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MistAh_Justus
Reviews
Halloween (1978)
Perfect!
Calling this movie anything less then a classic is simply unacceptable. Everything about it just screams "Yes, I am perfect and this is how horror should be done!" From the cinematography to the suspense and realism, John Carpenter hit the nail on the head. Like a fine wine, this masterpiece only gets better with age. This is what legends are made of, this is what gave birth to an icon.
The movie starts off with the viewer seeing through the eyes of evil itself. We're shown a predator stalk it's prey, until we're rewarded with it's first kill. Then we're greeted with an early surprise, when it's revealed the hunter behind this madness came in the shape of a boy still in his costume on Halloween night. This anything but innocent boy goes by the name of Michael Myers. Ladies and gentlemen...meet the Boogeyman.
Immediately, the tone is set and this is just the beginning. Shortly after, we flash ahead a few years where we're first introduced to the good doctor himself, Samuel Loomis played by the great Donald Pleasence. He arrives at an institution to see our young killer from earlier who is now an adult. But something is off when he arrives as many of the patients seem to be roaming the yard in the rain unsupervised. This is when Michael Myers makes his great escape, as he makes his way back to his hometown of Haddonfield where his terror will be unleashed...once again.
This is where our young group of girls first appear. This group consists of the original scream queen herself Jamie Lee Curtis playing Laurie Strode as our lead, and her two friends Annie Brackett and Lynda van der Klok played by Nancy Loomis (Now Nancy Kyes) and P.J. Soles. These are the girls our Boogeyman decides to terrorize and torture...now he certainly has good taste.
The tension continues to build, as we're shown Michael in only small doses. This master of horror director, John Carpenter, seems to know how to work suspense like no other. The vibe throughout is creepy as hell. We as the viewer never know what dark corner or behind what doorway Michael will pop out of, we're stuck guessing and preparing for each scare and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Now Michael Myers himself is a force to be reckoned with! When you have a silent killer like him, you can only judge him by his actions. He ain't exactly the most outgoing or talkative person you'll ever meet, but his lack of words, he more then makes up for with his art of killing. Each kill is done in such a stylish way, whether it's intelligent and patient like Annie's demise or slick and forceful like Bob's. Each one is impressive and helps us get a feel for who he is in such a unique way. His mask is timeless and like everything else about this movie, it just feels so right.
One thing that must be mentioned and really adds to the overall vibe and creepiness factor is the incredible score. Whether you're a fan or not, you know the main theme! It's as recognizable as Michael Myers himself, it's what makes you tense up in your seat, it's everything that it should be. Wouldn't feel like a Halloween movie without it and that's the reason it appears throughout the series, even if it's through variations.
The exciting conclusion and thrilling finale ends with Laurie fighting for survival against The Shape as he unleashes a relentless attack. With each encounter Laurie narrowly escapes but young Tommy Doyle who she happens to be babysitting throughout the chaos says it the best "You can't kill the Boogeyman." Truer words have never been spoken. Dr.Loomis finally makes his heroic appearance to save the day after searching for Michael throughout the night. The bullets fly until Michael is shot off a balcony and implanted in the ground. But as we've been shown already, one second he's there...the next he's not.
This film really has it all and I can't praise it enough. Often imitated, never duplicated. It doesn't matter how many times you've seen it or when you seen it last, the next time you get a chance to watch it...make sure you do. Each sequel only adds to the legacy, this is what nightmares are made of and it will continue to scare until the end of time! John Carpenter's Halloween is the epitome of a classic.
10/10
My Bloody Valentine (2009)
Fun Ride!
Being a huge fan of the original, I had my doubts about how this one would turn out. And to my surprise, this movie rocked, wow. From the very opening moment before the movie starts just telling you to put on your 3D glasses, I was amazed with what I was seeing. I was blown away from start to finish. I didn't even know a viewing experience like this was possible.
Here's a few 3D moments that just amazed me. There's one scene where one of the older local residents behind the killing of Harry Warden is awaken by something in the middle of the night, so he grabs his gun and goes outside to look around. And while he's out there searching for Harry, we get a close up of the shotgun and he waves it front of the camera, you could actually see down the barrel of it. Many of the deaths we get glimpses of the corpses which really looked great, like when the babysitter is revealed to be in the dryer. Really loved that scene, great throwback to the original. The one scene which most have seen already in the trailer where the pick axe is being thrown looks phenomenal. I think I might have even ducked out of the way because I seriously thought it was going to hit me. Even something simple as a hot naked chick throwing a gun at some truckers head turned out great.
YES! This naked chick I speak of. Well, there's a short sex scene with her and the biker I mentioned above. Then after finishing up, the biker gets changed and grabs his camera that was filming the whole thing (that bastard!) then he exits the room and begins to to walk back to his truck. This naked chick flips out, grabs her gun and heads out to the parking lot after him. He knows the guns unloaded so she chucks it at him, then our masked killer pops out, slams his pick axe through the bikers melon and then proceeds to chase the girl. He follows her in to the hotel lobby, but with her quick thinking, she decides to hide under a bed(nice). Shortly after the killer hears her make a noise, so he rips off the mattress and sees her just laying under the bed cage. Then after a few missed shots with the pickaxe (each time it's flying out of the screen at you) he finally hits his target. Oh yea, did I mention throughout that entire sequence, the chick is naked.
The story was decent, took the basic premise of the original and changed some things around such as adding some extra action scenes, and throwing in a few twists here and there. There's really only thing that I have a problem with, I felt the back story which is shown at the beginning was way too rushed. It's like they just wanted to get the Valentine's Day Massacre out of the way, and move on to the other part of the movie which takes place 10 year later. The intro to this movie definitely should have been stretched out a bit more. When an incident like the one that happens takes place, its more effective if we know the characters a bit more that are involved. Especially since the rest of the movie revolves around that incident. Take the movie 'It' for example, don't you think it would have taken away from the quality of that film if the first half where they're kids was cut down to 10 minutes, I know I do. Honestly, that's really my only complaint.
I felt all the actors did an exceptional job in this one. Being a fan of Supernatural, it was great to see Jensen Ackles take on the lead of a horror film. Also, you can't go wrong the gorgeous Jamie King, she is absolutely stunning, I must say. Kerr Smith(Final Destination) also puts in a solid performance as Axel Palmer. A pretty good cast all around.
Being a horror fan, I was more then happy with the kills and gore. There's one scene where the killer throws his pickaxe through Tom Atkins lower jaw (the camera moves around and it actually looks like the axe is stuck beneath your chin), kicks his chest and completely tears it off with the jaw coming flying out of the screen, blood everywhere. There's plenty of pick axes through torso's and skulls, it's really great.
As for the twist at the end, yes, it may have been used before, but that doesn't make it any less effective. I thought it worked great, and I loved seeing our so-called hero revealed as our masked killer. They took a risk switching it up from the original, and I feel it paid off. Soon after a little scuffle between Tom and Axel while Jamie King's character has them at gun point, she shoots at Tom and we're given a great slow motion close up of the bullet being fired and piercing through his side causing an explosion. Then we're shown a little while after the explosion, that Tom survived the explosion when he kills someone trying to rescue any survivors. But that's not it, we're then treated to another final scene of Tom making a nice escape out of the mines by putting on the rescuers gear/mask, and just walking his way out of there in front of tons of police, locals and firemen.
This movie was really a viewing experience like no other, I wish I could see every movie in 3D. Also, this is one movie I would love to see a sequel made to, because I just need to see more. Whether you're a fan of the original or just a horror fan in general, give this one a look, I promise you will not be disappointed.
8/10
Terminator Salvation (2009)
Bale Delivers...
Being a fan of this series since as far back as I can remember, I've always been intrigued by the War itself when previously we've only been shown glimpses. When thinking about this war, I envision crazy explosions, city's torn down and the human race banding together to fight the machines. Thankfully, McG delivers just that as we're given many memorable action sequences that are truly intense. Not too familiar with his previous work so I never really understood why he gets bashed so much, but all I can judge him on is his work on this and I think he did an excellent job, even working with a bit of a shaky script.
Once again we follow John Connor (now played by Christian Bale) fighting to save humanity and lead the human race to victory. But this time Skynet has a hit list exposed and the only other person above him is his own father (the younger version of him). So John must save him but in trying to do so a bit of a power struggle takes place, which forces him to take things in to his own hands. Bale gives a great performance, he seemed quite focused and dedicated throughout. He has a great water scene where his helicopter crashes (for a 2nd time) and he must defend himself from these snake like machine predators.
Speaking of those, we're introduced to a plenty of new machines and Terminators. From giant destroyers which snatch people up and release motorcycle cyborgs equipped with machine guns to a one of a kind half man half machine Terminator. The movie's story and screen time actually focuses a lot on this one mentioned. Sam Worthington plays Marcus Wright, a convicted killer who is given the death sentence and dedicates his body to science, thus creating the half man half machine. This guy's performance really stands out and is right on par with Bale's. Both these guys get plenty of kick-ass action scenes which make it really hard not to root for them.
But there are parts of the resistance that are harder to root for. Like the beautiful Moon Bloodgood who plays Blair Williams, one of John Connor's soldiers and pilots. She basically has a love story with Marcus as she doesn't find out until late that he's a machine and she decides to go against John Connor's orders simply because she believes in the machine! Kind of weak, but it does lead to some more great explosions and what-not. Other weak players include Common and Bryce Dallas Howard, whose characters are underused and almost non-existent. The shift in separate character stories definitely affected some of the character development, even though everything does connect quite nicely in the end.
So our final battle takes place in the North headquarters of Skynet, where Kyle Reese (John's future/past teen father, played by Anton Yelchin) is being held captive. Also waiting there for John is CGI Arnold! Yes, his Terminator does make an appearance, doesn't deliver a single line but is involved in a major battle. Although, it wasn't much, I couldn't help but the love the fact that he was somewhat involved with yet another entry in the series, real nod to the fans. There's also a few others like John delivering Arnie's famous line "I'll be Back", and instead of robbing bank machines and riding dirt bikes, John hacks into the Skynet headquarters and rides terminator bikes.
I've enjoyed every entry in this series so far in each ones own unique way, and this one could easily be considered one of the best. It's non-stop action from start to finish, and that's just what it should be. It continues the story and connects things back to the original time-line, it's truly entertaining. My personal favorite is Judgement Day and most likely always will be, no other movie in this series will ever match just how epic that one is. Of course, Salvation ends leaving room open for another one, and I think one more could be great if given the right script. I'd love to see Bale return and finish this war, as John says so himself, "we won this battle, but the war is yet to be won". As long as they deliver another battle like this one, you can count me in...
8.5/10
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Classic!
Classic. If I had to describe this movie in one word, that's what it would be. Robert Englund is sensational in this role as the bastard son of a thousand maniacs Freddy Krueger. He's scary, sinister and downright psychopathic. Yet, somehow he makes this Dream demon become an icon of the horror genre. Heather Langenkamp plays the heroine Nancy Thompson not only in this movie but two other entries in the series as well. And yes, one can't go without bringing up that this is Johnny Depp's first movie, and he does exceptional well in his acting debut, leaving his mark on the series and the genre in general with a certain scene involving a bed, but more on that in a bit.
Most will know the story already, but I'll go through it anyway. The parents of Elm Street caught and burned alive a local child rapist and murderer after failing to be charged in the courts. So now he comes back for the children of Elm Street through their dreams. Now we must follow four teens in their fight for survival and fear of falling asleep. Such a great concept, which was actually inspired by real events. The real events being reports of people dying in their sleep after warning others it would happen.
This movie has an eerie vibe throughout, as you never really know what is a dream and what is reality, it does a great job of messing with your head. They keep Freddy in the shadows for a lot of the movie, and that definitely adds to the scare factor. His appearance is unforgettable, the red/green sweater, the dirty brown hat and the burned makeup all look phenomenal. Everything about Freddy is scary in this, from his razor sharp blades to his bone chilling laugh, he is the ultimate Boogeyman.
The nightmares themselves, are just fantastic. My favorite scene, and many others, is when Tina (Amanda Wyss) must face off against Freddy. We are treated to a great chase scene, with Freddy just playing mind games throughout. He cuts off his own fingers while giving one of the most sinister looks I've ever seen. And who can forget about the stretched out arms in the alleyway right before running after Tina like a madman with his trademark glove high in the air. After finally catching her, he just butchers her while her boyfriend Rod (Jsu Garcia) can do nothing but look on. She is just tortured as he drags her across the ceiling and walls, while slicing her up with his glove.
There are so many memorable scenes in this, Wes Craven really created a masterpiece with this one. With the movie now being 25 years old, it still holds up reasonably well. The effects are top notch and well placed throughout. Johnny Depp's death scene looks absolutely fantastic. After falling asleep and being pulled into his bed, gallons of blood comes shooting out and completely soaks the entire room. Even little things like the unplugged phone ringing and once Nancy answers it turns in to Freddys mouth, so unexpected and so effective.
The setup for the final showdown between Nancy and Freddy is so intense, and the finale itself is as well. This in my opinion is where Heather Langenkamp really shines. We see her prepare for war in setting up booby-traps and overall becoming a stronger character. She single handily takes on Freddy and stops the dream demon, by showing great courage/no fear, and taking back every bit of energy she ever gave him.
My only complaint would be the final scene of the movie. Where everyone seems to be okay, the sun is shining, and the group of kids are on their way to school when the top comes flying down on the car with the colours being red and green, hmmm, what could that mean. Then the part comes that I don't like, where Nancy's mother is pulled through a small window at the top of their front door by Freddy, the effects here, are pretty poor. Luckily, I can look past this as its about 3 seconds out of the movie that I don't like, and the ending was never properly finished as it's a mixture of a couple possible endings.
This movie is the definition of a classic. My Favorite slasher, my favorite horror, my favorite film period. Everybody involved did a spectacular job and their effort really shows in the finished product.
10/10
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)
Falls short...
Over the years, I've grown to appreciate this film a lot more then when I was younger. I still only consider it to be about average, but that's a lot better then what I use to call it. Well, Freddy is back, and he wants revenge! Robert Englund does a phenomenal job once again as our favorite Christmas sweatered maniac. The rest of the cast, not so much. This time around we focus on Jesse Walsh (Mark Patton), a young lad who has moved in to a new home with his family, and guess who's former home it use to be, dun dun dun...
So inevitably, Freddy starts terrorizing the fresh meat. Stalking him through his dreams, while slowly taking control over his body "You've got the body...I've got the brain". The first nightmare we see, I must say is fairly well done. In this nightmare, we see Jesse on the school bus heading home with Robert Englund appearing in his normal form as the bus driver (nice!). They go on a little off road field trip, as our innocent bus driver becomes Freddy, and gives our hero a lil' scare. Luckily Jesse wakes up, covered in sweat, screaming (...like a girl) just before Freddy can rip him to shreds. They definitely took this film in a different direction having a male lead in a slasher. Sometimes it's good to be different, but not in this case...
As many already know, this movie has a heavy homo-erotic undertone, and in my opinion it does affect the movie in a not so positive way. Whether it's Jesse's all-star dance moves while cleaning his room, his high pitch screams, the gym teacher in the gay bar, the shower scene or the weird buddy buddy relationship between Jesse and high school friend Grady (Robert Rusler), it's pretty hard to deny that it's there. Over the years, I've somewhat learned to look past this and would suggest others to do the same to make it more enjoyable.
This movie definitely breaks some of the rules created in the first film, such as things happening outside of dreams like the family budgie going haywire and exploding in mid-air (WTF!) and toasters catching fire, basically pure randomness. Well now that I think about it, the whole plot is breaking the rules, but this sequel was clearly rushed out quick-time but what can you do.
One thing that I love about this movie is that Freddy is still scary, he has a few really great scenes in this, unfortunately they're too far in between. The scene where Freddy takes off his hat, pulls back his skin to reveal his brain is great, reminiscent of Freddy cutting off his fingers in the original. Then towards the end of the film, we're treated with a couple others like Freddy finally taking full control of Jesse and coming out from within, shedding the Jesse layer of skin before giving Grady a much deserved shanking. Then there's the pool party massacre with Freddy in the real world and not giving a damn, quite entertaining, although unrealistic to the rest of the series, as Freddy still seems to have some supernatural powers he's known for in nightmares.
One major complaint I have with this film, is the conclusion, it's extremely anti-climatic. With Freddy having full control of things in the real world through Jesse, it's up to high-school crush/girlfriend Lisa Webber(Kim Myers) to save him. She goes searching for Jesse/Freddy at the old Powerplant, hence the boiler rooms always appearing in dreams (I guess Freddy must have really liked that job as that's the first place he goes while being in the real world). While making her way inside she must walk by guard dogs with human faces (hmm...The Unborn, not so original now are we). Once finding and confronting Freddy, they have the shortest chase ever, and right when he's about to kill her...he can't! Wanna know why? Because she loves Jesse too much and wants him back, so she kisses Freddy/Jesse as her deathblow to the dream demon...er...reality demon...and that melts him...what an exhilarating finish, quite epic *rolls eyes*. It's pretty clear this film has it's faults, but at the same time, it does have some great Freddy moments thrown in there. At the end of the day, it's a really sub par sequel to an incredible original. A forgettable entry that is pretty much ignored through the rest of the series. Hmm...normally I'd be upset with a series doing this, but in this case maybe that was a good thing.
5/10
Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
The Main Event...
I remember growing up and talking about the possible battle of these two horror icons on the playground as a kid. Hey, with the teaser of it happening at the end of Jason X, it was clearly inevitable. It took ten years for the inevitable to happen, and not only was I looking forward to the bloodbath that would be a result of these two colliding, but it would also be my first Freddy film on the big screen. I had just turned 16 and was ready for the movie I had dreamed about as a kid...
At the time, I was not disappointed even the slightest bit, hell, I even went back for more the following weekend! But as the years have gone by since it's release, I've matured as a person and as a horror fan so I definitely look at it in a different light now.
The story really isn't that bad, Freddy must resurrect Jason to terrorize some teens and refuel the fear in the people of Springwood. The story's not what we're here for though, as we just wanna see these titans clash. Could have really done without the Freddy narration as it cheeses things up, but it's a sign of things to come as there are cheesy moments throughout.
The acting isn't half as good as any of the other entries in either franchise, but somehow it just fits right in with the entire movie. Everyone involved knew the type of movie they were making so they didn't hold back on what they delivered on screen. I love Monica Keena, and her overacting fits right in to the vibe of the entire movie, especially at the final battle in the end busting out lines like "Welcome to my world, B****!" and "This...ends...now". Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps) puts in a decent performance, as one of the better actresses involved. And I'm not even going to comment on Kelly Rowland, well, I just did, but that's it.
Robert Englund returns as our favorite dream demon (thankfully), but unfortunately he doesn't get to stand toe to toe with fellow fan favorite Kane Hodder, instead he is replaced by Ken Kirzinger. I wouldn't say Ken does a terrible job but I would have really liked to see the Kane Hodder Jason face-off with Freddy, especially since both franchises have decided to go with different actors for their reboots, would have been a nice conclusion to the characters for both.
Jason gets most of the kills, but overall it does feel more like a Nightmare film rather then a Friday entry. Ronny Yu does a decent job with what he has to work with, but a more qualified horror director would have been much appreciated. He delivers some entertaining kills like the death bed bend and the corn field massacre, but the horror itself is nowhere to be found.
The main event, the mighty showdown we've all waited years for takes place as the conclusion to the movie (naturally). This is where, they got the movie right, as it's a complete bloodbath filled with awesome brutalness throughout the fight. Both smack each other around until they go flying (ya...flying) on to a dock, where we see some nice slicing n dicing take place, including both taking shots at each other using each others known weapons. Until the final blow is made by Monica Keena, completely taking Freddy's head off his shoulders using Jason's machete as she's all wet, bloody and p-o'd (and I'm not complaining!) Overall, it's a fun popcorn flick that delivers what we've all been waiting for, all these years. It could have done without the bad acting and cheesy fight moments (pinball Jason. really?), but it's an entertaining flick none the less...
7/10
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
The Comeback!
Many fans of the series claim this one to the be one of the best if not the best in the series. I don't consider it to be the best, but it's a great recovery from the last entry (Freddy's Dead = Ugh). One thing that I don't like about this movie, is that it turns the movies in to just that...movies. I know they're all just movies, but I feel it's kind of a ripoff for the fans of the others to those who have followed them since the beginning. Sure, they continue the story but I wish they could have done it without knocking the others in the series. But it is a different approach, a more realistic one at that (No more Super Freddy or Nintendo deaths).
The cast is great, some familiar faces return. Thankfully one of those faces is Heather Langenkamp, how is this possible, well like already mentioned, the other entries in the series were just movies in this movie so it was her character that died, she's back playing herself. I'm making this much more confusing then it really is, I think you get what I'm saying though. Robert Englund returns, as himself and as a re-imagined Freddy (I prefer the movie inside the movie Freddy more though). We also get cameo's from the man himself Wes Craven, Tuesday Knight and John Saxon (awesome!). Also, there's the addition of Dylan Porter (Miko Hughes playing Heather's son, this kid use to be everywhere).
Reality begins to blur as the movie goes on and Heather must save her son as both mother and character Nancy. These elements come off as really effective. It's also a nice nod to the original's fans as we see similar situations and scenes reintroduced.
The death scenes are fairly tame, even for a Nightmare movie. Sure we get the girl dragged around the walls and ceiling in the hospital, similar to one of Freddy's most famous kills from the original, but it just isn't enough. There's also Heather's 'husbands' death which I found to be fairly weak, death by motorized glove.
One thing that meshes well with the story is the fairy tale aspect, the Hansel & Gretel bit definitely works. It's also a nice bit of foreshadowing when Heather reads the story to Dylan, as there's a similar conclusions to both movie and book.
The build up to Freddy is nice. He really doesn't make many appearances until about the last 45 minutes. When we do get him, he's definitely not the same Freddy, he seems more clean cut to be honest. Not the best take on Freddy but definitely not the worst.
One of my favorite scenes happens near the end. The chase scene on the highway turned out great. Both Heather and Dylan dodging traffic, looked great and it made for a really intense scene, nicely done.
The final showdown is pretty solid. Heather must take pills and journey under the covers to reach the dream world, nice bit of fantasy added there. Freddy chases around Heather and Dylan for awhile in a dungeon like setting until they lock him in an oven (remember that bit of foreshadowing).
All in all, this is definitely a solid entry in the series, took Freddy from being a complete joke to a respectable character and horror icon once again. Really gotta appreciate what Wes Craven did for the fans, not only bringing back Freddy, but bringing him in a way that's never been done before.
8.5/10
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991)
Freddy really IS Dead!
When I was younger, this was one of my favorite movies, I'd watch it about 3 times a day, along with Waxwork. But now that I'm older, it's easy to see that this movie is a complete mess. Rather then picking up where we left off with The Dream Child, everything is avoided for this disaster. After no build up, we're shown Freddy again within the first couple minutes, flying on a broom like the wicked witch from Wizard of Oz, oohhhhhh scary...then we see him driving a tour bus "No screaming while the bus is in motion". Yup, easy to tell, this is going to be a long ugly ride.
So this takes place 10 years in to the future, from 1991, so I guess it's suppose to take place in 2001, and all the Springwood children have been killed...by Freddy of course. Not exactly how we remember things from the last entry. There is one remaining Elm Street child who is forced in to a halfway house/shelter by Freddy (lol). And this last survivor seems to have amnesia after hitting his head on a rock, so he can't remember anything about his past or where he came from, all he knows is if he falls asleep, he ain't waking up. Of course there are other kids at the shelter, and they become wrapped up in to things shortly after.
There is also a "twist" added for this one, as the story just isn't strong enough without it. This twist being that Freddy has a daughter, and she works at the same shelter where this John Doe is now staying! To help him remember his past, Maggie Burroughs (Lisa Zane as Freddy's Daughter) brings him back to Springwood, which is basically a ghost town now since all the children were murdered and families moved away. While on the way there, we find that 3 kids from the shelter were hiding in the back of the van, so it looks like they're a part of the team now.
This movie really pushes the limits on the gimmicks as there are tons of cameos from Roseanne, Tom Arnold, Johnny Depp and Alice Cooper. The only one I didn't mind seeing was Johnny Depp, as he was one of Freddy's original victims, back when Freddy was a monster and not a comedian. Speaking of Freddy as a comedian, there's really no other way to describe him in this. He lost everything that made him scary, and does nothing but bust jokes, unfunny ones at that. This is Freddy at Rock bottom.
There's only one good death scene, and that being Carlos' (Ricky Dean Logan) who happens to be deaf. Freddy gives him a custom hearing aid, that is ultra sensitive to noise, and Freddy makes as much ruckus as possible until Carlos' head completely blows up. Then there's the video game death of Spencer (Breckin Meyer), where he's sucked in to the television and Freddy controls him through his power glove (oh jeez). I don't know what I was on as a kid, but I use to consider that as one of my favorite deaths, now it's almost unbearable to watch. And the sound effects when his body is bouncing around the house is just pathetic. One death, that I was surprised about, was the death of our John Doe. At least, the makers had some balls by doing this as he was one of the leads throughout the first half of the movie.
This movie also acts as bit of a prequel, showing some of Freddy's home life before he was burned alive. We shown this as Freddy lets the viewers know "It's Traveling time!" Thanks for the update Freddy! At least it's good to see Robert Englund without the make-up for a bit, since the plastic he wears throughout is just horrible.
Oh, I almost forgot about the 3D gimmick. It's just terrible, as we see Maggie wear the cardboard glasses and we're shown ridiculous special effects like the dream sperm demons who gave the Freddy the power who control Nightmares. I never really liked this idea, as I feel it makes the series seem cheap. Should have brought in the Dream Police or whatever else they had planned because this simply didn't work.
So Maggie must bring Freddy in to the real world to defeat him. Not a bad idea, but it worked much better in the original and FVJ. His death in this one just didn't work for me, a few ninja stars (ya, ninja stars) and a bomb to the chest finishes him off, really running out of ideas now arn't we. I did like the flashback of Freddy throughout the series once he is blown up, a nice touch. Kinda sad how one of the things I like about this movie is when they show flashbacks of the other movies though.
In conclusion, this is the low point in the series, and ended things weakly. Thank God, we were given New Nightmare, as this was the wrong way to go out and should have never been made. It's a Freddy movie for kids...er...for when I was a kid, I doubt the kids of today would even appreciate this. This movie does take me back, but with that said, it should be left there. One good death, and a little extra back story make me give this one a...
4/10
A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989)
Underrated...
The Dream Child is a very underrated sequel in the Elm Street series, in my opinion. It gets sort of lost in between the best and the worst of the series, unfortunately. Lisa Wilcox and Danny Hassle both return as our survivors from Dream Master Alice and Dan, who are now a full fledged couple. During the intro credits, we see them participate in some sexual relations, thus resulting in...dun..dun..dun..the gateway for Freddy's Return as Alice is now pregnant.
I love the intro for this entry. After the opening credits finish, we see Alice go to have a shower, but the water fills up above her head until we see her come pouring out in to an asylum. And this is where it all began. The place where Freddy's mother was locked in and raped making Freddy the bastard son of a hundred maniacs. We also see Robert Englund making another cameo as himself in the asylum, funny how he just seems to fit right in, actually looking like one of the more disturbed maniacs. This scene also setups the visuals for the rest of the movie which to me are just great, really has a Gothic tone throughout, which really adds to the film overall.
We don't actually see Freddy himself till about 20 minutes in after a pretty nice build-up. We finally see him reborn in a Church much like the one where the finale took place in the Dream Master. After Alice chases the Freddy fetus there, he really does make quite an entrance. Unfortunately the make-up in this one and Freddys Dead just arn't up to par. Freddy's burnt skin really starts to look more like plastic rather then sizzled flesh.
The deaths in this one are really hit and miss as comedy is incorporated in to each one. Dan's death scene is the perfect example of this. He's pulled in to a dream by his unborn son, and in this dream Freddy takes complete control over his car/motorcycle. Bits of this look fantastic as Freddy burns one of his own arms with some liquor and uses it as a seat belt (now that's messed up) but his constant use of one liners really put a damper on this entire sequence. Bursting out lines like "This boy feels the need for speed" or "Fuel Injection" and the worst one "Hey Danny, better not dream and drive". But when comparing these to some of the lines in Freddy's Dead, they really don't seem so bad.
The worst nightmare is easily the comic one, I'm sure everyone knows just which one I'm talking about. Where Freddy slices up a paper version of one of the characters Mark, oh well, he was a douche anyway. Mark is one of the graduating teens in Alice's new group of friends, since the rest of hers were murdered in the previous installment. Also in this new group is Greta(Erika Anderson as a weight watching model) and Yvonne(Kelly Jo Minter as a non-believing swimming nurse). Greta has one of the better death scenes, where Freddy force feeds her, her own insides from almost a voodoo like doll, really disturbing if you think about it. While Yvonne's character surprisingly survives, but for no good reason, as her character isn't really an important factor at all.
The final showdown is excellent as Alice must stop Freddy and take control of her unborn son, as Freddy has been tutoring him and using her dreams to get to others. Alice separates her self from Freddy in some nice special effects work, until Amanda Krueger (Freddy's mother) shows up to finish him off. It's a chaotic finish, but everything seems to come together actually quite well. That is until we see Freddy's glove come bursting out of Amanda's stomach, so you know what means...yup, he shall return.
There are so many possibilities and potential sequels that could have come out of this, but unfortunately this is the last we see of our survivors. Yvonne should have been disposed of in the next entry, while the war between Alice/Jacob/Freddy rages on. Missed Opportunity for sure, which makes this the last good Nightmare in the series. I don't really count New Nightmare as a part of it, since it basically takes place in the real world where these are nothing more then movies. No, this is the not the best Nightmare, and No, this is not the worst, but I will say it deserves to be alongside the better ones and is fairly underrated, which is why I am giving this entry a...
8/10
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)
Pure Awesomeness!
This movie is pure 80's awesomeness, I was only born in '87 but I still absolutely love it. The fashion, the style, the hair, the music (Who doesn't do karate while bumping Dramarama(awesome song)), the...comedian. Yes, Freddy the comedian, we've seen a transformation as the series progresses. Freddy still has that creepiness to him, and always will for the most part (if you look at the original), but it's fairly clear to see that the comedy has taken over. The thing is, even though Freddy has got jokes now instead of quick lil' quips, it somehow seems to fit and just work with the whole vibe of the film.
The cast is excellent, I would have loved to be on set and a part of it for this one. Maybe it's just me but they really seem like a cool bunch of kids, and I'm pretty sure I wanted to be a ninja like Rick Johnson (Andras Jones) when I was younger, hell, still do. We see the characters from Dream Warriors: Kristen, Kincaid and Joey all return. Unfortunately Patricia Arquette does not reprise her role as Kristen, but singer Tuesday Knight steps in and does a decent job (and an amazing job on the intro song "runniiiiing from this niiightmare"). The new characters added are a fun bunch, got their clichés but memorable none the less. We got the sister of Rick, quiet and shy daydreamer Alice (played by the beautiful Lisa Wilcox. Possibly my favorite character of the series, besides Freddy of course). Then we have Debbie (the popular boy crazy fitness expert(Brooke Theiss)),and Shiela (the asthmatic bookworm(Toy Newkirk)) and Dan Jordan (the likable jock and friend of Rick, played by Danny Hassle).
Freddy is on a mission in this one, as he is brought back by flaming dog pee, with no real explanation, but a quick botched one liner "you shouldn't have buried me". Hey, it works for me, Freddy's back! Our former Dream Warriors don't seem to do so well this time around, and since it seems like there are basically two casts, it does make sense taking them out first.
We quickly see Kincaid have to fight Freddy in a junkyard, I'm guessing same one as in part 3, but this time around in a nightmare. Kincaid is his usual self, talking some smack before being disposed of. Immediately after, it's Joey's turn to go. While falling asleep Johnny Depp esquire with headphones on and TV as well, the water bed starts to shake and a poster model appears from within it but of course it's really Freddy having some fun before pulling him under. Kristen is drugged shortly after by her mother "Andelay!" because she refuses to sleep, it's pretty clear she's a goner. I don't know what was up with the beach scene in Kristen's nightmare, it just didn't seem to fit, Freddy rocking shades while pretending to be Jaws, just didn't work for me. Before being burned alive, she pulls in Alice (remember that dream power she has), to start things rolling for Freddy on the new batch of victims. Luckily Kristen passes on this trait of hers to Alice.
It almost seemed too easy, Freddy couldn't kill any of them in part 3, now he's on a hot streak. And now it's up to the new kids on the block to kill him. Quite a mighty task lays before them, and obviously we know which one will step up to the plate. Freddy's transformation of character isn't the only one we see here, Alice also changes, which does work fairly well. As the movie goes on, she gains the power of each one of her friends and Freddy's victims, leading up to a kick-ass battle in the end.
There are some only okay kills like the suck-face death of Sheila and the ninja glove death of Rick, they could have both been stepped up a bit, but they still work. Debbie's death, however, is pretty awesome as she's turned in to a cockroach and gets an oozy squash. What really makes it great, is that we see a bit of foreshadowing when a cockroach runs out of her bag of food when she is first introduced while stating "Ew, so disgusting" before squashing it.
By the end, we got two teens remaining, Alice and Dan who just so happen to be locking eyes throughout the film. It's a race against time as Alice must take out Freddy before he does the same to Dan. I love the scene with Alice getting ready to brawl while clearing her mirror of pictures until she's just looking at herself "Fuckin' A". They pick the most perfect place for their showdown, as we see Alice layeth the smacketh downeth in a Chuch, similar to the one in part 5, if not the same one. The final blow works well, as Alice makes Freddy see a reflection of himself which results in all the souls that Freddy has captured come alive and rip him apart from the inside out.
We get the perfect ending...Alice ending up with Dan and becoming the Dream Master while Freddy is laid to rest...for now. Definitely a fun sequel, that doesn't live up to the original but continues the story with new ideas presented in a hip way. It's really hard not to like this one, it loses a lil' steam but keeps the series rolling strong.
9/10
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
Turning Point in the Series!
This movie was definitely a turning point in the series. Wes Craven really took advantage of the whole whole dream demon concept. This is the entry that stepped it up a notch when it came to creativity which resulted in a really entertaining movie. The nightmares are more intense as anything is possible in this one, Freddy does a lot more then just jump out at you here. Plus, we ignore the events which took place in part II (good idea) and we get to see a familiar face as Heather Langenkamp returns as Nancy Thompson. With the return of Nancy and Wes, this movie really feels like something special.
In this entry, we follow the story of Kristen Parker (Patricia Arquette, who does an excellent job alongside Langenkamp) who is placed in to a psychiatric institution after slicing her wrists, but really we know it was Freddy doing it by making the taps of a bathroom sink come to life in a dream (pretty intense nightmare actually). Once in the hospital, we meet a bunch of other kids who all share similar dreams of FREDDY! It's a really good idea and setup for things to come. Also, Wes brings back Nancy by having her accept a position as a research scientist at the same psychiatric institution. Now with everything set in place, it's time for Freddy to cause some havoc.
Immediately we see Freddy begin picking off the kids one by one. We see him go after Kristen first as a snake like monster in a nightmare. Luckily, she pulls Nancy into her dream to help before she is completely swallowed. This ability to pull people into dreams was another great addition to the film/series. One of my favorite kills of the series comes shortly after, as Freddy goes after a kid named Phillip Anderson (Bradley Gregg) who is known for his sleepwalking. While asleep, Freddy jumps off the wall as a puppet, which was pretty neat, and becomes himself while standing in front of Phillip's bed. I know I'd freak out if I woke up to him just standing there. Once noticing Freddy's there, Freddy begins cutting him up, and using his bloody veins to control him as a marionette, which leads to Freddy cutting the strings and Phillip falling to his death and making it look like a suicide. Easily of the most creative and gruesome deaths in the series and it looked fantastic.
Another creative kill is when Jennifer (Penelope Sudrow playing another patient), the girl who wants to be the movie star and burns her own owns to stay awake, falls asleep while watching TV. The TV goes fuzzy and as she tried to change the channel, the TV grows arms and Freddy's head busts out picking her up and smashing her head through the screen while delivering the line: "Welcome to Primetime Bitch!". Pure awesomeness, but with this being said, allow me to introduce to you, the new and improved...Comedian Freddy, well maybe not yet, but like I said already it was a turning point, for the character and the series.
The effects used in this film are great for the most part, the snake bit and puppet death both look fantastic, but there are some choppy bits as well, like when The head doctor at the institution Dr. Neil Gordon (Craig Wasson) teams up with Nancy's father Lt. Donald Thompson (John Saxon) to properly bury Freddy's human remains, but are confronted by his skeleton (ugh @ that scene).
Throughout the film, we are shown more and more what can be done with dreams, as the teen patients all find out they have their own dream powers, as they team up to become Dream Warriors! This really helps build up to the final showdown as they all must use their dream powers in stopping Freddy. The 'death' of Freddy is much more epic in this film compared to the one before, as it's a combination of taking him on from the dream world and reality. Unfortunately, while making it more epic, we also see the death of Nancy as Freddy imitates her father and finally takes her out. I must say it did work well though, with Nancy passing the torch on to Kristen...for now.
Dreams Warriors has one of the best casts in the series, if not the best. We get a younger Patricia Arquette and Laurence Fishburne both putting in good performances and Robert Englund back again as our burned up maniac. Also I really like the tag team combination of Joseph 'Joey' Crusel (Rodney Eastman, playing a mute until he finds his voice) and Roland Kincaid (Ken Sagoes, playing a smack talking strong man with some pretty funny lines).
In conclusion, this is a fantastic sequel that could have easily worked as a conclusion to the series since everything seemed to wrap up fairly well. We see an equal amount of comedy/scares from Freddy, unfortunately for the last time before the comedy takes over. This entry is easily my second favorite in the series, but when comparing it to the original, I just can't give it that 10, but a much deserved 9.5...
9.5/10
Decoys (2004)
Kim Poirier Rocks!
Upon first viewing of this movie, you may automatically think Species rip-off. Even with the clearly lower budget it offers so much more and actually trys to be different from the average made for TV Sci-Fi weekly movie by combining a mixture of comedy, horror, and of course science fiction. The movie takes place on a college campus in Canada! Where we follow a group of students who have an American Pie type of vibe to them, by busting out jokes and repeatedly have discussions about losing their virginity and performing other sexual acts. And that's where the hot blonde sorority babes come in...and that's where the Species comparisons may come in.
Yes, just like the Species series, in order for this hot blonde undercover "ALIEN" race to survive they must reproduce with the male human virgin freshmen. We do get some actual time to meet the characters and their stereotypes, and you do get a feel for them. It's clear to see who the lead players are and even though you know who's gonna go, you still root for them like they have a chance, something you don't see too often.
The hot blondes in their natural form do resemble the Species creatures quite a bit, but I guess they go by the standard alien description, hairless body, big eyes, human but almost bug like. The awesome Kim Poirier actually plays one of them "Constance". She gets quite a bit of screen time while not actually being the lead, you might also recognize her from the Dawn of the Dead remake, she's got quite a memorable scene in that one! When we do see these reptilian aliens, sometimes it is real effects that do look fairly good. But for most of the action sequences the creatures are CGI but even though it's easy to tell, it still looks good since they move so fast.
This movie also mixes in a bit of cop drama with the good cop bad cop showdown, although unnecessary it still seems to work in the entire B-Movie atmosphere of the rest of the movie. So we follow our lead college male "Luke" played by Corey Sevier as he must prove to the others that Aliens do exist and they're taking over the campus before it's too late and his friends give in to sexual peer pressure.
The movie builds up quite nice to an inevitable showdown between the lead male and entire Alien species. We get some nice action sequences and with all the time spent actually getting to know the characters you don't know whether or not to root or boo for these aliens creatures.
In the end, you get the expected victory with an unexpected twist. The first time I watched this movie it somehow slipped past me, but it actually seems to work quite well. I'm not gonna spoil it for you just in case you haven't seen this but keep an eye out for it when you do! This is definitely a movie you can have fun with if you don't take it too seriously, think of The Faculty + Species and a Lil' bit of American Pie and you got a surprisingly enjoyable movie. Of course it finishes off with room for a sequel and of course a sequel was made, how could they not? If you get a chance give this one a watch, even though you may have seen this type of story before, it's more fun then you may think.
7.5/10