Directed by:Roman Polanski
Review coming soon.
Score: 10 out of 10
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Children of the Corn (1984)
...aka: Stephen King's Children of the CornDirected by:
Fritz Kiersch
Based on the Stephen King short story "Disciples of the Crow," this was called "An adult nightmare" in the ads, but the Jonathan Elias score and the video box are the only scary things about it. Still, it managed to strike a chord with a lot of people and became a big hit. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that this movie scared the shit out of me when I was a little kid. Unfortunately, a revisit to the cornfields for this viewer proved to be an eye-opening experience. Oh, those nostalgic feelings... Those nostalgic, misleading feelings that fade into oblivion once one reaches adulthood... In the opening sequence (where this film obviously hits its peaks), a diner full of people are stabbed, poisoned and have their throats slashed by a mob of children and teenagers. One guy even gets his hand rammed through a meat grinder. Three years later, a young and somewhat stupid married couple (Linda Hamilton, right before hitting it big with THE TERMINATOR, and Peter Horton) are traveling through the southwest and end up stranded in the same, now deserted town of Gatlin, Nebraska after they run over a kid (who was already dead). A group of Satanist children (with biblical names) soon come strolling out from beneath the corn stalks and attempt to sacrifice them to "He Who Walks Behind The Rows," a demon who lives under the ground.
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The premise is, for lack of a better word, corny, the lead characters behave like morons and the dialogue is frequently laughable, although some younger children might still find it scary enough (hey, I did!) and John Franklin (as Isaac) and Courtney Gains (as Malachi) are fairly effective in their roles. Also in the cast are R.G. Armstrong in a small supporting role, John Philbin and an uncredited Eric Freeman, who'd go on to bad movie infamany playing the Santa Claus killer's brother in SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT, PART 2.
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The same King story had previously been filmed by director John Woodward as DISCIPLES OF THE CROW (1983), which had a more compact run-time of 30 minutes and was once availble on the compilation video STEPHEN KING'S NIGHT SHIFT COLLECTION. Eight years later, Dimension purchased the rights to the story and yacked up the gory belated sequel CHILDREN OF THE CORN II: THE FINAL SACRIFICE (1992), which turned out to be anything but "final" since five additional direct-to-video sequels were within the next ten years. CHILDREN OF THE CORN III: URBAN HARVEST (1994) relocated the action to Chicago, CHILDREN OF THE CORN IV: THE GATHERING (1996) was a surprisingly decent rural revenge story (the best of the series if you ask me) and CHILDREN OF THE CORN V: FIELDS OF TERROR (1998) was a moronic teen slasher film. There was also CHILDREN OF THE CORN 666: ISAAC'S RETURN (1999), which has Franklin reprising his role, and CHILDREN OF THE CORN VII: REVELATION (2007), neither of which I've seen. If that isn't enough, a made-for-TV remake is in the works and slated for a 2009 release. Will it ever end?
The same King story had previously been filmed by director John Woodward as DISCIPLES OF THE CROW (1983), which had a more compact run-time of 30 minutes and was once availble on the compilation video STEPHEN KING'S NIGHT SHIFT COLLECTION. Eight years later, Dimension purchased the rights to the story and yacked up the gory belated sequel CHILDREN OF THE CORN II: THE FINAL SACRIFICE (1992), which turned out to be anything but "final" since five additional direct-to-video sequels were within the next ten years. CHILDREN OF THE CORN III: URBAN HARVEST (1994) relocated the action to Chicago, CHILDREN OF THE CORN IV: THE GATHERING (1996) was a surprisingly decent rural revenge story (the best of the series if you ask me) and CHILDREN OF THE CORN V: FIELDS OF TERROR (1998) was a moronic teen slasher film. There was also CHILDREN OF THE CORN 666: ISAAC'S RETURN (1999), which has Franklin reprising his role, and CHILDREN OF THE CORN VII: REVELATION (2007), neither of which I've seen. If that isn't enough, a made-for-TV remake is in the works and slated for a 2009 release. Will it ever end?
★1/2
Il gatto a nove code (1971)
... aka: Die Neunschwänzige Katze
... aka: Le chat á neuf queues
Directed by:
Dario Argento
While not one of Argento’s best - the director himself has even gone on record saying it's his least favorite of all the films he's made (though he's done way worse if you ask me) - this is still a watchable thriller with the enjoyable duo of reporter Carlo Giordani (James Franciscus) and blind crossword puzzle specialist Franco Arno (Karl Malden), a former journalist himself, teaming up to stop a psycho with a chromosome imbalance who is targeting workers at the Terzi Institute, a Rome research hospital run by Professor Fulvio Terzi (Tino Carraro). The plot and characterizations hold together fairly well, there’s a bravura train murder sequence, an Ennio Morricone score and an above average cast (Malden is especially good here and has some charming scenes with the young actress playing his niece). On the downside, the camerawork isn't nearly as elaborate as Dario's other films, the violence is lighter, it's far less stylish, it tends to drag, there are far too suspects and red herrings to try to keep track of and it seems to suffer somewhat from an identity crisis, blending elements of horror, mystery, comedy, action and even romance (enter Dr. Terzi's sulty daughter Anna, played by Catherine Spaak) together, and not always well.
The international cast of this French / Italian / West German production includes Pier Paolo Capponi as the superintendent, Rada Rassimov (the sister of actor Ivan, who also appeared in Bava'a Baron Blood) as a victim, Horst Frank, Carlo Alighiero and Tom Felleghy as doctors, Jacques Stany as a professor, Werner Pochath (later to star in the very good Bloodlust) and Umberto Raho as gay secondary characters and Cinzia de Carolis. Argento's script was based on a story he wrote with two others (including the prolific Dardano Sacchetti) and British mystery writer Bryan Edgar Wallace was also somehow involved, though I'm no entirely sure in what capacity.
The international cast of this French / Italian / West German production includes Pier Paolo Capponi as the superintendent, Rada Rassimov (the sister of actor Ivan, who also appeared in Bava'a Baron Blood) as a victim, Horst Frank, Carlo Alighiero and Tom Felleghy as doctors, Jacques Stany as a professor, Werner Pochath (later to star in the very good Bloodlust) and Umberto Raho as gay secondary characters and Cinzia de Carolis. Argento's script was based on a story he wrote with two others (including the prolific Dardano Sacchetti) and British mystery writer Bryan Edgar Wallace was also somehow involved, though I'm no entirely sure in what capacity.
An uncut version of this film initially played in American theaters (where it passed with a GP rating), but as much as 22 missing were shaved off for some TV showings. Not sure if any of those hacked prints ever made their way to video or not, but the full run time of the uncut version is said to be 112 minutes. Anchor Bay's DVD release is about as good as you're going to get here in the States, though lesser quality prints are sold through several budget labels.
★★1/2
Cujo (1983)
Directed by: Lewis Teague
The ever-reliable Dee Wallace stars in this well-made, though highly unpleasant, adaptation of Stephen King's best-seller. On a sweltering summer day, young mother Donna and her little boy (Danny Pintauro) become trapped inside their broken-down car at a remote location while a large, rabid Saint Bernard dog prowls around outside. The dog is crazed thanks to a rabies infested bat bite, picks off anyone who happens to wander by and seems pretty damn smart, too (it hardly ever even turns its back on the car). After several days, and as heat exhaustion and death loom, Donna must find a way to get herself and her weakened son to safety before it's too late. Even though this sets itself up like a heavy-handed morality tale, with much of the first half spent establishing that Wallace's character is a married woman involved in an affair, this does a good job building suspense and terror in its concluding scenes. A high level of tension is reached by exploiting the claustrophobic confines of the car, the crying kid, the heat, the increasingly dirtier, bloodier dog and several botched escape attempts gone horribly wrong. A few of the attack scenes are brutal and there are at least two great jump-out-of-your seat moments. It's not exactly a "fun" film to watch (Roger Ebert slapped his lowest possible rating on it), but it's well done for what it is.
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The dog effects are a seemless blend of real and mechanical dogs and are believable throughout. Jan de Bont's cinematography, including an inspired 360 degree spin inside the car, and Neil Travis' editing are both top notch. The cast includes Daniel Hugh-Kelly as the husband, Christopher Stone (the future Mr. Dee Wallace) as the "other man," Ed Lauter, Billy Jacoby and Robert Behling (from the extremely trashy Greek shocker ISLAND OF DEATH).
★★1/2
Channeler, The (1990)
Directed by:Grant Austin Waldman
After a promising opening, this doesn't take long to become a waste of time. A teacher (Jay Richardson), his girlfriend (Robin Sims) and a pack of male and female college students camp out near an abandoned mine they plan on cleaning up. A supernatural force ("channeled" through one of the others) creates murderous ghouls who attack and kill them all off. The creatures ("Darklings") are terrible, floppy-handed creations and the movie gets ultra sloppy at around the midway point as it heads toward an utterly senseless conclusion. One gets the impression the filmmakers ran out of time and/or money. There's a shower scene (doubled by adult film actress Sherri Graham) and not really enough gore for this type of film. Richardson, who is usually stuck playing either sleazebags or comic relief in seedier fair, has a rare (for him) role as a normal Joe. Dan Haggery and Richard Harrison are the big "names" in a cast that also includes Charles Solomon (from the WITCHCRAFT sequels), Oliver Darrow, David Homb, Brenda "Klemme"/James (who recently had a memorable role in SLITHER) and SURF NAZIS MUSST DIE star Tom Shell. The director also scripted and produced for this Magnum straight-to-video release. Fred Olen Ray gets a credit for "executive consultant."
Score: 3 out of 10
Changeling, The (1980)
Directed by:
Peter Medak
George C. Scott is a composer traumatized by the death of his wife and daughter after a tragic auto accident. He moves into a large, rented home to get some peace and quiet and finds out the place is haunted. It's a stylish, subtle and well-plotted ghost story... and I still need to write a decent review for it! The Changeling 2 is a re-titled Lamberto Bava movie originally called Fino alle morte ("Until Death").
★★★1/2
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