This was posted on my regular blog, reposted here with pictures.
Top Five Slasher Films
In honor of Halloween, my favorite holiday, I thought I would do a few countdowns of some of my favorite horror movies. Why? Because I'm always looking for something to distract me from work.
Today, I'm going to focus on a genre of horror I generally cast dispersions on. The Slasher film. By most standards, the best place to find the most gratuitous nudity, violence, and unintentional laughs. Very few have been made well, and, honestly, very few have been made so terribly they become comedic. Most are just paint-by-numbers snooze fests.
The five I've chosen are the ones that I feel either achieved something artistically, or somehow came back around to become hilarious. Let's begin, shall we?
5. Friday the 13th Part III
Honestly, I'd put the whole series here. I love each of the original Friday the 13th movies for the same basic reasons. Goofy characters, attractive girls who always like to get naked, and creative death scenes. Not so much from Mrs. Vorhees, the killer in the first Friday, but from her son Jason, the savant mass murderer, the kid who was unable to speak, could barely function, but is some kind of twisted genius when it comes to killing. Squeezing a mattress and its occupant in half, crushing his spine. Impaling two kids post coitus with a spear, making a teen kabob. He can even crush someone's skull with his bare hands. Jason had a gift.
So why did I pick Part III? Because it was shot for 3D. And it contains moments that must've looked spectacular in the third dimension. Yo-yo, in 3D! Guy with fist extended, in 3D! Broom handle, in 3D! Director Steve Miner was years ahead of James Cameron.
But Part IV is also notable for Crispin Glover's amazing dance sequence.
4. A Nightmare on Elm Street
Mainly the original from 1984, but I would also include the 2010 remake. Both movies suffer from the same draw backs. Mediocre acting, bland film making, and a terrible distinction of exactly when the movie was made. What the original has in creative killings, the remake has in atmosphere and tension. Both feature an amazing antagonist, played well by both the great Robert Englund and Jackie Earl Haley.
But the original is the original. It came first, so it's really the one that counts. What raises Nightmare above most other slasher movies is both its antagonist and the absolute sense of hopelessness. Anyone can run away from a guy with sharp knives, except when he can get you in your sleep. It's a simple and terrifying idea. If you sleep, you die. And when you do die, it will be after your bed sucks you in and purees you.
3. American Psycho
At its heart, a slasher film. But this is one with big ideas. A critique of yuppies and Reagan's America. Christian Bale is perfect as Patrick Bateman, a psychopathic killer who only wants to fit in. He kills when someone has a nicer business card than him. He mutilates hookers. He even eats some of their brains, and he tried to cook a little.
The reason to see the movie is for the protagonist. Bateman is outwardly a charming if smug young executive, interchangeable with any of his friends. But beneath that is someone who hates the world he's a part of, and wants to tear it down one person at a time. His motive is simply to inflict the pain he feels on others. Doesn't exactly make one to move up the corporate ladder.
But what's amazing is that Bateman, who kills without reason or remorse, is somehow a sympathetic character. You know immediately the terrible things he has done and will do, and yet somehow you want him to get away with it. You almost understand why he needed to kill Paul Allen. There aren't many movies that make you feel sorry for the wrong person, except...
2. Psycho
We all go a little mad sometimes.
Before the release of Psycho, it was common for people to enter a theater long after the movie whenever they pleased. Wanting to preserve the many surprises of his new film, Hitchcock required that no theater allow anyone in to see Psycho after the movie started. With this movie, Hitchcock actually changed the way people actually went to see movies.
On top of that, it's an extraordinarily effective thriller. Anthony Perkins' career was defined by this one role. And he is perfect in it. You sympathize with him and his plight, straight up to the bitter end. Watch it again once you know what's going to happen, and suddenly his performance is downright chilling. Hitchcock's choice to shoot the film in black and white only adds to the suspenseful atmosphere, shading the film in monochromatic tones and pitch blacks.
And I refuse to acknowledge the remake as anything other than a failure.
And, my number one...
1. Halloween
John Carpenter's classic.
Carpenter made the perfect killer. He has no purpose, no reason for living, no motive behind his killings. He is pure evil, as Dr. Loomis so eloquently puts it. Why does Michael Myers pursue poor Laurie Strode? Well, if you ignore the worthless sequels, then there is no reason. Only because she went to the front door of his old abandoned house. Or because he felt like it. Or some unknown, supernatural reason.
It doesn't matter. Michael Myers is the perfect killer. His mask shows no emotion. He doesn't speak. And he seemingly can't die. He just keeps coming, and coming. And Carpenter was crafty enough to shoot the night scenes in such high contrast that Myers literally appears out of the shadows.
There is a great moment that defines the Myers character. Bob, having just done the deed with Lynda, heads to the kitchen for some beer. Myers ambushes the teenager, lifting him off the ground, and pinning him against the wall with a butcher knife. Myers steps back, tilting his head, looking at the dead boy on the wall. Is he admiring a piece of art? Is he wondering what's happened? Who knows? It's what makes Myers such a great antagonist. He's thinking something, but we're never privy to it.
On a craft level, Halloween is a masterpiece. It's well shot, well written, perfectly cast, and the score has gone on to become famous in its own right. It made John Carpenter a name in Hollywood, Jaime Lee Curtis a star, and spawned seven sequels, a remake, and a sequel to the remake. But none of them come close to the original.
Except maybe Halloween III. That movie is awesome!
Top Five Slasher Films
In honor of Halloween, my favorite holiday, I thought I would do a few countdowns of some of my favorite horror movies. Why? Because I'm always looking for something to distract me from work.
Today, I'm going to focus on a genre of horror I generally cast dispersions on. The Slasher film. By most standards, the best place to find the most gratuitous nudity, violence, and unintentional laughs. Very few have been made well, and, honestly, very few have been made so terribly they become comedic. Most are just paint-by-numbers snooze fests.
The five I've chosen are the ones that I feel either achieved something artistically, or somehow came back around to become hilarious. Let's begin, shall we?
5. Friday the 13th Part III
Honestly, I'd put the whole series here. I love each of the original Friday the 13th movies for the same basic reasons. Goofy characters, attractive girls who always like to get naked, and creative death scenes. Not so much from Mrs. Vorhees, the killer in the first Friday, but from her son Jason, the savant mass murderer, the kid who was unable to speak, could barely function, but is some kind of twisted genius when it comes to killing. Squeezing a mattress and its occupant in half, crushing his spine. Impaling two kids post coitus with a spear, making a teen kabob. He can even crush someone's skull with his bare hands. Jason had a gift.
So why did I pick Part III? Because it was shot for 3D. And it contains moments that must've looked spectacular in the third dimension. Yo-yo, in 3D! Guy with fist extended, in 3D! Broom handle, in 3D! Director Steve Miner was years ahead of James Cameron.
But Part IV is also notable for Crispin Glover's amazing dance sequence.
4. A Nightmare on Elm Street
Mainly the original from 1984, but I would also include the 2010 remake. Both movies suffer from the same draw backs. Mediocre acting, bland film making, and a terrible distinction of exactly when the movie was made. What the original has in creative killings, the remake has in atmosphere and tension. Both feature an amazing antagonist, played well by both the great Robert Englund and Jackie Earl Haley.
But the original is the original. It came first, so it's really the one that counts. What raises Nightmare above most other slasher movies is both its antagonist and the absolute sense of hopelessness. Anyone can run away from a guy with sharp knives, except when he can get you in your sleep. It's a simple and terrifying idea. If you sleep, you die. And when you do die, it will be after your bed sucks you in and purees you.
3. American Psycho
At its heart, a slasher film. But this is one with big ideas. A critique of yuppies and Reagan's America. Christian Bale is perfect as Patrick Bateman, a psychopathic killer who only wants to fit in. He kills when someone has a nicer business card than him. He mutilates hookers. He even eats some of their brains, and he tried to cook a little.
The reason to see the movie is for the protagonist. Bateman is outwardly a charming if smug young executive, interchangeable with any of his friends. But beneath that is someone who hates the world he's a part of, and wants to tear it down one person at a time. His motive is simply to inflict the pain he feels on others. Doesn't exactly make one to move up the corporate ladder.
But what's amazing is that Bateman, who kills without reason or remorse, is somehow a sympathetic character. You know immediately the terrible things he has done and will do, and yet somehow you want him to get away with it. You almost understand why he needed to kill Paul Allen. There aren't many movies that make you feel sorry for the wrong person, except...
2. Psycho
We all go a little mad sometimes.
Before the release of Psycho, it was common for people to enter a theater long after the movie whenever they pleased. Wanting to preserve the many surprises of his new film, Hitchcock required that no theater allow anyone in to see Psycho after the movie started. With this movie, Hitchcock actually changed the way people actually went to see movies.
On top of that, it's an extraordinarily effective thriller. Anthony Perkins' career was defined by this one role. And he is perfect in it. You sympathize with him and his plight, straight up to the bitter end. Watch it again once you know what's going to happen, and suddenly his performance is downright chilling. Hitchcock's choice to shoot the film in black and white only adds to the suspenseful atmosphere, shading the film in monochromatic tones and pitch blacks.
And I refuse to acknowledge the remake as anything other than a failure.
And, my number one...
1. Halloween
John Carpenter's classic.
Carpenter made the perfect killer. He has no purpose, no reason for living, no motive behind his killings. He is pure evil, as Dr. Loomis so eloquently puts it. Why does Michael Myers pursue poor Laurie Strode? Well, if you ignore the worthless sequels, then there is no reason. Only because she went to the front door of his old abandoned house. Or because he felt like it. Or some unknown, supernatural reason.
It doesn't matter. Michael Myers is the perfect killer. His mask shows no emotion. He doesn't speak. And he seemingly can't die. He just keeps coming, and coming. And Carpenter was crafty enough to shoot the night scenes in such high contrast that Myers literally appears out of the shadows.
There is a great moment that defines the Myers character. Bob, having just done the deed with Lynda, heads to the kitchen for some beer. Myers ambushes the teenager, lifting him off the ground, and pinning him against the wall with a butcher knife. Myers steps back, tilting his head, looking at the dead boy on the wall. Is he admiring a piece of art? Is he wondering what's happened? Who knows? It's what makes Myers such a great antagonist. He's thinking something, but we're never privy to it.
On a craft level, Halloween is a masterpiece. It's well shot, well written, perfectly cast, and the score has gone on to become famous in its own right. It made John Carpenter a name in Hollywood, Jaime Lee Curtis a star, and spawned seven sequels, a remake, and a sequel to the remake. But none of them come close to the original.
Except maybe Halloween III. That movie is awesome!
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On the other hand, I can watch and enjoy movies like Arachnophobia or Kingdom of the Spiders without a problem. Phobias are interesting!