halcyonsummer Reviews

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014)

Just lighten up and enjoy a modern slasher.

[8/10 · 21 October 2014]

The negativity in these user reviews surprised me. In a modern world full of James Wan/Oren Peli clones, I thought I'd stab my eyes out if I had to see another paranormal-themed movie. So all I can say is THANK YOU that someone actually made a well-made, modern slasher movie to break up the monotony.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown '14 treads a fine line between remake and sequel--the characters in the film watch the original classic at certain points--an interesting blend of fiction and reality that keeps this from being a straight-up remake (not that there'd be anything wrong with that).

What's to like? The director clearly knows his horror and throws in shots reminiscent of classics such as 'Halloween' while also paying homage to several set pieces from the original. Meaning, expect to see new versions of some of the original's famous kills. Rather than feeling like a re-tread, these scenes feel like a tribute to the power of the original, updated with a modern spin.

The cinematography is something I expect anyone coming away from the film will comment on, for good reason: it is exceptionally well- shot, and certainly more so than any film in this genre has a right to be. Gone is the documentary-style of the original. Instead, one gets the feeling that the director (Alfonso Gomez-Rejon) is embracing his inner Argento, clearly favoring overly-stylized shots in some of the film's key moments that manage to bring a fresh visual style to the proceedings. The color grading also deserves mention, as it is beautiful. The widescreen 2.35:1 framing is reminiscent of Carpenter's classics and the frame is often utilized to its full effect, making one glad we no longer live in the age of VHS pan-and-scan. Seeing this film cropped to fit a 4x3 screen would be a travesty.

What's even more refreshing is the lack of "stupid horror movie character" tropes during the murder sequences. Every character reacts realistically to suddenly being placed in a horrific, life- threatening situation. They're quick to suggest leaving the area once they see The Phantom, they jump out windows, flee cars, and run like hell almost immediately once the danger presents itself. It's nice to see characters that react the way we think WE would in these situations.

The film is, predictably, gorier than the original, which is neither a disservice nor a bonus, as far as I'm concerned. Modern audiences expect it, so it just "is."

I won't go into the moral ambiguities of enjoying a slasher film based on the real-life murders of so many innocent people, but for what it's worth, the film does take a respectful approach to the original victims and dramatizes the new deaths in the film to such a degree that we feel for them and the senseless acts of violence inflicted upon them. If you're looking for a bunch of horror movie characters you want to see die, look elsewhere--these characters are real, they have hopes and dreams, and their deaths are treated with the most sensitivity and respect that one can realistically expect from such a film.

If there's one fault of the film, it's the routine slasher ending in which the killer and his/her motive is revealed. It feels like such a tacked-on cliché, one wonders why the writers chose to have the reveal and the explanation feel like a scene from Scream 5. Certainly a more original approach would have been welcomed and elevated the film beyond the '8' rating I gave it.

Ending aside, The Town That Dreaded Sundown '14 is certainly a testament to the fact good slasher movies CAN still be made, even if they don't get the respect (and the wide theatrical releases) they deserve. I feel a bit creepy telling someone to go into this one and have fun, seeing as real-life murders inspired this series, but sensitivity aside...do it. You'll be in for a treat.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Gets my vote for best horror film of the 70s--no small feat!

[10/10 · 2 June 2014]

The 70s was really a golden age for horror cinema as the 1980s slasher craze was obviously still in the future. Most horror films made in this decade were actually about something--there was subtext and a social commentary running beneath the murders, making us question our values and, in the case of American films, the dark undercurrents of the modern American family. It was a daring time to be a filmmaker and the best of the genre took advantage of a decade that wasn't hampered by strict moral codes forced on productions and used the changing attitudes to become pioneers of a new type of horror film, one far removed from the conservative 1960s, where only names like Polanski were breaking any new ground.

So, in a decade filled with such new "blood" so to speak, to stand out as the cream of the crop even 40 years later is no small feat, but that's exactly what I think this film is--the best representation of where horror cinema was going in the 70s and still the best genre fare that innovative decade has to offer.

This isn't just a proto-slasher film about a bunch of stranded kids being chainsawed to death on the back roads of Texas. Filmed when the national gas crisis was making headlines at the time, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre runs deep with subtext. The fact it manages to be a profound commentary on the time it was made without becoming overtly obvious while still managing to be scary and mainstream enough to not qualify as an art house film says something about the many levels the film works on. This isn't a one-dimensional horror tale about cannibalism--an easy topic to promote tasteless horror and mined to death in lesser films.

As a native of Texas, the cinematography perfectly captures the landscape I've grown accustomed to seeing and highlights the more sinister aspects just below the surface that is genuinely felt when on those deserted highways on a hot summer afternoon in August. It's not easy to capture beauty and a sense of unease at the same time--this film does it.

The remarkably innovative sound effects go a long way to increase tension in key moments of the film, with the opening credits in particular being an exercise in fear themselves. For a film to unnerve you during the credits is a testament to the talent involved here.

Even more remarkable is how nothing in the film feels exploitative. In a film called "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre", who would expect the film to not utilize buckets of gore like some Herschell Gordon Lewis film? Because the fact is, despite the film's notorious reputation as a splatter film, like Hitchcock's shower scene in "Psycho", there is very little violence actually seen on screen. Most of it is implied or imagined due to Hooper's inventive use of camera angles and visual manipulation. Did you actually just SEE a woman impaled on a meat hook? Look again.

What the film does best is evoke a prolonged feeling of dread. From the very first moments, nothing quite feels right here. We've got kids out on a typical summer afternoon drive, but one can't shake the feeling that something terrible is about to happen. Hooper uses many techniques to evoke a feeling of constant paranoia and anxiety in the audience, from his use of long panoramic visuals to the oppressive heat the characters are experiencing that the audience can almost feel. The scenes in a hot van make one feel claustrophobic as if they're actually sitting there with these characters sweating it out. Good horror films know atmosphere, and this one has it in spades. It's also a perfect example of how to pace yourself. There are no gory murders to be had every ten minutes--this is not a "Friday the 13th" film.

By the time the murders actually begin, it's almost a relief, as the culmination of all that tension offers some temporary relief...at least until the next horrific situation.

Beautiful to look at, masterful in its use of location and its manipulation of audience fear, "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" is a landmark horror film that fully deserves it's re-release this summer (2014), if only to remind theatergoers what a true classic is and wash the taste of the over-produced Platinum Dunes remake out of their mouths. This is truly one of the most groundbreaking horror films of the 20th century and it's importance in the genre and the entire world of film itself should not be forgotten.

Oculus (2013)

I didn't care for this one.

[2/10 · 10 April 2014]

This evil mirror story just didn't cut it for me. I'd heard a lot of positive things from the festival circuit and it had good reviews, so I was pretty excited going into this, but in the end I can't get over how average and even boring it was, and this is not being said by someone who enjoys constant action and explosions--I can watch Lars von Trier films and not be bored, so what does that say about this thing?

The plot is fairly straightforward: a mirror has caused the deaths of its owners throughout the four centuries of its existence. The deaths run the gamut from starvation, dehydration, fire, murder, you name it. In keeping with the cursed object theme, things don't go well for the last owners (a story-line which takes place in 2002 and runs simultaneously with the present-day story-line) and the parents die while the family's son is sent to an asylum for murder and the daughter is forced to grow up in foster care.

Cut to present-day and the son is now 21 and being released from the asylum, being instructed by his doctor to get back in touch with his sister, though that recommendation might have been revoked if the doctor had known what the sister was up to. The sister, now 23, has managed to track the cursed mirror down and get it sent to her boyfriend's auction house, where it is sold to a new owner. But before another unlucky owner can fall victim to the curse of the mirror, our female protagonist has a few days to arrange an elaborate experiment in the hopes of proving it houses a supernatural force...and she wants little brother to help her.

The set up to this was very interesting: our female protagonist shows a great deal of cleverness in designing her experiment that includes timers to remind them to eat and drink as well as thermometers installed in every room and multiple battery-operated cameras to document everything going on. Add in a fail-safe that ensures the destruction of the mirror should something happen to either of them, essentially giving the mirror a reason to NOT hurt them and the instructions shes gives her boyfriend to call every hour on the hour to make sure they're okay, and it -seems- like she's got this all figured out. Right? Well the mirror has other plans.

Once the experiment begins, things slowly go off the rails. There is some brief discussion of psychology when the brother attempts to debunk the curse of the mirror using logic, denouncing his sister's beliefs as a protection device she made up in her mind to shield herself from the reality of what really happened, but sadly this interesting angle doesn't last very long as the mirror soon starts exerting its power on the two and manipulating everything they see.

This is the problem with the film: once the mirror gets going, there is nothing for the viewer to distinguish between fantasy and reality. What results is an hour of being tricked by various means as we realize the protagonists' perceptions are not what they seem to be. While I give the filmmakers props for trying to be innovative, in the end all I could think was how pointless it all was. At any given moment in the film, we're not sure whether what we're seeing is actually happening or not, as the film often shows different situations from multiple POVs that all conflict with one another. We're repeatedly wrapped up in something happening to one of the siblings only to have a quick "reset" occur where we realize the other one is not experiencing the same thing at all. Or, we think one thing is happening while the cameras are recording something completely different. I found myself growing bored with this tactic, which unfortunately makes up the bulk of the latter half of the film. If we can't trust that what we're actually seeing is real, then basically...what's the point of all this?

In the end, it was a great setup to what ended up being a confusing, pointless mess. I appreciate the fact that these guys were trying to think outside the box, but by adopting the unreliable viewpoints of the protagonists, the film robs its audience of any meaningful suspense as nothing we see is ever quite what it seems. I appreciate films that try to make you think, but this just felt sloppy.