31 Nights of Terror 2015 #39 - Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
Director: Dwight H Little
Starring: Donald Pleasence, Ellie Cornell, Danielle Harris
Format: DVD

Plot: Ten years after his original massacre, the invalid Michael Myers awakens and returns to Haddonfield to kill his seven-year-old niece on Halloween. Can Dr. Loomis stop him?

Every Halloween night I like to watch one movie from either the Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Halloween franchises. Having watched Halloweens 1, 2 and 3 in recent times I decided on this, the fourth entry and, as the name suggests, the one where Michael Myers returns (after being absent for part three, the producers decided they needed The Shape back).

As a movie in its own right, Halloween 4 isn't anything great. Most of the plot is rehashed from the first movie (Michael escapes and heads to Haddonfield, teenage babysitter, friend who's the Sheriff's daughter, Dr Loomis etc) and Little's direction lacks the artistic eye of John Carpenter. But on the other hand there's something infinitely rewarding about hearing that theme song and seeing Michael creep around killing people, like putting on a pair of well-worn pants.

Obviously we all know that Danielle Harris has turned into a modern scream queen and darling of the horror nerds, but even as a 10-year-old here she's pretty great. Her scared facial expressions are really effective. The rest of the acting is pretty much just there, although of course Donald Pleasance hams it up as the ever-more-crazy Loomis. Also worth a mention is a brief but funny appearance by Carmen Filpi, whose comedic performances in Wayne's World and The Wedding Singer ("I used to be much stronger") make him a legend in my book.

The kills are unfortunately pretty mundane and the gore factor is pretty low. What does make this movie stand out in the memory is the ending. It's a nice little twist and I wish they'd continued with it into the next movie, but of course they ignored it and went back to the tried and true.

Overall part 4 is nothing spectacular, but it's a helluva lot better than what was to come. Hey, at least there's no crappy rapper kung fu fighting Michael, right?

31 Nights of Terror 2015 #36 - Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 (1990)

Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 (1990)
Director: Jeff Burr
Starring: Kate Hodge, Ken Foree, R.A. Mihailoff
Format: VHS

Plot: A couple encounters a perverted gas station attendant who threatens them with a shotgun. They take a deserted path in Texas to seek help, but only meet up with a cannibalistic clan interested in helping themselves to fresh meat.

This is the only of the original TCM movies that I don't own on DVD (it's long out of print and expensive). In fact, I thought I didn't own it at all, until I stumbled upon a VHS copy in a box. I hadn't watched it since it came out on VHS back in the day, so what better time to check it out than now.

I make it no secret that the first two TCM movies are among my very favourite horror films. The first is pure low budget horror and the second is campy fun. But unfortunately when the Sawyer clan bit the dust in part two, it created a problem for anyone wanting to make a further sequel. My preference would have been continuing the story by explaining that Leatherface got away and putting him with a new "family" or some relatives that we weren't aware of. In fact, that's how I like to look at this movie, despite the fact most people say it takes place in an alternative timeline.

Either way, Leatherface is the only carry over from the earlier movies, as he has a new Sawyer family, made up of a wheelchair-ridden "mother", a daughter (WTF?), and three brothers (one of whom is played by future Aragorn Viggo Mortensen). The mother and daughter are interesting, but the others just kind of fade into the background.

The protagonists are an annoying yuppie couple and a survivalist, the latter played by the always-entertaining Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead). Foree is one of the only real high points of this movie, as even Leatherface comes off as pretty boring in this one (and his make-up effects are shoddy).

Unfortunately the VHS of this movie was cut to pieces to get an R rating, so the version I watched was devoid of a lot of violence. In this form it came across as really short as well, as there's one big fight scene and then it's over. I must try to get hold of the unrated DVD at some stage, when it comes down in price.

But besides the obvious hackjob on the gore scenes, this movie has a lot of other problems, including some incredibly dumb moments. Leatherface can drive? Okay. His chainsaw can still run while underwater? Wow.

I'm usually very forgiving when it comes to TCM movies - I enjoy the remakes from recent years - but this one is just plain bad. It doesn't even have the camp factor of part 4. Unless you're a Texas Chainsaw completist, you're fine to skip over this one.

31 Nights of Terror 2015 #17-23 - Saw series (2004-2010)

Saw series (2004-2010)
Format: DVD

My girlfriend is a big fan of the Saw movies and I hadn't seen all of them (giving up after part 5), so we decided to do a marathon of them as part of this year's 31 Nights of Terror. Rather than give individual reviews of each of the movies (and try to explain the plots, which let's face it get pretty intricate and confusing, and impossible not to post spoilers), I thought I would give a few observations about each entry and then rank them.

Saw (2004)

Director: James Wan

Starring: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover
- All these years later it's easy to think of the Saw movies as classic "torture porn", but it's also easy to forget that the first movie was more of a psychological thriller. The gratuitous torture scenes would become prevalent later in the series. Instead this one is all about the twists and turns of the plot, feeling like a sequel to SE7EN in some ways. While I'm not a big fan of some of the "music video" editing, I think James Wan did a great job here. The acting is also top notch, minus Danny Glover who seems, well, tired or something.

Saw 2 (2005)

Director: Darren Lynn Bousman

Starring: Donnie Wahlberg, Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith

- Part two is can't really be classed as out-and-out torture porn, even if there are more "traps" in it, some of them truly cringe-worthy. The syringe pit in particular had me squirming in my seat. I like this one better than the first movie mainly because we get more Jigsaw and Donnie Walhberg plays a better protagonist than Glover did.

Saw 3 (2006)

Director: Darren Lynn Bousman

Starring: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Angus McFadyen

- The torture porn aspect is definitely ramped up in part three, which has some really nasty moments (pig shredder is gross-out and the rack is brutal). I do enjoy the fact that the relationship between Jigsaw and Amanda gets explored here - I think their relationship was what made these early movies so great. Thumbs up to the ending twist.

Saw 4 (2007)

Director: Darren Lynn Bousman

Starring: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Scott Patterson
- Clearly this was meant to be a three-part series and in hindsight it probably should have been left that way, but you can't blame the studio for wanting to milk the golden goose (I think I screwed up the metaphor there somehow). Unfortunately, while Saw IV is indeed watchable, these movies had become very formulaic by this stage - trap, trap, trap, twist ending. In its favour, this entry has some good background on why Jigsaw became a killer, although the amount of flashbacks does drag down the middle portion. Also, am I the only one who found it damn difficult to tell the difference between Agent Strahm and Detective Hoffman? Couldn't they have chosen two actors that didn't look so similar? It's nice to get some closure on the Eric Matthews story arc.

Saw 5 (2008)

Director: David Hackl

Starring: Scott Patterson, Costas Mandylor, Tobin Bell

- By this stage the series was becoming a bit like the Final Destination movies - you keep watching to see what cool kills they can come up with. The biggest fault of Saw V is that it doesn't have enough Jigsaw, as the story revolves around Strahm and Hoffman, neither of which has the charisma to replace John. Points for casting Julie Benz, who is always good, but the ending twist (while involving a great gruesome kill) is pretty weak.

Saw 6 (2009)

Director: Kevin Greutert

Starring: Costas Mandylor, Tobin Bell, Mark Rolston

- I really don't have much to say about part 6, as it suffers from mostly the same faults as the last entry - not enough Jigsaw, too much Hoffman. I will say that the ending twist is pretty good and I enjoyed the overall "game". I really dug the merry-go-round trap.

Saw 3D: The Final Chapter (2010)

Director: Kevin Greutert

Starring: Costas Mandylor, Tobin Bell, Betsy Russell

- And so the series comes to an end, and not before time. The formula is very, very tired by now and this entry doesn't even have the benefit of the directing of James Wan or Darren Lynn Bousman. This entry does ramp up the gore, rivalling part three for most gruesome, but that can't make up for its faults. The biggest fault is the acting - the guy who plays the character Gibson is so hammy and annoying I felt like punching the screen at times. And, as the name suggests, this one was filmed in 3D, so we get plenty of hokey "stuff flying at the screen" effects. The final twist is pretty good and it does tie everything together in a satisfying way (even if you can tell it was story writing on the fly).

My ranking of the Saw movies from best to worst:

1- Saw 2

2- Saw 3

3 - Saw

4 - Saw 4

5 - Saw 6

6 - Saw 5

7 - Saw 3D: The Final Chapter

SUMMER OF 87 #11 - Death Wish 4

 The cover of my VHS copy of Death Wish 4

6pm, Day 2:

Death Wish 4: The Crackdown
Director: J Lee Thompson
Starring: Charles Bronson, Kay Lenz, John P Ryan
Format: VHS (Kerridge Odeon Amalgamated)

Plot: Architect/vigilante Paul Kersey (Bronson) takes on the members of a vicious Los Angeles drug cartel to stop the flow of drugs after his girlfriend's (Lenz) daughter dies from an overdose.

- Unfortunately this marathon hasn't had as much action as I would have liked. Let's change that with some mindless revenge!
- I've seen the original Death Wish but none of the sequels.
- J Lee Thompson (GUNS OF NAVARONE, the original CAPE FEAR) is a top director. I somewhat liked what he did with another Bronson vehicle, WHITE BUFFALO, and he also helmed the underrated slasher HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME.
- I've always had a bit of a thing for Kay Lenz (WHITE LINE FEVER, HOUSE).
- Wow, Dana Barron, who plays the daughter of Kersey's girlfriend, sure did grow up between 1983 (when she played Clark Griswald's annoying daughter Audrey in NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION) and 1987.
- And there's Mark Pellegrino (Satan on SUPERNATURAL, Paul Bennett on DEXTER) in an early bit role as a punk rocker!
- Dig the Wine Salesman bit. Kaboom!
- Pellegrino's not the only Supernatural alumni in this movie. Mitch Pileggi has a bit role as well.
- Bronson + uzi + factory full of bad guys = a good ol' time. Well, not for the bad guys.
- A sure sign you're watching a movie made no later than the 1980s: it contains at least one scene set in a Roller Rink.
- Well, that was certainly an impressive exit for the main bad guy.

Overall thoughts: I haven't seen any of the other Death Wish sequels, so I can't tell you how well this one stacks up against them. But as a standalone it's fairly good. Not as jam-packed full of action as I was hoping, but it has enough explosions, gunfights etc to keep things entertaining. Bronson is as brooding as ever, albeit getting old by this stage and pushing the bounds of credibility as an action star. But he blows away people with a big gun, and that's about all you want from a Death Wish movie, right?

31 Nights of Terror #23 - Phantasm III (1994)

Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994)
Director: Don Coscarelli
Starring: Reggie Bannister, Michael Franklin, Bill Thornbury, Angus Scrimm
Format: VHS (Village Roadshow)

- Disclosure: I haven't seen Phantasm 2, and it's been at least 10 years since I last watched the original Phantasm.
- Nice recap of previous happenings to bring us up to speed. In a nutshell: The Tall Man won't die.
- Exploding midget head!
- Serious laugh out loud moment as Reggie shoots into a tree and several killer dwarves drop out dead.
- So apparently the character of Mike was played in part 2 by James LeGros (SOLAR WARRIORS). But Don Coscarelli had more control over this sequel so brought back Michael Franklin to play Mike, 15 years after the first movie.
- Deserted town. Cool.
- Haha, it's like an R-rated Home Alone.
- Gotta love the sphere kills. So different than anything else in horror movies.
- Rocky is one kickass chick.
- Reggie, trying to get into Rocky's pants: "You ever try vanilla?". Rocky: "Didn't I tell you, dairy products give me gas". Bah-dum-psh.
- I wonder if Coscarelli got a bulk-buy discount on laser-light machines, 'cause he sure likes using them.
- Well, that was an action-packed last half hour. Zombies, spheres, nunchucks... yep, it had it all.

Overall thoughts: "Seeing is easy, understanding takes a little more time." That is a line from Phantasm III and it pretty much sums up the movie. Don't try to apply any logic to this movie, because the stuff with the spheres, killer midgets and zombies doesn't make a lick of sense. But if you just watch it without trying to figure everything out, it's pretty damn fun. I'm sure there are Phantasm purists who don't appreciate the amount of humour, which does detract from the suspense and atmosphere that I remember the first movie had. But non-purists should enjoy it - Coscarelli throws martial arts fights, zombies and a "good" sphere into the mix with the usual Tall Man, sphere and killer dwarf action and it's never boring.

31 Nights of Terror #15 - Child's Play 3 (1991)

Child's Play 3 (1991)
Director: Jack Bender
Starring: Andrew Robinson, Peter Haskell, Brad Dourif, Perrey Reeves, Justin Whalin
Format: DVD (Universal)

- Cool opening credits.
- It's eight years after the events of part two and we're back with the toy company, which has reopened its factory and is bringing the Good Guy dolls back onto the market.
- Replacing Alex Vincent as Andy Barclay (the kid from the first two movies, whose body Chucky wants to plant his soul into) is Justin Whalin, probably best remembered as Jimmy Olsen on the Lois & Clark TV series.
- So Andy's now in a military school. That'll probably mean lots of hazing, asshole sergeants etc.
- Yep, pretty predictable. Not very interesting though.
- Writer Don Mancini wrote this before part two had even been released. He has been quoted as saying he was out of ideas, and from what I've seen so far, I agree with him.
- The carnival funhouse climax should be kickass, but it's not.

Overall thoughts: Dull, dull, dull. It's not hard to see why this was the last Child's Play movie before they rebooted the franchise as comedic parodies. Everything is by the numbers - the plot, the kills, the Chucky wisecracks, the acting, the setting etc. None of the actors are terribly interesting, and some are just plain annoying (the kid Tyler). You'll predict things before they happen and groan at some of the plot points. Definitely the worst of the first three movies and best avoided.

31 Nights of Terror #14 - Child's Play 2 (1990)

Child's Play 2 (1990)

Director: John Lafia
Starring: Alex Vincent, Jenny Aguttr, Gerrit Graham, Christine Elise, Brad Dourif
Format: DVD (Universal)

- Note the change of studio. Apparently MGM didn't want to continue the franchise because of controversy over the first movie (ie violence and kids), so Universal picked it up.
- I was wondering how they would bring Chucky back after his fiery demise in the first movie. Is it really realistic to think the company would rebuild the doll?
- Ah Jenny Agutter. She was so damn hot in American Werewolf in London. Nine years later she's still pretty but a bit frumpy in her role as a foster mom.
- Speaking of hot, it's Christine Elise, later of Beverly Hills 90210.
- Another familiar face is Grace Zabriskie (Galaxy of Terror, The Grudge).
- Chucky "killing" the other Good Guy doll, Tommy, is great. Hmmmm, Tommy? Maybe a shot at first movie director Tom Holland?
- "Hi, I'm...[pause]... Tommy". Funny.
- Haha, love the photocopier bit.
- The naked, hairless Good Guy dolls in the factory might just be creepier than Chucky.
- Nice kill. Two words - eye machine.
- And a very, very messy finale.

Overall thoughts: With Child's Play 2 the vibe begins it's slow slide towards comedy, with Chucky doing more wisecracking than in the original. But it's still a good mix, I'd say 80% horror, 20% comedy. There's not as much suspense as in the first movie, but there are some good kills and an interesting climax. So basically more of the same as the first movie, but with slightly more comedy thrown in. Definitely worth watching in a double-feature with part one.

31 Nights of Terror #13 - Child's Play (1988)

Child's Play (1988)
Director: Tom Holland
Starring: Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Alex Vincent, Brad Dourif
Format: DVD (MGM)

- It's a lazy Sunday, a perfect time for a mini-marathon within this 31 Nights of Terror marathon, and what better way than with a triple-feature of the first three Child's Play movies?
- I've recently acquired these three movies on DVD. I know I saw the first one on VHS back in the day, and I'm pretty sure I've seen the next two, but can't be certain.
- What ever happened to Chris Sarandon? He was in some great movies in the 80s (Fright Night, Princess Bride, this) but I can't recall seeing him in anything for years.
- Stop, hammer time!
- After all the Chucky films it's hard to watch this with fresh eyes, but it's done so in the early going you wonder if it's Chucky or the kid doing the killing.
- The mom in this movie (Catherine Hicks) went on to play the mom in one of the most sickening TV shows of all time, 7th Heaven. Now *that* is true horror.
- I remember how me and my friends used to say "Hi, I'm Chucky, wanna play" a lot when this movie came out.
- So that was the infamous shock treatment kill, which was cut from the VHS release but restored now on the DVD. It was pretty fun, but I can't see why it was cut.
- I get that Chucky is alive, but how the hell does a doll have the strength to push open a door that a fully-grown woman is holding shut?
- Yay, they beat Chucky. He won't be back. Right?

Overall thoughts: After watching the later comedic Bride of Chucky and Seed of Chucky flicks, it's easy to forget that the franchise started out as an effective straight forward horror movie. The plot is fairly run of the mill slasher, but the concept of a killer doll is done with style and fun without getting too cheesy (unlike Charles Band's Puppetmaster and Blood Doll movies). Like Freddy Krueger, Chucky got more goofy as time went on, but here he's a genuinely creepy little bastard. Good stuff.