benjaminryder-45940 Reviews

Psycho (1998)

Why Bother?

[4/10 · 16 January 2021]

To remake a film like Psycho and not change a single shot seems like putting a gigantic bullseye on your forehead, but that's what Gus Van Sant does. By refusing to distance himself from Hitchcock's original film, it just makes it that much more obvious that he and the cast he's assembled aren't up to the demands of the material.

The script is the exact same unless you take out a few small tweaks here and there. The murder scenes are spruced up with bizarre stock images from a Rob Zombie video, but that's all Van Sant does to distance himself from the Hitchcock film. Of course, it's also shot in color and, actors being actors, many of the performances have a different feel than the ones in the original. Sometimes, this is a good thing. Julianne Moore and Viggo Mortensen almost make their characters work, but Heche and Vaughn feel underpowered.

Trauma (1978)

Mostly Predictable

[5/10 · 16 January 2021]

A writer stops off at a secluded bed and breakfast run by the battered wife of a mysterious man who spends all his time upstairs in his room. That is except when he's killing off the lodgers downstairs.

If you've seen more than 3 horror movies in your lifetime, the big twists in Trauma won't come as any big surprise, but it's not the worst film of its type and it keeps things entertaining. It features a lot more sexuality than expected with just about everyone in the film getting naked and having sex at some point. The gore effects are of the cheap variety with some razor slashes that don't completely convince.

Visiting Hours (1982)

Mature Slasher

[8/10 · 27 October 2020]

Mature isn't a word most associate with the slasher films of the early 80's, but Visiting Hours does feel much more thoughtful than your usual run of the mill teenage slasher pic. For starters, it stars adults and not teenagers. Lee Grant plays Deborah, a tough as nails feminist, whose views trigger a mentally deranged man (Michael Ironside) to go attack her and leave her for dead. When he gets wind that she's not dead but resting in a hospital, he sets out to finish the job he started, killing anyone in his way and becoming temporarily distracted by a kindly nurse (Linda Purl.)

The scares and suspense sequences are executed with much more thought and care than in most slasher films and they are worthy of sitting on the edge of your seat and spilling your popcorn over. There are some pacing lags in the middle when Grant is out of the narrative for awhile, but things heat back up again in time for the finale.

Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990 TV Movie)

Entertaining Prequel

[7/10 · 27 October 2020]

After Psycho II and III played with the mythology a bit, the original film's screenwriter, Joseph Stefano, threw both of those out and started from scratch. In his vision, Norman Bates has only recently been released from the asylum where he was sent after the events of the original Psycho and he's gotten married to a nurse.

One night, he calls into a radio show about men who murder their mothers and gives them his entire backstory about how life with his mother was pre-Psycho and what drove him to murder...and what might drive him to murder again.

Anthony Perkins gets to reprise his role as Norman Bates one last time and he's as great as ever. The flashbacks feature Henry Thomas from E.T. as Norman and Olivia Hussey as Norma, his abusive mother. Hussey is an odd choice for this role - a woman we've usually thought of as being old and confined to a chair, but she puts her own stamp on her and makes her a real, living and breathing woman with her own issues. Thomas is also wonderful channeling Perkins as Norman and gives him just the right amount of awkwardness.

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Funny With Great Effects

[8/10 · 27 October 2020]

John Landis crafts a memorably fun and sometimes frightening werewolf tale with An American Werewolf in London both embracing and lampooning several werewolf cliches. Imagine yourself hearing that a wild animal bite has turned you into a werewolf. How would you react?

Well, you might react a lot like David (David Naughton) when his dead friend (Griffin Dunne) shows up to give him a warning that, during the next full moon, he'll turn into a werewolf and have an insatiable blood lust. Not even the love of a good nurse (Jenny Agutter) can save David and he'll have to kill himself to break the curse and save any number of people he might murder in werewolf form.

This doesn't sound like much of a comedy and it's not in the traditional sense, but the horror is balanced by a welcome amount of humor that keeps things light and also has the advantage of making the horror scenes ever more horrific. The transformation scenes still impress to this day.

Trilogy of Terror (1975 TV Movie)

A Karen Black Showcase

[8/10 · 8 October 2020]

It's rare that an actor gets to show off their chops and range so much in just one film, but Trilogy of Terror gave Karen Black the opportunity to do just that and she made such a strong impression that she was mostly typecast as a horror actresses for the rest of her career.

Trilogy of Terror tells three different stories. The first deals with a mild and meek teacher who gets taken advantage of by a male student, but he might have underestimated her. The 2nd has Black playing two different sisters - one is a prudish spinster and the other is a blonde floozy and the spinster thinks the floozy might be up to no good.

It's the 3rd and final story that most people will remember where Black plays a lonely woman with horrible mother issues who receives a Zuni fetish doll as a gift from a boyfriend and accidentally removes the necklace that keeps it asleep. The doll springs to life and terrorizes her throughout her apartment in what is, essentially, an extended chase sequence. The story wraps up with a twisted and haunting final image you won't be able to forget.

The first two stories might test the patience of some viewers, but it's worth sticking it out for the final story.

Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)

Ordinary Sequel

[7/10 · 8 October 2020]

I'm not sure some movies really need sequels and Poltergiest is one of them. There's nothing else to do but repeat themselves and that's what Poltergiest II does, but it's not a total loss as there are some memorable moments thrown in.

The Freelings have relocated to the home of Diane's elderly mother after their house vanished into thin air at the end of the first film. It's not long before the ghosts find them and want Carol Ann to lead them into the light. This time, they're led by a charismatic preacher named Kane who can manifest himself to people in broad daylight. Zelda Rubenstein returns as Tangina and brings along Will Sampson as a kindly Native American who tries to help the family rid themselves of these unclean spirits.

Everything is a little bit goofier in Poltergeist II. Instead of being attacked by a creepy clown doll, Robbie is attacked by his braces which come to life and hoist him up to the ceiling. Chainsaws fly around, grandmother spirits appear to save the day, and Stephen pukes up a tequila worm that's twice the size of his body. The cast remain as game as ever and, if it weren't for them, none of this would hold together.

The few frightening moments of the film are supplied by Julian Beck's astounding performance as Kane. He makes the most of his limited screentime and radiates a sense of danger and menace that will have you leaving your lights on at night.

National Theatre Live: A Streetcar Named Desire (2014)

Anderson is divine!

[8/10 · 28 May 2020]

The main reason to see any production of A Streetcar Named Desire is usually to see what the actress playing Blanche DuBois, one of literature's most tragic heroines, does with the role. DuBois is in capable hands here with Gillian Anderson channeling her this time around. Anderson is attractive, well-coiffed, and a bundle of nerves as Blanche, a disgraced schoolteacher turned alcoholic who goes to live with her sister, Stella, and husband, Stanley, in New Orleans after her family home slips through her fingers.

Blanche and Stanley almost immediately get off on the wrong foot and he keeps tearing down every attempt she makes to get herself back on track. Ben Foster's Stanley won't call to mind Marlon Brando's interpretation, which turns out to be a good thing. Foster's is a far more sensitive performance, showing Stanley's more childlike side as well as the tough brute.

While some of the production aspects make the pacing feel a little off, it's Anderson's performance as Blanche that continues to draw on in. It truly is a marvel.

The Other Hell (1981)

Not Very Exciting

[3/10 · 11 February 2020]

I'm all on board for some nunsploitation, but when it's as boring and lifeless as The Other Hell, what's the point? Some nuns are dying at a convent and a priest arrives to get to the bottom of it. Maybe it's a serial killer or one of the other nuns or maybe something more supernatural. Whatever it is, it sure is unexciting.

Despite a few early teases of gore or campy laughs, The Other Hell goes off the rails early on and takes a one way ticket to sleepytown. There are some almost stylish touches with some Argento-esque lighting, but that's about all the film has going for it. By the 40 minute point, you'll stop caring about everything going on in this movie.

The Theatre Bizarre (2011)

Most Definitely Bizarre

[6/10 · 12 January 2020]

The Theatre Bizarre must easily be one of the most handsomely made indie horror films of the past decade. Every frame seems like it was carefully considered beforehand and the colors pop in a way you just don't see anymore, especially since most indie horror film opt for desaturated color schemes to hide some of their technical flaws.

Like every horror anthology ever made, some segments are better than others, but each one does have something special and unique to offer. The first segment involving frogs might be the least effective and memorable, but they get better as the go along. The segment revolving around a woman who plunges needles into people's eyes and then transfers their memories into her eye is incredibly disturbing and unforgettable and the final tale involving lots of sweets, overindulgence, vomit, and cannibalism is like someone's bad dream come to life. It's disgusting, garishly lit, and truly memorable.

Sorority Row (2009)

Sarcastic Sorority Slash Fest

[7/10 · 12 January 2020]

We've been down this road several times before. There's a prank that goes horribly wrong where a sorority girl dies and it's up to her sorority sisters to cover it up. After a passage of time, they begin to get threats suggesting that someone knows what they did and, soon after that, they begin dying one by one. It's more or less the same plot as the original House on Sorority Row.

Sorority Row, obviously, updates this story to the modern age complete with camera phones and text messages and all that jazz, but the sorority girls themselves have gotten quite a makeover themselves. In fact, they're the most interesting part of this film and it seems as if the filmmakers would much rather hang around them shooting the breeze and calling one another out than they would filming interesting sequences of suspense or creative death scenes. It leaves the horror aspect feeling a bit underthought and lacking a lot of visceral thrills, but this approach does supply a handful of genuine chuckles throughout and it's never boring.

Had the filmmakers modulated the film a little more into the comedy zone, Sorority Row might have made for a solid comedic parody of sorority slasher movies, but it still wants to have it's tongue in cheek humor and be taken seriously when it works harder to supply the laughs than the chills.

Halloween II (1981)

More of the Night He Came Home

[9/10 · 23 September 2019]

Halloween always struck me as one of those movies that didn't need a sequel. It was scary enough knowing that Michael Myers was still out there, lurking and ready to make you his next victim. Inevitably, sequels always destroy a lot of the mystique surrounding the original film and they answer too many questions. Typically, the answers we came up with in our heads were more interesting or frightening than what a bunch of studio execs dreamt up.

Halloween II proves to suffer a bit of sequelitis here and there - namely with a completely silly twist towards the end involving Laurie and Michael's connection which squeezed the rest of the series into a bit of a creative dead end. Still, there's a lot to love about the film.

It seamlessly picks up right where the original ended and thanks to Dean Cundey returning as the director of photography, the film's look matches very well with the original film, helping bridge that gap. Jamie Lee Curtis' wig for Laurie doesn't match quite as well, but you forget about it after awhile mainly because Laurie is sidelined in a hospital under sedation for most of the film until the finale. This leaves the film with the increasingly mad Loomis as the closest thing we have to a protagonist in the story. The rest of the hospital staff might as well be made of cardboard or walking slabs of meat for Michael Myers to carve up.

And carve he does! Michael has gotten a bit more creative since we last saw him and he's not above giving his trusty kitchen knife a rest and using hypodermic needles, hammers, scalding hot water, and scalpels to inflict various types of bodily harm to anyone unfortunate enough to enter his sight lines.

The finale is well executed with some true suspense and it would have been a satisfying enough conclusion to the Michael Myers saga if they'd left it at his, but you know Hollywood...

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

Excellent Early Carpenter Effort

[8/10 · 17 September 2019]

It's so much fun to look back at the early works of soon-to-be acclaimed artists and see how much of their style was evident from the beginning. Assault on Precinct 13 is definitely much more down to earth and realistic than most of John Carpenter's later horror films, but he brings a similar intensity to all of them that started here as a group of police officers, staff, and prisoners find themselves under siege by a demented gang after one of their witnesses takes shelter in the soon-to-be-closed precinct.

Carpenter's love of scope cinematography, eerie synth music, and atmospheric establishing shots are out in full force and, while the film is less accomplished and more rough around the edges than some of his later works, it's a fascinating and incredibly well made film. Even this early in his career, Carpenter shows a knack for interesting characterizations and orchestrating intense scenes of suspense.

The cast is also excellent with Laurie Zimmer as the main standout, but not for a positive reason. While attractive, she displays the range of a cardboard box. Her empty stare and flat line deliveries drag the film down a bit and took me out of the film every now and then. It's to Carpenter's great credit that his script and direction can overcome this and present a compelling, must-see film regardless.

The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)

Drink Your Kool Aid

[8/10 · 30 August 2019]

Some movies just hit all the right buttons for you and The Slumber Party Massacre is one of those films for me. It's an odd mix of traditional slasher with boobs and blood for days and a feminist send up of said slasher films. Sometimes, these two contrasting ideas make for strange bedfellows and, other times, they work rather well together.

The titular slumber party is being thrown by a young woman (names aren't very important or even memorable here) who invites all her basketball team friends over for one last hurrah before doing away with childish things and becoming a woman. Of course, there are a few nosy boys who want in on the action, too, but they mostly keep to themselves by peeping through the windows as the girls prance around in negligees and less. The "weird" girl from school lives next door and she's in charge of watching over her horn dog younger sister who keeps issues of Playgirl lying around. In time honored slasher tradition, there's also a bug eyed guy with a power drill lurking around and waiting to make his next move.

The Slumber Party Massacre possesses a strong sense of humor throughout that keeps things feeling light and breezy and the cast seems to be having a lot of fun. The synth-y organ score is great fun, too. Visually, it's nothing too exiting and feels very flat and bland, but the script and quirky characters more than make up for it. Slasher fans should find enough in this one to enjoy it.

Dolls (1986)

An Adult Fairy Tale

[9/10 · 25 July 2019]

Dolls isn't really what one might expect from Stuart Gordon after the gross out comedy of Re-Animator, but he pulls it off. Dolls begins with a young girl, her father, and wicked stepmother on a road trip where they get stranded and take up shelter in a beautiful old estate owned by a strange elderly couple who make dolls. A few more stranded motorists show up for shelter and start dropping like flies. Could the dolls be responsible or is it just a little girl's overactive imagination?

Dolls is less slasher or splatter film and more dark fairy tale, which works to its advantage. It certainly doesn't feel like most killer doll movies and there's a heavy moralistic quality just like the original Grimm fairy tales. The people who do bad things or hurt others will get punished and the ones who are kind and/or young at heart will live to see another day.

Carolyn Purdy Gordon nearly walks away with the movie as the wicked stepmother and she appears to be having the greatest time channeling her dark side. The effects are quite good and even downright grisly when called for.

Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)

Better Than The First

[6/10 · 16 July 2019]

It's rare to find a sequel that surpasses the first these days, but Ouija: Origin of Evil manages to just that. Not that it was a very tough feat considering the original was one of the most lame-brained movies I've seen in a while, but Origin of Evil improves upon its predecessor tenfold - just not enough to make it really worthwhile.

It's obvious that Mike Flannigan is on his way to becoming one of our true masters of horror, but this film seems more like a paycheck movie for him and it shows. He does the best he can with the tepid material, but ends up using the old "distorted faces/mouths with rolled back eyes" effect a few too many times and it quickly becomes tedious.

Like all of Flannigan's films, it's wonderfully well cast and beautifully put together. I just wish they'd spent a little bit more time with the script. You might be better off watching Flannigan's Hush, Absentia, Gerald's Game, Occulus, or The Haunting of Hill House.

The Silent Scream (1979)

Enjoyable (If Predictable) Slasher

[8/10 · 14 July 2019]

Silent Scream is probably nothing that most moviegoers haven't seen 500 times before, but it's presented with a good deal of atmosphere, some decent twists, and a likable cast of characters.

Desperate for housing, a college student rents a room at a spooky seaside mansion and begins to regret it when her fellow housemates are killed one by one. Could it be the almost totally mute mistress of the home (Yvonne DeCarlo) or her creepy son? Maybe someone else?

There's not a lot of whodunit or mystery in Silent Scream (the killer is revealed less than midway through the film), but its a fun journey and the spirited performances from the cast go a long way in keeping the audience awake in between stalk 'n slash scenes.

The film's biggest flaw is an unnecessary subplot involving two detectives (played by Avery Schrieber and Cameron Mitchell) which stops the flow of the film completely every time they're on screen. The film would probably move faster and be more effective without them. Their scenes scream of padding.

Ballet (1989)

It's Almost Interesting

[5/10 · 10 July 2019]

I've always been a fan of Jennifer Connelly and when I heard she made a little scene Euro art film that had shades of Black Swan, I couldn't purchase the Blu-Ray soon enough. After watching it, I wish I'd just left it alone.

It's hard to call Etoile a bad film, because bad films usually fail at what they set out to do and I have no idea what Etoile set out to do in the first place. It's not a very thrilling thriller, it's not a very romantic romance, and it's not a very fantastical fantasy. It has elements of all these genres, but they never mesh and the story is simply poorly told.

Connelly is as good as one can expect given the material she has to work with and there are some striking shots here and there, but it doesn't amount to much in the long run.

The Goodbye Girl (1977)

One of Simon's Best

[8/10 · 24 June 2019]

What starts out like an opening to a sitcom quickly turns into a charming romantic comedy as two unlikely roommates fall for each other despite their many quirks.

Marsha Mason is the down on her luck, perpetually dumped Broadway dancer with a child in tow and Richard Dreyfuss is the odd, self-absorbed actor who subleased the apartment before Mason and her boyfriend broke up.

Watching these two spar, laugh, and love together is exhilarating, exhausting, and incredibly fun thanks to Neil Simon's quick witted dialogue.

A must see!

Prom Night (1980)

Principal By Day, Disco King By Night

[8/10 · 21 June 2019]

Prom Night mostly feels like a slightly above average TV movie of the week both in story and production value, but every now and then, it jolts you with a creepy phone call, a spooky music cue, or a brilliantly executed chase scene and reminds you that it's worth watching.

6 years ago, a group of friends got a little too carried away with a game of hide and seek and killed their classmate. Now, prom night is falling on the anniversary of her death and someone wants to get revenge for her.

While sold as a Jamie Lee Curtis vehicle after the success of Halloween, Prom Night is much more of an ensemble piece and, thankfully, our young actors are a likable and charming bunch who make spending time with them worthwhile. This is good, too, since Prom Night doesn't get to any slashing until almost an hour into the movie. For many, this is a huge deal breaker, but it's refreshing to see a horror film more concerned with the characters than the blood and guts.

Once the blood (and disco music) starts rolling, the pacing does improve and it's a breeze to the finale. It also features one of the best executed chase sequences you're liable to see in a slasher film. It also dispenses with the usual final scare ending of most slasher films and, instead, offers a poignant, heartbreaking finale much more in line with its character driven first hour than its slasheriffic final half hour.

Hellraiser (1987)

Like It Or Not, It's Original

[9/10 · 18 June 2019]

Original horror is pretty hard to come by, but Clive Barker somehow managed to create a fascinating original horror film in 1987 that's unlike anything I'd seen before or since.

Hellraiser tells the sordid story of Julia and Larry - a couple who might be on the skids. They move into a house owned by Larry's brother, Frank, who's mysteriously disappeared and, all of a sudden, things start getting super weird. We learn that Julia had an affair with Frank years ago and that he was probably the best sex of her life. Larry gets injured and a few drops of his blood, somehow, reanimate Frank. Julia, seeing this as an opportunity to get some of that good sex again, agrees to bring a series of men to her home and kill them so that Frank can replenish himself. Things get even more complicated when Larry's daughter, Kirsty, starts thinking something fishy is going on. Did I also mention that this all revolves around a strange puzzle box that unleashes a group of demons in S&M gear?

Hellraiser has A LOT going on for a 90 minute film and it's amazing that it accomplishes everything it sets out to do. It does help that it has a fairly small amount of characters and takes place in mainly one location. The performances, especially by Clare Higgins as Julia, are far better than average for a film of this sort and the special effects are pretty terrific and gruesome. The entire film has a darkly sexual vibe throughout that's sure to make people really uncomfortable.

Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

Some Good Ideas Here and There

[5/10 · 18 June 2019]

Exorcist II: The Heretic is easily one of the most hated sequels of all time and I can't say it's without good reason. It goes against just about everything that made the original so terrifying and unique and tries to do its own thing with, sometimes, God-awful results.

The Heretic has Regan in her late teens now and she doesn't remember much of her ordeal with the devil in Georgetown. She's seeing a therapist who believes that she might have a special gift for healing. A priest (played by Richard Burton) believes this, too, and they all figure out that the devil only seems to like to possess those who are natural healers.

This is an interesting direction to take, but they don't really go anywhere with it. Director John Boorman's camera swirls, twirls, and flies with aplomb, but it seems like it's only doing that to make up for a less than satisfactory narrative. One thing is for sure - Ennio Morricone's music score is stellar and filled with beautiful themes (including a gorgeous theme for Regan).

Cathy's Curse (1977)

So Bad It's Hysterical

[5/10 · 15 May 2019]

I'm not sure what the goal was with Cathy's Curse. It's a mix up for The Exorcist, The Bad Seed, and about a million other evil kid movies. The wintery atmosphere is a nice touch and, for a bit, one could be fooled into thinking this might end up being some lost 70's classic. Nope.

Cathy's Curse manages to get everything wrong from the hammy acting to the not-so-special effects to Cathy's "curses" that she hurls at people. "Cow" can't quite compare to some of the insults Regan threw at people in The Exorcist.

Don't let me confuse you - Cathy's Curse also has a lot to recommend. It's rarely boring and with such a short run time, I could think of worse ways to kill some time.

Carrie (2013)

Prom is Overrated Anyway

[6/10 · 22 April 2019]

If you're the 3rd filmed version of a classic Stephen King story (there was a flop musical adaptation, too), you'd better be bringing something more to the table than replacing some landlines with iPhones and throwing around references to Snapchat and YouTube. Sadly, this Carrie retelling seems hesitant to break away from the shadow of the De Palma film to exist on its own terms. Yet, it also does borrow a few lines, characterizations, and sequences from King's novel that were either omitted or changed for De Palma's film. It ends up feeling like an odd Frankenstein creation that struggles to find its footing with Chloe Moretz and Julianne Moore's performances suffering as a result.

Moretz doesn't have the pathetic helplessness than Spacek (or even Angela Bettis in the TV movie version) had, which makes her seem far too confident as Carrie. Because of this, we never feel the need to take care of her or hope she gets out of her lousy home and social status. With the way Moretz plays her, you feel like you just want to tell her to stick it out until she graduates and she'll probably be able to move away and make some other friends somewhere else.

To make matters worse, Moore plays Carrie's mother, Margaret, as the truly helpless one. She's a shy, introverted, and quiet wallflower you'd never notice on a crowded street. It's a far cry from the Margaret in King's novel and De Palma's film. She's still religious, yes, but gone is the hysterical fervor and outbursts of rage and violence, which makes audiences perk up on the edge of their seats whenever she enters a room. With Moore's performance, Margaret comes across as more of a pathetic victim than Carrie.

There's some snazzy bursts of clever effects in the climactic prom sequence, but a whole lot of goofy ones as well. A slightly more protracted demise for Chris and Billy is at least semi-satisfying (and perhaps one of the only improvements over previous re-tellings). It's all wrapped up by a somber ending (no jump scares this time) that's ruined a loud rock song.

The Stay Awake (1988)

Like A Bad Dream

[2/10 · 22 April 2019]

You definitely won't want to stay awake for The Stay Awake. While it looks and sounds like a real movie and there's clearly some sort of budget behind this movie (even if it is small), there's not a single interesting character or set piece in the entire film. I just saw this movie last night and I'm already having a hard time remembering anything about it. I believe there was some sort of monster surrounded by fog and glowing eyes (but usually represented via Evil Dead-esque swirly cam), I'm pretty sure there were a bunch of girls staying inside their school for the night, and I believe there's a female gym teacher thrown in there, too. Ask me anything else and I'll be at a loss.

Why anyone felt the need to greenlight this script is a mystery. This one is rough and not even in a fun "so bad, it's good" kind of way. Save your sanity and skip it.