Today's classic horror movie of the week is Phenomena, also known as Creepers here in the U.S. In 1985 the great Dario Argento known for his great hits like Suspiria released the film Phenomena starring a new actress in her first starring role named Jennifer Connelly. The film also stars the late great Donald Pleasence better known for his great work in Halloween and Escape from New York. Most people with the exception of the horror film buffs are very unfamiliar with this undercover hit from Argento. With the film having a bigger and better reception in Europe it was pretty much straight to VHS in the U.S. The plot of the film tells a story of a teen daughter of a famous American film actor who is sent away to an all girl Swiss boarding school. Unfortunately the students are being mysteriously murdered one by one. In addition to her being the daughter of a famous film actor she has a gift of controlling insects, Hens the title (Phenomena). Donald Pleasence plays the Scientist who some how coincidentally and miraculously studies insects and befriends the young Jennifer Connelly. Needless to say for the rest of the film she comes face to face with the killer or killers (Wink Wink), and then calls on her little friends to join the fun. This movie contains lots of great slasher deaths and contains a very well plot unlike most of Argento's films. Of course the acting isn't that great but it is easily overlooked do to the amazing atmosphere that the story takes place in. But please remember, this is typically an eighties foreign film so you really need to be into this type of genre to appreciate it. The scenic shots are great and the ending scenes are disturbing and extremely creepy. I personally think that if you haven't seen it before and feel like being scared, watch it late at night by yourself with the lights off. I promise you won't be disappointed.
As you know in In 2003 we got to finally see what us horror fans wanted to know. Who would win in a fight, Freddy or Jason? Well as you know the folks at Newline didn't disappoint even if their was no clear winner. But after the success of the film there was a large amount of buzz circulating around the movie industry of more fights to come. As you know there were rumors of Ash vs. Jason, Freddy Vs. Jason 2, Or Micheal Myers vs. Jason and many other speculations. So what happened? It's already 2011 and there hasn't been a peep from the folks in the two franchises. I for one think that it's time to finally see Jason and Micheal Myers duke it out with Rob Zombie Directing it. But that's my own pipe dream. I also think Sam Raimi could definitely cast someone good for Ash to take on all the big time boogie men from the genre. Maybe we could ad a few new fights as well, Like the Creeper from Jeepers Creepers Vs. Ash, Or maybe we can get a new Godzilla movie where Godzilla actually gets to fight one of his old adversary's, redone with Micheal bay style effects. Who can tell. All I can say is that maybe it's time to stop putting off what horror fans need to see and are hoping for. Let's get em done!
Movie remakes are hitting the theaters more frequent then ever. Especially in the genre of horror flicks like Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween have bought younger audiences back into the movie monsters of old. But the question is, are they worth making? I think certain movies like The Last House on the Left and The Crazies helped revamp older movies that really fell short of being memorable. But others like The Wolfman and Psycho with Vince Vaughn, (who should have never ever been casted for the role of Norman Bates), really made me want to punch the moron or morons who wrote and directed that movie. Still we got to ask the question, do these remakes really ruin the memory and fondness that we found with the originals? I personally feel that some movies shouldn't be touched and others definitely need to be remade do to the great advances we have made with special effects. The problem is that some of these studios don't know how to remake a movie and also which ones they shouldn't. And if their going to do them regardless of the original directors disapproval, Then they should know how to make them right by catching the same feel as the originals. I developed a strategy to know whether a remake is good before spending my good hard earned money at the theater. When you look at the movie poster, if its too artsy and very detailed with no photo, then you know it's going straight to Dvd in weeks. Also watch for lame actors like Nick Cannon (Day of the Dead remake) and C. Thomas Howell to be in it. It's not very easy deciding on a movie to see hoping it won't suck, but all we can do is hope and take a chance on some of
these horrorremakes.
Upcoming Remakes
The ThingChilds PlayCreature From The Black LagoonThe HowlingThe BlobFright Night
If you are a zombie lover and are in search of a new zombie movie that you haven't seen yet, then this movie is for you. But please keep in mind that this film is foreign and you do have to be OK with subtitles since this movie was made in Norway. It starts out with a group of friends who go on vacation to a remote cabin in the mountains. Little do they know a stranger shows up and tells them a story about Nazi's who died a short ways from their cabin at the end of WWII. A little bit of this, and a little bit of that, and the next thing you know, the poor little group of friends are surrounded by blood thirsty Nazi zombies. This movie was decent despite the fact that there were running zombies and not the traditional type. But you definitely get to see pretty decent action and slasher type deaths.I feel that before you watch this movie keep an open mind and do not hold it to the great zombie standards of the Dead films. The only thing that put me away from the film was that I 'm not a personal fan of the running zombie. And for those who are a fan of the running dead then it should pretty much satisfy your movie needs. This movie is not extraordinarily great but it holds up in today's style of zombie horror.
I Am Number Four is typical of most teen action movies today. The beginning of the movie drags all the way to the end when finally you get a decent action sequence. Unfortunately the movie caught me with the same type of setting as the Twilight films. It captures the same type of characters and looks like it was better suited for teen audiences. If your an adult who likes a realistic more adult oriented action flick this movie is not for you.But if your a teenager who likes the Twilight movies then this is right up your ally. The characters have very little complexity as most of these types of movies do today. This movie is just another example of a great idea that was ruined by a lack of creativity and character depth. This is definitely a wait for DVD title.
Today's Vintage horror flick is (American Gothic 1988). the 70's and especially the 80's were a special time in horror movie history. Although the invention of C.G.I. was not invented, the hard work of make up special effect artists and robotic engineers shined threw very well. Tom Savini and K.N.B. were perfect examples of the great talent in the industry at the time. But like most of those movies they are quickly forgotten with today's young movie goers. American Gothic is one of those movies that was very low budget and not shown too world audiences when it was released. I especially like the cult following the movie has had to this date. The movie takes place when a young women who is recently let out of a mental institution after the tragic death of her child is taken to a small island with her husband and his friends for some R and R. But as they wait to fix their plane to leave theyrun into a family who lives in a house in the middle of the woods. Unfortunately for them the family is not very normal. If you saw the movie you'll understand what I mean. And for those who loved The Munsters T.V. show then you get to see the great Yvonne De Carlo as the mother.Anyways this movie has a really great plot twist and is extremely freaky and disturbing. If you like dark style horror then this classic is for you. Teenagers today usually veer away from movies as scary as this which makes it more of a must see. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see a remake in the near future.
I've watched all the Saw films and have come to the conclusion that the franchise needs to end. In recent interviews actor Tobin Bell who plays the lead character of Jigsaw said that his character still needed to be fully dug into. Which insinuated that there should be more Saw films to come because his character was not fully understood with movie goers. Respectfully to the actor I feel that their is not much more they can do with his character since he was killed off in the third film. I feel that it was almost impossible for his character and his cohorts to develop all those devices and schemes in that limited time that his character had left.
It is obvious to me that the producers are just spitting out these films for the profit motive. And I have no problem with that motive. But I feel that the actors involved as passionate and as they may be about their characters, should not feel that the franchise is some how special in the horror movie genre. It is not. The first Saw was great! It had a great plot and twist at the end, but as creative as the schemes that were developed by Jiggsaw the rest of the films lacked depth and were very predictable. You can also tell that the last four tried to capture the great plot twist of the first one but fell way short. I feel that it is time for this franchise to end and come up with something different but as equally powerful as the first Saw film.
Unfortunately the students are being mysteriously murdered one by one. In addition to her being the daughter of a famous film actor she has a gift of controlling insects, Hens the title (Phenomena). Donald Pleasence plays the Scientist who some how coincidentally and miraculously studies insects and befriends the young Jennifer Connelly. Needless to say for the rest of the film she comes face to face with the killer or killers (Wink Wink), and then calls on her little friends to join the fun. This movie contains lots of great slasher deaths and contains a very well plot unlike most of Argento's films. 
Of course the acting isn't that great but it is easily overlooked do to the amazing atmosphere that the story takes place in. But please remember, this is typically an eighties foreign film so you really need to be into this type of genre to appreciate it. The scenic shots are great and the ending scenes are disturbing and extremely creepy. I personally think that if you haven't seen it before and feel like being scared, watch it late at night by yourself with the lights off. I promise you won't be disappointed.
