The Nightmare Before Christmas

Movie Title--  The Nightmare Before Christmas

Release Year--  1993

Running Time--  1 Hour and 13 Minutes

Director--  Henry Selick

Cast--  Danny Elfman, Chris Saradon, Cathrine O'Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, Paul Rubens, Ken Page, Edward Ivory

Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, tires of his job in Halloween Town.  He stumbles into Christmas Town and after deciding that this is the something new he is looking for, decides to make Christmas his own.

The Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington (Danny Elfman, Chris Saradon), is tired of his position in Halloween Town.  After the town celebrates it's Halloween festivities, he finds himself wandering aimlessly with his dog Zero by his side.  He comes to a place in the forest that he has never been before and in front of him is a semicircle of trees, each with a different door in the shape of a holiday (unbeknownst to him).  Jack picks the door with a Christmas Tree on the front and is pulled down into Christmas Town, where he finds the change he is looking for.

Jack takes the goodies he finds back to Halloween Town, where the residents have spent all day looking for him.  He calls a town meeting to show all of the townsfolk the new holiday he has found and tells them that he has decided that this year Christmas will be theirs.  He sends three bad children Lock (Paul Rubens), Shock (Catherine O'Hara) and Barrel (Danny Elfman) to retrieve Santa Claus (Edward Ivory) and tells them no matter what they do, do not take Santa to their boss, Oggie Boogie (Ken Page).  A very down to earth rag doll woman, Sally (Cathrine O'Hara) tries to warn Jack that is plan will not go well but he does not heed his warning.

Jack makes a disaster out of Christmas, leaving the poor children of the world to wonder if Santa will save Christmas and the townsfolk of Halloween Town to wonder what has become of their poor Jack Skellington.

I have loved this film since the first time I saw it.  I know that this film has a kind of a following, especially from people my age, since we were around to see it when it was first released but I think that this is a film that will never go away.  The adults of my generation are showing their children this film that they enjoyed when they were young and in return, the children are enjoying this film that much more.  

Jack Skellington is easy to  sympathize with; everyone gets bored of what they are doing, so this is a concept that will never go away.  Watching Jack go through this disastrous change and then realizing that his original "job" is what makes him who he is only helps to remind us that there is something out there for everyone, even if we do become bored from time to time.

The story is great, the songs are catchy and easy to remember and the stop motion process for this film is just incredible.  This is the perfect film to watch when you are finished Trick-or-Treating!  Grab your little person and sing your way through this film together and Don't Forget the Popcorn!

Happy Halloween!

Nightmares in Red, White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film

Movie Title--  Nightmares in Red, White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film

Release Year--  2009

Running Time-- 1 Hour and 36 Minutes

Director--  Andrew Monument

Cast--  Lance Henriksen, George A. Romero, John Carpenter, Mick Garris, Larry Cohen, Joe Dante

A look at how horror as developed through the decades. 

Much like last week's film, this one is hard to give a straight up synopsis for.  What they did in this film was timeline through the decades, giving examples of the themes and highlighting some of the most influential films that came from those eras.  Therefore this "synopsis" is going to be laid out like a timeline.  Enjoy your horrific walk through the decades that helped to make horror was it is today.

In 1910 Thomas Edison's New York film studio produced a version of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; it was a commercial failure. It would take another 20 years before the American Horror film would be truly born.

In the 20's the horror monster was mainly mutilated men with twisted minds. Some of the men that came back home from WWI were missing limbs and had deformities from war and that captivated and revolted people. In the 20's, Lon Cheney becomes the father of the horror genre. The characters he played were normal men with twisted minds or turned monsters by the cruelty of men. His characters portrayed the fears of the day and never did that became more true than on October 24, 1929, the day the stock market failed.

The original horror films contained monsters that were brought over from old world Europe. In the 1930's the turmoil in Europe helped to develop some of the movie monsters we know today. Legend even has it that Hitler's favorite film was “King Kong” (1933).  In 1934 the Hollywood Production Code Administration said that all movie monsters must be destroyed at the end of the film, not matter what the monster's motives are. Still, with all the monsters out there, the scariest film monsters were human beings.  The ghosts of WWI was getting ready to resurface and movie goes found themselves staring at the horrifying reality of the Holocaust. After seeing the mass genocide of the Holocaust, movie monsters didn't seem quite as scary, so horror film makers had to step up the terror.  During and after the war, horror films started to take on a darker tone. The films also became very minimalist. Filmmakers feel like viewers will be faced with their own fears if the monsters jump out of the dark. Horror films introduce the psychological element into their films, making viewers have to face their own fears while sitting in the theater.   

Film directors of the 1940's had movie goers watching the skies for atomic bombs and flying saucers.  Films then started to touch on the question “What is going to happen to the world if an atomic bomb was dropped or the world ended?” and it spawned such monsters as deformed mutant people and huge bugs.  By the second half of the 40's, aliens went from in your face to subtle and that began to bleed into the 50's.   

With the release of “Psycho” in 1961, it became obvious to the viewers that no one in the films were safe. The heroes can and possibly will die and that one guy in the film that you couldn't imagine would be the villain was actually the most evil in the film. After that films tries to out shock “Psycho” which leads to Hitchcock's 196 release of “The Birds”. He wanted to see just how much the viewer would sit though. After that, horror film makers increased the shock value and production value of the film. A lot of these films were not shown at mainstream theaters but at smaller theaters, mainly on the wrong side of the tracks.

The Vietnam war started to change the counter culture, which also changed the tone and culture of films.  1968 “Rosemary's Baby” came along with the theme of the coming of the end. That same year, “Night of the Living Dead” premiered with the revolutionary idea that the dead is coming back to life and eating people, giving the viewers a very hopeless feeling.

When the decades changed over from the 60's to the 70's, the films got darker. The films contained more sex and more violence; the 70's brought excess to the screen. Back in those days, making independent films did not have an many restrictions on them as they do today, opening up film makers to make truly horrifying and realistically violent films.

By the 70's it became evident that there were two kinds of horror fans—fans of the monsters and fans that go into horror films with their eyes shut and with the realism that you can't control the outcomes of your life and have to cope with them.

In 1973, “The Exorcist” comes to the screen forcing viewers to watch an innocent girl being tortured by a demon. This film truly terrified movie goers, a lot of people being traumatized by the film. It starts out with an innocent girl and the viewer has to watch transfer into a possessed monster.

In 1975 horror went mainstream when “Jaws” was released. It started to become obvious that people were falling deeper and deeper in love with horror films. The productions began to get bigger as well as the budgets. The films again start to reflect the political views of the time, this time, the topic became women's rights and the right a woman has over her own body. “Carrie” was released in 1976; the undertones of the film was the question of “how much power does a woman truly have?” and could they be the more powerful sex. John Carpenter was criticized when his film “Halloween” was released in 1978 because critics felt like he was making young promiscuous girls the target's of the monster. Carpenter states that it was originally supposed to be about babysitters, so he put in the film what he thought young women of that age really do, which is talk about their boyfriends, as well as making out with them and possibly more happening but no one remarks on how the woman that is a little socially behind on the subject is the one kicking butt through-out the films.  “Dawn of the Dead” released in 1978 and it's undertones are making fun of the consumer culture . With “Amityville Horror” in 1979, even the thought of buying your own home had negative connotations when it came to horror films.

A writer with horror in his blood captured the horrifying plight of the middle class citizen perfectly and although “Carrie” was released in 1976, the 1980's became his playground for onscreen adaptations of his films with the release of “The Shinning” in 1980 that extends to the present.

With home video coming on the scene so did the rise of slasher films and films like “Friday the 13th” (1980) became popular. In the 80's a slasher film came out just about every weekend. Film makers were then trying to figure out how to revamp the old movie monsters for a new generation.

The release of “Poltergeist” (1982) takes the viewer into a quiet suburban town and proved that if you do bad things, it will come back to haunt you. John Carpneter's “The Thing” remake in 1982 proved that no one trusted anyone anymore. In Romero's “Day of the Dead” 1985, humanity has been reduced to a small group of people that have different ideas of how to cope.  In the 80's, monster movies were marketed to a wide audience with the releases of “Gremlins” (1984), “Ghostbusters” (1985) and “The Stuff” (1985). With the video tape, independent films were more easily released and it made for more interesting takes on the horror film.  The 80's also brought film maker Sam Rami into the spotlight. His films were excessive which spoke to the theme of the 80's. The 80's also brought with it one of the most iconic horror villains, Freddy Kruger in Wes Craven's “Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984).

In 1991 “Silence of the Lambs” was released and Hannibal Lecter became a household name. With this film, serial killers were given a human face and that drew audiences in.  “Se7en” (1995) brought with it the idea of the serial killer is a bad guy but so is everyone else; the idea was that everyone has done something bad. It brought with it the idea that even the small guy can be the person that you need to beware of.

Soon, the idea of the “villain” becoming the hero became a theme amongst horror films. This is clear in “Interview with the Vampire” (1994), with Brad Pitt's vampire character going against and killing off the “bad”vampires and “Blade” in 1998, we see Blade, a half human-half vampire man destroying bad vampires as well. “Hannibal” in 2000 shows that Hannibal Lecter was only killing people that were bad guys, so is he really a villain or is he actually a hero? With “American Psycho” (1999) came the thought of the corrupt “American dreamer” as the villainous monster.

When the US went to war in Iraq in 2003, Hollywood producers rushed to recreate the heyday of horror films, to appeal to new horror fans. “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”,”Dawn of the Dead” and “The Hills Have Eyes” were all remade to reboot these old franchises for new fans. Films got more violent to try to top some of the violent scenes people were seeing on the news. Producers were also setting up films to continue in sequels to generate more revenue and keep horror fans coming back to see their favorite killers; the killer is never caught and therefore is still out there to kill again.  With “Land of the Dead”'s release in 2004, it shows a culture of fear that has been taken advantage of by world leaders to gain money and power from the everyday man.

“Saw” released in 2004 became one of the most successful film franchises in the 2000's. The Jigzaw Killer gives his victims a choice, kill or be killed. “Hostle” in 2006 showed the villains as other countries, which reflects the social aspects of that time.

As the decades have passed, horror films have tended to reflect the political and social landscapes that is affecting America at that current time. People connect with horror films because it is literally the things of their nightmares and the result of having to cope with it all.

So, this wasn't my favorite documentary but there are a lot of interesting facts in it.  I think that I maybe expected something a little bit different than what I watched and that could be why I am feeling slightly let down by it.  

I do like the fact that the people that are being interviewed are the people that actually worked on these films that we all know.  Not only that, all throughout the film clips and sequences are being shown from those same films and the viewer is getting a look at what the driving force behind these films through the eyes of politics of the day and the culture of the time.

I think that if you are a true horror fan, you will probably like this film.  If you feel lukewarm toward horror flicks, this may not be the film for you.  Watch this one for it's interesting facts and a new insight on the films that we all know and love and Don't Forget the Popcorn!

The Exorcist

Movie Title--  The Exorcist

Release Year--  1973

Running Time--  2 Hours and 2 Minutes

Director--  William Friedkin

Cast--  Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn, Max von, Sydow, Jason Miller, William O'Malley, Jack McGowran

A teenage girl is possessed by a demon and after trying to scientifically cure her daughter fails, Chris McNeil seeks the help of two priests to banish the demon and save her daughter.

In northern Iraq a priest and archaeologist, Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow), discovers a pendant with the image of the evil demon Pazuzu that matches a statue not far from the dig site.  Merrin defeated Pazuzu years earlier and takes this as a sign that the time has come to take on this demon once again.

Actress Chris McNeil (Ellen Burstyn) has moved her teenage daughter Regan (Linda Blair) to Georgetown, Washington D.C. so that she can work on a film she is starring in.  Chris sees a Ouija board and asks Regan if she has ever played with it.  Regan replies that she plays with it all the time and that she asks the questions and her imaginary friend "Captain Howdy" moves the planchette.  Chris soon starts to see subtle changes in Regan that become alarmingly more and more noticeable and frightening.  

Chris takes Regan to see a doctor and very quickly gets more and more opinions on what is happening to her daughter.  All the tests and x-rays that are given to Regan come back as negative and all the doctors are confused by this result.  In reality, Regan is now possessed by the demon Pazuzu that has pretended to be "Captain Howdy".

After the director of Chris' film, Burke Dennings (Jack McGowran), dies from mysteriously falling from Regan's window with no one witnessing the event, Chris begins to suspect Regan of killing him.  After Regan attacks a psychiatrist, the doctors suggest that if Regan thinks she is possessed, then an exorcism may be in order to trick her into becoming her normal self again.

Chris seeks out Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller), who is having a crisis of faith himself, to come and examine her daughter.  After visiting with Regan a few times Father Karras determines that Regan truly does need an exorcism and Father Lankester Merrin is called in to help once again banish Pazuzu and save young Regan's life.

I enjoyed this film.  I, of course, have seen it before but watching it this time I couldn't help but think of being a kid or teenager when this film debuted in 1973 and actually being in the theater watching it.  It is startling and even frightening at times but back in 1973, I am sure I would have been terrified.

This is another film based on a true story, which to me personally, if it is based off a true story it always seems creepier.  The acting in the film is just excellent, which just pulls you into the story and makes you feel like you are actually there with them and that just helps to contribute to the whole feel of the film and creating a great experience for the viewer.

This is another one of those films that helped to create the horror genre that we have today.  I suggest this one be watched with the lights off and all electronic devices stowed so that it doesn't distract from the film but Don't Forget the Popcorn!

Halloween

Movie Title--  Halloween

Release Year--  1978

Running Time--  1 Hour and 31 Minutes

Director--  John Carpenter

Cast--  Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Tony Moran, Nancy Kyes, P.J. Soles, Charles Cyphers, Kyle Richards, Brian Andrews, John Michael Graham, WIll Sandin, Sandy Johnson

15 years after her murdered his sisters, Michael Myers has escaped from the institution he has been imprisoned in only to return home and go on a killing spree.

October 31, 1963, in Haddonfield, Illonios a 6 year old boy named Michael Myers (Will Sandin) stabs his older sister Judith (Sandy Johnson) to death.  He is then committed to Warren County Smith's Grove Sanitarium.  Fifteen years later, October 30, 1978, a transport car is making it's way up to the sanitarium carrying Dr. Samuel Loomis (Donald Pleasence) to pick up Myers and take him to a court hearing where Dr. Loomis plans to tell the court that Myers needs to stay locked up in the sanitarium for the rest of his life.  When the car gets to the gate, Dr. Loomis and the other passenger notice that some of the patients are wandering around unsupervised on the lawn in the rain.  Dr. Loomis discovers that the now 21 year old Michael Myers (Tony Moran) has escaped and Myers has left in the car.

The next day Laurie, a high school student in Haddonfield notices that a strange man dressed in a blue jump suit and a William Shatner mask is stalking her.  Laurie tells her friends Annie (Nancy Kyes) and Lynda (P.J. Soles) that she thinks someone is following them but they just laugh at her and blow the thoughts off.  Laurie becomes more and more alarmed when she begins seeing the masked man everywhere.  

Elsewhere, Dr. Loomis has predicted that Myers will return to his hometown, so he goes to Haddonfield as a precaution and warns the Sheriff Leigh Brackett (Charles Cyphers) that if Myers has returned home that no one in town is safe.  

This film is considered a slasher film and compared to today's standards, there isn't too much gore in it but there is still it's fair share of blood and killing.  It is films like this one (as well as "Night of the Living Dead", 1968 and "The Exorcist", 1973) that helped to shape modern day horror films.  After this, the simple job of babysitting will never be the same.  What babysitter hasn't sat alone, in a dark and quite house after the child has gone to bed and not heard all kinds of strange sounds around them?  This film just helps to add to the uneasiness of doing this job in an unknown place.

Anyone that calls themselves a fan of horror films needs to see this or else they aren't truly a horror fan.  If it weren't for this film as well as some of the other horror films that came out around this time period, there is a very good chance that we wouldn't have as many excellent films in this genre as we do today.

You may want to lock your doors before you watch this one but Don't Forget the Popcorn!

Poltergeist

Movie Title--  Poltergeist

Release Year--  1982

Running Time--  1 Hour and 54 Minutes

Director--  Tobe Hooper

Cast--  Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, Beatrice Straight, Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robins, Heather O'Rourke, Zelda Rubinstein

Ghosts haunt a family's home.

Steven (Craig T. Nelson) and Diane Freeling (JoBeth Williams) live in a community called Cuesta Verde in California where Steven also works as a successful real estate developer.  Together they are raising three children, Dana (Dominique Dunne), Robbie (Oliver Robins) and Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke).  One night, Carol Ann wakes from sleep and goes downstairs, then proceeds to carry on a conversation with the static that is on the screen that has followed the nightly sign off announcement.  Her voice gets louder and louder, eventually waking the entire house.

The following night there is a very bad storm and Robbie and Carol Anne end up in bed with their parents because they are afraid of the storm.  In the middle of the night, Carol Anne wakes up and goes to the foot of the bed, sitting and staring at the static on the screen as she had the night before.  Suddenly, an apparition bursts out from the screen and Carol Anne watches as it goes into the wall.  This triggers an earthquake, shaking the bed around violently and when it is all over Carol Anne announces "They're here.".

The next morning while the family is having breakfast Robbie's glass breaks as he is drinking out of it and all the kitchen chairs are pulled out after everyone has left the kitchen.  Frustrated that the chairs are all pulled out, Diane pushes them all in back in, sits Carol Anne on the counter, then turns her back only for a moment and when she turns back around, the chairs are stacked up on top of the kitchen table.  As the day goes on, the phenomenon intensifies and by the time Steven gets home, things are moving around the kitchen in front of their eyes.  That night, a tree crashes into Robbie and Carol Ann's bedroom window, grabbing Robbie out of his bed.  Steven and Diane rush outside to keep Robbie from being swallowed by the possessed tree.  While they are preoccupied, Carol Anne is taken through a portal in the closet and after the family discover she is missing, they hear her voice transmitting through the television set.

A group of parapsychologists come to the house to determine if the family actually has a paranormal presence in the house and discover that there is more than one there.  Steven's boss comes out to check on him since he has been absent from work and as they are walking, Steven learns that the houses in Cuesta Verde were built on the land that an old cemetery had once been on.  

Steven and Diane send Dana and Robbie away and Dr. Lesh (Beatrice Straight) calls a spiritual medium, Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubinstein) in to help recover Carol Anne and banish the dark spirits.

Well, I didn't hate this film but it wasn't one of my favorites.  This is one of those films that anyone that likes horror flicks have already seen and anyone that doesn't like horror films has avoided, so really this one is going to be based on how you feel about scary movies.  

The acting is good and the story flows along pretty well, although there are times that it feels a little long and perhaps some of it could have been cut out but overall, it holds up well to today's haunting themed films.

I say, if this is your type of film, turn off the lights, hide under the blankets and hope that when Heather O'Rourke says "They're here.", she isn't talking about your house and Don't Forget the Popcorn!

Children of the Corn

Movie Title--  Children of the Corn

Release Year--  1984

Running Time--  1 Hour and 32 Minutes

Director--  Fritz Kiersch

Cast--  Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, R. G. Armstrong, John Franklin, Courtney Gains, Robby Kiger, Anne Marie McEvoy, Julie Maddalena, Jonas Marlowe

A young couple become stranded in a town where they are terrorized by a cult run by children.

Job (Robby Kiger) narrates the story of how his hometown of Gatlin, Nebraska was taken over by a cult run by children.  

The town of Gatlin is based around farming and the crop of choice is corn.  The town is surrounded by cornfields but one year, the crop fails and all the townspeople turn to prayer to try to save their livelyhood.  One Sunday, Isaac (John Franklin), a boy preacher, takes all the children except Sarah (Anne Marie McEvoy), who is at home sick in bed and Job, who's father won't allow him to go with Isaac,  into the cornfield to tell them about a new God referred to as "He Who Walks Behind the Rows".  That day all the children in town kill the adults and take it over as their own.

Three years later Burt (Peter Horton) and Vicky (Linda Hamilton) a young couple headed out to Seattle, Washington for Burt's new job have decided to take the back roads and accidentally hit s boy that is standing in the middle of the road.  Burt notices that the boy's throat has been slashed, so he wraps him up and puts him in the truck.  Burt tells Vicky that they should travel to Gatlin to report a murder and find the boy's parents.

When they finally arrive in Gatlin, they find the town abandoned but soon are chased by the children of the cult and Vicky gets captured but Burt gets away with the help of Sarah and Job.  Burt then decides that in order to survive, something must be done about the murderous children.

I truly hated this film.  It was hokey and very corny (no pun intended) and it felt very much like a made for TV film.  There really isn't too much I can say about it, the acting was not very good, the effects were bad (even for the 80's) and every aspect of it seemed like the production was trying to come in as under budget as they could.  

My recommendation is to just skip this one completely.  Until next time, Don't Forget the Popcorn.

Night of the Living Dead

Movie Title--  Night of the Living Dead

Release Year--  1968

Running Time--  1 Hour and 36 Minutes

Director--  George A. Romero

Cast--  Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Russell Streiner, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, Keith Wayne, Judith Ridley, Kyra Schon, Charles, Craig, George Kosana, Bill Cardille

A group of people seek shelter in a farmhouse while under siege by blood thirsty zombies.

Brother and sister, Johnny (Russell Streiner) and Barbara (Judith O'Dea), are driving through the country for their annual visit to their father's grave.  Johnny begins to pick on Barbara and as he does, he notices that a man is on the other side of the graveyard shambling toward them.  This only causes Johnny to tease Barbara worse saying to her "They're coming to get you Barbara", which causes Barbara to call him names.  Johnny then acts as if he is afraid of the man that is almost at them and he runs toward the car but Barbara approaches the man to apologize at which point the man attacks her. 

Johnny runs back to help Barbara and gets in a physical altercation with the man which ends when Johnny stumbles and hits his head on a tombstone, killing him.  Barbara tries to flee by car but crashes it and has to run away on foot.  She finds an abandoned farmhouse and closes herself inside.  She has a look around and when she makes her way upstairs, she finds the body of a dead woman, which sends her further in to shock.

Barbara tries to flee the house but is met by the same creatures that she first saw in the cemetery.  A truck pulls up and the man inside, Ben (Duane Jones), rescues Barbara and takes her back into the house.  Ben tries to ask Barbara if the house belongs to her or if she knows anything about the gas pump outside but he gets no answers from her.  He then decides to board up the windows and doors to keep the monsters out.

Soon Ben and Barbara find that the house has a cellar and the whole time they have been boarding up the house and dealing with the growing threat outside, a young couple Tom (Keith Wayne) and Judy (Judith Ridley) and a family, Harry (Karl Hardman), Helen (Marilyn Eastman) and Karen Cooper (Kyra Schon) have been hiding downstairs.  Harry insists that it is the safest place to be but Ben disagrees, calling the cellar a "deathtrap" and suggesting they only go into the cellar as the last line of defense.  Together they all sit, listening to the radio and watching the televised news reports as they unfold about the impending threat, trying to figure out a way to survive.

Before I watched Thursday's documentary "Birth of the Living Dead" I really had no interest in seeing this film but now I am glad I have seen it.  George A. Romero is credited with being the "Father" of the modern day zombie so if you was ever curious about why a zombie moves how it does or why it just aimlessly feeds with no thought of anything else, this is the man that started it all with this film.

Duane Jones goes an awesome job of keeping a level head in the midst of all the panic.  I will say, I hated Barbara.  To me, Barbara was just worthless.  I do understand that in this moment and time, it is too much for her to handle and she slips into shock because she is going through a very traumatic situation but at what point to do you finally snap out of it and try to save yourself?  Barbara is the kind of character that modern day horror fans wishes would bite it right in the beginning so that they wouldn't have to listen to her the rest of the film.

When Johnny says the phrase (and my favorite line in the film, as well as one of the most recognized) "They're coming to get you Barbara.", you can't help but cringe.  Even before anything starts to happen, when you hear that phrase, you just know that something is getting ready to go terribly wrong, you just have no idea what and how big of a threat it truly is.

I recommend this film to anyone that is a horror and/or zombie fan.  Although it is older and black and white, I really think that it is worth the watch, just Don't Forget the Popcorn!

Corpse Bride

Movie Title--  Corpse Bride

Release Year--  2005

Running Time--  1 Hour and 27 Minutes

Director--  Tim Burton and Mike Johnson

Cast--  Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson, Tracey Ullman, Paul Whitehouse, Joanna Lumley, Albert Finney, Christopher Lee, Jane Horrocks

While a shy young groom is practicing his wedding vows, he indavertantlly marries a deceased woman who rises from the grave to take him as her husband.

In a Victorian era European village, Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp), the son of newly rich fish merchants and Emily Everglot (Emily Watson), the daughter of stuck-up aristocrats are preparing to be married via an arranged marriage that will raise the Van Dort's to a higher class and restore the Everglot's wealth.  Both Victor and Victoria are concerned about marrying someone they don't know but the moment they meet it is love at first sight.

During wedding rehearsal, the shy and clumsy Victor can not remember what he is supposed to say and after a few mishaps, Pastor Galswells (Christopher Lee) shames Victor, then demands that he practice before the wedding the following day.  Victor flees from the Everglot home and while walking through the woods, he begins practicing his vows and slides the wedding ring on an a tree root sticking up from out of the ground.

To his surprise, a deceased woman rises from the ground, the root actually being her bony finger, claiming that she is now his wife.  The corpse is wearing an old tattered wedding gown and she sweeps him away and down to the surprisingly lively land of the dead.  Victor soon learns the very sorrowful story of Emily (Helena Bonham Carter), his new "bride".  Emily had fallen in love with a man and they decided to elope.  The man tells Emily to bring money and all her jewels with her and they would steal away in the night together but as she waited on him, someone sneaks up behind her and murders her.

Meanwhile, the Everglot family and the Van Dort family are getting very antsy.  Victor is missing and Lord Barkis Bittern (Richard E. Grant), who crashed the rehearsal has found the town crier who has announced that Victor was found slipping off into the night with another woman. 

Wanting to give Victor a wedding present, Emily reunites him with his long dead dog, Scraps.  Although Emily is excited about her marriage, Victor is trying to find a way to get back to Victoria. 

Victor finally convinces Emily that he wants to return to the land of the living one last time so that he can introduce her to his parents.  Delighted that he wants her to meet his parents, Emily takes Victor to Elder Gutknecht (Michael Gough) and asks him to send them temporarily "upstairs".  Once they are in the forest, he then asks Emily to stay behind while he goes and explains what is going on to his parents, then he promises to come and get her right away.  Victor then flees to the Everglot home and sneaks into Victoria's room.  He quickly tells Victoria that what he has done is a mistake and he wants to marry her as soon as possible.  When Victoria expresses the same feelings, they lean in to kiss each other for the first time but suddenly the doors bust open and Emily is standing there.

Emily gives the cue to take them back to the underworld and feels hurt and betrayed by Victor.  Meanwhile, Victoria is alarmed by Emily's intrusion and tells her parents that Victor is being held hostage by a dead woman.  Her parents think that she is losing her mind, so they lock her in her room but Victoria escapes and runs to the church to tell Pastor Galswells what is happening to Victor, thinking that he will believe her but instead he leads her back to her home where Victoria's parents inform her that she is to marry Lord Barkis.

Soon, Emily and Victor reconcile but the Van Dort coachman, Mayhew (Paul Whitehouse), arrives in the underworld and tells Victor of the plans to marry Victoria to Lord Barkis.  Elder Gutknecht pulls Emily aside and informs her that her marriage to Victor is not valid because she is already dead and Victor is not and in order for their marriage to be binding Victor would have to die as well.  Overhearing what is being said, Victor steps forward and agrees to die for Emily, stating that he made a promise to her and he would be a man of his world.  The underworld then decides to visit the land of the living to witness Victor and Emily's wedding.

I enjoyed this film.  I don't like it quite as much as I liked "Nightmare Before Christmas" but this film definitely holds it's own.  This is another pairing of two of Burton's favorite actors, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter and as usual, it works so well together.  By now, Depp and Bonham Carter know what Burton expects out of them and their acting tends to be very seamless.  

I think this is a good film to watch with the kids, just know that very young children may be frightened of this film, so use your discretion when deciding on who to watch this with.  Decide wisely but Don't Forget the Popcorn!

Birth of the Living Dead

Movie Title--  Birth of the Living Dead

Release Year--  2013

Running Time--  1 Hour and 16 Minutes

Director--  Rob Kuhns

Cast--  George A. Romero, Mark Harris, Gale Anne Hurd, Chiz Schultz, Larry Fessenden

The story of the cult classic film "Night of the Living Dead", it's director George A. Romero and how it came to be made and what it stands for.

I feel like this film should not be written about in my normal synopsis/option format so I have decided to write this in a different way.  I will still give my opinion in the end but as this film is about the film "Night of the Living Dead" and the people that made it, I feel like writing out a long synopsis would only give the film away for those that have never seen the film.  I am going to take the synopsis part of this review to discuss some of the topics that helped to develop the undertones of the film.  I hope you enjoy this week's shake-ups.

George A. Romero was born in the Bronx and attended college in Pittsburg, PA.where he starts his first production company "The Latent Image".  He and his partners worked for a while for Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and produced a few short films for Fred Rogers to use on the show.  Romero then went on to make beer commercials and after doing a few commercials he was asked to do a commercial in 35mm, so, he and his partners sacrifice their profits and purchase a 35mm camera.

Once they had the 35mm camera, they started to think that they could produce a movie, so Romero writes a script about a teenage couple in the medieval times called "Whine of the Fawn" but he could not get funding for it, so it fell through.  When that happened, they decided to make a horror film, something that would be easier to sell commercially.  After reading the book "I am Legend" by Richard Matheson, Romero got the feeling that the novel was about revolution, so he designed the characters in his new script to be undead and that was to be the revolution in his film.  

Romero, along with 9 other people started a new production company called "Image Ten".  Romero found a farmhouse that he thought would be a good filming location and the ten investors of "Image Ten" all put in $600 each to rent the farmhouse and buy the film that would be used to film.  Romero writes his script initially as a short story and he then had to adapt it into a screenplay.  They started shooting before it was completely adapted over, so John Russo helps to finish it once production began.

Because of such a low budget a lot of the cast had multiple jobs, a lot of people having to work behind the scenes AND on the screen.  Romero himself was a cinematographer, editor and director.  The scenes in the film with the police and news casters were the actual agencies that cooperated with the team and helped them to film the footage that they need.  One of the news casters was also a meat packer and he brought things like livers and intestines from the shop to be used in the film, so the shots with the zombies eating entrails, they are actually eating entrails.

The hero of the film is Ben played by Duane Jones an African American man.  The script was not written for a man of a particular race but Jones came onto the set and they liked him so much they made him the lead.  There was a decision not to change the script just because the lead was now a black man and to just leave it as they had intended to write it.  This was still a big deal in the 60's because he was a black man saving a white woman and to some people, that was frowned upon.  

The reporting in the film was meant to feel very real in order to make the film feel as real as possible.  They wanted the film to in a sense reflect the times and that is what fuels the undertones of the film.  The film is made to feel like there is no help from anywhere.  There is no answer to why this is happening and Romero is quoted as saying "The only explanation he needs is that there is no more room in hell, so God changed the rules.", therefore with no explanation why this is happening, the government and military agencies have no clue how to tell people to protect themselves, leaving the characters on the screen as well as the viewer feeling very hopeless.

This caused people to feel very unsafe.  It put the thought in people's heads that something like this could happen and there would be no way to stop it.  Romero wants the viewer to feel uncomfortable about who the people you root for is; in this film is good guys, not good guys and the living dead.  The victors of this film are the kind of people that in any other film a typical viewer would not cheer for.  It was made to feel like although there is an actual force to be dealt with, it wasn't just being dealt with by the typical good guy that always succeeds.  

After approaching different film companies, Walter Reade invested in the film and released it in 1968.  In New York, "Night of the Living Dead" was released in a theater that was known for grind house films, which are on the low end of the film scale.  In the 60's, children were dropped off at horror film matinees because they were confident that their children would be alright but when this film was shown, people were running from the theater terrified.

When "Night of the Living Dead" was being shopped around, it's title was "The Night of the Flesh Eaters" but once it started being shown it was changed to "Night of the Living Dead" and the copyright came off of it.  Romero and his associates sued but that folded when Walter Reade went out of business.  To date, there is no way to calculate how much money "Night of the Living Dead" made off ticket sales in Europe.

Romero is credited with being "the father of the zombies" because although there had been mentions of the undead and zombies in the past, the modern zombie as we know it today was created by George A. Romero.  Gale Anne Hurd, a producer for "The Walking Dead", modeled the show's zombies off Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" zombies.

Before seeing this film, I had no urge to want to see "Night of the Living Dead" but now that I have seen this documentary, aside from having the ending spoiled (this film goes from start to finish telling the undertones of each part), I want to sit down and watch the film.  There really is so much about this film that as a young adult I would never have realized.  

Anyone that is going to watch this film, I suggest that you watch "Night of the Living Dead", then this documentary and if it peaks your interest, watch "Night of the Living Dead" again to see what you may have missed the first time around.  If I would have realized that this film would have spoiled the ending of the film I would have watched "Night of the Living Dead" first.

Watch this film and then come back on Saturday for the actual "Night of the Living Dead" film and Don't Forget the Popcorn!