In this penultimate recap, I pick out the movies I thought were pretty good but didn't get the (clearly highly coveted) A grade. (As before, I rate the films more highly the further you go through the list.) If you are interested in seeing my reviews for any of the films that I didn't think were so good (a whole 20 mediocre to godawful films. My goodness...), then check out these few links.
For Recap 1 click here
For Recap 2 click here
For Recap 3 click here
Now for the reviews of some pretty good films (finally!)...
11. The Evil Dead (1981)
Plot Synopsis: Sort of like Evil Dead 2 only less happens and the monsters use the phrase "join us" more often. A group of people go to a cabin in the woods. When they play a recording left in the cabin they suffer the same fate as the previous occupants. The dead begin to possess the living and, to make things creepier, they also laugh maniacally.
The Sour: I must start with the negatives here because I tried watching this film once before. I ended up giving up when the "molesting tree" turned out to be rather more like the raping tree. Seriously, if you are triggered by that sort of thing you should definitely not see this film. In Evil Dead 2 it probably isn't an issue since the character is essentially 'consumed' by tree branches instead. However, in "The Evil Dead" it is much more like a sexual assault. That being said, once that little bit is over things become much more like Evil Dead 2.
The Sweet: The effects were actually better than I was expecting and the use of the small cast is done pretty well. However, I still reckon Evil Dead 2 is by far the better movie.
B+
10. Critters 2 (1988)
Plot Synopsis: The Critters turn out not to have been entirely finished off. In between the two movies, Charlie has been gradually fitting into the role of bounty hunter after leaving with them at the end of the first film. All three bounty hunters return to Earth to finish the job.
The Sweet: Where to start? This film takes a fairly lacklustre first movie and somehow does everything right. Any characters from the previous film are brought back in an interesting way. Not only is Charlie no longer hugely irritating, but he's actually a really interesting centrepoint around which the film can revolve. Bradley Brown's grandmother who, in contrast with the meat-loving Critters, is a staunch vegetarian, turns out to be a really interesting addition to the cast. We get to see exactly how the events of the previous movie affected the various characters. Also tying together the whole film is an "Easter" theme linked with the Critters eggs, which works remarkably well. We get to know the Bounty Hunters better (and I'm not sure if they had the names Ugg and Lee in the previous movie - "Ug-ly", get it? - but they definitely have much more distinctive identities this time around) and the one bounty hunter's whole identity crisis thing is made use of rather more interestingly this time (with Lee very nearly taking on the appearance of a horror icon he finds on a movie poster). The effects work has also taken a jump forward since the previous film, presumably meaning this sequel had a bigger budget to work with.
The Sour: The film is pretty daft and it's not paced perfectly. Still the better characters, the better effects, the better storyline and the better sense of fun all make up for any lack of quality elsewhere. Yes, the film is silly and yes, it seems to pretty much unfold as and when rather than feeling terribly well-structured. Still, I had so much fun with this (particularly by comparison to other films I'd seen lately) that I have to give this full credit.
B+
B+
9. Pet Semetery (1989)
Plot Synopsis: A family move to a new house and a helpful neighbour introduces the father figure of the family to an old native American burial ground which brings the dead back to life.
The Sweet: Stephen King adaptations tend to be very hit-and-mostly-miss. I'm pleased to say this is one of the better ones. There is a great performance here from Fred Gwynne who played Herman Munster in The Munsters. I've never been a big fan of The Munsters in spite of absolutely loving the original Addams Family tv series, but another role which may give you a better idea what to expect here is when Fred Gwynne played the judge in "My Cousin Vinny". Another great performance comes from Brad Greenquist who plays the ghost of Victor Pascow. Also deserving of credit is the (at the time) child actor Miko Hughes. While there are scenes towards the end which feel like they come from "Child's Play", that's not really a bad thing. These scenes are done very well and the film is generally pretty effective in evoking the intended mood. Also there's a neat little cameo from Stephen King himself, which I appreciate rather more due to seeing King's excellent comedic performance in "Creepshow". I found the ending was pretty awesome.
The Sour: The lead actor is really not great. Certainly he's not horrendous, but he's certainly not performed as interestingly as some of the supporting roles. He gets to do a fairly cheesy "noooo!" at one stage and while the director tries to make it less silly by flashing up old photos representing old memories flashing through the protagonist's mind, that "nooo!" couldn't have been much more cheesy. I also didn't feel like I understood the mentality of the lead character a lot of the time and I think the limits of the actor may be related to that. I would say that this could have been a little more consistent in tone and pacing, though that's possibly nitpicking.
This is a good little Stephen King adaptation and while not perfect, I would definitely recommend it.
B+
8. Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
Plot synopsis: Some bizarre remains have been found upon excavation when expanding a London Underground station (specifically the Hobb's End underground station). The excavation reveals some kind of ancestor to humans, but upon further investigation an object with strange properties is also uncovered. Initially presuming the object to be an unexploded bomb, the scientists analysing the fossils there call in the army to take care of it. Quatermass has some suspicions as to what the object might be, but he and the army officials do not share the same priorities...
The sour: As with the old classic Doctor Who, some of the acting can be a bit rubbish. There's a great sense of fun all the way through and the lead roles are played very well, but this is not so true of the smaller roles. The acting from the soldiers, for example, can often seem goofy.
Quatermass tends to keep his ideas close to his chest, at least initially. As such, while there were many points where I thought some questions desperately needed to be considered, it would often turn out that Quatermass had been theorising his own answers already. Still, following the thought processes of the characters is quite awkward with plenty of points where their conclusions seem a little rushed.
This is a low budget feature and as such some of the effects don't look all that great. Some of the effects seemed to be done by careful use of papier mache and there's one point where we see some um... psychic footage (?) and it looks particularly daft. That being said...
The sweet: There are some rather neat effects which, while cheap, are highly effective. At the climax of the film where all hell breaks loose, there's some fantastic imagery. This story seems like much less of a slow burn than Doctor Who series of the time and while the pacing could have been a bit faster, there is enough of a payoff to make any slow parts worthwhile. Quatermass himself is like The Doctor if you take away the quirkiness. He wanders around, being enigmatic and seemingly one step ahead of the game at all times, but he's a serious and sensible chap.
This is definitely a big recommend for sci-fi fans. If you are looking to the movie for horror, you don't really get anything much until the climax of the movie. Still, that final part is so well handled that I think horror fans may well find that it was worth slogging through the theoretical discussion stuff. While the ideas explored in the film are kind of silly, the film approaches them intelligently and makes it remarkably easy to suspend disbelief as a result.
B+
7. Razorback (1984)
One of the director of Highlander, Russell Mulcahy's early films. What he achieves with the low budget is quite amazing. There's a genuine sense of tension related to the giant razorback (a kind of boar) that provides the central threat. There is, admittedly, a scene where the protagonist is under threat from a lot of smaller razorbacks and they generally come off as kind of cute, to be honest. However, there's no doubting the threat from the giant razorback, as well as from other human characters. Particularly the two clearly villainous workers at a local canning factory that makes pet food in what must be the least health and safety conscious workplace ever. The pacing isn't perfect and the premise is absurd (in the opening scenes, the giant razorback steals a man's grandson by smashing straight through his cabin walls), but overall this is a great little horror film.
B+
