31 Horror Movies in 31 Days: Pumpkinhead

Pumpkinhead (1988)

Directed by Stan Winston

Starring Lance Henriksen, John D’Aquino, and Kerry Remsen

            Ed Harley and his son live a quiet life in a rural town.  That silence is shattered one day when some vacation teens accidently kill the Harley boy.  Driven by his loss, Ed searches for a way to get his son back or get those kids back for what they did.  He finds a witch in a backwoods swamp who can help him.  She summons a demon of vengeance, with long claws and big fangs.  This demon, Pumpkinhead, seeks out the teenagers and brutally kills them one at a time.  Ed cannot shake the feeling that this is wrong.  Not only did he not want all this blood on his hands, but he senses a connection to the beast.  Once Ed realizes the true cost of summoning Pumpkinhead, he races to the teen’s aid in hopes of stopping the monster’s onslaught. 

            This movie really only exists for two reasons: the monster and Lance Henriksen.  Winston does a fine job with his first movie, but he focuses the picture on those two and lets everything else fall by the wayside.  The teen are forgettable and the actors playing them feel very green.  The supporting cast does better, especially Florence Schauffler as the witch.  And the script itself is alright, it just needs a few more passes on the dialogue.  The mode and tension are quite good.  The rural area where this all takes place is dripping with dread.  The story is told well enough and keeps the suspense building all the way to the final confrontation.  Winston got it done effectively and adeptly.  What makes you interested, however, always comes back to those two things. 

A Southern Gothic fairytale with excellent special effects, Pumpkinhead is an admirable directorial debut from Stan Winston.  The creature design and effects are strong, making for a memorable antagonist.  You can see bits of Giger’s influence, along with a feeling that the effects team wanted to create something visually arresting.  And its face has  a lot of emotive power, hinting at something deeper in the beast.  Lance Henriksen finally has a chance to showcase his talents and he does not disappoint.  As Ed Harley, Henriksen is the center of the story.  He feels like a real parent and his grieving for his son looks authentically dreadful.  It is a good performance from a man too regularly relegated to supporting actor status. 

Pumpkinhead is a fun, bloody little movie.  It does what any viewer wants to do at some point during a creature feature: put less attention into the supporting players and more attention into the main man and the bid bad.  If you want a monster movie that you have not seen before, you could do a lot worse than this. 

7 out of 10

31 Horror Movies in 31 Days: Feast

Feast (2005)

Directed by John Gulager

Starring Balthazar Getty, Henry Rollins, Navi Rawat, Judah Friedlander, Josh Zuckerman, and Jason Mewes

            In a bar in the middle of the desert, patrons and staff go about their routines.  Suddenly, a man burst through the door with the head of a monstrous beast.  He tells them they have to secure the bar, and that if they listen to him they will survive the night.  The movie stops to pull up a plaque identifying this man as “Hero”, and that he will probably live through the movie.  Immediately following this, Hero is pulled head first into a window by a monster arm, than decapitated.  What follows is the efforts of the people inside this bar to fend off the hideous beasts and live to see the morning.  However, it all goes down in the same fashion as the Hero.  It is going to be a long night. 

            Billed as a cross between Evil Dead and Diner¸ Feast does not quite live up to either.  It is a confident film from a first time director and writing team, but I cannot help but feel that confidence is misplaced.  As the winner of the third and final season of Project Greenlight, Feast should have been the best of the best that series could produce.  Instead, the movie does almost everything it can to obscure what happens in every scene of action and horror.  It is still funny, but enough to make the rest of the movie worthwhile. 

Nearly every shot in this movie looks handheld, and it gets jitterier as time goes on.  When the creatures attack, the shots become manic and incomprehensible.  There are scenes that I know have some great effects and would look awesome if it were not for the camera moving around so violently.  It really hampers the enjoyment of the movie.  The writing is good in spots and has some interesting ideas, but it does not make for a good film overall.  The characters are all horror stereotypes and they are played with in surprising and amusing ways.  But once these characters have a moment to themselves, things start to fall apart.  There is no depth to support them, no real layers to make them interesting.  As splatter fest cannon fodder, they work wonders.  But they are nothing more than that. 

            There is a lot to like about Feast.  The cast is filled with great choices that make their sometimes limited time count.  Henry Rollins, Glu Gulager, Jason Mewes, and Judah Friedlander all have fun with their roles.  They ham it up and make every moment of screen time enjoyable.  The creature designs and makeup are excellent.  They look fierce and frightening when the camera can steady itself to get a shot.  Also, there are title cards that come up with every character that are genuinely funny.  They explain who these people are in horror movie terms and their life expectancy.  These add to the humor when the following scene turns that information on its head.  You cannot see everything coming in Feast, and that adds some welcome fun to the film.

            There is a lot of Feast that needs some serious work.  But, there is a good bit of it that is an enjoyable creature feature.  Only genre fans and those with the patience to try out a first-time effort should look this up.

5 out of 10

31 Horror Movies in 31 Days: Quarantine

Quarantine (2008)

Directed by John Erick Dowdle

Starring Jennifer Carpenter, Jay Hernandez, Columbus Short, Greg Germann, Steve Harris, and Dania Ramirez

            A small crew for a late night magazine show is working on a piece about firemen.  The anchor, Angela, and her cameraman are longing for something to spice up their story when the fire house gets a call.  The crew accompanies the firemen to an apartment building.  The firemen, the police, and the residents of the building are concerned with the noises coming from their neighbor’s apartment.  When the police approach the woman in question, she pounces on a cop and takes a bite out of him.  The bitten man quickly turns into another vicious berserker, infecting more people.  As the apartment building is covered by a quarantine tent and surrounded by the CDC, it becomes clear that they have no intention of letting these people out.  While the residents and responders battle for their lives against the rabid infected, the camera captures everything that happens.

            Incase you did not know, Quarantine is a remake of the Spanish found footage film [REC].  I have not seen [REC], so I do not know how the two compare.  What I do know is that Quarantine is a fine movie that is more polished than many others in this genre.  For a found footage movie, it is kind of impressive how many recognizable character actors are used.  Jennifer Carpenter does a good job carrying the movie and serving as the viewer’s guide to the madness.  Steve Harris makes the most of his role of the cameraman.  He acts as the viewer’s eyes and ears, at times even voicing our concerns.  For a movie like this, all the actors involved do a wonderful job making these characters believable.  Also, it is pleasant seeing a few familiar faces show up in the found footage genre. 

            The makeup is fairly minimal, but effective.  For these zombie-like victims, it is just some bloody faces and bulging veins.  Since the whole cause of this situation is a fast acting virus, the infected look appropriately sick.  For fans of fast zombies in horror movies, Quarantine makes them look good.  They have bloody, gnarly scream and sprint like Olympic track stars.  It is unnerving and gets in your face immediately, making for some good scares. 

            If you have not seen this or are interested in how the remake handled the material, Quarantine is a worth watching.  I cannot speak to how it compares to [REC], but I can say that it is a good movie in its own right.  It also has the pleasure of being a found footage film that is tense, well acted, and expertly shot.  For this genre, that is not always easy to come by. 

8 out of 10

31 Horror Movies in 31 Days: Alien

Alien (1979)

Directed by Ridley Scott

Starring Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Ian Holm, Harry Dean Stanton, and John Hurt

            Look, there is not a thing I could say that has not already been said about Alien.  It is a classic for a reason.  Alien is essentially an old dark house movie with elements of a creature feature and a slasher flick.  The character work is strong and memorable, giving us the greatest screen heroine in horror and sci-fi.  Dan O’Bannon wrote a solid screenplay that is filled with memorable lines.  The creature design by H.R. Geiger is out of this world.  Ridley Scott is a fantastic director that can take all these elements and put them together without conflicting with each other.  If you have not seen Alien, you should view it now.  It will enrich your view of film and terrify you at the same time.  Like all who see it, you will come to admire its purity. 

10 out of 10

31 Horror Movies in 31 Days: The People Under the Stairs

The People Under the Stairs (1991)

Directed by Wes Craven

Starring Brandon Adams, Everett McGill, Wendy Robie, A. J. Langer, Ving Rhames, and Sean Whalen.

            A little boy everyone calls Fool lives in a rundown apartment with his family.  His mother is sick and they are about to be evicted.  His sister’s boyfriend, Leroy, offers to help Fool make their rent money.  He takes him under his wing and tries to teach him about burglary, starting with the house of Fool’s landlords.  The Robenson’s are wealthy from generations of family ventures and shady business practices.  Leroy, his partner Spencer, and Fool case the home.  After Spencer gets in as a gas company worker, Leroy gets suspicious of the time he is taking.  Fool and Leroy break in to find the house is filled with locked cupboards, spooky noises, and no sign of their rumored fortune.  But when the Robenson’s come home, they will find that there are worse things than getting caught stealing.  Fool and Leroy are hunted by the family and pursued by a strange person living inside the walls.  When Fool gets to the basement, he will meet the Robenson’s greatest secret.  There are people living in their basement and what they look like does not bode well for Fool.

            Bill Cobbs and Ving Rhames have some minor roles that they fill quite nicely.  Rhames especially does well with Leroy, Fool’s less than altruistic mentor.  The duo of Man and Woman are played frighteningly over the top by Everett McGill and Wendy Robie respectively.  They both commit to the characters and their insanity, bringing them close to being a caricature without quite going there.  Brandon Adams and A.J. Langer are the real treasures of the movie.  They have the most screen time and waste a minute of it. 

            The scares are surprising and potent.  The horror does not just come from the stakes of Fool’s robbery; it also comes from the implications of the Robenson’s activities.  They keep a basement full of cannibalistic feral boys that have “had the bad parts cut out”.  They destroy families financially and horde the money.  They act like a married couple but are very much siblings.  This is a family like the one from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but with the power and invulnerability that wealth can buy. 

            The little artistic choices are enjoyable as well.  The Robenson man does not just hunt intruders; he hunts them in a bondage suit.  There is a fine layer of dust on nearly every surface of the house.  The only place with any kind of color is Alice’s room.  And most of the movie takes place during the day, with light pouring in from every window.  It means that Craven has less chance to hide things in darkness, so all that is shown has to be good. 

            As far as Craven films go, The People Under the Stairs is one his betters ones.  It is not anything close to his Elm Street films,  but it is far better than Shocker or Vampire in Brooklyn.  Give it a try and you will not be disappointed. 

8 out of 10

31 Horror Movies in 31 Days: The Funhouse

The Funhouse (1981)

Directed by Tobe Hooper

Starring Elizabeth Berridge, Cooper Huckabee, Miles Chapin, Sylvia Miles, William Finley, and Kevin Conway

            After an opening that rips off the opening to Halloween, we find that nobody is getting murdered.  It is just a brother and sister making each other miserable.  The older sister, Amy, goes to a rather sordid carnival against her father’s wishes.  She goes with her boyfriend Buzz, her friend Liz, and Liz’s boyfriend Richie.  They smoke pot, ride the rides, go to the carnival strip show, make trouble for a fortune teller, and visit the sideshow freaks exhibit.  The group is having a ball when Richie gets an idea: stay overnight in the funhouse.  Their night takes a decidedly downward turn when they witness the deformed ride assistant, Gunther, proposition and murder the fortuneteller.  Before doing the smart thing and running, Richie steals Gunther’s whoring money.  With Gunther enraged and his father not too far behind him, Amy and her friends have to escape a family that kills plenty of strangers in their funhouse. 

            The characters are your standard teenage slasher-fodder, carny stereotypes, and dysfunctional families.  None are particularly interesting, but the actors do their best with what they are given.  The creature is the real center of the movie, presented as both monstrous and mistreated.  The first appearance of Gunther is him in a Frankenstein suit, which really sets the tone for his arc.  Conrad, Gunther’s father and the carnival barker, has the queasy charm of a cult leader.  The pair make for good antagonists that you love to despise.  Unfortunately, no other character has that kind of forethought put into them. 

            The makeup and overall design of Gunther is fascinating.  He is deformed and fanged, with wisps of white hair going everywhere.  He drools near uncontrollably and has a harelip that seems to go into his forehead.  And even though it is just a mask and some makeup, those bright pink eyes are unsettling and emotive.  The kill makeup gets the job done, but the real cool thing is how amusement rides are used.  The teenagers are systematically dispatched with props, rail cars, and all manner of funhouse paraphernalia.  It adds some welcome dark humor to the movie, especially since you probably have not been taking it seriously. 

            Hooper is a talented director and that does show through in The Funhouse.  He knows how to make a slow burn feel like no time at all.  The first half of the movie is spent following the teens around the carnival and taking in its seedy wonders.  The people who go there do not seem right, the barkers are a little too pushy, and the sideshows are genuinely creepy.  By the time the group gets to the funhouse you feel ready for anything.  Even if you know Hooper’s filmography, you are not expecting a family relationship straight out of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  From there, the movie lets you see some truly nasty work.  And then there is that fat, laughing lady animatronic outside the funhouse.  That thing is just disturbing. 

            Overall, The Funhouse is an enjoyable little flick.  It is not the best Tobe Hooper movie, nor is it the best horror movie about carnivals.  It is a good choice if you are brave enough to try something new the next time you are on Netflix. 

7 out of 10

31 Horror Movies in 31 Days: Prince of Darkness

Prince of Darkness (1987)

Directed by John Carpenter

Starring Donald Pleasence, Lisa Blount, Victor Wong, and Jameson Parker

            A priest invites a group of graduate students and professors to help him investigate an old church in Los Angeles.  Specifically, the priest needs help understanding an artifact in the basement.  It is a large, ancient cylinder filled with a churning green fluid.  The students settle in and start running tests, the priest and professor discuss religion, and a swarm of homeless people surround the church.  As people leave, the hobos are led by one of their own (Alice Cooper in a cameo) to kill those who try to exit the grounds.   The contents of the container make its intentions known when it opens of its own accord and attacks a grad.  Those who come into contact with the liquid become possessed by an otherworldly force.  Meanwhile, the team experiences the same odd dream when they sleep.  They see a message from the future showing a dark figure leaving the church.  The scripture left with the cylinder reveals something disturbing: the green fluid is Satan and he is trying to bring something more evil into this world.  It all comes to a head when the infected corner what remains of the team and put their plan in action.  Their lord will come and the church shall be his entrance. 

            The second film in Carpenter’s Apocalypse Trilogy, Prince of Darkness is a flawed wonder.  It showcases Carpenter’s ability to create atmosphere and maintain it, adding to the tension systematically until the climax.  But, it is also filled with logistical and aesthetic choices that really hinder the enjoyment of anyone paying attention.  For every one thing this movie does right, it does three things wrong. 

            The story is a mixed bag, but mostly the mix is good.  There is a heavy influence felt from Quatermass and the Pit and Lovecraft stories.  The unknown evil that infects man and turns him against himself is a big part of this movie and it is terrifying.  What the movie gets most right is that sense of something greater than our heroes’ comprehension actively working to set itself free.  The art design and the special FX help sell the mood.  The mysterious fluid is shot convincingly, never quite becoming unintentionally funny.  The early kills are also executed well, with some painful looking stabbings and bug bursting.  Carpenter regulars Donald Pleasence, Victor Wong, and Dennis Dun all put in fine performances.  Pleasence could add class to anything and he plays the priest with a profound sense of religious terror.  Wong is cooky but authoritative with Prof. Birack.  And Dun is annoyingly smug, which works well for the comic relief character. 

            Not everything in Prince of Darkness works, if at all.  The dream sequences seem to be shot on VHS and purposefully grained.  For a dream from the future human resistance, you have to ask why it had to look like a poor quality broadcast.  It totally takes you out of the movie when this signal from the future looks like someone accidentally taped over the movie.  When the possessed people spit demon water out of their mouths, it is unfortunately funny.  With every infected shooting an evil squirt gun from their mouths, it gets hard to take anything else seriously.  The antagonizing infected people switch half way through the movie and not for the better.  After having some creepy possessed homeless people in the beginning, having some grad students is a real let down.  Finally, there is the issue of Carpenter’s story itself.  He chose to combine quantum physics and religion to derive the source of evil and create an overly complex mythology.  The mixture comes off as haphazard and pointlessly confusing.  Once people start talking about God and the Anti-God as aliens, the story takes a sharp dive in quality. 

            If you are going to watch Prince of Darkness, be prepared to have mixed feelings.  There are some great parts that chill and thrill with the best of Carpenter’s filmography.  And then there are parts that clearly needed more time and thought put into them.  This one is only for the Carpenter fans and enthusiasts of the genre. 

6 out of 10