Film Review: ALLIGATOR X (2010)

Mad scientist who create mutated killer animals is nothing new which is exactly what’s wrong with the film ALLIGATOR X (also known as XTINCTION: PREDATOR X).  Locals in the swamp lands are mysteriously disappearing and a local Sheriff Tim Richards (Locklyn Munro) and his old flame Laura (Elena Lyons) soon discover that there is a new predator on the loose that has made their homes its stomping grounds.  After a short investigation it is revealed that Laura’s ex-husband may have something to do with resurrecting a long extinct dinosaur and is trying to find a suitable place to allow it to breed and multiply.

I wish I could say there was more to the film but there really isn’t.  As written by Cameron Larson (with story credit going to Larson, George Kostuch, Caleb Michaelson, and Claire Sanchez) and directed by Amir Valinia this film is an uninspired and unoriginal mess.  You’d think that with five people behind the story of the film that you would at least get something original or at least entertaining but this film is neither.  The film is a knock-off of the hundreds of mad scientist films that came before it and the direction is pedestrian at best.  The film lacks any suspense and the story drags on even with this type of film.   Performances are abysmal even for Munro, who has proven his talents in such films as DRACULA 2000 and FREDDY VS JASON.  He’s playing the by-the-numbers sheriff (a role he’s been pigeonholed in).

I appreciate the occasional mad scientist creating killer monster film (SPLICE (2009) is an excellent example of this) but this story has been done to death and that’s “bad” death at that.  The SFX are not at all passable and what little humor there is disappears due to all the bad character stereotypes.  It’s not a very competent film and if it was at least entertaining I might forgive the many other problems.   

Book Review: BALTIMORE, OR, THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER AND THE VAMPIRE by Mike Mignola & Christopher Golden

Both Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden are premiere writers on their own.  Mignola created the world of Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. (The Bureau of Paranormal Research & Development) and Golden has written the thriller series Body of Evidence (as well as several Hellboy stories), so when their talents come together for Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire it is nothing but pure magic.  This is an illustrated novel with images by Mignola himself.

Lord Henry Baltimore is a soldier of World War I who accidentally awakens the wrath of sleeping vampires on the battlefield.  This first encounter leaves him forever scarred yet also marked by the vampires who become a plague upon mankind.  Years later he secretly gathers up three individuals whom he has encountered who would believe in his cause and might help him stop this plague once and for all.  As these three individuals await Baltimore’s arrival in a tavern each relay their own encounters with Baltimore and why he has become obsessed with ridding the world of the vampire plague as well as why they were all gathered in the first place.

Mignola and Golden uses the recollections of Baltimore’s associates to paint the reader a picture of who Baltimore is and how he became the ruthless vampire killer that he is.  Using the WWI as a backdrop for the origins of the story is a new twist on this style of adventure (but nothing new to Mignola who uses WWII as a backdrop for the origins of Hellboy) as well as using the vampires as the reason for the plague that kills indiscriminately from town to town.  There are many parallels between Baltimore and Hellboy besides their origins.  Both have a deformity, Hellboy with his right hand and Baltimore with his left leg (which he lost during the war and has now been replaced by a wooden contraption that allows him easy mobility).  Both have myth and legend interwoven within the story.  Hellboy uses elements of myths and legends from all over the world while Baltimore is infused with references from Hans Christian Anderson’s The Steadfast Tin Soldier among the typical vampire lore.

Baltimore is one of those books that doesn’t just infuse it with the myths and legends of the past but it also becomes a part of those stories of myths allowing Baltimore himself to become a legend.

My 100 Favorite Horror Films List 2013

We are coming up on a new year and I decided that one of the newest additions to the 100 Favorite Horror Films site will be my actual list and why each of these films are on my list.  Over the course of the next year I will focus an article on each of my favorite horror films and why they are on my list.  I encourage everyone to post their own lists so that we can all get a look at which films are your favorites.

1. THE EXORCIST

2. ROSEMARY’S BABY

3. CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962)

4. THE HAUNTING (1963)

5. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)

6. DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)

7. DAY OF THE DEAD (1985)

8. ALIEN

9. MARTIN (1977)

10. JOHN CARPENTER’S THE THING

11. PSYCHO (1960)

12. PHANTASM

13. SUSPIRIA

14. GOJIRA (1954)

15. TETSUO: THE IRON MAN

16. CABIN IN THE WOODS (2012)

17. POLTERGEIST

18. THE EVIL DEAD

19. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN

20. A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

21. BLACK SWAN

22. CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST

23. VAMPYR (1932)

24. DAVID CRONENBERG’S THE FLY (1986)

25. SLITHER

26. HALLOWEEN (1978)

27. CEMETARY MAN

28. MISERY

29. THE MIST

30. INSIDIOUS

31. SAW

32. [REC]

33. [REC] 2

34. DAVID CRONENBERG’S NAKED LUNCH

35. JACOB’S LADDER

36. JU-ON: THE GRUDGE

37. MAY

38. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT

39. SPIDER BABY, OR THE MADDEST STORY EVER TOLD (1968)

40. 28 DAYS LATER

41. RE-ANIMATOR

42. BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)

43. THE BIRDS (1963)

44. GINGER SNAPS

45. SEVEN

46. THE DESCENT

47. CHILD’S PLAY

48. BLACK SABBATH (1963)

49. CARRIE (1976)

50. BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR

51. JAWS

52. THE HOST

53. BLOOD & BLACK LACE (1964)

54. SHAUN OF THE DEAD

55. SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

56. PAN’S LABYRINTH

57. DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004)

58. ARACHNOPHOBIA

59. FREAKS (1932)

60. SPLINTER

61. CANDYMAN

62. CLIVE BARKER’S NIGHTBREED

63. THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932)

64. FRIGHT NIGHT (1985)

65. CUBE

66. BRAINDEAD (1992)

67. HELLRAISER (1987)

68. SPLICE

69. A SERBIAN FILM

70. DEAD OF NIGHT (1945)

71. HARD CANDY

72. DAVID CRONEBERG’S VIDEODROME

73. MARTYRS

74. STEPHEN KING’S STORM OF THE CENTURY

75. THE BEYOND

75. THE HOWLING

76. BUG

77. PITCH BLACK

78. BLACK CHRISTMAS

79. CREEPSHOW

80. HIGH TENSION

81. RARE EXPORTS

82. PUMPKINHEAD

83. DAVID CRONEBERG’S CRASH

84. THE FRIGHTENERS

85. LEVIATHON

86. STEPHEN KING’S IT

87. PET SEMETARY

88. HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW

89. ZOMBIE (1979)

90. EVENT HORIZON

91. RESIDENT EVIL

92.  HORROR HOTEL (1960)

93. THE SHINING (1980)

94. WES CRAVEN’S NEW NIGHTMARE

95. RINGU

96. JOHN CARPENTER’S PRINCE OF DARKNESS

97. THE EVIL DEAD 2

98. CLIVE BARKER’S LORD OF ILLUSSION

99. THE LOST BOYS

100. THE GUARDIAN

Here is my full list with the following being some of my “10 I wish I could also add” – 1. CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (1961), 2. KWAIDAN (1964), 3. BURN, WITCH, BURN (1962), 4.NOSFERATU, A SYMPHONY OF TERROR (1922), and 5. I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943).

UNIVERSAL HORROR AT 100 YEARS!

Everyone who is anyone who likes horror films will know that 2012 marks Universal Studios’ 100 year celebration.  For the past year the studio has been re-releasing some its most classic films both to DVD and BD and some for the very first time on either or both.  It has been a banner year for the studio and for horror fans in general as Universal Studios has been responsible for some of the most influential and classic horror films of any other studio in history.  They got their first renaissance in the ‘20s and ‘30s with the original Classic Monster films (i.e. their version of Dracula, the mummy, invisible man, Frankenstein’s monster, etc.) and moved into more mainstream films such as Jaws, the Child’s Play franchise, Jurassic Park, An American Werewolf in London, and many many more.  With their recent remake of the classic Wolf Man (2010) and the prequel to John Carpenter’s The Thing (2011) and an all new version of The Mummy on the horizon there does not seem to be any plans of the studio not continuing to bring audiences more horror films for years to come.  

I’ve decided to stop and take a look at some of my favorite Universal Studios horror films.  Now this list will in no way touch upon all of the contributions that the studio has made to the genre but I wanted to pick a few from each decade to show you how far the studio has come and where it might go in the future.

The ‘20s & ‘30s.

The ‘20s and the ‘30s were the decades in which the studio excelled at producing horror films.  Many of the films from this decade are now classics and continue to entertain audiences even to this day.  Some of my favorites are The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925) both of which have been remade countless times but these two continue to be the quintessential example of the classic Universal Studio horror film.  Also included in this bunch are Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), The Mummy (1932), and The Old Dark House (1932) all of which are at the top of my list for best Universal horror film.  The ‘20s and ‘30s were a time when the horror film was first being discovered and Universal was throwing everything at audiences to see what worked so these two decades marked a growth in the genre.  There are tons more films the studio produced during these two decades but these are my favorites that I continue to go back to time and time again.

The ‘40s & ‘50s.

The ‘40s was a decade that was filled with sequels to past successes as well as remakes such as The Wolf Man (1941) and The Phantom of the Opera (1943), which are among my favorites.  I’m a huge fan of the Phantom of the Opera story so I always look forward to another adaptation of the classic novel.

The ‘50s brought to audiences The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) and the science fiction horrors of Tarantula (1955) and The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957).  In this decade what terrified audiences wasn’t storybook monsters but science and the unknown and so Universal’s  horror film output shifted to science fiction horror and fears of the atom bomb made most famous from the Japanese import Gojira (aka Godzilla 1954).  This would shift the focus of Universal’s “need” and “want” for horror over the next couple decades.

The ‘60s & ‘70s.

I must say that these decades represent the decline of horror at Universal Studios as the company shifted its focus to more real life horror or films that few would even consider true horror films.  The most notable exception would be the summer blockbuster that is Jaws (1975) which was a huge cash cow for the studio (and for which generated 3 subsequent sequels).  Some people who don’t like horror films deny that this is one (simply so they don’t have to admit they like a horror film) and thus horror films became taboo during this period in the studio’s history.  The studio did continue to delve into fantasy films in a big way such as Battlestar Galactica (1978) (because of the success of Star Wars) but that’s for another article at another time.

The ‘80s & ‘90s.

Universal would step back into the horror genre full force not only because horror films began to be popular with mainstream audiences but also because of home video and the straight to video boom on the ‘90s.  Universal would produce and distribute tons of horror films original, sequels, or simple acquisitions.  The success of An American Werewolf in London (1981) helped change the face of the modern horror film by putting humor in it (which is not to be confused with making funny horror films like the Albert & Costello Meet franchise of films) while still taking the film seriously.  They also perfected the nihilistic horror film with John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) and the dark fantasy film with Legend (1985).  Universal was at the top of its game once again.  The ‘90s brought action to the Universal horror film with Darkman (1990), Army of Darkness (1992), Jurassic Park (1993), and The Mummy (1999) and led the studio to one of its most profitable decades (when you add in all the revenue from the straight to video films where many of their films grew bigger audiences).

The ‘00s & ‘10s.

Let’s just say that the 21^st century of horror has been dominated by the gore film and the funny horror film of which the later is where the Universal films lay the most.  With Shaun of the Dead (2004), Drag Me To Hell (2009), and Wolf Man (2010) the studio relies on some biting humor in their films with a mean streak of gore.  Horror films have also been dominated by a younger audience which strives for these conventions which is why tastes have shifted so often and so fast.

The Wrap-up.

Universal Studios has had a varied and wonderful 100 years and brought audiences all types of films to both enjoy and cherish.  Some of these films have transcended generations and newer generations discover the older films every day.  This is a testament to the growing influence that their films have had and will continue to have for generations to come.  I suggest that if you’ve never heard of or seen some of the films mentioned in this article that you try and seek them out.  These are some of my all time favorites that should be added to any horror fans collection.

Graphic Novel Review: MARVEL ZOMBIES DESTROY!

Coming up with a new way to breathe life into the Marvel Zombie franchise is hard so this latest graphic novel doesn’t even try.  Marvel Zombies Destroy! is the familiar story of the A.R.M.O.R. (Alternate Reality Monitoring & Operational Response) team being sent to an alternate world where the zombies have taken over and now want to enter another reality, possibly ours.  At the head of the team is Howard the Duck who has recruited Dum Dum Dugan for his Ducky Dozen team to rid Earth-12591 of the zombie plague only this time it seems that the Nazi’s won WWII by becoming zombies and thus have advanced to the point of not only having taken over the world but now have found a way to exit their world and to enter a new world with new flesh to pursue. 

It’s plain from the beginning that Howard the Duck has an alternative reason for bringing Dum Dum Dugan into the foil which makes for a very comedic episode but this series suffers from the same issue that many of the more recent Marvel Zombies stories suffer from which is the lack of substance to the story.  Written by Frank Marraffino & Peter David the story seems more concerned with having fun, killing Nazi zombies, and cracking as many jokes as possible (which is what you would expect from a story that features Howard the Duck and Dum Dum Dugan) but that’s the extent of the series and like previous series this one will be easily forgotten once read.  The series has been running on empty for quite some time and I do have to admit that Nazi zombies was an inspired choice to go with but putting Howard the Duck and Dum Dum Dugan at the center of the action does the story and the franchise a disservice.  I’m itching for there to be a return to the glory days of the Marvel Zombie franchise from such early stories as Dead Days and the first two stand alone series. 

The other bad thing that is happening with these stories as they are becoming way to predictable in terms of who is going to live and who is going to die and with a zombie story it should be unpredictable but with each subsequent story in the Marvel Zombie franchise this is telegraphed to the reader by the “who’s who” of no name supporting characters and especially in terms of Howard’s Ducky Dozen the reader knows from their first appearance that they are all more or less going to die as they are characters no one has ever heard of.  I do have to admit artists Mirco Pierfederici and Al Barrionuevo have found some unique ways to kill both the good guys and the Nazi zombie bad guys and for those who thrill at this aspect of the franchise this series does not disappoint.

I do miss the alternative covers for each of the individual issues that used to accompany the graphic novel at the end and even the regular covers from the initial five issues are nowhere to be seen so there are absolutely no extras to be had with this edition which is sad.  Only an “undead” letter from the editor and a page of recap art are at the end and this is just a travesty.