Ken's Alternate Universe!

Stranger Things Part Deux

I blew it

Yes, last month I promised all three of my readers that I would be blogging every single day for the month of October. I planned on watching at least one horror film per day and then reviewing it or an aspect of the film, a character, actor, etc. I made it thirteen days in and then I missed day fourteen. I blew it. Day fifteen came and went (and I even watched films to blog about) and that quickly turned into day twenty, twenty-five, and then Halloween showed up. I’m sorry for dropping the ball, gang, but life and laziness got in my way.

With that said, however, I did watch a ton of horror flicks (that I didn’t blog about) and the second season of Stranger Things. I really enjoyed the first season and had high hopes for season two. Other than one episode, season two was great. I’m hungry for more!

A few mild Season Two spoilers lie ahead! Season One will definitely be spoiled if you haven’t seen it yet.

Season Two of Stranger Things opens with a quick look at a young lady named Kali (Linnea Berthelsen) who possesses mental powers and a tattoo similar to Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and her gang as they enjoy a little criminal activity in Pittsburgh. We are then transported to lovely Hawkins, Indiana where our four heroes, Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), and Will (Noah Schnapp), are getting back to a somewhat normal life minus their friend and savior, Eleven. It has been almost one year since the events of Season One, and after seemingly sacrificing herself to the Demogorgon, the boys assume that Eleven is either dead or lost in the Upside Down. Mike repeatedly tries to make contact with her, but with no success.

Faithful viewers know that at the end of Season One, Hopper (David Harbour) is seen leaving Eggo Waffles and other food in a container in the forest near the lab. In Season Two we learn in the first episode that Eleven is alive and well and being hidden by Hopper in his grandfather’s old cabin.

We’re also introduced to a couple of new characters in the form of Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery from the recent Power Rangers film) and his stepsister, Maxine “Mad Max” Mayfield (Sadie Sink, Blue Bloods, American Odyssey). Billy plays the big bad that provides trouble not only for his sister, but for last season’s “started-off-as-a-jerk-but-became-a-cool-guy,” Steve Harrington (Joe Keery). As the new girl, Max is viewed by Lucas and Dustin as a potential new member to their group, especially when they find out that she has beaten Dustin’s top score on Dig Dug.

Nancy (Natalia Dyer) feels terrible that she can’t tell her friend Barb’s parents about what really happened to Barb (Shannon Purser) during the events of Season One. She dogs Steve about it but he’s afraid that something bad could happen to them if they expose the truth. After telling him off, Nancy teams up with Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), to take on the lab and gets an assist from a humorous conspiracy theorist (Brett Gelman).

Will’s mom, Joyce (Winona Ryder), has fallen for her old classmate and perpetual nerd, Bob Newby (portrayed by 80’s legend and Lord of the Rings actor, Sean Astin). He goes out of his way to normalize life for the Byers family, usually with goofy results. I was suspicious of his character at first, but he proves to be a loyal companion not only to Joyce, but to Will as well. Be sure to watch for a few winks and nods to some of Astin’s classic 80’s roles.

Paul Reiser, known for successful films such as Aliens, Beverly Hills Cop I & 2, and Diner, as well as the highly successful sitcom Mad About You and the somewhat successful My Two Dads, portrays Sam Owens, who has assumed direction over the Hawkins Laboratory. I really liked his character in this series. Reiser has always been one of my favorite actors, and he knocks it out of the park in Stranger Things.

Another character introduced this season that deserves mention is Lucas’ little sister, Erica (Priah Ferguson), who doesn’t have a lot of screen time but completely steals every scene that she’s in during the season. I hope that we see more of her in the future. She was hilarious!

Eleven quickly becomes tired of being cramped up in Hopper’s cabin and repeatedly asks him to let her explore the outside world. Fearing for her safety, Hopper denies each request. After one too many broken promises, Eleven starts to venture out on her own and soon finds her real mother (Aimee Mullins). This leads Eleven to discover that she has a “sister” who shared a room with her at the lab. This girl is Eight, or Kali, and Eleven sets out to find her.

Kali (center in the picture above) has the ability to create visions in the minds of anyone that she faces off against. When Eleven finds her, they form an uneasy bond. Eleven is glad to find someone else like her, but doesn’t agree with the shady operation that Kali is running with her friends (Kai L. Greene, Gabrielle Maiden, Anna Jacoby-Heron, and James Landry Hebert). In a very Yoda moment that is ripped almost directly from The Empire Strikes Back, Kali shows Eleven how to channel and focus her powers to move an eighteen wheeler much like Luke attempted to free his X-Wing from the swamps of Dagobah. While Luke failed due to the distraction of his friends being in danger, Eleven succeeded. Like Luke, she also left her “training” to help her friends in need.

The episode where Eleven finds her “sister” completely derails the season for a moment. Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand why Eleven needed the guidance of Kali, but it just seemed like the episode was shoehorned into the season. I didn’t completely buy into Kali and her gang. They seemed too over the top and unbelievable even though they were based off of standard street thugs common in 80’s films. That’s saying a lot considering the fact that this series also features an Upside Down world, Demogorgons, and a girl that can rip you apart with her mind. The episode broke the rhythm established by every other episode in both seasons, and it’s my least favorite episode so far.

While all of these events are going down, Will is experiencing “episodes” where he briefly breaks into the Upside Down (not intentionally) and then pops back. These “episodes” get worse as the season plays out, and he is eventually taken over by them. His situation is what draws Eleven back to Hawkins, but I don’t want to spoil what’s going on with him just yet. This season is still too fresh and I don’t want to ruin it for anyone that hasn’t seen it.

Mike feels like an outsider in his own group. He can’t find Eleven and doesn’t like the fact that Lucas and Dustin have allowed Max to infiltrate their group without consulting him first. He’s also extremely (and rightly) worried about Will.

Lucas falls for Max, but so does Dustin, which puts some tension between them. Lucas also suffers at the hands of his little sister, whom I’ve already mentioned. He and Dustin eventually get over their squabble about Max and with her and Steve set out to help Will. Again, I won’t give away too much so as not to spoil anything.

Oh, and Dustin raises a Demogorgon in his bedroom. He finds a “puppy” in his trash can and secretly keeps it in his room. As it quickly grows, it becomes a “demidog,” or young version of a Demogorgon. You’ll have to watch the series to see what happens next.

One character that I want to bring special attention to is Steve Harrington. Considered a big jerk for most of Season One, Steve finds himself in a state of limbo at the beginning of Season Two. Despite still being considered a couple, friction over the death of Barb and what to do about it creates a divide between him and Nancy. With the arrival of Billy Hargrove, Steve is no longer the top dog on the basketball team or with the ladies. He basically ends up as an outsider who ends up in a friendship with Dustin due to the events happening with the rest of the core Hawkins kids.

Steve comes to realize that Dustin looks up to him and takes on the role of a leader. Does he have all of the answers? Absolutely not. Like most of us, he figures things out as he goes along, makes great decisions, makes terrible decisions, but does it all with the intention of helping the ones that need him. Dustin needs Steve’s guidance with girls. Max needs Steve to stand up for her whenever Billy tries to stop her from seeing Lucas. Dustin, Lucas, and Max need Steve to stand between them and sure death when a pack of demidogs attack. Steve stepped up big time this season, and it shows us that Joe Keery is an excellent actor. He took a run-of-the-mill character that could have easily fallen into the background and made him one of the best characters on Stranger Things.

The guy is a hero. We all need a Steve in our lives.

Thanks for reading. I hope that I haven’t spoiled too much for anybody. I highly recommend watching this season of Stranger Things as well as Season One.

Go out there and find your Steve!

Day O’Horror #13! Friday the 13th!

Camp Crystal Lake

It’s Friday the 13th. What other film series did you think that I would pick to view this evening? Jason Voorhees has been terrorizing teens since the early 1980’s. The films follow the same basic plot (with some exceptions such as the first film which focuses on Jason’s mom and Friday the 13th VIII and Jason X, which take place in New York and the future, respectively) of Jason chasing and killing in different violent and amazing ways. He has also faced off against Freddy Krueger from the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

In Part IV, dubbed Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (it obviously wasn’t), Jason……kills teenagers and anyone else that gets in his way. Young nubile teens find themselves in situations that leave them in various states of undress. Jason usually has the decency to allow them to finish whatever carnal act they are in the middle of before ending their lives.

The difference this time around is that a family also happens to be at Camp Crystal Lake. The family includes Trish (Kimberly Beck) and her little brother, Tommy (Corey Feldman). As usual, the climax of the film comes down to Jason facing off against the main characters, Trish and Tommy. Tommy, who has conveniently made a bunch of horror masks, uses one to make himself look like a young Jason. You’ll have to watch the film yourself to find out what goes down. Oh, and you get to see Jason’s face in this one!

The film isn’t terrible. It’s also not that great. It’s a standard slasher film with standard 1980’s teen situations. It’s better than many of the sequels that followed it but not by much.

I’m currently watching Jason X, which I’ve seen quite a few times already. It’s one of the lesser sequels, but seeing the sci-fi kills mixed with traditional hack and slash kills is fun. I haven’t decided which film I’ll watch next, but I definitely want to amp up the terror. As always, thanks for reading. See you next time!

An Avenging Car on Day O’Horror #12!

1986 Arizona

Some movies come along and for no real reason seem to click with the audience. Critics may hate it, but it still draws a crowd. Take The Wraith for instance. It was one of the earliest films in the careers of both Charlie Sheen and Sherilyn Fenn. It was the first major role for Nick Cassavetes, and many believed that it was meant to be the film that would launch him to stardom. It didn’t. Randy Quaid also had a small role as the local and very generic 1980’s sheriff. It had fast cars, handsome rogues, and a beautiful damsel in distress. It had a good guy with a heart of gold and a mysterious driver that would challenge the local gang to street races, all of which ended in death for the gang.

Packard (Cassavetes) heads up a local gang running races in Brooks, AZ. They brutally murder a young man and not long after doing so, a driver arrives in town with a suped up Dodge Turbo Interceptor. The driver challenges each member of the gang to a race and takes them out one by one. He then destroys Packard’s hangout. While all of this is going down, Packard and his dwindling entourage terrorize Billy Hankins (Matthew Barry), the brother of the young man that the gang murdered and Keri Johnson (Fenn), the dead boy’s girlfriend.

The cast is decent for what was needed for this film. Sheen, Fenn, Cassavetes, Quaid, and Barry were all up to the task. The rest of the characters were basically car crash fodder. With names like Skank, Gutterboy, Rughead, Oggie, and Minty, you knew that you weren’t necessarily dealing with an intelligent group of individuals, but the guys looked like they were enjoying their roles.

Of special note are Griffin O’Neal and Clint Howard. O’Neal comes from a long line of actors, including his father Ryan O’Neal, mother Joanna Moore, and sister Tatum O’Neal. Clint Howard is, of course, the brother of legendary director/actor Ron Howard.

Of course, the true stars of the film were the cars. Along with the 1984 Dodge M4S Turbo Interceptor, other popular vehicles in the film included a 1966 Plymouth Barracuda, a 1986 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z, and a 1977 Pontiac Firebird.

The movie holds up fairly well considering the fact that it bleeds 1980’s. From the awesome soundtrack featuring tunes from Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Idol, and others, to the stereotypical drive in, cop car chases, short shorts, and whacky hair, The Wraith is definitely a product of its time.

I recommend it to anyone looking for a nostalgia fix or an action film. It’s not scary at all, but it’s definitely cool. Thanks for reading. Tomorrow is Friday the 13th!

A Haunted Day O’Horror #11!

A Haunted Mouse!

If you’ve had the pleasure of visiting either Disneyland or Disney World (or a few other Disney parks worldwide), you are probably aware that the Haunted Mansion is one of their most popular attractions. I’ve personally visited the Disney World Haunted Mansion on three separate occasions and loved it every time. It’s one of the must-see items on my list whenever I travel to Orlando.

A film based on the attraction was released in 2003. It starred Eddie Murphy and the lovely Marsha Thomason as Jim and Sara Evers, a real estate “power couple” always looking for the next piece of property to sell. Sara decides that the family has been neglected for far too long (and Jim misses their anniversary) and that a vacation is in order. Jim suggests going on a lake trip. They take their kids, Megan (Aree Davis) and Michael (the funny Marc John Jefferies), on vacation, but on the way, Jim convinces the family to check out one potential home.

When they arrive at the mansion outside of New Orleans, they meet Ramsley (Terence Stamp), the somewhat sinister butler of Gracey Mansion. They also meet the owner, Edward Gracey (Nathaniel Parker), who takes a shine to Sara. The family gets trapped at the mansion due to a storm, but are invited to stay until it is safe to leave by Master Gracey. They are assisted by Ramsley and two other servants, Ezra (Wallace Shawn) and Emma (Dina Winters).

As the evening rolls along, odd things begin to happen. Jim meets Madame Leota (Jennifer Tilly), and the kids run into a glowing orb that appears to be friendly. Soon it is revealed that Master Gracey believes that Sara is the resurrected soul of his former lover, Elizabeth.

From there the story turns into a mystery, with Jim and the kids attempting to figure out what’s really going on and Master Gracey and Ramsley attempt to convince Sara that she belongs with Master Gracey. Of course, there’s one person in the mansion that has alternate plans for everyone, but I won’t reveal who that person is here.

Critics tore this film apart, but I don’t think that they saw it for what it was, a family spooky movie. The acting is fine and it was fun to seek out all of the nods to the theme park attraction that the film is based upon. There’s a forbidden love story, light comedy, and gentle scares that most families can enjoy together.

Hopefully more people will seek out this family film. It’s not as serious as the Pirates of the Caribbean films (and they really aren’t that serious to begin with), but it is just as good as The Country Bears film released one year earlier. It won’t win any awards, but you’ll have a good time watching this movie.

As always, thanks for reading. Since I posted about a family film tonight, I’ll have to crank up the terror tomorrow night! See you again real soon!

Heads Rolled On Day O’Horror #10!

Inspired by Washington Irving

With direction by Tim Burton, music by Danny Elfman, gorgeous sets, and an amazing cast, it’s easy to see why 1999’s Sleepy Hollow is one of my favorite films. I watch it multiple times each year (especially around Halloween and, for some odd reason, Christmas) and I never get tired of viewing it.

The supporting cast alone is worth the price of admission. Michael Gambon, Jeffrey Jones, Ian McDiarmid, Michael Gough, Richard Griffiths, Christopher Lee, Martin Landau, Miranda Richardson, Christopher Walken, Claire Skinner, Lisa Marie, Marc Pickering, and Casper Van Dien all provide solid support to leads Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci.

Depp portrays Ichabod Crane in the film, but instead of being a gangly teacher that actually believes in witchcraft and folklore, Depp’s Crane is a New York constable who puts science before tall tales and religion. He’s also something of a coward and extremely annoying at times.

Ricci’s Katrina Van Tassel is a young lady with a deep belief in spells and folk ways. She, as well as the rest of the citizens of Sleepy Hollow, believe that the Headless Horseman (Walken) is real. Crane plans to prove them all wrong, but falls for Katrina while attempting to do so.

The sets are beautiful. They make the film look and feel creepy and mystical. The design of the Horseman was also excellent. He looked aged but more than capable of tormenting anyone that crosses his path. When he’s headless, he’s portrayed by Ray Park. You might recognize Park as Darth Maul from Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, or as Snake Eyes from the G.I. Joe franchise, or as Toad from the first X-men film. He was also a cast member on Heroes on NBC.

If you’re familiar with the short story by Washington Irving, you know the general legend of the Horseman. He comes riding in the night looking for his missing head, taking heads until he finds his own. Burton took a lot of freedom with the story, but I really enjoyed his take on the story.

If you’ve never seen Sleepy Hollow, I highly recommend watching it as soon as possible. It’s a truly beautiful film and despite being a “horror” film, it’s not too terribly scary. It’s simply an excellent story with a great cast and wonderful sets.

Thanks for reading. I hope that you are all enjoying this series so far. You’ll definitely lose your head over tomorrow night’s film………..which I won’t reveal until tomorrow!

Taking A Bite Out Of Day O’Horror #9!

New Orleans

If you’re not already familiar with Interview With The Vampire, I highly recommend that you A) watch the movie and B) check out the book series that it is culled from, Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles. I’ve read three of the books in the series, Interview With The Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and Queen of the Damned. There are many more books left for me to read.

Unlike my other posts in this series, I’m not going to focus much on the story. The film and book that it is based upon are so popular and well known that I’d like to turn my focus to the big list of actors that were in the film, all of whom were at different stages of what would be amazing careers.

Brad Pitt

First up is Brad Pitt as Louis. At the time, Pitt had been in quite a few films including a starring role in A River Runs Through It. With each role that followed that film and Interview, Pitt’s star continued to quickly rise until he became one of the biggest names in film. He’s still one of the top stars in Hollywood, consistently starring in films with big budgets and bigger profits.

Antonio Banderas

Antonio Banderas was already an extremely popular star in Spain by the time he appeared in Interview. He also appeared in significant roles in American films like Philadelphia Story and The Mambo Kings. In a similar way to Pitt, Banderas only became more popular in the years following his appearance as Armand in Interview. Although his star has faded somewhat in recent years, he has maintained steady work in both animation and live action films.

Thandie Newton

Newton portrayed Yvette, the house servant of Louis before his ill-fated run in with Lestat. While her name might not be as instantly recognizable as Pitt, Banderas, or Tom Cruise, she’s definitely one of the most successful actors on this list. She has consistently gained roles in solid films and popular television series such as The Pursuit of Happyness, Mission Impossible II, ER, Westworld, Crash, and the upcoming Han Solo Star Wars film.

Stephen Rea

With a career that now spans nearly sixty years (around thirty years at the time of Interview), Rea was definitely one of the hardest working actors in Interview. He was perfectly cast as the creepy Santiago. Rea doesn’t have the star power of Cruise or Pitt, but he is an excellent performer and his long list of roles is a testament to that.

Christian Slater

Slater was nearing the end of an extremely successful wave of films whenever he won the role of Daniel Malloy. With work in movies like Heathers, Untamed Heart, Mobsters, Young Guns II, and Pump Up The Volume already under his belt, Slater appeared to take over as a leading man in Hollywood. Sadly he would end up in a few failed blockbusters and was then relegated to direct-to-DVD films and small supporting roles. In recent years, however, Slater has established himself as a solid television star on shows like Mr. Robot and animated series such as The Lion Guard.

Tom Cruise

The perpetual leading man, Tom Cruise was not Anne Rice’s first choice for her beloved character, Lestat. However, after seeing Cruise in the role, Rice grew to appreciate his portrayal of the character. When Interview was released, Cruise was already an established superstar having been in such big hits as Risky Business, Top Gun, Cocktail, Rain Man, A Few Good Men, and Born on the Fourth of July. After Interview, Cruise became an even bigger star in films like Jerry Maguire, the Mission Impossible series, Jack Reacher, and Valkyrie. It has only been in recent years where there are hints of his star fading with misses like Rock of Ages and The Mummy reboot.

Kirsten Dunst

At only twelve years of age (and playing a character seven years younger), Kirsten Dunst portrayed my favorite character in Interview With The Vampire, Claudia. Dunst was sinisterly sweet in the role, and made the difficult jump from child to adult-trapped-eternally-inside-a-child’s-body in the movie, and despite her taste for blood, I was said to see her death on the screen (even though I knew it was coming).

After her portrayal of Claudia, Dunst went on to appear in a string of successful films including Jumanji, Bring It, Little Women, Marie Antoinette, and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films. Dunst has also appeared in Hidden Figures, Melancholia, and Elizabethtown. She’s an excellent actress, and she shows no signs of stopping any time soon.

Conclusion

Interview With The Vampire is an excellent film. Just glancing at this short list of actors that were in the film and how most of them have had continued success should show you how brilliantly the cast performed. I highly recommend checking this film out. It’s a great story and an excellent starting point for reading the Vampire Chronicles.

As always, thanks for reading. Be sure to check out this film! I’ll be giving y’all another post tomorrow night!

Arts And “The Craft”: Days O’Horror #8!

California, 1996

The 1990’s were an excellent time for me. I graduated from high school and college during the decade, listened to multiple one-hit wonder bands, and got to see films like The Quick and the Dead, Empire Records, Interview With The Vampire, Mortal Kombat, what seemed like a ton of Jennifer Aniston films in order to impress a girl (and failed), and Hercules for $1 thanks to a local cinema that sadly was torn down a few years ago. I would go there to check out movies that I really wanted to see but missed due to either not being able to get anybody to go with me or because there were other movies out that I wanted to see even more at the time. I would also watch films that didn’t look like my cup of tea, but wanted to watch anyway because I wanted to see just how bad the film would end up being.

The Craft was one of those films.

In my book it had nothing going for it. Four teen girls in California “playing witch” just didn’t appeal to me. However, the film starred Robin Tunney, who had just starred in one of my favorite films of all time, Empire Records. Being a male in college at the time, her beauty gave me just enough reason to be willing to drop a dollar on The Craft. Add to that the fact that cute Julia Salinger (okay, Neve Campbell, who portrayed Julia in Party of Five,) the lovely Rachel True, and the exotically gorgeous Fairuza Balk were also a part of the cast and I was sold.

The film reeks of the 90’s. From the clothing that everyone in the film wore (including Skeet Ulrich and Breckin Meyer) to the soundtrack that featured Matthew Sweet, Jewel, and Heather Nova, the film is a perfect capsule of mid 90’s teen/young adult life.

At its core, I’ve always viewed The Craft as a “Teen Wants To Fit In” film. Nancy (Balk) hates her white trash life and wants to be rich. Rochelle (True) wants revenge against her nemesis, the racist Laura (Christine Taylor). Bonnie (Campbell) wants the scars that she is ashamed of to vanish. Sarah seemingly just wants to fit in, but after a date with one of the popular guys at school (Ulrich) goes sour, she wants to control him.

We’ve all been ashamed of our clothes or our home or something else like that at some point as teens. We’ve all had to deal with bullies as well. There have been things that we want to change about ourselves physically. We’ve also probably all fallen pretty hard for someone and regretted it later on in life.

When the girls’ spells actually work, they become power hungry. Sarah starts to back off and no longer wants to be a part of the coven, but Nancy embraces the power she is given and wants even more. Rochelle seems to feel bad for Laura at first, but eventually sides with Nancy, as does Bonnie, who has grown to love the attention all of the boys give her now that her scars are gone. The trio take on Sarah, who eventually realizes that she is much more powerful than any of the other girls know.

I won’t reveal the ending of the film. Just know that this surprise hit that has become a cult favorite is worth checking out. Many members of the cast would go on to have solid careers in film and television. Tunney bounced around in films of varying degrees of success until she won a television gig on Prison Break. Campbell would become a big star with her Scream franchise role of Sidney Prescott. Balk has appeared in everything from independent films to mainstream comedies such as The Waterboy. Of the four core actresses in the film, only Rachel True seems to have had a hard time striking success again.

Christine Taylor and Breckin Meyer had bit parts in the film, but continued on to successful careers in film and television. Skeet Ulrich joined Neve Campbell in the first Scream film.

So, did I get a great deal on this film whenever I paid one dollar to see it? Absolutely. You should check it out as well if you haven’t seen it yet.

As always, thanks for reading. I’ll have another film post ready for you tomorrow knight.

Stay Awake! Day O’Horror #7!

Under The Sheets

I’ve seen all of the films in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise (including the television series). Growing up, it was one of the few horror franchises that I really enjoyed watching. Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) became funnier with each film and, sadly, he became less of a killer and more of a comedian. The first film truly scared me (I was only eight or nine when it was released). Wes Craven’s New Nightmare attempted to bring Freddy back to his evil roots, and succeeds at doing so.

Spoilers Ahead!

In the film, Heather Langenkamp (who portrayed Nancy in the franchise), is married to a Special FX worker named Chase (David Newsom). She has a dream that Chase and other workers on the set of a new Nightmare film are murdered by the new Freddy Krueger glove that they created. Heather is asked to reprise her role as Nancy in a new Freddy film but is reluctant to accept it due to her recent nightmare and the fact that she now has a son, Dylan (Miko Hughes).

As the movie rolls along, Chase is killed in a “car accident,” Dylan begins to have episodes of screaming and sleepwalking, and Heather starts to become unhinged as the real Freddy attempts to cross over into the real world and taunts her through phone calls, cryptic letters, and earthquakes.

Wes Craven (creator of the franchise and horror legend) is also having dreams, and writing his newest Nightmare film, each page acting as a prophetic message of what next happens to Heather, Dylan, and others. Robert Englund begins painting gory Freddy-inspired portraits.

A local doctor believes that Heather is abusing Dylan, doing “recreational drugs,” and losing her mind. Things come to a head whenever Dylan escapes from the hospital, runs into traffic, and gets strung along by Freddy. Heather chases him home and runs into John Saxon (who portrayed her father in the original film). Something’s different about him, though, and Heather slowly realizes Saxon actually IS Lt. Thompson from the film.

She then faces off against Freddy in his world. Eventually Freddy corners young Dylan and attempts to capture him, but Heather manages to save Dylan and tosses Freddy into a furnace. He reveals his true demonic form and burns to death while his world crumbles and then explodes.

The film manages to generate some decent scares (the best since the second film), and Freddy has stripped back most of the humor. It’s a solid creepy film with a few gross and gory moments. There are also nods to the original film (watch babysitter Julie’s death in particular). Cast and crew from the original film portray their “real world” selves including Wes Craven, Sara Risher, Robert Shaye, and Sam Rubin, among others.

It was nice to see Freddy be genuinely scary again. He received a redesign for the film that was based on Craven’s original idea for the character. His face has more muscle tissue exposed and the glove looks more like a burned hand with a bladed apparatus attached to it. Basically, this ain’t you daddy’s Freddy.

I enjoyed this film. It was dark and gloomy and had just enough scares to bring Freddy back to his old evil self. Langenkamp did a great job as herself and all of the supporting cast did an excellent job as well.

As always, thanks for reading. I have a busy week ahead, but I plan on watching and blogging about a new film each night!

It’s the Five-OOOoooooOOO! Day O’Horror #6

The Fuzz

Lon Chaney, Jr. is the sole reason that I became a werewolf maniac. As a child, his portrayal of Larry Talbot in 1941’s The Wolf Man captivated me. Lon Chaney, Jr. is still my favorite werewolf and while there have been plenty of other werewolves on the screen, none of them have come close to dethroning him.

I’ve watched a ton of werewolf films over the years and the majority of them are…..just okay. I enjoyed 2010’s The Wolfman for the most part, but felt that they expanded the story entirely too much and relied on excessive CGI. An American Werewolf in London (1981) is a cult classic, no doubt, but I wouldn’t put it in the same league as the 1941 film. The Howling franchise, I Was A Teenage Werewolf, Dog Soldiers, Silver Bullet, Ginger Snaps, Teen Wolf, and other films worked to varying degrees, but nothing can beat Lon Chaney, Jr.

In recent years, most werewolf films find their audience in B-films and horror/comedies like Never Cry Werewolf (2008). The film borrows heavily from the vampire flick Fright Night (1985) and stars Nina Dobrev and Kevin Sorbo. It plays up the comedy big time, but is ultimately just a mildly enjoyable flick.

A couple of mild spoilers ahead.

WolfCop (2014), tonight’s Thirty-One Days O’Horror flick, is another horror/comedy that takes a much more adult turn when compared to Never Cry Werewolf. It’s funny, with werewolf and police puns running rampant on the screen. There’s also alcoholism, lots of gore, and changelings.

The film stars Leo Fafard as Lou Garou (yes, I know), a drunken loser who also happens to be a cop in the small town of Woodhaven. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Lou’s co-worker, Tina (Amy Matysio), a sergeant on the force who is reliable and trustworthy. Lou’s buddy Willie (Jonathan Cherry) is convinced that teens are holding occult rituals behind his shop. He calls in for someone to check it out and that’s when things start to get weird.

Lou ends up blacking out and waking in his own bed, not knowing how he got there. He starts to heal faster, has heightened senses, and begins to become a responsible (but still perpetually inebriated) cop. Bad guys start turning up dead, an eclipse is coming up, shapeshifters are trying to maintain control of the town, Lou drinks more alcohol, there’s a human/beast adult encounter, body parts are shown during transformations that aren’t normally shown, and things get generally messy.

Garou starts to make sense of what is going on, as does his partner, Tina. As they each get closer to the truth, more secrets are revealed about Woodhaven. More bad puns are delivered as well. There’s also a ritual sacrifice.

The film has its moments. There’s a big battle at a meth lab between Lou in wolf form and gang members. It was refreshing to see practical effects instead of CGI throughout this scene and the film as a whole. The werewolf looked excellent. It was probably the best practical werewolf that I’ve seen since Dog Soldiers. He definitely had a more classic look similar to Lon Chaney, Jr.’s werewolf, but with more hair and teeth. The acting was good for an indie flick that pokes fun at itself and the horror genre in general.

Fans of the Final Destination franchise will recognize Willie (Jonathan Cherry) and the gang’s leader (Jesse Moss), both of which lost their lives on the big screen in those films. The rest of the cast is made up of solid character actors.

I definitely enjoyed this film for what it was. The practical effects, funny transformation scene, and overall humor of the film made it worth checking out. It’s definitely one of the better horror comedies to come out in a long time. It’s much better than Little Dead Rotting Hood, which I watched a few days ago and you can read about here. It won’t win any great awards but I’ve never based my enjoyment of a film on how many trophies it wins. Just sit back and watch Wolf Cop with a few friends, a few brews, and a few steaks on the grill.

Thanks for reading. I plan on having another review up tomorrow as I continue my hike to Halloween with Thirty-One Days O’Horror! See ya next time!

Gettin’ Squatchy! Day O’Horror #5!

In The Woods

The Legend of Boggy Creek was the first film I watched that featured a cryptid as the antagonist. Since that time I have watched many, many more films about Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yeti, and any other big hairy creature with massive feet. Most of those films were terrible, but every once in awhile a film pops up that makes me take notice. It isn’t necessarily perfect, but it’s really fun to watch. Abominable is one of those films.

Matt McCoy (Police Academy franchise) stars as Preston Rogers, a man who is taken up to a cabin in the woods to face his fears and come to terms with the loss of his wife at the same location six months earlier. He is accompanied by Otis (Christien Tinsley), a nurse that takes care of Preston’s needs. Otis is a jerk, but deep down inside he really does care for Preston.

Mild Spoilers Ahead!

After arriving at the cabin, Otis realizes that he forgot to pick up soy milk for Preston. He decides to go back into town, leaving Preston all alone. While waiting for Otis to return, Preston hears loud music and laughter at the cabin next door. He takes a peek outside and sees a group of young women getting ready to have a big pre-wedding weekend for one of their friends.

One young lady, attempting to get a stronger cell signal, steps out of the cabin and walks over to the treeline. Preston watches her with his binoculars, only to see that a creature is standing just outside of her sight line. All of a sudden it attacks her, dragging her off into the forest. Preston tries to tell the other girls, but they believe that he’s doing nothing more than watching them like a creep.

Otis returns and Preston tries to tell him what happened. Otis doesn’t believe Preston, especially whenever Preston hands him the binoculars and Otis spies one of the girls taking a shower. As the story rolls along, the body count goes up. Preston attempts to get in touch with the local sheriff’s department, but the sheriff holds his men off until one of them finally decides to see what’s going on. Will he get to the cabin in time to save Preston and the rest of the girls? You’ll have to check out Abominable to find out.

This film is equal parts comedy, horror, and B-eautiful. It generates a decent amount of scares and the bulk of the cast is pretty solid. What’s especially wonderful is the fact that genre legends Lance Henriksen, Dee Wallace, Jeffrey Combs, and Tiffany Shepis all have small but excellent roles in the film. Combs is especially funny. Shepis, as gorgeous as ever, has one of the best deaths in B-cinema history in this film.

Paul Gleason (The Breakfast Club) hams it up as the local sheriff, Halderman. He drops numerous references to The Breakfast Club, including a few direct quotes and that brilliant hand gesture he uses during the film. This movie would be one of his last roles.

Director Ryan Shifrin phones in for assists from his father, legendary composer Lalo Shifrin, and artist Drew Struzan (creator of posters for film franchises such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones).

Christien Tinsley pulled double duty as both an actor and as a makeup artist. He’s actually an Oscar nominated artist that has worked on films such as The Passion of the Christ (where he excelled at creating prosthetic tattoos) and No Country For Old Men, as well as television shows such as Westworld and American Horror Story.

Despite being a convincingly scary beast, the creature in the film reminded me of Jack Elam. He’s still pretty scary, and executes some excellent kills on the screen.

If you haven’t seen Abominable, I highly recommend checking it out. It’s an excellent creature feature with some nice scares, decent acting, excellent music, and Otis, the grand jerk of nursing aids.

As always, thanks for reading. I’ll have another post tomorrow night!

I blew it

A few mild Season Two spoilers lie ahead! Season One will definitely be spoiled if you haven’t seen it yet.

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Camp Crystal Lake

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1986 Arizona

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A Haunted Mouse!

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Inspired by Washington Irving

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New Orleans

Brad Pitt

Antonio Banderas

Thandie Newton

Stephen Rea

Christian Slater

Tom Cruise

Kirsten Dunst

Conclusion

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California, 1996

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Under The Sheets

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The Fuzz

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In The Woods

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