Celebrating 35 years of Friday the 13th the Final Chapter

The Final Chapter marked Jason’s fourth appearance in the legendary Friday the 13th series, but, only his third as killer and second to don the titular hockey mask. Amusingly redundant, Friday 4 tackles the slasher paradigm with enough meta-humor and delectable gore to rise above most entries in the series.

Picking up after the events of part three, the picture commences with the seemingly dead body of the famed serial killer being carted off to the local morgue. It takes more than an axe to the head to keep the ol’ lummox down. Soon Jason is again feasting on the serene waters, pleasant air, and defenseless victims of Crystal Lake. His murderous rampage is cut short, however, when he runs into Trish (Kimberly Beck) and Tommy (Corey Feldman) Jarvis, siblings with a keen sense of survival and an unusual penchant for Halloween masks.

Click the link below to read my full review:

celebrating-35-years-of-friday-the-13th-the-final-chapter

Celebrating 5 Years of “Starry Eyes”

“There must be thousands of girls like me dreaming of being a movie star. But I’m not going to worry about them. I’m dreaming the hardest.”

-Marilyn Monroe

Sarah Walker (Alex Essoe), the starry-eyed and bushy-tailed heroine of the 2014 body horror pic Starry Eyes would give ol’ Marilyn a run for her money. Her days are spent serving tater tots to middle-age sleazepiles. And nights? Squabbling with hopeful starlets and answering seedy casting calls. When Astraeus Pictures demands she perform a series of morally yucky behaviors in exchange for a role in their new fright flick, she reluctantly agrees. Her actions cause a change in her, both literally and figuratively.

For anyone who has ever aspired to do great things in their life, Starry Eyes will produce the sensation of butterflies in the belly and a whole lotta goose pimples on the flesh.

Our first meeting with Sarah is captured in close up, her cherry lips and ivory skin veiled by harsh light and sterile hues. The camera lingers on her as she examines her body for imperfections in the mirror, the soft curves of her figure lined by an unappealing bra and underwear. We should be aroused but are instead overcome by sorrow at the sight of the disenchanted actress too despondent to recognize her own beauty.

Moments later she’s at work, her thoughts and feelings buried alongside her round bottom and tight belly in a pair of leopard-skin yoga pants. The camera places us in the shoes (and behind the icky moustache) of her boss, forcing us to stare at length at her backside as she saunters across the room. Not two minutes into the movie and we’ve already seen Sarah in multiple states of undress. We know little about her other than she is sexy. There is a hurricane of emotions hollering within her, they just scream a little quieter than her gaudy stretch pants.

Click the link below to read my full review:

Celebrating 5 Years of “Starry Eyes”

Celebrating Five Years of “Spring”

Directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead gained universal approval with their 2012 debut, Resolution. Serena Whitney of Dread Central gave the picture a perfect score, dubbing it a “remarkable achievement” that “provides the breath of fresh air the genre sorely needs.” An intricately constructed examination of the way horror stories are told, the film is witty and amusing, if a bit amateurish.

Their follow up is even stronger. An affecting love story camouflaged as a down and dirty horror fantasy, Spring skillfully blends the emotional complexity of a Linklater flick with the messy grotesqueries of early Cronenberg.

Really good horror tends to hold a mirror up to society and reflect some ugly part of our existence; they lay bare our hidden fears and anxieties to frightening effect. Spring leans on gore and grue to examine the apprehension of its central characters.

Click the link below to read on:

Celebrating Five Years of Spring

Action Films of the 1980s and The Slasher Paradigm

Body count films of many forms found success in the 1980s. Slasher pictures dominated the horror market, generating major margins of profit on miniscule budgets (Parmount Pictures shuddered with eye-winking embarrassment when releasing the numbers on their senses-assaulting splatter flick, Friday the 13th). 

At the same time, major studios were redefining action movies for modern audiences. Hollywood had gone corporate. The social climate of the 1960s and 1970s had passed and was replaced by a more escapist form of entertainment. Instead of willfully challenging the political structure in America, Hollywood aimed to produce event pictures with wide popular appeal. 

Large-scale actioners offered adrenaline-filled thrill rides replete with dangerously exciting inclines and gratuitously violent plunges while echoing the structural framework and narrative tone of the slasher film. While the two genres may seem dissimilar, their themes and essential features bear scrutiny. 

Below are examples of three major action films of the ’80s and their contextual connection with the slasher paradigm.

Click the link to read on:

Action Films of the 1980s and The Slasher Paradigm

Don’t Call It That: Horror’s Peculiar Method of Selecting Titles

How often have you wasted the night away trying to decide on a movie to watch?  I remember spending hours as a kid perusing the shelves of the local mom and pop video store with my buddies in search of the perfect title to bring home. Finally, someone would say, “Here’s one that sounds good!” Nowadays we scroll aimlessly through Netflix.  “What should I watch…?”

Titles can do many things. They can convey themes or tones and provide narrative clues before a single frame of film is played. Mostly, they try to draw viewers in: they compel audiences to see a picture. Selecting the precise set of words to market a movie is a daunting task. What reads as promising to one may come off as less assuring to another. 

Hollywood’s creative juices have been evaporating for some time. The predictability of the movie industry even extends to the practice of naming films. The bottom line is profit, and Hollywood will exploit any strategy that promises success.

Below are a few peculiar methods used by horror filmmakers to name their movies. How many do you find annoying?

Click the link below to read on:

Don't Call it That!

Celebrating Slasher's Coup De Grace

The first ten minutes of a film establish a tone that plays a role in ensuring the work makes a lasting impression (Chrissie Watkins being sucked under water by an unseen predator in Jaws is forever seared into the minds of horror fans). Good openings produce emotional connections between the audience and the characters in the story. They compel onlookers to substitutionally endure the trials and tribulations of the protagonists on screen. If done well, the first ten minutes of a picture have the power to propel it toward success.

Consequently, the final moments of a movie carry even more weight than those that open the film. Brody and Hooper paddling back to shore after obliterating the great white in Jaws has given satisfaction to generations of audiences. After accompanying the hero through turbulent realms and observing their rises and falls of fortune with breathless rapture, audiences are either rewarded for their time or left feeling disappointed. Even if a movie has all the other essential elements of a good story, the impression it leaves is at the mercy of its ending. 

This is especially true of slasher films, most of which employ the same blueprint, the same narrative structure, and a similar cast of characters. Identifying the motivation of the killer, exonerating red herrings, and navigating the handiwork of the murderous madman alongside the resilient final girl are all part of the fun of watching a “dead teenager” movie. The most exhilarating aspect of the experience often comes during the film’s tail end when the psychotic killer gets his comeuppance via the business end of a sharp-edged instrument.

After stalking and killing his way through the supporting players, the vile maniac is offed in a moment of gleefully bloody violence. Occasionally, films in the slasher cannon transcend the expectations of fans, presenting finishing blows that cause the audience to howl in shock and awe. While many have provided viewers with laughs and chills, the following are a few that stand head and shoulders above the rest.

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Celebrating Slashers Coup-De-Grace

Celebrating 5 Years of It Follows

It Follows begins with a sunny day in Michigan, as a college student named Jay (Maika Monroe) floats in her swimming pool. An ant moves over her arm as freely as the water around her. Jay drops her hand below the surface of the pool. The insect is swallowed up by the cool liquid. The ant, nature’s epitome of teamwork, is killed in an instant.

That night, after a sexual encounter with her boyfriend, Jay discovers she is being stalked by an evil force invisible to those around her. It can take the appearance of any person and if it catches her, will kill her. She clutches on friends for protection, but the group is defenseless against the attacks of the shadowy interloper.

Casual critics of It Follows viewed the film as a cautionary tale about the dangers of unprotected sex, but a deeper reading of the picture yields a horrific commentary on the trials of growing up. Jay and her friends are at a transitional period in their lives. The carefree days of their youth are coming to an end as quickly as the life of the ant in the pool. They reminisce about games they played as a kids, their first times experiencing a kiss, their dreams of traveling the world. Adulthood, like the foreboding presence that has been haunting Jay, cannot be escaped. The memories Jay and her friends have of their childhood will last long into their later years, so too will the tribulations of their youth. The habitual badgering and intimidation they suffered, the stress and strain of school will “follow” them forever.

Read my full review at the link below:

https://geekade.com/5-years-of-it-follows

Celebrating 75 years of The Curse of the Cat People

The Curse of the Cat People is a breathtakingly magical fairy tale and I love it. Click below to read my review:

Celebrating 75 years of The Curse of the Cat People

Celebrating 65 Years of Creature From the Black Lagoon!

LOVE ME SOME CREATURE!

celebrating-65-years-of-creature-from-the-black-lagoon

Celebrating 35 Years of Crimes of Passion

One of Ken Russell's most misread efforts is also one of my favorites. Click below to see why I love the sleek and bawdy Crimes of Passion so much.

Celebrating 35 Years of Crimes of Passion

My Favorite Flicks of 2018

Finally got around to posting my favorite films of 2018 list:

Rockelman-top-ten-favorite-movies-of-2018

Celebrating A Nightmare on Elm Street!

I wrote about A Nightmare on Elm Street for Geekade to celebrate its upcoming anniversary. Check it out:

Celebrating 35 Years of A Nightmare On Elm Street