31 Days of Halloween

I'm getting back into the swing of things. PG COOPER WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED ANYMORE!  


THE CAR (1977)




If you felt that Steven Spielberg's 1971 breakout film, Duel, needed more violence and mayhem then The Car is the movie for you. It's literally about a supernatural car that kills people at a small town. That's it. It stars James Brolin, Ronny Cox and a bunch of other people. But they don't matter and the story doesn't matter either. The purpose of The Car is to watch outlandish stuff. There's literally a scene where The Car drives through a house and kills a person. Seriously. It doesn't crash into a house. It drives through a fucking house. You can't help but laugh at how stupid it is. And the ending is ridiculous. They go out into the desert and blow up The Car in Michael Bay style. Then you see the face of the devil in the flames of the fire. I'm not making this shit up. Go watch the movie. It's hilarious if you're in the right mood.

C says Deexan


CRUISING (1980)




Cruising is one of the worst movies ever made by respectable people. Let's ignore the controversy for a minute, which is the main legacy of the film, and focus on the movie itself. It's about a police officer, played by Al Pacino, who goes deep undercover at gay S&M clubs to investigate a serial killer. He's so disgusted by what he witnesses, that he goes home and has rough sex with his wife - played by Karen Allen of Indiana Jones and Animal House fame - so he can wash the gay away. I'm not making this up. Then, after he catches the serial killer and is hailed a hero, there's another murder of a gay person and the film ends with the ambiguous revelation that Al Pacino's character was either the serial killer or he has been turned into one. Okay. NOW let's focus on the controversy. Can you believe this movie exists and it was released only 34 years ago? Cruising pissed off so many people that  William Friedkin's career pretty much ended because of it. Sure, he has had his moments since then, but overall, the acclaimed director of The French Connection and The Exorcist destroyed his career because of homophobia.

F says Doomsday

Not disappointed. Cruising sounds...um, interesting.

13. The Most Dangerous Game (1932)



The Most Dangerous Game is a very famous short story and I was curious to see what this early adaptation would be like. The filmmaking on the whole is pretty solid. Some of the performances and staging share the awkwardness that a lot of early 30s films have, but that's more a product of the time and can be forgotten. What really holds the film back is the central hunt, which feels more like a conventional chase than a true battle of wits in the heart of the jungle. There are very few slow moments with most of it consisting of people running, and there isn't really a sense of tension or brutality. In general, the film just feels light and with a runtime of barely over an hour, there's not much here. Still, it's a breezy enough watch that keeps your attention, even if it fades shortly after being seen.

C

I like the Dawn of the Dead remake. It's not great, but I think it's a well-made little zombie film.

THE PG COOPER HAPPY TRAIN CONTINUES.
SPONSORED BY TIM HORTON'S. IT'S 7/11 BUT CANADIAN.


THE SENTINEL (1977)


This movie is wild, babe. Just wild.


Alison Parker (Cristina Raines) is a New York model who moves into a Brooklyn apartment for $400-a-month. Even for the 1970's that's a great price, so what's the catch? Oh... I don't know... maybe that the devil lives in the building and starts playing mind games with Alison so she can end up killing herself.

The first half of The Sentinel is amazing. Director Michael Winner, of Death Wish fame, creates a movie with a creepy mood, psychedelic atmosphere and a little bit of William Castle thrown in for entertainment value. And the ending is just as satisfying as he goes full exploitation with over-the-top horror and lots of random gore. Any fan of the genre will have a great time watching the film. However, the middle portion is a bit disappointing. The movie turns into a mystery tale with Alison's boyfriend (Chris Sarandon) trying to figure out why she is being targeted by the devil. A lot of it ends up being boring exposition that the film could have revealed in much more interesting ways. But luckily, as I said, the ending is loads of fun so this is just a minor complain.

Overall, The Sentinel is a thrilling horror movie from the 1970's and I highly recommend it. And be on the lookout for minor roles from Tom Berenger, Beverly D'Angelo, Ava Gardner, Jeff Goldblum, Burgess Meredith, Jerry Orbach, Christopher Walken and Eli Wallach.

A

It should come as no surprise that there's very little blob in The Blob. It's an independent low-budget film with limited 1950's technology. You know you're gonna watch a movie that's cheap, dated, and hopefully comical. Instead, it has a surprisingly well-told story with Steven McQueen, the King of Cool, in his first leading role.

McQueen plays a young adult on a date with a very beautiful girl. They're in a car that's parked in the middle of the woods, and suddenly, a meteor lands near them. Before they can investigate it, an old man and his dog find it and become the first victims of the blob. Since the blob just arrived from space, it isn't very powerful yet. It simply attaches itself to the old man's hand and he starts screaming for help until he gets run-over by McQueen and his date. They notice the blob and immediately take the old man to the doctor. No, not the hospital. Just the doctor. They live in a very small town in Pennsylvania, so there's just one guy to take care of everyone's medical problems. And it is at this doctor's office where the blob gains strength. He eats the old man, a nurse, and the doctor. McQueen and his date are the only witnesses, so they rush to the police station for help. When they return, the blob is gone and there's no evidence of three people having been killed. So the police think they've been victims of a prank and send the two of them home. Meanwhile, the blob is roaming around town eating people. McQueen and his date know this and try their best to make people believe them.

The Blob was made for teenagers and the filmmakers do a wonderful job of creating characters that the intended audience can relate to. These are just ordinary young people that want to be taken seriously. It also helps that a lot of time is spent exploring the townspeople. The movie takes a Frank Capra approach where we get to meet a lot of different personalities and ultimately get attached to everyone. So halfway through, these feel like real people in real danger. And with the low-budget and technological limitations, everything is handled very simplistically and it gives the film a sense of realism. It's definitely not what you expect from a movie with a very silly premise. For that, look no further than.....

BEWARE! THE BLOB (1972)

The Blob is a respectable film but the sequel is a quintessential schlockfest. It's the type of movie you watch at three in the morning and fall off the bed laughing. It's directed by Larry Hagman in that dry period in-between I Dream of Jeannie and Dallas. You can tell he did it for the money because he made no effort whatsoever to create a timeless classic. It's very much a film influenced by the 1970s and that's what I find most amusing about it. It's a time capsule. For example, in the original, the townspeople dismiss the kids as pranksters. Here, they accuse them of being on drugs. In fact, there's a scene where a cop is about to arrest Cindy Williams, of Laverne and Shirley fame, for possession of narcotics and the blob literally kills the guy right before he can do anything. You can just picture teenagers in 1972 giving that scene a standing ovation. Another great scene involves an old barber rolling his eyes when a long-haired hippie shows-up. He tells the kid, "let's wash your head before we cut it" and the blob comes up through the sink and attacks him. It's a brilliant crowd-pleasing moment. So, as you can see, it's not a good nor bad movie. It's just fun. Plus, the special effects team did a marvelous job. We see the blob a lot and it's always awesome.

THE BLOB REMAKE (1988)

Following the success of Dream Warriors, director Chuck Russell (The Mask) and screenwriter Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) made a Hollywood remake of The Blob which was intended to spawn a franchise but, unfortunately, it under-performed at the box office. The remake did find an audience on late-night television and became a cult classic.

Since there is big Hollywood money involved, Russell and Darabont are able to create a visually stunning blob movie with lots of memorable kill scenes. However, the strength of the remake is finding it's own identity. They could have taken the easy route by simply rehashing old ideas, but instead, they take a major detour.

In the original and it's sequel, the plot revolves around teenagers trying to convince adults that there's an alien monster on the loose. In the remake, it starts out that way, but halfway through, it becomes an entirely different film. In this version, the blob isn't an alien creature from space. It's a biological weapon that went amok during testing and a team of scientist's show up to quarantine the entire town. So, there's no escaping the blob. They have to deal with it, and worst of all, the scientist's don't want to destroy it. They just want to stabilize it even though there's mass causalities. This all leads to the highlight of the film. The two main characters, played by Kevin Dillion (Drama from Entourage) and Shawnee Smith (the Saw franchise), become incredibly pro-active. They're no longer asking for help. They're gonna save this town by themselves. It results in a couple of spectacular action set-pieces that end the movie with a bang. Some people might be turned-off by the large scale second-half, but I think it's very entertainment and a nice change-of-pace.

I enjoyed the original Blob. It's a lot of fun.

BASIC INSTINCT (1992)



Basic Instinct is an interesting movie. Director Paul Verhoeven (Robocop) did a remarkable job of creating an erotic thriller with Hitchcockian overtones. But the script by Joe Eszterhas is very problematic. It's about a novelist who is the prime suspect in a murder investigation. Did she use one of her books as a blueprint to kill her lover or is a psychotic fan using the books as inspiration? It's a very simple premise but the execution is very convoluted. If you sit down and think about it, much of it doesn't make sense and almost all of it is ridiculously outlandish. But let's be honest. No one is watching Basic Instinct for the story. Everyone is watching it for Sharon Stone's breakout performance, the softcore pornography and Jerry Goldsmith's memorable score. And since all of those things are exceptionally well-done, I consider the film a success. It's a messy success but a success nonetheless.

A-

DAY FOURTEEN: HANNIBAL WEEK - PART TWO: SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)



I think it's safe to say that Hannibal Lecter is one of the most famous on-screen serial killers in the history of cinema, and Anthony Hopkins' brilliant performance in the role in Silence of the Lambs makes it easy to see why.  Jonathan Demme's 1990 thriller, winner of Best Picture for that year, is a pretty carefully-crafted and well-executed film to be sure.  From the moment FBI agent Clarice Starling comes face-to-face with the infamous "Hannibal the Cannibal", there's a strong sense of tension and dread that carries through the rest of the scenes that follow.  The relationship that develops between Clarice and Lecter is indeed the best aspect of the film; the conversations the two engage in here and there throughout the running time are fascinating and gripping, just like the characters themselves, as well as serving as more than enough proof for why Hopkins and Jodie Foster deserved all their accolades for their work.  Now, do I think Silence of the Lambs is a particularly great film?  Well, I think it's very, very strong, but I wouldn't exactly call it great.  While everything concerning Clarice and Lecter is top-notch, and the film features some really suspenseful and tension-filled sequences, not everything about it soars for me.  Ted Levine gives a solid performance as Buffalo Bill, but the character is essentially just a freak and not really explored that much except for on a basic level.  And while Jonathan Demme certainly creates a strong sense of atmosphere, the plot eventually devolves into a more standard serial killer story.  When compared against something similar like Se7en, I feel Silence of the Lambs pales a bit in the comparison.  But still, it's better than a lot of others of its kind, elevated just enough to make it stand out.

***1/2 /****

I was hoping you'd rewatch Silence for the series.

How are you guys picking your movies? Cause there's some really obscure stuff being watched here.

Horror movies on Netflix I haven't seen which look interesting, movies I feel like rewatching, and while I was home for Thanksgiving I grabbed all of the horror movies I PVRd from TCM.