October Horror Movie Challenge: Day 7

Today was the first day I've really felt like not watching things. Oops. I can't help it that I have things to do! Either way, I still worked through three films but it was not entirely pleasant. Ah well.

The first thing I watched was The Fog because I had no clue if I'd actually seen it before. I know I have seen one version, but was it the original or the remake? Unless the remake is a scene by scene copy then it was indeed the 1980 version that I'd already viewed. Well, it's not a big problem since it features Jamie Lee Curtis, who is always worth watching.

It was much creepier than I expected. Just something about staying out of the fog lest the weird ghost pirates would come and get you was really cool. They were creepy and the fog was glowy and moving unnaturally and it was a blast. I'm glad I saw it again as the first time it was not given the attention it deserved.

Then I watched two documentaries. The first was Zombie Girl. I think it's a fine doc but the girl was kind of pleasing as well as repulsive. I don't know. She was obviously just a happy kid but it was hard to feel glad about what she was doing when you could see her mother struggling to keep up with all these demands. It's one thing to tell a kid "you can do anything" but then to front the expensive costs to make it happen? You can help with giving them a camera, or letting them download a video program, or even maybe buying some books on the subject matter... but totally letting your child run wild with money for extras and props and whatever else? Seems a bit overwhelming.

After that I checked out American Scary. Nice documentary about television horror hosts. It made me wish there was more spoken about Vampira or Elvira. Honestly there should be documentaries about each of these women, if there aren't already. I've never searched so how would I know? Either way, it seems great and just totally worth learning more about. I unfortunately have seen very little of either although a local access channel here has their own take on an Elvira-like character.

Bloody Reunion

Year: 2006
Director: Dae-wung Lim
Writer: Se-yeol Park
Genre: Horror: Thriller, slasher

Also known as To Sir With Love, Bloody Reunion is a pretty sweet movie. That is, sweet as in good not as in sweet as sugar and candy and things. In fact, it's probably as far from anything nice as can be, and that's just the reason I like it.

In Bloody Reunion we are being told a story from an older, sick woman in her hospital bed. She recounts the tale of when all her old students came to visit her in her home. She had been an elementary school teacher back when she was healthy and just wanted to see how everyone turned out after all those years. Each of the small class of students appears at the reunion to recount older times.

Unfortunately, the old times aren't so shining like the teacher might have remembered them. From there, the story slowly breaks down all pretense and gets down to business. Obviously I won't delve further into that but I did quite enjoy the movie. It also felt a bit awkward and worrying to watch like how I felt when seeing Meet the Parents for the first time. I'd say it's definitely worth watching this movie if you've got the stomach for some really unfortunate scenes.

As I'm writing this review over a week after watching I've honestly kind of become blurry as to what the reveal in the ending was. However, I would still like to mention it as it struck me when I was watching. This paragraph is definitely a spoiler so just skip over it if you're not interested. Apparently, the shy "turtle" boy was not ever a boy at all but the daughter of someone (adopted by the teacher?). I'm left really unsure when or why they then started presenting themselves as male. Or did they never and that is just the level of insanity of the teacher who perceives her own child as just a shy boy? From what I gathered, it seems they were always a shy girl, but decided to present as male after horrible events in her life. It was a new self to protect her from those old memories or something but she still had her female identity - presented as the teacher's nurse - to finally seek revenge. Anyway, whatever the root if they were presenting as an alternate gender it makes me a bit annoyed to think that's the way the writer went with it. I'm tired of movies where a mentally unstable character is also trans, both genders, or gender-nonconforming. Yeah, I'm looking at you Sleepaway Camp and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. And others.

Hatchet

Year: 2006
Director: Adam Green
Writer: Adam Green
Genre: Horror: Slasher

There are a lot of modern horror movies which try so hard to cash in on the timeless popularity of slashers. Many follow the old tropes and load up a bunch of drunken and lusty teens together to all get slaughtered. There's nothing necessarily wrong with that but it's a bit dull. Hatchet keeps things fresh by giving an interesting sort of premise for the death as well as a decent cast of characters. You don't really hate any of them, whereas in certain horror flicks, you're apt to hate absolutely everyone.

Hatchet is extremely enjoyable. The film starts off with some Mardi Gras celebrations going on. Our main character, however, is completely unamused by the goings on and leaves the festivities. Annoyed, his best friend follows and they both end up taking a boat tour since that sounds much better. The boat is loaded up with quite the cast of characters from a lovely older couple to a pornographer and his two actresses. As one might expect, the boat tour is a horrible idea when they cross into the territory of a murderous man.

From then on the film manages to showcase a lot of gory effects and keep you laughing all the way. It's not completely stupid like some teen or youth focused films which really helps to keep you interested too. I was really pleased with the wit demonstrated in the script as well as some creative kills.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who enjoyed it as Hatchet II came out in 2010. I've yet to see it but it's high up on my list after the fun that was Hatchet. 

Black Christmas

Year: 2006
Director: Glen Morgan
Writer: Glen Morgan
Genre: Horror: Slasher

Black Christmas is a modern slasher classic. When it came out in the 70s it was known even if many people wished it didn't exist. Some years later this remake came out and mostly attempts to re-write the story, as far as I can recall anyway. It's been years since I've seen the original but I'm pretty sure there wasn't nearly as much back story.

It seems particular of  modern horror remakes to give killers fleshed out reasons to kill. In this version, we see that the killer was hated by his mother as a child. He only killed out of revenge and the hatred that his mother had taught him. This is all revealed early on so we're sure to know what he's capable of. Why did we need to have a story for him? Modern audiences appear to prefer it when we get to see someone succumb to evil, rather than simply embody it from the start.

Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. For me, I felt for the guy and found it odd that he really didn't play a central role beyond during the backstory segments. If you're going to focus so much time on him why not give him more screen time for the finale? It was an odd decision.

Another thing I didn't like was that the murder's signature thing is trash bags and poking eyes out. Honestly, I don't recall this from the original at all (the eye part). I know he suffocates a girl early on in the film but I was pretty sure there was only one scene like that, not multiple. I also didn't like that the trash bags were not opaque. For some reason I'm also thinking that was the case in the original, though I could be wrong.

It then seems extremely strange to me that they would tone down the suffocation violence but make everything else much more brutal. I guess that was also decided upon because Hollywood also seems to think moviegoers love ultra gore. Maybe they do?

For the most part this didn't feel like a remake. Sure, it took place in the same location with the same kind of cast but things played out in a new way. If you're looking for a mildly entertaining holiday-themed slasher than this would be a fine pick.

When a Stranger Calls

Year: 2006
Director: Simon West
Writer: Jake Wade Wall
Genre: Horror: Thriller

First off, let me just announce that I've decided to watch some remakes. I've avoided many of them because my memories and enjoyment of the old films eels like it will be hurt by viewing a remade version. Either way, here's the movie that kicked off my remake adventure.

When a Stranger Calls first came out in 1979 and quickly became famous for the unexpected location of the murderer. It was a film that followed the story of a young woman who was simply trying to babysit some children but had a lot more in store for her. The film has some famous lines such as "have you checked the children?" and "it's coming from inside the house!".

Thankfully, the idea and even these classic lines are still present in the remake. In fact, it surprised me how faithful the remake was to the original's theme, if not everything else. The theme was left untouched even with the various updates to the world.

What really surprised me about this remake was that it didn't fall into the trap that so many horror remakes do. It didn't attempt to amp up violence or make everything suddenly more sexual. In fact, there is only verbal discussion of anything sexual at any point. No girl ever gets her shirt torn off and doesn't have outrageously large breasts. Our heroine looks pretty, but a normal pretty - not Hollywood manufactured. She wins extra points for wearing an outfit that seems normal for a babysitter and not something super low cut to show herself off (to who? Certainly not the children!). I'm really pleased with these choices and wish that more remakes could learn from this example.

Notes on a Scandal

Year: 2006
Director: Richard Eyre
Writer: Patrick Marber
Genre: Drama

The 2000s seemed to be big years for movies about teacher-student relationships. Of course, now that I say that I can't think of one, but it felt like there were a lot of movies on the subject matter coming out. I guess part of that had to do with the rise of news discussion about the real-life issues. Anyways, this is one of those movies.

But somehow, it isn't. The premise of the movie initially seems to be about a "perfect" young woman who teaches and inadvertently gets involved with one of her students. She finds herself supremely confused about the whole matter and comes to her older, wiser teacher friend for all kinds of support - and hopes she will keep the secret.

However, at some point the film changes completely enough so that the whole student-teacher relationship isn't even the focus of the film. It struck me as hugely weird that while in most films that plot point would be the focal point entirely that Notes on a Scandal does not take it as such. Sure, it's a big deal, but the real issues are buried underneath the surface and slowly come up until the end where the movie doesn't feel at all like it did at the start.

I really like that the film took the route it did. I wasn't expecting it at all. Maybe it's being overplayed, but it felt like a very large shift and one that no other films depicting the subject matter do. It was really quite something and I think I'd like to watch it again.