Review #107: The Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987)

Cast/Notable Credits:
Sam Raimi (Director): Evil Dead
Bruce Campbell (Ash): Evil Dead
Kassie DePaiva (Bobbie Joe): One Life to Live soap opera

The Evil Dead Link

Trailer:


Plot:

The sequel to T.E.D. (The Evil Dead) picks up right after the first movie. Kind of. If you don't know the background and story, it actually is pretty confusing. Since director Sam Raimi lost the legal rights to T.E.D., he could not show any footage from the first film. Instead he recreates a brief short summary of what happened in the first movie in the film's first 7 minutes and 7 seconds. It pretty much just shows Linda getting possessed and the Evil Force trying to enlist Ash into it's services. It doesn't even show everyone else. Pretty simple, short and to the point.

Ash has been unable to escape the woods and cabin, essentially being held captive in the cabin by the Evil Force. The bridge that leads over the ridge is out and crumbled into a shape of a claw. Ash has no choice but to return to the cabin and wait it out. Ash battles visions, nightmares and attacks by the Evil Force who is trying desperately to get to Ash.

Ash's dead girlfriend, Linda, dead body returns from the grave and attacks Ash who then dismembers her head from the body. But that does not stop her from attacking. Kind of like a psycho ex-girlfriend. Unfortunately during one of Linda's attacks, her possessed head bites Ash on the right hand, transferring the Evil Force into his hand. This leads to his hand being possessed. Ash's hand tries to kill him and he eventually cuts it off with a chainsaw, but the possessed hand still lives and torments Ash.

Meanwhile, the archaeologist's (who had found the book in the first movie) daughter, Annie, and boyfriend, Ed, has returned from a dig with "lost" pages from the Necronomicon and travels to the cabin to find her father and mother. They arrive to find the bridge is out and enlist the services of two local rednecks, Bobbie Joe and Jake. Jake tells Annie of a secret trial that leads to the cabin, and she pays him to take them there.

Just before Annie and company's arrival, Ash is attempting to shoot his "evil hand" with a shotgun. He shoots at the door and accidentally hits Bobbie Joe (Kassie DePaiva pictured left). The four of them wrestle Ash down and lock him in the cellar, thinking that he has murdered Annie's parents. Annie finds the tape recording her father made and they realize that her father accidentally summoned the Evil Force, which then possessed her mother, Henrietta. Her dad then killed her mother and buried her in the cellar.

As we learn about Henrietta's fate and whereabouts, she rises from the grave and attacks Ash who is currently locked in the cellar. The four save Ash from the attack and keep Henrietta locked in the cellar. And then the movie pretty much replays itself from the first, with all characters getting possessed one by one and attacking the survivors.

Annie translates the "lost" pages and passages of the Necronomicon. She and Ash learns that there are two enchantments for the Evil Force in the passage. The first enchantments when read will: Bring the Evil back to life. The second: Opens a portal of time sending the Evil back where it came from. Annie also reads to Ash about a story in the 1300's of a foreseen prophet who defeats the Evil Force, saving man kind. Hmm...foreshadowing?

Eventually Annie and Ash are last men standing battling the Evil Force. Annie goes on to read the second enchantment as Ash battles the Evil Force. She successfully opens the portal as Ash's evil hand stabs her in the back and the Evil Force is sucked into the portal along with Ash and his car sending them to the 1300's...which leads to...Army of Darkness.

For all intense purposes, the second installment of T.E.D. is just a "filler" movie. It's basically a replay of the first movie with the addition of some background to the Necronomicon and the Evil Force. It also sets up the third movie. Other than a few bits and pieces, I didn't really enjoy it too much. Been there. Done that. T.E.D. 2 was more of a polished T.E.D. 1.

On a side note: this movie was voted in Yahoo's 30 most terrifying horror movies by the fans. I feel pretty ashamed of that. There were plenty of entries left off the list or ranked lower. It's a cleaner carbon copy of the first. And it even was ranked higher than the first! WTF!? People are idiots.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on March 13, 1987 and made $5.9 million and the Box Office ($807K opening weekend)
-Freddy's glove is hanging in the tool shed

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Review #106: Mindwarp (1992)

Cast/Notable Credits:
Steve Barnett (Director): Scanner Cop 2 (1995)

Bruce Campbell (Stover): The Evil Dead

Angus Scrimm (Seer): Phantasm 1-5, Munchie 1 (1992) & 2 (1994)

Trailer: (Fan made)


Plot:

In the year 2037, the Earth's ozone layer has been depleted leaving the Earth a massive radioactive wasteland. Except in a few areas were there are trees and squirrels and our heroes can watch the sunset. The human race has been narrowed down to "In-worlders", Crawlers, and a few (1...Bruce!) normal human beings. The "In-worlders" are kept in a complex where a master computer called Infinisynth keeps them connected into a server and they spend all day connected into the computer dreaming in Infinisynth's programs. I think I know what the Matrix ripped off!

One of the "dreamers", Judy fights the system and questions why she needs to be plugged into the computer and dream all day. She wants to live life goddammit! LIVE! During one of her plug-in sessions, she questions the computer and the computer banishes her to the outside world.

Judy awakes halfway buried in the ground on the surface of a futuristic wasteland Earth. She starts wondering around and is caught in quicksand. She is helped by two mysterious people riding an old farm tractor. They lend her a rope to grab onto and pull her out of the quicksand and to safety. She thanks them and is immediately tied and gagged and thrown in the back of the tractor. I guess that's how the Tractor People say, "You're welcome."

Once we get a closeup of the Tractor People, we find out that they are some sort of mutant offspring who wear steering wheels and bling bling. As the Tractor People make their speedy getaway at the high speed rate of 2 mph, another mysterious person dressed head to toe in garbs picks off the Tractor People one by one and frees Judy. A vehicle of choice for a quick getaway!

Judy panics and runs from him. Why not? The last two people that saved her tied her up and was dragging her back somewhere like a bunch of caveman. I don't blame her for her "trust" issues. These people seem to have a weird way of helping a lady out. The guy tackles her and she rips off his ski mask and goggles to find out that he's a human. And he's the Chin, as in BRUCE "F*CKIN" CAMPBELL! Movie name is "Stover". Stover calms her down by saying that she's not infected and neither is he. She buys it and the two of them head back to Stover's home.

Confused by her new surroundings, Stover tells Judy the story of how we basically f*cked up the Earth and the surface is a wasteland, and radiation has mutated anyone who wasn't covered up in clothing from head to toe. And he believes that he's the only normal human left on Earth. Judy explains to Stover where she's been and he refers to her as an "In-worlder" and he's encountered some in the past.

Stover explains to Judy about the mutant Tractor People are actually called "Crawlers". I like Tractor People better. Stover goes on to say that the Crawlers live underground in a tunnel system digging up the layers of the Earth looking for antique treasures. Also known as digging through the garbage dumps and clinging to all the "shiny" pieces of crap we've thrown away. Our trash today, mutant Tractor People's treasure tomorrow. After explaining the history of the downfall of mankind, they cuddle, share a few tender moments and Stover bangs her. Obviously we learn that it's her first time. At least in real life, not dream world. Ha ha ha ha!

After Stover has the "pipes cleaned", the Tractor People barge in and capture them. The Tractor People take them down underneath the ground into their tunnel system. They separate the two and force Stover to work on the digging line, kind of like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Only he's searching for "cool" garbage to give the mutant foreman.

Judy is taken to a secret room where she is stripped down to her bra and undies and then tied up in some type of floating hammock thing. Judy meets two semi-mutant women. One of them is a teenage girl named Claude, who pretty much looks human, but has some signs of the mutation showing on her face. The other is her mother, Cornelia, who also appears normal, but isn't completely. Cornelia is also the consort to the "See-er" or "Seer". Seer is the leader of the Tractor People.

Cornelia gives Judy a sponge bath while looking for signs of mutation. She finds no signs and becomes jealous. Cornelia takes it upon herself to inject the mutation virus into Judy. So Cornelia loads up a syringe with the "virus" and goes to administer the shot to Judy when Judy knocks the syringe out of her hand breaking the glass vial part. Judy did this while being tied up. Let me reemphasise that...while tied up...restrained...bound...knocking a syringe away and breaking it. Bravo to Judy! As for the inept...that's why you live underground looking for garbage. Cornelia shrugs it off and tells her that she'll be back with more virus potion (not really...she doesn't try again).

Meanwhile, Stover finds an old car motor in the ground and secretly takes off the blade and conceals it while giving the mutant foreman the rest of the motor. Once the mutant turns his back, Stover uses the blade and slits his throat and starts a daring escape attempt. He maneuvers down the tunnels and finds the room where Judy was being held captive, only to find that she is en route to see the Seer.

Judy is brought to some sort of ceremonial room where the Seer makes his presence. He wears some sort of half flesh mask and stands high on the second tier of the room blabbing about religious crap to the mutant crowd. Seer examines Judy and announces that she will bear children for the race. Stover sneaks into the back of the crowd to watch the ceremony. Seer then decides to sacrifice Claude to a machine that chops her up and pours her blood into a bath tub where all the Tractor People drink her blood in honor of the new girl.

Stover tries to make another failed rescue attempt to save Judy and gets captured again. Seer locks him in a partially submerged water cage in the tunnels where virus carrying parasites (leaches) latch onto him. Seer brings Judy to his quarters where he reveals his true identity. Ready for this? Bump bah bum...it's her long lost dead father! OMG! What a twist!

Daddy wants Judy to help rule the underground mutant world with him. And...bear his children. Ugh! Ewe! Daddy wants to knock up his little girl to create a "pure" virus free human being or two or three...whatever it takes to repopulate the world. Judy doesn't want to...I could see why...and she starts touring the place and finding all these mutant babies and women hosts around the place. She scolds dad about how mean and evil he is as he tries to convince her some more. She stabs him with one of Cornelia's virus syringes and injects the virus into him.

Judy then takes off to find Stover. She wonders around the tunnels looking for him, and eventually finds him in the cage and lets him free. Stover is partially paralyzed from all the leaches and she pulls them off him. Daddy catches up to her and takes her back to the ceremonial room as Stover lays in the tunnels out cold. Seer attempts to throw Judy into the machine so everyone could drink her blood. I guess the trying to repopulate the world thing got thrown out the window.

Stover shows up at the last minute...go figure...to save Judy. The climatic fight ensues with Stover throwing daddy into the machine and letting the on looking mutants drink his blood. And then Judy and Stover rule the Tractor People! Not quite.

Stover is slowly feeling the effects of the virus and changing into one of the Tractor People himself. Judy and Stover get back to the surface and she realizes that he's not the man she thought he was any more and bolts toward the direction she originally came from. Stover chases her through the bad lands and eventually dies near the end of the journey. The end. Not yet.

Judy then awakes in the dream program and learns that the computer's system operator was "testing" her and wants her to be the new operator and control every one's dreams. The system operator then takes off his wire helmet and reveals himself to be her father. Shocker! Daddy tells her that she will carry on the legacy as system operator and walks off into the dark. Finally...THE END. A little similar to another movie...hmm...maybe Total Recall?

Imagine if The Matrix, Total Recall, The Hills Have Eyes and Mad Max 2 had a horrible looking offspring movie. It would be Mindwarp. Not even two minutes into the film and I was regretting watching it. I hung with it and finished it out. Why? That's just the way I am. It was pretty painful to watch. I called the ending a few minutes into the film, and everything else was predictable as hell.

There was a reason it went straight to video...no budget. Most special effects (kills and blood) were done in over the top cheesy fashion. The mutant Tractor People looked like a bunch of reject designs of what a hockey mask-less Jason would look like with random crap attached to their wardrobe.

If "The Chin" wasn't in the movie, I probably would have turned it off at some point. But he tends to be the master of starring in crap movies. This is one of those special flicks that you probably would have caught on Rhonda Shear's USA "Up All Night" segments. A few more shots of tequila or whiskey or rum or any alcohol, then I probably could have tolerated and enjoyed Mindwarp a little bit more.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on August 12, 1992 and went straight to video
-Bruce Campbell met his wife Ida Gearon on the set

Review #105: The Candyman (1992)

Cast/Notable Credits:
Bernard Rose (Director): Paperhouse (1988)

Tony Todd (The Candyman): Hatchet

Virgina Madsen (Helen): Dune (1984), The Number 23 (2007)

Xander Berkeley (Trevor): Terminator 2 (1991), 24 T.V. series

Vanessa Williams (Anne-Marie): New Jack City (1991)

Trailer:



Plot:

Two grad students, Helen and Bernadette, are researching urban legends for their thesis. Helen hears of a local urban legend named the Candyman. The Candyman is a son of a slave who was brutally murdered for having an affair with a white plantation owner's daughter. He was chased down by the owner and had his hand cut off and had bees shoved down his mouth, killing him. According to the legend, the Candyman has replaced his cut off hand with a meat hook and anyone who could look in front of a mirror and chant his name five times, can summon the Candyman, but only at a steep price, the cost of their own life.

One night Helen and Bernadette decides to try the experiment. Helen successfully chants his name five times: Candyman... Candyman... Candyman... Candyman... Candyman while Bernadette chickens out after the fourth. The two decide to go to the "projects" of Chicago where it is rumored to be the site of his murder. They find a young woman, Anne-Marie, who they questioned and she fills them in on the legend.

Soon afterwards, mysterious murders take place in Helen's life, and she becomes the police's number one suspect. Now Helen must confront and fight Candyman to save her life and others around her.

Okay, I'm not a huge fan of the series, but I must admit it deserves some props for being a classic horror movie. It's a second or third tier horror movie franchise like Hellraiser or the Leprechaun franchises, but it's deserving of all of it's fame and glory.

The film does create a classic iconic villain in the Candyman. Tony Todd is a perfect fit for the role. His physical statue, tall, dark and deadly bodes well along with his calm, deep, frightening voice. It's truly the make-up of one mean, evil son of a b*tch. Also, the Candyman swings a mean ole' hook, taking names and piling up bodies. Who can't like that?

Unfortunately that's where my liking of the franchise stops. For some reason, the rest of the movie and series doesn't really float my boat. It displays all the good ingredients for a horror movie, lots of blood, scary villain, urban legend, and plenty of deaths. But I find the movie kind of painful to watch, and I'm easily bored watching it. Maybe it's too dense.

Or another reason could be...I just don't like any of the characters except the Candyman himself. The main character, Virginia Madsen, I didn't like. I know she's hotter than the film made her to be (pictured left), but I felt nothing for her character. I didn't care that she was in danger and trouble. My feelings were, "Go ahead...kill her." All the other supporting cast members sucked too. The only one that I had a shred of respect for was her husband Trevor. Mainly because he was a sleaze, and I've recognized in past credits.

I've tried to suffer through it many of times before and still find myself unable to enjoy it. I guess there's always one flick that every one's just doesn't take a liking to even though it's right up their alley. This is probably mine.

The Candyman was supposed to be the next leg in the horror industry, but I don't think it panned out the way it should have. By the early 90's, the antics of Jason and Freddy had gone a little sour, and a fresh new look and bad guy of horror was ready to take stage. But it wasn't the Candyman. It probably just added fuel to the dying fire of the horror industry that even the "end" of Freddy and Jason movies couldn't keep alive. Thank God Scream came along and saved the industry. I can't believe I just said that.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on October 16, 1992 and made $25.7 million at the Box Office ($5.4 million opening weekend)
-Virgina Madsen claims to have been hypnotized for some of the movie scenes
-Real bees were put into Tony Todd's mouth during the film's climax
-Based on a Clive Barker short story named "The Forbidden"
-Sandra Bullock was up for the role of Helen

Review #104: The Mist (2007)

Trailer:

Cast/Notable Credits:
Frank Darabont (Director): The Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Green Mile (1999)

Thomas Jane (David): Deep Blue Sea, Dreamcatcher (2003), The Punisher (2004)

Laurie Holden (Amanda): The Majestic (2001), Silent Hill (2006) (Pictured Right)

Andre Braugher (Brent): Poseidon (2006), Homicide & Gideon's Crossing T.V. series

Marcia Gay Harden (Mrs. Carmody): Bad News Bears (2006)

Alexa Davalos (Sally): The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)

Chris Owen (Norm): American Pie series

Plot: A massive thunderstorm strikes havoc on a small community causing damages and power outages. In the aftermath, neighbors, David and Brent head into town to get supplies and materials to repair damages to their lake houses. David's son, Billy tags along for the ride. On the way into town, they pass city trucks and military vehicles heading for the nearby top secret military mountain facility.

Once in town and at the local grocery store, things become more bizarre as emergency vehicles flood the streets and the town's emergency warning siren blasts and a mysterious mist covers the land. One of the town locals, Dan comes running into the grocery store shortly afterwards with a bloody nose screaming, "Somethings in the mist!" And tells the store patrons that it killed one of the locals. Amazed by the mist, the townsfolk decide to hold up in the store as the mist slowly rolls in causing zero visibility. A violent earthquake soon rocks the town and store causing further panic.

Everyone soon comes up with their own theories about the mist, but they pretty much all agree that no one should venture out into the mist. Except one woman, who needs to get home to take care of her two young children. She pleads for help, but no one would go out into the mist with her. So she leaves the store on her own and disappears in the mist a few feet from the grocery store's windows. Time passes, and the townsfolk take refuge in the store, pondering what to do next. The local crazy woman, Mrs. Carmody starts rattling off biblical references, telling people that it's the end of the world.

David goes looking for a blanket for his son in the back storage room of the store and finds the back up emergency generator overheating. He turns it off and something starts pounding against the store's docking garage door. David gets a few others to go back to the dock and help him investigate. A couple local mechanics, Myron and Jim, determine that the exhaust vent is blocked on the outside and suggest that someone should go outside to unblock the vent. David protests the idea, and three others overrule him and decide to go out anyway.

The grocery store bag boy, Norm, decides to be the "one" to go out and unblock the vent. They crack the back loading dock door and some alien tentacles grabs the kid and pulls him out into the mist. A store assistant manager, Ollie, chops off one of the thing's other tentacles and they successfully close the door.

The four go back into the store front and tell others of the strange event. Brent doesn't believe their story and think that he is being a target of a bad joke. Brent believes that everyone is overreacting and leads a small group to leave the store and they disappear into the mist. Remaining townsfolk decide to stay in the store and wait out the mist. Only it seems that Dan was right, there is something in the mist.

The Mist was one of those movies when it came out, I thought, "Eh. It looks all right, but I'll see it on DVD." Man was I dumb thinking that. I wish I could of seen it on the big screen. Because that movie ROCKED! My first initial reaction to the film during it's promotional run, was far from what I view the movie now. I thought it would be one of those poorly done Stephen King films that didn't live up to it's potential. Boy I was wrong. The Mist ended up being one of my favorite horror movies of the year. I kinda kicked myself for not seeing it in the theatre.

The Mist is not your typical monster movie. Sure it has some of the same elements, but it has a dark depressing ending. None of that cookie-cutter Hollywood studio exec.'s ending. This is probably one of the reasons that I enjoy it sooo much. I won't spoil it for you if you haven't seen it, but I was shocked. And I also applaud the director and his big balls for doing it.

The film also employs a "last stand" feel as the locals hold up in a mom and pop's grocery store. It's kind of what I would imagine I would do in case of a zombie attack...hold up in a store. Made perfect sense to me. You need food and shelter. Only I would have preferred to pick a store with more weapons. But oh well, that wouldn't have made the movie scary.

Thomas Jane did a fine job in this one. But that's my opinion. I've had a little "man crush" on him since Deep Blue Sea. Only to be reinforced in with the movie The Punisher. I don't care what most people say about that film, it was awesome! Same with Deep Blue Sea!

Outside of Jane being a total bad ass, the rest of the characters were pretty good. A couple of hotties in the film, Holden (above by credits) and Alexa Davalos (pictured right), but not as many as they could have put in. I did have a couple of favorite characters outside of David in the film, but the majority of them "bit it" in the film...bummer!

The Mist is truly a great film. I didn't give it much of a chance the first go around, but it proved me wrong. It's an enjoyable flick with creepy moments and a great setting. The movie preys on the human psyche with panic and preaching which play out great on the screen. It's definitely like looking through a portal back in time and seeing Stephen King's great earlier work. Unlike many of his books/stories that have been made into movies or mini series, The Mist is a pretty damn good scary film.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on November 21, 2007 and made $25.5 million at the Box Office ($8.9 million opening weekend)
-Based on a Stephen King novel
-Made by Dimension films with the agreement NOT to change the scripted ending
-Susan Malerstein (Hattie) is actually a professional script supervisor which film credits include: Forrest Gump, Platoon as well as Friday the 13th Part 4

Review #103: The Craft (1996)

Cast/Notable Credits:
Andrew Fleming (Director): Bad Dreams (1988), Dick (1999), Nancy Drew (2007)

Robin Tunney (Sarah): End of Days (1999), Supernova (2000), Paparazzi (2004), The Zodiac (2005)

Fairuza Balk (Nancy): The Waterboy (1998) (Pictured Right)

Neve Campbell (Bonnie): Scream

Christine Taylor (Laura): Night of the Demons 2

Breckin Meyer (Mitt): Freddy's Dead

Skeet Ulrich (Chris): Scream

Trailer:


Plot:

New girl, Sarah arrives at St. Bernard's Catholic School Academy in Los Angeles and befriends three girls (Nancy, Bonnie and Rochelle) who turn out to be practicing Wicca. Mmmm...Catholic school girls. They teach Sarah the practices and the Wicca ways in hopes of her becoming the fourth witch and completing their circle. Eventually the four form a coven and become powerful witches. They place spells and curses on their fellow student body, especially their enemies. Mmmm...Catholic school girls with powers.

The group becomes increasingly obsessed with power, especially Nancy. Sarah eventually starts to fear the power and cautions the others of the power. She distances herself from her fellow witches but they do not like the new Sarah and Nancy convinces the others that she is the powerful one.

Nancy co hearses the others to mess with the "fallen group member" and Sarah soon learns that her once friends have now become her powerful enemies. Sarah learns that she is a natural witch that has inherited the powerful skills through her late mother, who was also a witch.

Well, I'm not a huge fan of the movie. Maybe it's more of a chick thing, with witches and the whole Gothic thing. It's a watchable movie, but it's not my cup of tea.

I love the idea of four hot chicks using powers and witchcraft to f*ck with others and eventually themselves. But I just didn't really get into the movie. I'm kinda that way on most of the witch movies that I've seen.

It's not a bad movie, I'm just not really into witch movies. The Craft does offer some redeeming qualities and parts. One of them being Robin Tunney (pictured left). Tunney plays the new girl turned powerful witch, Sarah. For the majority of the film she plays a weak girl who takes the crap the others dish out. By the end of the flick, she goes on her own PMS rampage and kicks some butt.

On a super positive note...the movie is embraced with good numbers of "eye candy", including one of my favorites, Christine Taylor. Again...F*CK YOU BEN STILLER! YOU LUCKY S.O.B.! How is that man lucky enough to score that pretty little thing?

Also joining the eye candy portion are Neve Campbell and The Waterboy's Fairuza Balk. For once, Campbell isn't the star of the flick, which is awesome because I'm easily annoyed by her. She plays another...lesser witch of the covent. Thank God, because I honestly can't stand her.

Balk plays the demented Nancy and does a great job of being a psychotic, vengeful b*tch. Nancy thinks she's "all that and a bag of chips" when it comes to being the Alpha-witch-female. Unfortunately she's wrong and her jealousy leads to the darkside.

This movie probably paved the way for the late 90's goth craze. I can watch the movie and just see it in how the style and fashion of the witches are common staples in a goth person's wardrobe. Then again, I'm not really into that or have followed that, so I might be wrong.

It's not that I hate goth or practicing Wicca or any of that stuff. I just never have fully embraced the idea and spent any time looking into it. Some of it looks cool, but that "type" of person just isn't me. Catholic school girls on the other hand...Mmmm.

So, if you are into witchcraft and those sort of practices, and beliefs then check out this flick. It's not a bad movie, but like I've said before it's not my cup of tea. Also if you just want to see a bunch of vengeful hot chicks duke it out, watch some footage on Sarah Palin or check this one out.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on May 3, 1996 and made $24.7 million at the Box Office
-Rachel True portrayed a "teenager" in the film but was near 30 yrs old during filming
-Thought to have inspired the T.V. series Charmed

Review #102: Malevolence (2004)

Cast/Notable Credits:
Stevan Mena (Director): Malevolence 2 (2009)

Samantha Dark (Samantha)

Brandon Johnson (Julian)

Heather Magee (Marilyn)

Malevolence Trailer Link:

Malevolence: Ma-lav-o-lence: evil, disposed to injure others

Plot:

Ten years ago a little boy, Martin Bristol was kidnapped from his backyard and forced to witness horrific crimes by a deranged madman. His whereabouts were unknown over the years until now when a trio of bank robbers kidnap a woman (Samantha) and her daughter (Courtney) and decide to stay the night in an abandon house in the middle of nowhere.

The daughter manages to escape and flee to a nearby house. Unfortunately, she has no idea that she just escaped into the house of Martin Bristol who has turned into a serial killing psychopath over the years. One of the robbers chases after her, and crosses paths with Martin. Let's just say he doesn't "make it" and in turn puts everyone in fatal danger by letting Martin know that there are people around. Martin picks off the unsuspecting robbers one by one, and torments the mother and daughter in the process.

Malevolence is a great independent movie. It's old school horror at it's best. When I watched it, the film reminded me of a compilation of several classic horror movies. The house looked a little bit like the one in The Amityville Horror (house pictured left). But mostly it mainly reminded me of Friday the 13th Part 2.

First of all the film wasn't "polished" in it's final appearance. It had a rough, ragged look to the film. The lighting was extremely dark. That's old school!

There was none of this blue/green/yellow bullsh*t tint to the film. It was pitch black...well not totally, but the nighttime looked more natural looking. For me, I dug this look. It was tribute to the elder horror movies.

Secondly, the "killer" wore a pillow case over his head. Sounds a little familiar? Hmm. You're right! It's Part 2 reborn! Pre-hockey mask. Potato sack retard man! I just loved it. Nothing too elaborate, it was just a simple disguise. Sometimes the simplest things can be the scariest. Those were just two main ingredients that Malevolence rocked my boat with.

For a low budget independent film, it was pretty good. A big hit with me. The acting was okay in the film, but the acting wasn't really God awful either. The cast did a pretty good job overall. It also wasn't a huge cast, there were only six main characters in the film...a true sign of low budget. The actors/actresses did a decent job considering they're a bunch of nobodies. The robbers were actually a bunch of dweebs, but oh well, a horror movie needs some "cannon fodder".

Speaking of the cast, I couldn't find anything on any of them. What they did or what they are about to do. The best performance came from Samantha Dark, the mother in the film. She's practically an unknown actress asked to play a damsel in distress. She did a hell of a job in my opinion.

Sure it may be predictable just like most of the horror movies out there, but I give a huge pat on the back for employing the "old school" factor into the film. It wasn't too gory or covered in over the top blood. It kind of had a nice twist open ending. So if you ever run across it and want to burn an hour and a half, then check this one out.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on April 15, 2005 and went straight to DVD
-Popular enough to score a sequel!

Review #101: The Evil Dead (1981)

Cast/Notable Credits:
Sam Raimi (Director): Spiderman Trilogy

Bruce Campbell (Ash): Darkman (1990)

Ellen Sandweiss (Cheryl): Satan's Playground (2005) (Pictured right)

Trailer:


Plot:

A group of five Michigan State University students (Ash, Linda, Scott, Shelly, and Cheryl)take a weekend vacation in a secluded cabin in the hills and mountains of Tennessee. While having dinner, a cellar floor door mysteriously blows open. Scott decides to go down into the cellar and investigate. He does not return for some time and Ash goes down after him. Once in the cellar Ash finds Scott hiding in the dark playing a prank on him.

The two find an old tape recording machine with a tape still in it and a weird looking book. They bring both upstairs and decide to listen to the tape. The man on the tape explains how he found the book on an archaeological dig. The books text dates back to the Babylonian and Sumarian days and is named Naturon Demonto which translates into the "Book of the Dead". In the sequels it eventually becomes known as Necronomicon Ex-Mortis...aka...the Necronomicon. Scott fast forwards the tape only to stumble across some demonic incantations that unleashes the "Evil Force" in the basement.

Later that night while every one's turning in for the night, Cheryl is drawn outside and into the woods by the Evil Force. She becomes isolated and then brutally raped by the woods. Vine-tree like snakes attack her and place a demonic spirit inside her. Cheryl returns to the cabin all bruised up and wanting to leave. No one else believes her story, but Ash decides to take her to town. Only after driving a little while, they find the old wooden bridge they crossed all destroyed, and they are unable to leave.

Ash and Cheryl return to the cabin and they decide to wait until morning to leave. The five discuss their options as Cheryl becomes possessed by the Evil Force and attacks the group. Scott eventually pushes her down in the cellar and locks the door. For the rest of the night, the Evil Force attempts to possess the remaining students. One by one they fall to the Evil Force, leaving Ash alone at the end to battle it.

The Evil Dead is truly a classic film. Maybe not from a plot perspective, but pretty much on a production level. The Evil Dead (T.E.D.)...that's funny, the director's brother name is Ted, who also makes a cameo...is the benchmark for independent film makers. Director Sam Raimi made a name for himself off this film and eventually franchise.

T.E.D. shows the true spirit of what a couple of friends and a camera can do in the film industry. Where's the a will; there's a way! Most of the cast left the film (took to long to film) and was replaced by crew members, family, and friends filling in for body doubles. Now that's dedication. After reading and researching all the things that went wrong with the production, I have to admit that it's amazing it got off the ground and onto the big screen.

The uniqueness of the film has to be with the use of camera angles and trick photography. Raimi and staff show the world a creative way of filming through out this movie. For example, most of the demon POV shots were done with the camera attached to a 2x4 with members holding each end and running around.

The special effects may have been a little bit too "over the top", which may have led to it's banning in many countries at the time. Huge amounts of fake blood and guts were overly used causing the film's MPAA ratings to go off the charts. In other words, it truly is a "splatter film". But hey, most low budget films thrive in those methods. Probably the "tree rape" scene might be considered...bad taste for some. But I loved it! T.E.D. pushes the boundaries.

The Evil Dead is a cult classic. Any one who is a horror fan must check out this flick. There are aspects of the film that aren't done entirely great, but given the budget and circumstances it has to be labeled as "one of the greats". Also doesn't hurt that "The Chin" is the star of the franchise. Bring on Evil Dead 4! Or the remake. Whatever one is coming out in 09'.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on October 15, 1981 and made $2.4 million at the Box Office
-Budget: $375K
-Filmed in over 1 1/2 years
-Film had distributing problems delaying it's release
-Filmed in a real life abandoned cabin in Morristown, TN; which was later burned down (rumor)
-Movie has been banned numerous times by numerous countries; heavy edits have reduced the countries over the years
-Is still banned from theatres in Germany
-Cheryl "tree rape" scene banned in many countries

Grades are in!

Well the first 100 reviews are done, and the grades are in. A "Benjamin" is in the books.

Hopefully I'll do a better job with the next hundred, now that I have enough done to compare with and create a personal scale. Some earlier film reviews and grades suffered early on because of the limited comparison. Some benefited from it. Here's the breakdown:

A's: 18
B's: 24
C's: 30
D's: 20
F's: 8

As far as the high amount of "A's", that's probably due to my undevoted, unexplained love for the Friday the 13th series. Four out of the eleven are in the "A" category. Surprisingly for me, I graded 3 Halloweens up there. It was a shock to me, because I've always placed that series #3 behind Friday and Nightmare.

Another reason for the higher amount of good grades might be because I choose many of my favorites for the 31 Day Oktober Frightfest Challenge. If I was going to do that many movies, I wanted to watch movies that I could actually bare to watch.

Maybe after the challenge, I'll come back and review a few and adjust accordingly. Hopefully I stick more rants and updates. That will probably follow the 1 year anniversary of the blog.

Review #100: Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Cast/Notable Credits:
Tim Burton (Director): Batman 1 (1989) & 2 (1992), Planet of the Apes (2001), Beetlejuice (1988)

Johnny Depp (Inchabod Crane): Nightmare on Elm Street

Christina Ricci (Katrina Van Tassel): Cursed (Pictured right)

Miranda Richardson (Lady Van Tassel): Chicken Run (2000), Harry Potter 4 (2005)

Michael Gambon (Baltus Van Tassel): The Omen (2006), Harry Potter 3-7

Ian McDiarmid (Doctor Lancaster): Star Wars 1-3,5 & 6

Christopher Lee (Burgomaster): Howling 2

Caspen Van Dien (Brom Van Brunt): Starship Troopers 1 (1997) & 3 (2008)

Christopher Walken (Hessian Horseman): A View to a Kill (1985), Pulp Fiction (1994)

Jeffrey Jones (Reverend Steenwyck): Ferris Beuller's Day Off (1986)

Richard Griffiths (Magistrate Philipse): Harry Potter

Lisa Marie (Lady Crane): Mars Attacks! (1996), Planet of the Apes (2001)

Trailer:


Plot:

Constable Inchabod Crane is dispatched to the little town of Sleepy Hollow to investigate some mysterious murders. The murders are blamed on the famous "Headless Horseman", and Crane is out to use science to disprove their iconic killer. Even after his arrival, the killings continue, with all fingers pointing towards the Horseman.

Crane stays at the town's prestiagious Van Tassel's estate and falls into a bizarre love affair with the family's daughter, Katrina (Christina Ricci) as he continues the investigation. Hey, she's damn hot! I wouldn't mind having a love affair with her.

Still trying to disprove the Horseman theory amongst the township, Crane eventually has a run in with the Horseman himself. Crane quickly shifts gears and focuses on the supernatural aspect of the case. Crane learns that whoever owns the skull of the horseman, they control the Horseman himself, and use him to do their bidding. After meeting a psychotic witch, Crane learns that he must find the Horseman's grave at the base of the Tree of the Dead. When Crane found the grave, they found the head missing. Now Crane must find the keeper of the head, before the Horseman strikes again.

Sleepy Hollow is a great movie to watch during the season of the witch. It truly brings out the true meaning of Halloween. I'm usually not a big Tim Burton or Johnny Depp fan, but they both hit the hammer on the head in this movie.

The style and atmosphere plays directly into Burton's hands. Sleepy Hollow is dark and gloomy. Even the scenes during the day are mostly overshadowed by fog and clouds. Visually this movie rocked! Pictured is a great looking shot at the Tree of the Dead.

The script was well written. The movie played out as a classic murder mystery film. We knew that the Horseman did the killings, but we were left in the dark on who was pulling the strings. That aspect honestly took me by surprise when I first saw the movie in the theaters when it came out. I was expecting just a gory slasher flick with the Horseman being the main guy. I thought he would be killing for revenge on the same night every year or something like that. Instead I was delighted to see something other than a cursed figure out for revenge.

As far as the cast goes, it was an All-Star vetern bunch. Most of them appeared in either a Star Wars movie or Harry Potter movie. Depp leads the way as an awkward constable loaf investigating the murders of Sleepy Hollow. He wasn't quite annoying as Capt. Jack Sparrow, and actually did a great job in my opinion. He was borderline odd, but capable. Christina Ricci is just damn hot! And her character was pretty good too.

Also any movie that puts 3 Star Wars Sith Lords and Christopher Walken in it ranks high in my books. Also a little "eye candy" doesn't hurt either. Lisa Marie pictured right.

The Headless Horseman was visually a great villain. He looked awesome! Before getting his head "lopped off", he was a Christopher Walken portraying his version of Luther the Geek, supporting razor sharp, jagged teeth. Darth Maul (Ray Park) provided the stunts and acrobatics of the Headless Horseman. His swordsmanship is got to be one of the best in Hollywood. We saw him in action in the Phantom Menace and saw some more sword wielding in a battle with Casper Van Dien.

The film is credited with 18 decapitations, but I only counted 13. Oh well, it probably included off screen deaths. But anyways, the tagline for the movie: Heads will Roll. I guess they sure did.

If there was something that I didn't like about the movie, it was the sub-plot about Crane and his mother. I just thought that mini plot was a dumb idea, and pretty much useless to the movie. Sure it gave some insight to the Crane character, but overall the movie could have done away with it.

Sleepy Hollow goes down as a classic "must see" during the month of October. Every year, I continue to sit down some night and watch it. I guess it's some what of a tradition now. It's better to watch on one of those dark, cool, windy nights with all the lights turned off around the house. Sleepy Hollow is not going to provide you with a whole lot of scares, but it's creepy and eerie enough to satisfy the appetite. And have I mentioned that Christina Ricci is hot?

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on November 19, 1999 and made $101 million at the Box Office ($30 million opening weekend)...I contributed about $21 to $22 of it. I saw it twice (once on a date, and another with friends)
-The town Sleepy Hollow was built from the ground up in 3 months; actual town is in NY
-Winona Rider was offered the role of Katrina
-Liam Neeson, Brad Pitt, and Daniel Day-Lewis all considered for the role of Ichabod Crane
-Film features 3 Sith Lords from Star Wars (Darth Maul, Count Dooku, Darth Sidious)
-Casper Van Dien in real life is related to the Van Tassels
-Last movie ever produced on Laserdisc in the world