you with a wee bit of information on classic-slasher remakes. Before I do, allow your Scream Queen to repeat that I’ve adjusted the original plan to do a day on each of the three top horror movies you posted at the beginning of the month. I think it’s very cool that there was such diversity, but that means no clear favorites emerged. So I’m going to wrap what’s technically the “top three” into a single entry on Friday, Halloween. I’ll offer you a small treat that day to make up for it. “A Nightmare on Elm Street”: Slated for 2010, written by Wesley Strick. Variety recently reported that Strick was directing the remake, but the buzz on the Net in the last couple of weeks has discounted that as a rumor. This new “Nightmare” has been called a “re-imagining” loosely based on the original 1984 film. Robert Englund will not be portraying Freddy Krueger; those honors will fall to Billy Bob Thornton. “Friday the 13th”: Planned to be released on (guess when) Friday, Feb. 13. We’ve seen lots of horror films lately pushed back for more retooling, so who knows; I suspect they really want to hold that date. Marcus Nispel director. This remake is said to incorporate elements from the first three “Friday the 13th” films. You may remember that Jason appeared only the last few seconds of the original, so that does make sense. “Prom Night”: This 2008 movie recently became available on DVD, and is available for rent On Demand. I haven’t seen it — no reason, I’m just not interested — but the 1980 original has got to look pretty darned dated to modern audiences. Jamie Lee Curtis as disco babe is so, well, 1980. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
Scream Queen's Horror Movie Quiz Think you know horror movies? Suspect that you need to click off the TV and get more fresh air? Find out by taking Scream Queen’s horror movie quiz below. There are 31 questions, some easy but most medium to hard, for a maximum of 35 points. Most of these I made up myself (and a lot of answers are in previous blog entries); the rest are gleaned from information from a few Web sites, mostly trivia pages of individual movies on The Internet Movie Database (imdb.com). Lots of “Halloween” in honor of this week’s holiday. All movies listed are the originals, unless otherwise noted. One point for each answer, unless otherwise noted. 1. What’s Jason’s body count (dead on or within a few bodies) in the “Friday the 13th” feature film series so far, through “Cold Heart of Crystal Lake”? A) 89 B) 121 C) 150 D) 193 2. Which movie was shot without rehearsals? A) “The Blair Witch Project” B) “Saw” C) “Evil Dead” D) “The Last House on the Left” 3. Michael Meyers’ mask in “Halloween” is a cheap Halloween mask of: A) Captain Kirk B) Mick Jagger C) President Ford E) Superman 4. Which of these movies was NOT filmed in part in Washington state? A) “The Ring” B) “Twilight” C) “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” D) “They Live” E) “The Changeling” 5. Remakes of these movies — except one — have been formally announced or are in production. Which movie is NOT scheduled for a remake? A) A Nightmare on Elm Street B) “Hellraiser” C) “Alien” D) “The Birds” E) “Poltergeist” 6. These movies were supposedly based on “true events.” Which movie is very very very loosely based on events of Aug. 18, 1973? A) “The Blair Witch Project” B) “The Amityville Horror” C) “The Exorcist” D) “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” 7. What movie has the line, “Oh, yes, there will be blood”? A) “Saw II” B) “Hellbound: Hellraiser II” C) “A Nightmare on Elm Street 2” D) “The Grudge 2” 8. Which actor had his/her feature film debut in a horror movie? A) George Clooney (“Return to Horror High”) B) Johnny Depp (“A Nightmare on Elm Street”) C) Kevin Bacon (“Friday the 13th”) D) Drew Barrymore (“Firestarter”) 9. The sound of the demon leaving Regan’s body in “The Exorcist” is actually the recorded sound of: A) A rake scraping a chalkboard B) Remix of several screams by Mercedes McCambridge C) Pigs being herded for slaughter D) A windstorm 10. What does the license plate say on the killer’s truck in “Jeepers Creepers”? A) EATUL8R B) BEATINGU C) KILLINU D) KILLUL8R 11. What movie did not have a sequel? A) “The Creature from the Black Lagoon” B) “The Exorcist” C) “Firestarter” D) “Psycho” E) “Creepshow” 12. What was the first bird to attack Tippi Hedron in “The Birds”? A) Crow B) Sea gull C) Blue jay D) Parakeet 13. Which set of iconic movies came out in 1931? A) “The Mummy” and “Frankenstein” B) “Dracula” and “The Wolf Man” C) “The Phantom of the Opera” and “The Mummy” D) “Dracula” and “Frankenstein” 14. In the “Alien” movies, what is Lt. Ripley’s first name? A) Eileen B) Rebecca C) Helen D) Ellen 15. Which was NOT a Cenobite in the original “Hellraiser”? A) Butterball B) Cockroach C) Pinhead D) Chatterbox 16. In just one of these movies is the word “zombie” uttered. Which one? A) “Shaun of the Dead” B) “Night of the Living Dead” C) “Land of the Dead” D) “28 Days Later” 17. What word did Dennis, the biting kid, yell in “Cabin Fever”? A) Candy B) Pancakes C) Pizza D) Cherry 18. Which is NOT a movie character? A) Eraserhead B) Pinhead C) Pumpkinhead D) Brideshead 19. Which character was listed as “The Shape” in the movie credits? A) Jason Voorhees B) Freddy Krueger C) Michael Meyers D) Leatherface 20. The blood in the shower scene in “Psycho” was actually: A) Chocolate syrup B) Tomato juice C) Corn syrup and red food coloring D) Colored oil 21. What breed of dog is Cujo? A) Rottweiller B) St. Bernard C) German shepherd D) Doberman pinscher 22. In “Shaun of the Dead,” Ed tells Shaun’s mother, “We’re coming to get you, Barbara.” That’s a reference to what film? A) “Night of the Living Dead” B) “I Walked with a Zombie” C) “Dawn of the Dead” D) “Night of the Living Ghouls” 23. Which movie contains this line: “Don’t bury me ... I’m not dead.” A) “Pet Sematary” B) “Buried Alive” C) “Re-Animator” D) “Serpent and the Rainbow” 24. Jamie Lee Curtis, as Laurie Strode, performs in how many of the “Halloween” movies? A) Two B) Three C) Four D) Five 25. What movie is credited as being the first horror and “vampire” film? (Two points for this one) A) “Dracula” B) “Le Manior du Diable” (“The Devil’s Castle”) C) “Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens” (“Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror”) D) “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” 26. What movie do the Laurie Strode and Tommy Doyle characters (Jamie Lee Curtis and Brian Andrews) watch together in “Halloween”? (Two points for this one) A) “The Thing” B) “The Blob” C) “The Boogeyman” D) “The Wolf Man” 27. One of THE main characters dies in which movie? A) “The Amityville Horror” B) “Rosemary’s Baby” C) “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” D) “Jeepers Creepers” 28. You see Michael Meyers’ face (as an adult) for the first time in: A) “Halloween” B) “Halloween 2” C) “Halloween 4: Return of Michael Meyers” D) “Halloween H2O” 29. The following films are remakes of Asian horror films — except one. Which one? A) “Quarantine” B) “The Eye” C) “Pulse” D) “One Missed Call” 30. Which of these “titles” is a real sequel? A) “28 Years Later” B) “Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare” C) “Feast 4: The Indigestion” D) “Halloween 9: Michael Meyers’ Midlife Crisis” 31. Here is a list of songs and the horror movies they are associated with, BUT two are wrong. Which of the following two sets are wrong. One point for one correct answer, three points for two correct answers (for a maximum of three points). A.) “Bad Moon Rising” (“An American Werewolf in London”) B.) “Brick House” (“Hostel”) C) “Red Right Hand” (“Scream”) D) “Don’t Fear the Reaper” (“Halloween”) E) “Santa Baby” (“House of 1000 Corpses”) F) “Down with the Sickness” (“Dawn of the Dead” 2004 remake) G) “American Girl” (“Silence of the Lambs”) ANSWERS: 1. C; 2. B; 3. A; 4. D; 5. C; 6. D; 7. A; 8. B; 9. C; 10. B; 11. C; 12. B; 13. D; 14. D; 15. B; 16. A; 17. B; 18. D; 19. C; 20. A; 21. B; 22. A; 23. D; 24. C; 25. B; 26. A; 27. D; 28. A; 29. A; 30. B; 31. B and E. SCORE 0 to 10: If you’re just a casual horror-movie viewer, that score’s not too shabby. May I respectfully suggest you watch more horror movies? Go on, you have Scream Queen’s permission; what else do you need?. 11 to 20: Congratulations! You are a savvy horror movie fan and, hey, might even have a life as well. 21 to 29: I anoint thee a solid, knowledgeable horror-movie fan, and I am also impressed with your long-term memory. Don’t forget to, you know, take walks and stuff. 30-33: Okay, you definitely need to step away from the TV and chat rooms and get out more often, but I do salute your achievement; I wouldn’t have hit this range myself unless I got lucky on a few questions. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
Do the Wicked Witch of the West’s flying monkeys count? I mean, didn’t they scare the hell out of you, too? I hid behind the couch. I remember my mother trying to reassure me while doing a damn poor job of trying not to laugh. That’s the most frightened I’ve ever been from watching a movie. (I don’t count the little blip of a ghost movie that scared me when I was just a wee little thing.) I envy people who can readily recite what they think are the scariest scenes from horror movies, the ones that make them leave the lights on or scooch under the covers, eyes squeezed tight. I have ... flying monkeys from a beloved family film. I can, however, pick out the most horrifying scene I’ve ever experienced in a movie. What little Regan does with a crucifix in “The Exorcist” — you know the scene — I think would shock modern major-release-film audiences just as much today. And images of that demon-afflicted little girl stayed with me for many days and nights afterward. I’ve already written about how impressed I was with Derek Richardson’s performance in that “Hostel” scene that will make your stomach wad itself into a tiny protective ball, similar to my ankle bones shrinking with fear into muscle tissue during the hobbling scene in “Misery.” The elevator scene in “The Eye” (the original Hong Kong film) was darned creepy. But a single scary scene? Um, flying monkeys. Sorry. I asked a couple of writers here at The Herald what they thought was the scariest scene in a horror movie. Katya Yefimova, like me, has a hard time picking a truly frightening scene but, unlike me, she isn’t old enough to have decades of horror movies behind her. She’s going to be a hard sell later in life. She mentioned the scene in “The Descent” in which a character strikes a match in the dark to find she’s surrounded by fiends. We agree that “The Descent” was better than we anticipated — we were expecting a chicks-in-trouble treatment — then I broke Katya’s heart when I told her that the main character left in the cave for dead (in the unrated version, much better) comes back in the sequel, “The Descent 2” or “The De2cent,” due out next year. The bad end Sarah came to in the 2005 film was fitting and having her survive just to milk more out of the original is just, well, Hollywood. She also liked scenes in “Event Horizon,” one of my guilty pleasures. I asked Justin “Big Game Hunter” Arnold about his scariest scene in a horror movie and he e-mailed me a whole list: “Hellraiser”: When Pinhead showed up when Kristy Cotton solved the Lemerchand Box. “The box. You opened it. We came … It is a means to summon us. Oh, no tears please. It’s a waste of good suffering. No time for argument. We’ll tear your soul apart.” And then the final scene were good old uncle Frank was turned into a living pin cushion. That movie was so scary, I went to church the next day. “Misery”: Kathy Bates and a sledge hammer. When she said, “Trust me, it’s for the best,” I knew I’d never see Kathy Bates as anything other than that. “The Thing”: The whole movie is full of genius moments, but the best for me is when while everyone is tied up Kurt Russell tries to find The Thing by putting a hot wire in some blood samples. Honestly, that movie is brilliant from beginning to end. I can’t believe it was almost never made. “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”: This was a short in “Twilight Zone the Movie” where John Lithgow saw a creature walking on the wing getting closer and closer to his window. (Justin told me later that he didn’t find the original William Shatner version all that spooky.) “American Psycho”: When Christian Bale “axes” Jerod Leto nicely about what he really thinks of him. “The Devil’s Backbone”: Carlos is hiding from Santi in the closet and staring at the key hole when Santi’s eye appears. And there were more, but Justin's desk is right outside Editorstein's office and within striking distance of the cat-o'-nine-tails that hangs by the door, so I think he had to, you know, get back to work. Perhaps choosing THE scariest scene isn’t that easy after all. What about you? Any creepy scene totally creep you out? Click on “comments” below and tell us about it. Flying saucers, flying vampires, flying monkeys, whatever frightens you. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
“Jaws”? Yes. “Jurassic Park”? No. Along the lines of what the Supreme Court justice said, horror may be hard to define, but I know it when I see it. In my mind, a horror movie requires two elements. A conflict, which in our movies means a threat, and horror or terror. Horror AND terror would be nice, but as a horror movie fan, I learned to lower my expectations. I finally found that Stephen King quote I like: “I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I’ll go for the gross-out. I’m not proud.” And there you go. After the threat and presence of horror/terror, the opinion that matters most about what is and isn’t a horror movie is yours. There’s so much crossover — the days of anything taking place in space must be sci fi is long, long gone, for instance — and so many different styles and tones. The one who’s plunking down the cold, hard currency to see these films is you, so yes, your opinion matters. So, according to the gospel of Scream Queen, “Silence of the Lambs” and “Seven” might be pigeonholed as dramas, thrillers or mysteries, but at their twisted little hearts, they are horror movies. Even without benefit of the bad guys returning from the grave or the endowment of demonic powers or scantily clad teenage blonds. “Jaws,” yep, but “Jurrasic Park” is a science thriller. The difference is tone. In both, you got your creature, or creatures, five deaths (I’m counting Ben the fisherman before the timeframe in which “Jaws” takes place), the grand finale showdown. “Jaws” has that killer, threatening score — what other instrumental piece do you know of that’s instantly recognizable with just two notes? — that throws gas on the fear fire while “Jurassic’s” score is just very pretty. But while there’s one creature in “Jaws,” “Jurassic” is filthy with creatures. But “Jaws” is darker, and “Jurassic” has to be an actioneer throughout or it doesn’t work. A kid dies in “Jaws” as well as a core character (I’m counting Quint). The core cast escapes, mostly unscathed, in “Jurassic,” which also doesn’t have Robert Shaw’s chilling soliloquy or a creature that’s devoid of personality or emotion, and the creep factor ticks up because there are lots of Bruce the sharks out there in real life. You’re unlikely to become dino buffalo wings. So “Jaws,” creature feature. “Jurassic Park,” action/adventure. “The Sixth Sense,” yes, but “Signs” and “The Village,” nope. Speaking of M. Night Shyamalan’s nonhorror horror movies, I just recently got around to seeing “The Happening” (2008), which was recently released on DVD. Honestly, if Night wants to make an actual horror movie, well, pee or get off the pot. His writing and directing are starting to make “The Sixth Sense” look like an accident. Let’s take a look at “The Happening,” shall we, because I think I know what happened. The real tell is one of the many interviews with Shyamalan included on the DVD. There’s one scene of real horror in the movie — can’t talk about it without giving it away — that was edited to remove gore because Shyamalan thought it crossed the line and was “too dark.” What?! That was “too dark” for an R-rated horror movie? Please. That bit as shot is shown in that interview, so you can judge for yourselves. Don’t get me wrong, the scene is effective, but that visual would have made it more so. And since the premise of the film requires you to suspend disbelief to the extent of cryogenically frozen, it needed all the extra help it could get. One of the two real problems in “The Happening,” I think, is the disconnect in most of the suicide scenes. Most of them seem distant, leaving the viewer standing outside and peering in a window. There’s just not enough reaction or interaction in most of these scenes to fully draw in the audience to produce a reaction of horror. I don’t give a lot away in the next paragraph, but if you’re one of those people, like me, who want to know as little as possible about a movie before you see it, stop reading now. Too many death scenes are “over there.” The gunshots and screaming that take place off camera (actually, there’s a lot screaming throughout the film over deaths that take place off-camera), the deaths that take place with minimal portions shown on film, the distant shot of a wreck and subsequent suicide, the looking out a window to someone dying in the distance. There’s also the cell-phone footage (and that scene was also edited shorter) and the one in which we only see the reaction of a loved one of the suicidee. I’m not saying all those scenes were ineffective, some of them certainly are, but you gotta be more in-your-face than the view-from-afar thing to engage the viewer — and to keep the deaths from becoming kinda comical. *****SPOILER ALERT****** The other problem I see with “The Happening” involves the ending. These last sentences are the end of this entry, so please stop reading now if you haven’t seen the movie and plan to. Like I said, I watched the “interviews” with Shyamalan and cohorts on “The Happening” DVD, and I kept hearing the words “dark,” “scary” and “horror.” Except for the “gotcha” moment at the end of the film (which really isn’t a gotcha; you probably were expecting it), the looong ending preceding it was too schmaltzy. Now, if the little girl or the wife had died, THEN you got yourself a horror movie. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
It’s a crypt-cleaning day here on Scream Queen with a minireview of “The Strangers,” which came out this week on DVD, a little horror-movie news and local happenings. Don’t forget to list your favorite horror movies under the Oct. 1 Scream Queen topic, “Hey...you wanna see something really scary?” I’d planned on taking the top three movies mentioned and doing a day on each toward the end of the month. However, with the diversity of movies listed by you, dear readers, I may have to make arbitrary choices or do a single-day wrap on Halloween. So vote early, vote often by clicking on “comments” under the blog entry. Also, to see all the Scream Queen entries, go to www.heraldnet.com/screamqueen. “The Strangers” (2008): This film is a big, fat liar, and doesn’t deliver what most of the movie seems to promise. Its marketing wavers between the horror-mystery/suspense genres, but if you’re expecting horror, you’ll be exceptionally disappointed by the climax and ending. This tale of a home invasion by three figures stars Liv Tyler (I think she gives good terror) and Scott Speedman as the aflicted couple. Seldom has knocking on a door seemed so scary. And I loved the absence of a musical score during the first truly creepy part — an excellent choice. But then the film starts its one-note dragging, and the conclusion will frustrate and annoy you. It doesn't go in the direction that it's been hinting at throughout the film. John Kretschmer, the production designer, said: “I think this is more of a terror film, as opposed to horror. I think it’s an absolutely new approach to the genre.” No, not really. It’s called your mouth writing a check your butt can’t cash; we’ve seen that film before. “Saw V” opens in theaters today, and I advise spending less money and going to a DVD rental outlet to pick up “The Host” instead (yes, I’m still pushing that movie). I haven’t even bothered to see “Saw IV.” “You won’t believe how it ends!!” is the tag in the “Saw V” trailer, which sounds to me like a desperate ploy to haul you in for yet another torture/slasher jaunt. Unsurprisingly, no press screening, so no reviews. By the way, I noticed a show (which I didn’t watch) premiered this week on VH1 called “Scream Queens.” Ten actresses are vying for a role in “Saw VI.” If you’re interested, here’s a link to the show. Worse, yep, there’s going to be another “Saw” travesty. Like little Samara, it just won't stop. On to more pleasant topics: “Elvira, Mistress of the Dark,” with a live appearance of the Mistress herself before the film shows, will be shown this weekend at the wrapup event of the annual Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the King Kat Theater in Seattle. A closing night gala follows at the Pan Pacific Hotel Seattle; your film ticket will get you into the party. Tickets for “Elvira” and the gala are $30; tickets for the gala only are $15 at the door. Visit the film festival’s Web site for more information or to buy tickets. Dark Nights, the Seattle International Film Festival’s series of classic horror films, kicks off tonight. Thirteen movies will shown from today (Oct. 24) to Nov. 6, and some dates are double features. Movies on the playlist include: “Frankenstein” (1931), “Dracula” (1931), “I Walked with a Zombie” (1943), “Freaks” (1932), and “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968). General admission tickets are $10. Visit SIFF’s Web site for the schedule and more information. Last, but certainly not the least, The Herald’s Good Life section in running lists of haunted houses in the area in their Family Fun Calendar in the A&E section. The list is also online here on HeraldNet. There was one last week, one in today’s section, and you’ll find one on Halloween itself. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
(Because of the scope, I'm confining "monsters" to those in human, or humanoid, form, instead of "creatures.") On the scale of bad guys, monsters are right up there, just under the big red guy himself, and I don’t mean Hellboy. Sympathetic monsters are few because the blood that pumps those black little hearts is evil. Monsters can be alive or dead, violent superpsychos or chillingly sane, have supernatural powers or just a really big chainsaw. The one trait they share is evil. “Monster” immediately conjures the same image for me everytime. Like an old, beat-up, just-a-little-smelly teddy bear, Frankenstein will always have a place in my heart. (Oh, don’t nag me, I know Frankenstein isn’t the monster’s name, but I call him that anyway. Okay? Okay.) As tragic as I find Frankenstein, if he were to walk in my door as I’m writing this, it would scare more than the hell out of me. Give me Freddy, Mr. Hyde, Leatherface — but not Frank. (Okay, I admit I just glanced over to make sure the door is locked. You try writing about horror movies every day and tell me you don’t get just a wee bit spooked.) Frankenstein, however, is not my scariest monster. The biggest monster of them all hasn’t come back from the dead, hasn’t mutated, has no unusual powers and isn’t physically overwhelming. And by now you already know I’m going to say Dr. Hannibal Lecter, rather, Anthony Hopkins in that “Silence of the Lambs” role. He doesn’t even have to say anything. Just stand there with that little condescending smile tugging at the corner of his lips and those laser eyes — you just know he’s sizing you up to pick out the tastiest snack in your little market. Brrr. And he’s human. Like Norman Bates, Jigsaw or Mick Taylor of “Wolf Creek,” yes dear viewer, Hannibal Lecter can happen to you. Freddy, Jason and Pinhead — only if you go off your meds. Now, Pinhead is pretty darned intimidating. I love that line of his, “Your suffering will be legendary, even in hell” (from “Hellbound: Hellraiser II”). I’m thinking he could deliver on that. A remake of “Hellraiser” is in the works, by the way. I also think The Creeper in the "Jeepers Creepers" films (a third is on the way) is underrated. Old-school scream kings, the ones that gave us the likes of “Dracula” and other characters ripped out of literature, were discussed in an earlier entry, if you’re interested. Time to go scare up dinner. Maybe fava beans and a nice chianti. Fpfpfpfpfpf! ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW! |
|||||||||||||||||
Subscribe to this blog
|
|
ADVERTISEMENT |
 |
| View all Top Cars |
 |
|
|
 |
| Classifieds |
| Jobs |
| Cars |
| Homes |
| CONTACT THE HERALD |
Elaine Helm, New Media Editor
ehelm@heraldnet.com |
|
ADVERTISEMENT |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|Contact Us
|Advertiser Services
|Home Delivery
|Newsstand Locations
|Classifieds
|Feedback
|About the Company
|Work@the Herald
|Site Map |
|