movie night

Movie Night [Sci-Fanuary]: The Fly (1986)

Dr. K6 Comments

January celebrates two notable dates in science-fiction history: “National Science Fiction Day” on January 2 to coincide with the birth of world renowned sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, and 12 January being when Arthur C. Clarke’s HAL 9000 was created. Accordingly, I dedicate January to celebrating sci-fi in all its forms.

Released: 15 August 1986
Director: David Cronenberg
Distributor: 20th Century Fox

Budget: $9 to 15 million
Box Office: $60.6 million
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 93% / 83%

Quick Facts:
A reinterpretation of George Langelaan’s 1957 short story and a remake of Kurt Neumann’s 1958 sci-fi classic, The Fly was surreptitiously produced by comedy legend Mel Brooks, featured creature effects by Chris Walas, Inc., and almost starred Pierce Brosnan or John Malkovich. Though a sequel and stage play followed, Cronenberg’s proposals for another follow-up never materialised, despite Jeff Goldblum’s enthusiasm.

The Review:
I think it’s fair to say that, for shy, insecure recluse Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum), meeting Veronica “Ronnie” Quaife (Geena Davis) at a Bartok party was love at first sight. Cradling a glass of Scotch and claiming to be working on something that’ll “change the world and human life as we know it”, Brundle is excited to discuss his work with the beautiful Ronnie, misreading her interest as anything other than a story for Particle Magazine since, by his own admission, he “doesn’t get out much”. Equally, I think it’s fair to say that Ronnie’s intrigued by Brundle’s doe-eyed naivety; she later admits that he’s “very cute”, indicating that she was attracted to him despite his somewhat bumbling nature and acute travel sickness. This, and the perception that Brundle is a harmless cook, drives her to visit his isolated laboratory/apartment, housed within a rundown building in what looks like a pretty rough area of town (red flags if I ever saw them). Once there, Ronnie immediately regrets her decision upon seeing Brundle’s sparse apartment, which is the furthest thing from a clinical, scientific setup you can imagine. Brundle, however, is a closet showman as he tries to impress with his piano skills and introduces her to his revolutionary Telepods. While Ronnie’s unimpressed by the “designer phonebooths”, Brundle’s extremely protective of them, even the “clunky” prototype, since he literally cobbled them together from bits and pieces of other Bartok technology. Yet, Brundle isn’t some hack or fraud; Stathis Borans (John Getz) later reveals that Brundle has a distinguished scientific career and almost won the Noble prize for Physics at just twenty-two! It seems, then, that Brundle is being unnecessarily humble regarding the Telepods, which he controls via a simple computer interface and voice recognition software and which are apparently so efficiently designed that they cause no power drain to his apartment or the immediate area.

While Brundle and Ronnie grow closer and solve the Telepod enigma, Stathis threatens their relationship.

Ronnie, however, is incredibly sceptical of Brundle’s claims to be able to teleport inorganic matter between Telepods. However, when she witnesses it after seductively handing over her stocking, Ronnie immediately recognises that they’re an exciting scientific breakthrough and begins grilling Brundle, causing him to panic when he realises that he’s misread the signs and prematurely revealed his project. Thus, Brundle’s relieved when the creepy, condescending Stathis dismisses Ronnie’s account, initially believing Brundle’s a “con man” before spitefully running with the article after the two become lovers. Brundle offers Ronnie the chance to follow his work more closely, eager to publish a complete record of his world-changing invention and, intrigued, she agrees. However, ever the curious journalist, Ronnie questions the teleportation process, so Brundle naturally demonstrates the system’s fatal flaw by teleporting a baboon (because I guess lab rats or rabbits are too hard to come by!) While Ronnie is horrified when the process turns the baboon inside out, Brundle is both grief-stricken and enraged by the continued failure, blaming himself for the flaw since the computer is only following his commands. Luckily, he gets an intense and passionate sermon on the “flesh” when Ronnie, smitten by his intellect and drive, seduces him. This sexual escapade inspires Brundle to realise that the computer is being too analytical about organic matter, so he excitedly rewrites his program and is elated when the second baboon is successfully teleported. While Brundle and Ronnie celebrate and begin a whirlwind romance, the jealous Stathis descends into a malicious tantrum, angrily confronting Ronnie and threatening to expose Brundle’s work just to get back at them. Ronnie’s forced to pay her editor and former lover a late-night visit to try and reason with him, leaving poor Brundle to drink himself into a stupor. Drunk, believing Ronnie is cheating on him, Brundle spontaneously decides to teleport himself, completely unaware that a seemingly harmless housefly has snuck into the machine with him.

Brundle undergoes a slow but horrific transformation after a teleportation mishap.

Though Ronnie allays his fears regarding Stathis, she’s alarmed to learn about this and relieved to find he’s unharmed. Her relief turns to amazement when Brundle immediately undergoes physical changes, suddenly becoming far stronger, having more stamina, and being more excitable than ever, After being physically exhausted by his sexual appetite and discovering coarse hairs on his back, Ronnie reacts with horror when Brundle suddenly urges her to undergo the process, believing the Telepods purified his genes and made him superhuman, only to lash out with anger and take to the streets to find someone more willing, leaving her devastated. Brundle impresses barfly Tawny (Joy Boushel) with his gruesome physical strength and Telepods, though he’s further frustrated when she also refuses to use the machines and when Ronnie reveals that he’s sprouting insect hairs. Drunk on his newfound physical strength and ignoring Ronnie’s concerns about his health and erratic behaviour, Brundle throws her out in a rage, only to beg her to visit him some time later, his condition having noticeably deteriorated. After realising Ronnie was right when his fingernails fall off, Brundle is horrified to discover that his Telepods spliced him and the fly on a molecular level and surmises that the foreign DNA is manifesting as a “bizarre form of cancer” that’s causing gruesome tumours and decay. Terrified, Ronnie begs Stathis for help, those he’s disgusted upon viewing footage of the rapidly worsening Brundle, whose despair is replaced by a manic glee as he finds he can scale walls and vomit a corrosive enzyme to eat, now excited to be transforming into a unique lifeform he dubs “Brundlefly”. Though Brundle’s mental health degenerates alongside his body and he laments his declining humanity, he works tirelessly on a solution using his Telepods, only to be wracked by agonising spasms and to realise his only viable option is to sacrifice a healthy life. Ronnie’s nightmare only worsens when she finds she’s pregnant and, fearful that the baby could be contaminated by Brundle’s mutated genes, struggles with telling the increasingly monstrous and animalistic Brundle of her plans for an abortion.

Brundle’s initial delight at his superhuman abilities soon turns to despair and madness.

The Fly is very different from the original film, and the source material, replacing concerns about nuclear annihilation with a very blatant AIDS analogy and marrying the fear of scientific curiosity with the tragedy of watching a loved one succumb to a cancerous disease. For me, The Fly is one of the quintessential examples of how to do a remake as it takes the basic premise of the book and adds a new spin to it, modernising it and recontextualising its themes into an unforgettable, tragic sci-fi body horror piece. The Fly takes itself very seriously, showcasing Brundle’s mental and physical decline in gruesome and uncomfortable detail, so much so that Cronenberg famously cut a scene where Brundle beat a cat/baboon hybrid to death as audiences lost sympathy for him. While it’s admittedly odd that Brundle cobbled together his Telepods largely by himself, operates in a less than sterile environment, and uses baboons as test subjects, his eccentric and secretive nature speaks to these decisions. These are also early warning signs that Brundle isn’t quite prepared for how dangerous his Telepods can be. Not only were they not calibrated to handle living tissue, they also can’t comprehend the presence of two lifeforms, essentially killing Brundle during his first jaunt since what emerges is an “insect… who dreamt he was a man… and loved it!” Brundle’s pained soliloquy about “insect politics” is easily one of the film’s most emotional and horrifying moments, largely because The Fly does such a great job building the romance between Brundle and Ronnie. It helps that Goldblum and Davis were dating at the time, but their characters have great chemistry together, with Brundle finally having someone to talk to and be open with and Ronnie excited to be at the forefront of a scientific breakthrough and involved with such a passionate and selfless man.

The squeamish need not apply for The Fly, which is a masterpiece of body horror!

It’s thus even more tragic and horrifying to see Brundle go from an eccentric, loveable goof to a conceited, temperamental jerk and a broken, literal shell of his former self. At first, Brundle’s excitement at reaching his physical potential is infectious but, when he subscribes his condition to the purifying nature of the Telepods, be becomes uncharacteristically violent. Brundle’s mood swings only increase as he deteriorates; he constantly goes from despair, to anger, to sarcastic acceptance even when collecting his decaying body parts. Brundle initially tries to put a positive spin on his condition by urging Ronnie to document his fly-like abilities, before becoming resentful of Ronnie’s frequent absences and trashing his apartment during one of his many outbursts. Brundle noticeably struggles to maintain his logic, reason, and humanity as his body hideously warps, barely holding onto himself long enough to warn Ronnie to stay away for her own safety. However, when he learns that she’s pregnant, Brundle sees the unborn child as potentially the last link to his humanity. Rather than stumbling around with a big fly head, Goldblum endures a horrific physical transformation that is brought to life through top-notch make-up and prosthetics and showcases his deterioration in multiple stages. At first, things aren’t so bad with a few extra hairs, skin blotches, and bad hygiene but, within about a week, Brundle struggles to stand and his skin is covered in disgusting boils. The foreign DNA essentially turns him into a living, slowly decaying cocoon, at first bestowing him with the proportional strength of a fly and then crippling him with pain as the mutation grows more severe. Brundle loses his fingernails, his teeth, his ear, and his penis (judging from his ghastly medicine cabinet); his fingers and toes fuse together; and his speech is so badly distorted that his computer doesn’t recognise him. All throughout Brundle’s transformation, he’s pained by a growth on his side, which another deleted scene reveals birthed a gruesome, fly-like appendage! Brundle loses the ability to properly digest food, using “vomit drop” to liquify sugary treats, and is eventually reduced to a rotten, limping, tumour who’s barely recognisable as a man in a startling gruesome analogy for the AIDs epidemic, the aging process, and cancer.

Brundle’s final, monstrous transformation leaves him a mangled mess of meat and tragedy.

After a horrifying nightmare about her baby, Ronnie pleads with Stathis to help her and he takes her for an abortion since she refuses to risk giving birth. Desperate for a part of himself to live on, Brundle pleads with her to keep the baby but, when she refuses, he’s forced to bring the distraught and terrified Ronnie to his lab. Barely able to speak, Brundle explains his insane plan to teleport himself, Ronnie, and their unborn child and fuse them together into one body, his warped mind seeing this as the only way for them to be together as the “ultimate family”. Though Stathis bravely tries to stop Brundle, he ends up getting his hand and foot melted by vomit drop, though his harrowing moment is merely the appetiser for The Fly’s most impressive and unsettling scene. While fighting off Brundle, Ronnie dislodges his jaw, kickstarting Brundle’s final, gruesome metamorphosis as his sickly shell splits, his flesh tears to ribbons, and his eyes explode as the sickly, gangly Brundefly emerges! Driven only by his insane plan to undo his condition, the “Spacebug” launches Ronnie into a Teleport, activates the sequence, and settles his into another Telepod. However, the horribly injured Stathis fires a shot that shorts out Ronnie’s Telepod. Enraged, Brundefly smashes his way out, only for the countdown to complete and the Telepod to activate! As Howard Shore’s haunting score rises to a crescendo, the Telepod deposits Brundlefly, now little more than a howling, mangled mess of meat, piping, and machinery. Barely breathing, clearly wracked with agony, the twisted Brundlefly/Telepod-thing crawls along on pure instinct. Traumatised and wary, Ronnie grabs Stathis’s gun to defend herself but is crippled by heartache at the sight of what’s left of her lover. With the last vestiges of his strength and humanity, Brundlefly weakly presses the gun to his bulbous forehead. Though Ronnie hesitates, struggling to kill the man she loves, Brundlefly emits a heart wrenching groan and silently pleads to have his torment ended and, more on instinct than anything, Ronnie fires, atomising Brundlefly’s head and causing what’s left of him, and his tormented lover, to collapse to the floor.

Final Thoughts:
I was way too young to watch The Fly when I first saw it, and yet it didn’t traumatise me like other horror films back then. There are many reasons why The Fly is so well regarded, even when it first released, and I largely credit The Fly for being one of a handful of movies that made me appreciate the beauty of practical effects, prosthetics, and animatronics. Brundle’s physical and mental decline is disturbing to witness, with him becoming this monstrous, pain-wracked hunchback who grows increasing volatile as his humanity is stripped away. This final transformation into Brundlefly remains as captivatingly horrific as ever, with the sickly, almost alien creature being unpleasant to look at and yet deeply sympathetic, especially when he’s mewling on the ground after being spliced with the Telepod. Add to that the horrifying maggot birth sequence and you have a movie that largely cemented David Cronenberg as the king of body horror. Cronenberg’s visuals are even more potent when you watch The Fly as an allegory for sexually transmitted diseases, a plot point just as prominent in this first-class remake as the dangers of meddling with science and which works so well because of the chemistry between the leads. Brundle and Ronnie make an adorable pair, a couple you really root for due to their undeniable chemistry, and Stathis makes for a despicably loathsome third wheel. The fact Stathis becomes someone to root for by the finale is almost as unsettling as seeing him get dissolved by fly vomit since he’s such a vile creep, but it speaks to how well-written The Fly is that every character is so well rounded. The Fly may very well be the quintessential Jeff Goldblum performance as he throws his all into the role, enduring unimaginable discomfort to showcase Brundle’s declining state and being the perfect mixture of lovable goof, erratic jerk, and enraged monster. I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that The Fly has aged beautifully and is just as impactful and emotional now as it ever was, especially for me, and it remains one of my all-time favourite movies of any genre…and the standard bearer for how good remakes can be!

My Rating:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Fantastic

Are you a fan of this gruesome remake of The Fly? Did you enjoy the ways it reinterpreted the book, or do you think it strayed too far from the original text? Were you invested in the romance between Brundle and Ronnie? What did you think to the horrific make-up effects and Brundle’s mental and physical deterioration? Is The Fly your favourite remake? Would you like to see a new adaptation of Langelaan’s book? How are you celebrating all things sci-fi this January? Leave a like and a comment with your thoughts, go check out my other sci-fi reviews, and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other sci-fi movies for me to cover.

Movie Night [Sci-Fanuary]: Return of the Fly

Dr. K1 Comment

January celebrates two notable dates in science-fiction history: “National Science Fiction Day” on January 2 to coincide with the birth of world renowned sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, and 12 January being when Arthur C. Clarke’s HAL 9000 was created. Accordingly, I dedicate January to celebrating sci-fi in all its forms.

Released: 22 July 1959
Director: Edward Bernds
Distributor: 20th Century Fox

Budget: $225,000 (estimated)
Box Office: Unknown
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 36% / 26%

Quick Facts:
Following the surprising success of Kurt Neumann’s ambitious 1958 adaptation of George Langelaan’s 1957 short story, the studio rushed a sequel into production with a lower budget and shooting in outdated black-and-white. $25,000 of the budget went to returning actor Vincent Price, potentially affecting the revised practical effects, though the barely related follow-up was deemed to be far worse overall.

The Review:
Return of the Fly immediately loses points by being filmed in black-and-white. While I have nothing against a good, grainy, black-and-white horror flick, this was the age of Technicolor, where black-and-white was not only a step backwards but almost an insult, especially as the first film was in colour, so Return of the Fly looks cheap and dated as a result. The film opens with Hélène Delambre (formally Patricia Owens) dead, apparently so haunted by the ghastly accident that cost her ambitious husband, scientist André Delambre (formally David “Al” Hedison) his life, that she was consumed by anguish. André’s devoted brother, François Delambre (Vincent Price), is especially heartbroken as he’d harboured a deep love for Hélène and stepped in to help raise her son, Philippe Delambre (Brett Halsey), as a surrogate father (and potentially married Hélène following André’s death). Alongside the sadly absent Inspector Charas (formally Herbert Marshall), who’s replaced by Inspector Beecham (John Sutton), François covered up the gruesome truth of André’s final days, which have long concerned the now-adult Philippe. Desperate for answers, Philippe begs François to tell him what happened and he reluctantly relates how André, consumed by scientific passion and curiosity, accidentally transformed himself into a bizarre human fly using his “Disintegrator-Integrator”, a potentially world-changing invention left in shambles after André destroyed it to avoid others suffering his fate. Intrigued by his father’s work and seeking to vindicate him, having become a keen scientist himself, Philippe vows to rebuild the machine and perfect his father’s dream, though François strongly advises against it and even refuses to bankroll him with what’s left of the Delambre wealth, believing André meddled in things man should leave alone.

Philippe looks to complete his father’s work, unaware he’s working with an industrial spy!

Undeterred, Philippe returns to his childhood home alongside his friend, Alan Hinds (David Frankham), who agrees to assist him and even waves off a salary to be part of the project and co-own it once they’ve changed the world. Both are quite taken by Philippe’s beautiful childhood friend, Cecile Bonnard (Danielle De Metz), who’s largely just here to be a pretty face, scream when she sees something awful, and babble in French about their childhood. Philippe and Alan quickly rebuild the Disintegrator-Integrator and successfully test it on inanimate objects. They also program it to “store” disintegrated objects to be reintegrated later (apparently a workaround for them only having one chamber), though they encounter a bizarre defect where the machine enlarges living organisms. It doesn’t take long for François to discover their progress and be coerced into aiding them, financially and with his knowledge, to keep Philippe from selling his half of the family company for additional funds (though François continues to oppose the project). Although disheartened that he effectively has to threaten his beloved uncle and encouraged by their progress, Philippe has no idea that Alan is secretly Ronald Holmes, an industrial spy looking to sell the secrets of the Disintegrator-Integrator to the unscrupulous Max Barthold (Dan Seymour) for an even greater profit. Having fled England for crimes so terrible he would be hanged if caught, Alan frantically overpowers Inspector Evans (Pat O’Hara) and sends him through the machine, only to produce a dead body with the hands and feet of a guinea pig and a guinea pig with human hands! After killing the animal and disposing of the body with Max’s help, Alan’s confronted by Philippe, who becomes concerned by his friend’s suspicious nature, only to be easily forced into the machine at gun point alongside a fly, which Alan spitefully tosses in with Philippe since he knows he’s deathly afraid of the insects.

Philippe goes on a rampage as a comical fly-thing, but is ultimatley restored to normal.

François arrives too late to help, taking a surprisingly non-fatal bullet to the gut and collapsing upon seeing Philippe emerge as a grotesque human/fly hybrid (Ed Wolff) with an enlarged and disappointingly comical head, stumpy fly leg, and claw-like arm. Like before, Philippe’s head is transposed onto the tiny fly, which buzzes around the laboratory begging for help before being captured (rather roughly) by Inspector Beecham so they can restore Philippe. Unfortunately, the fly-headed Philippe flees into the night and the police struggle to find him; they even threaten to kill him if he won’t come peacefully. Somehow, the fly-Philippe knows to head to Max’s funeral parlour and throttles him with his augmented strength. Conveniently, Alan shows up shortly after and gets his neck brutally crushed by the fly creature. When François hears of this, he worries that his nephew has already been consumed by the “murderous brain of the fly!” but Philippe apparently has enough of his humanity left to stumble home and collapse in Cecile’s bedroom. Despite still being injured, François helps Inspector Beecham get the fly-Philippe and his insect counterpart into the Disintegrator-Integrator and successfully restores his nephew, sparing him the same fate as his father. While I cut The Fly a lot of slack, it’s difficult to do the same for its sequel, primarily because the enlarged fly head looks so goofy. It’s technically impressive, I guess, but it’s too big and cartoony and makes it too obvious that it’s just a man in an uncomfortable headpiece. Return of the Fly has a higher body count than the first film, which is nice, but Philippe isn’t as interesting as his father. He lacks André’s boundless charisma and enthusiasm and his desire to recreate his father’s work seems paper thin, at best. It might’ve been better if it was Alan pushing Philippe to do this and if Philippe was somewhat reluctant. I also don’t get why the filmmakers didn’t just recast Inspector Charas or bring back Herbert Marshall as Inspector Beecham fulfilled essentially the same role and it was weird seeing a third party be aware of the awful fly experiment.

Final Thoughts:
While it has some flaws and has largely been surpassed by the 1986 remake, The Fly was still a fun, classic sci-fi film and a stirring cautionary tale about the mysteries of science. Return of the Fly hits many of the same story beats as its predecessor, focusing on a budding scientist seeking to make a historic breakthrough and being undone by that same technology, but Philippe wants to vindicate his father by completing his work; the benefits to humanity are merely a bonus. While Cecile is a pretty face, she and Philippe lack the same loving (if corny) relationship as his parents; indeed, they are never explicitly stated to be a couple by the end. Return of the Fly focuses more on the devious Alan, who plots to steal the Disintegrator-Integrator and is willing to kill for a profit. Having befriended Philippe, Alan knows how best to spite him and is perfectly positioned to manipulate him, a faulty plot point considering he stood to greatly profit from Philippe’s work. Vincent Price tries his best to elevate the material, but he doesn’t get much to work with and the effects are laughable compared to the last film (which didn’t exactly set a high bar!) Return of the Fly devolves into a simple monster movie when the fly-Philippe goes on a rampage, one that makes little sense as I have no idea how it knew to target Max and it’s still odd that the transformed people retain their intellect. You’re not missing much if you skip Return of the Fly, but I guess it’s an interesting coda for those who wanted to see more after watching the first film, but I’d be lying if I said it was a worthy follow-up.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

Were you also disappointed by Return of the Fly or do you think it’s surprisingly good? Did you also think the enlarged fly head looked too goofy to be horrifying? Do you think the film wasted Vincent Price’s talents and agree that Philippe wasn’t as interesting as his father? Were you disappointed that so much of the film focused on Alan’s nefarious scheme? Would you like to see a new adaptation of The Fly and how are you celebrating the sci-fi genre today? Leave a like and comment below with your thoughts, check out my other sci-fi reviews, and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other sci-fi movies for the site.

Movie Night [Sci-Fanuary]: The Fly (1958)

Dr. K3 Comments

January celebrates two notable dates in science-fiction history: “National Science Fiction Day” on January 2 to coincide with the birth of world renowned sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, and 12 January being when Arthur C. Clarke’s HAL 9000 was created. Accordingly, I dedicate January to celebrating sci-fi in all its forms.

Released: 16 July 1958
Director: Kurt Neumann
Distributor: 20th Century Fox

Budget: $350,000
Box Office: $1.7 million (or $3 million)
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 95% / 71%

Quick Facts:
A relatively faithful adaptation of George Langelaan’s 1957 short story, The Fly saw star David Hedison struggle with the ambitious and surprisingly terrifying practical effects as much as co-star Vincent Price struggled with the film’s iconic final moments. Regarded as a sci-fi classic, The Fly spawned a couple of sequels and a widely praised remake in 1986.

The Review:
Set in Montreal, Quebec, The Fly opens with all the major action having already taken place and aspiring scientist André Delambre (Al Hedison) crushed by a hydraulic press at his family factory. His equally wealthy brother, François Delambre (Vincent Price), is shocked by this but knocked for a loop when André’s beautiful wife, Hélène Delambre (Patricia Owens), confesses to killing her husband. Stoic and apparently remorseless, Hélène openly admits to the act, refusing to paint herself as a “murderess” as André willingly placed himself under the hydraulic press but confessing to activating the machine twice to crush his head and arm. Having adored his brother, his curious young nephew, Philippe Delambre (Charles Herbert), and having secretly been in love with Hélène for years, François is desperate to know why she’s saying such awful things and to get to the truth of the matter. François aids Inspector Charas (Herbert Marshall) in this endeavour, eager to understand why Hélène is so desperate to find and kill a white-headed fly. As Hélène faces either hanging for murder or being committed to an asylum on the grounds of insanity, François pretends to have captured the fly and threatens to give it to Inspector Charas unless Hélène tells the truth. This breaks Hélène’s crazed demeanour and she reveals she’s been pretending to be mad to protect Philippe. Assuming that François has seen the truth of the fly he’s supposedly caught, Hélène agrees to tell him and Inspector Charas the whole story, meaning most of The Fly is framed as flashback to a couple of months ago, when the Delambres’ were a healthy and happy family very much in love and enjoying the opulence of their home.

Hélène shares a fantastical story of her ambitious husband’s incredible new invention…

Back then, the charming André was a loving, if reclusive, scientist who spent days in his basement laboratory working away but always greeted his wife and son with a smile. One day, André bounded from his lab and eagerly brought Hélène to witness his latest, greatest creation: the “Disintegrator-Integrator”. Hélène watches in amazement as André’s machine teleports a plate from one glass chamber to another and shares his elation in the potential applications of the machine, which promises to solve world hunger and change concepts of transport. Unfortunately, André’s delight quickly turns sour when Hélène discovers the reintegrated objects are not perfect duplicates, so André immediately returns to work, shunning his family for several days before he solves the problem. Once satisfied that the flaw’s been corrected, André moves to live animal testing by transporting the family cat, Dandelo (Unknown). However, Dandelo mysteriously fails to reintegrate (possibly because she was transported alongside a saucer of milk) and is apparently reduced to atoms, with only her disembodied cries echoing throughout the lab. Grieved by this mishap, the cause of which he never discovers, André returns to work on his machine and finally re-emerges to demonstrate the revised Disintegrator-Integrator to Hélène, now able to teleport living objects and allowing her to care for a reintegrated guinea pig to atone for Dandelo. Though eager to celebrate his breakthrough, André hesitates to inform the wider scientific community as even he doesn’t fully understand his machine, though he excitedly requests that Hélène bring François to witness the fruits of his labour and bask in what promises to be a world-changing creation. However, when François arrives, he and Hélène are disappointed to find a badly written note taped to the door of André’s lab asking them to stay away. Assuming André has lost himself in his project once more, the two leave him to it, only for André to remain in the lab for several days.

Hélène’s desperate search for the fly leaves the horrifically altered André contemplating suicide.

Concerned, Hélène goes to check on him and finds him hiding his face behind a black cloth and keeping his left hand obscured. Though unable to speak, André converses through written and typed notes and by banging once for “yes” and twice for “no”, forcing Hélène to turn her back as he slurps his food and revealing that he experienced a horrible accident when he transported himself through the Disintegrator-Integrator. A common housefly got into the chamber with him and mixed up their DNA, leaving André with a deformed, fly-like hand and head and the fly with a human head and arm. Strangely, André retains his logic and reason but, knowing it’s only a matter of time before he loses his humanity, he orders Hélène to find the white-headed fly. Hélène spends a couple of days frantically searching all over for the fly, aided by her eager son and confusing their housemaid, Emma (Kathleen Freeman), who somehow misinterprets Hélène’s clear instructions to capture the fly and goes around swatting them. Determined to help her husband, Hélène repeatedly tries to corral the fly and is constantly met with failure: it slips out of Philippe’s net and eventually escapes into the garden, presumably acting as a fly would and slowly having its instincts overridden by André’s consciousness just as André becomes increasingly animalistic. Indeed, the frustration at his wife’s failure only exacerbates André’s condition. He struggles to type and write and keep his thoughts straight and warns that he will have to “destroy himself” if the fly isn’t found. Refusing to accept this, Hélène desperately begs André to try transporting himself again, confident that this will undo the damage, only to be left a shrieking, horrified wreck when she whips off André’s cloth and witnesses his gruesome fly head!

Despite the bizarre story, Inspector Charas is convinced to spare Hélène from the law.

While quaint by today’s standards, this practical effect is surprisingly shocking. It twitches and moves like a fly’s proboscis and effectively transforms the beautifully handsome Hedison into a tragically monstrous figure. This is further emphasised by how hard André fights the animalistic urges of his fly genes; he struggles to keep his fly arm from harming Hélène, and this same limb actively fights against him when he destroys his lab in despair. Realising that he’s meddled in forces beyond human understanding and wishing to destroy all evidence of his experiment, André uses what little humanity he has left to ransack his lab and scrawls a final declaration of love and plea for help on his chalkboard. Thus, Hélène helps her husband to the hydraulic press and, following his instructions, activates the machine to crush his fly parts into indistinguishable mush (though not before his fly arm tries to bring her under with him!) Though amazed by Hélène’s story, Inspector Charas begrudgingly returns with a warrant and the men in white coats to take her to the nut house. While he’s also sceptical, François is desperate to save Hélène and frantically alerts Inspector Charas to a white-headed fly Philippe found caught in a spider-web in the garden. Dubious, Inspector Charas entertains François’s plea one last time, taking no pleasure in causing him pain, and is appalled when he sees the fly has André’s head! Inspector Charas and François watch in horror as a spider advances on the half-human fly as André screams for help. Unable to stand the screaming, Inspector Charas crushes both and François immediately condemns him as being as guilty of murder as Hélène. Shocked by the whole ordeal, Inspector Charas reluctantly agrees to François’s suggestion that André committed suicide, sparing Hélène from death and the asylum. Some time later, Hélène and Philippe return to normal, with François now much closer to them, and François sadly tells Philippe that his father died in a reckless search for the “truth”.

Final Thoughts:
Although I grew up with the 1986 remake, I’ve always had a fondness for the 1958 adaptation of the The Fly, which I read and wrote about at university. Aside from a few changes, this is surprisingly faithful to the original short story and certainly one of the more ambitious sci-fi efforts of the late-1950s. Although some of the dialogue is a bit clunky and André and Hélène’s relationship is sickeningly sweet, André has an enthusiastic and affable charm about him thanks to the charismatic David Hedison, who adeptly captures André’s despair and torment after his horrific accident. Vincent Price brings his peerless authenticity to the film, perfectly portraying François as a lovestruck, tormented man trying to do his best by Hélène while struggling to comprehend her fantastical tale. Philippe was kind of annoying but did his best to be helpful, while Patricia Owens did a fine job carrying the bulk of the drama, portraying Hélène as a devoted wife desperate to help her husband. The Fly does a great job of building tension to the big reveal, giving glimpses of André’s malformed hand and depicting his obvious desperation and struggle to maintain his humanity. Sure, the fly head might be quite laughable by today’s standards but that reveal scene is an iconic moment in sci-fi cinema and has immortalised the film as much as the infamous ending. Again, the fly-André’s anguished cries of “Help me! He-ll-p me-e!” might be absurd, but it’s played so straight and so horrific that I can’t help but get shivers as that painfully fake spider devours him. While The Fly was completely outshined by its remake, it’s still a classic sci-fi morality tale of the dangers of science and a surprisingly effective exploration of madness and devotion, to say nothing of having some memorable moments that make it a truly timeless experience.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Did you enjoy this sci-fi classic? Did you like how accurate it was to the book? Were you won over by the seemingly perfect life shared by André and Hélène? Did you like the build up towards the big reveal or did the endless chasing for the fly get on your nerves? Were you impressed with the practical effects or do you think they’ve aged badly? Would you like to see another adaptation that was as closely tied to Langelaan’s book? How are you celebrating sci-fi this January? Like this review and leave a comment below, check out my other sci-fi reviews, and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other sci-fi movies for me to cover.

Movie Night [Sci-Fanuary]: The Thing

Dr. K2 Comments

January celebrates two notable dates in science-fiction history: “National Science Fiction Day” on January 2 to coincide with the birth of world renowned sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, and 12 January being when Arthur C. Clarke’s HAL 9000 was created. Accordingly, I dedicate January to celebrating sci-fi in all its forms.

Released: 14 October 2011
Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
Distributor: Universal Pictures

Budget: $38 million
Box Office: $31.5 million
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 34% / 43%

Quick Facts:
Despite being a critical and commercial failure at the time, John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) became a sci-fi/horror classic but spawned only comic books and videogames rather than a sequel. Universal Pictures eventually revisited the iconic Who Goes There? (Campbell, 1928) with a prequel to both expand upon and pay homage to John Carpenter’s classic. Despite the filmmakers utilising traditional practical effects by Amalgamated Dynamics, the studio demanded they be replaced with digital effects, dramatically changing the ending and leading to much unfair critical backlash and the cancellation of a follow-up.

The Review:
Nonsensical title aside (The Thing: Zero or The Thing: Origin might’ve worked better), The Thing is a rare example of a clever way to do a remake, even if the execution isn’t as memorable as John Carpenter’s film. The Thing is set in 1982, just like Carpenter’s movie, and follows the crew of Norwegian research station “Thule” in Antarctica, making it a direct prelude to John Carpenter’s movie. We saw glimpses of the Norwegian’s discovery and their gruesome fate in 1982 film, but The Thing expands upon what happened at Thule and even incorporates some elements from The Thing from Another World (Nyby, 1951). The film opens with the Norwegians randomly discovering a vast and ancient alien spacecraft buried deep under the ice, estimated to have been there for over 100,000 years. Though Thule houses a few scientific minds, Doctor Sander Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen) and his assistant, Adam Finch (Eric Christian Olsen), assemble a team to investigate the crash and its ejected pilot. Adam suggests recruiting beautiful palaeontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and, despite the lack of details, she eagerly agrees and is as amazed as the others are by the discovery. Although they question why the pilot would’ve ejected, geologist Edvard Wolner (Trond Espen Seim) enthusiastically organises his men to help Kate excavate the creature, which they bring to Thule in a massive block of ice. Against Kate’s warnings, Dr. Halvorson orders a tissue sample to be taken from the entombed creature, chastising her for contradicting him and arrogantly wishing to be at the forefront of the find of the century. To be fair, Dr. Halvorson does promise to credit everyone with the discovery, which he verifies is the first recorded example of an extraterrestrial visitor to Earth. Despite her unease, Kate celebrates the reveal alongside the others, including pilots Sam Carter (Joel Edgerton) and Derek Jameson (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje).

Norwegians and Americans alike are stunned to excavate an aggressive alien predator.

While inspecting the thawing ice block, Jameson is horrified when the titular “Thing” bursts free and, after a moment’s disbelief, convinces the others to search for it. When Henrik (Jo Adrian Haavind) and Olav (Jan Gunnar Røise) find the vaguely insectile creature under a building, Henrik is ensnared and seemingly devoured, splattering Olav with blood and leading the others to burn the Thing alive. The shell shocked team barely hold it together as Dr. Halvorson conducts an autopsy and finds a disturbing copy of Henrick within the mangled corpse. Against Dr. Halvorson’s wishes, Kate reviews the Thing’s tissue and is horrified to discover that the alien cells are attacking, absorbing, and replicating living tissue. Her warnings fall on deaf ears, however, as even Adam is in denial despite witnessing it for himself, meaning Kate’s powerless to stop Derek, Griggs (Paul Braunstein), and Sam from taking Olav to a medical facility (and, as Sam promises, getting military aid). However, after discovering bloody dental fillings in the bathroom, Kate rushes to flag down the helicopter, sure that someone onboard is the Thing. Turns out it was Griggs, who violently splits apart and crashes the chopper, though the others are still sceptical about Kate’s warnings, especially as the evidence has been cleaned up. Juliette (Kim Bubbs) offers to help Kate get the keys to Thule’s vehicles to keep Edvard and the others from leaving and potentially spreading the Thing’s reach, only for her to also be revealed as a Thing and kill Karl (Carsten Bjørnlund) before being immolated by the surly Lars (Jørgen Langhelle) and his flamethrower. Echoing a similar scene from the 1982 film, the survivors dig a ditch in the snow and burn all the bodies, agreeing to quarantine themselves until they can figure out who’s who using a blood test devised by Dr. Halvorson and Adam, just like in Carpenter’s film. Similarly, this test is sabotaged when the laboratory goes up in flames, which also raises tensions in the group.

While the execution is somewhat flawed, the film works as a decent prelude to the 1982 movie.

I like that The Thing largely commits to having the Norwegian characters speak in Norwegian and that it closely emulates the aesthetic of John Carpenter’s film, with Marco Beltrami’s foreboding score reminiscent of Ennio Morricone’s work in 1982. The film quality is noticeably better but the set design seems to perfectly match with what we saw in 1982, and The Thing goes to great lengths to explain how Thule ended up in the state it’s found in the previous film. Although the survivors briefly turn on and suspect each other, with Adam, Sam, and Jameson prime suspects since the former was the last person in the lab before it burned up and the latter two inexplicably survived the helicopter crash. Although the test is ruined, Kate checks everyone for fillings, leaving Adam, Colin (Jonathan Lloyd Walker), Edvard, and Dr. Halvorson suspects as they claim to have porcelain fillings. This scene isn’t as tense as the 1982 blood test but it’s a great way to show that the Thing cannot replicate inorganic material, meaning fillings and other metal implants are rejected during the absorption process. While fetching the isolated Sam and Jameson to check them, the Thing attacks and, in a bout of paranoia, Peder (Stig Henrik Hoff) is shot dead and Edvard is injured by an explosion. He’s dramatically revealed to be the Thing and goes on a rampage, infecting Jonas (Kristofer Hivju) and Dr. Halvorson killing Jameson, and gruesomely crawling over Adam to partially merge with him and create the abhorrent two-headed Thing discovered in John Carpenter’s film. After finally destroying this creature, Kate and Sam spot Dr. Halvorson fleeing in a snowcat. While Sam’s happy to let him drive off and freeze to death, Kate realises the Thing would benefit from that and that it’s heading back to the space craft, so she encourages them to pursue, relieved to find that Sam still has his ear piercing and is thus human.

While CGI isn’t as impressive as practical effects, it’s not as bad as many  would have you believe.

While there are moments of tension and suspense in The Thing, this is far more akin to a monster movie than John Carptener’s film, focusing more on large, ungainly alien abominations and giving us a bigger body count. The Thing is still an unknowable, shapeless creature that’s cunning, patient, and extremely volatile, happy to imitate a victim and bide its time. While hidden as Griggs, the Thing almost escapes and, much like in the 1982 film, many characters are infected offscreen to keep the audience guessing. The Thing is noticeably more insectile at times and far more bloodthirsty, skewering and impaling prey with its razor-sharp tentacles and devouring them afterwards rather than immediately trying to absorb them. It still detaches parts of itself, notably its hands, to attack and is particularly vulnerable to fire, especially when in the middle of imitating someone. It cannot replicate inorganic material, though, raising some questions about how it has time to get dressed after imitating someone. It still imitates people flawlessly despite this, even attacking other parts of itself to maintain the ruse and being smart enough to lure others to a quiet area to attack, though Thule is well stocked with flamethrowers and grenades. Unfortunately, as many have said, The Thing ditches traditional practical effects for CGI visuals, and the results are noticeably mixed. When I first saw it, I didn’t think it was all that bad and thought it did a decent job of capturing the same vibe as Carpenter’s film but being just different enough in fun and clever ways to be enjoyable. I still think this, and this extends to the visuals, which are still disturbingly gruesome even if the CGI can be quite dodgy and cartoony. It does mean The Thing is a little less gory at times, especially when the alien is revealing itself or attacking someone, which is a bizarre choice considering how ghastly the effects are when it splits apart and erupts into a mess of tentacles, teeth, and moaning humanoid faces.

Despite the bizarre ending, the film segues nicely into the beginning of Carpenter’s cult classic.

Kate and Sam follow the Halvorson-Thing back to the spaceship, which it activates in a bid to either return to the stars or infect larger civilised areas. The commotion separates Kate and Sam, leaving Kate to wander the highly advanced alien craft and stumble upon a glowing, geometric hologram that leaves her mesmerised for some time. This was initially a biomechanical alien pilot, not unlike the “Space Jockey”, that was originally planned to have been collecting alien samples before being attacked by the Thing. Other versions of the film had an animatronic version of this pilot (or a horrendous amalgamation of Dr. Halvorson, the pilot, and the Thing) attacking Kate for the finale. Instead, Kate stares at this weird lightshow before the disappointingly cartoonish, CGI Halvorson-Thing attacks, forcing her to find space to toss a grenade into its gaping, teeth-riddled maw. Luckily, Sam appears just in time to unload with a flamethrower, destroying the grotesque creature and shutting down the ship’s engines. Though exhausted and battered, Kate still has the wherewithal to notice that Sam is now missing his earring and burns him alive without hesitation, reducing him to a squealing mess of alien meat as the Thing is finally destroyed. While Kate heads towards a nearby Soviet base in the snowcat, pilot Matias (Ole Martin Aune Nilsen) returns to Thule from a refuelling mission and finds it in ruins, Colin having slit his wrists out of fear of being assimilated, and is confronted by a paranoid, trigger-happy Lars. After verifying that Matias is human, Largs desperately urges Matias into the chopper to pursue his fleeing snow dog, which was discovered brutally killed soon after the Thing first awoke, perfectly tying the end of this film into the beginning of John Carpenter’s The Thing…

Final Thoughts:
I’ve always been a big fan of John Carpenter’s The Thing, even if it can drag a bit in the middle. It’s a fantastic example of horror, paranoia, and gruesome practical effects that would be difficult for any film to emulate. Rather than try to remake John Carpenter’s cult classic, The Thing opts to act as a companion piece, a prequel to show what happened at Thule before the 1982 film. In that respect, I maintain that The Thing does a decent job. The attention to detail in the set design and the fates of Thule’s residents is admirable, revealing that these twisted, mangled corpses were once people driven to desperation and paranoia or overtaken by a violent alien organism. I really liked the abundance of subtitles and Norwegian being spoken and it made sense to bring in some Americans as Thule wasn’t equipped to properly excavate or study the Thing. I adore Mary Elizabeth Winstead and won’t hear anything against here. Kate was a forthright and level-headed character who kept her cool, even when being attacked by the Thing, and came up with practical solutions. Joel Edgerton is no Kurt Russell, though, and most of the other characters are interchangeable and forgettable compared to those in Carpenter’s film, but I liked the smarmy, arrogant Dr. Halvorson, who seemed to be channelling the equally egotistical Doctor Arthur Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite) from The Thing from Another World. While I don’t think the CGI is that bad, it’s true that it’s not as impactful as practical effects and appears very slap-dash, lacking the visceral horror of animatronics and puppets. The weird hologram-thing in the spaceship was a strange decision (it might’ve been better to just cut that scene) and the Halvorson-Thing wasn’t as grotesquely disturbing as the monstrous Blair-Thing, despite being more mobile thanks to CGI. I truly think The Thing is better than a lot of people think and is worthy of re-evaluation. It works really well as a double feature with John Carpenter’s The Thing and has some good moments, but even I must admit that it’s lacking compared to its predecessor and sadly missed the mark with its overall execution.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Do you agree that The Thing is better than most people think? Did you like that it aligned well as a prequel? Were you disappointed that much of the suspense was downplayed in favour of monster horror? Did you find the CGI disappointing and what did you think to that hologram thing? Would you like to see a new version of Who Goes There? on the big screen? How are you celebrating sci-fi this month? Whatever you thought to The Thing, comment down below and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other sci-fi films for me to review.

Movie Night [Sci-Fanuary]: John Carpenter’s The Thing

Dr. K5 Comments

January celebrates two notable dates in science-fiction history: “National Science Fiction Day” on January 2 to coincide with the birth of world renowned sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, and 12 January being when Arthur C. Clarke’s HAL 9000 was created. Accordingly, I dedicate January to celebrating sci-fi in all its forms.

Released: 25 June 1982
Director: John Carpenter
Distributor: Universal Pictures

Budget: $15 million
Box Office: $20,847,529
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 85% / 92%

Quick Facts:
The second big screen adaptation of John W. Campbell’s iconic 1928 novella Who Goes There?, The Thing was almost helmed by horror maestro Tobe Hooper before John Carpenter got involved and pushed for a story closer to the source material. Bill Lancaster modernised the story to focus on paranoia and fear while Rob Bottin delivered the gruesome practical effects to meld numerous bizarre and horrific alien aspects into the titular “Thing”. A critical and commercial failure at the time, John Carpenter’s The Thing is now widely regarded as a sci-fi/horror classic and spawned comic books, videogames, and a divisive 2011 prequel.

The Review:
Life within the remote, frigid United States Outpost 31 is suddenly turned upside down when a couple of Norwegian researchers suddenly circle their snowed-in facility, where the isolated inhabitants wile away in the rec room or, in pilot R. J. “Mac” MacReady’s (Kurt Russell) case, swigging whiskey and being beaten at computer chess. The Norwegians are chasing a sled dog (Jed) through the snow and, when they fail to shoot it, land to try explosives. The commotion alerts Mac and his cohorts, who rush into the snow to see what’s up and unknowingly shield the dog, leading to the desperate and ranting Norwegian (Norbert Weisser) to threaten them at gunpoint after accidentally blowing up his helicopter and co-pilot. Startled, the Americans open fire, with station commander M. T. Garry (Donald Moffat) executing the Norwegian with his prized revolver. Confused by all this, Mac takes station physician Doctor Copper (Richard Dysart) to the Norwegian base, despite the inclement weather, and finds it a burned out, frozen wreck full of gruesome bodies. While Dr. Copper gathers the Norwegians’ notes to try and understand what happened, Mac discovers the frozen remains of a mysterious ice-like tomb and a charred, inhuman corpse that’s hideously malformed. They transport the remains back to base for analysis, only for microbiologist Doctor Blair (A. Wilford Brimley) to be bemused by the Thing’s malformed, misshapen biology. Still puzzled by whatever fate befell the Norwegians and the bizarre, steaming corpse sitting in their medical room, the team return to their games, pondering the day’s events and niggling each other, unaware that the sled dog has snuck into one of their rooms.

Mac and the others discover a horrifying alien parasite that assimilates anything it touches.

Sombre dog handler Clark (Richard Masur) later takes the adopted dog to the kennels, where it suddenly and violently erupts into a writhing, thrashing, screaming alien creature! Ensnaring the other dogs and spraying them with goop, it assaults the panicked dogs, drawing Clark and the others. Horrified, Mac and Garry blast the Dog-Thing and the other dogs, much to Clark’s dismay, and surly mechanic Childs (Keith David) incinerates the creature with a flamethrower. Dr. Blair’s subsequent autopsy reveals that the burned corpse isn’t a dog, but an “imitation” of one that was attempting to absorb and imitate the other dogs. Reviewing the Norwegians’ data, which includes video footage similar to the 1951 film, the crew discovers that the Norwegians discovered an alien space craft buried deep in the ice. They risk another helicopter ride to the site and find the craft, which is estimated to have crashed thousands of years ago and which was uncovered when the Norwegians used explosives, leading them to recover a frozen occupant who subsequently overran their base. Shaken by the implications, Dr. Blair runs some tests and determines that the parasitic organism aggressively latches onto and absorbs living cells, perfectly imitating any living creature it samples and sprouting teeth, tentacles, and other appendages from potentially thousands of other worlds. Realising that the Thing could overtake the entire world within three years if it reaches civilisation, Dr. Blair snaps and wrecks the outpost’s communications array and much of their equipment before he’s subdued and isolated. This leaves out of his depth assistant biologist Fuchs (Joel Polis) to pour over Dr. Blair’s mad ramblings for a solution and Garry shell-shocked when the Dog-Thing’s remains slither to life and absorb his friend, meteorologist George Bennings (Peter Maloney), forcing the others to set his half-transformed form alive and burn every trace of the alien from the outpost.

Paranoia and fear run rampant as the Thing assimilates those around it and feeds their distrust.

With radio operator Windows (Thomas Waites) unable to call for help and their vehicles trashed during Dr. Blair’s breakdown, the survivors prepare to weather an incoming storm, tensions flare when soiled long johns appear in cook Nauls’ (T. K. Carter) kitchen and the shredded remains of Mac’s clothing are found out in the snow. Dr. Copper suggests they use the blood bank to test who’s human and who’s the Thing, but this is scuppered when someone destroys the blood bank and they descend into arguments and finger pointing when this is discovered, accusing Garry since he’s the only one with the keys and Dr. Copper since he regularly accesses the blood. The distrust being thrown around knocks Garry’s confidence and, after a tense showdown with Windows when he frantically grabs a shotgun, Garry relinquishes his revolver and command to Mac. While Mac tries to hold the group together, being the coolest and most logical head despite his growing fear and paranoia, the others descend into anger and distrust after Fuchs is mysteriously burned alive and any chance of employing Dr. Copper’s blood test. However, but soon decide Mac is the most untrustworthy  and strand him in the blizzard. They’re even more convinced he’s the Thing when he stumbles back to base without a guideline and, enraged by their betrayal and wracked by the cold, Mac threatens to blow them all up with dynamite if they don’t listen to reason. The tense standoff sees Mac and Childs clash and Clark, also a chief suspect due to his close proximity to the dogs, ready to shank Mac at the first opportunity. During the scuffle to disarm Mac, terrified geologist Norris (Charles Hallahan) is tossed aside and seemingly dies from a heart attack, only to be shockingly revealed to be the Thing! This revelation does little to allay Mac’s suspicions and, after the ghastly Norris-Thing and its offspring are incinerated, Mac forces those he begrudgingly trusts to tie up those he doesn’t and ventures that their blood with violently react to a hit needle if they’ve been assimilated.

Recovered from a crashed ship, the Thing is a hideous amalgamation of various organisms.

Rather than being a strange vegetable creature, the titular Thing is a parasitic organism like in the book. Although we see its flying saucer crash to Earth in the pre-title sequence, there’s no way of knowing if the Thing was the pilot or was simply held captive on the ship (though I’d venture to say the ship crash-landed after the Thing broke out). The Thing has no true form and instead hides behind imitation, perfectly replicating living creatures and even mirroring their personalities, to the point where the assimilated seem unaware that they’re the Thing until they’re threatened. Assistant mechanic Palmer (David Clennon), for example, appears completely human until Mac performs his blood test, whereupon Palmer violently explodes into bloody, gnashing jaws. Norris also appears normal, even tackling Mac alongside the others, until he appears to die and Dr. Copper performs CPR and Norris’s chest splits open and rips his arms off! The Thing’s only goal is to assimilate and procreate everything it can, picking off potential threats and fighting to survive when threatened. Although it appears inhumanly strong and durable, shrugging off shotgun blasts and easily manhandling Windows, it’s not invulnerable. Fire is especially effective, as is dynamite, with the creature being most vulnerable mid-transformation, as seen with the Bennings-Thing. Rather than being a singular organism, every cell of the Thing is alive and thinking, allowing it to disgustingly detach part of itself when the main “body” is destroyed and meaning it can infect multiple targets at once. The Thing is also seen to be very shrewd and intelligent, allowing the survivors to waste their energies on paranoia and accusations rather than formulating strategies, and having intelligence enough to cobble together a miniature flying saucer in the case of the Blair-Thing. The Thing is also incredibly patient, happy to let the humans destroy themselves and hibernate in the snow until the rescue team arrives and then assimilate them…and the rest of the world, in short order.

Although Mac destroys the Blair-Thing, there are lingering questions about who can be trusted. 

When Mac’s blood test outs Palmers and leads to him and Windows dying, a slither of trust is reignited as the cleared survivors go to test Dr. Blair. However, they find he’s built a small flying saucer and tunnelled his way out, revealing himself to also be a Thing. After the Blair-Thing destroys the outpost’s power generator, Mac realises it’s willing to outlast them in the cold to escape and that they’re unlikely to make it out alive without any heat and rescue far away. Resolving to keep the Thing from reaching civilisation, Mac and the others prepare to bring the whole outpost down by setting dynamite charges. However, paranoia rears its ugly head as Nauls and Childs go missing; the Blair-Thing also ambushes Garry in the tunnels, leaving Mac alone. The Blair-Thing then spectacularly erupts from the floor as a massive, mewling amalgamation of repulsive alien and vaguely animal parts in a fantastic combination of practical effects, stop motion techniques, and puppetry. While the monstrous Blair-Thing is quite lumbering and mainly just stands there roaring, its tentacles whipping about as it emits that disturbing hissing, it devours Mac’s detonator and seems poised to take him. Defiant until the end, the rugged, exhausted Mac tosses a stick of dynamite at the creature and destroys it, along with the entire outpost. Barely escaping the blast, Mac stumbles through the burning debris and finally collapses from fatigue, whiskey in hand. Childs emerges from the blizzard, claiming to have gotten lost while pursuing Dr. Blair, and sits with him, both too tired to argue or to fight. Realising the flames will die out soon and they’re likely to perish from the cold, the two acknowledge the futility of their situation and their mutual distrust and resolve to simple share a drink and wait to see what happens, leaving their ultimate fate up to the audience…

Final Thoughts:
John Carpenter’s The Thing is one of the quintessential remakes of all time. While the original film was an ambitious B-movie that took huge liberties with the source material, The Thing stays very close to Who Goes There? in its interpretation of the titular alien parasite and the destructive paranoia that tears the humans apart. There’s a sense that many of the characters barely tolerated each other to begin with, meaning tensions fray very quickly once they realise the Thing can perfectly imitate them down to their memories and behaviour. The film perfectly conveys this by rarely, if ever, showing who’s been assimilated and when, meaning we never really know who to trust as everyone – even rugged protagonist Mac – is a suspect. It’s thus shocking when characters turn out to be human or suddenly explode into a thrashing, shrieking mess of flesh and teeth and even destroying the Thing and performing tests doesn’t stamp out the unease felt by the survivors. Kurt Russell did a great job as reluctant leader Mac, who seems ready to pack it all in at a moment’s notice. I liked his heated rivalry with the immortal Keith David and how easily he took charge, and how physically and emotionally exhausted he was by the whole ordeal. Some aspects, like Dr. Blair’s computer simulation, are rather quaint but they get the job done and the gruesome special effects more than make up for them. The Thing is constantly sprouting new appendages and forms and surprising audiences by springing to the ceiling, becoming a scurrying spider-like head, or clamping down on its prey with its massive teeth. It’s a spectacularly ghastly creature that’s nauseating to look at as you never know what it’s going to do next as it clearly retains knowledge of other alien creatures and is a highly adaptable and versatile parasite. The ending may be one of cinema’s greatest cliff-hangers and the simple story of distrust and desperation remains as palpable as ever, making John Carpenter’s The Thing a timeless sci-fi/horror classic that’s difficult to beat.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Do you agree that John Carpenter’s The Thing is one of the greatest remakes of all time? How do you feel it works as an adaptation? Which character were you most surprised to find out was human (or the Thing)? Did you enjoy Kurt Russell’s performance and his rivalry with Keith David? How amazing were those gruesome special effects? How did you interpret the ending and what sci-fi films are you watching this month? Use the comments below to hap some praise on John Carpenter’s The Thing and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other sci-fi films you’d like to see me cover.

Movie Night [Christmas Day]: Violent Night

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Released: 2 December 2022
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Budget: $20 million
Stars: David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Leah Brady, Alex Hassell, Mike Dopud, and Beverly D’Angelo

The Plot:
When the malicious “Mister Scrooge” (Leguizamo) and his mercenaries raid the mansion of disgustingly rich Gertrude Lightstone (D’Angelo) and take her family hostage, it’s up to the embittered, drunken, Santa Claus (Harbour) to save them by rediscovering his warrior roots.

The Background
Despite attracting mixed reviews, Die Hard (McTiernan, 1988) was a financial success that revitalised 20th Century Fox, redefined the action hero stereotype, and inspired not just a bunch of sequels…but a slew of knock-offs! Soon, all the action stars of the eighties and nineties were aping burned out cop John McClane to give us “Die Hard…but on a boat!”, “Die Hard…but in a hockey stadium!”, and “Die Hard…but on a train!”, among others, and this “elevator pitch” for action movies continued into the 2000s and beyond. In 2022, this concept reached its logical conclusion with Violent Night, which began as an original screenplay by Pat Casey and Josh Miller. Tommy Wirkola signed on to direct after impressing the producers with his 2021 action/comedy, The Trip, and David Harbour joined as the disgruntled Santa after being won over by the script. With a box office of just over $76 million, Violent Night was a surprise success met with largely positive reviews that praised the over-the-top violence and Harbour’s nuanced performance. Wirkola’s tentative plans for a sequel soon came to fruition as a follow-up is scheduled for December 2026.

The Review:
When Violent Night begins, Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick is downing pints in a British pub and questioning his relevance in a world increasingly swamped by greed and selfishness. Santa Claus has lost sight of why he even started delivering presents to those on his “Good” list and coal to those who have been naughty, especially as kids have become extremely ungrateful over the years. Despite being way over the legal limit, Santa continues on, flying along on a sleigh pulled by eight magical reindeer, while contemplating quitting. While Santa may have lost the spirit of Christmas, young Gertrude “Trudy” Lightstone (Brady) still firmly believes in Santa Claus and the hope for reconciliation between her parents, Jason (Hassell) and Linda (Alexis Louder), who’ve been estranged for some time. This is primarily due to Jason constantly being at the beck and call of his demanding mother, Gertrude, who runs the family business with an iron fist and favours Jason over her daughter, borderline alcoholic sycophant Alva (Edi Patterson). It’s not clear what business the Lightstone family dabbles in beyond a mention of her essentially laundering money for the United States government, but it’s certainly profitable, earning Gertrude an opulent, private mansion and even her own kill squad. Linda watched for years as Jason bowed to his mother’s every whim before she finally had enough and, realising this, Jason secretly raids her vault for a cool £300 million, hoping to entice Linda away with promises of a clean break. First, Jason and his family must endure the obligatory Christmas with Alva’s self-absorbed influencer son, Bertrude/Bert (Alexander Elliot), and her clueless prima donna lover, actor Morgan Steel (Cam Gigandet). While Alva, Bert, and Morgan constantly suck up to Gertrude, desperate for her approval and recognition, Jason hangs back, safe in the knowledge that a new life awaits him by the night’s end.

Mr. Scrooge’s plot to rob the wealthy Lightstones turns to venting his anger on Santa Claus.

However, Jason’s scheme is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Mr. Scrooge and his festively named cohorts, who infiltrated the usually air-tight Lightstone manor by posing as caterers and quickly off Gertrude’s private security, taking the family hostage to gain access to her vault. Gertrude defiantly stands up to Mr. Scrooge at every opportunity, taking a punch and a verbal berating for her arrogance, confident that her family’s reputation and her feared kill squad – led by Commander Thorp (Mike Dopud) – will scare off the intruders. However, thanks to months of planning and having Commander Thorp in his pocket, Mr. Scrooge is well informed of Gertrude’s security measures and has meticulously planned the operation to perfection. While Mr. Scrooge laments that such operations aren’t as simple as the old days, Commander Thorp’s knowledge of the security codes means his team easily break into the vault once the kill team arrives, only to find it empty as Jason already cleaned it out. Before that, Mr. Scrooge relishes tormenting the Lightstones, employing the sadistic “Krampus” (Brendan Fletcher) to intimidate the family and use a large nutcracker on Jason when he learns of an unexpected “gopher” screwing up his plan. Mr. Scrooge is unimpressed by rumours of a Santa Claus offing his team, and even less impressed when he communicates to Santa directly via Trudy’s walkie-talkie and meets the big man face-to-face. While the towering “Gingerbread” (André Eriksen) and, especially, the alluring but vicious “Candy Cane” (Mitra Suri) are awestruck by Santa’s magical presence, Mr. Scrooge remains angrily sceptical about the entire situation until coming across Santa’s “Naughty” list and seeing his name and all his misdeeds listed. From there, Mr. Scrooge’s operation takes a decidedly personal turn and he relishes taking a lifetime of anger and resentment out on the battered and bloody Santa, blaming the festive icon for his troubled childhood as much as disrupting his operation.

Disgruntled Santa’s forced to rediscover his Viking roots to save the Lightstones.

Santa is shown to be at the end of his tether in Violent Night. Old, worn out, and disheartened, he’s ready to call the whole thing quits as more kids ask for cash or videogames and care little for the Christmas spirit. Depicted as an ancient Viking warrior once called “Nicomund the Red”, Santa was once a violent, bloodthirsty barbarian before adopting the hat and suit, though the film actively avoids delving too deeply into Santa’s past or the specifics of his magic, which often fails him and even he doesn’t understand. When gunfire scares off his reindeer, Santa prepares to leave after killing “Tinsel” (Phong Giang) in self-defence but reluctantly opts to return to the mansion to help the Lightstones. Like John McClane, Santa wages a surreptitious hit-and-run battle, using the Naughty list to keep track of his targets and communicating with his sole ally (Trudy) via walkie-talkie. Emboldened by Santa’s presence, Trudy cobbles together boobytraps like in Home Alone (Columbus, 1990) and encourages him to rekindle his old warrior spirit, with him using a nearby sledgehammer as a substitute for his warhammer, “Skullcrusher”. Santa’s a very mysterious figure, utilising a magic sack that always contains the next present and sewing up his wounds like he’s John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) thanks to his warrior background. Having somehow lived for centuries and operating out of the North Pole alongside his unseen wife and elves, Santa unsettles Mr. Scrooge’s minions with his knowledge of their pasts as much as he fucks up their shit with his brutal attacks. Though as vulnerable as any man, ending up a bloodied mess by the finale, Santa’s very adaptable, utilising tinsel and candy canes as much as his sledgehammer to off his targets, relishing the violence and the chance to feel needed once more.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Violent Night isn’t the first film to depict Santa Claus as disillusioned and cranky, but it sure is one of the more unique. The Die Hard influences are immediate and much appreciated, with Santa’s cat-and-mouse game with Mr. Scrooge echoing McClane’s campaign against the odds in his film/s, but obviously with a more fantastical slant as this is a world where Santa Claus and Christmas magic are very real. It’s therefore fair to call this “The Santa Clause (Pasquin, 1994) meets Die Hard” as Santa can (sporadically) transform into pixie dust to go in and out of chimneys, carries magical scrolls telling him who’s been good or bad, and has lived for centuries thanks to his magic. However, he’s also alone in a massive structure against a superior, well-armed force and takes a hell of a beating along the way, only succeeding through stubbornness and fortitude. As harrowing as the whole escapade is, it couldn’t have come at a better time for Santa, who’s ready to pack the gig in after this Christmas. Judging by the likes of Bert, it’s easy to see why, but Trudy pulls him back from the brink with her unwavering belief, even after Jason’s forced to reveal that Santa Claus isn’t real. Ironically, Santa finds the strength to persevere not through doubling down on good deeds, but by rediscovering his warrior roots to knock off Mr. Scrooge’s men, reinvigorating his fighting spirit and his commitment to the children of the world in the process. It’s doubly ironic considering Gertrude and Alva are deplorable people who arguably don’t deserve to be saved, Morgan and Bert are selfish in different ways, and even Jason is hinted to have been as ruthless as his mother in the past. Thankfully, their family drama leads to some enjoyable moments as they bicker while being held at gunpoint and find a common threat in the likes of Krampus to vent their frustrations onto.

Some fun, brutal, gory action works alongside the humour to make the film standout from its peers.

This mixture of comedy and brutal action helps Violent Night stand out from other Die Hard clones. The film doesn’t take itself too seriously, and yet also doesn’t skimp on the gore, delivering some enjoyable kills and action sequences, mainly involving the half-drunk and cynical Santa. At first, Santa’s desperate to avoid the situation and only fights Tinsel because his magic fails him. Originally trying (poorly) to hide or talk his way out of the situation, Santa ends up falling through a window with Tinsel in tow, accidentally impaling the mercenary on an icicle that’s part of Gertrude’s many elaborate Christmas displays. Such icicle-based gore is rife in Violent Night, with Santa and Linda using icicles to stab their assailants, usually in the eye. Santa’s fight with “Frosty” (Can Aydin) in the den is a decidedly more gruelling affair, one that ends with Frosty taking a star-shaped Christmas tree topper to the eye and being summarily electrocuted, his face briefly catching fire in the aftermath. Santa takes his fair share of punishment in each fight, which is to be expected given how well armed and capable the mercenaries are, enduring the agony of stitching up a gut wound and getting cut up pretty badly in the finale. Although dismayed when the kill squad shows up to make things worse, Santa grabs a sledgehammer and puts a beating on Commander Throp’s squad after some encouragement from Trudy, breaking bones and skulls with brutal grace. Santa also employs ice skates to cut, stab, and behead his foes and even feeds a couple into a woodchipper and drops a grenade into another’s clothing, stopping for a moment to enjoy the explosion, though he’s clueless about guns. Trudy proves equally sadistic, setting up obvious boobytraps to mask others, leading to Gingerbread being impaled through the mouth, ass, and forehead by nails and Candy Cane to be battered by bowling balls. She also gets partially scalped by sticky glue and ends up having her head smashed in by Santa while Trudy happily distracts herself singing “Jingle Bells”.

Though the brutal fight takes a lot out of Santa, his faith is renewed and he rediscovers himself.

Despite Mr. Scrooge’s well-laid plans, he comes up short thanks to Jason and Santa’s interference. Driven to frustration, he threatens to kill Linda, forcing Jason to come clean and lead him to the cash, which is stored in another of Gertrude’s Christmas displays. After she, Bert, and Alva beat and stab Krampus to death and Santa arms her, Linda provides enough cover fire to scare Mr. Scrooge and Commander Thorp into the woods, leaving Linda and Jason to finally reconcile after working together to kill off Peppermint (Rawleigh Clements-Willis). Santa finally catches up to Mr. Scrooge at a nearby cabin, where the psychotic burglar is first amazed and then enraged to discover that Santa is the real deal. Armed with a baton and an ice axe and maintaining his balance using spiked shoes, Mr. Scrooge vents his anger upon Santa, easily dodging most of his wild wings and enduring his relentless counterattack to stab and beat Santa. Their brawl brings them towards the remains of a chimney, where Mr. Scrooge impales Santa through the hand and prepares to end to Christmas once and for all. However, Santa rips himself free and finally gets his Christmas magic to work, flying them up the chimney and turning Mr. Scrooge into little more than a bloody spray and a mangled torso. Santa’s victory is short-lived as a confused Commander Thorp guns him down, though Thorp gets a bullet to the head courtesy of a slighted Gertrude. Grateful to their mysterious, colourful saviour, Jason and Linda desperately try to keep Santa warm as Trudy weeps by his side and Alva sickeningly begs them to stop burning money to keep Santa alive. Regardless, Santa succumbs to his wounds but makes a miraculous return when Trudy’s steadfast belief in him is echoed by his family, restoring him to life thanks to mysterious Christmas magic. His faith renewed, a grateful Santa says his goodbyes to Trudy and Jason but rages at his reindeer when they return too late to help. However, his anger subsides when he sees they brought him his spare sack and his beloved Skullcrusher and he heads back into the night to continue his deliveries, leaving Bert to livestream a warning to all the kids out there to be stay off the Naughty list.

The Summary:
I’m a huge fan of Die Hard and its knockoffs. The formula is very simple and easily translates into many different scenarios, though it can be tough to find many films of this kind with the writing and actors/performances good enough to make them work. Thankfully, Violent Night is one of them thanks to its fantastical hook and surreal premise of pitting an embittered, over the hill Santa Claus against a bunch of well-armed mercenaries. There’s just the right balance of craziness, gore, humour, and action to make Violent Night one of the better Die Hard knockoffs and an enjoyable Christmas romp where a very different version of Santa behaves in ways most kids would never imagine. Although I would’ve loved to find out more about this Santa, his past and his operation, I liked that the film kept these things vague. Even he isn’t sure how his magic works and he can’t rely on it, meaning he’s as vulnerable as any other man and must channel his former warrior spirit to win the day. I enjoyed the resentful Santa’s ramblings about how ungrateful kids are these days and seeing him so broken that he’s ready to quit, especially as it made scenes of him wielding his sledgehammer even more empowering. The family drama between the Lightstones and the bickering and banter between them and Mr. Scrooge and his minions was surprisingly enjoyable, as were the festively named mercenaries, who are completely taken aback when Santa comes at them with a sledgehammer. The action was nice and brutal, with a very meaty, gory feel to every fight and kill, and David Harbour embodied the cantankerous ole with gusto. It’s not perfect and it drags a little in the middle, but Violent Night as a fun film to throw on in the background over the Christmas season with a nice sentimental message about the true meaning of Christmas co-existing with some wonderfully ridiculous action and amusing character beats.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Are you a fan of Violent Night? Did you enjoy the twist on the Die Hard formula? What did you think to Santa Claus and his sorry state? Would you have liked to learn more about Santa’s past and how he came to be or did you like that it was kept vague? Which kill was your favourite and is Violent Night a Christmas tradition for you? What are your plans for Christmas Day today? Whatever your thoughts, leave a comment below and have a great Christmas!

Movie Night [Doomsday]: The Day After Tomorrow

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Over the years, there have been many theories about when the world will end but one of the more prevalent was the mistaken belief that doomsday would hit on December 21st 2012 based on the Mayan calendar ending on this day.

Released: 28 May 2004
Director: Roland Emmerich
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Budget: $125 million
Stars: Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum, Dash Mihok, Kenneth Welsh, Sela Ward, and Ian Holm

The Plot:
After paleoclimatologist Jack Hall’s (Quaid) warnings about a pending modern-day Ice Age caused by climate change are ignored, the world is besieged by catastrophic weather that traps Jack’s son, Sam (Gyllenhaal), in the New York Public Library and millions displaced or dead from horrendous cold.

The Background:
Although doomsday and end of the world movies had existed long before the likes of Armageddon (Bay, 1998), the much criticised film’s blockbuster box office meant the genre was revitalised in the new millennium. Indeed, German-American filmmaker Roland Emmerich made a career out of being the “Master of Disaster” for his effects-heavy tales of worldwide disasters. After taking a break from the genre following the massive success of Independence Day(Emmerich, 1996) and the critical mauling launched at Godzilla (ibid, 1998), Emmerich was inspired by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber’s The Coming Global Superstorm (1999), which warned of the catastrophic consequences of climate change. After Emmerich and Fox Studios successfully secured the script, the filmmakers set out to make a politically- and culturally relevant (if severely dramatised) disaster film. It took over 1,000 artists over a year to create the film’s 416 visual effects shots, which included a fully 3D recreation of New York City to be flash-frozen and massive sound stages laced with fake snow and ice alongside traditional miniatures and filmmaking techniques. Bringing in over $552 million at the box office, The Day After Tomorrow was another financial success for the genre, though reviews were mixed. Critics largely questioned the silly premise, questionable science, and inconsistent performances, though the visual effects were mostly praised and the film raised awareness of climate change, if nothing else.

The Review:
The Day After Tomorrow bookends itself by starting in Antarctica (specifically the Larsen Ice Shelf) and ending with the entire northern hemisphere of America covered in ice and snow. These events are directly linked by the sudden shifting of an ice shelf and workaholic palaeoclimatologist Jack Hall, who starts the film digging for ice-core samples alongside long-time friend Frank Harris (Jay O. Sanders) and somewhat bungling newbie Jason Evans (Mihok). Jack has a strained relationship with his paediatrician wife, Lucy (Ward), and his stroppy but incredibly intelligent son, Sam. Accordingly, Lucy admonishes Jack for being away from his family and his attempt to make good by driving Sam to the airport for an academic decathlon in New York City largely fall flat as he’s late for the pick-up. Even Jack’s long-suffering colleague, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) administrator Tom Gomez (Nestor Serrano), comments on Jack’s inherent ability to rub people the wrong way. However, I doubt sceptical Vice President Raymond Becker (Welsh) would’ve taken Jack’s “sensationalist” claims about an impending global catastrophe any more serious if Jack was more amiable. Jack’s discovery sees him discuss global warming before a United Nations summit, only to be met with disbelief and outrage at the suggestion that the world’s governments sink money into sparing future generations. Refusing to heed the warning, and the science, Becker dismisses Jack even when his predictions unexpectedly and disastrously come true. Indeed, even when the US is ravaged by freak tornados and flash floods, Becker pigheadedly refuses to listen to reason simply to be a dissenting voice amidst a room full of scared and confused politicians.

When his warnings of a global catastrophe are ignored, Jack braves deadly weather to reach his son.

Jack bumps into noted oceanographer Terry Rapson (Holm) at the conference, who finds his Ice Age research models fascinating, and eventually gains additional support from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) meteorologist Janet Tokada (Tamlyn Tomita). Using data from the International Space Station and evidence from Rapson’s buoys, Jack uses magic pseudo-science to produce an impossible forecast model that shows a global warming calamity coming in days! Although Rapson and his colleagues are beyond help, conveniently (and, admittedly, tragically) trapped at the epicentre of a superstorm, their phones helpfully last long enough for them, and Jack, to emphasise the gravity of what’s coming. Despite this magic forecast model, Jack is repeatedly met with mockery and scorn even as Los Angeles is obliterated by massive twisters and gigantic hail decimates Tokyo. While Lucy refuses to leave Peter (Luke Letourneau), a sick boy who needs constant medical care, and with New York about to be flash-frozen by a sudden temperature drop, Jack warns his loved ones to stay inside and warm (with Lucy and Peter eventually rescued before the worst hits) and braves the sheer cold alongside the sadly doomed Frank and the terrified Jason to rescue Sam and his friends. Before this, Jack delivers one last warning directly to President Richard Blake (Perry King) and his surviving cabinet. Despite previously being strangely absent, President Blake is all ears when Jack strongly advises a mass evacuation, declaring that the northern hemisphere a write-off and that the survivors must head south. While President Blake reluctantly agrees, he’s a little late abandoning the White House and is killed (offscreen), leaving Becker to assume his role and eat some humble pie down in Mexico.

Sadly, the young, sexy cast have little to no chemistry and sleepwalk through the film.

While Jack laments the rift between him and Sam, it’s clear he cares for the boy and encourages his smart mouth and intelligence. While they start with a frosty relationship, Sam defers to his dad’s warnings once things go south, desperately warning Officer Campbell (Phillip Jarrett) and the other survivors in the New York Public Library not to venture into the storm. While I like Gyllenhaal, this is a nothing role for him and he appears bored most of the time, sleepwalking through even intense scenes where he’s fending off awful CGI wolves. He does have decent banter with Arjay Smith, who plays Sam’s self-confessed “geek” friend Brian Parks, but doesn’t have much chemistry with the always gorgeous Emmy Rossum. Indeed, while Laura Chapman clearly likes Sam and is just as smart as him, warming him with her body heat after he nearly drowns in the basement, she largely follows his lead or is laid up with sepsis. At first, it seems Sam has a rival for Laura in rich kid J.D. (Austin Nichols), but this drama is thankfully set aside in favour of survival. While librarian Judith (Sheila McCarthy) is aghast when Sam burns books, Jeremy (Tom Rooney) saves a 15th century Gutenberg Bible in a desperate attempt to cling onto civilisation and Sam’s quick thinking sees his troop survive largely unharmed. As if being as smart as his dad wasn’t enough, Sam’s also a bit of an action hero as he braves the entombed city streets in search of penicillin for Laura. While he luckily (and conveniently) finds some on a stranded Russian freighter, he, Brian, and J.D. must contend with voracious wolves and literally outrun the cold to get the medicine safely to Laura.

Mother Nature’s about as much of a bitch as the awful CGI and human arrogance.

There are essentially two “villains” in The Day After Tomorrow: human arrogance and Mother Nature. The film bashes you over the head warning about global warming and climate change, which paradoxically sees the raping of the world’s natural resources heat up the globe, disrupt the North Atlantic Ocean current, and trigger freak weather and a modern-day Ice Age. Though Jack’s initial projections were a warning for future generations, this event is spontaneously triggered for maximum dramatic effect as massive tornados crash through Los Angeles, combine together, and the devastating weather literally roars as it sweeps away people and landmarks alike. Naturally, sceptics like Becker are hopelessly lost in denial, delaying mass evacuations and costing millions of lives. Unlike many doomsday scenarios, there is no “stopping” The Day After Tomorrow: there’s simply surviving and adapting. Jack seems oddly hopeful that humankind will bounce back since it survived a previous Ice Age and Sam equally tries to encourage the briefly despondent Laura that there’s still hope (namely, them being together). Because of the threat, there’s basically nothing anyone can do but gather data, shout warnings, and survive. When Officer Campbell spots survivors in the snow-swept streets, he encourages others to follow in hopes of reaching better shelter or rescue. Ignoring Sam’s half-hearted pleas, they freeze to death, just as Jack predicted. Despite this, I’d say Jack’s a questionable expert, at best. While his data models are impressive and his predictions are so true that it’s like he read the script, he repeatedly braves cold so bad that it literally freezes helicopters, buildings, and people in an instant, often shunning gloves and exposing his face just to get some screen time. There are more tangible threats here (Becker, the wolves, the threat of sepsis) but, oddly, little dissension between the survivors. There are no instances of Sam’s group turning on each other, for example, or depictions of humanity’s worst nature once the storm hits. Instead, sceptics are forced to admit their mistakes, and everyone earns a new level of respect for the wrathful spite of Mother Nature.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Interestingly, despite the devastation that hits the world the US in The Day After Tomorrow, the destruction and death seem toned down in some ways. Sure, Los Angeles and the Hollywood sign are torn apart, cars are flipped and crushed, and buildings are ravaged, but it’s rare for the deaths to be glorified or depicted onscreen. The Day After Tomorrow opts for a kind of bizarre, beautiful “clean sweep” of humanity, blanketing cities in ice and snow and leaving corpses strewn about as though sleeping. It’s tragic, for sure, but not as gratuitous as other disaster films. Even Frank, who dramatically sacrifices himself, dies offscreen like Rapson and his colleagues. Also, the finale shows many survivors in New York City alone, playing into the themes of survival and adaptability the film so desperately tries to emphasise between all the dull performances and ridiculous weather effects. Naturally, The Day After Tomorrow is an extremely exaggerated example of global warming and climate change. It’s undeniable that humans have damaged the world, from puncturing the ozone layer, mining natural resources, and causing the ice caps to melt. While there’s no way things would ever go this bad this quickly, even I can attest to the changes in weather patterns in my lifetime (some forty years) so it’s not much of a stretch to see how pertinent the warnings are. They’re just delivered in the most extravagant ways to wrap real-world concerns in the colours of a mindless popcorn flick (at least, whenever Jack isn’t delivering a not-so-subtle lecture to other characters/the audience).

Despite a strong visual identity, the film is dull and handicapped by dodgy characters and science.

Although The Day After Tomorrow is handicapped by some cartoonish, one-dimensional characters and many of the leads lack chemistry or seem embarrassed by the script, it claws some credibility back in its disaster sequences. These are the best parts of the film (despite some surprisingly sombre moments) and they’ve aged surprisingly well considering the abundance of CGI (not counting those awful wolves). While rain and large chunks of hail in Tokyo are an ominous sign of things to come, things escalate when Los Angeles is ravaged by multiple tornadoes and twisters that combine to devastate the city. Jack’s forecast model predicts three superstorms across the globe that become a giant storm, though we only see this impact the US. The tumultuous weather sees a massive tsunami sweep through New York City, forcing Sam and the others into the library and leaving the flooded city ripe for a dramatic flash-freeze. While it makes some sense for characters to run away from the literal wall of water crashing through the city, it’s sheer ridiculousness that they can outrun cold itself, even keeping it at bay by shutting doors! This cold instantly kills those exposed to it, drops helicopters and planes from the sky, and ushers in a new Ice Age, blanketing New York in snow and ice. While this means it’s physically possible to walk around outside, Jack and Sam repeatedly advise against this due to the super low temperatures, though they and their friends survive the cold with only one death and minor injuries between them. The visual of New York being enveloped by snow is a powerful one and it’s fun seeing the Statue of Liberty flash frozen and upturned ships stranded in the snow. However, it’s also a visual that loses power the more you think about it and the more the film progresses. The library ends up almost completely buried by snow, yet Sam and the others stave off hypothermia and freezing by tossing books on a fire. Jack and Jason also struggle through the storm, sure, but they make it through, often without wearing gloves, despite the cold being said (and seen) to be deadly.

By the time the brief Ice Age passes, the world has apparently been healed of its ills…

While Becker’s aggravating scepticism costs millions of lives, the doomed President Blake ensures many are saved by a mass evacuation to the south. We never get to see this, so I have no idea how they outran the Ice Age, but all the principal characters make it to Mexico to review additional data from the space station and reflect on the enormity of what’s happened. Stubborn to the end, Jack braves the snow to reunite with Sam, losing Frank along the way but otherwise reaching New York with little issue, despite the storm being at its peak. Thanks to a desperate gamble, Sam, Brian, and J.D. (who…somehow…suffers no ill effects from his wolf bite) successfully bring penicillin to Laura, allowing her to be lucid enough to give the disappointingly wooden Gyllenhaal a snog and ensuring she’s as alive as the others when Jack and Jason dig them out. Jack’s good fortune stretches even further as he sends word of survivors to Tom, who relates the message to the now humbled President Becker. Becker then delivers a suitably dramatic address where, incredibly, he apologises for his stupidity and expresses gratitude to formally Third World countries for sheltering them. Encouraged by Jack’s message, President Becker sends helicopters to New York (and, presumably, other cities) to rescue survivors, with Jack and Sam sharing goofy smiles while airlifted from the frozen remnants of New York. Incredibly, Jack’s forecast model proves right again and the world-changing superstorm subsides after about a week, bringing the new Ice Age to a close and leaving much of the northern hemisphere encased in ice. It’s even suggested that the devastating storm has somehow purified the air, rendering it leaner than ever, and all it cost was billions of lives, the devastation of cities and crops, and the sure-fire extinction of many animals. But hey, “all’s well that ends well”, I guess.

The Summary:
Although I’m a big fan of disaster films, I’ve never liked The Day After Tomorrow for many reasons. First, the performances are lacking throughout. Ian Holm does his best to offer some gravitas, but Dennis Quaid is a grim-faced brute blundering through scenes, shouting wild claims that ridiculously come true and surviving things that immediately kill others. Jake Gyllenhaal and Emmy Rossum are the worst offenders here, sleepwalking through every scene and constantly looking like they’d rather be anywhere else than mucking about with fake snow. Next, the film’s “science” is laughable, at best. Obviously, I’m no scientist or anything but even I struggle with the technobabble and exaggerated events forced onto us here. The film repeatedly shuts down solar flares as a cause for the sudden catastrophe, but I almost wish this had contributed to it as it might explain why the weather’s suddenly acting up. The Day After Tomorrow limps along with its scenes of destruction but even these aren’t as powerful as other disaster movies as it banks everything on the visual of a flash-frozen New York City. While this is a striking visual and it certainly separates the film from other disaster movies, it’s not as powerful or as meaningful as seeing the city in ruins, mainly because the “science” used to stitch together a new Ice Age is so unbelievable. Obviously, you’re supposed to ignore these aspects with movies like this and focus on the visuals, the destruction, and the very real warnings of global warming, but it’s hard to do that when anyone with even a cursory understanding of the subject knows that this scenario is ridiculously unlikely. Add to that scenes of characters running from cold air, warning of the deadly cold and then exposing their bare flesh to it, and the over the top depiction of the weather events and you’re left with a movie whose very apt message is lost beneath a muddy haze of disaster sequences that make it largely inferior to many other films in the genre.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

Did you enjoy The Day After Tomorrow? How do you feel it compares to other disaster films? Did you also struggle with the exaggerated depiction of global warming? Were you also surprised by the performances and how bored everyone seemed? What did you think to the visual of New York being covered in snow? How important is scientific accuracy and realism to you in disaster films like this? How are you celebrating the end of the world today? Whatever you think about The Day After Tomorrow, disaster films, and overblown predictions of the end of the world, drop a comment down below and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other films in the genre for me to review.

Movie Night [Christmas Countdown]: Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch

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Released: 9 November 2018
Director: Scott Mosier and Yarrow Cheney
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Budget: $75 million
Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Cameron Seely, Rashida Jones, Kenan Thompson, and Pharrell Williams

The Plot:
Since the ill-tempered Grinch (Carrey) despises Christmas so much, he tricks impressionable Cindy Lou Who (Seely) into kidnapping Santa Claus and then plots to literally steal Christmas from Whoville! 

The Background: 
Poet and children’s author Theodor Seuss Geisel (more widely known as “Dr. Seuss”) produced “The Hoobub and the Grinch” in 1955, the prototype for How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, which was inspired by the rampant commercialisation of Christmas. The character became an instant and surprisingly complex festive icon. Dr. Seuss once again teamed with the legendary Chuck Jones to adapt the story into a universally loved, animated feature that became a Christmas classic. Though Dr. Seuss refused to sell the film rights to his works, his widow, Audrey Geisel, negotiated a lucrative merchandising deal that eventually led to Ron Howard and Jim Carrey collaborating on a live-action project in 2000. Though a box office success, with Carrey’s performance being widely praised, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas was met with mixed reviews. After their adaptation of The Lorax (Seuss, 1971) proved a commercial, if divisive, success, Illumination produced a new, CGI animated adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Benedict Cumberbatch was cast in the title role and insisted on employing an American accent to vibe with his fellow actors and a 3D CGI model of Whoville was crafted using software applications like Maya. With a worldwide box office gross of $540 million, Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch was a commercial success met with mostly positive reviews. Critics praised the heart-warming story and colourful visuals, though it was also criticised for being noticeably lifeless and predictable compared to its predecessors.

The Review:
This adorable, all-CGI animated retelling of The Grinch puts its own spin on the original story, and the live-action version, by presenting a familiar but somewhat different incarnation of the titular, miserable creature. As ever, the Grinch lives atop Mount Crumpit with his loyal canine companion, Max (Unknown), who brings him coffee and goes along with his schemes with a boundless enthusiasm. This time, the Grinch is not a feared figure in nearby, Christmas-loving Whoville or a miserly bogeyman they actively avoid, or a figure of hatred and ridicule. In fact, the locals barely acknowledge him! The Grinch isolates in his cosy cave and only begrudgingly ventures into Whoville for groceries, where few bat an eyelid at his noticeably different appearance and nobody reacts with anything but kindness and friendliness. This is most embodied by the energetic Bricklebaum (Thompson), a decidedly Santa Claus-like Who whose Christmas spirit is infectious and who regards the Grinch as his best friend, much to the Grinch’s loathing. Even when he actively shuns and bullies Whos, pushing over snowmen and refusing to help them, the Grinch is simply frowned upon as being a “mean one”. Nobody wonders who he is or where he came from, or why he hates Christmas so much. Indeed, our omniscient narrator (Williams) asks us not to question these things and simply states that the Grinch’s heart is “two sizes too small”. However, while wandering through the bustling seasonal town, the Grinch suffers a small panic attack and is reminded of his childhood, where he was left alone in an orphanage while the Whos celebrated Christmas, coming to despise the season as he was ignored and forgotten.

As Cindy hopes to appeal to Santa Claus, the moody Grinch plots to steal Christmas from Whoville.

While stocking up for his annual self-imposed Christmas isolation, the Grinch literally bumps into lively, kind-hearted Cindy Lou Who as she’s frantically trying to deliver her letter to Santa Claus. Disgusted by the Whos’ greedy attitude and demanding ways, the Grinch mocks Cindy Lou and sarcastically tells her to visit Santa if her wishes are so important. Inspired, but overly ambitious, Cindy Lou is only stopped by her overworked mother, Donna Who (Jones), who points out that it’d take Cindy Lou at least a month to reach the North Pole. However, as her Christmas wish is incredibly important to her, Cindy Lou resolves to think of an alternative plan with her best friend, Groopert (Tristan O’Hare), a friendly (if dozy) Who boy whom Cindy Lou shares that her wish is for her mother to have some help and happiness as she’s always working to provide for her three children. Thus, Cindy Lou drafts a plot to stay awake on Christmas Eve to trap Santa Claus and beg for his help, sure that he can work his Christmas magic. This side-plot is completely unrelated to the Grinch until the last act as the titular, furry creature is more distracted trying to scupper the town’s tree lighting ceremony. When this goes awry, the Grinch vows to end Christmas once and for all, sickened by Whoville’s insatiable Christmas spirit and wishing them to pay for being so happy and materialistic all the time. After some half-assed research, the Grinch tries to recruit some reindeer, only to attract a particularly loud mountain goat and be lumbered with “Fred”, and cute, curious, oafish reindeer who nonchalantly becomes part of the Grinch’s plot before he’s revealed to have a family. Begrudgingly, the Grinch substitutes Santa Claus’s traditional eight reindeer for Max, who eagerly pulls the sleigh they stole from Bricklebaum despite how large and heavy it is and even helps the Grinch steal Whoville’s Christmas using his gadgets.

Embittered by a lifetime of loneliness, the Grinch has grown to despite the festive season.

The Grinch is as emotionally complex, and conflicted, as always. Thanks to his troubled childhood, he developed an intense dislike for Christmas and forced himself into exile with Max since loneliness is all he’s ever known. This motivates him to steal Christmas so everyone feels as bad as he does. However, it’s clear that the Grinch desires more deep down in his small heart as he sadly watches as Whoville prepares and celebrates Christmas and allows Fred to return to his family despite needing him for his plot, showing that the Grinch isn’t entirely heartless. Indeed, he enjoys spending time with Max in montages, playing/cheating at chess and going on rides, and greatly appreciates Max’s kindness and companionship, especially as he puts Max through a lot, like rigging him up to a helicopter harness to get intel on Whoville. Thankfully, this film ignores the backstory and Grinch/Who nonsense from Jim Carrey’s film, though I do think it suffers a bit from there being such a disconnect between the Grinch and Cindy Lou. As the Grinch barely interacts with Whoville, there are less scenes of him harassing the Whos or their reactions to him, and the focus is more on how they’re happily obsessed with Christmas rather than fearing the cantankerous Grinch, who has almost no impact in their daily lives. Cindy Lou isn’t mesmerised by him, instead, focusing on Santa Claus and her exhausted mother; the Mayor (Angela Lansbury) is merely a cameo rather than a rival; and the Grinch spends more time conducting tests with his sleigh than causing chaos in Whoville. Still, Benedict Cumberbatch was super enjoyable in the role, putting on a sarcastic voice that gave way to some emotional scenes as the Grinch relives his past and steps up his campaign against Christmas.

The Nitty-Gritty:
As is to be expected from Illumination, The Grinch looks fantastic. There’s an adorable aesthetic to the entire film that makes it very appealing and the animation is much more suitable to Dr. Seuss’ unique art style, which frankly looks horrific in live action. Cindy Lou was especially adorable, easily melting the Grinch’s heart with her big, expressive eyes and pure-hearted plea, but I also enjoyed how colourful and lively Whoville looked. Although the Grinch isn’t said to have superhuman strength like in the live-action version, cartoon logic and physics make him incredibly durable and allow him to perform bizarre feats like lugging around a massive, overloaded sleigh and muscle his haul to safety after his change of heart. Surprisingly, The Grinch omits the traditional “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” during his malicious scheme (which also sadly lacks him gobbling up Christmas presents). Whoville still sing their usual Christmas melody, “Welcome Christmas” around their gigantic tree, but the film’s more likely to use traditional Christmas carols than original songs, though I did like the use of “Zat You Santa Claus?” by Buster Poindexter and His Banshees of Blue. The Grinch is depicted as more of an inventor, though sadly this is mostly offscreen and comes quite late into the film. He cobbles together extending shoes and grappling hooks for himself and little mech suits for Max, which help him to steal Christmas in record time. I would’ve liked to see the Grinch tinkering away with some of these inventions throughout the film or using some tech to try and wrangle reindeer rather than a simple horn and a lasso.

Cindy Lou melts the Grinch’s heart and shows him the true meaning of the season.

Thanks to Groopert and their other friends, Cindy Lou hatches a foolproof scheme to trap Santa Claus. Realising that she could never hope to stay awake all night, she booby-traps an enticing cookie to trap Santa with a snare. Unbeknownst to her, the Grinch and Max are methodically stripping Christmas from Whoville. While raiding Cindy Lou’s house, the Grinch falls into her trap and is stunned when the Who-girl asks not for presents, but for “Santa” to help her mother. Though he tries to forget the whole thing and dump his haul, the Grinch is haunted by Cindy Lou’s plea and outraged to find that Whoville’s Christmas spirit hasn’t been dampened in the slightest. Still, touched by Cindy Lou’s words and realising that the spirit of Christmas means more than gifts, the Grinch finds his spirits lifted and his heart triples in size, bringing him a sense of joy and happiness. Immediately remorseful, the Grinch decides to return everything he’s stolen, only for his overloaded sleigh to plummet off Mount Crumpit! Luckily, Fred and his family and Max help the Grinch save the sleigh, and the Grinch slides down the mountain the apologise to Whoville, and to Cindy Lou specifically. Even then, Whoville barely acknowledges the Grinch except for a general sense of awe and Bricklebaum’s enthusiastic shouting. They simply look on, stunned, to see their stolen Christmas return and make no comment. The Grinch slinks home, awkwardly gifting Max a squeaky toy, before Cindy Lou invites the Grinch to Christmas dinner. Though anxious and unsure, the Grinch tags along, awkwardly interacting with the guests and reluctantly enjoying the Christmas cheer. Finally part of the festivities and accepted for the first time, the Grinch realises that he didn’t really hate Christmas; just the feeling of loneliness he associated with the season. With that, the Grinch accepts the Whos’ friendship and honours them with a toast, fully embracing the spirit of the season.

The Summary:
I was surprised by how much I liked Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch. Although the live-action version is a Christmas tradition of mine and I love Jim Carrey, I’ve always found it to be a bit of a slog and just bizarre to look at. This beautifully animated film addresses at least this latter criticism, bringing Dr. Seuss’ surreal characters and story to life with adorable grace and crafting a colourful, visually enjoyable world for them to inhabit. Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch does drag a bit in the middle, however, as filmmakers continue to dream up ways to pad the short story out, providing an alternative backstory for the Grinch and following his quest to rid Whoville of Christmas. I enjoyed some of these aspects, such as his simple but tragic childhood and the continuing emphasis on him being a sad, lonely figure, but I wasn’t a fan of how little he interacted with Whoville. Benedict Cumberbatch did a delightful job in the role so it’s disappointing not to see his Grinch interacting with the Whos, especially Cindy Lou, all that much. It ironically ties into the Grinch’s feelings of abandonment and exile to have the town basically ignore him rather than living in fear of his antics, but it created an odd disconnect for me that I struggled to reconcile. It’s also bizarre that there aren’t more musical numbers in the film (though others may disagree) and that more focus isn’t placed on the Grinch as an inventor since he comes up with some fun gadgets. Ultimately, Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch is a relatively harmless Christmas cartoon for kids that has a few gags and moments that may make adults chuckle. It carries the same heart-warming message about the true meaning of Christmas as ever and has some fun moments kiddies will probably get a kick out of, but it feels like it’s lacking an extra spark to make it a true Christmas classic.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Did you enjoy the all-CGI Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch? How do you think it compares to the book and other adaptations? Did you enjoy the additional lore added to the Grinch or did you also find it unnecessary? What did you think to Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance? Can you be a Grinch around Christmas? Which Christmas movies and specials are you watching this year? Whatever your thoughts on Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, leave them in the comments and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other festive films for the site.

Movie Night [Christmas Countdown]: Terrifier 3

Dr. K1 Comment

Released: 11 October 2024
Director: Damien Leone
Distributor: Cineverse / Iconic Events Releasing
Budget: $2 million
Stars: David Howard Thornton, Lauren LaVera, Antonella Rose, Samantha Scaffidi, and Elliott Fullam

The Plot:
Supernaturally reborn Art the Clown (Thornton) and his demonic cohort, Victoria Heyes (Scaffidi), torment traumatised Sienna Shaw (LaVera) and her family at Christmas.

The Background:
The fear of clowns (or “Coulrophobia”) crops up a lot in horror and reality, largely thanks to fictional “Evil Clowns” like Stephen King’s Pennywise and twisted psychos like John Wayne Gacy. Though I’ve never found clowns particularly scary, writer and director Damien Leone touched upon Coulrophobia with The 9th Circle (2008), a short film that featured a prototype of Art the Clown (Mike Giannelli). Though merely a supporting character, Art was popular enough for Leone to bring him back in Terrifier (2011) and All Hallows’ Eve (2013), and to expand the character into a modern-day slasher icon in Terrifier (2016). Though a modest success met with largely positive reviews (especially for David Howard Thornton’s performance and the sickening gore), Leone was dissatisfied with some his characterisations of the protagonists and sought to address this in the 2022 sequel. Weathering criticisms about its brutal content, Terrifier 2 was a critical and commercial success and Leone was excited to add additional nuance to Samantha Scaffidi’s returning character. Leone also gave wrestler Chris Jericho additional screen time, reaped the benefit of a vastly increased budget, and sought to emulate John Carpenter by shooting the film with Panavision anamorphic lenses. With a $90 million box office, Terrifier 3 was the most successful of the franchise at the time, and the reviews mirrored this. While the narrative and extreme content continued to be criticised, critics praised the ever-expanding lore and characters, with many reviews lauding the various complex and captivating performances, and this success all-but ensured the continuation of the controversial slasher franchise.

The Review:
Terrifier 3 opens with pure, unadulterated shock value: a home invasion around the festive season where Art’s dressed as Santa Claus and which establishes the slightly different direction of the film. Namely, Leone relies far more on long, lingering shots and a tense build-up to the brutal gore. Thus, we follow cute youngster Juliet Thomas (Luciana VanDette), who’s awakened by the sounds of commotion on the roof she adorably believes is Santa. While her mother, Jennifer (Krsy Fox), encourages her imagination to get her back to sleep, neither her father or brother (Mark (Alex Ross) and Timmy (Kellen Raffaelo), respectively) have any time for her wild claims. Juliet’s ecstatic when she creeps downstairs and sees Santa lingering near the family tree, but enters a state of awestruck shock when Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick pulls out a fire axe and tip-toes upstairs to hack Timmy to death (off camera, but still rather shocking) and brutalise Mark. Yes, it’s Art the Clown in his newest festive guise, as spiteful as ever. He relishes Jennifer’s screams as he bludgeons Mark and gleefully chases her downstairs before caving in the distraught mother’s head. Art then helps himself to milk and cookies and even does the dishes. Art spies Juliet hiding in a kitchen cupboard, though her fate’s ultimately left ambiguous and I wouldn’t be against seeing her return in a future film. This opening is extremely unsettling, mainly because it’s easy to imagine it happening. Mark tends to leave the front door unlocked and ajar and he and his son are slaughtered before they even knew what hit them. To say nothing of Jennifer’s horrified reaction to her son’s body parts strewn around his bloodstained room and the trauma Juliet suffered as she tries to comprehend the horror happening before her eyes. It’s extremely effective, mainly because of the time Leone takes to build anticipation and the way he teases us with bits and pieces of the kills. I am surprised that Terrifier 3 didn’t go the whole hog and show Art hacking a child to death, considering the franchise isn’t exactly known for pulling its punches.

Traumatised by her encounter with Art, Sienna struggles to realise her seemingly divine destiny.

A security guard (Chris Jericho) at the mental hospital where the horrifically disfigured Victoria Heyes has been incarcerated since the first movie then stumbles open the scarified wretch consuming a nurse, Art’s disembodied head joining in and connected to Victoria by a ghastly umbilical cord! Victoria lets out a plea for help that appears to be her last gasp of sanity and humanity before the demonic force (the “Little Pale Girl” (Amelie McLain) from the last film) possesses her. The demonic Victoria then cheerfully joins Art in tearing the guard’s head to pieces, Art’s headless body having sprung to life and travelled across town after ripping off a cop’s (Stephen Cofield Jr.) head. This reanimation and possession seems to exhaust them as they travel to an abandoned house and enter a strange hibernation, Art reclining in a rocking chair and Victoria slitting her wrists in a bathtub, where they wait for five years. It’s not entirely clear why: potentially exhaustion, as I said (Art seems visibly annoyed with Victoria’s antics, as though cranky and needing a nap) or possibly because the dark power of the Halloween season is leaving them. Regardless, they lie dormant and the “Miles County Clown” becomes a modern-day myth discussed on true crime podcasts like Mia’s (Alexa Blair Robertson), a fangirl who’s hooking up with Jonathan’s (Fullam) roommate, Cole (Mason Mecartea). We catch up with Sienna as she’s being discharged from five years in therapy following her bizarre and brutal encounter with Art. Jonathan, however, is in college and seemingly happy to survive on a diet of denial, pills, and isolation, despite initially being so obsessed with demonology and possession that he wrote Sienna letters about his wild theories regarding Art, the demonic forces behind him, and the strange, seemingly angelic destiny bestowed upon Sienna by their father, artist Michael Shaw (Jason Patric). With her mother dead, Sienna stays with her aunt and uncle, Jess (Margaret Anne Florence) and Greg Shaw (Bryce Johnson), though their compassion wanes as Sienna becomes agitated and aggressive after first sensing Art’s presence and then receiving conformation that her tormentor is still alive.

Though Sienna tries to find peace with her extended family, Jonathan remains in denial.

Sienna is very different from the last movie but is initially determined to get back on track and rediscover herself by rekindling her sisterly relationship with her cousin, Gabbie (Rose). Gabbie is in awe of Sienna and looks up to her as an idol and older sister, admiring Sienna’s scars and reading her journal, a private musing of the nightmares that still haunt our traumatised heroine. Sienna tries to rebuild bridges with Jonathan using the festive season and is dismayed to find her little brother deep in denial and refusing to believe that Art is still alive. Despite her years of therapy, Sienna is still very fragile; she relies on medication to sleep and is shaunted by screams and visions from her experiences. She’s either hearing the dreaded “Clown Café” jingle or seeing delusions of her brutalised best friend, Brooke (Kailey Hyman), feeding her survivor’s guilt and leaving her a neurotic mess. However, as good as LaVera continues to be, I would’ve liked to see more emphasis placed on Sienna’s fractured mental state. Brooke could’ve shown up more, for example, and Sienna’s scars could’ve been more prominent. Her relationship with Gabbie was adorable, though, and there’s a sense that Sienna relies on this normalcy to move on from her past, but Sienna is quick to anger when Mia badgers her and erratically lashes out at Jonathan when he seemingly turns his back on her, unaware that he’s hiding his panic attacks. Terrifier 3 delves a little more into Sienna’s past where, as a child (Luciana Elisa Quiñonez), she was doted on by her father, who depicted her as an angelic warrior. Jonathan also claims Sienna was “chosen”, presumably by angelic forces seeking to counterbalance the demon that possessed Art and Victoria, and the film teasing with a bizarre nightmare depicting the statuesque Virgin Mary (Juliana Lamia) forcing a bound demon (Michel Vidal) to forge Sienna’s magical sword.

Joined by the demonic Victoria, Art’s more supernatural and malicious than ever.

Though he may have started as a theatrical, but still mortal, serial killer, Art has become something far worse. He was essentially supernatural in Terrifier 2, but it’s taken up a notch here, with his headless body lumbering about and killing and his disembodied head being reborn through Victoria. Yet, though Art can reattach his head, shrug off bullets, and hibernate for years, he still feels pain when attacked by Sienna and her sword, and his abilities remain rooted in his bag of tricks (now given a festive makeover). Art cobbles together a liquid nitrogen spray device and later boobytraps gifts with a homemade bomb, and cosplays as Santa seemingly on a whim. He spots Charles Johnson (Daniel Roebuck) drinking in a bar and excitedly accosts him, believing he’s the real Santa, only to steal his outfit and leave Johnson a frigid, bloody mess. Art delights in luring victims with his festive guise, enjoying the same degree of anonymity his clown outfit gave him at Halloween, making his horror even more visceral since he targets children. Art’s joined by Victoria, a demonic presence who literally (and gruesomely) gets off on Art’s antics. Although Victoria’s very loquacious, she’s very aloof about who and what they are. Jonathan’s theory that the demonic force possessed the worst person imaginable (a serial killer) and is seeking to inhabit another, stronger body seems as true as his belief that Sienna’s been “chosen” to oppose these forces. Victoria first mocks Sienna’s status as a saviour then compliments her strength, and then literally tries to break Sienna by murdering what little family she has left so she (as in Victoria) can forcibly possess her. Unfortunately, this finale kind of relegates Art to Victoria’s henchman as she dictates the torture and is presented as something of a puppet master. It’s only a fleeting suggestion and the two are depicted more as equals when they do appear onscreen, but I would prefer Leone steer away from diminishing Art like that in future instalments.

The Nitty-Gritty:
I’m not going to get into a debate about whether or not Terrifier 3 is a Christmas movie. It’s set during the festive season, there are Christmas trees, mall Santas, presents, and trappings everywhere, and Art’s going around dressed as Santa, which is enough for me! I will, however, debate the evolving lore. While it seems like Leone is simply making up the story as he goes, suggesting things that may or may not be relevant in the future, there’s a strong suggestion of biblical forces at work. Jonathan believed the Little Pale Girl was the key to it all the film suggests that Art was once a serial killer who, upon his death (either in Terrifier or before), was possessed by a demonic force like the demon in Victoria. Someone, presumably angels or another divine presence, then seemingly chose Sienna to counter these forces and worked through her father to prepare her for this destiny, bestowing her with a magical sword forged by a captive demon. However, while this is said to be the only weapon capable of stopping Art and Victoria, Art still recovered after being beheaded by it and he survives another stabbing from the blade here, though the sword does heal Sienna’s wounds. Sienna previously fell down some kind of Hell hole in Terrifier 2 and another pops up here to swallow Gabbie and the sword, and Sienna’s haunted by memories of the Clown Café, an unsettling upbeat corner of whatever Hell these demons are from that seemingly relishes the suffering of others. It’s intriguing and there are some interesting visuals and suggestions here, though Terrifier 3 stubbornly refuses to provide any explicit details, perhaps to maintain a sense of mystery or perhaps because Leone hasn’t figured out how it all fits together yet. Instead, the film uses it as a backdrop to Sienna’s fractured mental state, which leaves her on edge and tormented by nightmares, though I would’ve liked to see more of these so we could get a better sense of how much she’s struggling with her guilt.

The film certainly delivers the brutal kills you’d expect, though with more suspense than before.

Terrifier 3 had an uphill battle trying to top the last film’s gruesome kills and, perhaps in recognition of this, puts more effort into building tension before Art strikes. Naturally, there are exceptions: Art’s headless body pounces upon the cop that discovers it, for example, Victoria viciously stabs an unassuming exterminator (Michael Genet) through the neck with a shard of glass, and Art opts to simply gun down the bar patrons before torturing Charles. Interestingly, some kills are kept off-screen: we never see what Art and Victoria do to the Art cosplayer (Peter Mitchell), for instance, and both Greg and even Jonathan die off camera. This was an odd choice for me, and it felt like some scenes were cut from the movie, so jarring was their end, to the point where I’m assuming Jonathan is either still alive or we’ll get a flashback in Terrifier 4. Of course, there’s plenty of onscreen brutality and it’s just as macabrely fascinating and disturbing. While Art starts rather pedestrian with a fire axe, he and Victoria are soon ripping Chris Jericho’s jaw off and it’s not long before demented clown is slicing through another exterminator’s (Jon Abrahams) head with a Stanley knife and ripping his skin down his skull! Art’s particularly proud of his liquid nitrogen contraption, which he uses to flash-freeze Charles’ leg, hand, and face before bashing the limbs with a hammer and ripping his beard off. The film’s standout kill sequence sees Art attack Cole and Mia in the college showers with a chainsaw, cutting through bone and muscle and leaving Mia a gibbering mess of sliced meat as he grants her wish to be face-to-face with pure evil. Cole gets the worst of it, having half a hand chopped off, then his leg severed in sickening fashion, before being sliced up the rear and then from the groin to his belly, leaving him little more than steaming meat on the tiles. While it’s truly bizarre that Jonathan’s supposed death happens offscreen, it leads to a particularly ghastly end for Jess as she gets a plastic tube hammered down her throat and is forced to swallow rats before having her throat cut. It’s a scene eerily similar to a sequence form American Psycho (Ellis, 1991) and one that, again, I feel could’ve been even more extreme, like the rats could’ve come clawing out her nether regions or something!

Although Sienna dispatches Victoria, Gabbie falls to Hell and Art escapes into the night…

Perhaps the most distressing kills, however, are those that befall the unsuspecting children fooled by Art’s disguise. After posing as Santa at the mall, Art leaves a bunch of kids and their parents splattered across the festive scenery with a bomb, which deeply unsettles Sienna to the point where she starts screaming for Jonathan to be brought to them so they can get to safety. Although Greg begrudgingly goes to get him, Sienna wakes from a disturbing dream to find her uncle beheaded and nailed to the lounge wall and Art and Victoria in her home. Bound and gagged and beaten with a mallet, Sienna’s forced to watch her aunt’s horrific death. Her relief at finding Gabbie alive is short-lived since the girl’s held at knife point by Art and Victoria triumphantly presents Jonathan’s gory skull to her captive. When her first attempt to possess Sienna fails, Victoria prepares to kill Gabbie to finally break Sienna’s spirit but decides it’d be amusing to watch Sienna open Gabbie’s Christmas present first. After Art bashes Sienna’s hands to a pulp, Victoria demands she open the gift but she and her mute cohort are horrified when it turns out to be the magic sword (which Sienna recovered from the Terrifier funhouse, though I’ve no idea why she left it there or why we never see her get it…) Empowered by the sword, Sienna stabs and beheads Victoria and then jousts with Art, who attacks with his chainsaw. Although Sienna pins Art to the wall, she’s forced to abandon him when Victoria’s remains rot away and open a portal to Hell right under Gabbie! Despite Sienna’s best efforts, she fails to save her cousin, who’s sucked into the void alongside the sword. Although Sienna’s wounds heal and she’s determined to save her surrogate sister, Art escapes into the night to continue unsettling the populace, ending the festive slasher on a cliff-hanger…

The Summary:
I had high hopes heading into Terrifier 3. The first one might’ve been a bit rough around the edges, but the sequel was such a vast improvement, with memorable gore and a relatable and adorable main character to root for. Terrifier 3 seems to struggle with its momentum right from the start, substituting gruesome kills for suspense, which would be fine if this wasn’t a series known for its in-your-face splatter gore. While there are some standout kills and many of the dismemberments and torture sequences are as brutal as you’d expect, it’s jarring when the camera cuts away or significant characters like Jonathan are seemingly killed onscreen. If Leone is going for pure shock value by killing kids, the least he can do is follow through and present some nightmarishly unsettling deaths rather than merely showing us the bloody aftermath. It doesn’t help that Terrifier 3 feels like it’s making the story up as it goes along, clumsily suggesting a coherent narrative through exposition and teases but potentially setting up for an underwhelming payoff. Art’s still very mysterious but the supernatural, demonic context takes some of the allure off him, as does relegating him to Victoria’s henchman in the finale. It’s a fleeting moment and one that’s inconsequential compared to the carnage Art unleashes throughout the film, but I wonder if it might’ve been just as good, if not better, if Victoria had accompanied him throughout and joined in with the kills, if only to cement them as equals. Similarly, while I enjoyed Sienna’s struggles with her trauma and her desperate attempts to continue on after everything she went through, I don’t think the film focused on her delusions and nightmares enough. It could’ve been so much more harrowing if she was having visions of her loved ones so that she (and we) question her sanity. Instead, it’s kind of swept under the rug near the end. It feels like some of this (like other sequences and deaths) were cut to save time, resulting in an uneven narrative that left me unsatisfied at times. David Howard Thornton and Lauren LaVera still give excellent performances, newcomer Antonella Rose is everything Elliott Fullam isn’t, and I did like seeing Victoria depicted as a cackling witch and the hints towards some greater biblical endgame…I just hope the payoff is satisfying and it all fits together in the end.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Did you enjoy Terrifier 3? What did you think to Victoria joining Art as a demonic partner? Do you agree that more focus should’ve been placed on Sienna’s fractured mental state? Which of the kills was your favourite and what did you think to the greater emphasis on tension? Did you also feel like key moments were cut from the film? What’s your favourite Christmas-themed scary movie and which Terrifier film is your favourite? Let me know your thoughts about Terrifier 3 in the comments, support me on Ko-Fi, and check out my other horror and Christmas content!

Movie Night [Christmas Countdown]: Black Christmas (1974)

Dr. K2 Comments

Released: 11 October 1974
Director: Bob Clark
Distributor: Ambassador Film Distributors
Budget: $686,000
Stars: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, James Edmond, John Saxon, and Nick Mancuso/Bob Clark/Albert J. Dunk

The Plot:
Jess Bradford (Hussey) and her Sorority Sisters are tormented by obscene phone calls from “The Moaner” (Mancuso/Clark) that soon turn violent when the bodies pile up over Christmas.

The Background:
While John Carpenter’s Halloween (Carpenter, 1978) can be said to have popularised the “slasher” sub-genre, and copycats like the equally iconic Friday the 13th franchise (Various, 1980 to present) established its enduring tropes, slasher films can more accurately be traced back to this seminal, Christmas-themed horror. Initially developed by Canadian screenwriter Roy Moore and inspired by both urban legends and a gruesome string of murders, Black Christmas aimed to present realistic protagonists and challenge perceived notions of female leads with a socially relevant character arc. The late Olivia Hussey took the lead on the advice of a psychic, while Margot Kidder was allegedly attracted to how wild her character was and director Bob Clark was said to have meticulously storyboarded the entire film. Clark employed first-person shots to portray the mysterious killer and his techniques genuinely shocked both cast and crew. Briefly retitled Silent Night, Deadly Night upon release, Black Christmas was an unexpected box office hit that initially garnered mixed reviews. Over time, the film was heralded as a classic of the genre that was especially celebrated for its feminist subtext and subverting expectations of the festive holiday. While it massively influenced subsequent slashers, Black Christmas never spawned a sequel, though it was eventually remade over the years and fan film continuations later emerged,

The Review:
Black Christmas is set almost entirely within a sorority house around the Christmas season. This provides a good sense of space and the rooms in the house, but it does get a touch repetitive being stuck in the same location 90% of the film. Interestingly, despite there only being a handful of residents cared for by alcoholic and incorrigible housemother Barbara MacHenry/Mrs. Mac (Marian Waldman), the house seems to shrink as the film goes on, becoming more claustrophobic and ominous, especially as many scenes are shot from the perspective of the killer hiding in their attic. This largely unseen, mysterious figure approaches the house in the dead of night at the start of the film and easily clambers to the attic, watching the sorority sisters muddle about with their various dramas. Chief among them is the repeated obscene phone calls they receive from a raspy, vulgar voice they’ve dubbed the Moaner. At least once a day, the Moaner calls and growls aggressively sexual threats and comments to the girls, who are disgusted and amazed by this. While Jess is appalled and quiet newcomer Clare Harrison (Lynne Griffin) is disturbed, headstrong, domineering Barbara “Barb” Coard (Kidder) fearlessly challenges the voice and barks equally obscene insults. Barb’s efforts only exacerbate the deranged Moaner, leading to the voice screaming, arguing with itself, and threatening to kill her. Already upset by the calls and Barb’s snide comments, Clare prepares to spend Christmas with her father (Edmond) only to be surprised and suffocated by their unwanted house guest. Her corpse is toyed with by the killer (let’s call him “Billy”) and undiscovered for the entire film but driving much of what follows.

As if obscene phone calls aren’t bad enough, Jess is dealing with an unwanted pregnancy.

A big and very unusual sub-plot of Black Christmas revolves around beautiful and determined Jess, who ironically usurps many of the tropes of a “Final Girl” as she’s in a sexual relationship with Peter Symthe (Dullea) and it can be inferred she enjoys drinking with her sisters. Jess discovers she’s pregnant early on, leading to disagreements between her and her piano playing “artist” boyfriend about what to do. Jess decides it would be unfair to have an abortion without telling Peter first, but he’s stunned by her decision and comes across as very condescending and neurotic when she tells him. Any time Peter questions her, Jess stands her ground, determined to decide what to do with her body and only informing him as a courtesy. It’s telling that Jess only replies with “I know you do” when Peter says he loves her, especially as she later shoots down his marriage proposal and insists that she doesn’t want to give up her dreams (whatever they are) just because he’s decided to drop out. Although they initially seem to have a very loving relationship, the baby revelation rocks Peter to the point where he messes up his piano playing and takes a very draconian view on the matter. While I agree that Peter is allowed to be upset and deserves to know that she’s pregnant, Jess makes very valid points about not being ready or willing to be a mother or throwing her youth away on a marriage that likely won’t last. It’s a very mature and pragmatic attitude and it’s clear she’s thought it all through, just as it’s clear she’s disappointed not to have his support but not very bothered since she knows she’s better off without him. When the Moaner’s calls emulate a baby’s screams and seemingly mock her, Jess finally reports the calls and concerned Lieutenant Kenneth Fuller (Saxon) immediately suspects Peter after seeing and hearing of his attitude about the abortion.

The sorority sisters have no idea that they’re being stalked by a deranged killer.

This relationship drama is as much a focal point of Black Christmas as the mystery of the calls and the stranger in the sorority house, though it’s married with Mr. Harrison’s concerns for his daughter. When she no-shows their rendezvous, he visits the sorority house to look for her, dismayed at the idea of his daughter picking up boys and partying rather than studying. While Mrs. Mac tries to alleviate his concerns, he remains unimpressed by Barb’s outspoken demeanour and taste for the booze. Regularly swigging back shots and even encouraging minors to drink, Barb drowns her sorrows, clearly upset that her mother would rather go off with her new fancy man than spend Christmas with her. Though her sisters rally around her, Barb is a prickly and difficult person to love and her drinking only makes her worse as she humiliates herself before the worried Mr. Harrison and alienates the others with her selfish and confrontational attitude. This is only worsened by growing concerns about Clare and a local teenager being killed in the park, with most of our main characters helping to search for the girl. Lieutenant Fuller leads this effort, immediately taking Mrs. Quaife’s (Martha Gibson) concerns for her daughter to heart and organising a search party. Lieutenant Fuller equally takes the report of Clare’s disappearance very seriously, and the obscene calls reported by Jess, chastising inept Sergeant Nash (Douglas McGrath) for dismissing them and withholding what he sees as irrelevant information. Determined to help, Lieutenant Fuller taps the sorority house phone and encourages Jess to keep the Moaner on the line to trace the source, only to grow increasingly suspicious of Peter when he overhears them arguing about the abortion.

The Nitty-Gritty:
This was my first time watching Black Christmas, which I can immediately tell inspired John Carpenter. The shots from Billy’s perspective, the disconcerting breathing, the sense of dread surrounding the sorority sisters as we know there’s someone in the house but they don’t is all mirrored in Halloween. In some ways, however, it might’ve been better to not show Billy entering the house or any shots from his perspective except when he’s killing as it makes the iconic reveal that “The calls are coming from inside the house” less impactful since we know Billy is behind the calls. Still, it is disturbing knowing Billy is rattling around upstairs and could strike at any moment, and seeing the characters be so oblivious to this. And, honestly, why wouldn’t they be? Jess is notably very distracted by her unwanted pregnancy and her issues with Peter, delivering an extremely progressive (and no doubt controversial, then and now) sub-plot regarding a woman’s decision to do what she wants with her body and how insensitive and entitled men can be about that. Personally, I think she’s right to have an abortion if she’s not ready. She never says she wouldn’t want children some day; she just wants a chance to live her life first rather than being trapped with an asshole and his baby, resenting both. The search for Mrs. Quaife’s daughter was an odd sub-plot, however. It might’ve been better if Lieutenant Fuller and the others were searching for Clare instead, though it was odd that the police never thought to search the sorority house or Clare’s room, where her lifeless corpse is left rocking in a chair for Billy’s amusement. While Barb is clearly the loudest and most obnoxious, she’s clearly upset about her mother and people judging her. Phyllis “Phyl” Carlson (Andrea Martin) is easily the weakest of the sisters in terms of screen time and characterisation, portrayed as the voice of reason when Barb gets drunk, but Mrs. Mac was a delight every time she was on the screen sneaking booze, searching for her cat, or coyly apologising for the sisters’ behaviour.

Thanks to Peter’s bad attitude, Billy goes as undiscovered as some of his victims.

Although Black Christmas is more of a suspenseful thriller than a stab-happy slasher and the body count is very low, the deaths are pretty decent and harrowing. Clare is asphyxiated with cling film and her corpse is left rocking in a chair, eyes bulging and mouth silently screaming, for Billy to toy with. Although Mrs. Mac gets a roped hook to the neck offscreen, we do hear her strangled cries and see her hanging there, blood dripping down her body, as undiscovered as Clare. Mrs. Quaife’s little girl is killed offscreen and we never see her body or how Phyl and Officer Jennings (Julian Reed) die (though we do see their bodies and that Jennings has had his throat slit). Barb’s death is thus the showcase of the film. Sent to bed by Phyl after making a fool of herself, Barb is brutally stabbed by Billy with a glass unicorn, giving a rare glimpse of the killer (his bulging eye against his darkened silhouette), though the kill is mostly from his perspective. Billy is a demented and disturbing figure who seems to have multiple personalities, mood swings, and to despise women, hinting at an abusive childhood and a deranged psyche. Delighting in tormenting the sisters, he strikes from the shadows and goes largely unnoticed as they’re more concerned with his phone calls. After Sergeant Nash urges Jess to leave the house immediately as the killer’s in there, she naturally disregards his warnings and investigates, discovering her dead friends and being forced into the basement by the crazed stranger. When Peter breaks into the basement to help her, the panicked Jess reacts without thinking (or possibly assuming Lieutenant Fuller’s suspicions were correct) and beats Peter to death with a fire poker. In the aftermath, Lieutenant Fuller wraps the case up, believing Peter went nuts after being spurned by Jess, completely oblivious that Billy is still hiding in the attic.

The Summary:
As I said, this was my first time seeing Black Christmas, much to my shame. I was well aware of its place in horror history, and its twist ending, and somewhat familiar with the plot since I’ve seen the 2006 remake a few times but never found time to watch the original. Consequently, much of my opinion comes from love of Halloween, which clearly borrowed many elements from this film, especially regarding the mysterious and stalkerish nature of its disturbed killer. It was interesting seeing how much focus was placed on the sorority sisters and how relatable they were, Jess especially. She’s making difficult decisions at a difficult time of her life and dealing with a difficult boyfriend, all while being increasingly unnerved by the Moaner’s ghastly phone calls. Barb might’ve been an obnoxious and rowdy character, but I appreciated her subtle layers and the insecurities she was dealing with. Mrs. Mac was a fantastic addition and John Saxon brought a lot of authority to his role, especially in how he chastised dismissive Sergeant Nash, whose ineptitude cost lives and time. Billy’s obscene language and deranged behaviour becomes increasingly harrowing and malicious as he specifically targets each girl, and I loved the mystery surrounding him as we never learn anything about him or even see what he looks like. My only complaint is that we’re fully aware that Billy is in the sorority house and that Peter is innocent, meaning there’s little suspense around who’s behind it all, but it was still thrilling knowing Billy was always lurking and watching and could strike at any moment. Ultimately, I feel this is a fair rating as Black Christmas laid the foundation for the slasher sub-genre but many of its most distinguishable features were done far better in subsequent films, though I did enjoy the character drama and the sense of dread that built throughout the film.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Is Black Christmas a Christmas tradition for you? Which of the sorority sisters was your favourite? Were you shocked to see the film tackling abortions? Do you think it detracted from the horror to know that Billy was in the house? Which of the kills was your favourite? What’s your favourite Christmas-themed scary movie? Use the comments below to discuss Black Christmas, check out my other horror content, and donate to my Ko-Fi if you’d like to see me review the other Black Christmas movies.