Shaft's Big Score!

 

While the first SHAFT was a more subtle film this goes bigger. Nothing represents that symbolic leap more than the fact that Shaft carries a shotgun as his main weapon compared to the revolver he carried in the first film. The film ends with a car chase, boat chase, and a shootout at the docks. That was a most satisfying payoff. The action far exceeds anything from the from the first film. What doesn't work as well however is the private eye mystery element and snappy dialogue that Shaft had in the first film. In this film it feels like trouble finds him, while in the first one it felt like found trouble through the investigation. There are moments of great dialogue but not nearly as many great lines compared to the first one. 

Synopsis: When Shaft finds out that a dead friend ran a numbers racket out of his legitimate business and left $250,000 unaccounted for, he knows why he has suddenly found himself in the middle of a war between rival thugs. These goons are all trying to take over the territory of the dead man as well as get their hands on the missing 250 grand. Shaft has all he can handle trying to track down the money and, at the same time, keep his friend's sister from the clutches of the hoods.

The film starts with someone emptying a safe. That person in turn calls Shaft. As Shaft arrives to meet him the building blows up. The man in question was Cal Asby, an insurance salesman and mortician. Shaft is questioned by Captain Bollin (Julius Harris) but cannot be held due to lack of evidence. The plot in this is convoluted because there are a lot of sides to it. Kelly (Wally Taylor) was in business with Asby and they were running a racket with their funeral parlor and insurance company. Kelly owes $250,000 to mafioso, Gus Mascola (Joseph Mascolo). Later it is revealed that Kelly had wanted to steal that money from Asby's safe and blew him up thinking the money would still be there. Many different sides get involved, including "Bumpy" Jonas (Moses Gunn) and his bodyguard Willy (Drew Bundini Brown) from the first movie. 

Shaft eventually figures out that Asby was a good citizen wanting to use his money for philanthropy. He had planned to buy out Kelly. Kelly got greedy and wanted to use that money to pay his debts and killed Asby to take over the numbers racket. There are many different double crosses along the way. Kelly goes to Mascola and they agree on a 50-50 split. Kelly then later goes to Jonas and offers him a stake in the racket in Queens and a 60-40 partnership. Kelly also asked Mascola to kill Shaft. Mascola sends two men after Shaft, and Shaft kills them both. Shaft later goes to a club and is beaten up by three men who tell him to deliver a message to Bumpy to stay in Harlem. This is only after Kelly lies to Mascola about Shaft being sent there by Bumpy. So Kelly is a really sleazy character and will do anything to save himself. 

There are many things I enjoyed about this movie. Shaft's cool lines aren't in supply as much as the first one. We first see him sleeping with Asby's sister Arna, as Asby calls him. He asks Shaft to protect his sister and he says "I can get a hand on her," as he literally puts his hand on her ass. Later he goes to Kelly's place and encounters his beautiful girlfriend, Rita (Kathy Imrie). They have fun banter that eventually leads to a sex scene where the scene is shot through the distorted glass of a vanity mirror. Like the first film Gordon Parks shows a penchant for filmmaking with the different crossfades between the vanity mirror and back to Shaft and Rita. While Isaac Hayes still did the opening song, the score is less soul than the first one. Parks did the music himself and it is much more traditionally orchestral. There is some fun buddy-cop type of humor when Shaft and Willy have to team up and they go to Mascola's place. Willy just stands there watching Shaft and Mascola fight while Shaft asks Willy for help.

Left to Right: Kathy Imrie (Rita) Richard Roundtree (Shaft) and Rosalind Miles (Arna)

SPOILER SECTION

All sides converge on each other at a cemetery. Kelly finds the money buried there. He gets it, but Mascola shows up and kills him. Shaft meanwhile shows up just behind them and takes the money and Mascola hostage. A long chase ensues, first with cars, then to a speedboat and then on land. Shaft manages to take out all of Mascola's men. He shoots down the helicopter and shoots the other men on the ground near some shipping docks. Once again Parks shows his craftsmanship with the wide shots of the stairs leading to a crane where Shaft is being chased by one of the men. Shaft refuses to tell the police where the money is and says he will be donating it to a child care organization, something Asby had intended to do with it. 

While the subtleties of the first Shaft are not in this, the movie succeeds as a sequel. Much more action, a bigger scope, more blood squibs, and still some fun lines that make Richard Roundtree so awesome as Shaft. The final chase sequence rivals any chase sequence in the era where many movies always had one. It was fun seeing some more staple Blaxploitation actors like Julius Harris. 

Rating: 8/10

Trivia: Director Gordon Parks has a cameo as a croupier in the back of the gambling room at Mother Ike's. 

Scenes: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=shaft%27s+big+score+scenes

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0w8UclRBi4

Gun of the Movie: Shaft's shotgun the High Standard Model 10 (HS-10)

https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Shaft%27s_Big_Score!

Shaft (1971)

 

SHAFT has a great combination of ingredients that lead to a most satisfying movie. A combination of snappy lines and dialogue combined with the private eye mystery being well written. The movie shows some and tells even less. You never feel ahead or behind Shaft's investigation. There are gunfights where you don't see the gunman and it plays more like a suspense scene and it works. There are shootouts with the 1970s stylized violence that I love so much. The most fundamental thing that makes it great is Richard Roundtree in the title role. His acting is great both from the physical and emotional standpoint. You believe him as a tough guy, as an investigator, and as the lady's man. Isaac Hayes adds more greatness to the score with his vocals and the title song that perfectly encapsulates the main character. 

Synopsis: John Shaft is the ultimate in suave Black detectives. He first finds himself up against Bumpy, the leader of the Black crime mob, then against Black nationals, and finally working with both against the White Mafia who are trying to blackmail Bumpy by kidnapping his daughter.

The film starts with some great location shooting around New York City. Nothing beats the late 60s and early 70s New York look with the different lights and restaurant logos among other views. Isaac Hayes "Theme from Shaft" kicks in and we know how cool he is supposed to be. "Who's the black private dick that's a sex machine to all the chicks? (SHAFT!) "You're damn right!" The bird's eye shots of Shaft cut back to the medium shots of his profile. Gordon Parks shows his penchant for direction in those shots. The breath you see coming from people's mouths indicates this is winter in New York City.

Richard Roundtree as John Shaft

Early on Shaft has a number of moments and lines to establish how cool he is. His cop friend Androzzi, (Charles Cioffi) and his assistant come up to talk to Shaft early on and they have a memorable exchange. "Where the hell are are you going Shaft?" "To get laid. Where the hell are you going?" Shaft shows his Detective skills early on where he notices one man in the building where his office is looking for him. He takes the other man up to the office where he engages two men in a fight, throwing one of them out the window to his death. Androzzi eventually interrogates him about this confrontation and they have a memorable exchange. Androzzi and him get into a debate about race where Androzzi holds up a black pen saying to Shaft "You ain't so black." Shaft then holds up a white coffee mug and says "you ain't so white either." 

Eventually Shaft discovers that "Bumpy" Jonas (Moses Gunn), a Harlem crime boss, sent his men to Shaft's apartment for a meeting. Bumpy requests that Shaft find his daughter who has been kidnapped by rival Mafiosos in the city. What I like about this plot is that it shows the limitations of a big time gangster. Bumpy needs Shaft because his influence and his sway over cops he can buy doesn't extend out of Harlem. Shaft doesn't like the idea of working for a criminal but also gets payment out of it. Bumpy tells Shaft to find Ben Buford, a black militant leader. 

What ensues throughout the rest of the movie is some great shootouts, mystery reveals and payoffs, and fist pump moments from Shaft. There is a great shootout when he tracks down Buford where no gunman is revealed, you just see bodies getting shot and blood squibs. Shaft and Buford's escape from a building is just as much suspense as it is action. Shaft eventually figures out Mafiosos are watching his apartment from a local bar. He disguises himself as a bartender and eventually busts open one of the men's heads with a bottle. That was a surprising moment that had the blood and violence aesthetic I love so much from 70s movies. Shaft uses the two men for information and sets up a meeting between him and the men who are holding Bumpy's daughter Marcy, hostage. 

Spoiler Section

Shaft goes to a cafe where he has a memorable interaction with a waitress. He asks for an espresso and she asks if he wants a sandwich and he says no. She later comes back and asks if he wants her to bring him a lemon peel. Those little moments are moments that feel natural that makes me like this movie more. Shaft eventually finds Marcy but gets shot in the process of trying to save her. One of the kidnappers leaves Shaft alive and tells him to deliver a message to Bumpy: 24 hours to deliver or Marcy dies. Buford and company save Shaft and a doctor operates on him.  Eventually Shaft and Buford's men find out where Marcy is being held and launch an attack on the building. What is great is how coordinated this attack is. Shaft repels down a window and breaks in while inside the building Buford and his men position themselves along the doors to take out the other men. all of them succeed in killing the Mafiosos and saving Marcy. One of them has a fire hose to hold off others, if that isn't poetic justice for the Civil Rights area I don't know what is. 

There are many things I love from this movie but the combination of Richard Roundtree being a perfectly cool character with some pathos is a great foundation. The mystery being something you figure out as an audience with the character is great. The 70s aesthetic and filmmaking with the violence is great. It has some sociocultural commentary but it never feels over the top. In 1971 I imagine it was progressive to show a white woman being into Shaft, and more specifically showing they had sex on screen. I enjoyed seeing actors I've seen in other things. Cult movie legend Tony King and Blaxploitation mainstay Tony King being the big ones I've seen in other things. 

Christopher St. John as Buford (Left) and Tony King as Davies (Middle)

Rating: 10/10

Trivia: Isaac Hayes was the first African-American to win the Academy Award for best original song. He also auditioned for the role of Shaft. Producers were impressed with him enough to hire him for the score.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1ga1FgU10E

Clips: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZbXA4lyCtqrmVTafTkv3RiOuSC-O6-Sp

Gun of the movie: Shaft carries two different Colt Detective Specials throughout the film. One that is nickel plated that he keeps in his fridge is my favorite. 

https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Shaft_(1971)

Blacula

 

Basically everything you would want in a Blaxploitation Dracula movie. The suave and charismatic William Marshall carries the the title role. Some people may see the title and think this is a parody. In fact it is the exact opposite. This film is serious, scary, and at times tragic. This movie does a great job, like CANDYMAN in making the story of the monster tragic. Also like CANDYMAN after it, the monster is made monstrous at the hands of racism. While the movie does not have much socio political commentary, compared to other Blaxploitation films, there are subtle moments of it within. There are some script issues, like Blacula never thinking about the different times between when he was living 200 years ago and present day. That would also require a much longer, and slower paced film. The main plot is written well. The movie is paced well. Thalmus Rasulala is a great Van Helsing cipher. There are also tenacious scenes of suspense, excellent and scary makeup effects, and fun action sequences. Blacula is actually one of the better Dracula spin-off films. 

After the opening where we see Dracula (Charles Macauley) curse Prince Mamuwalde (William Marshall) as a vampire, the film wastes no time getting going. Two stereotypically gay interior designers go to Transylvania looking to buy items for their house. They buy Mamuwalde's coffin. What I like is seeing how scary the Blacula character is. William has these long eyebrows and interesting hair patterns on his cheek whenever he goes into full vampire mode. One of the men is so terrorized when they see him rise from his grave that they cannot speak. The teeth they give the vampires in this also look awesome. After Blacula bites the two men we are introduced to the other human characters. The film centers around Dr. Gordon Thomas (Thalmus Rasulala), a pathologist of the Los Angeles Police Department, as well as Tina Williams (Vonetta McGee). Luva was also played by Vonetta McGee. What happens with that is what you would expect. Similar to the plot of THE MUMMY, Blacula seeks out Tina as she is the reincarnation of Luva. 

A look at William Marshall, all vamped out as Blacula

Vonetta McGee as Luva

After spying on Gordon, Tina, and her sister Michelle (Denise Nicholas) at Bobby's funeral, Blacula follows Tina around. He startles her and she runs, leaving her purse. Blacula is hit by a cab. When the cabbie, Juanita Jones (Ketty Lester), calls him "boy," he makes her his next victim. Meanwhile, Blacula goes to a club and meets Tina and her friends. One of their friends, Nancy (Emily Yancy) takes pictures of Blacula at the club. I like how the move incorporated the non-reflection of vampires into the lure. Blacula follows Nancy home and kills her right after she sees a photo she took with Blacula and Tina where he is now invisible. That is a scary and suspenseful scene as you see a point of view shot of Blacula coming into her house and seeing his shadow on the wall. Just as Nancy yanks open the curtains to her darkroom he is standing there. Marshall's towering figure also makes him even more scary in these sequences. 

Vonetta McGee as Tina, looking different from Luva

Gordon begins to catch onto some things. Bodies keep disappearing from the morgue. Dr. Thomas notices that with each body the bites are too big to be rat bites and the blood veins are drained. Eventually he starts reading books about the occult and vampires. He later asks to do an exhumation and autopsy on Billy's body, one of the interior designers. His cop friend, Peters (Gordon Pinsent), turns him down. So, Thomas decides to dig up the body with Michelle. Billy comes alive and Thomas kills him with a shovel. There is an interesting moment where Michelle freaks out because she believes Billy is still alive but Thomas tells her he was all ready dead. Character moments like that made the drama in this movie better.

Thalmus Rasulala as Dr. Gordon Thomas

Blacula begins to see Tina more, and she feels a supernatural kind of attraction to him. He eventually tells her his real identity and who she really was. What is interesting is that he talks about wanting her to give herself up to him, never wanting to take her by force or force her to become a vampire. That was an interesting aspect and it made me sympathize more with Blacula. He is looking for love, but does have to satisfy his appetite. His monstrosity the result of Dracula's racism, he is more of a tragic figure than monster. BLACULA shares many things in common with CANDYMAN. Both feature an imposing actor in the lead role. Both characters were made monsters because of racism. Both characters seek out the reincarnation of the woman they loved. 

There is another great scary scene when Thomas asks morgue attendant Sam (great character actor, Elisha Cook Jr.) to take Juanita's body out of the ice. Unfortunately for Sam he didn't listen to Thomas' instructions and left the door unlocked. While he is on the phone, Juanita runs at him in slow motion and kills him. Thomas was going to use Juanita to prove to Peters that the vampires were real. He later goes to Nancy's house and sees the picture of the invisible Blacula with Tina. Realizing she is in danger he goes to her house and fights Blacula before he escapes. The cops then track Blacula to a warehouse and kill the other vampires by throwing fire bombs at them. Blacula tells the cops he moved his coffin a long time ago and turns into a bat and escapes.

 

A great still of Elisha Cook Jr. as Sam and Ketty Lester as Juanita

Spoiler Section

Blacula takes Tina to a chemical warehouse where she is eventually shot by the police. Blacula then proclaims he will have his revenge and kills any of the cops who come near him. Their gunshots can do nothing and Blacula uses his superhuman strength to overpower them. Thomas eventually finds his coffin and puts a stake in the person who is in there. It turns out to be Tina. With nothing left to live for Blacula walks up to the roof and into the sun and is disintegrated. 

There are many things I enjoyed about this movie. The tragic monster element as I have all ready stated. The scary looking monsters due to makeup, filmmaking and the characters being scared of them. The other vampires also had a cool look to them. A different skin hue to go with the teeth. The other vampires actually look quite a bit like the zombies Tom Savini designed in DAWN OF THE DEAD. The action scenes like the raid on the vampires with the fire bombs, and later Blacula taking out many cops were really satisfying as well. Thalmus Rasulala is a great Van Helsing cipher. He figures everything out with his ability as a pathologist. Once he finds out that the vampires are real he has no hesitation in killing them. There is also a great soul sounding score by Gene Page. I could have used more blood, but I think they wanted this to pass with a PG rating so what are you gonna do? Also the second film addresses this more but I would have liked to see a little more of Blacula adjusting to the present day. The film is ultimately about his quest for love so it was okay to eschew developing him in the world more. The movie would have had to have been longer and the pacing is great here. Vonetta McGee is beautiful and I like her in anything I see her in. 

Rating: 8/10

Trivia: According to the American Film Institute William Marshall's Mamuwalde was the first black vampire in film.

Scenes: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=blacula

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRl2Kd5UtSc

Lake Mungo

 

You all know me. Effects driven horror and horror movies that I would like to be in because the movie is fun are my thing. This is not that. Stuff like this is not really my favorite. That being said, I did moderately enjoy this. This seems inspired by both found footage and Japanese ghost horror stories. Like the Japanese movies it revolves around the mystery of a ghost revealing itself and whether it is malevolent or not. What I liked about this was getting to know Alice from every perspective. Her parents, grandparents, friends, and people around her family. The movie was more psychological than supernatural in how it dealt with the ghost. The relatable grieving moments provided riveting drama. Instead of the movie revolving around the ghost it revolved around how the family felt about it. The ghost was more of a symbol of their grief, and of them not being able to get closure. This movie still has its scary ghost moments though. The use of more VHS footage for those scenes only enhanced how scary it was. Through getting to know everyone more I liked the characters more and more throughout and this would qualify as a more character driven horror movie. Something I like. 

Synopsis: Alice drowns while swimming and her family begins experiencing inexplicable events in their home. The family hires a parapsychologist whose investigation unveils Alice's secret double life and leads them all to Lake Mungo.

What I liked about the movie early on was how much it leaned into the mockumentary and documentary fiction elements. There are VHS tapes used for some family video footage, HD cameras for the interviews, and some television news footage from the time. The filmmakers took care in wanting you to really think this was a documentary with found footage between the interviews. While other horror movies have employed some of these tactics, like CARRIE (2002) for example, that uses police interviews as part of the story. THE MEDIUM also employs interview tactics and found footage but you know that film is cinematic while you watch it. This was one of the first horror movies I have seen to have completely documentary style filmmaking with some found footage in there. I was more interested in the characters and what they were saying at times rather than what was on screen. There are many times where the film will cut to long shots of the area where the film was made, tracking shots of the Palmer's house, and then another interview close up. There is not much interesting filmmaking here from a visual perspective but it could pass as an A&E or Discovery documentary. 

A lot of people around Alice's life were interviewed. What I liked was seeing how people were more candid to talk about Alice and the Palmers after her death. That felt real, especially with her being so young and dying as tragically as she did. The moment where Russell's friend at work talks about how he seemed the same at work after Alice's death was relatable. When my grandfather was dying I still went to work the night I found out about it. The way I see it your mind is so used to doing those activities that it can keep your mind off of how you feel about someone's death. June had nightmares about Alice and would sleepwalk into other people's houses. All of that seemed real and relatable. They establish early on that June wants to exhume the body. At the same time the family starts seeing what they believe is Alice in the background of someone else's video at the Ararat dam. More footage is seen of her in Mathew's videos and her reflections are seen in mirrors. 

The Palmers. Mathew (Martin Sharpe), Russell (David Pledger), and June (Rosie Traynor).

SPOILER SECTION

It was an unexpected development when the video with Alice in the background is revealed to be someone else. Just as unexpected as when Mathew reveals he doctored all of the videos and pictures from his camera with Alice in the background. I enjoyed his process about how he did that as well. I also liked all the slow zoom shots on Alice in the background. The second half of the film is more about the family and anyone involved with Alice revealing secrets, sometimes about themselves and more reveals about her. Mathew doctored those videos in order to get Alice's body exhumed so his mother would have closure. Meanwhile, Ray, a psychic who has been treating June and helping her with her nightmares was revealed to have consulted with Alice months before her death. It is later revealed in one of Mathew's videos, another person in the background of Alice's room. That turns out to be Brett Toohey, the patriarch of a family Alice had babysat. He was looking for a video that June later finds of him and his wife having a threesome with Alice. 

These are unexpected developments in the second half. Once again you get everyone's perspective on this. The documentarians talk to Alice's boyfriend and her friends about what they think of Alice and Brett after this. Ray talks about his oath to confidentiality and how he wanted to help the family and could not if they knew he was seeing Alice. It also deals with a real thing, that things are revealed about people after they die. Sometimes you may like those things, and sometimes people may not. Still it felt real. I've thought about how people might feel about me if I died tomorrow. This movie dealt with the death of one character in a more real way. It wasn't cinematic. Later June finds Lake Mungo written in Alice's diary. Alice had gone to Lake Mungo on a field trip and came back home without her watch, cellphone, and her favorite bracelet. The family decides to investigate. Using cellphone footage from Alice's friends they at one point saw her burying something and wandering off on her own. They eventually find the buried items, which were the items Alice did not come home with. In the film's scariest moment, footage from Alice's cellphone reveals her double, looking waterlogged, identical to when they found her body at the dam.

A look at Alice's double she sees on her cellphone.

 

After the family discovers this they start to heal. So finding out Alice's secrets and what she saw really helped give them closure. I found that interesting and I found how the film built to all these different reveals to be interesting. The end of the film shows Alice present in some different angles of Mathew's pictures. That was interesting only because it showed that some of the supernatural stuff, while again not malevolent, was really there. People who are religious talk about how people can see them or help them in the afterlife. This felt like a version of that. There were some interesting themes in this movie as well. Teenage sexuality, confidentiality, and how different people react to grief and bereavement. The mixing of the found footage with the interviews works for me because each one gave a break from the other. If the film was all one or the other it could have gotten boring. It reminded me of Japanese horror movies because of the mystery. Was the ghost real or not? You can see different things in the background, oftentimes with the use of VHS footage, in Japanese films as well. ONE MISSED CALL is an example of a film that uses cell phones for the ghost in the film. This has the ghost on video taken on a cellphone. So there is overlap and I think my love of Japanese horror helped me enjoy this more. That and not knowing any of these actors. Had these people been more familiar to me it would have been hard to suspend my disbelief.

Rating: 7/10. Rewatchability is a big part of my ratings. I could see myself watching this again, just not anytime soon. There is a reason why I would give a movie like REQUIEM FOR A DREAM a 6/10. It's a great film but I'll never watch it again. This movie was not my favorite thing but I could watch this again at some point. 

Trivia: Director Jordan Peele stated in a podcast with Keke Palmer that LAKE MUNGO is one of the films that scared him the most.

Full movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X6cpVlW1as

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xmx6bICY6k

The Strangers

 

THE STRANGERS is a microcosm of how the tone of films changed in the aughts. After the 9/11 attacks the possibility of death hit home. Death is random. It comes for us all whether we like it or not. What this movie did is show the fear of death, the want to fight it when it comes at an inopportune, random time. Bryan Bertino wrote this well. The characters never felt stupid to me. There were a couple of decisions I wasn't sure about but as a viewer I don't know how much better I could have done. Home invasion movies are often filled with moments where I say a character made a stupid decision or stupid, cliche diabolus ex machina moments happen. This film could have had those moments but they were avoided with clever swerves. There were some great camera angles. This has some of the creepiest person-in-the-background shots since HALLOWEEN and INSIDE. It also has some of the most intense home invasion moments since BLACK CHRISTMAS and WHEN A STRANGER CALLS. The difference is this movie keeps that up over its entire runtime and not just for a climax. People who know me know I usually like horror that is mystery or effects driven. While this movie was minimal on both of those fronts, it substituted in a relentless amount of suspense and tension.

Synopsis: Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman) are expecting a relaxing weekend at a family vacation home, but their stay turns out to be anything but peaceful. First, a mysterious and dangerous woman arrives at the door while James is out on an errand. When he returns, he accidentally kills his friend Mike (Glenn Howerton), mistaking him for an intruder. And then real danger does show up -- in the form of three masked torturers, leaving Kristen and James struggling for survival.

What I liked early in the film, and throughout was the use of showing and not telling by Bryan Bertino. We do get the flashback showing Kristen looking apprehensive when James proposes to her. Her rejecting his marriage proposal is something we have to gather from their moods when they go back to the house. This minimalism also makes its way into the villains. We never really know much about them either. There is not much info about these people before the movie starts allowing your mind to fill in the blanks. The tension between the couple is great early on because it sets up how much closer they get when they go through adversity. James drinking wine and looking dejected early on felt natural. Kristen feeling bad and wishing she could encourage her boyfriend also felt natural. 

I do like how much time goes by between each incarnation of the home invasion. Pin-Up Girl knocks on the door around 4 A.M. Before more stuff happens James goes out to buy cigarettes. A lot of movies have made characters make stupid decisions and used cliches to make things worse for the characters in movies like this. One thing I liked about this movie is how that didn't happen much. There is one moment that feels cliche but for the most part the writing never made the character decisions feel dumb. I give Bryan Bertino credit for that. There is no moment where Kristen has no battery on her phone, or no reception. The film establishes they have been at a wedding reception all night, so it is no wonder why her phone is dead. James at one point leaves his phone in his car. That is something anybody could do at any time when they think everything is okay. Both of these characters show some fight. They try to get away from the house at one point, which they should do, and that is foiled.

Before I move into my spoiler section I wanted to talk about some of the suspense and camerawork. I always love it in movies when you see a character in the background of a scene rather than just jump scares. Movies like X, INSIDE, HALLOWEEN, have all done this well. There are moments where Bryan Bertino will switch to different camera angles, more close ups, and then cut back the previous shot and that thing or person will be gone. That to me has always been more impactful than jump scares because I always remember those moments more. The invaders moved objects around that were in a different spot. That is also memorable and just heightens the tension. For some reason sound design and editing also sounds better in these twenty-first century films. The sounds of the gunshots, knife stabbings, bangs against the doors and windows just sounds better in this film. Great use of music in the background in multiple scenes. Also, I mentioned how this has some of those great shots of characters in the background. This also has a great moment with a character hiding in a closet, one of the best in any horror movie. The natural yellow lighting of the house also heightens the real feel. It also reminds me of BLACK CHRISTMAS in that respect. Movies that have that kind of lighting just heighten the atmosphere to me. 

SPOILER SECTION

It is hard to know when to start and end the spoilers with this film. This film has a simplicity that makes it scarier. You never see the killer's faces. There is no true motivation. They say the only reason they are doing what they are doing is because James and Kristen were home. Again death comes for us all. How many people around this time were killed in terror attacks across the globe just because they were in the wrong place and wrong time? It could happen to any of us. The movie does some other great things in the writing. Moving objects around that Kristen had previously set down, like the smoke alarm. I was thinking at one point, things like this are why the second amendment is so important in the United States. Yet when James gets ahold of a gun he doesn't really know how to load it. You could say that is stupid, but he does in fact find out how to use it. I've had a hard time loading gins and chambering rounds correctly. Its not as easy as it seems in video games or while watching movies. That actually felt real. 

For all the things I loved in the writing, I had a small issue with Mike's fate. INSIDE had come out two years before this. I don't know if Bryan Bertino saw that film, but what happens to Mike definitely parallels a similar moment in that film. It did feel a little cliche for that to happen here. I did like Mike showing up in the first place though. That was a nice unexpected development. The scene where Kristen and James split up did feel a little stupid, but at the same time James probably had a bit more confidence because he had a gun. I would have felt the same way. The killers themselves had awesome masks. I'm glad that they came back in the sequel. I was thinking at times about how the killers were doing what they were doing. Where were they at certain times. Movies that make me think that are usually movies I like. 

Kip Weeks as Man in the Mask

Laura Margolis as Pin-up Girl

Gemma Ward as Dollface

As for the ending, I had actually thought both James and Kristen were going to die. Her living at the end surprised me. What makes their ordeal more heartbreaking is her wearing the ring and saying I love you before James is killed. You get the feeling had they made it out of this, they would have married. Just as I thought about their relationship before the movie started, I wonder where she goes from here. Also where do these killers go from there? What do they do for a job? How many times have they done this? While a movie making me ask these questions could be a bad thing, in this it's not because I don't want the answers. I would rather let my imagination keep going through scenarios. While this movie is not my favorite in terms of what I prefer to see in horror movies it is a great, suspenseful home invasion thriller.

Rating: 8/10

Trivia: Bryan Bertino said the film is based on something that happened to him as a child. Someone knocked on a door asking if someone was there. Later they found out that the homes in the neighborhood had been broken into.

Scenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmNdhL9_nPM&list=PLDqc8t6GlTaY4LxWlFz-WiQ_P0rSP88jg

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbqELQHpmQM

Slither (2006)

 

A 1950s alien-invasion creature feature mixed with a Troma film, SLITHER is gross, funny, amusing, and unique. James Gunn combines his sense of humor and creative mind with that small town setting to give this movie an identity. Though it has inspiration from many films that came before it, it still feels like its own. A great cast of characters compliments the great setting, practical and visual effects. The horror comedy feels like just the right amount as well. I never rolled my eyes at any of the comedy because it never took away from the scary moments. Many times the comedic moments provided relief to the tension that was the scary moments. The amount of great practical and visual effects cannot be understated. Body horror, creatures, blood and gore, zombies, and slithering worms. A kitchen-sink film as far as the amount of different effects you can see. This joins PLANET TERROR and Cronenberg's THE FLY as one of the three films that have blood and gore that actually grosses me out.

Synopsis: Wheelsy is a small town where not much happens and everyone minds his own business. No one notices when evil slips in quietly but, when people find mutilated livestock and a woman goes missing, Sheriff Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion) discovers an alien organism that threatens to devour all life on Earth.

What I liked about the film early on was how it established the small town setting and character. You get to know people in the town of Wheelsy, South Carolina. They establish who the players are. The schoolteacher played by Elizabeth Banks, her rich older husband played by Michael Rooker, the jerk mayor played by Gregg Henry, the Police Chief played by Nathan Fillion, and the other family which focuses on the teenage Kylie played by Tania Saulnier. The shots of the town early on show that it is a hunting town. Early on in the film one of the events is a dance that celebrates the beginning of hunting season. 

The film shows early on that Grant (Michael Rooker) is somewhat possessive of his wife, Starla (Elizabeth Banks). She seems to have a past with Police Chief Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion). It seems to be a small town where everyone knows each other. This is seen early on when Mayor MacReady (Gregg Henry) is honking at someone in front of him and swearing and a mother with a child says "Hey Mayor," and he immediately goes back into the facade of the good politician. When Grant goes to buy meat at a store later the retailer knows him by name. Those touches to establish these people knowing each other was a nice touch. 

Elizabeth Banks as Starla

Michael Rooker as Grant

Nathan Fillion as Bill

The film gets going quickly. One night Grant wants to have sex with Starla and she doesn't want to. This makes him leave the house. He goes to the local bar and meets up with Brenda (Brenda James) , a woman who used to have a crush on him. It is implied she is the town tramp of sorts. They go to the woods where she shows him a carving she did in a tree of their initials. She makes a move on him but he rejects her out of respect for Starla. They notice a trail that leads to the egg of the meteorite that landed a little earlier. An insect-like alien comes out of the egg and goes into Grant's stomach. We see an X-Ray of the creature moving up to his brain and latching on to it. 

As a result of this Grant starts to change. At first you're not sure if this is a bad thing. The next morning he and Starla have sex and she is quite impressed with how he did it as she is really happy at school. However, Grant starts to develop quite the craving for meat and at one point it is heavily implied he kills a dog. Later you find out he did do that and more. He also starts to develop scars on his shoulders and stomach. He eventually goes to see Brenda again and this is when the film turns into real body horror. Tentacles come out from his stomach and he uses Brenda as a breeder for his alien larvae. The film does a great job cutting between Starla at the dance with Bill and Grant with Brenda. 

Eventually Grant goes home again and even more grotesque than before tries to attack Starla after she calls the police. The police eventually come looking for Grant after Brenda goes missing. Starla finds many bodies of dead animals in the basement that Grant had padlocked. After this the film turns into a kitchen sink film of sorts. Grant starts turning into this squid-like alien. Brenda starts breeding these small slug-worm things that turn people into zombies that can also be used by Grant to communicate. Think Agent Smith in the Matrix sequels when he takes over people's bodies. 

There are many amazing uses of effects and different uses of them in the second half of the film. Grant kills a civilian with his tentacles at one point, splitting him in half and we see the whole body effect. The cops start using shotguns on the zombies. Great headshots and blood squibs come with that. There is a great burning effect when the zombies reveal they can shoot acid at people. The slugs bring more of a creature feature vibe to the film as they crawl around in massive numbers to crawl inside people's mouths to infect them. The way the creatures and zombies are killed is fun as well. At one point Starla impales one with a stop sign. So not only are the creatures unique but how they vanquished is unique and provides great effects as well.

The Progression of the effects on Michael Rooker as Grant

James Gunn got inspiration from many films for this one. While some obvious inspiration is there it never feels like he is copying from anyone. This is not a Bruno Mattei situation. The creature that keeps assimilating feels like THE THING, and the small town atmosphere of that aspect is like THE BLOB. The small creatures going into people's mouths to turn them into zombies is NIGHT OF THE CREEPS. The eggs and the acid are from ALIEN. The worms going into people, specifically the bathtub scene is like SHIVERS. The film's small town alien invasion aspect jives with many sci-fi films from the 50s and 60s. The film is more subtle than a Troma film but the body horror and gore aspect combined with the ridicule is like a Troma film. It is interesting that PLANET TERROR came out a year after this because that film is a film made in the 21st century inspired by the same ideas. To comment on the unique approach though, none of those films ever had a moment where a character has a worm going into their mouth, fighting to get it out and seeing everything in the lead alien's mind as it tries to assimilate them. 

MILD SPOILERS AHEAD

I enjoyed the comedy aspect of this film. There were funny moments that gave the more intense moments some levity and it never felt over the top. For example when the cops show up and see Michael Rooker as Grant as the creature for the first time Nathan Fillion lets out a "what the fuck" as the scene ends. That is the type of humor we get here. Even the over the top gore effects are funny. At the end of the film Bill tries to use a grenade and it gets knocked away multiple times and eventually blows up in a pool. Now that could have been dramatic but the film plays it as comedic and it works. Also the Mayor has a hilarious moment where he talks about how there is no Mr. Pibb to drink. When the cops surround Grant in the field near a farm, an older cop says "he looks like something that fell off my dick during the war." Again, great use of humor to break the tension. I never cringed at any of those moments like I might in other films. 

There are two huge disgusting explosions in the movie. One occurs when we see Brenda looking like a huge puffer fish breeding for Grant when she explodes into the slugs. The other is at the end when Bill uses propane and puts it into Grant's system through his tentacle and Starla shoots him, blowing him up. While there wasn't much I disliked about this film I actually wish there could have been more. In this case though I wanted more in a good way. I never felt deprived with what I got. I could have used a little more zombie killing in the last act. The CGI slugs were fine but I wish they were practical. Those are small complaints for an otherwise fun film. 

Rating: 8/10

Trivia: In the opening scene you can see a building that says R.J. MacReady's funeral home. That is a tribute to Kurt Russell's character's name in the THE THING. The Mayor, played by Gregg Henry is named Jack MacReady. That is a tribute to Kurt Russell's characters in both BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA and THE THING. Interestingly enough, James Gunn would go on to work with Kurt Russell in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2. 

Scenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0rCYl4e1Lw&list=PLXjIf_o8tnBSoFTOJ5h98S6sc9g7_eO9n

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4BHJeiQ5x8&list=PLN5sfBOjXmYi8mDyiFDfDz4nKlhQRB6jL

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI0BcgVdSWg

Jeepers Creepers

 

Combining a road horror movie with an iconic monster, JEEPERS CREEPERS is a film that keeps tension throughout its entire runtime. The look of the film combined with the road aspect makes it feel like a throwback film that could have been shot in the mid 1980s or the early aughts. That being said, the movie did rely on some cliches, diabolus ex machina and dumb character decisions to get this movie going. That stuff annoys me. I did like the meta aspect where one character points out how if they were in a movie those decisions would be stupid. While I liked the natural conversations the characters had early on, I had some issues as the movie went on. Every horror movie icon has their equal. Michael Myers has Laurie Strode and Dr. Loomis as an example. As this movie went on I never felt that the creeper was threatened by Justin Long or Gina Phillips' characters. That made where the movie was going more predictable. I may like the first half a little more than the second half but I do applaud the film for going with a more horrific ending for one character in particular. I have a lot of nitpicks but the film never loses intrigue or tension. 

Synopsis: After making a horrific discovery in the basement of an old abandoned church, Trish (Gina Philips) and her brother Darry (Justin Long) watch their routine road trip home from college turn into a heart-stopping race for their lives. They find themselves the chosen prey of an indestructible force that relentlessly pursues them and gives a new and chilling meaning to the old song "Jeepers Creepers."

The film starts out with Trish (Gina Phillips) and Darry (Justin Long) driving home from college for spring break. Trish and Darry are brother and sister. Early on I enjoy some of the natural conversations between them. They play a game where they have to give their interpretations of what license plates say. Trish is keeping score and is up 5-2 at the start of the film. They have this conversation about Darry bringing home laundry for his mother to do. He talks about how he brings it home to give his mother something to do, otherwise she'll be depressed and think he doesn't need her anymore. A giant brown truck with a foghorn comes up behind them and starts tailgating and eventually Darry is able to move out of the way. The first act of this film has shades of DUEL. I like how the movie progresses to just someone in a truck, to seeing the creeper is a killer, and finally showing the creeper to be a supernatural monster.

Justin Long as Darry

Gina Phillips as Trish

Darry and Trish eventually drive by an old church and see the man from the truck putting things wrapped in sheets down a large chute pipe in the ground. The truck driver sees them and pursues them again, and runs them off the road. Here is where Darry makes a stupid movie decision wanting to go back to the church and see what actually happened. He eventually lowers himself into the pipe. A decision which has Trish saying meta lines like this is where people watching a scary movie would hate you right now. Darry is eventually scared in the pipe by rats and Trish drops him to the bottom. 

There are some great suspense moments and reveals in this sequence. Darry eventually unwraps one of the sheets to find a man with his chest stitched up. Then in a great camera shot, you see bodies everywhere in the background, blocked together like something out of a painting. Darry recognizes two of the stitched together bodies as a woman and a man whom he had told a story about earlier. Darry eventually gets out of the pipe and scares Trish by going to the window all of a sudden. A great jump scare. Darry has this traumatized look on his face and can't speak for a moment. While at times the movie seemed to want to have its cake and eat it too, in terms of having characters have natural moments and doing dumb things to compliment the script, that moment felt real. 

As the film goes on I like different locations and transitions that make this more into a road movie. Darry and Trish go to two different police stations, the house of an old cat lady, and there is another great road chase later in the film. The cops don't believe Darry at first, and I can't blame them. The amount of bodies in that underground location near the church had to have amounted to hundreds and it looked like something out of a nightmare. Eventually the cops follow both Trish and Darry and the creeper shows up and kills both of them. Some great gore here as one of the cops is killed with an axe. Darry and Trish make their way to the house of the old lady who chastises them for wanting to call the police. She is afraid of having her cats taken. The creeper eventually shows up to her house and kills her. Now what I liked about both of these sequences was how well done they are from a technical perspective. The scene where you see the creeper drop onto the cop car in the background was great. The sound design and visuals when the old lady goes back into her house after the creeper escapes her gunshots and then you see the flash and just hear the loud sound of the gunshots. You see the old lady walking back the porch door and it turns out the creeper is just leading her behind him. 

Jonathan Breck as the Creeper is one of the most unique looking most iconic movie monsters of the 21st century

Spoiler Section

The next car chase involves Trish trying to ram into the creeper who uses its agility to get around her before she eventually swerves the car to hit him. She runs him over repeatedly but eventually they run away when a wing is shown coming out from The Creeper's back. This is when they go to the next county police station. Here we meet the psychic, Jezelle, who earlier had called Darry on the phone at the diner. What I like about some of the mystery and intrigue in this film is that it actually heightens the tension. Jezelle tells Darry about the cat lady before they have met her, making it great foreshadowing when they do meet her. As the creeper gets developed more you wonder why he is eating people. Jezelle eventually gives the story that he comes back to feed on every 23rd spring. The Creeper feeds on organs of human beings, but selects them by their fear. So we have a very NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET situation. While I wish you could see more of the kills in the police station, once again the tension is frequent. You see the Creeper eating one cop in a cell but then you hear the Sheriff talking to the cops in the prison block on the radio. The cops talk about how they keep shooting the Creeper and how it won't die. I enjoy the imagination of how that scene would play out. The ending, though predictable, is great because it doesn't pull any punches. You usually see characters make it out of a struggle in many movies and this one isn't afraid to let one of them die. 

Patricia Belcher brings intrigue and warmth to her role as Jezelle, the psychic

Darry, with his eyes taken by the Creeper at the end of the film, what a lasting image

What is a bit disappointing is knowing that Gina Phillips is not in the sequel. I would have liked to have seen her character come back and challenge the Creeper. That was the missing ingredient in this film to me. As I said in my thesis, every horror movie monster has their equal. The Creeper didn't get that in this film, though I found enough enjoyment in the brother-sister dynamic and trying to see how they were going to get away. That only carries so far though and I wish this film would have given a better way of vanquishing the Creeper instead of just Trish trying to sacrifice herself. The film makes up for some of the dumb character actions and diabolus ex machina moments, like the phone battery being dead when Darry tries to make a call. The film makes up for this with nonstop tension. The technical elements are great. Great makeup and gore effects, well shot, great orchestral score by Bennett Salvay, and incredible sound effects and editing make this a scary film. I really am looking forward to watching the sequel to see if it expands on the mythology and gives us someone to combat the creature better.

Rating: 7/10

Trivia: Victor Salva has always said the Creeper legend is complete fiction but the scene where Trish and Darry witness the Creeper dumping a body down a well by an abandoned church was inspired by the case of Dennis DePue, a former Michigan Property Assessor who murdered his wife and was seen by witnesses near an old school house with a bloody sheet. Two witnesses also recall DePue speeding past them in a van and eventually tailing them and riding their bumper for several miles. The case was also profiled on a 1990 episode of UNSOLVED MYSTERIES.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T7TFIOZ2xU