Stake Land

MINOR SPOILERS

The best horror film of the year was technically released last year, but it only came into my radar a few months ago.  Rue Morgue did an article on it, then Fangoria, then Horrorhound (my personal holy trilogy of horror mags.  Although, if you can find Scream magazine, that one is awesome!  It was only carried at a Border's 3 hours away from my house and that closed.  Yes, I could subscribe but I love the thrill of the hunt in these matters.)  Anyway, the best horror film of the year (in my opinion) is Jim Mickle's Stake Land.  Stake Land is a post-apocalyptic road film where the beasties are vampires.  Now, I am not usually a huge vamp fan, but these vampires are more like feral cannibal mutants.  Correction: there are human feral cannibals in this film.  These vamps are more like fast zombies that can only come out at night.  They have to compete with the human feral cannibals for some sweet meat that looks a lot like Eric from Gossip Girl.

It IS Eric from Gossip Girl!  Connor Paolo plays Martin, a young man whose parents are killed by vampires.  He is taken under the wing of "Mister", a mysterious vampire killer played by Nick Damici.

In this post-apocalyptic world civilization has gone by the wayside.  There are only a few pockets of survivors that get along the best they can.  The survivor's greatest problem isn't the vampires: it's the other humans who have de-evolved.  A group that calls themselves The Brotherhood controls most of the roads.  The Brotherhood are a bunch of white supremacist religious fundamentalists who think nothing of raping nuns and using non-whites as vampire bait.  Not surprisingly, Mister and Martin run afoul of this group and have to avoid them and the vampires on their way to "New Eden."  New Eden is a place supposedly free from infection.  We all know how this scenario will likely play out.

 

What is amazing about Stake Land is how well all of the characters are developed.  We really care about every single one of them.  Martin is a realistic boy on the verge on manhood.  Mister, for all his toughness, has a heart.  Danielle Harris plays Belle, a pregnant young woman trying to make it to New Eden for her baby.  Her character, in another film, would have stood as a beacon of hope.  She would have made it to New Eden and her child would have symbolized humanity's hope.  This is not that film.  This is not a pretty world.  This is a gloomy, gory, and scary film.  It's message is that humanity will survive, but at what cost? Yep, it's a bit of downer, but I was practically jumping up and down after it was over: it's that good. 

It! The Terror from Beyond Space 1958

The year is 1973.  Earth has lost contact with the first manned mission to Mars.  A rescue team is sent to investigate.  Their ride is really groovy...

When they arrive they find one survivor, Col. Edward Curruthers (Marshall Thompson).  The rest of the original crew is dead.  One of them has a gunshot wound.  The rescue crew decided Curruthers must have murdered his crew.  He denies the charge, and soon they all discover that the real murderer is It! The Terror from Beyond Space!

O.K.  This movie is really pretty silly but important for two reasons.  One, John Carpenter called it highly influential to him as a filmmaker.  This doesn't surprise me since It! is basically a siege film.  Carpenter introduced this film and Rio Bravo as part of his hosting duties on TCM.  Rio Bravo is also a siege film, like Assault on Precinct 13, The Thing, and to a certain extent The Fog.  The siege "genre" also happens to be one of my favorites (Night of the Living Dead).  I like it when a group of people are trapped together fighting for their lives, sometimes from an unseen, unknown force.   That is the case with It!.  The clever alien sneaks on board and begins attacking crew members, sucking all moisture from their bodies.  He goes from level to level on the ship, often using the air shafts to move around.  The beleaguered crew are soon confined to one level of the ship, trying to think of a way to kill this unstoppable force...

My God this suit is awesome!  Anyway, if this story sound a little familiar that is because it is: it's Alien.  It! The Terror from Beyond Space served as a major inspiration to Alien, right down to the air shafts.

This is the second reason why It! is important, and if you are a fan of Alien I highly recommend you see this.  Plus, it's fun to see doctors and scientists smoking!  Oh, and the female scientists serve the men dinner!  They have a PhD in waitressing!

American Horror Story

 
I just finished watching the second episode of American Horror Story.  Although I can't say I am completely on board with this show yet, I know I am going to continue watching it, if only to support "horror" on television.  Which brings me to my first point of contention with American Horror Story: it's not very scary.

The Harmon's have recently moved from Boston to L.A.  Ben Harmon (Dylan McDermott) is a Psychiatrist who must work out CONSTANTLY.  We see him naked (a lot) and he is ripped!  He also cheated on his beautiful wife Vivien (the amazing Connie Brittan).  Vivien walked in on him having a special "session" with a student.  In an effort to repair their marriage, they move to sunny California with their teenage daughter Violet (Taissa Farmiga).  Oh, did I mention that Vivien had a horrible miscarriage before the affair began?  And that Violet likes to cut herself and is one Cure record away from becoming a Goth wannabe?  In other words, this family is kind of messed up to begin with.  It doesnt' help that the bargain Victorian house they bought has the local reputation as a "Murder House."

The family moves in and weird things begin to happen right away.  Their creepy neighbor Constance (Jessica Lange) shows up with her Downs Syndrome daughter who has a special gift for sneaking in and out of the house at will. 

Ben encounters a burned man named Larry Harvey (Denis O'Hare from True Blood) who claims to have once lived in the house.  He also claims to have killed his whole family in the house, and that the house made him do it.  Larry tries to convince Ben that he and his family should leave.  Good advice, considering that during the first two episodes a whole lot of freaky shit goes down.

I won't spoil it but let's just say that it includes a lot of masturbation, kinky demon sex, and various homages to just about every horror film made in the past 40 years.  Which brings me back to my first problem with this show.  Not scary.  Copying images and scenarios from other horror films and cutting and pasting them together does not horror make!  And that is basically what is going on here.  It's fun to watch the show and pick the horror films the Producers have cribbed from.  Here is a partial list:

• The Shining
• The Changeling
• The Strangers
• Rosemary's Baby
• Poltergeist
• Saw
• The Collector
• Halloween
• The Haunting
• Pet Sematary
• Ghost Story

Even the opening credits look like a mash up of that show Oddities and a Nine Inch Nails video.  The music is ripped off of other films such as Vertigo and Psycho.  Because I have seen all of this before nothing is making me jump, nothing is sending chills down my spine.  And it's too bad, because this show has a lot of other things going for it.  Jessica Lange is brilliant as Constance.  She deserves an Emmy for her mysterious yet sympathetic performance.  Same goes for Connie Brittan.  When she was confronting her husband about his affair in the first episode it brought tears to my eyes.  The show looks amazing, and the score, although recycled, it very good.  I don't know how they are going to sustain this story throughout the entire season, and I hope the Producers have an end game planned.  So far this is seeming a little Lost to me.  Let's also hope that the Producers try to infuse the show with a little more originality. Then it might get really scary.

The Thing: The Musical

Alright, you have probably seen this everywhere by now (including the awesome Kindertrauma), but it is so good!  Watch it again!

Tonight!

The Walking Dead season 2 premieres tonight!  I am so excited!  Finally have a day off and lots to post including: It! The Terror from Beyond Space (awesome), American Horror Story (undecided), Stakeland (amazeballs), every version of The Thing including the book (this may take a while), and whatever else pops into my head!  Stay tuned.....

Sir John Talbot

I just finished my annual viewing of The Wolf Man.  It's my Dad's birthday today and this is his favorite horror film.  I love The Wolf Man.  I love Lon Chaney Jr.  It is perhaps the saddest performance I have ever seen in a horror film.  Look at the man:

Such pathos!  Such despair!  Seriously, it is a great performance.  But I am not here to talk about Chaney.  I am here to talk about the other tragic figure in The Wolf Man: Sir John Talbot.

Perhaps it's because it was my Father's birthday so Dad is on the mind, but during this viewing I couldn't help but concentrate on the sad figure of Sir John Talbot (played by one of my favorite actors, Claude Rains.)  Let's look at the facts: Sir John is a widow: no wife to be seen.  His eldest son, his favorite and heir, was killed in a tragic hunting accident.  His other son, Larry, he doesn't know at all.  Larry left the family to go America and never kept in touch.  Larry has returned to the family estate but it is clear that father and son have nothing in common.  As if this all isn't depressing enough, a series of grisly murders have taken place near the estate and Larry may be going mad.  His one chance to reconnect with his only son ends in tragedy:

Sir John is convinced that Larry is having a breakdown.  He can't believe that he is responsible for the murders.  To protect him, Sir John ties Larry up and goes to join the hunt for the real culprit, the wolf.  Of course, Larry escapes and father is forced to take the life of his only remaining child.  That, my friends, is tragic.  Poor Sir John.  Join me next year when I try to figure out what is going on with Gwen (Evelyn Ankers).  I mean really!  Why is she so nonchalant about Jenny getting killed and why is she so willing to cheat on her Fiance with Larry?  What is with her?

Trailers: The Awakening

This looks better. A bit like The Others, but that is not a bad thing.