Tuesday, November 11, 2014
No Hope November - Day 4 - "Gargoyles"
No Hope November continues with a day four feature that takes us into a category that brought many outstanding movies. The category is 1970's era made for television movies, and the movie is "Gargoyles." Starring Cornel Wilde as an anthropologist that stumbles across a tribe of living Gargoyles in a cave, this flick is totally awesome. With a great cast including Jennifer Salt from Soap as the anthropologists daughter, Scott Glenn, Grayson Hall from Dark Shadows fame, and Ber...nie Casey as the freaky lead Gargoyle.You may remember this film being shown often on Saturday afternoons years ago on cable. It was on all the time. If it has been a while since you have seen it I would recommend checking it out once again. Not actually scary, but there is a definite creepy atmosphere running throughout Gargoyles. The monsters look super weird,with designs by Stan Winston, and I love the flying scenes where they make barely any effort at all to hide the wires that they use for the special effects. Classic 70's stuff. There were so many cool made for TV horror movies during that time. Some genuinely good, scary movies. Maybe more of them will get a mention before No Hope November reaches its conclusion. Enjoy Gargoyles.
No Hope November - Day 3 - "From Beyond"
Day 3 of No Hope November takes us back once more to Lovecraft Land. If it's a movie with HP Lovecraft themes, directed by Stuart Gordon, and featuring Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, and Ken Foree (from Dawn of The Dead for the old schoolers or Kenan's dad from Kenan and Kel for the young whippersnappers), well you can surely count me in. "From Beyond" is a twisted mess of a mind freak, with gore, sex, and bizarre creatures that feed on brains. Not to mention experiments in reaching into a parallel universe and pulling things back to ours.This flick starts out screwed up and then dials the disturbo meter up to 11. Sick, deviant, and bothersome. Doesn't get much better than this.
No Hope November - Day 2 - "Just Before Dawn"
Episode 2 of No Hope November features one of my favorite slasher movies from the early 80's, "Just Before Dawn." The plot is basic slasher. Young dude inherits land out in wilderness. He and his friends go to check it out. They are warned by local sheriff to stay away. They ignore warning and head into the mountains for camping and debauchery. Very bad things begin to happen. The plot is basic but effective. The movie is well acted and worthwhile. An outstanding killer and all the typical elements for a movie of this type. I absolutely love this movie!
No Hope November - Day 1 - "In The Mouth of Madness"
For the month of November 2014 I thought I would undertake a fun little project. Welcome to "No Hope November," where each day will feature a movie from my collection. Look some of these up and check them out. Day 1 is John Carpenter's "In The Mouth of Madness." Based on HP Lovecraft's writings and starring Sam Neill as a Stephen King-like horror writer descending into a nightmare world of madness in which the veil between realities is getting thinner by the minute. Watch this under rated classic, and when you figure out what the hell happened, let me know, cuz I'm still not sure. I am sure it's a great movie though.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
MOVIE MUSINGS - Annabelle
So the good Captain made it out to see Annabelle. I wanted to see this since I first heard of its production. Let's not dilly dally, but jump right into it.
Annabelle is a sort of prequel to last years best horror movie, "The Conjuring." The Conjuring was a haunted house story that I truly enjoyed. It featured fictionalized versions of the demon hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren. Annabelle mentions the Warrens without them appearing, and it is done in a nice manner.
This film is not the most original ever produced, but if you are up for a somewhat formulaic romp through numerous tried and true horror conventions, with many jump scares and some decent atmosphere, then this is for you. It's well acted, has interesting cinematography, and a decent, although familiar, story. The musical score is also well done, and adds a feel of foreboding to many scenes.
Imagine a mix of The Omen, with parts of Rosemary's Baby, and Child's Play, and you have the ingredients that were used for Annabelle. Oh,throw in a pinch of Helter Skelter as well, and let it simmer in the back of your mind. I'm not complaining, I love all of those movies, and I also don't mind formulaic. If it works, it works. 80's style slasher movies are a personal favorite of the Captain, and let's face it, they mostly follow a pretty similar pattern.
When a movie has a plot involving a Satanic cult named The Disciples of The Ram, you can go ahead and count me in. I don't want to give away spoilers to the story itself, so I will mention a few themes. A new born baby, satanic cult, used bookstore, a caring Priest, a possessed doll, and possibly Satan himself (maybe just a demon and not the head guy from the deep south). Plus a young traumatized new mother with emotional problems who is left on her own with her baby for long periods of time. A sewing machine that runs on its own and a record player that plays on its own. Also, upstairs neighbors that make a lot of noise even though the people live on the top floor. Not even sure if that was suppose to happen or if it was a blooper.
Don't go into this expecting Gone With The Wind. Instead, go into it expecting a cross between The Conjuring and Paranormal Activity as far as scares go. I do recommend seeing this movie in a theatre if possible, as the discomfort of the other movie goers around you adds significantly to the experience. You hear people fidgeting in their seats during certain parts and you also hear the occasional editorial comment along the lines of "aw HELL NO" as things creep up on the unsuspecting victims.
That is enough info for now. Go see Annabelle. Captain Creepy enjoyed the "Hell" out of it. Bwahahahaha. 5 stars.
Next up in the hopper, Ouija. Can't wait!
Annabelle is a sort of prequel to last years best horror movie, "The Conjuring." The Conjuring was a haunted house story that I truly enjoyed. It featured fictionalized versions of the demon hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren. Annabelle mentions the Warrens without them appearing, and it is done in a nice manner.
This film is not the most original ever produced, but if you are up for a somewhat formulaic romp through numerous tried and true horror conventions, with many jump scares and some decent atmosphere, then this is for you. It's well acted, has interesting cinematography, and a decent, although familiar, story. The musical score is also well done, and adds a feel of foreboding to many scenes.
Imagine a mix of The Omen, with parts of Rosemary's Baby, and Child's Play, and you have the ingredients that were used for Annabelle. Oh,throw in a pinch of Helter Skelter as well, and let it simmer in the back of your mind. I'm not complaining, I love all of those movies, and I also don't mind formulaic. If it works, it works. 80's style slasher movies are a personal favorite of the Captain, and let's face it, they mostly follow a pretty similar pattern.
When a movie has a plot involving a Satanic cult named The Disciples of The Ram, you can go ahead and count me in. I don't want to give away spoilers to the story itself, so I will mention a few themes. A new born baby, satanic cult, used bookstore, a caring Priest, a possessed doll, and possibly Satan himself (maybe just a demon and not the head guy from the deep south). Plus a young traumatized new mother with emotional problems who is left on her own with her baby for long periods of time. A sewing machine that runs on its own and a record player that plays on its own. Also, upstairs neighbors that make a lot of noise even though the people live on the top floor. Not even sure if that was suppose to happen or if it was a blooper.
Don't go into this expecting Gone With The Wind. Instead, go into it expecting a cross between The Conjuring and Paranormal Activity as far as scares go. I do recommend seeing this movie in a theatre if possible, as the discomfort of the other movie goers around you adds significantly to the experience. You hear people fidgeting in their seats during certain parts and you also hear the occasional editorial comment along the lines of "aw HELL NO" as things creep up on the unsuspecting victims.
That is enough info for now. Go see Annabelle. Captain Creepy enjoyed the "Hell" out of it. Bwahahahaha. 5 stars.
Next up in the hopper, Ouija. Can't wait!
Thursday, October 2, 2014
MOVIE MUSINGS - Amazing Spiderman 2
Captain America The Winter Soldier is a huge, epic, world changing movie. Amazing Spiderman 2 is more local, staying in New York. As with most Spidey stories, this is chocked full of the teenage angst of Peter Parker and all of the problems he has to deal with. Peter can never quite seem to get over the hump. It's a personal story of the tragedies and triumphs of your friendly neighborhood 30 year old high school senior.
Andrew Garfield is fine as Spiderman. I'm just glad they finally had him graduate high school since Garfield is 30 years old, and looks it. It is quite a reach to see him as a high school kid. My suspension of disbelief can only take me so far. Spiderman looks Amazing in costume, and the effects of him swinging through the city are tremendous.
A great thing about sequels of this type is that normally during the first film in a series the majority of the time is spent on the origin of the character, and at this point, who really needs to spend 3/4 of a movie seeing the origin that we all have known our entire lives. At the start of this movie, our protagonist is already a seasoned and confident hero, and this is how I prefer to watch him. A confident and competent Spidey is fun.
Dane DeHaan plays Harry Osborn and he is a super actor that dominates most of the scenes in which he appears. Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy is also good. Sally Field is cast as Aunt May and I didn't care for her in this role. Hard to define exactly why, she is a fine actress, but just isn't Aunt May to me.
One of my favorite things in the entire show is during the climactic scene as an incredible event happens, the face of a giant clock is shown and the time displayed is 1:22. When this event happened in the comic book back in the 1970's, it was in Amazing Spiderman number 122. Nice little Easter egg for those paying attention.
There were a few things that bother me pretty bad about this movie. Jamie Foxx character is absolutely ridiculous. Not Electro, but the scientist he portrays before becoming a super villain. His hair is just dumb, and his motivation for hating Spidey borders on embarrassing. The fact that Gwen shows up in the big final scene is also silly and doesn't feel right. Finally, the transformation by Harry Osborn into the Goblin happens so fast and nonsensically that it is hard to overlook. "I need Spiderman's blood. No! You can't have it! I hate you, you are Peter Parker, you aren't my friend, you suck and I'm gonna kill you." That is about how quick all that happened. Immediately transforms into Goblin and is a master on his flying jet ski. Not good.
Overall, I have to overlook some big holes in the script and some serious pacing problems and accept the film for what it is. A fun, action packed popcorn movie with heart and good acting.
Captain Creepy rates Amazing Spiderman 2 a low 4 out of 5 radioactive spiders.
Oh, and Rhino is pretty stupid in that dumb suit.
Andrew Garfield is fine as Spiderman. I'm just glad they finally had him graduate high school since Garfield is 30 years old, and looks it. It is quite a reach to see him as a high school kid. My suspension of disbelief can only take me so far. Spiderman looks Amazing in costume, and the effects of him swinging through the city are tremendous.
A great thing about sequels of this type is that normally during the first film in a series the majority of the time is spent on the origin of the character, and at this point, who really needs to spend 3/4 of a movie seeing the origin that we all have known our entire lives. At the start of this movie, our protagonist is already a seasoned and confident hero, and this is how I prefer to watch him. A confident and competent Spidey is fun.
Dane DeHaan plays Harry Osborn and he is a super actor that dominates most of the scenes in which he appears. Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy is also good. Sally Field is cast as Aunt May and I didn't care for her in this role. Hard to define exactly why, she is a fine actress, but just isn't Aunt May to me.
One of my favorite things in the entire show is during the climactic scene as an incredible event happens, the face of a giant clock is shown and the time displayed is 1:22. When this event happened in the comic book back in the 1970's, it was in Amazing Spiderman number 122. Nice little Easter egg for those paying attention.
There were a few things that bother me pretty bad about this movie. Jamie Foxx character is absolutely ridiculous. Not Electro, but the scientist he portrays before becoming a super villain. His hair is just dumb, and his motivation for hating Spidey borders on embarrassing. The fact that Gwen shows up in the big final scene is also silly and doesn't feel right. Finally, the transformation by Harry Osborn into the Goblin happens so fast and nonsensically that it is hard to overlook. "I need Spiderman's blood. No! You can't have it! I hate you, you are Peter Parker, you aren't my friend, you suck and I'm gonna kill you." That is about how quick all that happened. Immediately transforms into Goblin and is a master on his flying jet ski. Not good.
Overall, I have to overlook some big holes in the script and some serious pacing problems and accept the film for what it is. A fun, action packed popcorn movie with heart and good acting.
Captain Creepy rates Amazing Spiderman 2 a low 4 out of 5 radioactive spiders.
Oh, and Rhino is pretty stupid in that dumb suit.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Tribute To A Friend
We use to sit in a tent in his backyard reading comics. We read books about the Bermuda Triangle and Bigfoot. We played tag and Monster Around the Garage. We would spin around in circles until we were too dizzy to stand. We laid on our backs in the grass on hot summer nights looking at the stars and picking out constellations. We rode bikes and chased down the ice cream truck when it came through our neighborhood. We listened to 45's on the record player. We played baseball in the field next to the cemetery. We talked about the Six Million Dollar Man and Logan's Run. We played Hot Wheels, Army, and Cowboys and Indians. We went to Cedar Point and ran as fast as we could to get in line for The Blue Streak and The Mine Ride. We watched people throw up on the Rotor and we laughed.When I got home from the Army we would go to the Silver Dollar Saloon and listen to bands and talk to chicks. We drove around our Trans Ams and thought we were hot stuff. We got an apartment and were roommates. When I got married he was my best man. When we got older we lost touch, but every once in a while we would talk on the phone about work, and family, and both of our favorite team, the Miami Dolphins. Memories of you are scattered through my life. May you rest in peace Kerry. Thank you for being my friend.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)