The WC Horror Thread Part 3: In 3-D!

[andrew8798]

Mega Shark VS. Giant Octopus came out yesterday will try to pick it up this weekend

[Big DSR Energy]

Mr. Bachman, I don't have an answer to your question. But what I DO have, is a review for a movie: 1977's GOOD AGAINST EVIL!

In New York, in 1955, a woman reluctantly gives birth to a daughter. I say reluctantly here because she doesn't know or trust anyone at this hospital. And after giving birth to this girl, the woman "accidentally" takes a tumble down some stairs, resulting in her death. As it turns out, the child is now in the hands of a mysterious and expansive demonic cult, and that cult intends to map out her entire life, as they've got some very sinister plans for her...and the rest of the world too!

Fast forward 22 years, and this baby is now a lovely fashion designer, named Jessica, who lives in San Francisco. And while living her life in San Fran, fate would have Jessica cross paths with Andy Stuart (played by DACK F***ING RAMBO, the coolest mostly-unknown actor of the 70s)!!! While she initially doesn't care for the man (since he ran into her car, and lives in a van down by the river ocean), she eventually succumbs to that ol' Rambo charm. Jessica and Andy engage in a fast-paced, but still occasionally rocky romance, all of which is monitored by the cult that has raised Jessica (and they are none too pleased).

At any rate, Jessica and Andy realize they love one another, and decide to get married. Mr. Rimmin, the head honcho of those devil worshippers, hypnotizes young Jessica, makes her forget all about Andy, and flies her all the way to New Orleans. And, back in San Francisco, Andy is confused by not only this, but the mysterious death of the priest who was supposed to join him and Jessica in wedded bliss. Andy doesn't know how, but he intends to find Jessica, and he's gonna get some help from the enigmatic Father Kemschler, a priest who knows all about fighting demons...

GOOD AGAINST EVIL was produced as a pilot to a television series, and that series was never picked up (obviously, or you might've heard of it before now). On the one hand, the story being told is a pretty blatant ripoff of films like The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby (possibly The Omen, as well, since that came out only a year before Good Against Evil). And, in addition to not really blazing any new territory with the material, the direction is quite drab and some of the acting is amateurish.

But the first half of the movie is spent on the romance between Andy and Jessica, and both lead actors are so damn likeable, you sort of root for them in spite of the silliness of the motion picture they are stuck in. I also want to point out that the script is a bit better than one would expect from such a rip-off, but not quite to the standard set previously by screenwriter Jimmy Sangster (who wrote quite a number of classic screenplays for Hammer Films).

As a result of the things that work (and, let's be honest, a pilot that has everything good nailed down from the start is rare), its pretty frustrating that the ultimate fate of these characters is left wide open. I wish there was at least a sequel made that would finish the story (sadly, no such sequel exists).

At any rate, because of an overall corniness to the proceedings, and the frustration of the movie ending before the story does (yeah, the reason is obvious, but still...), I give this 2.7 stars out of 5.

I got this picture on a double-sided DVD with Night of the Bloody Horror (I reviewed that movie 2 Horror Threads ago) for a buck. The whole experience of the DVD is worth at least 5 times that price!

[andrew8798]

Also speaking of Mega Shark VS. Giant Octopus Rumor is that there is a sequel in the works

[Rorschach]

May 20, 2009 2:12:53 GMT -5 Big DSR Energy said:

Mr. Bachman, I don't have an answer to your question. But what I DO have, is a review for a movie: 1977's GOOD AGAINST EVIL!

In New York, in 1955, a woman reluctantly gives birth to a daughter. I say reluctantly here because she doesn't know or trust anyone at this hospital. And after giving birth to this girl, the woman "accidentally" takes a tumble down some stairs, resulting in her death. As it turns out, the child is now in the hands of a mysterious and expansive demonic cult, and that cult intends to map out her entire life, as they've got some very sinister plans for her...and the rest of the world too!

Fast forward 22 years, and this baby is now a lovely fashion designer, named Jessica, who lives in San Francisco. And while living her life in San Fran, fate would have Jessica cross paths with Andy Stuart (played by DACK F***ING RAMBO, the coolest mostly-unknown actor of the 70s)!!! While she initially doesn't care for the man (since he ran into her car, and lives in a van down by the river ocean), she eventually succumbs to that ol' Rambo charm. Jessica and Andy engage in a fast-paced, but still occasionally rocky romance, all of which is monitored by the cult that has raised Jessica (and they are none too pleased).

At any rate, Jessica and Andy realize they love one another, and decide to get married. Mr. Rimmin, the head honcho of those devil worshippers, hypnotizes young Jessica, makes her forget all about Andy, and flies her all the way to New Orleans. And, back in San Francisco, Andy is confused by not only this, but the mysterious death of the priest who was supposed to join him and Jessica in wedded bliss. Andy doesn't know how, but he intends to find Jessica, and he's gonna get some help from the enigmatic Father Kemschler, a priest who knows all about fighting demons...

GOOD AGAINST EVIL was produced as a pilot to a television series, and that series was never picked up (obviously, or you might've heard of it before now). On the one hand, the story being told is a pretty blatant ripoff of films like The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby (possibly The Omen, as well, since that came out only a year before Good Against Evil). And, in addition to not really blazing any new territory with the material, the direction is quite drab and some of the acting is amateurish.

But the first half of the movie is spent on the romance between Andy and Jessica, and both lead actors are so damn likeable, you sort of root for them in spite of the silliness of the motion picture they are stuck in. I also want to point out that the script is a bit better than one would expect from such a rip-off, but not quite to the standard set previously by screenwriter Jimmy Sangster (who wrote quite a number of classic screenplays for Hammer Films).

As a result of the things that work (and, let's be honest, a pilot that has everything good nailed down from the start is rare), its pretty frustrating that the ultimate fate of these characters is left wide open. I wish there was at least a sequel made that would finish the story (sadly, no such sequel exists).

At any rate, because of an overall corniness to the proceedings, and the frustration of the movie ending before the story does (yeah, the reason is obvious, but still...), I give this 2.7 stars out of 5.

I got this picture on a double-sided DVD with Night of the Bloody Horror (I reviewed that movie 2 Horror Threads ago) for a buck. The whole experience of the DVD is worth at least 5 times that price!

Sadly, I have to say that if they did that pilot today, with Nathan Fillion and Holly Marie Combs, I'd watch it on premeire night, and every night thereafter. The concept is kinda cool....


Or maybe that's just me.


*Shrugs*

[Lick Ness Monster]

Ah, yes, the return of Dack Rambo to the WC horror threads. The man with the coolest sounding name in the history of civilization.

Having said that, I can't speak for everyone, obviously...but to me, Good Against Evil sounds absolutely ridiculous. If the series had been picked up, how did they plan on getting even a full season out of that setup? What would the series have revolved around - Dack's pursuit of the cult? You'd think that would get old, and fast.

On a completely unrelated note, Nathan Fillion is the man, and I was extremely happy that his new show Castle got picked up for a second season.

[Big DSR Energy]

May 21, 2009 14:31:36 GMT -5 Lick Ness Monster said:

Ah, yes, the return of Dack Rambo to the WC horror threads. The man with the coolest sounding name in the history of civilization.

Having said that, I can't speak for everyone, obviously...but to me, Good Against Evil sounds absolutely ridiculous. If the series had been picked up, how did they plan on getting even a full season out of that setup? What would the series have revolved around - Dack's pursuit of the cult? You'd think that would get old, and fast.

On a completely unrelated note, Nathan Fillion is the man, and I was extremely happy that his new show Castle got picked up for a second season.

My guess would've been that, in the midst of his pursuit of the cult, he and the priest would take on "monster of the week" type stories.

And, like I said, I would've preferred a sequel to end the damn story than a full-blown series. Or maybe I didn't say it, technically, but that's what I meant.

And also, I enjoyed Nathan Fillion's voice acting as Steve Trevor in the Wonder Woman animated movie.

[erisi236]

So I was watching the Grudge series just now since 3 recently came out and something mildly interesting to me came to mind. I really couldn't help but be reminded of the Nightmare on Elmstreet series in basic themes and the way the story went about.

Of course there's that house where death surely awaits, but in the way Kayako goes about dispatching her prey is very akin to the Nightmare series. The victims are very often slowly put into an alternate reality, where everything is more or less normal but certainly not right as if you where in a dream. It also seemed that when in her "realm" Kayako clearly plays with her food and never just right out kills people even tho she could at any time, she just lets people be scared for awhile before killing them, which seems odd to me.

I dunno, something about this series makes me think Nightmare was in the mind of Takashi Shimizu a lot.

Oh, and that one scene from part 2 with the dead friends and counselor just screamed Elm Street to me (and creeped me the Hell out to boot).

[Lick Ness Monster]

I too had thought that very thing about the Grudge flicks as it relates to Kayako toying with her victims. One death that REALLY messed me up is Chiharu's in Ju-On: The Grudge 2, in which she is switched from alternate reality to alternate reality and given a royal mindf*** for the entirety of the chapter before her ultimate death. Very Krueger-ish.

The Ju-On/Grudge series deserves every bit of the fandom that it has. Great writing, great characters and villains, just really awesome all around.

[erisi236]

I should add that also like Krueger I love every second that Kayako is on the screen.

Things like the way she sometimes peeps at people from around a corner while their not looking is frightening and somehow adorable at the same time, she basically does the same stuff as a spirit that she did as a living person, stalking.

[Ken Ivory]

Alrighty, time for my second induction into the Horror Hall of Shame....

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (or Halloween 5: Cry Me a River)

It's been a while since my first induction but I pretty much knew what I wanted to cover in my second one. What took me so long was that I agonised over how to do it. Should I induct Halloween 5 and 6 at the same time? Should I just cover the Curse of Thorn? Maybe just Michael crying was enough to induct? In the end I decided to cover Halloween 5 for the time being as it not only sets up the horrible Curse of Thorn debacle but in itself is a pretty bad film which is a pity because Halloween 4 was a decent sequel....in fact I would go one further and say it was an above average sequel (and actually the first Halloween film I saw way back when so perhaps I'm a bit biased towards it)

Halloween 5 starts exactly where part 4 left off. Myers after being riddled with bullets and falling down a mine shaft or something is washed away in a river where he's found by a kindly hobo who lives by said river (convenient, eh?). For some reason, the hobo decides to keep Myers in his shanty for a year, I mean who wouldn't want a comatose masked man in their bed?.

As for Jamie, it turns out she's not the next killer of the series (despite what the end of H4 implies) instead she somehow has developed a telepathic link with her killer uncle.....something she seemed to lack in part 4 but what the hey!

Back at the shanty, Myers rises and kills the hobo (chances are the hobo repeatedly violated Myers anyway so he deserved it) and makes his way to Haddonfield to kill people and we get into a typical Halloween movie which culminates at the completely renovated Myers house....



...I mean seriously, since when did the Myers house look like that???!!

Anyway, in an attempt to escape Michael, Jamie calls her "uncle" and asks him to remove his mask so she can see his face. Michael obliges (?) and we're treated to crying Michael Myers!!!

That's right Michael cries, not like the cool tears of blood scene in Halloween 2, nope. Remember during the Invasion angle and Kurt Angle made Stone Cold cry basically stripping his character of any credibility? Yeah, this is the movie equivelant of that.

Mikey soon snaps out and attempts to be a killer again, only to be caught by a falling net.....right... but it's not over yet as here comes Dr Loomis and he's got wood! He's not afraid to use it either as he beats off Michael so vigourously that he has a heart attack.

So, finally we end up with Michael in jail playing with his mask and generally looking sorry for himself (an image I find strangely wrong to this day) and all is well right? Wrong!!!

A bus pulls up outside and a guy in black walks off showing us that he has a thorn tattoo. The mysterious figure burns down the police station seemingly with ease (seems no-one pays any attention to arsonists who wear all black in Haddonfield) and Michael is free again!

Of course this sets up the disaster known as the Curse of Thorn but that, I think, is an induction for another day. Until then, this is Ken Ivory saying...please don't watch Halloween 5!!!

[Welfare Willis]

May 22, 2009 3:25:17 GMT -5 Ken Ivory said:

Alrighty, time for my second induction into the Horror Hall of Shame....

Until then, this is Ken Ivory saying...please don't watch Halloween 5!!!

*snip*

Good choice Ken. Halloween 5 is really where the series starts to take a nose dive.

Crying Michael? Maybe Rob was trying to remake the wrong movie.

[Lick Ness Monster]

Great job on that one, Ken. Unlike the first entry, you certainly won't get any debate from me on this induction. Although since I am literally the only living soul I have ever come across that actually likes Van Sant's Psycho, I'm disqualified.

And one thing from your induction made me laugh extremely hard - something that (I think) was unintentional:

May 22, 2009 3:25:17 GMT -5 Ken Ivory said:

He's not afraid to use it either as he beats off Michael so vigourously that he has a heart attack.

;D

[Ken Ivory]

May 22, 2009 9:52:39 GMT -5 Lick Ness Monster said:

Great job on that one, Ken. Unlike the first entry, you certainly won't get any debate from me on this induction. Although since I am literally the only living soul I have ever come across that actually likes Van Sant's Psycho, I'm disqualified.

And one thing from your induction made me laugh extremely hard - something that (I think) was unintentional:

May 22, 2009 3:25:17 GMT -5 Ken Ivory said:

He's not afraid to use it either as he beats off Michael so vigourously that he has a heart attack.

;D

Oh my!

[Big DSR Energy]

May 22, 2009 9:52:39 GMT -5 Lick Ness Monster said:

Great job on that one, Ken. Unlike the first entry, you certainly won't get any debate from me on this induction. Although since I am literally the only living soul I have ever come across that actually likes Van Sant's Psycho, I'm disqualified.

And one thing from your induction made me laugh extremely hard - something that (I think) was unintentional:

May 22, 2009 3:25:17 GMT -5 Ken Ivory said:

He's not afraid to use it either as he beats off Michael so vigourously that he has a heart attack.

;D

Well, the sentence right before that was "Here comes Dr. Loomis and he's got wood!" I'm pretty sure we just took a quick stroll through Double Entendre City.

[Welfare Willis]

May 22, 2009 10:50:00 GMT -5 Big DSR Energy said:

May 22, 2009 9:52:39 GMT -5 Lick Ness Monster said:

Great job on that one, Ken. Unlike the first entry, you certainly won't get any debate from me on this induction. Although since I am literally the only living soul I have ever come across that actually likes Van Sant's Psycho, I'm disqualified.

And one thing from your induction made me laugh extremely hard - something that (I think) was unintentional:



;D

Well, the sentence right before that was "Here comes Dr. Loomis and he's got wood!" I'm pretty sure we just took a quick stroll through Double Entendre City.

Here's Dr. Loomis for Viagra. ;D

[GuyOfOwnage]

I kind of hold Halloween 5 on "middle ground", so to speak, between the surprisingly-decent part 4 to the nearly unwatchable part 6. Sure, it has some pretty sucktacular moments, but...meh. Michael crying did not bug me as much as it did others (blasphemy, I know), although taking a mindless killing machine and having him show emotion probably wasn't the best idea. While Halloween 5 is no doubt one of the less stellar entries into the franchise, I would have rather seen the theatrical cut of Halloween 6 inducted, because it pretty much took the last shred of credibility the franchise had and pissed all over it. The producer's cut wasn't quite as bad, though.

[Welfare Willis]

May 22, 2009 11:32:36 GMT -5 GuyOfOwnage said:

I kind of hold Halloween 5 on "middle ground", so to speak, between the surprisingly-decent part 4 to the nearly unwatchable part 6. Sure, it has some pretty sucktacular moments, but...meh. Michael crying did not bug me as much as it did others (blasphemy, I know), although taking a mindless killing machine and having him show emotion probably wasn't the best idea. While Halloween 5 is no doubt one of the less stellar entries into the franchise, I would have rather seen the theatrical cut of Halloween 6 inducted, because it pretty much took the last shred of credibility the franchise had and pissed all over it. The producer's cut wasn't quite as bad, though.

Watching Part 6 now is an odd experience for me because Paul Rudd plays Tommy Jarvis and he's all super cereal.

[Lick Ness Monster]

May 22, 2009 11:44:22 GMT -5 Welfare Willis said:

Watching Part 6 now is an odd experience for me because Paul Rudd plays Tommy Jarvis and he's all super cereal.

LOL! That's about as good a way of putting it as any.

[Big DSR Energy]

May 22, 2009 11:44:22 GMT -5 Welfare Willis said:

May 22, 2009 11:32:36 GMT -5 GuyOfOwnage said:

I kind of hold Halloween 5 on "middle ground", so to speak, between the surprisingly-decent part 4 to the nearly unwatchable part 6. Sure, it has some pretty sucktacular moments, but...meh. Michael crying did not bug me as much as it did others (blasphemy, I know), although taking a mindless killing machine and having him show emotion probably wasn't the best idea. While Halloween 5 is no doubt one of the less stellar entries into the franchise, I would have rather seen the theatrical cut of Halloween 6 inducted, because it pretty much took the last shred of credibility the franchise had and pissed all over it. The producer's cut wasn't quite as bad, though.

Watching Part 6 now is an odd experience for me because Paul Rudd plays Tommy Jarvis and he's all super cereal.

Paul Rudd was the reason I enjoyed Halloween 6 as a kid. It was after I had seen him in Clueless, and for some reason just the fact of "Josh from Clueless" being in a horror movie made it awesome to me.

I still love Paul Rudd (don't judge me!), but I don't quite feel as strongly about Halloween 6 as I did back then.

[Deleted]

Right I just saw Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus and it lives up to all the expectations

Seriously I refuse to believe these people made this movie Seriously its just so Cheesy