Showing posts with label Charles Cyphers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charles Cyphers. Show all posts
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Friday, October 14, 2016
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
REVIEW: Escape from New York
Director: John Carpenter
Year 1981
Escape from
The movie starts out in the futuristic world of 1997, where shit has really hit the fan and society as a whole is governed with an iron fist by an overbearing and intrusive government. When the President’s plane crash lands inside the now maximum security prison of
I can’t also forget the fabulous job that director John Carpenter has also done to make this film rise above its meager origins. His direction and overall visual sensibility is prevalent throughout the movie, making it unmistakably a Carpenter film through and through. His original compositions just ignite the soundtrack, giving you a stark audible picture of how cool and realized this film really is. Nothing seems out of place and the production seems to jive perfectly together like some sick and twisted jigsaw puzzle, crafted by a brilliant director at the top of his game. It almost seems ridiculous that a film that has such a bat shit crazy premise can come together in such a harmonious way, but Carpenter pulled it off with flying colors. His genre efforts have always been stupendous and Escape From
First there’s Lee Van Cleef, Tom Atkins, and Charles Cyphers in small cameo roles that, though lacking in depth, are extremely memorable and give the film a dose of class. Then we have Ernest Borgnine as a wacky cabby doing his Borgnine thing for all it’s worth. His scenes are a joy and I love how is character is vaguely dubious, walking the line between a good guy and a bad guy. After Borgnine we’re treated to Harry Dean Stanton as Brain and the hot mamma Adrienne Barbeau as Maggie. Here’s another two characters that straddle that hazy line between good and evil. The majority of the characters in this film seem to play with that notion of ambiguity.
The same can be said for the two heavy hitters in Isaac Hayes’ The Duke character and Donald Pleasence’s turn as the President. Both men are represented as having low moral fiber, concerned only with their selfish goals. The Duke wants out of the maximum security prison and the President enjoys pulling the wool over the eyes of the unsuspecting public. In hind sight that might be why Snake Plissken, though a convict and overall bad person, can be viewed as the hero of this film. He is the lesser of two evils and is only doing the job in order to save his own skin. Whatever way you look at it, the film is full of scumbags and it’s a joy to see them all double cross each other in various and interesting ways.
It’s interesting that Carpenter’s style in this film, mirrors earlier spaghetti westerns, which in part flowed like water from Italian filmmakers just over a decade prior to
Aside from having that shared atmospheric edge, the films of this ilk are just so much damn fun. They revel in the obscure and play with the notions of “what if”. I mean how can you not have a good time watching a film that has turned the
Just thinking about their other match-ups makes me want to pop in Big Trouble in Little China and The Thing, and just sit back and enjoy the awesomeness. Escape from
| New York City.... What a shithole! |
| Plissken for President! |
| I shot him six times! Sorry couldn't resist. |
| Well don't they make an intimidating bunch? |
| Looks like we've got one of those there standoffs. |
| Really living on the edge there Plissken. |
| This damn GPS is a piece of shit! Over. |
| Borgnine, you fucking pyro! |
| Plissken answers the age old question. Who's bad! |
| Looks like those lazy days of summer are setting in. |
| Check this out! Here's....... |
| ........Barbeau! Glorious Heavens Above! |
| Try to look a little more enthused Stanton. |
| When tricking out the car goes too far. |
| Either he just got knifed in the head or he's a human unicorn. |
| What is this, Passion of the Pleasence? |
| What's the matter Hayes? Your gun don't go boom? |
| Shit! Looks like another damn fan letter. |
| Let's get ready to RUMBLE! |
| That mongoloid is gonna have one hell of a splitting headache. |
| Takes a licking and keeps on ticking. |
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
REVIEW: The Fog
The Fog
Director: John Carpenter
Year 1980
The Fog is John Carpenter's sensational ghost tale about a shipwrecked undead crew who terrorizes the residents of the sleepy coastal town of Antonio Bay. After churning out two exceptional TV movies, Someone's Watching Me and Elvis, Carpenter burst back onto the big screen to continue his legacy of fear which started with the cult classic Halloween.
Crafted with a heavy dose of atmosphere and a stellar cast, The Fog makes for a great viewing that really showcases the wild ride that Carpenter's career would take in the following years. If you're looking for a neat little haunted tale, then look no further then The Fog.
| Adrienne Barbeau you are AMAZING! |
| Something's in the fog.... Who is that? |
Antonio Bay is the fictional setting for this wonderful little horror gem and boy is it a picturesque sight. Nestled against the moody shores of the Pacific Ocean, Carpenter uses a number of various locations to set up his quaint cinematic town that soon becomes the victim of a terrible curse that is violently set upon its townsfolk for the crimes committed by its founding fathers. A slow and brooding build up provides the perfect introduction and ambient opening to let us get to know the world that Carpenter has created in this story. It's these quiet moments that occur in the early parts of the film, that really give the movie a deliberately restrained pace, allowing for us to get to know the layout of the town and the living cast within it.
The gradual approach of slowly revealing the various areas and inhabitants of Antonio Bay, is complimented rather nicely against the director's trademark use of anamorphic lenses, which beautifully showcase the surrounding areas breathtaking landscapes and unique vistas. This eye for detail is not just provided for visual splendor, but for emotional impact as well, as Carpenter cleverly uses these locations to tell a parallel story within the film. He places his characters in secluded locations throughout Antonio Bay, in order to emphasis that lonely feeling that he sets up in the initial moments of the introductory opening of the film. With his guided direction, the town to us feels empty and lifeless, home to only a few lost souls that we are slowly introduced to one by one.
| Is that one of the Goonies? Hey you guy!!!! |
| Who's the son of a bitch that stole my mustache?!?! |
What is most interesting to me, is that the haunting nature of the film is not only provided by the ghostly zombie like apparitions that come into play later on in the movie, but it is assisted by the overall coldness of Carpenter's portrayal of the town of Antonio Bay. By combining the moody visuals of the coastal town with the jaded lives of the various characters of the film, Carpenter makes for a unique blend of melancholy malaise that perfectly establishes the film in a ghost-like reflection. This really comes to light when comparing some of the characters to their assigned locales within the movie.
A great example of this, is that of the lighthouse which serves as one of the film's most iconic fixtures and an essential informational post for the film's entire citizen population. The lighthouse serves as the local radio station, Radio K.A.B., and it is essentially home to disc jockey Stevie Wayne, played by the fabulous Adrienne Barbeau. Set at the end of a seemingly never ending iron staircase, high upon the cliffs, the secluded nature of the radio station helps to provide a feeling of helplessness that is highly prevalent when shit really starts to hit the fan for the sleepy town of Antonio Bay. Being the only person in the whole town that really has an eye on the whole situation high atop her lighthouse station, Stevie Wayne provides the much needed information to the unsuspecting people below.
| Someone's not gonna like finding this guy home. |
| So why'd you steal Tom Atkins' mustache Padre? |
What's unique about this position that she is in, is that she is as helpless as the rest of the people of Antonio Bay. Trapped with no where to go, she is powerless to protect her young son when a thick fog rolls into town containing some very pissed off and vengeful ghosts. The seclusion is maddening, but deliberate in part by Carpenter's overall vision for the movie. You could say that his approach is almost Hitchcockian in a sense, most notably mimicking elements from Rear Window, where she is forced to see this impending doom approaching the town, but can do little to stop it. Even in such dire circumstances, she finds a way to hinder the oncoming storm by broadcasting updates on where the fog is heading and the safest place to ride out the strange arrival of this dangerous and mysterious thing that has gripped their small coastal town.
It is through these efforts of communication, by Barbeau's character, that we are primarily connected to the rest of the ensemble cast. From Tom Atkins and Jamie Lee Curtis' group to Charles Cyphers, Janet Leigh, Nancy Kyes, and finally Hal Holbrook's character, a community begins to form bringing a cohesion that isn't as strongly felt during the beginning half of the film. It's fascinating to see things come together, starting from the cold and distant relations of the individual characters to eventually ending with them coming together as a solid unit in the most desperate of times. It's something that you don't initially come away with after first watching the film, but after analyzing it after a few viewings, you begin to realize that this movie is far more then just a simple ghost story.
| Damn hitchhiking ghosts. |
| One of the creepiest and coolest wedding processionals. |
Aside from my deep personal analysis of the film, the movie is just stupendous if viewed as a straight forward tale of terror. Carpenter injects such a sense of dread and foreboding, that you really don't need to look as in-depth and personal as I have stated earlier in the review. You can take the film at face value and it still makes for one classic tale, filled with some great subtle performances and killer atmosphere. Hell, the ghostly apparitions are creepy to boot, coming off more as a horde of zombies then any kind of ghost that I've seen prior to this film.
Fundamentally, the film just hits all the right notes in providing an engaging story with memorable characters, frightening ghouls, and exceptionally crafted atmosphere. I haven't even mentioned the amazing original soundtrack provided by John Carpenter himself, which compliments the visuals so well that you'd be hard pressed to separate the two. When it comes to music, not many can capture that unique flare that Carpenter seems to effortlessly create for his projects. The Fog is definitely a film that has the Carpenter stamp of approval, having his professionally crafted hands in all aspects of the production. The man is a legend.
| Holy Shit! The power of Christ compels you! |
| Smoke if you got em. |
The Fog is a film that feels complete in every aspect of its production. The world that John Carpenter has created in this film, feels whole and lived in, even if it is lifeless and lonely for the characters within it. The hauntingly somber and picturesque locations, enhance that feeling of dread and solitude that lies so heavy on this ghostly tale. Much like the sordid history of Antonio Bay's past, the story gives off that overbearing presence of being inherently marked by the events of the past. Cursed to pay for the wrong doings of our forefathers, yet there is a silver lining in the coming together of the various characters. Through their sense of community and the combined efforts of the townspeople as a whole, they can right the wrongs done and find new life.
Whether you look at the film from a more in-depth view point or just take it as one hell of a fun ghost story, you are going to come away from this film with an appreciation for what John Carpenter has created in this little gem and what he has contributed to the genre. The movie just oozes atmosphere in every inch of the frame and is paced beautifully, so check it out if you haven't already and if you have, give it another go. Long live Carpenter!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
REVIEW: Halloween 2
Halloween 2
Director: Rick Rosenthal
Year 1981
Halloween 2 is an exceptionally faithful sequel to the John Carpenter directed classic, starting off mere seconds after the events of the first film. As Laurie Strode is taken to the hospital to be treated for the traumas she endured in the first movie, Dr. Loomis and Sheriff Brackett search the neighborhood for the death defying Michael Myers. After being shot SIX TIMES, miraculously Myers escapes the crime scene, aiming to finish the job and track down Laurie by any means necessary.
The film starts out in such an amazing and almost calming way, with long and extended takes of Myers passing through the neighborhood as police sirens wail and cop cars begin searching up and down every nook and cranny of the quiet little town of Haddonfield. It's a perfect reflection of the slow pacing of the first film, mimicking the patient build up that got the classic set in motion, but then violently everything comes to an abrupt moment of sheer chaos when Loomis thinks he spots the famed killer and begins to chase the fiend across an already chaotic scene of scared suburbanites. What follows is one of the most masterfully accomplished surprises in sequel history, making me feel quite sad for the poor kid who decided to wear a jump suit and faded William Shatner mask for his Halloween costume. Damn that is one hell of a way to go!
....And after a thorough examination.....
| Yep.... Yep..... This fucker's dead! |
Damn! This startling scene sets in motion the tone of this sequel, while basically summarizing the entire notion of the first film, and that is that no one is safe on Halloween when Michael Myers is set loose upon the world, specifically Haddonfield. With all the pandemonium from the first film spilling over into the second, we get one of the first kills being that of an innocent trick-r-treater. The crazy thing is that it's not by the hands of Michael Myers, but from the paranoid actions of Dr. Loomis. What a hell of a set up.
After that explosive scene, we are then shown where the remainder of the film will be located and that is at the local hospital where Laurie Strode has been taken. Much like the residential streets of the first film, The hospital hallways serve as a hunting ground for Michael Myers. Each room of the hospital almost represents the houses that lined the streets in the first movie, inhabited by a whole new group of young and unexpecting victims. Strangely enough, the atmosphere of the hospital mirrors the empty streets of the first Halloween perfectly, giving off that unsettling feeling of solitude. The decision to correlate the two individual locales was just plain brilliant, keeping the simple aesthetics of the first film intact while giving the audience a familiar setup, but with a totally different location for the mayhem to take place in.
| You need a snuggle buddy? |
| Michael you little pervert. |
Another great decision on the filmmakers parts, was keeping the intensity of Donald Pleasence's character, Dr. Loomis, intact. By instilling an almost rabid sense of urgency within his character's mind set, he basically aids the hysteria of the moment, causing more of a problem for the already overworked and stressed Sheriff Brackett. In the first film, Loomis spent a great deal of effort in trying to convince the Sheriff that his quiet little town was in serious danger. After experiencing the horrible events first hand, we would naturally expect Sheriff Brackett to now listen to whatever Dr. Loomis says and follow him without question, but because of Loomis' wreck-less abandon in pursuing his white whale, Michael Myers, he's become an almost equal threat to the town's safety.
All of this is made all the clearer after his accidental accusation of the Michael Myers dressed trick-r-treater that led to that innocent kid's explosive death. This in effect allowed the same head butting that occurred between the two saviors of the town in the first film to continue into the sequel. If it wasn't for that pinnacle event, there would most likely be a more peaceful existence between the two as they hunted for their same goal, the capturing of Michael Myers. Instead, that event skewed the characters into two opposing factions. One that wanted to capture Myers, but within reason and without endangering the lives of any more people, against the other faction who wanted nothing more in the world to end Michael Myers even if a few lives were snuffed out in the mix of things.
The duality of the situation and the dichotomy of their group of avengers was brilliantly accomplished with that specific chain of events and made for a better story in my opinion. When I saw the film for the first time, I came away from that scene thinking that it was brutal as all hell, but in retrospect I now can see the ripple effect that changed the rest of the film into something much more substantial. Great stuff.
| Did I remember to turn the stove off? I turned it off SIX TIMES! |
| Jimmy, what a numbskull. |
It also seems like the violence and graphic nature of the film was also cranked up a bit compared to its predecessor. Usually that's the case when a film as classic as Halloween is assigned a sequel. In general, the director and producers feel the need to out-due the previous iteration, but luckily the bar was only raised slightly as not to eclipse itself too far from the world that John Carpenter had created in the first film. We get a subtle addition of bloody kills and nudity, but nothing so shocking to make us think that we've stumbled into a gore encrusted Friday the 13th entry.
The decision to step up the violence a bit more, but keep it at a moderate level, was a rational adjustment. We often forget, after viewing so many slashers that have come into existence since the first entry in the Halloween series, that the actual first film wasn't very bloody at all. That concept I mentioned earlier about upping the ante, was some of the main thinking forces behind Halloween's competitors. By slasher standards, Halloween has always been a series that lent its success more to the atmosphere that it created rather then the amount of blood splashed across the screen. Halloween 2, catering to this tradition, keeps the bloodletting to a moderate amount while flirting with that concept of the more gore, the merrier.
| Good job nurse. Time to give you a raise. |
| Jamie Lee Curtis snuck into the Suspiria set. You little sneak. |
As mentioned previously, the main core of the cast reprise their roles with Donald Pleasence playing Dr. Loomis, Charles Cyphers playing Sheriff Brackett, and of course Jamie Lee Curtis playing Laurie Strode. In the sense of Curtis' screen time, she doesn't really factor into the equation until the later half of the film, but when she does it's a tension filled game of cat and mouse played within the confines of a maze like series of hospital hallways and endless corridors. Her timid portrayal in the first film is nothing compared to her traumatized depiction of the now battered and beaten Laurie Strode. Weary from a night full of surviving the constant attacks from her estranged brother, the Laurie in this film is that of a drugged lunatic, fighting on instinct. The weight of the night's battle is quite evident and Curtis does a tremendous job in making the viewer feel her pain.
On the other side of the coin, both Pleasence and Cyphers do a great job in continuing their already established character's motives, with Cyphers bowing out earlier then Pleasence, but not without leaving a few lasting impressions. Pleasence's Dr. Loomis has a great deal more to do in this film, yet his actions mirror his movements from the first film by having him follow in the footsteps of the famed killer. The detective work that leads him to the hospital and the obstacles that he must overcome in order to make it there in time to save Laurie, is entertaining to see play out. Dr. Loomis the law breaker, who would have thought. All in all, the cast is stupendous, including the fresh meat that Michael Myers gets to slice into and choke the life out of. The film is just a perfect continuation of an already perfect horror film.
| How do you like your Michael Myers? Medium or well done? |
| So long Jamie Lee Curtis. See you in twenty years. |
Halloween 2 is a sequel that matches the intense atmosphere of the original, while upping the ante in a number of areas. The kills are a little bit bloodier and the nudity is a little bit... nudier, but the director and crew never forget that blood, gore, and nudity, were never an emphasized thing in the first Halloween. It was the atmosphere of the holiday of Halloween and the silent moments of Michael Myers stalking his prey that really made an impression on the audience, myself included.
In this entry, they've kept the things that work and made a comprehensive continuation of the first film that seamlessly begins where the first film leaves off. If you loved the original Halloween, then it's highly likely that you'll dig the second one. Hey, it's four more days until Halloween so get to watching!
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