Horror Double Feature

Halloween is just around the corner and, as I typically do this time of year, I've been watching a few of horror movies to get into the spirit. Last night I ventured into the dark recesses of a couple streaming services hoping to find some spooky options. 

The first movie I decided to check out was American Poltergeist on Netflix. 

Released in 2015, this film is about a group of college kids who decide that this semester they want to live off-campus, and so they rent a couple of rooms at an old house. Of course, this house has a dark past and is haunted. At first it starts out with the landlady acting a little creepy and some strange noises in the house. Eventually, when one of the girls starts to have visions of the people who were killed in the home, things start to escalate quickly. Overall, there is very little positive to say about this movie. The acting is bad, it's not well written, the sound design is shoddy, etc. However, it does hit that sweet spot of being so bad that I found it hilarious. I can't recommend this movie if you're looking for some good scares, with that being said, you may get a few laughs out of it. This one deserves a 0 out of 5 rating but, because I was so entertained by it, I'm going to give American Poltergeist a 1 out of 5.


The second movie I landed on last night was Exorcism of the Dead from 2017, which I came across on Amazon Prime Video. 

Movies about exorcisms have always had a way of suckering me in ever since I first saw 1973's The Exorcist which still stands as the gold-standard of such films. This movie could not be further in quality from that masterpiece. Exorcism of the Dead is probably one of the worst movies I've ever seen. The movie starts off with a woman emailing the Catholic church asking for help as she believes her daughter is possessed by a demon. Eventually a priest arrives and goes up to the girl's room, with her uncle, to perform an exorcism. Most of the movie takes place in this one room and it might be the most boring exorcism ever put to film. Occasionally the movie will venture to another location to show a murder, but it's not much more interesting. This is a rare film with no redeeming qualities, at least that I could spot. I'm giving this one a 0 out of 5.

Hocus Pocus

-As October continues, so do the Halloween-themed reviews.-

1993's Hocus Pocus is an interesting case of a subpar movie that didn't do that well initially upon it's release, going on to become something of a Halloween staple. 

The story about three witches (played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy) who return to modern day (1993) Salem in hopes of reclaiming their youth is an entertaining watch. The comedy is hit and miss, the acting is uneven, and it's one of those films that feels like it's struggling to keep the plot on track as characters keep having to remind each other of various supernatural rules and the abilities of the three witches. With that being said, it does have some genuinely funny moments. It is a family film, so there is never anything scary but it does have a lot of Halloween imagery with the witches, costumes, trick-or-treating, Halloween parties, cemetery scenes, etc. This makes the film good background noise for pumpkin carving or putting up Halloween decorations. 

Obviously not a recommend if you're looking for some scares, but if you have kids or just want to take a break from the blood-and-guts slasher flicks and enjoy something a bit lighter then this will do fine.

2.5 out of 5

Creature from the Black Lagoon

Released in 1954, Creature from the Black Lagoon came out at the tail end of horror's Golden Age which mostly takes place during the 1930's and 40's. This may be a contributing factor as to why the Creature or "Gill-man", while usually lumped in with the Universal Classic Monsters, is not more famous. Sure, the Gill-man's look is iconic but not more than the likes of Karloff's Frankenstein or Lugosi's Dracula.

The film starts of with a man named Dr. Carl Maia discovering a unique fossil of an unknown creatures hand. The discovery leads to couple of scientists setting off on an expedition to the Amazon in search of additional fossils. Soon after arriving at the camp, two of Dr. Maia's assistants are found dead. This, for me, highlights one of the films many strengths: The plot moves along at a brisk pace (the runtime is a little less than an hour and a half) and there's very little time wasted. The first creature attack occurs just after the 10 minute mark. Unable to find more fossils, they hypothesize that some of the rocks containing such fossils may have broken off and traveled downstream. Their boat Captain informs them that the nearby river leads to the 'Black Lagoon', and so the group heads in that direction. Shortly after arriving at the lagoon, the lone woman on this expedition, Kay (played by Julie Adams) decides to go for a swim and this leads to my personal favorite part of the film. The scene of Kay swimming along the water's surface with the creature swimming below is a beautiful little piece of filmmaking. After that, the group has a series of encounters with the Gill-man resulting in a few deaths and injuries, and of course ending with the creature being defeated. 

Overall, this is a very entertaining film. Sure, the musical score is a bit generic with overly dramatic cues every time the creature appears onscreen and the human characters aren't particularly memorable. However, though dated obviously, I think the creature still looks pretty cool, and the 'Black Lagoon' setting provides great atmosphere and tension. 
Not a perfect film, but a solid 4.5 out of 5 and one that I definitely recommend.

A Look Back At 'Psycho' (1960)

One of Alfred Hitchcock’s great cinematic masterpieces (and I would even argue his best) is 1960’s Psycho. I had previously placed it on my ’10 Movies to Watch in October’ list (which you can check out here: http://onlyinthemoviesblog.blogspot.com/2016/10/10-movies-to-watch-in-october.html) but I still felt like I should have given it a little more of a in-depth review.

 This is not only a great psychological horror film but a great film overall, with iconic moments, a great score, solid acting (particularly Anthony Perkins) and wall-to-wall suspense. It’s spawned a couple of sequels, a remake, and TV show. Much like Hitchcock urging theater owners not to let people to enter the theater late, because it would ruin the experience, I’ll give the setup and end it there just in case anyone reading this has not seen the movie.

The Film starts out in Phoenix, Arizona. During a hotel rendezvous while on her lunch hour, a secretary at a real estate office named Marion Crane (played by Janet Leigh) discusses with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis (played by John Gavin), why they can’t afford to get married because Sam is in pretty substantial debt. When Marion returns from lunch, a client comes by the office and drops off a $40,000 cash deposit for a property. Her boss asks her to deposit the money in the bank, and she asks him if she can take the rest of the afternoon off afterwards. But, she doesn’t go to the bank and instead decides to steal the money to give to Sam. So, Marion heads out of town and toward California where Sam lives. That evening, she pulls over on the side of the road and falls asleep, only to be awakened in the morning by a state trooper. He asks her a couple of questions and is suspicious about her nervous behavior but lets her to drive on anyway. Shaken by the run-in with the officer, Marion stops at a dealership and trades in her car for another and then continues on her way.

Later during her travels, it starts raining pretty heavily so she decides to stop for the night at the Bates Motel where she meets Norman Bates and the whole film take a sudden and violent turn.

Like I stated earlier, I think this is one of the all-time great films and it’s always especially good to watch around Halloween. So, if you’re one of the few who hasn’t seen it -or- if you just haven't watched it in a while, go check it out. You’ll be glad you did.

I give this film a 5 out of 5.

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...and for some more good reads check out this Book, Video game, and Comicbook blog:
Boredenthusiast.blogspot.com 

Today's Movie: Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

This 1935 sequel to the 1931 film ‘Frankenstein’ is one of those rare cases in cinematic history where the sequel is often regarded as just as good as the original. It’s well written, James Whale returned as Director, and it stars some of the key cast from the previous film; Colin Clive as Dr. Henry Frankenstein, Boris Karloff as the Monster, and Dwight Frye (although he’s called Karl in this film and was called Fritz in the previous one) are all great.

So, the film starts out with Mary Shelley played by Elsa Lanchester (who also plays the Monster’s Bride later in the film) recapping the events of the previous film while also setting up the story for this one.

We then pick up where the previous film left off with the burning windmill. Somehow both Dr. Frankenstein and the monster survived the fire as well as the windmill’s collapse. While recovering Henry Frankenstein pretty much abandons his plans to create life. But a little later, after the monster scares a bunch of the villagers and takes Henry’s fiancée, Dr. Frankenstein is forced by his former mentor Dr. Pretorius to create a mate for the monster.  And just like the monster in the first film, the creation in this one is built from dead bodies and brought to life during a thunderstorm. 

Overall, the acting is solid (with the exception of the over-the-top performance of Una O’Conner), and the iconic scene with the monster and the blind man is pretty great. However, the film isn’t quite as dark in tone as the original and the ending always felt a little rushed to me. While I do think this is a good film, I still prefer 1931's 'Frankenstein'.

It didn’t quite make my ’10 Movies to Watch in October’ list, but I still recommend it.

4.5 out of 5

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Tonight's Movie: The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966)

This 1966 comedy is a really good, family-friendly movie.

 

In this one, Don Knotts plays a bumbling typesetter named Luther Heggs who really wants to be a reporter. One morning, one of his co-workers at the newspaper tells him a story about the Simmons Mansion, a house that was the scene of a murder/suicide that occurred 20 years ago, and is supposedly haunted.

 Knowing that he’s excitable and easily scared, two reporters decide that Luther is the perfect person to spend the night in the haunted house on the anniversary of the murder/suicide, as it will likely lead to a good story. Because of his drive to be a reporter and his desire to win the attention of a woman named Alma (played by Joan Staley), Luther agrees. That night, while he nervously fumbles around a spooky old house, Luther finds a secret passage, an organ that’s playing on its own, and even a bleeding painting. 

The next morning Heggs gets the story published in the paper and immediately becomes something of a local hero. Everything is going great, that is until he and the paper are slapped with a liable lawsuit from the man who owns the house. This movie a ton of fun from start to finish, and even has a nice little twist at the end.

I really enjoy this one, and I give it a 4 out of 5

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Tonight’s Movie: Snowbeast (1977)

Tonight felt like a good night for a cheesy B-movie.

Right from the get-go, a young woman is killed by a mysterious beast on the slope at a ski resort. As if the death of a skier isn’t enough, the annual Winter Festival is about to begin raising the potential for more attacks. There are a few more deaths and a couple of guys that work for the resort, go out looking for the Snowbeast.

There is also a skeptical Sheriff who serves no real purpose in the movie other than to claim that there is no monster, and that all these people were killed by a crazed grizzly bear.

The actual monster isn’t seen much in the film. We get footprints, growls from off-screen, a lot of POV shots from the Snowbeast’s perspective, brief glimpses of a paw here and there, and people talking about a Bigfoot-like creature in the forest. All of this is used to build up the suspense, and it works fairly well until you actually do see the monster. This creature’s appearance is pretty laughable, but again, you don’t see it that much. 

The acting isn’t great, but it could’ve been much worse and aside from a couple of dull scenes the film moves along at a decent pace. There are a few cringe-worthy lines of dialogue and the way the beast is killed at the end is pretty anti-climactic.

Overall, while not a great movie by any stretch, it is entertaining. 

I give this one a 1.5 out of 5

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