"Rants & Ravings About Horror" - Week 28: “A Tribute to Wes Craven”

Week 28: “A Tribute to Wes Craven”

As you may already know we last a great director on August 30^th this year.  He wasn’t just a great director but an influential name in the pantheon of horror film directors who created nightmares that haunted the last fifty years of our dreams.  His name was Wes Craven and I’d like to take a few moments to appreciate some of my favorite films of his that had a major impact on me.

The first film I’d like to mention is The People Under the Stairs (1991).  Why do you ask do I start off with this film?  It just happened to be the first film of his that I ever got the chance see on the big screen.  It also happened to feature an African American Brandon Quinton Adams as the main star and starred A.J. Langer, whom I ended up having a crush on due to this film and her starring in the TV show Drexel’s Class.  I actually saw the film several times at the theater and then it became one of my regular Halloween fixtures once it hit video.  Craven has always featured intelligent characters in his films and this film is no exception.  Even now this film holds up extremely well considering its age.

Brandon Quinton Adams would again appear in another Craven project which was the short lived Nightmare Café (1992) which I also found compelling and different and of course it starred Robert England in another great role as Blackie.  This was an interesting anthology style series in which not only starred England but Lindsay Frost, another great actress most familiar to fans of Dead Heat (1988) and Monolith (1993).  The real shame is that no one was tuning into this series and it was cancelled after a single season. 

Next up is Swamp Thing (1982).  This is the Craven film I didn’t know was a Craven film for the longest time growing up.  This would be on constant replay on HBO and other cable stations and I must have seen the film a million times.  It also spawned the USA TV series from ’90-’93 and Return of Swamp Thing (1989), but the less said about the sequel the better.  The movie was a great introduction for me to the comic book which I’m still a fan of to this day.  Despite the infamy of the film now, this was one of my favorite films growing up because it didn’t just have a cool monster as a hero of the film but it starred Andrienne Barbeau, whom has been in some of the best horror and sci-fi films ever made including The Fog (1980), Creepshow (1982), Escape from New York (1981), Two Evil Eyes (1990), and The Convent (2000), to name a few.  This film got a lot of replay value with me.

Another guilty pleasure film that lies in infamy with fans of Craven’s work is Deadly Friend (1986).  If you see a pattern that Craven’s lesser known films were what I watched a lot of as a kid growing up then you’ll see why this film is on the list.  Many consider this one of his worst films because the gore was edited out and the story barely makes much sense and it’s all edited poorly but I say a film that starred Kristy Swanson can’t be all that bad.  This was the first film I remember seeing her in but it wouldn’t be the last.  I would follow her career from the psychological horrors of Flowers in the Attic (1987) to the ridiculous Mannequin: On the Move (1991) to the even more infamous Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), The Chase (1994), The Program (1993). Higher Learning (1995), and The Phantom (1996), to name a few.  By the late ‘90s her career was dying a slow death and even though she would continue to be in many films her starring roles would continue to dwindle.  For me, the magic would survive through this first film in which her performance is raw and unrefined but she was relatable as a teenager.

Now I head into Craven’s most famous film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) which would be higher on my list but unfortunately I was a Michael Myers fan growing up and therefore I really didn’t watch and love this film as much as I should have.  What this film does have the benefit of being is the most suspenseful of the major horror franchises which includes Texas Chainsaw Massacre (TCM), Halloween, Hellraiser, and Friday the 13^th.  Craven is the best of the horror masters at suspense and keeping the audience on the edge of their seats without relying on the “jump scare”.  TCM has its off-screen visceral horror; Halloween was a moody horror film all about what hides in the shadow; Friday the 13^th was all about the “jump scare”; Hellraiser was about the gore and style and makeup FX.    Craven used all these elements to create a whole atmosphere that left audiences in suspense from beginning to end and had intelligent heroines to boot.  Craven would have a hand in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors (1987) but it would be New Nightmare (1994) in which he would bring new life to Freddy Krueger in a film that commented on the Elm Street franchise and Hollywood while also bringing a fairytale quality to a horror film.  Unfortunately, this film would also not do as well at the Box Office (but it still got my money).

The Serpent & the Rainbow (1988) would be another one of my favorites because it was the very first zombie film I ever saw that was based upon the voodoo zombie and not the undead zombie.  As a kid I was expecting the undead zombie but I was completely surprised when I first saw this film.  I had never been exposed to the voodoo zombie before this film.  George A. Romero’s zombies were zombies to me up until this film but this film opened up my entire mind to the endless possibilities out there.  By this time I was well aware of who “Wes Craven” was and I had seen most all his major films up until then.

So when Shocker (1989) was released it was one of the few films of ’89 that were on the top of my “Must Watch” list.  Unfortunately, I missed this one at the Box Office (as it would be another couple years until the release of The People Under the Stairs) but I must have seen the film a hundred times when it found its way on video.  This film is the rare Craven film on this list that was not suspenseful but more on the level of being an exciting and vibrant action-horror hybrid with all kinds of supernatural events going on.  I’m also a huge fan of the soundtrack for this film and I must have played it a thousand times growing up (I still have my copy on cassette if you can believe that).

Before I go any further I’d like to backtrack to the film that usually gets glossed over which is The Hills Have Eyes (1977).  I actually saw its sequel The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1984) first but I enjoyed that one so much I searched out the first one.  After watching the first one, which I did love more, the sequel continued to be a guilty pleasure that had introduced me to another of one of my favorite Craven films.  Now The Hills Have Eyes may not be one of Craven’s best films; it’s certainly one of the most dated but it has a raw charm to it that I just love and whenever I’m in the mood to watch this film I watch its sequel as well (and now I’ve added the remake for a triple feature).  These films are usually at the bottom of any Craven fan’s “Best of” list but I would take both of these films over much of Craven’s output post late ‘90s.

The last two major films on my “Best of” Craven’s list will include Scream (1996) and Scream 2 (1997) because they re-kicked started Craven’s commercial career in Hollywood.  After a string of underperforming and mediocre films the original Scream became one of Craven’s biggest successes spawning three additional sequels and now an MTV television series.  The original Scream is just what Craven needed to put himself back on the map and prove to Hollywood that he still had what it takes to appeal to young audiences.  It was also a shot in the arm for the horror genre as the film was smart and the characters were smart and the film was suspenseful and kept audiences on the edge of their seats from beginning to end while also providing plenty of laughs when and where needed.  Scream 2 heightened these aspects from the first film and made them even better.  With a higher budget, more celebrities and better production values this was a horror film with the look, feel, and budget of a major Hollywood film.  

I didn’t really care for either of the other sequels Scream 3 (2000) or Scream 4 (2011), which is unfortunately Craven’s final film.  Both were technically fine but neither was as shocking or interesting as the first two but that’s the nature of diminishing returns for sequels.  The same can be said of the Elm Street sequels as well.  Cursed (2005) is one of Craven’s worst films for many different reasons (I could dedicate a whole article on this) while Red Eye (2005) is the odd duckling of the bunch.  It’s technically a great film and the performances are also great but it doesn’t feel like a Craven film.  It feels like a film that any other horror director could have handled.  Craven’s style is absent from this film.  Vampire in Brooklyn (1995) is its own mishap and has never been on my list of Craven films to watch despite looking and feeling like a Craven film.  The comedy falls flat and most of the actors seem bored to be in this comedy-horror hybrid.

I can appreciate the ground breaking The Last House on the Left (1972) and what it did for Craven’s career but this is a film I’ve always hated.  I’ve given it several watches over the years and I still hate it.  I prefer the remake over this film and in fact have watched the remake more times.  I’ll not mention Craven’s TV movies as none of them are on the same level as his theatrical films and I skipped over Music of the Heart (1999), which is actually a pretty decent film, and the highly forgettable and uninteresting My Soul to Take (2010), which lacks the “pop” and excitement of Craven’s best films.

The only films of Craven’s I’ve yet to see are Deadly Blessing (1981) and Night Visions (1990) so I won’t comment on those.

All in all Wes Craven has had a long career of crafting some of our most unforgettable nightmares.  His career had its ups and downs but he continued to be successful and produce quality films till the end.  He also managed to produce a lot of films and continued to influence the next generation of horror film-makers including his own son Jonathan Craven.  The horror genre has lost one of its greatest contributors and we should all take a few moments to reflect on that.

I wish Mr. Craven safe travels in wherever his spirit finds a home and we will all continue to marvel the dreams and nightmares that he gave us all.

"Rants & Ravings About Horror" - Week 23: “Horror Magazines”

Week 23: “Horror Magazines”

Horror magazines are part of our culture (us horror fans that is).  Despite all the ready-made websites out there, there is no better place to get the most up to date information on everything horror past or present than a good magazine and I (luckily) still read many of them despite also finding time to visit many horror websites.  

One of the oldest and most successful is Fangoria (www.fangoria.com).  This magazine holds a special place for me as it was the first horror magazine I read growing up.  I remember the cover had the creature from Stephen King’s Sleepwalkers (1992) and that was the whole reason I picked up the magazine.  Fangoria always had fantastic covers that drew you in.  All the rest of the articles were just icing on the cake and the magazine had some of the best written articles I had ever read (which wasn’t saying much since that was the first magazine of its kind that I’d ever read at the time).  I became an instant collector right then and there and never missed an issue since.  Now the magazine has had its ups and downs over the years especially in the years when there were very few quality mainstream and indie horror films but right now it is back in good form focusing on new retrospectives on classic films and influential filmmakers especially in this time when there are fewer and fewer genre specific directors emerging.

My favorite magazine right now is Horror Hound (www.horrorhound.com).  It’s not as old as some of the others that will be mentioned here but they do some of the most thorough articles of all the magazines that I read.  This is a magazine that really focuses on articles for the horror fan and never seems like its repetitive or been done before.  Unfortunately, whereas a lot of other magazines have articles on the exact same subject within the same couple months, this magazine never seems like it follows that trend.  It’s long running series on films stuck in VHS purgatory is of particular interest for horror fans as are there extended retrospectives on entire film series (no other magazine comes close to the quality of these articles).  If you don’t currently read any horror magazines this would be the one to start off with.

Rue Morgue (www.rue-morgue.com) is another one of the longest running horror magazines.  I love the fact that this magazine delves into all facets of the horror genre from movies to books to music to video games.  For someone just wanting to read a little more about everything then this is definitely for you.  My only problem is the fact that the articles are shorter, on the average, but when they do an article with extended coverage that is when it is really worth it.  They also do articles on horror artists including tattoo artists which most magazines never even bother with.  

Famous Monsters of Filmland (www.famousmonsters.com) is a magazine that many of you might remember as being started by Forrest J. Ackerman.  It was cancelled at one point and resurrected and still goes strong to this day.  It works as a magazine in the PG area as it was designed for small children as they grew up into monster lovers.  It covers a lot of older television horror and does a great job in their extensive articles on specific personalities and talent.  The biggest draw for this magazine is the fact that there articles are so thorough and the fact that they highlight current television shows when other magazines do not.  My only problem with the magazine is that many times I don’t really care for the television show they focus on for any given issue and unfortunately that focus can take up more than half of the issue (recent issues that I didn’t care about focused on The Munsters and Supernatural, which I don’t care for).  This is a minor problem (as you can see) as I still remain with the magazine because the quality is still high.

On the more extreme spectrum is the resurrection of Gorezone (www.facebook.com/gorezonemagazine) which is for the hardcore horror fan as it delves into extreme horror films such as The Faces of Death franchise, Cannibal Holocaust, and many more.  It can only be purchased through the Fangoria website and it has a hefty price tag but the quality of the articles is just like that of the parent magazine so it is well worth the price.  There are articles here that you can’t find in the parent magazine nor the website.

Another magazine like this (but not nearly as extreme) is the UK’s Scream (www.screamhorrormag.com) magazine which you can purchase a physical or digital copy of.  The quality of the articles is good but there is too much of a scattered-brained collage of articles in each issue.  They just kind of through a little bit of everything in each issue so you never know what you’re going to get and there are few regular columns in this magazine unlike in Fangoria and Rue Morgue and Horror Hound.  What this magazine has are some of the best collection of photos from the films it highlights. 

Another one of my favorite magazines is Diabolique (www.diaboliquemagazine.com) (which has some of the best articles written among any of the magazines discussed.  Their articles are heavily researched and thorough and very informative and the articles can vary in subject matter (because a lot of the articles are queried based on a particular issue’s topic).  This is probably one of the best designed and put together of the magazines as each issue is topic driven and each article contributes to the whole of the issue.  I’ve never been disappointed by an issue but my biggest issue is the long wait between issues and the fact that not all bookstores and newsstands carry the magazine on a consistent basis.

The last magazine I’m going to mention is the specialized Delirium (www.deliriummagazine.com) magazine which is put out by Full Moon Entertainment and focuses on many of their own films and films they’ve distributed.  Not really a magazine designed for the casual horror fan especially if you don’t like the majority of Full Moon’s films but if you do then this magazine gives you more coverage than any other magazine ever has.  Each issue does highlight a classic horror film (previous issues highlight Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and Shockwaves) but for the most part this one stays away from modern horror films.

***

Now there are plenty more horror magazines that I don’t read such as Screem (www.screemag.com), Scary Monsters (www.scarymonstersmagazine.com), etc. but there is only so many magazines that I can read on a consistent basis. 

I’m a hard core horror fan and even though I now read the digital version of a couple of these magazines nothing will ever replace the feeling of sitting down with a physical copy of Fangoria or Rue Morgue or Horror Hound and letting myself be immersed in a different world…just one filled with monsters and bloodshed.

Film Review: SMILEY (2012)

The exploration of urban legends is nothing new in horror films and is a fertile ground that has been mined many times so it comes as no surprise that the urban legend that is Bloody Mary is updated for a new audience in the film Smiley (2012).  Ashley (Caitlin Gerard) newly arrives at college to experience a new crazy way of life first hand but gets thrust within the mystery of the urban legend that is Smiley.  During a college party, Ashley and a group of her friends including her roommate Proxy (Melanie Papalla) engage in an internet based urban legend that calls for someone to type the phrase “I did it for the lulz” three times to an unsuspecting participate who is then killed by the applicably named Smiley in a violent and gruesome way online for everyone to see.  When Ashley does it to someone herself she suddenly starts seeing Smiley in the real world who comes after her.  Now, Ashley must discover whether or not she made the urban legend true or if it is all in her head before anyone else is killed. 

Sometimes urban legend based films can be good such as Candyman (1992), The Barrens (2012), or Urban Legend (1998) but more often than not they are a travesty such as Urban Legends 2: Final Cut (2000) and Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005).  With this film the character of Smiley is just as interesting as that of Candyman and the rich history of the character is explored and part of the allure.  Urban legends make for an interesting look at how characters look at myths and how they can affect the psyche of those characters and this film is no exception.  The death of Ashley’s mother had a profound effect on her and it is at the heart of her dilemma  now which makes for an interesting character flaw that helps audiences identify with the her and her search for the truth about Smiley and whether it is real or all in her head.

Overall this is a better than expected film with enough suspense and blood to satisfy any horror fan especially those more prone to the Scream films.   It also helps that Smiley has a very distinct look that will help him become an icon of horror like Candyman or Ghostface.