Here are seven more films that I watched in honor of Halloween. Some are spooky, others are ooky, but only one was my favorite film of the fall. Read on to discover the exciting film I hail as the Halloweeniest of all.
Village of the Damned
(1 and 1/2 stars)
All I knew going into this film was that it was a John Carpenter flick. I was happily surprised to see Christopher Reeve and Kirstie Alley on screen. Unfortunately, my happiness gradually deflated as the two of them weren’t enough to give this film the added oompf it needed. You see, Village of the Damned was missing a very critical ingredient in order to be good... oompf. The film was never terrifying. It was only moderately suspenseful at times. Worst of all, it was made in 1995, but felt like it was from the early 80’s. The children in the movie did some horrible things; however, I wanted to see them do more. Their actions were petty compared to how oompf filled they could have been.
The Breakdown: The film had potential, but fell flat due to a mediocre script that lacked a healthy serving of scares. It’s watchable, just not very memorable.
Wolf Creek
(2 stars)
This movie would be entirely forgettable if it wasn’t for John Jarratt’s portrayal of Mick Taylor, a friendly Aussie on the surface who has a twisted dark side. He comes off as likable and fun. Somewhat reminiscent of a crazy uncle. It is him alone, who makes Wolf Creek a chilling tale.
The three main characters are your typical early twenties peeps who are tormented in an infinite amount of horror flicks. In this adventure, they are driving across Australia and have car trouble. They quickly find help from Mick and don’t think for a second that he is something other than what he appears. With a fair amount of suspense, the film keeps the tension high. Will our main character’s stay alive? Can they escape from the middle of nowhere? What will Mick do next?
Even with Mick as such a strong character, the story fails as it divides towards the middle of the film. It focuses entirely on two of the main characters and omits the third one almost entirely. Once the two characters’ stories are finished, it jumps back to the third main character and ends the movie with them. To me, this felt odd. I think the editing should have spliced the two stories closer together to keep the action moving and tension raised to an even higher hair raising level.
The third main character’s story ended up being far weaker than the other two characters’. It felt like an afterthought. A poor epilogue about a character who ended up being the least interesting in the entire movie. It was as if the writer didn’t know how to end the film and forgot about this third character until the night before shooting the film began. Granted, this was based on a true story, the writer should have taken more liberty with the content, in order to make for a better movie by credits end.
The Breakdown: See it specifically for John Jarratt. He is a disturbing villain and steals every scene he enters. There are some truly terrifying moments. Just don’t be surprised when the movie trails off into an unsatisfying end.
The Descent Part 2
(3 and 1/2 stars)
A worthy sequel to the first film. It continues almost exactly where The Descent left off and follows a group of rescuers back into the home of the blind cave dwelling flesh-loving humanesque creatures.
The circumstances of the sole survivor from the first film going back into the caves with the rescue team is extremely far fetched. I found it hard to believe that the local law enforcement would force a woman who just got out of the caves and has amnesia, back into the nightmarish realm which she barely escaped the first time around. Obviously, time is of the essence to find any possible survivors. Nevertheless, that situation is listed under ludicrous in my upcoming novel, Nonsensicalities in Filmdom.
Once we the viewers descend back into the caves, the film becomes as claustrophobic inducing as the first one. It is also quite unsettling to rediscover the bodies of some of the women who we were familiar with from before. Part 2 features more scares, even more hold your breath moments, and perhaps one of the most memorable final scenes in any horror film. Where The Descent ended anticlimactically, The Descent: Part 2 sets the two survivors in a room with a group of our blind cave dwelling flesh-loving humanesue creatures as they devour their lunch. Get past this room and they are home free. Fortunately, these creatures can only hunt by sound. Unfortunately, the two survivors must be as silent as air. What plays out, is a scene so intense and exhilarating, you easily lose yourself in the moment. It is a finale that is definitive, climatic, and twisted.
The Breakdown: A must see movie for any fan of edge of your seat horror flicks. Never once does it cross the line of being excessively gory. It relies more on the fear of being trapped and lost in the dark with bizarre creatures lurking about. If you enjoyed the first film, you’ll also be an admirer of this one.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
(3 stars)
An engaging film that focuses on the aftermath of an exorcism that has gone wrong. Father Moore (Tom Wilkinson) is accused of neglecting the “possessed” girl’s needs; therefore, ultimately causing her death. The film is a courtroom drama led by Erin Bruner (Laura Linney) and tells Emily Rose’s story through flashbacks during the trial and from Father Moore himself.
I believe the film would have been more effective if it was told in real time, as Emily Rose was experiencing the devil’s hold on her. By telling her story in short vignettes, I was spooked during the scenes, but knowing the final outcome (i.e. who lives and who dies) takes a great deal of the terror out of the film. The courtroom scenes ultimately got in the way of the much more interesting story. I did not want to be the outsider looking in. I wanted to be a part of the action. I wanted to know more about Emily Rose.
Jennifer Carpenter was fantastic as Emily Rose. She is an actress who can play deeply distraught and emotionally unstable extremely well. She demonstrated this throughout the film and in many episodes of the television show, Dexter. It was a shame that she did not have more screen time. She was by far the most interesting character and yet, she was kept at a distance.
The Breakdown: A griping tale that is based on true events. It is definitely a film to see and will keep you sucked in until the very end. Despite too much focus on the courtroom drama as opposed to Emily Rose herself, the film is still effective, especially thanks to an amazing cast.
Rogue
(4 stars)
A giant killer crocodile in Australia traps a boat full of tourists on a small island. With night approaching and the tide rising higher with each passing minute, the tourists must find a way to make it back to the mainland without alerting their new friend. Naturally, there will be plenty of nail biting moments that will leave your heart pounding and nails unattractively short.
This film takes a simple story and makes it work exceptionally well by fully developing all of the characters without excessive backstories. I felt like I knew the characters based on minor details and interactions in the beginning of the film. This helped me forge a connection to them and worry about them when they became the target of croczilla. I wanted to see them escape. I wanted all of them to survive because they were not poorly developed two dimensional characters. The film still would have been intense if it was a group of college students trapped by a crocodile; however, with a good cast and characters that people can relate to, the film becomes more intimate and harrowing when the normal believable characters are thrown into a terrifyingly surreal situation.
The final confrontation between Pete (Michael Vartan) and the crocodile is insanely intense and highly imaginative. It features one of those “Oh my God! I can’t believe that just happened!” moments. Needless to say, it is a rare satisfying end to a horror/suspense film. I was so into the scene that I almost shouted at the screen. Silly me, as if my shouting would distract a croc while it is in hunt mode.
The Breakdown: A crocodile hunts a boatload of tourists. Great characters, intense scenes in and out of the water, and an epic finale. In my honorably humble opinion, it is a must see flick and my favorite Halloweenesque film that I watched in the fall of 2010.
Addams Family Values
(2 and 1/2 stars)
Da da da dun, snap, snap. Da da da dun, snap, snap... Sorry I couldn’t resist. The Addams Family are irresistibly fun and this film, for the most part, is as well. A brilliant cast helps to bring out the quirkiness of this eccentric clan. Although the film is not as strong as The Addams Family, it is an enjoyably dark humor-filled sequel.
Speaking of dark and humor-filled, I could have done without the unfunny, pastel loving Joan Cusack. She was as annoying as everything else she appears in. Quite frankly, I liken her to that wonderful sound of nails scratching down a school blackboard. Fortunately, in this film, she played the villain, so my dislike towards her worked in the film’s favor. Not to mention, Raul Julia, Angelica Huston, and the ridiculously amazing Christopher Lloyd as Uncle Fester, helped to alleviate the pain of seeing Joan Cusack throughout the duration of the film.
The Breakdown: An enjoyable film to watch. Don’t expect too much from it and it won’t disappoint you. The Addams Family cast should easily keep you entertained. Nothing quite like an oddball goth family to bring humor into your average, ordinary, mundane life.
Trick or Treat
(2 stars)
Four short stories intertwine to create several scares that take place on Halloween night. It is a film loaded with tricks up the wazoo and a few treats scattered about. Be warned, these tales are less about the fun of candy and more about deceit and murder.
The first story features a couple getting home from a night of Halloween fun. Their home quickly turns into a murder scene after creepy kid with a potato sack over his head teaches one of them the true meaning of Halloween. In another vignette, a twisted principle carves a special pumpkin with his son. The interaction between Steven (Dylan Baker) and his son (Connor Christopher Levins) is hilarious. This is followed by a group of kids playing a nasty prank on a girl, mainly because she is different. Then a group of four women lure dates to a Halloween party and treat them to a unique campfire dinner. This is by far the weakest of the stories, especially since it features Anna Paquin. Does anyone really think she is good? The final story is the strongest and connects to the kids who play a trick. It features the fantastic Brian Cox as a cranky old man who gets a visit from creepy kid with a potato sack over his head. The scene in his house is intensely terrifying and thrilling to watch.
By films end, I wanted more of the kids and Brian Cox story. I think a whole film focusing on them could be much stronger than a film broken up into short stories. I would also be interested in seeing an entire film with Dylan Baker as a serial killer principle. So much potential for full length stories and so much aggravation over wasting an entire story on Anna Paquin. I wonder what the writer was thinking. “Hmm... I have this flat, uninteresting imitation of a story. I’ll stick it right in the middle of the film and maybe people won’t notice how lousy it is. Especially if it features women wearing skanky outfits.” Yep, that was most likely his train of thought.
The Breakdown: Overall the movie accomplishes what it set out to do, which is to tell spooky stories that take place on Halloween night. It is a fun movie to watch. I like the idea of the short stories because it allows for several spooky tales to be told in one viewing; however, the weaker stories stand out and ultimately debilitate the film as a whole. As does each of the stories being too short. I was left wanting more from all of them. With the film only being 84 minutes, there was definitely room to expand on the stories and potentially strengthen each of them.
