I appreciate what Clive Barker set out to do with “Lord of Illusions” by introducing us to Harry D’Amour, a reluctant private eye who’d be thrown in to horrifying situations that far outstretched mobsters and cheating wives. In “Lord of Illusions,” Scream Factor gives Barker the chance to present audiences with the director’s cut. This new cut is longer, re-edited, and given a heavier emphasis on the neo-noir crime investigation by D’Amour that leads him to the front door of a satanic wizard that intends to destroy the world, and everything in it. I really wish I could have seen what D’Amour would get in to in future cases. Perhaps the cenobites? Something Lovecraftian?
Tag Archives: Mystery
Trance (2013)
One thing you have to give “Trance” is that it’s not one of Danny Boyle’s typical films. Prone to delivering grit, even with family fare like “Millions,” his newest opus is something of a surreal and mind bending thriller that constantly shifts between plains of consciousness and vision that often fools the viewer in to trying to figure out what’s reality and what’s pure dream. And that’s the point of “Trance” in theory. It’s supposed to be about characters living in trances, many of whom are avoiding reality. It’s a shame the premise is so interesting as Danny Boyle’s film is a complete misfire.
Annabelle (2014)
I don’t think we really needed to know the story of “Annabelle” nor did we need a movie about her. And if we had to have one, wouldn’t it have been better to expand on the events from the prologue of “The Conjuring”? What’s sad is that the first five minutes of “The Conjuring” involving Annabelle is more terrifying than the ninety minute bore that is “Annabelle.” It seems like often times the movie can reach the heights of pure terror if it wants to, but pulls back for some odd reason. Either director John R. Leonetti doesn’t know how to hit those highs that “The Conjuring” did, or just didn’t want to, for the sake of a sequel. “Annabelle” sets up the prologue by staging the first five minutes from “The Conjuring” to let audiences know this is a direct sequel, and spin off, and prequel. It’s all three.
Tusk (2014)
With “Tusk,” director Kevin Smith completely rips off Stephen King and Tom Six, mixing together “Human Centipede” and “Misery” in to one really awful concoction that I was barely able to make it through. Serving as a simultaneous ad for his crappy podcast, this time rather than James Caan as a respected writer, Justin Long is an amoral moronic podcaster whose own celebrity status has transformed him in to a fame obsessed pseudo-Howard Stern. Much like Kevin Smith. I can only laugh at Smith’s self-congratulatory inference that today’s podcaster is the modern storyteller like the writer. But hey, at least he got to squeeze in obligatory cameos from his and Johnny Depp’s daughter.
Remembering “Surface”: Sea Monsters, Dragons, and Lake Bell
“Surface” is the definition of a series with a one note concept that would have worked much better as a mini-series when all is said and done. Around the mid-aughts, NBC television began working their way in to science fiction and began airing the quite ambitious “Surface.” During 2005, ABC’s “Lost” was taking America by storm and dominating pop culture with its mysterious storylines and baffling plot twists, so every network attempted to build their own franchise in the same vein. “Surface” is a valiant attempt with misguided writing.
And yes, I sat through the whole thing.
The Guest (2014)
One thing I love about Adam Wingard that propelled him as one of my favorite directors working today, is that he loves to twist formulas. He did so with “You’re Next,” and he accomplishes the feat yet again with “The Guest.” His darkly comic horror film begs the question: What if you made friends with a super soldier who was practically Captain America? And what if instead of Steve Rogers, he was a psychopathic maniac with a relentless need to kill? “The Guest” asks that question by transforming Wingard’s villain in to an anti-hero who is at first the perfect guardian angel, but soon an unstoppable killing machine. Adam Wingard brings his A game once again, channeling a late seventies and mid-eighties aesthetic with a mesmerzing synth score that sets the tone for the wildly morbid events.
Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings (1993) [Blu-Ray]
It’s kind of sad that “Blood Wings” is about as good as the series ever got. Surely the first film is good just as it is, but “Blood Wings” is about the only good sequel the movie series ever received, and I’m surprised the studios never sought to deliver higher quality follow-ups. You could technically count this as the final film in the series, and one that doesn’t completely realize the concept or expand on the mythos of the pumpkinhead monster. “Blood Wings” garners a smaller scale and much less logical tale about a dad wreaking havoc on the killers of his child, and focuses more on a witch, more reckless teens, and really awful performances all around.