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The Chilling (1989)
The Little Horror Film That Could
The Chilling is, as far as I know, the Alpha and Omega of cryogenic zombie films. It's a somewhat original idea, and it's a testament to the filmmakers that they did as well as they did with the material, considering that this was an ultra low-budget affair, with it's share of turbulence during production. Linda Blair stars as Mary Hampton, the assistant to successful Dr. Miller (Tab Hunter), who owns and operates a cryogenic facility. Here, wealthy families pay big bucks to have their deceased loved ones frozen for future resuscitation. Compassionate Mary feels that it is a good place to work, with a solid, respectable mission; that is, until she suspects Miller of deceiving his clients and selling body parts for profit. On Halloween night, security guard Vince (Dan Haggerty) is on duty when lightning from a terrible storm fries the clinic's power generator. When he can't reach Dr. Miller for advice, he moves the containers that house the patients outside into the cold. Before you know it, lightning strikes the metal containers and the cryogenically suspended patients are turned into burned, blood-thirsty zombies. A wealthy client, Joseph, whose son and wife are two of the clinic's patients, begins an affair with Mary. Together with Vince, as well as Mary's violent ex-boyfriend, the group must face the horror of The Chilling. Linda Blair continues her slew of 80s horror cinema here, fighting zombies for the first time in her career, and also quitting a film for the first and only time in her career. It seems apparent that the dispute was over money. A photo double was brought in and appears in the last fifteen minutes of the film, until a clip shot prior to Blair's departure is inserted at the last minute to keep her in the movie until the end. Oddly enough it works, and gives the film a touch of Ed Wood-ness, quite like the work he did with deceased Bela Lugosi in Plan 9. Overall an entertaining horror movie, bolstered by the star power of Blair and the acting chops of Haggerty and Donohue. The Shriek Show/Code Red DVD looks surprisingly good for such an obscure film, and it's loaded with extras, including Behind the Scenes of The Chilling, outtakes, and two trailers.
Halloween II (2009)
Halloween II: The First Death of Laurie Strode
2009's "Halloween II" begins with a very brief sequence in which Michael and his mother Deborah are talking during his prepubescent days in the asylum. He speaks of a recurring dream of his, wherein Michael is reunited with his mother and baby sister Angela (who grows up to be Laurie Strode) as well as a white horse which seems to symbolize Michael's nihilistic and beastly nature. It is a brief sequence, but effective, and it really sets the events of the sequel in motion.
Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton) is then seen wandering the streets of Haddonfield, immediately after shooting Michael Myers in the head and believing him dead. Sheriff Brackett (Brad Dourif) who has already seen his own daughter Annie (Danielle Harris) off to the hospital, brings Laurie to Haddonfield General to be treated for her wounds. Michael is hot on her trail, however, and kills a nurse and a security guard while trying to get to her. Suddenly we realize that the entire hospital sequence is a nightmare of hers...or is it? Zombie takes us into Laurie's head so thoroughly during the course of the film that we are unsure sometimes of the difference between reality and delusion, and it's quite disorienting and fascinating, and is in fact one of the film's great strengths. Real or imagined, Zombie's hospital sequence is a wonderful homage the the original "Halloween II".
When she wakes up from the hospital nightmare one year has passed, and Laurie is now living with Annie and her father. Annie is damaged goods herself at this point, and seems to have taken to staying inside a lot, and nurturing both her father and Laurie. Sheriff Brackett is angry at Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) especially when Brackett reads Loomis's new book on the Michael Myers case, which reveals Laurie's identity as Michael Myers' sister, a fact that Loomis agreed not to reveal. Laurie reads the same book and naturally finds her world shaken by the news.
To make matters worse, the morgue van carrying Michael's body crashed on that fateful night one year ago, and Michael's body was never recovered. He still has the visions of his mother, now a Gothic Barbie doll in white satin, accompanied by a white horse, and Michael's own young self. Together they set out to find Laurie once again and be reunited, one way or another.
Laurie returns to the Brackett house with Mya after a Halloween party, and finds Annie horribly wounded on the bathroom floor. Mya is killed when she goes to call 911, and Annie dies in Laurie's arms in one of the film's most touching and poignant scenes. All of this barely has time to register before Michael is busting down the door to get to his sister. Laurie escapes and is picked up by a driver who quickly dies at the hands of Michael. Michael rolls the car into a ravine, knocking Laurie unconscious, and abducts her to a decrepit barn for the family reunion that he's been waiting for.
Brackett, Loomis, and the rest of the police force surround the barn and wait for a good shot at Michael. Inside the building, Laurie finds that she is also experiencing Michael's visions of their mother, the horse, and young Michael. She and Michael become mind-locked; both have been damaged enough by their lives to finally be connected, virtually as one. It is the very connection that Michael has been hoping for; but of course it has disastrous results on Laurie's mental well-being.
Brackett shoots Michael and he is impaled on a wicked, multi-bladed farm tool. Laurie, absolutely divided by her own feelings, at once loathes and loves Michael at this point. Ultimately she stabs him with his own knife until he is unquestionably dead. But the price Laurie has paid for her own survival is a big one, and it is at this point that we see the first death - the emotional death - of Laurie Strode. Gone is the charming, carefree Laurie of Halloweens past. What's left is her ruins.
There's a wonderful, horrible asylum sequence that finishes the film, heavily borrowed from Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho", which finds Laurie locked away just as her brother had been for so long. There is no saving her, and it is a beautiful, nightmarish end to a fantastic sequel.
Scout Taylor-Compton as Laurie Strode does a terrific job; she's already improved as an actress since her performance in the original. She plays a great heroine (or anti-heroine) and she hits most of her emotional marks perfectly.
Danielle Harris as Annie very much contributes to the emotional core of the film. She is such a sympathetic character, especially when you consider that this is her second tangle with Michael Myers. Annie's death scene is truly heartbreaking, and is an emotional turning point for several of the other characters. Her death is violent and gruesome, epic and beautiful, rendering unexpected emotions.
Tyler Mane plays Michael to bloody perfection, so much so that it is truly frightening to look into the character's eyes. His hulking physicality dominates the film, and he is much scarier in this film than he was in Zombie's original.
Malcolm McDowell as Loomis, with his speaking engagements and press exposure, has become as conscious-less as the monster he is obsessed with. In so many ways he too is torn between what is right and what is wrong.
Sheri Moon Zombie as Deborah Myers is eerily effective, and her flat acting style, which hindered Zombie's original, is perfect for the part of Michael's ghostly mother.
Margot Kidder, in a brief role as Laurie's therapist, is also memorable.
Silkwood (1983)
Tense real-life thriller with terrific performances
Director Mike Nichols ("The Graduate") brings to the screen the tragic story of working class hero Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep), who died under mysterious circumstances while trying to expose shady practices at the Kerr-McGee plant, the Oaklahoma nuclear power plant where she worked. Nichols' film centers on Karen, her boyfriend Drew (Kurt Russell) and their roommate Dolly (Cher), who may or may not have been a traitor to Karen. It is speculated in the film that Dolly told Kerr-McGee that Karen had gathered some particularly damaging evidence against them, which indeed Karen had done. Whether Dolly had her own reasons for offering the information is still open to debate. But with the help of an impassioned union representative (Ron Silver) Karen eventually decides to meet with a reporter from the New York Times and make the story public. Karen Silkwood died the day of that planned meeting, in what many believe was an act of premeditated murder, disguised by the Kerr-McGee bigwigs as a single-car accident. The plant shut down one year after Silkwood's death, and there is still debate about whether or not plutonium from Kerr-McGee was supplied to Middle Eastern entities. It's a fascinating case about the ethics of corporate power, and also about one person's noble attempt to expose and improve a corrupt system. But "Silkwood" mostly focuses on the human casualties of said corruption, and it does so with a knock-out cast and a terrific script. It is equal parts character study and corporate-political expose, and it is no doubt due to Mr. Nichols' direction that both aspects succeed admirably. While I'm not particularly a Meryl Streep fan, Karen Silkwood is a role she was obviously born to play. She throws herself so fully into the part that the actress disappears completely. Streep brings an accessible, warm funkiness to Karen, and makes her at once sexy, insecure, volcanic, and pitiable. The script does not shy away from Silkwood's own occasionally dubious nature, and the script is smart enough not to canonize her. Russell gives one of his most realistic performances, light years beyond his heavy-handed turns in such films as "Big Trouble in Little China". He has a terrific chemistry with Streep, as well as with Cher, and I think it was with "Silkwood" (as well as "Escape From New York") that he really transcended his early Disney career, and began to be considered for better, more mature roles. Cher, who had recently made her film debut in Robert Altman's "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean", is excellent as the tender, ambiguous Dolly. Her scenes when Dolly is lying (?) to Karen about the exact information that she supplied to Kerr-McGee are chilling; there is something terrible just beneath the surface of Dolly's reactions, and Cher plays this awkward discussion with a distant, downplayed brilliance. I think the role of Dolly is her best film acting to date. Every performance in the film works, with Diana Scarwid ("Mommie Dearest") standing out in her small role as Dolly's lover Angela. It seems impossible to imagine anyone else in these roles, or anyone but Nichols directing the film. It is claustrophobic and frightening at times, and at other times it is sublimely beautiful and haunting. Not to be missed.
The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
Best Picture of the year
It really is a shame that the Oscars mostly ignore horror films. There are a handful of exceptions ("Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?", "Rosemary's Baby", "The Exorcist", "Jaws", "Silence of the Lambs") but generally they are shunned. Then a movie like "The Mothman Prophecies" comes along, and you wonder: if a film is Oscar-worthy because of its most effective conveyance of its subject matter, its sheer execution, then "Mothman" should have at least been nominated for Best Picture. It conveys its subject matter (although it deviates greatly from the book) in a dead-on, unforgettable, hallucinatory way. I haven't seen another film that 'feels' like "Mothman" before or since. There's an absolute marriage of style and content to the film, and it demands that it be seen as its own beast, apart from the source material. There's the feeling of evil being 'within the very celluloid' of the film, a quote which comes from an overtly Catholic review of "The Exorcist". Director Mark Pellington ("Arlington Road") has created a tale for the ages; a relentlessly creepy look into the lives of a small group of people grappling with the unknown - and increasingly losing their grip on reality. Mothman has entered their lives, and their eyes have thus been opened to a truth about our world which defies explanation and belief. There is no line between reality and speculation in "Mothman", and it's extremely disorienting and very, very scary. Richard Gere ("American Gigolo", "Chicago") gives an understated (and underrated) performance. Laura Linney ("Tales of the City") gives a somewhat wooden performance, very controlled, but it works within the context of the film, as her character, the town sheriff, needs to remain rationally distant from the goings-on. Will Patton steals the whole movie, and his performance is so sensitive that you feel every painful nuance of his role. Lucinda Jenney is every inch the actor that Patton is, and their scenes together as beleaguered husband and wife are raw and exciting. Among the reasons that the film is so great is that it doesn't show too much of its 'monster'. It reminds me of Charles B. Pierce's "The Legend of Boggy Creek", which, like "Mothman", is really a thinking-man's monster movie, one that does not destroy its own mystery with heavy-handed special effects and dodgy, expository dialogue. "Mothman" raises more questions than it answers, and I think this is another one of its strengths. The atmosphere of the picture is absolutely chilling. Even casual daytime scenes, that are not big set-pieces, have a feeling of menace, and you find yourself looking for Mothman around every blustery corner. Tomandandy's musical score takes the subject matter to a whole other level. The music sounds so organic with the images that it's impossible and pointless to imagine it being any other way. That the film deviates from the book is my only qualm about the production. The book is actually creepier than the film, very different from it and much more detailed. It's a shame that the script couldn't have included more of the book, which involves UFO waves, Men in Black, and poltergeist activity, among other things. But the fact that the film works as well as it does justifies the means; the two stories stand separately. Both are powerful, provocative, chilling, and deserving of wide recognition.
Olivia (1983)
Lommel and Love's Most Accomplished Film
While Ulli Lommel is best known in the States as the director of the eighties ghost-slasher flick "The Boogey Man", he has directed many other films. They seem to have deteriorated in quality over the years, but he's still cranking them out, even now in 2009. In my opinion the eighties were his best years creatively, and alongside "The Boogey Man" he made a series of other gory thrillers, including "The Devonsville Terror", "Brainwaves", and "Olivia". He cast his then-wife, Dupont heiress Suzanna Love, in all of his films during this period, and even after their divorce she continued working for him. Suzanna, who had already had small roles in Milos Forman's "Hair", as well as a couple of Lommel's other films, became a fetching and beguiling leading lady, and she brought something sympathetic and touching to all of her performances. I think that "Olivia" is the best collaboration of their careers. The title character in "Olivia" is a little girl, living in London, who witnesses the violent murder of her prostitute mother by one of her johns. Deeply traumatized, Olivia (Love) grows up to be a bored, working-class housewife. Her belligerent husband, who apparently knows nothing of his wife's experience, is condescending and cruel. He will not let Olivia work, and she spends her nights watching the hookers who work the nearby London Bridge. She begins hearing her dead mother's voice in her head, encouraging her to work as a prostitute. She does, and at her mother's command she murders one of her johns. She meets an American and falls in love, and when her husband discovers her secret life, he attempts to murder her new man. But he is killed instead, by a fall from the bridge during the scuffle. Olivia, afraid of true love and riddled by guilt and fear, flees to America and tries to block the experiences from her mind. But the man who killed her husband crosses her path again one day, and their affair resumes. But it appears that her deceased husband is still alive, and he tracks Olivia down and murders the man she loves. Ultimately, Olivia murders her ex-husband violently with a butcher knife, and dumps his body in the Colorado River. By the end of the film Olivia is a broken, tragic figure, emotionally disfigured by deep traumas in her life. She is truly a lost soul, and the ending of the movie is decidedly downbeat. No worries about a typical Hollywood ending here; "Olivia" generally seems to revel in doing the unexpected, the distasteful, and it ultimately leaves its lead character bereft, shattered, alone, and more than a little unhinged. It is a brave and original film, one that does not shy away from its own bleak and unsettling nature. There is a creepy, kinky atmosphere to "Olivia" which is very effective. The music is perfectly weird, and the many night shots in the film make it a nerve-jangling experience. It is beautifully photographed, well cast, nicely written, and effectively edited. There is never a dull moment in the film, and this is, in no small part, due to the main performance by Love. She throws herself completely into the tawdry, showy role of Olivia, and comes off better than in any of her other films. Love the actress keeps pace with her director, and in doing so gives the performance of a lifetime. Olivia is a tour-de-force role, and Love gives it her all, making her character scary and sympathetic at the same time. Lommel, equally, seems to know exactly what he wants from the material, and how to get it. Together, they turn this low-budget labor of love into a solid genre entry, one that remains effective and spooky to this very day. Highly recommended!
Bad Blood (1988)
Nothing is sacred in this audacious, spellbinding Gothic chiller
Craig Horrall's screenplay for "Bad Blood" is simply genius. Filled with moments of Grande Guignol, twisted love, pathos, humor, and excitement, it's the Super Combo of horror screenplays. Of course we've seen this one before ("Fatal Attraction", "Misery", "Play Misty for Me", "Hush, Hush...Sweet Charlotte") for this is a tale of love-gone-awry, secret obsessions, and murder. But every film is a hybrid of other films, in the sense that each artist is influenced not only by his or her own personal ideas and impulses, but also by either his contemporaries or the old masters, or both. It depends on HOW the story is told that sets one film apart from the rest of the pack. Such is the case with "Bad Blood". It has a great, nuanced script, shaded and with all-around rough edges. The writing is mostly dead-on and delicious, and it absolutely MAKES "Bad Blood". Wealthy, aging female painter Arlene Bellings(Ruth Raymond) is having a show in the city, and one of her paintings attracts the attention of a man, Ted Barnes (Gregory Patrick) who appears to be the painting's subject. He doesn't know Arlene but she definitely knows him, as she confesses that he is the grown child that she had taken from her in her youth, by her wealthy, domineering father. Ted's wife Evie (Linda Blair) is as perplexed as her husband, until Ted's mother (Carolyn Van Bellinghen, in a brief, Oscar-worthy performance) confirms that Arlene's story is true. But looks are deceiving, and Arlene's secret past lies just below the surface of her warm and friendly demeanor. She soon invites Ted and Evie to her palatial country estate for the weekend, and that's when Arlene sets in motion a plan to have Ted all for herself - in more ways than one. This is the point at which "Bad Blood" breaks away from the competition and sprints ahead. I haven't seen a film since "Last House on the Left" that has had balls as big as this film has. It tackles the subject of maternal incest without batting an eye, and yet even at this point of depravity/hilarity it does not descend, or become any less beguiling. There's a creepy, pulling charm to "Bad Blood", and all of its kinky, Gothic themes. The sets and locations are amazing, and although it's somewhat technically inept it doesn't stop working on you. The editing is rough but absolutely to-die-for; there's a split-screen sequence in there that will entertain even the most jaded and difficult-to-please viewer. Evie's murder scene at the hands of Arlene plays in choppy slow-motion, and is relentlessly violent and shocking and effective. It is an excruciating scene, one which catches your breath and holds you, traumatized, until Evie's final death throws. Linda Blair does not play the lead in this particular movie, but that murder sequence should have earned her some kind of nomination for her acting skills. You feel Evie's shock and desperation throughout every frame. (Debra Winger has a famous death scene, of course, in "Terms of Endearment", and Garbo in "Camille", but they don't hold a candle to Linda in "Bad Blood") But it is beyond doubt that this is Ruth Raymond's film all the way. She certainly knew it, and she doesn't waste any time letting all of us know it, in an over-the-top performance in the rare vein of Faye Dunaway in "Mommie Dearest" and Bette Davis in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" - two ridiculously larger-than-life performances that have deservedly become both classics and camp classics. There is a fire behind Raymond's performance as Arlene that is truly a wonder to behold. She is never out of character, and nothing less than electrifying. It is an AMAZING performance, and she doesn't shy away from one word of the audacious, sordid material. She IS Arlene Bellings, chewing sets, scenery, and co-stars all the way through to the end, and creating one of the most complex, pitiable, and frightening villains that horror has ever seen. Of course major credit must go to Director Chuck Vincent, for keeping it all together and getting good performances out of all the players (and I'm sure just standing out of the way of Ruth Raymond and her performance) and to Director of Photography Larry Revene for excellent composition in many of the shots.
Born Innocent (1974)
Oscar-nominee Linda Blair is riveting in this gritty delinquent drama.
This is Linda Blair's first post-"Exorcist" performance, and she brings the same commitment and intensity to "Born Innocent" that she brought to Friedkin's classic. She plays Christine Parker, a fourteen year old repeat runaway who only wants to escape her cold and abusive home. Her parents (Richard Jaekal and Kim Hunter) are neglectful to themselves as well as to her, and her brother has managed to leave home and start a family of his own. Chris isn't a bad person, or even really a criminal; she just doesn't feel loved, and it is apparent from the beginning of the film that this is what she is seeking. After running away six times she is brought to a girl's reform school, where the other girls smoke a lot, cut themselves, and make sexual advances towards innocent Chris. The housemother (Allyn Ann McLerie) is overworked and frazzled, while counselor Barbara Clark (Joanna Miles) is well-meaning, and focused on truly helping the young charges. Just as Chris is settling in, she is raped with the handle of a toilet brush by a group of gals led by brooding and volatile Moco (Nora Heflin) (The shower scene is one of the most controversial scenes in television-movie history - and while it is traumatic and horrifying, it seems absolutely necessary to the story.) Following the rape, Chrys attempts to run away from the compound but is thwarted by security. She visits her family, but finds that nothing has changed at home for the better. Her mother even tells her that she wants Chris to stay away, because life at home is better for her when Chris isn't there. Returned to the detention center and put into isolation, Chris finally tells Barbara what happened in the shower. Her brother has refused to take her in, and things only get worse when Chris is instrumental in starting an in-house riot. At the end of it all, Chris just doesn't care, and it is obvious that her spirit has been crushed, and her innocence lost forever. Following her Golden Globe-winning turn as Regan MacNeil, Linda Blair clearly was under pressure to give another powerful performance, and she surely did. There is hardly a false note in her characterization - and this is considerable, because she's in nearly every frame of the picture. There are certain sequences that she brings to life so fully that you just have to sit back in awe - particularly when Chris is relating the rape to Barbara; there's a painful, confessional feeling to the scenes. The chemistry is such between the two actresses that it's like you are listening to performers of jagged poetry. Linda is so fresh-faced that she draws sympathy automatically, and yet she also delivers on her character's dark experiences. The riot at the end of the film is effective due to its seemingly anti-climactic nature; you want to care about what's to become of Chris and her fellow inmates, but we see that the futility of mob violence makes reaction - and reason - impotent. There is a hushed, un-rehearsed quality to the riot sequence, and sometimes it seems like the camera was running between takes and the actors were just wandering about. This is far from a criticism; the effect is a hollow, uncertain feeling in the viewer that is the stuff that great films are made of. All of Blair's supporting players are excellent, particularly Miles, Hunter, and Tina Andrews as Chris's troubled friend. Anyone who writes Linda Blair off as a one-hit wonder hasn't seen "Born Innocent". This film won the Blockbuster-Movie-of-the-Week prize at the 2006 TV Land Awards, and deservedly so. Just consider it another feather in Linda Blair's cap; one peak of many over her varied 40-year career.
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
The Revenge of Laurie Strode
Thirty years ago, when fresh-faced Jamie Lee Curtis debuted on-screen as Laurie Strode in John Carpenter's "Halloween", horror films and horror fans seemed to have been just waiting for her to arrive. She was like a breath of fresh air. The face of horror films had recently been refreshed by George Romero, and zombies were all the rage, and while Tobe Hooper's "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", Bob Clark's "Black Christmas", and Argento's work were ground-breaking and successful, they were generally considered either too extreme or too 'artsy' to satisfy the American mainstream. Disaster flicks and monster movies like "Jaws", "Grizzly", and "Earthquake" were very popular instead. Then, quite unexpectedly, "Halloween" hit, and here was something that we hadn't seen in a while - a contemporary retelling of the damsel in distress theme. Beauty and the beast. Good against evil. As a result, Michael Myers has become one of the most iconic faces of evil in all of filmdom; but there is never yin without yang, never dark without light. Laurie Strode was the light to Michael's darkness, the counterpoint to his violent and hostile nature. We needed her to survive Michael Myers' holiday attack; somehow we felt safe with Laurie, reassured by her, and at the end of the film she reminded us that good can triumph over evil. We loved her from the moment we saw her. And she instantly became a hero to me. (The same goes for Jamie Lee Curtis herself; she has shown her strength and talent in many other roles, and in her personal life is outspoken, hard-working, dedicated to motherhood and family and friends, and refreshingly candid and honest.) "Halloween" saw Laurie Strode go from babysitting victim to victor at the hands of escaped psychopath Michael Myers. Along with Dr. Sam Loomis (the always-delightful Donald Pleasence) she compelled us to watch the horrors in Haddenfield. Laurie's selfless ways with her young charges, her concern for the welfare of her friends, and her tenacity and wits in dealing with a faceless slasher, were inspirational to us all. In "Halloween II" Laurie returned for another go-round with Michael, and we learn that he is actually her brother, which brought the creepiness level up and intensified her plight. Once again she survived, and watched Michael burn in a raging hospital explosion. She arose victorious, and again we cheered her on. Twenty years after "Halloween", Curtis returned to the role that made her a household name, and a terror-film icon. Laurie is now a functioning alcoholic, and has a teen-aged son named John (Josh Hartnett) who refuses to believe her seeming delusions that Michael Myers is still alive and a danger to them both. She's not sure herself what is real and what isn't, and her paranoia is affecting both her relationship with her son and her romance with handsome Will (Adam Arkin). But around the time of John's seventeenth birthday, Laurie's paranoia and edginess prove to be legitimate - Michael has found them, and he'll stop at nothing to kill them both. A few fresh-faced actors round out the cast, but this is Laurie's story - her very catharsis - all the way. Jamie Lee Curtis gives the performance of a lifetime. When push comes to shove, she proves once more that she can rise above her fears and fight for herself and her loved ones. It must be said that the ending of "H2O" is one of the best in horror film history. And when she swings that fateful axe at Michael in the last shot of the film, beheading him, she puts to rest not only the overly-long "Halloween" franchise, but also our own fears. Laurie Strode is a folk hero, a savior, and something like an old friend. After putting her troubled past behind her, today Laurie Strode lives a quiet but happy life somewhere in the United States. She does not wish her whereabouts to be known.*
*Forget "Halloween" 3,4,5,6, and 8.
La casa 4 (Witchcraft) (1989)
Linda Blair reminds us why she is a horror icon in this horrifying tale of witchcraft and revenge.
Linda Blair has been acting for forty years now, and while she will never escape the part of Regan MacNeil in "The Exorcist", few of her subsequent horror films have used her legendary status to such great effect as "Witchery" does. She plays Jane Brooks, a pregnant single woman who travels with her family to an abandoned island hotel that her parents want to purchase. They are accompanied by a couple of real estate agents (Catherine Hickland and Rick Farnsworth) and upon arriving at the island they meet a photographer (David Hasselhoff) and his writer girlfriend (Leslie Cumming) who are illegally squatting in the hotel while investigating the legend of a local witch (Hildegard Knef). It seems that a long-ago witch-hunt resulted in her suicide, and she was with child at the time. Unaware of the danger, Jane has recently dreamt of the witch's dramatic death, and Jane's little brother Tommy (Michael Manchester) has been more directly visited by her spooky, black-clad spirit, which he calls 'the lady in black'. The group's time at the island inn begins quietly enough; unknown to them, however, the Lady in Black has already dispatched the captain of their hired boat (George Stevens). Before long, the isolation and cold begin to affect everyone, and it is during this period of moodiness and tension that the Lady in Black begins her reign of terror. She plans to avenge her own fate by possessing Jane and sacrificing her companions and her unborn child. Each of her other victims fulfills an aspect of her vengeful curse - greed, lust, and the blood of a virgin. As the sun goes down and the sea becomes wild, she haunts them one by one in gruesome, horrifying ways. The island location is effectively scary, and the inn is very creepy and hauntingly shot. It's such a colorful film that it reminds me of Dario Argento's work. The lighting is excellent, and the set decoration is perfectly spooky. The soundtrack is very effective and unique. The horror effects are extreme, terrifying, and unforgettable. The cinematography is great, and it is this that brings us back to Linda Blair. The creative team behind this film shoots her like a horror star should be shot: lots of dramatic push-ins, lingering close-ups that subtly detail Jane's incremental possession, and moments that are reminiscent of other great horror films. There are hidden homages to "Rosemary's Baby", "Jacob's Ladder", "The Shining", "Black Sunday", and of course "The Exorcist". She does a great job, and absolutely steals the show with her moody and understated performance. That isn't to say that the rest of the cast disappoints; Catherine Hickland is sexy and very good, and veteran performer Annie Ross is memorable as Jane's bitchy mother Rose. Hasselhoff gives it his best, but he is not essentially a film star, and his television persona gets in the way of his performance. Blair and young Michael Manchester have a wonderful chemistry together. The film is otherwise so violent and creepy (in a good way) that it desperately needs their warmth (Blair also played a mother in 2003's "Monster Makers", and her maternal scenes in that film have the same tender feeling to them). Lastly, Hildegard Knef (in one of her last roles) plays a great witch, and she has the most amazing voice and accent. Along with Blair, she was also perfectly cast. But it's Blair's movie all the way. Jane Brooks also seems to have some psychic ability, and this aspect of the film hearkens back to "Exorcist II: The Heretic". I think "Witchery" is up there with "The Exorcist", "Exorcist II", "Hell Night", and "Summer of Fear" as Blair's best genre work to date.
Grotesque (1988)
Linda Blair gives one of her best performances in this twisted, little-seen revenge film.
Linda Blair has the unique distinction of being associated with various kinds of horror films. She's been possessed ("The Exorcist" and "Witchery") repossessed ("Repossessed" and "Exorcist II: The Heretic") and stalked by a slasher ("Hell Night"); she's battled a witch ("Summer of Fear") played a witch ("Sorceress") fought zombies ("The Chilling") and, with "Grotesque", she visits the territory of Wes Craven's "Last House on the Left" and Meir Zarchi's "I Spit On Your Grave", low-budget revenge classics that went for ultra-realistic terror with utterly terrifying results. (Linda is to horror films what Dame Judi Dench is to period melodramas; she's practically turned horror film acting into an Olympic event. Her tireless efforts spent making horror films cause Jamie Lee Curtis to look like a slouch.) But here, she steps away from the monsters and ghouls of her career, and faces the ultimate terror: man himself, out of control and violent. With this film she has the chance to play her character's horror with total realism. Her performance is up there with "The Exorcist" as her ultimate victim role. She plays Lisa Krueger, a young woman traveling into the Big Bear mountains with her friend (Donna Wilkes) to visit her family. Her father (Guy Stockwell) is a Hollywood make-up effects man, and her mother a loving and supportive partner to him. On their way up to the house, the young women encounter a band of punks looking for trouble - in particular (and unknown to Lisa) they are planning to ambush and violate the Krueger home. They've heard rumors of a 'secret' up at the family's secluded mountain place, and are convinced that drugs and money must be involved (While the acting of the gang members is of uneven quality, they are eerily reminiscent of the Manson clan, and some of them even manage to rise above the clichés of the script and deliver something terrifying.) That same night the group storms the house and assembles the family, then begins murdering them one by one, leaving poor Lisa to witness it all. (Donna Wilkes, along with Blair, is a terribly underrated actress. She is terrific here - especially her death scene - and was also great in "Jaws 2" and "Angel".) At a moment when the villains are arguing among themselves, Lisa sees her chance and flees, but is cornered in a hallway and has no other option but to jump out the window. From there Lisa frantically runs into the snowy night, clad only in her nightclothes, with a couple of punks hot on her trail. Lisa's cousin Patrick, previously mentioned in the script but unseen, lives behind a bookcase in a hidden room. He is the 'secret' that the punks had heard about. He is hideously misshapen, and mentally handicapped. While he is a hulking, scary man, he has the mind and innocence of a child. He witnesses the atrocities against his family, and vows to exact bloody revenge. So he is a tortured killer, and we get to see his remorse over his own actions. Yet, he cannot stop himself. The loss of his family is too great for him to bear. He kills all of the attackers within reach, and goes out into the night to finish off the rest. Meanwhile, after running until dawn, Lisa is finally caught by one of the killers and strangled. Patrick catches up and kills the guy, but Lisa is unconscious and nearly frozen. Patrick is chasing the remaining two punks when the police finally arrive, and they assume that he murdered Blair's family. Patrick is shot and killed, and Lisa is taken to the hospital, where she must have a risky surgery in order to survive. Enter Lisa's plastic-surgeon uncle (Tab Hunter). As Patrick's biological father, he is outraged by the crimes and the killing of Patrick. The two surviving punks are taken into custody, and they claim that Patrick did all the killing. Uncle knows better; but only Lisa, who may or may not survive her surgery, can save Patrick's reputation, and put the two remaining killers behind bars. When Lisa dies during surgery, Uncle takes matters into his own hands. He kidnaps the two remaining killers and returns them to the house, where he uses surgery to permanently disfigure their faces, and locks them away in Patrick's old room behind the bookcase. Uncle also reveals that he too hides a horribly disfigured face, and therefore understands the true torture of his chosen method of revenge. This is a philosophical and ironic horror film; I can't think of another horror movie that tries to approach themes such as the remorse of the monster, the superficiality of 'beauty', and societal neglect of the handicapped. This movie works on a deeper level than I ever suspected it would, or could: it shows both terrible violence and the power of familial love, and it beautifully renders (thanks to Tab Hunter's touching performance) the fine line between sanity and insanity when an individual is blinded by a need for vengeance. The film has a very unique feel about it. The chase scenes during the cold, snowy night are absolutely realistic, and hauntingly beautiful, and quite reminiscent of Kubrick's "The Shining". Linda's jump out of the window is classic horror, devoid of any camp aspect, and, while brief, the overhead shot of her fall is pure, chilling brilliance. Her hospital scenes are evocative of her work as troubled Regan MacNeil in the "Exorcist" films. She is surrounded by many good players, but it is Blair who single-handedly keeps "Grotesque" together. Her work here is so intense that you feel her character's presence even when she isn't on-screen, and she remains a key character throughout most of the movie. She's the heart and soul of "Grotesque", and as such makes this micro-budget terror flick worth a look.
Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
"I know it's coming. I KNOW it's coming." - Lorraine Gary as Ellen Brody
I'm convinced of two things after seeing this movie. First, I'm dead certain that Lorraine Gary is terribly under-rated as an actress. Second, I would bet my life that she watched 1986's "Aliens" while preparing for this performance. The time-line is appropriate, and there's a quality in Lorraine's character in "Jaws: The Revenge" that very much reminds me of some of the great female screen warriors, such as Sigourney Weaver in the "Alien" films, and Jamie Lee Curtis in her "Halloween" films (I will always consider "Halloween H2O: Twenty Year Later" to be the final installment of a trilogy, that being "Halloween", "Halloween II", and "H2O".) Laurie Strode and Ellen Ripley are such strong, enigmatic, and iconic women, and Lorraine Gary in the "Jaws" films (excluding "Jaws 3D", which she was not a part of) comes close to them as an interesting character whom we get to know and love and root for over a span of many years and many sequels. Gary's Ellen Brody is now wiser, more wounded, and even more beautiful than she was in 1976's "Jaws". In "Jaws: The Revenge" Ellen loses one of her sons to a shark attack. Her husband, police chief Martin Brody, has died of a heart attack, and Ellen still lives in Amity and now must mourn the passing of another family member. She's convinced that fear of the sharks from the first two films is what truly killed Martin, and now she finds herself plagued by another fatal attack. She travels to the Bahamas to visit her other son, and meets a friendly pilot (Michael Caine) along the way. Once there, she tries to get back to her old self, but instead is haunted by nightmares and fear. This leads to paranoia and an obsession with the idea that her family is predestined for more horrible shark attacks. Her surviving son, Michael, works underwater, and this terrifies her. Everyone thinks Ellen is over-reacting. When Michael does encounter a large Great White, he realizes that his mother's fears might just be justified, but he decides not to tell her about the incident. Meanwhile, Ellen senses the danger in a way that suggests a telepathic link between her and the shark that killed her son. The ocean itself seems to call her name, and at the very moment that Michael encounters the shark Ellen's intuition tells her that something awful is wrong, even though she is miles away at the time. This psychic subplot is one of the most interesting things about the film (John Boorman did the same thing with the character of Regan MacNeil, and to great effect, in "Exorcist II: The Heretic" - I adore both of these films for trying to do something different than their predecessors) Since she can't explain to anyone what's happening to her, Ellen must bury these strange and scary feelings,and try to go on. Against her better judgment, she then begins an affair with the airplane pilot, and takes small steps towards living a normal life again. But before long, her grand-daughter survives an attack by a Great White, and this is the event that sends Ellen off to face the shark once and for all. She decides to sacrifice herself to the beast, in the hopes that this will satisfy the shark and spare what remains of her family. She takes a boat out to sea and waits for the shark to find her. Ultimately, she is rescued by the pilot and her son, and together the three of them destroy the shark by feeding it a makeshift bomb, in a nicely-done sequence borrowed heavily (and rather touchingly) from the finale of the original "Jaws". Gary's characterization in this particular film is lovely. She gets to show her acting range here much more than in the first two films, and maybe more than she's ever done in a film before (sadly, it seems that she is now retired.) She gives Ellen Brody the same warmth that she always does, but here she is such a sympathetic character that you just want to give her a big hug. You can tell that by this time Gary knows who this woman is from the inside out, and she makes every scene believable. It's no surprise to me that she was nominated for a Saturn Award for her performance - and she should have won it. The moments in the film when she is psychically aware of the shark are amazing. The musical cues are perfect in these scenes, and Gary makes it seem like it's really happening. Whether it's a touching scene or one of suspense, she is mesmerizing throughout. She makes this film work very well, in my opinion. (There is a particular scene just before the finale when Ellen takes her jacket off, and it looks just like the scene in "Aliens" where Ripley is in the elevator, preparing to rescue Newt, and she removes her jacket in order to wear the artillery bands.) Even the shoulder pads Ellen Brody wears throughout this film suggest a warrior aspect, and with her lean body and determined expressions she seems capable of anything. She is proof that women get stronger, more beautiful, and more commanding of the screen as they age; it is tragic that Hollywood has difficulty realizing this, and giving older actresses like Gary better parts. But "Jaws: The Revenge" realizes it, and succeeds, and by the end of it I found Ellen Brody as compelling a heroine as one could hope for. "Jaws: The Revenge" is not just a horror film; it is also a very human story, one that incorporates emotion and mystery at every opportunity. Lorraine Gary makes it satisfying as no other actress could have done, and Ellen Brody takes her place alongside some of the genre's most notable and enduring female characters.
Picking Up the Pieces (1985)
Margot Kidder deserved an Emmy Award for this.
Although this is written as a standard TV movie about the complications of divorce, Margot Kidder pushes the material to a higher level with her terrific performance. She outshines everyone else in the cast - they all seem like high school drama students compared to her. It is tragic that she didn't get more recognition for it. She does an amazing job - she's in practically every shot. That's a big responsibility for any actor, and she handles it like a pro and seems ready to give even more. She gives a dimension to this character that is seldom seen in TV movies. It's unfortunate that she has been treated by the industry as just another 'working actress', always struggling for her next gig, when she obviously has so much more to offer. And while she was always terrific in big-budget films like the "Superman" movies, she was made for the idiosyncratic characters she played in lesser-known projects such as this film, another called "Never Met Picasso", Brian DePalma's twisted "Sisters", and particularly a little-seen gem called "Heartaches". She deserved an Emmy here. I do hope this little treasure becomes available on DVD. Does anyone know whatever became of her memoir, "Calamities"? I'd love to read it.
Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
A Beautiful and Provocative Fantasy Epic
I don't think I've ever seen a film as ambitious as "Exorcist II: The Heretic". It makes perfect sense that anybody stepping up to direct a sequel to "The Exorcist" would have to go in some other direction than William Friedkin did with the original. There's no way they could top the ice-cold horror and vulgarity of "The Exorcist". "Exorcist II" deals with such heady and important themes as global consciousness, spontaneous healing, telepathy, technology, dreams, faith, and loss of faith. Linda Blair returns as Regan MacNeil, now four years older, who remembers her experience of possession all too well. She is still in the care of family friend Sharon (Kitty Winn, returning from the original "Exorcist") It seems Sharon left the MacNeil household for two years, but was drawn back to Regan and claims, unexpectedly and poignantly, that when she is with Regan is "the only time I'm at peace." Regan and Sharon now live in a gorgeous skyscraper with a perilous-looking balcony, and Regan has a therapist, Dr. Gene Tuskin (Oscar-winner Louise Fletcher) who works with the deaf and the autistic at a state-of-the-art, high-tech facility where she does ground-breaking work with hypnosis. Regan is plagued by memories of her possession, and by strange dreams of flying with a locust swarm over Africa. Dr. Tuskin encourages her to talk about her feelings, but it is clear that Regan isn't sure it will do either of them any good. Before long, we meet Father Lamont (Richard Burton) a priest who has come to doubt his faith. He is dispatched by the church to investigate the death of Father Merrin (Max Von Sydow, who returns to play a younger version of his doomed character from the first movie) Father Lamont visits Dr. Tuskin to ask for her support in interviewing Regan about what happened to her in Washington. Dr. Tuskin is leery but Regan is intrigued, and it is agreed that Father Lamont will observe a hypnotherapy session between them. This leads to a confrontation between Pazuzu (the spirit that still haunts Regan) and Dr. Tuskin that Father Lamont is able to witness, using a delicate machine that can synchronize the experiences of two minds. Lamont comes away from the experience galvanized to protect Regan. The story is interspersed with scenes of the earlier experiences of Father Merrin when he was exorcising Pazuzu from a young boy in Africa. This boy, Kakumo (the always-wonderful James Earl Jones) grows up to be a scientist who is studying the destructive swarm behavior of locusts. He tells Lamont of his plan to breed a "good locust", one that will calm the others and decrease their destructive behavior. Regan, meanwhile, is showing signs of being the human equivalent of the good locust. She unwittingly heals an autistic child, and seems to now have the gifts of precognition and telepathy. Father Lamont comes to believe that Regan is touched by God, and therefore is extremely important to saving the rest of mankind from evil. The principals are all drawn to Washington and back to the brownstone where Regan lived during her previous possession. Father Lamont and Regan travel together, while Sharon and Dr. Tuskin arrive soon after; but, as always, Pazuzu is keeping track, and he tries to kill Sharon and Dr. Tuskin in an automobile accident. They survive, but only until Sharon burns herself alive in an excruciating scene. Pazuzu finally appears to Lamont in the form of Regan's sexy and evil double. As bewitched as he is by her, ultimately he overcomes this and rips the very heart from the beast, bringing peace and hope to the world once more. Technically, every frame of this film is fascinating. The colors are subdued but amazing, and the imagery is always surreal and alive and moving. There are great, swirling shots in this movie that leave me swooning every time I look at them. There is a particular shot from Regan's balcony that pans the surrounding city (including an ominous-looking church) that is one of the most haunting shots I've ever seen in a film. The music of "Exorcist II", by Ennio Morricone, ranges from the energetic and primitive (over the African flying sequences) to the ethereal and exquisite "Regan's Theme". Many of the exterior Africa scenes were shot on a sound stage, and it only adds to the fantasy atmosphere. The scene of a locust swarm descending on Washington DC is truly inspired and terrifying, and the scientific locust footage has the same creepy documentary feeling of the original film. The finale of the movie is not to be missed; it is both apocalyptic and hopeful at the same time. One of the great things about the script is that it raises questions that it cannot answer. Much is left to the viewer to ponder, and I think that is part of the point. Too many films spoon-feed or condescend to audiences, and I find it refreshing that Boorman and writer William Goodheart did not do this. The quality of the performances in "Exorcist II" vary; Louise Fletcher could have tried a little harder, but nearly her entire performance is dubbed, so I'm not sure she should take all the blame. Burton's character is full of inner conflict, so his performance is quiet and tense. Kitty Winn plays Sharon very differently here than she did in "The Exorcist"; where in the first film she was mousy, here she is defiant and volcanic. James Earl Jones is naturally commanding of the screen. Linda Blair does well in her role, and looks more beautiful than in any other film, as if she is illuminated from within. During her hypnosis scenes she has the most intense and effective stare. And when she is walking trance-like across her balcony, wearing white and with her hair flowing (all in slow-motion) she is a vision of utter, innocent beauty. She is the goddess who must help deliver the world from its own worst self. She is 'the good locust'.