Dell's Good, Bad & Ugly Movie Reviews

[dell71]

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[dell71]

Troll Hunter
Directed by André Øvredal.
2010. Rated PG-13, 103 minutes.
Cast:
Otto Jespersen
Glenn Erland Tosterud
Johanna Mǿrck
Tomas Alf Larsen
Urmila Berg-Domaas
Hans Morten-Hansen
Robert Stoltenberg

We’re told immediately that we’re watching a film that was made by selecting the scenes to follow from 283 hours of video. Not only that, but the people who pored over it also spent over a year trying to figure if this was genuine or all part of some elaborate hoax. They have determined it to be authentic. Yay, more found footage horror. Sarcasm.

The folks that left behind this particular footage are a small group of Norwegian college students filming a documentary about the havoc that bears are wreaking in the counry’s forest and mountain areas and the people who hunt them. We learn the government only licenses a select few to target bears and, as you might imagine, they are a tight knit group. They’re also pretty pissed that bears are being gunned down with none of them behind the trigger. A mysterious guy who lives in a smelly camper and only goes out at night is the main suspect. They all believe he’s a poacher. Of course, the college kids start hounding him for an interview and following him after dark. Pretty soon they find out it isn’t bears that are causing all the trouble or that the bearded man is hunting. It’s trolls.

Hans (Jespersen) is the bearded man’s name and he quickly tells us that these trolls aren’t like the ones we’ve read about in fairy tales. These are huge, snarling, not very intelligent beasts that eat whatever they can get their hands on. They’ve been quarantined to certain sections around the country. Hans’ task is to find out why so many are leaving these areas and to kill any wayward trolls. He’s been doing this job for a really long time and doesn’t like it much these days. He invites the kids to tag along, so long as none of them are Christians. This part of the fairy tale is true: trolls can smell the blood of Christian men and it sends them into a frenzy. They assure him they aren’t and away we go.

The trolls themselves are what makes this different from most movies in the found-footage sub-genre. There is really no attempt to hide them and build suspense from the wait. Instead, we see them pretty clearly throughout the picture. The key is that there are a number of different types. That way, we’re consistently seeing something new as the movie progresses. Additionally, they’re also mindlessly aggressive toward whatever is in their path. Often enough, it’s our cast in harm’s way creating a palpable sense of danger. With all of the troll action taking place at night, the special fx work beautifully, adding to the idea that we’re really seeing gigantic monsters rampaging in the woods, or in caves.

Another big plus is our troll hunter. Otto Jespersen plays Hans perfectly straight. He exudes the weariness he professes. We really feel like he’s a guy that’s been doing a thankless job forever and is desperately searching for a way out. It’s a subtle, yet effective performance. The rest of the cast is adequate, but not enthralling. Mǿrck who plays Johanna is a possible exception as she is a shade better than the others.

As found footage flicks go, Troll Hunter is a solid adventure. A few very tense scenes help it live up to the horror label. Truthfully though, it’s more fun than it is scary. That in itself isn’t really a problem. The problem is by now we’ve seen more than a few of these types of movies. The ending feels pre-ordained within a few moments of the start. This makes it hard for us to generate the empathy necessary to really get us vested in these people. We already know how they end up. Thankfully, watching them get there is a good time.

MY SCORE: 7/10

[dell71]

Fright Night
Directed by Tom Holland.
1985. Rated R, 106 minutes.
Cast:
Chris Sarandon
William Ragsdale
Amanda Bearse
Stephen Geoffreys
Roddy McDowall
Jonathan Stark
Dorothy Fielding
Art J. Evans

Charlie (Ragsdale) is a fairly average high school kid. He’s been dating Amy (Bearse) for about a year, but hasn’t quite managed to get in her pants despite his near constant efforts. His best pal is Eddie, aka Evil (Geoffreys), is more awkward. We’re never told why he’s called Evil, but it probably has something to do with the fact that after most sentences he cackles maniacally like an old school Disney villain. The three of them share a love for a weekly TV horror series called “Fright Night.” It is hosted by Peter Vincent (McDowall) who claims to be the world’s foremost vampire killer. Jerry Dandridge (Sarandon) is Charlie’s new neighbor. Pretty quickly, Charlie surmises that Jerry is a real live vampire and is responsible for the string of murders that have been taking place around town.

Back in 1985, Fright Night became a surprise hit at a time when vampire flicks had gone out of vogue. As Peter Vincent so eloquently put it, all we wanted was “demented men in ski masks hacking up young virgins.” Still, there were good reasons FN was able to succeed. They start with Jerry Dandridge. With a sweater and pleated khakis in place of a tuxedo and a trench coat substituting for a cape, he’s a much more contemporary vampire than we were used to seeing. He helped reestablish this particular monster as a seductive villain. His murderous side is usually smooth. We’re drawn to him. For this reason, Fright Night isn’t really frightening. I remember going to the theater to see this on its opening weekend. Even then it wasn’t scary. However, the coolness of it all still sucked us in.

The cool factor has diminished a bit with the passing of time. Other aspects hold up better. By being pretty self-aware, it serves a precursor to all those films to follow in which the characters know all about the movies and suspect they are actually involved in one. Evil plays the role of the guy who informs everyone else of genre protocol.

We’re also treated to a wonderful performance by Roddy McDowall. His Peter Vincent is a man who totally defines himself by his public persona. That persona is fading in both popularity and profitability. In fact, he only agrees to meet Jerry because will pay him fifty bucks to do so and convince Charlie that Jerry couldn’t possibly be a vampire. Purely by accident, Peter realizes he’s in the midst of the real thing and is immediately petrified. He doesn’t seem able or willing to save the day. As such, McDowall strikes the perfect balance to give us both reluctant participant and comic relief.

Fright Night is not without flaws. Predictably, some of the special fx and makeup jobs haven’t aged so well. The same goes for the score, too synthesized to be menacing. It sounds more like the prelude to an 80s R & B ballad than what should be playing when The Prince of Darkness is lurking about. More troubling is the inconsistency in Peter Vincent’s faith. Since it is mentioned quite a bit and is integral to the plot, it should be handled more cleanly.

Despite it being a little long in the fangs, FN is still an entertaining romp. It’s also more important than given credit for being. Along with The Lost Boys, which came out two years later, it helped bring the vampire out of the Victorian era with the fresh out of Transylvania accent and drop him into modern times. It understands that the idea of such a creature terrorizing suburbia is silly without making a mockery of the genre, remaining faithful to much of the monster’s traditional lore. For this, FN is one of my favorite vampire flicks of all time.

MY SCORE: 8/10

[dell71]

Fright Night
Directed by Craig Gillespie.
2011. Rated R, 106 minutes.
Cast:
Anton Yelchin
Colin Farrell
Christopher Mintz-Plasse
David Tennant
Imogen Poots
Toni Collette
Dave Franco
Reid Ewing
Sandra Vergara
Will Denton
Lisa Loeb
Chris Sarandon

In a small Las Vegas suburb things are going pretty well for Charlie (Yelchin). He has a good relationship with his single mom. Not only has he recently become one of the cool kids at his school, he’s also dating Amy (Poots), one of its hottest girls. There are some minor irritations in his otherwise perfect life. His neighbor Jerry Dandridge (Farrell) has been moved in for a while but still hasn’t had the dumpster removed from his front lawn. How dare he? Apparently, Jerry doesn’t realize how much of an eyesore this thing is. Charlie’s bigger issue is Ed (Mintz-Plasse). The two were once bestest buddies but Charlie has moved on. Ed hasn’t. He basically throws very public temper tantrums because Charlie won’t play with him anymore and blackmails him into doing so. It’s complicated.

Neighbor Jerry further complicates things. Aside from taking his sweet time getting rid of the dumpster, he flirts with Charlie’s mom. Even worse, Charlie soon discovers Jerry is a real live vampire. He’s not the type that Peter Vincent (Tennant) slays in his Las Vegas show, but an actual, homicidal bloodsucker. Jerry is also fond of apples and beer, but it’s the blood that’s most troublesome.

Troublesome also describes the way our tale is constructed. In case you didn’t know, this is a remake of the 1985 hit. That movie begins with Jerry moving in next door to Charlie. Everyone in the movie becomes aware of him as we do. Here, he’s been around for a while. It may not sound like much, but this little change to our entry point is enough to set the entire movie off-kilter.

Our view of those involved is off-kilter, as well. We don’t like any of them. In the original, Jerry is a debonair devil. We know he’s a killer, but he’s awfully charming. This version is more the sweaty, creepy type. He just happens to be as handsome as Colin Farrell. Farrell does a good job with the role, but it is what it is. Our new Ed is a jerk. We start actively rooting against him within thirty seconds of meeting him. Amy is just kinda there most of the time. Her subplot from the first film is not used. Peter Vincent is no longer a once-great facing the end of his career. This time around he’s at the height of his popularity. Instead of being insecure and incredulous of the events surrounding him, he’s a self-centered jackass we’d rather punch in the face than go vampire hunting with. He also seems like he was written for Russell Brand or David Tennant is just doing his darndest impression, but that’s beside the point. Charlie is pretty bland in both movies. However, when surrounded by unlikeable characters he also becomes hard to really care for. At best, we’re not aching for him to be brutally murdered.

The vocation of screenplay writing has been brutally murdered. Well, probably not. It has been severely injured, at least. The various strands are haphazardly slapped together. The comic relief isn’t funny and the horror isn’t horrifying. That nice bit of self-awareness the original had is almost completely gone. The make up for these lapses in execution we get the trusted method of multiplying the body count. Yawn. Since most of the killings are of the loud noise, look of fear, camera cuts away variety, double yawn.

I did a lot of double yawning while watching the Fright Night remake. Strangely enough, going into this it was the rare case where I didn’t mind something from my youth being remade. The original is pretty good, but there is room for improvement and the basic premise welcomes updating. Unfortunately, this movie did none of the things that would’ve made it better.

MY SCORE: 5/10

[dell71]

Blacula
Directed by William Crain.
1972. Rated PG, 93 minutes.
Cast:
William Marshall
Vonetta McGee
Thalmus Rasulala
Denise Nicholas
Gordon Pinsent
Charles Macaulay
Emily Yancy
Lance Taylor Sr.

This particular chunk of 70s goodness actually starts in the 18th century. African Prince Mamuwalde (Marshall) and his lovely wife Luva (McGee) are in the land of Transylvania. Where else would a vampire flick start? They are visiting the castle of Count Dracula (Macaulay), duh. For some reason, the prince asks the Count to help put a stop to the slave trade. Wait…what does Dracula have to do with…never mind. Drac laughs him off and drops a few racial epithets on Mamuwalde and his lady. Understandably, the prince gets indignant and announces that he and his wife are leaving this instant. We cut away to the door 1) to see a bunch of Drac’s minions strolling into the room and 2) to give the Count a moment to put in his fangs. Long story short, Count Dracula and company overcome the prince and his wife. Luva gets killed, but death isn’t punishment enough for Mamuwalde. The Count bites him, re-names him Blacula and locks him in a coffin. Roll opening credits.

Fast forward to “the present” in 1972 Los Angeles. A couple guys swindle some dude out of Count Dracula’s ancient artifacts for a low low price. Too bad for them, there was no ebay back then. Even worse, Blacula’s coffin is included in their catch. By the way, if you think anyone in the movie ever calls him Blacula you’d be sadly mistaken. Anyhoo, these two fools pop open the coffin, wind up as vampires and let loose Mamuwalde on an unsuspecting public.

Shortly after breathing some 20th century smog for the first time, our new favorite vampire runs into Tina who happens to look exactly like his wife. How did you know she’s played by the same person? Of course, he just has to have her, but he tells her he can’t take her by force. While waiting on her to make a decision, he nibbles on the local population.

Surprisingly, but refreshingly, this movie dispenses with the idea of getting the ancient vampire used to his new surroundings and any forced comedy that might have come from that. He never even asks anyone the date or looks at a newspaper to figure it out like most other flicks would’ve. Come to think of it, no one ever bothers to ask this dude why he walks around wearing a cape. Then again, we are talking about the 70s. So it’s no surprise that one guy does ask if he can borrow it.

I’ve said too much. Just know that Blacula is a fun, campy ride that is far better than its title gives it any right to be. There are a few strong performances in the bunch, most notably from our main two adversaries: William Marshall as Blacula and Thalmus Rasulala as Dr. Gordon Thomas. These two along with Denise Nicholas as the doc’s wife balance out a bunch of flat ones. The dialogue is hammy but these three pull it off well. Admittedly, the vampire makeup ranges from “meh” to “Is that supposed to be a vampire or a zombie?” to “Where’s your makeup?” Even out of that mix, there is one genuine scare, for me at least. The crazed vampire woman running down a hallway in the morgue is a sight that can’t be unseen (pic above). I saw this movie several time, probably thirty years ago, if not more. That’s one of only two scenes I really remembered. The other is the unexpectedly touching conclusion. It all adds up to a surprisingly entertaining vampire flick. It’s far from a masterpiece, but it’s no blight on the genre either. Blacula sticks pretty close to traditional vampire lore and gives us a solid, if occasionally unintentionally humorous effort.

MY SCORE: 7/10

[dell71]

Scream Blacula Scream
Directed by Bob Kelljan.
1973. Rated PG, 96 minutes.
Cast:
William Marshall
Pam Grier
Don Mitchell
Richard Lawson
Michael Conrad
Lynne Moody
Janee Michelle
Barbara Rhoades

Willis Daniels (Lawson) isn’t grieving even though his mother has just passed away and, for some reason, is still lying on the couch in a room full of people. He’s too busy whining that she didn’t name him as her successor to become the high priest of their little voodoo cult. There will be a vote to see who gets the post and all the members assure him they won’t be voting for him, they’ll be voting for Lisa. Lisa is played by………Pam Grier. I love Pam Grier. Willis storms out. Not done with the affair, though, he goes to visit an old man who himself was once ousted from the very same position in the same group to get some help plotting revenge. The old man gives Willis a pile of bones (complete with skull) and an instruction manual, tells him this will help him get revenge and warns him of the immense power he’s about to unleash. Undeterred, Willis uses the instructions to resurrect whoever this heap of bones used to be. Of course, we know from the title that it is none other than our favorite non-Anglo vampire: Prince Mamuwalde, AKA Blacula. Our boy comes back to (un)life and bites Willis which sends us into the opening credits. When they stop rolling, Willis is a vampire and his storyline is largely forgotten. Did I mention that Pam Grier is in this movie?

Honestly, it’s probably a good idea we move on from Willis. Blacula is a far more intriguing character. If you saw the first movie then you know that right at the end, he becomes a strangely sympathetic character. When he shows up on the screen this time around, that’s gone and we’re right back into the horror. Like most sequels, the body count is amped up a bit. The story also takes a little while longer to take shape. Blacula spends much time hanging around the cult after he learns that the beautiful Pam Grier, I mean Lisa, is naturally gifted when it comes to voodoo. In between conversations with her and her boyfriend Justin (Mitchell) who collects ancient African artifacts, Mamuwalde chows down on random cultists plus a couple muggers that can’t take a hint. Of course, with all the bodies piling up and then disappearing Justin gets suspicious and tries desperately to convince the cops that a vampire is responsible. Meanwhile, I get increasingly jealous of the two men who get to sit very near Pam Grier.

As a whole, the visuals haven’t aged well which detracts from the fright factor. Still, the makeup is a bit better than it was in the original and there are a few very effective scenes based on tone and tension. The dialogue ranges from pretty good in spots to terrible in others. Most of the acting is nothing to write home about, either. Yet in the title role William Marshall, a Shakespearian trained actor and you can tell it, rises above his cast mates and endows Mamuwalde with the dignity and formalism befitting a prince. And yes, leading lady Pam Grier is mesmerizing. Hmmm…if I didn’t know any better, I’d say I was creepier than the movie.

Through it all, we get a fun, occasionally campy horror flick that manages to turn the same trick as its predecessor by making us feel bad for the bad guy. We don’t develop the same level of empathy we did the first time around but we don’t loathe him and look at him like an unfeeling monster, either. It’s these touches that mark the franchise as better than expected. Neither title leads you to believe the films will be any good at all. While they aren’t great, they’re both enjoyable. And this one has Pam Grier.

MY SCORE: 6/10

[Buzzman]

Nice. Nice. I enjoyed the remake of Fright Night yet have never seen the original. Is that probably why?

[dell71]

^Quite possibly.

[SethMode]

Dell, well done sir, even for you. This is insane.

[dell71]

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
Directed by Troy Nixey.
2011. Rated R, 99 minutes.
Cast:
Katie Holmes
Guy Pearce
Bailee Madison
Jack Thompson
Julia Blake
Alan Dale
Trudy Hellier
Garry McDonald
Guillermo del Toro

Sally (Madison) is a tween who, according to her, was perfectly happy living with her mother. However, mom thinks the girl is a few Barbie dolls short of a complete set, if you know what I mean, medicates her and ships her off to live with her dad Alex (Pearce) and his girlfriend Kim (Holmes). Sure enough, soon after arriving at the mansion dad and Kim are not only living in, but renovating, she starts hearing voices coming from a basement no one knew existed. Dad busts open the basement, pleased he has more house to fix up. He doesn’t buy the voices so naturally he and Kim also think the girl is nuts but don’t know what to do with her since sending her back is not an option. On the other hand, we know she is completely sane and the things she hears and sees are quite real. What she sees are a bunch of tiny, evil creatures with a liking for sharp objects and a peculiar appetite. This is a remake of a made-for-TV movie from the 1970s starring Kim Darby. Almost forgot: PG-13 horror that somehow earned an ‘R’ rating ensues.

Okay, the prior sentence takes an unnecessary shot at Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. It is better than that line implies. The creatures themselves are immediately reminiscent of those from The People Under the Stairs, at least to a person like me who hasn’t seen that movie in well over a decade. They are a particularly vicious lot when given the opportunity and prone to pop up suddenly, giving us a few jump scares.

Director Troy Nixey acts as an extension of Guillermo del Toro (director of Pan’s Labyrinth, both Hellboy movies) who hatched the idea to do this remake and serves as producer. Nixey gives us a sufficiently spooky tone, those aforementioned jump scares and a couple of truly harrowing scenes. He wrings what he can from a clichéd screenplay. As is often the case in haunted house flicks, dad is oblivious to what’s going on, while (step)mom is at first skeptical but slowly comes around. There’s also the old man who doles out ominous warnings and always looks nervous, obviously knowing more than he’s telling. Finally, we eventually discover some of the house’s dark secrets. These are not explained in nearly enough of a coherent manner, but still move the plot forward.

Speaking of the plot and things unexplained, we’re left with a number of holes and a blatant setup for a sequel. Given what happens in the beginning, the last scene doesn’t make sense other than to give those already frightened one last chill. This makes it a decent watch that falls apart under even rudimentary scrutiny. Therefore, it’s best if you don’t think about it too much. This includes not trying to figure out that ‘R’ rating I mentioned earlier. I get it, I guess. The opening scene is truly squirm inducing and one other scene is a bit on the bloody side. Still, it wouldn’t bother me one bit if this garnered a PG-13 especially since that’s the crowd likely to get the most enjoyment out of this. Either way, it’s best if watched in the dark you shouldn’t be afraid of with some jumpy people who are.

MY SCORE: 6/10

[dell71]

Mother's Day
Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman.
2010. Rated R, 112 minutes.
Cast:
Rebecca De Mornay
Jaime King
Frank Grillo
Patrick John Flueger
Shawn Ashmore
Lyriq Bent
Briana Evigan
Deborah Ann Woll
Warren Kole
Kandyse McClure
Tony Nappo
Lisa Marcos

Group A is a friendly crowd. They’re having a boozy fun time at the house of Daniel (Grillo) and Beth (King) to celebrate his birthday. There are nine, in all. Aside from our hosts, there is the young couple, the black couple, the middle aged guy/early 20s chick couple and random single female friend. Everyone is hanging out in the basement. It’s a nice setup: pool table, bar, music on blast – you know the deal.

Group B is not so friendly. Even though they’re very big on family, actually they are family, they’re not the kind you want to hang around. In fact, they’ve just finished robbing a bank. Well, it was a job gone horribly wrong. Johnny (O’ Leary), the youngest of the three brothers is dying in the back seat of the getaway car from a gunshot wound. Ike (Flueger) is the eldest. He controls the other two, somewhat, but the current situation has him a bit frazzled. The middle brother Addley (Kole) is always frazzled. It quickly becomes evident that their mother is the one who really pulls the strings. So it only makes sense that the boys head home to Mother’s (De Mornay) house. They come screeching into the driveway, burst in through the door and shout loudly for their mom. Lo and behold, the boys haven’t been in contact with her in a few months and are unaware that she lost the house due to foreclosure. That’s right, this is where Daniel and Beth live and Group A is hanging out downstairs. Not surprisingly, a hostage situation breaks out and luckily for the boys, there is a doctor is in the house. When they finally get a hold of mom on the phone, she fills the boys in on the house situation and hurries over to get things under control. Of course, Group A realizes that once she walks into the door, things have gotten considerably worse for their chances of survival.

From the moment Rebecca De Mornay appears on the screen we’re pretty much mesmerized. As our main protagonist, she gives a brilliantly odd performance that makes us believe we’re finding out what it would be like if June Cleaver (google her, young’uns) were a homicidal sociopath. She plays the role with unwavering assertion and drops the clichés our own mothers said to us in between giving her boys orders to do some heinous things. It’s a deliciously over the top and wicked performance that transcends many of the film’s weaker qualities.

Yes, there are some weaker qualities. For characters other than Mother, the dialogue is pretty much recycled from just about every other home invasion flick. Once you know the tropes the various characters represent, what’s going to come out of their mouths is fairly predictable. This bleeds into the rest of the movie, rendering it a bit easy to figure. Most figurable of all is the trite horror movie ending/set up for a sequel.

Thankfully, the movie creates plenty of tension and draws us to the edge of our seats with one outrageous scenario after another. As the movie goes on, the craziness gradually increases until we’re very near the breaking point. The stakes continuously grow as does the violence. Yes, it’s plenty violent and graphically so. Nothing less is to be expected from the same people heavily involved in the Saw franchise. So yeah, this isn’t for everyone.

Mother’s Day also manages to be fun. That’s because there is a thread of very dark comedy running all the way through the movie. It displays the kind of twisted sense of humor that only people with a twisted sense of humor will appreciate. This includes it functioning as a nasty little slice of recession era angst. It’s a remake of an old Troma movie from 1980 of the same name. I haven’t seen that one, but this may make me seek it out.

MY SCORE: 7.5/10

[dell71]

Psycho
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
1960. Not Rated, 109 minutes.
Cast:
Anthony Perkins
Janet Leigh
Vera Miles
John Gavin
Martin Balsam
Frank Albertson
Simon Oakland
Patricia Hitchcock
John McIntire
Vaughn Taylor

In the 50 plus years since its release, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho has been reduced to two iconic scenes: the shower scene and the big reveal near the end. It is known as one of the all-time great movies, but why has been lost in the shuffle. The film outside of the two moments I’ve just mentioned have practically faded into oblivion. This is too bad because the entirety of the story still sizzles.

That story begins not with the psycho but the victim. Marion Crane (Leigh) spends lots of time in seedy hotels with Sam (Gavin) whom she wants to become her legitimate boyfriend. He expresses doubts about his own ability to take care of her since his business isn’t exactly booming. Still, he agrees that he wants to spend as much time with her as possible, even out of bed. At work, Marion is a trusted secretary for a small real estate company. After all, she’s been there for 10 years. Therefore, it’s no surprise when her boss asks her to take the $40,000 in cash from the latest sale over to the bank rather than leave it in the office over the weekend. Seeing an opportunity to set her and Sam up, Marion literally takes the money and runs. However, she doesn’t go see her beau. Instead she takes off on a drive out of town. Tired, and having trouble seeing in a driving nighttime rain she decides to stop and rest. The only place to stay she can see is The Bates Motel. While checking in, she meets Norman Bates. He runs the place for his constantly angry mother who apparently never leaves the big spooky house at the top of the hill. He’s also obviously starving for a conversation that doesn’t involve mom berating him. Cutting to the quick, Mrs. Bates does indeed leave the house and stabs Marion to death during that famous shower scene. Still looking for his money, Marion’s boss hires a private eye, Det. Arbogast (Balsam) to find her. Eventually, her sister Lila (Miles) and Sam are involved in the search.

From here, Hitchcock gives us what is still a fairly unique whodunit. He shows us the killer, but soon casts doubt over what we’ve seen. Even so, the number of suspects remains sparse. The tale surrounding this is anything but. The director builds an interesting procedural and makes us sympathize with Norman Bates. Even though we plainly see him commit some despicable acts in an attempt to cover for his mother, we feel both sorry for and repulsed by him. He’s clearly damaged. To what extent, we’re not sure. Then, as the movie progresses what was once subtext floats to the surface. Sure, the passage of time and numerous other movies putting their own spin on what happens here have dulled the edge a bit. Still, the shift from investigation to character study is fascinating. All of it emanates from what seems like a throwaway line when we first hear it, before realizing that it was an ominous warning: “A boy’s best friend is his mother.”

Psycho is routinely listed among the top handful of horror movies ever made and with good reason. It has the storytelling that much of today’s fright flicks eschew in favor of gore and violence. That same gore and violence renders the kill scenes here a bit tame. Intuiting that action is less impactful than the lead up to and effects of it, that masterful shower scene is outdone by its own aftermath. Starting with the camera practically in her eye and slowly pulling back to reveal Marion’s lifeless body draped over the side of the tub, mouth agape, is still all sorts of unsettling. The morbid magic at work here is that it feels grounded in reality. With the current bent towards showing us death in ever more spectacular ways the simplicity on display here is sublime. Following this cleverly plain moment, complexities slowly unravel while appearing not to.

MY SCORE: 10/10

[tigstah]

psycho deserves the 10/10....very good movie.
scream blacula scream and blacula, horrible movies in today's standards, but when i was a kid. scared the ish out of me. as did the night stalker.
now they are more comedy than horror.....

[Fox1994]

That was a great marathon you just ran, man. Bravo. There's a ton of movies I haven't seen that I want to, now. Including Blacula. ha.

[dell71]

That was a great marathon you just ran, man. Bravo. There's a ton of movies I haven't seen that I want to, now. Including Blacula. ha.

Had to save the most wonderfully terrible (and one good one) for the stretch run...