John Rozum's Blog, page 28

31 Days of Halloween - Day 12

Nothing beats werewolves drawn by the great Bernie Wrightson. Here are a bunch of them.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 11 - Movie

Three teenage girls use a ouija board in an attempt to contact Verónica's deceased father during a solar eclipse. They contact something, and whatever it is it's malignant and has no intention of leaving Verónica.

Verónica (2017) has a really nice build up and anchors itself in the mundane world of a high school girl almost single-handedly raising her three young siblings while their mostly absentee mother works an exhausting job late into the night. This ads a layer of vulnerability as we begin to question Verónica's mental state and whether or not the supernatural threat might be all in her mind. The children she's trying to keep safe may be in increasing danger just by her presence. In the end, though, Verónica doesn't quite get where it needs to. The build up, as I mentioned, works quite well, but the supernantural assaults, if that's what they are, aren't presented with much suspense, or real cohesion. It's often hard to tell what's going on.  There's also a bit of a distance between viewer and the the onscreen characters which keeps us from getting too involved with them when we need to most. The climax itself falls short of being a real payoff either. Based, loosely, on a real life incident which included the first time a police officer claimed to have witnessed paranormal events in their official paperwork, the end may have suffered from a perceived need to keep things close to actual events.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 11

The inside of our house gets decorated for Halloween in varying degrees of extravagance depending on time and the house we're in. This year things have pretty much been contained to the living room. Some of the decorations that can be found in our house, though not always all of these every year, can be found here and here.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 10 - Movie

Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) flees from her relationship and ends up in a car accident. When she comes to, she finds herself shackled to a wall in an underground bunker, where her rescuer, Howard (John Goodman) claims he's saved her from some sort of apocalypse that's happened up on the surface. She'll now indefininately be his guest, along with Emmett (John Gallagher, Jr.) a young man he took in just as the unknown disaster was breaking out. There's something off about Howard. There's a strong physical and psychological threat that emanates from him, and as the story unfolds, Howard's story starts to show some holes. Now Michelle has to convince Emmett help her find a means of escaping in order to find out what's really going on.
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) has no direct connection to Cloverfield (2008), "except its DNA", says producer J. J. Abrams, who saw the "Cloverfield" title as something of an anthology of unconnected, but like-minded films. This is a tight, suspenseful film, with outstanding performances. Goodman provides a hulking socially awkward menace, and Gallagher a not so bright homebody full of regrets. Instead shines in a performance that is able to externally project internal activity. We can see her thought processes carried out through her expressions and body language. She's constantly thinking, inventing, improvising, and fighting to find a way out of her situation, and we root for her every step of the way. This was my third viewing of this film, and I still find it pulls you in the whole time. 

31 Days of Halloween - Day 10

Every town seems to have at least one creepy, old decrepit house, one that looks perfect for Halloween every day, but also one that no trick or treaters would set foot near, not even on a dare. Movies have tons of these houses. You can find some of the best creepy houses from cinema here, here and here.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 9 - Movie

In Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951), the two comedians graduate from a detective school. Their fist case involves a boxer who escapes from prison after being sentenced for the murder of his manager. The boxer wants to clear his name, and while they work their investigation against a group of crooks who fix fights, the boxer hides via the use of the invisibility formula used by Jack Griffin in the original The Invisible Man (1933).

Universal hit gold by combining the creaky comedy duo with their creaky monsters to great effect in Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), where the pairing made both the funny men and the monsters shine. No such luck for this outing which is just simply not that funny. What should have been a comedic standout with Lou in the boxing ring and the invisible boxer doing the actual fighting for him, was clumsily staged and seemed to go on for far too long. Overall, with this movie, there isn't much to see.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 9

One of the absolute best home haunt gimmicks I've ever seen can be found here. It's a classic and you can recreate it, or something similar yourself.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 8, Movie

Greta (Lauren Cohan), a young American woman, flees an abusive relationship by taking a nanny job at an enormous mansion in the rural UK. She is barely introduced to Brahms, her charge who is an inanimate doll, before the parents are off to a much needed rest. Greta is left with a list of rules to follow in caring for Brahms, and the occasional company of Malcolm (Rupert Evans), a young local man who delivers the groceries. Brahms is a stand-in for the departed couples son who is said to have died in a fire twenty years ago. As Greta spends time alone in the house with Brahms, strange things start to happen and she becomes convinced that the spirit of the real Brahms inhabits the doll which seems to be animate. The question then becomes is Brahms a good spirit, or a bad one?

The Boy (2016) starts out promising with a great location, strong cast, beautiful cinematography, and what seems to be a serious attempt to tell a decent story, but its obvious really early one where the story is going to go, and even when a twisty element is introduced, which spoils everything the filmmakers set out to accomplish, the film goes exactly where you think it is. Along the way, there are some gaps in the storytelling that keep this movie from ever becoming more than a surface level thriller.

Also, if you are going to make a movie about a creepy doll, have the doll be creepy -- I don't mean over the top Annabelle creepy, but Brahms looks like a 3-D anime drawing, with features that are a bit somber, but well mannered. He's not frightening in the least. Because of this, it's hard to ever think that Greta could ever be in danger from Brahms.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 8

Though this wasn't part of a previous Halloween Countdown, it does exemplify the season. Here's what I found out when investigating one of the props found at the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 7 - Movie 2

In The Shape of Water (2017) Elisa, a mute cleaning woman at a secret military facility outside of Baltimore, befriends, then falls in love with, the amphibious humanoid that is being kept there for experimentation. He sympathy for the fish-man lead her to wanting to save him from the true monster of the story, Strickland, the creature's keeper. This leads to a daring rescue carried out by the people that society ignores; a mute cleaning woman, a black cleaning woman, a gay man, and a spy with a conscience.

Guillermo Del Toro's romantic fairy tale set in the Cold War era 1962, won pretty much every award there was. Deservedly so. It is probably his best movie (though not my favorite). The script is superb, the art direction flawless, and the cast phenomenal, bringing layers of nuance to their archetypes. Everything comes together to form a perfect love letter to classic monster films and classic cinema in general. If you haven't seen it yet, you need to.