October Recommendation: Freddy vs. Jason

       I knew while watching the first dozen Nightmare on Elm Street films and the first three Friday the 13th movies, I knew firsthand that this iconic face-off movie for the ages would be my monthly recommendation for the month of October. Freddy vs. Jason was one of the very first ever, movie grudge matches of the ages, literally long before Batman v. Superman or even Captain America clashed with Iron Man in Civil War. I've mentioned Alien vs. Predator almost a year ago now and having re-watched this incredibly amazing and entertaining, slasher film I have to say that Freddy vs. Jason is defiantly one of the greatest crossovers, grudge match films of all time better than Alien vs. Predator and a hundred times better than Batman v. Superman.

       Two horror icons face off in this supernatural movie. Disfigured serial killer Freddy Kruger (Robert Englund), who if you haven't seen the Nightmare films he kills kids in their dreams, has lost much of his power since citizens of his town have become less afraid of him. Enlisting the help of fellow violent murderer Jason Voorhees (Ken Kirzinger), Freddy orchestrates a new killing spree. However, when Jason can't stop killing Freddy's intended victims, the two ghouls start to battle each other. 

        This film was no-doubt my first introduction into the character of Freddy Kruger and his ability to be a dream weaving killer, while this was my second film of Jason Voorhees hence Jason X, and being a high school student in the 2003, this film was on cable TV numerous times and I would watch this film constantly mainly getting ready for the fight scenes between Freddy and Jason but again growing up with numerous slasher films like Scream and I know what you did last Summer as well as Jason X, I wasn't really caring a whole lot of the human characters because let's be honest slasher films from nineties to 2000's, the human characters never made the wisest choices and that's always been the typical horror/slasher aspects of the these movies. And sure the movie was scary-ish especially with this movie, there were some elements where either the dad is being terrifying or Robert Englund doing what he does best does give some frights but with this movie, you for sure have the best of both worlds with scares, comedy and action either way I love the way this movie turned out and even re-watching the film now is like a breath of fresh air, and for me growing up in the nineties and 2000's, this was amazing to watch. This was Robert Englund's final performance as Freddy Kruger, and this man delivers the performance of a life time, like sure he was amazing in the first Nightmare and was scary, but through the course of the sequels he really wasn't in all of the films and was a bit meh if you can look at some of the sequels, but with this movie it's like he told the director Ronny Yu, that this was his final movie and I'm going to have the best time of my life. Moreover Englund delivers both a scary portrayal of his character especially in the intro of the movie but through the course of the movie you can tell he's delivering a comedic performance as well and the guy did a good portion of the stunt work so, he was in his mid-fifties and really that man was no doubt in the best shape of his life, either way this movie was a great send off or a great dropping of the mic and leaving the character he's played for a long time. If you replaced Robert Englund's portrayal of Freddy Kruger I don't think you would get an entertainingly, guilty pleasure, you just can't especially at that time I mean if you replaced Englund then all the fans would go on a riot. But with the character of Jason I mean if you just cast a tall guy to play that role then you're all set, but even after the short lived reboots these characters are like past movie ghouls and nobody cared for them which in all fairness Freddy vs. Jason was no doubt the best send off for both franchises and delivered in the best way possible. The other thing in what makes this film great is that it has a storyline that any audience member who has not seen a Elm Street or Friday the 13th film can get into it, though I'm not say to dismiss watching all the Nightmare franchise or Friday the 13th films I'm just say for people who don't know a whole lot about these characters, the story takes care of itself by explaining them in the best way possible by explaining Freddy's backstory from the previous films and Jason well he's a walking zombie who loves his mother. But more importantly the writers developed a good solid story with combining a list of good source material from the third Nightmare film to make the storyline more interesting and the police force such horrible human beings to which really if you watch this film you'll slowly see how bad and horrible the police force are to their citizens, moreover shows the scary notion of the cops not protecting their own citizens. Look all I can tell you is that it's been a long time since I watched Freddy vs. Jason and this film alone brought back amazing memories when these types of films were made to be a guilty pleasure and for me personally this film ages like fine wine especially when it was an hour and thirty-five minutes long movie. If you're looking for a movie that gets straight to the point with combination of horror, comedy and action Freddy vs. Jason I would highly recommend watching on Hulu and HBO Max for the month of October for which, was a great treat to watch especially since this was Robert Englund's final performance as Freddy Kruger and really you can't top a better sendoff performance especially when it comes to Robert Englund's film career. And really movies like this, sure it’s goofy and ridicules but you have to look at it for what it is, and it’s not supposed to be a serious movie or highly scary or disturbing furthermore if your looking for a movie like this then just watch Craven’s first Nightmare film, but if your looking for a movie that you can turn your brain off and just have a good time watching dumb humans making bad choices when it comes to serial killers coming after you. Moreover you can’t have your kids watch this movie but when they get older to like a teenager age then they would for sure be entertained by this great, guilty pleasure. 

 

 

Friday the 13th Part 3

 

          

         One Nightmare ends another Friday continues, and the greatest miracle of all time since the St. Louis Blues winning the Stanley Cup has finally come around as in the latest Friday the 13th movie, we finally get to see Jason receiving his first Hockey mask. Which hopefully won't be the last time considering there maybe six more movies to go. While I watched this latest Friday, the 13th film on Peacock, what I slowly didn't realize was the film alone was shot in 3D TECHNOLOGY! Honestly, since the beginning of the 1950's technology has its potential but later becomes annoying when it becomes a popular idea for producers. 

          The third installment picks up on the day after the carnage from the second movie with Jason Voorhees (Richard Brooker) stealing clothes as well as killing the store owner and his wife. Meanwhile Chris (Dana Kimmell) hosts a lake house with her teenage friends. Despite a run-in with a local biker gang, they enjoy an amiable weekend together -- that is, until Jason begins to knock off kids and bikers alike. 

           The most interesting thing about the film is Martin Jay Sadoff, the films 3-D effects supervisor, is the one man responsible coming up with Jason's trademark hockey mask. Sadoff always kept a bag full of hockey gear on set and for good reasons, he was an avid hockey fan. While testing potential masks to use for Jason, he pulled out a Detroit Red Wings goalie mask for a test. Upon which, Steve Miner, director of the film, loved the look and, after some modifications to the mask, decided to use that for the film. So, to all Jason Voorhees fans if you want to thank a person for being a Jason fan, thank Martin Jay Sadoff for proposing the Hockey mask idea as well as giving Jason an identity we can all remember and love. I would love to say that the movie has some great moments and sure the bikers do have some good funny moments, but the film alone just has some mediocre and boring moments and the main problem with the movie is that no recuring characters return from the second movie. And one of the original storylines, consist of actress Amy Steel returning for the third installment, though turned it down for which haunts her later in life. And not even the 3-D effects helped the movie out, which is strange to say but 3-D through the years had its moments but later became annoying when wanting to see a movie. Hell, Hollywood tried adapting 3-D effects to a John Wayne movie and it just wasn't great to watch at all despite it's a good John Wayne movie. Furthermore, when you see the film alone on Peacock or without the 3-D effects, some of the effects where a yo-yo or machete is pointing at the screen just becomes sad with the consideration that people in Hollywood thought that this was a great idea when it should have just stayed at Disney parks. Out of the three Friday the 13th films I've seen on Peacock the second one was the decent movie to watch while sure the first film was trying to take the Halloween aspect and take the kills to a whole new level but at times was okay, and the second movie has some good moments as well as some decent characters, but yet some of the characters in the third movie were just unlikeable as well as wanting to see more Jason than the characters. Like the Nightmare films the three films are just an hour and thirty-five minutes in length so, in all fairness it's not a huge pain but deep down I would like to at least have some potential of these movies being worth the watch because as of right now I'm still saying Jason X is still the best one. I would highly recommend watching all three Friday the 13th movies on Peacock while they’re still on Peacock for the month of October because you should always give these movies a worth of your time no matter how bad or good the films are. As of right now I'm not going to give up on finding a Friday the 13th movie worthy of Jason X, mainly because I found four and five on YouTube for free, so as of finding a good Jason movie other than Jason X, the search continues.

    

A Nightmare on Elm Steet 5: The Dream Child

 

        Back to what maybe that last of the Nightmare on Elm Street marathon as well as concurring my last Nightmare movie to watch for the whole month considering Nightmare on Elm Street 6 and 7 aren't on Hulu or HBO Max. A Nightmare on Elm Steet 5: The Dream Child is thankfully not about abortions.  Although there are some weirdness going on in the movie but thankfully it has nothing to do with abortion which if it was then I would block this movie out of my mind. Luckily this movie in my opinion was left with the most intriguing aspects as well as bringing back Freddy Kruger's back story which to me is always what makes the sequels interesting to watch.   

        The fifth installment of the Nightmare franchise focuses on Alice (Lisa Wilcox), a survivor of the fourth installment, who believes Freddy Kruger (Robert Englund) has been eliminated for good. She optimistically hopes to start a new life with fellow survivor Dan (Danny Hassel). The nightmares begin soon enough, though Alice learns she's pregnant. When her friends start dying, Alice suspects that Freddy is using the fetus within her as a weapon. Can she fight the demon while protecting her child? The answer is obviously YES!

        Here's the interesting thing about all the Nightmare sequels from 2 to 5, if you combine them together and only the odds are the most interesting films than the events. Like the first movie is obviously the best of all the movies the second movie has some interesting aspects in making the film better, despite the film shooting itself in the foot, while the third movie is obviously the best sequel since they brought back Heather Langenkamp and John Saxon to give the movie something to cheer for but more importantly brought a lot of Kruger's backstory. The fourth installment has its moments though they decided to kill off the original characters from the third film to quickly, and we proceed to follow a new group of kids which turned me off but came back on with the Groundhog Day references log before Harold Ramis and Bill Murray had a knife fight. With the fifth movie you get to come back with a bit more of Kruger's backstory for which includes his mother and granted I don't want to spill anymore details but when you included Freddy's backstory that's always the most interesting thing I would love to watch mainly because we don't know a whole lot about Freddy Kruger, other than the man use to be a child murder and he's now able to kill his victims in their dreams, and that's literally all the answers we got nothing more but when you bring more about his mother being a nun then things for me get to be more interesting. Continuing with past directors and writers that went on to do great or decent movies growing up like Chuck Russel, Frank Darabont, Brian Helgeland and? Sure Renny Harlin, I mean the guys remembered for something. We have Stephan Hopkins directing the fifth installment, who in case anyone not familiar with Hopkins (and that's everybody besides me), he actually went on to direct the most underappreciative sequel of all time Predator 2, which really is always a major step and really with this movie he got his big break at least, until a year later he was mostly forgotten which now I want to rewatch Predator 2 because that movie was defiantly a good and entertaining movie from beginning to very end, more importantly Hopkins deserves a lot of credit for being able to handle Gary Busy's insanity. Now having watched, mostly all of the Nightmare films from beginning to the fifth installment, I never quite imagine the strange impact I would get out of watching all of these movies, for sure the first is the best and the sequels are obviously not perfect movies but deep down there's something special about these movies potential to be good and the writers and directors doing the best they can with what they had. And more importantly the films are all under a 90-minute length so it's not like you’re destroying your own brain cells in watching something that has a blend of scary comedy for which in all fairness it can't be worse than watching a scary movie that consists of three hours. For a first time viewing the Nightmare sequels, I enjoyed every minute of them moreover they were each a great treat to watch for the season of Halloween, and more importantly they all have a great way to let yourself have a great time at home after suffering from a bad day from your normal day of life. Though keep in mind these movies are all on Hulu and HBO Max, hence make the month of October the best month of your life. 

       

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: Dream Master

 

             Moving right along into the continuation of the Nightmare on Elm Street marathon of madness. We continue with another group of Dream Warriors-ish, but only this time Freddy Kruger finally becomes the DREAM MASTER. After the success of the third installment, New Line Cinema, finally took some good notes on what made Dream Warriors a box-office success and acquired new blood of writers and directors in Brian Helgeland, mastermind behind great classics in L.A. Confidential, Payback, A Knight's Tale and 42. But more importantly is directed by a man who killed Geena Davis career as well as other movies especially one I do remember watching in the theaters.

             I'm just going to make this short and sweet, Freddy Kruger (Robert Englund) returns to haunt another set of kids in their dreams despite Freddy has pretty much killed almost everybody but try telling that to other murderers who kept on killing even when they went to the prison. 

             Wes Craven presented his own pitch for fourth Elm Street, sadly New Line turned it down and producers Sara Risher and Robert Shaye with the original Dream Master that succeed Dream Warriors. In Risher's own words, she explains "I approached Wes for an idea for the fourth film. I always go to Wes first each time. His idea was illogical. It was about time travel within dreams that broke all the rule of dreams." make a long story short they decided to go to a different approach for which lead to the Dream Master now, and really when you think about it this movie is much better than Wes's idea as much as I want to take the producers side in this scenario. Brian Helgeland was recommended Robert Englund after penning his first script for Englund's directorial debut "976-Evil", and so Helgeland took the entire Christmas back at his parents penning the entire script and then latter FedExes the script to New Line for which made his deadline a success, for which really we as a society evolved from packaging our scripts to Hollywood, when now we can just simply pen our scripts on our laptops and email it to the producers with email, all within two seconds. With Brian Helgeland penning the script you also have a director in Renly Harlin who directed a lot of mediocre movies that I strongly doubt anyone has even seen but if you want to talk about memorable movies he's directed, the man directed Cutthroat Island for which killed his wife Geena Davis's career. Not a whole lot to discuss because I'm making a point to let you all watch and enjoy these movies, but they do have a crazy Groundhog Day where the survivors are trying to race against time but are trapped in a strange time loop, in which strangely is funny. Of all the Nightmare films besides the original, Dream Master had the biggest box-office opening for which really, they must of did something right. All the sequels as a whole are not the most perfect movies you can watch and if that's what you’re looking for then you can just watch the original movies and call it good but really if you just binge on two movies together at a time, these movies are a treat to watch for many reasons you can have a good time watching dumb kids trying to stop terror that can't be stopped and the important factor is that all of these sequels last for 90 minutes which is always a treat when watching these movies on Hulu or HBO Max during the month of October as well as celebrating Halloween. 

        

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

 

              

          Moving on to the dream world of Freddy's nightmare party, I've finally stumbled upon a third installment that may be the better sequel out of all the Nightmare on Elm Street movies so far. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors follows a group of kids in a insane asylum which runs by returning Nightmare survivor Heather Langenkamp, and Larry Fishburne aka Lawrence Fishburne. This good slasher film brings back a lot of the old and new characters but more importantly brings back Wes Craven in the writer’s circle along with Frank Darabont, writer and director behind the greatest classic Shawshank Redemption and a surprising writer and director who made an early nineties Jim Carrey movie that you never realized would have directed it. 

          During a hallucinatory incident, young Kristen Parker (Patricia Arquette) has her wrist slashed by dream-stalking monster Freddy Kruger (Robert Englund). Her mother, mistaking her wounds for a suicide attempt, sends Kristen to a psychiatric ward, where she joins a group of similarly troubled teens. One of the doctors there is Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp), who battled Freddy some years before. Nancy senses potential in Kristen to rid the world of Freddy once and for all. 

          After the critical failure of Freddy's Revenge, New Line Cinema was unsure whether to continue with the series or dismantle it. Craven, who written and directed the original, didn't want to participate with the sequel and for good reasons he didn't want the original to evolve into a franchise. Even though Craven came on to co-write the script and following the success Dream Warriors New Line Cinema was able to continue with a series franchise, for which let's be honest and everyone should know this and that's producers are always addicted to illegal drugs, and they need movie money to pay off their dealers. With this latest installment, they actually improved with the second film despite the film being not so bad, and really what makes the film way better was that they cast back Heather Langenkamp to reprise her role as Nancy for which she does a great job being a supportive doctor to all of these trouble kids and even casting back her dad, John Saxon back into the movie for which they do a great job playing the dysfunctional father and daughter where they don't want to relive the horror, each of them endured. The other thing in what makes Dream Warriors a much better is that we dive deeper into Freddy Kruger's backstory and what made him into this monster and get more insight of how the man died especially for which you do get a little more in intro part of Freddy vs. Jason but with this movie is a whole lot better in my opinion. The other thing that makes the movie great is that you have some good writers besides Wes Craven, into making a better story, the fact that you have Frank Darabont who went on to make great movies like Shawshank Redemption as well as The Green Mile. And not just Wes Craven and Frank Darabont helping to improve the script, but you also have co-writer and director of the film, Chuck Russel who also went on to make Jim Carrey's The Mask as well as launching The Rock's acting career with The Scorpion King for which I remember watching at the movie theaters, and let's just say was one of the many movies in my youth was the reason I love chicks and boobs. The surprisingly good fact about the movie is actress, Jennifer Rubin who plays a sort of punk rock patient, was told by some of her fans that her character in the movie caused them to quit doing drugs after the movie's release, for which really is the coolest thing about the film and something Rubin is very proud of even to this day. Dream Warriors is still on HBO Max and Hulu in the month of October so, if you ever need a scary movie night to turn your brain off Dream Warriors is by far the better sequel you can watch after the original Nightmare on Elm Street.

      

Friday the 13th Part 2

         I never expected the month of October to be a theme of the slasher genre but, when you do a double feature of two sequels for iconic 80's slasher films franchise. Well, then you might as well continue one with the next two Friday the 13th movies since the first three are all on Peacock. The interesting thing and I didn't realize this at first but the central character from the previous movie may have broken Janet Leigh's record of the main character getting killed off early in the movie. Now Leigh in Psycho gets killed off in a good thirty minutes into Alfred Hitchcock's classic movie and Adrienne King may have been killed off at least five minutes considering I wasn't expecting that.

         The second entry in the long running series focuses on a new group of teenagers rebuilding camp Crystal Lake. While everyone hears the story of Jason Voorhees (Warrington Gillette), a boy who drowned at Crystal Lake while his mother took revenge on the teens. Despite everyone not taking it seriously, until Jason goes on a kill crazy rampage then it becomes a kill or be killed for all the teenagers. 

          What really makes the films interesting in a fair sense is that we as an audience member are finally introduced to the infamous machete wielding killer in Jason Voorhees only this time, he's more human in sense compared to him being a walking corpse we all know in later movies. Now I'm a grown man who can admit in being an a**hole who doesn't care a whole lot about the human races especially when it comes to watching slasher movies but I'm a normal man who loves dogs and cats more than I love humans and with this movie I've actually never been more concerned about a cute puppy dogs life when the pup comes across Jason then the rest of the other characters combined and in fact when I saw the dog survived I felt a good sigh of relief when the cute puppy dog came into frame, than the others dumb teens. For which you can tell this is a human Jason and a respectful Jason because he wouldn't dare kill an innocent dog for which I respect a lot from the fictional Jason despite this was my first time viewing the movie. Like the first movie, this is of course a typical sequel repeating the same things from the last film but in all fairness when Jason finally appears that's when the Friday the 13th movies finally gets more interesting especially when you see more characteristics of Jason as a character who kills to avenge his mother but you do get to see some good conflicts to his personality and with this movie you get to see some new and interesting things. At least with this movie you do see a sort of love interest with one of the girls and a guy in a wheelchair where the woman is in love with the guy whose crippled, for which I actually feel a little on the jealous side because I wish I can tell a woman I have epilepsy and takes anti-depressants and she's erotically turned on by me, but I guess I'll have to get her drunk for which there's no point for good reasons why it wouldn't work is simply too much work. Like, the previous film, it's only 90 minutes and there's not a whole lot to expect but with this movie you finally get to see Jason in action so, to me that's always worth the watch because when watching the first movie I, at times find disbelieving in knowing Betsy Palmer at her age in 1980 can hid well especially when hiding all the bodies. And so, with Jason making the killings it makes a whole lot of sense personally. So, look all three Friday the 13th films are on Peacock and so, if you have a subscription I would highly recommend watching a triple feature, while the month of October is still in our grasp hell, now I'm actually wanting to know if he grabs the hockey mask in Part 3 as well as his infamous machete, till then I guess it will be a "to be continued". 

            

 

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge

 

                   

          Well since I took the time and watched the original Nightmare on Elm Street movie, I decided in my own right to sit down and give my balls a tug furthermore go down the rabbit hole of Freddy Kruger's dream world. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge? Takes some interesting ideas of possessing a kid or using him to kill his victims but as usual sequels go, they just end up shooting itself in the foot. And let’s be honest there really shouldn't be Freddy’s Revenge when it's all about new kids right. On a plus side to the sequels is that they're all consisting of 90 minutes so, in all fairness, is it not all bad right?

           Jesse Walsh (Mark Patton) moves with his family into the home of the lone survivors from a series of attacks by dream stalker Freddy Kruger (Robert Englund). While suffering a series of nightmares, (quote, unquote) Freddy needs a host body to carry out his gruesome vendetta against the youth of Springwood, Ohio.

           The funny fact behind Freddy's Revenge is that the studios of New Line Cinema didn't ask actor Robert Englund to return as Freddy at the start of production. And so, after a good two weeks of filming, Robert Shaye (who Green lit first Nightmare) realized how bad a mistake he made when hiring a stuntman to play Freddy, upon which Shaye quickly fired the stuntman, hired Englund and gave him a pay raise, to which at first didn't want to pay him during pre-production. For which let's be honest Shaye made an honest mistake but in Englund's defense he's got to pay bills since he's going to be playing Kruger for the rest of his life. I'll admit I had no interest in experiencing the rest of the Freddy films though I was convinced that slasher movies like these need to be experienced no matter how bad it is, and in all honesty this movie wasn't all bad. The film alone actually has some unique and creative ideas flowing through the story and this is without Craven coming back to write the sequel, and what I like most about the movie is simply they introduce a new set of teenagers set in the not to short and distant future after the events of the first film, and I like the fact that it's a different teen that's living in same house that Nancy use to live in and experience the same torment that she experienced. The other thing in what makes the film interesting as well as intriguing is that Freddy is trying to manipulate a teen into killing the victims or doing a sort of devil possession either way it brings interesting aspects of instead of Freddy normally killing his victims it's a teen being brain washed into believing he's killing these people and although yeah it gets confusing no doubt, but while watching the film it does have the intriguing ideas that makes the film interesting to watch especially when Robert Englund is returning to the role of Freddy although he claims in his memoir in 2009 that Freddy's Revenge was his least favorite movie, in which I can't blame the guy. The biggest plus about the movie is that the film consist of 90 minutes in length, and it continues with the nightmares without a whole lot of explanation so, it can't be worst than a two hour and forty-nine minute movie and a length like that is the reason why I refuse to watch that movie with Florence Pugh about Norse cults in Sweden. Again the thing that makes this movie, worth the watch is simply you can see the potential of this movie being a good movie granted this film sadly shot itself in the groin but you can see how to make this film better if you change the title of the film and maybe focus more on the scary moments, even though expecting a different result can be a bad case of madness. Either way if you're looking for a slasher movie to watch or have a double feature of scary movies, Freddy's Revenge is on both HBO Max and Hulu so, deep down if you got nothing better to do or want to turn your brain off then this I would highly recommend watching on Halloween night, hell watch it while it's dark just for fun unless you're that scared.

             

90th Anniversary of The Bride of Frankenstein

 

         

               

           One of those late nights on Amazon Prime, just finding something to watch to go in sleep mode. Luckily enough I stumbled upon the sequel to the original Frankenstein. The Bride of Frankenstein surprisingly has surpassed its 90th birthday after realizing the film was released in 1935, for which is surprising and yet still holds the test of time as one of the first ever sequels in movie history. Furthermore, Boris Karloff's finest performance as the Frankenstein's Monster, and if you’re a fan of Young Frankenstein you'll begin to experience a ton of references while watching The Bride of Frankenstein, it's crazy considering it's been a long time since I watched the movie. 

            After recovering from injuries sustained in the mob attack upon himself and his creation, Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive) is later manipulated by his former mentor, Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), who insists the now-chastened doctor resume the experiments in creating new life. Meanwhile, the Monster (Boris Karloff) remains on the run from those who wish to destroy him without understanding that his intentions are generally good despite his lack of socialization and self-control. 

            Universal considered making a sequel to Frankenstein as early as the original films preview screenings, following which the films original ending was changed to allow for Dr. Frankenstein survival. James Whale, who directed the very first Frankenstein movie at first refused the idea of making a sequel, but after the success of his 1933 film The Invisible Man, producer Carl Laemmle Jr. realized that Whale should be directing the sequel and so I would imagine he paid Mr. Whale tons of depression era money. The interesting thing and I may have discussed this in past reviews, but making movies in the thirties aren't like making movies today where it would take multiple years to make a movie, back then you can make a movie done close to a few days because majority of the films are made in California or in the back lot of Universal Studio's so, if you look at director James Whale's filmography you'll see that he made movies back to back films that came out every years and I believe it's basically filming a good portion of the films in the back lot of Universal Studio's and realize they can use these sets multiple times so, in all fairness it's a quick way to make a big buck and proceed to movie on to the next movie. Going back and re-watching this great classic I soon realize how great of acting Boris Karloff does in the movie and through the course of the film sure he doesn't say a whole lot of lines but through the course of the you really see the emotions embodied by Karloff and you really sympathize with the Monster almost a sense of similarities to the Monster as well as how you almost relate to the character in a sense especially when the monster meets with the blind hermit and begins to take care of him as well as teaching him to speak for which is amazing to watch for many reasons the first two films really examine what it means to be human and the sense of understanding, either way I love the way it turns out and look forward to watching the Son of Frankenstein. The other great thing about the movie is you have a villain in actor Ernest Thesiger who plays a doctor that manipulates both Dr. Frankenstein and the Monster to achieve his own personal goals that both men who are both enemies in each other's eyes begin to forgive each other and really is something beautiful acting, in both Boris Karloff and Colin Clive. Both Frankenstein and the Bride of Frankenstein are to me one of the greatest monster movies of all time and really one of the greatest movies of all time if I had to make a list in the top 100 greatest movies. Both films deliver in every sense of the word but more importantly is a great human story of trying to create life but soon realizing the consequences of wanting to create life, though in the end what makes the sequel amazing is Boris Karloff being granted much more character development to bring more life to the monster of Frankenstein for which is great to relive. Now if you're big in the Golden Age of Monster movies, The Bride of Frankenstein is still on Amazon Prime so, if you’re looking for some good nostalgia, I would highly recommend this first ever sequel in movie history.

   

An American Werewolf in London

 

          January was my first time experiencing a John Landis movie in, the Blues brothers with Dan Akroyd and John Belushi. While back in June I took the time and watched what maybe one of the greatest comedies in Animal House in fact it was so amazing I watched it multiple times till I had to stop watching it back in August also Landis's greatest achievement. Now in the month of Halloween, I decided to sit down and watch John Landis's first ever script he's written long before he made a name for himself. An American Werewolf in London, is again one of the many movies I have never seen but is one of those many movies I personally felt that I needed to watch to be a true cinema fan.

          David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne), two American college students, are backpacking through Britain when a large wolf attacks them. David survives with a bite, but Jack is brutally killed. As David heals in the hospital, he's plagued by violent nightmares of his mutilated friend, who warns David that he's becoming a werewolf. When David discovers the horrible truth, he contemplates committing suicide before the next full moon causes him to transform from man to murderous beast. 

          John Landis came up with the story of American Werewolf in London while he worked in former Yugoslavia as a production assistant on the film Kelly's Heroes (1970). According to Landis, he and a Yugoslav member of the crew were driving on location, while driving came across a group of Romani people. The Romani people took them to see this grave site of a person buried in the strangest way possible, and although they thought it was funny they begin to ask questions for which leads the idea of American Werewolf. To the movies credit the film has does deliver a lot of new ways in making a werewolf movie, but more importantly brings some realistic tone of how would a person being bitten by a werewolf, would change into a werewolf moreover it brings some interesting ideas that we as an audience member have never seen and this movie really brings a creepy feeling of how a man would change into a werewolf and you'd see how painfully and scary it would be. The other thing I also like about the movie is seeing your latest victims who are still alive in the werewolf's mind but are dead but are fatally wounded. Almost like a person being bitten by a werewolf is slowly losing his mind and the victims he's killed are coming back to haunt him, for which brings in interesting aspect in what it means to be a werewolf as well as how much of your humanity is slowly going away. Yes, this is for sure your typical average werewolf movie and if you've seen many werewolf movies like I have you would slowly realize that this movie is a little on the average side, though in all fairness this film does deliver some interesting ideas, and if I were making a Werewolf I would take the approach of the victim seeing his victims everywhere he goes as well as they either are lying down or sitting down and are just looking at him for which give a haunting aspect to being a werewolf. At times I wish this movie didn't have a comedic tone to the movie because then you'd slowly get confused as to whether the film is serious at being scary or is funny. Or you can always turn this into a scary dark comedy, either way the movie does have those moments of meh to really good ideas to approach in a werewolf movie. And An American Werewolf in London, has all of those elements you'd want in a werewolf movie and the best thing is that it was on Tubi and for me Tubi does deliver in finding some really good movies to watch on the month of Halloween so, if you’re looking for a decent horror movie I would highly recommend watching this movie and really you sometimes have to try new things because you never know when you'll find a perfect scary movie to watch on Halloween night.

       

Friday the 13th

 

        

          Since I was already going back and revisiting the excellence of the first Nightmare on Elm Street movie, I suddenly realized I must make a point in my miserable life to finally sit down and watch the original Friday the 13th movies at least watch the first-three films since they're only on Peacock streaming service. Now I don't know if I was depressed watching all of Alien Resurrection but for some odd, I felt extremely bored from beginning to the very end of the movie. Granted this film took all the concepts of John Carpenter's Halloween and took them to a whole new level of slasher movies that we all know and love, and sure this movie isn't all perfect and part of me wants this movie to be fun and great but yet at the same time the kills wasn't all the great in my opinion.

          Crystal Lake's history of murder doesn't deter counselors from setting up a summer camp in the woodsy area. Superstitious locals warn against it, but fresh-faced young kids pay little heed to the old-timers warning (as all young kids do-basic human nature). They later find themselves stalked by a brutal killer (not Jason). As they're slashed, shot and stabbed, the counselors struggle to stay alive against a merciless opponent. 

           Sean S. Cunningham who produced and directed the original Friday the 13th, was inspired by John Carpenter's first Halloween movie, and wanted to make a movie that was shocking, visually stunning and make you jump out of the edge of set, for which really this movie has all the elements in the very first Friday the 13th film, though sadly doesn't have that jump scare, either that or I'm just way to old and feel like I'm seeing every horror movie I've come across. Granted this movie has a small budget of 550,000-650,000 dollar budget and sure it introduces some shocking and gory aspects to it, as well as premarital sex scenes in the movie so if you’re a young boy now and want to watch something with naked women this was one of those movies that you'd want to watch but you can't tell you own parents. And that's the interesting aspect is you can look at this movie from the time of the film’s release and every generation to now, the kids today would discover nudity through watching these movies without parents telling you not to watch them while my generation our parents would tell you not to watch and you want to watch those movies and try to find sneaky ways to watch the movies while you're parents are either not watching you or went to bed early. Full disclosure I actually had a double feature by accident after watching Alien Resurrection and proceeded to watch Friday the 13th and may have some sense of boredom and frustration when watching Friday the 13th and wanted to hate it, but deep down this movie isn't all bad just has some boring scares as well as not a whole lot of jump scares, which at times I wish would have it but doesn't though granted the movie is 90 minutes so it at least gets to the point and not waste a whole lot of time with character development. To the movie's credit, prosthetic make-up artist and stunt performer, Tom Savini who's infamous in numerous films with makeup and special effects as well as stunt work but also remembered (in a sense) as Sex Machine in From Dusk till Dawn. Furthermore, has done a lot of the gory kills like the infamous Kevin Bacon kill with an arrow to the through the neck is impressive but more importantly works and Tom Savini gets a lot of credit for making a ton of those shocking kills that gives this film the edge it deserves, and we all love today. This film alone consists of 90 minutes in all fairness you can have your own personal slasher movie double feature and can still be entertained from beginning to the very end. The movie alone is not perfect, which a lot of movies aren't these days but there are times, I admit that I need to turn my brain off and act like I haven't seen a movie before. So, if you're looking for a fun Halloween double feature late at night, I would recommend watching Friday the 13th although if you haven't seen the first Scream, don't before you sit down and watch Friday the 13th first.

             

                             

Alien Resurrection

 

           

        Continuing with Alien films I haven't seen, and this is strangely the least depressing of all the Alien movies. Now I liked Alien 3 there were surprisingly really good ideas and some interesting concepts even though director David Fincher got fired 3 times, upon which I don't know that that works considering Fincher and the producers got into more fights almost like a dysfunctional married couple fighting then seconds later apologizing. Look, more importantly, I will argue and say that between Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, I would choose Alien 3 in a heartbeat even though the Alien in Alien 3 still looks awful on the wide shots of the movie.

        The saga continues 200 years after Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) sacrificed herself for the sake of humanity. Her erstwhile employers long gone, this time it is the military that resurrects the one-woman killing machine through genetic cloning to extract the Alien from within her, but during the process her DNA is fused with the queen and then the alien’s escape. Now Ripley must decide where her allegiance lies.

         The surprising factor about this movie and granted this is the only surprising factor, is that former creator of Buffy, and Firefly as well as the first ever Superhero team-up in movie history Avengers, Joss Whedon long before he was charged with workplace harassment. The studio of 20th Century Fox was impressed by Joss Whedon's screenwriting with the success of his first script Buffy the Vampire Slayer, though initially, Whedon's screenplay for Alien Resurrection had five versions of the final act of the film and yet none of his five versions of Joss’s final acts didn't make the cut for the final movie. I think the movie takes me out of liking the film is that Ripley simply fell in a huge burning furnace and yet for some reasons the company was able to clone her with her own blood but I don't remember Ripley ever bleeding through the final act of the movie so, I don't understand how they were able to clone her and the main problem is Whedon doesn't even explain how they were able to clone her. And really what makes Alien 3 decent for me is that they at least close the chapter in the Alien franchise, but yet, 20th Century Fox for whatever reasons needed a fourth chapter where we focus on a cloned version of Ripley who is insanely weird and frequently sexualized with some of the Aliens especially the last one in the movie and I would understand that she has a connection with the Aliens since she had in Alien inside of her but wasn't affected, either way nothing was logically explained. Danny Boyle, Bryon Singer and Peter Jackson were actually approached to direct this movie and yet this guy, Jean-Pierre Jeunet directs this movie and made it just way too weird to explain especially in times where I feel like Ripley is making love to a Xenomorph, as well as having weird incest to some of the Aliens especially at times where it feels like she's acting like them in fact having the same hunting traits almost like Paul W.S. Anderson making Alice in Resident Evil films being a sole survivor and then in the next movie she becomes a bad-a** action star, which I guess Cameron started that whole shenanigans and yet 20th Century Fox wanted to repeat that concept. Now after watching Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection I can understand why these films are somewhat forgotten because all they do is rehash the same concepts from the first-two Alien films and don't create anything fun or exciting (although Alien 3 tried) but just losses the same feel and fun as the first-two movies, and this movie I would rank as the worst of all the Alien films. Granted I would recommend watching Alien 3 because it's at least having interesting concepts and this movie just sucks the fun out of it, almost a thief of joy. All the Alien films are all on Hulu and Disney Plus so, if you’re feeling the need for any Alien movies, I would highly recommend watching all of them except for Alien Resurrection, you can just simply skip that movie unless you have a good sense of adventure. 

           

41st Anniversary of A Nightmare on Elm Street

 

                          

            I've sadly didn't celebrate its fortieth anniversary of this only good Freddy Kruger film which is its first appearance but I'm just going to state the fact that all the Nightmare on Elm Street sequels are not worth watching because it's the same feeling I have with Jason Voorhees when I say that Jason X is his excellent movie and the other films would just not worth the watch and then we can go to the greatest slasher comedy, Freddy vs. Jason. Look the point of what I'm making in the Freddy franchise is A Nightmare on Elm Street directed by a real filmmaker in Wes Craven so, deep down that's the only reason why the first Nightmare on Elm Street is the best horror movie out of the Elm Street films.

            Four teenagers fall prey to Freddy Kruger (Robert Englund), a disfigured midnight mangler who preys on teenagers in their dreams -- which, in turn, kills them in the real world. After investigating the phenomenon, Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) begins to suspect that the dark secret kept by her and her friends’ parents may be the key to unraveling the mystery, but can Nancy and her boyfriend Glenn (young Johnny Depp) solve the puzzle before it's too late? 

            The development of the script is very interesting and a lot of it comes from Wes Craven's childhood and a series of articles talking about late victims who are terrified to go to sleep one of the victims actually had a coffee maker next to their bed as well as avoiding taking subscribed pills to help sleep and while dead the corner who did autopsy states that nothing bad happened to the victim and Craven saw these in LA Times and collected them for a source of inspiration. Another source of inspiration for the creation of Freddy Kruger actually came from Craven's childhood when he was asleep later woken by a stranger in the exact clothes that Kruger wears and all of a sudden just looks dead eye into Craven's soul and once Craven looked away, the mysterious stranger was never seen again, for which later would become the inspiration for Freddy Kruger, although instead of wearing masks and using weapons as well as not saying anything, Craven took another approach and wanted Kruger to talk so he made him look as if he was burnt alive and use a glove of surgical knives or claws as a way to separate the typical weapon cliche. Another interesting aspect of the movie being green lit, was that this was New Line Cinema's first ever movie project long before Lord of the Rings made massive bucks Freddy Kruger was the one fictional serial killer that built a movie studio, which I would find it hilarious if Kruger stumbles upon Middle Earth and complains about them stealing his spotlight but that's a whole other crossover.  Even though this film was made forty years ago with a limited budget of 1.1 million dollars the film alone still works with great aspects as well as terrifying visuals and granted this film was made with a limited budget with some scare's out of date but some of the camera angles as well as some great shots still work for me especially in the scene where Kruger slices off two of his fingers and is just laughing hysterically is so creepy and terrifying you can't help but feel creeped out by him. As great of a performance Robert Englund does in the movie, I at times feel bad and that he was type cast for the rest of his life after the film’s success but then again he did bring it upon himself by making more sequels when he could of find other works but at the same time Anthony Perkins was type casted after his performance in Psycho so, in all fairness it's a typical span although Perkins did have other good films Englund just had one movie but deep down Freddy vs. Jason is hilarious so, maybe two good films I could always be wrong. Now, I don't think any horror movies now pose any excitement for me as a movie watcher and personally there are times where I wish horror movies would go back to the basics of creepy and more suspenseful elements but I guess I'm more old fashioned though it doesn't hurt to come out with a movie that doesn't show much and leaves the suspense as the scary aspect for filmmaking. For the month of October, A Nightmare on Elm Street is still on either HBO Max or Hulu so if you’re a big fan of Wes Craven's past works then I would highly recommend watching A Nightmare on Elm Street for a gillion reasons it was the first dream weaving experience long before Chris Nolan came along with Inception, and this is just me when I say this but I still believe that everyone is killed off by Freddy in the end of the movie although you may have different opinions I still say that everyone was killed off by end of the movie. But then again, it's all about nightmares so we all could be wrong or be a good debate talk when you finished watching the movie. 

          

Alien 3

 

            Well, everyone we are officially in the month of October; that's right everybody as you've probably gotten all your Halloween candy out since the middle week of September and maybe you've got your slutty Halloween costume bought by the beginning of August and now come on you must admit you dirty sluts. So, I decided since October is the month of Halloween, by watching certain Alien movies I haven't seen or talked about in years. And don't get me wrong, I love the Alien movies, even Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. And for certain I'm going to take a crack at the latest Alien show by Noah Hawley most infamous for Fargo. Though I've never taken the proper time to watch both Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection too of the Alien films that no one remembers and as of this month of the year I decided I'm going to watch these movies and so far, Alien 3 isn't that bad.

             Set years after the events of Aliens. Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is the only survivor when she crashes land on Fiorina 161, a bleak wasteland inhabited by former inmates of the planet’s maximum-security prison. Once again, Ripley must face skepticism and the alien as it hunts down the prisoners and guards. Without weapons or modern technology of any kind, Ripley leads the men into battle against the terrifying creature.

              I can imagine Alien 3 wasn't the most exciting or perfect as the last two films, granted I don't know, but from the first time watching the third installment I got to admit this wasn't all bad of a movie in fact I enjoyed it considering it was an hour and fifty-minute movie. In all fairness the film before it got the green light, was still in a bad case of creative writing differences in fact there was a grand total of six writers developing the third installment so, yeah, this film was not going off that good of a start. Though watching the film all the way through there actually was some really good ideas as well as some great concepts like, the idea of this film being set in a maximum security prison with all Brits and one African American in the entire movie which I guess is strangely funny but in all reality feels a little convenient but hey, it's the early nineties. I will say when watching this film for the first time, there's a lot of recognizable actors that you sort of remember although YOU, will most certainly not remember these actors like I do, give you a great example Paul McGann who played the Eight Doctor in Doctor Who: The Movie, ANYONE REMEMBER DR. WHO: THE MOVIE? No? Well then, I probably rest my case on that example. But hey, I'm sure all of you remember Charles Dance who infamously portrayed Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones and played a master vampire in Dracula: Untold, I mean he was the only good thing about that whole movie. And so, with this movie when I saw those two actors’ names I was surprised and had that minor shock of "OH HOLY CRAP, it's that guy" you know the kind of reaction we would all have when seeing a movie like this. I will say the movie has some moments of good concepts and interesting ideas and I well, I sort of liked the fact that they go back to just one Alien but then through the course of the movie especially some of the wide shots of the Xenomorph, you slowly realize the Alien is fake or computer generated, which was a disappointing factor about the film which sure they were working with a 50 million dollar budget, but at least make the Alien at least more believable because those shots of the Alien were just no good, in fact it was almost like a high school project for film class and that was the disappointing factor which took me out of the film. Granted this isn't the most epic Alien movie considering they're just relying on one Alien for which they're just recycling story elements from the first film I mean which is okay-ish, but really you get great cinematography from Alex Thompson and first time director in David Fincher who, surprisingly does a good job considering this is a first time big project, but in the end would later come out with more nineties classics with Seven and Fight Club so, deep down Fincher gets a good deal out of finishing Alien 3. With a great list of actors including Sigourney Weaver who of course does a great job with a pretty good story as well as working with what she had to provide and either way I don't think this is the worst Alien movie I've seen granted I've relived Alien vs. Predator but deep down it was a fun movie to watch as well as a good suspenseful movie to start off in the month of October.