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HALLOWEEN HAVOC 2020


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(Here comes the next one)
Blondie was with me for a summer
He flirted like a maniac but I wouldn't bite
I'm weak and he was so persistent
He only had to have me 'cause I put up a fight
Oh God, the boy had such an ego
He liked to talk about himself all day and all night
You think you're such a ladykiller

But you were nothing special 'til you turned out the light
 
- Lush, Ladykillers
 
The Slumber Party Massacre ( Jones, 1982)
NSFW
 
Pick: Brian Fowler
 
"When in doubt, slashers are my jam. Let's go with The Slumber Party Massacre"
 
Reviewed by: (BP)
 

The Slumber Party Massacre

This is a silly and fairly inconsequential movie, but I can imagine it being a crowd pleaser in 1982. Radfem author and LGBTQ activist Rita Mae Brown penned a slasher satire called Sleepless Nights that ended up in the hands of film editor Amy Holden Jones (who supposedly turned down an offer to cut ET to work on this instead.) Jones was able to secure funding from Roger Corman, but somewhere along the way the parody aspects and feminist critique from Brown’s original concept were either minimized or excised completely. 

This is an early highlight of the still relevant tension between progressive intersectional feminism and the girlboss feminism that repackages existing power structures in more palatable ways. Indeed, Jones’s camera is just as indulgent when it comes to the nude female form as De Palma or the Corman-adjacent filmmakers of the time.  For her part, she’s gone on record as saying she was just doing what any of Corman’s directors would do. It’s reasonable, but it certainly seems a lot stranger when you’re aware of Brown’s source material and the movie’s feminist horror cred.

At any rate, it’s a lean mean 77 mins of an escaped maniac using a substitute phallus to stalk and murder high school girls, among others. The characters are startlingly thin even for the genre in the early 80s and the bulk of the dialogue is NPC chatter that’s almost impenetrable because it’s so insipid. 

There are a couple of good gags (including one that’s essentially an Abbott and Costello bit involving a fridge) that survived from the original script and some fun tease scares early on. Jones is a capable director, and it’s a fairly good looking production with the exception of the low budget footage she shot on spec to sell herself and the picture to Corman. She went on to write Mystic Pizza and Beethoven, as well as create the Fox hospital drama series The Resident.  

The ensemble is totally fine for what this is, and Michael Villella in particular is quite good as the refreshingly uncomplicated killer. Though, he disturbingly looks exactly like Rahm Emanuel and I couldn’t stop seeing it. 

The third act is pretty well constructed during the finishing stretch. The denouement’s “emasculation” of the killer by the final girl when she cuts his drill in half is about as close we get to the movie maintaining some of the perspective of the original screenplay, and it wasn’t considered that subtle or original even in 1982 based on contemporary reviews.                       

Since this film we’ve seen so many parodies and deconstructions of these tropes, about what these stories mean about us culturally and how they can be reimagined to be empowering. This ain’t it, but it’s impressively economical with its time and occasionally reaches giallo-eque absurdity. I’d definitely recommend it as a background movie at an adult Halloween party (not that we have those anymore.) I’ll probably give the sequels a shot at some point. 

Spoiler

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  • jaedmc pinned and featured this topic
Where does this mean world cast its cold eye?
Who's left to suffer long about you?
Does your soul cast about like an old paper bag
Past empty lots and early graves
Of those like you who lost their way
Murdered on the interstate
While the red bells rang like thunder?
 
- Neko Case, Deep Red Bells
 
Don't Go In The Woods ( Bryan, 1981 )

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0182996/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_5

 

Pick: Meltzing Pot

" Hey man, my spooky movie is Don’t Go In The Woods (the 1981 version). 
Thanks!"

Reviewed by: Ultimo Necro

 

Ultimo Necro v Dont go in the woods

 

“All rise for the honorable Judge Reaper”

 

A large hooded, robbed figure, with a scythe, floats mysteriously into the court room and takes its place at the bench. From beneath the robe a skeletal hand points at the defendant. A deep voice booms from within. It sounds a lot like Patrick Stewart.

 

“Defendant, please rise and state your name and date of birth”.

 

A small VHS video cassette box, with “Dont go in the woods” plastered across it, also wearing a cute little suit, naturally, stands up. With a squeak it replies.

 

“Don t go in the woods, 1981 your honor”.

 

“I understand that you will be defending yourself? You are a very brave little VHS cassette tape if I do say so myself. With that, you are charged with being one of the worst movies set to videotape, how do you plead?”

 

“Not guilty your honor”.

 

“Not guilty… well, whatever you say, I now open the floor to the prosecution.” The skeletal hand turns to the prosecutor, palm open.

 

A slick white man in a suit, played by, lets say Rob Lowe, stands up from his table. He shuffles some paperwork and places it down on the table.

 

“Your honor, it is my duty here today to set out the evidence, which will show, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Mr. Dont go in the woods here, comitted the crime of being the single worst movie that the victim has ever seen.”

 

Rob Lowe glances at the victim, sat to his left, DVDVR forum member Ultimo Necro sits, looking weary and tired.

 

“From the terrible acting, the poor visual effects, the boring plot, we will set out to the court, exactly how all this combined to horrify my client so much that it made him question his love of slasher movies, splatter movies and horror movies in general. To the point that he has given up on Halloween altogether and signed up for knitting class at his local church”

 

He pats Ultimo Necro on the back, as he sobs, “There, there, Necro, it’ll be okay”.

 

“Without further delay, I’d like to call my first and only witness, Mr. Ultimo Necro.”

 

Ultimo Necro takes the stand, he is sworn in by a short fat cop. Rob Lowe walks turns to face the jury.

 

“Mr. Necro, can you think back to when you first realised a crime had been committed and take me through the events?”

 

“Yes, gladly, after I put the film on, within the first couple of minutes I realised that the acting was insanely bad. The movie starts with a woman being chased through the woods, which in itself wasn't bad or offensive, however, once the main group of characters appeared the bad acting started. One line, and I’ll never forget it went ‘That. Could. Have. Been. A. Fatal. Mistake….. Jumping. Off. A. Log.”

 

Ultimo Necro softly sobs to himself, remembering the pain of hearing that line. Rob Lowe nods softly. “Please continue”.

 

“Then, at the Police station, some guy that looked like Napoleon Dynamite delivered a line ‘They are county… but we are city’… it was so terrible, your honor, I swear I have never seen such bad acting”.

 

“OBJECTION” squeaks the suited VHS video cassette as it stands up. “I’m a very low budget 80’s action movie… What did you expect!??!?! I couldn't afford good actors, or screenwriters”

 

“Overruled” barks Judge Reaper. “Please continue Mr. Lowe”.

 

Rob Lowe continues “Mr. Necro… please tell us more.”

 

“Well, the next thing, there seemed to be a whole lot of bad penis jokes, although I’m not sure if they were intentional or not. One woman says “Be careful…. Dick” just before her husband gets killed, and shortly after one of the main cast says “Peter, you better bring up the rear”. Maybe I’ve just lived in the UK too long and adopted their campy sense of humor, but it just felt very silly.”

 

“Thank you Mr. Necro, now please, tell us about the killer in the movie, surely any good horror film should have a good killer in it? I mean, that's one of the main selling points of the genre”.

 

“Yes sir, well, you see, the killer is a big fat guy, a woodsman type. He looks like a giant Ewok for the most part. He wasn't scary at all. Have you watched WWE Raw recently?”

 

Everyone in the court room looks at each other and shakes their heads.

 

“Well, there are these guys called the Viking Raiders, he kind of looked like one of them, or Leonardo Di Caprio in the Revenant if he had survived until the 1980s”.

 

Rob Lowe brings his finger to his lips, contemplating.

 

“Yes, I see, and tell us about the setting, surely a horror film would have a captivating setting?”

 

“Well, it was set in the woods, but it didn't feel very remote. There were lots of people around all the time. It was a busy spot, it even had wheelchair access for one guy to get killed. Towards the end when they form a posse to get the killer it only takes them seemingly 20 minutes to get to his cabin.”

 

“and finally, tell us how this film made you feel”.

 

“This film made me so bored that I’ve changed my outlook on life, it made me realise that maybe horror movies just aren't for me any more. Maybe I’ve changed, maybe I’ve got so used to bigger budget movies that the types of movies I used to enjoy just seem to suck now.”

 

“No, no Mr. Necro, please don't blame yourself, you’re the victim here remember.”

 

“I know, but its just so hard, I cant unsee these horrible images”

 

“Do you mean the gore?”

 

Necro stops, sobs once, before the floodgates open

 

“THERE WAS HARDLY ANY GORE….. WHAA, WHAAA”

 

The Judge bangs his gavel “MR. NECRO PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER” He continues banging. Rob Lowe smiles a big evil smile.

 

“The Prosecution rests”.

 

The Judge continues banging his gavel as Necro’s sobbing subsides.

 

“YOUR WITNESS MR. ‘TO THE WOODS’”

 

The little video cassette box, in a suit, jumps down from his seat and walks towards the bench.

 

“Now, I may just be a small time, country VHS tape and not some big fancy Hollywood Blu-Ray Disc, but I’m sure, even for a slasher horror movie fan such as yourself Mr. Necro, there must have been something you liked?”

 

Ultimo Necro shakes his head and mutters “nothing” between sobs.

 

“Oh come on, you didn't like the camera work during the chase scenes?”

 

Necro raises his head “Well, I suppose it was okay, it did make it feel like there was a real chase through the woods happening”.

 

“And what about the death scenes, you must have liked at least a couple of those right?”

 

“Well, I did like when the good guys accidentally stabbed another hiker. And I suppose when they killed the wildman was pretty cool too. Now that I think about it, the scene with Joanne getting killed with the machete was pretty bloody and gnarly”.

 

“… and the guy in the wheelchair?”

 

“Well, I guess, but I felt a bit wrong for laughing at that bit”.

 

“Mr. Necro, it seems to me that you are letting your prejudices get in the way of enjoying this film? Would you agree with that statement?”

 

“No.. but, but, no…”

 

“Mr. Necro, I have proven here today that there were at least some things you liked about me. You must have only watched classics if I’m the worst film you’ve ever seen. You are telling me you’ve never seen a bad movie before?”.

 

“Nothing worse than you…. YOU MONSTER”.

 

The Judge bangs his gavel again.

 

“Mr. Necro, I am warning you, any more outbursts like that and I’ll hold you in contempt of court”.

 

Ultimo Necro turns to the Judge “Sorry your honor, it’s just that he frustrates me so much”.

 

The VHS cassette tugs on the lapels of his suit jacket. “Your honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, in conclusion, I have shown that despite the pursuer’s insistence, that there was indeed something that he liked about me. In addition, prior to this trial I obtained authority to recover Mr. Necro’s online watching history from his movie accounts. He has watched this year alone…. ROBOCOP 3”.

 

The jury gasps.

 

“TROLL 2”

 

More gasps, one lady in the front row faints.

 

“JAWS” Everyone pauses, confused for a second, the cassette continues... “THE REVENGE”

 

Screams emanate from the jury.

 

The small VHS cassette smiles contently and walks back to his table. “The Defence rests your honor”.

 

“ORDER! ORDER” More gavel banging as the jury murmur amongst themselves.

 

“I THINK I HAVE SEEN ENOUGH HERE, I DON'T NEED THE JURY TO COME TO A DECISION, I FIND THE DEFENDANT NOT GUILTY AND CLEAR HIM OF ALL CHARGES”.

 

The VHS tape does a little dance of joy, Rob Lowe sinks into his seat, devastated at losing to a video cassette, again.

 

The Judge turns to Ultimo Necro.

 

“IN ADDITION, MR NECRO, I CONSIDER THAT YOU HAVE WASTED THIS COURTS TIME, YOU HAVE WASTED THESE PEOPLES TIME AND YOU HAVE WASTED THE READERS TIME IN BRINGING THESE FANCIFUL CHARGES AGAINST THE DEFENDANT. I THEREFORE SENTENCE YOU TO…. ETERNITY IN HELL….”

 

“Nooooooooo” screams Necro as he is dragged away by the fat cop and Judge Reaper. The VHS tape giving him the finger as he goes.

 

CUT TO BLACK.

 

EPILOGUE.

 

My eyes slowly open, my bed sheets stick to my sweaty skin, I turn and see the mid October sun filter between my bedroom curtains. It was only a dream. Oh thank the lord, it was only a dream. I turn around and my wife sleeps next to me, blissfully unaware of what I have just been through. I get up and head downstairs. I put on a pot of coffee and grab the TV controller. I turn the TV on in the kitchen. As it comes on I slowly recognise that “Dont go in the woods” is on. I change the channel, “Dont go in the woods”, I change again… and again.. and again… “Don't go in the woods”

 

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!” I scream, as the laughter of the little evil video cassette, Rob Lowe and Judge Reaper (Patrick Stewart) fades in.

 

Jerry Only’s cover of “Only Make Believe” plays over the credits.

 

Spoiler

MV5BZWNlZjc1ZTUtODIyMC00NzNlLTgzMTQtMmM3

 

 
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I saw Don't Go in the Woods...Alone while stationed in Germany back in 86'. I remember nothing about it except for one thing: The incomparable cinematic couple, Dick & Cherry! My buddies and I did our best Dick & Cherry impressions for weeks after. I even wrote a short story about them back when I fancied myself a writer. 

And here is the entire scene re-scored by some enterprising fan. Beautiful!!

 

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I’d like to add, I knew deep down I probably liked the movie, but by god, it was a hard watch at times, I guess that was the reason I went for a “concept review”.  
 

Movies are strange! ?
 

@Lawful Metalsorry dude. To be honest I was one step away from writing “I may be a simple chicken from a backwards asteroid” (futurama reference). As that’s 99% of my court references! 

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Stuck in a rut in a very tight place
Judge and jury of your own damned fate
From the cradle to the grave
You're looking for something

Snips and a snail and a puppy dog tail
Nip and tuck, but no avail
You look like hell
You're looking for something

Oh, oh, oh, oh
It's plain to see
Oh, oh, oh, oh
It's you and me and a devil makes three

- Bettie Serveert, Attagirl

Amsterdamned ( Maas, 1988)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094651/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

 

Pick: (BP) - No reason given.

Reviewed by: driver

Amsterdamned is about a serial killer in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The same director is also responsible for the wild movie, Sint, that I reviewed sometime in the past.


The opening scene is just a continuous shot of the city's canals as ominous breathing of a person floating in the canal lets us know that something bad is going to happen, but first more canals and ominous breathing.

As the ominous breather floats around you hear a women telling a man "don't ask me to go Dutch!" LOLZ! ROTFLMFAO! Actually that was a pretty good line.
The lady who said the line is nearly sexually assaulted but she bites him where it counts and hurts.

I've never really given Amsterdam much of a thought as the setting for a serial killer. But some how it works.
We get a quick glimpse of Eric the Single Father Stud Detective and his precocious teen daughter. That is followed by him driving around town in his vintage Alfa Romeo coupe. He looks like Jeff Goldblum if Goldblum were Dutch and not 6'6".

Kills two and three happen off screen. The next day when another detective says "they were collecting water samples" and Detective Studly Mannington quips "looks like they got sampled!"  I waited for him to put on sun glasses and for The Who to start playing.


Detective Studly Mannington has a run in with an officer from the River Police that looks like William Zabka.


Victim #4 reminds me of Vera from "Alice". Another offscreen kill.


After another offscreen killing the mayor is mad as hell and he's not going to take it any more! Okay maybe not. The mayor looks like Hal Holbrook.
I really liked this movie. You really can't go wrong here.  Give it a go.

Spoiler

MV5BNmIyMTgyMmEtY2JjMy00YWI5LTk1NGUtZDg1

 

Edited by Execproducer
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Fab Five Freddy told me everybody's fly
DJ spinnin' I said "My My"
Flash is fast, Flash is cool
Francois c'est pas, Flash ain't no dude
And you don't stop, sure shot
Go out to the parking lot

And you get in your car and drive real far
And you drive all night and then you see a light
And it comes right down and it lands on the ground
And out comes a man from Mars
And you try to run but he's got a gun
And he shoots you dead and he eats your head
And then you're in the man from Mars
 
- Blondie, Rapture
 
 

Fire in the Sky ( Lieberman, 1993)

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106912/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

 
Pick: CSC
 
" My uncle showed me this movie when I was like 10 years old and it freaked me the fuck out.  I used to be able to not sleep when I visited because I would worry that aliens were going to come abduct me from the creepy old house that he lived in.  Now, as an adult I can appreciate it for still having the creepiest aliens abduction scene I have ever seen."
 
Reviewed by: No Point Stance
 

This was my second time-around with this film, having been excited to see it around the time of its release but pretty much filing it away in the one-time watch drawer of mediocrity in my brain ever since, without having any real lasting memory of the movie itself.


Based on the account of one Travis Walton, and drawn apparently from his own memoir of the same name, Fire in the Sky concerns Walton's supposed textbook UFO abduction in 1975 and its aftermath. In short, he and a handful of buddies are logging outside Snowflake (!), Arizona when they spot what turns out to be the alien craft; Walton is taken when he leaves the truck they're driving in, disappears for several weeks (I think, might have been just a few days) and then shows up again in a state of shock to eventually relate his tale.

Maybe the first thing worth mentioning is the interesting cast of recognisable faces. Robert Patrick, Bill Berg, Henry Thomas (E.T.'s buddy!) and the late James Garner give decent performances, and Paul Rudd-lookalike D.B. Sweeney, as Walton, is engaging and likeable. He makes the most of his early scenes, which is just as well, since he's missing during the film's midsection and most of his screen time after the abduction has him pretty much comatose due to whatever the UFO abduction version of PTSD is.

The IMDB trivia indicates that the movie differs pretty considerably from Walton's book, especially in the whole, crucial period where he undergoes examination by his captors, portrayed on screen as your classic 'grays' in a genuinely nightmarish probing sequence that borders on straight-up torture porn, not that that phrase was even a thing in the 1990s. Speaking of changing times, it's hard not to feel that Fire in the Sky has not aged all that well. To 2020 eyes and ears some of the dialogue and melodrama feels a little clunky, more akin to a Lifetime TV movie than a big studio picture. I suspect the film would look very different if made today, due to the proliferation of CGI, though it's arguable if that would make for a better or worse experience. As it is, the scenes onboard the alien craft show some commendable set design, giving Lieberman and co. the chance to show off some imagination and visual flair. It's perhaps surprising that Lieberman has worked almost exclusively in television post-Fire in the Sky; then again, maybe those unfortunate TV movie qualities I've alluded to saddled that horse for him in the eyes of producers.

I'm afraid I just couldn't get on with Fire in the Sky any better than I did in 1993. The things that I appreciate more now (the performances, some nice production design) are balanced out by the dated presentation. I feel genuinely guilty for not liking it more and my apologies to whoever picked it. It's a ballsy choice for Halloween Havoc and it's occasionally been on my mind for a rewatch anyway. 

I suspect that what you get out of a film like this can hang largely on how much of a believer you, the viewer, happen to be. Where people from religious backgrounds can be affected to a greater degree by the likes of The Exorcist, I think it's reasonable to assume that if (for whatever reason) you're inclined to believe in UFO encounters, then you're likely to appreciate something like this as being more than popcorn entertainment. Personally, I'm an atheist on the former front and probably agnostic on the UFO question so, well, mileage will vary.

Spoiler

image.jpg?w=1920&h=1080

 

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Some people say pigeons are rats with wings
These can’t fly get rid of these things
Leaving a trail of destructive wake
Get’em gone for heaven’s sake

When the rats show up as bullies and takes
Feeding on corruption and spitting out hate
Stay high and wide, when they’re too low to combat
Turn up the volume and scatter the rats

Scatter the rats
Scatter the rats

 
- L7, Scatter the Rats
 
 
The Killer Shrews ( Kellogg, 1959 )
 
 
Pick: driver
 
"  My pick for this year's Halloween Havoc is The Killer Shrews. I made this my pick because I saw it numerous times on Son of Svengoolie in the late 70s/early 80s. So because of some nostalgia and because it stars one James Best(aka Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane). "
 
Reviewed by: jaedmc
 

Gordon McLendon was kind of a big deal. He was all over the radio in the 1940’s doing play by play recreations of Major League Baseball games, and his family built quite the communications empire. McLendon also owned a chain of theaters throughout the south many of which were drive-ins. In 1959 he decided to film two features that he could attach to the main attractions at the drive-ins. One of those was The Giant Gila Monster and the other was the film I got for this year’s Halloween Havoc: THE KILLER SHREWS.

The Killer Shrews kicks off with a voiceover by McLendon talking about how much a shrew eats, and how there are a new breed of shrew coming down from Alaska – The Killer Shrew. We then go into a story about some folks on a remote island outside of Texas who develop the Killer Shrew through experimentation. I’m thinking the Alaska thing was written in after the fact. Or maybe it inadvertently could set up a sequel in which the ones from Alaska meet the ones from Texas and we get a wild shrew off.

James Best enters the fray as a leading man, who is dropping off supplies for the scientists on the island. The best dialogue in the movie comes between him and his partner “Rook” played by Judge Henry Dupree. Dupree is not an actor, but is probably the most interesting guy to watch in the whole movie. Unfortunately for him he’s a black guy in a horror film so he ends up dying first. James Best is best known as Roscoe P. Coltrane from Dukes of Hazard, so seeing him be the calm and cool hero is a bit of a shock.

The reason for these experiments is kind of awesome. The doctors want to figure out how to isolate genes so they can eventually make human beings half the size they are now, without sacrificing their life span. For them this seems like a regional measure against overpopulation, an issue they were worried about when the worlds population was 2.9 Billion people. We’ve gained 5 billion people since then and we’ve only gotten larger and size.

Of course James Best discovers their awful secret, The Killer Shrews, when the hot daughter of the lead scientist tries to save his life, by threatening to shoot him with a gun if he tries to leave. It’s dangerous outside, you see.

We then get to see poor Rook killed by the Shrews which are, in fact, coonhounds wearing what looks like long lady wigs. During close up shots these pups are replaced by some gnarly hand puppets with long curvy teeth. Neither of these depictions are intimidating.

There’s some internal drama between characters trying to escape these monsters but nothing serious, and most of it is handled in ludicrous fashion. The Jealous Ex-Lover of the Hot Daughter hates James Best and decided to threaten to kill him with a shotgun. Two minutes later Best, having disarmed the villain gives him a gun so they can fight off some Shrews. Then later Best threatens to F-5 the douchebag over a fence into the waiting jowls of some Killer Shrews but decides that would be very un-Dude of him.

Anyway. It’s a movie. It’s 1950’s so it fits in with the trend of the time, in which horrors moves away from the supernatural(like in the old Universal Monster Pictures) and into the fear of a post-war nuclear age. I’m intensely fascinated by this period as I think we can learn a lot from our behavior then and how we behave now. It’s also kind of amazing to watch a cheap ass local movie get made for nothing, with terrible effects, and still become a huge hit.

Shot for about under $150,00 around Dallas, TX, The Killer Shrews received widespread distribution after their initial run in McLendon’s chain of theaters. It went on to make about a million dollars in box office, which is pretty astounding. It has a DIY/Underdog charm to it, that makes you root for it than other movies with more technological polish. I wouldn’t recommend it to folks unless they were passionate about the history aspect, as it’s still not a very entertaining movie. Mystery Science Theater 3000 did an episode which is probably how most will see it. That’s okay, but I think it kind of demeans the accomplishment of what these folks did. Maybe we need to start respecting these pioneers of independent genre filmmaking. Perhaps if it weren’t for the success of The Killer Shrews or The Giant Gila Monster, we don’t get The Texas Chainsaw Massacre fifteen years later.

Spoiler

punFS49.jpg

 

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BONUS REVIEW!!!!!

Picked & reviewed by Curt McGirt

 

FULL ECLIPSE ( Hickox, 1993)

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106980/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

This is an HBO Original Film that I'd forgotten about for years and just had to watch when it came to mind the other day. This is HBO pre-Oz, pre-Sopranos, pre-Sex and the City, before they were well-regarded for their original programming, but this is an incredibly well-played and well written film that incidentally is a film about werewolf cops. (I guess they were known for Tales from the Crypt then so at least they had a horror pedigree.)

The open is pure John Woo. You get Mario Van Peebles with guns in both hands, with his reluctant, retiring partner, shooting at gangsters who are taking a nightclub hostage. The pair of cops come in via the air ducts as if they were Xenomorphs and the crooks shoot up the partner but miss Mario, who pulls a Chow Yun-fat and kills everyone while his partner is murdered in the duct. Partner guy is surreptitiously injected with Werewolf Serum by a female member of a Werewolf Police Brigade which brings him back to life and gives him superpowers on the job. Partner then commits suicide via silver bullet so the werewolf cops have to try and seduce Mario into their tribe to keep him quiet and obedient... which apparently the LAPD knows about, but is fine with, as long as it doesn't make any waves. Of course, Mario eventually gets injected with the serum and we get a big battle at the end. 

This is really well written (Richard Christian Matheson, son of Richard Matheson, wrote it) and it's extremely well acted. I thought it would be a really goofy werewolf flick and it ended up being subtle enough to defy argument, aside from some spots where Mario should have clearly said "fuck this" and took off. But that's the nature of horror films. They also miss an opportunity to have a zombie werewolf (!) after the silver bullet is taken out of the partner's head. In any case all the cast did excellently and this was far better than I remembered it being as a kid, watching scrambled HBO on TV. Blade before Blade came out is pretty awesome! 

Spoiler

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I remember this poster as part of the film catalog in the back of every issue of Filmfax Magazine as a kid and thought it was awesome. 

SHREWSposter.jpg

I may have oversold Full Eclipse a bit but it was a big surprise to be as good as it was. Whatever happened to Mario Van Peebles anyway? I know his dad is still alive and kicking somewhere (he's 88!) but I never see him or hear his name popping up anywhere.

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