It’s almost disturbing how much of a dead ringer Rodney Rowland is for David Keith at times during “Soulkeeper.” For a short time I used to think Rowland was Keith. That odd footnote aside, “Soulkeeper” is one of the more entertaining and underrated fantasy horror films I’ve ever seen, and it’s a shame it doesn’t garner a lot of attention or credit. It barely gets any focus by anyone, and that’s a shame. Frankly “Soulkeeper” is a strong and often entertaining fantasy horror film that creates a likable duo of inept heroes both of whom find themselves in a situation beyond their control for the fate of the world. Sadly, “Soulkeeper” hasn’t kept its age well and that’s due to the plot being pretty damn incoherent at times.
Tag Archives: Comedy
Roseanne: Tricks & Treats (DVD)
The Halloween episodes of “Roseanne” are probably some of the best moments on the series and very much a part of the tradition of ABC sitcoms to embrace Halloween as a fun and festive holiday. In the nineties, many ABC shows had Halloween specials. “Full House” had a few, “Family Matters” had some, and of course, “Home Improvement” often rivaled “Roseanne” in the Halloween department with their own hilarious specials celebrating the Halloween holiday. “Roseanne” however had a more home grown atmosphere toward their Halloween episodes, and most of them are absolutely entertaining. Much like the entire series, as the Halloween episodes go on, they utterly diminish in quality, but they’re still a wonderful tradition of the series.
The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From The Living Dead [Paperback]
It was pretty obvious judging by the context of “The Zombie Survival Guide” that author Max Brooks’ smash novel “World War Z,” a sequel to “The Zombie Survival Guide,” would come to the hands of readers eventually. “The Zombie Survival Guide” basically establishes within its texts that it’s meant as a tool for the individual living in a world with the potential to be infested by the walking dead with plenty of experiences dealing with outbreaks and invasions of the walking dead before. So of course it was only a matter of time before author Brooks dropped the formalities and let us get a large exploration in to the world that inspired “The Zombie Survival Guide.”
While “The Zombie Survival Guide” is pretty much a very creative and informative book and manual about surviving in a world where the walking dead are as every bit a threat as Cancer and AIDS, deep down it possesses a core narrative injected within its pages that is subtle and haunting. For ninety percent of the novel, author Max Brooks provides every scenario for a major zombie apocalypse and what to do to ensure the survival of a person or a group of persons. And then for the final ten percent of the book, the author in question provides readers with a massive account of zombie encounters and horrific incidents involving the walking dead that date back to the Egyptian times right down to 2001.
Remembering "The Willies"
As a child “The Willies” was pretty much as horrifying as it got. As an eleven year old it was a disgusting, creepy, and horrifying little anthology horror film with some gruesome special effects. And it was also a childhood favorite, a film I saw over and over further feeding my lust for horror. And almost twenty five years later… it still has great sentimental value, it’s still a movie I’ll always appreciate as a favorite of a simpler time but… yeah, it pretty much sucks. Badly. It’s about as stripped down and derivative as you can get with a plot that really just relies on chestnuts of horror to do the work for writers that can’t really be creative.
Night of the Creeps (1986)
Almost thirty years later, 1986’s “Night of the Creeps” is a horror science fiction film that is nowhere near being a masterpiece, but is still one of the best horror romps I’ve ever seen from the decade. Director Fred Dekker treated fans to a double dose of horror entertainment, offering “Monster Squad” and then “Night of the Creeps.” While both films aren’t universally renowned like “Bride of Frankenstein,” they are classics in their own right. If you happened to love both films, you kind of want to give Fred Dekker a big hug. For me, it was a one two punch of horror comedy gold.
Elvira's Haunted Hills (2001)
So not only is Elvira a descendent of a witch, but she’s also the descendent of a Romanian countess. Truth be told, I’d love to see Elvira descend in to my bed, but that’s another article for another day. The good news Cassandra Peterson still has her unkempt sense of humor and she still looks damn good cracking wise and getting herself in to trouble as the Mistress of the Dark. “Haunted Hills” is the further adventures of Elvira, as the film is set in 1851 where Elvira and her servant Zou Zou travel the countryside performing for various villages. A self-proclaimed celebrity, Elvira and her servant make a habit of skipping out of bills when given the order from rather aggressive innkeepers, and the two make their days on the run and hoping for jobs.
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988)
I would have loved to be a fly on the wall during the writing of “Mistress of the Dark.” Basically, the entire formula for comedy is comprised of a steady delivery of sex joke, double entendre, joke about Elvira’s breasts, sex joke, double entendre, joke about Elvira’s breasts, sex joke, double entendre, joke about Elvira’s breasts. Lather, rinse, and repeat. Hope for the best! Not to say it’s a bad formula, but after an hour, it becomes so predictable, you can see when a joke is about to fly at the audience, and it doesn’t really land all the time. But then again, Cassandra Peterson makes even the most clunky one-liner land, thanks to her almost unabashed goofiness, and her ability to use her chest as a sight gag more times than not.
For anyone who used to see this film when it originally premiered, using her chest as a form of laughs and awe from the men in the audience never gets old. When I was seven I’d see this movie every single time it was on television and it’s not because the movie is a comedy classic. Granted, “Mistress of the Dark” has a lot going for it. It never tries too hard and actually has fun with the premise. Cassandra Peterson uses this opportunity to bank on the popularity of her character while also giving her something to do. She provides the audience with her origin, a back story about her family, and she never hesitates to flirt with men around her in spite of the disgust of the puritanical town she ends up in.
There endless sex jokes and sight gags, so much so that the script would only be about four pages without them included. After quitting her famous cable show, Elvira sets out to start her own Vegas act, but she needs almost a hundred thousand dollars to fund it. She’s called back to her aunt’s home town Fallwell to inherit her possessions after she’s died, and after moving in to her dark mansion and adopting her dog, Elvira discovers she comes from a long line of witches. Meanwhile, her evil long lost uncle wants the sacred book of “recipes” Elvira’s aunt has left behind, while Elvira battles the town’s puritanical government, all of whom will do whatever it takes to run her out of town. Elvira runs amok garnering the love of the town’s teens, and even turns a small picnic in to an orgy after she botches a stew.
“Mistress of the Dark” is by no means a masterpiece, but compared to the likes of similar fare like “Repossessed,” it’s just infinitely more watchable and entertaining. Elvira sticks closely to the horror genre, providing a fish out of water comedy that was quite popular in films like “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” and the eventual “Addams Family” big screen debut. Elvira herself is a likable character filled with movie references and shameless homages, while also never afraid to flaunt her assets to everyone she meets, even smothering her own windshield when she cleans it at a gas station. It may not be the comedy that re-invented horror comedies, but Elvira’s feature film debut is an entertaining and raunchy foray with the always sexy and unique Cassandra Peterson keeping together a formula plot and hit or miss jokes and one-liners with her wit, personality, and pair of talents always heaving for the audience.