Silence of the Lambs

This week we got to watch the film Silence of the Lambs. A film based on a book of the same name by Thomas Harris. The movie, in case you've been living under a rock for the last twenty years or so, is about a woman named Clarice who's tracking a serial killer named Buffalo Bill, with the help of everyone's favorite psychopathic serial killer and cannibal Hannibal Lecter.

Okay first of all, let me start this by saying I'm a huge Anthony Hopkins fan. I adore the man. I love everything I've seen with him in it and this film is no exception. I loved it. And I have loved it since I first saw it years ago. In fact I used this class as an excuse to buy the film on bluray. So if you don't want to read me carry on about how much I love this movie and Anthony Hopkins click out now. Still here? Okay, let's do this thing.

The first thing I want to talk about in this film is how well it's acted. 90% of the films awesomeness is in casting Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. The man was mad brilliant. I've not seen the script so I'm just guessing here, but the man brought a whole level to Lecter that no one else could do. He made him real and charming and just deeply disturbed. Yes, the writing was brilliant but had they cast anyone else to play Hannibal it would not have worked. It needed the magic that only Anthony Hopkins could bring to the table.

The second thing I would like to talk about was how well cut together this film was. I mean the editing people did A++ work on this film. The reveal scene was so well cut together that if you didn't already know what was going to happen, then you wouldn't know what was going to happen. It's the sort of thing that in writing may not be easy to pull off. But in film it not only worked but it was awesome.

Also worth talking about here is how well crafted the psychos are in this book. Becuase yes there are two, and no they are not alike. And they are both so well done. My psych degree makes it so I  have a hard time with some versions of psychos as believable. I did not get that from Hannibal or Buffalo Bill. It was clear that the writer and the actors did thier research and thier jobs to a T. To which I say bravo gentlemen, you slayed it.

There's a reason that this movie is a classic. Because it's awesome. The story is good. The acting (thanks mostly to Anthony Hopkins) was brilliant. And the dialogue was incredible and real. The whole film was just well done and I highly recommend it to anyone.

Works Cited

The Silence of the Lambs. Dir. Jonathan Demme. Perf. & Jodie Foster Anthony Hopkins. 1991. Bluray.

The Blob (1988)

This week we got to watch the 1988 version of The Blob. Which in case you were not aware is a remake of the movie 1958 version also titled The Blob. And from what I understand they are trying to remake this film again due out in 2016, with again the same name The Blob. This movie is about a giant placenta looking monster that rolls around eating every living thing in site and growing out of control. No really, it looks just like a placenta. Look here. I'll wait. Gross right? Well, what did you expect it's a killer monster. It's not going to look like Tom Hiddleston (all though that would be lovely all be it illogical if it did).

The trailer. Enjoy all of the cheesetastic 80's mullets. 

Anyway, it the spirit of full disclosure this is not the first time I have seen this film. I saw it when I was really little (hear this as 5 years old...and if you wondered why I write horror now you know why. I was corrupted ever so lovingly by my mother to adore all things that go bump in the night). My mom was a huge monster buff and if it had monsters in it then I saw it with her. So yeah, I haven't seen this movie in ages. In fact, I barely remember it. Which is weird because there are some of the most epic mullets I have ever seen in my life in this film. You would think that sort of hair travesty would stay with you...but it appears that I blocked it out...perhaps as a form of self-protection from bad hair choices.

The first thing I want to talk about this film is how sexist it really is but how under the radar it tries to be about it. The first instance is when the main female character Meg gets knocked out. I mean she literally gets bumped into a wall and gets knocked out. I'm calling BS on that. I hit a dashboard at 50 miles an hour, sustained a fracture to the skull, and frontal lobe damage, but I never lost consciousness for one moment. So yeah I found this offensive that as a girl she's deemed to be so dainty (hear this as useless and ineffective) that a simple bump to the back of her head can knock her out. They may as well have had her swoon and pass out Victorian style. Then there is the implied pending date rape...I mean that one speaks for itself and Mr. 'I have a blender in my trunk, please have a roofy-colada,' deserves every bit of what he got and more. Third why when during the scene in the sewer does the blob look like a deformed cervix (see what that looks like here)? I mean I shouldn't have to say that that is symbolic of women eating people. This whole movie really chapped my ass, that it seemed so anti-female. I left this film thinking that someone had some serious issues with women. And it really put me off.

As far as the special effects go, I feel like I had seen them all before. If you have ever seen Creepshow (1982) and Creepshow 2 (1987) you know what I am talking about. The scene with the homeless man poking the blob with a stick smacked of the scene in Creepshow titled, 'The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill.' I half expected the homeless man to say "I got meteor shit on me." It became funny rather than scary. Then there was the scene after the afore mention date rape scene that is directly ripped from Creepshow 2, titled, 'The Raft,' where an unsuspecting girl is also killed in a very similar manner. Nothing really seemed all that different than what had already been done. I was meh, about the efforts to make this unique. Also, if you haven't seen either Creepshow or Creepshow 2 I highly recommend that you do.

I also thought this movie felt very dated in how the government/scientists are portrayed. I felt very 80's to me where government = bad. I'm not saying that's not true now...I'm just saying that in 80's films it seems to scream  that equation a lot louder. And g it also got used as a scapegoat more frequently in 80's films than in other decades.

I did however like the in movie satire about the Friday the 13th style movie. I like that it parodied the movie in this movie. I like that it wasn;t afraid to lampoon its own genre. That took balls so good on them.  I also liked the addition of the harbinger character in the priest. I think you can't really have a good horror movie without a harbinger of doom. And you can't go wrong with the crazy priest or religious figure as your harbinger.

Overall, I didn't hate this film...but I wouldn't watch it again. I may give the next remake a whirl..hoping that it will not be so dated and sexist...but I will not be watching this one again. It's not the worst movie I have sat through. But, it definitely be the last time I watch this version of the film.

Works Cited

The Blob. Dir. Chuck Russell. Perf. Kevin Dillon & Shawnee Smith. DVD. 1988

Creepshow. Dir. George A. Romero. Perf. Leslie Neilson & Ed Harris. DVD. 1982

Creepshow 2. Dir. Michael Gornick. Perf. Tom Savini & George Kennedy. DVD. 1987 

John Carpenter's The Thing

This week we watched John Carpenter's The Thing. A movie about an alien that mimics life forms from earth at the peril of a very beardy Kurt Russell. I've seen this movie several times and its prequel and I like them both. This film more than its prequel though.

Anyway the first thing I want to talk about is the special effects. Yes they are a little 80's and some of the creature effects are a little plastic looking. But for the time it was awesome. I just have one thing to say in defense of that. Bloodcicles. That's right icicles of blood. Frozen so fast that they are still connected to the veins that they sprang from. And it was f'ing glorious. Sure at times the blood looked like strawberry syrup...but there was just so much of it that it didn't put me off...it kind of made me want some ice cream though.

I would also like to put forth two alternate titles for this film. The first 'A Series of Bad Decisions.' Because seriously this movie would not have happened if they hadn't made so many bad choice. Bad decision number one: Let's take Ina stray dog (it's not like it could be sick or anything) . Bad decision number two: let's bring the half burnt mutated body back from the Norwegian camp (what could possibly go wrong?). Bad decision number three: Let's just let this stray dog wander about (because letting it do whatever it wants is a great plan). And last but not least bad decision number four: Let's keep the bodies around and hope they are dead. See nothing but bad choices.

My second offering for a title is 'Kill It! Kill It With Fire!' Because seriously...they got to flame throwers pretty fast. Why would they even have a flame thrower up there? I'm not sure why, and I'm not complaining (because flame throwers are awesome) but they she got to kill it with fire pretty quick.

The last thing I want to talk about is the legacy this movie has left. Show of hands, who like the  Resident Evil franchise (movies or games)? *Hops up and down waiving hands* I know I do. Now look at how the aliens open up to eat. Then look at how the symbiotes in Resident Evil open up (specifically the dogs). Is see a clear lineage there. One clearly inspired the other. Which is awesome. It also shows how influential this movie really is. Aliens to symbiotes. Monsters all. What a beautiful horrifying connection.

Over all I really like this film. That said it is not my favorite Carpenter film. That would be Vampires. And if you haven't seen it you should. It's awesome. Anyway this movie was awesome, and dated or not this movie is assume too.

Works Cited
The Thing. Dir. John Carpenter. Perf. Kurt Russell. 1982. DVD
Resident Evil. Dir. Paul W. S. Anderson. Perf. Milla Jovovich. 2002. Blu-Ray
Vampires. Dir. John Carpenter. Perf. James Woods. 1998. DVD

Alien

This week we got to watch the movie Alien starring Sigourney Weaver. I'm not going to summarize it for you though... Because if you lived through the 80's or 90's you already know what is about. If you missed those decades stop reading this and go watch the movie. I'm not kidding. Go. Everyone should see this film. Everyone. No, exceptions.

The first thing I want to talk about is the beginning of this film. There are approximately 6 minutes we don't see characters. All we get is scenery. Which in fiction we are good not to do. Ever. But here in this film it's shameless about is wanting you to notice and appreciate the scenery. I love that. It's so very wrong in fiction that it seems decadent and lovely in film. It's one of those things that film can pull off, but fiction cannot. Which is kind of a bummer.

Another convention that works in film but not fiction is the repeating scene. Specifically the 'we just woke up from hypersleep and we're starving scene.' This scene occurs in every film in this franchise. Go check. I'll wait. Even the prequel Prometheus has almost the exact scene. Which is great for a film franchise...but a big giant no-no in fiction.  If we use the same scene in every book in a series we get called unoriginal and the scene gets cut. Which I guess is maybe a filmmakers privilege. Even more so if your name is Ridley Scott. I guess being awesome lets you make that call.

One of my favorite parts of this movie is Ripley. For one very specific reason. Ripley was not intended to be a female character. She was written gender androgynous but intended to be male. But when they were doing casting they decided Ripley would be a female. And here's why that's awesome: she doesn't feel gender swapped. A lot of times in sci-fi/action/horror, the female characters that started as male characters don't seem authentically female. This is not one of those stories. Ripley may have started male, but she feels female. A strong, smart, capable female. And for that I love this film.

Can we all take a minute and appreciate that all the bad choice in this movie are made by the men. Usually in horror we get the "dumb blond running up the stairs when she should be running out the front door " type. I mean seriously it's a problem. We get girls who accidentally open boxes and release demons, girls who tell others about their dream demon allowing him to jump to others dreams, and girls who decide that smoking pot while having underage sex at camp and let a child drown and turn into a monster. But not in this film. In Alien, we get the guys making epically bad choices like: I'll just touch what's clearly an alien egg then stand here like a dumbass while it hops out and attacks me, or let's open the hatch and let the guy whose face is getting raped by an alien inside the ship, or let's cut off the leg of this unknown alien, and we can't forget the worse choice of all, we'll just let the guy who was face raped sit and eat with us, no need for quarantine. And who is the voice of reason? Ripley. Always Ripley. Because she's the shit.

Can we all just agree that if an android appears in a horror or sci-fi movie that they are going to be evil. It's pretty much a foregone conclusion at this point. That said I would still like someone to explain to me how they went from David (in the Alien prequel Prometheus) to the Ash model (in this film) of android? Seems like a downgrade to me. While he's just as culpable to Ash I much prefer the Michael Fassbender (David) android. Still evil but pretty. I'd sign up for a David android. No problem.

The last thing I want to talk about is the cat. It's no surprise I'm a cat person. I have a cat asleep behind me and one in my lap as I type this. But to be fair I love all animals I just find cats to be allies as I'm allergic to rodents. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. But I digress. The point I was trying to make (ineffectually) was that they didn't go for the shameless emotional appeal with the cat in this film. They could have, but they didn't. They took the high road. In my opinion too often horror writers go for the lowbrow emotional appeal of killing a pet instead of going for a real scare. I think it's a crutch and it's never effective for me when they make the scare mostly about killing house pets. I hate that. To me, it's pandering and I'm glad they didn't go that way in this film. The cat is there it's in peril, just like the humans, but it's not the scare. Instead, its peril adds to the overall scare without the last ditch effort of emotional appeal over its death. And for that I say, "Thank you," to Ridley Scott.

The alien/xenomorph on Family Guy...because this post was way too serious and I can't let that stand. 

Overall I love this movie. I think it's awesome on so many levels. If you haven't seen it go watch it. You won't regret it.

Works Cited

Alien. Dir. Ridley Scott. Perf. Sigourney Weaver. 1979. Blu-Ray.

Ghostbusters

The last piece we were asked to look at for my RIG Horror class is Ghostbusters. I am no stranger to this film. I saw it first when I was a little kid. In fact I grew up watching the Ghostbusters TV cartoon every Saturday morning. And yes that was a thing, and yes I loved it even though they turned Slimer into a weird ghostly side kick instead of a poltergeist. I was a kid. that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.

Like with the last reading I'm not quite sure that I would consider this horror. For me it's too silly and more of a comedy than a horror. I saw it on the list and I was like "What..." (Hear this in minion voice). I guess it could fall under haunting, for obvious reasons. Sure there are ghosts, and such but there are no real horror elements. For me placing this film in with horror is like saying Shaun of the Dead in horror. Both are more comedy than horror in my opinion.

I do genuinely enjoy that in the film they employed science to find, trap, and contain ghosts. I think it's really the only movie with haunting of any kind that attempts to contain the entities. The others all attempt to drive them off, damn them to hell, or is some form cast them out. Not Ghostbusters. They think hmm, lets catch all these ghosts and keep them in a tank in the office like ectoplasm filled goldfish or something. Now tell me that's not a comedy. In case you needed further proof that this film is a comedy the final big bad is a giant marshmallow man. That's a right  a giant marshmallow. How on earth is a giant marshmallow scary.

To prove marshmallows are not scary I give you Marshmallow Murder. For no other reason than Marshmallows are funny and not scary. 

Steve!!! See not scary. Not even a little bit.

So I love the movie. I will always love the movie. It's funny and reminds me of my childhood in so many ways. As a closer for the semester I think it fits me perfectly though. I enjoy comedic ghosts, and I love Bill Murray. But at the end of the class I am and always will feel the same about ghosts, and ghost stories. "I ain't afraid of no ghost," (Reitman).

Works Cited

Ghostbusters. Dir. Ivan Reitman. Perf. Dan Aykroyd, & Bill Murray. 1984. DVD.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

This week in class we got to read The Exorcism of Emily Rose. A paranormal courtroom drama based on supposedly true events in the life of a young woman named Emily Rose. This is not my first time watching this movie, in fact I didn't have to buy a copy because I already had one. I'm a fan of one of the main actresses so of course it was already in my collection. I've seen it a couple of times but I re-watched it so that I would have specific things to talk about for this post. 

What I Liked:

Jennifer Carpenter:

Okay, so I am a huge Jennifer Carpenter fan from her days on Dexter as Dexter's foul mouthed sister Debra Morgan. I really just loved that character. Rarely do women get to be the foul mouth, and not only was Debra a foul mouth she had some of the best one liners and creative cursing I have every heard and enjoyed. She made me laugh. So yeah I watched this movie the first time because I liked Jennifer and she didn't disappoint me. She was excellent in this film in her portrayal of a woman who is definitely afflicted with something (more on that later). She's mad brilliant and I love her in this film...but I'm not going to lie I kind of missed the foul mouth. And I will always love her as Debra best. If you want to see what I am talking about and you haven't seen Dexter watch this clip here (but free warning it's fairly profane), and watch Dexter on Netflix. It's awesome and Jennifer is awesome in it.

A couple Debra non profane moments for your enjoyment. 

The Demon Eyes/Great Visual Effects:

I also really enjoyed the special effects in this film. From the demon eyes that seemed to leak black goo to the awesome make up they did on Jennifer to show her deteriorating state. I felt that it was really well done and didn't seem to over the top compared to what we've seen in movies like The Exorcist films were. They seemed plausible and realistic...well except the demon eyes. Those where just awesome.

The Scientific Approach to Possession:

Not that anyone is surprised at this point but I loved the scientific approach to this movie. My little scientific heart skipped a beat when I first watched it. I'm a big fan of trying to disprove this sort of thing. That said there are some glaring problems with this movies science. First of all the one doctor claims he would treat her with ECT more commonly known as electroshock therapy. Here's the problem with that: ECT is used only by consent and has not been used on psychosis since the 70's. It's actually used only for major depressive disorder now and never with out full consent. If they were going to use that they  should have set this back when that ECT was still used for that. Just the same I liked the effort but they should have done their research before they used that.

Accurate Depiction of SIB, Rigidity, and Destruction of Property

I really enjoyed the accurate depiction of the ailments that Emily Rose suffered. The postures and behaviors of actress Jennifer Carpenter where spot of for these sorts of manifestations of behavior. First of all I love the pure physicality of the actress. Second I work with kids who exhibit several of these behaviors and she freaking nailed it. The frozen rigid poses (I actually see this regularly), the SIB, the destruction of property, they nailed those to. To someone who doesn't work with people who do these sorts of things regularly then I'm sure it could be seen as demonic, for me I saw it as accurate portrayal of mental illness. Around 51 minutes into the film Emily Rose is frozen on the floor in a perfect representation of a behavior I have seen represented in real life as recently as this week. It was so accurate I wanted to clap. Sure it's a weird thing to enjoy but when there are so many bad representations of these behaviors out there, when you see a good one you applaud the pains they went to make it perfect.

The blackout contacts make this seem way scarier than it actually is in real life. But still awesome. 

Ending Quote:

"Once You've looked into the darkness, I believe you carry it with you the rest of your life" (Derrickson). Need I say more? That's a brilliant line and I love it. They did an excellent job with dialogue in this film in not only rang true but had a lot of profound moments. I'm not spiritual, nor religious but I really appreciated the way the words where crafted in this film. They were well thought out and meaningful. The above quote just happens to stand out to me as possibly the best one.

What I Didn't Like:

Based On A True Story:

Can we not? The film starts with "This film is based on a true story," (Derrickson) and every time I see those words I swear my ass twitches. All it took was a simple google search to find out that one Emily Rose doesn't exist, Father Moore doesn't exist, the names are pure fiction. The movie is influenced by supposed real events that occurred to Anneliese Michel in 1976, the priest is an amalgamation of a Reverend and a Priest that tried to exorcised her. Also it's worth noting that Anneliese didn't just have 1 exorcism, she had 67, she chose to stop eating (trying to fast the demons out), she wasn't forced to do so, and  it is pretty widely excepted that her whole possession was a fraud, that was heavily influenced by the movie The Exorcist that came out two years before. I also find it destroys credibility for this story that Anneliese's parents had her body exhumed and reburied in a tin lined oak casket (to make sure the demon stayed inside her dead body)...So clearly being a crazy pants runs in the family. If they were going to change so much then they should have said inspired by not based on true events. Then it would have made a little less of a Crabby Patty. 

So Not A Horror Movie:

Yeah so am I the only one who noticed this is not a horror movie. It's a paranormal courtroom drama at best. Not a horror movie. I am really annoyed with how Hollywood will slap horror on so many movies that just aren't horror (*coughs* The Village *coughs*). This is another example of Hollywood pandering to an audience that they think will make them the most money but not living up to the genre convention in a pretty big way. The whole bill it as this, when it's really that is obnoxious and I wish they would stop doing that. If you are a hard core horror fan (and I am) and you see this is the horror section, you will most likely be upset when it doesn't deliver on it's promises. Not cool Hollywood, stop doing this.

Final Thoughts:

Admittedly this film has it's flaws, but over all it's a really good film and I genuinely enjoys it. That said if it weren't for Jennifer Carpenter's performance I may not have received it so well. A lot of the flaws I was able to overlook because of her amazing physical performance.

Works Cited

The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Dir. Scott Derrickson. Perf. Laura Linney & Jennifer Carpenter. 2005. DVD.

The Others

This week we got to watch the film The Others staring Nicole Kidman for our RIG Horror class. Confession time: This is not the first time I have seen this film. I have seen it a lot. I actually saw it on it’s opening night. I had a friend who’s favorite actor (Nicole Kidman) in it so I could get her to go with me to a scary film. Normally she’s a Rom Com kind of girl. So I jumped at the chance to get to see this one with her. Anyway I was really glad that I did because I loved the movie. The twist ending was probably my favorite part (more on that later). But anyway I ended up buying the movie when it hit Blu-ray and I've watched it a bunch since then. But to make sure I remembered it accurately I watched it again last night so I could give a thorough once over for you guys. 

What I Liked:

Gothic Nature of The Film:

So it’s no secret I am a freak for all things Gothic. I love it and this movie is Gothic as hell. Lush setting, isolated decrepit mansion, fog, three low graves by a Tim Burton-esque dead tree, the twist ending, intruders, ghosts, the self playing piano, mystery, intrigue, and so much more. Every Gothic detail imaginable was attended to. And visually it made this movie very rich and detailed for me.

As Gothic as it gets. Fog (check), Foreboding house in the background (check), heavy sigh (check). 

Hints All The Way Through:

I love how there are hints the whole way through the film of what the twist ending is. In fact one of the first times we see the character Mr. Tuttle he says “I imagine he’s dead like all the rest” (Amenábar) as he approaches the house. If that's not premonition I guess I must not know what is. It’s not the only time we get that kind of glimpse but it’s so subtle that you may not even notice unless you are watching it for the 20th time and you’re a total nerd like myself. But they are there for those of us so inclined to look for them.

I also liked how the children knew what had happened from the beginning. Well at least Anne did. But immediately her view point is discounted because it doesn't mesh with the mothers view point. I love that the kids are the smart ones and they know what is going on but no one will believe them including their own mother. The mother doesn't even entertain the idea that the children could be right. She just shuts it down as nonsense. One of the first scenes we get of the children, we have Anne say emphatically “It did happen,” (Amenábar) and she is soundly put down. Mom’s denial is stronger than the children’s understanding. That understanding being a major theme throughout the rest of the film.

How's that for discounting the children's POV. 

Imagery:

I love the use of curtains as a metaphor in this film. Usually that sort of metaphor is reserved for books not film. I love how they serve a dual purpose of keeping the light out and metaphorically for keeping the truth out. When the curtains are intact the characters are in denial. When they have been remove then the truth comes out. I love, love, love that this detail was put in there. It’s subtle yet meaningful.

The Ending:

Usually I am not surprised by the ending of movies. I tend to see them coming a mile away. But the first time I saw this film I had no idea what was coming. It’s so masterfully crafted that on first watch I had no idea how it would end.

What I Didn't Like:

So again I had to find something I hated in a movie I loved and the only thing I could come up with is this:

The Husband Coming Back:

I really don’t understand the reasoning for the appearance of the husband. It seems really out of place in the story. He just sort of meanders in and then meanders back out. For me I don’t see the point. It seems like it could have been cut and the plot would have been fine. He doesn't really do anything, nor does he move the plot forward for me. He almost seems like a way to elongate the story rather than improve it. For me all the husband scenes could be cut and it would be just fine. Maybe someone else can figure out why he’s even in there. Because I couldn't  figure it out.

Final Thoughts:

Over all I really enjoy this film. I have very little negative things to say about it. It’s a good film and the twist ending is very earned.

Works Cited

The Others. Dir. Alejandro Amenábar. Perf. Nicole Kidman. 2001. Blu-ray.