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I have to see that now.Comment
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Me neither. Other movies I should have seen by now, have downloaded on my computer, but haven't watched:
True Romance
Jackie Brown
NightBreed
Animal House
A Scanner Darkly
New Jack City
Carlito's Way
Blazing Saddles (I've seen most of it)
The Big Lebowski
The Jerk (again, seen most of it)
The Usual Suspects
Prioritizing:
The Big Lebowski
The Usual Suspects
Animal House
Jackie Brown
True Romance
Everything else...
I know, I should be ashamed of myself. On the other hand, I have plenty of great ones I have seen:
Need to get some time to watch those.
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In case you guys haven't noticed, I'm in full-on Halloween mode. Mostly creature-features and other horror flicks this month...continuing with some really old school...
Frankenstein
Directed by James Whale.
1931. Not Rated, 70 minutes.
Cast:
Colin Clive
Mae Clarke
Boris Karloff
John Boles
Edward Von Sloan
Frederick Kerr
Dwight Frye
Lionel Belmore
Marilyn Harris
Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Clive) is hellbent on creating life. He doesn’t want to do it the old fashioned way. He wants to animate a deceased and fully grown human being, sort of. His “human being” is actually sewn together from parts he’s gathered from graveyards, the gallows and God knows where else. Hmmm, God. That’s it, he wants to be God.
Fearing he’s gone mad, his fiancée, Elizabeth (Clarke), enlists the help of a couple of Henry’s colleagues to perform a kind of intervention. They do manage to get him to at least take a break long enough to marry his gal, but they’re still too late. His experiment has already succeeded.
What follows is an iconic monster movie warning us of the dangers of pretending to be the Almighty. Boris Karloff, as the monster, turns in his signature performance without saying a word. It’s not at all scary, by today’s standards, but it’s still an intriguing and eventually sad story.
The film’s biggest drawback is actually no fault of its own. It is simply too familiar to us. The story has been with us far too long. It’s been remade and parodied so often, it’s difficult to judge on its own merit without comparing it to whatever version you’ve already seen. Still, if you’re a horror buff and care even a little about its history, this is essential viewing.
MY SCORE: 8/10
Bride of Frankenstein
Directed by James Whale.
1935. Not Rated, 75 minutes.
Cast:
Boris Karloff
Colin Clive
Valerie Hobson
Ernest Thesiger
Elsa Lanchester
Gavin Gordon
Una O’Connor
O. P. Heggie
As soon as Bride of Frankenstein starts, it brazenly lets us know it’s pulling a fast one on us. It shows us “Frankenstein” novel author Mary Shelley (Lanchester, who also plays the bride) and some of her inner-circle chit-chatting about, and essentially recapping the events of her legendary story. Just when they’re wrapping it up, she basically says to forget all about that wonderfully Shakespearean ending. They ain’t dead. Normally, this is an early warning sign that you’re about to watch a sequel that shouldn’t even exist and of a quality that suggests the same. Luckily, we get a sequel that actually outdoes the original.
Our new villain, the even more brilliant and crazier Dr. Pretorius (Thesiger) recruits Dr. Frankenstein (Clive), against his will, to help him in creating a companion for Frankenstein’s original monster. By the way, the monster (Karloff) roams the countryside terrorizing, and occasionally killing folks until he stumbles into a lonely blind man. This plays out much better than it sounds.
As mentioned, this film has a clear cut villain, Pretorius, and reluctant accomplice in Dr. Frankenstein. However, instead of an actual hero, we get a victim in Frankenstein’s monster. This works incredibly well as we’re properly set up for another doozy of an ending which finally includes the unveiling of the bride. Without having watched it, the knowledge that the title character doesn’t appear until very near the end of our tale seems like a terrible idea. When you do see it, you’ll realize it works perfectly.
MY SCORE: 10/10Comment
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:doh: I've seen Pineapple Express. Why did I put that in the wrong list? I saw it when it first came out on DVD. Couldn't stop fucking laughing... I was even sober at the time.
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Also, in Frankenstein the book, the doctor's name is Victor, not Henry. Henry's his brother. I haven't seen this movie, but I have seen Young Frankenstein, and that's the shit. Haha. (Totally different movies, I know.)Comment
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Dell, you ever seen The Friends of Eddie Coyle? Really gritty crime drama from the 70s. Same director who did Bullitt, Peter Yates.
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:2thumbs:
The Monster Squad
Directed by Fred Dekker.
1987. Rated PG, 82 minutes.
Cast:
Andre Gower
Robby Kiger
Stephen Macht
Duncan Regehr
Tom Noonan
Ashley Bank
Leonardo Cimino
Lisa Fuller
Precisely every 100 years at midnight the amulet that controls the balance of power between good and evil becomes vulnerable enough to be destroyed, but only for a few moments. If it is, evil will have free reign. Count Dracula (Regehr) knows this and knows that the fateful day is coming up. He recruits Frankenstein’s monster, the Wolfman, the Mummy and the Creature from the Black Lagoon to help find and obliterate said amulet. A group of kids who are totally immersed in monster lore have discovered this and after dubbing themselves “The Monster Squad,” have set out to save the day.
This is a wonderful blend of pre/early teen comedy, the cheesiest elements of monster movies and, for some younger viewers, tension and possibly horror. Our bad guys are represented in their most classical forms, i.e. Dracula sports a black tux and flowing black cape with a silky red lining and the collar up, of course. This comes off as a nod to us that this is more of an elaborate Halloween prank than actually trying to add anything to vampire mythology. In other words, it puts its tongue firmly in its cheek and it works. We sit back and have fun with kids we either were (or are depending on your age) or wouldn’t normally have hung out with.
Let’s be honest, the squad is largely made up of geeks. As it so often turns out in real life, the geeks are right. Monsters are real. There’s also one set of parents on the verge of a divorce which adds some reality to the proceedings. Though things wrap up in a predictably corny manner, it’s still very enjoyable.
Most of us who grew up in the eighties have fond memories of TMS. Since it’s always been unabashed in its cheesiness, it’s held up surprisingly well. A warning to parents: though its rated PG, a number of four-letter words fly; decide accordingly. If you decide to let the kiddies indulge you’ll find it one of the better horror flicks aimed at young’uns. And yes, the Wolfman still has nards.
MY SCORE: 7.5/10
This was one of my favorite movies growing up. I'd been looking all over the place for it thinking it was called Monster Patrol.
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In Frankenstein, one of the most brilliant and terrifying scenes in the movie was when Frankenstein and the little girl were throwing flower petals in the water. I had nightmares as a child that I was that little kid. What makes it so great was Frankenstein had no intention of hurting her, but he didn't know any better.Comment
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haha fuck yeah little monsters
kick him in the nards!
wolfman dont got nards!
*kicks wolfman in the groin and he goes down in pain*
...wolfman got nardssssssComment
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