Thirteenth Annual FMS Scarelicious October Movie Series: #17 Nightbreed (1990)

 The very first thing I wrote down whilst watching Nightbreed: "I don't know what this movie is about but just from the pre-opening credits sequence, I am HERE FOR IT."  And the male lead, Craig Sheffer, looked super-familiar [from A River Runs Through It, I guess].

Aaron Boone (Sheffer) is a troubled young man, tormented by dreams of monsters and Midian, the city those monsters live in.  He's been in therapy for a while and has made great progress, with a solid job and a solid girlfriend, and he hasn't had the dreams for years.  And then his former therapist (played creepily by David Cronenberg) calls him up and says that he thinks Boone is responsible for the brutal slayings of six families over the last ten months.  Panicked, Boone runs and, after a chance meeting with a crazy person in the hospital, makes his way to Midian.  Which is real.  And populated by real monsters, who are generally nice people, just trying to live their lives, in hiding from humans who have persecuted them throughout history.  Boone's arrival draws unwanted attention, however, and soon Midian is wracked by conflict, within and without.

Clive Barker's follow-up to Hellraiser, directed by Barker himself and based on his book Cabal, Nightbreed is more dark fantasy, never really scary (although I did jump a couple of times) but with a fair amount of violence and gore.  It's a bit cheesy and kind of incoherent (likely from the studio's interference and insistence on changes from Barker's original vision) but the monster make-up, prosthetics and puppets are incredible.  I don't know that I'll make the effort to track down the recently released Director's Cut, which is reported to be closer to what Barker intended, but I'm definitely glad I added Nightbreed to this year's watchlist.

Thirteenth Annual FMS Scarelicious October Movie Series: #16 Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)

 Repo! The Genetic Opera has been on my list for a while and now, finally and emphatically, I can cross it off that list and never watch it again.  R!TGO is Type 2 fun for sure: I very much disliked it while I was watching it (also fell asleep for one scene but couldn't be bothered to go back for it) but now, after sleeping on it, I'm feeling much charitably inclined.

Since, as I said above, I fell asleep for a while - one would have hoped that a post-apocalyptic goth horror rock opera would have held my attention - I'm not super clear on the plot.  At some point in the future, the world experienced an epidemic of organ failures; one company, Geneco, began financing organ transplants and implemented fashion surgery and if you couldn't make your payments, your organs would get ripped out of your sad little body by Repo-men.  Our heroine is little Shilo (Alexa Vega), sick with a blood disease and kept cloistered at home by her doctor dad Nathan (Anthony Stewart Head, emoting for all he's worth).  The villain is the head of Geneco, played by Paul Sorvino; one of his awful children is played by Paris Hilton (who apparently won a Razzie for her role).  Also popping up is the amazing actual opera singer Sarah Brightman, who is Shilo's godmother and current indentured spokesperson for Geneco.  There's secrets and conflicts and quite a lot of blood.

R!TGO is what the goth/theater kids would have put together with a little (very little funding).  The sets are all flimsy and look like they've come right off a community theater stage (no offense to community theater, some of which can be quite good).  The "songs" are arrhythmic and not the slightest bit catchy: because this is an "opera" instead of a "musical," there are no spoken lines - everything is sung and so the "songs" are just sung dialogue, hardly the basis for a Top 40 hit.  It is definitely bloody and violent, with stacks of corpses, faces falling off and being pinned back on, disembowellings and guts flying everywhere.  Anthony Stewart Head and Sarah Brightman are powerhouses and the best parts of the whole thing.  And now I've depleted all the [nice] things I have to say about that. 

Thirteenth Annual FMS Scarelicious October Movie Series: #15 Unsane

Shot on a smartphone, psychological horror flick Unsane (on Hulu) is actually a legitimate movie (unlike the next one coming up): directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Claire Foy, Jay Pharoah, Juno Temple and Amy Irving, with a cameo by Matt Damon.  

Sawyer (Foy, American accent slipping occasionally) is at a new job in a new city, hooking up with random dudes but still clearly traumatized from a two-year stalking situation.  She interviews a therapist with whom she connects and, at the end of the initial session, fills out some paperwork that - she thinks - is setting up future appointments.  When she tries to leave the clinic, however, she finds that she has unwittingly checked herself into a "voluntary" 24-hour observation; she freaks out, obviously, and that lands her in a seven-day observation hold.  As kind, wry, articulate Nate (Pharoah) explains to her, her insurance is paying the clinic and they're not about to let her go until the money runs out.  He advises her to stay calm, play nice and try to get along with the other inmates.

Problem is, one of the orderlies is, according to Sawyer, the asshole who stalked her for two years.  She can't get away from him, can't get help from the administration or the outside world.  She ends up doing whatever she has to do to get out.

Unsane is not really horror per se, more a psychological thriller with some violent/bloody bits, but it is plenty creepy, unsettling and disturbing.  My notes: "OK that was pretty good" - high praise indeed.

Thirteenth Annual FMS Scarelicious October Movie Series: #14 Body Bags (1993)

 1993's Body Bags is an fun anthology (originally aired on Showtime) with three unrelated episodes bound within a framework.  Ths first story is "Unleaded," about a night shift gas station attendant dealing with a local serial killer.  The second is "Hair," where an insecure balding man gets an unconventional hair-regrowth treatment with side effects.  The last, "Baseball Man," is about a talented minor league player, on the verge of getting called up to the majors, who loses an eye in an accident and receives a possessed transplant via an experimental procedure.  The first has some tense moments; the second is silly; and the third is slightly disturbing and fairly gross.

What's so amazing about Body Bags is the cast:  John Carpenter (directs the first two episodes and is the main actor in the framework), Tobe Hooper (directs the third and acts in the framework), Sam Raimi (cameo), Wes Craven (acts), Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine (Revenge of the Nerds), Tom Arnold, a fine-looking David Noughton (American Werewolf in London), Stacy Keach, Greg Nicotero (The Walking Dead, etc.), Debbie Harry (!!), Sheena Easton (!), Kim Alexis, Twiggy and Roger Corman (acts).  Holy moly - that's some serious horror movie pedigree in there!  Even though the anthology itself is a little lightweight, it is worth watching just to see all those folks.

Thirteenth Annual FMS Scarelicious October Movie Series: #13 One Cut of the Dead

 If you haven't seen One Cut of the Dead, it is best to go into it as unspoiled as possible.  This is what I knew when I put in the DVD (yes): a low budget film crew shooting a zombie movie at an abandoned government facility encounters actual zombies; and it was filmed in one long shot.

I am not going to say anything else (other than there is a lot of running and screaming - and also this movie looks like it was a ton of fun to make) because I found One Cut of the Dead slight but charming (yes) and an entertaining take on the over-exposed zombie genre.  If you watch it, I hope you do too.  [Japanese with English subtitles]

Thirteenth Annual FMS Scarelicious October Movie Series: #12 Chopping Mall (1986)

 Hello to the glorious Eighties!  In this silly little movie, Chopping Mall, we have: lace body stockings (I completely forgot about those), stacked bangles, Guess jeans, popped collars, Heineken beer, relentless synth music, big hair with lots of hairspray, hightop Reeboks (or knockoffs) and, that hallmark of 1980s horror, lots of red tempera paint "blood."

The "plot" is this: the mall is instituting a new security systems consisting of patrolling robots that are controlled by a central computer system.  "Absolutely nothing can go wrong," says the head of security at the demo.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, say all of us who have ever seen a horror movie.  Sure enough, a freak electrical storm fries the computer system and the "Killbots" become sentient.  They start racking up the kills (nine total, by my count).  Meanwhile, eight "teens" are having an after-hours beer-and-sex party in one of the mall's stores - which the Killbots obviously take issue with.

Chopping Mall is clearly a classic 80s B movie and, despite being set at a mall, is not quite the pointed indictment of capitalism that Day of the Dead was.  This flick is super cheesy, although keep in mind that computers were not omnipresent like they are now, and this was the era where there were several movies with the theme of the dangers of rogue technology (War Games and Terminator come immediately to mind).  The "acting" is terrible but there is one exploding head (the Killbots have "lasers") which is quite excellent.  You could probably just google that clip online and save yourself 75 minutes.

Thirteenth Annual FMS Scarelicious October Movie Series: #11 Hellraiser (2022)

Another remake of a 1980s horror classic: Hellraiser.  We start at a hedonistic rich people's party, where the host, Mr. Voight, has nearly solved a puzzle box.  He sacrifices a pretty, vapid youth in an attempt to [make contact with the Cenobites because if you're watching this remake, chances are you've seen at least one of the vastly superior original movies and know WTF is going on].  

Six years later, deadbeat Riley (kind of a druggie mess and fighting with her big brother, her only remaining family) and boyfriend Trevor break into a storage facility.  They're hoping to score bit but all they find is that puzzle box.  Riley is drawn to it and begins figuring it out.  When the Cenobites arrive, they take her brother - who had gotten stabbed by the box's spike trying to revive his passed out sister - and she starts investigating the box further.  This leads her - and Trevor, and her brother's boyfriend and their roommate - to Voight's abandoned (or is it?) mansion.  The gang starts getting picked off as the Cenobites surround them, edging ever closer to ... whatever the hell it is that these creatures want.  It's really not clear (or if it was clear, I wasn't paying attention): whoever solves the puzzle box gets a reward, except that the rewards are really pain and punishment and a perfect example of be careful what you wish for.

I was not impressed with this remake of Hellraiser (although it makes the Evil Dead remake much better in comparison).  I did like the idea of a gender-bent Pinhead (Jamie Clayton, Sens8) but (1) the pins didn't go all the way around her head, (2) her distorted voice was very difficult to understand and (3) she just wasn't menacing like the OG - she just seemed small.  In fact, all the new Cenobite designs were inferior to the original: it looked fake and overdone, not seductively ominous in black leather and piercings.  Although, just like in the original, the chattery-teeth Cenobite was my favorite.

Verdict:  Gory, oh yes, but neither creepy nor scary and the Cenobites sucked.

Thirteenth Annual FMS Scarelicious October Movie Series: #10 Werewolf By Night

While Marvel's Werewolf By Night (on Disney+) is not technically a movie, it is a thematically-relevant special so I'm including it here.  At only 53 minutes long, and being a one-off, I guess you could call it a short film.  I'm calling it so much fun.

Quick plot synopsis: Famed monster hunter Ulysses Bloodstone has died and his widow assembles some prolific but lesser hunters to compete for his magic relic, a bloodstone that imbues its holder with strength, protection and power.  There are four tough-looking characters (whose names I didn't catch), plus Jack (played by Gael Garcia Bernal), a quiet Mexican, and Elsa, Bloodstone's estranged daughter.  It's obvious that Jack and Elsa will eventually and reluctantly team up, but that doesn't diminish any of the charm.

From the opening moments, I was in love with Werewolf By Night: almost entirely in black and white (like a 1930s monster movie), slightly campy and yet still creepy, with wonderful retro music.  And the titular werewolf is all practical effects - a person in a wolf suit - which is just how I like my werewolves.  The climactic fight is just awesome: bloody, vicious and violent, definitely more along the lines of Jessica Jones/Daredevil than the Avengers and their ilk.  Plus there's a frickin' flaming tuba!  What more could you possibly want, except more of it?

Thirteenth Annual FMS Scarelicious October Movie Series: #9 12 Hour Shift

 Written and directed by Brea Grant (who got launched to wide notice in her role on Heroes back in the day), 12 Hour Shift is a horror/comedy/heist/farce that takes a minute to get going but that I found extremely entertaining.  Mandy is a junkie nurse working night shifts at a small Arkansas hospital. She is involved in a human organ trafficking ring where she and a supervisor procure the organs - Mandy is the one who kills the patients - which are delivered to a local thug by Mandy's dumb-as-a-stump cousin (by marriage) Regina.  When Regina loses the kidney she was supposed to deliver, she asks the reluctant and pissed off Mandy to help her get another one.  Things start to unravel when Regina tries to take care of it herself, resulting in friendly but ineffective cops bumbling around, an escaped convict (David Arquette), drug overdoses, needy patients and terrible birthday cake.  Plus a really excellent hallway dance sequence.

Mandy, played by the always good Angela Bettis, is a fantatsic character: capable but strung out, frustrated, annoyed, loyal, grumpy.  I thought the Regina character started out ridiculous but by the end, well, she was still ridiculous but I liked her.

In addition to being fairly gory (but never scary, so not really horror per se) and a bit lightweigtht, 12 Hour Shift actually does a good job of portraying what nurses must have to go through: fatigue and stress, and having to muster kindness and compassion in the face of it, having to deal with people literally all the time, the stuggle to care for your patients when you sometimes find it difficult to care about anything at all.  Those realistic moments were as disturbing as any of the "scary" stuff.

Thirteenth Annual FMS Scarelicious October Movie Series: #8 Evil Dead (2013)

I mean, how do you even dare to do an Evil Dead remake?  The original movies are iconic and yet, here we are.

Five friends gather in a super-creepy cabin in the woods (and now I want to watch that movie again) in a somber reunion to help Mia (Jane Levy, excellently bug-eyed and twitchy) kick her dope habit.  Others in attendance are healthcare worker Olivia, bookish Eric, Mia's older, absentee brother David, and David's girlfriend, "Natalie," who is such a non-entity that I didn't even know her name until the nail-gun started going off.

It hits all the horror tropes - which, back in the early 80s still was new but now opens no uncharted territory: people doing extremely stupid things like crawling into dark holes, going down into the fetid basement which is full of cat corpses strung from the ceiling, reading aloud from the Necromicon.  Seriously, who does that?  The cabin is much, much bigger on the inside that it would appear from exterior shots.  Brief, early appearances of a shotgun, electric knife and nail-gun, being used appropriately, clearly signal that we'll be seeing them all again later, in a much more gruesome manner.

Fans of the originals will recognize plenty of callbacks, including but not limited to evil hands, self-amputations and putting THE CHAINSAW into play.  I may have cheered a little at that one.  At the very end, there's a flash of humor as the last remaining characters are bathed in enough fake blood to make Dead Alive envious.  I would like to say, however, that I wish we hadn't revisited the invasive vine sequence.

Right from the start, this Evil Dead reworking shows that it is not going to back away from the gore and over-the-top violence, although the cheeky humor of II is definitely lacking.  Final verdict: not a complete waste of time for the viewer but there really wasn't any reason to remake this one.  Go back and rewatch the Bruce Campbell ones instead.