Let me start off by saying that I enjoy the original Paranormal Activity. It isn’t a perfect film and too often it feels like it is borrowing wholesale from Blair Witch Project. Nonetheless, it is creepy and fun. The sequels (of which we will get a part 5 next year as well as a spinoff)? Junk. Lazy, lazy junk. Boring lazy junk. I sat through 2 and 3 in the theater hoping against hope this franchise would get better. I give up hope. Why you ask? Two words: Stupid witches.
In a special segment of Not Quite Horror we have a guest reviewer taking a look at the horror elements behind the sci-thriller hit “Gravity.” Thanks Cody Landman for your take on the flick.
The Monster: Space. Not since Alien(s) has outer space been so terrifying. The vast openness, distance, and lack of oxygen are only just a few characteristics of this terrifying monster.
The Horror: Being put on the same level as the same characters (the 3D really provides this). We slowly begin to feel the lack of oxygen our characters feel as we hold our breaths during the events in front of us. The distance, isolation, and fear of the unknown also bring the horror of the film.
The Shared Fate: Watching the horror unfold for our characters and really putting ourselves in their position, gasping for breath, and striving for the will and strength to survive.
In October, Slasher Studios will be featuring a horror movie each day. Play along at the Slasher Studios Horror Film Club.
This week:
Day 18: A movie people hate that you love
Day 19: A movie that disappointed you
Day 20: A great twist
Day 21: A lame twist
Day 22: Best movie based on a book
Day 23: Scariest old person
Day 24: A movie you expected to be bad, but enjoyed
Listen in live or check out an archive: Slasher Studios Horror Challenge Part IV
Words cannot simply describe the experience of watching “Evil Dead†(2013). For a remake, it feels more like a sequel than anything and I really mean that as a compliment. This is the rare movie that stays true to the original while adding a strong new story, likable characters, and more blood and gore than you will likely see all year. It is relentless in its terror and atmosphere and actually made me feel uneasy at several key moments. If this film had to be cut to receive an R rating, I can’t even imagine what the original NC-17 version looked like. Not everyone is going to come out of this film with the same admiration that I had for it. Those that like their horror “fun†may feel a bit drained by the entire experience but I remember that I left the theater shaking. Yes, I found it to be THAT good.
For no real good reason, I had put off checking out The Faculty for years and years. I was never a huge fan of Josh Hartnett, so I was turned off right away. I had also heard a few things here and there about the alien abduction and
thought, “ehh.” Well, on a random stop at Goodwill, I spotted The Faculty on VHS. It was half off (blue sticker week), so I decided to take the chance. I popped it in the VCR that night and was pleasantly surprised.
Overall, I must say this was an enjoyable film for myself. I am usually into the straightforward slashers, so this was very much out of the norm for me. I found myself wanting to follow these characters and impressed with how the story
progressed. I thought the school location was perfect and the lighting, cinematography and direction was done without many flaws whatsoever.
When it came to the acting, I didn’t really hate anyone. Instead, I enjoyed most of the characters. John Stewart was a fun addition and Jordana Brewster was looking great as always. Josh Hartnett plays a great…Josh Hartnett, nothing
crazy great about him. With Usher on the cover, I was really expecting him to play a bigger part, but maybe that was for the best. There was some CGI at times, but I didn’t mind it too much as I was more entranced with hoping to get another glance at Laura Harris.
This film has a great look, steady pacing and solid acting. A big surprise in my eyes. This was a great find and well worth the two quarters I paid for it. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for 90’s horror and The Faculty is helping to keep it that way.
Not Quite Horror contains reviews of films not traditionally considered horror films. By analyzing them as horror films (identifying the monster, discussing the shared worry for the audience and the main characters, and understanding the depth of horror available to the viewer), who knows? There’s more than one way to watch a movie.
Blood Simple (1984)
In the month of October, I am celebrating the films of Not Quite Horror legends Joel and Ethan Coen.
The Monster: The Coen Brothers debut film is filled with monsters, but private detective Loren Visser (M. Emmet Walsh) is a killer who bites harder than he barks. Visser is hired to catch a cheating wife, and before long the secret lovers, the husband, and the private eye are all scheming to stay alive while eliminating anyone standing in their way.
Visser may be a killer, but he’s hard to hate. He’s likeable and philosophical until he acts. When he does strike, he does so like a Great White shark with its eyes rolled up in its head.
The Horror: Blood Simple’s sense of humor stands a few steps further up the gallows than the rest of the Coen Brothers’ films. The awkward goofiness of later films (for example, Raising Arizona) is replaced with a smirk before death. None of the actors in Blood Simple seem like they really believe they’ll escape with their lives, and yet they struggle on.
The Shared Fate: As their first feature, Blood Simple is the grit that polished the Coen Brothers’ future career style. Later films attempt to cut their nihilism with wacky humor, but this film does not skimp on darkness – from the lighting to the ending and everything else.
Blood Simple is a movie with a moral – you’re going to lose. And when you lose, it will be unpleasant. You won’t see it coming, either.
— I am indebted to Noel Carroll’s The Philosophy of Horror for his ideas on defining horror, as well as John Skipp and Craig Spector’s article “Death’s Rich Pageantry, or Skipp & Spector’s Handy-Dandy Splatterpunk Guide to the Horrors of Non-horror Film†in Cut! Horror Writers on Horror Film for a similar idea.–
–Axel Kohagen
I’ve always been a big fan of 90’s horror and Dr. Giggles did not disappoint. For whatever reason, I have been putting off watching this 1992 movie for a few years now, but finally, the slasher stars aligned and Dr. Giggles was all mine. I found myself very curious as to how this movie would play out for a few reasons. Would this middle aged villain keep my attention? Would the very 90’s characters be likable or would I be dying to see their demise. And always a huge turning point for me, would the production value and camera work be able to rival the blockbuster films of its generation?
Dr. Giggles was played by Larry Drake and I found myself loving him more and more as the story progressed. Turns out, his father was a crazy old murdering doctor himself. We fast-forward 3 decades later and after years locked up in the mental ward, Dr. Giggles escapes to terrorize and kill. Needless to say, he needs to work on his bedside manner as a group of classic horny teens begin to fall one-by-one. The doctors bag, white coat, and inventive deaths help create a memorable killer in Giggles. I loved how he incorporates medical tools with each brutal kill. Many are cut-away deaths, but the way they were shot and the creative ways they happened made for some great visuals and may even force some people cover their eyes…but not me of course…
As a whole, the teen characters were fairly likable. The slutty girls were fun, and although nobody in the group was amazing and unforgettable, they all seemed to be able to play the part that they needed to play. The comedy, when it worked, was a nice change of pace every now and then. I enjoyed the condom-in-the-toilet scene and the little brother playing Dr. Mario was pure perfection.
As far as the production value goes, this held up to most of the rival slashers of its time. There wasn’t anything that put it over the top, but just all around nice work by the entire crew. The camera work was typical, but a dutch shot here and there was a nice added bonus. So, take the doctors orders and add this to your own must-see-list if you haven’t already. Don’t be afraid, Dr. Giggles will take good care of you!
“Poltergeist III†is, by all means, a film that I should hate. It’s a sequel with only two returning characters (Carol Ann and the ever reliable Tangina), it’s PG-13, and it’s supernatural. By all means, this should be on my worst list of horror sequels. Hell, that’s where most other horror fans would put it. But it’s a good film damnit and it’s a film that I will defend until the day I die. To be honest, I just don’t understand the hate for this film. The mirror effects are surprisingly effective and the film attempts to bring closure to the story (even though there are only two returning cast members, it is surprisingly faithful to the original two films). The film is just plain fun from beginning to end and what the film lacks in logic it more than makes up for in inventive special effects. Sadly, this is young Heather O’Rourke’s (Carol Anne) last film as she would pass away shortly after filming would commence. Sure they may say Carol Ann about a hundred times too many but it really just adds to the fun of the film. Have a few drinks and do a toast to Miss O’Rourke, one of the genre’s youngest scream queens that was taken far too soon.
The 1975 film, Jaws, was based on the book of the same name written by, Peter Benchley. Benchley was brought in to co-write the script for Jaws and was lucky enough to have a few other of his novels made into movies as well. Directed by
Steven Spielberg, this film scared many viewers to the point of never wanting to go in the water again.
It’s widely known that Spielberg was having trouble getting the mechanical shark, Bruce, to work properly. He had wanted too show much more of the shark, but due to all the technical difficulties, he had to limit the shots on the shark. Who knows what the final version of the film would have looked like of how the tone would have felt, but limiting the time the camera spent on Bruce, really helped maintain the suspense and scare factor.
The all around production value found within Jaws is what has helped make it such a huge success. The cinematography is picture perfect and has the classic Spielberg techniques. The acting was well done and the score played a giant part in the films marketing campaign as well as setting the audience up for what was to come.
At the time, Jaws had become the highest grossing film to date. With a budget of just $9 million, the shark tale reeled in over $470 million at the box office and has continued to sell copies on DVD and Blu-Ray yet today.
I love just about everything about High Tension. Strong final girl, superb gore, interesting character, fantastic cinematography, it is nearly the perfect slasher until the final act when the film commits a terrible cinematic crime. That crime is a twist for the sake of a twist. A twist ending that makes no sense that, as Roger Ebert put it, “you could drive a truck through…literally.” It nearly completely ruins everything this film had going for it. I won’t give away the ending but was ANYONE a fan of it?