Harefooted Halloween: Saw X

What I Liked: They actually sorta did something different.  They make John “Jigsaw” Kramer (Tobin Bell (Seinfeld)) the center of the story for the first time, they show him overseeing and executing his deathtraps, they make him the most sympathetic he’s ever been and there isn’t a subplot of the police searching for Kramer or where the victims are being held.  Another first is he carries out his “game” in a foreign country but it’s still within an abandoned warehouse so in the end this location change doesn’t amount to much.

I’d like to expand on the above for a moment because we’ve never spent this much time with Kramer in one sitting and it was kinda nice.  The story revolves around him seeking an unapproved underground treatment for his brain cancer.  He’s given months to live so he’s desperate to try anything.  Now even though he’s the main villain of the series he’s always been more of a figure in the shadows than out front when his victims are working their way through the traps.  It was cooler than I would’ve thought to spend the entire runtime with Kramer and see him operate up close.  Throughout the film, especially the first third, they humanize the character by showing him at his lowest point and searching for hope to cling to.  I think they succeed too which is a pretty impressive feat.

What I Didn’t Like: For me the real reason the Saw pictures are a guilty pleasure are the crazy twists and turns of the soap opera that plays out in between Jigsaw murdering folks.  It’s much more like a TV show in that sense where everyone’s related somehow and locations get revisited and paths cross endlessly and Kramer has more accomplices than you’d ever expect.  Since this picture takes place in an entirely different location than all the rest those connections are lost.  There are a couple of reveals for sure but they’re more ho hum than the bonkers shit we’re used to.

Unfortunately the film is extremely predictable.   This is partially a consequence of the story being more on the generic side this round.  The other part of it is if you’ve seen some of the other Saws then it’s obvious where the story is going and how it’ll play out.  These movies love to jump around in time so I don’t think it’s much of a spoiler to let you know this one’s a prequel.  As a result there’s only one way the events can turn out.

Damn, this could be the goriest in the series, and one of the goriest pictures in general.  I’m not adverse to shit getting nasty but I’m not a huge proponent of it either.  The franchise is known for their brutal treatment of the human body and this entry is no different.  At one point someone cuts the intestines out of another person and flings them across the room to use as a rope to grab a cart.  Kinda funny but also yuck!

Overall Impressions: On one hand yep, it’s another Saw movie alright.  But on the other I appreciate the filmmakers trying a few different things, namely getting you on John Kramer’s side by successfully turning him into a victim.  The picture really takes its time setting this up (this runs a half hour longer than all previous films) and diving deeper into the teacher/student relationship between Kramer and Amanda (Shawnee Smith (The Blob (1988))).  Some fans might be annoyed by this because it takes a while to get to the deathtraps but I think it works (although they throw one in early on with John daydreaming about a guy getting his eyeballs sucked out of his head, it totally feels like something added later in production to satiate the audience).

This is kind of a self-contained movie that would probably actually play better if you haven’t seen any of the others.  Then you wouldn’t be able to predict the outcome as easily.  Not only that but the character study stuff is fairly well done and brings you completely up to speed.  So despite the absence of dubious insane plot twists I guess this could maybe possibly against all odds be my favorite Saw film?  Whatever that’s worth.  Not that the others are shoddily made exactly but the methodical storytelling makes this one come across the most professional.  It’s still the same director/editor from four previous installments, Kevin Greutert, and writers of three, Pete Goldfinger and Josh Solberg, which is interesting.  I’m glad they finally altered the formula slightly and found a new angle to tackle the material from.  I mean it’s not wildly different or anything though.  I don’t wanna oversell this.  It’s just gently refreshing.

So if you haven’t checked out one of these before this might be a good starting point.  If you don’t mind someone drilling into their own skull and picking out a piece of their brain that is.

Harefooted Halloween: Bones and All

What I Liked: The cannibalistic tendencies of this group called “eaters” isn’t overexplained.  We’re given enough information to know what the deal is and then we’re sent on our way.  These folks are born with the disease/condition/mental illness/supernatural ability and must consume human flesh.  They can have regular food as well but the desire for people meat only grows stronger the older you get and if you abstain for too long you tend to go crazy.  Magnificent straightforward premise.

Wonderful natural performances from everyone but of course Taylor Russell (Escape Room: Tournament of Champions) as Maren and Timothee Chalamet (Little Women (2019)) as Lee are the heart of the whole thing.  They both have to run the gauntlet where they’re trepid, suspicious, sorrowful, angry, confused, hurt, worrisome, anxious, joyful and madly in love.  It’s difficult to pull off a fraction of the emotional states the roles call for and they nail each and every one of them.  Maren is new to being on her own fending for her survival out in the world so she doesn’t know who to trust.  When she meets Lee she can sense they have the same affliction and that he could be someone she can befriend.  Lee meanwhile has been moving around solo for a while so he knows the ropes.  He takes Maren under his wing and they form a bond during their journey that develops beautifully and gets tested at every turn.

This is shot and edited very nicely.  Cinematographer Arseni Khachaturan captures both the gorgeousness and dinginess of the American Midwest.  Landscapes look stunning while towns look rundown and grimy sometimes.  I appreciate editor Marco Costa letting scenes breathe even during tense moments.  Just hearing the characters munch away while showing the victim’s personal effects drives home that this was a human being with a life that has plainly been reduced to sustenance for others.

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross turn in another delightful soundtrack.  With the plucky acoustic guitar and synths it kinda sounds like a cross between the Brokeback Mountain score and Tangerine Dream.  It accents the young love of the leads and the turmoil beneath the surface very well.

Another thing I appreciate is how subtly 80’s the film is.  Most of the time a period piece feels the need to announce on a bullhorn the decade they’re in which is always distracting.  Here the outfits, haircuts and other trappings are stated matter-of-factly and it’s such a breath of fresh air.  The only pop culture reference we get is 80’s era Kiss when Lee puts on “Lick It Up”.

What I Didn’t Like: Minor complaint but if you’ve seen a few movies before it becomes sorta obvious what the final confrontation will be.  And even though it comes across a touch tacked on you do need the finale to satisfactorily wrap up the story.  Without it something would certainly feel like it’s missing.  Shout out to Mark Rylance (The BFG) by the way who plays the fantastic creepy older eater.  There are flashes when you think he might be ok but your gut tells you there’s something sinister about this sonuvabitch.  At the same time he’s a pathetic creature who’s been on his own too long and is desperate for companionship.  Great performance.

Overall Impressions: Man, what a cool take on vampirism.  I can’t think of anything else that’s quite like it.  It’s first and foremost a romantic drama with just a sprinkling of horror and killer-couple-on-the-road vibes.  I wanna say you could take away the cannibal stuff and it would still work with little changes but I’m not so sure.  It’s the overpowering drive to eat people that causes Maren and Lee to live on the fringes of society and murder so it makes them sympathetic and you forgive them.  Killing purely for the sake of it or for money or a car or whatever wouldn’t have the same emotional payoff.

This is a damn good script executed masterfully by Luca Guadagnino (Suspiria (2018)).  I’m curious about the book now of the same name this is based on to see how similar or different it is.  High level horror like this doesn’t show up very often and is always a fascinating experiment.  Films like The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Ringu and The Lighthouse also blur the line where you can’t be sure if supernatural stuff is occurring or if the characters are losing their minds.  The material ends up having a somewhat hazy dream-like quality where you’d like to question everything you’re seeing.  But if you allow yourself to slip into the stream you’ll be rewarded with a unique viewing experience.

Probably the biggest draw for this picture is less the premise, as intriguing as it is, but rather Maren and Lee themselves.   They’re cool dudes who are lovely to hang out with for two hours and you wanna see how their relationship progresses.  If they were simply drifters with no place to go and no one to turn to but each other that would be enticing enough.  But throwing in the complication of the necessity to feed on human flesh raises this to another level.  How does a couple navigate a world with a fucked up hang up like that?  You should definitely check this one out.  And maybe keep a few tissues on hand, or napkins.

Harefooted Halloween: Scream VI

What I Liked: Somehow the image of Ghostface with a shotgun is striking.  I can’t put my finger on exactly what it is but maybe it makes the character seem more down and dirty.  Like he’s resorting to killing folks from a distance and doing whatever it takes in this particular situation to get the job done instead of relying on the ol’ knife stabbing.  After his identity is revealed he might use a handgun but not while in costume.  It’s something different that stands out after six movies.  For a franchise that desperately avoids straying from its own path I appreciate this small moment.

What I Didn’t Like: Everything else.

Overall Impressions: This film probably expects you to buy the most bullshit presented since part 3.  From the setup to the number of murderers to a previous character suddenly becoming an FBI agent to motivations to the killer’s Ghostface museum located inside an abandoned movie theater filled with props, er, I mean all the police evidence from all the homicides from every previous installment lovingly displayed in glass cases to Ghostface being able to successfully coordinate a highly intricate plan in New York fuckin’ City without any issues to characters sustaining multiple horrific (read: fatal) injuries without consequence.  That last bit is especially absurd.  One character gets stabbed in the back and the gut and brushes both off.  Another one gets stabbed in the mouth all the way through to the back of the head and keeps on tickin’.

Yes I know, these pictures are just supposed to be fun.  Relax, eat your popcorn and enjoy the scares.  For the first time though I might go as far as to say I kind of, uh, strongly dislike this entry.  Aside from the list of nonsense above the meta stuff really got to me here.  The characters mention how this one’s different because all the rules are out the window, no one’s safe, anything goes.  Except none of that is true.  It’s a whodunit with Ghostface taunting his victims on the phone, appearing out of thin air whenever he attacks, the protagonists try to figure out who’s behind the mask and the killer’s motivations end up being revenge.  What’s different?  A Halloween train with several people dressed as Ghostface so you don’t know if the real one is mixed in there?  They already pulled that gimmick with a rowdy movie theater full of the sonsabitches all the way back in part 2, twenty six years ago.

Well the big selling point for this one is the NYC setting as opposed to California like all the rest.  While the new location does offer a change of scenery the filmmakers don’t take advantage of the city.  The only thing I can point to is when Ghostface stabs someone in a crowded subway car and no one notices or cares.  Aside from that the story could’ve taken place in the west coast suburbs.  Actually, I argue it would’ve made more sense.  You transported all your survivors from the previous installment across the country just to have shit play out the same way it always does.  Plus the entire city’s on camera which should make it significantly harder for Ghostface to carry out his scheme (naturally this is ignored).  And if someone’s going to create a secret museum dedicated to the Woodsboro murders why would they place it in New York?  If you’re that crazy about this shit wouldn’t you put it closer to where all the crimes went down?  The underutilization of the Big Apple isn’t quite as bad as Jason Takes Manhattan but it’s certainly not satisfying.

*Sigh* this is a dumb fuckin’ movie guys.  More than any of the others it comes off like bad fan fiction.  I know that sounds harsh but it’s becoming harder and harder to find value in the franchise.  They’re too much the same but progressively worse each time.  I’ve already gone over in my Scream series wrap up from last year how bafflingly popular these films continue to be despite lacking anything interesting going on visually, story-wise, effects-wise, character-wise and so forth.  What it boils down to is the Ghostface image, the Scooby Doo style mystery and the self-referential dialogue which was charming and fresh in the 90’s but is downright aggravating now.

Say what you want about the Exorcist, Alien and Child’s Play sequels but at least they all took chances and explored new territory within their respective realms.

Harefooted Halloween: Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence

What I liked: They saved all the good stuff, well the only good stuff, for the finale where maniac cop Matt Cordell (Robert Z’Dar (Samurai Cop)) has a car chase/battle with our heroes played by Caitlin Dulany (Oldboy (2013)) and a returning Robert Davi (Action Jackson).  Similar to the ending fight scene in part 2 Cordell’s on fire the entire time racing down the Los Ange, er I mean New York highway ramming into other cars, grabbing onto the other vehicle and driving like a nutjob.  It looks cool, is cool and keeps with tradition of putting stunts in these movies that seem ridiculously dangerous.

What I Didn’t Like: Boy is this one phoned in.  You definitely get the sense that nobody wants to be here and that’s because it’s true.  The script had to be altered significantly after foreign distributors demanded huge changes.  So the filmmakers cut out everything that didn’t fit with the new parameters which only left about fifty mins of runtime.  They either made up the rest or took leftover footage from the previous film.  And it’s a shame because all of this shows.  They couldn’t save it.

Overall Impressions: Unfortunately this last installment is sluggish, kind of on the boring side and nothing makes any frickin’ sense.  The weirdest part is they tried to do a half assed Bride of Maniac Cop thing by setting up a female cop who’s supposed to be out of control.  However, she comes across as reckless and overzealous, not psychotic so it doesn’t add up.  Cordell wants a companion because I guess he’s lonely?  I don’t really have a clue.

Even if you liked the first two pictures you can skip this one.  It’s not a satisfying conclusion to the series.  Although seeing Davi light his cigarette with Cordell’s severed burning arm as one last fuck you to the guy is pretty badass.

Harefooted Halloween: Maniac Cop 2

What I Liked: There’s an excellent car chase sequence with the maniac cop, Matt Cordell (Robert Z’Dar (Mobsters)), in his old 60’s squad car pursuing some victims in a cab.  A couple of the tires on the taxi blow so the metal wheels grind against the pavement creating tons of sparks (which apparently caused the car to catch fire for real halting production).  Directly after this the murderous cop handcuffs one of his targets to the wheel of another car and sets it into neutral sending the thing careening uncontrollably down the road.  Oh and did I mention this person is handcuffed to the outside of the car which ups the ante considerably?  This stretch is maybe the best set piece in either film.  Not only that but towards the end Cordell does an entire hand to hand fight scene on fire and it’s ambitious due to the sheer length of it.  Some of these stunts are incredibly dangerous and I’m impressed with what they put together.

What I Didn’t Like: The backstory and lore isn’t expanded upon at all.  We don’t get any further insight into Matt Cordell or his crimes.

Fuckin’ Robert Davi (Showgirls) plays the detective in charge of tracking down the killer cop this time and shit, he’s completely wasted here.  Davi does his usual stoic cool as all hell routine but the character doesn’t end up doing anything.  I mean (minor spoiler) he’s not even part of the finale.

Overall Impressions: The first film is a hybrid of horror and action making it somewhat unique.  It’s a detective movie with a slasher spirit.  This one leans much more to the action side with two car chases and a part inspired by (ripped off from?) The Terminator where Cordell storms into a police precinct and blows all the cops away in a glut of massive destruction.  The horror elements are fairly subdued and extend to Cordell’s now rotting zombified face and play with the ambiguity of if he’s supernatural or not.  Sometimes he seems like he is, sometimes he doesn’t.  I dunno.

Unfortunately nothing new is done with the premise or the characters.  The plot is very simple involving a police psychologist (Claudia Christian (The Substitute 3: Winner Takes All)) and a detective (Davi) trying to find and stop Cordell.  They repeat a couple of full scenes from the original to pad the runtime too which is kind of annoying.

This is a tough one because while it’s not really as good as its predecessor things even out with this film having the two best action sequences between them.  If you enjoyed the first one then yeah, this is worth your time.

Harefooted Halloween: Maniac Cop

What I Liked: A slasher picture with a cop (Robert Z’Dar (Tango & Cash)) being the villain is a cool idea.  He can blend in and target unwitting victims easily.  The rash of homicides causes the public to become distrustful of the police so who do you turn to for help?  This is exemplified in a scene where a lady is having car trouble on the side of the road and a cop pulls up to see what the problem is.  The lady is so terrified it might be the maniac cop that she shoots him dead right away.  That setup is genuinely unnerving.

In general this is a fairly well made film on a technical level.  It’s shot nice, it’s well cast and the pacing is good.  However, there’s some glaring continuity with the locations.  The setting is supposed to be NYC but there are parts that were clearly filmed in LA with palm trees in the background and too much open space.  Kinda distracting.

What I Didn’t Like: The mystery of the identity of the killer cop and his motivation end up being kind of exactly what you’re expecting.  The story could’ve used some sort of twist, even a small one to spice things up.  Is it possible for a movie to be too straight forward?

Tom Atkins (Lethal Weapon) and Bruce Campbell (Escape from LA) are the two leads yet their parts feel disjointed, almost like they’re in two different versions of the same film.  Atkins is the lieutenant tasked with hunting down the serial killer and Campbell is a cop who becomes suspect number one due to some circumstantial evidence.  They’re given equal screen time but the focus should’ve been on one of them with the other playing a smaller role.  Or they could’ve edited these threads together better.  The issue is we go for long stretches following only one of these guys around and it just makes the film unnecessarily confusing.  I kept forgetting about whoever isn’t on screen at the moment because we don’t cut between the characters often enough.

Overall Impressions: This is a title movie where the name pretty much says it all similar to Snakes on a Plane or Killer Klowns from Outer Space.  The script isn’t fantastic but the competent execution elevates the material.  There are enough neat camera angles and notable performances to push this one to be a very watchable and fun time.

It’s not a total horror movie either which is sorta interesting.  Things start out that way with the cop racking up a lot of bodies in the beginning but then it morphs into a thriller with Tom Atkins trying to chase down the perpetrator and Bruce Campbell doing what he can to clear his name of the murders.  By the end we find ourselves in full blow action movie territory with a car chase, a dingy warehouse showdown and what looks like an extremely dangerous stunt of driving a van off a pier into the water.  It all takes place during the day as well which again, makes it more action-y and less atmospheric.

So while I’m not convinced they utilized the cop angle to the fullest extent it’s solid.  Definitely better than the blatant Die Hard knock off Psycho Cop Returns (sorry, haven’t seen part 1).

Harefooted Halloween: The Last Voyage of the Demeter

What I Liked: Good production design especially with how lived in the ship feels.  You can tell she’s been around a while and so everything has a worn patina.  The griminess of the cargo hold, the narrow intimate corridors and mess hall all look fantastic.  The period costume design, set dressing and dim lighting build a nice creepy atmosphere.

Every creak and groan of the ship is wonderful.  They really help to fill out the spooky surroundings.  Plus the sound design of the mysterious backwards wispy voices heard whenever Dracula’s nearby is great.  The sound plays a bigger role here than normal because we’re stuck in one location looking at the same stuff over and over so audio cues are key to enhancing and shaping the mood of the scenes.

Luckly the film never falls into a lull which again, due to the limited location is trickier to avoid than usual.  It’s difficult to introduce new characters or outside forces to move the story along so the situation has to evolve regularly to keep a good pace up which they do.

The design of Dracula looks pretty neat.  It’s more of the Nosferatu style except he’s much more of a creature with large ears, a full mouth of sharp teeth, a hairless body, pale eyes and he sports wings at one point.  They kinda mixed the vampire from Salem’s Lot with the man-bat form of Dracula from the 1992 movie.  It’s challenging to come up with a new design for this character because there have been so many adaptations and while this version isn’t anything that new it works well.

*Spoiler on this last item* They utterly destroy a little nine year old boy.  At first I thought it was really lame to include a kid on the ship but it’s almost like the filmmakers put him there just so they could fuck with him.  Drac ends up biting into his throat sucking his blood which turns him into a vampire.  That would’ve been enough but later on he dramatically bursts into flames when he gets exposed to the sun causing the crew to finally throw his still burning body into the ocean.  Now this same fate befalls a couple of other victims but due to the boy being so damn young it got an audible chuckle from me.  They also kill off the dog and I’m into these moments where the film sorta flips the finger to the audience.

What I Didn’t Like: Anything I didn’t take to is fairly minor.

Overall Impressions: I’ve been hearing about this film being in development for decades so it’s bizarre to actually see it for real (for a long while I was dying to see what Neil Marshall (The Descent, Dog Soldiers, Doomsday) was gonna do with it).  It’s a fine idea to take this portion of Bram Stoker’s tale and turn it into its own piece.  Even though we all know who’s on board and what will happen it’s a testament to the filmmakers that it’s still an engaging movie.  Director Andre Ovredal (Troll Hunter) has said it’s basically Alien and I imagine a lot of folks are gonna think that while watching.  I know I did.  The other picture this reminds me of is Jason Takes Manhattan as that film is notorious for barely taking place in NYC and mainly being about Jason stalking his victims aboard a ship en route to the Big Apple.

And it was cool to see a slasher on the silver screen again that’s not a sequel or part of an established franchise.  A one off like this, despite being from an incredibly famous larger narrative, is the type of high concept horror that I can get behind.  What’s amazing is the initial idea still feels inspired.  Like this one small part of the book that I’m sure most people don’t think too much about could be its own movie.  And it can and it’s intriguing.  And I hope some folks don’t skip out because they aren’t familiar with the full story of Dracula and think they’ll be lost.  The film keeps shit self-contained by establishing everything you need to know from the top.

This is a fine little movie.  It’s not amazing but all the performances, setups, effects and camerawork are solid.  It’s just very competently made.  The biggest thing it has going for it is the excellent eerie atmosphere.  And after so many years of wondering if the thing would ever get made and eventually writing it off I gotta say the end result is the best I could’ve hoped for.