Halloween (1978) Short Review (5 of 5)

For my Halloween recommendation what else could I go with but the original Halloween? John Carpenter elevated the slasher flick to high art. Or something like that…This is one of the only horror movies that actually scared me as a kid. It’s shockingly bloodless for a movie that is routinely called a slasher flick and it delivers on suspense and atmosphere far more than the films its commonly lumped together with.

Starts out with an urban legeend-ish setup with the audience taking the killer’s POV as he skulks about before killing a young girl. Then it’s revealed that the killer, Michael Myers, is shockingly a child. Flash forward 15 years where the now adult Myers escapes from institutional confinement on the night before the anniversary of his first murder and the movie is rolling full steam ahead.

Donald Plaeasance as Myers’ doctor and pursuer is in all out hysterics and delivering one of his most full on over-the-top performances of his career. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing though. It works here. The whole film works like a late night campfire tale.

The story moves very quickly. While setting up the protagonist and the surrounding characters, there are plenty of glimpses of the killer who has picked out Laurie Strode and her group of friends as his targets. The movie’s genius is that it never allows itself to be definitive, especially when it comes to its killer. Carpenter keeps everything minimalist in this, even the soundtrack, which is instantly recognizable upon just a few notes.

It really helped to set the mood of the film, as did setting the film on October 31. The ending further elevated this movie into a very memorable horror outing. It serves up a creepy little twist that for me captures the creepy spirit of Halloween perfectly.

Of course, the lovely and talented Jamie Lee Curtis is (for me) THE scream queen and here she’s at the height of her powers. Another difference between this and slasher films; the filmmakers are aware that Laurie is the protagonist, not the guy with the knife.

Okay, she only has the knife because Myers dropped it... You get my point.

I wish Rob Zombie could figure this out. He might make a decent film if he ever does.

No top 10 Horror Film List is complete without Halloween. It’s not just a good horror film, either. It’s just a great movie. A great big tub of popcorn nerve wracking entertainment. It’s one of those movies that I can watch every year and it never loses its appeal. Highly, highly recommended for a viewing around All Hallow’s Eve, especially if you’re a horror fan. Great movie! 5 out of 5… Oh. And one last thing. Happy Halloween!

Week 9 Meltdown

Correct… Incorrect…

#1 Auburn (!?!) @ Ole Miss  Crash! Picks: AU

#2 Oregon (!?!) @ USC  Crash! Picks: USC

#3 BS University already plastered their latest serving of cupcake…

#4 TCU @ their latest cupcake…

#5 Michigan State (AKA The Team of Destiny) @ #18 Iowa Crash! Picks: Iowa

#6 Missouri @ #14 Nebraska Crash! Picks: The Huskers

#8 Utah @ Air Force Crash! Picks Utah.

#9 Oklahoma vs Colorado Crash! Picks OU

#11 Ohio State @ Minnesota Crash! Picks: Ohio State

#13 Stanford @ Washington Crash! Picks: Stanford

#15 Arizona @ UCLA Crash! Picks: ‘Zona

#16 Florida State Seminoles @ NC State Crash! Picks:Go ‘Noles!

#17 Okie State @ K State Crash! Picks:OSU (Against The Gut)

#19 Arkansas vs Vandy Crash! Picks: Vanderbilt

#20 Same Ol’ South Carolina vs Tennessee Crash! Picks: USC (Against the Gut)

#21 Mississippi State vs Kentucky  Crash! Picks:The Bulldogs

#22 Miami @ Virginia Crash! Picks: UM

#24 Nevada @ Utah State Crash! Picks: Nevada

#25 Baylor @ Texas Crash! Picks: Texas

ACC Games:

Maryland vs Wake Forest Crash! Picks: Maryland (Against The Gut)

Clemson @ Boston College Crash! Picks: Clemson

North Carolina vs William & Mary  Crash! Picks UNC

Duke @ Navy Crash! Picks Navy

In Other Games:

Northwestern @ Indiana Crash! Picks: Northwestern

The ‘Scuse @ Cincinnati Crash! Picks: The Orange

Florida vs Georgia Crash! Picks: UGA (Against The Gut)

Michigan @ Penn State Crash! Picks: Michigan

Top 25:16-3, ACC: 3-3 (To The Evil One’s 4-2) Other Games:2-2 Against The Gut: 2-1 Total:21-6

For the Year:175-52… Top 25: 119-29… ACC: Again tied with the Evil One at 48-15… Other Games: 11-14… Against The Gut: Tied with it at 8-8…

Next Week: A big game in the ACC:The Battle of the Techs…  In the PAC10: The Battle for 2nd Place: Stanford and ‘Zona… In The Big 10:The Battle of the Embattled Coaches; The Zooker vs. RichRod… In The SEC: Battle of the Also-Rans: Arkansas/USC… ‘Bama/LSU ought to be interestin’, too… And then there’s Fumblin’ Florida State vs the University of Non Compliance… Go ‘Noles… Woooo…. Woo.

Oh… And in the battle of the Non-AQs: TCU vs Utah… That actually might be a good one.

John Carpenter’s The Thing Review (5 of 5)

Like Alien, John Carpenter’s The Thing combines horror, sci fi and suspense elements to create a true classic. John Carpenter is no stranger to horror and science fiction and this is one of his best in either genre.

This movie delivers and does keep you guessing all the way to the end.

It has a great cast with Kurt Russell in the lead as helicopter pilot MacReady. Wilford Brimley and Keith David are really good in this, also.

The creature is very creepy and has some Lovecraftian elements to its various appearances. The FX by Rob Bottin (and Stan Winston) are some of the most unsettling to ever appear onscreen, especially in a mainstream big studio film. If you like gore, you’re going to love this.The fact that this(like Blade Runner) was panned by critics and bombed at the box office is shocking, though.

It’s an outstanding movie that holds up well. It’s a must see for anyone who loves horror films. Five of 5 whatevers.

Crash! Landen’s Week 9 College Football Picks

#1 Auburn (!?!) @ Ole Miss  Crash! Picks: AU (But they won’t be #1  at the end of the year..)

#2 Oregon (!?!) @ USC  Crash! Picks: USC  (Oregon beats UCLA by 47 and they drop in the polls. Makes sense. Won’t prevent me from picking USC to upset them, though…)

#3 BS University already plastered their latest serving of cupcake… The great thing is even if the idiot sportswriters vote them #1, they’re schedule is so weak they won’t be in the national title game. Even if they’re the lone undefeated.

#4 TCU @ their latest cupcake…

#5 Michigan State (AKA The Team of Destiny) @ #18 Iowa Crash! Picks: Iowa redeems themselves after last week.

#6 Missouri @ #14 Nebraska Crash! Picks: The Huskers… This is the week of Redemption.

#8 Utah @ Air Force Crash! Picks: I was going to pick Air Force in the ‘trap game’ upset (they get TCU next week), but the Utes have been impressive even if they’re going up against less than top notch. The Utes haven’t had a letdown all year competition and I don’t think they’ll have one this week, either. Great coaching at Utah.

#9 Oklahoma vs Colorado in an old fashioned beatdown. OU’s biggest margin of victory all year, maybe.

#11 Ohio State @ Minnesota Crash! Picks: Ohio State and the only reason this won’t be an epic beatdown is because the sweater vest is allergic to running up the score. for the most part…

#13 Stanford (entirely too low of a ranking) @ Washington Crash! Picks: Stanford

#15 Arizona @ UCLA Crash! Picks: ‘Zona close…

#16 Florida State Seminoles @ NC State Crash! Picks:Go ‘Noles! They are the better team. Just hope they play like it instead of the way the played against BC…

#17 Okie State @ K State Crash! Picks:OSu (Against The Gut)

#19 Arkansas vs Vandy in another beatdown… Vanderbilt being the recipient, of course.

#20 Same Ol’ South Carolina vs Tennessee Crash! Picks: USC (Against the Gut)

#21 Mississippi State vs Kentucky  Crash! Picks:The Bulldogs

#22 Miami @ Virginia Crash! Picks: UM

#24 Nevada @ Utah State Crash! Picks: Nevada

#25 Baylor @ Texas Crash! Picks: Texas… To get upset by Iowa State, then Baylor just wouldn’t be believable…

ACC Games:

Maryland vs Wake Forest Crash! Picks: Maryland (Against The Gut)

Clemson @ Boston College Crash! Picks: Clemson

North Carolina vs William & Mary !?! What the—!?! What? William & Mary ?! (sputter)

Duke takes a butt whuppin’ @ Navy

In Other Games:

Northwestern @ Indiana Crash! Picks: Northwestern

The ‘Scuse @ Cininnati Crash! Picks: The Orange

Florida vs Georgia Crash! Picks: UGA (Against The Gut)

Michigan @ Penn State Crash! Picks: Michigan

Shaun Of The Dead Review (4.5 of 5)

Shaun Of The dead is a tremendously entertaining horror comedy and a text book lesson on how to tip your hat at past great films of the genre without being accused of ripping them off.

As a horror fan I was dumbfounded by the number of shots that they took from horror flicks like Day of the Dead and An American Werewolf in London and put their own spin on them. This is a very clever film that has BIG laughs throughout.

But it’s not just a collection of homages anyway. This is well written in plot, characterization and is full of witty dialogue. I think Simon Pegg deserves a lot of credit for his part in the writing.  I think the lack of Pegg’s input was evident in Director Edgar Wright’s last film Scott Pilgrim. It was a good movie, but seemed to lack the cleverness of Shaun and Hot Fuzz.

The only minor flaw (for me) was that it gets much more serious in tone in the finale than the rest of the film. I did like that the filmmakers didn’t ‘wus out’ on the gore that is typical of the best zombie movies (with Tom Savini FX). You kind of expect that in a zombie flick.

The film’s epilogue is one of the best ever for any genre film. I’ve never walked out at the end of a movie where there were so many people still laughing at that last frame. That’s what movies are supposed to do at their best: uplift the audience.

Obviously Pegg, Frost and Wright work very well together and I hope they have plenty more collaborations to come. This is a great film that can be watched multiple times and where you can see something new about it each and every time.

This gets my highest recommendation. Anyone who enjoys good horror films, great comedies or both should enjoy this to a large degree. 4.5 whatevers out of 5.

Stand Up Comedy with Matt Moseley

Here’s something I don’t normally post: stand up comedy. This is Matt Moseley, who recently made the transition from this ‘really funny guy that I know’ to officially being a stand up comedian by stepping up to the plate and taking his swings. Here he is at Savanna Blue (Wowoblue Comedy Club) making his debut last week. He was asked back and performed again last night. He’s on his way…

Here’s a few highlights that were posted on YouTube:

If you’d like to check him out (or support any other comedians) he’s on next Wednesday (Nov. 3rd) at 9:30 at Savanna Blue. Here’s the address:

4238 West Fairfield Drive
Pensacola, FL 32504
(850) 453-2980

http://www.savannablue.net/

FSU/NC State Thursday Night Special

FSU always plays  at NC State on Thursday night. I think ESPN forces FSU to do that to give every advantage to  the inferior NC State team. ESPN hates FSU. Am I being paranoid? Anyway…. FSU over NC State.

I think it’ll be close for 3 quarters with FSU getting a pull-away TD early in the 4th. FSU runs the ball better and stops it better. T3 (Thomas, Thompson and Ty) will have a big game.

I also think Ponder, who has underachieved the entire year, will have his best game of the season. I’ve been wrong before, though…

Go ‘Noles!

An American Werewolf In London Review (5 of 5)

Continuing the Halloween reviews with An American Werewolf In London and I think my 50th review on my blog…Director John Landis was in some kind of zone back in the late 70s and early 80s. Everything he touched seemed to become an instant classic. An American Werewolf In London is no exception and remains my favorite werewolf flick and might be at the the top of the heap of horror comedies.

I probably shouldn’t call it a horror comedy, though. Whenever I try to make a list of best horror movies, this one fits right in with the likes of The Shining, Halloween, Nosferatu, The Omen, etc…

The story is straightforward, but adds several elements that hadn’t been seen before this. One of the best being the gathering of the undead victims… I won’t give anything away if you have not seen this, but it sets the standard for clever, witty writing in horror films.

Lead actor David Naughton is deadpan funny and is easily likeable. I wonder how he never became a bigger star after this. Griffin Dunne is hilarious as his best friend, especially once the film gets going. The actors that portray the rest of the undead provide some good laughs.

Jenny Agutter always conveyed intelligence as well as being uncommonly beautiful. She does so here in one of her best roles as a British nurse that takes in Naughton after he and his friend are attacked on the Moors.

Obviously the Rick Baker FX are outstanding, especially the transformation sequence, that unlike American Werewolf’s cousin (The Howling), was shot in a fully lit room.

I dont care that the werewolf doesn’t look quite like a real wolf. This is the most pissed off looking werewolf ever. Scared the pants off me when I was a kid. As with most of Landis’ films this also had an awesome soundtrack (featuring songs all relating to the moon). The entire movie is put together much more intelligently than most of the entries in this genre.

If you like monster or horror flicks I give you my highest recommendation to see this. An American Werewolf In London is a GREAT horror film and it’s a whole lot of fun. If you’re a horror fan and you have not seen this, then you owe it to yourself to see this classic film. Five whatevers out of five….

Phenomena (1985) (3 of 5)

All girls school… Scary mansion… Swarms of flesh eating insects… Off camera killers… Decapitations… Gruesome makeshift charnel houses… Multiple slo mo shots of victims’ heads going through plate glass… Rotting body parts… Weird mutant children…

Scalpel wielding chimps… Torture victims… A teenage female Dr. Doolittle with ESP… Weirdly dubbed actors… The Phenomenon known as Goblin… A little Iron Maiden thrown in… Yeah, it’s an Argento flick.

Wow.This could have been a bigger disaster, but the gory silliness in the last 20 minutes saved it for me. It was kind of slow up until that point.

I think Connelly just radiated innocence at this age and you want to run in and rescue her from the dire situation she gets herself into. It’s a good thing she’s plucky.

Definitely not like the Kill All Teenager movie characters of today where the smarmy, cynical brats in the film are victims waiting to be slaughtered and you don’t really care one way or another. You pull for Connelly.

And Donald Pleasance is always fun in horror flicks; here, with an Irish accent no less.

This is a mediocre horror film to be sure, but it’s a really FUN mediocre horror film, definitely elevated by Connelly, Pleasance and some pretty disgusting rotten corpses.

Especially worth watching if you’ve already seen Suspiria a hundred times and are looking for something by Dario Argento that’s tolerable. Worked about as well as Argento’s Trauma.

Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) Review

I have always thought that this was one of Barry Levinson’s best and most enjoyable films and wondered why it didn’t do better at the box office. If any movie ever demanded franchise status it was this one.

Some ‘Baker Street’ fans get their dander up proclaiming this as some sort of sacrilege to the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but the film begins stating that this is an original story and not specifically based on any of the author’s books. It reiterates that at the end, so why that causes such ire is beyond me.

Written by Spielberg disciple Chris Columbus, the story moves more briskly than a traditional mystery story. It more towards adventure. This is a ‘family’ film, after all. Doyle’s classic characters Holmes and Watson  are taken back to their school years. I don’t believe they were supposed to have known each as children, so this is one of the liberties taken. A first meeting between the two is depicted as well as the first meeting with another character (a very important one) from the book series. Has one of the better end credits sequences that adds a little surprise after the film’s story has ended. It has a nice surprise that is far more significant to the film than what has been presented in the Marvel films (” Have you heard of the Avengers Project?”)

The casting of Nicholas Rowe was right on. He not only looks like Holmes, but he captures the aloof quality of the character. He is believably intelligent and portrays Holmes in a way that you can easily see how he would have difficulty in social situations. He has an arrogance, but not so much that you’ll dislike the character. You feel for him when he has his comeuppance.

The fact that he is younger gives more vitality to the main character. Sherlock Holmes is largely perceived as a purely cerebral character. With a younger Holmes, there is a little less talk and a lot more physicality. Running… climbing… dueling… This actually rejuvenated the character long before it was done to ridiculous levels in the recent update/revision.

Alan Cox is the eyes of the film as Watson. The story is strained through his character, but the narration is voiced by a much older Watson. Cox does a good job with subtle comic relief and has a good rapport with Rowe. He wasn’t a complete contrast to Holmes, but they differed in their opinions enough to get many enjoyable disagreements.

Holmes is also granted a love interest in this, played by the lovely Sophie Ward. She isn’t quite JUST a damsel in distress, although there’s nothing wrong with that. I let myself fall into that trap of bowing to contemporary political correctness, sometimes. Now it seems if there is a female presented, it’s frowned upon if the role isn’t an empowerment fantasy, but I digress. I could go on about what makes stories, especially of this kind, work, but I won’t. In any case, she is more than just a pretty face in this. You can see why someone like Holmes would be enamored by her.

The cast is made up of mostly British actors. They generally speak with a certain diction. There is an importance on language more so than here . Even the auxiliary characters seem to have a little more credibility to them, at least in my  mind. Anthony Higgins  is understated as Holmes’ mentor.

He and some of the other character actors like Freddie Jones help to make each new encounter less than mundane. A suspense/mystery movie like this tries to not make too much standout so that you’ll have a harder time figuring out what’s really going on. They do hedge some on Holmes’ logical deductions… Sometimes information is withheld from the audience that would allow them to figure things out as Holmes would. There is some cheating there, but nothing that would take away from the enjoyment of the film.

Something tells me that JK Rowling has seen this film. Sherlock Holmes stories have all lent themselves into the occult or mysticism to some degree, even if the supernatural elements are ‘scientifically’ explained later with ‘elementary deducements’. This also was an early example of how to properly tell an ‘origin’ story for a franchise character. Lately, everyone points to “Batman Begins” but this was a textbook update. It showed all the introductions (even to the villain/arch-nemesis), it showed a step by step process of how they came to possessing their various paraphernalia (such as the coat, hat and pipe) and it frames who the character is by what they endure/face in this initial outing.

Stephen Goldblatt does maybe his best work here as the Director Of Photography.The wintery scenery of Victorian era of London is captured with unmitigated beauty and has a Spielberg-ian feel (obviously). The lighting and the textural detailing in the film are as good as it gets. The movie is like one big Curio Shop and the fact that there is a boutique of antiquities in the film goes without saying. A lot of thought went into making these incredible sets seem as naturalistic as possible.

The FX are also extraordinary and give the Victorian era setting a certain gothic dimension. Groundbreaking would be another good description since these were some of the first sequences to incorporate computer generated images. This had some direct ties to Spielberg’s TV series at the time: “Amazing Stories”.

Although clearly aiming to be a family film, some of the situations in the film probably did and will turn off parents of smaller children. There are some extremely dark situations depicted. Frankly, I would have loved this (and did) as a kid. It’s dark, but only dark in the way that a movie touched by the Hand of Spielberg could be. This is family entertainment with a brain; a true hidden gem and I highly recommend it.

4.5 of 5 whatevers.

I also made my Best of 1985 and my  Top 100 of the 1980s.