Well, as we approach yet another
Halloween around the corner, it’s come that time to wrap up our third year of
13 Nerdy Nights of Horror. But that begs the question, what film do we cap this
year off with? I thought long and hard about this one, and I think the best way
for me to cap this year off, is by talking about one of my favorite vampire
films, and one that’s celebrating its 20th anniversary. And that
film of which I speak of would have to come from Quentin Tarantino.
I’ve talked plenty about Quentin
Tarantino in previous reviews, stating him as my favorite film maker and all
that jazz, so I’ll keep it as brief as possible. If you remember my “Top 7
Quentin Tarantino Movies,” you might recall me saying that I only included the
films he directed, as opposed to anything else. Well, I figured to make up for
that, I’ll be discussing one of those films that didn’t make the cut, and is
celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. And it goes by the name
of “From Dusk Till Dawn.”
After the success of “Reservoir
Dogs,” a few people in Hollywood took a sudden interest in Tarantino, and one
of them was Robert Kurtzman. Kurtzman at the time had written out a story of
two outlaw brothers who get roped into a fight with vampires, and had hired
Tarantino to write a script based on that idea. When the script was finished,
Robert Rodriquez was given the task of director and editor, the cast was
assembled, and on January of 1996, “From Dusk Till Dawn” was released among the
public.
While the film wasn’t a big hit at
the box office, nor was it as well received by critics, especially compared to
Tarantino and Rodriguez’s previous works at the time, the film still managed to
find new life as a cult classic. One of the aspects that make it differentiate
from Tarantino’s other films and how they all connect with one another, is that
“From Dusk Till Dawn” is a movie within the Tarantino universe, and the only
other film that shares it in that regard is “Kill Bill.”
The main thing that everybody
remembers is the finale at the bar, where the brothers and the family they’re
holding hostage go to war with the vampire tribe that resides there. However,
it actually turns out to be the film’s biggest drawback. For most of the film,
we’re focusing on these two brothers who are trying to get to Mexico, while
holding a family of three hostage, and then to suddenly go into this
supernatural B-movie, makes it feel like they spliced two different movies. That’s
not to say both sides are bad, as they truly are so much fun to sit through,
but I feel like the film needed a bit of foreshadowing to ease the audience in
better.
That, and some of the special
effects can be a little cheap looking. I mean, the make-up and practical
effects on the vampires do look neat, but when the film utilizes CGI,
especially with transformation scenes, it looks pretty bad. Then again, it was
the mid-90’s, and CGI was at the height of its exploitation.
Aside from that, the film is exactly
what it needs to be, and that’s be a fun cheese-fest. What Rodriguez and
Tarantino were obviously trying to do was pay homage to the grindhouse films of
the 70’s, something they would do again in 2007 with “Planet Terror” and “Death
Proof.” The over-the-top action, the memorable one liners, and the cast of
characters are all memorable, even the ones who show up at the third act with
not that much screen time still manage to leave a good impression on you.
Now what can be said about the tv
series reboot that’s out right now. Well…I don’t really have an opinion on it,
because I haven’t seen it. Although, I am aware that the first season is
basically a retelling of the movie, so maybe some of the problems that I had
with the film are handled better, being presented episodically with more to
build off of. But maybe one day I’ll get around to it.
As for the film, I do recommend that
people give it a watch. Of course, you’d have to be in the right mindset to
enjoy the film, because it isn’t a film that is going to settle in with
everyone. It may not be written as clever as “Reservoir Dogs” or directed as
slick as “Desperado,” but it’s not trying to be. It’s a B-movie, and a fun one
at that. Whether you go buy the blu-ray or go see the 20th
anniversary screening this Nov. 6 and 9th, it doesn’t matter. As
long as you give the film a watch and come out with an opinion on it, that’s
all that matters.
Rating: 8/10
Now with that said and done, all I got
left to say is thank you to all who have stuck around for the end. It’s been a
blast looking over these films and sharing my thoughts on them with you guys,
especially for the third year in a row. Luckily, I had more good films to talk about
this Halloween season than bad. Of course, there were more films that I hated,
but I’ll save those for a little later. With that said, hope you all have a wonderful
night of horrors, and enjoy the festivities whatever way possible, in whatever
fashion you so choose.
However, due to the film being a
Blum House production, it was made on a low budget, which was able to regain
profits, despite the critics panning it down to the bone. And because it made
enough profits back, it meant ANOTHER “Ouija” film…oh boy. However, instead of
having Stiles White and Juliet Snowden, the couple that made the original film,
the studio instead hired Jeff Howard and Mike Flanagan, the duo behind “Oculus,” to
write a new film, with Flanagan attached to direct. I figured since it was
still the month of Halloween, and that there weren’t any other new horror films
out in theaters at the moment aside from Fathom Event re-releases, I decided to
give this one a shot.
“Ouija: Origin of Evil” is a prequel
that tells us the events that transpired in the first film’s house, back in
1967. We are introduced to Alice, and her daughters, Lina and Doris, who work
as con artist fortune tellers. When they acquire a new Ouija board as part of
their business, they awaken a dark spirit that connects itself with Doris, and
all hell breaks loose.
So, where do I stand on the prequel
to what I consider to be Platinum Dunes and Hasbro’s worst film? Well…in an
ironic turn of events, “Ouija: Origin of Evil” is not only better than the
first one, it’s also one of the year’s best horror films. It kind of makes me
imagine that Mike Flanagan stormed into the studio office and told them, “let
me show you bastards how to make an ACTUAL horror film,” and did just that.
For starters, the film doesn’t
exploit itself to the jump-scares, as opposed the first film where they
overused them every two to three minutes. “Origin of Evil” actually takes the
time to let the unsettling atmosphere and the building suspense put you on the
edge of your seat. And whenever you do see something scary happen on screen, it
isn’t framed in a way where you’re predicting something to pop up and scare
you, but rather has a creepy image in the corner of the frame, just slightly
behind a character. I truly applaud Flanagan for reminding us that there are
still proper horror directors being brought into the new age.
With the film taking place in the
1960’s, Flanagan goes all out to make this appear as much like a 60’s horror
flick as much as possible. Not just in the costume design, sets, and music, but
down to the use of the old Universal logo, the title card, and even adding in reel
changes, with the cigarette burns in the corner that pops up occasionally.
Sure, it doesn’t always keep that way, with some scenes adding in CGI and it
looking like it was shot digitally, but aside from that, it still keeps it intact.
It really impresses me how Flanagan took what was originally a cash-grab, and
turned it into a love letter to 60’s filmmaking.
Not only that, but the biggest
accomplishment that Flanagan and Howard did was they fixed the storytelling
problems that I had with the previous film. They actually gave proper
explanations as to why the mother’s spirit was attack the kids in the first
film, and how Lina telling the kids that releasing Doris would be a good thing,
when all it did was make everything worse. Not going to say what she does
exactly, but it is really satisfying to have SOME kind of explanation for it
all.
I also have to applaud the cast for
their work in this film as well. Annalise Basso as Lina and Elizabeth Reaser as
her mother Alice do a great job working off of each other. The two may have
their fights, frustrated by either a failing business or grieving still about
the loss of their father/husband, but they still manage to pull themselves
together for the sake of the greater good, even if it may not be the result
they want. At the end of the day, they still try to keep their family bond
strong, and both actresses succeed at making us feel that. Other cast members
like Henry Thomas as Father Tom, Parker Mack as Lina’s boyfriend, and even an
appearance by Doug Jones as the entity that possesses Doris, all do a great job
adding to the film’s narrative.
Speaking of Doris, I was really
impressed with Lulu Wilson in this film. For a child actress in a horror film, she
really steals the show. The way she transitions from such a darling child to Damien
from “The Omen” is very unsettling. And luckily, it slowly builds with the
film, instead of it being a quick multiple personality disorder. It’s kind of
like Jeff Goldblum in “The Fly,” only…well, you know what I mean.
Does the film have any drawbacks?
Yeah, it does. While it may not exploit the jump-scares, there are at least one
or two times it did it, but that was about it. And like I said, the moments
when it does occasionally use CGI, where you see Doug Jones as the entity, does
take you out of the 1960’s feel the movie was doing so well with. That, and the
effect was reminding me quite a bit of “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost
Dimension,” with Toby the demon looking like a gooey symbiote mess. Aside from
that, there’s not much else I didn’t like about the film.
Overall, I was surprisingly
impressed with “Ouija: Origin of Evil.” After this, “Oculus,” and “Hush,” Mike
Flanagan has a good future set for him in the world of horror films. If you get
a chance, definitely give this film a watch, and be in for a treat. For once, I
can say with full confidence that Platinum Dunes made a really damn good film.
After the release of “Batman v
Superman: Dawn of Justice” hit theaters, it has divided the fans to a greater
level than any other comic book movie ever has. Not so much of who they wanted
to see win, but rather judging the film overall. Some people think it’s an
abomination, while others say that it’s the film that fans love and critics
hate. It is true that a majority of critics weren’t pleased with the film, but
hey, there are MILLIONS of films that audiences love that critics hate. It’s
not that surprising people. As I’ve stated in my review for it earlier this
year, I thought the film was alright, but I understand where the hatred of it
stems from. The one major complaint that I’ve heard about with the film is that
the tone was just too dreary for a film featuring The World’s Finest. Of
course, tone is extremely subjective, and if you can’t get used to it, then
there’s no way to enjoy it.
Because of the severe backlash that it got, as well as
cowering in defeat at losing to “Deadpool” at the domestic box office, Warner
Bros. called for reshoots with more light-hearted moments to be added to their
next film, “Suicide Squad.” Considering that the release date of this film was
not too far away when the reshoots were called for, you can probably imagine that
some bit of panic was put upon the people who were making this film. After all,
they were already airing test screenings by the time they announced reshoots,
and people were praising the first cut they saw, before telling us the further
cuts weren’t as good. However, since they had David Ayer helming the movie, I
still remained optimistic about the film.
After the events of “Dawn of Justice,” the government is
looking at whatever possible defenses they can resort to, in case they have to
deal with a Superman-like being that could put them in peril. Such a peril
comes in the form of June Moone, an archaeologist who is possessed by a spirit
known as the Enchantress, who plans on laying waste to Midway City and turning
its inhabitance into her monstrous slaves. In response to this, Amanda Waller
suggests recruiting a group of criminals to work under the government, in
exchange for perks of their choosing. So now it’s up to some of the worst of
the worst and some mercenaries to take on this devastating threat.
When critical reviews for this film were released, fans
were outraged at how a lot of professional movie reviewers were upset that
their opinion was negative towards a movie that at the time hadn’t even come
out yet. This got so out of control, that a petition was created to shut down
“Rotten Tomatoes,” because they were believed to be bias against DC…or maybe
it’s because some fanboys are so thin-skinned, that they can’t accept the fact
that a majority of people didn’t like their piece of shit movie.
Yeah, I’m not beating around the bush here people.
“Suicide Squad” was a giant clusterfuck of a movie, even more so than “Batman v
Superman!” And to all those who are going to argue back with, “oh, but there's
a director's cut,” can it! David Ayer had said that his director’s cut was what
we saw in theaters, so he clarified that we were supposed to be satisfied with
that version. Well, guess what David? I was NOT satisfied.
To really go in depth on why makes this film such a
complete pain to sit through, much like “Maleficent,” I’ll be going through the
things that truly aggravate me the most about this film.
#5) The film is trying too
hard to be like “Guardians of the Galaxy” – When you look at the film, simply
through one or two trailers alone, you can easily tell that this was supposed
to be DC’s answer to Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy.” A team of misfit
criminals tasked with saving the world, in a zany fun blockbuster fashion, all
while learning to grow attached to each other as a team. It doesn’t really
work, however. You see, with “Guardians of the Galaxy,” that took over the
course of a few days, and the team’s motivation wasn't originally to save the
world at all, but just to get out of prison and sell off the infinity stone
they found. It was only from finding out what the thing could really do, and
getting their asses handed by Ronan, that they needed to learn how to be a team
and save the day. With “Suicide Squad,” it was “stop a witch and monsters, get
rewarded, or you all die” in the span of one night. It doesn’t really have the
same kind of impact or believability as “Guardians” did. That, and the music
cues, while good choices, didn’t add much to the film. At least with
“Guardians,” the songs had a purpose for being showcased in the film, because
we established that the mix tape that Starlord had was one of the things he had
to remember his mother by. Why does “Suicide Squad” have these songs? …’cuz
can. Also, fuck you for not using Bohemian Rhapsody to it's best potential, like you did with the trailer. But going back to what I said earlier on this being within one night…
#4) The storytelling narrative
is HORRIBLE – I kid you not, the way this film is paced and edited is
absolutely atrocious! After hearing the news about how this film had to do a
few reshoots and extra scenes, it really shows that. Remember how I said that “X-Men:
Apocalypse” had some tonal problems when trying to add humor? Yeah, this was
like that, only much worse. Not only do the tonal shifts really take you out of
the mood, but it feels so forced, and that got really distracting. It’s nothing
but a failed attempt at trying to balance a hard edge with comedy, something
that films like “Deadpool” and “Kingsman: The Secret Service” did so much
better. It also feels like some scenes got cut for time that were part of the
crucial plot, like when Harley falls onto a rooftop from a helicopter, and then
in the next scene, she’s on top of a car near the building she was escaping
from. What?! And at the near end, El Diablo makes a comment about how the squad
is his new family, despite only having ONE scene of them getting along, and
that was the bar scene. You people barely have any chemistry with one another!
#2) The Joker was completely pointless
– Throughout all of the advertising and interviews going about this film, they
were building up that the Joker was going to play a big role in this film, and
that it was going to be quite chaotic. I was a bit skeptical about Jared Leto
being cast as the Clown Prince of Crime, but considering this was a guy who
really disappears into his characters, I was interested to see what he would
bring. And to his credit, he does a really damn good job as the Joker…for all
of 10 minutes he’s there. That’s right…all that hype, all those interviews
about how he terrorized the cast, how he completely went nuts both on and off
set…and he’s only in the movie for 10 minutes? Hell, those 10 minutes don’t
even amount to anything that happens in the story, aside from giving Harley’s
backstory. I mean, give Doomsday in “Dawn of Justice” some credit, at least he
was built up throughout the film! Apparently, there was some discussion on how
they had to cut down Joker’s screen time, in order to keep the film at a PG-13.
But again, why would that be a problem? Considering “Deadpool” outgrossed “Dawn
of Justice” at the domestic box office, you could have really shown some true
balls here and embrace that dark edge that you guys were going for! Also,
despite Leto giving it his all in this performance, the film didn’t do Joker
and Harley’s relationship right, because Joker spends his screen time trying to
get Harley back. Newsflash: Joker doesn’t give a shit about Harley! He only
sees her as just another one of his goons…an obsessed, smart, and very good
looking one that can kick ass, but a servant none the less. It’s an abusive
relationship, but Harley’s so crazy about the Joker, that she doesn’t care as
long as she gets to be with him. If anything, it should have been Harley trying
to break Joker out of prison, not the other way around!...which brings me to my
final complaint about the film…
#1) Harley Quinn – This is the
character that everyone was looking forward to seeing finally adapted into live
action, including myself. However, this to me was the biggest offense. If you
know me, then you know that I’m not a comic book reader. I’ve read a few
comics, but not enough to consider myself a reader or fan. But whether I was or
wasn’t, I still found what they did with Harley Quinn to be completely asinine.
Harley Quinn has been a character that was so enjoyable to watch, whether it’d
be on any of the shows in Bruce Timm’s DC Animated Universe, where she originated, or in the “Batman:
Arkham Series.” Someone who was started out as by-the-books follower, but went
insane when she got that taste for freedom, in the form of villainy. She was
someone who always had a wide array of causing havoc among the crowd, whether
it was for the Joker or for fun with Poison Ivy. However, “Suicide Squad” doesn’t
give us the Harley that we know and love. She barely has any weapons, her
costume looks cheap and childish, and she never really came off as insane. Not
only that, but she served no purpose to the entire film! Think about it: what
was something useful that Harley Quinn did to help out throughout the entire
film? …yeah, that’s what I thought. And the sad part is Margot Robbie was a
really damn good choice to play Harley. When I saw “The Wolf of Wall Street”
and heard that the model/wife of Jordan Belfort was going to be Harley Quinn, I
was absolutely for that choice. But when I saw her in this movie, I didn’t see
Harley Quinn at all. It just looked like that head cheerleader in high school,
dressed up as one sentence synopsis of Harley, from her nerdy friend. This is
supposed to be the best representation we get?! That’s pathetic!!
So with everything that I’ve said, does the film have any
merit to it? Well, the best thing I can say is the production design does look
impressive and some characters like Deadshot and Killer Croc do look cool. As
for the cast, I thought they all did fine. Viola Davis as Amanda Waller was a
good choice, and it was nice to see this actress portray another authority
type, like she did in “Ender’s Game.” And like I said, I thought Jared Leto,
with what little screen time he had, was giving a very unique take on the Joker
that felt fresh. He may not be as scary as Heath Ledger, or as funny as Jack
Nicholson or Caesar Romero, or as all the above as Mark Hamill, but he was a
welcome edition. As for the Suicide Squad themselves, they did fine. Will Smith,
Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Karen Fukuhara, and even Jai Courtney,
all did fine with what they were given. It’s just a shame that their efforts
all had to be wasted on a film that didn’t give them much to work with.
Overall, “Suicide Squad” easily takes the spot of being
the biggest disappointment of 2016, and it’s definitely going to make my worst
of the year list for sure. I really wanted to like this movie so badly. I had
high hopes that this would be the saving grace for the DCEU, telling audiences
that this film would bring serious competition over Marvel and Disney…sadly,
that’s not going to happen. And I’m going to make this comment now…if “Wonder
Woman” isn’t good, I will not watch “Justice League” next year.
