Suspecting that people around him are turning into evil creatures, a troubled man questions whether to protect his only friend from an impending war, or from himself.
Wyatt, in They Look Like People, hears voices. He hears them through his cell phone. Ominous, deep and disembodied voices tell, Wyatt, a singularly troubled and isolated individual, that he is one of the “blessed.” To Wyatt, this means that he is a warrior, and one of a chosen few that can really see demonic and other-worldly entities that can assimilate humans around us, to eventually bring on the apocalypse. For all intent and purposes, Wyatt has been recruited to follow instructions and figure out who is who among those around him, even if it means taking matters into his own hands. Wyatt, played by MacLeod Andrews, enters New York City and it is apparent right away, that he is lost and seems to be running or avoiding something in his past. He looks very displaced and absolutely needy.
One day, he randomly runs into an old friend, named Christian (Evan Dumouchel), on the streets of NYC, not too far from Christian’s home. Christian, very surprised and at a loss, to see his friend, eventually has mercy on Wyatt and with astute sensibility, asks Wyatt to stay with him.
Writer and Director Perry Blackshear directs this indie thriller, with help from a grant, made through New York University and Tisch School of the Arts, with these two characters very much at the center of everything. Through their re-introduction to each other, begins an intriguing journey. Christian himself, thanks to Perry’s astute script, also hears voices and the film explores parallels between the two good friends. Christian’s past saw him as a submissive, weak person lacking confidence and drive. Blackshear’s small film takes us on a trip through a world of machismo and manly conventions in the dog eat dog world of young, yuppie corporate New York City.
All this is through Christian’s eyes, as he tries to man up and do himself some good by working up the nerve to ask his boss out on a date. The voices that Christian hears are those of positive affirmations through his headphones whenever he works out, takes the train and rests at home. TLLP explores this duality in painting him as the classic alpha male and gym rat, while still having to reconcile his past which included his friend Wyatt prominently. Christian simply is trying to re-invent himself while listening to voices telling him that he “is a mountain.”
TLLP showcases the 2 actors that play Wyatt and Christian very well. As actors they connect, feel sincere, act natural and seem very much at ease with each other. I can almost hear Blackshear’s direction: Just be yourselves, fellas! And they are. They drink, act out Lord of the Rings, play sock games and take trips down memory lane. But as they grow comfortable together and Christian’s life seems to take a cool upswing with his boss Mara (Played brilliantly by the sweet Margaret Ying Drake), Wyatt takes a turn for the worse as he continues to hear the unnerving demonic voice which now sounds like Mara herself. Blackshear, in his wisdom here, shows very little, creating a tight atmosphere which he builds suspense with. Before all of this, though, we are treated to nice moments of calm before the storm as Mara and Christian bond in nice little segments of the two interacting before a bombshell goes off for Christian at his workplace.
Blackshear brilliantly uses sound (incredibly creepy sounds at that), tight shots and quick cuts of character interaction to incrementally build dread and despair. He also gives us a ringside seat to Wyatt’s slow decline into paranoia and despondency. Wyatt tries to seek out help but shoots it down as he suspects the worse. He also takes matters into his own hand as he begins to take more orders from those voices and prepares for war with dangerous supplies bought in a hardware (sulfuric acid included) store. Christian, otherwise, suspects nothing as Wyatt hides axes and nail guns in his basement.
One night, though, Christian begins to notice a change in Wyatt and Blackshear ramps up the whole affair in the last half hour of this incredbly succinct indie. Christian is awoken by Wyatt having a severe episode and his paranoia begins to scare Christian into a standstill. But being a quick thinker, Christian offers to help. Things get worse as Wyatt suspects Mara of being an “other.”
There is enough subtext in Blackshear’s film for two other movies. What Blackshear does really well here, is give us likeable and real characters, and what lies beneath the skin and in their hearts first, as he also challenges us to look into ourselves and what we would do for friends in need struggling with mental illness. The film is indeed a thriller and some may package it as a horror indie but it is much more than that. TLLP is an exploration. A drama about reconnected friends with emotional baggage that need each other in a dire stretch of their friendship.
What the actors convincingly portray are 2 men that are much stronger together than individually and when real monsters appear (or are they?) the strength of trust and love endures all of that. Films about mental illness, especially in the horror genre, don’t really take the time to show us this side of things and by the very end, the movie lets us know that there is much more to this side of the issue.
TTLP is not an overt horror film and does not use any of the more conventional tropes associated with more big budgeted films of it’s type. It is a film of impressions and implications and hits home more in a psychological aspect. It is a film to be very patient with and it is not for everyone. But Blackshear, who also served as editor and cinematographer, serves up a very unique film about people and by the end, you will look back and see what his intent was from the way he wraps the film up.
Blackshear is to be very commended for making a film that is wholly and truly his. It is beautifully shot, edited and not at any time do you see the film’s budgetary limitations bleed through. Every dollar is put up on the screen and it is a good looking production that makes NYC a character all it’s own and gives our protagonists and characters a stunning backdrop to share the story in. But be warned, if slow burn films are not your flavor of the month, then look elsewhere. If you can tolerate an 80 minute excursion into a character’s slow madness and compelling psychological neuro-drama, then They Look Like People is well worth it. The ending, while open to interpretation, is a knock out, in my opinion, solidifying both Blackshear as a storyteller and the film as a intriguing piece of original work.
“They Look Like People” is currently available to stream in high definition on Netflix.
“Feast,” directed by John Gulager, is one batshit crazy movie, in the most tried and true grindhouse tradition. Let me get this out of the way now, and just admit that it attempts to provide lo fi, low brow, hokey b movie schlock, and it does it well, if at times it borders on eye rolling parody instead of admiration, respect and reverance. To do this right, the film, at the expense of any real story, decides to just administer the right combination of gory monster action, explicit situations, bar humor, vulgarities, banal dialog and plenty of “I didn’t see THAT coming” moments. Gulager’s film revels in psyching the viewer out with how the main characters (All hilariously introduced by freeze frames that include off the cuff bios with life expectancies) are randomly dispatched, leaving us to wonder if any of them are safe, who’s next, and who is going to make it out alive.
It seems that some nasty alien creatures have it in for us humans and where better to come after us (they do have a reason, I suppose) than a red neck dive bar in the middle of nowhere, or rather the Californian desert…well yeah, nowhere. After the intros and obligatory set up’s are over, we get the “hero,” (Eric Dane) barging into said dive bar, all bloody and screaming to everyone that there are murderous and ravenous creatures right behind him and that they better get ready to confront them. It’s a brief respite, then all gory hell breaks loose. The scene where a macho hero tries to save the day is something we’ve all seen countless times before (especially in horror and sci fi films) and Feast is happy to break with convention and press the reset button on how the rules hold up in these situations, and with that being said, Feast becomes an otherwise cracking fun time.
It’s all an unpredictable, and honestly, a sometimes cliched affair, but, fortunately, between the monstrous excitement we are treated to some pretty funny bits of character interaction in the bar and some laugh out loud dialog. During a quiet moment, one character approaches an old bar hag asking about aliens and insults her by saying that: “Old people know shit!” It’s little bits of juvenile humor and tasteless-ness like this that makes this film hard to hate on some levels much like “Slither” from James Gunn.
The bar inhabitants in Feast are indeed a motley crew and I won’t go into who is who (though Balthazar Getty is pretty comical as an abhorrent pool hustler named “Bozo”) or what, since in the end, it doesn’t really matter, but we are reminded of many other films where people are all stuck together in one place fighting for their lives when an evil external force is trying to get in (Night of the Living Dead, Assault on Precinct 13, anyone?). Don’t even begin to think allegorically or metaphorically here, though, Feast IS NOT that type of flick. What it is, is a corny amalgam of sleazy alien attack flicks that permeated the late 70’s and 80’s in grindhouse theaters and of course, the already afore-mentioned films of Romero and Carpenter.
The movie does in fact feel like a sort of twisted black sheep sibling of Tarantino’s and Rodriguez’s ode to grind from a several years back. Gulager’s Feast seems to humorously take pride in the fact that almost none of it’s main characters have any redeeming values whatsoever and the story holds them in no esteem at all. They are very overtly un-likeable with most being crass, ugly, immature, boorish, blundering and cowardly. All the better, though, since we can’t wait to see who is eaten next, right?
By the 3rd act, when the numbers of the questionable bar patrons dwindle even more, the film gains even more gusto and gets even more gross and enters really wacky territory with an unexpected turn of events. Feast writers, Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, excel in keeping us guessing and they are indeed students of all that has come before in this particular genre. No one is safe in Feast, and even if this is very familiar territory, Dunstan and Patrick know that they are out to entertain us with schlocky aplomb. They also whip up some very facetious dialog between the characters as they try to outsmart the aliens and even themselves. Director Gulager outdoes himself with the casual gore and gross proceedings showing us everything in harsh reds without batting an eye. Feast is a fun and rollicking flick but you have to be looking to have some fun indulging in this kind of affair. In the end it’s all empty calories and the cinematic equivalent of a Snickers bar.
The cast here are all enjoyable, the gore front and center, the action cliched, the monster mayhem all shaky and what not, and did I mention the gore? Oh yeah, I did. Anyway, Feast is indeed a Feast of crude, odious and off color alien monster goodness that knows what it’s meant to consent to even if that wink and nod is really a self aware dose of parody (but there is yet another funny as hell freeze frame late in the game that I didn’t see coming). Technically, Feast is a solid grindhouse fit and it’s shot and composed capably.
The make up FX are unexpectedly well done and well rendered and it appears that it’s all done practically with no CGI to be had anywhere. Feast isn’t a smart film in any way, but it is astute in playing the conventions that have made countless grindhouse movies so much fun back in the day. Like I said, it’s frenzied analog film-making in the breakneck style of Raimi’s “Evil Dead” and it serves up basic and elemental horror film tropes that are quite comical and dreadfully low brow, distasteful and offensively gross. Yep, batshit crazy. What gets better than that?
The Late Wes Craven, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck served as Executive Producers on “Feast.” Also, look for vet actor Clu Gulager as “Bartender.” He is the father of the Director.
There is an immense ocean of trees at the Northwest base of Mount Fuji, in Japan, that has been eeriely named “The Suicide Forest.” It is a place where an epidemic of sorts is taking place. According to FUSION writer, David Matthews, suicide is the leading cause of death for Japanese men between the ages of 20 to 44. Even more so problematic is that teen suicides are on the rise. In 2003 alone, 105 bodies were recovered (Source: Wikipedia) breaking the record of 78 in 2002. In 2010, 200 or so people attempted suicide there, with at least 54 succeeding, with hanging or drug overdose being the common method of self-disposal.
Jason Zada’s supernatural thriller “The Forest,” is not the first film to have the Aokigahara Forest as a location, to have a movie take place in. There has been Gus van Sant’s “Sea of Trees” (with Matthew McConaughey and Ken Watanabe ), “Grave Halloween,” from 2013 and “Forest of the Living Dead,” from 2010. Zada’s film stars Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones) as Sara, a young woman who travels to Japan to seek her missing school-teacher twin sister, who was reported to have been last seen entering the aforementioned “suicide forest.”
Sara, once in Japan, visits her sister’s school, and speaks to the dean of the establishment as well as a student who freaks out thinking that Sara is actually Jess, her instructor. When numerous questions, inquiries and going through her sister’s apartment (where she finds a picture of them as young girls) bear no fruit, Sara decides to try Aokigahara forest next, where she checks into a small, quaint yet creepy hotel, in order to try and look for Jess on her own. She comes across and meets an online journalist, at a nearby bar, named Aiden, played by Taylor Kinney (Chicago Fire, Vampire Diaries), Aiden, interested and captivated by Sara’s search for her sister, asks if he could chronicle her search and do a story about her, Jess and the suicide forest.
Sara agrees and as a backstory to her relationship with Jess, she tells Aiden about a horrible night in the past where her and Jess suffered the loss of their parents to a terrible car accident right in front of their home (although, that is not what we see on screen, so Sara lies to Aiden about the calamity. Or is that what we are lead to believe?). The Forest does really well with the Sara / Jess dynamic and it is a strong core that lifts the film above it’s eventual and oft banal conventions, despite having such natural beauty surrounding a ghostly and psychological central character arc.
Apparently, Sara does not see first hand what Jess saw and Jess has had to bear the burden of seeing what really happened to their mom and dad, making Jess the more stronger and darker twin. With this material Dormer manages to rise above and make a compelling case to keep watching the events unfold.
Things move forward with a good set up, decent premise, and some moody atmosphere accentuated by wonderful photography and composition from everything to Tokyo’s bright cityscapes to the lush and scenic mountain forest at Aokigahara. Zada, with dialog and exposure, keen-fully delves in cultural territory peering into differences and disparities with a quick and serious tone. But, it is all fleeting and somewhat moot once the movie changes focus to the forest. When Aiden and Sara recruit a hesitant guide to take them into the forest, the movie clearly seems to try too hard to maintain that momentum, previously set up in the first 40 minutes.
Whatever mood and elegant insight (both with characterization and visually) the film had, is lost once Zada takes his material, written by no less than 3 people, into the forest itself. Dormer, alongside Kinney, does get a chance to emote beneficially but when J-horror tropes start to rear it’s ugly head, the plot becomes pretty rote and near damn confusing and un-intelligible. Zada and the writers open some interesting doors as the Forest becomes it’s own entity in the last act, but just about at every turn, the film is sabotaged by the pseudo-psychological, by the numbers play by play. Loud jumps scares, shrieking demon-like phantasms, fake outs, weird forest noises and “Blair Witch” like machinations abound and Dormer’s pretty solid performance turns into a sleepwalking bag of empty tricks.
I’m still not sure what Zada and crew were going for in the last act and the so called “twist” is rather anemic, forcing the viewer to actually ponder, with no resolution in sight, the various outcomes that are supposedly open to “interpretation.” Whether Sara and Jess are actually 2 separate people or if (and this is stretch since there is very little to really solidify it) Jess is a splinter of Sara, and they are indeed just one person. And when Jess is released from The Forest (and we get NO explanation as to the rhyme or reason to her actions other than she may be suicidal, but still manages to be alive and well by the finale) and Sara becomes a ghost forest- demon or whatever, we are just too damn uninterested by everything at that point and we feel duped. But thankfully, as poorly executed and full of insinuations as it is, the running time is quite brief. Perhaps that being the problem as well. It’s as if they had half a story and it was only good enough for about an hour of our time.
“The Forest” starts off solid enough, with a good performance from Dormer, some mood and atmosphere, within not only the Forest, but with the beautifully captured Tokyo and surrounding landscape. Eventually, the ball is dropped by that last act and The Forest morphs into an un-scary and un-shocking J Horror wannabe. With no bite or substance, other than Dormer and the interesting springboard of a backstory, Zada’s film unfortunately becomes a short, muddled and mediocre affair, that I really wanted to like much more.
With the forest and psychological metaphors showing so overtly on it’s sleeve, the movie just doesn’t immerse us enough into that other-worldly realm with enough gusto. There are cool ideas here, but it’s a better movie to just look at than experience. Consider only as a rental for a one and done. The only real strength is the casting of Dormer, but even she collapses from too many cliches overtaking the story and her focus. Another lesser strength, is the engaging cinematography that captures, with alarming mood and definity, the actual forest. But it is definitely a missed opportunity, in my humble opinion.
“Your life is a precious gift from your parents. Think about them and the rest of your family. You don’t have to suffer alone.”
Good old Roger Corman. You could always count on him, on occasion, to cash in on a cinematic trend here, and there. Hell, he has made almost a life long career of it. When “Piranha,” an obvious and pretty blatant spoof of Jaws, (along with other notables: Orca and Grizzly) was released in 1978, the B grade campiness of this “man vs nature” film did not deter it from finding a large (and before hand, dubious) audience. Movie-goers eventually reveled in this cheesy, tongue-in-cheek schlocky fare, creating until this day, a beloved cult film from a notable director of some weighty talent and an impressive filmography.
Suprisingly, this low budget film, directed strongly by Joe Dante (The Howling, Gremlins and Innerspace), the king of monster movie parodies, and written confidently by auteur scribe John Sayles (Alligator) actually works with that neat drive-in movie, double bill charm. It’s fun, scary and not terribly gore-filled, given the genre and minimal budget trappings. Of course, the film has a very biting satirical spin on the genre that may convert fans, who admire and prefer rip off – b flicks, quickly in this particular manner.
Dante’s film also re-creates some very realistic nastiness despite the home-spun hokum that the script demands. The attacks, especially when children are involved, are quite brutal but resplendent to watch. The gore, while not over the top, provokes dread and repulsion.
The somewhat stiff but appropriately heroic Bradford Dillman plays Paul, a man of the woods type, who hesitantly pairs up with Maggie, played by Heather Menzies to investigate the disappearance of some unwary hikers at a nearby Government installation. The film, with it’s simple movie of the week plot, unfolds evenly into more of a comedy, at times, than a horror film, as our duo uncover a secret military operation involving mutated killer fish with nasty results. Joe Dante regular, Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Innerspace) stars as a left-behind scientist, who has been the crazed monitor and protector of the deadly piranha. His fevered performance is definitely one of the highlights of Dante’s small film.
Many things work in it’s favor and mostly because of Dante’s straight but incredibly humorous direction and guidance.The movie sports decent photography (the rivers and forests are drably sharp and lit) and the little monster fish look pretty rad, especially when zipping around underwater. Thankfully, the shots do not linger long and the bits and pieces we get do look ok.
The flesh-eating piranha are let loose upon on unsuspecting swimmers with a dire, even more scarier proposition than Spielberg’s great white shark. Mainly because there are MANY of these tiny, swimming killers with uber-razor sharp teeth and damn, they are crazy hungry! Now, I have seen enough National Geographic specials on Amazonian killer fish to know that this is a very un-probable premise, but Joe Dante pulls off the plausibility with such geeky and fun assurance, that one cannot help but really enjoy it all.
The mid section (that raft scene goes on a bit long) does drag a bit, mostly when trying to display exposition, and the film does have a late 70’s dated air about it, but I am definitely recommending it for the parodical sensibilities that Sayles and Dante imbue with humor and horror.
At one point Universal had considered chucking out an injuction to the film for it’s “Jaws” satirization (and close proximity to the release of “Jaws 2”) but they held back when Steven Spielberg (who actually was quoted as saying: “its the best of the “Jaws” rip off’s”) had stepped in and persuaded Universal Pictures from taking further action.
Also, a remake was once considered by Chuck Russell, who had one good remake under his belt in “the Blob.” It did not pan out so Alexandre Aja scooped up the project. As well, and this may come as a surprise to many, “Piranha” was re-made in 1995 and starred William Katt, Alexandra Paul and Mila Kunis (her first debut role). This version was also produced by Mr. Corman, but it remains overlooked and has been little seen, over the years, justifibly so.
In closing, I wished I owned a drive-in theater these days, because I’d definitely include this cult, b movie classic to the schedule! Maybe paired up with other famous parodies by Dante, like The Howling, Gremilns or Innerpsace? Enjoy, gang!
During my many years of watching, and sometimes dissecting horror films, I’ve noticed that it’s pretty easy to say a film is an “Atmospheric Thriller” and quite another for it to really be one. Many deeply rooted horror film fans do, every so often, enjoy a moody and realistic thriller that is convincing, refreshingly honest and which unfolds with surprises, shocks and precision. In Hollywood, it is very hard to find a film with those qualities much less those aspirations. So, occasionally, fans need to sometimes think (and look beyond borders) outside the box and check out films by Directors from other countries to try and participate in unique and sublime horror fare.
In the case of renowned Spanish Horror Filmmaker Jaume Balaguero (Darkness, REC, REC 2, The Nameless), his 2005 psychological thriller,“Fragile,”it is easy to say that it truly and easily has atmosphere, disposition and eagerness, which elevates it above very routine entries in this genre. First and foremost it is an eerie “ghost story” which takes place in the United Kingdom, on the Isle of Wight.
Calista Flockhart (Supergirl, Ally Mcbeal) impeccably and admirably portrays a newly transferred night nurse, that has come to supervise and care for children at a weathered Institution, which is about to close down permanently. Richard Roxburgh (Van Helsing, Hound of the Baskervilles) proficiently plays head Doctor Robert Marcus, of the vast and dark facility, who takes her on, not without some reservations and unwelcome aloofness.
Balaguero directed earlier efforts like “Rec 2,” which is considered another genre gem, a film that is fast moving and relentless. Preceding Rec 2, was Rec, which was just as intense. And these two films, if watched back to back, would make you feel as if you have run a 5K marathon. On the other hand, Fragile actually unfolds slowly, and languidly sets up characters in the form of directionless orderlies, nurses and the numerous ill children, with whom we all learn to care for from all of the nurturing interaction of Flockhart’s character, named Amy. One scene in particular, a young girl, staying in the Hospital, named Maggie (Yasmin Murphy), sees and hears an intimidating phantom named “Charlotte” endlessly roaming and haunting the chilling hospital.
Balaguero supplies loud noises, letter blocks moving by themselves, electrical blackouts, failing elevators and we witness just about everyone staying clear of the abandoned second floor. Apparently, It has a terrible history and secret, that only Flockhart can (or is determined to) get to the bottom of. She is resolute to help Maggie and find out who this apparition “Charlotte” really is. Even if it may cost her her job, her sanity and friendship with Roxburgh’s attentive Dr. Marcus.
The films boosts fluid and immersive photography, from Xavi Gimenez (Penny Dreadful, Red Lights) and he incorporates a true and effective amount of moody lighting, which intensifies the danger and inclination of the Hospital. Shadowy hallways abound in succeed in un-nerving the viewer as well as catching them off guard as the cinematography deepens the dread expediency of the film. The music score by Roque Banos (Sexy Beast, The Machinist) comes across strong but uncharacteristically bombastic at times. It is, though, appropriate in setting up Balaguero’s steadyfast and dependable tension.
There are some scares that we do see coming, but it doesn’t take away from the dread and evolvement of the story, co -written by Jordi Galceran (Dictado, The Method). It is quite reminiscent of Peter Medak’s seminal haunted house opus, “The Changeling,” in some ways but with a more wicked and dangerous antagonist. Apparently, the locale and setting being in a hospital instead. To note, Balaguero manages to incite some admiration in the beautiful setting, in the UK, with cloudy and rainy palettes as well as inserting some nice natural landscapes to show some disparities in the theme and story, which is a nice touch.
Another like minded Spanish film “The Orphanage,” from director J.A Bayona (The impossible) also comes to mind, with similar thematic structure and story. The movie, ultimately is in good company here. In closing, “Fragile” is a neat little supernatural flick which has an intriguing twist, has chocks loads of suspense and a commendable lead performance from Calista Flockhart, who in this film, shows some unique and welcome range, depsite the genre she picked to star in this go round. Check it out, gang. Recommended!
High school teacher Jake Epping travels back in time to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy – but his mission is threatened by Lee Harvey Oswald, falling in love, and the past itself, which doesn’t want to be changed and shouldn’t be changed.
Directed by Kevin MacDonald
Based on the Novel by Stephen King
“11.22.63” is a new original series available on the immensely popular streaming platform HULU Plus. This 8 episode limited series is executive produced by J.J. Abrams (LOST, Alias, Person of Interest) and bestselling horror and mystery author Stephen King (IT, Under the Dome, Christine, Doctor Sleep). With one new episode airing on HULU every Monday, the Pilot, “The Rabbit Hole” is now up for viewing.
King’s adapted tome was a while in the making and HULU has hit a gold mine with the highly anticipated “11.22.63.” The series in indeed on the verge of making a lasting impression much like “House of Cards” did with Netflix and “Transparent” for Amazon, even though for a limited time. Some HULU shows have trickled through-out but many feel that the slightest offerings may lead to something much more on the horizon. “11.22.63” just may be that show.
High School and Adult Education teacher, Jake Epping, Played by James Franco (Spider-man 2, OZ) is in the final stages of a divorce with his wife, and also encouraging an older and impending writer / graduate to pursue his dreams of success. Epping is a down to earth guy. Passionate but logical. Restrained, yet curious. He frequents a Diner in his hometown in Maine (duh, it’s a King story, remember?), owned by his crusty and amiable friend, named Al, played by the ever cool Chris Cooper. Al, it appears, has a secret passage in a closet in the back of the Diner that leads, well…elsewhere. After noticing that Al returns from the back of the Diner looking completely ill, unshaven and pale, Jake attempts to find out how, in just a couple of minutes, Al manages to wind up with a bad cough, claiming he has cancer, and looking like shit.
Al sees an opportunity in all of this and shows Jake his “portal” into what is the past. As one goes through, the traveller ends up appearing at the same time and same day in 1960. Yep, 1960. Jake, at first, reluctantly steps through and after he takes in a normal 1960 street scene, returns pretty freaked out. Al convinces Jake to return to his house in order to tell him everything he knows about the portal and everything he has done in the past to avoid the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. And also, to pass on his many papers, photographs and documents that he has been acquiring over time during his investigation into Lee Harvey Oswald. Al tells him he can no longer continue because he became ill while in the past. Apparently, no matter how long one stays, and Al stayed 3 years the last time, only 2 minutes pass in the Diner, in the present.
Bridget Carpenter’s understated and dynamic story places Jake in the position of a time travelling everyman in a fish out of water narrative as he decides to fullfill Al’s last dying wish. Once jake goes back through to 1960, we experience everything first hand as Jake does and much of Al’s warnings, leads, advice and omens of danger come dangerously close to fruition. Director Kevin MacDonald flashes back to Cooper on several occassions whenever we find Jake experiencing what Al called, “the past pushing back.” Carpenter’s take finds Jake as a willing participant in the past despite Al’s warning. He loves the era, (grinning at a campaign sign that states “they can’t lick our dick,” is particularly funny to him) even though he has to be quite careful of any verbal and social slip ups (his ability to win bets on the horses , say, and mentioning books and films that hadn’t been created yet in 1960), He tries valiantly to look inconspicuous in the past and finds room and board and begins his journey to use Al’s numerous techniques and information to track down shadowy figures attached, or going to be attached, to Oswald and Kennedy.
Franco is a blast to watch, no doubt having fun and projecting wonder, excitement along with doubt, hesitation and fear as he tries to make his way around this maze of parallels and conundrums. The El Conejo sequence is a very cool example of Jake stepping around the past pushing back and Jake’s foray into the Dallas Democratic Convention is another highlight. MacDonald keeps the first entry brisk and tight and leaves no stone unturned for Jake while deftly adding layer upon layer of intrigue, collusion and maipulation. Carpenter also leaves us wanting more as Jake heads further into the rabbit hole as he desperately manages despair and seeks out someone from the future, in the past. Of note, also, is King’s little peeks into some total creepiness. There is the always present figure of The Yellow Card Man, played by Kevin J. O’Conner (The Mummy, Van Helsing) who, along with some others, are consistently repeating: “You don’t belong here” and then there are roaches, near misses and the occassional weird electrical anomalies whenever Jake is near phone booths and light switches. Hopefully, all to be addressed somewhere down the line.
I really enjoyed “The Rabbit Hole” and will most definitely keep watching on HULU Plus. There is good work here done by all involved. King’s source novel being the first thing to applaud. Franco, Carpenter and director MacDonald excel as the creative forces, that inject the show with plenty of unique twists and turns and it repeatedly keeps the audience engaged and on the edge of their seats without having to resort to tricky sci fi manipulations that can lose the viewer or increase the doubt that something this important to King fans can actually work. I think it can and with the show’s Rod Serling and Richard Matheson vibe (along with the showy, confusing and heady themes that time travelling can whip up) it kicks up the tension and nostaligia practically through the roof.
Plus, I have to get the bad taste of the last season of “Under the Dome” out of my mouth and I can do it with “11.22.63” – Recommended!
‘Tis the season to be wearing an ugly sweater. If you want to be the hit of your holiday party, pick up one of Fright-Rags‘ new “faux ugly sweater” crew neck sweatshirts.
Artist Joe Guy Allard applies the tacky-yet-lovable knit design style of classic Christmas sweaters to four horror favorites: Jaws, Trick ‘r Treat, Halloween II and Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
The faux ugly sweater collection is on sale now at Fright-Rags.com. All four designs are in stock and ready to ship, ensuring domestic delivery before Christmas. Quantities are limited, so act quickly.
As if that weren’t enough, Fright-Rags also has a line of apparel dedicated to the latest holiday hit, Krampus. Available now, the Krampus collection features a faux ugly sweater and two tees from the film.
2015 is a rare year in which horror fans are blessed with three Friday the 13ths. Pop culture brand Electric Zombie celebrated the first two with new merchandise, and you better believe they weren’t going to let today’s date pass them by without another drop. The latest line features shirts, posters and pins – some new designs, some old favorites – dedicated to the various incarnations of Jason Voorhees.
There are several shirts in stock: “Lurker,” a bloody tribute to the machete-wielding killer, available on standard tees and baseball shirts; “0013,” a James Bond-inspired design, which comes in both standard and glow-in-the-dark Powerglove variants; and “Manhattan,” an all-over print of a red-and-blue hockey mask in homage to the Jason Takes Manhattan poster.
The line includes two posters. The first is dedicated to the original Friday the 13th. Adopting a vintage ’80s style, the print makes reference to some of the classic film’s most memorable characters and moments. The second poster comes from the franchise’s sixth installment, Jason Lives, and is made to look like a gritty Japanese import.
Powerglove Pinhead is a 1″ glow-in-the-dark enamel pin featuring the distinct 8-bit coloring of Jason’s mask. Electric Zombie has also restocked the popular Dead Heads. Available in both classic and Powerglove versions, these Madballs-inspired rubber heads feature removable resin masks.
“This is the third Friday the 13th this year – holy smokes!” exclaims Electric Zombie owner Kyle Crawford. “I didn’t want to do a crazy Jason overkill, so I thought I would spice it up with a little bit of old and a little bit of new and a little bit of new-old.”
Apparel from Electric Zombie’s Halloween line – including products inspired by Trick ‘r Treat, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween III, Are You Afraid of the Dark, The Monster Squad and more – is still available as well.
This limited edition, numbered, 18 x 24” museum-quality art print by artist Steve McGinnis was created exclusively for the Kickstarter campaign and is available via two new reward levels.
“DRACULA A.D. 1972” POSTER BELOW!
ART by STEVE McGINNIS
Some Hammer History:
In the 1950s Hammer, England’s world-renowned production company, initiated a new style of horror filmmaking that transformed the genre. At the end of the 1960s, the world that Hammer had helped to create was changing fast – the once-reliable business model was unraveling and audiences wanted something new from their films.
Amid this uncertainty, Hammer’s short-term survival was secured by an alliance with American distributor Warner Bros. The films the two companies made together are among the most renowned in Hammer’s history. Classics such as Dracula Has Risen From the Grave (1968), Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1970) and Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) were produced alongside the Oscar-nominated epic When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970), the disturbing thriller Crescendo (1970) and the bizarre sci-fi western Moon Zero Two (1969).
The films became increasingly experimental in the 1970s, challenging the perception of traditional Gothic horror with Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972), The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973) and The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974).
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Veteran Hammer actors Madeline Smith and John Carson have been confirmed to take part in the new documentary HAMMER HORROR: THE WARNER BROS YEARS, to be produced and directed by film historian Marcus Hearn.
JOHN CARSON
John Carson has a long history with Hammer Horror. He is one of the co-stars of Taste the Blood of Dracula. He also appeared in the Plague of the Zombies and Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter.
MADELINE SMITH
Although Madeline Smith’s role for this film was short lived she still had a pinnacle part to play. Appearing in a single scene where Hargood, Paxton and Secker visit a high-class brothel, Madeline plays prostitute Dolly. The scene is initially light-hearted, containing a flirtatious exotic dance with a stripper who wields a live snake. But things take a downward slope as Lord Courtley barges in to steal one of the girls; that girl being Madeline, although we do not get to see what fate befalls her.
Speaking in Hammer Films: The Elstree Studio Years (Kinsey 2007) on the role Madeline says…’I had to ride on the back of Geoffrey Keen. He’s a very serious man, but I got to know him much better later on when I worked with him on TV. I was dressed in this little white outfit, and it was meant to be a brothel. Of course, I did not know what a brothel was and what this woman was doing with a snake’… in the same text actor, John Carson who also appeared in the scene outlines how Madeline certainly made an impression… ‘Geoffrey Keen who is a touch portly in physique and somewhat short in temper, was given a sweet girl dressed like a painted doll. There was Geoffrey on all fours with this girl astride him. He was shouting crossly, “take the weight on your feet girl!.”
Although Madeline enjoys very little screen time she does manage to portray a sense of wide-eyed innocence in the part, and her presence stands out among the crowd of beautiful women. She was soon to be invited back again; this time to take the role she became known all over the world for, Emma Morton in The Vampire Lovers.
The classic Hammer films from Warner Bros:
are now finally starting to appear on Blu-ray. However, they have never received an in-depth exploration in any special feature or documentary. Now, the fascinating story can finally be told in this unprecedented 90-minute documentary, HAMMER HORROR: THE WARNER BROS YEARS, written and directed by Marcus Hearn, Hammer Films’ official historian. The documentary will feature exclusive interviews with many of the key players from that period, as well as authors and film historians like Jonathan Rigby and Constantine Nasr. Also included will be rare production stills, film footage, Hammer’s original shooting locations, and access to previously unseen archive documents. The documentary will be available via streaming and in a limited blu-ray release, exclusive to our KICKSTARTER campaign.
Extra Features
In addition to the main feature, the blu-ray will also contain extended interviews with some of the key participants. Other extras will be announced as they become confirmed.
