Like Deja Vu all over again
Horror movies are almost consistently a genre of sequels and rip-offs. I myself have never made a movie that was released to the public so I can’t talk but so much smack about them, but let’s be honest here, it’s not really the most creative style of cinema. Most horror movies borrow heavily from one another and each tries their best to make the end product stand out. Sometimes they do a decent enough job to mask the heist, but some movies flat out either don’t care or don’t think the audience will pick up on it. I know it’s said that imitation is the highest form of flattery, but sometimes… it’s just stealing.
Movies like “Are You Scared?” and “Cheerleader/Sorority House Massacre“ are just blatant rip-offs. Are You Scared? could be boiled down to a “poor-mans Saw”. It’s about a guy that traps people in a building and makes them play games for their lives. He wants them to learn a lesson. The exact same plot as the first several Saw movies. Then you have the Cheerleader/Sorority house movies. I realize that they are trying to be part of the “Massacre series” but Sorority House starts off almost exactly the same as the original Slumber Party Massacre. They are poor excuses to get a lot of girls on screen and take their tops off. Though, I do recommend watching Cheerleader Massacre if you pay attention to the continuity in movies. This one is a complete mess.
I’m confused, am I afraid?
Several of this year’s movies were so utterly confusing that I found myself so far removed from the events portrayed on screen, I forgot to be scared. For instance, “Return To Horror High“ and “Pinocchio’s Revenge“ laid the groundwork for a convincing, albeit utterly laughable, plot for a horror movie. Horror High is about a movie being made where the plot is about a mass murder in a school. By the end of the movie, the crew is thought to be dead and the cops investigate. However, they aren’t dead, but the killer is real. Confused? Yeah, me too. And Pinocchio’s Revenge is never explained, whatsoever. No idea if the puppet was really killing people, or if the victims were hallucinating everything. It’s never explained, at all.
I am all for keeping the killer’s motives vague and letting the viewer wonder why things happened the way they did, but you gotta throw us a hint. Take Michael Meyers for example. He kills his whole family and then hunts down and attempts to kill his sister. Creepy. The viewer is never explicitly told why he is doing so, but we are told that he is nutzo. That’s all we need to know. Pinocchio is shown as a demonic killer, but never do they say why. The movie also attempts to make you think that it could possibly be all in the woman/child’s head. Never deciding which is true. It distracts so much from the fear of a killer as to make the movie no longer scary.
Tragically funny
Comedy, almost more than horror, is my wheelhouse. However, unlike horror movies and their easy scares and disgusting effects, comedy is not as easy to pull off. Nor is it something that is universally liked. Comedy is much like that old saying about art; “I may not know art, but I know what I like.” Trying to throw two genres rarely seen successfully together like horror and comedy can sometimes turn into a horrible tragedy.
Two movies, I saw, attempt to be comedic in horror, and somewhat pull it off. I do not mask my enjoyment of Ernest P. Worrell, nor do I pretend that he is the end all be all of comedy. However, that man has a direct line to my personal funny bone. It’s childish, but I just love his movies. Possibly due more to nostalgia than anything, but I cannot deny how funny “Ernest Scared Stupid“ is, at least to me. That man worked in slap-stick comedy like other artists work in oil or clay. I make no excuses for my enjoyment of his films, and I don’t expect many to agree with me. But I also don’t care. The second was a movie named “Killer Pad” directed by Robert “Freddy” Englund. It’s partially a movie much like the film “Mystery Team” from the guys at Derrick Comedy (look it up) and partially one long bit from Mad Tv or something. It attempts and does a decent job of just trying to be a comedy more than horror, however, it’s very cheesy. The shining spot in this one is the appearance of Joey Lawrence as himself. He does a great job of making fun of himself and seems to have a pretty good sense of humor.
Diamonds in the (extremely) rough
I say this hoping that you [the reader] have read the previous bits of my run down, these are the best movies I have seen this year. (Aside from the “classics”.)
“The Stuff” is a strange movie that is more of an allegory about excess in the 1980s. It revolves around a product called “The Stuff” people eat like it is the most wonderful and addictive product on the market, that is more of a living sentient blob than food. I thought that it would be campy and full of dumb goofs, but it took itself way more seriously than I expected. The Starring role went to Michael Moriarty (known more now for his character on Law & Order) but it seemed, at least to me, that it was written for Chevy Chase. One-liners, prat-falls, and hitting on the ladies. Also Garrett Morris, Paulie Sorvino, and Danny Aielo. Obviously, this was made to be a huge hit, considering the cast, sadly it never caught on.
“DeadHeads“ is a zombie movie that takes a very well-worn genre and puts a pretty intelligent twist on it. Deadheads follows a guy that wakes up inside of a crashed truck and has no memory of how he got there. He discovers that he has become a zombie, but only after he witnesses other zombies attack people. He meets a “friend” and they decide that the best course of action is to find his fiance, and tell her exactly how he feels about her. It sounds really dopey to read a one-line synopsis of the film, but it is well worth the time to watch it. Several times I found myself smiling, not so much because of what was going on on-screen, but how it was handled. It’s a small film and deserves more coverage than it will get.
Finally, the best of the bunch was a small picture called “The Devil’s Rock“. Made in New Zealand the cast consists of maybe five people and the only part of it that would ring a bell was that Weta Workshop worked on some of the special effects. It’s smartly written and the actors portray characters convincingly. Revolving around the thought that Hitler was into the occult it involves a succubus that is resurrected during the strange days of World War II. While the story seems on the surface about a demon, it’s more about humanity and trust issues. The tension feeds on expectations and twists them around. It’s a film that probably, and most, unfortunately, will not be seen by many, but should.
Devil’s Rock is about misdirection, simplistic style, and a lot of good writing. The movie is tense in a lot of spots that most horror movies can’t even begin to be. The interaction between the main three characters is wonderful. While it (literally) has piles of guts all around the set, it’s not all about the horror of the monster, but rather what it can do. World War 2 was a pretty nasty event in human history and Hitler was into some pretty nasty business. The Devil’s Rock plays on the fear of the unknown enemy, as well as the one you do know.
In summation
Movies, much like any artistic medium, are all subjective to the viewer. While one person may see a wonderfully done movie of Oscar-caliber, another may see something not worth the plastic it is pressed on. I have seen a large amount of both types. I actually talk about why I think I may subject myself to these movies on an upcoming Flip Flop Slap Fight Podcast. I think it is just because when you see the worst that people can create, it helps to make you see how good some movies actually are. It’s kind of like learning through other people’s mistakes. I have said several times, I have never had a movie made and released to the public in any capacity, so I can only make fun but so much. However, I really appreciate the directors/writers that I have talked to through the years that know how to take constructive criticism and roll with it.
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