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Monthly Archives: August 2011

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DVD Review – The Mummy 1932

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Universal Legacy Collection – Chapter 4: The Mummy

(1932)

By Jason Marsiglia

Out of 4

 

During an archeological dig in Egypt, a team of British archeologists excavate the ancient mummy of a high Egyptian priest named Imhotep and the cursed scroll of Thoth, incased with a warning of consequence to whomever disturbs the tomb. Despite a good doctor’s warning to pay heed to Egyptian curses (Edward Van Sloan, again playing the stoic “voice of reason”), the archeologists disregard the curse as old Egyptian hooey and crack that sucker open in the name of science. This of course awakens the moldy, bandaged corpse of Imhotep, who shuffles out of his sarcophagus, snatches his scroll and leaves the witnessing archeologist laughing and babbling in madness!

We shoot ahead 11 years (to “present day” 1932), where a mysterious Egyptian named Ardath Bey (Karloff, in another subtle and menacing performance) hires one of the original archeologists from the 1921 dig and his son to excavate the tomb of Ankh-es-en-amon – an Egyptian princess Imhotep once tried to resurrect using the scroll of Thoth, but was quickly mummified and buried alive for his acts of sacrilege. They find her tomb (with Ardath’s help – he is, after all, Imhotep rejuvenated, unbeknownst to the doctors) and whisk the princess and her buried treasures to a large Cairo museum.

While in Cairo, Imhotep happens upon the object of the young doctor’s affections, a lovely, and feisty number named Helen, who – wouldn’t ya know it – bears more than a passing resemblance to Princess Ankh-es-en-amon. Using the power of the scroll, Imhotep wields a ferocious attack on the archeologists through mystic telepathy in order to lure Helen into his arms to be mummified with him for eternity.

If any of this is sounding at all familiar, that’s because The Mummy was scripted by John Balderston, the very playwright who penned the stage version Tod Browning’s Dracula was based on. So it’s of no coincidence at all that The Mummy in many, many, ways is practically identical in plot and structure to Dracula. We have an “undead” antagonist in Imhotep, same as Dracula. We have a young doctor’s girlfriend the object of the villain’s obsessions and is lured by his powerful hypnosis, just like in Dracula. And we have, of course, Edward Van Sloan, once again playing the doctor who knows all of the expositional details to first warn our heroes, and then help them defeat the foe when they inevitably ignore him. I swear, I have no clue why they didn’t just tie Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy together by casting Van Sloan as Van Helsing in all three, as he plays virtually the same character in all of them. Hell, the film even scores its opening with “Swan Lake” again, too.

See, this is really my primary reason for not quite buying into  The Mummy like I did the earlier Universal monster films. It’s far too derivative of them in almost every way. Don’t get me wrong, The Mummy has some wonderful things going for it. We have lush and impressive set designs. We have Karloff in a role every bit as menacing as Frankenstein’s monster, however this time lacking any sympathetic attributes, and far more dialogue. Though uncredited, we have make-up extraordinaire Jack Pierce returning to make Karloff look as decayed and withered as possible during the film’s opening reveal of Imhotep, as well as giving him a significantly rejuvenated look later when he’s under the alias of Ardath Bey, while still retaining a rather prunish quality. The make up is subtle and brilliant, as usual for Pierce. The glowing eye effect used in Dracula is put to good use here as well, and a frightening and violent flashback sequence gives the proceedings a much-needed shot in the arm near the film’s finale.

But again, The Mummy is so much like Dracula in terms of its tone and story structure that the pacing of the film suffers because of it. It all feels too familiar, and without some of the more eerie and intrusive horrors that Dracula harbored, much of The Mummy plods along far slower than Universal’s previous efforts. Since The Mummy wasn’t based on a book or play like Dracula or Frankenstein, it seemed the screenwriters and producers simply culled a story together from an already twice tried-and-true formula, and milked it to parade a new monster across the screen. As subsequent Universal sequels will prove, milking a tried-and-true formula is not something Universal was above doing, and doing often. It’s rather unfortunate, considering all the great visual treats and the moody performance by Karloff essentially flounder in the pedestrian script and direction.

 

C: Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Edward Van Sloan, Arthur Byron. D: Karl Freund.   Sub genre: Mummies. Time: 73 minutes. Ratio: (1.33:1) Fullscreen. Not Rated: Mild violence.

 

The Best Digital Bang For Your Hard-Earned Buck:

Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed – An original documentary by Film Historian David J. Skarl that chronicals the entire shoot and also takes a brief look at the other (un-related) Mummy pictures produced by Universal Studios.

An Audio Commentary by Film historian Paul M. Jensen – Lots of information here, but MAN is this guy monotone. It’s a very dry commentary and becomes kind of a chore to listen to in one sitting (for me, anyway).

The Mummy Archives Photo Gallery which features a series of the film’s posters and colorful adds set to the film’s score.

Original theatrical trailers for all films rounds everything out.

The Legacy Collection also provides the entire 4-picture Mummy’s Hand series which includes The Mummy’s Hand (1940), The Mummy’s Tomb (1942), The Mummy’s Ghost (1944) and The Mummy’s Curse (1944).

Now, just like the Dracula and Frankenstein films  before it (and the Wolfman set later), Universal re-released The Mummy in a “Special Edition” 2-Disc set. With the exception of the Mummy’s Hand series, everything from the Legacy Collection was carted over, but they included a couple of extra items of note.

The bonus material is relatively similar, but again, I want you to take a look at both, and make the decision as to which set you’re going to purchase.

A new Feature Commentary by Rick Baker, Scott Essman, Steven Haberman, Bob Burns and Brent Armstrong which is FARRRR more entertaining to listen to than the one provided by Paul M. Jensen and offers a wealth of new material, so both commentaries compliment each other nicely.

He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce: A tribute to legendary make-up artist Jack Pierce. This is worth the price of the set alone, finally giving the legendary make-up effects artist his due.
Unraveling the Legacy of The Mummy: Look back at the evolution of the series and its character.

And lastly, they placed that studio documentary Universal Horror on here again. You can read my thoughts on this nifty feature on my review for the original Dracula.

Availability: The Mummy is released in a few different DVD Special Editions, a couple of which are still readily available (like the ones I just reviewed). No Blu-Ray in sight thought.

Sequels: None.

Remakes: Some consider Universal’s 1940 horror adventure The Mummy’s Hand to be a loose remake of The Mummy. Personally, I think there’s far too little in common between the two to buy into that. However, in 1999, Universal remade The Mummy directly by recreating the same plot, re-incorporating Imhotep and Ankh-es-en-amon, and throwing a fun, Indiana Jones-style adventure flair to the story. Personally, it’s one of the very few remakes that I think is superior to the original.

 

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DVD Review – “Scream of the Banshee”

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Scream of the Banshee

(2011)

By Jason Marsiglia

Out of 4

 

In 1188 A.D., a deadly banshee terrorized Ireland, forcing the Templar knights to find and vanquish the evil fairy. Using a bizarre medieval device that can simultaneously enclose and decapitate the wench, she’s killed and her severed noggin is boxed up and buried for centuries. Shoot ahead to present day, and the “Santa Mira Archiving Team” assembled by a Professor Whelan (Lauren Holly, still a knock-out) and her archeology students are carefully examining and archiving old Irish relics and artifacts.

They stumble onto a false wall in the basement, where behind it lies the small crate – within, the medieval device housing the banshee’s head. They get it open and find the ghastly head of the banshee, that quickly re-materializes and wreaks havoc on the teacher and her students.

Considering this was co-produced by “SyFy Originals”, the same production company that churns out silliness like Dinocroc and Sharktopus, Scream of the Banshee is a surprisingly stylish little B-Movie, with decent performances, a fun story and some nasty make-up. It’s also refreshing to see a film with a mostly teenage cast of characters that weren’t entirely annoying or particularly stupid, as most are in these films.

Holly does a wonderful job as the no-nonsense professor, attempting to get to the bottom of the banshee’s mystery and find a way to re-vanquish the bitch. I’ve always enjoyed her performances (I still love Dumb & Dumber), and it certainly doesn’t hurt that she still looks damn fine in tight clothes and swinging a shotgun.

However, by the film’s half-way point, it starts to become increasingly silly and falls completely to pieces during its clumsy finale. Lance Henriksen is lost in a small, thankless role as a wacked out loon who possesses the secret to defeating the banshee, and the absolutely stunning twin models, Kim and Misty Ormiston, are shamefully packed under layers of ugly prosthetics as the banshee. I get that the creature is supposed to be a hideous specter, but why get such incredibly beautiful girls cast if you’re just going to hide it all, save one scene where she attempts to seduce someone as a hooded nymph?

That was another problem I had with the film as well – the constant shifting of the banshee’s image. The severed head looked horrifying in all of its rubbery. Its toothy grin was anything but inviting, and I couldn’t wait to see this gnashing thing in action. Nope! One half of the film, the banshee looks like Black Claw from Scalps, and the next, she looks like a Venus fly trap! Needless to say, despite the fun gore that gets splattered and an opening half that seemed promising, Scream of the Banshee rushes to the finishing line as a sloppy, shrieking mess.

 

C: Lauren Holly, Todd Haberkorn, Marcelle Baer, Leanne Cochran, Lance Henriksen. D: Steven C. Miller. Sub genre: Monster. Time: 90 minutes. Ratio: (1.78:1) Widescreen. Rated R: Strong, gruesome violence, brief sexuality, partial nudity, strong language and gore.

 

The Best Digital Bang For Your Hard-Earned Buck:

 

No Blu-Ray on tap just yet, so all that’s available is a DVD and even that is kind of bare-bones, only containing an Audio Commentary by Director Steven C. Miller and Composer Ryan Dodson. Even though that’s really all there is, it’s a really good commentary, and a fun listen. Both guys are very candid and easy-going, also having no problems pointing out the film’s shortcomings and laughing along with them. They seem like good guys, and I hope they move on to bigger and better things.

 

Sequels: None.

 

Remakes: None.

 

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Cannibal Cam’s “Jam Packed Ka Fuffle” Movie Reviews!

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By Cannibal Cam

Ok you bloodthirsty fuckbags, what we have here is a combined and jampacked kafuffle of movies all wrapped up into one. A good time was had watching these films: a good time indeed. Lately I have been on a string of movie watching runs, which kicks major arse cause I love all sorts of movies big and low budget. Shitty and awesome. More importantly is the fact I receive old school adult films which neither here nor there will be reviewed at this site. Creep me out and you shall find. Bush baby, bush.

Anyways, first up was a film that took me 3 times to watch. If you have to take 3 seperate sittings to watch a film then something is severely wrong. The Asylum comes at us with BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES. You got it man, yet another mocbuster from this production company of epic and giant monster proportions. Of course the unsuspecting renter, or buyer will pick this up and be thoroughly dissapointed bigtime. I haven’t seen the original and don’t really care to unless my kids want to, but this was enough to throw me right off. Time travel? Shitty robots?Nia Peeples? God dam it was tough. That one gets tossed like yesterdays jit rag.

I need my extreme fix of classic cheese of the highest order!!!!!! SOMEONE HELP MY HORRIBLE FILM VIEWING ASSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!! BILLY THE KID VS. DRACULA…… man…… by the one and only one shot Bodine. Awwwwwww, this is much more like it.  JESSE JAMES MEETS FRANKENSTEINS DAUGHTER ring a bell? If not, track down and enjoy yourself emmensly. Our good buddy John Carradine stars as the title Dracula character who runs into town  to do his nasty deeds but good ole’ Jesse James, the badass of the west just happens to not let this shit just slide. Awesome 1966 choreographed shoot outs, cardboard plots and all the fun stuff that Ed Wood rocked back in his day. Glorious drinking fun is had by all direct from www.chezzyflicks.com .

Speaking of Cheezy flicks, don’t you dare go near SLAUGHTER WEEKEND, seriously man, DON’T FUCKIN’ DO IT!!!!!!! Lame story, within stories within stories that just don’t seem to go anywhere which is brutally hard to comprehend. I hate watching movies and I’m questioning and scratching my head wondering why you would make something like this.  Stupid plot with bad acting. Horrible editing and the music just does not work. Ron Jeremy with Shawn C Philips in the most engaging conversation ever put to screen. God dam it all to hell, the flick just blows. I tell it like it is, sorry guys. Never again with this banger.

Wow,  so yet another cheezy flicks film  again, killllllleeeerrrrrrr!!!!!!! This company kicks major butt. STRIPPERLAND my friends, STRIPPERLAND. It is exactly what you think it is. ZOMBIELAND to a tee and I mean to a tee. I AM VIRGIN director Sean Skelding brings us a film that actually works in some areas……. some. Zombie strippers with ZOMBIELAND story. Actually, it’s almost a little too close for comfort. I hope this is just a plot to get a recognized name because this was a little too easy in the movie making script writing department. Seriously, the whole Bill Murray scene in tact minus Bill Murray. Throw in Daniel Baldwin, Linnea Quigley, and as always Lloyd kaufman for an interesting and drama filled roll. Editing is better and the soundtrack is pretty funny, especially the Dan Baldwin hip hop. Just run to the hills for this one man.  Run for your life!!!!!!!!

So last but not least in this section of film retina penetration is HORROR HOTEL aka THE CITY OF THE DEAD with none other than Chris Lee. Our man John Moxy, many of you know his TV shows…. and I mean the TV shows he did. Look him up…….. You will be blown away. AAAWWWAAAAYYYY!!!!!!!!! Films like this were built on atmosphere and suspense. You all know of the Hammer films, and if you don’t there is something really wrong with ya. Fog, satanists, dreadful soundtracks and sounds, cults, B/Wand all the things that really creep oneself out, at least to me it does. A little slow story wise but it all fixes itself in the set department. It may seem a little dated to some but those of us who still tread heavy waters in the days or yore will and can surely respect a film of this caliber. I have found better copies of this film out there but I totally dig the VHS grain, especially on a movie like this where the whole movie bases itself in darkness.

Well there you have it. A nice little run of fun. I do this shit so you don’t have to. Until next time you fairy lovin’ nob gobblers. Outta here.

 

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Blu-Ray Review – INSIDIOUS

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Insidious

(2010)

By Jason Marsiglia

Out of 4

 

In it’s 103-minute runtime, James Wan’s Insidious tells two distinct stories, while paying homage to at least three separate decade’s worth of genre pictures. There are echoes of The Haunting (1963), The Legend of Hell House (1973) and Poltergeist (1982), with a dash of The Exorcist (1973) for good measure.

The first of the two stories in Insidious focuses on a family moving into a haunted house, like so many others. Doors open and shut on their own. Voices are heard rasping through baby monitors. Disembodied footsteps pace the halls, and eventually, ghastly apparitions appear to scare the hell out of people and are gone almost as instantly. One of the children in this family suffers a head injury…nothing too serious, but then suddenly he lapses into an inexplicable coma of sorts. Doctors can’t explain it – aside from the boy’s inability to respond or wake up, he shows no traditional signs of a comatose patient. After three months, he’s sent home on hospice and lies motionless next to the steady “beep, beep, beep” of his heart monitor. Except, of course, during the night when the boy’s younger brother expresses his discomfort when “he gets up and walks around”. After a series of frightening occurrences, the family move out and into a new home – convenient, as they had barely unpacked from the first move.

This is where the second of the two stories begins. Whatever was haunting the family has apparently followed them to the new home, only now, the apparitions are making themselves more pronounced. The eerie spirits of children, and in some alarming cases, cloven-hoofed demons prowl the home and seem particularly interested in the comatose boy on the heart monitor. Paranormal investigators are brought in, and eventually a psychic who picks up demonic energy almost as soon as she steps in the door. “Bad wiring” is hardly the issue in this house – the boy is under attack by evil spirits looking for an empty vessel. And wouldn’t ya know it, the boy’s so-called “coma” happens to be his spirit out for a jaunt somewhere between Heaven and Hell, leaving his body empty and open to otherworldly attack. We haven’t quite entered Exorcist territory…the goal of the family and psychic is to prevent the situation from getting that far.

At a glance, the movie is fairly simple, both in plot and execution, but Insidious is a little sneakier than that. Half-way into the film, you should stop and take inventory of how much has happened since it started. It doesn’t outright assault you, but it’s slow boil packs a mild wallop. It’s a slick, moody production, produced by Oren Peli, which might account for the effective pacing. One could suspect this big-budget, effects-driven ghost yarn is in response to those who were less than impressed with his Paranormal Activity (a film I still stand by for its subtlety), in much the same fashion Spielberg produced We’re Back! A Dinosaur Story in response to the parental backlash of his considerably less “kid friendly” Jurassic Park. Here we have a film loaded with eerie special effects, ugly make-up, ghastly visuals and some real slam-bang sequences of nasty demonic activity.

In spite of the rather in-your-face technique employed here, we see an admirable level of restraint from director James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell, the duo who (for better or worse) delivered us the opening chapter of the Saw franchise. Insidious proves nothing if not that these guys aren’t one-trick ponies. My indifference to the original Saw aside, Wan and Whannell have continued to impress me with their post-Saw filmography. With this and the deadly puppet flick Dead Silence, Whannell has written a type of traditional horror that harkens back to a simpler time – a popcorn era where spook shows like these were fun, white-knuckle thrillers.

Wan, as a director of these films, as well as the gritty Death Wish-inspired revenge thriller Death Sentence, proves here that he’s not just capable of assaulting you with flashy editing or jarring visuals, but of also sneaking strange images past you, that you might not even notice until the second viewing, and a cold-tinted view of everyday life that could make something as innocuous as an afternoon lunch look foreboding and threatening. Wan’s vision of “The Further” – that gray limbo area between our world and that of the spirit realm – isn’t flashy with effects, nor a void of yogurt-like sky as seen in Poltergeist II: The Other Side. Wan’s purgatory far more resembles a wax museum in hell, complete with leering, mannequin-like entities that smile wickedly below beady, life-like eyes. These guys are for real, and I’ve come to respect their work more and more with each film that further distances them from Saw. They clearly have a fond respect for the genre, and a stronger respect still for genre pictures of the past.

The cast is on point, with talent like “Damages” star Rose Byrne as the mother at the end of her wits. The Watchman’s Patrick Wilson, who continues to solidify his leading man’s place in film as the skeptical husband, forced to accept what he can’t or won’t understand – a disturbing secret from his past forces him into the fray, and he quickly does the right thing to save his boy. Genre fave Lin Shaye doesn’t go over the top as the resident psychic – she’s warm, friendly and blunt when shit gets intense. Whannell and Angus Sampson have fun as the mis-matched pair of investigators, and deliver some of the film’s funnier moments to ease tension, and it comes as something of a familiar touch to see The Entity’s Barbara Hershey appear as the concerned grandmother who “has seen this before” and knows slightly more than she’s willing to admit, initially.

Insidious is a good time, plain and simple – turn out the lights and have some fun with a very traditional and stylish ghost story!

C: Rose Byrne, Patrick Wilson, Lin Shaye, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson. D: James Wan. Sub genre: Ghosts/Demons. Time: 103 minutes. Ratio: (2.40:1) Widescreen. Rated PG-13: Some frightening imagery and language.

The Best Digital Bang For Your Hard-Earned Buck:

 

The Blu-Ray for Insidious is identical to the DVD save the Hi-Def transfer and the BD-Live function. If it’s the transfer you’re looking for, go Blu. Affordability, go DVD.

 

Both come with:

 

Horror 101: The Exclusive Seminar featurette.

 

On Set With Insidious behind the scenes featurette.

 

Insidious Entities featurette which focuses on the many creepy entities in the film.

 

Sequels: None.

 

Remakes: None.

 

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FREAK SHOW Horror Film Festival – Final Deadline For Entries!

Posted on by Posted in Freak Show Film Fest, Horror News, Indie News Leave a comment
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If your a filmmaker and make scary independent movies, then don’t miss submitting your epic horror film to the FREAK SHOW Horror Film Festival. This is our favorite horror film festival as we have a blast each year we go, especially when we stay up all night partying at the pool side bar! Even MovieMaker Magazine loves the festival naming it one of the 20 “Coolest” film festivals in the world! Filmmakers compete for the “FREAKY” Award designed and made by Special FX Artist BARRY ANDERSON (Jeepers Creepers and Day of the Dead).

If your not a filmmaker and want to find some independent horror gems that you might not see anyway else, then this is the festival for you! Plus they have celebrity guests, bands, tattoo room, parties, and more parties! Check it out if you never been! You’ll be glad you did.

Filmmakers – The FINAL DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES is AUGUST 12, 2011! Time is running out. Go to the FREAK SHOW Horror Film Festival website for submission guidelines and download the official submission form!

Official Website: http://www.freakshowfilmfest.com

GET FREAKY!