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.

Tonight's Midnight Movie: "Clue"

Year: 1985
Actors: Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Martin Mull, Lesley Ann Warren, Colleen Kamp, Lee Ving
Director: John Landis
Formats: VHS, DVD
Price: £2.49

Ok, so it's not ghosts, goblins, demons, paranormal, haunted houses etc. I thought that I would branch out today with a quick murder mystery/comedy, although it is directed by Horror guru John Landis. If it makes you feel any better there is a big old creepy house and murder!!!

Mini Review

Ah Cluedo, err I mean Clue. You see in the UK the game is known as Cluedo rather than Clue, see footnote for reasons why*. Our game, our rules since a Brit invented it. The movie however is American and most definitely called Clue. As you would expect it's an adaptation of the classic board game. There's Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard, Mrs White, Miss Scarlet, Mr Green, Mrs Peacock and of course Mr Body/Dr Black. In addition there's also Wadsworth the butler and Yvette the French maid. The guests all arrive one by one and get to know each other over a soup slurping, monkey brain scooping dinner. It sets the tone of the movie well. They are then joined by Mr Black who after dinner is revealed to have been blackmailing each guest for a different reason. Sure enough a light switch flips, the lights go out and we are left with one dead Mr Body as a result.

Wordsworth explains that he has already called the police with the intention of charging Mr Body with blackmail. However, since he is now dead there is a race on to discover how he died, where, with what and by who? Along the way the guests are interrupted by unexpected guests which lead to more murders. It's a delightful movie with plenty of running around and hysteria. The guests split up at times, use secret passages and generally all have reason to suspect each other. Only at the very end is the full solution revealed.

*Shortly thereafter, Pratt and his wife presented the game to Waddingtons' executive, Norman Watson, who immediately purchased the game and provided its trademark name of "Cluedo" (a play on "clue" and "Ludo", which is Latin for I play). Though the patent was granted in 1947, due to post-war shortages, the game was not officially launched until 1949, at which time the game was simultaneously licensed to Parker Brothers in the United States for publication, where it was re-named "Clue" along with other minor changes.

Verdict

Clue is a movie that really will keep you guessing until the end, even then you could be wrong. This is one of those movies I saw as a kid and have always loved. There's lots of slapstick running around, great word play and above all there's a relentless silliness to the proceedings which makes it so watchable. Along with Stephen King's "IT" this must be the one of Tim Curry's best moments. I'm guessing the director told Tim to just have fun and do things his way. The comedy timing is superb, every character seems perfectly crafted and all have great one-liners.

What really impresses me is that the writing allows for a real murder mystery story to run through the movie. There's red herrings, subtle clues and lots of far fetched motives for the murders. Take away the comedy and farce of the movie and the plot could have stood as a serious mystery movie in it's own right.

Pros: Just utterly silly and enjoyable. Tim Curry at his best.

Cons: There's a few continuity errors but it really doesn't take anything away from the viewing.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 9 bodies stacked in the lounge out of 10. This is the pinnacle of the murder mystery comedies.

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

IMDB: Clue

Wikipedia: Clue

Amazon: Clue [DVD]

Clue (1985): Trailer

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"

Year: 1987

Actors:Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Sean Chapman, Doug Bradley

Director: Clive Barker

Formats: VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray

Price: £4.50

Mini Review

So, what's it all about? Hellraiser can be loosely categorised as an '80's slasher movie. In truth though I think it follows the gore/suspense formula a little closer. The story takes much from the original Clive Barker novel "The Hellbound Heart" which in turn took at least part of it's inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart" short story. The Hellraiser story has a clear set up. There is a puzzle box which when solved acts as a gateway to Hell. Those that open the box are greeted by the Cenobites, demons that deliver sadistic torture on the opener.

The main focus of the story surrounds Larry Cotton, a middle aged business man type. His daughter Kirtsy, his wife Julia and the evil uncle Frank. Having opened the box Frank is ripped to shreds by the torture of the Cenobites and his remains lie under the floorboards of Larry's house. Carelessly cutting his hand on a loose nail Larry drips blood on to the floorboards. For a reason never really fully explained the blood resurrects Frank in a horrifically gruesome scene. It is at this point that Frank enlists Claudia to help him complete his skinless body by luring men to their deaths in the house. Frank can then suck their blood and regenerate, if you listen closely there is actually the sound effect of someone sucking through a straw in one scene, it's very creepy.

With Frank back and having escaped the Cenobites there is much mischief and mayhem as you would expect. Kirsty becomes involved looking for her father and encounters Frank and uncovers his relationship to the box and Hell. I don't want to give any more detail in this review so as not to spoil any surprises. Needless to say though there is a lot of blood, the appearance of the infamous Pinhead and plenty more blood.

Verdict

From my perspective Hellraiser has a lot going for it as a Horror movie. There is well thought out pacing, the characters have depth and the movie is not fixated on the Pinhead character but rather the fear of the Cenobites and Hell. One of the highlights has to be the special effects. Often the effects can ruin a movie like Hellraiser if they are not believable. However, the skinless Frank Cotton is superbly disturbing and the images of tearing flesh are really well executed. Although we associate the character of Pinhead with the Hellraiser series he actually has less than 10 minutes of screen time in this first outing. This adds to the mystery of the character, his role is very functional and clearly not a demon to mess with. Lines like "Your suffering will be legendary!" are delivered with such conviction that what could come off as incredibly cheesy really doesn't.

The other characters feature heavily in driving the story forward. Uncle Frank is a complete bad guy, to him nothing matters apart from what he wants. Julia has a slow descent from being a slightly creepy mother-in-law figure to an all out evil sidekick, this idea is then later revisited in part 2. I think what I like most in the character work though is Kirsty Cotton. We're so used to seeing annoying blonde girls keep falling over when chased and being generally a bit dappy. Kirsty on the other hand reacts very much as you would expect someone to in real life. I'm particularly fond of the "Get the f**k off me!" line, it's exactly what you would say if an evil, skinless bleeding man was trying to kill you. It's also refreshing seeing Kirsty bargaining with the Cenobites, emphasising that from her perspective evil uncle Frank is actually more of a threat to her. This also has the benefit of revealing more of Pinheads character; he's not a mindless killer and does have a sense of right and wrong (or at least who should be punished in terms of the rules of the box). Pinhead is more of a functional character with a job to do, there's a sense that he is ageless and very composed in his line of work.

I'm not a professional critic but I will try to comment on the directing style. Clive Barker seems to have a real vision in to how the movie should look and feel. Gory scenes are nicely detailed with flesh and blood, lighter scenes of the movie have a normality feel about them. The light use of on screen Cenobite killings also adds to the threat. By "kill count" Hellraiser would not rank particularly high, however the menacing appearance of the Cenobites makes up for this. Hellraiser is a triumph for the genre. It plays with all our fears of curiosity in games like the Ouija board and also reveals and grim interpretation of what awaits us in Hell.

Pros: Well made, well directed, solid story.

Cons: If you don't like blood this one isn't for you. Also the very final 20 seconds of the movie is somewhat disconnected.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 8 blood soaked floorboards out of 10.

If you liked this try: Hellraiser II,

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

IMDB: Hellraiser

Wikipedia: Hellraiser

Amazon: Hellraiser 1-3 Boxset [DVD] [1987]

Hellraiser (1987): Trailer

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

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

Is "The Blair Witch Project" scary?

It's one of those movies that is incredibly divisive. There's the "That was pointless" response and also the "That was scary" response. Viewers really are split on this one as to whether "The Blair Witch Project" is worth watching. IMDBs current rating is 6.3 but the movie has a metascore of 81/100 so you can already see the inconsistency. So, is it worth watching? Is it as good as the hype? Is it completely pointless? Is it scary?

*No Spoilers*

 The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Back in my late teens I had heard of a movie coming from across the pond, "The Blair Witch Project". A supposedly rediscovered home movie that tracked a group of missing students. I had heard a lot of hype over this one and couldn't wait to see it. So that Halloween I set out with a couple of friends to watch the show. I'd seen the trailer so I was prepared for lots of blurry shots of foliage and poor camera work. The first thirty minutes flew by and I was really enjoying the movie, it really is like watching a documentary. From the start Heather's character annoyed me but there was always the chance that we would see her hacked to pieces by the end of the movie so I stuck with it. It was mainly her accent at first that did is for me, I should correct myself here and explain that it was more her dialect. Although I'm very British I don't mind American accents in general, Heather's character just seemed like one of those slightly obnoxious, moaning dim types right from the start. No offence meant Americans, I love your Twinkies, Peeps and Cheese in a can :-) Seriously though, you guys gave us Edgar Allan Poe and Vincent Price, we are in your debt.

 

Anyway, after the essential build-up of finding her two companions/film crew they set out in to the woods. I like the attempts here to talk about folklore and local legends; I would have liked more "real" material to be included here. The interview with Mary Brown seems quite creepy and I really liked the delivery of the ghost/folklore story. For me the movie then changes, it gets a little dull. There's the slow realisation that they might be lost and that they should probably camp the night etc. It's not scary in the least and I'm not actually sure that the film makers intended it to be. It's more of a "fill in the blanks" in your head to generate the scares.

Throughout the movie things go from a nice cheerful walking/movie making trip to a realisation that they are completely lost and there may or may not be the Blair Witch stalking them. For me this is the pivotal point that divides opinion. If you believe that this is just a movie then there really is nothing scary so far apart from a few leaves rustling, straw dolls etc. However, if the tape is genuine the movie will take on a different meaning. In this blog I'm not going to reveal the ending or any more of the detail as I don't want to spoil a viewing for you.

In regard to my initial question, "Is it worth watching?" My answer is "yes". The reason being is that regardless of whether you like the movie or not and believe it is genuine or not really doesn't matter to some extent. I think that many people viewing the first time did not understand the final scene where there is the real pay-off in terms of the story arc. Having a quick read of IMDB it seems that some people are still missing the point. Endless comments of "Nothing Happens" are still being posted all these years later. The elements that makes this movie are that you must listen to the documentary folk stories at the start and that in your own life you've actually had that slightly lost/stalked/frightened/haunted feeling.

If you are they type of viewer that needs endless ghosts, monsters and skeletons jumping out along with the scary music then this movie is definitely not for you. You will only be left disappointed, you won't be scared or entertained. If you’re the type of open-minded movie goer that will give most things a try there is a good chance that you will enjoy this movie. So, is it scary? Well, yes if you understand it and think about it long enough, it will all depend on the viewers interperetation and personal thoughts on the real life what if's of the story.

It’s cheap $60,000 by IMDB estimates with $248,639,099 gross earnings. Incidentally this was also the first DVD I ever bought, ironically it was possibly the only DVD out at the time that did not need to be on DVD since the original was filmed on tape.

Pros: Fairly original idea and something a little different.

Cons: Will not appeal to all.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 6.5 straw dolls out of 10. I don't love it but I do appreciate it.

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Scary Children’s Movies

Ever see something in a kids movie and thing "That's a little bit scary!" It is rare but there are a few examples of this, they tend not to be the obvious monster jumping out or the in-your-face ghost. They tend to be the moments where there is a slightly sinister undertone. Overall I think there’s very few moments in children’s movies that would cause lasting fear. You may disagree with me completely but here's 3 of my nominations for things that would certainly creep most kids out.

Disney's Pinocchio: Jack-ass Scene

Now, I know what you’re thinking, unless you have a phobia of singing crickets or marionettes come to life Disney's Pinocchio can't contain any element of horror? Well consider this scene. It's the part of the movie where Pinocchio visits Pleasure Island along with a group of other boys. They are allowed to drink, gamble, smoke, play pool and hang out having fun all day etc. Generally experiencing the vices of the older adolescent. All in all it's not very politically correct for children but hey, it was the 40's. The particular section I'm nominating is Lampwick's transformation in to a donkey. If seen in the correct frame of mind this is a really traumatising scene. As Lampwick mutates in to a Jack-ass he is literally begging Pinocchio for help, the scene is just really graphic and distressing. The movie has already established that crates of donkeys are being loaded away to some unpleasant future such as working in the salt mines. There's full transformations and sort of half formed talking donkeys like Alexander who is flung back in to acorner with the rest of the chil-donkey creatures begging for his mother. If I was in marketing I would use this as a very potent anti-alcohol and tobacco campaign.

Disney's Pinocchio: Jack-ass Scene

Les Maitres Du Temps (1985): Curing the non-conformers scene

Again, I know what you’re thinking. You thinking "What the Hell is Les Maitres Du Temps?". Well if you are in the UK or USA you are more likely to know this one as "The Time Masters" by Rene Laloux. Straight off the bat I'll let you in on a secret, this is a brilliant movie! It's generally classified as a sci-fi children's cartoon but it has many undertones of political and social ideas, something I admire of the French culture. The story tracks the rescue mission of a young boy called Piel that is trapped on a dangerous planet of Perdide after he fathers land buggy is involved in an accident in which his father dies leaving Piel to fend for himself.

There's a scene where Piel is attacked by giant bugs trying scoop out his brain and also a scene where a friendly creature is absorbed by tentacles in a really distressing way. The scene that I'd like to pick out though is the scene on the planet of "Gamma 10". The two space travellers landing on the planet soon meet some white angel-like creatures with no faces. The space travellers are quickly captured and taken to what appears to be a hive-mind society. The scene is in what looks like the inside of a cave shaped as an amphitheatre. Hundreds of the sinister white faceless angels gather round and chant in unison to cure the non-conformers. It a proper alien communist nightmare of a scene. The audio here is fantastically creepy. A lone course French voice screams out the chants. It's one of those movies you really have to see to appreciate the creepiness although the trailer below will give you a good impression.

 Les Maitres Du Temps (1985).

Return to Oz: Headless Mombi

I'm sure you all know the scene I'm going to suggest here. It's the scenes where Mombi has no head on and also the scenes where Dorothy is attempting to retrieve the key from the head boxes. For a children's movie "Return to Oz" is phenomenally dark in tone. From the Wheelers to the Gnome King, it's all very creepy. I've chosen the headless scene though as it's the most all out horror of the movie. When Mombie shouts "DOROTHY GALE!" and the disembodied heads start screaming it's a real departure from our regular world of Disney.

 Return to Oz: Headless Mombi

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

So, what are your nominations for scary scenes in a children’s movie? There's many more I'm sure.

Horror Movie: Guilty Pleasures

There's a whole spectrum of horror movies out there and although I focus on the great ones don't be fooled that I don't watch absolute garbage movies (and enjoy them). I do warn you up front that there are some really odd choices in here but I will explain my reasoning. I'm classifying my guilty pleasures as films that I really shouldn't enjoy but just can't help it.

Zombie Movies

Resident Evil

Ok, some people like this one a lot and consider it successful on it's own merits. Looking at it though it is a really trashy flick aimed at the video gamer that enjoys lots of things going boom. It's exactly what it is and doesn't pretend to be anything else. For that reason I wasn't disappointed with Resident Evil as a movie. As far as video game to movie adaptations go it's actually rather good. Much better than Silent Hill anyway. It's a guilty pleasure because I saw this one three times at the cinema :-o

Cheesy Vincent Price Movies

Dr Phibes/Theatre of Blood/House of Wax

... you know the type.

Vincent Price in his own right has to be a guilty pleasure. I can't imagine any of the above working if it wasn't for Vincent. Typically they have all dated horribly, the scripts are really corny and there's a really cheap feel to them. For some reason it works though. It's not horror made to shock, it's more cheesy entertainment with a slightly dark theme. These I clearly separate from Price's serious Poe works such as "The Pit and the Pendulum", "Masque of the Red Death" and "Fall of the House of Usher".

Teen Horror

Scream

Now it's actually debatable if Scream is a horror movie or just a teen movie with a murder theme. The classification doesn't really bother me too much. It's a movie that I shouldn't really like, the idea of teenagers running around, splitting in to groups being picked off by a masked psycho has been a standard horror plot since Sorority Row. It's just a modern take on the slasher movie. The reason Scream is a guilty pleasure for me is that it is entertaining, it's not sophisticated in the least but it is a good alternative to similar movies.

Gore

Hellraiser Part 3/4

Well parts 1 and 2 are a given. They are well directed and there is a genuine story to hang the gore from. Clive Barker had a vision and it worked. Parts 5 onwards are just an awful sell-out and it pains me to see the franchise give up on it's great start. Parts 3 and 4 are my guilty pleasure because I actually enjoy watching them where many people don't. They often receive very harsh criticism on the forums but in reality I think this is slightly more to do with a backlash at loosing Clive Barker rather than the movies themselves. Parts 3 and 4 both have reasonably solid story lines (no worse than other movies of the time) and the special effects are mostly up to scratch. Part 3 also was the start of Pinhead developing a bit more of a sense of humour, there are some great one liners in there. Had they stopped at part 4 I think the franchise would be remembered more fondly. The farce of part 5 onwards is a real pity.

Haunted House

House On Haunted Hill (1999)

The original "House On Haunted Hill" is obviously a William Castle/Vincent Price classic and one of the best of it's kind. Out of curiosity I watched the remake not expecting much, the trailer clearly set out that there would be CGI and a modern Hollywood approach to proceedings. I actually ended up really liking this one though. Geoffrey Rush is fantastic and holds the movie together. Although there is a lot of CGI which I usually want taken out of Horror movies, it actually seems to work for the most part here. OK, so it's not the original but I think the purpose of a remake should be to offer something a little different.

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

So, what are your Horror Movie Guilty Pleasures? Please leave a comment below.

Were Horror Movies Better in the Old Days?

It's something I've often wondered to myself. It seems that I like less and less new horror films being released this days. Is it just me or did horror movies used to be better? Well I've made a quick piece of analysis to investigate. I've taken IMDB's 50 top ranked Horror movies, sliced and diced the stats and come to some firm conclusions.

The Time Trend

A quick grouping shows that 1960-1969 was the golden age of horror. IMDB users rating 14/50 (28%) in the Top 50. In comparison 1940-1949 has just one entry (Dead Of Night).

2000-2010 produced just 6 of our top 50. That's less than half of 1960-1969. So on the surface it does seem that there was a distinct period in which horror films were better than today. When averaging out the scores (excluding 1960-1969) it seems that 2000-2010 fared reasonably well against with 6 top movies vs 5.14 average.

So What's so Special About 1960-1969

Eyes Without a Face (1960)

Hour of the Wolf (1968)

Kwaidan (1964)

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Onibaba (1964)

Peeping Tom (1960)

Psycho (1960)

Repulsion (1965)

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

The Birds (1963)

The Cremator (1969)

The Haunting (1963/I)

The Innocents (1961)

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

One thing is very notable in the list. It's the variety of movies. "Night of the Living Dead" is considered as the first of it's kind and any Zombie movie lover will have to reference this one as a best in class. There's also a Hunted House entry with "The Haunting" which I reviewed recently, again it is a classic with great production values and solid directing. There's also Hitchcock's "The Birds" and Psycho", these too are often widely referenced as Hitchcocks style was something a little bold and new. Finally there's a couple of others that broke the mould, "Peeping Tom" caused outrage over its content and "Rosemary's Baby" that showed a new spin on demon possession. I can't be more specific why this era produced such a number of great movies but it does seem that many movies were being produced around this time in a variety of styles. It's also the era that the post war baby boomers would have been teenagers in so it could be that users are rating these movies highly as they would be prominent memories at this time of life.

Greatest Horror Movie Period: Quantity or Quality?

So 1960-1969 wins hands down for quantity but how about overall quality?

Interestingly based on average ratings it is 1980-1989 that scores as our highest decade. I have to say I'm pleased as these were my childhood years and always believed that there was some good work going on. Only 3 movies 1980's movies make it in to the Top 5.

Evil Dead II (1987) 7.80

The Shining (1980) 8.50

The Thing (1982) 8.10

Looking at these titles it's easy to see what gave the 80's a small edge, all three movies are certainly in my collection. Raimi, Kubrick and Carpenter are all household names in the horror world. It's interesting that we have a slightly wacky Demon movie, a Psychological thriller and a Monster movie. It's always nice to have a variety.

Psycho (1960) takes the overall top spot with an 8.7 rating. This surprises me a little. Although it is a Hitchcock I wouldn't rate it as his best work, I may have to re-watch this one to see if I change my mind.

2000-2010 produces the lowest overall average of 7.7 making it the lowest rated decade by a wafer thin 0.03 difference between the 1940’s and 1950’s. Statistically this is insignificant taking in to account the data source. However, it is an interesting take on how the viewer’s think about modern horror. My prediction is that we will actually see the 7.7 of the 2000’s creep up a little over time as more people discover the gems in there. Overall there is a slight positive trend from 1920 to present indicating no sudden crisis for the horor movie industry.

So, in conclusion. If you are looking for quantity try the 60’s, if you are looking for quality you may find what you are looking for in the ‘80’s. On another slant though it’s worth noting that 4 of the top 10 movies are pre-1940.

However we cut this one I think it’s safe to say that horror films are in no dramatic decline in quality no matter how much some of us believe. Styles change as do audiences and the opportunity to be innovative and fresh will be a constant challenge. I can happily pick a decent movie from every decade of the last 100 years of horror.

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

See below for the full IMDB Top 50 Horror List. Agree with the list? Are they missing your favourite? What's your favourite Horror decade? I'm interested in your thoughts, please leave a comments below.

IMDB Ranking: 14/09/2011

Rank	Rating	Title	Votes	Year
1	8.7	Psycho (1960)	173,329	1960
2	8.5	Alien (1979)	216,582	1979
3	8.5	The Shining (1980)	221,288	1980
4	8.1	The Thing (1982)	99,866	1982
5	8.1	Nosferatu (1922)	33,157	1922
6	8	Faust (1926)	5,222	1926
7	8	The Exorcist (1973)	129,780	1973
8	8	Rosemary's Baby (1968)	63,889	1968
9	8	The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)	19,064	1920
10	8	King Kong (1933)	43,999	1933
11	8	Frankenstein (1931)	26,065	1931
12	8	What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)	14,605	1962
13	8	Bride of Frankenstein (1935)	17,302	1935
14	8	Dawn of the Dead (1978)	48,945	1978
15	8	Kwaidan (1964)	4,992	1964
16	8	Night of the Living Dead (1968)	45,401	1968
17	8	Shaun of the Dead (2004)	163,225	2004
18	8	Onibaba (1964)	4,957	1964
19	7.9	Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)	16,676	1956
20	7.9	The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)	4,738	1933
21	7.9	The Innocents (1961)	8,295	1961
22	7.9	Halloween (1978)	73,092	1978
23	7.9	Freaks (1932)	16,152	1932
24	7.9	The Cremator (1969)	1,988	1969
25	7.9	The Phantom Carriage (1921)	2,001	1921
26	7.9	The Unknown (1927)	3,053	1927
27	7.9	The Birds (1963)	61,205	1963
28	7.8	Repulsion (1965)	15,533	1965
29	7.8	Eyes Without a Face (1960)	5,902	1960
30	7.8	Dead of Night (1945)	3,996	1945
31	7.8	The Man Who Laughs (1928)	1,710	1928
32	7.8	Evil Dead II (1987)	51,185	1987
33	7.8	Grindhouse (2007)	93,309	2007
34	7.8	I Saw the Devil (2010)	12,900	2010
35	7.8	Peeping Tom (1960)	11,026	1960
36	7.8	The Invisible Man (1933)	9,038	1933
37	7.7	Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)	4,622	1931
38	7.7	Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922)	3,475	1922
39	7.7	Zombieland (2009)	126,248	2009
40	7.7	Hour of the Wolf (1968)	5,535	1968
41	7.7	The Phantom of the Opera (1925)	6,496	1925
42	7.7	The Haunting (1963/I)	12,988	1,963
43	7.7	Island of Lost Souls (1932)	1,718	1932
44	7.7	The Wicker Man (1973)	23,379	1973
45	7.7	The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)	4,276	1939
46	7.7	Saw (2004)	138,373	2004
47	7.7	The Devils (1971)	3,490	1971
48	7.7	Night of the Demon (1957)	4,197	1957
49	7.6	[Rec] (2007)	48,174	2007
50	7.6	Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)	12,494	1975