Review #54: Scream 2 (1997)

Cast/Notable Credits:
Wes Craven (Director): A Nightmare on Elm Street

Neve Campbell (Sidney): Sream Trilogy, The Craft

David Arquette (Dewey): Scream Trilogy

Courteney Cox (Gail): Scream Trilogy

Matthew Lillard (Cameo): Ghoulies 3 (1991), Wing Commander (1999), 13 Ghosts (2001), Scooby Doo 1 (2002) & 2 (2004)

Live Schreiber (Cotton): Scream Trilogy

Jamie Kennedy (Rande): Scream Trilogy

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Casey ‘Cici’ Cooper): The Grudge

Jerry O’Connell (Derek): Stand by Me (1986), Joe’s Apartment (1996), Jerry Maguire (1996), Mission to Mars (2000), Tomcats (2001), Kangaroo Jack (2003), Room 6 (2006), Sliders and Crossing Jordan T.V. series

Elise Neal (Hallie): Mission to Mars, SeaQuest DSV and K-ville T.V. series

Laurie Metcalf (Debbie Salt): Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Uncle Buck (1989), Pacific Heights (1990), JFK (1991), Toy Story 1 & 2 (1995,1999), Bulworth (1999), Treasure Planet (2002), Meet the Robinsons (2007), Roseanne T.V. series

Timothy Olyphant (Mickey): Go (1999), Gone in 60 seconds (2000), Dreamcatcher (2003), The Girl Next Door (2004), Die Hard 4 (2007), Hitman (2007), and Deadwood T.V. series

Jada Pinkett-Smith (Maureen): Menace II Society (1993), Jason’s Lyric (1994), Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995), The Nutty Professor (1996), Ali (2001), Matrix 2 & 3 (2003), Collateral (2004), Madagascar (2005)

Rebecca Gayheart (Sorority Sister Lois): Urban Legend, Jawbreakers (1999), Urban Legends (2000), Santa’s Slay (2005), Earth 2 T.V. series

Portia de Rossi (Sorority Sister Murphy): Stigmata (1999), Dead & Breakfast (2004), Cursed, Ally McBeal, Arrested Development, and Nip/Tuck T.V. series...pictured right...who cares that she likes women? I like em'.

Omar Epps (Phil): Major League 2 (1994), Love & Basketball (2000), Dracula 2000 (2000), ER and House M.D. T.V. series

Other cameos: Heather Graham, Joshua Jackson, Tori Spelling, and Luke Wilson

Trailer:


Plot:

Years after the original murders of Woodsboro, a copycat killer…or killers…has/have returned to haunt Sydney and friends. A movie named “Stab” has been made based off a book by Gail Weathers and the Woodsboro Murders.

The movie is in its first week of premiers and teens at a local college are starting to die. Could there be an eerie connection? Hmm. It happens that Sydney is going to school at this college to pursue a career in acting. Rande also returns to the film, going to the same college as Sydney.

Once the murders hit the mainstream media, a buzz surrounding the film and Sydney takes place. The hoopla reunites Dewey with the two and shortly afterwards, Gail shows up looking for a story. Can you say...Bee-Yotch? After the success of her first book, Gail is a famous reporter now. Gail aslo helped exonerate Cotton from his murder conviction of Sydney’s mom.

Hounded by the media and memories of the first murders, Sydney struggles to stay sane as her new group of friends starts to die off one by one. But who is after her this time? Only the killer knows. Suspects include: everyone. It’s the same movie as the first one, but set on a college campus.

Villain:

The “Scream” Ghost costume returns for the sequel. The killer…or killers…are not the same as before. Billy and Stuart are dead, but a copy cat killer has taken on their legacy to torment Sydney and friends. Friends…get it…(Courteney Cox).

The movie still plays off the “who dunnit” style, and the killer…or killers…is/are finally revealed at the end. The “Ghost” still wields a sharp hunting (Rambo style) knife and taunts his victims over the phone. There’s actually a guy casted as the “voice” (Roger Jackson).

Cast:

It’s pretty much the same cast from the first movie that returns for this one. Neve/Sydney actually plays a “happy” person in this movie. Part 1 & 3 I hated her character because she played a stuck-up depressed chick. There was no life to her character. This movie does a better job to make her character someone you actually root for at the end. Unless you’re like me, and don’t care about whether or not the character survives and you just want everyone to die regardless.

Dewey miraculously survived the last movie, and now walks around like Bob Dole with a limp and a paralyzed arm. He’s not quite as Barney Fife-ish as he was in the first movie, but still I don’t care much for his character.

Gail returns as a famous author (wrote a book about murders in first movie), and also helped free Cotton from jail. She plays a news-hungry bitch, but later progresses into a person who cares. Just kill her already.

Rande returns for the comic relief and gives us more rules to live by. New key additions are the numerous amounts of hot chicks and celebs’ added. Buffy plays a small part in this movie, but I don’t care…it’s worth it. I think the best dude in the movie is the “new” cameraman (Joel) for Gail. He’s pretty funny, and knows the situation he’s in.

SFX/Gore:
Rande’s rules for a sequel:

1. Higher body count in a sequel…check. There were a total of 10 deaths in the film, 11 if you count Casey’s death in the Stab movie in the background.

2. Death scenes more elaborate/bloodier/gorier…check.

The special effects were pretty good in the film. I thought the *Spoiler *(Buffy death was kind of crappy. A simple stab wound and then tossed off the balcony. Boo! That’s the death you make the “best” or most “memorable” for the audience). The death scene that disturbed me the most…(Phil in the beginning). He gets stab while taking a dump. No one should go out that way. Come on’ have some dignity!

TNA:

Well if you’re not gonna show nudity or sex scenes, then you better make it up with “eye candy”. And that’s what they did. Approximately ten hot chicks (more if you count extras in the background for sorority house and party scenes) in the film. Including Buffy and Noxzema girl.

Will Smith’s piece of ass (Jada Pinkett-Smith...pictured right) shows up in the film for a brief time. I know it sucks having all these popular hot chicks in the film. We all know they’re not gonna show us anything. Maybe some day…when their careers are just about over and need a jump-start or pay day.

T.Gun's Take:

Let’s make this thing into a trilogy! Yeah. Scream 2 was a typical throw-together-at-the-last-minute-rush-into-theatres-because-the-first-was-a-success-movie. But that’s the horror industry folks.

Within less than a year since the original has been released, this one was fast tracked to the theaters. I considering how fast they packaged this one…I’m impressed. Yeah, it wasn’t good nor was it horrible, but at least it was okay to watch. It was a super thin plot surrounded by many deaths…wait a second…that’s a formula I like. Throw in a lot of hot chicks and whola!

Unfortunately there were many things I hated. First of all, this happens towards the end…Sydney and her roommate, Hallie, are being escorted out of town by two police in an unmarked cop car. They are sitting in the back seat while parked at a stoplight when the killer decides to “ambush” them at the light. So the killer runs up to the window and kills the first cop by slashing his throat.

Okay, I can buy that. But then he jumps on the roof and slides over to the other side as the other cop fumbles away looking for his gun. This leads to a fight between the killer and the cop, which somehow leads to the killer driving the car with the cop on the hood of the car. All this time Sydney and Hallie watch in horror “locked” in the backseat of the car.

Recap: a knife wielding masked man takes out two cops (with guns) in a matter of a couple minutes while two chicks look on. Odds: four on one. Guns vs. “a” knife. After all said and done…Sydney vs. killer.

On top of that, the killer crashes the car into a construction site. Every one is temporarily knocked out or dead. Sydney and Hallie pry themselves out of the backseat (because the doors are locked) and into the front seat. Passenger door is conveniently wedged up against the wall leaving the only true option is to crawl to the driver side and over the top of the killer.

This becomes suspenseful because we do not know whether or not the killer is conscious (because the mask hides his face). Sydney and Hallie both crawl over the killer one by one until they get out. They both bolt from the scene. Not once do they decide…hmmm…let’s unmask the killer…or hey, he’s knocked out, let’s kill him or beat him to a pulp. No they act like scared little school girls, at least until they get a block down the road and Sydney decides it’s time to stop running. Now she grows a pair.

Sydney goes back to take on the killer and guess what…he’s not there any more. Ahhh! Idiots! After seeing the killer’s gone, Sydney turns to look at Hallie down the street and guess what…the killer pops out and kills her. Okay, Sidney escapes the car ordeal, and where would you go it you were in her shoes?

A. Flee to a local mall to barricade yourself in just in case of a zombie attack

B. Flee to your dorm room where you can lock yourself in and call the cops

C. Stop by class in the middle of the night during a college wide curfew. Particularly the theatre stage where you have class at.

D. Maybe…the police station, after all, your two cop escorts were just whacked

For me, I would accept all answers except one. Sydney, well she happens to pick that answer…C. So a killer is after you and you just got in a car wreck where two cops and your roommate has died, and you decide to go to class. And why is the theatre doors unlocked at the middle of the night? During a college imposed “curfew”. Doesn’t make sense…except that it makes a great dramatic ending scene.

Staying with the topic of college classrooms…Gail and Dewey decide to review camera footage of everything that Joel captured while working on the case. So where do they go? Of course…they use the college’s state of the art film editing rooms. Not like they ask to do it. They just stroll down the halls of a vacant college building to use their equipment.

Not that the equipment is expensive…and on any normal college campus is locked behind closed doors. Or the fact that not even a janitor pops up in the building. I went to college, and every building that I went in…there was at least someone in the halls. Nothing’s totally vacant on a college campus or left open for the public to use. And why not use a normal VCR in…let’s say…Sydney’s dorm room?

Another thing that I'm sick of are the dumb twists and turns the film makes to get you guessing who the killer is. I think it's a little over played by this point.

And by the way that lunchroom scene where Derrick sings to Sydney…PLEASE...take a gun to my head. Dumb idea. It was painful to watch. That dumb sing a song to your lady thing only worked in Top Gun…kind of.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened December 12, 1997 and made $101.3 million at the box office ($33 million opening weekend)
-Film opened in less than a year since the first film
-Cast not informed of identity of killer until last day of shooting
-Freddy’s sweater can be seen in Sydney’s closet
-Many references to T.V. shows “Friends” and “Party of Five”; Courteney Cox and Neve Campbell’s shows
-Rule #3: “Never, ever under any circumstance assume that the killer is dead,” never appears in the movie, but it does in the trailer

Review #53: My Bloody Valentine (1981)

Cast/Notable Credits:
George Mihalka (Director)

Keith Knight (Hollis): Meatballs (1979)

Alf Humphreys (Howard): Rambo (1982), Final Destination 2 (2003), X-men 2 (2003), The Perfect Score (2004)

Helene Udy (Sylvia): Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman T.V. series

Carl Marotte (Dave): Skinwalkers

Trailer:


It's Valentine's Day! Canadian Style!




In the small town of Valentine’s Bluff, Nova Scotia (just in case you don't know where Nova Scotia is...I supplied a map), on Valentine’s Day in 1960, 5 miners go down into a coalmine for a hard day’s work. Oh yeah, I forgot my Canadian accent...Eh. Two supervisors remain topside and decide to take off work early (take off you hoser!) leavin' behind the five miners. Eh. The mineshaft collapses and all are presumed dead. Eh. Ah, man, no more hockey for them, eh? Oh jeez. Until they find a lone survivor, Harry Warden. Eh. Ya see, eh, Harry is pulled out of the debris, like a complete psychological mess, eh. One year later, eh, Harry kills them two supervisors and warns the town to never…ever…ever hold a Valentine’s Day party again. Eh. Sounds like a bad idea, eh. Harry is caught and placed in a mental hospital. Steam roller!

Flash forward…20 years later, eh…the killins' start again as the town approaches Valentine’s Day. Bummer eh! You see eh, thee killer leaves em' body parts in a like heart-shaped candy boxes for them local police along with a cheesy poem warnin' them not to hold the dance. Beauty Eh. O'corse them local youth, are 'tempting to restart the tradition of Valentine’s Day Dance, and they ignore all them warnings. Bad idea, eh. To hide the dance from the police, them kids decide to hold the party at the local coalmine. No way, eh? Violence, death and beer drinking' follows, eh. Moosehead & Schlitz beer r' major sponsors in the movie eh. Hey, back off, eh! That's my beer, eh.

Villain:
A psychotic, revenge seeking coal miner swingin' a pickaxe at his victims. Hell yeah!...mean beauty, eh! He supports a creepy coal miner mask set up with a light on the helmet. Not as good as a hockey mask, eh? Outside of disregardin' victims with his axe, he’s not afraid to use other methods of death.

Cast:

Attack of the bad Canadian actors! Six hot chicks equals six points. Them chicks were fine eh? The rest of the cast was nothing special. Nun of them American Oscars presented here...eh. How hard is it to drink beer, kiss girls and get picked off one by one? Eh.

SFX/Gore:

Dis film was like a typical early 80’s slasher film, eh. High body count (12)…a weapon of choice (axe)…a lot of blood…and cheesy special effects. Six of them deaths were attributed to the axe, eh. Half…not bad, eh. One of the death scenes I’ve remembered through the years was the old chick at the laundry mat. It’s always made an impression on me through out the years. * Spoiler *(Highlight to read): Granny’s body falls out of the dryer. That was cool. I don’t know why, but that’s always stuck with me over the years. Not in a “traumatized” way, but in a fun way. More dead bodies should come out of the dryer when available, eh.

TNA:

Only if they showed a pair of fun bags, eh! Them film makers were close…but no cigar, eh. The film starts off with a chick getting it down. Too bad she only gets down to the bra, eh? There were several times they could have shown nipple, but they chose not to. Show it you hosers! For instance, beginning sequence, Silvia/John make out scene, Mike/Harriet sex scene or any other random time would have been fine. As I mentioned before…six hot chicks (Shark Factor)...beauty! Let's take a time to recogniz' our favorite female Canadian singers for V-day, eh!

T.Gun's Take:

Three words: Canadian…Horror…Flick, eh. Enough said, eh. Who cares if the film takes place in Valentine’s Bluff…on Valentine’s Day? Coincidence eh? Or if it’s one of them over-used twenty year later revenge flicks. The important thing here is that Canadians need to unleash anger too. Eh. 'Specially if de film doesn't have any ding to do with hockey, eh.

I must admit, it was one of my childhood favorites. Eh. Yes, the movie isn’t all that great, but oh well this is my grade. It's a beauty piece of Old School Horror at its best! Come on', give props to the people to da north. Just think if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have Bryan Adams. I'll let that thought soak in for a bit...eh.

Them movie displays the “Greatest Hero vs. Villain Fight Sequence Ever!” in Canadian history, eh! Okay maybe it doesn’t but how many movies besides Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom, show a mining car fight/chase? (Exclude all Scooby Doo episodes) Not many...that's what I thought...eh.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film debut on February 11, 1981 and made $5.67 million at the box office...Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri were flyin' high back then, eh.
-Paramount declined to make a sequel in 2001; due to poor box office performance for the original, yet they prepare for a remake in 2009
-British Rock band adopted their name from the film

Tommy Gun Icons:

Review #52: The Howling (1981)

Here's a personal favorite of mine from back in the day...

Cast/Notable Credits:
Joe Dante (Director): Piranha (1978), Twilight Zone the Movie (1983), Gremlins 1 & 2 (1990), Explorers (1985), Innerspace (1987), Small Soldiers (1998), Masters of Horror series

Dee Wallace (Karen): The Hills Have Eyes (1977), E.T. (1982), Cujo (1983), Critters, Alligator 2 (1991), Boo (2005), Halloween

Patrick Macnee (Dr. Waggner): Waxwork 1 & 2, A View to a Kill (1985), Battlestar Galatica (1978)

Robert Picardo(Eddie): Star Trek Voyager & others, Explores, Munchies (1987), Innerspace, 976-EVIL (1989), Total Recall (1990), Gremlins 2

Christopher Stone (Bill Neill): Battlestar Galatica 1980, Cujo

Belinda Balaski (Terry) : Small Soldiers, Gremlins 2, Explorers, Piranha

Kevin McCarthy (Fred):Death of a Salesman (1951), Piranha, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 & 1978 version), Innerspace, Ghoulies 3 (1991)

John Carradine(Erle): Ice Pirates (1984), Scarecrow (1982), Boogeyman (1980), Frankenstein Island (1981) and many, many old horror movies

Dick Miller(Walter): Corvette Summer (1978), Piranha, V: the Final Battle (1984), Terminator (1984), Explorers, Chopping Mall (1986), Amazing Stories (1986), Innerspace, Gremlins 1 & 2, Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995), Small Soldiers

Also had cameo appearances: Lon Chaney Jr.(Original wolfman see picture on right, and Roger Corman(Director)

Trailer:

A news reporter, Karen (Dee Wallace), has a near death experience with a serial killer in an adult book store. The serial killer, who usually rapes and kills women, has lured Karen to the store to set up her demise.

Unfortunately for him, the police interrupt the confrontation between the two and ends up shooting the serial killer. Karen is left traumatized by the event and takes a leave of absence from her work. The troubled Karen checks herself into a remote rehabilitation colony in the woods.

The colony is kind of like a remote exclusive adult summer camp. Something similar to what famous celebrities now a days go to as rehab centers to recover from their drug and alcohol addictions. Sorry Lindsey, Paris and Brittany.

Little does Karen know, that she the rehab colony she checked herself into is actually a community of werewolves looking for a new member to join their tribe. Karen struggles with her past encounter and reoccurring nightmares about werewolves while rehabbing at the clinic. She eventually learns the secret of the community as tries to survive as they close in on their new prey.

Villain:

There were multiple villains in this movie obviously, it’s tale about a werewolf community. The werewolves were creepy looking and the special effects on the transformations were pretty good...for an early 80's movie.

Cast:

The movie had a strong supporting cast attached to it as you can see from the list above. The mom in E.T. & Cujo is the main character and delivers a good performance. Other supporting cast members do a pretty descent job.

SFX/Gore:

There was not much for dead bodies in The Howling. Why? Probably because “once you’re bitten by a werewolf you’ll turn into one”; therefore hardly anyone dies. But there was one death at least. On the special effects front, considering it was an early 80's movie, the effects were good. There were several transformation sequences in the movie. Mostly humans to werewolves.

TNA:

The Howling gave us three hot chicks (Shark Factor), two sets of boobies, and a sex act. Thanks to the chick doing the ceremonial sex act for supplying us with the majority of the goods. I appreciate that...and I'm sure others did too.

T.Gun's Take:

The Howling is a good werewolf flick in my opinion. It had multiple jump factors in the film providing a good scare or two. The atmosphere was good because it was dark, and cold. The end of the film provided a nice little twist ending setting up a couple of sequels.

This was one of my favorite childhood horror movies. It actually scared the crap out of me when I was five. What was I doing watching this when I was five? Don't ask, but that was the typical movie I was into at the time. Looking at the cast of the film, I was amazed on how many films they had done...and they were not the "cheap low budget" films but some goodies.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
- Film opened April 10, 1981 and made $17.97 million at the box office
- 10 characters from the movie were named after other werewolf movie directors

R.I.P. - Roy Scheider

It's a sad day for horror fans. Actor Roy Scheider died today. For me, the role I remember him most in: Chief Brody in Jaws.

R.I.P.
Roy Scheider
Born: November 10, 1932
Died: February 10, 2008




"You're gonna need a bigger boat."








Movie and T.V. Roles:
The French Connection (1971)
Jaws (1975)
Jaws 2 (1978)
All That Jazz (1979)
Blue Thunder (1983)
2010 (1984)
Romeo is Bleeding (1993)
SeaQuest DSV (1993-1995)
Dracula 2: Ascension (2003)
Dracula 3: Legacy (2005)

Review #45: A Nightmare on Elm St (1984)

Cast/Notable Credits:
Wes Craven (Director)

Robert Englund (Freddy)

Johnny Depp (Glen Lantz)

Heather Langenkamp (Nancy Thompson): ANOES Part 3, ANOES Part 7, Shocker (1989)...pictured right

John Saxon (Lt. Donald Thompson): ANOES Part 3, Black Christmas (1974), Battle Beyond the Stars (1980), Blood Beach (1981), Beverly Hills Cop 3 (1994), From Dusk ‘til Dawn (1996)

Amanda Wyss (Tina Gray): Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Better off Dead (1985)

Jsu Garcia (Rod Lane): Wildcats (1986), Predator 2 (1990), Vampire in Brooklyn (1995), Candyman 3 (1999), Devil in the Flesh 2 (2000), Collateral Damage (2002), Along Came Polly (2004)

Charles Fleischer (Dr. King): The Hand, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? – voice of Roger (1988), Back to the Future 2 (1989)

Joseph Whipp (Sgt. Parker): Scream

Lin Shaye (Teacher): ANOES Part 7, Critters, 2001 Maniacs, Killer Pad

Joe Unger (Sgt. Garcia): TCM 3, Pumpkinhead 2 (1994)

Trailer:

Plot:

A town's serial child killer (Freddy) has finally been caught, however he is later “set free” on a prosecution technicality. Outraged, the town’s parents deceide to take matters into their own hands. They catch him to him and burn him alive in an abandon building (that's called street justice).

Years later, Freddy returns as a "dream demon" and appears in children’s dream to kill them and to complete his revenge on the town. The children’s fear gives Freddy his strength. The children who die in their sleep, also die in the real world. Some deaths look like accidents, while others go on unexplained to authorities.

ANOES (A Nightmare...Street) centers around a young teenage girl named Nancy. Nancy along with her friends’ experience “nightmares” about Freddy and her friends slowly die one by one as Nancy struggles to solve the mystery of Freddy.

Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) co-stars as Nancy’s boyfriend. Nancy fights to stay awake during the movie until she figures out how to defeat Freddy. At the end she learns some secrets about the dream demon and defeats him (now we all know that she doesn’t really “defeat” him).

Dream Sequence Time:

Approx.: 27 min. and 39 sec.(of 89 minutes)

Freddy Puns In Film (or smart ass remarks): 3

Villain:

Freddy (Robert Englund) is one of the most recognizable horror movie killers. Freddy is terribly scarred by burns and fashions a red and green striped Christmas sweater and a black hat.

On his right hand, he wields a four-finger-knife glove to slash his victims. Freddy’s not afraid to use other methods of death as he uses his powers in the dream world to dispose of his victims. He even has his own nursery rhythm:

♫ 1…2…Freddy’s coming for you ♫

♫ 3…4…Better lock your door ♫

♫ 5…6…Grab your crucifix ♫

♫ 7…8…Gonna stay up late ♫

♫ 9…10…Never sleep again ♫

Cast:

Heather Langenkamp begins her horror movie legacy as the film's lead teenager, Nancy. Outside of Freddy...she is the story. Nancy is a typical teen who has a father as a cop (played by John Saxson). His rule is pretty tough as he rules the house. Nancy's mom is...well, let's just say she likes the bottle of Vitamin "A" if you get my drift.

Nancy struggles through her high school days like every typical teen does...only she has a little bit more pressure burdened on her shoulders. Nancy has a bad dreaming problem in the name of Freddy. Nancy discovers that Freddy can actually kill people in their dreams, and then decides not to get any shut eye in the fear of becoming his latest victim.

Nancy battles the elements of sleep deprivation and...being a high school teenager, as she quickly matures and battles the dream demon himself. Langenkamp does a pretty good job in the film turning the valley girl into a tough chick who whoops a little Freddy butt in the end.

ANOES is Captain Sparrow's (Johnny Depp) first movie role. Once again, the horror industry paves the way and gives great actors and actresses the start in life they need. Depp also has the pleasure of having one of the coolest death sequences in horror movie history as he gets sucked into his bed only to be remembered as a geyser of blood afterwards.

SFX:

Okay ANOES had a small body count (no big deal) and an over-the-top usage of blood (also no big deal), but the dream sequences were constructed and done pretty good. When I first saw the flick, not all dream sequences were easy to point out...unlike the other films.

One dream sequence I really liked was the bathtub scene. I thought there was a lot of horror movie fun and creativity there. Too bad we didn't get to see what the babe had underneath the bubbles.

TNA:

ANOES had no boobies, one sex act, one bathtub scene, and three hot chicks (Shark Factor), but nothing else on this front. I was a little disappointed for a horror movie that was made in the mid-80’s not to fully exploit this area.

Just a fair warning for the viewers who WANT to see that stuff...A Nightmare on Elm St. is not the franchise you want to be watching. I'm just saying...TNA is not one of it's strong points.

T.Gun's Take:

I give ANOES mega originality points for using dreams as the playground for death. I mean MEGA. This film created a whole new realm of horror. The boogeymen are no longer the psycho guys who hide behind masks and wait in the woods for helpless teens. Freddy brought a whole new level of fear into the audience's hearts. The safest place in your life (your bedroom...unless you have crabs or something) is not safe anymore.

ANOES offered a small peek into the background of Freddy’s history. Don't worry, as more and more sequels get made, you'll see bits and pieces of the whole picture. Besides who knows what the remake will have on it's table? Remake? Yep. Expect it to hit theaters in spring of 2010. I know...we don't really need it.

The setting in the film were pretty good, especially the boiler room sequences. They were dark, eerie and creepy. They created the opportunities for the multiple fun "make the audience jump out of their seats" situations.

Just like Halloween and Friday the 13th, ANOES produced a recognizable musical score for Freddy. It will easily be identifiable with Freddy films to come. Even the little nursery ryhme I displayed earlier is a catchy jingle.

Sadly enough the movie marked the rise and fall of the movie franchise. Bummer! It definitely was the best of the franchise. The next seven films are a complete waste of time and money (except maybe the third movie and FvsJ). Nightmare was a well thought of and put together movie that had potential for more things, but someone down the lines screwed things up.

ANOES is a classic horror movie that is a must see for any fan of the genre, and a film even the casual movie goers should see.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened November 11, 1984 and made $10.8 million at the box office ($1.27 opening weekend)
-Every sequel made more money at the box office than this one (including opening weekend sales)
-Nightmare was New Line Cinemas first movie and Johnny Depp’s first movie.
-Ladies that auditioned for the role of Nancy: Jennifer Grey, Courteney Cox, Demi Moore, and Tracey Gold...could have been her
-Wes Craven’s wife plays the role of the hot dream clinic nurse
-The word(s) Elm Street never are seen or spoken in the film except during the opening and ending credits
-JFK was killed on Elm Street in Dallas
-The “Freddy Glove” was used in parts 1 & 2 and also in Evil Dead 2, but then disappeared
-Directors Wes Craven and Sam Raimi reference each other in most of their films; in Nightmare, there are two references to the Evil Dead (A Sam Raimi film). One is a poster for the movie Evil Dead and the other time, the trailer for the Evil Dead appears on the television

Review #46: A Nightmare on Elm St. 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)

Cast/Notable Credits:
Jack Sholder (Director):Wishmaster 2 (1999)

Robert Englund (Freddy):

Mark Patton (Jesse): Nothing...worth wild

Kim Myers (Lisa): Hellraiser 4 (1996)

Robert Rusler (Ron Grady): Weird Science (1985)

Clu Gulager (Ken Walsh): Return of the Living Dead (1985), Feast (2005)

Christie Clark (Angela Walsh): Children of the Corn 2 (1993), Days of Our Lives T.V. series

Marshall Bell (Coach Schneider): Stand by Me (1986), Twins (1988), Dick Tracy (1990), Total Recall (1990), Air America (1990), The Puppet Masters (1994), Starship Troopers (1997), Room 6 (2006), Tales from the Crypt T.V. series

Trailer:


Plot:

That's how they follow up the first film? Okay, usually in sequels to successful horror films there are some simple rules to go by:

1. See more of the villain

2. Higher body count (or bloodier/creative deaths)

3. More nudity, sex, hot chicks, etc.

4. Set up the next film just in case this one bombs

Let’s run these rules by what actually happened in Nightmare 2.

Rule 1 – see more of the villain…Freddy’s in 13 minutes of the film…nope.

Rule 2 – higher body count or bloodier/deaths…4 deaths, two of them were random cannon fodder of dudes I didn’t know their names…0 for 2.

Rule 3 – more nudity, sex, hot chicks…same amount of hot chicks (even if one was like 8, but she’s hot now), no sex acts and still no nudity…0 for 3.

Rule 4 – set up the next film just in case of disaster…nope…0 for 4 with four strikeouts.

How can you screw that up? It’s not rocket science. Even a full frontal nudity shot would have made a difference. Even the crappiest of sequels at least capitalize on one or two of the rules.

Any ways back to the plot…five years after the first movie, a new family (the Walsh’s) move into Nancy Thompson’s house, 1428 Elm St. (They finally reference Elm Street in the movie...11 minutes and thirty seconds in).

The teenage boy (Jesse) is experiencing nightmares about Freddy, but this time instead of trying to kill him, Freddy is recruiting him. Yep, that’s right, Freddy is acting like a Marine recruiter hunting for seniors at a high school to join core. Hooh rah.

Freddy’s powers are weak, and he needs to use Jesse as his tool for killing. Sounds a lot like Freddy vs. Jason. Hmm. Freddy tries to possess Jesse so he can come into the real world to kill his victims. The film mixes Freddy’s “dream world” powers and brings them into the “real world” to help Jesse kill.

After watching twenty or thirty minutes of the film, the movie became repetitious. Jesse has bad dream…wakes up…next scene is family breakfast arguing with dad…followed by driving Lisa to school in his car discussing the dreams with her…being in P.E. class and pissing off P.E. teacher which leads to physical forms of punishment…and back to bad dreams again.

Repeat cycle…bad dreams…breakfast…car ride…P.E.class…bad dreams. Repeat. Rinse. Lather. I would have been happier if they threw in a death every once and while, but there was only one death in the film’s first sixty minutes.

Towards the end, Lisa decides to throw a “pool party” for kids at school. My first thought was…cool…naked chicks, boobies, and sex. And my second thought was…a lot of deaths. Man, I was wrong…in both cases.

Jesse’s hanging at the party all depressed and strung out. Lisa comes over to warm him up a little bit and the next thing you know, he starts mackin’ with Lisa in the cabana and…Quiz time!

What is a cabana?

A. A bench swing set
B. a shed
C. A room used to change clothes in before proceeding to the swimming pool
D. A little town in Havana

The answer is…C. Yeah, I had no idea what it was until they mentioned it in the film. Then again, I’m not rich enough to have a swimming pool and a small changing room to go with it. F*ckin’ rich people.

Back to the story...Jesse’s going down on Lisa’s chest with his tongue (and the film still manages to show no boobies) and his tongue turns into Freddy’s green slimy tongue. Jesse freaks out and takes off leaving Lisa frustrated and confused. I would be too if I was her.

So Jesse sneaks into his friend’s (Grady) room and wakes him up. They make a deal not to let Jesse fall asleep. As if that deal never gets broken in these movies.

Well Jesse doses off and the “Freddy” in him takes over and kills Grady. Jesse flees back to the party to seek the help of Lisa. In her living room Freddy completes his possession of Jesse and Freddy is unleashed into the real world. All of the doors lock around the house and backyard trapping every one in place. Slaughter time! Right? No.

Freddy chases Lisa around the house and then she stabs him and he bails into the backyard where all the kids are by the pool. Freddy kills two token kids and then bursts into flames as he walks into a wall and disappears. Huh?

Lisa decides to “save” Jesse and drives to the power plant where Freddy was burnt alive. To sum it up, Lisa kisses Freddy and the “love” between her and Jesse defeats Freddy. Jesse pops out of Freddy’s body, and Jesse and Lisa hug and kiss. End of movie. WTF? Love beats Freddy. Now what kind of shit is that?

Dream Sequence Time:

15 minutes 8 seconds (Series total: 42 minutes 47 seconds out of 171 minutes)

Dream Mix w/ Reality Time:

23 minutes 43 seconds

Freddy Pun/Smart Ass Comment Count:

3 (6 total in first two films)

Villain:

Yeah, it’s a Freddy film, but it lacks a punch of Freddy. Freddy appears very little in this film. When he does, he’s still pretty gruesome looking. The series is starting to embrace the smart ass killer comments (puns).

Cast:

Horrible. No, dreadful. The main dude (Jesse) looks like a scrawny Marc Singer (the Beastmaster!), definitely without any of the muscles. I think he shares more of a “special bond” with Grady (the best friend) more than he does with his girlfriend, Lisa.

Speaking of Lisa, she’s a shy, soft-spoken popular girl (none of that really makes sense) who has balls of steel at the end of the movie. Now really, who in their right mind would actually track Freddy down to save a psychotic boyfriend? Maybe Brittany Spears. For custody of the child. Of course.

The slutty best friend of the hot chick doesn’t even do much…doesn’t get killed…doesn’t shred the top off…doesn’t die in bed having sex…nothing.

SFX/Gore:

The special effects were good in the film, while the body count was lousy. Half of the deaths came at the end of the movie while the kids were in the backyard. I mean half…as in two of the four. What! Four freakin’ deaths! They call this a “slasher” horror movie. Emperor Palpatine kills just as many Jedi in 10 minutes of episode three than Freddy does all movie.

TNA:

I’m starting to hate Nightmare films for this category. The film includes 2 hot chicks (Shark Factor), one up coming hot chick (Christie Clark…pictured right), a couple of swimming pool scenes, no sex acts (only a lickin’ of the belly/chest), and no boobs. There are almost as many “guy” shower scenes as there are hot chicks. WTF? More kindle to the fire of hate.

T.Gun's Take:

Freddy trying to possess a kid to do his bidding and get his powers back. Well, I can buy that. It was just done terribly. Dumb ass scenes include:

- Jesse doing a “Risky Business” deal while lip singing to a bad 80’s song.

- Jesse calling his piece of crap car, “The Deadly Dinosaur”.

- Finding Nancy’s diary sitting on the top shelf in the closet. What? No one notices that in the five years in between events? Must of had a bad real estate agent.

- Build up of suspense for a rat in a locker at the power plant.

- And pretty much the rest of the movie.

If I haven’t made my discontent for this film clear yet, then…this movie sucked! There, I said it. What a bad sequel. It could have been better if, let’s say... it had nothing to do with Freddy. Just like Halloween 3, and Friday the 13th Part 5, it was the franchise’s “what the hell” movie.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened November 1, 1985 and made $23 million at the box office ($2.86 million opening weekend)
-Freddy appears for only 13 minutes out of 82 minutes of the film
-Brad Pitt, John Stamos, and Christian Slater auditioned for the role of Jesse
-Marshall Bell (Coach Schneider) is considered the first ever kill in the Tales from the Crypt T.V. series
-Film does not use the traditional theme song for the Nightmare films
-JoAnn Willette (girl on bus) stars in television series “Just the 10 of Us” with Heather Langenkamp (Part 1,3,7), and Brooke Theiss (Part 4)