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Picking the rare gems out of a sea of crap.... so you don't have to!

Classic - Evil Pleasures

Movie Review: Fright Night

August 1st 2010 08:33


Plot: A young horror buff by the name of Charlie Brewster (William Ragsdale) becomes convinced that his next-door neighbour, Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon) is a vampire, and must enlist the help of his friends and his hero (Roddy McDowall) to stop his murderous rampage!

Having seen Sarandon in Bordello of Blood, I was inspired to revisit this old classic. The movie follows young horror-nut Brewster as he desperately tries to enlist his friends, and later washed-up horror presenter Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall) to help him combat Vamp-next-door Dandrige. I hadn't seen this one in years, but I've been having a good run with revisiting childhood classics, and so thought I would give this one a fresh reviewing. And, again, this one has failed to disappoint; I can still say with refreshed clarity that this is one of my favourite vampire movies of all time.


Acting: Probably the stongest part of this movie. Simply put, everyone is fantastic. However, there are 4 performances in particular that stand out above the rest. First mention in the best supporting actor category goes to
Now say AAAAHHHHH
Stephen Geoffreys as 'Evil' Ed Thompson. His performance as the quirky if slightly unhinged best friend is top-notch, particularly after be becomes one of the undead. The fact that he went on to star in hardcore gay porn... don't hold that against him (or do, if you're into that kind of stuff!). His high-pitched, maniacal cackle still creeps me out to this very day. However, it is the three leads who steal the spotlight, and what a contest it is to pick a favourite from the trio; Brewster, Vincent and Dandrige. Ragsdale offers a fine performance as Brewster, even if at first it is a bit hard to empathize with his character (I mean... who turns down a long-awaited sexual encounter to stare at a coffin!?). However this is a scripting thing, and doesn't at all detract from Ragsdale's portrayal. However, in my mind his performance is overshadowed by that of Roddy McDowall as Peter Vincent, recently-fired host of Fright Night, and closet coward.
McDowall does something really special with his character, and gives us one of those performances that almost seem written just for that person. Apparently David Tennant (of Dr. Who fame) is set to take McDowall's place in the upcoming remake... not quite sure how I feel about this yet!


I have, of course, saved the best for last. The highlight of the movie, the king among princes, is Chris Sarandon, and his wicked portrayal as the vampire Jerry Dandrige.
I don't think I can emphasize enough how well Sarandon portrays the character, ranging from a ruthless killer to a charismatic seductor with ease. In vampire mode he is, of course, helped out by some impressive prosthetics, but even when he's just plain ol' Jerry, he still manages to convey an air of menace. Sarandon has played some great roles over the years, but to me he will always be Jerry Dandrige.

Script: While I have read some criticisms of the script, I really didn't have any problems with it. Sure, if you look at it too closely you will find some plot holes, and some parts don't make that much sense, but in comparisson to most of the junk around at the moment it's a very solid script. It delves into campiness without becoming cheesy, and manages to achieve that perfect blend of gore, tension and black comedy that is so hard to achieve.

Effects: Excellent. The vampires are
Come here and gimme a kiss!
horrendous looking, and there are several graphic death scenes that were particularly impressive death scenes (Evil Ed, Billy Cole and Dandrige, to be precise). The CGI, while looking dated, is thankfully kept to a minimum (as it should be!), so the movie has aged well.

Overall, this movie is a wickedly fun romp, with some excellent performances and great effects. If you haven't seen it, you're doing yourself an injustice... and if you have, you know it's time to take it out, blow the dust off, and treat yourself to another viewing. I know I will be.
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Posted By: Someone - Category: Vampire, Classic
   


Movie Review: District 9

August 17th 2009 14:06


Premise: Aliens land on Earth, with their ship settling to hover above Johannesburg. Instead of a delegation or an army, it appears the aliens are refugees and their ship has shut down. They are moved to a camp beneath the ship, which quickly devolves into a slum, walled in and ruled by gangs. Fast forward 20 years, and inter-species tensions are at breaking point. Seeking to control the situation, the government hires MNU (Multi-National United) to evict the million aliens, and move them to another camp further outside the city, where they will not cause so many problems.

All I can say about this movie is... wow. Absolutely incredible. Star Trek blew me away, like only a truly breathtaking sci-fi movie can, and this is a feeling similar to what District 9 delivers.

Script: Mind-blowingly excellent. It raises more questions than it answers, but not through plot holes (which is a nice change). I've been reading alot of criticism of the script online, but if you pay attention and think about things a little, there really aren't very many. Just because the movie doesn't spell everything out for you, doesn't mean it's got a weak script.

The parallels with apartheid, and more recently with the racial tensions in South Africa, are easy to draw, and the movie is brutal in it's portrayal. The lives that the 'prawns' lead are not happy ones, and perhaps more disturbing is the fact that the shantytown used in the set is an actual place, evacuated during filming and it's residents moved to upgraded government housing (oddly echoing the events of the film). The only shack created for the film was that of the main prawn, Christopher Johnson. It's a depressing scene, and the fact that these aliens live the lives that human beings actually lead is never too far out of your thoughts during the movie.

Speaking of Christopher Johnson, the idea of giving such an odd looking alien a human name is pure genius. It's such an ordinary sounding name, for such an odd creature. Over the course of the movie, we come to empathize with Christopher Johnson and the downtrodden prawns more than the brutal and oppressive humans, and by the end of the movie I genuinely cared whether or not they were going to succeed. Some of the merit for that goes to the script, which was surprisingly unpredictable. I went in knowing very little about the movie, and had no idea where the movie was headed. Given the glut of predictable, flimsily-scripted films that I have seen lately, it's nice to be entertained like that.

Perhaps the triumph of the movie is, I hate to say it, the CGI. Being a horror man, I the idea of CGI usually doesn't sit right with me, but District 9 is something special. The movie had a budget of (only) $30 million, yet it easily has the look and feel of a $200 million dollar movie. Not once was the movie let down by weak CGI, from the superbly detailed mothership to the alien exo-skeleton (straight out of Aliens and on steroids) and it's impressive arsenal. There were come excellent moments of brutality that left everyone in the cinema a little stunned, especially involving one of the alien fighting-suits.

Acting: The lead, Sharlto Copley, is not a professional actor. He was a sniper in Alive In Joburg, the short on which this film was based, and has no intention of pursuing an acting career. Despite his lack of experience, he displays some pretty hefty acting chops, and puts in a fine performance. David James plays a pretty mean bad guy, as do the various Nigerian gangsters.

Now, it turns out that Blomkamp was working on the Halo movie adaptation, and when that fell through Peter Jackson came to him and said "Here's $30 million, make whatever you want", with District 9 being the result. I have heard unverified rumors that they took the unfinished halo movie and cannibalized it to make this one... and, seeing as I played a lot of Halo back in the day, I did notice some striking similarities. For instance, the white-ish rifle that the marines use is clearly modeled on a Battle Rifle, and some of the alien weapons bear resemblance to covenant weaponry. Of course the movie has nothing to do with Halo, so it isn't necessary to know this, but still worth keeping an eye out for if you're a fan of the games.

Overall... Just great sci-fi. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and will definitely be seeing it again before it leaves the cinemas.
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Posted By: Someone - Category: Classic
   


Movie Review: 1408

July 3rd 2009 13:16


Premise: A jaded paranormal investigative author (John Cusack) travels around debunking supposedly haunted locales, despite the fact he has never seen a ghost. That is, until he decides to stay at the notorious room 1408 of the Dolphin Hotel, despite the strong protests from the hotel's manager (Samuel L. Jackson).

First up, I am a huge fan of both John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson, so my perceptions of this movie may be a little biased. However, I don't think that is the reason I like this movie so much.

Acting: This movie is basically a one man show, centered entirely around John Cusack's character Mike Enslin. Mr Jackson puts in a suitably ominous performance as the hotel's manager, but the focus is firmly on Cusack, who puts in a fine performance.

Script: I've read a few reviews that say this movie is illogical... and to these naysayers, I have this response: You can find flaws in anything if you look hard enough. However, the flaws in this movie's script are not nearly enough to ruin it for me. Another thing I like about the script is that it doesn't even attempt to explain why the room is 'haunted'. Alot of movies fall flat when they venture off into crappy explanations, and I'm glad 1408 isn't one of them.

Direction: the directing from Mikael Håfström is pretty excellent. The movie is a tension-machine, and in several scenes it is so thick you could almost cut it with a knife. As I've mentioned in other reviews, I generally like a good mix of tension and gore in my horrors, but this movie shows that you don't need alot of gore to make a great horror. My housemate watched this one with me, and she reckons she'll have trouble sleeping tonight.

Score: I was surprisingly impressed by the musical accompaniment to 1408. A tension-based movie can sometimes fall flat with a dull and lifeless score, but the music used in this one adds immensely to the tense atmosphere... especially the use of The Carpenters' 'We've Only Just Begun'...

Effects: This one is high-budget, and the effects are pretty top notch. CGI is used, but quite sparingly compared to other high budget films I've seen recently. However, it is effective when it is used, and the more traditional effects are also effectively used.

Overall: I have a growing fondness for tension-based horror, based on excellent movies like this one. I'm even thinking about revoking my gorehound status and becoming a terror-maniac. Who would have guessed?

Hey, is that a pig flying past my window?
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Posted By: Someone - Category: Psychological, Classic
   


Movie Review: Eskalofrío (Shiver)

June 22nd 2009 04:27


Premise: Santi (Julio Valverde), a boy with an allergy to direct sunlight, and his mother (Mar Sodupe) move to an isolated village, where the geography means less direct sunlight and more freedom. When they get there, Santi realizes that there is someone, or something, lurking in the woods. When it starts murdering people, Santi is accused, and must prove his innocence before either the thing in the woods or the villagers target him


[ Click here to read more ]
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Posted By: Someone - Category: Slasher, Classic
   




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