(1990)
Dir - William Lustig
Overall: MEH
While it is not an exhaustive waste of time and certainly not bad, William Lustig and Larry Cohen's Maniac Cop 2 is still a bit of an unnecessary sequel. It makes the common blunder of essentially making the first entry in the series completely pointless from a conceptual standpoint as basically the same story is told with pretty much everything that happened in the first one casually shrugged off in every character's mind. Bruce Campbell and Laurene Landon are back yes, but once again no one believes them and the title character gets to do the exact same things he did before, until law enforcement officials finally, (again), realize it is him. We are even shown the same flashback explaining Robert Z'Dar's origin once more, taken right out of the first movie. While this safe and borderline lazy approach is disappointing, the movie itself is entertaining enough, even if nothing new happens. Familiar character actors Robert Davi and Michael Lerner fit right at home and Leo Rossi is appropriate levels of annoying as a serial, stripper murderer. Z'Dar is randomly way more deformed, the laws of physics are humorously ignored, and there is fog in a convenient store ala Cobra, (none of which are inappropriate at all mind you), so it still has those things going for it.
(1991)
Dir - Dan O'Bannon
Overall: MEH
It is unfortunate that one such as Dan O'Bannon adapted a work from one such as H.P. Lovecraft with such flawed results. Only his second as well as last directorial effort, (his first of course being the paramount Return of the Living Dead), O'Bannon is unsuccessful at creating a terrifying mood in his The Case of Charles Dexter Ward reworking The Resurrected. The problems are a weak, persistent musical score that never lets up, stiff performances from most of his cast, (leads John Terry and Jane Sibbett most assuredly), and a plodding pace. Generally, the last act of one's horror movie should provide the most heart-racing intensity, but the one found here involving an exploration of an underground catacomb and then a final mental institution confrontation are both flat-out bores. Lovecraftian dialog, (never the author's strong suit), seems almost comically out of place even if Chris Sarandon is solid in delivering it hammy enough. If the presentation is the biggest detriment here where it comes off far too B-movie and direct-to-video-esque, (since that is exactly what it was after all), the special effects and make-up work is still commendable at least even in its dated form.
(1997)
Dir - Larry Fessenden
Overall: GOOD
Handling several aspects of production, (including writing, acting directing, editing, and sound design), independent film renascence man Larry Fessenden mostly succeeds with the remake of his own same-titled video from 1985, Habit. Made by his New York based production company Glass Eye Pix, the movie does have a minimal amount of embarrassing moments, (some clunky dialog, amateurish nightmare sequences, and sub-par performances here or there), and it is ultimately overlong, but the things that end up working are still rather admirable. Set mostly in Manhattan and lingering on Fessenden's lead character's bohemian lifestyle, all of the handheld camera work, establishing shots, and indie music cues help to create a natural environment far from any kind of popcorny horror movie. Though his character is complex and not all together sympathetic, (he is rather a slurring slob and alcoholic with a heart of gold more or less), the metaphors surrounding grieving and unsafe sex still hit home as they are supposed to. Plus thankfully there is just enough subtle creepy moments dashed around to keep things intriguing for the horror movie fan, so any expert on the genre will appreciate some of the conventions dabbled with herein.
No comments:
Post a Comment