Saturday, October 30, 2010

Halloween Edition - Lame Monsters

This slideshow on Comcast.net talks about the "lamest" monsters of film.  While I agree that Plan Nine From Outer Space is the worst movie of all time, I do not agree with the author concerning some of their more famous picks. Boris Karloff's Frankenstein monster is iconic, not only for the actor's magnificent portrayal of the misunderstood  and pathetic being, brought into a world he neither understands nor has the ability to control, but also as the first broadly seen image of what would evolve into today's zombie of the film world.  While the monster may seem lame to the jaded horror fan so used to the realistic gore and violence that is a cornerstone of the modern B film, it is important to remember that the audience in 1931 was quite different.  This was at the beginning of the flowering of modern horror, a time when even the thought of moving images and sound on film was a great novelty.  The film's moody atmospherics and cinematography, coupled with the relatively new experience of the darkened theatre gave depression-era moviegoers an experience not only immensely terrifying but cathartic as well.
     Moving on, the article misses the point again with 1988's Pumpkinhead, directed by special effects master Stan Winston.  The movie is no masterpiece, but is certainly not worthy of being labelled as lame by anyone.  The story is basically a morality play about the futility of revenge and the unforeseen consequences of one's actions (a concept many people- especially politicians, fail to grasp).  The demon Pumpkinhead is a great creation, far superior to other "rubber suit" creatures such as Rawhead Rex, Octaman and many, many others.  The gradual exchange of characteristics between Pumpkinhead and Ed Harley, portrayed by veteran character actor Lance Henriksen, is effective, as are the atmospheric sets and cinematography.
     Finally, I'd even go so far as to defend a couple of other picks in the article against the charge of monster lameness, simply on the basis of their novelty.  Gingerdead Man was a true stinker of a movie, but who wouldn't be creeped out at the thought of a man-sized killer cookie with the deranged mind of Gary Busey?  The same goes for Warwick Davis's Leprechaun.  Horror movies don't have to be perfect to be effective, nor do their monsters have to be fast, gory head rippers.  Sometimes the most effective horror is the stuff we don't see, since horror, like sex, is 99% mental.  Happy Halloween!
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Friday, October 08, 2010

Oh, the Horror!

We've all heard the commercials about "cheap chicken," by the folks at the Boar's Head brand, but how much attention do we really pay?  I came across this article today that gives "chicken" a whole new meaning.  Now I know how SPAM, hot dogs, sausages and so on are made, but this is ridiculous.  My first impression was that the stuff was either bubble gum or ice cream.  I wonder what it smells like...?
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