And there’s that adage that “The grass is always greener on the other side”, and when you break down that adage in bits and pieces, it’s not a one-liner about envy, it’s basically telling you, misery though we perceive it to be bliss, is still misery. And such is examined in the intelligent and engrossing twenty minute short from director Mitchell L. Cohen who seems to have channeled Richard Linklater down to his essence of simplicity.
Tag Archives: Thriller
Masters of Horror: Cigarette Burns
I’ve never understood while watching this entry why anyone would want a film that makes people go violent, and a good film no less. I mean I’ve seen bad films that made me go violent–watch “Gigli” or “Battlefield Earth” and you’ll want to murder someone–but a good film? I don’t know. Either way, that’s the concern for John “As long as I get paid” Carpenter’s entry called “Cigarette Burns”. Norman Reedus plays Kirby, a film aficionado who has been sent by a millionaire (Udo Kier) to search for the infamous film “Le Fin Du Monde”, a film that made a reputation of itself after the first screening caused its audience to riot violently.
The United States of Leland (2003)
“Elephant”, a truly disturbing film examined teen murder, the ability of a person to pick up a weapon and murder another person whether justified or not, and continue to do so, and it examined it where none of it made any sense. “United States of Leland” examines that same concept, and though it’s the same basic approach, it’s still a pretty damn good film in the end. Is it so hard to believe that many times there’s just no reason for something bad that happens? For many people, it is. There has to be a reason for everything these days, and what’s most disturbing about this film is that basically there’s just no reason for murder sometimes.
Masters of Horror: Deer Woman
Don’t you hate it when Native American legends about man killing seductresses come true? I know I sure do. Director John Landis’ tale conquers that common American problem with a unabashedly cheesy, but still entertaining entry in to the “Masters of Horror” series that never takes itself seriously. As basically all of these stories, there’s a woman on the road killing travelers, truckers and any horny man that comes on to her, and these guys fall for her hook line and sinker. It’s not hard to buy the fact that these men fall for this female’s tricks since the actress Cinthia Moura is utterly hot, but it’s a wonder if these guys ever saw a noir film learning about femme fatales.
Masters of Horror: Dance of the Dead
Richard Matheson’s short story does get a very kinetic bit of treatment by Hooper’s often surreal direction here. The world in “Dance of the Dead” is a world where even death isn’t the end, and even the bodies of the once living are used as entertainment in a world run by teenagers who do nothing but get high and wreak havoc on the world. Robert Englund has an especially serpentine-like walk-on role as a wicked DJ who runs the show from behind the scenes and seeks personal finance by the misery of others. “Dance of the Dead” can tend to be a twisted and gruesome look at the post-apocalypse world. It’s pretty hard to think of a very good Hooper production after “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Poltergeist”, because I’d say Hooper really hasn’t scored a slam dunk in a good long while.
Doom (2005)
I don’t play video games anymore. Yes, call me a freak all you want, but I’m not the one spending over five hundred dollars for a ridiculous new game system that will be obsolete in two years. Either way, I used to play video games, but the game “Doom” was never my milieu. It was too much of a fast-paced game and I never gained interest, but I know the basic gist of the narrative involved. So, you can imagine my dismay with the utter abysmal alterations made to the storyline turning it from nihilistic action horror to cookie cutter action science fiction (and don’t feed me that “But it’s based on Doom 3” crap).
Masters of Horror: Homecoming
You see, just when my hopes were waning for this show, suddenly my faith is restored. In this political ridden society split apart by our own views, it’s surprising to see that this horror series first started as a show for horror masters is now deciding to tell stories that have meaning. Joe Dante directs this entertaining episode based on the award-winning short story “Death & Suffrage” by Dale Bailey. The story was first published in “The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction” and has been fixed to adjust to the modern lexicon. This has to be the best episode of the series so far, that displays all its talent for show including Greg Nicotero’s zombie effects.