(1980)
Dir - Charles Kaufman
Overall: MEH
The second film by Troma Entertainment, Mothers Day is certainly trashy and in vile, despicable taste, but at this early stage it is also far less ridiculously comedic and schlocky in tone. Meant to be a satire of television violence, misguided parenting, and probably some other things by Troma founder and producer Lloyd Kaufman and his brother Charles behind the lens, it falls a bit short of providing any well-intended chuckles. It is certainly high on unpleasantness and boredom though. Truthfully, the movie could be a lot more nasty than it is as its indulgences in torture porn run a bit tame by contemporary standards, (this is a good thing), but since it is not that funny and is not winking hard enough at its audience, it spends a lot of time just meandering in its bush-league presentation. That is until the final act where the victims turn on their tormentors and things like groins getting brutally hammered in and television sets getting slammed on heads become difficult not to find humor in. At the same time though, the film gradually switches its tone and becomes a lot more dark which kind of further complicates matters as to how silly the whole thing was supposed to be in the first place. Maybe it deserves a deeper dive into its themes which is odd since we are talking about a Troma movie here, but on the other hand, maybe it is just an amateurish mess of a film.
(1987)
Dir - Jack Sholder
Overall: GOOD
This surprisingly solid, somewhat oddball sci-fi/horror/action hybrid from Jack Sholder, (Alone in the Dark, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge), and comedy screenwriter Jim Kouf, (credited as Bob Hunt here and on 1981's The Boogens), is the first yet only second weirdest project where Kyle MacLauchlan plays a young, eccentric FBI agent. Right out of the gate, The Hidden has quite a fetching opening where a guy nonchalantly shoots up a bank and leads a high speed car chase in a Ferrari while headbanging to punk music and seeming genuinely pleased with himself for doing so. Proper explanations come quite a bit later, but by that point the audience can make an educated guess as to what might be going down. Moving at a steady enough pace to not bother with tightening up some loose logical gaps, (in typical, 80s action movie fashion), the script wisely maintains a borderline humorous edge which makes such moments successfully forgiving. The tone changes may be a bit odd at times on account of the film's ambitions, but they're also regularly enjoyable. As are appearances from Claudia Christian, Lin Shaye, and a not famous yet Danny Trejo for one line and about three seconds.
(1988)
Dir - Tony Randel
Overall: MEH
Round two in the Hellraiser series, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, is more poorly structured than its modest yet still over the top and schlocky predecessor though it bares those qualities as well unfortunately. Giving up the directors chair, Clive Barker at least penned the story for Peter Atkins to write the screenplay from, though from here on out, his role in the franchise would grow increasingly minimal as he would usually just serve as a non-creative, executive producer if that. Picking up where the last one finished and with its two main female cast members returning, one of the problems is that they are both underwritten. The better stuff instead are the visions of the labyrinth-like, Cenobite hellworld which are expanded upon and impressively surreal. The movie is also still deliciously gory for fans of skinless, ultra-bloody mayhem. Outside of all the macabre window dressing though, its story is very weak and the camp value once again becomes inescapable with some half-baked performances and lame dialog. With a still humble budget to work with and attempting the standard "go bigger" sequel approach, the film does occasionally come off as if its reach exceeds its grasp. If one can forgive and/or find amusement in its inconsistencies while basking in the violence and diabolical weirdness though, it is an adequate second installment you can say.
No comments:
Post a Comment