The Tobe Hooper Retrospective is FINALLY over!!!
Next up will be "The Omen" and "Child's Play" series (which I'll be reviewing alongside one another). In the meantime here are my personal top 6 favourites from Tobe Hooper's filmography. A lot of it was pretty good fun, but to be frank, I'm not in a hurry to track down his latest movie "Djinn".
1. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) - A+
Since I began with the intention of watching this particular franchise I probably ought to check out "Texas Chainsaw" (this recent addition to the franchise has dropped the 'massacre' part, which to be frank they probably ought to have done earlier). I'm not going to be rushing out to get hold of that the moment the DVD is released, but I suspect I'll get around to it eventually. In any case, "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" is a remarkable and haunting film that definitely represents Tobe Hooper's best work.
(Full review already posted here - scroll to the end for the review.)
2. The Funhouse (1981)
The Funhouse (1981)
Turns out that this was another Tobe Hooper film to be placed on the 'video nasty' DPP list. "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" actually avoided being entered on that list because it was believed that it could be acceptable if there were sufficient cuts. As it was, all attempts at cutting The Texas Chain Saw Massacre turned out to be in vain, because no matter what they cut it never seemed to take away from the viscious atmosphere of the film. (Remember that there is very little gore to speak of in that film. It is very much the atmosphere that makes it what it is.) So Texas Chain Saw Massacre ended up being banned, but not prosecuted as a source of moral corruption in society. That honour went instead to Hooper's follow-up "Death Trap" (sometimes known as "Eaten Alive" but not to be mixed up with the cannibal movie directed by Umberto Lenzi). Meanwhile "The Funhouse" is actually pretty mild by comparison to either of those other Hooper films and it has been suggested that the censors may have mixed up "The Funhouse" with another video nasty movie which was sometimes sold with a similar title. Video nasties often had multiple names making it all the harder to keep track of them all.
The Funhouse follows a group of teenagers, played by actors who weren't really teenagers at all, as they explore a fun fair. We get to hang out with characters and explore the various attractions at the fun fair, but all the while there's a sense of foreshadowing, partly because we know that The Funhouse is going to be important later, but also because little elements from elsewhere in the fair are going to return later too.
While I wouldn't say that the teenager characters have much to them, they are all fun to hang out with. There's a charm to this film which subtly held my interest without the need for gore or even scares. There's only a subtle sense of foreboding in the first half of the film to remind you that this is even a horror film.
Eventually our teenagers decide that they are going to pull a bit of a stunt by sleeping all night inside the Funhouse (which is actually a 'ghost train' attraction). However, it turns out that some people involved in the touring attractions have a secret and the teenagers see something they shouldn't've. The second half of the film then unfolds rather less subtly, but it's still great fun and I really enjoyed it. This is definitely one of Tobe Hooper's best films and I'm really glad I kept up the retrospective long enough to see it.
B+
3. Poltergeist (1982) - B+
I'm not quite sure how I feel about this one. I'm actually inclined to blame Spielberg for my misgivings about "Poltergeist" because my biggest issue was that it felt a bit like "E.T." (and I hated "E.T.", even as a child). Love the Ghostbusters style effects, love the creepiness, but not so keen on the "Close Encounters"-style hippy-logic. Overall I guess this is pretty awesome.
(Full review already posted here.)
4. Mortuary (2005)
Mortuary was not one I was expecting much from. It scores just 3.8 on IMDB and has no score to speak of on Rotten Tomatoes. However, this is far from Tobe Hooper's worst. In fact there's a lot of fun to be had here.
A single mother has transported her family an enormous distance to a new and unfamiliar home because it will give her an opportunity to set up her own funeral services. The place where she plans to work is massively run-down, but the idea is that the place should be a good fixer-upper and with a mortuary already built below, it could make setting up the business a lot easier. (Though it's clearly a lot more run-down than she was expecting.)
Unfortunately it turns out the house comes with other baggage. The house overlooks a large graveyard and there are local legends about a killer who had stalked the graveyard for centuries.
Quite soon into the film we come across some evil black sludge. This black sludge is important, but I won't spoil too much here by telling you its significance.
What's great about this film is that there are a whole series of relateable characters and there's some really good humour to keep things interesting in between overt horror scenes. Perhaps I'm more forgiving than some because my appreciation of horror comedies means that I can more easily accept the often light-hearted feel. Or perhaps I'm just so desperate for some of Tobe Hooper's movies in this marathon to actually be good that I'm willing to be more forgiving than the movies deserve.
In any case, eventually things get seriously dark once we get a "family sit-down for a meal" scene. The similarity with the climactic scene from Texas Chainsaw Massacre was pretty clear and in this otherwise fairly light-hearted movie that was a definite horror-high-point. Kudos must go to Denise Crosby (apparently most well known for her role as Lieutenant Tasha Yar in Star Trek:TNG) who really makes the horror work.
I don't think Hooper was entirely sure on how to end "Mortuary", so I felt a bit less happy that I thought I'd be when the final credits rolled. Also it's kind of obvious that Hooper isn't working with a terribly good budget here. However, this is a very good film overall which provides some better than average entertainment. Simple, but effective. Good sense of fun. Essentially a kind of monster movie and sure to provide a good time even if it isn't exactly Shakespeare.
B+
5. Invaders From Mars (1986)
Inevitably I need to begin by reviewing the original 1953 version. Remakes inevitably carry baggage and this case is no different.
Invaders From Mars (1953)
The first half of "Invaders of Mars" is simply brilliant. Although the acting isn't perfect, the mood is. There's an Invasion of the Body Snatchers scenario with tension building gradually and devastatingly.
The protagonist is a young boy keen on astronomy who looks out of his window to see a spacecraft landing in the area just over the hill outside his house. By the time he wakes up his parents the UFO is out of sight of the house (albeit clearly not far away) so the father promises to check it out first thing in the morning. The next morning the protagonist's father starts acting strangely and then all sorts of people around the area are gradually, systematically changing. What's worse is that the protagonist can even tell when people are about to be changed because it always involves another adult suggesting they take a walk up to the hillside behind the house.
Eventually it seems like even the highest authorities in the area will not only fail to believe the child protagonist, but are already possessed by the aliens.
But just as all help is lost the boy finally finds someone who can help him and the film quickly becomes boring. How fortunate for the protagonist to find an authority figure with links to the military who has always suspected that aliens would make contact soon (and isn't a nutcase either).
The next half of the film proceeds with the military working out how they can penetrate the area under which the spaceship is hidden. Eventually they finally explore the spaceship and even come across the central alien creature (which looks pretty cool I guess).
Eventually the film is over, but that second half is a real slog. It's such a pity because the first half was so engrossing. Unfortunately while the first half is gives us an absolutely terrifying set up, the second half pulls all its punches and gives us one of the most run-of-the-mill alien invasion films you can expect to see. Sure something like "Earth Vs The Flying Saucers" doesn't have such a gripping intro, but it's far more consistent in its pacing and its ideas.
I would recommend anyone check out the first half of this film, but once one particular character starts claiming to be an expert on aliens you may as well switch off right there.
C-
Invaders From Mars (1986)
There was something quite perfect about the opening half of the original Invaders of Mars and this remake doesn't quite live up to that. However, there are a few bits that are done very well. The arrival of space ship looks very cool. The alien-possessed parents are made extra creepy by the way they eat some seriously weird food (especially when the mother appears to be scooping up chunks of uncooked burger meat and covering them in heaps sugar before calmly eating them).
Unfortunately the child actor here is not great. Thankfully Tobe Hooper decides to counter-balance this... by pairing him with an actress who is an even worse actress than the child protagonist! Ok, so that felt like a mistake, but fortunately the effects work is great and Hooper decides to show us the inside of the spaceship relatively early and in spite of some very 80s effects work, this is still a seriously gripping scene. The effects work is all pretty effective despite the dated-ness of it.
I much preferred the new explanation of how the military become involved. The military authorities are clearly a lot more sceptical this time around and though they don't seem sufficiently set back by the mass of alien-possessed people within their midst, at least there's nobody saying that they 'expected' an alien invasion.
The final ending, which felt very much like a cop-out in the original, is oddly powerful this time around. There was something rather shocking about the ending this time around while the exact same ending in the original was pretty groan-worthy.
This remake could definitely be better, but this was a really enjoyable film and a good little update of the original. I'd like it if the first half was as gripping as in the original, but unfortunately that's not the case. One element that really helps to raise my opinion of this movie is that the pacing is so much better than some of Hooper's other works like Salem's Lot, Lifeforce, Death Trap and even Crocodile.
As much as the acting wasn't always great I had a pretty good time with this film and with some better performances this could be a fondly remembered classic along with the remakes of "The Blob" and "The Fly". As it is, though I could clearly see the potential, this was more of a cheesy guilty pleasure than something I could confidently recommend.
C+
To Sum Up:
The first half of Tobe Hooper's "Invaders From Mars" remake doesn't feel quite as oppressive as the 1953 original, which is unfortunate since the first half of the original had a very impressive creepy atmosphere to it. However, Hooper still manages to make things appropriately bizarre and in the second half provides a much better paced and satisfying movie than the original provided. Also, in spite of keeping the original ending, somehow Hooper makes that work better this time around too. Not perfect, but a very worthy attempt.
6. Salem's Lot (1979) - C-
One of the few tv movies from Hooper I chose to include. Some parts are really well done, while at other points this dragged. All in all the pacing is a real problem, but the high points are just so great that it's difficult not to be impressed.
(Full review already posted here.)
(For some slightly less good Tobe Hooper movies click here.)
(For my very least favourite Tobe Hooper movies click here.)