Nightbreed

As I typically keep up on forthcoming special editions of various movies and frequent Bluray
collector sites, I became aware of a movie named Nightbreed that was being given quite the royal treatment. Shout! Factory was releasing a 3 disc special edition of this film, pricing it at about $45 and stamping limited numbers on some of them upon the thriving horde of movie collectors worldwide. Never heard of Nightbreed before, so I took it upon myself to see what the fuss is all about, and most importantly, decide if I wanted to partake in this expensive special edition. After all, at a price like this, there must be something boiling underneath.

The first hit on this movie brings up the name Clive Barker, who wrote and directed the film, which was based on a short story of his own creation. It's a familiar name, especially for those of us growing up in the late eighties: a few iconic horror movies adorned Clive's name above the title, including Hellraiser and Candyman. He was also a well known author, and was involved in various comic book projects (and still is, most likely). It wasn't my type of horror back then, so I missed out on all of it, including Nightbreed.

Not having seen it upon initial release shields me from the nostalgia-goggles that so often blurs the quality of a product - or movie, in this case - from your harsh adult judgments. It's not a bad thing by any account: I love watching movies that were significant to me when I was younger, even though I can see why they would be terrible. Nightbreed, however, was met with critical and box office failure when it released back in 1990. A special edition decades later like this screams cult classic, which indicates I could very well enjoy the film. After all, I've been revisiting many films from the eighties recently and have gotten a kick out of most of them.

Nightbreed is definitely a cult classic. Further investigation unearthed a story of studio meddling, cutting and general Hollywood tomfoolery. The theatrical cut was an abomination, and soon after, Clive Barker put together his own cut which became known as The Cabal Cut. It looks like there was a 145 minute version Barker put together back in 1989, which existed only on VHS as a work print and presumably was bootlegged into cult status. Fast forward two decades, and a newer 159 minute cut was revealed on another long-lost VHS. In 2012, a new 155 minute cut was put together, using elements of the VHS tapes and a DVD from the Warner Bros Archive. This was enough to get people really excited, and it was time for Shout! to announce an upcoming DVD release for the followers of this film. Turns out, they really outdid themselves, as they discovered the original film elements of Nightbreed and gave Clive Barker the opportunity to put together his own cut. The Director's Cut would be the definitive version of this film, and it's made up entirely by thoroughly restored original footage. If you were part of the cult, this was a dream come true.

With all that knowledge, it was time to watch the movie - because I knew about the history of the film I kept myself dark on the film itself. I chose to watch the Director's Cut of course. And what can I say? This is not a good movie, and it pains me to say that. I really wanted to enjoy this film. It's not even a matter of exceeding or falling short of expectations, I just sincerely could not enjoy the film. The first act felt disjointed; there was a lot happening that I didn't understand, nor did the film provide me a lot of clue in the end to what was happening. Our main character - played by Craig Sheffer- is flat generic and meaningless. His girlfriend, played by Anne Bobby, is perhaps the most versatile and impressive on screen, but her poor character keeps walking into danger. Many character actions just don't seem to make a lot of sense. The plot seems like a mess. Is this because there was such a focus on the "monster" makeup? Clive Barker's mind can produce some really interesting imagery, and it's all present here. Each of the dead, residents of Midian, are unique and interesting to look at. Unfortunately they all kind of suck. They are not interesting characters. In fact, they all seem like pushovers with a ton of negativity. Barker wants to guide us through a dream like world, but there's simply too much. The literal trip down the levels of this underground world is incredibly impressive: the monsters and sets are incredible. Unfortunately it's all marred by poor dialogue, silly actions and a weak story. Then there's Cronenberg - yes, that David Cronenberg, who plays a doctor who is really a serial killer trying to frame our poor protagonist. He aids in exposing the hidden refuge of these mutants, and helps the plot along and get us our actual "horror" in the film with traditional slasher methods. The mask he wears is brilliant.

Apparently Clive Barker wanted this to be a Star Wars of horror films, so to speak. And you can feel that ambition flowing from the film and it's rather unfortunate that it falls flat. It seems like this happens too often, and when you look back at some of the great trilogies and worlds, they are built on strong first outings, and those first films don't necessarily try to build up an entire world and leave strings out for future iterations. The first Star Wars film - episode IV - can stand on its own. When you boil down the plot and the characters, there are classic elements that have withstood the test of time and proven themselves in other films (before Star Wars). Through the creation of compelling characters, future stories are born.

The story of how this film came to be restored is interesting, and I'm envious of the fans of the movie. If only some other cult classics could be so lucky and treated with such care and passion. While the movie didn't impress me, I can see that passion coming through, and I can see hints of great, more wonderful things emerging.

WolfCop

Without knowing anything about the movie before seeing it, and judging entirely based on the title and the movie poster itself, you can and do expect a fair amount of cheese. And you get it, in spades. I certainly sat down and started watching this with the full expectation of a terrible movie and yet again, not so surprisingly, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The movie opens on Leo Fafard playing Lou, our soon to be titular wolf cop, waking up, hungover with a woman by his side in bed. The first thing you notice is that this film is not going to be subtle: Lou's an alcoholic to an extreme. And he's a cop, so seeing him drink on the job forces you to detest him, of course, but after the film continues to drive home his alcoholism, you can't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

It's no spoiler that he becomes a werewolf, as suggested by the title of the movie. And it is brilliant. Just brilliant. I love these werewolf films, and love that the film spends so much time on his initial transformation. It's disgusting. As it should be. They selectively choose what we see, to let our imaginations run just a bit wild with horror before the full reveal and give the film makers credit for their achievement in fantastic makeup and special effects with such a modest budget. With his new found abilities, Lou takes the high road and decides to make up for his lackluster human morals by fighting crime in his wolf form.

WolfCop answers all the questions that we didn't know we were asking: What part of you transforms to wolf first? Can werewolves eat anything other than people? How long can a person survive without a face? Can werewolves have sex? Or more importantly, make love?

We're treated to a delicious montage of gore, action and humour with scene after scene of ridiculousness. Of course, the movie can't take itself too seriously, and maintains a short run time. It's not going to overstay its welcome nor linger on any poor scenes before advancing onto the next: this movie knows what its doing and it gets the job done well.

We're left wanting more, and the movie promises a return. The sooner the better!

The Stuff

Starting a story can be difficult, I understand. It's an important part of the story structure, and when done properly or even differently, can draw you in, turn you away, or set the tone for what is to come. Years ago I had a thought that I should put together a web site that featured the opening credits of various movies. There must be a neat history lesson to learn here, but what I saw in many modern films is the complete lack of opening credits. Oftentimes, you don't even get the title of the movie until the very end, which can help immerse you into the film from the beginning then slap your face at the end to wake you up from the alternate reality you've just sat through to remind you that it's been a movie the entire time. A final blow to follow up on perhaps a revelatory ending. Or maybe the title comes up slowly, to ease you back into the real world.

When you put a movie on, before the beginning of the story, you get all the logos of the various studios involved in the creation of the film. This has become an art form upon itself, as more movies have taken it upon themselves to modify the logo a bit to suit the film's tone. The logos are typically animated, and run for ten to fifteen seconds. On some productions, you'll sit there for an entire minute before the movie starts, which is either frustrating, or a helpful aide to ease you into the experience.

The Stuff does it a bit differently. As it casts aside any association with production studios, the first frame jumps into the setup of the story, producing a jarring effect that doesn't really let up for the rest of the story. I guess, you could say, it helps set the tone for the rest of the movie, as it does away with any pretense that this is a legitimate film. Or maybe the copy of the movie we were watching had that element cut out - which is highly unlikely as it's never happened before. The scene is pretty simple and plays out the brief description of the film I read beforehand: a miner discovers a white ooze coming out of the ground, tastes it to find that it's delicious, then immediately declares that he can make a fortune selling it. Then we get a bit of overlay credits, including the title of the film, which affirms to me that we didn't just start the movie ten minutes in.

We're quickly introduced to Mo, a corporate saboteur who takes a contract from the ice cream industry to look into how the white ooze is made, as it is now packaged and sold as The Stuff. Mo is played by Michael Moriarty with an absolute genius performance, nearly breaking the fourth wall in scenes so ridiculous that they must have gone through many takes to get. He works with what he gets though, with some truly ridiculous dialogue, but is also given an opportunity to improvise in many of the scenes. So much of his dialogue is delivered through a half smile, that it's either a perfectly content, smug, confident character or it's just that laughable. Either way, it's an absolute treat to watch.

A young boy sees The Stuff moving on its own inside his family's refrigerator and freaks out - of course, but takes it to a whole new level by going on a rampage in the grocery store. The kid really plays it up, and tries to evade his family who are now under the control of the white ooze. It doesn't take long before he teams up with Mo (and is quickly abandoned without much thought) to discover the source of The Stuff and what it's doing to the populace of the country. They're joined by the woman who spearheaded the advertising campaign to make The Stuff as popular as it is, although at one point she mentions that it practically sells itself. The crew is also joined for a bit by "Chocolate Chip Charlie," who if I can recall was a CEO of a cookie company who has been kicked aside. So he fights back with his fists, which leads us into some nice comedic, gruesome fights.

The film moves along at a good pace, typically getting right into the substance of each scene. I think the movie achieves more than it's B-Movie goals, providing us with cult movie fuel by embracing the absurd and running with it. Larry Cohen, the director, was aiming to put a bit of commentary in on consumerism in the 80's, with an exaggerated parallel to the cigarette and alcohol industry: it may be bad for us, but we can't stop ourselves from consuming more and the overbearing advertising serves as a reminder and push to use/drink/ eat more. Just as in Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD, victims of The Stuff become zombies, their minds controlled and bent on spreading the ooze to more carriers. Messages of corporate greed, control and corruption are hammered home, especially after the day has been saved. The film has been described as a bit of a time capsule for the decade, so it's a fascinating way to look back at the years where I was just a child, oblivious to it all but still very much part of it.

"Enough is never enough"

Eden Lake

Never did I think that this film - of all films - would evoke an emotional response in such a sharp way. Even thirty minutes into the movie. Thirty minutes into the movie, and I turned it off. It was a crawling Sunday evening and I was looking for something to get into. It happens that Eden Lake has been sitting in the collection for some time, pre-judged as being a bit of a light, typical horror film. The poster gives it away: our distressed female protagonist is being chased through the woods by a group of menacing shadows. Nothing particularly supernatural, but you never know.

And the first thirty minutes, well, it lived up to expectations. We follow Jenny and her husband Steven (I love the plain names) played by Kelly Reilly and Michael Fassbender (admittedly a big reason I put the movie on in the first place) as they travel to a small, remote town situated on the aptly titled Eden Lake. They make sure to let us know that the towns people are a bit off, but it's all good as they advance down to the beach, get into their swim wear and start relaxing.  The lake itself is pristine, and the beach is gently nestled between the water and incredibly rich forest. It's a nice locale.

Things go quickly downhill as Jenny and Steve are interrupted by a group of teenagers doing decidedly bad teenage things: they are loud, obnoxious, disrespectful and downright rude. That's an understatement, but it doesn't escalate right away to more horrible things. Steve confronts them, asks them to turn down their music and perhaps find another spot on the beach. But of course they don't, and the hooligans start actively screwing with our lovely couple, to a point where there car is stolen and I turn the movie off because I was just invited over to dinner at a friend's house.

Fast forward three weeks or so and the poster enticed me again. I pop it on and the movie has a different feel. Jenny and Steve are in for a ride of their lives, as events escalate between them and the teenagers to a horrifying degree, with an end that is sure to leave you upset. After checking out reviews, I find it's not uncommon for people to hate the movie, and I can easily see how this is the case. It doesn't end with a great note. After we take the journey with Jenny, the credits roll and we're left with a bad taste in our mouths.

Isn't this the point though? If it was run through the Hollywood cleaner, the film would be lost. What we end up with is a movie - and ending - that sticks with you for a bit, just like The Mist did years ago.

I sat there and wondered if things like this could actually happen. For a movie that is grounded in reality, it certainly seems unbelievable as you watch. But I know exactly how seemingly nothing can escalate into something, and the result is horrifying. It's happened in my life before - an event that I can't stop thinking about all the time, nearly eight years after the fact. We hear about social experiments where people are put in seemingly normal situations and things escalating into an unpredictable series of events that will leave you dumbfounded. People are crazy and there's no way to prove otherwise. Unfortunately one aspect of this film is reassuring you that it only takes one: in this case, the alpha male who acts as the ring leader in this circus of horrors. He pushes the others, and punishes any who question him or his actions. The others follow suit and do as they're told. When will they stop and help the victims? Peer pressure is an amazing thing, and I think it gets captured here, although I like to believe that people would tap out before the depictions in the film. Optimistic is something that I can pretend to be, but this movie is going to push me right back down.

It's also making me think of how easy it is to prey on "small town people." I understand that movies are made for the masses, and the masses are condensed into cities. These people - myself included - can't comprehend the life of someone who may live on the outskirts. We know what we know. And it's easy to demonize the unknown. Remotely isolated people are cannon fodder to horror movies, and this is no different: the people depicted in this film are unrealistic but serve the film for what it is. Anyway, that's all a bit of an aside/response to some things I read online about the movie after watching it.

While Eden Lake wasn't a master stroke of film making, it was surprisingly shocking and interesting, elevating it above other lesser, more forgettable movies.

Insidious

There was quite a bit of talk surrounding Insidious when it first came out (2010, for what it's worth). Suffice to say, I ignored most of it as I don't typically get caught up in horror movies. But this one kept coming like a slow moving train in the distance. The singular light of this train was something I could easily walk away from, so I did. I had friends go see it, then promptly tell me about how I may not be able to handle it. This is most very true.

Then, I went on a couple of dates with this one girl, and she mentioned the movie. She seemed to be in a similar predicament, in not wanting to watch it alone. Well, you can see where this is going, but you should also know that this is me acting here, and we never did end up watching it (I blundered it up well enough, for your information, but that's practically a given as well). So I had this movie sitting around for a couple of years waiting to go, and it seems the mood struck right. I mentioned my horror movie bunker, where I was able to work up enough courage and turn this film on.

I was incredibly impressed. I didn't realize the film was full of great talent, including the beautiful Rose Byrne and the always interesting Patrick Wilson. Apparently the writer, Leigh Whannell, had handy a list of horror movie cliches that he forced himself to avoid, and the result is a fairly original film that worked on many more levels than just cheap thrills. It reminded me of Cabin in the Woods, where horror movie cliches were exploited and turned on their head. Insidious avoids the head on collision of those same cliches, but doesn't bother to poke fun while they pass in the other direction. Insidious pushes through a new path; it may not use entirely new ideas, but it does use those ideas (astral-projection, hauntings, etc) in an entirely positive way. While watching it, I couldn't help but feel like I was watching a classic: it's a movie I could go back to twenty years from now and appreciate in the way that I go back now and appreciate the "classic" horror movies from the seventies and eighties.

This is a genuinely scary film, that when I step back and think about it, keeps pulling me in. The director is able to convey everything required with what seems to be pretty practical effects. The music is full of striking chords. Was I scared? Let's say the bunker did a good job and I didn't have any dreams about apparitions, entities hiding in the shadows, or demons trying to take over my body.

The House of the Devil

If you're into eighties style horror films, then you need to check this film out. I wasn't entirely sure myself, but
I also wasn't entirely sure this was in the eighties style. My co-worker told me to take a look whenever I had the chance, and as it turns out, the moon was in the right phase and I was able to do just that. And I was seriously impressed.

It can take a lot for me - sometimes - to watch a horror film by myself, so I reverted to my horror movie bunker: a bright, sunny Sunday afternoon on the couch, tablet in hand to distract me from the scary moments.

But I didn't need the second screen.

Something about the film grabbed me from the beginning. Perhaps it's the way the movie was shot. According to IMDB it was filmed in 16mm, just like many horror movies of the past. To say it felt retro may be an understatement. I really couldn't figure out throughout the film if this was a modern film made up to look old or it really was just an old film. I never did consult my tablet throughout to find out: I didn't want the mystery to be ruined, nor did it matter. The film grabbed me.

We follow the beautiful college student Samantha through her peril of living with a terrible roommate and not being able to afford a place of her own. It drives her to look for work and take whatever she can: a basic ad for a babysitter catches her eye and we immediately know it's bad news. She knows too, but keeps pushing into the unknown.

The slow pacing of the film is ideal and a welcome change from the fast edits and action of any modern horror film. It builds up tension, which is something that could very well be missing in modern film making, but also understandably frustrates some viewers. You can get confused: there is our main protagonist, who takes center stage at all times. She has a friend - briefly - but in the back of your mind (or at least, mine) I couldn't help but think that a modern film would load up the screen with your generic horror stereotypes, to ensure that we can have a solid murder every fifteen to twenty minutes. And somebody always survives, right? So what happens when there is only one?

Another thing I found great about this film was the brief yet completely unexplained supernatural elements. I certainly don't want to spoil anything for you here so I won't go into any detail. Of course. Especially near the end of the film, where we see some odd behaviour in both people and nature that defies all logic, but we let it go. As the viewer, you're in on it and don't mind.

Anyway, that may not do the movie justice. Just know that this was the perfect Sunday afternoon movie, and a perhaps a great experience from your own horror movie bunker.