Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983): The Best and The Worst

Happy New Year! Last year I did the Best and Worst of the 2002 UPN version of The Twilight Zone and I realized that I ran out of Twilight Zones to write about. Or did I? Twilight Zone: The Movie was released in 1983. Two years before the 1985 revival on TV. The same year as Return of the Jedi and Scarface. Yes, Twilight Zone: The Movie was on the big screen. It was produced by Steven Spielberg and John Landis. Can you imagine hearing about this in the early 80's? That they are bringing back the Twilight Zone but, not only that. Spielberg and Landis are both producing and directing! One is a great story teller and the other is a master of horror! The movie turned out to be a disappointment. To begin with it went through a bunch of production problems which culminated in the death of three actors: Vic Morrow and two child actors: Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen. It was terrible and tragic. The three actors died on set during a staged helicopter stunt gone wrong. You can search for the story on the internet and there are clips on youtube as well. The production team ignored the safety of the actors and violated a bunch of child actors laws. The part being filmed was part of the Vietnam scene in the first segment, Time Out. It's a very over the top story about racism. I'll talk more about it in the Best/Worst section. Twilight Zone: The Movie was split into five segments. An introduction and an epilogue to book end the movie. Then four separate segments. Out of the four segments there is an original story and three remakes. The initial idea was to have a character from the introduction appearing in each of the segments. That idea did not ban out but, they got Burgess Meredith, who acted in a couple of episodes in the classic Twilight Zone, to narrate the introduction and for the individual segments. Just like how Rod Serling narrated the introduction and sometimes the ending for the classic series. You might remember Burgess Meredith in Time Enough At Least as a man who survives a nuclear bomb and finally has all the time in the world to do what he loves most. Unlike, Serling, Merdith did not appear on screen. Twilight Zone: The Movie had a budget of $10 Million which might have been a lot in 1983. I'm not sure but, the movie had a feel of "just throw money into it and it'll be good" quality. It feels over produced and under written. Even as a child, back in the 80's I thought the movie was crap. Everything was so over the top. No subtlety what so ever. I am very critical of this movie but I do revisit it once in a while. Sometimes, I do find myself enjoying it from a different perspective. During my last viewing, I had a great time watching Nancy Cartwright's (Bart Simpson) performance as Ethel, Anthony's sister, in the third segment. Since there are only five segments, I'll just rate them in the order of appearance instead of having separate sections for Best and Worst. The Intro and the Epilogue is technically one segment but, I'll split them according to chronological order. The list is right after the "JUMP!". Twilight Zone - The Movie [ 1983 ] - Intro Evaldo Stabinski A list of The Best and The Worst after the "JUMP!":

World War Z - Trailer

Z-Nami This year in New England we had a fare share of mother nature's anger: a 4.0 Earthquake, Hurricane Sandy and the recent Nor'easter. Winter hasn't even come yet! But it seems as though next year everyone will be feeling mother nature's wrath with a Zombie Tsunami. A "Z-Nami" if you will. You'll understand what I'm talking about after watching the trailer below. Actually, I'm not sure if the undead in the World War Z movie is a man-made disaster or a natural phenomenon. World War Z Official Trailer #1 (2013) - Brad Pitt Movie HD MOVIECLIPS I don't think I'll be watching World War Z based on the trailer. Most likely I'll watch it on video because I did have a fun time watching this awful trailer. I couldn't stop laughing. I don't mind movies veering from the original source. I don't mind fast Zombies but World War Z the movie just looks terrible. World War Z (an extension to the Zombie Survival Guide) is based on one of my favorite books written by Mel Brooks' son, Max Brooks. The book is social commentary on how the world can be brought down by slow and dumb zombies because of political unrest, weak economic structures, stubborn pride and vapid practices. The book is not about ONE man on a mission to save the world. It actually follows a journalist who travels the world interviewing people post Zombie War. I also recommend the audio book version. World War Z's audio book features a couple of stories that's not told in the book. It also features great voice acting by: Max Brooks, Alan Alda, Henry Rollins and Mark Hamill. Mark Hamill plays a veteran of the Zombie War and does an awesome job especially in the retelling of "the Battle of Yonkers." For the people whom had read the book. You might be wondering, "what were they thinking?" Well, here's your answer from Entertainment Weekly: Visual effects supervisor John Nelson (Iron Man) said World War Z’s zombies lean more toward sci-fi transformation victims rather than supernatural resurrection subjects. That led to a lot of research into animal behavior, especially for creatures under the amok-time sway of predator appetite or spawning urge. “They are like predatory animals that can’t control themselves,” Nelson said. “I worked with tigers [while shooting Gladiator], and if you watch them when a horse goes by they go batty, even if they know they can’t reach it. When Zs see humans they do same thing, they activate. They launch themselves.” Here's the link to the Entertainment Weekly article: Brad Pitt amid the panic of 'World War Z,' and why its zombies are more 'predatory' than plodding Maybe these more science-rific tidal wave of zombies should go against the Sharknado. I'd go to the theaters for "that" movie!

Danger! 50,000 Zombies!

Hello Youtubes! Nick Frost and Dr. Russell Fell shows us how to survive a zombie infested world in this three part instructional video: Danger! 50,000 Zombies! Danger 50000 Volts Zombies 1 Danger 50000 Volts Zombies 2 Danger 50000 Volts Zombies 3 STOP! ZOMBIE TIME! What did we learn? Run Slow Talk Low I'm in the open? No! Don't be lunch you stupid #$%@! They're not magic, they're not supernatural, they're just dead folk Don't Panic Stay Quiet Get Inside (get a Playstation) Destroy the Brain

Paranormal Activity 3

Halloween Movie As I said before, in my Last Exorcism review, crowd reactions are priceless. The crowd reaction at Paranormal Activity 3 was super entertaining. I think I enjoyed the gasping and the screaming from the audience more than the movie itself. There were a lot of cat scares in Paranormal Activity 3 and some of them were just old fashion jump out at the camera scares that had nothing to do with the paranormal. I still think this is a cheap trick but, I did enjoy one of them a lot. I love a good practical joke. I think after I die, I'd come back as a poltergeist. Don't get me wrong, the movie is still creepy at parts and it was entertaining. The screaming audience is the proof of that. I want to talk more about Paranormal Activity 3 but I can't do so without spoiling some of the fun. I'll leave the rest of this review after the "JUMP!" It's not a detailed assessment. It's just a general review but, I'm going talk a bit about the first two movie and, it might spoil the story for people whom haven't seen them before. The three movies are connected and the continuity is set up nicely. It's not necessary to watch the first two Paranormal Activity movies before this one but, it would help. For now, I highly recommend checking out Paranormal Activity 3 during this Halloween weekend. It's a very fun time. When the movie was over, a couple of people in the audience couldn't wait to get out of the dark claustrophobic theater. Paranormal Activity 3 Trailer3 RATING: 3/5 (5/5 if watched in the right atmosphere and company)

The Thing (2011)

Halloween Movie "The Thing" is an alien organism that invades its hosts on a cellular level and imitates them. Creating a near perfect copy of its victims. Ironically, according to a film critic, the 2011 version of The Thing is just like the alien in the movie. It (the movie) imitates the John Carpenter's The Thing (1982). I'd have to agree. Right off the bat, at the beginning of the 2011 film, the old 1982 Universal Studios logo was shown. The tonal structure of the movie was a lot like the 1982 version. Even the score is very similar to Enrico Morricone's composition for John Carpenter's movie. The Thing (2011) is a facsimile of the 1982 version but, much like the alien's imitations, it looks the same on the outside but something is off... That's as far as I'd agree with the critic because, I enjoyed the The Thing (2011). I think the similarities were done to be consistent with the 1982 version. At least that's what I got out of it. Sure the plot with the guessing game of who's a "thing" and who's not is just like the 1982 version but, we do get to see some pretty far out concepts. We get the story of what was in that slab of ice. Don't expect to see a full shot of the alien though. I was disappointed by that. We get blurry glimpses and parts of it but, the full infested alien was never on screen. I thought the entire movie was going to be like that. I'm glad it wasn't. All the infested human were shown in horrible mutilated alien logic. I don't even know how to describe them. A lot of tentacles and one of them was a huge mouth. I wonder if the "The Thing" is one huge organism that was broken apart on a cellular level and spread throughout the galaxy? In any case, this movie delivered on the "you gotta be $%#*'ing kidding" moments. Also, we finally get to see the inside of the alien ship and designs for the um... engine? controls? Whatever was in the ship, the designs were pretty interesting. I wish more of the ship was explored. Not only does John McLane (Die Hard) kick ass, so does his daughter, Mary Elizabeth Winstead. With the parallels of this movie and the 1982 version, she takes on a similar role that Kurt Russell had in the older film. I was afraid that Mary Elizabeth Winstead had too much of a doe eyed demeanor and couldn't take on the action that the The Thing (2011) demanded but, she kicked ass. I shouldn't be surprised, she did alright in Live Free or Die Hard and Scott Pilgrim. Joel Edgerton (Owen Lars from Revenge of the Sith) and Adewale Akinnuoye-Abaje (Mr. Eko on Lost) played the American helicopter pilots who were in charge of taxiing the Norwegian scientists from the Antarctic research base back to civilization. They could have been played by anyone. Almost all of the characters in this movie can played by any actor and the roles are interchangeable. They were there as fodder for the alien organism. That's one of the drawbacks of this prequel. I didn't care much for the characters other than Mary Elizabeth Winstead's Kate Lloyd. Yes, it's a prequel. Even at points, it feels like a remake. The Thing (2011) shows us what happened to the Norwegian base that Kurt Russell explored in the 1982 movie. All the details of the destruction was fleshed out... the axe on the wall, the holes in the base, the scorch marks, the fused body... creepy... Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. direction was able to give off the creepiness and other worldly concept of the organism. Heijningen also did a really good job of not just haphazardly blow a hole in the wall just because it was there in the 1982 film. All the predestined mayhem (like the axe on the wall) was done very well and felt organic. The Thing (2011) is not as bad as most critics made it out to be. There are some logic holes but nothing that's super dumb. Also since this film is set in 1982, there was nothing that I could spot which did not belong in that era. Technology for example. It's definitely worth checking out. Especially when you want to be creeped out in the season of Halloween. You don't need to watch the 1982 movie to understand this one. But if there is one Thing to watch, I'd go with John Carpenter's The Thing (1982). Every subsequent scene of the alien organism in the 1982 version makes me forget the previous $%#*'ed up moments. Rob Bottin's creature designs in the 1982 version is just #*$%'ing unreal. The Thing (2011) Trailer RATING: 3/5 A bit of trivia: The Thing (2011) is the prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing (1982). John Carpenter's movie is a remake of Howard Hawks-Christian's 1951 movie The Thing from Another World. The 1951 movie is an adaptation of John W. Campbell, Jr.'s novella Who Goes There?.

The Last Exorcism

Halloween Movie In the Drive review, I talked about how stingy I am about going to the theaters. There was a time in my life when all I did was go to the movies. It's one of my favorite past times. Watching the colorful explosions, hearing the sound mixes and score, seeing the giant pretty faces (sometimes bodies) on the big screen, inspired by epic wide shots of landscapes and also, experiencing a good audience reaction is priceless. I was there when Maximus took down the chariot in Gladiator. The audience clapped and cheered and at one point we started to chant "MAXIMUS!" For that one moment, everyone in the audience was united. Just thinking about it again gives me goose bumps. Then there was this one time watching The Others, we sat with the overflow crowd of the sold out American Pie 2. This audience was mostly girls and wow, what a fun time we had hearing the crowd scream in unison during the scary moments. Sometimes, even ignorant crowd reactions can be funny. Once, during the opening of a Chinese film starring Jet Li (李連杰) and directed by Zhang Yimou (張藝謀), Hero (英雄), someone yelled out, "I didn't know I had to read! Motherfucker, I can't read!" In any case, you might go to the movies for the majestic cinematography, or for the sake of a date, or for the popcorn, or just to escape the heat during the summer or the cold during the winter... Me... I love crowd reactions and when I got my first real taste of it during Gladiator, I kept on going back for more. What does my recent frugal sensibility and my love for audience reaction has to do with The Last Exorcism? I regret that I missed this in the theaters. I decided not to watch The Last Exorcism at the theaters because Eli Roth's name was attached and it's another mockumentary type of horror. Didn't the Blair Witch Project run that well dry with, sadly, one attempt? Also, I understand Eli Roth's work but, at the same time, I just "don't get it." I do not mind torture horror movies, or super gory horror movies. I love the Saw series. So, maybe Eli Roth will grow on me in the future? Eli Roth did not direct The Last Exorcism he's the producer and was sitting on this project for a while until he found a director for it: Daniel Stamm. Stamm previously wrote and directed a film in a documentary format called A Necessary Death. The film impressed Eli Roth and he wanted Stamm's vision for The Last Exorcism. I can say what I will about Eli Roth but he knows his horror and, he knows his talents. Later on, Ashley Bell was brought on board as the possessed girl after an amazing screen test. Patrick Fabian also had a great screen test as the Reverend Cotton Marcus. There's an interesting story with one of the screen tests: Caleb Landry Jones had an alright screen test and was told to come back later after he's less high. He told the casting crew that he didn't smoke up, that's how he looks like normally and he gets that a lot. The casting crew decided to cast him anyway because they were impressed with his subtleties so, to our benefit and, according to Patrick Fabian, to the ensemble's benefit, Caleb got the job. How do I know all this? Blu Ray extras baby! At first, I got the movie from Netflix. I was so impressed by it that I went and bought the Blu Ray. I really like The Last Exorcism and I can only imagine what the crowd reaction was like at the theaters. I wish I was there. There is a dark and creepy mood in this movie which is a result of the supernatural subject and the documentary format blending well together. The credit definitely goes to Daniel Stamm and his cinematographer Zoltan Honti. They did a fantastic job holding the audience's vision to their mercy. They have an understanding which most horror mockumentaries tend to be ignorant about, that the set up is as important as the scare. Another important factor are believable actors to draw us into this faux reality. Patrick Fabian as Reverend Cotton Marcus has a lot of on screen charisma. He sold me right off the bat in the beginning of the movie with his banana bread recipe sermon. I don't remember seeing Patrick Fabian in anything else. The production crew of the The Last Exorcism made it a point to cast "unknowns." The film crew following the Reverend around is made up of two people: the cameraman, Daniel Moskowitz (played by Adam Grimes) and Iris Reisen (played by Iris Bahr). Iris Bahr is the only person I can positively recognize in this film. She was in "The Ski Lift" episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Reverend Cotton Marcus is hoping that the documentary can expose exorcism as a fraud. Cotton Marcus grew up as a child preacher and comes from a long line of exorcists. He believes that exorcism is more of a psychological practice than supernatural. Especially after he read a news article of a child's death from asphyxiation during an exorcism. This also shook his faith in religion. For the sake of the documentary, Cotton Marcus answers a cry for help at an old Louisiana farm house. This is when we meet Nell Sweetzer, played by the astonishing Ashley Bell. If Patrick Fabian's charisma was not enough to pull you into the story, Ashley Bell's charm definitely will. When we first see her as the possessed girl, Nell Sweetzer, she comes off as a heart warming sweet young lady. I didn't want to believe that anything awful had or will happen to her in the film. Why would anyone or anything would want to hurt such a lovely girl?! Nell's story is truly heart breaking. Until the ending of The Last Exorcism the audience was free to wonder if Nell was really possessed by a demon. Was she abused by her alcoholic father or, was she bullied by her bother Caleb? The father, Louis Sweetzer (played by Louis Herthum), is a devout Christian who lost his wife to cancer and afraid that he might lose his daughter's soul to the devil. I might have seen Louis Herthum in other movies before, he does look familiar. Caleb Landry Jones is Nell's brother Caleb, who holds his own whenever he's on screen. The casting crew was right about his subtle talents. After The Last Exorcism, Caleb Landry Jones appeared in X-Men: First Class and also did a memorable acting job as Banshee. Back to The Last Exoercism... So, was the family the reason for the possession problem? Keeping that question in mind, this is where Ashley Bell is astonishing. Her acting kept us wondering the true nature of her possession. With minimal special effects and make up along with great lighting, Ashley Bell as the nastier possessed Nell, the sweet girl is totally gone and it's easy to believe that another person or thing took over. Is this schizophrenia? Even some of the seemingly impossible body contortions are real. Ashley Bell is double jointed and studied dance, she can preform some cringe worthy uncomfortable "bends." For one of the exorcism scenes, Ashley had an idea during the night before the shoot to bend the way she did and the director Daniel Stamm decided to use it. As I said, it's until the end of The Last Exorcism that we are left wondering. The ending drew a lot of arguments for and against the film. Whether you like or hate the film, the ending is key. I for one, love it. I believe it completes the journey of Reverend Cotton Marcus. There are talks of a sequel. I just hope the sequel doesn't diminish the Reverend's actions at the end of this film. I highly recommend The Last Exorcism for Halloween or anytime of the year for that matter. It just seems a bit more creepier during Halloween. I really like the film (did I say that already?) but, it's not without its flaws. For me, personally, I don't like the idea of music being edited in. Then again, The Last Exorcism is edited as a finished documentary and not as a "found footage" type of realism. On the subject of editing, Shilpa Sahi did an amazing job editing The Last Exorcism. She went through hundreds of footage and chose great moments for the final cut. Then there is the cameraman. Whenever we don't see the cameraman (Daniel Moskowitz) on screen, it is the film's cinematographer, Zoltan Hontim, navigating a huge and heavy camera through the cramped areas during one of the hottest summers in Louisiana. There are four possession movies I truly like and The Last Exorcism is #2. This is due to the great cast and crew. I almost wrote this movie off as nothing but a gimmicky draw. I'm glad I didn't. The Last Exorcism Trailer RATING: 4/5 HALLOWEEN LESSON: heavy boots helps with back bends GEEK CREDS: Ashley Bell's parents are Victoria Carroll and Michael Bell. Both of her parents are voice actors. Her mother, Victoria Bell, did voice acting on Scooby Doo, Batman the Animated Series, The Smurfs and a whole lot more. Ashley's father, Michael Bell, did a whole bunch of voice acting as well but, what blows my mind is his voice work on Transformers (80's animation). He was the voice of: Prowl Sideswipe Scrapper Brainstorm

Monster Madness

Hello Youtubes! I first stumbled upon James Rolfe on youtube when I was searching for old Nintendo game footage. I forgot which game I searched for but, he reviewed that certain game with a lot of frustrated rage as his Angry Nintendo Nerd persona. He later broadened his shitty games from the past horizons and, reviewed more than just Nintendo games. With this, he changed the persona's name to the Angry Video Game Nerd. The game reviews are a way for James Rolfe to do what he loves most: play video games and making movies. He seems to have unlimited knowledge on video games and movies... and especially horror movies. This year is the 5th year that he is doing horror movie reviews for each day in October. That's 31 individual reviews in the month of October. He calls this series of reviews: "Monster Madness". It is well worth checking out. James Rolfe has a lot of interesting facts and trivia to share. The past reviews included classics such as: -the 1931 Dracula film starring Bela Lugosi -Japan's famous kaiju Godzilla and... -even crappy movies in the 80's like Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 Watching these reviews is like sitting with a friend and listening to his funny comments. James Rolfe doesn't filter or hold back his enthusiasm in his "Monster Madness" reviews. He tells it like it is. MONSTER MADNESS SEQUEL-A-THON -- OCTOBER 1 -31st JamesNintendoNerd's Channel The youtube clip above is just a trailer. Head on over to Cinemassacre for the full reviews: cinemassacre.com