Kevin & Steve’s Horror Movies: “The Granny” (1995)

Granny

Kevin: Directed by Luca Bercovici, “The Granny” is one strange horror comedy with a lot of unlikable characters and a very attractive but very bland final girl. This is exactly the kind of movie that should work but does thanks to a terrific performance by Stella Stevens as the title character. I admire an older actress that is willing to do anything and everything it takes in order to get a cheap laugh.

Steve: The cast within The Granny is a fun and diverse mix of age and personality. You’re not going to find any breakthrough performances here, but all are solid and get the job done. The Granny herself kills it with a few hysterical one-liners and iscomplimented by the more serious and professional Stella Stevens role.

Kevin: You see Granny’s family is a pack of vultures who want her dead in order to claim her inheritance. When a strange man offers her a magical elixir that promises to keep her alive (and beautiful) forever, she accepts. But..she doesn’t listen to the rules and all breaks loose.

Steve: The rules are very clear and Gremlins-esque, but of course, things do not go as planned. We have a crazy cat, a lot of blood and some very inventive and gory deaths. The family of crude and rude misfits plot against Granny in an hour of greed and get everything that they deserve.

Kevin: Wanna see a fur coat come to live and bite an evil hag of a woman to death? How about an elderly woman deep throat her decaying husband who has been dead for years? It’s all very strange but somehow it works. The dialogue is sometimes quite clever (though granny is given one too many one liners for my taste) and the actors sink their teeth into these roles with gusto. It definitely isn’t perfect and the CGI effects both at the beginning and at the climax are all sorts of awful but it is fun.

Steve: What this film my lack in budget, it makes up for with some inventive and unique camera work and interesting angles. It will definitely catch you off guard and can even take you out of the film at moments, but overall, I feel the oddness of this film this is what The Granny thrives on. If you are into experimental camera work and mean old ladies, then this film should be on the top of your to-watch list!

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“Final Destination 3”: Dead on Arrival

When Wendy Christensen has a vision of an accident on the roller coaster, resulting in her and her friends’ deaths, she instantly begins to panic, causing more of her friends to be left of the ride. The remaining friends, including Wendy’s boyfriend, are stuck on the roller coaster and find themselves involved in the accident. With death waiting around the corner, Wendy and Kevin Fischer must try and work out death’s plan, before they and the remaining survivors end up dead. Ahh, gotta love the Final Destination movies. As stupid as some of the stories sound, they manage to get the job done in bloody, inventive ways. Final Destination 3 opens with said rollercoaster accident in what may be the best opening act for a horror movie since, well, Final Destination 2’s freeway accident.

The acting is bad, the story borderline, but it doesn’t really matter. The deaths (nail gun, tanning bed, cherry picker) are ingenious in their design and that ending is one of the better ones of the series. Nonetheless, in all honesty, this is probably my least favorite of the franchise. The characters are pretty annoying and movie feels strangely padded. After the wonderful “Final Destination 2”, this feels a bit like a let down. That being sad, there is enough carnage candy to go around for those who love their bodies extra bloody. This isn’t high art by any means but it gets the job done.

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