Wrapped Up Like A Mummy

With six days left, and six movies to go, I figured I had better get these things watched and reviewed so I can finish this challenge right on the last possible day for it. I was hoping to get a review in for the other blog I write for. Maybe I will try to get two reviews in one day so I can do that. With computer issues and trying to get this challenge done on time, I haven't been writing anything over there for nearly a month now. When I agreed to write there, I said I would at least try to get one review a week done. While I didn't set that in stone, I do feel bad for not doing just that, and especially for so long a period now. For today though I got back to the Hammer films. Since I didn't want to focus on one series, I did want to at least watch the first movie of each series. For today I went with The Mummy (1959).

The year in 1895 and there is an archaeological dig taking place in Egypt. Stephen (Felix Aylmer) and Joseph (Raymond Huntley) have been trying to find Princess Ananka's tomb. Along with Stephen's son, John (Peter Cushing) who injured his leg, they manage to find it at last. Before Stephen and Joseph enter the tomb though, a man (George Pastell) warns them in a not so subtle way that all will die who enter the tomb. Once inside and knowing for sure this is the tomb they were looking for, Joseph heads back out to inform John of their good news. While talking to John, Stephen lets out a frightened yell. When he rushes back in, Joseph finds Stephen in the mist of a mental break down. A couple of years later, everyone in back home except for Stephen, who is in something of a rest home. Stephen calls for John one day, and tells him about the mummy that came out of a wall in the tomb. He fears that the mummy is coming to kill them all. John writes it off as his father still being mentally ill. When his father is killed, and he learns that the guy that warned them off a few years ago is in town, maybe his father wasn't so crazy after all.

Even though The Mummy was made after Dracula and The Curse Of Frankenstein (my next Hammer review), The Mummy was actually the first movie that got the green light from Universal Studios to remake. As of this writing, I have yet to watch Universals version of this movie, so I can't compare the two films at all. I wasn't real sure how well I was going to like this movie because of the way it started. I know not all of Egypt is only sand, but that is what people think of when they picture that country. So it is always odd to see trees and other things all around. When they entered the tomb there was way too much light in there. I often complain about movies being too dark, but now there was too much light. They had torches, but I noticed the light wasn't shifting as the torches moved. It did get better from there though. There are two flashbacks. One explains the back story of the Princess Ananka (who looks a lot like John's wife) and Kharis some 4,000 years ago. The other is a quick flashback to the start of the film, where we actually see the mummy this time. The first flashback was a little on the lame side. There was a lot of chanting, with everyone holding their hands up like they are about the arrested. Another thing I didn't care for, and I know they use it most versions, is the reincarnated love interest. Do we really need that? It is a monster movie after all.

The Mummy was slight on blood, but they did have some other cool effects going here. The mummy itself was the main effect here. Christopher Lee gets the part for this movie, and does a great job with it even if he doesn't talk much yet again. The makeup department did a wonderful job with the mummy makeup, making sure that Lee's face was still showing through the bandages. This was a nice makeup effect because it make the mummy seem more human again. Another nice effect is when the mummy is shot. They really do make it look like the bullet went completely through him. Peter Cushing gets the lead role again for the good guy. I enjoyed his acting this time because after being choked, he would just simply fall limply to the floor. After recovering, he would still touch his neck at times like it was still hurting. Don't always see that from actors. Yvonne Furneaux gets the dual part of Princess and Isobel. Eddie Byrne plays the part of Inspector Mulrooney, who is actually a pretty smart guy. Wait a minute, a smart cop in a horror movie? When did this happen?

One of the things I really liked about The Mummy was Christopher Lee's take on the character. I liked how the mummy would stumble along at times. As it turns out, this wasn't all acting on Lee's part. It sounds like Lee went through hell for this movie. He dislocated his shoulder, threw his back out, injured his knees and shins in the swamp scenes, and the squibs used for the gun shots left burn marks on him. That is truly taking one for the love of the art. I think that Hammer ended up making a good film here over all. It is a fun movie that went by faster than I thought it would. It was nice to see an actual horror movie about the mummy. The 1999 remake was nothing more than an action movie with horror being more of an after thought. It was fine if you like those kinds of movies, and I admit I had fun with it. But it was a far cry from the early films it takes from.
4 out of 5 Wondering who I was in a past life

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope everyone gets what they want this year. Remember to be good for next year!

The Smell Of Chocolate

At long last I have reached my last catch up review. Only took me over a week to get them done. I haven't been watching other movies at all while trying to catch these up, so I am looking forward to getting to new movies. I think I am getting closer to watching all of the first season of the Masters Of Horror. When I went to pull another episode to watch, it took me a while to find one I had yet to watch this time. Good thing I have both seasons to work through. The movie I ended up pulling from the first set was Mick Garris' Chocolate (2005).

Jamie (Henry Thomas) is a lonely guy. He is divorced from his wife, and doesn't get to see his son all that often. Jamie works in a company that creates different flavors. Life isn't very exciting for him right now. That all changes one night when he suddenly wakes up with the taste of chocolate in his mouth. Not long after this, he loses his hearing for a short time. Then while driving he loses his eye sight. These things do cause him to panic some, but he sees images of a woman in his head each time something like this happens. As it starts to happen more and more, he wonders who this woman is, and why he feels so attracted to her. After seeing her do something very bad in one of the visions, he starts to put together clues and tries to find her.

This episode was written and directed by the creator of the show, Mick Garris. I was a little surprised that he would do an episode himself, but after seeing what things he has done, I wasn't so surprised anymore. For being the creator of the show though, I was expecting a lot more than I got. Garris admits that this was intended to be a feature length movie, not a one hour episode, but felt he could work it down into that without losing anything. I don't know what this story would have been like as a full length feature, but it didn't work as a one hour episode. I didn't feel that Chocolate was much of a horror movie. I don't see how anyone could have been scared from it. Garris described a scene where Jamie experiences something from a woman's perspective as horrifying. It came off to me as very weird and funny. If anyone can explain why this movie is horror, feel free to try and do so. It wasn't really the story itself, or maybe it was. I can't say that it was a boring story, but I just never really got the point of it at all. I'm trying to pinpoint what it was that made this episode so bland, but I'm having a hard time doing that. I hate that because now I feel like the review is going to end up being too short.

The last couple of Masters Of Horror that I have watched I thought the special effects were great in them. Chocolate reminded me that they aren't always so good. The big effect is of someone being cut open in their mid section. It looked very CGI and just not good at all. Maybe I'm wrong on this, but I really don't think someone would just hover over the other person while being cut open. It's not like it was done quickly. The acting was just okay to me. It wasn't that anyone did a bad job in this episode. I just wasn't overly impressed with anyone. Henry Thomas does a good job with the lead role. He reminds of the kind of guy that would drive me nuts, his character anyway. He's too quiet of a guy to really stand up for himself. I was surprised to see Matt Frewer in a small role in this episode. I can't place where I have watched him before, but I know I have.

Chocolate wasn't all bad, it did make me laugh at times after all. To be very honest about it, this has been the worse one for me so far. It was rather bland to me, and nowhere near being scary. Some of the plot didn't make a lot of sense, like when he lost his eye sight while driving. I guess you forget where the brake peddle is when you can't actually see it. I've seen some comments from other people that they are glad that they didn't watch this episode first. They felt they may not have given the rest of the series a chance. Not everyone didn't like Chocolate, there are people out there that enjoyed it. Still, I would give some of the others a shot before watching this one.
2 out of 5 I've seen a bed move more during sex than he moved!

Those Silly Snowmen

I started this review right after finishing up my last one, but obviously I didn't finish it. I was having one of those days Sunday where I just felt tired all day, so I ended up taking a nap. That didn't seem to help all that much though. Then yesterday I traded in my leased car for a new car. Hopefully I didn't make a mistake in getting this new one. I'm not sure how well I like the new car over my old one, but it is a newer car and the payments aren't too much more than the old car. Hopefully I won't be mad at myself over it. Anyway, another movie that I found made by Hammer Studios that I thought would be interesting because it is so different, is The Abominable Snowman (1957).

Dr. Rollason (Petter Cushing) is a botanist working in the Himalayas. An American scientist, Tom Friend (Forrest Tucker) is about to head into the Himalayas in order to search for the Yeti, or Abominable Snowman, as it is sometimes called. Friend wants Rollason on his team because he knows the area, and is a great climber. He knows that Rollason will be able to help him out a lot. Rollason wants to go, but is afraid that Friend is too worried about making money off of finding a Yeti, instead of just proving that they are real. He talks it over with his wife (Maureen Connell), and decides he will join Friend's team. Will they find what they are looking for? Maybe the more important question is, will they give their lives to find what they are looking for?

There have been a few films about the Yeti, or Bigfoot, which is thought to be the same creature. But there haven't been a lot of them. I tried looking up a history of these types of movies, but came up empty. I was wondering if this might have been the first film that had to do with the yeti or not. Not that it really matters, I was just curious. The Abominable Snowman is a movie that I had a hard time calling a horror movie. There are some deaths in the film, but it has more of an adventure feel to it than horror. Some of the things that happen will remind you of any other film that has to do with snow and mountains. Climbers falling, or nearly falling, dealing with the cold, and of course they were always worried a bunch of snow would fall on their heads all at once. I thought I would be slightly disappointed by this movie, but I was actually a little surprised by it. I enjoyed the fact that we never really get to see what their version of the yeti looks like. I wouldn't say this for all movies, but sometimes it is nice to get to see the whole monster. It works for this movie though. They play off the yeti as a big mystery, for different reasons, so never giving us a clear view of it just adds to that mystery. I wasn't bored with the movie before the yeti showed up, but it made it more interesting when it did.

Being a black and white film, there are no real effects outside of the yeti. From what we do get to see of the creature, it looks pretty cool. It is too bad we don't get to see all of it actually. The acting was what carried the film more than anything. Peter Cushing was great as always. His interactions with Forrest Tucker were fun to watch, because they both have a different view on what to do if they discover that yetis are real.

I can't say I have watched a lot of horror films that have used a yeti or bigfoot in them. When I was a kid I would check books out of the library that dealt with these and other supposed real monsters. It was all very interesting to me in a way I can't really explain. They did some things in this movie with the yeti that I had never read about, or considered about them. It might have stretched things a little bit, but at the same time, it made me pay more attention to what was going on. The ending is left open in a way so you can say that possibly one of two things happened with Dr. Rollason. I did enjoy this movie, but I do wish it was more in the vain of horror. From what I have been reading, this was one of Hammer Studio's early horror films. It came out before they hit it big with Dracula and Frankenstein movies. It shows a little bit with the mix of genres, instead of being a straight up horror movie. Not a bad movie at all, but it could have been better.
3 out of 5 Does big feet mean a big...never mind

Weird Looking Woman

I'm still playing the catch up game here. After this post I will have two more movie reviews to catch up on. This will leave six more films to watch for the challenge. It will be close, but I'm still pretty sure I will get my challenge done by the end of the year. My computer breaking down was a set back, but not a fatal one. I also noticed that if all things go well from here on out, I will set a new high for total posts on the year. Despite a slump mid year, I was surprised to see that this was going to happen. After I finished reading my book one night (I only had 20 some odd pages left), I put in another Masters Of Horror episode. I got lucky again by pulling one out I had not watched yet, Deer Woman (2005).

Dwight Faraday (Brian Benben) is a detective who is down on his luck. His old partner was killed, and even though he was cleared of all wrong doing, he still feels some guilt over it. His wife has left him because of it all, which just adds to his depression. At work he has been demoted to the animal attack cases. While staring at the picture of his wife and kid, he gets a call to go check out a report of a deer attack. Once he is there, he discovers that the body of the person is inside the living space of his semi truck. Deciding that is very unlikely that an animal would be able to do that much damage to a person inside of a truck, he hands off the case to a homicide detective. After seeing the body in the morgue though, he begins to believe that it was in fact a deer that killed the man. Dana (Sonja Bennett) found deer prints in the bloody mess that is now this person, which just adds to Dwight's confusion. With the help of Officer Jacob Reed (Anthony Griffith), Faraday sets out to look at other cases that have the same feel to them.

This episode was directed and co-written by John Landis. His son, Max, was the other co-writer. This episode reminded me a lot of other John Landis films, mostly of An American Werewolf In London. I thought of this because of the horror/comedy mix that you can find in both films. John Landis says in an extra found on the DVD, he wanted to try something different for his episode. His son gave him a book to read about different legends. He discovered a Native American Indian legend about the Deer Woman, and decided that is what he wanted to do. Max was against this, but wrote the script anyway. The thing that stands out more than anything for this movie is the comedy. It will probably remind you of the comedy that is found in An American Werewolf In London. It has more to do with what is being said, and not slap stick comedy. Even though Brian Benben gives a dead pan performance, it works in favor of the comedy. The best part of it was probably when Faraday is running the first case through his head, trying to come up with how a deer could trample a man to death inside of his truck. The down side to the comedy is that once things take a more serious turn, it no longer has the same feel to it. Then it is the weakest part of the movie.

Not a lot of special effects but there are a few to be found. A severed finger is found, bodies that no longer really look like human bodies, and another severed appendage. If you haven't figured it out by now, the woman in question is part deer. Deer Woman could have had more gore to it, but I felt that Landis picked the right amount of gore for this episode. It has its moments where it is gory, but not overly so. I have to say that Brian Benben has given my favorite performance yet in one of these episodes. He pulled off his character perfectly. Even though she never says a word, Cinthia Moura does a great job of getting men to do what she wants. It really isn't hard. You just throw them a certain look and they become putty in your hands. No words need to be said for that at all.

This is one of the times where I didn't mind my horror movie being slightly more comedy than horror. It is a very sarcastic kind of comedy, which is what people say about me. I tend to annoy some people with how sarcastic I become at times. Max Landis included a scene where they talk about a wolf on the streets of London in 1981. John Landis said he almost took it out, but was talked out of it. I'm glad he left it in. These nods to other movies, even if it is his own, makes watching movies more fun at times. Another review said there was a nod towards the Patterson Bigfoot film. I know the film, but I don't know where the nod was in Deer Woman towards it. Deer Woman has ended up being one of my favorite episodes so far, but I really wish they had done something different with the ending. The way it ended just didn't cut it for me. This is the second episode in a row where the ending of the movie took me out of it some.
3 out of 5 Making sure there are no deer parts found on me

Secrets Of The Sepulchre

Not having a computer for nearly two weeks left me with a lot of free time to do other things for a change. I was able to get my DVR down to 30% full, which is the lowest it has been in probably two years. I sat through some movies to review for here, as well as some TV DVD's I have been meaning to catch up on as well. Another perk was that I managed to finish the book I was reading, Sepulchre written by James Herbert. I am already half way through the next book I have picked out, which isn't a James Herbert novel for once. I thought I would take a break from him and go with a couple of Clive Barker novels.

Liam Holloran works for Achilles' Shield, a place that specializes in protecting important people from kidnapping or negotiating ransom demands if the person has been kidnapped. Even though Liam is just coming off a case, he is asked to be a guard for Felix Kline. After meeting with Kline, finding out his role in the company he works for, Liam feels that something is off but decides to accept the job. Kline works for a company that deals with minerals. Kline's role within the company is finding those rare minerals by using his psychic powers to locate them. Kline feels that his life is in danger. He has had some dreams that make him feel something bad is about to happen. When asked what or who the danger is going to come from, he can't seem to figure that out. Liam has to work with Kline's personal body guards, who all seem to have some secrets of their own. He also meets Cora, Kline's secretary, who Liam seems to be attracted to. It is decided that they will all go the Neath, one of Kline's homes, where some dark secrets will come to light.

This book took me a little longer to read than I thought it would. I got off to a quick start with it, but then about the halfpoint of the book I got a new job. With the transition between the two jobs, I wasn't reading all that much, if at all on some days. I usually do my reading while at work on my breaks. At home I am watching TV or movies, or playing games, or sleeping of course. I'm glad that I took a book to work with me. Days when things are very slow and I have everything done I need to do, I can read until I'm given something to do. I remembered parts of this book as I was reading it, but for the most part it felt like I was reading it for the first time. I do have a couple of James Herbert's novels that I have yet to read, so you think I would hit them first, but I have wanted to read these again because it has been so long since I have read them. I was worried that Sepulchre would be another The Spear. By that, I mean that The Spear was more of a spy/action novel, instead of a horror novel that Herbert is known for. There are no spies running around in this novel, but it still had that feel to it at the start. With Kline expecting to be abducted, the stage was set for anything needing action.

The major difference between these two novels though, is that Sepulchre doesn't shy away from horror at all. In The Spear it felt more like an afterthought, instead of the theme for the book. With Kline you know he is evil, but you are never really sure why until Herbert lets you in on it. His personal body guards are the same way. Even though Herbert gives almost everyone a fairly detailed back story, I was disappointed that these characters didn't play a bigger role than they did. Maybe the most important person that works for Kline is Cora. She is important because she interacts and means something to Liam, but she is never given a true back story like the rest of the characters. Liam might be my favorite main character in a Herbert book so far. Even though Liam is the hero of the story, Herbert is always describing him as a flawed hero. This is nothing new for Herbert actually, but Liam goes beyond what Herbert usually writes for flaws. Instead of giving Liam a problem like drinking, Herbert gives the impression that at any moment Liam will become the evil person that he is hired to protect. One of the things I really loved about Liam is the way Herbert would describe him as being afraid of the situation he was in. Instead of showing that fear though, even though he would acknowledge it, he would put on a smile. This works in his favor of course. Seeing someone smile when they know their life is on the line is a bit unnerving.

I am sort of giving things away by saying that Kline is the bad guy of the story. We don't actually know that right away. The first time we meet him, it is easy to see that there is something off about him. That doesn't have to mean that he is a bad guy though. For all we know, Kline is going to be abducted by someone. They do meet some people on the road that are armed after all. There are several layers to Kline, and as we get to know him, the more obvious it is that he is the true bad guy of the book. The whole abduction thing might be a distraction from who the real villain is, but it is still used as a sub plot. Herbert has created some really interested characters in this book. Both Kline and Liam are very hard to nail down.

Herbert keeps Sepulchre interesting by making nothing black or white, everything and everyone is a shade of grey. The plot itself doesn't have a lot of twist and turns, but Herbert makes up for this by keeping you guessing as to what the characters of this book will do. I can't say that Sepulchre has taken over as my favorite Herbert novel, but it ranks right up there with my favorites. I can't see the plot of this book actually happening in the real world, but I had fun with it all the same.
4 out of 5 Wonder what happened to some of the characters after the story

After Dark Horrorfest 4: The Reeds

In THE REEDS, a weekend boating trip through the Norfolk Broads becomes a terrifying, deadly ordeal for six 20-something year old friends.

Aboard the Corsair Star, a small cruiser rented from Mr. Croker, the local marina operator, the boating party loses its bearings and cuts through the vast reedy tidewater in search of the main channel. After the first casualty by a freak accident, the boat runs aground.

Every effort to preserve themselves and find a way out fails, as one by one the friends are terrorized by young punks and killed by a hooded man with a gun. There is no escaping this vast waterway, a place of endless return, presided over by Croker who killed a group of young people decades before and initiated the hellish curse which traps all who take passage on the Corsair Star.

Sleeping Around

While my computer was down, I managed to get my first season Masters Of Horror set back. My neighbor had them for like forever, and they managed to get through a fire without being burned or smelling too bad. The first three episodes I watched for the challenge all have been from season two, so I thought I would watch the next three from the first season to even it out. The first disk I pulled out happened to be one I had not yet watched, Haeckel's Tale (2006).

This story starts off with a man going to see an old woman because he heard that she can raise the dead. He has recently lost his wife, so begs this woman to bring her back to him. Instead of doing that, at least right away, she decides to tell him a story about a man named Haeckel. Ernest Haeckel (Derek Cecil) is a man of science who believes he can bring the dead back to life. In a Frankenstein like moment, he tries to show fellow scientists how he can do it. His plan doesn't go as well as he had hoped it would though. Haeckel then hears of a necromancer that is in town and selling his gift to raise the dead. Haeckle of course doesn't believe this at all, and eventually demands proof. Montesquino (Jon Polito) is happy to show off his skill with a very dead dog. After a little chanting, Montesquino throws open the chest the dog is in. Out comes a very mangled, but alive, dog. Haeckel wants to know Montesquino's secret, but before he can convince him to give it up, he gets a letter about his father. Haeckel's dad has been very sick, and the letter says that he has taken a turn for the worse. Haeckel takes off on foot to get to his dad in order to be there for him, as the letter requests. That night he meets Wolfram (Tom McBeath) who offers him a place to stay, and a warm meal. Haeckel decides that this beats staying out in the rain, so he accepts the offer. He meets Elise (Leela Savasta), Wolfram's much younger wife. She seems to be waiting for someone, or something to happen, as she appears to be distracted as she looks out a window a lot. What she is waiting for might just shock you.

Haeckel's Tale is directed by John McNaughton, who is perhaps most known in the horror world for Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer. The story is based on one of Clive Barker's short stories, and was adapted to TV by Mick Garris. Mick changed the story a little bit, but I think the actual story is still there. After watching Haeckel's Tale, I knew what I would be praising about it first. The thing that I liked about this episode is that it keeps you guessing as to what is going to happen. It is going to be a Frankenstein type movie, no wait he is looking more into the mystical now. Haeckel will study with or maybe murder Montesquino, no he leaves before any of that can happen. Wolfram notices Haeckle eyeing up his wife and doesn't seem too bothered by that fact. Maybe something will happen with that. It leads you down a track that isn't really there. Once you realize what is actually going to happen, it is right before we actually see it. If I have read the short story by Clive Barker, I sure don't remember it. This makes me think that I have not read it then, because I think I would have remembered the subject matter, if in fact it is the same. I can't say I was really shocked by the big reveal, but I was very surprised that it went in this direction. Not many movies will keep me guessing, so I have to give Haeckel's Tale a lot of credit for that.

I can't talk about the effects a lot because most of them show up towards the end of the film, and I don't want to give too much away. Some of the Masters Of Horror episodes use CGI effects, but as far as I could tell, there were none to be found in this one. One body gets burned to a crisp fairly early in this episode. I will just say that all effects are very good, and leave it at that. The acting was also good. Stand out performances were with Jon Polito and Tom McBeath. Leela Savasta also does a nice job with her role, and also has a nice body. Derek Cecil's character starts off self centered, but we start to see a change in him as the episode goes on. Derek pulls this off well.

I was really into Haeckel's Tale until it got close to the end of movie. The longer the story went after the big reveal, the campier it started to feel. There was a small touch of comedy through the whole episode, but it took itself as a serious story all the same. The end of the episode didn't end with a laugh or anything, but it was getting too far out there to be acceptable I thought. I still liked this episode a lot, and I do feel that John McNoughton did a great job with it. The end did manage to knock it down a notch for me, but didn't ruin it completely at least. I liked the story for this episode just because it goes in a direction that you just don't see very often. It was nice change of pace. If you haven't watched it yet, give it a shot and see if you can figure out what is going on.
3 out of 5 Sorry but love only goes so far

A Different Kind Of Reptile

Just after I finished up my Film Club review, I got the call to go pick up my computer! It isn't completely fixed yet, but at least I can use it again. I will be glad when it is back to 100%, or as close to it as I can get, but at least I can get back to writing as it is right now. I was surprised to see that so many people voted in my poll! The last one only got like 3 or 4 votes, so to see this one get 25 votes did my heart good. I was surprised to see that Silent Hill was placed on a worst list. I didn't think it was that bad of a movie. I was happy to see that the majority of you agree. While my computer was down, I watched five movies, six if I include The Wicker Man. I didn't want to watch a lot of movies just because I was afraid I would start to lose details in my memory. When I started to pick out Hammer films to watch and review, I decided to mix it up some instead of watching one or two series. The first film I came across that sounded different and interesting was The Reptile (1966).

The Reptile begins with Charles Spalding (David Baron) being killed by something that we don't really get to see. All we know is that his face turns an ugly color and then he dies. Upon hearing of his brother's death, Harry (Ray Barrett) decides to move into his brother's house with his wife (Jennifer Daniel). Most of the townspeople give them a cold shoulder, but Tom (Michael Ripper) eventually becomes friends with Harry. It seems that there has been a series of mysterious deaths lately, one of which was Charles. No one knows the real cause of it, but Dr. Franklyn (Noel Willman) always seems to show up when a death happens. When Harry and his wife meet Dr. Franklyn's daughter (Jacqueline Pearce), they get a note from her asking them for their help. Could her father be the one killing people?

The title of this movie gives it away just a little bit. If the title doesn't give it away for you, then the DVD box will. I guess they figured they needed a picture of the reptile in order to justify the title of the movie. Like most Hammer films that I have watched so far, this is a slow burn of a movie. There are some deaths before the big reveal, and some character development that at least keep things interesting. Because of the title, and the picture to the same extent, I knew what the reptile would be. One mistake that the film makers made is that they made it too easy to figure out who the reptile is. With each kill we either see each character, or a character is killed off. Because of this, it puts it all down to one character. The Reptile is interesting in a way I wasn't expecting, the religious angle that it took. It isn't heavy handed like in some films, but it is one that I don't recall ever being used before in a horror movie.

Hammer seemed to go out of their way to come up with an original script and makeup for this film. While one may not think snake right away when seeing the person in makeup, it isn't all that far off. I'm sure for budget reasons they could only do the head and neck, but I think it would have worked better if there had been at least some of the makeup effects on the body. Not to say that it doesn't look great as it is in the film, because it does. I think it would stand up even in today's films to be honest. Outside of that main effect there is the minor makeup effect of the fang marks. Some makeup was also used to show the poison going through a person system, which only seemed to affect their faces. Even so, this makeup effect was also very well done. The acting was also very good.

The thing that I think bothered me the most was how when one of the main characters gets poisoned he still lives. When everyone else is poisoned, they die pretty quickly. Not like it happens and then the person is dead right away, like some movies that shall remain nameless. But they do die quickly. When one of the main characters gets poisoned though, he manages to stumble home and somehow overcome the poison in his system. I guess someone could argue that he didn't get as much poison, but that feels like a cheap way out of it. Even though I found The Reptile interesting because of the original angle it took, I didn't find it to be that great of a movie. The pacing didn't really bother me, but it took a little too long to get to the creature of the movie. Some of the things towards the end of the movie didn't really make a lot of sense to me either. Still, this isn't a bad movie at all. If you want something a little different in your horror movies, give it a try.
3 out of 5 Wondering if Jed would shoot first and ask questions later

Film Club Day Part Ten

I'm back, sort of anyway. It has taken a lot longer than it should have in order to get my computer back up and running again. I don't have it back just yet, but I should hopefully have it tomorrow. All that was wrong with my computer was that the video boards died on me. Easy enough to replace, unless you are buying used boards that were better than the ones you already had. Getting a hold of said person, finding the boards, and actually getting them from him took a lot longer than I had planned on being away. I'm using another computer, that isn't mine, in order to write this. I made myself a promise that I was going to be part of the Final Girl Film Club once again. It has been a long time since I have done a review for the club, and since I was one of the first blogs to do this with Stacie, I figured I was long over due.

The movie picked out for this month was The Wicker Man (1973). This was a movie I had watched just before making my own blog, but it didn't bother me at all to watch it again. The Wicker Man begins with Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) flying out to a private island off the coast of Scotland. He has been given a letter about a missing girl from this island, so has took it upon himself to investigate the case. Once on the island itself, no one seems to know who the girl is that he is looking for. He talks to several different people, including Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee) who owns the island. After a while he discovers that the girl is in fact real, but had passed away. The reason that people act like they didn't know her is because of their religious beliefs, which as you can guess are not the norm. Sergeant Howie doesn't truly believe this though. Will he find the girl, or his own fate?

Back when I first got this movie, it was because of the Bravo TV show 100 Scariest Moments. I had heard of the majority of the movies on that list, and watched a big chunk of them as well. The Wicker Man was one of the few I had never heard of though. This movie had one of the scariest moments in it, and I had yet to watch it, let alone even heard of it! I had to correct that right away. So I got it from Netflix. To my surprise they actually had it, and I discovered a movie that was nothing like what I was expecting. It is something of a horror film, but only towards the end of the movie. Up until that point though, there is an interesting, but very odd, mix of genres. There is the mystery of the girl, some religion talk thrown in as well, and it is something of a musical. This odd mix of genres can be a hit or miss type movie for me. With The Wicker Man though, it was just strange enough to keep me interested, but still wondering what it was I was watching. The people behind the movie were looking to create something different, and with that they hit the nail on the head. If you have watched the 2006 remake, that film was sorely missing this original take on the subject matter.

Being such a low budget film, Christopher Lee worked for free, if that tells you anything. There are no real effects to be found. That is fine though, since the plot of the movie and the mix of genres more than makes up for it. I really enjoyed the acting in this film. Edward Woodward did such a great job with the material that he was given. From threatening to throw people in jail, to talking about his own religion, it all worked for him. Even though Christopher Lee worked for free, he didn't skimp at all on his performance. He decided to work for free because he loved the idea for the film. Britt Ekland plays the part of the inn keepers daughter. Her acting was also good, and she has a nude scene. I bring this up because for part of the scene she decided to use a body double. I didn't really see the point of that. If you are going to show yourself in the nude, why go only half way?

Watching this movie a second time helped me pick up small clues that are in the film. The first time I watched it I knew something was going to happen, and I knew in part thanks to that TV show. What the show left out was the why of it all, so I had to discover that on my own. At least it wasn't a complete spoiler. Writer Anthony Shaffer did some research while writing the script for the movie, and decided to add musical numbers to the movie. He found that music was an important part of the pagan religion so felt it was important to include this in the film. This threw me off while watching it the first time, since I was expecting a horror movie. But I'm glad it is there. I have a hard time calling it a horror movie, even though that is what the people behind the film were looking to make. There are hints of what is to come, and then it hits you with it at the end. Even though I don't love The Wicker Man as much as some do, I still enjoy watching it. The odd mix of genres really make it worth a watch. If you have managed to watch the remake, and it scared you away from the original film, you really should give it a watch. They are two very different films in style.

Hopefully, knock on wood, I will be back to writing again more often tomorrow. I have some catching up to do, and still have to get some more movies worked in for the challenge. Thanks again Stacie for picking out another fun movie to watch for the film club. I will try not to be away from it for so long after this month. Be sure to head over to Final Girl to check out her review, and the other reviews as well!
3 out of 5 Wondering how the harvest went

Bad Things Happen In Texas Remake

If you haven't already done so, please get over to The Vault Of Horror, link on the sidebar (I could link it here but I tend to be lazy like that), and vote for whoever you want to in the Ms. Horror Blogosphere! There will be no second round now, so the crown will be passed by this Friday. As of this writing, I only have 25 votes. That doesn't seem like a lot, especially since the leader has 399 votes, but I'm completely fine with that. I know I'm not the best writer out there, and I never claimed to be. Winning was never important to me. I did this in order to get my blog noticed a little more than it already has been. Numbers don't matter to me, but it is nice to be noticed all the same. The fallout from the contest has been, well...surprising to say the least. Anyway, I don't want to make this post about the contest so much. Just know that I understand the points raised against the contest, but feel like it has been blown way out of proportion.

With this post I knock down another category in my 999 Challenge. This leaves me with two left, Hammer Studio films and Masters Of Horror. I took the time yesterday to fill out the rest of the Hammer movies I want to watch. Nearly a year after starting this challenge and I had yet to do that. I also had the movie for this months' Final Girl Film Club selection of the month sent to me. Now I just have to watch it and get a review up on time. I think I am looking at around 13 posts this month, which shouldn't be a problem as long as nothing big comes up. For today, I wanted to watch a movie that I wasn't real sure about how I liked it the first time around. When I first went to watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), I did so with friends. Because I had a good time with my friends, this movie didn't seem all that bad to me. But at the same time something was nagging me about it as well.

Five friends are heading back from a trip to Mexico in order to catch a concert somewhere in Texas. Erin (Jessica Biel) gets a little mad when she finds out that her boyfriend, Kemper (Eric Balfour), bought a bunch of drugs while in Mexico. While they are arguing over this, they narrowly miss hitting a woman walking down the road. They pick her up because she is obviously in need of help. When this woman notices that they are heading towards the nearest town, she begins to panic because she doesn't want to go back. To insure that she doesn't, she pulls a gun from an area that would be hard to hide a gun at, and shoots herself with it. Morgan (Jonathan Tucker), Pepper (Erica Leerhsen) and Andy (Mike Vogel) wait for the Sheriff (R. Lee Ermey) to arrive, while Erin and Kemper go to the Sheriff's house in order to find him. They find something much worse.

As I was watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre this time around, I figured out what was bothering me about it. As a movie it isn't all that bad of one. It tends to be too by the numbers at times, but I didn't think of it as a bad film. As a remake though, and you have to compare it to the original film, since it is a remake after all, it falls flat. I liked the way this version begins. I have to thank John Larroquette for reprising his role as the narrator, as it wouldn't be the same without him. It is set in the early 1970s just like the original film is. Once we get into the movie proper, the music and clothes help set the mood for this time period. Outside of the cars used though, it manages to lose the '70s feel it was looking for. I like my remakes with a mix of throw back scenes and new scenes. There are a couple of scenes that made me remember the original film, but these were small ones. The major scenes that set the original film apart are completely missing here. I understand the film makers wanting to distance themselves some from the original film. I never understood remaking a film almost shot for shot with new actors. That seems pointless to me. At the same time, I don't see the point of remaking a film in name only. This The Texas Chainsaw Massacre seems to fall into the later more to me.

The effects can be pretty gory at times. There is a leg and an arm that are cut off at some point. Being hung on a meat hook is also just wrong. The different effects are good here, so I didn't have anything to complain about really. The acting was also pretty good. It was interesting to see Jessica Biel in a horror movie. Even though she was the main character, I liked Erica Leerhsen a little more. She has a much smaller part, but I just liked her more. All the guys did a nice job with their roles as well.

One of the things that set the original film apart was the sheer terror that the actors seemed to project to us. To be honest, that is the main reason I didn't like this remake as much this time around. That is something that is completely missing. Sure they are put in danger and they react to it in a way I would expect. But never once is there that wide eyed terror. I don't blame them for wanting to remake this movie. It is a household name for horror fans. These are films that shouldn't be touched though. While the original film might be showing its age some, it still works on so many levels. One of the later sequels felt more like a remake than a sequel than this film did. The people behind the film were probably in a damned if we do, damned if we don't, type of thing with this movie. By remaking it, you bring fans down on you for remaking such a loved movie. If you make another sequel, or just make a new movie about a guy that kills with chainsaws, I'm sure it wouldn't have been bringing in the numbers. I still think people give the film something of a bad rap when it doesn't deserve it. At the same time though, I understand why it is getting that rap because it just doesn't work well as a remake. Too many key scenes have gone missing in the remake. They could have found a way to include them, but changed them slightly for their film, and made fans slightly happier.

On a side note, I almost had this review finished last night when my screen went black on me. When I tried to reboot, my computer would just beep at me. I took it into the repair shop today and found out what I had figured happened, the video card died on me. Since my dad isn't home right now, I decided to finish this on his computer. Hopefully my computer won't be gone for much longer, but just in case it is, I shall return when I can. In the mean time, I will watch movies and just jot down some notes after in order to help me remember things.
2 out of 5 What were they thinking towards the end of this movie?