Let's Talk About Horror Fiction and Film

[Spaceman Spiff]

The Wolf Man special edition DVD art's been revealed, as well as the additional features.

Link.

Tom Weaver (film historian) contributes a commentary, also look for The Wolf Man: From Ancient Curse to Modern Myth, Pure in Heart: The Life and Legacy of Lon Chaney Jr, He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce, Monsters by Moonlight and The Wolf Man Archives featurettes. There's also a Universal Horror documentary narrated by Kenneth Branagh.

There are several things on there that weren't in the green Legacy set, which makes it tempting. The Universal Horror documentary appears on the Frankenstein, The Mummy and Dracula special editions.

 

[RJDiogenes]

This looks great. Do we know what the release date is? I don't see it on Amazon yet.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

They have it on Amazon, but with the first run art. I assume they'll update it.

Anyway, it says September 15th.

I half expected them to delay it along with the remake, so it's a bit of a relief to get it so soon.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Excellent. Now if only House Of Wolf Man and Trick 'r Treat would appear....

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

To pop back to recent efforts for a while, my wife and I had a lot of fun the other night watching [Rec]. For those who haven't heard of it, it's a Spanish zombie movie shot in the cinéma vérité style, like Cloverfield, The Blair Witch Project, etc.

We don't have the most impressive home theater, with just a 27" flatscreen CRT hooked up to stereo speakers, but it still managed to get us to jump a couple of times.

It's sort of the reverse of the Night of the Living Dead-style setup. Instead of trying to keep the zombies out, the characters are quarantined inside the apartment building with the zombies, and desperate to get out.

The plot's a little thin--I saw a review that aptly described it as more of a ride than a story--but it's quite an effective little ride. If you can handle cinéma vérité-style camerawork without getting queasy, and you don't mind subtitles, it's worth a look.

As with most successful foreign horror flicks, it was remade as Quarantine, which I haven't seen, but it has a pretty poor reputation amongst horror fans online. One strike against it right away is casting Jennifer Carpenter in the lead role. She's a great actress, but it affects the suspension of disbelief for this type of movie if you've seen her in any other roles. And being a huge fan of Showtime's Dexter, I most closely associate her with the role of Dexter's sister. I can imagine spending the whole show thinking, "Run, Deb, run!"

 

[RJDiogenes]

That cinema verite style is a hard sell. It becomes rather difficult to swallow that somebody would keep filming in the midst of a Godzilla Rampage or a Zombie Apocalypse. Blair Witch was fairly reasonable since it was more of a quiet, atmospheric piece. I haven't seen Cloverfield yet, so I can't comment on that.

What sort of Zombie Apocalypse was it? Are they the flesh-eating Romero variety? Shambling or fast? And do they give an explanation for the outbreak?

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

It's not really said whether it's apocalyptic or not. As far as the movie goes, the first zombie in the building is the first one with the virus, and it spreads from there.

As for the camera, the woman in the lead is a reporter doing a piece on the life of local firemen. When they get a call about something going on in the apartment, she rushes to the scene with them. Sometime after they're all inside, the lockdown happens. From there, the reporter tells the cameraman to keep rolling, to prove that the authorities were holding them against their will, etc.

As for the zombies themselves, it's hard to say. They strike pretty quickly, but the space is so confined that I don't think you really see them running around, jumping, etc. They're definitely not shambling and moaning; it's more like the virus makes them rabid. So in that sense, they're kind of 28 Days-ish.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Okay, a dedicated reporter as cameraman could be presented believably.

So these Zombies aren't really dead then? They're people with a disease?

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Right, like the 28 Days zombies. There's a scene toward the (very creepy) ending where some light is shed on the possible origin of the virus, which is pretty unusual. But unlike a lot of these types of movies, the cause of the virus isn't terribly important. Like I said, it's not the usual apocalyptic situation. The Spanish government wants to keep it contained in the apartment building to prevent it from becoming one, but other than that, it's mostly these characters trapped with the infected.

It's a shame my wife and I didn't get a chance to see it in a theater, because I'd bet it'd be a lot of fun to experience that way. Heck, the crowd with which I saw the Friday the 13th remake made the whole thing a lot of fun, despite the mediocre movie.

[Rec] really was much more of a ride.

 

[SilentP]

[Rec] is definitely a film I actually need to go about watching. I bought it a while back, but when I watched it, I think by then I had been watching too many zombie films, and after the first attack, my body partially decided it had enough, so I wasn't feeling too good to finish it

As for the cinema verite camera style, while it does occasionally stretch believability about a person filming everything, I enjoy the restriction of viewpoint in puts the viewer in, so the film doesn't do the usual suspenseful music cues when something's going to happen or purposeful shots of where 'nothing' is to raise tension, and instead just leaving us with what the protagonists can see.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Right, like the 28 Days zombies.

Ah, okay; I haven't seen 28 Days yet.

[Rec] is definitely a film I actually need to go about watching. I bought it a while back, but when I watched it, I think by then I had been watching too many zombie films, and after the first attack, my body partially decided it had enough, so I wasn't feeling too good to finish it

Ouch. Yeah, I have to be in the right mood for a gory flick.

As for the cinema verite camera style, while it does occasionally stretch believability about a person filming everything, I enjoy the restriction of viewpoint in puts the viewer in, so the film doesn't do the usual suspenseful music cues when something's going to happen or purposeful shots of where 'nothing' is to raise tension, and instead just leaving us with what the protagonists can see.

I agree. It's the visual equivalent of first-person narration, which always has limitations; but it's very, very difficult to pull off in film.

 

[sojourner]

I have seen Quarantine and thought it was pretty good. The female lead was actually fairly good. She had me convinced she was really scared shitless. From what I have read here it sounds like it stayed pretty faithful to [Rec].

If you like zombie movies you'll enjoy it. Added points if you like the 28day/nuDOTD zombies.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I just got Lio's Astonishing Tales: From the Haunted Crypt of Unknown Horrors. This is one of my favorite comic strips of all time and should appeal to Horror fans with a sense of humor. I know you like it, Spiff, and you will love this book. It has Mark Tatulli's original sketches and developmental drawings for the characters. It also has a lot of interesting commentary on a lot of the individual strips.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Yep, I've already got that one--had it pre-ordered.

It's a great collection. It's amazing to see which strips upset readers or editors and why.

Last night I watched the Amityville Horror remake, against my better judgment. It was pretty much what I expected from Platinum Dunes--lots of flash and quick cuts, with loads of scenes we've seen in better movies. It wasn't as brain-numbingly dull as the original, but that's some really faint praise. I only mention it because it's the last horror movie I've seen, and right now I'm catching up on a few non-horror comic trades. (The first Mouse Guard trade was swell. )

 

[RJDiogenes]

I should have known you'd beat me to it. I do get a kick out of the things that people get offended about, and the things that make editors nervous.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

^ Tatulli's been doing his damnedest online to let everyone know that it's released.

Oh, and if you want to see a fun modern killer croc movie, check out Rogue. I know, the cover is dumb, as is the "DIMENSION EXTREME!!!!!" label, but the wife and I had fun watching it. When you see "From the director of Wolf Creek" across the bottom, it sounds like it's going to be a little too rough, but the director knows he's making a creature feature. In fact, the "extreme" label seems a little misleading. There are certainly shots of gore, but nothing to really warrant the "extreme" or even the "unrated."

The effects for the croc go back and forth between being practical and CG. The latter is surprisingly well done. The croc has a good sense of heft, even in the way it has to drag its huge body across the ground.

Most of the acting's good, and the cinematography is beautiful. Somehow, they lucked out and got permission to film in a portion of the Australian outback that's never been filmed before. For that alone, the movie's worth a look; there are really some stunning shots.

Here's the review that convinced me to rent it. I'm glad I did. Sometimes, when I pick a horror rental that's pretty bad, I hear about it for a while from Lady Spiff. This one, she enjoyed.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Sounds interesting; I love a good Creature Feature. And I see that the guy from Alias is in it-- I always wondered if he'd work again. Is this a mutant or science experiment gone wrong, or just a normal animal at the far end of the possible size spectrum? And I'm not sure I understand why Giant Killer Croc has to wait for the tide to come in....

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

It's just a normal croc at the far end of the size spectrum. I think they say it's 25 feet long in the movie. According to the trusty Internet, the record is around 28.

The croc doesn't have to wait for the tide, and doesn't a couple of times, if memory serves. But the point is that they get stuck on a little patch of land that will be almost entirely submerged once the tide comes in. So they're already in danger just by being stuck there, but they won't even be able to huddle on land and hope help arrives.

Vartan's pretty good in it, playing a character who's a little less likable than he usually plays. My wife commented that he's also in Hawthorne, which she watches, but I don't. (I can't stand Jada Pinkett Smith. )

I've also just read about The William Castle Film Collection. Whether or not you'll be excited about it depends on how many of the movies you already own. Included are:

Homicidal
Mr. Sardonicus
Zotz!
The Old Dark House
The Tingler
13 Ghosts
13 Frightened Girls!
Strait-Jacket

Of those, somehow, the only one I have is The Tingler, so I'm pretty pleased about it. I'm also looking forward to finally seeing his The Old Dark House remake. I don't know how I don't have Mr. Sardonicus or 13 Ghosts, but I don't.

But some fans are annoyed that so many of these are reissues, and don't want to double-dip.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I don't think I have any of them, so this will be a good buy for me. I don't think I was aware of his Old Dark House remake; maybe I'll remember it when I see it. I love the original. Seems like I saw Mr Sardonicus and The Tingler not too long ago....

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Maybe there's still hope for The Wolfman. They're supposed to finally release the trailer sometime Thursday, and they've posted a bunch of pics from the movie on the Yahoo site where it'll show up.

They included the Rick Baker make-up in the pics, and there are several we haven't seen before, which still seem to imply a two-legged Wolfman. I like this shot as well as a peek at his claws. That's definitely a hand, so maybe the rumors of a four-legged Wolfman were just that. Here's hoping.

I also like that we can identify some characters right away. My fingers are crossed.



Aside from that, what was the final verdict on Monstrous? I've been in the mood for an anthology, so I'm tempted by that and The Living Dead. I'm leaning toward the latter, because of all the great names in there, but I could go for giant creature tales, too.