Invasion Of The Body Snatchers

I have to admit this is the first time I've seen this movie, and I'm not disappointed.

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, classic science fiction movie, terrific at building a sense of paranoia, and a truly terrifying premise. The plot centers around a doctor who returns to his hometown, and slowly begins noticing claims of people who say their relatives and neighbors are not themselves of late. As the mystery unravels, we are with our hero every step of the way, you could almost say this has severe roots in film noir which makes the movie that much more special. The movie excels beyond anything at how it builds the mood, it is a slow burn of paranoia and fear culminating in a fever rush of a climax that really leaves you uneasy. It took a grand total of maybe three minutes before I started getting paranoid about everyone, good job movie you achieved an effect in mere minutes that others could not achieve in hours. Credit where credit is due, I'm actually happy this movie is in black and white it just adds a more foreboding atmosphere than if it was just in color. It really does add a more creepy feel to the whole thing. And you know what? This is a scary movie, just the premise is terrifying. You return to your old hometown, as you meet with old friends and family you hear perplexing things, that the people in your town are not real people, and as time goes on the more you find that it's all true, until you're the only one left in a town ruled by monsters. That is horror if I have ever heard of it. You really don't get much scarier than that. Excellent horror movie, great science fiction movie, certainly made me look twice at the people I know. Goodnight everybody.

One more sci-fi movie for the week, possibly the greatest brain movie ever made that surprisingly does not have the word 'brain' in the title. Until tomorrow.

The Blob (1958)

I forgot how good this movie was.

Alright, tonight's movie is the 1958 sci-fi classic, The Blob starring Steve McQueen in a role that made him famous. Now I gotta say, this is a classic movie without a doubt in my mind, but watching it again I really loved it. It's one of the greatest examples of 50s science fiction movies, with outstanding writing, not just in concept but in execution, great acting, and a terrific movie monster to top it all off. The plot follows Steve McQueen while one night a meteor hits, and out comes an alien blob hell bent on absorbing every human on Earth. It's up to good old Steve to stop this alien menace, and try his damndest to warn the whole town before it turns into a big red jelly mark on the map. Now this was Steve's first big movie before he got super famous a few years later, and he does great work in this movie. He's a regular guy, thrust into this crazy situation, and has to deal with it. You believe every word he says, and gives immense likeability and even some good depth to a rather ordinary character. Now this movie is about an hour and a half long, and the pacing is just right. You see the blob, and you see it well, but not as much as you might expect. It does a good job of keeping you in suspense to when you see the blob again. And all the supporting cast does wonderful work as well, every one of them is an intelligent, well rounded character while in most other science fiction movies of the time they would be as smart as a bag of rocks, and are there just to go through the meat grinder, but here they contribute a great deal to the movie, whether it be plot progression or to give some pretty decent character development to each other. It's truly a cult classic, and created a remake in 1988, and the event known as Blobfest, a yearly little shindig in Phoenixville where the movie was made with tons of great stuff to do, see how they made the movie, reenact the famous movie theater scene, and view the original blob itself in all it's gelatinous glory. This is a fun flick, and you get the vibe from the opening credits. Classic and ingenious title screen, and the blob has it's own theme song and it is truly spectacular. 4 stars, check it out!

And tomorrow we revisit another classic science fiction movie. They're already here, and you are next.

BONUS: Shin-Godzilla

Well that was unexpected.

Wow...my first Godzilla movie ever seen in theaters. No joke, every time I have seen any Godzilla movie it has been on either satellite tv or home video. So how does this Godzilla movie hold up? It was great, albeit slightly odd at points. Allow me to elaborate. Okay Sherman set the way-back machine to when the first trailer hit. I liked the tone, the visuals, and the music...until Godzilla showed up. He looked cool, glowing red, slightly decaying look but the eyes looked like googly eyes, and his tail was too long, it was bigger than he was! And this particular Godzilla stunts the 2014 Godzilla, and that's a big dude. And later on down the road, I heard rumors about Godzilla well, not looking like Godzilla. That he actually evolves throughout the movie. This worried me a lot. And it's true. When you see him at first he looks like this friggin' tadpole...thing, he's got no arms and really looks like if you cut off a stegosauraus' front legs. It's so odd. But then he changes and looks a bit more like he usually does. He looks like he came from Hell, and that fits perfectly with the movie, Godzilla is supposed to look terrifying. Now we touch on the last aspect worthy of note, Godzilla's atomic breath is bizzare. It's purple but not, and I can roll with that, I got used to how he looked, and his atomic breath looks awesome in purple but it's not straight up like that. I'll try to explain, it starts off like just red fire but then transforms into atomic breath, but not only that it turns into a fracking lazer beam! It doesn't look like fire it looks like lazers! But wait, there's more! It comes out of his mouth, it comes out of his tail (I swear to God above.), it comes out of his fin's. Yeah. Now, Hideaki Anno created Neon Genesis Evangelion, a confusing show about giant robots fighting, kinda like with Gundam but with a paradoxical plot but I digress. He wrote and directed the movie, so you see the inspiration from that show bleed through into this movie, Godzilla shoots like a hundred lazer beams out of his fin's at enemy planes and missiles. It's very anime. Whoa, I've went on this long and I haven't touched base on the actual movie.......let's roll that review! The plot is basic like other Godzilla movies, Godzilla rises out of Tokyo Bay and the Japanese government must find a way to stop this fearsome beast. Now there are many excellent things about this film, first of all the editing. It is so slick, and so well done, they know exactly when to cut. It is fast paced, but knows when to linger on a moment, it really helps with the humor of which there is a bit, and drives the story at a satisfactory pace clocking in at roughly two hours. Next is the acting, the cast is great although the film is subtitled all the way through, there is no dub yet but there will be. So seeing the real Japanese actors working their craft was a real treat. Lastly is the mood, the tone of the story, and it is highly realistic. This feels real in every sense of the word. This is what would happen if such a creature appeared in Japan and the government had to deal with it. Bravo movie, bravo. Flying colors in this respect. Godzilla is in the movie a bit, but the focus is on the humans trying to cope with such a presence, in fact dare I say, it does it exponentially better than the original 1954 version. That is how good they nailed the realistic edge of this film. You know, for the first Godzilla movie I have ever seen in theaters, this did not disappoint. The film is in theaters nationwide until the end of this week, so if you're a big G fan go see this movie. Well worth your time and money.

You know, for this week I had several science fiction classics to review, but now I'm kind of tempted to do a handful of Godzilla reviews instead. I certainly have a few to review, and I'm happy I reviewed the original because this movie has a few nods to it. I might change it, I may hold off on it. Hell, maybe I'll even start November with a monster mash in Tokyo...

Hannibal

Would you hate me if I said I kinda, sorta like this movie? This a very divisive movie so I get where both parties are coming from.

Hannibal is the last chronological film of Anthony Hopkins' outstanding run as our favorite cannibalistic psychiatrist. How does this movie hold up? Eh, it's not bad. It's a decent movie, it doesn't end very well, but I don't hate this movie. You can tell Anthony Hopkins is having fun, Julianne Moore isn't horrible as Clarice she does fine work, Gary Oldman is always a damn fine actor and he does really well as the villain here. Oh yeah and Barney is the friggin' man! I love Barney in all these movies, he is awesome. Frankie Faison, my God man. Rock on. So what is the story in this possible trainwreck for you of a movie? Hannibal is still on the run, Clarice has been disowned from the F.B.I., and Mason Verger is on a revenge hunt for Hannibal. Clarice figures if she can catch Hannibal first, her career as an agent will be saved. One of the things I enjoyed was seeing exstensive location shooting in Florence, it is a beautiful city and Ridley Scott really got a good feeling of the city. Oh yes, Ridley Scott directed this movie. Strange that. But it works well, he's a competent director in this so no harm done there. The way the story is told is a bit of a mess, it's not completely unfollowable, but you got to pay attention. It's a busy movie, so take note of several of the events in the movie. The ending is...difficult to explain. It's not a horrible piece of garbage, but it isn't all that great either. Some may call it a mixed bag. Actually the more I think about it, the less I like this movie. It's just adequate. Everything is passable, not good or bad, just...eh, okay. I'd take this movie with a severe grain of salt, it is without a doubt the weakest of the Hannibal Lecter movies. Oh, and for those of you wondering why Hannibal Rising isn't on here.....hahahahahaha! That movie is stupid and doesn't exist, and anyone who likes it is stupid. I know it's just my opinion but, I'm right.

Well, one week down. Tune in next week for some more classic horror movies.

The Silence Of The Lambs

It's a psychological thriller! Sorry Academy, I know you don't like to use the 'H' word but this is a horror movie. It's horrifying!

Academy Award winning film, The Silence Of The Lambs and well worthy of those awards! The introduction to one of the most famous movie monsters of all time, this film is still excellent. What can I say that others haven't already? It's a great movie, you should see it if you haven't already! One of the things you notice as you watch it more is the use of editing in this movie, the editing is what makes it a cut above the rest. It almost decieves the audience (and in one scene totally does), because of how they cut this movie. There are many scenes where you think it is just several little tidbits of film spliced together, but it is not! The movie may seem cut but that's the allusion, several scenes are literal long running shots, just edited together for it to be more fluid. Some may complain the film is choppy, I highly disagree. The camera placement works, and it works well. There is a lot of dialogue scenes, almost 90% of the movie is just talking, now you're probably saying that would kill the film for you, but it is so interesting and certainly engaging enough to the point where you don't really care. Also, I have to give props to the camera crew of this movie. I could not stare down Anthony Hopkins for ten seconds, let alone several minutes. You notice that a lot, the camera is settled dead center, close up shot of the character's faces. Now this is an excellent way to convey a mood of uncomfortableness, the sense of pressure, and claustrophobia. Well done camera crew! Story wise, it is very good but the way the movie tells the story makes it so much better. Clarice Starling is an F.B.I. agent sent to question Dr. Hannibal Lecter to try and hunt down serial killer Buffalo Bill. Simple plot, excellent movie. Really it's Jodie Foster that holds this movie together, she does a damn good job in this movie, and this movie was filmed in a time where the F.B.I. was just starting to accept female applicants, so it's great to see that she can put her big boy pants on and kick heinie like one of the boys. Awesome. Anthony Hopkins of course, is a joy to watch. He's more creepy in this movie than threatning like in Red Dragon, but that in no means diminishes his character. Ted Levine...you magnificent son of a mother, you want to talk about a scary performance? Boy, oh boy does he deliver! Excellent, excellent serial killer. Oh, and I may be really sick but I like that scene. You know that scene. Q Lazzarus Goodbye Horses. Don't watch it if you haven't seen the movie cause you may find me crazy. But the best scene in the entire movie, is where the title of the film comes about. Chilling, well paced, well acted, well directed, fantastic. Watch this movie again, it's more than worth it. Great horror movie!

Okay, this is where I could lose a few people but we must touch base on Hannibal, the last Hannibal Lecter movie with Anthony Hopkins. What do I think about it? Until tomorrow.

Red Dragon

Hell of a way to start the month.

This week we shall be covering the Hannibal Lecter movies, chronologically, so Red Dragon first. Damn good movie in my opinion, certainly one of the best examples of a modern crime thriller, with great acting, excellent writing, truly horrific scenarios, and all with one of the most beloved movie monsters of all time Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Dare I say, Anthony Hopkins is better in this movie than Silence Of The Lambs. Yeah. I mean it. That might be considered blasphemy but really compare performances, he is much more scary in this movie in every way. But of course, either way you slice it Anthony Hopkins is a brilliant Hannibal Lecter. Yet, you can't have a good villain if you don't have a good hero, enter Will Graham played very well by Edward Norton. Now in the case of Will Graham it is a drastically different performance than in the television series Hannibal, now I'm not bashing Edward Norton in this role, he does very good work, he is believable to see he works with the F.B.I. to catch serial killers, it's very easy to describe and yet difficult to describe. He has a history with Hannibal, he does not take his nonsense, he does not do the little dance Lecter and Starling do in Silence Of The Lambs, he wants answers immediately which is very true to his character at this point in the story. I do not get the sense he really hates his work, almost very tortured in his method of finding killers, like in the series Hannibal or hell, even in Michael Mann's Manhunter which adapted Thomas Harris' novel sometime in the 80s, it is kind of subdued but not to the point where it breaks your suspension of disbelief. In fact, the whole movie like the others is fully rooted in real, hard reality so the film works incredibly well in the crime drama factor. Christ that's a whole nother comparison between Manhunter and Red Dragon but we are sticking to Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal movies, but Ralph Fiennes nails it in this movie. He perfectly conveys the right mix of truly sadistic and entirely sympathetic almost at the same time. Bravo Mr. Fiennes. Now in terms of story the movie follows the book very well, although it does take some liberties to have more Lecter in it and really, is that a bad thing? I don't think so. I know some people complain about Hopkins' age but really you hardly notice it because of his performance, it is great. You feel genuine menace in Red Dragon that was slightly lax in Silence Of The Lambs, you feel he wants to kill Will Graham, he despises him, tries everything to hurt him all while never once leaving his cell! That's a villain! You can lock him away and he can still plague your life. Now I know I could go on forever with comparisons between the different media around this particular chapter of the story so let me sum up for you. Red Dragon does the story much better than Hannibal, Manhunter gives a bit more depth to Will in this story but of course the show nails the characters down to a science, so all in all if you haven't seen Red Dragon it is well worth your time. As far as comparison notes go, watch Manhunter because you need to get through two and a half seasons of Hannibal to reach this story, if you feel up to it though give the show a whirl. Well that's all for tonight, stay tuned tomorrow for the next movie.

The Time Has Come....

Happy Halloween everyone. It's good to be back, and in the most wonderful time of the year! Now we have some news to get out of the way, firstly I have almost run out of movies to review. I only can carry so many movies with me, and I've nearly reviewed every movie I have with me currently so the reviews might be sparse, which I really hate but until I get a bigger place I'm stuck. Next, I regret to announce that this year is the last Monster Madness on Cinemassacre, the last marathon of horror movie reviews every day of October. It's depressing to see it go, even if it has been around for 10 years. I know I can't take up that monument, but hey we still got a lot of movies to review this month so I'm looking forward to it. It's time to let Halloween finally absorb me, in all it's creepy, awesome, and terrifying power. So tune in Monday for the start of my own little monster madness! Reader beware, you're in for a scare...