Tag Archives: Horror

Lights Out (2016)

31 Tuesday Oct 2017

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When the lights go out,
I see it standing there.
When the lights turn on,
It’s gone yet still I stare.

When the lights go out,
It’s back again, I swear.
When the lights turn on,
It isn’t anywhere.

As the lights stay on,
I waver and beware.
When the lights go out,
It’s next to me to scare.
_______________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

For my final Halloween-themed review for the big day itself, I went with a recent horror offering that I could tell from the trailers alone would be of the dread-and-atmosphere type that I prefer, not unlike yesterday’s The Ring. At the same time, Lights Out does what I like about horror a bit too well, preying on one of the most primal fears, the fear of darkness, and giving me something far scarier than all the vampires and monsters I know aren’t real. It’s based on director David Sandberg‘s short film, which encapsulated the concept in less than three minutes, three minutes that will haunt me and keep me looking over my shoulder for years to come. Thanks for that, David.

Sandberg cleverly expands his simple idea of a creature that only appears in darkness and can be seen by silhouette alone, connecting the frightful bogeywoman to a story of a family strained by mental illness. Teresa Palmer plays Rebecca, the loner daughter of clinically depressed Sophie (Maria Bello), who isn’t happy when Rebecca steps in to care for her young brother Martin (Gabriel Bateman). Martin’s having trouble sleeping, which is no surprise when his mother talks to a menacing, long-fingered phantom as if they’re old friends. This phantom seems to thrive on Sophie’s disturbed mental state and begins targeting the kids where darkness allows.

I was one of those kids who always slept with a nightlight or hall light on, so darkness has always been a source of unease for me. I remember even being scared stiff just from a description I heard at camp of some movie called Darkness Falls, and I’m still too nervous to check if it’s as terrifying as I envisioned. Lights Out has a similar concept for its villain Diana, keeping her always out of sight, a creature of darkness banished by light yet always there when it goes out. Maybe those calloused by countless horror films won’t find it all that scary, but Lights Out and its vicious shade scared me more than anything since The Babadook.

I also appreciated the effort put into providing a relatable family story alongside the scares, balancing Rebecca’s resentment of her mother with the acknowledgment that no one in distress should be abandoned. Everyone remains sympathetic, particularly Rebecca’s devoted boyfriend (Alexander DiPersia). I especially liked how the finale employed some inventive light sources to ward the specter away, sort of reminding me of the end of Wait until Dark. While she has a separate spooky origin, Diana is like an embodiment of the mother’s mental disorder, lashing out in an effort to keep her from getting better, which is a great metaphor for her struggle but also disconcerting in how it’s ultimately resolved.

Lights Out is a great example of the minimalist, bloodless frights that I think are harder to pull off than cheap gore, but its plentiful jump scares spooked me a bit more than I typically like. Heck, the three-minute short film is even more terrifying. You can watch it here, but I warn you: it’s concentrated nightmare fuel. (It’s also cool that Lotta Losten, the woman in the short film, reprised her role as the first person to see Diana.) Vampires and werewolves and zombies may populate more movies, but Lights Out proves that darkness itself is far scarier because its disquiet hits much closer to home.

Happy Halloween to everyone out there!

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
517 Followers and Counting

 

The Ring (2002)

30 Monday Oct 2017

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You were warned, were you not?
You were warned, and yet you thought,
“What harm could come from silly things
Like some old tape?”  The phone then rings,
And on the other end, you hear
A voice that whispers low and clear,
“Seven days.”
You look about
And start perhaps to have some doubt,
Unsure if you were dumb or brave
To laugh at legends, shrug and cave,
And possibly dig your own grave.
__________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

Urban legends are perfect subjects for horror because there’s always that one rumor or curse or half-serious tale of a crazed murderer that happens to be true, if only the protagonist can figure it out before they bite the dust. The Ring fits that mold well while adhering to the style of haunting, suggestive horror that I enjoy most.

Based on the Japanese book and film Ringu, The Ring is about a cursed video tape that kills its viewers seven days later, as illustrated by the familiar but tense opening with two teenage girls at home alone. When one dies, journalist Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) decides to investigate the mysterious circumstances and watches the cursed tape herself, unwittingly exposing herself and her son Aidan (David Dorfman) to the evil unleashed by the bizarre images onscreen.

As I said, The Ring is “my kind of horror,” in that there’s far more effort on creating dread and atmosphere than on blood and guts, which I suppose is ironic considering it was directed by Gore Verbinski of Pirates of the Caribbean fame. Although it’s taken me this long to actually see it, its mop-headed villain girl (named Samara here, Sadako in the Japanese original) has become rather iconic, and I already knew of the film’s most famous scenes, such as the phone call whisper of “seven days” or the memorable television scene toward the end. (I guess there are several television scenes, but you probably know which one I mean.) Going in with such knowledge perhaps dampened the effectiveness of the scares, but I still appreciated the occasionally misleading tension and the gradually uncovered mystery.

It does fit my preferred style of horror, as did The Others and The Babadook, but there was something lacking in The Ring. Naomi Watts’ performance is fairly strong alongside costars Dorfman and Martin Henderson as her skeptical ex-husband, but there wasn’t as much of an emotional core to the story as there was in the other two films I mentioned. Plus, as the layers of the mystery were peeled back, it became a bit too convoluted, with too many puzzling twists that could only be explained by the argument that “there’s something supernatural afoot.”

The Ring didn’t quite have the dramatic oomph or shocking twist (it does try for both) that would elevate it to join my favorites, but it’s a potent horror flick nonetheless, with several evocative potential meanings for its title. The video tape plot device will immediately date it in years to come, but that isn’t automatically a negative since it doesn’t diminish the scares. I haven’t heard many good things about its two sequels, the most recent being Rings from this past year, so I think I’ll stick with this original for now, or if I’m feeling bold, maybe I’ll try the Japanese original original. One thing’s for sure, though: I definitely won’t be sitting anywhere near the screen!

Best line: (Richard Morgan, Samara’s father, to Rachel) “What is it with reporters? You take one person’s tragedy and force the world to experience it… spread it like sickness.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
517 Followers and Counting

 

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

29 Sunday Oct 2017

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It’s tough to be a werewolf.
It quickly does get old.
It’s sore and strange
To feel the change
And watch your bones all rearrange
And you’re more apt to catch the mange,
Although you’re rarely cold.

It’s tough to be a werewolf.
The lupine life is lone.
If you have friends,
It all depends,
But likely they’ll meet grisly ends
And then it’s tough to make amends,
For corpses tend to groan.

So when you hear “Stay off the moors,
Keep to the roads, don’t take detours,”
Pay heed to those who stay indoors,
Or you will see when on all fours,
It’s tough to be a werewolf.
_____________________

MPAA rating: R

After yesterday’s vampires, for my second Halloween-themed review, I watched the cult classic An American Werewolf in London, which is mainly known for winning the very first Academy Award for Best Makeup for Rick Baker’s werewolf effects. I’ll just say up front that this film had all the things I usually try to avoid in horror and movies in general—bloody violence, sex and nudity, profanity—but I will try to put that aside and appraise the film itself.

The set-up is a classic one: two unwise American visitors to the English countryside wander where they shouldn’t and are attacked by a vicious creature. Jack (Griffin Dunne) is killed by the beast, but David (David Naughton, who lost his Dr. Pepper deal after this movie) survives, only to be told by Jack’s ghost that David is now a werewolf. Obviously, no one would believe the decaying apparition of a dead friend, so David ignores him and goes home with a lovely nurse (Jenny Agutter). But wait! He’s changing…he is a werewolf! And now he will prowl London in search of helpless escalator-riding victims.

Okay, maybe that was too dramatic, but to be honest, I expected a little bit more from what is billed as a horror-comedy. True, there’s some humor to Jack and David’s early banter, the wry moon-related soundtrack, and particularly in Jack’s undead suicide advice, but this isn’t quite what I would consider a comedy. It’s like the opposite of Ghostbusters: I consider that a comedy with some horror while this is a horror with some comedic lines, but neither quite fits the horror-comedy label. The horror elements are fairly straightforward (creepy locals, foolish victims, full moon; check, check, check), but director John Landis fills the werewolf attacks with looming terror, especially with first-person views as David chases a man through the London subway.

It was a decent horror film overall, but ultimately it’s really memorable for two things, one good, one bad. The good is that Rick Baker absolutely deserved that Oscar, since David’s transformation, anomalously set to Sam Cooke’s version of “Blue Moon,” still holds up as an impressive feat of makeup effects, one that predated everything computers could do today. It’s interesting to note that wolf men seem to attract makeup awards, since 2010’s The Wolfman also won the Best Makeup Oscar. As for the bad, what was with that ending? Perhaps the abruptness of the final scene was also intended for comedy, but for me, it was a bit too jarring a conclusion, though I’m sure it gets a chuckle from cult fans on their hundredth rewatch. For a true horror comedy, though, I’ll side with the vampires and stick with The Lost Boys. At least the ending doesn’t suck.

Best line: (a boy at the zoo) “A naked American man stole my balloons.”

 

Rank: Honorable Mention

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
517 Followers and Counting

 

Salem’s Lot (1979)

28 Saturday Oct 2017

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Sometimes old houses are just empty shells,
Still mourning their past occupier’s farewells,
But sometimes you feel something sinister dwells
In ramshackle relics and haunted hotels.
The dust and mistrust of these dark citadels
We try to ignore, but their menace compels.
Who knows what nightmares and nefarious spells
Can lurk in old homes with their own private hells?
__________________

MPAA rating: PG

Halloween is almost upon us yet again, and since I don’t really celebrate it (except with more candy than usual), I haven’t done much this month in honor of everyone’s favorite scary holiday. However, I think I’ll change that and do what I did last year, four horror reviews in a row leading up to the big day, when I will no doubt contribute to the great November candy shortage of 2017. As with last year (when I reviewed Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, The House That Dripped Blood, Poltergeist, and The Babadook), each of my picks will fit roughly into a different era of horror and will try to buck my wussy aversion to the genre.

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First off is the 1979 television adaptation of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot, something my VC urged me not to see because she recalls it with such terror (probably like me and that clown scene in Poltergeist). I still did, of course, and found it to be quite the credible frightfest, although in a dated way. There are scenes that I could see causing nightmares, but compared with modern horrors like The Babadook, I don’t expect Salem’s Lot to keep me up at night. Still, as far as vampire flicks go, this one hits all the right beats, and I could see how it has influenced the genre since, particularly the glowing eyes and the antler scene in The Lost Boys.

Salem’s Lot is set in Maine and the main character Ben Mears (David Soul) is a writer, which is so unlike Stephen King’s work that I don’t know where to begin! In all seriousness, though, Salem’s Lot is very King-y, from those trademarks of his I mentioned to the idea of a dark evil lurking in a sleepy small town. In fact, it’s very much like It, with Pennywise being replaced by incoming vampires as the protagonists wise up to what’s going on and set out to stop it.

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Directed by Tobe Hooper of Poltergeist and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, the three-hour miniseries does a fine job at establishing its large cast of suckable characters: the visiting writer who used to live in Salem’s Lot, the girl who falls for him after one date (Bonnie Bedelia), her doctor father (Ed Flanders), the sinister old man who just bought the local mansion of evil (James Mason), the realtor (Fred Willard), his mistress (Julie Cobb), her jealous husband (George Dzundza), the boy who loves scary stuff (Lance Kerwin), the cemetery keeper (Geoffrey Lewis), and quite a few more besides. It was rather fun playing “Spot the Familiar Face” as I watched, such as recognizing the constable as Kenneth McMillan, who played the gross Harkonnen villain in Dune. It was also good to see Ed Flanders from St. Elsewhere, and his co-star Bonnie Bartlett playing his wife, though she was William Daniels’ wife on the show. James Mason is particularly well-cast as Straker, the forboding newcomer to Salem’s Lot, who you just know has a vampire tucked away somewhere, like maybe in that moving box.

As I said, the horror is a bit dated but still effective, pervaded by a nicely creepy atmosphere and punctuated by periodic jump scares. As with horror in general, it also has its fair share of supernatural foolishness, like allowing inside a fanged loved one floating outside your window or waiting till late afternoon to storm a vampire’s fortress. I thought too that there would be more to Mears’ backstory and his distrust of the Marston house, but that’s never elucidated. There were also a few lapses in the storytelling, or at least questions. Some excellent early tension is wrung from the cheating realtor’s subplot, but when one character is killed, the other two just drop out of the story entirely. The fates of several other characters are left vague as well, as are the circumstances behind the love story’s “resolution.” I’m sure these details are probably better explained in the book, but the miniseries could have clarified them better. I also don’t think it should have started with a flash-forward because that immediately let me know which characters would survive.

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Even so, Salem’s Lot is a compelling King story that may not have a lot of story surprises but still spooks with its vampire mythos and general creepiness. The appearance of the main vampire is particularly menacing, clearly inspired by Nosferatu, though I understand that’s a departure from King’s book. I’m by no means an expert on Stephen King adaptations, but Salem’s Lot seemed to do him justice.

Best line:  (Straker) “You’ll enjoy Mr. Barlow. And he’ll enjoy you.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
517 Followers and Counting

 

The Conjuring 2 (2016)

06 Sunday Aug 2017

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The rooms where we sleep
Or attempt to count sheep
Were once home to others whose presence runs deep.
The bodies they wore
May not breathe anymore,
But tormented souls may demand an encore.

These lingerers, led
By the master of dread,
Can pester our peace and plant fears in our head.
May we not forget
He Who makes demons sweat
Is on our side, giving them reason to fret.
___________________

MPAA rating: R

Anyone who’s read my few horror reviews knows that I’m picky about the genre, with a low tolerance for gore and high admiration for developed characters, tension, and atmosphere. The Conjuring fit my tastes perfectly, with an exceptionally creepy story highlighted by strong performances and a positive religious message. The 2016 sequel, also directed by James Wan, may be more of the same, but that’s not a bad thing when it upholds what made the original great.

While the frightening opening involves the infamous Amityville house namedropped at the end of the first film, The Conjuring 2 focuses on the less-known (at least in America) Enfield Poltergeist. The Hodgsons, headed by single mother of four Peggy (Frances O’Connor), seem like a perfectly normal, if struggling, family, and there’s little unusual about their London home, again explored with one of those skillful tracking shots Wan employed to introduce the first film’s haunted house. Before long, though, eleven-year-old Janet (Madison Wolfe) becomes the central target of many otherworldly events, including instances of possession, and paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) are asked by the Catholic Church to look into it, at their own peril.

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As with its predecessor, I suspect the R rating is for sheer intensity because the film relies on mood and suspense far more than violence. A child’s zoetrope about the Crooked Man becomes the haunted object of the week, taking the place of the first film’s music box, and even if it’s not clear who or what the Crooked Man is a manifestation of, he’s an effective boogeyman for a few scenes. A demonic nun is also an unnerving presence throughout, though I’m not a fan of that kind of blasphemous imagery, even if it is explained.

The haunting of the Hodgson home is full of dark tension and jump scares, all well-executed, but it’s not the encroaching evil that sets The Conjuring films apart. As with the first movie, the Warrens are the best thing about this series. In the midst of demonic terror, they are a testament to the conquering power of God and their mutual love, plus a spirit of joy epitomized in a musical scene that becomes an island of light amid the darkness. When Ed converses with an old man’s ghost who speaks through Janet, he refuses to be cowed and sends the ghost shrinking away by confidently extending a crucifix. From their separate conversations with Janet, the Warrens’ devotion to each other is unmistakable, and after the nail-biting finale, this horror movie almost changes genre to end on a rare feel-good romantic note, at Christmastime no less.

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With the Hodgsons as the sympathetic victims and the Warrens as the godly defenders, The Conjuring 2 again places its horror movie tropes into the context of spiritual warfare, and as strong as the demons seem, it’s still satisfying to see them banished to hell by the name of Jesus. It’s not surprising that the film takes rampant liberties with the actual story, but I liked how they incorporated some doubt about the authenticity of the haunting, since many skeptics claim that the girls faked the paranormal phenomena. The Conjuring 2 may seem like old hat to horror aficionados, but for me, it’s an example of a trend of spiritually and emotionally mindful horror that Hollywood should keep following.

Best line: (skeptic Anita Gregory) “Last year I was conned by a Welsh family pretending to be possessed by demons. And honestly, I don’t know what was worse: the demons or the people who prey on our willingness to believe in them.”   (Lorraine) “The demons… are worse.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy (joining the first film)

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
501 Followers and Counting!

 

Split (2017)

24 Monday Jul 2017

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Here I sit and calmly wait
As others take the stage for now,
The normal ones who dominate
And cast their glares of fear and hate
Because they know my time will come,
No matter what they may allow.

Within our host, I wait my turn,
For others must prepare my way.
I’m just a rumor, no concern,
Until too late, the normals learn
That darkness kept beneath their thumb
Will be set free, and they will pay.
______________

MPAA rating: PG-13

After reaching an atrocious low with The Last Airbender, it seems M. Night Shyamalan has enacted a comeback, a return to the well-crafted psychological thrillers that first made him a household name. Found-footage horror The Visit was an improvement, wringing tension from a low budget, even if the story had holes and strange parts to criticize. And now, Split is another step in the right direction, boasting elements that are deserving of genuine praise, even if it’s not at the same level as Shyamalan’s early work, like Unbreakable.

The captivity thriller seems to be a popular subgenre of late, including 10 Cloverfield Lane, Pet, Berlin Syndrome, and of course, Split (or, as I call it, Sybil meets Psycho). Right from the start, outcast highschooler Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) is abducted with two of her more popular classmates, Claire (Haley Lu Richardson) and Marcia (Jessica Sula), and they awake in a small locked room. Their kidnapper Kevin Crumb (James McAvoy) acts like different people whenever he interacts with them, and sessions with his understanding psychologist (Betty Buckley) reveal that he actually has 23 separate identities. We only get to see eight at the most, but three in particular have taken control of Kevin and, by kidnapping the girls, are preparing for the arrival of a much more dangerous personality called the Beast.

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The best thing about Split is James McAvoy simply because, without his phenomenal acting, the film could collapse under a weaker performance. Whether he’s an OCD-ridden pervert, a threateningly proper matron, or a mischievous little boy named Hedwig, his acting, accent, and body language really sell Kevin’s divided character. He even manages to act as one personality pretending to be another personality. Betty Buckley and Anya Taylor-Joy do fine work as well, with the former convincingly laying out exposition and the latter capturing the fear of trying to keep her wits about her.

Unfortunately, Split’s sad and disturbing narrative makes it a film I’m not likely to see often. Aside from the claustrophobic captivity aspect and tension, which were also well-done in 10 Cloverfield Lane, there were moments that could have benefited from a rewrite or better editing, like the protracted kidnapping scene, which had me thinking “Why doesn’t she dart out the door?” rather than holding me on the edge of my seat. One bizarre dance scene with the Hedwig personality reminded me that, as with The Visit, I don’t think Shyamalan’s attempts at comic relief work as he intends; it’s just a very strange scene, even if it were done by the 9-year-old boy Kevin thinks he is.

My biggest complaint comes toward the end, where the already disturbing storyline turns murderous and goes a bit too far for me and my VC, even if there’s restraint in what is actually shown. I appreciated the semi-twist that made sense for the traumas shared by Kevin and Casey, but the ending doesn’t provide much closure to anyone’s story. Perhaps I’ll appreciate Split more with the arrival of the announced sequel it’s clearly leading into, and I’ll admit I’m more excited for that follow-up than I was about Split.

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Even with my objections, Split is a definite step up for Shyamalan, well-acted and taut, and promises even more intriguing things to come. It’s perhaps best thought of as the birth of a supervillain, and while it succeeds in creating a dangerous and conflicted character, I’m more interested in the hero he’ll oppose.

Best line: (9-year-old Hedwig, after awkwardly kissing Casey) “You might be pregnant now.”

 

Rank: Honorable Mention

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
497 Followers and Counting

 

Alien: Covenant (2017)

05 Wednesday Jul 2017

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When choosing to visit a faraway planet,
Some strange world never examined by man,
Those who can claim to be smarter than granite
May favor caution as part of the plan.

Instead of just landing and waltzing around,
Content to breathe air you know nothing about,
Perhaps wearing helmets would seem rather sound
Or keep parties small, if you have any doubt.

If common sense fails and you go out exposed,
With most of your redshirt crew ready to fall,
You’ll wish you’d seen all that this movie proposed,
Though you may have feared then to leave Earth at all.
___________________

MPAA rating: R

Earlier this year, I made up a Top Twelve list of 2017 movies I hoped would be good, and this is the first of the twelve I’ve gotten to see. I hesitated to give it a watch after hearing of the increased violence and mixed reviews, but my curiosity and loyalty to the Alien franchise won out. So, is it good? Well, sort of and no. It’s a thoroughly mixed bag of a follow-up to 2012’s Prometheus and the first chance Ridley Scott has gotten to directly sequelize one of his own films (since Prometheus was a prequel).

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Unlike many, I quite liked Prometheus, especially upon a rewatch. It’s a different animal than the first Alien, more concerned with thought-provoking philosophical questions than extraterrestrial jump scares, though there are still enough of those for me. Alien: Covenant does indeed return to the dominant horror of Scott’s original film, but it feels more indebted to its predecessors, even if it does spice up some of the familiar beats. For one thing, it’s as if the story of Prometheus has started over, just instead of scientists seeking out humanity’s origins, we have a ship full of colonists headed for a distant new world, again all in stasis and again monitored by a Michael Fassbender android, this time the American-accented Walter. When a Passengers-style space wave damages the ship and kills the captain (James Franco, barely), the remaining crew who awaken pick up a signal from a closer planet and investigate its source as a new potential colony site. As you might imagine, the planet’s infection of alien DNA is out to get them from the start, and there’s a good deal of death and dismemberment, as well as the return of David, the other synthetic Fassbender from Prometheus.

If you liked Alien and Aliens, you’ll enjoy all the scary survival stuff that reminds you of those two, but Scott is still bent on explaining his alien mythos, with David as the creative force behind the biological set-up for the aliens we all know. In doing so, Scott’s bound to divide opinions on what David does and why. In fact, he’s far more interested with David than with the human characters, who are all couples for this colony mission and at least earn token sympathy when their spouses inevitably bite the dust. Katherine Waterston is the prominent Ripley of the group and does a reasonably good job at remaining sane while others make poor decisions out of panic. The acting is secondary, though; where the film excels most is in the dark visual wonder of the planet and the frightening intensity of the action. The double climax at the end may be suspiciously similar to that of Aliens, but it’s ratcheted up to even more thrilling levels. Those two scenes alone were worth seeing on the big screen.

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Yet, two awesome scenes don’t quite make up for the fact that the rest adds up to an unsatisfying mess. (Moderate spoilers in this paragraph!) I had really hoped for more, considering the open questions at the end of Prometheus, where Noomi Rapace’s Elizabeth Shaw took off with David to search for the Engineers. Shaw is sadly only a memory here, with David’s actions toward her only slightly clearer than his intentions, and unless a future film provides another perspective, it’s a frustrating letdown for a character who deserved more. Likewise, casting David as a sort of Frankenstein figure obsessed with creation at all costs is more than a bit perplexing. Fassbender plays him well with a coldly self-righteous zeal, but I wish I knew why David is so enamored with these grotesque alien spawn. He clearly admires human art and music, so why does he see creative humans as unworthy next to these mindless killing machines? And then there’s the end, the twist I easily saw coming which follows a trend in horror movies I dislike where the villain gains the upper hand. It’s chilling but not a way to end a movie, especially when these Alien films aren’t reliable in picking up the plot threads and characters of what came before. It’s like the beginning of Alien 3 tacked on to the end of Aliens; if Aliens had ended like that, it wouldn’t nearly have the same respect it does.

On top of all the disappointing plot developments, Alien: Covenant has far more profanity and gore than its predecessors, which might please fans of those things but are inevitably a turnoff for me. The first two Alien movies may have had their notorious shock scenes, but the rest of the film usually thrived on the terror of what you didn’t see (Dallas in the tunnels, Burke opening that door), which is the kind of tension I prefer over the gruesome sort. I’m also not sure what to make of the film’s religious overtones. Billy Crudup as Oram, the insecure first officer who takes command after the captain’s death, is “a man of faith” and is intent on proving himself reliable and clear-minded, even if it also makes him cruel and unpopular. The trouble is that this early character point goes nowhere. I liked the simple but sincere and unbroken faith of Shaw in Prometheus, but considering what happens to her and Oram, I’m not sure why the subject of faith is even broached.

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Thus, despite my high hopes, Alien: Covenant was a disappointment, even with its high-quality production, a few truly awesome scenes, and some perceptive literary references. Yet I had a similar initial reaction to Prometheus too, so maybe a rewatch will help, though I doubt it. Scott has stated that he’s willing to keep making Alien movies as long as fans want them, a prospect that doesn’t hold much hope for me anymore since, as much as I want more of this franchise’s strengths, its weaknesses are becoming more and more plain.

Best line: (Walter, with a naïve sentiment the film doesn’t support) “I think if we are kind, it will be a kind world.”

 

Rank: Honorable Mention

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
491 Followers and Counting

 

Ghostbusters (2016)

26 Wednesday Apr 2017

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(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was to suggest how future archaeologists would look back on us today.  I applied my movie theme to the concept and even worked in a little of the biology class I’m taking right now.)

 

Welcome to my lecturing on modern archaeology:
Today the ancient world before the 22nd century,
A cruder, ruder, desk-computer chapter in our history.

Just recently, our diggers found a reddish box interred in rock
And found within it simple disks that once were sold and kept in stock,
A kind of visual entertainment certain players could unlock.

Some were future sci-fi stories, which weren’t right on anything;
Some were labeled “Oscar winners,” which we’re still deciphering;
And one about pursuing ghosts was worth the price of tunneling.

As some may know, an older fossil from the Reagan-lithic zone
Had a concept similar and yet was not a perfect clone.
This proves the theory that some artists used ideas that weren’t their own.

It seems some stories were remade in efforts to indulge consumers,
Many of which found them lacking, but just why is up to rumors.
Though we can’t be sure since men evolved and lost our sense of humors.
___________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

When the latest all-female version of Ghostbusters was announced, I was never among the crowd that condemned and ranted against it. I was more in the eye-rolling crowd because remakes of classic movies always turn out well, right? Still, I decided to check it out with an open mind, and my opinion seems to match the general consensus:  it’s not terrible, but it’s not great either.

Instead of a sequel, this Ghostbusters is a reboot, treating the profession of paranormal poaching as an unexplored field, as if the original never happened. After an initial haunting that’s actually much scarier than the library beginning of the first film, Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) is asked to look into it, even though she has tried to distance herself from her ghost-studying past. Soon, however, she’s back into the paranormal game with her old colleague Abby (Melissa McCarthy) and the Egon-esque Jillian (Kate McKinnon). Along with a street-savvy subway worker (Leslie Jones), they team up just as an occult weirdo (Neil Casey) tries to cause the apocalypse. Good timing, eh?

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I’ll start out by saying that this Ghostbusters wasn’t entirely “meh.” There were even ways I thought it offered an improved story, mainly in providing a reason for all the ghost sightings rather than the original’s relative lack of explanation. The villain is fairly forgettable, but his actions indirectly bring about the Ghostbusters themselves, who rise to the occasion to stop him. I also liked the two-faced response from the governor’s office, secretly supporting the Ghostbusters while publicly denouncing them, which I found funnier and more believable than the initial outright denial of the government in the first two films.

The biggest problem with this Ghostbusters is a problem I have with the majority of modern comedies: it simply didn’t make me laugh very much. Oh, I chuckled in spots, snickered at the occasional clever joke or recognizable reference, but shouldn’t a comedy elicit more of a reaction than that? Far too often were moments I could tell were meant to be funny but just weren’t, and part of it may stem from my natural indifference to Wiig and McCarthy. McKinnon and Jones had stronger humor than the other two, but the film’s best surprise was Chris Hemsworth’s gender-swapped role as the ditzy receptionist Kevin. While the women were focused on the ghost-hunting plot, Hemsworth provided some needed laughs and was clearly enjoying himself, even without his hammer.

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Ghostbusters didn’t deserve the instant hate it got and knowingly cracks a few jokes aimed at those nasty comment sections, but I would have hoped for a stronger return for the classic franchise. Perhaps the most wasted element was the cameos of the original cast members, all of which depend solely on “hey-it’s-that-person” appeal rather than being funny or important to the plot. (Dan Aykroyd’s was probably the best, but they couldn’t come up with something better for Bill Murray?) Whereas the original two are classics, this one settles for mere entertainment and so-so CGI, though the big battle at the end has its fun moments. It may yet get a sequel itself, but if not for the original’s reputation, I doubt this film would have fostered the same fondly regarded franchise.

Best line: (Patty, when a ghost escapes on a subway train) “I guess he’s going to Queens. He’s going to be the third scariest thing on that train.”

 

Rank: Honorable Mention

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
475 Followers and Counting

 

They Live (1988)

19 Wednesday Apr 2017

Posted by in Movies, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

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(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was for a creation myth, like maybe a sci-fi explanation for the way things are.)

 

When Earth and its people were young,
From out of the cosmos far-flung,
An alien race
With a butt-ugly face
Found humans worth living among.

They hid their exterior well
To blend in, so no one could tell,
And here they resided
Until they decided
Mankind didn’t raise enough hell.

Whenever they noticed a sign
Of man’s selfishness in decline,
They swayed and brainwashed
And summarily squashed
Good will by their evil design.

On magazines, screens, world affairs,
We see messages unawares.
What we do, they direct,
And as you may suspect,
The Internet’s probably theirs.

That’s how the world got to this place,
So high on hate, lacking in grace.
Although I can’t prove it,
You cannot disprove it,
So who is the real mental case?
__________________

MPAA rating: R (mainly for language and brief nudity)

John Carpenter seemed to direct films designed to be cult classics, films that it’s hard to call good cinema on the surface but which end up finding admirers anyway. Escape from New York and Starman are just two favorites that strike a unique balance between sci-fi depth and imaginative cheese, and They Live fits right into that mold. The film centers on a drifter known as John Nada (famed wrestler Roddy Piper), whose discovery of a secret resistance movement and some special sunglasses reveals an alien mind-controlling conspiracy that can only be taken out by a shotgun and a classic one-liner.

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As is typical with the other Carpenter films I’ve seen, it takes a while for the story to get going, as Nada meets a fellow construction worker (Keith David) and slowly notes a few nearby oddities at a church. Piper isn’t exactly a world-class actor either, so the only reason to sit through the beginning is for the promise of action to come. When it does, though, it’s pretty darn fun as Nada goes from gawking at a black-and-white world decorated with words like “Conform” and “Consume” to blasting every skull-faced alien in sight. The most famous sequence has to be the five-minute-plus smackdown between Piper and David over convincing the latter to wear the sunglasses, a fist fight that becomes laughable simply by how many times they both get up to keep on slugging each other.

I’ll admit that, after the slow start, They Live is very watchable, but it does seem weak in several areas, and not just the so-so acting or occasionally fake effects. There’s a pointed critique of commercialism at its core, summed up by the invisible message “THIS IS YOUR GOD” printed on all dollar bills, and the film points fingers at the elite as collaborators with the alien overlords. Yet the satire doesn’t seem to develop far enough to have much depth beyond the obvious hidden words, and it’s never clear exactly why the aliens are doing this or what they get out of keeping mankind petty. It’s like the beginning of a great idea that’s only half-fulfilled. Even so, Carpenter’s cult classics don’t always lend themselves to the same kind of criticism as mainstream films, and the final scene of this one sort of encapsulates what it is: weird, a bit indecent, strangely funny, and keen on eliciting a reaction.

Best line: (Nada) “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick a**… and I’m all out of bubblegum.”

 

Rank:  Honorable Mention

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
471 Followers and Counting

 

The Visit (2015)

06 Thursday Apr 2017

Posted by in Movies, NaPoWriMo, Poetry, Reviews, Writing

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(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was for a poem that looks at something from different viewpoints, such as how differently children view their grandparents.)

 

A visit with grandparents can be generous and merry;
Depending on the child, though, reactions often vary.

I.

Eager meeting, cheers of greeting,
Warm embraces, tender faces,
Cookies, pies, and counsel wise,
And cash they share for being there.
The rarity of reprimand
Will make you wish all parents were grand.

II.

Cheeky pinching, optic squinching,
Cling embraces, wrinkled faces,
Jell-O, prunes, and no cartoons,
And elder smells from creams and gels.
You wipe off lipstick with your sleeve
And count the minutes till you leave.

III.

Basements dreary, habits eerie,
Laughs as cackles, rules as shackles;
Attempts at cheer inspire fear,
An aged nightmare to keep you there.
Although dread comes with every visit,
I’m sure it’s nothing to fear, or is it?
_________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

After a string of films that ranged from poor to terrible (The Last Airbender being the absolute worst), M. Night Shyamalan gave his fans hope of a comeback with The Visit, a small but effective found-footage horror for everyone who was ever afraid of their grandparents. (Not me, of course.) Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and her younger brother Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) finally get to meet their grandparents, who reach out to their estranged daughter (Kathryn Hahn) and propose a five-day visit. While Mom is off on a cruise, the kids enjoy quality time with Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie), a week that slowly takes a turn for the weird.

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I’ve never been a fan of the shaky-cam found-footage style, except for Lunopolis, but The Visit finds a decent reason for everything to be caught on tape, namely Becca’s attempt to help her mom and grandparents reconcile through her recordings and interviews. Plus, she’s an aspiring filmmaker, and she and her brother apparently enjoy filming everything. At first, they record the quaint pleasures of meeting new family members and good-natured sibling bickering, but soon Pop Pop and especially Nana begin showing signs of bizarre behavior, particularly after dark. The first-person perspective does lend itself to some genuinely creepy moments, from an intense game of tag in the house’s crawlspace to slow reveals as the camera-holder approaches something eerie. In true horror fashion, Shyamalan imbues tension into seemingly ordinary things, like cleaning the oven, and in true Shyamalan fashion, there are clues dropped that don’t make total sense until a certain twist.

The one thing that I can’t quite reconcile is the description of The Visit as a horror comedy. I suppose it’s laughable that the kids and their mother at first blame the grandparents’ abnormalities on just being old, but there’s little here that I would consider funny, unless you’re amused by intense weirdness. In addition, the final explanation for everything has some shock value at first, but how it plays out is rather conventional, detracting from all the buildup. I did admire the fine performances and some subtle themes of forgiveness and letting go of resentment, especially at the end, but, even if it’s a step in the right direction, The Visit is still a far cry from Shyamalan’s early successes.

Best line: (Becca, explaining away a midnight snack) “I can’t sleep. I need Nana’s cookies. I’m gonna turn a personal addiction into a positive cinematic moment.”

 

Rank:  Honorable Mention

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
463 Followers and Counting