Thursday, October 30, 2008
The Midnight Meat Train
Last night I had the opportune chance to view a screening of Midnight Meat Train in an actual theater. It was playing in a double feature bill with Candyman at The New Beverly Theater in West Hollywood, Ca. Clive Barker was there to participate with a Q&A from the audience and introduce the film.
The film was originally planned for release in May but due to politics over at Lionsgate Films, the movie was pretty much shoved aside and eventually came out in August. This happened when a new big wig took over Peter Block's job. Mr. Block was in charge of getting Midnight Meat Train out there to the many movie theaters it would play at. Well this didn't happen and it was subsequently released in about 100 movie theaters across the country without any advertisements or trailers played anywhere. You can read more about this HERE
Anyway, I have to say it was a refreshing night for me to actually see a true horror film on the big screen. With all the watered down teen scream flicks out these days, obviously just to make money, it was really nice experiencing a Clive Barker movie in a theater. I haven't had that experience since Lord Of Illusions....even though the movie really let me down. That, too, was a movie adaptation of a Clive Barker short story. With short stories, you only have so much material to work with, so I was happy with the length of the movie and vague explanation of the turn of events in the movie towards the end. To me, this movie was all about the experience. The director, Ryuhei Kitamura, seemed to be quite fond of putting the audience in the perspective of the victims on screen. There were a few moments where it was very successful. I haven't really seen this type of camera work done before. Don't take my word for it, if you watch the movie, you'll understand what I mean with the eyeball scene in the subway.
I'm hopeful we'll get the horror genre back on track. This movie gave me hope even though it was literally thrown under the bus by it's own movie studio. There can only be so many Saws and Hostels before people feel oversaturated with violence and gore without there being any real story or reason in the plot to justify its use.
Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of gore and violence in this movie but to me it didn't seem like it was gore for gore's sake. That's Eli Roth territory. Between that and the endless supply of remakes, things have gotten quite grim for original ideas to get their time of day and audience appreciation.
Anyway, I've gone on a bit of tangent of my issue with the state of horror movies today.
I give the movie 4 out of 5, if I had em. Stars, that is.
Hellraiser Remake News
'Hellraiser' redo in Laugier's hands
Writer-director to help realize Dimension's relaunch
By Borys Kit and Gregg Goldstein (story taken from www.thehollywoodreporter.com)
Oct 29, 2008, 01:00 AM ET
Pascal Laugier, whose horror film "Martyrs" stirred controversy in his native France, is in final negotiations to write and direct Dimension's re-imagining of "Hellraiser," one of horrormeister Clive Barker's best-known creations.
Released in 1987, "Hellraiser" told the story of an unfaithful wife who attempts to assist her dead lover in his escape from hell. The movie introduced viewers to a race of demons called Cenobites, most notably one nicknamed Pinhead -- who became one of the most enduring horror characters of the decade -- who was summoned using an antique puzzle box.
Dimension has been hoping to relaunch the franchise for the past couple of years, first hiring Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo to write and direct a remake then tapping Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton to write a new draft.
ICM-repped Laugier at least seems to have thematic sympathies with the material, with his "Martyrs" beginning as a revenge movie then entering the grounds of spiritual horror, with torture figuring as a focal point. Torture -- though not the so-called horror subgenre of torture porn -- also is a key point in "Hellraiser."
"This is a dream project for me," Laugier said. "I know Clive Barker's work very well, and I would never betray what he has done. Fans are expecting a definitive 'Hellraiser,' and I don't want to take that away from them."
"Martyrs" has been dividing audiences since appearing at the Festival de Cannes because of its unrelenting violent nature. The movie was hit with a 18+ rating -- a rarity in France and an equivalent of NC-17 in the U.S. -- sparking a protest by the country's Society of Film Directors.
At the Toronto International Film Festival, several people reportedly fainted during its midnight screenings. The Weinstein Co. is the domestic distributor, but no dates have been announced.
The remake is part of Dimension chief Bob Weinstein's master plan.
"If I could make all my films from franchises, I would," the Weinstein Co. co-chairman said at the recent Media and Money conference in New York. At the event, presented by Dow Jones and the Nielsen Co., parent company of The Hollywood Reporter, he rattled off a list of other films that he hopes to continue sequelizing, including "Scream" and "Scary Movie."
Borys Kit reported from Los Angeles; Gregg Goldstein reported from New York.
And just because I wanted a taste of what this new director can do, I rewatched the trailer for Martyrs. Here it is.
This Hellraiser remake gives me hope. Hope that it won't suck balls like the Halloween remake.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
The Strangers
It's been quite a while since I've been excited about a horror film. During a time where it seems like films like Saw and Hostel have oversaturated the genre, I've become a bit jaded. I've always subscribed to the idea that less is more. That you don't need to overload the audience with gore and show every little detail to truly inflict fear.
With that being said, The Strangers was a pleasant surprise. I enjoyed this movie a lot. It supplied enough scares and painted a truly frightening situation on screen. What's more, there was hardly any gore and the movie definitely utilized the Hitchcock style.
While watching the film, I noticed how well the director implemented sound to heighten the film's anxiety and in turn the audience's. The camera work, the sound, the lighting, and the overall sense of anticipation of what's going to happen next is something I yearn to see in horror films. When done well, it's a great ride. It was done well here. I couldn't predict really what was going to happen next and for the most part, this movie strayed from the typical formulaic bullshit you find in the run of the mill slasher horror film.
I'm not sure if I would even classify this movie as horror. It's as much a horror film as was Silence Of The Lambs. There's nothing supernatural about this simple story. It's the way the director brought it all together with the actors. As I said earlier, sound and camera work played a big part in making this movie as scary as it was. The actors too, brought a sense of realism to it where you really felt for them the whole way through.
I loved this movie. It doesn't end in a happy way and I heard a bunch of complaints from people as they were leaving the theater. One person even compared this movie with that crapsaster movie See No Evil. Well...there you have it. The demographic wanted something overloaded with gore and details. Whatever, this is probably the reason why movies like The Strangers are few and far between. It comes down to making money.
That being said, the theater was packed. I think this movie will bode well, for the most part and I would suggest anyone who likes a good scary movie to go check this out. It brought back the classic slasher scares that were experienced in the original Halloween movie....at least for me. There's even a scene that seems to be a homage to the closet scene in Halloween.
Good stuff.
If I had stars, I'd give this one 4 1/2 out of 5.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
FIDO
The next title on my Netflix that was received the other night was Fido. This film came out a few years ago and I remember thinking I wanted to check it out. Of course, it's stay in theaters was limited and I never got around to seeing it.
The basic rundown of this film is it's the 1950s and America has survived the Zombie Wars. Main cities are now surrounded by protective gates to keep out the zombies that exist in the "Wild Zone". A company named Zomcon has come into power and helps keep order by controlling zombies with an electrical collar. Let's say it turns them into a cross between a slave and domesticated pet.
It was an interesting concept and kept me chuckling through the film as I saw references to Lassie. It also conjured thoughts of slavery and living through the 50s propaganda regarding Communism and whatnot. But this movie was not that deep.
It was a comedy. The main zombie, named "Fido" by Timmy was played by Billy Connolly. He's pictured in the poster above. I find that to be cool. He conveyed a lot of things by a simple grunt or look. I wish he had dialogue, though. Carrie Anne Moss played the hot mother. Cuz she's hot and she played a mother. It was like Leave It To Beaver meets Night Of The Living Dead.
Overall, I loved the concept but there were times during the film that I got bored. I think it could've survived being an hour long episode of Masters Of Horror and still gotten the point across. The little boy's acting left something to be desired. I think Dylan Baker is a great actor and he played Timmy's father in this. I felt like there could have been more done for his character. If anyone does not know who he is, I suggest renting Happiness. He plays quite the twisted character in that. If you haven't seeing Happiness, rent it. Great cast, great performances, fucked up movie.
But back to Fido.
If I had stars, I'd give it 3 out of 5. If it didn't keep me consistently chuckling to the concept and camp of it, it'd be 2 1/2 stars. But it kept me chuckling, so 3 it is.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
It's trailers like these...
....that give me hope for the Horror movie genre. I'm so utterly sick and tired of the ultra saturated horror porn torture snuff crap that has been the thing to go see in recent years. Fuck Saw. Fuck Hostile. Fuck Touristas.
There should be more original works being greenlit.
The Strangers
Midnight Meat Train
Yes. More movies like these, please.
Anyone? Anyone?
.....Beuller?
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