Tonight's Midnight Movie: "Hellraiser 4: Bloodline"

Year: 1996

Actors: Bruce Ramsay, Valentina Vargas, Doug Bradley, Charlotte Chatton

Director: Alan Smithee, Kevin Yagher

Formats: DVD

Price: £1.99

Mini Review

“Hellraiser: Bloodline” follows the bloodline of the Merchant family. Since the creation of the original box right through to the future the family has dealings with the box and the Cenobites. Each generation makes attempts to destroy what their ancestors created and set loose but will they succeed? The movie gives us a window on several historical time periods, each with their own chapter on how the box came to be and how the Cenobites can be destroyed.

Verdict

“Hellraiser: Bloodline” takes a real risk in being set in several time periods, a clear contrast from previous outings. Generally the movie gets poor reviews (having Alan Smithee as a director is not too encouraging). However, I’m not going to be too harsh on it. The plot involves the creation of the first box which is always good to see and also we receive a new Cenobite in Angelique. Personally I like the plot thread that the box haunts the bloodline of the Merchant family, for a fourth movie plot it’s not a bad concept at all. Thinking of another of my favourite mediums (video games) “Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem” uses the same idea and was applauded for essentially the same concept.

Time after time the Merchants are visited by the Cenobites throughout history and in to the future. This leads to an obviously plot floor in that if they so wanted I’m certain that the Cenobites could wipe out a bloodline if they really tried. Escaping the Cenobites for generations just seems to go against previous form. However, horror movies are generally full of these discussion points and I won’t hold it against what is generally an interesting movie.

As ever Doug Bradley’s return of Pinhead is excellent, he was simply made for the part. I’m not so sure about Angelique though, the idea of a female lead Cenobite is good but she seem to lack the on screen presence of Pinhead. A fourth Hellraiser movie was always going to be a real stretch in terms of keeping an audience. I’m pleased to say that the movie did re-invent the plot. Looking at Parts one to four, each movie is unique and not yet too repetitive on plot line. My personal opinion is that no more movies past part four should have been made, the franchise effectively died with this one.

My verdict on “Hellraiser: Bloodline” is that it is the last Hellraiser movie worth watching, especially if you are a fan of the first three movies. Past this point there can only be repetition, lesser directors and lower budgets. Inferno and Hellseeker are just dire attempts at generating money from the corpse of a franchise, I may not ever make time to write a specific blog about these. The can be summed up as “simply terrible”.

Pros: Interesting plot concept. Great acting from Doug Bradley.

Cons: The end of an era. Not ground-breaking enough.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 6 cursed bloodlines out of 10.

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.
IMDB: Hellraiser: Bloodline
Wikipedia: Hellraiser: Bloodline
Amazon: Hellraiser 4 - Bloodline [DVD]

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Your views: Watched this? Own this? Recommend this? Have a question about this? Please feel free to comment.

Tonight's Midnight Movie: "Hellraiser 3: Hell On Earth"

Year: 1992

Actors: Terry Farrell, Doug Bradley, Kevin Bernhardt

Director: Anthony Hickox

Formats: DVD

Price: £2.99

Mini Review

“Hellraiser 3: Hell on Earth” continues the franchise of Pinhead and the Cenobites. Pinhead emerges trapped in a block of concrete along with the box. Pinhead must convince young Playboy JP Monroe to help him escape the block by luring victims to their death (the blood regenerating Pinhead). Pinhead then seeks to destroy the box forever so that he can create a lasting Hell on Earth.

Verdict

Now here’s where the Hellraiser series takes its first wobble. Parts one and two are exemplary in terms of quality. Part three was always going to be a struggle to continue the form. The loss of Clive Barker’s direct involvement and a change from most of the original cast really show here. Since part three wasn’t penned as part of the original story it does seem a little disjointed from the first movies. Another issue is that we’ve seen the Cenobites and Hell close up already, part three was always going to suffer from the familiarity of the setup. The same can be applied to most horror movies, once you’ve seen Freddy Kruger kill in six movies the 7th really doesn’t leave much open for surprise.

So where to go with the plot? Well I think that the series did take a good decision here on focussing on the Pinhead character. The movie is much more revealing than the first two regarding his origins and a little bit more of the history of the box. This movie turns much more mainstream than he first two with an obvious emphasis on kill count and shock rather than the storyline.

The characters are at least memorable, Pinhead steals the show with his manic killing spree. We are also introduced to JP Monroe, he’s one of those guys that really needs a visit from a Cenobite. He’s rude, misogynistic, dumb and you just really want to see him get butchered in nasty ways.

Oddly enough though “Hellraiser: Hell on Earth” is a movie that I still enjoy. Seeing Pinhead rampage a nightclub with his chains is good viewing. There’s also some nice flashback scenes of the journey to becoming a Cenobite. Whilst I can’t support that this is a great classic I would defend that for a movie that is essentially the “cash in” movie it keeps true to the main ideas and is at least entertaining. It’s certainly better than Halloween Part 3 or Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3 and perhaps even Friday 13th Part 3. Keeping a good idea going is difficult and “Hellraiser: Hell on Earth” was a real test, I think it’s as good as I could have expected.

Pros: Pinhead is set loose. Story is progressed.

Cons: The new Cenobites are a little bit lacking in terror. Movie leaves the series open for more sequels.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 6 new Cenobites out of 10.

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.
IMDB: Hellraiser 3: Hell On Earth
Wikipedia: Hellraiser 3: Hell On Earth
Amazon: Hellraiser III - Hell on Earth [DVD] [1993]

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Your views: Watched this? Own this? Recommend this? Have a question about this? Please feel free to comment.

Tonight's Midnight Movie: "The Masque of the Red Death"

Year: 1964

Actors: Vincent Price, Hazel Court, Jane Asher, David Weston

Director: Roger Corman

Formats: VHS, DVD

Price: £3.99

Mini Review

“Masque of the Red Death” is one of the Poe/Vincent/Corman classics. Poe’s original work is a short story based in a plague hit time. Victims of the Red Death sweat blood and have horrific deaths. The slightly insane and ruthless Prince Prosperso (Vincent Price) attempts to ride out the Red Death behind the confines of his abbey walls caring little for those around him. Instead he holds a masquerade ball for the nobles and wealthy. Since this is an Edgar Allan Poe story you can expect death and decay as an unexpected visitor joins the party.

Verdict

I first saw “Masque of the Red Death” when I was about seven years old. I remember distinctly coming back from my grandparents’ house having stopped off at the Fish ‘n Chip shop on the way back. I remember looking up and seeing the intro of the Red Death. The creepy cloaked character handing out a rose. The whole thing was spellbinding in a creepy way. This was probably the first time I’d seen or heard Vincent Price or heard of Edgar Allan Poe. The experience was one of intrigue.

I have to say to a seven year old the “Masque of the Red Death” is not a great movie. It’s not particularly action packed or child friendly. I do remember the experience though. The slightly blurry camera lens, the washed out colours and Vincent hamming it up to epic proportions. Revisiting a few years later I’d already moved on to “The Pit and the Pendulum”, “Dr Phibes” and all the other gems that Vincent brought us. The revisit was well worth it. Having now read the works of Poe and seen a lot more of Vincent’s work I really enjoy “Masque of the Red Death”. Much of Poe’s work is allegorical and it’s nice to see that the messages from the original text do seem to be carried in to the movie.

This type of horror is not scary in the sense of shocks and jumps, it’s more of a psychological sickening. The idea of madness caused by the yellow room (my room was yellow as a child), the idea of disease and the on-going gloomy decaying outlook of the world. From start to finish the movie put you in a slightly depressed ill feeling tone. Since the movie can do this I’m impressed. I can happily walk in to a modern horror and forget the imagery and plot almost the second I leave the theatre. “Masque of the Red Death” however leaves a lasting impression and nauseating feeling. Now that’s something special. The movie does now look incredibly dated and the younger generations are likely to give this one a miss for that reason. For those of an adventurous mind I’d recommend this one for a dreary afternoon, I still slightly prefer “The Pit and the Pendulum” but this is still a true gothic horror classic.

Pros: Vincent Price, Edgar Allan Poe, Roger Corman.

Cons: Limited appeal to a younger audience. Really depressing.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 7 bleeding faces out of 10.

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.

IMDB: Masque of the Red Death

Wikipedia: Masque of the Red Death

Amazon: Masque Of The Red Death [DVD]

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Your views: Watched this? Own this? Recommend this? Have a question about this? Please feel free to comment.

Tonight's Midnight Movie: "The Pit and the Pendulum"

Year: 1961

Actors: Vincent Price, John Kerr, Barbara Steele

Director: Roger Corman

Formats: VHS, DVD

Price: £3.89

Mini Review

“The Pit and the Pendulum” is yet another Vincent Price/Roger Corman movie based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. Set in the period of the Spanish inquisition the plot regards and Englishman (Francis Bernard) that is investigating the death of his sister (Elizabeth). Since this is a Poe story this all takes place in gothic castle. Throughout the movie there are ghostly goings on, mystery and attempts to block his questioning. In particular Nicholas (Vincent Price) seems to be covering up the true nature of Elizabeth’s death by claiming that it was a rare blood disorder. There are ghostly sightings, harpsichords, mysteries and a climactic ending.

Verdict

“The Pit and the Pendulum” is yet another chance for Vincent Price to shine. He’s both creepy and mysterious. My verdict on the movie is that considering that this was originally a short story there was a lot of work done to adapt it in to an interesting enough full-length feature. As a result I think that the pacing of the movie suffers slightly in the middle. After all, the movie implies a pendulum and most people will already know the short story. Sadly, since I’m from the UK Edgar Allan Poe is not currently on our core reading list as part of our school literature education. I believe that for most American students though he must be quite engrained in the literature culture and be waiting for the pendulum scene.

The movie overall is a paradise for 1960’s horror movie goers. There’s suspense, good direction and a strong story line to follow. There are some excellent flash back scenes with Barbara Steele. For its time I can only speculate that this was quite a thought provoking movie. There are strong themes of murder, torture and the slight madness in Price’s character. As with many of the Corman movies I was left feeling slightly depressed and nauseated. It’s a tale well told and a very solid movie for anone looking to get in to 1960’s horror.

Pros: Great imagery (especially the iron maiden), solid story, Vincent Price.

Cons: Now looks slightly dated and slow paced at times.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 7 iron maidens out of 10.

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.

IMDB: The Pit and the Pendulum
Wikipedia: The Pit and the Pendulum
Amazon: Pit & The Pendulum [DVD]


Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Tonight's Midnight Movie: "Hellraiser 2: Hellbound"

Year: 1988

Actors: Kenneth Cranham, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Doug Bradley

Director: Tony Randel

Formats: DVD

Price: £4.20

Mini Review

Following on directly from the first Hellraiser movie, Hellbound takes us further in to the box and the Hell that lies beyond. Kirsty receives a blood soaked message that her father is in Hell, she decides to make a rescue attempt along with a mute girl. We are introduced to Dr Charnard, a psychiatric doctor obsessed with the study of the boxes. It isn’t long before he finds the secret of the bloody mattress that can bring Claudia back to life and so begin his own descent in to Hell. I don’t want to give any plot spoilers here, needless to say we see the return of the Cenobites (including Pinhead), the blood and gore also return.

Verdict

What I like about Hellbound is that it is written as a traditional sequel. Part 1 left several hooks and unanswered questions for part 2 to address (and it does). So many modern franchises have to shoehorn in reasons for a sequel, Hellraiser genuinely needed one. The story focuses much more on what is behind the box when it is solved. We get to see an actual depiction of Hell which is suitably disturbing. One of the stand out points here is the character of Dr Chanard, he’s creepy, he’s cooky, he’s altogether messed up in the head. As creepy as he is there’s something about Clive Barker’s story telling that helps us understand and even empathise with his character at least in the early stages of the movie. He’s obsessed with solving the riddle of the boxes and is taking a serious approach to his research. I think the reason we can identify with him is that he has a chance to answer questions through his research. Who hasn’t at some point been curious enough to make their own research projects?

Needless to say the backdrop of a psychiatric hospital is always going to lead to a bit of madness. The scenes are incredibly blood-laden but they are necessary on account of the story line.

The return of Pinhead (previously credited only as “Lead Cenobite” in part 1) is back and as sinister as ever. To be fair he doesn’t have too much to do in terms of the plot line but Doug Bradley delivers every line to perfection, this is how to make a character. His character is neither really bad nor really good “Angels to some, demons to others” as he describes the Cenobites. For him, the torture of those that open the box is a full time job. When I see him on screen I always get the impression he’s been busy elsewhere up until the moment we see him, in some ways he seems quite indifferent and very matter of fact. This is in great contrast to other horrors of the time such as Friday 13th, Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street where the protagonists are pretty much out for a high kill count as motivation. The other differential being that Hellraiser parts 1 and 2 actually have a plot rather than just a sustained massacre.

The plot works well as we see the return of many of the original cast and have a good stand-off situation between good and evil. There’s development of the main characters and also enough to leave questions surrounding the origins of the box. The movie is also quite arty in its own way. Clive Barker has a way of making ugly things look beautiful. Had the series stopped here at part 2 I think that the series would be a lot higher regarded than it now is due to the lesser sequels that followed.

On balance I really can’t decide if Hellbound is better than the original. It’s story is less contained than the first and certainly more bloody. Since part 1 and part 2 seem to come as a package I will recommend them both. Certainly if you like part 1 you will enjoy part 2 just as much.

Pros: A good overall watch with plenty of story and blood.

Cons: Left the series open to further sequels.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 8 psychiatric patients out of 10.

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.

IMDB: Hellraiser 2: Hellbound

Wikipedia: Hellraiser 2: Hellbound

Amazon: Hellbound - Hellraiser II [DVD] [1989]

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Tonight's Midnight Movie: "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust"

Year: 2000

Actors: Hideyuki Tanaka, Ichiro Nagai

Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri

Formats: DVD

Price: £5.49

Mini Review

“Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust” is an anime horror adventure set in a not too distant apocalyptic world where vampires are being hunted to extinction. The plot concerns a young girl called Charlotte that has been captured/eloped with one of the last remaining vampires. The hero of the movie “D” is a Dunpeal, half human, half vampire. He is hired to defeat the vampire and return Charlotte to her family for financial reward. Seeking the same reward are the Marcus brothers, a small group of humans with a speciality for vampire/monster hunting missions.

Verdict

First off I have issues in classifying this movie as a horror movie. It’s more of a gothic/dark themed cartoon rather than anything intended to scare the audience. I’d describe this movie as more of an action/adventure that just happens to have a vampire as a protagonist. It lacks the soul of a real horror movie. Having said that it doesn’t take anything away from the enjoyment. The obvious distinguishing feature of “Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust” is that is an anime. This drastically limits what can be done in terms of horror. There’s no make-up and limited possibilities of realism that add to the haunted house movies. The medium also relies heavily on the audience to get in to the story line.

As a movie “Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust” does work for the most part. It tells a story (or at least part of a larger one). The hero is frustratingly aloof for my liking though, he has a slow way of speaking and we are no further in understanding his character at the end of the movie than we were at the start. Perhaps this is intentional as we are seeing a very short time span of an immortals life. I find him quite forgettable though as a lead character.

The animation does work very well. Whilst some scenes look quite cheaply made (although they weren’t) others look great. It’s clear that the emphasis of the animators time was focussed on the showdowns near the end of the movie. Having seen only around 10 anime movies I’d still only put “Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust” in the middle in terms of animation quality.

This is a movie that I like quite a bit but would find difficult to recommend for several reasons. Firstly, if you expect scares or any traditional horror features they just aren’t here to be found. Secondly I think that the anime medium may put some viewers off the idea. Having said that “Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust” is certainly an interesting movie and a world removed from Frankenstein, The Wolfman and Dracula. If you are looking for some gothic monster action that is a little bit different, this could be the movie for you. I’ve posted the trailer below for your amusement.

Pros: An nice anime alternative to mainstream horror.

Cons: Lack of scares, slightly weak lead character.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 7 talking hands out of 10.

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.

IMDB: Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

Wikipedia: Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust

Amazon: Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust [DVD]

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Freddy Vs Jason Vs Michael

Tonight I thought that we would debate the long running "Which is the best slasher franchise?" It's a Horror Battle Royal between "A Nightmare on Elm Street", "Friday 13th" and the "Halloween" franchises.

Now the answer is obviously "Nightmare on Elm Street" but that's just my opinion. Instead I thought that I would take a more empirical (if what a little simplified) look at the highs and lows of the genre. It may be appropriate at this point to let on that my day job is as a finance data analyst, previously it had been a retail analyst so I will use a few simple industry standard techniques to see which franchise and movie is the king of the slashers. For this little mock up. Any results and conclusions are based on the data for fun. Please know that there's great movies in all 3 franchises and I could have used alternative analysis methods to look at the success of the movies (however, the raw data is very much real).

I will be analysing by three main dimensions:

Budget ($)

Gross Profit ($)

Ranking (/10)*

*I will be using IMDB as a data source as it's reasonably impartial.

The aim here is a very simplistic way to establish the below:

What’s the highest Ranking?

Well, as you can see below I’ve plotted the ratings for each movie on the charts below. In terms of rating the original in each series is considered the best. Each franchise seems to deteriorate in quality over time. “Halloween 3: Season of the Witch” and “Halloween: Resurrection” received just 3.9 rankings on IMDB. Although the original Halloween movie tops the rankings chart at 7.9. Overall though there’s very little to choose from in terms of IMDB rating. The average rating chart shows a spread of just 0.58 between the franchises.

 What’s the most profitable?

Interesting here how the 3 franchises made their profits. Friday 13th went low budget but high on quantity. Nightmare on Elm Street was generally declining in profit until reinvented as “Freddy Vs Jason” and the remake. Halloween generally increases profitability after movie 6 “The Curse of Michael Myers”. Looking at the franchised as a whole the data suggests that Friday 13th is the overall most profitable, then Nightmare on Elm Street, followed by Halloween.

 

 What’s the most expensive to make?

The budgets of each franchise are a story in themselves. Nightmare on Elm Street took a simple strategy of building on past success, incrementally increasing the spending. This seems to have worked well and the cash cow keeps giving. Friday 13th took the thrift option of the lowest budgets of the 3 franchises. Only for “Freddy Vs Jason” and the 2009 remake do we see the budgets rise to compete with the other modern movies. These last 2 movies also returned some of the highest gross profits of any of the franchises showing that the budget increase was a good step to take financially. Halloween made an interesting decision after movie 6 “The Curse of Michael Myers” the budgets leapt from $5m to $17, for “Halloween H20: 20 Years Later”. Overall the budgets were the highest for the Elm Street franchise (mostly due to the £35m remake).

 

So, which series is best?

In terms of High Budgets and Overall Ratings “Nightmare on Elm Street” is our winner.

I will give a special award to the original Halloween that converted a budget of $320,000 in to a $46.7m profit for a single movie. In turn leading to a franchise of 10 movies plus another in the filming stage right now.

I will also tip my hat to the “Friday 13th” franchise. 12 movies so far and all made at a cheap budget but capable of getting cinema goers through the doors.

Hopefully you enjoyed this little look in to “Freddy VS Jason Vs Michael”.

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Tonight's Midnight Movie: "Devil"

Year: 2010

Actors: Chris Messina, Bojana Novakovic, Logan Marshall-Green

Director: John Erick Dowdle

Formats: DVD, Blu-Ray

Price: £3.49

 

Mini Review

A group of 5 strangers manage to be unlucky enough to get trapped in an elevator together. No problem, just call a mechanic right? Well, there’s a second problem, one of them is the Devil. Sure enough each person in the lift has something to hide and sure enough it doesn’t take long before the Devil claims his first victim? Who is the Devil?

Verdict

As soon as I saw the “M. Night Shyamalan” credit as a writer I was in two minds. I really enjoyed “The Sixth Sense” but really didn’t get on well with “Signs “ or “The Village”. I managed to pick the DVD up for £3 though at the local supermarket and took a gamble.

I’m pleased to say that “Devil” is actually a good movie. Contrary to what I’d imagined although the 5 actors are within the elevator for almost the entire movie there are plenty of scenes outside of it. It was a good choice as the feel of the movie would have been very different had the camera never left the elevator.

I don’t want to spoil any of the plot here regarding “who is the Devil?” The movie did keep me guessing which was really refreshing, I was convinced on one character from the start and nearly chose correctly. Actually working out the answer would almost be guesswork.

I was slightly disappointed that part of the final events were lifted straight from other movies in a movie that had up until the end been quite original. Despite that, this is still a movie worth seeing. It’s Shyamalan but without the annoying one trick pony twists of “Signs”, “Unbreakable” and “The Sixth Sense”.

Pros: Reasonably original, entertaining and will keep you guessing.

Cons: Several plot holes but nothing too disastrous.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 7 broken elevators out of 10. Well worth a watch.

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.

IMDB: Devil

Wikipedia: Devil

Amazon: Devil [DVD]

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Your views: Watched this? Own this? Recommend this? Have a question about this? Please feel free to comment.

Will there be another “Nightmare on Elm Street” movie?

“Nightmare On Elm Street” is a horror series that just keeps on going. So far there have been nine Elm Street movies if you include the remake and “Freddy Vs Jason”. For the purpose of this blog I’m going to ignore the TV series and other related spin-offs).

So, here’s the question: Is the series any good and why so many sequels?

To investigate I’ve pulled data from IMDB for a quick piece of analysis.

Are the movies getting better?

Here I’ve taken the IMDB rank for each movie and plotted a linear trend. From a solid 7.4 for the original, the series drops to a woeful 4.6 by part 6 and recovers to a very average rating of 5.1 for the eventual remake. Overall the trend is negative, people just aren’t enjoying the series as is progresses. My observation here is that the story really doesn’t progress, from start to finish Freddy kills teenagers in their sleep. Ok Freddy Vs Jason set him against an opponent and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare mixed up the formula a little. Overall though there was little in the plot that progressed.

Are the Nightmare on Elm Street movies profitable?

Since the audience becomes more underwhelmed overtime with the series why would New Line continue to make them? Well, money could be the answer. In the chart below I’ve marked user ratings against gross profits for each movie. Part 7 (Wes Craven’s New Nightmare) had budget issues and “The Dream Child” was simply a bad movie. Overall though there is profit in the series which always creates a temptation for the studio to put out another. Interestingly there’s not a particularly strong correlation between user rating and profits. “Freddy’s Revenge” has a generally low rating but a decent box office profit. Conversely “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare” is one of the better movies statistically but turned a low profit.

Will there be another “Nightmare on Elm Street” movie?

The short answer is that I don’t know :-) Looking at the profit margins though I will make a guess. What’s important for a studio is the % markup of their movie. Essentially, for the budget given, how well did it turn a profit. The chart below show you how any possibly why New Line keep financing the series.

The original Nightmare on Elm Street had just a $1.8m budget but delivered a $23.7m gross profit, that’s a 1317% mark up. This means that the studio struck gold, of course a sequel at that point was inevitable. Made on a similar budget it too realised a mark-up greater than 1000%. Generally the movie is rated poorly though so it was the momentum from part one that got people through the doors.

As we progress on to movie 5 the returns are dropping radically despite the budgets ballooning. Statistically movie 5 (The Dream Child) looked like the end of the cash cow. However, the movie has no concrete ending. So, New Line came up with the concept for movie 6 “Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare”. In the UK we have a saying, “In for a penny, in for a pound”. Since you’ve seen the previous 6 wouldn’t you just love to see “The Final” movie where well before the release it was known that Freddy would be killed off in 3D. With the biggest budget to date and the promise of the end people bought in again and the movie saw a 310% mark-up.

Then we come to an interesting junction in the life of the series. Freddy’s dead, you can’t undo that otherwise you will alienate the fans that will now feel cheated. However, there are clearly fans that will see all 6 movies to date, surly 7 couldn’t hurt. Here’s where Wes steps in and transforms the series. Set in “The Real World” Freddy returns as a sort of urban legend/know evil. The idea was actually not bad (considering the options) and the reception was generally good. The budget of $25m was a real risk though, close to double that of any Elm Street movie before. The profits were terrible but I do feel that Wes put the integrity back in to the series here.

So, what next? Freddy’s dead in the movie world and dead in the real world. It’s clear that a movie of either type would not really be worth the risk. Well, at this point we start to see the series fracture with a spin-off. Having newly acquired the rights to the Friday 13th series it’s was time for a match up between Freddy and Jason. Having a fan base from 2 classic 80’s slashers was always going to get people through the door. A huge $57m gross profit saw “Freddy Vs Jason” top the most profitable (gross) of the Elm Street series to date.

So with the original series gone, the real world option gone and a spin-off where would the series go next. Well, disappointingly there was a £35m remake. At 19 times the budget of the original the remake only made a mark-up of 80% and around only half the gross profit of “Freddy Vs Jason”. Replacing Robert Englund was never going to work in my opinion, he simply is Freddy. Also, the idea by the very nature of a remake has been done before (and again and again in the sequels).

So, will there be another movie.

I believe that yes there will be. Although not announced it would make sense for the studio to keep going. The only real viable option is a concept for “Freddy Vs Jason 2” or even “Freddy Vs Jason Vs Michael Vs Ash Vs Pinhead”. Who knows?. As long as the series is turning profit there will be a producer to make the Elm Street movies. The real question is, Will Robert Englund return as Freddy? Withought him Freddy really is dead and buried.

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Tonight's Midnight Movie: "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari"

Year: 1920

Actors: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher

Director: Robert Wiene

Formats: VHS, DVD

Price: UK £2.99, USA $7.98

Or watch for free at the bottom of this post! :-D

Mini Review

“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” ("Das Kabinet des Dr Caligari") is best described as a Horror movie of the German Expressionist style. From start to finish the movie is highly stylised. The plot concerns a young man called Francis recalling a story of recent events to another man. He tells how a mysterious man called Dr Caligari comes to town. Whilst at the town carnival Caligari reveals the somnambulist (sleep walker to you and me). A man that has slept for 23 years and can tell the past, present and future. Sure enough it isn’t long before Cesare the somnambulist predicts a death which in turn swiftly occurs. Can the locals get to the bottom of the mysterious murders and is all as simple as it seems?

Verdict

“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” has been on my list of movies to watch for a long time. I’ve been burnt so many time though when I’ve watched a highly acclaimed movie by the critics. From the trailers it’s difficult to work out what the fuss is about, it’s one that you have to see, there really is no other option.

I generally like the silent movies, although not strictly a horror movie I still rate Fritz Lang’s Metropolis as one of the best movies ever made. “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” hasn’t disappointed me either. For a 1920’s movie I was really surprised by the plot arc, it’s a movie way before it’s time in terms of technique. The sets are fantastic, I don’t think that there is a single right-angle in the whole move. Everything looks disjointed, abstract and gothic. I imagine that Tim Burton must love this movie, there’s so many of the stylings that seem to have influenced him. For those that remember the “Judder-Man” adverts by Metz back in the ‘90s I can’t help thinking that the character was modelled on the somnambulist. <--word of the day.

I’m happy that there is music to compliment the movie. Having watched several other “silent” movies with no soundtrack I did struggle to pay full attention. Luckily there is no problem here and there are alternate restorations to consider.

What stands out for me in the movie is that I just didn’t see the end coming. I really should have known better (having seen and read so much) but I was convinced that the movie would play out as I expected. For the most part it did but the last page turner made this movie for me. It’s like when you see a fantastic magic trick, you are convinced you know what’s coming but then the story takes you off on a rapid departure.

I can see now why this movie is regarded so highly and also why it is so important for the history of film. This not just a recommendation but a must see movie.

Pros: A clever plot, brilliant scenery and part of horror history.

Cons: The silent aspect may put younger viewers off. Some of the “restored” DVD editions are not as good quality as they could be considering the standard of the Nosferatu resoration.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 8 German Expressionist somnambulists out of 10.

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.

IMDB: The Cabinet of Dr Caligari

Wikipedia: The Cabinet of Dr Caligari

Amazon: Das Cabinet Des Dr Caligari [1919] [DVD]

"The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920)" Full Movie.

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Your views: Watched this? Own this? Recommend this? Have a question about this? Please feel free to comment.

Tonight's Midnight Movie: "Carnival Of Souls"

Year: 1962

Actors: Candace Hilligoss, Sidney Berger, Frances Feist

Director: Herk Harvey

Formats: VHS, DVD

Price: UK £2.99, USA $5.29 (Remastered Color $9.95)

Or watch for free at the bottom of this post! :-D

Mini Review

“Carnival of Souls” has a simple yet creepy. Shortly after a car accident a talented organist called Mary leave for Utah to take up a new job as a church organist. However, since the accident she has strange sightings of a zombie-like man. He appears to her several times but only she can see him. Mentally she links these sightings to an abandoned carnival and sets out to investigate the source of the visits by the strange man. There’s lots of what could be paranoia, hysteria or could it all be real. At time Mary is uable to communicate with the world around here. Can the local doctor, priest or neighbour help her? Can she help herself?

Verdict

“Carnival of Souls” is a genuinely interesting movie. I first picked this one up a few years ago. It was at a time when the £ to $ currency conversion was superb and how I built up my collection of US DVDs. On the first viewing I’d worked out the entire plot within minutes, so naturally I was initially underwhelmed by the rest of the movie. To anyone that has seen a horror movie before the plot is reasonably obvious. However, I decided to give this one another go as I did remember it at least as an interesting movie.

Second time round it was much more enjoyable. The acting is reasonably good, sometimes a little wooden but generally convincing enough. There’s some real issues in terms of continuity/plot holes, one of them big enough to have you asking yourself if you understood the movie correctly (I won’t mention any spoilers here).

Some parts of the movie seem slightly redundant. There is a sub-plot with Mary’s neighbour. A drinking, slightly rude pushy sleaze bag. Any modern girl would tell him to shove off but Mary just seems to roll with it. These segments add little in the way of pushing the story forward. For me that would be one of the key issues with the movie, the story moves reasonably slowly and it can seem like a bit of a chore at times to watch. Had this been a short story/shorter movie I think that the overall effect would have been greater.

Those are the downsides but there is a lot of goodness in this movie. It’s definitely a classic and did incorporate ideas not often seen before the early ‘60s. The production values also seem to be very good for this time period. In particular the abandoned carnival/pavilion is a very impressive setting for a movie and really works well.

Overall I do like this movie. I think that it could have been better but overall I did enjoy the re-watch of this one. I would recommend this movie. It’s not scary and so I really have no idea why it is classified as a 15 certificate in the UK. Summing up, this movie is low on scares but there is enough plot to squeeze out a good movie.

Pros: Good production, reasonably unique story, great sets.

Cons: A little low on scares and slow moving.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 7 creepy carnivals out of 10.

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.

IMDB: Carnival of Souls

Wikipedia: Carnival of Souls

Amazon: Carnival Of Souls [1962] [DVD], Carnival of Souls - Remastered Colour

"Carnival Of Souls" Full Movie.

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Your views: Watched this? Own this? Recommend this? Have a question about this? Please feel free to comment.

Tonight's Midnight Movie: "Sorority Row"

Year: 2009

Actors: Briana Evigan, Margo Harshman, Rumer Willis, Jamie Chung, Leah Pipes, Audrina Patridge, Carrie Fisher

Director: Stewart Hendler

Formats: DVD, Blu-Ray

Price: £2.49

Mini Review

I’ve been looking through the sales lately and came across “Sorority Row” for £2.49. Well, for that price you can’t really complain so I thought I’d give it a go. Even from the trailer I think the director was struggling to distinguish the idea from “I know What You Did Last Summer”. The basic plot is that there is a sorority prank gone wrong. A group of Theta Pi girls pretend that one of them is dead, this accidentally leads to the girl’s boyfriend making sure. The “making sure” bit involves stabbing a tire iron through her chest, this time actually killing her. The girls swear to secrecy about the accident and dispose of their sisters’ corpse down an unused well.

Then the fun begins, on the one year anniversary of the secret one by one the girls are being murdered by a hooded figure. In addition the girls receive phone messages of their the murder weapon. Has the dead sister come back for revenge?

Verdict

From start to finish this is an incredibly trashy movie. The trailer is reasonably accurate as a sampler of what you will be getting. There’s lots of half-dressed sorority sisters, alcohol and partying with a few murders in-between. There is absolutely nothing new about the movie in terms of ideas. There’s the girl going off on her own, a girl trying to hide in a wardrobe from the murderer, the unusually suspiciously guilty character and even the ultimate cliché of one of the sorority girls going down to the basement alone. The murderer for the most part is dressed in a black robe, this is literally identical to the Scream series.

Having said all that I will award some odd bonus marks. The soundtrack includes Dragonette and Franz Ferdinand which is always pleasant. The movie also has a small role for Carrie Fisher as the sorority mother. I have to say her scenes were much better than most. Overall I knew what I was getting when I picked this DVD. It’s not bad at all, I wasn’t bored and there was good energy on screen. The lack of originality left me a little disappointed though. This isn't the worst slasher you will see so I wouldn't want to put readers off too much.

IMDB estimates this one at a $16,000,000 budget with just $11,915,856 gross. For the life of me I can’t work out why this would cost so much to produce.

Pros: Good value for a £2.49 DVD.

Cons: Exactly the same plot as “I know What You Did Last Summer” with murderer from “Scream”.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 6 corpses in a mineshaft out of 10.

If you liked this try: “I know What You Did Last Summer”, “Scream”

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.

IMDB: Sorority Row

Wikipedia: SororityRow

Amazon: Sorority Row [DVD] [2009]

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Your views: Watched this? Own this? Recommend this? Have a question about this? Please feel free to comment.