Adrienne King’s introduction to the horror world came in 1980 when she portrayed Alice Hardy in Friday The 13th. She would briefly reprise the role in the 1981 sequel and then seemingly vanished from film and television. Not long after the release of the first film, Mrs. King became the victim of an extremely persistent stalker. Things got so bad that she moved to London and went into seclusion. She ultimately returned to film and television as a voice actor and also provided dubbing for a number of popular films throughout the 1990’s.
King was born in 1960 and began working as a child actor and continued working primarily as a background character or extra until she offered the role of Alice in Friday The 13th. With the success of the film came the attention of horror fans throughout the world. It also brought the attention of a man who hated King simply because she reminded him of someone that wronged him in the past. He stalked her for a year and a half, going as far as following her to London. Her case was never taken that seriously because “celebrity stalkers” were just not a thing at the time. King left the U.S. for London, England. She studied voice acting and dance. She ultimately came back to the United States around 1984 and was picked for a role on All My Children. Despite wanting to take the role, anxiety forced her to decline the offer.
King, still uneasy about appearing on screen, embraced voice acting and dubbing. Throughout the 90’s she worked behind the scenes as a dubber and voice looper on a number of films and television shows including The Good Son, Titanic, Almost Famous, Melrose Place, and While You Were Sleeping. She finally returned to the front of the camera in the 2010 indy flick, Psychic Experiment. Since that time, she has had roles in a number of films including Tales Of Poe and The Butterfly Room. She also appeared in the Friday The 13th fan film, Jason Rising.
King may not have the long list of films that many Scream Queens have accumulated over the years but without her amazing portrayal of Alice Hardy, there may never have been a Jason Voorhees franchise. For that reason alone she is worthy of the Scream Queen title.
I hope that you enjoyed this entry in the Reign of the Scream Queens. There’s plenty more to come this month!
Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins chewed their way into horror fans’ hearts with the cult classic Ginger Snaps (2000). They would go on to star in two more films in the franchise (a sequel and a prequel). You might be thinking, “But Ken, weren’t they essentially the ones causing issues in these films and not necessarily Scream Queens?” You might be correct, but this is my blog and therefore I dub both of them as Scream Queens.
Mrs. Perkins was born in 1977 in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and has had quite the career. She started out as a child actor featuring in a number of television films and series. One of her most recognizable horror roles outside of the Ginger Snaps franchise is as young Beverley Marsh in 1990’s It. Throughout the 90’s and early 2000’s she made guest appearances in a number of genre shows such as Dead Like Me, The Twilight Zone and The X-Files. Once the 2000’s rolled around, Perkins starred in the Ginger Snaps franchise, Juno, Extraterrestrial, and Prozac Nation, among other films. Beginning in 2009 she took on the recurring role of Becky Rosen on the hit show Supernatural. Other than appearing in that series off and on until 2019, however, Mrs. Perkins appears to have slowed down as an actress since 2014. She has a total of 37 acting credits as of this time but has also taught acting since 2005.
While Emily Perkins portrayed Brigitte Fitzgerald in Ginger Snaps, Katharine Isabelle tackled the title role of Brigitte’s sister, Ginger, who becomes a werewolf in the film. Like Mrs. Perkins, Ms. Isabelle was born in Vancouver, British Columbia (but in 1981) and appeared in a number of primarily Canadian productions as a youth. Also like Emily Perkins, she appeared in episodes of The Twilight Zone and The X-Files. Her first horror film was 1998’s Disturbing Behavior. After the first Ginger Snaps film, Isabelle starred in 2003’s Freddy Vs. Jason and would continue starring in multiple horror films since that time including American Mary (2012), The Girl In The Photographs (2015), 13 Eerie (2013), and 30 Days Of Night: Dark Days (2010). As of this writing, Isabelle has 126 acting credits.
Outside of the Ginger Snaps franchise, Perkins and Isabelle starred together in Another Cinderella Story in 2008. They played the evil stepsisters, Britt and Bree, of Selena Gomez’ character, Mary.
This dynamic duo of Scream Queens is the first of a few frightful pairs of actresses that I plan on covering this October. Keep an eye out for more posts like this one!
I hope to see you all tomorrow. Thanks for reading my post!
Scream Queens come and Scream Queens go but every once in awhile a Scream Queen will embrace her royal status and remain a queen for her entire career. One such icon of the horror genre is Linnea Quigley. Born in 1958, Quigley’s career began with small parts in science fiction and horror films like Deathsport (1978) and Graduation Day (1980) and adult comedies like Fairy Tales (1978). She also appeared in popular horror films like Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) and Night Of The Demons (1988). She is perhaps best known to mainstream audiences for her role as Trash in The Return Of The Living Dead (1985). She also starred in A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988).
Ms. Quigley spent much of her time on the screen in various states of undress and this made her very popular among B-movie fans. She telegraphed this popularity into a successful modeling career. She also had her own band in the 1980’s, The Skirts, and has written three books about her career and life on the screen. Quigley is also no stranger to comedy, as many of the films that she has starred in are often classified as horror comedies.
Ms. Quigley has 170 acting credits and has been active on the screen since 1978. Of all of her roles over the years, I highly recommend viewing The Return Of The Living Dead, Night Of The Demons, and Trophy Heads (2014). If you can find a copy, check out Linnea Quigley’s Horror Workout (1990). Oh, it’s not necessarily a workout program, just FYI! I also recommend her books and checking out a few of the multiple Scream Queen documentaries that she has been featured in over the years.
Linnea Quigley continues to act in films to this day. She is currently working on a film entitled The Witches Of The Sands.
Quigley’s many performances over the years have earned her the title “Queen of the B’s” and it is well deserved. She’s a prolific actress, insanely funny, beautiful, and not afraid to laugh at herself. She’s definitely a Scream Queen Icon.
Yes, this photo is a little racy for my blog, but it’s Linnea Quigley’s calling card. I had to share a somewhat sexy photo of her!
Who will I reveal as the next Scream Queen? Find out tomorrow when I take a look at the career of the first Scream Queen Dynamic Duo! That’s right. I’m going to feature not one but TWO Scream Queens in tomorrow’s post. See you then!
Born October 17, 1926, Betty May Adams screamed her way into the hearts of Universal Monster fans in 1954’s Creature From The Black Lagoon. Of course, by the time of the release of Creature, Betty was billed as Julie Adams. She needed only one horror film to secure her place in Scream Queen history. Prior to her performance as Kay Lawrence in Creature, Ms. Adams was a regular performer in a number of western films. She would continue performing in westerns after her starring role in Creature.
Ms. Adams has 148 film and television acting credits to her name. In the late 1950’s she shifted her focus from film to television. She guest starred in a number of popular television shows over the years including Night Gallery, The Rifleman, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Beverly Hills, 90210, The Incredible Hulk, Melrose Place, and Murder, She Wrote.
I recommend watching Creature From The Black Lagoon to see just how wonderful Ms. Adams was on the screen. I also recommend watching a few episodes of her spookier appearances on television, particularly her performances on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Night Gallery, and Kolchak: The Night Stalker.
Julie Adams passed away in 2019. She was the final surviving “damsel in distress” from the Universal Monsters films. She’s also the sole autograph that I ever received from the Universal Monsters films. Despite only appearing in one major horror film, Ms. Adams cemented her place Scream Queen history with her amazing performance in Creature From The Black Lagoon.
Tomorrow I’ll be taking a look at one of the most prolific Scream Queens in film history. Who is she? Return tomorrow to find out!
Just over two years after the release of Asylum, KISS gave the world their fourteenth studio album, Crazy Nights. Released on September 21, 1987, it was the longest break between albums for the band since the release of Love Gun (1977) and Dynasty (1979) not counting the four solo albums in 1978. The band released one album a year from 1979 to 1985, and went through two drummers and four lead guitarists during that time. Thankfully Bruce Kulick proved to be a keeper and the stability of his and drummer Eric Carr’s abilities gave KISS their strongest lineup in my opinion.
Despite the stability of Carr and Kulick, the band was still dealing with infighting primarily between Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. Stanley, ever the frontman, continued to champion the cause of KISS throughout the 80’s and Gene was trying to break into acting and music management. Stanley accused Gene of slacking off with the band and even Simmons has said over the years that he was lost as an artist at the time. It shows on Crazy Nights. Stanley’s songs on the album are much, much better than Simmons’ tunes.
The band stripped back much of their glam look from the previous few years, primarily wearing tight leather, spandex, and darker colors with a lot less makeup. That being said, the videos produced for the album’s singles featured plenty of flamboyancy and glammed up looks, especially from Paul.
The album featured eleven tracks. Of those tracks, three were released as singles. The first single, Crazy Crazy Nights, was very successful. It managed to reach #4 on the UK Singles Chart, #37 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart, #65 on the Billboard Hot 100, #7 on the Norwegian Singles Chart, #9 on the Irish Singles Chart, and charted on a total of eight different charts overall. The second single, the power ballad Reason To Live, hit #34 and #64 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock and Billboard Hot 100 charts, respectively. The final single, Turn On The Night, only managed to reach #41 on the UK Singles Chart. The album itself reached #18 on the US Billboard 200 and was certified platinum less than two months after its release. It was KISS’ highest charting album in the 1980’s.
Track Listing:
Crazy Crazy Nights (Single)
I’ll Fight Hell To Hold You
Bang Bang You
No, No, No
Hell Or High Water
My Way
When Your Walls Come Down
Reason To Live (Single)
Good Girl Gone Bad
Turn On The Night (Single)
Thief In The Night
Personnel: Paul Stanley (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Bruce Kulick (lead guitars, backing vocals), Eric Carr (drums, backing vocals, percussion), Gene Simmons (lead vocals, bass, backing vocals)
Stanley provided lead vocals on seven of the eleven tracks on the album. Simmons sang lead on the four other tracks. Tom Kelly provided additional backing vocals. The band also added keyboards to the mix for the album, bringing in Phil Ashley to lay down many of the keyboard work on the album along with Paul Stanley. Fans had mixed feelings about the keys on the album.
This album is all over the place for me. It features some of my favorite and least favorite KISS songs. It opens up with Crazy Crazy Nights, my favorite KISS song to hear live. There’s something empowering about singing this song along with thousands of fans and Paul Stanley. I also really love Reason To Live and Turn On The Night. Both of these power ballads sound amazing and Bruce Kulick’s solos are wonderful. Another favorite of mine is Good Girl Gone Bad. It’s the only Gene Simmons lead vocal track that I really like on this album. I’ll Fight Hell To Hold You and My Way round out my favorite tracks on this album.
The album suffers from what I consider to be lazy writing. Songs like No, No, No and Bang Bang You reek of lame lyrics. No, No, No does, however, feature some of Bruce Kulick’s most impressive playing and the obvious influence of Eddie Van Halen. In fact, the album has a number of songs that sound a lot like some of Van Halen’s tracks.
Ultimately Crazy Nights is an uneven album that features tracks that are amazing and just as many that are forgettable. It isn’t as consistent as Asylum but I do have to say that this is some of Bruce Kulick’s best work for the band. I also like how KISS added more ballads and that those songs proved to be some of the best on the album. It was a low key risky album in my opinion and it only partly worked.
I also have to add that I really like the cover of this album. The shattered glass effect reminds me of my favorite Paul Stanley guitar and the contrasting black and blue on the cover looks great. It’s probably my favorite no-makeup era cover overall.
Next month I’ll be taking a look at Hot In The Shade, the first KISS album that I ever owned. I think that my review of that album might be a bit of a shock for most folks considering the fact that it features the song that got me initially hooked on KISS…..and tons of filler.
Thanks for checking out my post. The Year Of KISS has been fun for me and I hope that you’ve enjoyed it as well.
One year and three days after the release of 1984’s Animalize, KISS released their thirteenth studio album, Asylum. As successful as the band was at the time, they were on their third lead guitarist in three albums. Bruce Kulick, who finished out the Animalize tour after Mark St. John was released, was officially brought in as a member of the band and his influence and style are firmly imprinted on Asylum and the rest of KISS’ catalogue until 1996 when the original four members of the group would reunite. Kulick played with amazing speed and intricacy when necessary, but also held his fast fingers in check on slower tracks. As flashy as his playing was, Kulick seemed to be the most reserved member of the band, seemingly happy to take a step back and let Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, and Eric Carr have all of the glory. In my opinion, Kulick is the most technically gifted guitar player that the band ever had.
The band seemed to mesh quite well on Asylum. Carr gladly pounded his way through the album which was composed almost entirely of hard rock and glam metal tracks. One could argue that Who Wants To Be Lonely and Tears Are Falling bordered upon being power ballads, but they were uptempo tracks with some surprisingly heavy guitar work in my opinion. Paul’s vocals were amazing on this album and improved upon his work on Animalize. He also shared producer credits on the album with Gene but, as many have said over the years (including Gene), Stanley did most of the production work himself. Simmons did an excellent job on bass and as I’ve already stated, Kulick handled lead guitar duties like a champ.
The band also amped up their glam look for the album and its supporting tour. Bright blues, pinks, greens, and reds were all over the place. The band added eyeliner and mascara to their look as well. Oh, there was also a lot of hairspray….so….much….hairspray. This is probably my least favorite look for the band despite being one of my favorite lineups.
Released on September 16, 1985, the album featured ten tracks. Only one single was released. Tears Are Falling was released on the same day as the album and peaked at #51 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #20 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts. The album itself managed to climb to #20 on the US Billboard 200. It achieved gold status in 1985 and eventually hit platinum status a few years later.
Track Listing:
King Of The Mountain
Any Way You Slice It
Who Wants To Be Lonely
Trial By Fire
I’m Alive
Love’s A Deadly Weapon
Tears Are Falling (Single)
Secretly Cruel
Radar For Love
Uh! All Night
Personnel: Paul Stanley (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, bass on Tears Are Falling), Bruce Kulick (lead guitar, backing vocals), Eric Carr (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Gene Simmons (bass, lead vocals), Jean Beauvoir (bass, backing vocals on Who Wants To Be Lonely and Uh! All Night), Allan Schwartzberg (drum overdubs)
The album featured a lot fewer artists than Animalize and, at least in my opinion, sounded much better. While Asylum kept KISS in the public eye, it failed to capture audiences as well as its predecessor. Paul Stanley co-wrote six songs on the album and was the sole writer on Tears Are Falling. Gene Simmons co-wrote four tracks. Kulick received three co-writing credits. Additional co-writers included Desmond Child, Jean Beauvoir, Howard Rice, and Wes Beech.
The album opens with the blisteringly strong King Of The Mountain. The song showcases Paul Stanley’s vocals and Bruce Kulick’s guitars. From there, Stanley and Gene Simmons alternate on lead vocals with Gene taking over on Any Way You Slice It, another excellent song and Paul following that up with Who Wants To Be Lonely. The album remains consistently strong on all of the tracks until it hits Secretly Cruel (Simmons on lead vocals) and Radar For Love (Stanley on lead vocals). While Secretly Cruel features some excellent guitars, it just sits wrong with me for some reason. Radar For Love is an awkward track with its hard stops and starts. The album finishes off with one of KISS’ best innuendo-laden 80’s tracks, Uh! All Night.
My favorite songs on the album are Tears Are Falling, Who Wants To Be Lonely, King Of The Mountain, and Trial By Fire. In all honesty, I like all but two of the songs (Secretly Cruel, Radar For Love) to some degree. Trial By Fire sounds like a tune you’d hear playing in the background of an 80’s film where kids are preparing for the state basketball game, a BMX race, or some other sporting event. King Of The Mountain is great, period. I wish that it had been released as a single. All of the songs are heavy on lead guitars and when allowed, Eric Carr unleashes a barrage of drums. The band released videos for Tears Are Falling, Who Wants To Be Lonely, and Uh! All Night.
Although it underperformed when compared to other 80’s KISS albums, Asylum is a surprisingly solid album with eight strong tracks and two fillers. It’s one of KISS’ best albums in my opinion and is severely underrated. The band would continue to have decent success for the rest of the decade but wouldn’t catch on fire again until the early 90’s.
Next week I’ll be tackling KISS’ 1987 release, Crazy Nights. Thankfully the band trimmed back the glam look for the album but cranked up their power ballad efforts. Does it work? Find out in my next entry in The Year Of KISS!
With the campy Batman television series ending fourteen days before its March 28, 1968 release, The Batwoman (La Mujer Murcielago) hit the silver screen in Mexico. The film blended action, camp, and lucha libre into a science fiction/superhero film featuring the Batwoman, a crime fighter who is inspired by but not an official adaptation of the DC Comics title of the same name.
In the film, a string of murders occur in Acapulco. The local authorities can’t figure out who or what is killing a number of luchadores in the area. Desperate for help, the police call on the assistance of Mario Robles and his brilliant ally, the Batwoman. Together they attempt to thwart the plans of the evil Dr. Eric Williams. The doctor is tapping brains for pineal fluid that he combines with fish in order to create a Fish Man. Sound crazy, right? Well, it’s absolutely insane….and fun to watch.
The film starred the beautiful Maura Monti as Gloria/Batwoman, Roberto Canedo as the sinister Dr. Eric Williams, and Hector Godoy as Mario Robles, Gloria’s friend and fellow investigator. It also featured a number of professional luchadores and luchadoras who showed off their skills in the ring and in a number of training sessions. Surprisingly, the acting isn’t that bad. Canedo went over the top to glorious perfection and Monti and Godoy turned in solid performances as well.
The Fish Man creature looks as good as any other 1950’s or 1960’s monster from the seemingly endless string of creature features released during those two decades. The creature was designed and created by Alfonso Barcenas. Rene Cardona, who has 147 directing credits to his name, does a great job of keeping the story interesting despite its crazy plot. The action is fairly well done, too. Monti did her own stunts in the film and there is an extended underwater sequence in which she had a number of issues but managed to pull it off very well.
The film is bonkers…..but somehow works. Perhaps it’s Monti’s stunning beauty? Maybe it’s the action? Heck, it could be the whackadoo aquarium that Dr. Williams keeps his fish in with its boiling water? I don’t know, but it just clicks with wonderful campy perfection. It’s definitely not for everyone, but I believe that viewers should at least give it a chance. It’s currently available to stream for free on Tubi and is also available for purchase on DVD and Blu-ray. On DVD and Blu-ray, it’s coupled up with The Panther Women, another film directed by Cardona.
I enjoyed this film. There’s just something extremely appealing about it. I plan on looking for more films by Cardona and also hope to see a few more films starring Monti. Sadly, her career on the big screen only lasted about six years. I found in an article that she decided to step away from film because more and more Mexican production companies demanded that female stars do nude scenes, which is something that Monti wasn’t willing to do no matter how much they paid her. Monti didn’t mind wearing skimpy outfits, but she drew the line at full frontal nudity.
Check out The Batwoman. It’s not a great movie but it is fun to watch. Monti is breathtaking and the scenery around Acapulco is beautiful.
Thanks for checking out my post. See you again real soon!
A calendar image of Maura Monti (who started her career in modeling) and two promotional posters in English for the film.
Spin Master hasn’t been cranking out quite as many four inch figures as of late, at least in my neck of the woods. There are still plenty of DC Heroes Unite and multiple Batman waves hanging on the pegs at my area and regional retailers. The only new products hitting shelves lately have been the figures and playsets based upon the The Batman film. Even in the case of those figures, they can be found on the clearance aisle, which meant I was very excited whenever the latest Batman wave was announced that included Batman, Batgirl, Joker, and Robin receiving some new paint apps and Red Hood and Solomon Grundy figures. There’s an additional eight other figures in the line that are currently mystery figures.
While I’m a bit burned out on all of the Batman and Joker variants, I really like the new paint on Batgirl and Robin. The addition of Red Hood is nice as well but I really had my eyes on the Solomon Grundy figure. To be completely honest, I hesitated when I first saw Grundy on the peg at a local Walmart. I passed on the figure and picked up some McFarlane figures instead. A few days later I found myself back at the store determined to nab Grundy. Unfortunately for me, both of his figures were gone. I lucked out a few days later at another Walmart that is in an area that doesn’t have a lot of collectors for some reason and I scored the big undead guy!
The figure comes with three surprise accessories. Those accessories are (SPOILER ALERT) two chains with concrete balls and a piece of rebar with a chunk of concrete on the end. If I remember correctly, these accessories have appeared in other packs with previous figures, namely Killer Croc. They aren’t anything special but if you’ve read any of my older Spin Master posts, you know that I’m not a fan of the accessories in the first place.
The Grundy figure mold looks great and the overall paint is pretty decent. However, one massive miscue is the fact that Spin Master left the shoulder hinge light blue (Grundy’s skin color) where his sleeve should be and it looks terrible. I’d even say that kids might be turned off by this poor paint application. This isn’t anything new for Spin Master, as they’ve done the same thing with variants of Mr. Freeze. There was also a splotch of paint on one of Grundy’s heels. Considering the fact that the price for these figures has gone up nearly two bucks, I’d think that Spin Master might take a little more time with their paint apps.
Note the shoulder paint app (or lack thereof).
The figure articulation is pretty standard. Unlike a few figures in this line, Grundy has nothing to impede his range of motion. The joints on my figure in particular aren’t too stiff but do hold their position once they are posed. Other than that, there’s nothing especially amazing about this figure.
I’m still happy that Solomon Grundy got a figure in this line. I just hope that future versions of the figure feature better paint. Grundy is finally getting a little bit of attention and I’m happy about that. He’ll be the Build-A-Fig figure in McFarlane’s upcoming Arkham City series and based on photos, he’s going to be awesome.
Thanks for checking out my post. I might grab one or two other figures in this wave. If I do, I’ll definitely review them here. I absolutely will review the Arkham City line if I get my hands on all of them. Let me know about your Spin Master collection in the comments.
“The human capacity for good is incredibly powerful….”
I can describe McFarlane’s 2022 Rebirth Batman in one word: Beautiful. It’s a beautiful figure. From the iconic black bat outlined in yellow on his chest to the purple underside of his cape, this Rebirth Batman is gorgeous. The figure is simple, slender, and looks amazing on display. I love this figure and it will most likely be my favorite Batman figure until the day that I leave this world.
Yes, it’s obvious that I love this figure but I seriously do love it. There’s something so amazing about the design of this figure that makes it stand out from my ever-growing collection of McFarlane DC Multiverse figures. It comes with the standard points of articulation that all of these figures come with and it features the McFarlane standard of almost zero accessories. It comes with a base, a collector card, a batarang, and a grappling gun. To be honest, that’s really all you need for this figure.
If I have any gripes about this figure they are primarily about the packaging. Instead of an image from a Rebirth comic, It comes with a photograph of the figure on the box and the card. One other minor complaint is that the grappling gun is a bit awkward to place in Batman’s hand and the batarang can really only rest in his hand. Despite this, the figure poses amazingly well with the batarang in hand.
I recently happened to acquire a free TV stand/media tower while helping a friend move. He had nowhere to put the tower in his new place so he offered it to me as a thanks for helping him move. I cleaned it up as best as I could (it was stored in a garage closet for a few years) and set it up in my office at work. Below is a photo of the Rebirth Batman on display along with Robin in front of my Hush Bat insignia. You can also see Superman on the lower shelf.
This Batman figure is a real beauty and it is definitely worth adding to your collection if your a Batman, a McFarlane Toys fan, or a DC Comics fan in general. Get your hands on this figure. You won’t regret it!
Thanks for reading this extremely fanboyed review! I really do like this figure and hope that you like it as well. Let me know in the comments if you plan on getting this figure or if you already own it, tell me what you like or dislike about it. See you again real soon!
When Sony/Columbia/Marvel released Morbius earlier this year, there were a ton of poor reviews about the film. Critics and fans alike bashed the origin story saying that it was just another generic superhero movie. They accused it of everything from having a paper-thin plot and dull characters to bad CGI and direction. Then there were folks like this guy who pulled out every ten dollar word that they could come up with to drive home the point of just how much this film sucked. Memes making fun of the film apparently drove Sony to erroneously re-release the movie because they thought that people enjoyed the movie. Yep, the cool kids pulled a fast one on Sony and the critics proved that they had a superior vocabulary.
Me? I don’t get any of the hate…..none of it.
Was the film really that bad? No, it wasn’t. I’m not saying that it was perfect or worthy of an award, but it wasn’t “lifeless,” “toothless,” “soulless,” “Frankensteined,” or “input generic horror/vampire/Universal Monsters reference here.” It was just okay. It was a standard comic book origin story where we get a little bit of background on the hero and the villain, witness the moment that both are “created,” and then see them square off in a CGI-laden battle to finish the film.
Despite the generic plot, director Daniel Espinosa manages to move it all along at a nice clip that doesn’t get boring. He breezes through Dr. Morbius’ youth, establishes our soon-to-be-bloodsucker as a sympathetic character, and then tosses the villain in at just the right moment to keep the pace on the high end. Jared Leto (Morbius), Adria Arjona (Dr. Bancroft), Jared Harris (Dr. Nicholas), and Tyrese Gibson (Stroud) all give solid performances. Al Madrigal (Rodriguez) injects just a hint of humor into the film. Matt Smith hams it up big time as Milo/Lucien, also injecting a little humor into an otherwise serious film.
The CGI was obvious at many points in the film, but thanks to the primarily dark scenes, it doesn’t stick out as poorly as it does in films like Avengers: Endgame or any recent Marvel offerings. It didn’t bother me when the CGI was noticeable. I especially enjoyed how the CGI was used with Morbius’ movements (streamer-styled trails behind him while he was in motion) and his echolocation power. I also really, really loved the music for the film composed by Jon Ekstrand. It’s some of the best music for a Marvel property that I’ve heard in a long time.
As I already mentioned, the film is pretty generic for a superhero movie and this definitely hurts it overall. Milo is something of a thin villain and his final battle with Morbius ends on a soft note, but he provides our hero with the catalyst he needs to become the “good guy” despite being a bloodthirsty monster. There are a few misfires plotwise such as the fact that Dr. Morbius has lunch in public and freely walks around the city despite having his face plastered all over the news as being wanted for murder. There are also plenty of throw away characters in the film who are used for nothing more than to build a body count. I also wish that the film went for an “R” rating instead of “PG-13,” as there was almost no blood or gore in the film.
Morbius isn’t perfect. It isn’t terrible, either. If that means I’m not one of the cool kids because I won’t bash the film then I guess I’m not one of the cool kids. That’s okay, I’ve never been one of the cool kids to begin with, so I’m pretty sure that I’ll survive just fine. Heck, I’ll even go so far as to say that I enjoyed this film more than Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness. It had more genuine horror elements in it that weren’t forced and a more believable villain. It also had a much needed serious tone, which is something that has been missing from the MCU for far too long. Also, the supposedly confusing mid-credits scenes weren’t that bad. All they do is establish the fact that the multiverse exists in Morbius’ world and he may or may not get to team up with one of the MCU’s best villains in Vulture. If you’re confused by that, you’ve got a long and difficult journey in front of you with the MCU.
To drive home the point that Morbius isn’t as bad as the naysayers want you to believe, it’s currently the number one film on Netflix. Why? Perhaps morbid curiosity is driving streamers to watch the film? Maybe they wanted to see the film in theaters but decided against it due to the poor reviews? COVID-19 might have kept many would-be filmgoers from checking it out at the cinema because they deemed the film unworthy of potential exposure to the virus? No matter the reason, Morbius is finally finding an audience, and I hope to see him back on the big screen in another film either as a villain or a hero.
Thanks for reading my post. I’m sure that there are plenty of you that disagree with me on this film, so let me have it in the comments section. See you again real soon!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 