The Wolfman

I didn't think I'd like this movie. I wasn't even sure I wanted to see it. After all, as a fellow video store employee once said to me, 'Werewolves are cool, but there's not many COOL movies ABOUT werewolves'. This was in the 90's - before the Ginger Snaps series and during the heyday of the totally unnecessary Howling sequels. Adding to my policy of generally avoiding sequels and remakes, and that in the bottom of my lil black heart, I'm just a girl who grew up with black and white Lon Chaney Jr. as 'The Wolfman' and I don't like change. Besides, have you seen LC Jr in that movie? The brother is all kinds of dreamy in that old fashioned yummy movie star way. He was never lovelier.

I'm slightly embarrassed to say that I actually kind of liked this movie. I'm not running out to buy it or anything - but I'd probably pick it up for the right price. I also won't say it's a great movie - the plot moves pretty slow in the beginning and there was a time when Mother was doing the old 'must...keep...eyes...open...' bit. And there are a couple of times when the plot just doesn't make any dang sense.

But what I did like about the movie was the overall gothic tone, the absolute no-holds-barred bloody violent slaughtering at the hands of the Wolfman....and as much as I heart Lon Chaney, somehow the maniacal killing sprees of this werewolf seem more realistic. I'd expect that a werewolf should be a bad-ass killing machine.

The movie has its share of CGI moments, but the werewolf for the most part is exactly what a monster should be - a guy in a furry suit with a zipper in the back. Mother has spoken. Amen.

Also check out the special features with Rick 'Just hand over the Oscar and we'll call it a night' Baker. The way they created the werewolf feet and made them able to walk in them while in the werewolf suits is especially neato.

So overall, it's not perfect, but i do think the influence of Rick Baker and his creation of the werewolf makeups (and his desire to pay tribute to the old makeup and also update it) made the movie. If it'd been a CGI Cluster F*ck ala Van Helsing, it'd have no doubt been a mess.

Or, maybe I just like my werewolves to wear pants. I guess I'm just an old fashioned girl after all.

Rawr,
Mother Firefly

Thankskilling

If you're able to stream movies on Netflix and you're thinking to yourself, Gee, tonight might be the night for a low budget film featuring a homicidal animal puppet with a potty mouth who likes to make with the corny one -liners just before slaughtering people, then hot damn, you're in luck.


If the above doesn't make you want to watch this movie, then nothing will. It's probably everything you already think it is - and if that kind of thing doesn't make you want to cry and bang your head on the floor, then by all means, check out Thankskilling.


And hey, it's only about 65 minutes long. Which, in my book, is exactly how long a movie about a homicidal turkey puppet should last. Dear Filmmakers, Mother Firefly and her short attention span salute you.

Yes, the man is dressed as a turkey, and the turkey is dressed as a man. Holy coincidence, Batman!

It just occurred to me that this is the second horror movie I've watched in a year to feature poultry as the antagonist.

Yikes,
Mother Firefly

Final Girl Film Club: House of the Devil

This month's Final Girl Film Club choice is......

Here's my review from the Milwaukee Film Festival last year.

Make sure you go to Final Girl to read all the cool kids' reviews!

-Mother Firefly

Party Like It's 1968

I made it!!

I managed to make it to the Night of the Living Dead Puppet Show DVD Release Party on Friday night. I work ALOT at home after work; and after THREE HOURS of work at my kitchen table, missing the 8 pm showing time, I was more than a little resentful by the time I finally got to get out of the house and have some fun:


Don't chart angry, people.

But I did finally make it out of my house to dinner (BTW, my Milwaukee friends - do yourself a favor and visit Rio West on Friday or Saturday night - you won't be disappointed) and a margarita and a half (I helped Papa Cash finish his second), we went to Landmark Lanes to see if my favorite people that put on a zombie puppet show based on NOLD were still there.

They were. Not only did I pick up a copy of the DVD, I got a t-shirt, a button, and the best part - I got to hang with some of the most talented, nicest people in this town. Not only are they my FAVORITE people that put on a zombie puppet show based on NOLD, they're also the nicest.

AND - they played the DVD again around 10, so I had a chance to see it there with a bunch of great people and an alcoholic beverage. (Thanks for the beer, Josh!)

The DVD is wonderful - it's a fun way to revisit the show if you've seen it live, and it's a great substitute if you're not fortunate enough to have been able to see it in person (yet), but to really appreciate the creativity and genius that goes into the show, you really need to see it live. So keep an eye on their website (and here with Mama Firefly) for news on future shows.

But in the meantime, go to the website. Support zombies AND puppets (seriously, who doesn't love both?) and order yourself a copy. Mama says DO IT.

The DVD is 15.00, plus S/H, and the quality is positively out of sight.

Email info@angryyoungmenltd.com for details.

Blu-Ray Fun

I always said that I wouldn't replace ALL my DVD's with Blu-Ray -and while I still stand by that - after all, is ANYONE really clamoring for Guru: The Mad Monk in Hi-Def?- I have ended up buying a few classics in Blu-Ray. That is, when they're good and cheap. Let it never be said that Mother's grad school 'cheap-ass' tendencies ever totally went away.

While I have a couple that I think I could have lived without - specifically Evil Dead II and Day of the Dead. I didn't think ED II was much of an improvement, and I didn't even LIKE the way DotD looked in Hi-Def. But there are a few Blu-Rays that I think were worth the investment.




1. Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Yes, the original, for God's sake. I would have thought a low budget move such as this would be a waste on Blu-Ray, but it actually looks and sounds pretty out of sight. In fact, it sounded so good that once I even whipped my head around and wondered who was banging around outside. Not cute at 2 am when the P.Cash is at work and Mother is alone with three cats. And Leatherface kind of scared me all over again. I even had to remind myself at one point that I've met Gunnar Hansen and he was a pretty nice guy.












2. Halloween. Again, the original. I've said before that Halloween was a movie that I discovered 'later' in my life - I saw it when I was younger and I liked it, but it never was one of my all-time favorites. Not that I would never argue against its genius, I just don't think I really got to pay it the attention it deserved. On Blu-Ray, it's simply gorgeous. The colors of the trees are so vibrant (and maybe a little too green) that I kept forgetting it was supposed to be fall. No matter, it's positively lovely on Hi-Def. Mama says GET ONE.













3. American Werewolf in London. LOVE this movie. Reviewed it once here during my first 31 Days of Halloween. Out of the three, this is probably the movie I've watched the most times over the years - and I still noticed all kinds of cool details I never picked up on before. That, to me, is the mark of a great Blu-Ray.









Oh yeah, and they were all under 12 bucks. Loves it.

I Won-ded

A few weeks ago I got an email from Film Fetish saying I'd won a contest but the prize hadn't been revealed yet. And then, bam, this showed up in my mailbox:

Of course I remember this film from when it came out - I know I watched it on VHS once and then never again. I don't recall having strong feelings about it either way - and I'm sure I've never seen it again since its original release.

But since I love winning things, I was all kinds of excited about my new prize and excited to watch it. I even tried to talk Papa Cash into watching it with me.




His response:
'Why would I want to watch a twenty year old horror movie?'

My response:
'WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU NOT WANT TO?'


Anyway...cut to tonight when the P.Cash is at a Brewers game, my work is done, I'm off tomorrow, and the time is RIGHT for some straight up Terry O'Quinn INSANITY.
80's style.

What's really interesting to me about this movie is that it works. It works despite the filmmakers giving away all the secrets as soon as the movie starts. (For an example of where this technique does anything BUT work, see : Prom Night Remake).

In less than ten minutes, they've laid it all out on the table. Not only do we get the goriest scene in the movie, we're told that Terry O'Quinn is batshit nuts, he's dangerous, and oh yeah - those people in that house pissed him off REAL BAD. But he's still civil enough to tidy up a little and put the bloody phone back on the hook before he leaves.

Cut to the next family - Terry O'Quinn looks different, has a new family, acts like the perfect husband and father - but we all know the real deal here. Hell, even the new stepdaughter knows SOMETHING is not quite right with this dude. She even suspects that he just MIGHT be the same dude who slaughtered his family and disappeared.


But despite all the information we're given so early in the film, it still manages to work. Terry O'Quinn is so wonderfully imbalanced that the suspense lies in waiting to see what he's going to do next - there's no question that he'll lose it eventually, it's just a matter of when.

Which got Mother thinking about the good old days - and by the good old days, I mean the golden age of horror which was known as the 80's. (Not that I'm implying that the 80's were the only golden age of horror- certainly not - but back then it seemed like there was so much more to choose from. There were so many films that were GREAT - that a film like The Stepfather - probably low key in comparison to a lot of films from then - was, for me, not as exciting or intense as many of the other films I was watching then.

Cut to 25 years later and compare it to the myriad of sequels and remakes we're offered - and The Stepfather positively shines in comparison. Which is probably why I enjoyed it more now than I did all those years ago. We were SPOILED, my friends, completely and utterly SPOILED.

I want it NOW,
Mother 'Veruca' Firefly

Pontypool

Okay, I'll admit it - Mama has been thinking about this movie for DAYS trying to decide what to say about it.

So I suppose - if I've ruminated on a film for this long - it must have something memorable about it.

I thought Pontypool was going to be a zombie film - and while it has elements of the genre, it's not a true zombie film. I also had to buy Pontypool to see it, since Netflix doesn't have it available to rent. (Bastards).




Pontypool only has a handful of characters - and one so irritating I wanted to slap right through the TV, the likes of which I haven't had the urge since the stupid guy who sings the free credit report dot com song.

Officially sealed in my hate box forever.

Pontypool's three main characters are Grant Mazzy (Stephen McHattie), his producer Sidney (Lisa Houle) and technician Laurel Ann (Georgina Reilly). Mazzy is a disc jockey who's clearly used to shaking things up on the radio, but is constantly being reined in by his producer, who just wants Mazzy to stick to the routine of announcing school closings and other local news.


The movie takes place during one snowy dark morning that starts off in the usual way (if you ignore the strange encounter that Mazzy has on his way to work) but slowly turns completely bizarre as reports of riots and murders start filtering in to the station. For me, this is the part of the movie that really works.

The snow, the early morning darkness, the isolation of the basement production studio, and the way that the characters get small pieces of information at a time - and then it's only second hand information that's being described to them. It's frustrating and tense - and it also makes for great suspense.


I'm not going to tell you what's really behind all the violence in this small town - because, as I said, a huge part of the film is getting bits of information as it unfolds.


However, even though I thought I understood the movie - and also read a few articles after watching the movie to HELP me understand it - I'm still kind of like, huh?

But - the head scratching that has ensued would still not stop me from recommending this movie. Stephen McHattie was great - and even though I'm not sure if I was supposed to hate the character of Sydney or not - I'll still watch this movie and I'd still buy it if I had been able to rent it. Because in my book - if you're still rolling the plot around in your brains a week after watching it - that must be worth something.

As an end note - what's even more amazing to me is that when I went to the official movie website:

Pontypool

I found that the director, Bruce McDonald, also directed The Tracey Fragments. I couldn't recall one scene of that horrible mess if you paid me. But what I do know is that when I see the title of that movie I fight the urge to go hide in my closet, rock back and forth and suck my thumb. I love Papa Cash, but there are more than a few pieces of celluloid torture I'd never have been exposed to if it weren't for his questionable choices.

So, Dearhearts, watch Pontypool, and tell me what you think. If you're expecting a straight up zombie film full of action and gore, this probably isn't the film you need to rent. But if you'd like to be challenged to think a little bit - and I'm not saying that I understand all of it - and you like suspense and movies that unfold a little slower than average, this may be a film for you.

-Mother Firefly