After watching the incredibly over the top performances in “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” I’m suddenly not so shocked that subsequent this film, the four stars of this slasher never actually amounted to much cinematically. Not to be cruel or anything, but where as most slashers suffer from an abundance of bad acting, this film attempts to sap melodramatic performances from its four stars. That means a lot of shouting, and screaming, and attempted self-aware jabs at the horror genre. Ryan Phillippe in particular sounds like he’s auditioning for drama class as the testosterone laced Barry who runs around screeching at every character for the first fifteen minutes of the film. The incredibly loose almost pointless adaptation of the Lois Duncan novel “I Know What You Did Last Summer” stars a cadre of nineties stars trying their best to mine the gold left behind by Kevin Williamson’s “Scream.”
Tag Archives: Mystery
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.
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.
The Most Dangerous Game (1932)
Author Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” is my favorite short story of all time. Accidentally spawning a brilliant concept for the perfect action film, author Connnell’s short story about two men matching wits in the jungle is fantastic and action packed. I still remember reading it so many years ago and being blown away by the vivid prose and deep characterization that was set within only fifteen to twenty pages. As with most Hollywood productions in the early 1900’s much of this cinematic adaptation is altered from the story source and sadly not always for the better. One of the most irritating changes to the story is allowing the character Rainesford a damsel in distress. With all due respect to the great Faye Wray (who is absolutely stunning in this picture), as the character Eve offers nothing as a supporting character except emotional bait for Rainesford to cling to while fighting for survival.
Detention (2012)
Director Joseph Kahn basically creates the “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” of slasher movies, a movie so meta and so self-aware that a subset of audience members may be convinced this movie is actually an affirmation of the fads this movie tackles. I imagine some folks will smile thinking “He really gets us” while Kahn is pointing and laughing at them in the background. Kahn seems to have little respect or regard for people in to fads and spends most of the movie skewering just about everyone in this odd vacuum of cyclical nostalgia and retro crap with a modern age lacking an actual identity of its own. “Detention” is a film that many movie fans will either love or hate. I often fell in to the category of despising it but also kept dabbling in the area of admiration for being so unpredictable and original.
The Bat (1926)
Batman creator Bill Finger cites 1926’s silent crime thriller “The Bat” as one of the primary inspirations for Batman. And it’s easy to see where he draws his influences from. The Bat in this film is actually a criminal and a master one who steals from the rich. Like Batman he has a bat beacon, he brands all of his calling cards with a bat shaped symbol, The Bat dresses up like a giant bat with a cape and all, and rather than a utility belt, he wields a utility bag where he stores his tricks and supplies including a bat shaped grappling hook. The similarities just don’t stop there. The Bat climbs tall buildings with his ropes and uses the rooftops as his stalking grounds, lurking in the darkness.
Our New Favorite Distraction: Gravity Falls
Jason Ritter, Kristen Schaal, Kevin Michael Richardson, and Linda Cardellini. You can’t not love “Gravity Falls” with a voice cast like that. Delivering a Halloween treat three months before my favorite holiday, “Gravity Falls” sets down upon two siblings who incidentally happen to be vacationing in Gravity Falls Oregon, a town filled with the supernatural and the paranormal that keeps them on their toes and constantly in peril. Imagine if agents Mulder and Scully were a young boy with an eye for the suspicious and a girl with a few screws loose and you basically have “Gravity Falls.” And is it any wonder that the theme song sounds like a lighter variation of the “X-Files” theme song?