This Was Halloween

BOO!

So, If you've been keeping up, you can probably imagine that this was not the happiest of Octobers for Uncle P. 

Still, I'm plugging away and trying to regain a sense of 'normalcy.' Today was my first day back at the Day Job, where I was asked to judge both a departmental cupcake contest (in a department other than my own) and the company-wide costume contest. I'd like to believe I was asked because people there actually respect my opinion, though I wouldn't be surprised if people were just trying to cheer me up. Of course every one said it was the former, though the latter was very helpful. 

Until I got home, where I had exactly 12 Trick-or-Treaters. 

Last year I had just over 40. The year before that, 8. I live on a side street in my development, which serves no real purpose other than to provide housing. You can't really get anywhere significant by driving on my street (unless of course, you count my house). The number of children living on the street varies from year-to-year, depending on who is living here at any given time (some houses here seem to have revolving doors) and growing fears about asking strangers for candy have further reduced the number of kids willing to brave the darkness, especially on a weeknight. Still, I had a few princesses; Batman and Robin and a very clever Popcorn Machine with real popcorn and a light in the dome. But it wasn't quite the same without Mom fawning over the cuteness of the little ones and the cleverness of the older kids. The last knock on my door came at 8:17. I turned off my giant spider and Dracula's Pub lights at 9:00.

Of course, when my sister and I were kids, everyone went door-to-door for hours on end. We'd fill a pillowcase, come home to dump it and head out again. Those days are gone, I'm afraid. And that just makes me all the much sadder about the current state of my favorite holiday.

Still... I watched last night's episode of  "American Horror Story: Coven;" had some delicious (if I say so myself) Hungarian stuffed cabbage for dinner; spoke with my sister about our mutual lack of candy-beggars and did my best to enjoy the evening.

There are major and minor changes happening in my home (both physical and emotional). The number of programs I DVR has been slashed in half and I no longer feel quite so compelled to watch what I've recorded (with a few exceptions), though I catch myself being angry and/or sad that Mom will no longer be able to enjoy some of the shows she loved. I have made some progress in obtaining the necessary paperwork which accompanies someone's death, though find myself frustrated by the operating hours of certain government agencies (Damn you, SSI!). 

It's a process, I suppose. It will take time and be aggravating and even downright blood-boiling at times. I continue to take my anti-hypertension medication and try to take on each issue as it arises... But the wound is still so fresh and painful... 

Hallowe'en has evolved over the centuries from a day of keeping evil spirits at bay to a day of celebration. And it's that spirit I tried to maintain, today. I think Mom wouldn't have wanted me to do anything less. I may be sad that she's no longer here to share the celebration, but oh so very glad for all the times she was.

I hope you had a great Halloween and that you and/or your children got all the goodies you can stomach for the next month or so. If you got a Reeses' Peanut Butter Cup, think of Mom when you eat it. She loved them and loved giving them out. I'll be taking a few dozen or so to share at the Day Job, tomorrow.

And honestly, for folks like Uncle P and several of my friends and family, every day is Halloween:

Turkey Month starts tomorrow and I hope to be back to posting more regularly...

More, anon.
Prospero

How Does It Begin, Clarice?

Porcelain Minnie Castavet and Rosemary Woodhouse

I find it rather hard to believe that Rosemary's Baby has never appeared on any Top Ten list I've ever done. Or has it? If not, it certainly should have been on just about every one of them (maybe not musicals, though I don't think I've done a Top Ten of those, yet). 

Think what you will about Roman Polanski, he's never been shy about delving into the darker sides of life. Based on Ira Levin's novel, the movie was a sensation when it was released in 1968 and rightfully so. Perfectly cast with some of the best actors of the era (and possibly of all time) and both wittily and creepily directed, Rosemary's Baby taps into so many Psycho-Religious-Paranoid-Horrifying things all at once, that it takes multiple viewings to fully appreciate it's brilliance, even 43 years after it was first released. Ruth Gordon rightfully won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress as Minnie Castavet, the push,y elderly Satanist with a heart of coal. Mia Farrow got an infamous haircut and divorced Sinatra while making the movie.  And there are some amazing appearances from classic character actors Ralph Bellamy, Maurice Evans, Charles Grodin and Elisha Cook, Jr; as well as uncredited walk-ons/voice-overs from William Castle and Tony Curtis. 

A very amusing, anonymous Facebook friend (once known as Magnolia Thunderpussy but now going by Hilda Swandumper after the geniuses at Facebook realized Maggie T wasn't a real name) posted the photo above to a mutual friend's timeline. And I immediately coveted...

I reposted it, saying that anyone who bought me the Minnie Castavet doll would get me as a slave for one week a year for 10 years or 50 Saturdays, not to exceed two in a row. And I mean it. Yes, I have lots of 'stupid' things. I have both Mulder and Scully action figures; a Locutus action figure; a Frank-N-Furter action figure; a Norman Bates action figure; a remote controlled zombie; a zombie teddy bear and other assorted toys. But I would gladly give up a third of my collection to own a doll modeled after Ruth Gordon as Minnie Castavet. Of course, the two dolls are undoubtedly a set, though I hope the obviously inferior Mia Farrow as Rosemary doll doesn't decrease the value...

The true movie lunatics out there know exactly what I mean.

Genius.

More, anon.
Prospero

King of the Mountain

I was 15 when I was dropped off for a Saturday matinee of Brian DePalma's brilliant adaptation of Stephen King's first novel, Carrie. I had read the novel the year before and was in the midst of reading "'Salem's Lot" when Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie gave two of the most amazing performances in the history of the genre. Since then there has been a really awful sequel; a musical (revived and revised for a recent Off Broadway production which is now being done by community theatre companies everywhere); a drag parody of the musical and a TV remake starring Angela Bettis and Patricia Clarkson. Yesterday a new version opened, starring Chloe Grace Moritz and Julianne Moore, two actresses I admire (along with Judy Greer - whom I adore - in the Betty Buckley role). The reviews have been tepid and I won't be rushing out to pay $11.50 to see it, any time soon. 

To mark the occasion, TribecaFilm.com has come up with their list of the Top 20 Stephen King movies. Their list is very different from mine. Of course, art is completely subjective and King is notoriously difficult to adapt for the screen. Your list will probably be different than mine. And that's good. Still, in response, here are my Top Ten plus my Five Worst Stephen King movie adaptations:

THE BEST:

10. Pet Sematary. Based on the book King claims to have had to put away for several years because it gave him nightmares, director Mary Lambert's TV star-filled film is very, very creepy. The last project for the late Fred Gwynn, this atmospheric movie works so well because they all seem like such ordinary people (the strength of all of King's characters). Of course, there is that screaming living corpse of a sister in the back bedroom...

9. The Dead Zone. David Cronenberg's 1983 crack at King is a true anomaly - a film that's actually better than the novel on which it's based. Of course, much of that is thanks to Christopher Walken's performance as a man who awakens from a coma with a gift he doesn't want and a dilemma to rival Hamlet's. Oh, and Martin Sheen's Greg Stillson is a far cry from Jed Bartlett.

8. The Mist. Underrated and misunderstood, Frank Darabont (who has two other amazing King movies to his credit) finally made the film version of one of King's most popular novella's with an amazing cast and an ending (which some claim is nihilistic) that's far superior to King's rather ambiguous original. Darabont should make every Stephen King movie for as long as he can.

7. Misery. Kathy Bates' Oscar-winning performance as James Caan's insane greatest fan is absolutely chilling. Rob Reiner's second King movie is a doozy!

6. Christine. John Carpenter's King movie surprisingly holds up quite well after 30 years, mostly thanks to the performance of Keith Gordon as a boy whose evil car turns him evil, as well.

5. Stand By Me. Rob Reiner's nostalgic adaptation of King's novella "The Body" (itself supposedly based on a true event from King's own childhood) is a classic for so many reasons, least of all it's young cast.

4. Carrie. Brian DePalma's 70's teen-angst horror movie is very nearly perfect, despite the very silly tuxedo scene and the deliberately dizzying prom dance. Spacek is the embodiment of King's character (despite him describing her as overweight) and Piper Laurie is just stunning as the religious zealot Margaret White (a name Uncle P uses to troll Westboro Baptist Church). And that shock ending has been copied countless times, since.

3. Apt Pupil. Bryan Singer's version of King's novella stars the late Brad Renfro as a young man who discovers that his kindly old neighbor (Ian McKellan) is a Nazi hiding in suburban America. McKellan is brilliant, as usual, but Refro's transformation is the real horror here.

2. Dolores Claiborne. Kathy Bates makes her second appearance as a King character in Taylor Hackford's absorbing and gorgeous adaptation of the story of a woman accused of killing her long-time employer and the strength she found to escape an abusive husband.

1. The Green Mile. Frank Darabont's version of King's serialized novel is very nearly perfect. The late Michael Clarke Duncan gives a performance to match every other amazing performance from Tom Hanks, Michael Jeter, Sam Rockwell, Bonnie Hunt and Patricia Clarkson. I weep like a baby every time I see it.

Honorable mentions: The Shawshank Redemption; Cujo; Creepshow; Needful Things; 1408; Hearts in Atlantis.

THE WORST:

5. The Shining. Kubrick made a terrific horror movie, but an absolutely atrocious version of what well may be King's best novel. Even King hates it. Of course, the TV version isn't much better. Give me $80M and I'll make a version of "The Shining" that will make you poop your pants.

4. Graveyard Shift. Bad acting, bad script and bad special effects make this story about killer rats silly, rather than scary.

3. Maximum Overdrive. Even King himself couldn't make a scary movie out his very silly short story "Trucks." Emilio Estevez doesn't help.

2. The Mangler. Poltergeist director Tobe Hooper's ridiculous movie about a demonic ironing machine isn't helped by the presence of genre favs Robert Englund and Ted Levine. 

1. The Lawnmower Man. Even the then gorgeous Jeff Fahey can't help this POS, which has absolutely NOTHING to do with King's story about pagan gods. King successfully sued to have his name removed from this CGI cyber-nonsense.

Dishonorable mentions: The Night Flyer; The Secret Window; Silver Bullet; Children of the Corn

I have a copy of King's latest novel, "Doctor Sleep" sitting on my coffee table. It's the sequel to "The Shining" and I can't wait to dig in. I suppose I'll be taking it to Florida with me when I visit my sister for Christmas.

More, anon.
Prospero

Super Twink?

That's a new Superman action figure by Play Arts. It's part of something they call the Kai Variant Series. Now, while Uncle P remains an avid fan of  Superheroes, it has admittedly been many years since I've read any comics ("Watchmen;" "The Walking Dead" and "Chew" don't count). I think I was 13 the last time I read an issue of "Superman" or "Batman." And I know there have been changes in the timelines and weird revisions and alternate universes. I get it. But there are a few things I don't understand. 

First of all, why does Kal-El need any armor, let alone Samurai-inspired armor? Or is this some official military dress uniform on Krypton? Or is this some sort of Cyber-Kal-El, enhanced by advanced bionics (look at his wrists) after some terrible accident, far away from the yellow sun? Or is Superman visiting the planet Krull?

But I think what bothers me the most about this particular action figure is it's disproportionately tiny head, which makes Supes look like a 19 year old twink headed out to a gay cosplayer rave in Vegas.

Personally, I like my Supermen to be Henry Cavil hot, Christopher Reeve compassionate and Brandon Routh adorable, with just a dash of George Reeves cockiness -- hold the Nicolas Cage, thank you.Wow! Talk about impossible standards... No wonder I'm still single. (Not LOL'ing here... No, seriously, FML). Oh, wait. Superman is fictional, isn't he? Never mind, then.

Anyway...

As a gay child, I think I figured out pretty early that many superheroes were in fact, gay allegories, whether they were intended to be so, or not. Outsiders, different from everyone else for whatever reason, who decided or were compelled to stand up against evil and protect the good, all why wearing fabulous spandex costumes with capes and amazing accessories (at least three designers featured utility belts last month in Paris). Eventually, both DC and Marvel were ahead of the curve by featuring gay characters (don't ask me what's going at DC right now, though) and even Archie Comics, once owned by a Christian publishing company, has a gay character with his own title, Kevin Keller. 

And please, no comments about internalized homophobia. I don't hate twinks. I don't hate anyone. I feel very sorry for exceptionally ignorant and douchey a-holes who don't get that we're all in this together and we better figure out a way to make it work, or we're all doomed. I just hope I live long enough to witness their inevitable extinction. 

Anyway...

This was an odd post ending an odd day (long story). So let's perform one more amazing segue to tie all of this nonsense together with Shocktober, shall we? I still haven't decided what I'm going to be for Halloween this year, though my fall back is the amazingly easily-achieved "Middle-Aged Gay Man."  In case you're still stumped, here are some ideas for Superhero costumes from last year's NY ComiCon:

More, anon.
Prospero

A Different Kind of Shocktober

Ossified Flamingo, Tanzania

I hate that I missed posting on October 1st. Of course, Uncle P is dealing with a bit of real life turmoil. My mother has been hospitalized for a week and a half now, with no indication of when (or if) she might come home. The staff at the hospital is terrific; her doctors have been wonderful and I have never felt kept in the dark about what's going on. I just wish none of it was going on. Uncle P, for the first time in his life, is feeling rather helpless and ineffectual right now. But I must say that I have a rather amazing support team among my friends who are (and will undoubtedly continue to be) helping me through.

Of course, that does nothing to diminish my love of all things October, including the onslaught of cable channel Horror movies. Marathons of Friday the 13th and Halloween movies abound, no matter how good or bad they are. 

As part of this year's decidedly different Shocktober, I've decided to just make some suggestions of movies you might enjoy as part of the season. And I've decided to start with one the season's best holiday-themed movies, Trick 'r Treat. An anthology of related stories, writer/director Michael Dougherty managed to create an Internet sensation with his long-delayed movie filled with terrific performances from the likes of Dylan Baker, Anna Paquin and Brian Cox (the original screen Hannibal Lecter) while providing some of the best scares and hilariously ironic moments in Horror Movie history. If you've never seen it, you owe it to yourself to do so. 

A sequel has been bandied about, but I won't be holding my breath.

More, anon.
Prospero

Death Ain't No Way to Make a Living

Director Peter Jackson is probably best known for his adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Long before those films made him a household name, he made probably the best zombie comedy ever in 1992's Dead Alive (known as Braindead outside the U.S.). Jackson also made the astounding 2005 version of King Kong, which made Uncle P fall in love with the movie that made me fall in love with the movies, all over again. Jackson really made his mark with 1994's Heavenly Creatures, a mostly true story starring Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey as two Kiwi girls who live in a fantasy world and eventually conspire to kill the mother of Lynskey's character. The film was an International sensation and Jackson found himself invited to play with the Hollywood big boys for 1996's The Frighteners, an underrated and unappreciated ghost story starring Michael J. Fox; John Astin; Dee Wallace; Jeffrey Combs and Jake Busey. Re-edited by the studio, The Frighteners is not the film Jackson intended to make, though it deserves more praise than it received upon its realease.

Frank Bannister (Fox) develops psychic abilities after his wife is killed in an auto accident. Able to commune with the dead, he starts a business where the ghosts he knows haunt houses which he then "exorcises" for a fee. When the ghost of a serial killer (Busey) starts marking his victims, Frank and his ghost pals embark on a quest to stop the murders. Aided by Lucy, the widow of a heart-attack victim (Trini Alverado) - whose character is named after Melanie Lynskey, Frank tracks down the killer's still-living lover (Wallace) and eventually sends both of them to their just rewards, but not before dying, himself. Frank realizes that the killer was responsible for his wife's death and returns to Earth with her blessing, finding new love with Lucy and able to finally demolish the unfinished home he'd started to build while his first wife was still alive.

Hated by most critics and denounced by Jackson, The Frighteners isn't exactly a bad movie, though it's not really a good one, either. The performances are pretty solid and the FX are certainly on par with other mid-90's films, but I imagine Jackson's version was probably much scarier than the one audiences were given. I, for one, would love to see a 'Director's Cut' version of this film.

More, anon.
Prospero

What Is a Ghost?

The Devil's Backbone

Director Guillermo del Toro's first anti-Franco horror film, 2001's The Devil's Backbone explores many of the themes common to his films: parental abandonment; the horrors of war; children who are 'different;' man's inhumanity to man and ghosts. 

Carlos (Fernando Tielve) arrives at an orphanage, thinking his stay is temporary, until his father returns from the war. In the orphange's courtyard lies a supoosedly diffused bomb. Carlos tries to make friends, but is bullied by Jaime (Inigo Garces), who steals Carlos' comic book. That night, when an apparent ghost knocks over the water pitcher, Carlos and Jaime dare one another to go to the kitchen and refill it. Carlos is caught by Jacinto (Eduardo Noriega) and sent back to bed. The next day, Carlos saves Jaime from drowning, despite having his face cut by Jacinto. Eventually, Jaime tells Carlos the story of Santi, an orphan who died the day the bomb was dropped and who now supposedly haunts the orphanage. Jacinto learns that there is a large stash of gold in the orphanage and plans to take it, but is foiled when the orphanage's director Carmen (Marissa Paredes) refuses to give him the key to the safe. Carmen is in love with Dr. Casares, but he is too scared to admit he loves her. When he witnesses the murders of Carlos' tutor and body guard, he decides to lead all of the orphans out of the city. His plan is spoiled when Jacinto burns down much of the orphanage in failed attempt to steal the gold, during which Casares is mortally wounded. 

Jaime tells Carlos he saw Jacinto kill Santi in the cistern. Meanwhile, Jacinto returns for the gold with band of hooligans, who abandon him when they find the safe empty. The remaining orphans, knowing that Jacinto is evil, arm themselves with sharpened sticks and pointed rocks. When Jacinto finally finds the gold (hidden in Carmen's prosthetic leg), he is confronted by them and thrown into the very cistern where he drowned Santi. Weighed down by the gold and dragged down by Santi's ghost, Jacinto disappears in the murky water and the orphans leave as the ghost of Casares watches over them.

Just a bit grimmer than Pan's Labyrinth, The Devil's Backbone is remarkably atmospheric and quite chilling. Del Toro truly found his voice with this film and his love of the genre and flair for ominous visuals is in full display. I imagine a double feature of the two films would be rather... intense. Later films produced by del Toro (The Orphanage and Don't Be Afraid of the Dark) explore similar themes, though none quite so horrifyingly as The Devil's Backbone. Del Toro has said it may be his most personal film, which I must imagine says a lot about his own childhood. 

Del Toro's next film Pacific Rim, is his homage to Japanese kaiju (monster) movies of the 50's and 60's.

Given del Toro's amazing visuals (see Hellboy II  and Pan's Labyrinth), Pacific Rim should be THE Sci-Fi movie of 2013. Personally, I am bummed that his proposed adaption of At the Mountains of Madness isn't going to happen.

More, anon.
Prospero

There's Something In the Fog!

Captain Blake and Company

To those expressed concern and well-wishes over my recent bout with a stomach virus: Thank You! 

Any way, back to the Shocktober subject at hand.

Director John Carpenter followed up his massive Slasher hit Halloween with a more traditional horror movie in 1980's The Fog. 

The sleepy northern California town of Antonio Bay is about to celebrate it's Centennial when a series of strange events occur. Lights go out; gas stations pump themselves and all the town's payphones (remember them?) ring at once. Mr, Machen (John Houseman) tells a spooky tale at the beach, where young Andy finds a piece of driftwood with the word "DANE" carved into it. Meanwhile, Father Malone (Hal Holbrook) discovers the journal of his great-grandfather in a crumbling section of his church. A heavy fog rolls in and three members of a small fishing crew are killed.

Drifter Nick Castle (Tom Atkins in a role that's nod to actor who played 'The Shape' in Halloween) picks up hitchhiker Elizabeth (Jamie Lee Curtis), who is headed home to Antonio Bay where her mother (Janet Leigh) is heading up the Centennial Celebration. Nick's headlights and radio start to fail and his truck's windows shatter, inexplicably. The next day, Andy brings the piece of driftwood to his mother, local DJ Stevie Wayne (Adrienne Barbeau). Stevie takes it to the lighthouse from which she broadcasts, only to find it seeping water onto her tapedeck and bursting into flames, but not before a mysterious voice intones "Six must die." Once she extinguishes the flames, the wood once again reads "DANE."

As the celebration moves forward, Nick and Elizabeth learn that her mother's husband was among the fisherman killed the night before. Kathy (Leigh) and her assistant visit Malone to ask him to deliver the benediction at the celebration, but Malone reads from the journal which tells the tale of a group of lepers aboard the ELIZABETH DANE, who wanted to establish a colony at Antonio Bay but whose ship was deliberately sunk by Malone's great-grandfather. Not wanting to hear such a horrible tale, the women continue their plans for the celebration. That night, the fog moves in and Stevie talks to her Weather Service pal Dan, listening in as the ghosts of the DANE kill him. As the fog continues to permeate the town, Stevie begs people to help save Andy. His babysitter, Mrs. Kobritz, is killed but Andy is saved at the last minute by Nick. Retreating to the church for safety, Nick; Andy; Elizabeth; Kathy and Sandy gather where Blake finds a cross made from gold stolen from the ELIZABETH DANE. As ghosts trap Stevie on the roof of the lighthouse/radio station, Blake grabs the cross which emits an eerie glow, apparently eliminating the ghosts and the fog. Stevie goes back on air to warn others about the fog as Malone, wondering why he was spared, is suddenly taken by the ghosts of Blake's ship.

The Fog has plenty to admire, the least of which is the only pairing of 'Scream Queens' Janet Leigh and her daughter, Jamie. Of course, the traditional tale of ghostly revenge is gory, creepy and loads of fun. Featuring loads of genre actors, plenty of inside jokes and another terrific score by Carpenter, The Fog is one of the few 80's horror movies to rely on atmosphere as much as gore. 2005 saw a truly awful remake starring "Smallville" star Tom Welling and "Lost" alum, Maggie Grace. Avoid it and stick to the original.

More, anon.
Prospero

I See Predictable Plot Twists

Poor Cole. He sees dead people. But you knew that. Writer/director M. Knight Shyamalan had his first big success with 1999's The Sixth Sense, a ghost story with a supposedly "surprise" plot twist at the end (more on that in a bit).

Bruce Willis plays child psychiatrist Malcolm Crowe. When Malcolm and his wife return home from an event in his honor, he is confronted  by a disturbed former patient Vincent (an emaciated Donnie Wahlberg). Vincent feels that Crowe failed him, as he still has the hallucinations that for which he sought help in the first place. Vincent shoots Crowe and then himself.

The following fall, Crowe meets a new patient, Cole Sears (Haley Joel Osment in his film debut). Cole confides the he sees dead people walking around like live people and that they terrify him. Crowe at first thinks that his new patient is suffering the same condition as Vincent and he worries he may fail him as well. Meanwhile, in the wake of his shooting, Crowe's marriage seems to be falling apart and he can't understand why can no longer get into his basement office. Eventually, he decides that Cole may be telling the truth and convinces him to talk to the dead people and help them move on. After helping several ghosts, Cole tells his mother (the excellent Toni Collette) about seeing the dead people. She finally believes him when he passes on a message from her dead mother. Satisfied that Cole is going to be okay, Crowe returns home to find his wife sleeping on the sofa. She turns over and his wedding ring rolls out of her hand, making him realize that he hasn't been wearing it along and that (here's the big twist) he is actually dead, himself.

So here's the thing, I figured out the big twist about halfway through the movie. It was the scene where Malcolm meets his wife for dinner and she completely ignores him. I turned to my companion and whispered "He's dead. No one else has spoken to him but the kid the whole time." It seemed pretty obvious to me and I was kind of shocked that other people didn't figure it out, as well. The movie is fine as a ghost stoy, without the big twist and Shyamalan coaxes a beautifully nuanced performance from both Willis and Osment and provides some good scares. But it's 'surprise' just wasn't, which really ended up kind of ruining for me. Of course, Shyamalan went on to make increasingly bad movies (Unbreakable is simply ridiculous and Lady in the Water is practically unwatchable). For a really good ghost movie released that same summer, see my previous post.

More, anon.
Prospero

Does It Hurt to Be Dead?

Kevin Bacon and Jennifer Morrison

Sadly overshadowed by a more popular (though inferior) ghost movie released the same year (and one I will write about soon), writer/director David Keopp's Stir of Echoes is another example of the ghost story as a mystery, centered around the disappearance of a local girl.

Kevin Bacon plays Tom Witzky, an average Joe trying to support his family as a phone lineman. His pregnant wife Maggie ("Law and Order: C.I." alum Kathryn Erbe) and their son Jake live in a working-class Chicago neighborhood. One night at a party, Maggie's sister Lisa (the underrated and always wonderful Illeana Douglas), convinces Tom to let her hypnotize him. She implants a post-hypnotic suggestion in the skeptical Tom to be more 'open-minded.' 

Not long after, Tom starts having visions of a mentally-challenged girl named Samantha ("Once Upon a Time" star Jennifer Morrison) who disappeared a few years before. The visions lead to obsession and Tom is soon digging up the backyard and causing Maggie to question his sanity. Tom eventually demands that Lisa undo whatever it is she did to him, but she can't and Samantha continues to haunt him. Tom finally breaks through a wall in his basement to find Samantha's remains and confronts his landlord, who admits that his sons lured the girl to house with the intention of raping her. When she resisted, they killed her and their father helped brick up her body in the basement. Consumed by guilt, the landlord apparently kills himself. When his sons show up and confront Tom with the intention of killing them, the landlord emerges from the basement and saves Tom and Maggie. The mystery solved, Tom's visions abate and the family moves out of the house. But as they are driving away, young Jake is seen battling against the voices of the dead which now rage in his head.

Keopp, who also wrote the screenplays for Jurassic Park; Panic Room and Spider-Man (among many others), working from the novel by Richard Matheson ("I Am Legend"), crafts a creepy and atmospheric tale in Stir of Echoes, populated by believable characters reacting to forces and situations outside their realms of experience and aided by an extraordinary cast. Bacon is simply terrific as Tom, a man confused and frightened by what's happening to him and Erbe is solid as a wife and mother who doesn't understand why her world is being torn apart. Douglas gives yet another wonderful performance as the quirky sister-in-law who isn't fully aware of the consequences of her interests in the occult, while the rest of the cast embody Chicago's late-90's working class. Prolific composer James Newton Howard (Batman Begins; King Kong; The Hunger Games) provides an appropriately creepy score and the visual effects by BFTRE are spot on.

If you've never seen Stir of Echoes, you owe it to yourself to do so. If you have, then you already know what a terrific and underrated film it is.

More, anon.
Prospero

Heeeere's Disappointment!

Not Nearly as Creepy as They Should Have Been

Prolific Horror author Stephen King's third (and one of his best) novel "The Shining" is an epic masterpiece about ghosts, madness, ancient evil and familial terror. When I first read it, it was the most terrifying and fascinating novel I'd ever read. And I ate it up like manna. 

You can't begin to imagine how excited I was to hear that one of the greatest filmmakers of all time was going to adapt one of the best ghost novels of all time into a feature film. I remember sitting in the theater before The Shining started, nearly peeing my pants in anticipation of what I thought was going to be the scariest movie ever made. The film started out so promising... Wendy Carlos' (The Exorcist) and Rachel Elkind's booming score was amazing. Jack Nicholson and Scatman Crothers seemed perfectly cast. I could live with Shelley Duvall as Wendy and Danny Lloyd seemed just right as Danny. 

But as the movie unfolded, it soon became clear that Kubrick's vision had very little to do with King's. Nicholson, rather than a contrite alcoholic who wanted to make things right, seemed mad from the start and Duvall was hardly the strong-willed Wendy from the book. All of the hotel's backstory was made irrelevant and the roque court and wasp's nest were dismissed out of hand, while the topiary garden was replaced with a hedge maze. WTF!?!? In King's novel, everything has meaning and all of the events are tied together. In Kubrick's movie, nothing has true relevance and events that are explained in the book remain completely random in the film. 

It's not as if I don't get what Kubrick was going for. He obviously wanted to create a disorienting atmosphere for his audience. Okay. But why would he deviate so far from King's very effective novel? Why abandon so many of King's ideas? Why present glimpses of scenarios so important to the book's narrative without any context to the plot? When Jack killed Dick Halloran with an ax to his chest, I gave up. This was by no means the movie I had hoped it would be.

Now, before you all go nuts on me and start complaining about how brilliant this movie is, I must ask: Have you read the book? Because just about everyone I know who read the novel, hated the movie. Conversely, those who saw the movie without reading the book, loved it. And I totally get both points of views, though I will go to my grave saying that Kubrick completely failed in adapting King's novel.

Radc

Mick Garris' 1997 TV miniseries version is a little more faithful to the novel (and Rebecca DeMornay makes a much more convincing Wendy), but still disappoints on so many other levels.

The Shining remains on my list of 10 Fantasy/Horror/Sci-Fi Movies that Should Be Remade.

Meanwhile... King's son, writing under the pseudonym Joe Hill, had a brilliant debut novel with his own modern ghost story "Heart-Shaped Box," though his second (and inferior) novel "Horns" is being adapted for the screen, starring Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe. The film adaptation of "Heart-Shaped Box" remains in 'turn-around.'

More, anon.
Prospero

"It's No Crime to Be Alive."

Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison

A 'Romantic Fantasy,' 1947's The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, based on the novel by R.A. Dick, tells the story of widower Lucy Muir (Gene Tierney) who moves in to an English seaside cottage which is haunted by the ghost of it's former owner, Captain Daniel Gregg (Rex Harrison). Lucy's daughter Anna (Natalie Wood) and maid Martha (Edna Best) join her, though Gregg only appears to Lucy, agreeing that Anna is "...too young for ghosts." When Lucy's investments fail, Gregg helps her out by dictating his memoirs to her. The resulting book, 'Blood and Swash' proves to be a best-seller and Lucy earns enough to keep the cottage. Of course, during the writing of the book, Lucy and Daniel fall in love. Knowing their romance is hopeless, Daniel advises Lucy to find a "real" (i.e. living) man. 

Lucy eventually goes to London to publish her book, and meets charismatic children's author Miles Fairly (George Sanders). Fairly follows Lucy to Gull Cottage and begins to woo her. Knowing he doesn't stand a chance against a living person, Captain Gregg agrees to leave Mrs. Muir alone to pursue her happiness. Lucy is later devastated to learn that Fairly is not only married with a family of his own, but has behaved similarly with other women. She soon shuts herself away at Gull Cottage with Martha. Years later, a grown Anna (Vanessa Brown) returns to Gull Cottage with her Navy Lieutenant fiance, telling her mother she knew all along about Gregg and Fairly and that Fairly has grown fat and bald and has been abandoned by his wife.  Lucy and Martha grow old together and on her death bed, Gregg appears to Lucy, lifting her youthful spirit up and the two of them disappear into the mist. The movie's original trailer can be seen here. I've embedded a fan-made homage below:

24 years later, the movie inspired a 1968 TV sitcom starring Hope Lange as 'Carolyn' Muir; Edward Mulhaire as Daniel Gregg; character actress Reta Shaw (Mary Poppins) as Martha and gay icon Charles Nelson Reilly as the Captain's wimpy descendant, Claymore. The series ran for two full seasons and was my youthful  introduction to the story.

The original film, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, is just about as atmospheric and romantic as they come. Harrison is superb as the externally gruff Captain Gregg, whose heart is captured after death, while Tierney (best known for her Oscar nominated performance in Otto Preminger's Laura) is simply lovely. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir may not be a scary ghost movie by any means, but it is certainly worth a look for film students and lovers of old-fashioned love stories.

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Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?

Lucas Haas in Lady in White

Like many good ghost stories, 1988's under-appreciated Lady in White is actually a mystery (which I am about to spoil). 

On Halloween, 1962, nine year old Frankie (Lukas Haas) is trapped in his school cloakroom by some bullies. While there, he sees a young girl being murdered and is attacked, himself. The girl's ghost asks Frankie to help her find her mother and he faints. He awakes in the hospital to learn that the school janitor has been arrested for the attack on him and the murders of 11 other children.

The ghost. Melissa, befriends Frankie and eventually, he returns to the cloakroom where he finds a hairclip and a class ring. The janitor is released due to insufficient evidence, but is later murdered by the mother of one of the real killer's victims. The bullies later lure Frankie to the nearby cliffs, but are scared off by a ghostly lady in white. Frankie runs home and confides to his brother Geno, who doesn't believe him, until Melissa appears to him as well. Frankie also tells family friend 'Uncle Phil' (Len Cariou) about the ring and how he thinks the real killer was looking for it on the night he was attacked. Geno and Frankie follow Melissa to the cloakroom where they see her murder re-enacted, though the killer remains invisible. After being strangled, Melissa's lifeless body is carried to the cliffs, where she revives and is then thrown over. Her mother, dressed in a white dressing gown, runs out of their nearby cottage and, seeing her daughter's lifeless body, throws herself off the cliff in despair.

Eventually, Geno and Frankie link the ring to Phil who drags Frankie off to the cliffs to kill him, but as Frankie's life is being choked from him, Phil is hit from behind. Frankie awakes in the cottage, tended by Amanda (Katherine Helmond), Melissa's aunt and the lady in white who scared the bullies away. Before she can get help, Phil enters the cottage and kills Amanda, setting the house on fire. Phil drags Frankie back to the cliff but before he throw him over, he is assaulted by the ghost of Melissa's mother and falls over, himself. Melissa and her mother then ascend together toward Heaven as Geno and their father Angelo (Alex Rocco) arrive to pull Frankie up from the side of the cliff. Just as they do so, Phil reappears, grabbing Frankie's ankle. Faced with the truth and the police, Phil lets go and plunges to his death.

Creepy and loaded with atmosphere, Lady in White was a critical, if not a commercial, success. It was eventually embraced by fans with its release on video and repeated offerings on cable, where it eventually earned a sort of cult status. Writer/director Frank LaLoggia does a fine job of creating atmosphere and tension, though the plot was probably a little old-fashioned for contemporary horror fans, who were still looking for gore and mayhem in the wake of the 80's Slasher craze. The performances are mostly terrific. Haas was still best known for his debut in Witness but does a lovely job and Cariou, known mostly as a Broadway performer is superb as the guilt-plagued killer. And while hardly a scare-the-pants-off-you thriller like The Haunting or Insidious, Lady in White is certainly worth watching on a gloomy Saturday afternoon, especially when paired up with another similarly atmospheric film.

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Seed

Season 3 of AMC's "The Walking Dead" opens several months after the Seasson 2 finale in which the barn burned down and Hershel's farm was overrun with Walkers. Our intrepid band of survivors enter a home, taking out the Walkers inside and looking for whatever food they can find. Daryl kills and plucks an owl roosting in an upstairs bedroom while Carl finds a few canned items in the kitchen. But before they can enjoy their finds, Walkers move in and the group moves on. 

Stopping to reconnoiter, Daryl and Rick head out to hunt ("That owl didn't exactly hit the spot"), finally discovering the prison hinted at in the last episode and Rick formulates a plan. Rick, Glen, Daryl, TBone and Maggie slip inside the outer yard as the others distract the Walkers. Eventually the Walkers in the yard are all destroyed and the group spends the night in the relative safety of the yard, where Hershel suggests they could plant tomatoes, corn and soy beans. Beth and Maggie sing "Parting Glass" around the fire, while Rick formulates a plan to take over the prison as a safe refuge. It soon becomes clear that Rick and the very pregnant Lori have not overcome the problem of her baby's uncertain fatherhood and Carl has not yet forgiven his father for having to 'kill' Shane.

Elsewhere, Michonne (who has yet to be named) sneaks into a pharmacy, killing three Walkers (two with one stroke of her sword) and snatching up a packet of aspirin.

The next day, the group moves into the inner perimeter of the prison, taking out dozens of Walkers in hand-to-hand combat. Several of the Walkers are prison guards in riot gear and have to be taken out under their helmets. When Rick pulls a gas mask off of one them, it's face literally comes off with the mask, leaving a snarling, chomping skull behind. Eventually, they make their way into a cell block that is full of dead bodies, but free or Walkers. The group settles in to the cell block, though Daryl is uncomfortable sleeping in a 'cage' and Carl appears to have a crush on Beth.

Returning to the bar where she has her armless and jawless Walkers confined, Michonne delivers the aspirin to an obviously sick Andrea, who admonishes Michonne for staying to take care of her. We must assume that Andrea has some kind of flu, though it isn't made clear. Michonne asserts "We'll leave in a few days," while Andrea says "If we stay, I'll die."

In the morning, Lori is scared because the baby has stopped moving and worries that it is already dead and may rip its way out. Hershel tries to allay her fears and Rick; Hershel; TBone; Glenn; Daryl and Maggie head deeper into the prison in search of food and an infirmary. Glenn marks their way with spray-paint arrows on the walls. When they encounter a mob of Walkers and attempt to escape, Hershel is bitten on the calf and the group is forced into what appears to be the prison cafeteria. Rick finds no other way to save Hershel than to amputate his leg with an ax. 

Michonne and Andrea (and Michonne's 'pet' Walkers) head out from the bar's receiving dock, cautiously making their way through what looks like an abandoned lumber yard.

Back at the prison, where Rick has just cut off Hershel's leg, TBone notices a group of figures behind a chain-link wall, which they assume are Walkers, but who turn out to be several living survivors who are just as surprised to see them.

Filled with loads of zombies, 'Seeds' showed just how callous the group has become about taking out the Walkers. Even the formerly meek Carol and Beth have no problem stabbing Walkers in their heads. I can only imagine that the (as yet) undocumented winter have turned all of them into expert Walker killers and can't wait to find out how Michonne and Andrea have survived. And who are the people still alive in the prison? How have they survived and how will they effect and interact with the central characters? What's wrong with Andrea and how have she and Michonne bonded? And when and how will we meet 'The Governor?'

Here's a look at next week's episode, 'Sick:"

More, anon.
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Dogs and Cats, Living Together

"It just popped in there!"

Okay - so technically, 1984's Ghostbusters is a comedy. Dan Aykroyd supposedly based the screenplay for Ivan Reitman's movie on his own beliefs in the supernatural and UFOs. The veracity of the supposition remains to be proven. Of course, it doesn't really matter because Ghostbusters remains one of the quintessential '80's comedies which will be quoted by frat boys and movie enthusiasts ad infinitum.

Aykroyd is Columbia University parapsychologist Ray Stantz, whose colleagues Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) and Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) are called in to investigate phenomena at the NYC Public library and later, a prestigious hotel, where their use of 'proton packs' and a ghost 'containment system' causes all sorts of damage, resulting in them being fired from Colunbia. They start their own business, 'Ghostbusters,' with which they promise to remove paranormal entities from fellow New Yorkers' homes. They set up shop in an abandoned firehouse and transform an old ambulance into their official vehicle, hiring Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts) as their receptionist. Business is slow until they get a call from Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver), a philharmonic musician whose apartment has been taken over by an ancient demon named Zuul. As the sarcastic Venkman woos Dana, Egon discovers that her building was designed by a cult leader who designed it as gateway to summon a demon known as Gozer in order to bring about the destruction of mankind. Meanwhile, Dana's neighbor Louis (Rick Moranis) becomes possessed by a demon known as 'Vinz Clortho,' or The Keymaster. When Dana is possessed by The Gatekeeper Zuul, she and Vinz start the end of the world. All of this thanks to EPA lawyer Walter Peck (William Atherton), who shuts down the Ghostbusters' containment unit because it's an unlicensed nuclear device. When the spirits trapped in the device escape, New York is overrun by malevolent spirits and the mayor has no choice but to let the team (now joined by Winston Zeddemore - Ernie Hudson) to take action. Zuul forces the team to choose the form of the 'destructor,' and while the others block their thoughts, Ray can only think of the mascot for StaPuft Marshmallows and a giant marshmallow monster is loosed upon the city.

Aykroyd, Ramis and Moranis came up with a brilliantly hilarious script and Reitman was wise enough to let Murray improvise much of his dialogue, resulting in one of the funniest supernatural comedies ever made. But for my money, it's Weaver's fearless performance as Dana/Zuul; Moranis' insane performance as Lewis/Vinz and Potts' deadpan performance as an imperturbable New Yorker that make the movie work so well. Without these three actors, Ghostbusters would have been just another throw-away 80's comedy with a supernatural hook. Personally, it's the amazing Annie Potts who makes the movie so watchable. Janine embodies the unimpressionable "been there, seen that" New Yorker of the 80's to a tee. Of course, Atherton's imperious prig Peck doesn't hurt.

The rather silly 1989 sequel Ghostbusters 2 has it's merits (among them, Peter MacNicol's insanely hilarious performance as Janosz), it doesn't hold a candle to the original. 

More, anon.
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