I think with enough competent writers and good ideas, “Tales from the Crypt” could have lived on with a series of anthology horror pictures that could have told some bang up horror stories. I mean, the cinematic versions of the show are what John Carpenter originally planned for “Halloween.” Separate movies with various tales revolving around themes, and “Tales from the Crypt” almost pulled it off. They started off very well with “Demon Knight” and while they completely fumble with “Bordello of Blood,” it’s not a total disaster. There’s much to be desired, but there’s still a lot to enjoy here. It’s tough to follow up what the first film in the series accomplished as a low budget demon film with some great performances, but “Bordello of Blood” does try for individuality and humor where it fails in scares and creeps. I would not call this film scary at all, but it does supply some snarky humor and some incredible eye candy.
Tag Archives: Dark Comedy
Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)
If ever there was a film treatment that deserved to be pegged as a feature length introduction of the 1990’s “Tales from the Crypt” series it’s “Demon Knight.” One part comedy, one part horror, one part mysticism, and a dash of irony makes “Demon Knight” one of the most entertaining horror romps of the decade with a premise that feels like an epic episode of “Tales from the Crypt” with every bit of comic book novelty you’d expect from something involving the Cryptkeeper. “Demon Knight” much like everything else in the “Tales from the Crypt” brand is a meta-horror comedy that works as a self-aware dose of the genre with a hefty injection of menace to go along with it. While the film does pack a large assortment of laughs and gaffs, it’s also quite scary.
Creepshow (1982)
George A. Romero’s “Creepshow” is almost a spit in the face of everyone who decried comic books a sheer stain on humanity and the youth, blaming the colored pages for the evaporation of morality in the fifties and sixties. “Creepshow” is an absolute celebration of horror comics and a love letter to the EC generation who had their stories robbed by hack psychologists who blamed comic books for homosexuality, crime, murder, and drug use. “Creepshow” is a joint effort from many people just filled with talent that simply can not hold this entire film at times. An absolute orgy of laughs, scares, and thrills, “Creepshow” is one of the finest, if not the finest anthology horror film second only to “Black Sabbath.”
Basket Case (1982)
Sometimes with the good Grindhouse titles of the seventies and eighties, there are also the truly awful ones that make it through the ringer and come out looking pretty. Unfortunately Frank Henenlotter’s “Basket Case” is a piece of junk that has managed to garner a massive reputation as a horror classic. For what reasons? I have no idea. I guess because Henenlotter is such a creative and interesting director. I won’t lie, a movie about a guy walking around with his deformed brother in a basket is original, but that doesn’t mean it’s watchable. Duane Bradley is an average guy with a large secret who has just made it in to New York, and is living in a hotel with some of the most idiotic neighbors around. They’re all so eccentric and colorful it becomes obnoxious after their second introduction.
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)
Jeffery Combs, John Hawkes, a dreadlocked Jack Black with a heavy inexplicable Jamaican accent, you’d be pretty stupid not to watch this at least once in your lifetime. “I Still Know” this times seems to embrace the inherent stupidity of the film’s premise and completely wraps itself around the film’s utter moronic plot elements and red herrings at every turn. Replacing the bland Sarah Michelle Gellar is the even blander hip hop star Brandy, who is protagonist Julie’s on again, off again best friend and roommate Karla. Julie is back (apparently that final scene in the first film was a dream or something) and now in college. She has a nasty habit of waking up screaming in class, thanks to her recurring nightmares of the evil sailor man so obviously not a lot of people in her school want to be around her.
The Strange Thing About the Johnsons (2011)
As a film lover and someone who loves to keep his ear to the ground to hear about films that people are talking about, I found “The Strange Thing about the Johnsons” to be a film everyone was buzzing about since 2011. Premiering at Slamdance, director Ari Aster’s short film has made waves across the board amassing a following of film lovers. The aspect about Ari Aster’s short film is that it’s built a foundation of movie lovers that have seen the film and either love it or absolutely despise it. Checking the buzz on the net, I’ve seen so many viewers who detest it from head to toe and just bash it endlessly, while others appreciate and adore its guts. One commenter of the film claims this is a part of the Jewish agenda to tarnish the African American image.
The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) (2011)
There’s no reason to watch Tom Six’s movies. I’ll just say it. The man, as far as I can see, is a haughty self-satisfied tool who has no loyalty to his craft or his fans. And yes he has fans. Honestly! “Human Centipede” bred a legion of torture porn fans convinced Six was on to something with his “artistic” enterprise in to human suffering. In reality Six has admitted his idea of Human Centipede is far-fetched. He doesn’t even stand by his film, often mocking it with hushed snickers. And now we have “Human Centipede II,” a meta-movie that shows Six’s general disgust and discontent for his fans. Here, the movie he made is really a movie and the world we live in is a black and white cesspool. His one true fan is a bulbous, obese, perverse, man-child who does nothing but revel in human suffering because he’s trying to manifest the Human Centipede for himself.