The Mothman Cometh: A True Story

Mothman is a Sci-Fi-Horror film about Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Local legend has it that settlers fought an Indian chief, Cornstalk, whose last act of retribution was to summon evil and turn into Mothman, basically a moth-like grim reaper. Fast forward to today and six friends are yanking one of their little brother under water, just to tease him. But he drowns and they cover it up by bashing his head in, one by one. Being a righteous daemon, the mothman cometh only when evil-doers get away with gruesome acts. In gory twists and turns, the mothman enters our world through mirrors (his version of portals include rear-view mirrors, drivers beware) and pick of the six friends.

Mothman is satisfying in that the six friends were so wicked that it was great seeing them get their just desserts. The Mothman CGI wasn't horrid like most of Syfy Channel's effects, and the gore was delightful, especially a line of guts sliding down a trailer. The acting wasn't exactly award-winning but it served its purpose. On the other hand, the costume department left something to be desired, the film was shot in an odd yellow hue, and Frank (the creepy old man character) was ridiculously deceiving.

Better yet, the Mothman Myth is real. So is Point Pleasant. So is the sightings and bridge accident of 1967. This adds a dimension of realism to the film, and an eeriness. Citizens of Point Pleasant still insist Mothman is real. Just as in the film, Point Pleasant commemorates Mothman at the yearly Mothman festival.

Mothman is worth the gore and CGI; the added layer of true elements makes the film worth a watch.

American Zombie

American Zombie is the story of the zombie community in Los Angeles. A mockumentary, comedy, and issues film, American Zombie slightly humorously follows several fictional zombies, or revenants as they prefer to be called. I didn't know that this film was actually supposed to be a statement about racism or civil rights going into it, but that became clear as the film progressed.

The fictional zombies themselves are mildly funny. Judy, an asian zombie, tries the hardest to hold onto her human past. She collects cat statues, makes scrapbooks, works at an organic food company, and is searching for a human boyfriend. Lisa, by far the funniest, is a florist who specializes in funeral arrangements while pursuing her not-so-good art. Ivan, a dud of a character, is a teenager that happens to be a zombie. Joel (pronounced ho-el) is the founder of ZAG, Zombie Advocacy Group, which puts on Live Dead, a zombie Woodstock. What happens at Live Dead is the big twist of the film...

The film is told from the perspective of real life documentary filmmakers Grace Lee and John Solomon, who are parodying themselves. This is another theme of the movie that some viewers may find pretentious, in that American Zombie is something of a tongue-in-cheek diatribe on documentary film-making. Many reviews I've read have claimed it's boring, and that's a fair assessment but the humor is more quiet and not a goofy in-your-face attempt at garnering laughs. The other biggest complaint is that the last third of the film takes a serious turn, but that's the point and I didn't mind it. The events of Live Dead shift the documentary's focus both in the film and the film itself. Also, there is so much foreshadowing to the climax that I don't know why people didn't see it coming.

I recommend this film if you have nothing better to do, but thankfully it's not too long. It's a wee bit boring but there's some twists that make it possibly worthwhile in the end. Perhaps that was part of the point, in that some documentaries can be hideously boring (read: Food, Inc. Waste of time!)

Hellhounds: You Get What You Pay For

Hellhounds recently broadcast on SyFy channel; being a loyal viewer of their Saturday movies, I had to watch it. I'm sure they chose to air this movie because of Clash of the Titans' release. Kleitos, a Greek warrior, married Demetria, a Grecian princess. On their wedding day, she is captured by Kleitos' jealous best friend and taken to Hades. She dies but is revived. However, as Kleitos and Demetria make their way to the Seer that can save Demetria forever, they are pursued by a pack of Hellhounds. These, I believe, are based on Cerberus, the three headed dog of Greek mythology. They get to the Seer and she manages to figure out how to save Demetria, but sacrifices herself. In the end, the evil best friend is defeated and the hell hounds with him.

This movie is a case of getting what you paid for. They didn't spend much money on this movie, but it wasn't to the film's detriment. The costumes were great. The special effects for the Hellhounds were actually on par with the werewolves of New Moon (I guess that's not saying too much, from a certain point of view). I look forward to lots of gore, but this film didn't have that much. The acting was wooden in many parts, but at the least the leads were good looking enough to make up for it. I liked the Seer character, she could get a little cliche in parts, but her acting was good and her all-black eyes were good visual effects. There's a scene in a village where Demetria magically gets new clothes and Kleitos' brother is expected to carry a tray of apples on a horse that is laughably bad, but the well meaning intentions of the scene make up for it. The fight scenes in the woods are well shot, especially the horse riding moments, but the Hellhounds just weren't scary enough.
Kleitos and Demetria: Pretty People in Need of Acting Lessons

I'd watch this over 300 any day for its so-bad-it's-good qualities (the film itself is oddly endearing in its underdog way), but when all is said and done (that's an ABBA song, by the way) this movie needed scarier dogs and more blood, guts, and gore.

Non Traditional Kawaii Parte Dos

60th post! Just want to say if anyone's casually reading or drops by, feel free to comment or subscribe. Consider this Part Two of my Feburary Post "Non Traditional Kawaii."

The Zombie from Zombi 2. This is an iconic image in the zombie world. The poor bugger is decomposing, but that's part of why it's so kawaii. The worms pouring out of his orbital cavity, the empty expanse of the other eye socket, and the mouth that could be considered a snarly grin.

I've always considered Gragra cute. According to EU lore, she breeds her foodstuffs in the sewers of Mos Espa. Jar Jar tries to eat one and becomes entangled, raising her ire. Her mouth looks like a smile, and the big dark eyes draw you in. She looks like a female, portly Ryuk.

If ever you find yourself in an abandoned warehouse set with traps, you wouldn't want to meet this guy. But Billy the Puppet is adorable. The little suit and the way he rides the tricycle are normally considered cute on children, but in our world, the evil puppet is cuter. He's the messenger of despair, but if you play Jigsaw's game by the rules, he's an arbiter of hope.

Michael Jackson. We can consider ourselves fans before he sadly passed away, and defended him against his detractors. The plastic surgery was gruesome, but in an odd way it worked. I'm not saying he's cute in the traditional sense, but in a tug-at-the-heart strings way. He was vulnerable, but his childlike sense of flying, magic, and wonderment was awe inspiring. He was Peter Pan, in his heart. His bizarre sense of style, his ranch of weirdness, and even the moments in the 2003 documentary were adorable. We miss you, and love you always, Michael. His message was Love, and we'll never forget. He had so much love in his heart.

Who said Zombies Can't be Cute!

Hedorah showed me an excellent campy/b-movie zombie flick by Peter Jackson called Dead Alive, released as Braindead everywhere else. How could Pete go from making such a masterpiece in over the top gore to the LOTR trilogy? I've seen this film derided on the internet, and that's sad. This movie will satisfy gore and humor fans. Anyways, I consider this post Part 2 of an earlier post about Non Traditional Kawaii. Dead Alice contained many adorable zombies.

One such zombie is the zombie baby. The spawn of the priest and a zombie woman, the zombie baby provides some of the best moments in the film (besides the mother's gasp, the glowing zombie, and "this calls for some divine intervention"). The zombie baby reminds of Kuato's evil twin. When he goes for a day in the park, he can escape even barbed wire, and goes careening down a hill in a tram. The attempts to stop him from attacking the park goers are hilarious. I don't like normal babies, but I do love zombie babies!

I couldn't find a picture of the organs, but they are really kawaii. The zombie organs are the remains of another zombie that take on a life (or unlife) or their own. They attack people by using intestines like rope. The cutest scene is sadly its demise, when it puts together what looks like lungs as "hands" begging for mercy. The heart as the face is adorable. I did find a picture of the half-head zombie in the ensnares of the organ zombie's intestines.
Lastly, the rat monkey found in New Zealand's outback is really cute. Hedorah said it's reminiscent of Salacious Crumb, and that's right. The rat monkey bites the mother at the zoo, which leads to the whole mess of zombies in the little town. Its demise, though sad in that it's cuteness is extinguished, is funny because the mother stomps it to death. At least it enjoyed a meal of a primate arm before it died.

So I ask again, who said zombies can't be cute? These ones sure are!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Black Christmas (1974)

Christmas is associated with many things both positive and negative- religion, consumerism, toys, snow, family, stress, and Santa Claus. One thing not, however, traditionally associated with Christmas is murder. In Black Christmas (1974), though, Christmas and death sit side by side, like the red and white stripes of a candy cane.

The story begins in a sorority house, filled with students on the eve of their winter break. As the party approaches its end, the house receives an obscene phone call from an unknown man. While most of the girls brush the caller off as a harmless prankster, one of the students (the cliche "good girl"), warns the others to be more careful before storming to her room to pack for the upcoming vacation. Ironically, this character is the first to die, as the killer is waiting for her when she enters the room. Strangled to death, her dead body is kept in the attic in a dusty rocking chair for the rest of the movie. This image, accompanied by the maniacal laughter of the killer, is the most striking, memorable, and iconic image in Black Christmas.

As you could probably guess from the description of the body in the attic, the tone of Black Christmas is...black. While the slasher movies of the '80's would grow more and more outlandish and tongue in cheek, Black Christmas is grounded in realism and grittiness. The murders in Black Christmas are memorable not for their outrageous gore, or humorous extravagance, but rather for their subtlety and believability. Nitpickers may find fault with the body in the attic, and how it remains remarkably well-preserved over the course of the film. Things like this didn't bother me, though. To me, the world of Black Christmas, while realistic, is still a stylized fantasy realm. Thus, while a murder later in the film, in which a girl is stabbed repeatedly with a miniature glass figure, is haunting in its subtlety, it is also visually interesting.

To lighten the mood, Black Christmas is packed with humorous dialogue, mainly from the drunken, disgruntled house mother, and a drunken, sex-obsessed sorority member. While the humor sometimes falls flat, there are some entertaining moments. The house mother, in particular was funny, and likable, despite being very over-the-top in her sloppy drunkenness. Interactions between the liberal sorority girls and the uptight father of a murdered student, added to the humor.

Black Christmas unfolds at a slow pace, which is a perfect fit for the movie's previously mentioned subtlety and realism. The story here works well when viewed alone, on a cold night in December, when you've grown tired of the glitter and joy of Christmas and want to experience something a little more "black".

The Crazies: Good Thrills, Weak Plot

The Crazies is a remake of a George Romero movie. The film is about a sheriff of a small town in Iowa who has to tackle a major problem: the water supply in the town is polluted by a government biological weapon which turns the townsfolk into, well, zombies! The government quarantines the town and seeks to destroy all of its citizens, infected and uninfected, undead or alive. The sheriff, with his wife and deputy, escape the town and the government's quarantine tactics, only to find themselves turning on each other. A nuclear bomb destroys the town, and the film ends with the sheriff and his wife walking to Mason City, only the audience knows that Mason City is set for "quarantine" as well. Sucks for them...

The film itself is high on scares. There were many moments that I jumped in my seat, and the suspense and terror was too much to handle. However, the editing of the film was conscious, as in some scenes you could tell that they removed a gorier shot. I'm interested in seeing the inevitable unrated edition, to see what I suspect was removed. Other thrills included a saw careening toward the sheriff, and a man whose eyes and mouth were sewn shut. The parts at the rest stop are just about the scariest in the whole film. The best scene in the movie is when an old woman repeatedly asks "Did Peter call?"

Yet the film suffered from plot holes and other confusing points. The man that was sewn was able to tell the sheriff a zombie was behind him, despite the fact that his eyes were sewn shut. They never explained how the deputy got infected, and how his transformation took the longest. Why would the government enlist townsfolk to help with the quarantine when they had an annihilate all people order? Also, the nuclear bomb blast scene was quite reminiscent of the "fridge scene" in Indiana Jones IV, as the couple were able to escape it unscathed. The ending was sad, as the couple were the arbiters of Mason City's destruction, just by walking into it.

For me, the thrills and the solid acting, coupled with the fact that zombies are just awesome, made up for the questionable plot. This is a three star film.

The Best Twist Ending Ever

"I See Dead People" move over, because Zombi 2 has the best twist ending in film history. Sure, the poison berries at the end of the Blue Lagoon is a huge twist, and the freezing of Han Solo in carbonite was an iconic cliffhanger, but Zombi 2's ending captures the flag of movie twist endings.

Thanks to Hedorah, I had the privilege, nay, the honor, of seeing Zombi 2. The undead prey on the humans of Mahtul, a tropical island where a doctor lives that can answer the questions of a young woman whose father died. The beginning of the movie provides a clue as to the end, after all, a zombie winds up falling into the Hudson Bay. After experiencing the awesome horrors of Mahtul, including the amazing eye gouging scene, the survivors board a boat only to hear over the radio that New York City has been over run by zombies.

As the realization of this new horror sinks in (they have nowhere to go), the beautifully haunting electronic score plays over a wide shot of a zombie horde overrunning the Brooklyn Bridge.

This twist is truly iconic. Some people deride it as campy, sexed up horror, but Zombi 2 is actually a cinematic masterpiece.

The Descent: Smart Horror

When The Descent was first released, I remember hearing people say it was not a good a movie. I can see why they said that, as the story arc is non traditional, but the film was a profound take on a cliche genre. (Note: analysis of Sarah's character arc came from Hedorah)

The film is about a group of friends who reunite on the anniversary of one of their husband's and kid's death, and they plan to go cave diving in the Appalachian Mountains. Only one of the members is quite ambitious and leads them to an "undiscovered" cave system. The opening is somewhat slow, with the friends' personalities being established, but once they get into the caves the movie really picks up. After a few accidents, and some wrong twists and turns, the group of women confront creatures that devour human flesh. These creatures, as the women discover, are the devolved descendants from an original group of cavers who were trapped over a century ago. The really enemy are the girls themselves: as they battle the creatures, they ultimately battle themselves. Some are quick to turn on the others, others abandon their friends, still others make stupid mistakes that endanger the rest of the group.

Sarah, the grieving wife and mother, is the true center of this story. As they descend into the caves, her own mental paranoia and illusions become her reality. In a highly symbolic scene, Sarah emerges from a pool of blood, a baptism into insanity. She hallucinates to the point that when the viewer thinks she has escaped, she merely is resting on a pile of bones. In a touching twist, Sarah's last moments are spend looking at a torch, which she believes to be her daughter: thus mother and daughter are reunited, the fire of her daughter's life guiding her into death.

This movie was genuinely excellent because of its depth. The viewer desperately wants the girls to escape from the caves, but in the end, that never was the point. There is no way out. The film was very realistic, not only in exploring the devolution of the old cavers, but also in showing the downside of humanity. People will turn on you very quickly if it gives them a few extra minutes of life. The gore in this movie wasn't over the top, neither were the thrills and scares. It was this understated horror element that made the film a human drama set against the hell of the cave. The reveal of the creatures for the first time is practically iconic, and will startle even the most serious observer.

Nazi Zombies!: Dead Snow

The last movie I talked about on There's Something Wrong With Esther was Wild Zero, an oddball Japanese zombie comedy. Today, I will cover Dead Snow, another foreign zombie comedy, that, while different in style and tone from Wild Zero, is equally funny and entertaining.

Dead Snow begins with a group of Norwegian med-students heading to a remote cabin in the mountains where they plan to party their spring break away. The characterization here is minimal. Each character is given one major distinguishing factor and that's pretty much it. Included are a "very single" gal, an overweight movie nerd (who provides a lot of the movie's self-aware humor), an aspiring doctor whose terrified of blood, and a cocky ex-military guy, among others. If this premise sounds familiar it's because it is. The creators of Dead Snow are well-aware of the cliches of the horror genre, and seem to have a lot of fun poking fun at them. As mentioned earlier, the chubby film nerd makes frequent references to other movies, and often pokes fun at the more tired elements of Dead Snow's plotline ("How many movies start with a group of friends on a trip to a cabin with no cell phone signal", he asks). While such dialogue was necessary to set the tongue in cheek tone of the movie, jokes like this could have easily become grating over an hour and a half long span of time. Luckily, it seems that the people behind Dead Snow were aware of this as the movie guy is the first member of our core group to die, and his death is a memorable one.

His death is caused by the central source of the mayhem behind Dead Snow: the Nazi-zombies. Nazi zombies are the film's main selling point, and the concept of these creatures is so brilliant that I can't believe they aren't in every movie. Just imagine Tron, Mama Mia, or March of the Penguins with Nazi zombies. See? They are brilliant in every scenario you could possibly place them in. On a slightly more serious note, these zombies worked for me mainly because of their look. The combination of the Nazi uniform, which is famously cold, sharp, and utilitarian looking, combined with the look of a rotting zombie body, which looks messy and organic, was a great combination. Also, I have always liked the idea of applying supernatural themes to real life historical event, whether it is done to communicate a serious message (as in the original Gojira), or for simply for the humor that results from the absurdity of it all (as is in Dead Snow).

It helps that the zombie makeup here is well done. The zombies have cold grey faces and mouths that spit blood. These zombies are creatures that really do look like monsters and not simply people in costumes. Watching them growl, trudge through snow banks, and stab our med-students in synchronization (yes, these zombies use weapons), is bizarrely entertaining. That said, these beings are still monsters, so you won't feel too bad for them as they are destroyed with all manners of weaponry. Zombie movies as a whole are generally a gory bunch, and Dead Snow is no exception. During the last half-hour of the movie, there are guts, brains, and blood galore flying across the screen non-stop. It is in the gruesome moments of the film that its delightfully dark sense of humor comes through, and it is here that Dead Snow becomes something awesome.

It's true that Dead Snow is not a flawless zombie epic- it's not entirely original either in premise or tone, and the first half of the film is a bit slow. These faults are forgivable, however, because Dead Snow does not attempt to be truly different or expertly paced. It merely wants to make the viewer laugh, and possibly makes them squirm. From my own experience, and from watching other's reactions, I would say that it does what it set out to do, and does it very well.

Kill Or Be Killed: The Wolfman (2010)

It's been said that, finally, the vampire trend that has dominated the pop culture landscape for the last few years is finally reaching its close. Its successor? The werewolf story.

Leading the pack of the upcoming crop of werewolf films is The Wolfman, a remake of the classic 1941 movie of the same name. While this version of The Wolfman deviates from the original in major plot points, each story starts off basically the same. Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro), the son of a wealthy Englishman, has lived in America for years, making a living as a Shakespearean actor. He has a slightly tense relationship with his father (Anthony Hopkins), and the two have not spoken for some time. It is not until his brother's mysterious disappearance that Lawrence is drawn back to his childhood home.

The home he returns to is a large mansion, covered in dust and cobwebs and dripping with atmosphere. The mansion itself is a perfect example of The Wolfman's visual style. Every floor tile and brick is made to look weathered, worn, and dusty. The colors are vivid and bold, with every setting making a statement, yet blending perfectly into one another. The green plains of the English countryside transition neatly into the dusky interiors of the Talbot estates which meld with the sterile whites of a mental asylum. All in all, the world of The Wolfman looks fantastic. It is exactly the kind of setting where one would could imagine monsters prowling about under the moonlight.

The gore and creature effects, generally, look pretty good too. Lawrence's bone-crunching transformation sequences are my favorite moments in the entire movie. The grinding noises as the bones snap and rearrange themselves, combined with the visual of his hands, feet, and jaws, growing and forming into something inhuman, were very effective. The gore, while not shockingly new or original, worked well enough, and there were a few great moments of action and destruction during the Wolfman's nighttime rampages. Lawrence Talbot's first night as a werewolf, in particular, was a wild, well-executed action sequence that culminated in a fearsome decapitation.

Unfortunately, it is when the action stops, and the talking starts that things start to get boring. The detail that is visible in the character's surrounding environments, isn't found in the plot line. While we see characters fearfully casting silver bullets and locking their doors at night, we never get a great sense of the roots of the town's fears and superstitions. Does everyone in the town believe in werewolves, or is it merely an underground superstition? How far back does the town's relationship with monsters go, and how deeply rooted is their superstition? I realize that it is implied that the small town folk believe in werewolves, while the more educated elite view these superstitions as delusions. Still, I would have liked more detail as to how and why such beliefs came to be.

Similarly, most of the characters came across as a bit one-dimensional. While Benicio Del Toro's weathered face seems like a perfect fit for a heavily stylized monster film of this type, his acting mostly felt flat and unemotional. Anthony Hopkins' character made for an interesting villain, but needed to be fleshed out more. He was interesting in that he reveled in things that his son detested, making him a great contrast to our lead character. The problem is, I never really got a good sense of why he took such great pleasure in the darker side of life, other than the fact that it added an extra twist to the storyline, and allowed for an extra fight scene. The one character I did enjoy here was a Scotland Yard investigator, played by Hugo Weaving. He was delightfully sarcastic, and perfectly believable amongst the fog of the English countryside.

While The Wolfman has its faults, it also has its strengths. It's not the new definitive werewolf movie, but it's no Twilight either. Those who venture out to the theaters to see it are in for an enjoyable, yet occasionally frustrating experience. That said, those who are truly interested should make the trip to see it, if only to witness bone-crunching transformations on the big screen, and in stereo sound.