ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S: PSYCHO

How can I review this film without giving it away? I don't know but I'm going to review it anyway and since it's the first or first well known slasher film, I'm going to review on this film on the day of terror and that is Halloween. ON WITH THE REVIEW...

A secretary (Janet Leigh) in Phoenix, steals a million dollars from her boss and is now on the run. However, she makes a wrong turn to stay at the "Bates Motel" that's owned by Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) who lives with his Mother. The women gets murdered at the Motel and the clues to the ladies disappearance lead up to this Motel where more strange and secret things lurk.



I already talked about the villain Norman Bates on my "Top 20 Favorite Movie Villains" and why he's so scary, and if I explained more then I did, I'd probably be spoiling the film for newcomers. All I'll say is his performance is really horrifying and unsettling. As for his Mother, we don't see her until the end which I won't give away how insane she is. Janet Leigh as our main character is incredible as this guilty women where every scene we see her in, her guilt level and anxiety just keeps rising and rising. As for the supporting cast of actors such as Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, John Mcintire and Simon Oakland they're all perfect for their roles.

STOP! It's time to play...

 "WHERE'S ALFRED HITCHCOCK?"


HINT FROM THE MASTER

"You won't see my face but you'll see me by our victim in the beginning".

Good luck, back to the review...



Speaking of Hitchcock, one of the many great things about his work were his teaser trailers which to me are always good and fun to watch before the film. In the teaser trailer to the film, he takes you on a tour of the Motel and House, tells you about the events but stops himself to not give to much away by leaving the viewer with questions, uses a bit of his dark humor and it ends with him opening the shower curtain where we see a screaming Janet Leigh in the shower, hear the score and see the title of the film. If you read the tag line, it  says "The picture you MUST see from the beginning...or not at all! For no one will be seated after the start of...PSYCHO". That means if you were late to see the film and missed the start of the film, you will not be seated which were Hitchcock's wishes and demands at the time that this film was released.



The most iconic scene in the movie is the shower scene which is remembered for it's hardcore violence, fast editing, screeching music, and scarring people from using their shower. It may look tamed and nothing much in today's standards, but at the time this film was released it was really realistic and violent. The film also has a plot twist that's so good, so scary that you can call it the MOTHER of all plot twists. Who can also forget the film's thrilling and unsettling iconic score? It does its jobs of giving the film its identity and taking you in by suspense.

The film itself is important for how it influenced a lot of the slasher films, horror films and films in general with it's violence, dark humor, sexual appeal, music and cinematography that we see today on screen and I'd like to point out a few homages and influences from this film.



For starters, if you watch the "Nostalgia Critic" then you already know where Alex from "A Clockwork Orange" got his smile from.



The music is so iconic, where do you think John Williams got his inspiration for the "Jaws" score from?



The infamous Chainsaw scene in "Scarface" is shot and done just as similar the shower scene in this film.



The parodies on the film are endless and there are so many good ones out there, that I am determined of making a list of my favorite "Psycho" parodies some day.



Even histories next giant slasher film took a lot of influence from this film and payed homage to it. Such as starring Janet Leigh's daughter Jamie Lee Curtis as a screaming victim, Doctor Loomis is named after Sam Loomis, there's a crazy slasher villain with a murderous past, and the film (Just like "Psycho") was a major milestone in horror film history!

"Psycho" is Hitchcock's master piece that really brought a lot of influence and to this day, it's still consider a milestone horror classic.

RATING 5/5

Well that was Halloween Month and I guess the question is, will I do it again? To be honest...NO. I'm sorry, but there are so many horror films out there that I simply can't review them all in just 31 days and I don't know if I'm willing to do a month again where I have reviews ready throughout the entire month. But I will review a film from a famous horror franchise on Halloween, what is it, well join me next Halloween.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

GEORGE A. ROMERO'S NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD

Here's the most iconic zombie film that has started the zombie craze that we all love. I'm talking about George A. Romero's...



The film is your basic survival film. Zombies are attacking and a bunch of people are in a small house to fight off the creatures until help comes.



Let's start with our group of survivors. First off our hero is an African American and to have an African American be the star of a film at the time was very rare and uncommon, especially in films like this. Our heroes name is Ben and boy does he kick some serious zombie ass. He's heroic, he's calm, he's brave, he takes no crap, he's just a plan cool badass. Then we have a hysterical female victim named Barbra who lost her brother Johnny from a zombie and while being powerfully acted and likable, all she does is scream and get scared. Then there's a teenage love couple, who are very likable, well acted but man did George have a plan for them! Finally there's the Cooper family lead by a grouchy father with an injured daughter. The father is the character you love to hate due to his attitude, only carrying for himself and his fate is just great. The acting is very powerful in this film and the interactions between all the characters is perfect and realistic.




Now lets talk about why the film is so great. First off the zombies, George really pushed the envelope with zombies in this film. Some looked gory, they eat peoples flesh, they looked scary, there was action with gore and even though it doesn't look much now, people were scared crapless at the time and even today I personally find it scary but mostly unsettling. In fact, I love that the film just starts out with zombies attacking then trying to explain to the audience on how they became zombies which most films wouldn't normally do. The film was also made when color films were big but George decided to go with the black & white and to be honest that's what makes the film so good and brings some great atmosphere along with the music and sound. The cinematography is really great and what I find scary about this film is it feels like that we're trapped with the survivors. The dialogue in this film well written, keeps you interested in what's going on and it's chilling. As for the ending, well it's really dark.

This film is thee important zombie film and without zombie films would look more like "White Zombie" or "The Last Man On Earth" then being gory looking flesh eaters. This is also what I call, George A. Romero's not only best film but very risky film as well.

RATING 5/5

THE CONJURING

 I'll be reviewing a horror film that I saw in theaters over the summer called...

The film is your typical Haunted House film. A family moves into a new house, weird and scary things are happening and they hire two ghost hunters to stop the ghosts. Maybe it's nothing that new and even takes elements and cliches from Haunted House films, "The Poltergeist" and "The Exorcist" but it's still a good movie with a creative take on the Haunted House film genre.


The characters in the film aren't that interesting, but with that said, they still are likable and well acted. The family are the victims in this movie and while being just played out as victims, you still care for them, you hope they survive, and while not having anything interesting about them, you still like them. The Ghost Hunters are not that interesting, but again, you still like and care for them in the film and hope they stop the ghost. The only interesting character is the female partner and wife of the Ghost Hunter duo because she can sense and see spirits, but that's about it.


What I really enjoy about the film is the build up to all the weird things happening in the house. You have animals dying out side of the house; a scary doll; a creepy music box; the kids feeling themselves being pulled by a ghost; brief and short appearances of the ghosts; secret rooms; weird noises and voices; clocks stopping at a certain time; things moving; and all of it is great and exciting build up. I also love how the film starts out slow and then gets exciting towards the end, that's a good pace for any horror film in general. The cinematography is really creepy, scary and builds up tension and suspense, but sadly the payoff is either a joke or something not scary, not once was I scared by the surprise. The climax is really good, thrilling, and scary and I love the acting of the mother being possessed. Oh for you gore fans out there, there's very little of it.

While the film has likable characters, a lot of creativity and good suspense the film was rated R because it was too scary. There wasn't any language, nudity, and a tiny bit of gore and believe me this film can pass as a PG-13 film because not only does it not carry rated R elements, but it's not all that scary. However, it's still a good film and it's something that horror fans will enjoy.

RATING 4/5

CARRIE (2013)

Not too long ago, I did a review on the classic 1976 film version of "Carrie" and it was awesome, sad, scary, had great characters, excellent casting, and spectacular directing. A sequel and TV film was made years after the film, but from what I read and checked out, they didn't do well. So then a 2013 remake came along and everyone I knew was hyped, telling me that it's going to be more like the book and that it's going to be better than the original. My response was "B.S. there is no way that the remake was going to top the original". When the film hit the theaters, people began telling me that it's amazing and great. I still held by my opinion, however, since the remake was getting praise from my friends, I decided to see it for myself. Was it as good as everyone says, or was it awful? ON WITH THE REVIEW...



This film version of Carrie is really just a modernized version of the Stephen King classic and that's it. If you don't know the story, well, here's your plot. A teenage misfit named Carrie (Chloë Grace Moretz) gets picked on, bullied, and teased at school; and at home she is abused by her religious Mother (Julianne Moore). Feeling bad for Carrie, a student named Sue (Gabriella Wilde) has her boyfriend take Carrie to the prom so she can open up and socialize. However, a bully named Chris (Portia Doubleday) has a prank for her at the prom. However, Carrie finds out that she has telekinesis powers and she can use them against her abusive Mother and the bullies. I know that's the exact same writing, I wrote on the plot for the 1976 film, but it really follows the story and the 76 film so accurately, it's just modernized that's it. So they decided to remake a classic after two disappointments because they wanted to modernize it? Tisk-tisk-tisk, that's not a good excuse to remake a film unless you're doing something new with it. The only huge new modern take that the film did was the bullies video tape Carrie while being bullied in the shower and then show it on the Internet and then at the Prom. Now that doesn't necessarily make it much of an excuse to remake a classic. If you want to see a good modern remake that has the classic story but changes it around to make it original, check out films like "Scarface" or "Cape Fear". You do understand that this is just the first part of my review because I have a lot to talk about.


Let's start with our lead and focus of the film. Chloë Grace Moretz as our title character Carrie is no match for Sissy Spacek, hands down. Let me expand on that, since she is the character and star, while I see Moretz trying to pull off this character, she still deliverers it in a very uninteresting way. When she was being bullied, I felt bad at first, but as the film went on, her emotions are played out as over exaggerated as the film is. It just feels like she's trying too hard to capture the sadness. When I see her without her dramatic scenes and just as the timid and shy girl, I never really felt for her either, nor did I feel like knowing her because her performance feels very bland and wooden. With Spacek on the other hand, I felt sad for her in a heartbeat, in fact, I still cry when I see her in that movie. The reason why is because Spacek felt realistic. Whenever you see her as this sad, shy, and timid girl in the school you feel for her! When you see her cry, she doesn't over do it, she makes that aspect to the character believable, in fact, whenever I look into her sad eyes, I don't see her acting, I honestly feel like she's actually scared and sad, it's almost as if she was born to play the character. What I'm basically saying is Moretz was just playing Carrie, while Spacek just naturally is Carrie. As for the Prom scene, will get to that later.



The supporting  cast well lets just say I don't find any one of them as memorable as the cast in the original. Gabriella Wilde as Sue, we do spend more time with Sue then we did in the classic, but with that said, her acting and performances wasn't interesting and I just didn't feel her guilt or kindness, I just feel like she was just there. Amy Irving in the original, despite not showing up a lot or having much dialogue, you can still at least feel her emotions. Ansel Elgort as Tommy Ross, not only does he look and act unappealing, but his chemistry with Carrie is really corny. Speaking of corny, so is the relationship between her and the Gym Teacher played by Judy Greer, it's just there. By the way, a teacher slapping a student, maybe in the 70's that was ok, but in the present...NO WAY! As for the bully Chris and her boyfriend Billy Nolan played by Alex Russell. I like that they try to make Chris more realistic by giving her second thoughts on her plan, however, that all ends fast when she quickly changes her mind at those moments. Oh, and comparing those two bullies to Travolta and Nancy Allen, they're not as fun or memorable as them. Finally, we go to Julianne Moore as Carrie's Mother. To my surprise and to the film's credit, the relationship between her and Carrie is actually a lot more clearer than the original. You can actually see the love and struggle between them, but with that said, Julianne Moore while trying is sadly just playing the character then being the character and comparing her to Piper Laurie, well Laurie naturally looks and acts crazy, while Moore felt forced and a bit over exaggerated at points, especially when she hits herself.



The original had a great atmosphere with its music, directing and cinematography, sound effects and special effects. Here, unfortunately, the atmosphere is dull, the music is forgettable, and the scares and dramatic moments are once again over exaggerated as well as not being scary most of the time. The Prom scene before the chaos in the original felt very enchanting, while here it just feels boring and bland as we the audience are thinking get to the prank already. The chaos at the prom in the original used a lot of creative effects, editing, cinematography, grim music and a frightening look at our main character. Here, we get mostly boring CGI; we get weak scary faces and movement from Moretz; the deaths are boring as well as feeling tamed; and not once did I enjoy or felt scared by this sequence. I should also mention that I like that we explore her telekinesis powers a bit more due to the use of CGI, but with that said, those scenes feel like it's just showing its effects, as well as leading up to something silly. In fact, these scenes play out as those magical and whimsical scenes that you'd see in "Matilda", instead of Stephen King horror flick for adults.

Now the film itself, pretty much has the same scenes, dialogue (For a decent amount) and pacing in the order as the original, so if you've seen the original, you're pretty much just going to just get the same film, only modernized with plenty of bland acting; the same key scenes only done poorly or are trying to make them "better" than the classic (Which of course fails); no atmosphere what so ever and moments that they could have used from the book to make it much like the book (like the stones flying out of the sky when Carrie was little, or having two buckets instead of one), but sadly chose to ignore. It's an incredibly bad remake and don't worry, I'll review the other Carrie train wrecks in the future. Overall, screw the movie and see the original.

RATING 1/5