Tagarchief: Horror

The Faculty

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Robert Rodriguez
Written by: Kevin Williamson, Bruce Kimmel, David Wechter
Cast: Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood

Year / Country: 1998, USA
Running Time: 104 mins.

If aliens want to take over the world, would they come blasting Independence Day-style or sneak in the backdoor? In The Faculty they obviously choose for the second strategy. At a high school in Ohio, Casey Connor (Elijah Wood) finds a small mysterious organism on the football field that seems to love water. Simultaneously, the school’s staff is starting to act increasingly weird.

Within a day, the entire faculty is taken over by the parasites. Then they start to take over the entire school. A small group of mostly outcast students discover the conspiracy. They decide to strike back before the entire world is taken over. In theory, they should be able to stop the threat if they find and destroy the mother alien. The question is, who did the mother choose as a host? Could it be the school’s principal? Or is it the crazed football coach?

The Faculty is an enjoyable homage to the Body Snatchers-legacy. The screenplay by Kevin Willamson (Scream) contains all his trademark qualities; postmodern movie references; humor; and a surprising twist at the end. It also has camp value, supported by a killer cast including Salma Hayek, Famke Janssen and Robert Patrick.

Rodriguez is doing a fine job directing. This sort of Carpenter / Stephen King material suits him well. He gets decent performances out of his stellar cast. Mostly, he is a brilliant editor; plot, action and tension are combined in a dynamic mix that moves just fast enough to entertain throughout its duration. Robert Patrick steals the show as the possessed football coach. He effectively portrays an alien-host, using creepy and hilarious body language to perfection. The Faculty never received the appreciation of similar modern sci-fi horrors. Unjustly so. Its ‘problems’ are far outweighed by its strong points. Therefore, I must conclude that this is an underrated flick that definitely deserves to be re-evaluated.

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Biography: Robert Rodriguez (1988, Texas) saw John Carpenter’s Escape From New York in 1981 and proclaimed “I am going to make movies”. Ten years later, Rodriguez made his feature debut with El Mariachi, an almost single handedly made action film that cost him only 7.000 dollars. It made Rodriguez a legend of independent, ultra-low budget filmmaking. His further career is a sign for young filmmakers that even the wildest dreams may come true if you are brave enough to follow your own path. He has directed many movies since, often collaborating with Quentin Tarantino. Besides directing, he frequently acts as cinematographer like he did on El Mariachi.

Filmography (a selection): Bedhead (1991, short) / El Mariachi (1992) / Roadracers (1994, TV) / Desperado (1995) / Four Rooms (1996, segment ‘The Misbehavors’) / From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) / The Faculty (1998) / Spy Kids (2001) / Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002) / Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003) / Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003) / Sin City (2005) / The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D (2005) / Grindhouse (2007, segment ‘Planet Terror’) / Machete (2010) / Machete Kills (2013) / Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014) / Alita: Battle Angel (2019) / The Mandalorian (2020, TV episode)

Videodrome

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: David Cronenberg
Written by: David Cronenberg
Cast: James Woods, Sonja Smits, Deborah Harry, Peter Dvorsky

Year / Country: 1983, Canada
Running Time: 84 mins.

In David Cronenberg’s Videodrome, shabby network TV-producer Max Renn (James Woods) is searching for the ultimate shock-TV experience to serve his buccaneers. When his tech-man Harlan breaks into a secret cult-network show called ‘Videodrome’ he finds what he is looking for. A series of snuff videos that are very grotesque, realistic and brutal. Not meant for public consumption. But, as Max puts it, his channel is too small to be considered public.

Max justifies his occupation with economics. His network is small and can only survive by giving the audience something they can’t get anywhere else, hence his interest in Videodrome. When Max participates in a television debate about the ethics of his work, he meets the girl Nicki with whom he hooks up afterwards. She turns out to be pretty much a masochist, who wants to audition for Videodrome herself. Then Max finds out that the show – that is all about torture, mutilation and murder – is real.

When Max goes to speak to television guru Brian O’Blivion, he starts having hallucinations. And very soon the lines between reality and video begin to fade. It goes deep. What we learn along with Max is that reality is pure perception. According to O’Blivion, Videodrome will eventually evolve the human brain so that it will be able to control hallucinations and change the human reality entirely.

Master of body horror David Cronenberg sets up this creepy movie perfectly. The prospect of an unleashed hallucination machine is pretty much terrifying, especially after seeing what Max sees. Max has to watch his own body mutate when a videocassette inserter appears in his belly. This can be used by the creators of Videodrome to insert hallucinations in the form of pulsating VHS-cassettes. The flesh transformations are made very gruesomely by FX-wizard Rick Baker. A frightening exploration of the mind of those who like extreme stuff. A movie that was ahead of its time and is still powerful today in both style and message.

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Biography: David Cronenberg (1943, Toronto), also known as the King of Venereal Horror or the Baron of Blood, grew up in Toronto. His father was a journalist and his mother a piano player. Cronenberg graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in literature after switching from the science department. He then turned to filmmaking and reached a cult status with a few early horror features including Shivers and Rabid. He rapidly became a very popular genre filmmaker and eventually a true auteur, making profound statements on modern humanity and ever-changing society.

Filmography (a selection): Transfer (1966, short) / Stereo (1969) / Shivers (1975) / Rabid (1977) / Fast Company (1979) / The Brood (1979) / Scanners (1981) / The Dead Zone (1983) / The Fly (1986) / Dead Ringers (1988) / Naked Lunch (1991) / Crash (1996) / eXistenZ (1999) / Spider (2002) / A History of Violence (2005) / Eastern Promises (2007) / A Dangerous Method (2011) / Cosmopolis (2012) / Crimes of the Future (2022)

Day of the Dead

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: George A. Romero
Written by: George A. Romero
Cast: Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joe Pilato, Jarlath Conroy

Year / Country: 1985, USA
Running Time: 102 mins.

In George Andrew Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968) the dead were resurrected and started a crisis. In Dawn of the Dead (1978), the zombies were taking the upper hand. Now in 1985’s Day of the Dead, there are barely any humans left. A small group of survivors consisting of soldiers, scientists and civilians, are holed up in a military complex with hundreds of flesh-eaters roaming around on the outside.

There has been a time leap since Dawn, so the zombies are slowly decomposing and are looking more gray and green than in the previous ‘Dead’ movies. The different groups living in the claustrophobic complex are each dealing with the situation in their own way. The scientists are searching for a way to ‘control’ the zombies, while the soldiers want to wipe them all out. The few civilians on the other hand, just want to enjoy the time they have left.

The lack of any prospects starts to create tension within the group. Especially with the psychopathic Captain Rhodes (Joe Polito) who commands the small military force. Before long, their infighting leads to a final clash with the zombies. Romero shows us once again that humans are a greater danger to themselves than any outside threat.

Romero called Day of the Dead his favorite entry in the series, even though it was derided by critics upon release. Today the film got more of a cult status. And justly so. As a film basically showing total apocalypse, it succeeds brilliantly. The only problem is that it’s pretty depressing. From Dr. ‘Frankenstein’ Logan conducting gruesome experiments on zombies in his underground lab to the unpleasant characters: it all contributes to making this film pretty hard to sit through. In Dawn, the shopping mall location lended itself well for some inventive humor. The funniest thing about Day is the ‘intelligent’ zombie Bub who even utters some dialogue in the film (A..llli….ciaaaa…).

Romero’s golden touch, the fantastic special make-up effects by Tom Savini and the dark atmosphere make this a must-see for horror fans. The successful military satire is another good reason to see Day of the Dead. However, dejected types might be better off not watching this. Like the other ‘Dead’ films its concept may well be brilliant, but it is still a nasty and depressive movie. Twenty years later Romero would continue his series with Land of the Dead.

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Biography: George A. Romero (1940, New York), who lived in Pittsburgh, made his feature debut with Night of the Living Dead. It was a low budget zombie movie that was both groundbreaking and shocking in its time. Quickly, it became a major horror classic. He then directed some smaller, personal films in which he often combined horror and social commentary. In 1978 he topped the success of Night of the Living Dead with his brilliant follow-up Dawn of the Dead. In the eighties his career stagnated a bit when he created the third part in his zombie series Day of the Dead. It was a failure both commercially and critically. In 2005 Romero made a small comeback with Land of the Dead. Romero died in 2017.

Filmography (a selection): Night of the Living Dead (1968) / There’s Always Vanilla (1971) / Season of the Witch (1972) / The Winners (1973, TV episodes) / The Crazies (1973) / O.J. Simpson: Juice on the Loose (1974, TV doc) / Martin (1977) / Dawn of the Dead (1978) / Knightriders (1981) / Creepshow (1982) / Day of the Dead (1985) / Monkey Shines (1988) / Two Evil Eyes (1990) [with Dario Argento] / The Dark Half (1993) / Bruiser (2000) / Land of the Dead (2005) / Diary of the Dead (2007) / Survival of the Dead (2009)

Night of the Living Dead

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: George A. Romero
Written by: John A. Russo, George A. Romero
Cast: Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman

Year / Country: 1968, USA
Running Time: 96 mins.

Director George A. Romero, who would dedicate most of his film career to making zombie movies, lays much of the groundwork right here. His feature debut would become an example of how to make a low budget horror movie; unknown actors, one central location and elements of social satire that appeal to the more intellectual viewer.

John and Barbra are visiting a graveyard where their father is buried, when John notices a strange phenomenon in the sky. Soon after they are attacked by a living dead man. Barbra manages to flee to a seemingly deserted farmhouse, leaving the annoying John behind as a zombie snack. In the farmhouse, Barbra soon gets company from both the living and the dead.

A possible explanation for the catastrophe is radiation that was released as a result from a NASA operation whereby a satellite was blown into bits. Romero’s message comes to the surface: not only are humans the cause of the major crisis, they are unable to deal with it once it’s there.

What works so well about this concept is the notion of crisis that erupts once the zombies are there. Their insatiable lust for human flesh and their large numbers make them a major threat. However, they are not nearly as scary as humans can be; narrow-minded, cruel and incapable of collaboration. A crisis of this scope would undoubtedly destroy us all.

There are many other elements that Romero would repeat and elaborate on in the zombie sequels that would follow. These include a lot of infighting among the ethnically mixed group of survivors, many panicky TV- and radio broadcasts, and quite a lot of graphic violence. Certainly considering the time in which this film was released.

Then there is the unexpected twist at the end that contributes to Night of the Living Dead’s status as a groundbreaking classic. The only thing I found lacking was the humour that its sequels contained. However this is still a film that is as tense as it is relevant. Maybe even more so in present times than back in 68’.

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Biography: George A. Romero (1940, New York), who lived in Pittsburgh, made his feature debut with Night of the Living Dead. It was a low budget zombie movie that was both groundbreaking and shocking in its time. Quickly, it became a major horror classic. He then directed some smaller, personal films in which he often combined horror and social commentary. In 1978 he topped the success of Night of the Living Dead with his brilliant follow-up Dawn of the Dead. In the eighties his career stagnated a bit when he created the third part in his zombie series Day of the Dead. It was a failure both commercially and critically. It is more appreciated nowadays. In a recent feature by Empire – The 25 Best Zombie Movies Of All Time – it is ranked second only after Dawn of the Dead. In 2005 Romero made a small comeback with Land of the Dead. He died in 2017.

Filmography (a selection): Night of the Living Dead (1968) / There’s Always Vanilla (1971) / Season of the Witch (1972) / The Winners (1973, TV episodes) / The Crazies (1973) / O.J. Simpson: Juice on the Loose (1974, TV doc) / Martin (1977) / Dawn of the Dead (1978) / Knightriders (1981) / Creepshow (1982) / Day of the Dead (1985) / Monkey Shines (1988) / Two Evil Eyes (1990) [with Dario Argento] / The Dark Half (1993) / Bruiser (2000) / Land of the Dead (2005) / Diary of the Dead (2007) / Survival of the Dead (2009)