Samhain Project 2 : Little Girl Who Lived Down the Lane

1976 brought us The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, starring a very young Jodie Foster, in a performance that is required to carry the film.  The 13 year old pulls it off with panache.  Foster plays Rynn, who recently moved with her father to a village on the seaside east coast, probably somewhere in Massachusetts or Rhode Island.  It opens on Halloween night and carries through the fall and winter. 

Where is her father?  That's the question.  The property manager is a woman all too eager to know, but is belligerent about it, rude, and pushes Foster to ridiculous points of frustration.  Her son, a reptilian Martin Sheen, fresh off of Badlands, is a good looking dude who the town knows is no good.  As in perverted no-good, and has designs on young Rynn.

Little Girl was terribly mis-marketed as a horror film, like "anyone who goes into this little girl's home, DOESN'T COME OUT!!" type of thing.  Suspenseful it is, and all the cast members raise the material to the next level.  Rynn is uber-intelligent, but not so smart that she doesn't need someone to understand and even help her try to keep her life on the straight and narrow with dark happenings accumulating in the periphery.  That's where Mario comes in; a terrific teenage Scott Jacoby, and the two lean on each other through a growing storm of incidents.  You don't fear them as "homicidal" as some reviewers put it back in '76, you identify with them, and wish that those around them didn't have such negative intentions.

Little Girl is not a Halloween film. It's not even a horror film.  It's a lightly suspenseful character study, that deserves re-assessment to a certain extent. 

Samhain Project 2 : 1408

 1408 is a 2007 film based on a Stephen King short story that was received well and had solid box office results.  John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson lead a limited cast, as the story belongs to Cusack's character Mike Enslin, an author of some regard in the past, who now writes successful series of books on "haunted" establishments around the world.  The thing is, he's the ultimate cynical pessimist. He does not believe in, as he puts it: "ghoulies, ghosties, and long-legged beasties". 

Cusack's performance may be the strongest of his long career, one that's dipped into the direct to video era for the most part.  Hopefully he will be approaching a renaissance, as it is well deserved.  He's one of my favorite actors, with a hell of a filmography spanning 30 some years.  As 1408  unspools, you see Mike's goal is to stay at haunted establishments and debunk them, which he does with success. His next target is New York's Dolphin hotel, where he's alerted to in a post card from the titular 1408. 

That's all Enslin needs.

When he rents the room and shows up, he's warned off, and with ominous verve by the hotel's manager, Samuel L. Jackson in a small reserved, calm, but intense performance.  You find throughout Enslin's stay that there's more to his debunking ghosts; it's more like a search for satisfactory proof because of traumatic events in his past.  

1408 is in no way terrifying, but it's effective.  The room is a special effect unto itself, and Cusack is its victim.  Mike Enslin takes an emotional and physical beating unlike any we have seen since Bruce Campbell's in Evil Dead II (a movie that Cusack and Jack Black have a great discussion about in High Fidelity).  As good as it is, 1408 functions as an intense and cerebral ghost story, but I don't really recommend it as a Halloween viewing. Is it riveting?  Yes. 

Is it fun?  No.  

Samhain Project 2 : Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The horror movie GOAT.  No question.

I first saw this film in the summer of 1987 on regular television.  Some local Wausau, WI station was showing it one fading summer afternoon.  I remember some people, schoolmates I think, telling me at the time that it was a gore-fest, and I was under the assumption that all of that was edited out for television upon this viewing.

I was wrong.  The only thing gory about TCM is the title. Those fools probably hadn't even seen the damn thing. Director Tobe Hooper leaves 98 percent of the carnage to the imagination.  That's what makes it one of the scariest movies ever made, and possibly the best example of the perfect horror film.  There are no mistakes here, despite being shot by a ton of rookies using 16MM film.  I was pinned to the screen by the breakneck pace and unpredictability despite it being edited for television by WSAW 7.   There's more to fear in the world than vampires, werewolves, and mummies.  There's people, as John Carpenter stated, and they're scarier than anything else.

Especially now.  They scare the shit out of me.  I've been accosted here in Texas in the vegetable aisle for wearing a BETO tee shirt, by some joker who didn't inflict any chain saw massacres, just far-right anger that I'd dare wear this democrat gear in public.  In those beady, piercing, insane eyes, I wasn't doubting his potential for gratuitous violence..  The 70's introduced us to that new element of horror on the screen. 

Puncturing reality. 

I go into more depth into how TCM reflected its decade here, so I won't digress further.  The film launched a wobbly franchise with its ups and downs, remakes, reboots, straight sequels.  None of them can touch what Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper accomplished here.  Out there, in the woods, whether it's the heat of Texas or the cold of Wisconsin (as Hooper's family reportedly has members from, that regaled him with stories of Ed Gein) there may be bent, malfunctioning human beings of a kind, capable and maybe even eager to do harm.

This is what the Texas Chainsaw Massacre meant, and still means to me to this day.  

The Samhain Project: Burnt Offerings

 I remember seeing this one on television a ton when I was a youngster, and the final image of Karen Black was burned to the back of my brain for years.  It Kept me up for days.  But unlike some "haunted house" flicks of the 70's, this one has performances by pure pros in the leads.  Oliver Reed (who arcs nicely from uber-dad to steadily losing his mind), Karen Black, and Hollywood Legend Bette Davis.  The 12 year old son of our protagonists is played by Lee Montgomery, who is far less irritating than the kid roles of this era.

So Reed, Black, Auntie Davis, and Montgomery rent out a massive palace for a couple of months during the summer, for a rate that is ridiculously low.  And you know it's low for a reason.  Is it haunted?  I guess, but it seems more like a being on-board the monstrosity has its mind set on ghoulish things.  Stephen King is a huge fan of the novel director Dan Curtis (whom I've waxed repeatedly on here about due to his television prowess with The Norliss Tapes, The Night Stalker, Trilogy of Terror and others) adapted here and the resulting film.  There is more than a little bit of The Shining here, but the tone and touch are completely different than Kubrick.  This was actually a theatrical release, which he bizarrely elected to shoot mostly in soft focus, which leads to an uncomfortable feeling.  I'm sure it was his intent.

Reed is way better than Nicholson was in The Shining as you never doubted the insanity of Jack Torrance from the goddamn jump, and James Brolin was in The Amityville Horror, where he jumped over the top so many times, it grew tiresome.  

I guess you could say Oliver Reed set the tone for the tortured male lead of a haunted house.

The things he could do with facial expression were beyond most; he was a true loss at the age of 61 while shooting Ridley Scott's Gladiator.  He was capable of much more than he accomplished in his still lengthy career, which began with Hammer Horror.  Karen Black slides nicely into obsession (and perhaps possession) selling it with a nice gradual dip.  Bette Davis is, well, as great as always, in a role that is actually not sinister, but pure, which is not always the case for her. 

The film builds to a climax, set in motion by the house literally physically changing, and ends with an upsetting bang, but not before Anthony James, the hearse driver from Hell, makes a few appearances. (As I recall, his moments appeared in the wonderfully enjoyable Bravo Network's addicting 100 Scariest Movie Moments which aired on that network in 2004). Overall, this makes for a nice Halloween view, as it is a bit of a gradual build, but not a slow burn, as Curtis seems to not believe in separating the freak show from the viewer for too long. 

Recommended.

Samhain Project 2 : Dead & Buried. (also a Spectrum File)

In 1981 the quasi-zombie film Dead and Buried was released (and it did skate across my beloved pay channel Spectrum) to little fan fare and little box office return.  Guillermo Del Toro is a huge fan, and that is testified to here, and that may have led to a spark that grew into the flame that is its current cult following. 

The original negative is purported to be destroyed, says director Gary Sherman (Vice Squad) but Blue Underground, purveyor of low budget horror and "other" types of films (nudge, wink) has taken a couple of shots at restoring it.  I have the first take, a numbered boutique edition, which while not looking terrible, and sounding great, has apparently been bypassed by the company's own recent 4k blu ray.  Word is due to the lost camera negative, it'll never look like it once did due to the degraded source material, but reviews claim the new one looks great. 

I rarely double-dip, so I'll settle for my 12 year old DVD edition. 

My wife and editor, and I sat down for this rather scratchy, non-subtitled edition for this year's Samhain Project and were not disappointed.  The film has a creepy atmosphere, really solid acting, particularly from James Farentino and Jack Albertson, in what was the latter's last performance.  (Mr. Albertson played Charlie Buckets' lazy-ass grandpa in Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.) He's much weirder and more sinister here, with a penchant for big band tunes, and a deep, DEEP love for being a coroner. 

This number is as much a mystery as it is a horror film, and has great gore effects that are early work from maestro Stan Winston.  Although there's a terrible gag halfway through the film that I’ve read Mr. Winston did not do, and it's not hard to tell what it is to the discerning horror viewer.  We have An early performance from the late Lisa Blount (from John Carpenter's tremendous Prince of Darkness), as well as Robert Englund and Melody Anderson.

There's even a sniff of some found-footage type action in the film, that just adds to the already dread-laden and creepy tone.  The score is excellent, eerie stuff and on the new blu-ray it's included as a third disc. 

Something is jacked-up in Potter's Bluff, and it's a spooky, and often sad path to the knowledge of what it is.

Samhain Project 2 : Halloween III : Season of the Witch

Since there's a lot of Halloween Ends haters out there trying to throw it in with H3 as a negative connotation, My wife and editor, and I watched Tommy Lee Wallace's Halloween III: Season of the Witch, on the night of its 40th anniversary.  It holds up to the standards I enjoyed it for on home video some 38 years ago.  Unlike Halloween Ends, there is no Michael Myers, (except on random television screens in the background, separating this universe from that one) and apparently this was why fans didn't like it.  I'm baffled at the idea of Universal calling it a failure, as compared to the "runaway hit" Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, it pretty much made the same money, and adjusted for 6 years of inflation, maybe more.  

It brought back the memories of me finding serious evil in the plans of Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy in a softly diabolical performance) using a chunk of Stonehenge (in conjunction with those snazzy three masks created by wiz Don Post) to create a method of killing millions of children across the country in the ultimate practical joke on October 31st.  (And something to do with 3000 years since the hills of Ireland ran red on Samhain).  Or is he mad at entitled kids running around with masks on, "begging for candy" as he says with a sneer.  Our hero, alcoholic horndog physician Dan Challis has to process a lot of this in a short period of time. 

I, and Tom Atkins' Challis, think he's just plain nuts.

As an aside, I was an 11 year old Halloween and John Carpenter fanatic already.  I have vivid memories of sitting on the front porch of our Lichter Road home,  sun sinking in the eastern fall sky, looking at the black and white movie ads, wishing I could find a way to go see this one.  Unlike apparently most fans, who despite the great ad campaign didn't realize Ol' Mike wasn't in this, I was well aware.  I couldn't wait to see it.  It would be about 2 years for that to occur.  On a rented VHS tape. 

Anyhoo, John Carpenter's score is among his best (I'd hold it right up there with The Fog), Dean Cundey is there with his trademark Halloween lighting and DP work, and Tommy Lee Wallace does a nice job with his directorial debut.  In interviews, Wallace calls it a "pod movie", likening it to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, even setting most of it in the same fictional town, Santa Mira.  There's a slick paraphrasing of that Don Siegel film's original ending, even. 

Lots to like here, despite the poo-pooing of the pessimistic past, beyond just nostalgia, and the giant cult following it's developed is proof of that.  As a matter of fact, Wallace has a book coming out this Halloween about the making of the film.  I really can't wait for that one.  Gather round for the Halloween view here, Kids, it's time for the big giveaway!

Watch!!!

Looking For Laughs: Written Comedy

 

At the same time I was discovering and embedding myself into SNL, SCTV, and other eccentricities, the written comedy format became an element that I began to explore in the early 1980's.

I often found myself a connoisseur of the parody.  Mad Magazine offered a lot that I enjoyed in the general humor department, plus some incredible art, but it was always the movie parodies that got me. 

Riffing on the overly serious films especially, it pointed at the artsy-fartsy with slapstick, however peppered with more than just a touch of sarcastic intelligence.  Nothing was safe from Mad.  Not even politics, which (probably as a youth that kind of humor was over my head) really makes me do double takes now at the sharp incisiveness Mad exhibited.  It probably garnered a shrug from me back then.

I would sit on the floor of my room, probably surrounded by my other comics, chortling at shots taken at Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and past parodies brought back to life in retrospective issues. Mad (and to a lesser degree, Cracked) showed me that when that search for laughter on TV wasn't satisfied, I could turn to the written periodical medium. 

Now Mad is mostly out of business, minus the periodic special that still gets released.  I'm saddened by that.  I'll never forget the humor and art of the Late Greats Duck Edwing, Mort Drucker, Jack Davis, (who did more than a few movie posters in his time), and Dave Berg.  Also, Will Eisner Award Hall of Famer Sergio Aragones put out amazing work, and is still kicking, and who could forget Al Jaffee, leader of the usual gang of idiots. 

Eras do pass, and it looks like Mad's, while still hanging on but just barely, is playing out its string.  Be strong folks, as their website is strong and lively, and with lots to offer.  I'm not alone, Twitter is ablaze with many famous folks in industries far and wide, who showed their support for the magazine as tales of its downsizing hit the newsfeeds. 

One can hope that at least some figment of its existence will continue to burn, like that stubborn ember in a stamped out campfire that refuses to give up its orange glow.

Samhain Project Op-Ed by Aidan Will: Damien Omen II

 

The story continues in Don Taylor’s Damien: Omen II. Jonathan Scott-Taylor takes the titular role of the Antichrist, now 12 years old and an honor student in military school. Leo McKern briefly reprises the role of Bugenhagen in a prologue where he attempts to convince his friend (Ian Hendry) that Damien Thorn is the Antichrist. They are both buried alive in a tunnel where a painted wall depicts the face of the Antichrist of looking like Harvey Stephens. McKern is the only actor to appear in more than one installment. This seems more hurtful to smooth continuity than the timeline shifts, in which Damien is five in 1976, twelve in ’78, and 33 in ’81.  Since no years are mentioned in the first two installments, only a mention of a presidential run in 1984 by Damien in The Final Conflict, it is acceptable to push the first two installments back over a decade and deal with mildly period-inaccurate surroundings. It’s cheap, yes, but nothing to get bent out of shape about or to dismiss the sequels.   

The film picks up seven years later, with Damien living with his adoptive Uncle, Robert’s brother Richard (William Holden, who refused the lead in the first film, but hopped on the opportunity to star in the sequel after the first’s success.) a successful industrialist and his wife Ann (Lee Grant, a fan of the first film). He truthfully loves his cousin Mark (Lucas Donat) like a brother, but basically better than a brother because there’s no animosity and such.  Richard’s sister Marion loves Mark, but hates Damien, considering him a shitty influence. She comes off as an ornery and unlikable influence herself.  She suffers a fatal heart attack at the hands of a raven with shifty eyes, so we can move on.    

Thorn also owns a museum, and the curator (Nicholas Pryor) introduces him to a colleague of Keith Jennings, a journalist (Elizabeth Shephard) who tries to warn Richard of Damien’s origin.  In the middle of nowhere, the engine of her car stalls, and her eyes are clawed out by a raven, leading her to wander into the street and be struck down by a semi truck.  That is what we call overkill, old Scratch.  The subtle ambiguity of the first film is swapped out in favor of Damien’s growing power, much to the dismay of critics.

At Thorn Industries, Richard and a manager Bill Atherton (Lew Ayres) clash with younger manager Paul Buher (Robert Foxworth) who strongly advises that the company move into agriculture to profit off famine in many countries by growing and manipulating food supplies, and buying up land. They dismiss his ambition as immoral.

Marks birthday celebration commences in winter, and Buher introduces himself to Damien, informing him that he will one day inherit all of his parents works, not mentioning Mark, to Damien’s confusion.  During a hockey game, Atherton falls though the ice and drowns in a river, leaving Buher unopposed in his plans for the company.

Damien and Mark meet their new commander at the academy, Sergeant Neff (played by the incomparable Lance Henriksen). After Damien makes a teacher look foolish, Neff tells Damien to keep on the down-low for the time being. “The time will come when everyone knows who you are.” He tells Damien to read Chapter 13 in the Book of Revelations, after which Damien locates his sixes underneath his hair, and is initially distraught at finally realizing his identity. Neff and Buher show that the satanic conspiracy has followers in high places, not just a disconcerting nanny and a pack of Rottweilers.

 Damien soon comes to terms with his destiny, taking his class on a field trip to the industrial plant, which suffers an explosion, fatally silencing two employees who were going to inform Richard that Buher’s land acquisition scheme has resulted in the murder of some people unwilling to sell their land.  Damien’s class is made sick from the fumes, but he himself is unharmed, wading through his incapacitated fellow students to silently show Buher that he has realized his power. His class survives, but a doctor (Meshach Taylor) is perturbed by Damien’s lack of injury.  He analyzes a blood sample which he finds to resemble a jackal as opposed to a human.  Before he can tell anyone, he too is silenced, by a rapidly descending elevator cable. 

The curator of the Thorn museum receives a package containing the seven daggers of Megiddo, and a letter explaining that Damien is the son of that Satan guy. He informs Richard, who dismisses his ravings, but their conversation is overheard by Mark, who is convinced. Mark confronts Damien in the woods, and Damien finally takes pride in the fact that he is the beast, and implores Mark to join him since he still loves him as a brother. Mark is appalled, and refuses him and attempts to leave, but Damien causes a fatal aneurysm in his brain. Damien cries out in horror and grief, expressing true regret that someone he actually cared for had to die for him to push forward.

Richard is now sure that something is not right with Damien and meets with his curator to view the wall (Now inside of a cargo carrier) showing Damien’s face in a visual prophecy. He sees his face, and is convinced, but the curator is crushed between two train cars.  

 Richard is followed by Ann as he goes to the Museum to retrieve the daggers, but is betrayed by Ann, proving herself to be the prophesized Whore of Babylon as she impales him with the daggers. Damien, who overhears all of this, apparently isn’t a fan as he immolates her in fire.  Damien leaves the museum, now completely unopposed as the sole heir of Thorn Industries.

Jonathan Scott-Taylor has quite a job in the film.  In the first film, Damien serves basically as a plot device.  No disrespect whatsoever towards Harvey Stephens, the tyke just doesn’t have a lot to do. Scott-Taylor needs to elevate the role into a complete character, and he does it well. He doesn’t quite shake his British accent, which may seem a bit awkward at times, but he has enough presence to make it a respectable performance at the center of the film.

 

Samhain Project 2: The Hidden

Jack Sholder's The Hidden is a perfect encapsulation of the 80's.  Bright day and night-time shooting, seriously rockin' tunes from the era, cars, cocaine, guns and big ass hair.  That's all on the surface however.  While not available as a disc from them, this little number is airing on the Criterion Channel as we speak.  It's that highly regarded and I've read extremely recently from folks whose opinions I generally respect that it should be up for re-assessment. 

This one's a bit more sci-fi than horror, but I need to fit one or two stylistic twists in my collection here, and that's why it deserves to be included.  

Los Angeles is being torn up by a mass murderer with a penchant for robbing banks, killing people regardless of their age, stealing Ferraris and causing millions of dollars in property damage.  And the bastard is really hard to catch.  LA's finest, Beck, played with some pretty good intensity and just enough subtlety by Michael Nouri is on the case, but the bodies pile up so fast and high, he's barely got time for his family.  Enter FBI agent Lloyd Gallagher, played by Kyle MachLachlan with an intentional robotic stiffness that had to be the reason why David Lynch brought him in as Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks.

Or he had him in mind from Blue Velvet, it doesn't matter.

I wrote a bit earlier this month about the James Brolin vehicle Night of the Juggler, and its breakneck speed and intensity.   If it weren't for a couple pauses,  The Hidden could challenge Juggler for the title of most out of control feeling movie of the 1980's.  It races from day to night and back again, with cars crashing everywhere, guns firing, blood spraying, bodies flyin', people dyin'.  Despite all of the violence and ill intent, the movie doesn't suffer from a lack of humor, it's there just to liven things up a bit, if not make them a touch weirder than they already are. 

This one's not going to make too many best of lists, but it's fondly remembered by its cult audience, and gaining regard by some chunks of the film community and is a lot of fun to watch. 

Samhain Project 2: Midsommar

College Students are largely self-centered idiots.  That's what I learned in Midsommar, a terrific film written and directed by Ari Aster, the helmer of Hereditary.  That was another great film that many critics called this era's Exorcist, though methinks they overshot the mark on that one a little bit. 

So back to the college students.  Folks, we got one who has centered on a Swedish township with its own little funky history as his thesis, and he invites a couple of his bros along. One Bro has a girlfriend he invites along because her recent massive family tragedy has her on the brink.  Wanting her to be steadied in life may be the only likable quality this choad has, however.  

Another Bro is a native Swede, who plans to do be the guide in the Midsummer festivities that his family has planned in their rural Swedish countryside area. It's breathtaking, really. It looks like the beginning of the Sound of Music. 

Mixed with Helter Skelter.

I feel like Aster is influenced by The Wicker Man,  The Guyana Tragedy, and a touch of The Beguiled here.  Everything is so gorgeous and colorful here, but Aster's touch creates an off-kilter setting so twisted, that when things get weird, nasty, and out-of-hand, (and trust me, fam, they do) it almost feels like par for the course.

Until the shocks come.

This is a jacked up movie from the get-go.  Much like Aster's Hereditary, and Austrian nightmare fuel moviemakers Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz' fun little numbers The Lodge and Goodnight Mommy (check last year's Samhain Project for both) it kicks off with a booming family tragedy.

What's wrong with these people, anyway?  

So, some shit happens in your character's life that is low-key catastrophic global thermonuclear breakfast cereal, and then, you decide to absolutely wreck them physically and mentally, just a little bit further?

I don't think these folks, as talented and rich with filmmaking gifts as they are, truly love their characters. Cinematic sadists, they are. 

Samhain Project 2: Studio 666

Studio 666 is a comedy/horror film in the vein of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II.  It even has a nasty book that has more than a passing resemblance to the flesh-bound Necronomicon in Raimi's film.  Plenty of splatter/gore effects abide and a lot of laughs carried off by the surprisingly screen-agile Foo Fighters.

Instead of a cabin buried deep in the Tennessee woods, you have a mansion in Encino, California, that apparently has been used often as a recording studio.  The last time however resulted in a bloodbath.

The band, pressured by manager Jeff Garlin, (cleverly named "Shill") for their 10th album, is initially against using the studio house, until leader Dave Grohl falls for the acoustics generated by a clap.   

Away we go....

Everyone's foul-mouthed humor carries the film through some surprisingly creepy moments (my dog left the room at one point).  Aside from the confident Grohl, legendary punk guitarist Pat Smear and keyboardist Rami Jaffee seem the most natural on camera; the rest are just doing their best.  But despite how funny drummer Taylor Hawkins is, the laughter he generates reminds you that he's gone, and brings you back down to Earth a bit.  It was tough for me to shake the melancholy of his loss when he was on screen. 

My wife and I caught the London Tribute to Taylor Hawkins on YouTube, and not only was it an amazing collaboration of rock talent from across 50 years, from the James Gang (check out the baseball cap Taylor's wearing in the band/management meeting at the film's open) to Dave Grohl's and Taylor's children. I teared up a couple of times.  This man was deeply loved by many, and his talent will be missed as well.  Banging skins for the Foos wasn't the only thing Mr. Hawkins did well musically.

Try not to let that stop you though.  There's some great scares, chuckles, a genuinely super score by Roy Mayorga, and kick-ass Foo Fighters rock and roll.    A killer theme song by John Carpenter's trio, (not to mention his cameo as a recording engineer), as well as comedians Whitney Cummings and the affore-mentioned Jeff Garlin add some elements that round out the whole.  This is a fun movie that could be a cult classic and really enjoyed by a group especially...

Halloween would be the perfect time.

 

Samhain Project 2 : 30th Anniversary: Candyman (1992) and 2019

Cabrini Green.

Growing up in far southeastern Wisconsin, just across the border from Illinois, a mere 40 minutes from greater Chicago, watching NBC 5, and listening to WMAQ news, it was hard to avoid. 

The crimes, the murders, the general ill-at-ease.  I thought the place was somewhere evil, like Amityville, or Mordor.  The fam even drove past it once; its high rise project jagging up into the gray Chicago sky, with nothing around it to serve as protection, buffer, or dilution. 

Those two words, that separate or together, don't sound inherently sinister, still drew the occasion chill. 

Cabrini Green.

It's not there anymore, the way it was, of course, razed for gentrification and real estate profiteering, it doesn't pass for the ghetto, or the hood, or whatever term was trendy in the 80s and 90's.  But Jordan Peele's scripted Candyman sequel wonders if it's haunted.  The Bernard Rose directed original (based on Clive Barker's The Forbidden) presents you with reasons why it may be. 

As a kid, we challenged each other to go into closets, and repeat "I Believe in Bloody Mary" 5 times and she was supposed to emerge.  This era of urban legend is what Virginia Madsen and Kasi Lemmons' characters were using as their research thesis in the 1992 version. Instead of Bloody Mary, the one to be summoned was Candyman.

George Romero in a commentary for Dawn of the Dead, described Dario Argento's separately edited version of Dawn as "straight Chi", when held up to his own, and that comparison can made here.  Bernard Rose's original is more straight to the throat horror than the Nia DaCosta version, which is brightly flourishing with social commentary and allegory. With characters that are fun to listen to, and grow attached to due to Jordan Peele's infinitely smart writing.  In his film, Bernard Rose paints a picture of people haunted by their surroundings, fearing a legend, fearing what's around the corner as it is exacerbated by children's songs and adult's warnings, often manufactured to protect their kids and get them home before dark.  A haunted community like this makes one wonder if the creators of Halloween Ends didn't take a peek at these two films and draw some inspiration from them.

But I digress. 

The residents of the project knew better.  And what not to say in front of the mirror.

Of course, you have your standard couple of outsiders who want to know too much.  Madsen and Lemmons venture where they don't belong and ask questions that should remain unanswered.  (In DaCosta’s film, Our lead initially goes looking to see what the original’s pair learned.)  What results is a horror film of the highest order with great performances, and an antagonist in Tony Todd's Candyman, (Daniel Robitaille in his living days) that's pretty damn hard to top. 

DaCosta's monster is much the same, while she addresses social injustice as just as dangerous; white police on black violence is addressed here.  Gentrification is addressed here.  Profiteering off of the land once allotted as low income housing.  In the 1992 film, Candyman is the boogeyman, while in the 2019 version Candyman is a symbol, a warning, for those who cross an unwise path into territory they don't belong in, to take what is not theirs.  And there are those who believe that walking talisman is necessary. It needs to return and to live on. 

I highly recommend both films for this time of year; they're different, but connected in just the right ways. Watching them back to back would be a trip, as the tone and message separate from one another, but the legend, the evil, and just enough character reference enjoins them.  They dovetail nicely.  I've never seen the two sequels that fall in between the original and this one, but I've read elements are brought in by the new blood to subtly connect them all, or are at the least, referenced.  I can't speak to that, but it would be a nice touch. 

Samhain Special: The Sasquatch Project

The found footage subgenre may be dead or have grown tired at the least.  The Bigfoot subgenre seems to have never been worth acknowledging.  (Unless Lance Henriksen appears in the picture.  He seems to be the Harry Dean Stanton of  Bigfoot movies.  Roger Ebert once said no movie can be totally bad if Harry Dean is in it, so I'm applying that Henriksen rationale here.)

I digress.

So what if you have Bigfoot AND found footage?  I've seen a lot of bad found footage, and a ton of awful Bigfoot movies going back to the 70's. Snowbeast anyone? Willow Creek is a bit different.  This 2013 film is about a couple who are using a vacation to make a Bigfoot documentary of a sort.  They're an endearing pair, attractive, smart, and funny, and they win you over quickly.  This is due to nice dialogue writing by comedian/director Bobcat Goldthwait.

Yes. THAT Bobcat Goldthwait.

His skill makes this rise a bit above.  You learn a lot about this couple, almost as much as you do Bigfoot, as they tour Bigfoot country.  Trouble is, as smart as these two are, they don't heed warnings, signs, omens, harbingers, or even outright redneck threats.  So, needless to say, trouble is on the way to the pair's intended destination where the historic 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film was shot.

Said trouble is made all the more effective by these well drawn characters, and their performances.  Yes, this is a low-budget found footage Sasquatch flick, but Goldthwait draws every inch out of it.  Who would think a single lengthy, unedited, non-moving shot could be increasingly intense and unnerving?  Well, it can.  Willow Creek's subtlety is what gives the film true horror as its eventuality. 

Now, if subtlety isn't your game, perhaps Exists is more up your alley.  This little found-footage Bigfooter has many more detractors compared to Willow Creek, but I find it exciting, fast-paced and with a great twist.   As directed by Eduardo Sanchez, one of the two primary figures responsible for the Blair Witch Project, it has a pedigree.  Here, however, Sanchez seems to adjust the camera movement, editing choices, and adds a nifty score, trying to satisfy those that may be uncomfortable with your basic found footage films. 

The characters are a bit thin, but there are more than two in this case, and they're not lacking in humor.  So as they make an ill-advised visit to one of the group's uncle's East Texas cabin, the film fires up almost immediately and once it does, it doesn't let up.  Despite the found footage effect, there are some amazing shots here and top flight creature work.  

Both films do not lack for gorgeous scenery, Willow Creek placed in the upper Northwest, Exists in the brush of Texas.  Eye candy is not at a minimum.

So, if the ambiguity and slower build of Willow Creek (despite the almost exact same running time) is not your cup of tea, Exists may be more for you.

The Lance Henriksen Factor

If it's Lance Henriksen you're looking for with your Squatch, there's Abominable (also including lead Matt McCoy, Jeffrey Combs and a snappy score by fucking legend Lalo Schifrin).  This unheralded mini-classic includes late great Paul "You're a gutless turd", "We're gonna need more FBI guys, I guess" Gleason, CSI Miami's unsung hero Rex Linn, and grande dame of the horror film, and criminally underrated Dee Wallace.  Seriously, Ms. Wallace should have been monster successful. Spielberg cast her in E.T. for Cripe's sake.

There's also: mediocre Sasquatch (AKA The Untold) 

Devil on the Mountain (AKA Sasquatch Mountain) featuring the always wonderful Tim Thomerson, the late great Rance Howard, horror icon Craig Wasson, and scream queen Cerina Vincent.

Abominable and Devil are pretty fun, so, to paraphrase Jack Nicholson in Mars Attacks, "you got 2 out of 3 working for ya, AND THAT AIN'T BAD!"

Actually, there's a more recent one called Big Legend, so hey, bonus Henriksen Squatch action, if you go looking.

                                     

 

The Spectrum Files: Blood Beach

As a kid, quicksand scared the shit out of me.  Afternoon movies showed the stuff was everywhere-the jungle, the forest, backyards of houses of evil, some poorly maintained bathrooms- literally everywhere. 

Just the idea of being slowly pulled under something disgusting, knowing that at some point, you'd either suffocate or drown (depending on its viscosity) was a living nightmare to me as a young boy.

Seriously, I dreamed of this shite.  A lot.  I even thought my Kenosha backyard on Lichter Road may have some, especially after it rained.  I would tread softly.

So, early in the afternoon of a fall summer 1981 day, Spectrum aired Blood Beach,  a film about people disappearing under the sand on a California beach.  Producers were given the right to use the tagline, "Just When You Thought it Was Safe to Go Back to the Water, You Can't Get To it!".  (aping the Jaws 2 slogan) They probably thought they'd sell tickets on that broo-ha-ha alone.  

As a 10 year old, due to this quicksand silliness, this movie bugged me a bit.  The adults in the room laughed their asses off at both the movie and my reaction to it.  Despite the heroic presences of Burt Young and John Saxon.  The former was Rocky Balboa's irritating brother-in-law Paulie, the latter fought the corruption of Han's Island alongside Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon.  (He was also in the Joe Don Baker MST3K victim Mitchell and a detective in both Black Christmas as well as Nightmare on Elm Street).

So, they gotta win, right?

 Well, you'd find it wasn't quicksand under Blood Beach, but a mutant creature pulling people through the sand from underground.  So my mind could be taken off the quicksand, but it was quickly concerned that there may be a Kenosha creature under my house, just planning to pull me and my family under to our dooms.  

Run to the driveway, don't walk, guys!

Samhain Project 2 : X

 Ti West's X is both a love letter to the 70's world of horror (particularly The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, in some cases right down to the damn individual shot) and an exploration of the quick passing of youth and the humiliation and sadness of aging.  A particular scene where Brittany Snow sings Stevie Nicks' Landslide may draw a tear or two.

A prequel, Pearl, is on the screens now, as it seems Mr. West's imagination is an active and fertile machine.  So if X leaves you wanting more, just hit the theatre, or wait til the video release in a month.  Oh, yeah, and a sequel, featuring the star of the first two, Mia Goth, is also in the works.....

All the melodrama is wrapped up in a horror film, however, with plenty of scares, gore, creep factors, and even a killer alligator for spice.  Shot with New Zealand doubling for Texas, and camera gadgetry and vintage lighting to simulate 16 and 35mm film, the era it takes place in (1979) is successfully created.  Ti West, master of creating a vintage aura, takes you back in time again, like he did the early 80's in House of the Devil, with the help of the same cinematographer, mind you.

A simple set-up of a group of people attempting to shoot an adult film on an elderly couple's rural Texas property is a great set up for horror.  As Ti West is wont to do, layers of the mental and emotional are draped in.  Horror is more effective when you care about the characters, even the antagonists, and a laugh or two is generated along the way.  In X, however, there's also a core of melancholy that makes the story that much richer.

The flick has monstrous moments, so strap yourself in.  Mr. West spent the last decade or so mostly working in TV, and away from cinematic horror, so his return is with a vengeance.

Samhain Project 2: Halloween Ends

Yes it does.  But not without controversy.

This episode of David Gordon Green's Halloween trilogy has drawn a lot of ire on the web and from in print critics, and I feel it's undeserved on so many levels.  I mean, does it really have to kill a person watching a "slasher" film to think?

Communities that have suffered, whether it be a mass shooting, a toxic accident, a natural disaster, it can come close to death, and even truly die.  That's what Halloween Ends is presenting to its audience; an examination of trauma, and how it can be in some ways, weaponized.  In this case the trauma is suffering at the hands of evil.  Whether said community wilts and fails on all levels, engages in blame games, finding scapegoats, or utter self-destruction is up to its members.

Haddonfield, Illinois, home of Laurie Strode and Michael Myers, is now at that point.  It's a piece of artwork, watching the story unfold is most satisfying.  This isn't an afterschool special, so don't get like some people, and act like it somehow became a Freddy Prinze Jr./Jessica Biel movie from the 90's.  

Take that thinking to the toilet and flush it. 

Despite the metaphor, despite the character development and examination, this is STILL a Halloween film, and David Gordon Green has not forgotten what got us here.  He still honors the ENTIRE series, even if in micro-bytes.   The Godfather John Carpenter is still there, providing us with a striking fucking score, along with his son Cody and godson Daniel Davies.  Jamie Lee Curtis is still Laurie Strode, only less militantly obsessed with battling her nemesis, and more concerned with getting past it all, some four years after the last Halloween bloodbath at the hands of Myers. 

And there are still kills.  It hasn't suddenly turned into an episode of Grey's Anatomy.

This Halloween ends deeper.  It's satisfying as hell.  And all involved have given the series a viking funeral.  Metacritic and Rotten tomatoes and butthurt internet victims be damned.

 

Samhain Project Op-Ed by Aidan Will: The Omen

 Originally posted October 21, 2013

It’s time to look back on one of the almost forgotten series of horror films in semi-recent history: The Omen franchise.  Note that I will not be addressing the 2006 remake (The Omen: 666) nor the attempted television spin-off (Omen IV: The Awakening).  I will only be addressing the original full-circle trilogy, which in my still continuing career as a film enthusiast, was my first morbid curiosity as a child, frightening me before ever even saw the films.

            The story starts with The Omen (1976), directed by Richard Donner, who would go on to direct Superman: The Movie (1979). You’ll have a hard time finding two films by the same director more different then these two. The first installment of the series is still well regarded and deservedly respected to this day.  The film stars the legendary Gregory Peck as US Ambassador to England, Robert Thorn.  The story is painfully tragic from the start. When his wife Katherine (Lee Remick) gives birth, Robert is told that the child did not survive. In screenwriter David Seltzer’s novelization, Katherine has been noted as being mentally fragile, and Robert fears for her stability in the wake of her child’s death. The hospital chaplain (Martin Benson), offers Robert an opportunity to spare his wife the pain of the loss by replacing their child with a healthy child whose mother has also died. Robert is told that “God will forgive this little deception,” and he agrees. They name the child: Damien Thorn. 

            The family enjoys a full five years with the child before things start getting weird. Their nanny happily hangs herself at Damien’s fifth birthday party, after making hypnotic eye contact with a strange Rottweiler.  The new nanny, Mrs. Baylock (Billie Whitelaw), arrives to replaces her, and while the Thorns accept, they are bewildered by her disposition and the liberties she takes with Damien (played by Harvey Spencer Stephens), such as allowing the dog to stay in his room. Katherine takes Damien to the zoo, but the animals either run away or frenzy around him. Damien flips out and scratches at his mother rather than enter a church. Damien has no more understanding of the horrifying events occurring around him than his parents, adding another layer of tragedy to the tale: at this point, Damien has not chosen this. He is a normal looking child, the director does not attempt to make him a creep-factor on his own.

            Robert is repeatedly approached by Father Brennan (Patrick Troughton), and warned of the child’s origins, though Robert dismisses him as mentally ill and has him escorted out, but not before he declares one of the most terrifying sentences in the history of horror: “I saw it’s mother…  It’s mother was a jack-” his warnings need not be complete for its effect to be.

            Eventually Robert agrees to meet with him, and is told that his wife is again pregnant, and that somehow Damien will avert the birth. After this meeting, Father Brennan is killed in the film’s most famous sequence, being impaled by a lightning rod from the top of a church.  That is just plain bad luck. After his death, a photographer by the name of Keith Jennings (David Warner) reviews photos that he took of him after his visit with Robert. He finds a bizarre narrow shadow entering the priest’s shoulder, predicting his death, as well as a shadow around the neck of the suicidal nanny in another photo, and also notes a shadow in a photo of himself. Jennings informs Robert of his concern. Meanwhile, Damien speeds through their mansion on a tricycle and knocks Katherine off of a footstool while she is tending to flowers, and she falls an entire story to the floor. While Robert visits her in a hospital, he learns that she has miscarried.

            Roberts had enough of the shit, and travels with Jennings to Rome to uncover Damien’s origins. They find the hospital that Damien was born in has burned to the ground, annihilating all records, along with most of the staff, and the maternity ward. They track down Father Spiletto, the Chaplain who offered Robert Damien, and learn the fire has gravely injured him and he has been rendered mute. He writes ‘Cervet,’ indicating a cemetery in Cerveteri.  Isn’t Cervet (Cher-vet) a beautiful word?  It’d be a good name for a death metal band. Anyway, they go to the cemetery and uncover two graves, one containing the skeleton of an infant with a shattered skull, and another with the bones of a jackal; Damien’s biological mother. This sequence and everything it indicates is so painfully obscene, so violently vulgar, that it’s hard not to share Robert’s reaction.  The followers of Satan’s conspiracy have murdered his child, and replaced it with a one of inhuman birth. Robert and Jennings night doesn’t really get any better as they are then set upon by a pack of Rottweilers. It should be said to anyone encouraging breed-specific legislation that this scene was terribly difficult to shoot, because the dogs were timid.  

            Robert calls Katherine in the hospital, telling her that she will be escorted to be with him in Rome. He is soon called back and informed that she has died, after we see she was probably defenestrated by Baylock. Jennings returns to the room they stay at finding Robert curled up his bed: “Kathy is dead.  I want Damien dead too.”

            They then head over to Israel to meet with Karl Bugenhagen (Leo McKern), who explains to them that they will find a birthmark in the shape of three sixes to prove Damien’s status as the Antichrist.  He then equips them with the seven daggers of Meggido, the only weapons that can kill the child. In spite of all he has learned, Robert still cannot cope with the idea of murdering a child. He discards the daggers on the street, and when Jennings goes to retrieve them, he is decapitated by a sheet of glass.

            On the plane ride back to London, Robert appears to be a hollow shell of his former self, with nothing left to lose, wielding the daggers silently. He returns to his mansion and uncovers the sequence of sixes beneath a sleeping Damien’s hair. He is attacked by Baylock but he dispatches her with two sharp implements in both sides of her neck, avenging the murder of his wife. He throws Damien’s ass in the car and drives to a nearby church, but is pursued by the fuzz after speeding through a gate. As he prepares to kill Damien on the church altar, (a scene evoking Abraham’s near-sacrifice of his own son as commanded by God) the police burst in, shooting him down. It is worth noting that this film was Gregory Peck’s first film appearance since the death of his own son, which led to producers having reservations regarding even sending him the script.

            At the twin funeral of the Thorn couple, they are given their last rites in an honorable service. We may never know if Robert attained salvation and forgiveness for his deception after his death. As the camera pans down, it is revealed that Damien has survived, as he smiles at the camera.  Evil has spit in the face of innocence, and it is laughing hard.  

William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973) often overshadows The Omen as the more frightening film to tackle the subject matter. But Friedkin’s direction of William Peter Blatty’s Catholic love letter granted us a reprieve, as good triumphs over evil. In Donner’s film, we are given no mercy. Evil has prevailed. After the rise of the Counterculture in the 1960’s, America’s “Loss of Innocence,” in the Vietnam war, and Nixon’s Watergate scandal, The 1970’s became a breeding ground for darker, more pessimistic themes in film, and no American horror film of the period epitomizes that better than the first installment of this trilogy. But the film has had a positive effect as well; Richard Donner attributes his entire career in theatrical film and the meeting of his wife to The Omen, while the film’s proceeds allowed 20^th Century Fox and George Lucas to complete Star Wars.  The late Jerry Goldsmith won his only Academy Award for Best Original Score, for creating what may be the most frightening film soundtrack recorded so far.

Samhain Project 2 : Halloween Safety

 If there's a particular sound that draws out both the nostalgia and power of my childhood, it's the film projector. 

Everyone knows back in the 70's and early 80's when a film projector was either present in the center of the room or wheeled in at the onset of the class period, the hour would be much less stressful, and more brief. 

There was nothing like that clacking chatter of the film accompanied by the warbling voice of the narrator.  The one film that draws the most familiarity and nostalgia from my childhood is this gem: 

Once this began to roll annually, you knew Halloween was right around the corner: Tricks or Treats, costumes, laughter with friends and family chaperones.   Also, the creepiness of the coming fall, leaves, pumpkins and chill of the air.

But safety was the rule of the day.  There could be masks that blocked vision in the dark, possible lack of attention to traffic, and costumes that can't be seen by cars as dusk drew near.  (Flashlights, kiddos!).  

Also, those damn overlong costumes that you could be tripping over.

This era was right at the beginning of the horror stories of razor blades in apples, (illustrated horribly in Halloween II) poisoned candy (as you can see with the film, there's a healthy dose of examination of the evening's booty), and prowling weirdos in the dark; although that may be a bit much for the tykes watching this.

This film brings back positive memories.  When Halloween was nothing but fun, and you were encouraged to do it safely, and in groups....Just to avoid the outside chance of an accident.

This little wonder was put together by Herk Harvey, the legendary director of nightmare fuel Carnival of Souls, which I waxed on about in last year's Samhain Project.  Seems appropriate to a degree.

Because for a safety film distributed to schools in the fall to be screened shortly before Halloween, it is a more than just a little bit creepy.

Samhain Project 2 : The Night of the Juggler

The Night of the Juggler is a product of its time.  This film has been out-of-print since VHS.  Shot and released in 1980, it was at the tail end of the sleazy era of New York,  just before the city turned the tide and the corner.  There is racist dialogue here, there is violence, there is slimy behavior.  The events that begin about five minutes into the film are set in motion by all of the Big Apple's problems.  An abduction of a child and attempt at ransom by a former landowner to save his property.  Don't pity this guy, though.  He's USDA grade A turd. 

The film is relentless.  To the point that my wife and editor, and myself needed to take a break. Not to escape any graphic content, but grab a breather from the pace.  James Brolin (70's B-movie star, and father of the deeply gifted Josh) has his daughter grabbed almost before his eyes, by the above mentioned stool sample. What follows is a combo foot/car chase that rivals most of what Hollywood has offered before and since.  Brolin's character, Sean, is a former clean cop, who was easily cut loose by the New York cost-cutting police layoffs because of that specific characteristic.  His straight edge handling of law enforcement was a liability to the NYPD.  He's kind of a low grade Frank Serpico in that sense. Beard and hair included.  Right now he's a man on a straight forward mission:  Get the Hell out of my way, I'm getting my daughter back.

The police corruption end of it is just breezed over however as why he lost his job and his marriage. Because enough of that, it gets in the way of the pace.  Sean escapes multiple times from both the cops and gang-bangers and pimps.  (fast-paced long stories all, escapes in refreshingly sloppy uncoordinated realistic fights).  People fade in and out.  Heroic Puerto Rican (!) cab driver Mandy Patinkin and crazy-eyed crooked shotgun pumping detective Dan Hedaya are gone as quick as they appear.  Answers appear from the strangest places, as well as allies.

The movie never stops.  It never lets up.  You don't have time to decide exactly HOW offensive it actually is.  It is a shame it was never meant to be a box office hit, because I believe, and firmly, that the cast and crew had to probably be hospitalized for exhaustion after filming.  

Juggler's villain is weak, never terrifying,  just weird, and frankly stupid.  This doesn't really qualify as a horror film, and the Juggler doesn't help that fact.  However, the perpetually adrenalized state of the thing is kind of scary in and of itself.  Not gonna forget this one anytime soon.

 

Samhain Project S2: House. (Hausau)

House was released in Japan in 1977 and was described by comedian and Barry star Bill Hader in his visit to the Criterion Closet as "fucking insane" even as he was wearing a tee shirt from the film.  Two things from the clip.  Don't take his advice on those two "date movies".  The other?  I predict, that in the near future he will direct an incredible horror film. Seriously.

    

The first half hour of the film concerns 7 teenagers planning their summer vacation.  Shot and edited in a style that looks like Sid and Marty Krofft jollyness meets Terry Gilliam animations, meets Italian Giallo's vivid color.  Bizarrely, all the girls are named after behavioral or physical characteristics, so our main character, Gorgeous, is infuriated to learn that her widower father wants to bring a future stepmom to their getaway home.  This is shot down, and Gorgeous gathers all of her friends to stay at a mysterious aunts' home for their holiday instead.

Despite the visual gymnastics at play during all of this, it really gets sinister and darkly humorous once the house is reached. I'm not going to give any further plot points away, just know that Mr. Hader is in no way wrong in his description of the film. 70's yacht rock or tinkling piano melodies play constantly behind the dialogue and action, as it's growing more ominous, making the film a bit unsettling and a tad ear-splitting. I'm glad I saw this film, and will probably have to revisit it to have it make complete, or at least, some sort of sense.   

Is it a horror film?  Some of it is.  Some of it is downright evil.  But with giggling girls, chuckling dudes with buckets stuck to their asses, and colors right out of a Pantone Pallette book, it's a combination that just feels off to the nth degree.  And if that is what the director was going for?  

*chef's kiss*, brother.

Oh, by the way, the horror movie book riding in the seat of the girls' train?  I have that shit.