JACK FROST 2: REVENGE OF THE MUTANT KILLER SNOWMAN (2000)

 

(Director/screenwriter: Michael Cooney)

Review

A year after the niveous carnage of JACK FROST (1997), anti-freeze dissolved serial killer snowman (Frost) is accidentally resurrected in an FBI genetics lab by a clumsy employee (Brett A. Boydstun). The icy menace (again voiced by Scott MacDonald) tracks his source-film nemesis Sheriff Sam Tiler (Christopher Allport, TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A., 1985), with whom Frost shares a psychic link, and his friends to a tropical island.

Sam, traumatized by his experiences with Frost, and his wife (Anne, again played by Eileen Seeley, CREATURE, 1985) are (also) island-bound to attend the wedding of Sam’s deputy (Joe Foster) and his secretary (Maria).

The quip-spouting Frost, via his “genetically altered water molecules”, wastes no time in dropping bodies—initially two boat-trapped castaways, then young, drunk, and otherwise oblivious vacationers. The kills are creative and appropriate (e.g., a LOONEY TUNES-esque icy anvil crushes a model; a man’s tongue, in a shout-out to A CHRISTMAS STORY, 1983, has his tongue ripped off; sentient-spawn snowballs tear apart numerous victims). Before long, Sam and the others figure out the environs-dominant Frost is out to get them, and this time, it’s going to take more than anti-freeze to end him.

 

Other notable cast members include:

Ian Ambercrombie (WARLOCK, 1989) as Sam’s terrible “Psychiatrist”;

Chip Heller (MUNCHIES, 1987), returning from the first FROST, as Deputy Joe Foster;

Marsha Clark (MY DEMON LOVER, 1987), also from the first movie, as Maria, Joe’s future wife;

Stefan Marchand (HELLBORN, 2003) as Charlie, one of starving, life raft-bound castaways who fights with fellow boat-mate Dave (Doug Jones, JOHN DIES AT THE END, 2012);

Ray Cooney (real-life father of director Michael Cooney) as the idiosyncratic Col. Hickering, former British officer and murder-hiding resort manager;

David Allen Brooks (THE KINDRED, 1987) as returning-from-the-first-film character Agent Manners (played by Stephen Mendel in JACK FROST);

Tai Bennett (JOHN DIES AT THE END, 2012) as Bobby, as Col. Hickering’s assistant;

and

Sean Patrick Murphy (THE HANGRY DEAD: THE BIGGEST INSTAGRAM MOVIE EVER, 2020) as energetic entertainment director, Captain Fun.

Michael Cooney, despite a behind-the-scenes dramatic slashing of his sequel budget, has crafted a tightly written and edited, silly, and over-the-top work that deftly balances horror and humor. If you can get past its financial limitations, hammy acting and bad dialogue as well as ridiculous/cheesy CGI gore and plot elements (Frost can travel via the actual ocean and control local weather), you might enjoy this decent, Asahi beer-sponsored follow-up to the solidly made first film. 

Be sure to watch the credits all the way to the end. A follow-up to JACK FROST 2 was planned, but Christopher Allport, who played Sam Tiler in the first two films, passed away before it could be filmed, scuttling Michael Cooney’s intentions.

 

Deep(er) filmic dive

In Andrea Subissati’s article “Massacre Under the Mistletoe” (Rue Morgue magazine, issue 203, November/December 2021, pp. 12-18), she interviewed JACK FROST director Michael Cooney. In it, Cooney said that Asahi beer, JACK FROST 2’s only sponsor (to the tune of $5,000] might’ve thought they were funding a sequel to the Michael Keaton film, also released in 1997. 

JACK FROST (1997)

 

(Director/screenwriter: Michael Cooney)

Review

Snowmonton, California. After a truck carrying vicious serial killer Jack Frost (Scott Macdonald) to his execution collides with a genetics company truck, Frost’s body is bathed in the experimental fluid, fusing his melted body with the snow. The police, thinking Frost dead, declare him as such.

But Frost is still alive. He is a murderous snowman seeking revenge on the small-town cop (Sheriff Sam Tiler, played by Christopher Allport) who arrested him, with a few more killings along the way. Tiler is still jittery about Frost, who to the end of his life, vociferously vowed vengeance on Tiler.

The bodies pile up quickly in this low budget horror comedy─an old man is found frozen to death, with serious spinal damage; a bully picking on Ryan, Tiler’s son, while Ryan builds a snowman (actually Frost, unbeknownst to Ryan). Horrible, quip-punctuated deaths follow. 

As a direct-to-video comedy horror flick, JACK─not to be confused with the 1998 Michael Keaton film─is a golden turkey (“so bad it’s good”): it’s fun, mostly light-toned, and fast-paced, with good cinematography and FX, and intentionally cheesy/well-shot kill scenes (and quips to accompany said killings). One of the murder scenes involving a bathtub stands out for its darkness: a young woman (Jill Metzner) is raped by Frost before she’s covered in frost (while this is shot in a ridiculous, darkly humorous way, it’s obviously still disturbing and unnecessary)─shown in JACK's original trailer, the filmmakers had not intended for Jill to be assaulted that way, just killed, but since her murder scene so closely resembled further violation, they shot additional footage of Frost saying sex puns.

Shannon Elizabeth, billed as Shannon Elizabeth Fadal, played Jill. This was her first role; she appeared in AMERICAN PIE two years later and other bigger budget movies.

There are no wasted shots in JACK and all the players are solid in their roles, making this hour-and-a-half-long B-movie breezy entertainment with an imaginative, laugh-out-loud finish to its villain. Its ending explicitly leaves JACK open for a sequel, keeping with the (mostly) fun spirit of the film. Followed by JACK FROST 2: REVENGE OF THE MUTANT KILLER SNOWMAN (2000).

 

Deep(er) filmic dive

In Andrea Subissati’s article “Massacre Under the Mistletoe” (Rue Morgue magazine, issue 203, November/December 2021, pp. 12-18), she interviewed JACK FROST director Michael Cooney. In it, Cooney said:

—JACK FROST was made in 1994 but not released until 1997, and originally was budgeted as a bigger film with a bigger director.

—JACK FROST  was not intended as a horror film, though it was “influenced by horror films. . . [it was influenced] by Sam Raimi’s THE EVIL DEAD (1981)”.

—Cooney wished he’d shot JACK FROST “on film.” The producers wanted it “shot on digital because that’s how they wanted to promote it. Nobody had lit this camera before, and we struggled. The early digital [cameras] had no depth of field; we were trying to figure out how to make pools of light; the little centre on this brand-new camera picked up every piece of light. . . I think it would have had more warmth if it were shot on film.”

DEADTIME STORIES (1986)

 

(a.k.a. FREAKY FAIRY TALES; a.k.a. DEADTIME; director/co-screenwriter: Jeffrey Delman, who cameos as “Strangling Man” in “The Boy Who Cried Monster” segment. Co-screenwriters: J. Edward Kiernan and Charles F. Shelton.)

 

Review

Plot: This four-microtale, fairy tale-themed anthology revolves around a sleepless boy, murderous witches, a jogger stalked by a werewolf, and four psychos inhabiting the same house.

In the first story, DEADTIME’s wrap-around work (“The Boy Who Cried Monster”), a sleepless boy (“Little Brian”) won’t go to sleep, forcing his impatient Uncle Mike to tell him off-the-cuff and oft-pervy-version fairy tales. “Boy” is a solid, fun envelope-work, one that provides a not-surprising but well-executed finish for the film.

 

Uncle Mike’s first fairy tale, “Peter and the Witches,” revolves around a young slave (Peter, played by Scott Valentine), who’s torn between his duty to two witches (who seek to resurrect their dead sister) and a beautiful young woman (Miranda) they must kill to achieve that.

Like “Boy” this is a well-edited and shot microwork, with good acting (especially Anne Redfern and Phyllis Craig, in their only cinematic roles, as witches Florinda and Hanagohl).  Lisa Cain, stuntwoman for many films including WOLFEN, 1981, played “Living Magoga,” Hanagohl and Florinda’s resurrected sibling.

 

“Little Red Runninghood,” the second tale, is less focused than its preceding segments. In it, a beautiful young woman (Rachel) is accidentally given the wrong meds for her grandmother at a pharmacy, meds meant for Willie (a lycanthrope who uses them to prevent him from werewolfing out). This leads to an inevitable “Red Riding Hood” crisis for all involved.

While sometimes funny, clever, and effectively twisty, its overlong sex scenes between Rachel and her boyfriend─which flesh out DEADTIME to feature-length, but also undercut “Runninghood”’s overall humor and pacing do the rest of DEADTIME an injustice. It doesn’t ruin the movie but it’s a glaring lag in this otherwise worthwhile flick.

Matt Mitler (BASKET CASE 2, 1990) played Willie.

 

In “Goldi Lox and the Three Baers,” three fugitives from the law─two of them escapees from Saints Preserve Us Home for the Hopelessy Insane─and their driver flee to their old Amityville house and discover that a virginity-obsessed and equally murderous telepath (Goldi Lox) has taken up residence there.

“Goldi” is a ridiculously funny, fresh take on the “Three Bears” fairy tale, one that’s not quite iconic, but─like most of DEADTIME─clever, knowing, with a wink-at-the-audience, genre-true sense of humor. The dialogue, editing and over-acting are spot-on, transcending DEADTIME’s limited budget.

Melissa Leo (RED STATE, 2011) played Judith “MaMa” Baer. Kevin Hannon played Beresford “Papa” Baer. Timothy Rule (LURKERS, 1987) played Wilmont “Baby” Bear. Cathryn de Prume (TRUE BLOOD: “F**k the Pain Away,” 2013) played Goldi Lox.

Overall, DEADTIME is worth watching, provided you like 1980s cheese and humor, aren’t a fairy tale purist, are okay with “Runninghood”’s sex scenes-lag and enjoy watching non-professional actors (many of the players only have a film or three to their respective credits) and are in a silly mood. The filmmakers clearly knew how to effectively guerilla shoot, getting the most onscreen bang for their limited cash─that, at least for this viewer, impressed me. Just don’t expect it to win any awards.

FREAKY (2020)

 

(Director/co-screenwriter: Christopher Landon. Co-screenwriter: Michael Kennedy.)

 

Review

When the Blissfield Butcher (played by Vince Vaughn), a taciturn serial killer ignorant about a mystical, Aztec dagger he’s wielding, attacks a new victim (Millie Kessler, played by Kathryn Newton), they body-swap. Now he’s running around in her body, thrilled to have further access to new high school-aged victims, and Millie─trapped in the body of a now-familiar-to-all serial killer─must find a way to switch them back without getting arrested or killed, either by well-meaning citizens or the Butcher.

This R-rated mix of Mary Rodgers’s 1972 novel FREAKY FRIDAY (later resulting in several Disney films) and FRIDAY THE 13th (1980) is a fun, fast-paced, emotionally involving, suspenseful and smart film. It was originally titled FREAKY FRIDAY THE 13th but concerns about possible lawsuits compelled the filmmakers to shorten its title.

Christopher Landon, who directed and co-wrote its script with Michael Kennedy, deftly mixes John Hughes-style coming-of-age humor and pathos, fresh slasher flick and body swap movie homages and suspenseful and gory kill scenes, making FREAKY an imaginative and progressive-minded take on these subgenres. It’s a breezy, often laugh-out-loud funny and gripping work, one that stands out in a worthwhile way.

FREAKY’s freshness is not surprising, considering that Landon─son of actor Michael Landon (I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF, 1957)─is the co-author and director of the entertaining, genre-mix films HAPPY DEATHDAY (2017), HAPPY DEATHDAY 2U (2019), and SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE (2015), among others.

Its cast is excellent as well. Kathryn Newton and Vince Vaughn, during their body-swap scenes, effectively convey their counterpart’s natures─Butcher, psychotic; Millie, smart and energetic (Vaughn is especially hilarious when channeling Millie). Celeste O’Connor played Nyla Chones, one of Millie’s best friends. Misha Osherovich played Josh Detmer, her other best friend. Katie Finneran played Carol Kessler, Millie’s grief-stricken, alcoholic mother. FREAKY’s other actors also nailed their roles, but it’s a big cast, too many to list here.

Horror-genre fans may appreciate Landon and Kennedy’s nods to other films, including HALLOWEEN (1978), FRIDAY THE 13th PART 3 (1982), JENNIFER’S BODY (2009), SCREAM and SCREAM 2 (1996-7) and CHERRY FALLS (2000).

My only nit─and it’s really minor─is that the Aztec ritual dagger (called La Dola) is not given much explanation, a few lines at best. That said, I don’t mind too much that there was not a lot of background as it’s not vital to the events of FREAKY, and to give further time to La Dola’s history and nature might have unnecessarily slowed the rollercoaster pace of the FREAKY. Not only that, it leaves further intriguing, twist-promising room for a sequel to explore─although Landon has said that he sees FREAKY as a one-shot work. He has indicated in interviews that he’s ready to shoot the third DEATHDAY film, wrap up the dangling plot threads from HAPPY DEATHDAY 2U.

FREAKY is excellent, funny, suspenseful, and smart. Check it out!

THE CAR (1977)

 

(Director: Elliott Silverstein. Screenwriters: Dennis Shryack, Michael Butler and Lane Slate.)

 

Review

Released stateside on Friday, May 13, 1977, and inspired by Steven Spielberg’s 1971 television film DUEL, CAR opens with narrator Anton LeVey quoting the Satanic Bible’s “Invocation of Destruction” (“Oh great brothers of the night who rideth upon the hot winds of hell, who dwelleth in the Devil’s lair; move and appear”). While LaVey does this, the titular vehicle appears in a wide-angle, aerial shot, driving through the desert toward the small town it will shortly menace.

The possibly driverless, tank-solid satanic car cruises around the town’s periphery, immediately killing two bridge-crossing bicyclists. The police, led by Sheriff Everett (John Marley), investigate the suspicious deaths, not convinced they’re accidental. Not long after that, a hitchhiker’s hit-and-run death is witnessed by a violent drunk (Amos, played by R.G. Armstrong) and his battered wife (Bertha, played by Doris Dowling). The hunt for the murderous vehicle is on.

Shortly after this, lead deputy Wade Parent (James Brolin) takes charge of the investigation. Car chases, crashes, explosions (cop cars damn near explode when looked at), building destruction, and a few deaths follow. The car─a canny opponent, with its distinctive, disconcerting horn─is often simultaneously terrifying and hilarious when it circles, lunges toward, and revs its engine at its potential victims.

Can the Car be stopped? Watch and find out!

CAR’s cast is great. Brolin (THE AMITYVILLE HORROR, 1979) is his usual stalwart, masculine self as Wade Parent. Kathleen Lloyd (IT LIVES AGAIN, 1978) played Lauren Parent, Wade’s schoolteacher wife and mother of their two children. Kim Richards played Lynn Marie Parent, Wade and Lauren’s oldest daughter; Kim’s sister, Kyle (HALLOWEEN, 1978) played Debbie, the Parents’ youngest daughter. Ronny Cox played Luke, an emotional, alcoholic deputy.

The actors’ performances are enhanced by their well-sketched characters, whose deep links to each other are palpable, sometimes emotionally involving.

CAR is a PG-rated terror flick─there’s no blood, no actual harm shown to its victims. It’s a fun, if plot-lite and silly work that deftly balances demonic overtones, humor, and small-town pathos. Given its basic storyline and writing, it’s best viewed as a modern-day fable with cheesy 1970s FX with a better-than-its-B-material players and behind-the-camera talent. While not a good film, it’s often entertaining.

(For the Car-curious: the titular, striking-in-appearance vehicle was─in real life─a 1971 Lincoln Continental Mark III black coupe, its roof three inches lower than usual and its side fenders longer and lower than usual. It had no visible exterior door handles. Its chrome-plated, deep-recessed Cragar wheels and its interior-shade/exterior-amber laminated windows lent the car a menacing, indestructible look. The car’s distinctive, alarming horn tone was the Hadley Ambassador Rectangular Bell horn. The car was modified at the request of the movie’s director by George Barris, famous for customizing Hollywood vehicles, including the Batmobile [Batman, 1966-8]. There were four of these cars made for the film, the main one costing eighty-four thousand dollars at the time.)

THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW (2020)

 

(Director/screenwriter/co-star: Jim Cummings)

Review

WOLF is a modest budget drama that sports a FARGO (1996), THE X-FILES (1993-2018) and lycanthropic vibe/setting. Set during the holiday season, between pre-Christmas and New Year’s Eve, it tells the tale of a divorced, ex-alcoholic cop (John Marshall, played by director/screenwriter Jim Cummings) trying to fend off a nervous breakdown while investigating a string of small-town murders.

There’s more than one monster in WOLF, the primary ones being Marshall and the mysterious-till-the-end killer. John, constantly hysterical and well-intentioned, yells at everyone, including his father, Sheriff Hadley (Robert Forster, MANIAC COP 3: BADGE OF SILENCE, 1993), Detective Julia Robson (Riki Lindhome,THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, 2009) and his daughter (Jenna, played by Chloe East). John’s constant shouting is heavy-handed but lends a consistency to WOLF’s monster theme if you can forgive it.

This tightly written, shot and edited film is a low-key standout work if you are in the mood for a supernatural-themed, dryly humorous drama with strong-to-great acting by its principals, occasional gore, and its minor, effective end-twist. Its killer is a solid choice. Also, its humor (love the ending) works in this hour-and-twenty-four-minute flick, worth checking out if you view this as a drama with terror elements.

THE RAVEN (1963)

 

(Director: Roger Corman. Screenwriter: Richard Matheson.)

Storyline

A malevolent sorcerer targets two fellow magicians, one of whom he has turned into a raven.

 

Review

This Richard Matheson-scripted (and family friendly) comedy horror film, set in 1506 and not-really-based on an Edgar Allan Poe poem, is one of my favorite entries in Corman’s Poe-cinematic hexad. Everything about RAVEN, shot in fifteen days, works: the physical comedy and adroit wordplay; the top-notch acting of its masters-of-horror co-leads (Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff) and other actors (e.g., Hazel Court, who acted opposite Price in 1964’s THE MASQUE OF RED DEATH, and Jack Nicholson, who worked with Boris Karloff in the 1963 movie THE TERROR, shot immediately after RAVEN on the same set); its good-for-its-time FX (Price’s spellcasting is shown as bright green laser beam-like rays); its era-evocative, color-rich sets; and its often playful, mood-varied soundtrack. . .  like I said, everything.

SLEEPWALKERS (1992)

 

(Director: Mick Garris. Screenwriter: Stephen King.)

Review

Two half-feline/half-monster shapeshifters─”sleepwalkers”─move into a small town (Travis, Indiana), so that one of them, sick, can feed on a virgin. These sleepwalkers, Mary Brady (Alice Krige, SILENT HILL, 2006) and her vain, seemingly adolescent son (Charles Brady, played by Brian Krause, PLAN 9, 2015), insinuate themselves into the lives of the townspeople, especially the virginal Tanya Robertson (Mädchen Amick, TWIN PEAKS, 1989-91), whom Charles sets his oh-so-charming sights on. But the Bradys’ well-established and oft-executed plans go sideways in a violent and moderately gory way.

Stephen King’s screenplay, not based on any of his published stories or novels, is a silly, fun, and loopy ride, a mix of 1950s science fiction-horror, shapeshifter terror, familiar King settings and elements (cats, small towns, etc.), with late 1980s and early 1990s elements (e.g., Charles’s heavy metal guitar-wank motif) blended in.

It’s an entertaining flick, if you can appreciate its inherent silliness and occasionally icky EC Comics homage roots and often goofy, oddball characters, played by some fine actors, not the least of whom is Clovis the Attack Cat, who really hates sleepwalkers, especially Charles.

Beyond Krige, Krause and Amick, these players include: Cindy Pickett (DEEPSTAR SIX, 1989) as Mrs. Robertson, Tanya’s mother; Lyman Ward (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY’S REVENGE, 1985) as Mr. Robertson, Tanya’s father; Glenn Shadix (BEETLEJUICE, 1988) as Mr. Fallows, a scheming teacher; Dan Martin (NIGHTMARE CINEMA, 2018) as Deputy Andy Simpson, Clovis the Attack Cat’s driver and staff member; Jim Haynie (JACK’S BACK, 1988) as Ira, the town’s sheriff; Ron Perlman (CRONOS, 1993) as Captain Soames, one of Ira’s cynical deputies; and Rusty Schwimmer (CANDYMAN, 1992) as a housewife, seen at the start of this fast-paced film.

Film and book geeks may delight in SLEEPWALKERS’s numerous cameos: Stephen King as “Cemetery Caretaker”; Clive Barker (HELLRAISER, 1987) as a dismissive in-the-field “Forensic Tech”; Tobe Hooper (THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, 1974), an in-the-lab “Forensic Tech,” Joe Dante (THE HOWLING, 1981), another lab “Forensic Tech”; Cynthia Garris (CRITTERS 2, 1988) as Laurie, Hooper and Dante’s fellow “Lab Technician.”

SLEEPWALKERS may prove a worthwhile flick if you’re a fan of King’s MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE (1986) and CREEPSHOW (1982, another EC Comics homage), and don’t mind oddball silliness and characters, with corn on the cob on the side.

BLOODSUCKING BASTARDS (2015)

 

(Director/co-screenwriter: Brian James O’Connell, who briefly appears as “Mail Room Boy.” Co-screenwriters: Sean Cowhig; Neil Garguilo, billed as Neil W. Garguilo; and Justin Ware.)

 

Storyline

In this comedy horror film, a new office manager begins turning his subordinates into the undead. It’s up to a quiet employee and his slacker co-workers to stop him.

 

Review

Fans of MAYHEM (2017; director: Joe Lynch) and SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004; director/co-screenwriter: Edgar Wright) as well as those who’ve worked in corporate offices might especially enjoy this entertaining, light-toned vampire film, a solid, balanced blend of silly and nerd-culture humor, splatterific violence and corporate malfeasance.

The pacing is solid, the characters are well-written and well-acted, its tone is consistent, most of the jokes land, it deftly mocks cliches, and has a refreshing ending that makes BLOODSUCKING stand out in a positive way.

The cast is top-notch. Fran Kranz (YOU MIGHT BE THE KILLER, 2018) is Evan, the responsible but exasperated manager. Pedro Pascal (THE MANDALORIAN, 2019-present) is equal parts charm, arrogance, and casual menace as Max, the corporate shark who replaces Evan. Joey Kern (CABIN FEVER, 2002) is Tim, one of Evan’s curiously dependable slacker employees. Emma Fitzpatrick (THE COLLECTION, 2012) is Amanda, Evan’s smart, driven girlfriend. Joel Murray (HOLIDAY HELL, 2019) is Ted, the friendly but suspect district manager. Yvette Yates Redick (INHERENT VICE, 2014), billed as Yvette Yates, is a blast as the ferocious Zabeth. An uncredited Matthew Lillard (SCREAM, 1996) is the “Phallicyte Executive.”

BLOODSUCKING is worth watching for a laugh, and─around the fifty-five-minute mark─gory, quip-punctuated supernatural action.

THE HOWLING: REBORN (2011)

 

(Director: Joe Nimziki, who co-wrote the screenplay with James Robert Johnston, billed as James Johnston, barely based on Gary Brandner’s 1978 novel The Howling II.)

Storyline

A high school student discovers he’s a lycanthrope just as other werewolves converge on him and his girlfriend.

Review

When a popular, aggressive girl invites high school senior Will Kidman (Landon Liboiron) to a party, his life is irrevocably changed.  The girl, Eliana Wynter (Lindsey Shaw, billed as Lindsey Marie Shaw), runs with a pack of adolescent thugs, many of whom menace book-nerdy Will. After he is stalked at the party by a wild animal and escapes uninjured, secrets about his dead mother, Kay (Ivana Milicevic, CHILDREN OF THE CORN III: URBAN HARVEST, 1995), are revealed, threatening his future as well as the lives of those he cares about.

This eighth HOWLING entry is solid, with sketched, likeable or loathe-worthy characters, good FX, mostly fast-paced writing and a strong, quirky B-movie sensibility. Yes, some of its characters’ backstories could have been better developed─e.g., Kay’s contentious relationship with Will’s father, Jack (Frank Schorpion, PET SEMATARY, 2019), and a few less scenes with melancholic pop songs (including Gus Black’s slowed-down cover of Blue Öyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper”) might’ve improved said scenes. That said, these are minor complaints. If you keep your expectations low─not THE HOWLING: NEW MOON RISING (1995) low─but moderate nonetheless, this might be a worthwhile, unmemorable flick for just-before-bed viewing.

YOU MIGHT BE THE KILLER (2018)

 

(Director: Brett Simmons. Screenplay by Thomas V. Pitale, Brett Simmons, and Covis Berzyone, based on Sam Sykes and Chuck Wendig’s idea.)

Review

Unable to reach the local police, a panicked, killer-stalked camp counselor, Sam (Fran Kranz, THE CABIN IN THE WOODS, 2011) in the middle of nowhere calls his slasher flick-savvy best friend while she’s working at a multimedia-video store. Sam and his friend, Chuck (Alyson Hannigan, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, 1997-2003), try to figure out who the killer is, their motive(s), and how Sam can survive his terrible night even as he remembers disturbing details leading up to his current situation.

Said to be inspired by a conversation between Sam Sykes and author Chuck Wendig (who served as producers for the film), this TV-MA, dark-humored, and occasionally bloody (e.g., a quick shot of a slit throat) movie features deftly executed twist and turns, knowing-wink references to horror genre flicks, effective suspense and laugh-out-loud silliness in equal measure, and top-notch acting not only from its leads but its supporting cast.

Among its cast: Keith David (THE THING, 1982) as the voice of Sheriff James; Bryan Price (THE MONKEY’S PAW, 2013); Patrick R. Walker (SCREAM: THE TV SERIES, 2016); and Carol Jean Wells (JUG FACE, 2013).

Fans of slasher flicks, bloody comedy, a certain 1983 Stephen King novel, a certain 1988 William Lustig film, lively horror scores (this one created by Andrew Morgan Smith, JEEPER CREEPERS III, 2017), and other terror works might enjoy this fun, well-written and well-shot horror comedy that’s a high-mark work within its hybrid genre.

THE HOWLING: NEW MOON RISING (1995)

 

(a.k.a. HOWLING VII: MYSTERY WOMAN. Director: Clive Turner and an uncredited Roger Nall. Screenplay by Clive Turner, billed as “based on” Gary Brandner’s The Howling trilogy, but it’s not.)

Storyline

After a friendly stranger arrives in a small town, a series of savage, animalistic murders occur.

 

Review

A mysterious biker, Ted (Clive Turner), arrives in a sparsely populated cowboy town (Pioneertown) and gets a job at the community hub country bar (Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace) and makes friends with the locals. What they don’t know is that he has an agenda, making notes about his social interactions on a tape recorder in his motel room.

Meanwhile, a “Detective” (John Ramsden) talks to Father John, a local priest, about a series of out-of-town murders the Detective is investigating. The priest tells him that the killer he’s hunting has roots going back to the 1500s in Hungary and is a spawn of Satan─a werewolf! The cop is unconvinced but listens to Father John anyway. The priest’s voiceover, spread throughout the film, narrates extensive footage from HOWLING IV: THE ORIGINAL NIGHTMARE, HOWLING V: THE REBIRTH, and HOWLING VI: THE FREAKS.

Within days of Ted’s arrival, two bar patrons are torn apart. Eventually, the “Detective” meets Ted, everything comes to anticlimactic finish, and MOON finally ends.

MOON, the seventh HOWLING flick, is not a good film. Shot in Yucca Valley, California, its microbudget is painfully obvious. Most of its players, wooden in their roles, are non-actors, all of whom use their real first names and whose humor runs from a recurring George Jones joke to a scene with loud, squirting fart sounds. Its FX/transformation scenes are cheap, even for MOON’s infinitesimal financing, and there is no suspense in this amiable but boring-for-any-genre work.

MOON has some good things about it too. It’s the first film in the series since HOWLING II that strives for series continuity─in this case, it tries to bring together elements from the three previous movies (e.g., Romy Windsor reprises her role of Marie Adams, the famous writer, from HOWLING IV). While it doesn’t entirely succeed, it’s an admirable attempt on Turner’s part.

Another thing I liked about MOON was its set-up (why Ted comes to Pioneertown, and who hired him to go there) as well as its clever end-twist. Now, if everything else about it had been better, it might’ve made MOON worthwhile. It’s not the worst film I’ve seen, but I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone.

SLAXX (2020)

 

(Director: Elza Kephart. Screenplay by Elza Kephart and Patricia Gomez, billed as Patricia Gomez Zlatar.)

Review

During the set-up for an instore unveiling of a groundbreaking new line of jeans (Super Shapers), a new employee, Libby McClean (Romane Denis), discovers that her and her co-workers are being picked off by a pair of supernaturally possessed jeans.

SLAXX is an adroit, darkly fun (despite its brightly lit environs), sometimes bloody horror comedy that, structured by Kephart and Gomez’s spot-on screenplay, balances sketched-out, well-acted characters (who are worth rooting for or hissing at), laugh-out-loud humor, visually satisfying FX, horror elements and set-ups as well as a potent social conscience that is deftly presented in a way that the satirical SLAXX entertains and educates in equal measure. This is one of the best horror comedies I’ve seen in a long time, and one of the best fun-horror flicks of 2020.

Notable performers include: Stephen Bogaert (AMERICAN PSYCHO, 2000); Elizabeth Neale (MOTHER!, 2017); and fabricator/puppeteer/special FX supervisor Marie-Claude Labrecque as Slaxx.

HOWLING III (1987)

 

(a.k.a. HOWLING III: THE MARSUPIALS. Director/screenwriter: Phillipe Mora, his script barely based on Gary Brandner’s 1985 book The Howling III.)

Storyline

A young lycanthropic runaway’s bad luck turns when she’s cast in a horror film. Unfortunately, members of her werewolf clan have followed her to the big city to return her to their fold.

 

Review

CAVEAT: possible mini-spoilers in this review.

Billed as a lyncathropic terror flick, HOWLING III is a quirky dramedy punctuated with horror elements. In it, a young woman, Jerboa (Imogen Annesley, QUEEN OF THE DAMNED, 2002) flees her backwater town (Flow) and her abusive stepparent, Thylo (Max Fairchild, THE ROAD WARRIOR, 1981) for a big city, where she─seen on the street by a sharp-eyed film crew member (Donny Martin)─is cast in a werewolf film (SHAPESHIFTERS PART 8).

Meanwhile, an American scientist, Professor Harry Beckmeyer (Barry Otto), working for his government, has flown to Australia (where HOWLING III takes place) to prove that werewolves exist, and stop furry-beast attacks across the globe. Beckmeyer’s not the only one seeking Jerboa─a trio of funny, shapeshifting nuns also track her. It’s not long before Jerboa, pregnant and close to giving birth, and Donny (Lee Biolos, billed as Leigh Biolos) find themselves in Flow, along with Beckmeyer and his associates, who study the town’s denizens in a laboratory. Local hunters and American and Australian soldiers show up as well.

One of the things I like about HOWLING III is how it delves into its distinctive, Oz-centric history, mixed biology, and mythology. I also like how it embraces its amiable, humane and sometimes goofy tone (even if the nun-based storyline fizzles out into an underexplained dead-end, and its ending, echoing that of the first HOWLING film, undercuts the largely positive and solid vibe of what came before it. Though effectively foreshadowed, this finish is character/situation inconsistent.

Unfortunately, HOWLING III sometimes comes off as unintentionally funny (e.g., the scenes where Dagmar Bláhová, playing Olga Gorki, appears to be overacting when her werewolf tendencies come to the fore─ Bláhová is solid when she’s not given ridiculous reaction scenes, so more’s the pity). Speaking of ridiculous scenes, fans of Larry Blamire’s THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA (2001) may enjoy a certain scene involving bones and dumb hunters. It does not help that many of the FX (e.g., the nuns’ wolfed-out scenes) feel like a silly Claymation, something more suitable for an early Peter Jackson film. Another potential minus for many viewers is its lack of suspense, though I don’t see it as a demerit, considering that the movie is not a horror flick. That said, it’s too bad that this subgenre-hybrid film got marketed as a terror work, making it almost certain to disappoint horror fans, who are often catholic in their narrowly defined expectations.

Horror and western fans may recognize some of HOWLING III’s players. Michael Pate (CURSE OF THE UNDEAD, 1959) played the American “President.” Frank Thring (MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME, 1985) played Jack Citron, a movie director. Ralph Cotterill (THE PROPOSITION, 2005) played Professor Sharp. Barry Humphries (SHOCK TREATMENT, 1981) played one of his iconic characters, Dame Edna Everage, as an “Academy Award Presenter.”

I wouldn’t recommend HOWLING III unless you’re looking for an ambitious, experimental werewolf dramedy with a few glaring flaws and a seriously low budget.

WILLY’S WONDERLAND (2021)

 

(Director: Kevin Lewis. Screenwriter: G.O. Parsons.)

Storyline

A stranded-for-the-night drifter is tricked into doing janitorial work in a shuttered Chuck E. Cheese-style pizzeria where its animatronic mascots eat the janitors.

 

Review

A mostly silent drifter─billed as “The Janitor” (Nicolas Cage, COLOR OUT OF SPACE, 2019)─is tricked into working a one-night janitorial gig in a shut-down pizzeria, Willy’s Wonderland. The Janitor is not told his task will involve more than cleaning.

While this happens, a teenage girl, Liv (Emily Tosta), plots to torch Willy’s. As a younger girl, she witnessed her parents being killed by the eatery’s supernatural animatronic mascots, led by Willy Weasel. In the now, Liv’s guardian, Sheriff Lund (Beth Grant, CHILD’S PLAY 2, 1990), handcuffs Liv to a pipe to keep her from following through on her fiery intentions.

The Janitor─locked in the building by the restaurant’s owner (Tex Macadoo)─cleans the semi-trashed building. Time passes, the animal- and fairy tale-themed mascots come after The Janitor, who does not seem too surprised. Meanwhile, Liv─with help from friends─escapes her cuffs. They make their way to Willy’s to rescue the energy drink-swilling Janitor (a stranger to them) and burn Willy’s down.

WILLY’S is good up until this point. Once the kids find themselves stuck in the Chuck E Cheese-style fatty food palace, the movie goes to s**t. While The Janitor proves himself a worthy adversary for the possessed mascots, the kids─even the initially spunky and smart Liv─are mostly useless as they try to find a way out, plot conveniently forgetting about the barely boarded-over windows they could bust through, or how they could help The Janitor kill the remaining satanic threats (especially the seductive, ultra-creepy Siren Sara). Twenty-plus minutes bloat the film to its mandatory ninety-minute mark with the kids running around and getting picked off while The Janitor hunts and fights the monsters.

WILLY, with a few minor plot and character tweaks, could have been an excellent future cult classic─all of the ingredients are inherent in the film’s barebones set-up and its characters. Its cinematography (courtesy of David Newbert), production design (Molly Coffee) and its makeup/FX crew make this feel like a goofy, gory 1980s video flick. The early-on stage-setting and editing are top-notch. Perhaps one of the more egregious failings of WILLY’S is that the filmmakers did not make a movie that matched the loopy, masterful weirdness of Cage’s performance as a wordless, bad-ass Janitor (Cage wanted to play him like a silent actor would), whose quirks sometimes border on bewildering.

The rest of the actors are good, but this is Cage’s show. Even though I felt let down as a viewer (due to WILLY’S flaccid last third, dumb teenage characters and bad CGI at the end), this still has its fun moments, and Cage works his quirkiness in fresh ways here. I wouldn’t recommend it for most people, but if you’re hardcore about Cage, you should check it out at least once─for free, if possible.