Films 99 and 100 and 101 ("Evil Dead" remake)
I like relaxing weekends and now that spring has clearly sprung up here in New England, it feels like spring. I try to spend as much time outside as I possibly can when we have nice days (nice being somewhat of a relative term, but growing up a Mainer, you know what those nice days look like...hello 50 degree weather with the sun shining, means my short-sleeves can come out to play).
This weekend I had my second-to-last Graduate class. I will be graduating in May with my Master's Degree! A long 5-year process! I'll be looking to continue on and getting my certification in Administration in the next couple of years, now. Hopefully, in this terrible, economically-stressful, penny-pinching time for education I will still have a job next year. Unfortunately, that is something I have to consistently worry about around this time every year. Education seems to be doing what little it can with the penny-pinching budget it has, much like Sam Raimi did for his original "The Evil Dead" classic. Perhaps someone, someday, soon will reboot this version of education and make it even better than the original!
"Evil Dead" (v. 2013)
The original "Evil Dead" film came out in 1981 (the year I was born) and was directed by Sam Raimi and starred Bruce Campbell. Both took its campiness and cheesiness to the extreme, knowing that it would not be taken seriously as a "true" horror film, it never really takes itself seriously. The production is low, just like its budget (remember this is 1981). There's dismemberment of body parts that looks obviously fake; there's ridiculous blood and puke and puss. It's fabulous for it's campiness. No wonder it's a cult classic. Bruce Campbell established himself as a cult figure with the trilogy (Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, and Army of Darkness), overplaying the character with great ease (not in the same way that Jim Carrey over-acted in all this earliest films).
This brand new version of "Evil Dead" has the blessing and producer credits of the major players involved with the original one, so right out of the gate, you know it will be good. Thanks to the production and technology upgrade, this film is filled with more gore than you could probably imagine making it through the cutting room floor of the rather conservative MPAA (but I'm glad, because this is what the Evil Dead should have been). This film definitely takes itself seriously. And it works. On every level. The dialogue is swift. The story flows. The gory details are there. There's even some good old-time jokes from the original film slipped in. The best parts of the film are actually those moments that the director is making obviously "wink wink nod nod's" to Raimi and the original film. Not in the insulting recycling fashion either. It's definitely an homage and it's a welcomed one each time it happens on the screen.
The story is basically the same. Five friends are camping out at a cabin in the secluded woods and literally hell breaks loose, thanks to the unwitting reading of some passages in The Book of the Dead, which is found in the basement of the cabin, along with a couple dozen dead rabbit carcasses and some other weird shit. The obvious leader of the group is David (played by Shiloh Fenandez, who takes his role seriously), looks like a young version of Bruce Campbell's Ash. Olivia is a registered nurse, who's dating Eric, the most academic of the group. David also has a girlfriend who comes with him to the cabin. The entire reason why these four are getting together again (after quite some time apart from each other) can be found with Mia (David's sister), who is a drug addict trying to kick her heroin habit cold turkey (and not for the first time, apparently). There's so tension between David and Mia because their mother died in a mental hospital and David was not around. Mia took his absence to heart (and perhaps that's one of the major reasons why she dove into drugs- everyone has their reasons/demons for finding dark ways to mask their troubles). This cold turkey approach/attempt is important because when Eric reads passages from The Book of the Dead it awakens and unleashes a demon from hell, which the four friends mistakenly identify as withdrawals in Mia (since she is the first inflicted with this terrible demon, who states "You are all going to die tonight."). The demon passes from friend to friend and causes them to harm themselves and each other in creative new ways. The monstrously malevolent is just as foul-mouthed as the demon that possesses Linda Blair in "The Exorcist." Most of those moments of possession are rather funny and not so much scary, which I believe it was intended to be that way.
Jane Levy really carries the film with her believably possessed Mia (which is a bit of a departure from her witty, sarcasm and nihilist-in-the-making character on "Suburgatory" on ABC). I loved her here and she really takes the film to its amped-up level in the finale where she must battle the unearthed demon on her own. This third act is clearly a metaphor for her battle against drug addiction and the only disappointing thing is that she defeats it and escapes while all her friends and family clearly died because of her addiction. She is the sole survivor. The drug addict wins. But, she learns a much-needed lesson. Too bad there's a trail of carnage behind her.
All in all this is one of the most pleasing remake/re-vamps of a classic film. I welcomed it when I heard about it and again when I saw the preview. I would even see it again in the theater before buying the DVD.
......................................................................
I watched a couple of throw-away "horror/thriller" films on Sunday.
Film 100***** (only 265 more to go)
"Slave"
This is a terrible below-C level horror film. It lacks the campiness of a B-horror-movie, because it attempts to take itself seriously but it doesn't have a plot that really goes anywhere at all.
The cliche-riddled plot includes an attractive girlfriend's request to meet her significant other's father, so that she can know what she's getting herself into. He'd really prefer that they don't, but they go anyway. The first night they arrive, they go to a bar where they are both drugged and the girlfriend (Georgie) is taken. We find her on board a white boat that houses a "crazy" older man who keeps several girls on the ship as his "wives," but they clearly show no interest in leaving the boat. I can see that the writer and/or director was going for some kind of metaphor with the boat and temptation of sex and drugs, but it doesn't work at all in this context. Should've done something else. Perhaps adopted more of the story behind the myth of Orpheus and his temptations as he traveled through hell to retrieve his beloved Eurydice. I'm just saying, there's so much that could've been put into that kind of story and it would've been much more interesting.
The film is awful and not believable at all on so many different levels. The plot is terrible. It made me want to go write my own script. You know those films and/or books that you see/read and they make you think you can do a better job.
..........................................................................
Film 101
"Elevator"
Here's a B-thriller movie that centers on claustrophobia (at the heart) that works on some levels. It begins with 8 people preparing for a party and then getting onto a large-enough elevator at the Barton Investment Company's skyscraper building. Each person has their own back-story. The CEO of the company is on the elevator with his granddaughter. There is a woman who was a shareholder in the company's stock. There's an ethnic Security Guard. There's a comedian, only there as a back-up entertainer to someone who couldn't do the gig. Then there's a pregnant lady who works at Barton, as well as a rather large/husky employee and then the typical heartthrob-type guy who works for the company, too (and his girlfriend is along for the night, turns out she's a news reporter).
They, of course, end up getting stuck in the elevator on the 49th floor thanks to the little girl in a rather funny scene between her and the comedian (who happens to be claustrophobic). You know what's coming, just because of this known fact. What results is an hour and ten minutes of a film set in close quarters, which can be somewhat of a risk. The film attempts, and basically succeeds (as much as it can) in bringing up some other, deeper issues like racial tension corporate greed and financial scandal, scorned lovers (which I won't ruin for you, but is rather obvious), and finally revenge.
There are some good moments in the short running time of the film. There's a couple of gross-out scenes. But ultimately there are too many scenes close to the third act and towards the end of the film when the crew finally attempts to free themselves from the metal hanging-box. Each new revelation makes you wonder why they didn't attempt any of these things to begin with (starting with calling 911, they wait and instead call building security who are not too kind and literally leave them hanging there). The news reporter sends a video via her smartphone seemingly late.
I didn't believe in this film either, but I still found it entertaining.
This weekend I had my second-to-last Graduate class. I will be graduating in May with my Master's Degree! A long 5-year process! I'll be looking to continue on and getting my certification in Administration in the next couple of years, now. Hopefully, in this terrible, economically-stressful, penny-pinching time for education I will still have a job next year. Unfortunately, that is something I have to consistently worry about around this time every year. Education seems to be doing what little it can with the penny-pinching budget it has, much like Sam Raimi did for his original "The Evil Dead" classic. Perhaps someone, someday, soon will reboot this version of education and make it even better than the original!
"Evil Dead" (v. 2013)
The original "Evil Dead" film came out in 1981 (the year I was born) and was directed by Sam Raimi and starred Bruce Campbell. Both took its campiness and cheesiness to the extreme, knowing that it would not be taken seriously as a "true" horror film, it never really takes itself seriously. The production is low, just like its budget (remember this is 1981). There's dismemberment of body parts that looks obviously fake; there's ridiculous blood and puke and puss. It's fabulous for it's campiness. No wonder it's a cult classic. Bruce Campbell established himself as a cult figure with the trilogy (Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, and Army of Darkness), overplaying the character with great ease (not in the same way that Jim Carrey over-acted in all this earliest films).
This brand new version of "Evil Dead" has the blessing and producer credits of the major players involved with the original one, so right out of the gate, you know it will be good. Thanks to the production and technology upgrade, this film is filled with more gore than you could probably imagine making it through the cutting room floor of the rather conservative MPAA (but I'm glad, because this is what the Evil Dead should have been). This film definitely takes itself seriously. And it works. On every level. The dialogue is swift. The story flows. The gory details are there. There's even some good old-time jokes from the original film slipped in. The best parts of the film are actually those moments that the director is making obviously "wink wink nod nod's" to Raimi and the original film. Not in the insulting recycling fashion either. It's definitely an homage and it's a welcomed one each time it happens on the screen.
The story is basically the same. Five friends are camping out at a cabin in the secluded woods and literally hell breaks loose, thanks to the unwitting reading of some passages in The Book of the Dead, which is found in the basement of the cabin, along with a couple dozen dead rabbit carcasses and some other weird shit. The obvious leader of the group is David (played by Shiloh Fenandez, who takes his role seriously), looks like a young version of Bruce Campbell's Ash. Olivia is a registered nurse, who's dating Eric, the most academic of the group. David also has a girlfriend who comes with him to the cabin. The entire reason why these four are getting together again (after quite some time apart from each other) can be found with Mia (David's sister), who is a drug addict trying to kick her heroin habit cold turkey (and not for the first time, apparently). There's so tension between David and Mia because their mother died in a mental hospital and David was not around. Mia took his absence to heart (and perhaps that's one of the major reasons why she dove into drugs- everyone has their reasons/demons for finding dark ways to mask their troubles). This cold turkey approach/attempt is important because when Eric reads passages from The Book of the Dead it awakens and unleashes a demon from hell, which the four friends mistakenly identify as withdrawals in Mia (since she is the first inflicted with this terrible demon, who states "You are all going to die tonight."). The demon passes from friend to friend and causes them to harm themselves and each other in creative new ways. The monstrously malevolent is just as foul-mouthed as the demon that possesses Linda Blair in "The Exorcist." Most of those moments of possession are rather funny and not so much scary, which I believe it was intended to be that way.
Jane Levy really carries the film with her believably possessed Mia (which is a bit of a departure from her witty, sarcasm and nihilist-in-the-making character on "Suburgatory" on ABC). I loved her here and she really takes the film to its amped-up level in the finale where she must battle the unearthed demon on her own. This third act is clearly a metaphor for her battle against drug addiction and the only disappointing thing is that she defeats it and escapes while all her friends and family clearly died because of her addiction. She is the sole survivor. The drug addict wins. But, she learns a much-needed lesson. Too bad there's a trail of carnage behind her.
All in all this is one of the most pleasing remake/re-vamps of a classic film. I welcomed it when I heard about it and again when I saw the preview. I would even see it again in the theater before buying the DVD.
......................................................................
I watched a couple of throw-away "horror/thriller" films on Sunday.
Film 100***** (only 265 more to go)
"Slave"
This is a terrible below-C level horror film. It lacks the campiness of a B-horror-movie, because it attempts to take itself seriously but it doesn't have a plot that really goes anywhere at all.
The cliche-riddled plot includes an attractive girlfriend's request to meet her significant other's father, so that she can know what she's getting herself into. He'd really prefer that they don't, but they go anyway. The first night they arrive, they go to a bar where they are both drugged and the girlfriend (Georgie) is taken. We find her on board a white boat that houses a "crazy" older man who keeps several girls on the ship as his "wives," but they clearly show no interest in leaving the boat. I can see that the writer and/or director was going for some kind of metaphor with the boat and temptation of sex and drugs, but it doesn't work at all in this context. Should've done something else. Perhaps adopted more of the story behind the myth of Orpheus and his temptations as he traveled through hell to retrieve his beloved Eurydice. I'm just saying, there's so much that could've been put into that kind of story and it would've been much more interesting.
The film is awful and not believable at all on so many different levels. The plot is terrible. It made me want to go write my own script. You know those films and/or books that you see/read and they make you think you can do a better job.
..........................................................................
Film 101
"Elevator"
Here's a B-thriller movie that centers on claustrophobia (at the heart) that works on some levels. It begins with 8 people preparing for a party and then getting onto a large-enough elevator at the Barton Investment Company's skyscraper building. Each person has their own back-story. The CEO of the company is on the elevator with his granddaughter. There is a woman who was a shareholder in the company's stock. There's an ethnic Security Guard. There's a comedian, only there as a back-up entertainer to someone who couldn't do the gig. Then there's a pregnant lady who works at Barton, as well as a rather large/husky employee and then the typical heartthrob-type guy who works for the company, too (and his girlfriend is along for the night, turns out she's a news reporter).
They, of course, end up getting stuck in the elevator on the 49th floor thanks to the little girl in a rather funny scene between her and the comedian (who happens to be claustrophobic). You know what's coming, just because of this known fact. What results is an hour and ten minutes of a film set in close quarters, which can be somewhat of a risk. The film attempts, and basically succeeds (as much as it can) in bringing up some other, deeper issues like racial tension corporate greed and financial scandal, scorned lovers (which I won't ruin for you, but is rather obvious), and finally revenge.
There are some good moments in the short running time of the film. There's a couple of gross-out scenes. But ultimately there are too many scenes close to the third act and towards the end of the film when the crew finally attempts to free themselves from the metal hanging-box. Each new revelation makes you wonder why they didn't attempt any of these things to begin with (starting with calling 911, they wait and instead call building security who are not too kind and literally leave them hanging there). The news reporter sends a video via her smartphone seemingly late.
I didn't believe in this film either, but I still found it entertaining.
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