(2005) ** Let’s get one thing absolutely straight from the outset: I watched this movie for one reason and one reason only (and the more alert amongst Horrorthon readers have probably already figured out what that reason is). In one of his commentary tracks, writer-director Nicholas Meyer (who had nothing to do with this movie) [...]
Archive: October 2009
Before MTV commissioned the full-length Aeon Flux series (in which the characters speak out loud) there were six dialogue-free “Aeon Flux” short films which appeared on MTV’s excellent Liquid Television animation anthology show in 1991-2. Peter Chung, the visionary creator/director/writer/designer of “Aeon Flux,” provided commentary on the recent compilation DVD box set, compiling all the [...]
Michael Small’s music for the 1976 John Schlessinger classic Marathon Man, one of my favorite movies of all time, has never been put out on a record. (Judging by Google searches I’ve run, I’m not the only person looking for Michael Small’s music, both from “Marathon Man” and from “Parallax View,” but there’s never been [...]
(1978) * This is really just shooting fish in a barrel, since this movie is such complete garbage, but I have to do it anyway because I’m puzzled and troubled by a surrounding set of phenomena that seem to have some bearing on the broader questions concerning literary vs. cinematic horror, adaptations, suspense plotting, and [...]
(1988) **** This was a problematic movie for me, because of exactly the “remake” issues that have been discussed elsewhere on Horrorthon. There are two versions of The Vanishing: the acclaimed 1988 Dutch original and a not-particularly-well-regarded American 1993 remake. Two decades later, the consensus about today’s Hollywood remakes of foreign horror movies is that [...]
(2007) ** This movie diminished in my estimation with each passing scene, so that my prediction of the rating I would give slipped from four-star to three-star to two-star over the course of its (brief) running length. It’s too bad, because writer/director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and the other filmmakers clearly wanted to follow respectfully in [...]
(1997) ** [NOTE: The following was written in 1997, after my first viewing of Alien Resurrection, and sent by email to several of my friends. Since it's twelve years old, it hardly counts as a Horrorthon review; still, it might have some relevance.] I suppose this is as good an opportunity as any to discuss [...]
(2008) *** When in Rome… This isn’t really my cup of tea, but it definitely delivers the goods, and I have to give the movie full credit for achieving exactly what it sets out to do, and then some. I had a great time, and I admire the intentions and the technique, but I can’t [...]
(2005) *** In between watching two of the seven horror movies I watched since waking up this morning, I decided to take a look at this little-known but awesome film from Czechoslovakia, in which zombie mutant vampire zombie killers ravage a deserted WWII asylum filled with vampire-blood-infected Nazi-victim werewolves who are out for revenge against [...]
(2007) **** I’m told that the box-office failure of Hostel Part II was the main reason that the “gore-nograpy” sub-genre failed (except for the endlessly-lucrative Saw franchise). This is both a shame and a mystery, because Part II is as surprisingly innovative and remarkable as Hostel (2005) (which I liked), perfectly extending and repeating its [...]
Not a movie review; just another recent cartoon (prompted by a discussion with my friend about his teenage step-son). Click image for larger view. I’ll be back on the clock soon, boss.
I’ll get back to reviewing when I return to the city this evening. In the meantime I’ve just got one thing to say (in the spirit of the “best of Horrorthon” awards discussed earlier): Scariest Movie to Think About While Trying to Fall Asleep In a Small Cottage in the Woods: The Strangers
(2008) **** At what point does a trend in the arts become a full-fledged sub-genre or even a “movement”? Manifestos can be written (the Bauhaus; Dada; Dogma) or critics can invent names for what they see (like Clement Greenberg coining “Abstract Expressionism” in the ‘Fifties). I’m not sure whether I’m looking at a trend, or [...]
(1976) ** In 2006, when the remake of The Omen was released on June 6th (and titled The Omen 666, just in case anybody missed the point), the reviews argued that there was no reason to remake the “classic” Omen beyond the 6/6/6 date gimmick; the consensus seemed to be that the original was a [...]
(2008) **** The Strangers is on the opposite end of the horror spectrum from Hostel. It’s pure atmosphere, pure style. As I wrote below, a movie like Hostel works on multiple levels, employing complex storytelling techniques to convey political and philosophical overtones (in the great tradition of Halloween and Dawn of the Dead). The Strangers [...]
(2005) **** This is a very impressive and very interesting movie. It’s quite different from what I had anticipated; it’s cleverer and more sophisticated than its plain, flat presentation suggests. I had certain expectations because of the controversial “gorenography”/”gore porn” labels that got attached to the Hostel and Saw franchises; since I’ve seen three of [...]
These villains constantly pursue me!
