House of Wax

Year: 2005
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Writer: Chad Hayes
Genre: Horror: Thriller

I'll readily admit that I never really liked the 1953 House of Wax. It's certainly a piece to see because it's rather creative, but definitely a relic of another era. This version of the film is very different and even casts Paris Hilton as one of the characters (not simply a cameo). The film was so proud of having her in it that her face even appears to be on the cover, just wax-ified.

Despite the really awkward casting choice the movie is surprisingly engrossing. Also, Ms. Hilton is not the lead character. Thank goodness! The story is changed up quite a bit. In this version, there are a group of teens (or 20 somethings?) who are just trying to travel to a big football game. One of their cars breaks down along the way and so they travel to the nearest town to try and get it fixed. Of course, visiting the town leads into murders.

What surprised me first was how much time in the film is spent building up the story and characters. For what felt like more than 20 minutes the movie lets you experience the characters and their interactions. It throws out red herrings and slowly casts a feeling of dread over everything. Maybe at 30 minutes they finally enter the town. It's incredible to see modern movies not just try to jump right into insanity. It's not quite up to Psycho quality lead-in, of course, but it's better than a lot of modern attempts.

Because of the building up of characters and helping viewers to become attached to them it is more worrying when they are cast into dangerous circumstances. It seems like a little bit of the film was inspired by Saw at one point, but aside from that it kept a strangely classic vibe. The climax is exciting and was also just really cool to watch. It was a fun watch and I hope others think so too.

Heavenly Creatures

Year: 1994
Director: Peter Jackson
Writer: Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson
Genre: Drama

Why did Peter Jackson ever leave his really cool style of films to pursue huge Hollywood ones? I guess I should be happy with it but after he created Bad Taste, Dead Alive/Braindead, and this I kind of wish he had never hit it big. Well, it's too late now!

Heavenly Creatures is a departure from Jackon's previous films. It's not a horror film but just a sort of interesting drama, romance, coming-of-age thing. The story focuses on two imaginative girls who create a whole world together. They create characters to inhabit their world and all the backstories that come with them. It's a pretty interesting look into youthful friendships.

The characters feel pretty damn real which is appreciated. Normally, it might seem odd that 14 or 15 year old girls would be creating such elaborate fantasy worlds together but it fits them. What especially interested me was the relationship between the girls. It seemed to be so true for a fiction narrative. I guess that's the sign of a good movie though.

Honestly, I can't really think of what to say. I really enjoyed the film and would watch it again if a friend was interested in it.

The House of Yes

Year: 1997
Director: Mark Waters
Writer: Wendy MacLeod, Mark Waters
Genre: Drama: Black Comedy

This is one strange movie. The story makes me wonder who would have ever come up with such a thing. Basically, a brother comes home to his sister with his fiance for a nice dinner. However, the sister happens to be mentally unstable and believes herself to be Jackie Kennedy. The bringing home of the fiance makes the sister completely lose it. It's weird.

I really enjoyed the film. It was just so unusual but never felt too far gone. That is, except for one climactic scene which just struck me as tremendously crazed. I suppose in the world of the characters though it had some degree of normalcy. That's something that was especially great about the film... The actors were very immersed in their roles and those who were supposed to be accustomed to the crazy seemed to be.

The background makes this a dramatic tale but it's very much a black comedy. All that happens is incredibly dark but somehow deeply hilarious. The situation is almost entirely implausible which lends itself well to nervous laughter. The "Jackie" character is incredibly well done as well. You watch her interactions with everyone and know something has to happen and it's tantalizing to wonder about.

I wholly recommend this movie to fans of black comedy and weird cinema. It won't appeal to a lot of people, but for some (like me) it is one hell of an hour and a half.

Hellbound: Hellraiser II

Year: 1988
Director: Tony Randel
Writer: Clive Barker, Peter Atkins
Genre: Horror

So here we are at the second Hellraiser film and it takes place after the first. The daughter Kristy has been sent to a mental institution because of her cenobite-related ramblings. For purposes of the plot, her doctor is madly interested in the occult and cenobites in particular. Hearing her story he believes her completely and in fact brings  someone back to life. Then everything goes crazy when he uses another patient of his, a young girl who likes puzzles, to solve the puzzle box and send everyone into their own vision of Hell.

It feels kind of cheesy to have everyone coming face to face with the cenobites already. It seems like a showdown in their territory is something that would typically come much later in a series. The main cenobites also seem horrendously underpowered which also completely dissolves any fear we had about them from the first movie.

Despite those negative points it is still a wholly watchable film. It's still fun and I like rooting for the two girls to make it out of the situation alive. There's a plot segment dealing with the history of cenobites but it doesn't really make sense. In fact, nothing much is every really mentioned aside from a handful of lines. It's weird but maybe they were setting us up for future films.

Honestly, there's not much to say about this one. Think of it as Hellraiser part 2 if you wish.

Hellraiser

Year: 1987
Director: Clive Barker
Writer: Clive Barker
Genre: Horror

I first saw Hellraiser when I was a young teenager so I barely remembered anything about it. Within the last few weeks I decided this would be the next series I tackle for my blog. Interestingly, the first few titles streaming on Netflix expire at the start of July so I figured there was no time to waste. More interestingly, the third film isn't streaming while the rest of the series is. Perhaps it's a licensing issue.

So, back to Hellraiser. I like the move fairly well enough. It starts off with a couple who are moving into a new house. Things are looking okay until the husband cuts his hand on a nail jutting out of a frame and bleeds all over the house. Unfortunately for him, one of the rooms contains an unholy being inside which sucks up his blood and basically reanimates itself. It's pretty disgusting but also very cool.

The husband has a daughter as well, who tries to be accepted by the mother but still feels very nervous around her. Like in many movies, she becomes a snoop later on and gets herself mixed up in a very unfortunate situation. Oh, and did I mention that the being that feeds off blood in the house is the husband's brother who the wife had an affair with in his livelier days? Yep.

The story is all kinds of convoluted but not so much so that you get thrown off. When I was younger I remeber feeling like the movie went crazy once the cenobites were introduced. For the unfamiliar, the most famous cenobite is Pinhead and they're basically demons/angels from another world. Anyway, it's still a pretty wild ride but I certainly feel I could appreciate it this time around. It's basically a sadomasochistic rock-style horror film, if that makes any sense.

If for no other reason, horror fans should view it as this is a "classic". For me, it felt similar to how Phantasm does so if you enjoy that film you might want to give it a look.