Alright lets set the scene. It is a Saturday afternoon, I have finished all my housework, most people are out of town and there is a huge storm outside and it is forecaste for the entire weekend. What shall I do? I know, watch a horror movie. Well this ended up turning into four movies, but they were four phenomenal horror movies that I couldn't believe I hadn't seen before. These were, in order, Suspiria, Braindead, Jacob's Ladder and An American Werewolf in London. I will give a quick review of each but I will put this out there now, I recommend everyone should watch each of these movies if they have the chance.
Suspiria (1977)
Directed by Dario Argento. Starring: Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini.
This phsycological thriller tells the tale of a girl who moves from the states to Germany to join an elite dance academy. She is immediately met with some mysterious happenings, which begin to become more frequent. She then discovers that the dance troupe is run by a coven of witches and must escape before she is killed.
The scares in this movie are actually few and far in between but when they do come, boy do you know about it. The film relies on the long periods of suspense that build up to a few scenes that are designed to shock. An example of this is when the house is over run by maggots. It really plays no part in the over arching story but it really comes out of no where and it is as shocking as a scene involving maggots can be. It also does what many horror movie of the time aim to do, absolutely shock during the death scenes. You usually see the end for the characters coming, but how they happen is a huge surprise, mostly through the use of clever camera angles and a great soundtrack.
The suspense of the movie is enhanced through some stunning visuals. A lot of movies, especially horrors, around this time are grainy and lifeless but this one is just pretty. It uses the technicolour film (the last of which was made using the RYB technique similar to that in the Wizard of Oz) to the best effect and the dance academy is just spectacular.
You can tell that this movie is a European film as the English is slightly broken but other than that it is nothing short of spectacular. A horror classic. 5 Stars, possible Top 100 ever.
Braindead (1992)
Directed by Peter Jackson. Starring: Timothy Balme, Diana Peñalver.
After Lionel's (Balme) mother is bitten by a Sumatran Rat-Monkey after interupting him on a date with local shop keep Paquita (Penalver), she is turned into a mutant zombie. Lionel, still in denial over his mother's sort of not death, he keeps her locked in her basement along with three others she has infected. Mayhem ensues after they are let out during a party.
Three words spring to mind when watching this movie, stupid, gory and fun. This movie is classic Peter Jackson. Before he went mainstream with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Jackson was the master of black comedy. With classics like Bad Taste and Meet the Feebeles, his creative genius was allowed to flow creating these movies that on the surface seem unbelievably stupid but when you dig down they are comedic masterpieces. I think Braindead is the best of these. It has so many moments that make you say really, like when a priest sweep kicks someones legs off, then you are left laughing your head off.
The second word I would use to describe this movie is gory. There is absolutely no shortage of fake blood in this movie. I though Kill Bill had the fountain blood down pact but this is something else. All I am going to say, the crescendo of the fight scene involves a lawn mower, best zombie destroyer ever.
Finally, this movie is just awesome fun. I had a smile on my face the entire time. Even things I usually find annoying in movies, such as the addition of an intentionally irritating character, in the form of the zombie baby, is done to perfection. Watch this movie! 5 Stars
Jacob's Ladder (1990)
Directed by Adrian Lyne. Starring: Tim Robbins, Elizibeth Pena.
Jacob Singer (Robbins) is an ex-Vietnam vet who is haunted by his past in the war as well as his divorce and the death of his youngest son (an uncredited cameo by McCaulay Calkin). He begins to lose his sanity but then must realise what reality actually is.
As far as my watchings of the weekend, this is probably the weakest film of the four. Not to say that this is a bad movie, it is fantastic, it just seemed to lack something the other movies had. It didn't have the thrills of Suspiria, the comedy of Braindead and the underlying themes in An American Werewolf in London. It is that extra element that usually makes a horror movie special. Jacob's Ladder is probably more of a thriller in that sense. It attempts to play on the raw emotions of the viewer to achieve it shocks rather than having people brutally murdered or things jump out in your face. In that sense, this movie does it almost to perfection. It is very well paced with the "wow" moments thrown in at just the right time. The performance by Tim Robbins is also quite believable and really adds to the experience.
A very good movie that was really overshadowed by the others I watched over the weekend. 4 Stars
An American Werewolf In London (1981)
Directed by John Landis. Starring: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter
Two Americans are hiking through the British moors when they are attacked by a werewolf, killing one and wounding the other. The wounded party, David Kessler (Naughton), falls for his British nurse (Agutter) and must juggle becoming a werewolf with his new love.
This is not your normal slasher horror in the traditional sense. It relies more on realising the fact that this could happen to anyone rather than relying on blood and gore. It also builds on the relationship between the two main characters much more than any other horror I have seen.
It takes a while to really appreciate this movie for what it really is. After watching it I really wasn't blown away by it but after thinking about it for a couple of days it really grew on me. The ending was something that at first disappointed me but then pleased me. It was both tragic and necessary at the same time. It is often imitated but never replicated.
A horror movie staple that is perfect for beginners to the genre. 4.5 Stars
Overall this was a very good weekend of movie watching. Suspiria was probably the best movie here but I am going to say that Braindead is the pick of the bunch. It never took itself seriously and was just good fun to watch.
I am going to do some classic movie reviews more often, so if anyone has any suggestions let me know. Next time I will have a look at Troll 2.
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