Halloween Picks

The 31st has rolled around again and it's my favorite time of year. So, without further ado, I present 10 of my favorite scary movies for your Halloween pleasure (in no particular order).

1. 28 Days Later - the first zombie film to convert me to zombie fandom. Tired of slow, boring zombies? Well, suffer no more! The undead in 28 Days Later are hyper speed and completely insane!! This is why I wake up every morning, praying for zombie apocolypse.

2. Dead Alive - directed by Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings fame. This movie was made before he was as well known as he is now, and still making quality horror. If possible, get the unrated version. Looking for gore galore? Well, this film has it in endulgent excess with a healthy dose of humor poured in. If you strike out and get the rated version, you're missing the animated intestines.

3. Rosemary's Baby - sure, it's a little tame compared to today's standards; there's no gore and little violence. However, it's a classic, creepy tale that any pregnant woman would shudder at. Even if you're not PG, it's a well-made thriller.

4. Evil Dead - no horror movie list is complete without this title. If you see such a list, it wasn't written by a true horror fanatic. Sure it's campy and low budget and it's basically a one-man Bruce Campbell show, but it's funny as hell.

5. Tale of Two Sisters - this is a Korean film, so be prepared for subtitles. The camera angles are really what make the movie frightening. The first time I viewed this one, I was paralyzed until it ended. Very, very terrifying!!

6. The Eye - another subtitled movie, this time from China. It's about a blind woman who gets an eye transplant and can see the dead. Mostly psychological scares, but very eerie.

7. The Shining - from one of the best directors in history; Stanley Kubric. Need I say more? It also has little to do with the author of the book by the same name. For some reason, it's the weird bear costume scene that scares me the most.

8. Halloween - the first one. Legendary to be sure. I cannot vouch for the rest of the series, but the initial film is solid.

9. Night of the Living Dead - another classic. The entire movie is filmed in black and white and it's of the slow zombie variety, but a good foundation in horror films starts with this one.

10. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original version) - This movie is hands down, the most terrifying movie I have ever seen. Seriously scared the crap out of me! If you've ever driven through the rural parts of Texas, or any other small town roadside stop, you might know that fear. The really frightening thing about this film is that, in most horror films, the woman runs outside in her neglige and high heeled slippers to check out strange noises. In TCM, the lead character does everything I would have done and still finds herself in a nightmare.

**Bonus Pick** High Tension - a French horror film. Yes, there ar subtitles, but not many at all. The movie is mostly action and - indeed - tension. See it, see it, see it. High Tension knocked Fight Club out of it's number one status as my favorite movie of all time. It's since been replaced by Grindhouse, but that's another review for another time.

I hope you enjoy my Halloween suggestions and have yourself a ghoulish holiday!

Unbreakable (2000)

Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Format: DVD
Disk Features: (coming soon)
Starring: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright Penn, Spencer Treat Clark

”This morning was the first morning that I can remember that I didn’t open my eyes and feel…sadness” ~ David Dunn

There was a time, back in high school, when I was a comic book junkie. I spent all of the money I earned working at Domino’s Pizza at the comic store in the mall. My love affair with comics and manga went on for years and I still wander into a shop every now and then. So, I’m always interested when a movie comes out that was either based on a comic book or draws a heavy influence from them. Unbreakable, while not derived directly from the pages of any Marvel or DC title, is about comic books and the heroes and villains that inhabit their pages.

David Dunn (Willis) can’t remember ever having been sick, broken a bone, or taken a day off due to illness. After he survives a catastrophic train wreck, unharmed, he finds a note on the windshield of his truck. The mysterious note leads him to the proprietor of a comic art gallery, Elijah Price (Jackson). Quite the opposite of Mr. Dunn, Mr. Price has suffered so many injuries due to his fragile bones that the children at school dubbed him “Mr. Glass.” In a very calm and matter of fact manner, Price explains to Dunn and his son that he feels comics have their roots in history. The way legends have been passed down through illustration in cultures all over the world, comic books may very well be a dramatic rendition of ancient truths. In a nutshell, Elijah Price thinks Mr. Dunn may very well be a superhero. As might be expected, Dunn thinks Price is a crackpot and ushers his son out of the building. But, due to the rather persistent insinuations of Elijah, Dunn starts to come around to the idea.

The camera work of Shyamalan in Unbreakable is clever and creative. In one of the earliest scenes, the conversation between Dunn and a young woman on the train is shot entirely from the perspective of a little girl, looking between the seats at them. Another scene is shot at a blank television screen, reflecting the characters. There are several scenes in the movie with unusual angles such as these and I hadn’t noticed the same technique in the director’s other films. During flashback scenes, he uses a monochrome lens; showing all but the main focus of the shot in dulled tones. While not completely original (Schindler's List uses it too), it’s still an effective method.

One of the things I notice most about Samuel L. Jackson’s acting is his talent with dialogue, most notably illustrated in Pulp Fiction. He delivers lines clearly, calmly and with just the right tone. The better directors seem to know how to utilize this skill when they give him the script. Unbreakable is no exception. Although Price is explaining a somewhat outlandish theory, it comes out sounding completely logical. Bruce Willis has worked with Shyamalan before, in The Sixth Sense. I think the two men work well together. I much rather enjoy seeing Willis in departures from the testosterone overload films like Die Hard. The actor who plays Dunn’s son, Spencer Treat Clark, does a really fantastic job. Even before he learns that his father may be the stuff of legend, it’s clear that he views the elder Dunn as a hero. In the last scene of the movie, he communicates the emotions of his character better than most child actors could. One of the characters I couldn’t help but feel for was Elijah’s mother, Charlayne Woodard. She’s a terribly strong woman and a great maternal figure.

While I have always been partial to Shyamalan’s films, Unbreakable has always seemed underappreciated to me. His take on the superhero genre is refreshing. Somehow, the whole movie is infused with a sort of eeriness. The first scene of the movie gives me chills each time I see it and sets a great tone for the rest of the story. Underlying the hero/villain story is the relationship between Dunn and his wife (Penn). There’s a sadness between them that makes the hero a bit more human. Shyamalan does a wonderful job of making the whole fantastic tale feel very real.

Overall Rating: 4
Hottie Rating: 3 (Willis is a loveable hero)

Alternate Viewing: Lady In The Water
Official Site: none found
IMDB Site
Pop Matters review *spoilers*

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Lucky Number Slevin (2006)

Director: Paul McGuigan
Format: DVD
Disk Features: Commentary, deleted scenes, trailers, making of
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Lucy Liu
Trailer

”Sometimes there’s more to life than just livin’.” ~ Mr. Goodkat

A good intrigue movie is hard to come by lately. In the days of Humphrey Bogart and French Film Noir, it seems that mystery was in its heyday. So, I really love to see something come out with a solid sense of style, snappy dialogue and a truly engrossing plot in the modern age of cinema. Few filmmakers nowadays seem to be able to roll those three criterion into one successful film, but every now and then, something special comes along.

Have you ever heard of a Kansas City Shuffle? Lucky Number Slevin begins with an explanation of just what one is. It all starts with a horse race, and a hot tip that makes it’s way around, only to land with one man’s family destroyed. Several years later, the mysterious Mr. Goodkat (Willis) returns to New York and one Slevin Kelevra (Hartnett) gets mistaken for someone he’s not. It seems that Nick Fisher is in trouble with the mob. Slevin, who’s staying at his friend Nick’s house, is abducted by both The Boss (Freeman) and The Rabbi (Kingsley), mistaking him for Fisher. Slevin discovers that he’s got to come up with several thousand dollars, in addition to killing a man, to get out from under the rival mob bosses thumbs. Meanwhile, he runs into Nick’s neighbor, Lindsey (Liu), who’s love of Columbo and a good mystery draws her into the plot.

The sets in Lucky Number Slevin are almost enough to make the movie worth watching by themselves. The incredibly cool wallpapers in Fisher’s apartment building are sheer eye candy. The Boss’s lair is beautifully constructed, right down to the dramatic staircase. The wardrobe, although not quite as elaborate, is aesthetic bliss as well.

After seeing Josh Hartnett in this movie, I needed an entire roll of paper towels to wipe the drool off of my chin. Going back through his filmography, I realized that I’d already seen a good portion of it. Not only is Hartnett easy on the eyes, he makes Lucky Number Slevin stand out as an example of his acting talent. Bruce Willis is great, because of his smooth delivery and wry smile. Freeman and Kingsley play wonderfully off of each other as the bitter rivals they are. Kingsley’s portrayal of a Rabbi is a tad bit over the top though. Liu is adorable in this movie. Her character is wonderfully sweet and adventurous.

The combination of great dialogue, lovely scenery and truly engrossing mystery make Lucky Number Slevin one of my top picks for the year. The twist is unpredictable and each of the characters is expertly played. After I rented this from Netflix, I had to make it part of my collection. I’ve watched it so many times since, I find it hard to believe that the film is only a year old. But, the replay value has proven to be worth the cost of the DVD. It’s also a film that I think both guys and girls can appreciate, without there being so much action as to be a “guy movie” and so much romance as to be a “chick flick”. If you’re a fan of Tarantino movies, it may be a great substitute to pop in the player when you’re sick of watching Kill Bill.

Overall Rating: 5
Hottie Rating: 5 (for Josh Hartnett spending half the movie in nothing but a towel – Meeeow!!)

Alternate Viewing: Brick
Official Site
IMDB Site
The Vocabulariast review

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Rawhead Rex (1986)

Director: George Pavlou
Venue: Online
Starring: David Dukes, Kelly Piper, Heinrich von Schellendorf, Niall Toibin

The 1980’s produced a number of good movies. The Breakfast Club with Emilio Estevez and Molly Ringwald was one of my favorites. Back to The Future with Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd was an instant classic. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off tops my list of best 80’s movies. It’s true that not everything created in the 80’s was a good thing. If you’re as old as I am, you’ll remember the wall-o-bangs hairstyles, legwarmers and baby boomers. Yet, certain things born in this era should stay buried in the past. In fact, some movies are so bad, so criminally awful, so devoid of any redeeming quality, that every last copy should be hunted down and tossed into the flaming pyre of shame, along with their creators.

Rawhide Rex does indeed have a plot. Granted, it’s pathetically contrived and about as weak as a 2 day old puppy, but it’s a plot nonetheless. The story takes place somewhere in Ireland, in a rural village. When a local farmer uproots an ancient monolith, the legendary demon, Rawhead Rex is released and begins to terrorize the township. Howard Hallenbeck (Dukes) and his family have arrived just in time for the massacre. Hallenbeck has been carting his family around the countryside, photographing small churches and attempting to uncover their Pagan roots. Luckily for the rest of the population, his photos hold the key to stopping the demon.

As you may have guessed, the prominent character in Rawhide Rex is, in fact, Rawhide Rex himself. With that in mind, it’s reasonable to expect a little bit of effort to go into the costume. However, a gorilla suit, a dime-store Halloween mask, and a few castoffs from the Mad Max wardrobe room don’t quite scream, “resurrected demon from Hell” to me. Rex is basically Heinrich von Schellendorf running around in a cheap costume yelling, “Rawr!”. His little devotee is father Declan O’Brien (Ronan Wilmot), who becomes so after touching a mysterious hot spot on a table in the church (I kid you not). In a WTF moment toward the climax of the movie, Rex unexpectedly “shoots his load” all over the priest. I suppose that’s what he gets for dropping the F-bomb about 20 times in a row inside a church.

The protagonist in the picture isn’t much more entertaining and his family pretty much deserves to be torn to shreds by Rawhead Rex. His wife Elaine can’t seem to find anything to wear except her nightgown and takes absolutely no interest in parenting her two kids. Little Robbie Hallenbeck (Hugh O’Conor) is a mouthy brat who keeps his nose in his comic books and smarts off to his parents constantly. The little girl’s name is Minty. Who names their child Minty? Other than constantly whining, she’s a typical tyke. Hardly any of the rest of the characters in this movie are worth mentioning, except that they’re a mob of Irish stereotypes – ignorant and drunk.

Watching Rawhide Rex, one almost expects to see three little silhouettes in the bottom corner, cracking wise about the movie. However, if you find yourself watching this monstrosity, it won’t be hard to make up your own clever quips. That might be the only way to survive the 89 minutes of your life flushing rapidly down the drain. There’s absolutely nothing in this movie worth taking seriously and it’s even too bad to have that camp appeal which might otherwise make it bearable. No wonder I was never a Clive Barker fan. Heed my warning and avoid at all costs.

Overall Rating: 0
Hottie Rating: 0

Alternate viewing: Hellraiser
Official site (none found)
IMDB site
Cavalcade of Schlock review

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