The Quintessential John Carpenter : 1978 -1988 Ten Years and the eight films that made the Legend!

John  Carpenter had a golden period for his films,  a magical period, where the films made within this period continues to define the best of John Carpenter’s career and legacy.

But I guess that is the way with most filmmakers, with their work viewed in retrospect. We begin to discern or impose patterns and periods. Peaks and valleys that are potentially arbitrary. For Carpenter you can make the argument that from 1978 to 1988, than ten year period is where his legend and best work was made. From HALLOWEEN in 1978 to THEY LIVE in 1988. I think he has eight justifiable gems, great films, in that ten year period.

Namely — HALLOWEEN, THE FOG, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, THE THING, CHRISTINE, STARMAN, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, THEY LIVE. I omit PRINCE OF DARKNESS, for me an ambitious  idea that is not executed well, but otherwise a fertile and formative period for Carpenter.

And yes I know there are outliers, interesting films outside this period, such as DARK STAR and ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 and 1994’s IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS, but for the most part these are isolated spurts, rather than part of a sustained run of creativity.

So spend time today, thinking on—- the quintessential John Carpenter!

I don’t like slasher films, a term that did not exist before John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN, but sprung up in the wake of HALLOWEEN’s cultural impact, as imitators raced into the void, to be the next HALLOWEEN. I don’t like slasher flicks, or any of the imitators that have risen up, but that first HALLOWEEN film is such an exercise in pure style, both in visuals and in score, 50 years later, the film is still deeply influential. You do not get an IT LIVES or THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL without Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN.

After THE THING, this is my favorite Carpenter film. A simple, elegantly told ghost story. And it made every male of a certain age a fan of Adrienne Barbeau. 🙂 .

My favorite John Carpenter film, and one of my favorite films period. And also the poster child of remakes that surpass the original.

Those are my top 3, after that my list proceeds as follows goes THEY LIVE, STARMAN, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, and finally CHRISTINE.

Thanks for  looking, and feel free to like, subscribe, or comment on your favorite Carpenter film.

Till next time be well, and keep checking out the historic SpaceX flight, on the SpaceX Youtube feed.

Halloween Countdown – 7 for 7 – Seven Movies and Seven Reviews! Day 4!

The INSIDIOUS series is the definition of hit and miss, with the odd ones being good, and the even # ones leaving much to be desired. So INSIDIOUS 1 and 3 (both available on Netflix) make this list.

 

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I was not expecting much when starting my viewing of THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE. I went into it not having read reviews, and knowing nothing about it beyond the poster and people stating it was good. The accolades for it our correct. Also it stars the great Brian Cox, who elevates any movie he is in. WoW this is a good film! A solid B+. (Available on Netflix)

Two great movies about dead bodies, morgues and autopsies in the same year?!! Who would have thought it? The POSSESSION OF HANNAH GRACE makes a GREAT double feature with THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE.  

 

TUMBBAD has truly terrifying moments. A Brilliant film out of India, this is nother MUST OWN film. (Currently available to view on Amazon Prime)

 

 

Another winner is the recent discovery from Brazil, THE BLACK FOREST (El Bosque Negro or A Mata Negra from 2018). See my previous review, highly recommended. This is a must own film. (Currently on Amazon Prime.)

 

Another home-run is the Italian film THE LAPLACE’S DEMON. A puzzle house movie for those seeking intelligence and suspense over gore. A great film. (Amazon Prime)

 

 

That is this installment’s 7 for 7! Enjoy and come back for more selections!

 

 

 

Halloween Countdown – 7 for 7 – Seven Movies and Seven Reviews! Day 12!

 

This film has intriguing visuals, Victor Salva creating another memorable movie boogie man in the Axe-Men, and the syncopated way they move.  However the movie gradually loses steam to a forgettable ending. Worth a look, but not a keeper.

 

DISCARNATE is another movie, where the monster/monster design is unfortunately better than the movie it is in.

The movie is ok, worth a look, but I feel the creature is the most interesting thing, and the surrounding actors and plot, while talented, have the definite feel of very rote and not particularly engaging. When not on the monster effects, it all seems a bit by the numbers.

 

 

 

QUEEN OF SPADES – I have praised this movie before. A lot of other movies do the “kids daring each other to summon up things that go bump in the night” very few do it as competently, or intriguingly, or captivatingly as this film. Most of the time, it is just a bunch of stupid choices made by stupid people, followed by even more “lacking common sense” responses.

Yes we are entering the world of the fantastic, but even in that fantastic world, the responses have to be responses that we feel we would or could make in such fantastic situations.

And when the choices are even more fantastic than the premise, that is when suspension of disbelief breaks down, and we are done with the movie.

That is the problem with the vast number of horror movies. Not so here. You feel the path the characters are on, and the choices being made, are true to the constraints of the world and situation created. Huge fan of this movie. It’s a solid B/B+ of a movie. If you are a fan of LIGHTS OUT the short and feature (while this film isn’t to that level, it is not far off), give this one a try.

 

HELL HOUSE LLC- This has a bit of “people behaving not the way a rational person would behave in such a situation” vibe, it feels to me. However the movie keeps it moving, and slightly mollifies the protagonists stupid actions, by painting him into a corner, and when you feel you are in a corner, stupid decisions tend to trump rational ones.

Besides that, the movie is just well constructed, leading to the forewarned ending. Not a great movie, but a very good one. And one I can re-watch. One of the best Scare House movies (WAY better than the HOUSES OF OCTOBER movies)

BAD BEN series – I can not even tell you how many BAD BEN movies there are. IMDB list at least six, however there may be some tangentially connected films as well. I’ve seen at least 4 of the BAD BEN movies proper, and starting with the 1st (LEAVING DC) I have been a fan.

Just a great series that has fun with the haunted house and found footage tropes.

It is not Shakespeare, does not take itself too seriously (well the first one is the most sinister and ‘serious’ of them all), but isn’t just played for laughs, it is told straight forward, but like SCREAM the protagonist is aware of the movie tropes, so it is a bit “inside baseball” fun to it.  But it is fun, and is better than most horror movies out there that trod similar ground, and that have stupid, unlikable 20-something protagonists.

Ben is a character you definitely like, and root for during his misadventures.

 

HEX– I enjoyed this film. Dire, and complicated, and horrible, and beautiful, and an ode to hatreds and conflicts… and the emptiness and wastefulness of those hatreds and conflicts. It is haunting, in the best and worst ways. Not a big film, or a great film, it is a small intimate film, yet there is something… great in it. Not as beautiful as THE WITCH but it, like that film, stays with you long after you see it.

With a title like THE SHE-CREATURE and being from the schlock days of 1956, especially with the poster art, you wouldn’t expect much from this film. But what people forget is even though the special and creature effects were in their infancy and it shows (that poster is everything that is wrong with this movie, selling the monster rather than the mystery), the acting and direction is actually very strong in a lot of these films.

And THE SHE-CREATURE is an example of real actors (past their prime in some cases, and in roles arguably beneath them, but still delivering that star power), beautiful direction and cinematography and an intriguing premise that includes (for 1956 and arguably even today) controversial concepts of hypnotism, past life regression, spiritualism,  and a palpable racial memory that lives on in our very genes, that hold up, despite the limitations of the creature design and affects.

The film would have been better served if it never showed the monster, or showed it only in brief glimpses (ala NIGHT OF THE DEMON) unfortunately selling subtle over schlock, was not an easy sell then or now.

So we have a movie that is actually engrossing, until the outlandish rubber suit monster at its core turns up. But despite the ludicrous of everything associated with the creature design, there is a brutality to the murder scenes that the monster leaves behind, that is ahead of its time.

And bottom-barrel rubber suit or no, the story and performances around it, keeps me intrigued enough to keep watching. That aside I still enjoyed my watch.

In-fact if you were to CGI in a credible monster, over the awful blonde haired sea-monster with boobies rubber suit (Those are words you do not expect to use together in a sentence. 🙂 . Even for the 50s that monster design is deplorably bad, and a bit inexcusable when people were able to do impressive creature designs such as CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON), or edit around those scenes, you would actually have a good little movie. So definitely not a must see by any means, but it is worth a look on a slow movie day. There are things to like about it, even in 2019 going on 2020. 

So… 4 solid recommendations, and 3 not quite ready for prime time films reviewed for Halloween. If you have Amazon Prime, all the films are available to view at no cost. Come back tomorrow to see what makes the list on Day 11, of our Halloween countdown.

Streaming VOD Channel Review : FILMRISE HORROR – For week ending Saturday 27 Oct 2018

So while I advocate always keeping things you LOVE in physical media, DVDs , Blurays, CDs, etc; the beneft of Streaming and Digital is that it is GREAT for exploring, and finding out what out there is worth having. Most things aren’t, so Streaming is great for a try before you buy methodology, or simply finding new things to watch right now

This installment’s channel up for review is FILMRISE HORROR.

FILMRISE HORROR  – nice interface and good Halloween selection for this free ad -supported VOD/Streaming channel. Also I like that it gives the movies ratings. The lack of ratings and trailers is one of the reasons I left Netflix. Highlight of this channel, as we gear up for Halloween, are:

• BIG BAD WOLF – readily available on other chaneels, it is always a good one to watch
• CREATURE – nice 80s Alien ripoff. But despite that, a good although cheesy watch
• SWAMP SHARK – I’ve actually been meaning to watch this one. A shark in the swap? I’m there! 🙂
• ALIEN CONTAMINATION – Another film I have been meaning to check out
• IMAGES i This is a FANTASTIC early Robert Altman film, during his very experimental phase. With stunning cinematography and a brilliant discordant score this is a film I m proud to own on Bluray. But it is good to know streaming channels are showing it some love.
• MEMORY OF THE DEAD – another one I want to take a look at
• MANEATER – Gay Busey fights a Tiger. I’m there. 🙂
• LYCANTHROPE – I’ll try most horror films that have to do with Werewolves.
• NIGHT OF THE DEMON – I’ll try  most horror fiilms that have to do with Bigfoot.
• STRIGOI – sounds intriguing
• BITE MARKS – intriguing sounding Vampire flick
• THE 4th FLOOR – a top notch cast in this interesting sounding film about an apartment build and a dangerous neighbor
• SPIDERS and SPIDERS 2- I saw SPIDERS 2 and really, really enjoyed it. So looking forward to watching the first one.
• BLOODWORX- I remember this being pretty good
• DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE – interested in seeing this made for TV version
• LARVA – intrigued
• FRANKENSTEIN – A 2015 vod version. May be worth a look.
• WITHER – A swedish I believe, version of EVIL DEAD. A good film.
• BLOOD PUNCH – Fantastic. Lots of fun.
• DER SAMURAI – Disturbing, slow burn film, that is worth a watch.
• IN THE SPIDERS WEB – Another fun Lance Henriksen horror film

All in all, this week FILM RISE HORROR has plentiful selections, good quality, a nice interface, and effective ratings to help you narrow in on a choice, unfortunately the ads are WAY too invasive and plentiful. Grade for this channel is : D-. It is not worth adding to your list.

THE FILMRISE HORROR CHANNEL GETS A FAIL. Do not subscribe to it this week.

Netflix Horror Movie of the Day for Halloween 2015! LET US PREY!

Let Us Prey

2014 NR 92m
Director: Brian O’Malley

Cast: Liam Cunningham, Pollyanna McIntosh

Well made, well photographed, with an infectious score and an insidious, and dire look at evil and more than evil. Reminds me a bit of the wonderful Jeff Goldblum thriller MR. FROST.

Watch this instead of mediocre films such as XMOOR, THE BLOOD LANDS, DEAD WITHIN, FROM THE DARK, MOCKINGBIRD, THE BABADOOK. And other recommended films to try are: LATE PHASES, AN AMERICAN GHOST STORY, PONTYPOOL, FRANKENSTEIN’s ARMY, BLOOD GLACIER, BYZANTUM, THE SUICIDE THEORY.

Grade: Worth Buying