2000's American Horror Part Two

THE MANSON FAMILY
(2003)
Dir - Jim Van Bebber
Overall: MEH

From a "making the viewer severely uncomfortable" standpoint, Jim Van Bebber's The Manson Family is probably the ultimate film out of many with such a source material.  The infamous Manson murders and goings on at the Spahn Ranch have been documented in various media countless times, but Van Bebber's very Natural Born Killers-esque take on it, (that often times seems like actual footage, having artificially aged the overall look), and completely unflinching, way over the top, ubber-violent portrayal is commendable for pulling no punches.  It is incredibly difficult to make a movie that is so disheartening to watch also be worth the viewing experience and in this regard, the film is indeed too much.  It is not so much the gruesomeness of it which many an avid gore and/or horror buff can be plenty desensitized to nowadays, but the jittery, rapid-fire, avant-garde presentation mixed with unrelenting Manson gospel babbling is possibly the most difficult thing about the movie to bare.  To scale any of that back to be more user friendly though would be missing the point to really put us in a birds eye seat of such wickedness.  So this is definitely not something you would want to watch twice, (or once), but it does appear to be the be-all end-all Charles Manson movie for better or worse.

 

BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON

(2006)

Dir - Scott Glosserman

Overall: MEH

Scott Glosserman's Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon comes alarmingly close to paying off.  The premise of a film crew making a documentary on an aspiring slasher killer gets believably stretched to a breaking point where unfortunately, it does indeed break.  As smart and carefully as Glosserman and his solid cast plays everything by delving very deep into their details, it is just too much to stop you really getting invested as is necessary.  The parts that seem genuine and intense are well executed on their own, as are the moments that are played straight yet at the same time quite humorously  When these two things are intermingled though, it does not gel since you never stop getting taken out of the movie by how impossible the scenario is.  Going the serious thriller route, the premise would have to be completely reworked.  On the other hand, if going full ridiculous comedy, it would have to go a whole lot further.  Still though, this is in many ways is still likeable for what it attempts in small sections here and there.  Out of all the self-aware slasher parodies that have come in the wake of Scream, there are far worse than this; a movie that is still technically a failure, but a charming one at that.

TRICK 'R TREAT
(2007)
Dir - Michael Dougherty
Overall: MEH

Trick 'R Treat is the full-length debut from writer/director Michael Dougherty, Bryan Singer's right-hand man who previously co-wrote Superman Returns and X2.  It is also a silly, dumb, over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek popcorn, quasi-throwback that is made to be celebratory of all things festive and horrory.  There are cliches in nearly every scene, but the rug is pulled out from under them often enough to get a chuckle if one is in the right state of mind.  In Dougherty's fictional Ohio town, the streets and shops are nearly elbow-to-elbow filled with people treating Halloween like it is Mardi Gras on acid.  There is a parade, news crews covering it, everyone is packed into stores buying their catalog-ready costume the night of, every jack o lantern in the entire country makes an appearance, etc.  Which is all fine.  A harmless little genre-fests like this can be appreciated and/or left well enough alone depending on the viewer.  There is nudity, tons of gore, tons of fog, tons of orange, a mascot, and a bunch of obnoxious kids get brutally murdered so it probably deserves to be forgiven.