(1982)
Dir - Frank Henenlotter
Overall: GOOD
Frank Henenlotter's low budget debut Basket Case, (which spawned two sequels also helmed by the writer/director), is one of the early 80's horror outings that found a cult following on VHS as so, so many others likewise have. It still stands as one of the more unique movies of its kind, using the diabolical, "bad twin" premise for equal parts laughs and unnerving creepiness. As silly as the title character puppet looks on screen, (likewise in his dated, stop-motion animation form), it is rather amazing that he also comes off severely eerie in many instances. Hearing his unearthly, distorted howl and watching him silently stare with his glowing red eyes provide the film with its most memorable, chilling moments. It also helps that Henenlotter had the good sense to keep his creature off screen for awhile, simply teasing him for nearly the entire first half. Elsewhere, the acting is understandably sub-par and the barrage of goofy, seedy New York street characters we encounter are nothing to take seriously, nor should they be. The pacing is the only spot where the movie dips a bit though. Henenlotter cannot quite keep it as brisk as it needs to be and the movie easily could have shaved ten or so minutes off, particularly near the end. Minor complaint though, all said and done.
(1983)
Dir - Robert Hiltzik
Overall: MEH
The 1980's were the decade of slasher summer camp garbage and Sleepaway Camp is as textbook an example as any. There are POV killer shots, awful, horny teenage characters, a mystery as to who is committing all of the murdering, terrible dialog, more terrible acting, all the usual bits and pieces. Distinguishing itself minimally from the crop of other Friday the 13th carbon copies is the fact that the cast is largely made up of actual adolescents, (as in, not twenty-odd year olds playing fifteen year olds), and the ending is very surprisingly very creepy. The actual twist is as silly and juvenile as any, but the film's final shot and the sound that comes along with it very genuinely stands out as unnerving. Elsewhere, it is a near suffocating amount of cliches piled on top of each other and oodles of unintentional humor. It is not quite clear when macho, Jersey-accented dudes dressed in ball exposing hot pants and cut-off tees when not swimming naked with each other went from totally heterosexual in this decade to flamingly not in modern times, but it is highly amusing to watch such homoerotic tomfoolery played so straight. Several sequels followed this one because of course, but at least director Robert Hitlzik had the good sense to bow out of most of them.
(1987)
Dir - Joseph Ruben
Overall: MEH
The "stepparent" sub-genre in horror is not necessarily the most abundantly used, but thriller/B-movie filmmaker Joseph Ruben's The Stepfather can still easily be seen as the quintessential one whose premise revolves around a sinister "not my real mom/dad" scenario. Terry O'Quinn, (who would go on to arguably be the best thing about Lost), is rather ideal here as the schizophrenic title character. It is a wise move that his backstory is left vague, since his disturbing, twisted, fanatical insistence on having the most textbook, lame, suburban "aw shucks" family life seems thoroughly unwholesome, thus creating an intriguing paradox. The movie is sadly undone by its cheap production values though. Besides being heavily dated, the keyboard happy music is awful and rarely lets up for a single scene. It also looks like a television movie, though this could be argued to be a plus in a roundabout way since the film skews traditional family values and therefor has the look of something a family would sit down together to watch after dinner on ABC or something. There are also a couple of weak plot holes like how clueless and ultimately disinterested the law enforcement is in catching this guy and how seemingly easy it is for O'Quinn to start up a new life over and over again. It is better than it could have been, but also a bit worse.
No comments:
Post a Comment