Inner Conflict (The Hidden, 1987)

Detective Tom Beck has a head scratcher of a case. He is investigating a man who, up until a week prior had been a law abiding citizen. One day Jack DeVries just up started killing people, stealing cars, robbing banks and listening to heavy metal.

After taking the guy down, an FBI Agent named Lloyd Gallagher shows up to work with Beck. Gallagher seems to have other motives, suggesting there is something bigger at work…or at least that having DeVries in the hospital is not the end of the case.

The audience quickly learns the cause of DeVries’ behavior is an alien bug that can move from body to body. When he is in a body, it can withstand a barrage of bullets before having to find a new host. And this is where the problem lies, Gallagher can only destroy the alien when it is moving between bodies. His weapon cannot penetrate human flesh.

The two cops try and catch the alien, constantly a step behind. The film revels in it’s crazy concept, with car chases and bloody gun fights. The evil alien is a selfish and hedonistic teenager. He takes whatever he wants, and mainly what he wants is money, cars and power.

MacLachlan plays his role completely straight. He is the awkwardly out of place alien trying to fit in. There is a touching scene where he meets Beck’s daughter, and she seems to realize there is something different about him.

The Hidden is not a sci-fi classic, but it is a pretty good bit of fun trashy eighties excess.

January 24, 2018 0

Haunted People Chapter 3 (Insidious Chapter 3, 2015)

James Wan has seen himself become increasingly in demand. His regular collaborator is Leigh Whannell (who plays Specs in the series). Whannell is the writer behind Wan’s Saw and the previous two Insidious films. Adding the duty of first time director can be a risky proposition, though certainly not a new situation in horror franchises. Elise has proven a pretty popular character, and seeing as she met her demise in the first film, the creators kind of painted themselves in a corner.

The solution, of course, is to set this film in a time before Elise came back to help Dalton and his parents. Set between her first meeting with Josh and the first film, Elise is now “retired”.

But a young woman asks for her help. Quinn states she has tried contacting her dead mother. Elise relents a little, trying to reach out, but when she realizes it is not Quinn’s mother, she is quick to end things. But nothing has ended for Quinn. After getting hit by a car, Quinn is stuck at home with her father and brother. There is a growing dark threat in the house, and finally, after having exhausted his skepticism, her father Sean pleads with Elise to help free his daughter from this threat.

While there are some borderline silly moments (Elise has some action hero moments while in the spirit realm) the film stays pretty close to it’s predecessors. Visually, the spirits are every bit as unnerving and creepy. The makeup and use of shadows shows Whannell to have learned a lot from his close work with Wan over the years. The sound design is not quite as top notch as the prior two entries, but it is strong enough to keep the film’s identity as part of this franchise.

What we get with Chapter 3 is a well told scary story, built within the existing world of the Insidious films that feels very much a part of that world, allowing for a series that remains cohesive and largely enjoyable.

October 31, 2017 0

Haunted People Chapter 2 (Insidious Chapter 2, 2013)

In the first film, it was established that part of what made young Dalton such an easy target was that his father had a similar experience with the same spirit as a boy. Opening in the first film’s tragic aftermath, Insidious Chapter 2 jumps back to that story.

Younger Elise is helping Lorraine save her young son Josh from a frightening spiritual attack. Here we are introduced to an associate of Elise’s named Carl. When the film picks back up in the present, Carl comes in to try and help the family finish what was started in the first film and save Josh.

The film gives us more background into the old woman (who turns out to not be a woman, but a serial killer who killed at the behest of his mother). The ghosts and spirits are as visually striking as in the first film. The same year he released this film, he released the Conjuring. Wan really knows what he is doing with his modernized ghost stories. I really enjoy his sense of style and his commitment to the realities of his haunted cinematic worlds. And again, the sound design is every bit as powerful in Chapter 2 as it was in the first film.

Chapter 2 flows pretty organically from the original film, avoiding a feel of being a tacked on sequel. Wan is a solidly dependable horror creator, giving real life to a genre of horror that was somewhat stale.

October 31, 2017 0

Haunted People Chapter One (Insidious, 2010)

Director James Wan made his name in horror with Saw, which launched a thousand torture themed horror films, though often made by less skilled people. But in 2009, Wan found himself creating a more unique form of horror. He accomplished this be exploring an older school of fright, the supernatural thriller.

Insidious tells the story of a young family, headed by Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne. Rose’s Renai is staying home with their young baby and she is the first to notice strange occurrences. But they start to get more frightening, to the point of seeing things and hearing aggressive and angry voices. Josh (Wilson) is struggling at work, and coming home late, all the while thinking his wife is just unnerved by the new house. But when their son Dalton falls into a coma, things get more desperate. Josh’s mother steps in to help the couple, but she quickly comes to believe Renai. They call in help from an old friend of the mothers, Elise. Elise is a known psychic and has a paranormal support team.

It is revealed that the house is not haunted, rather Dalton is. Dalton is able to astrally project himself. Elise explains he has been likely able to do this so long, that it never scared him. However, it leaves his physical body available and other spirits are trying to get back to his body by keeping Dalton from returning.

The film is visually striking, with a beautiful combination of old school gothic horror and modern scary monsters. The primary two spirits attacking Dalton are an old woman with a long black dress and veil and an old school gargoyle type of demon who looks truly ghoulish.

Along with the visual designs of the ghosts and demons, the real star of the film is the sound design. Much like Hitchcock, Wan gets how important timing of stings and the volume of your surroundings can play in frights. The use of sound is near perfect in this film, with noises that can be emotionally unnerving.

The film has a good cast. Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson provide some good humor to lighten the intense atmosphere, but not at the expense of seeming competent. Wilson and Byrne are very sympathetic as the couple. The standout is Lin Shaye. She has a warmth and kindness, but also a strength. This is one of her best roles (and no surprise they keep bringing her back to the films).

Insidious is a solidly made modern horror film that pays homage to classic horror and ghost stories.

October 30, 2017 0

Many Tales To Tell (Tales of Halloween, 2015)

The horror anthology format is one that can yield tremendous success (Trick’r Treat, Creepshow) or terrible results (Creepshow 3, V/H/S 3). It has a somewhat spotty history, but the tradition holds strong. Probably the most ambitious, but not entirely successful were the two ABC’s of Death films, which each contained 26 short films. Tales of Halloween keeps it to ten stories, which is probably the limit for getting a good yield of stories.

The film uses the framing device of a small town where every Halloween the dead walk, ghouls play and monsters eat. Guiding us through the tales is (in a pretty obvious homage to her role in the fog) radio host Adrienne Barbeau (Creepshow, Swamp Thing).

The stories are hit or miss, with an uneven tone, but when they hit? They are terrific fun. Standouts include The Night Billy Raised Hell, the Ransom of Rusty Rex, Bad Seed, and Friday the 31st. What makes all those stories work is their sense of humor. All are having more fun than trying to be scary.

This Means War starts out strong, but ends kind of weakly.

Friday the 31st starts out like a slasher story, complete with an obvious Jason type…but then takes a complete left turn. The Ransom of Rusty Rex tells a tale of ambitious kidnappers who grab a rich man’s (John Landis, director of American Werewolf in London) son while he is trick or treating. Except, the boy is a bit more of a hellion than anticipated.

On the other hand, Sweet Tooth goes more for the traditional monster/urban legend territory…and it ends exactly like you expect it to. The Weak and the Wicked lacks any real life in it’s narrative, and for being a short, fails to do much in it’s premise of revenge.

In the end, I found the film an enjoyable watch, with some good humor, fun cameos and even a few scares. It is not quite Trick’r Treat, but it is some good Halloween fun.

October 31, 2015 0