Jekyll & Hyde... Together Again (1982 film on DVD)

Original film poster

Will the driver of the hearse please move your vehicle away from the rear of the hospital.  It's making the patients nervous. - Hospital Announcement

One of my all-time favorite comedies finally comes to Happy Horror.  At one point, before it came to DVD, I thought about doing an ultra-detailed summary of this film, my thinking being that, since it was only available on VHS then it'd be extremely difficult to come by.  But I found out it was released to DVD, picked it up off of Amazon and am now ready to bring it to you here.

Just about everybody knows the story of Jekyll and Hyde, how a scientist devises a drug to bring out his more base, animal side, only to have said side go out of control.  This film brings the story into the modern day (well, as modern as 1982 can be!).  Dr. Daniel Jekyll is a brilliant surgeon, the best that Our Lady of Pain and Suffering can offer.  As we begin, our star is being watched over closed circuit TV by Hubert Howes, one of the richest men in the world and in desperate need of the world's first full body transplant.  Unfortunately for Mr. Howes, Jekyll takes the opportunity to announce that he's giving up surgery in order to research man's inner nature, and how to tap into man's animal instincts to promote healing, without the need for surgery.  Jekyll's boss, Dr. Carew, swears to Howes that "He'll be standing over you with a knife."

Jekyll, however, throws himself into his research, knowing that he can help more people than ever before.  However, a combination of a late night experimenting and an interesting interruption by the name of Ivy Venus leads to Jekyll distractedly pouring one concoction over another, botching his work.  Vowing to continue the next day, he lays his head on his desk and falls asleep.  His breathing draws in a drink straw into his nose, the straw ends up in the powder of his experiments, and he ends up inhaling a small quantity of it.  Jekyll immediately wakes up, notices what he did, says, "Uh-oh..." and starts convulsing, going through the initial transformation into someone - or something - else...

I saw this movie shortly after it came out, making me about 5 or 6 at the time.  A lot of its humor flew over my head then, but I still thought it was a really funny movie, and that opinion hasn't changed at all about it.  Directed by Jerry Belson, who directed Student Bodies and provided the voice for the Breather, the film does a good job of spoofing the drug culture of the time.  Working in the film is an incredibly talented group of actors.  Leading them is Mark Blankfield, playing Jekyll and Hyde, and he did a phenomenal job.  The two characters do seem absolutely different from eachother, and when Jekyll tries to overcome the effects of the drug later, it really looks like he's fighting with himself.  He was one of several actors on the short-lived Fridays, along with Michael Richards, where Blankfield played a pharmacist character similar to Jekyll.  He also played in Robin Hood: Men in Tights as Blinkin, the blind servant, and in Dracula: Dead and Loving It, as well as The Incredible Shrinking Woman.  He's such an amazing comic talent, I'm surprised he didn't make it bigger over the years.  Bess Armstrong played Jekyll's semi-spoiled fiance (and daughter of his boss, Dr. Carew), Mary.  Besides this film, she played in High Road to China and Jaws 3-D, in addition to numerous made-for-TV roles, and also playing on My So-Called Life.  Playing Dr. Knute Lanyon, plastic surgeon, is Tim Thomerson.  Most famous for the Trancers and Dollman films, he's had a memorable career, making at least one film every year for thirty years, usually more.

This film has a lot of drug humor in it, obviously.  It's a pretty funny film, and one I recommend with the highest regards.  5 out of 5.  Sorry the month of horror comedies has been such a bust, I'll get back to that world soon.  After one more review, we go into May with a build-up to the new Godzilla movie coming out May 16th.  Until then, take care and this is Red Hawk signing out!

Student Bodies (1981 film)

"I didn't do it!  I didn't do it!  I never do it!" - Toby

So, my first horror comedy review!  I came across this one a couple of years ago and picked it up on Amazon.  I had an idea to do a month of horror comedies even then, but it never came to pass, really, until now.  This film was billed as the first comedy horror film (though Young Frankenstein predates it by 7 years).  It is the first film to spoof the then-burgeoning slasher genre.  So, how does it stack up?

The film opens with a card that reads, "This motion picture is based on an actual incident.  Last year 26 horror films were released... None of them lost money."  After that, we fade in on a view of a suburban house.  After the opening credits, a caption tells us it's Halloween... accompanied by a turkey's gobble.  The screen fades out, then fades back in with "Friday the 13th".  Another fade set brings us closer to the door with "Jamie Lee Curtis's Birthday" on the screen this time.  From here, we take on the viewpoint of the killer, aka The Breather, who creeps up to the house's glass door and peeks in through the mail slot.  We switch to the babysitter, Judy, who's talking to her girlfriend, Toby, on the phone.  Toby warns her not to be irresponsible but she just laughs it off.

Finishing their talk, Judy hangs up, only for the phone to ring again.  This starts a series of phone gags that work pretty well, if go on a little long.  Her boyfriend shows up and as they head upstairs for sex, the Breather sneaks over to a rolltop desk and, after perusing a variety of weapons, picks... a paperclip.  Surely, someone's dying horrifically!

The film was interesting, to say the least.  It does successfully lampoon the slasher films of the time pretty well, with a running on-screen body count, the hidden killer who we only hear his breathing and has a preference for unorthodox weapons, not to mention a victim pool of horny teenagers who are never quite prepared.  The film also throws in more twists than M. Night Shyamalan could think of!

When I researched this film, I was surprised to find that many of the cast did not go on to other things.  Kristen Riter, who plays good girl heroine Toby, only has one other credit: the music video for the J. Geils Band song Centerfold.  Playing the Breather was head writer (uncredited due to union rules) Jerry Belson, going under the name Richard Brando.  He was also a writer on Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again, a film I'll be covering this month, as well.  Cullen G. Chambers had a minor role as blind student Charles Ray, who's introduced with his seeing eye dog driving his car.  He's also been in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, Deep Impact, and he has an uncredited role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier as Secretary of Defense.  Playing Malvert, the creepy janitor, is a double-jointed comedian who was known as The Stick.  He gave an interesting performance here, and I'd like to see what his stage act was like.

I give this film a 3 out of 5.  It could have been a bit better, but it could have been a lot worse, as well.  I just felt that it didn't deliver on all the cylinders it could've, but it was still fun to see.  Thanks for joining me for this, and I hope you enjoy all I plan on bringing you this month.  Until next time, take care, and this is Red Hawk signing out!

April Fool's Day (1986 film)

Happy April 1st, everybody!  I hope my readers didn't get pranked too badly (or do any dangerous pranks or jokes of their own).  Today, we have an article I've wanted to write for the past few years, the original 1986 film April Fool's Day.  I always thought this was something of a forgotten classic, until the 2008 remake, that is.  So, let's have a look!

The film is about a group of wealthy (barring one or two exceptions) college kids getting together for Spring Break at their friend, Muffy St. John's, house on her family's private island.  On the ferry ride over, two of the friends get into an argument, one of which gets a knife thrown into his stomach, who ends up falling off of the boat.  Several people jump in to try to help him, but it turns out to be a prank.  One of the rescuers, Buck, stays in the water to try to tie off the boat, but ends up between the boat and the pier, severely injuring him.

After Buck gets taken back to the mainland for medical attention, Muffy greets her guests and they get settled in.  The guests find various pranks and jokes set up at dinner and in their room.  The next morning, however, finds one of their number missing.  And why is Muffy acting so weird all of a sudden?

The film was an interesting exercise.  Barring the faked knifing and Buck's accident, there's very little gore to the film.  What it lacks in blood, however, it does make up for with tremendous suspense.  The acting is well-done, and the characters are believable, if somewhat hard to identify with, not having a similar background, myself.  The ending itself was somewhat controversial, but without spoilers, I can't go into it.

Deborah Foreman plays hostess Muffy well.  She handled the weird mannerisms of the character really expertly.  At one time considered a promising, up and coming actress by ShoWest, her career sort of stalled out.  She did appear in one of my all-time favorite horror films, Waxwork, as well as Lobster Man from Mars, Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat and Lunatics: A Love Story.  Her breakout role was in Valley Girl opposite a young Nicholas Cage.  Ken Olandt made his film debut here (after a number of TV roles).  His biggest movie role was in 1987's Summer School, but he went on to act in 1993's Leprechaun alongside Jennifer Aniston and Warwick Davis.  Griffin O'Neal portrays Skip, Muffy's cousin.  Son of Ryan O'Neal, he also played in Assault of the Killer Bimbos and the third Ghoulies film.  Clayton Rohner played Chaz, another of Muffy's guests.  He also starred in Destroyer (alongside the aforementioned Deborah Foreman and Anthony Perkins) and The Relic (aka the Film That Light Forgot, as I've nicknamed it).

I give this film a 3 out of 5.  It was enjoyable, much of the cast went on to bigger things, but it wasn't completely perfect.  So, now for my big April event.  Throughout the month, I'll be reviewing various horror comedies.  I may not get as many sequential days as I did in October, but I will be doing quite a bit of posting.  Take care of yourselves and this is Red Hawk signing out!

Happy Horror Classic: Valentine (2001 horror film)

So, this is a reprint of an article I wrote a few years ago.  I got the idea of renting and watching the film Valentine for an article to celebrate Valentine's Day.  I'd just seen the My Bloody Valentine remake the previous month and enjoyed it, but I didn't review movies that hadn't hit DVD yet at the time.  And so, for Valentine's Day, here's my review of 2001's Valentine!

"Roses are red, Violets are Blue, They'll need dental records to identify you." - Dorothy, reading her Valentine card

Another Valentine's Day has come and gone, and while I know this review is slightly late, I figure better late than never, eh?  At least it isn't delayed as my Halloween III review!  At any rate, I know alot of people remember My Bloody Valentine, especially with the big 3-D remake hitting theaters last month, but I'm not too sure many people remember this little flick.  It came out in early 2001, directed by Jamie Blanks, who also directed the original Urban Legend.  Since we like to bring some of the rarer movies to the reading public, here's my review of Valentine!

We open on a school dance with a bunch of junior high kids, focusing on one boy, Jeremy.  He approaches various girls to dance, yet they all turn him down (usually extremely rudely because of his less-than-attractive looks).  The nicest of the girls he asks is Kate, who just tells him "Maybe later".  The last he approaches is Dorothy, a larger girl who's sitting by herself on the bleachers who accepts.  Later, they show Jeremy and Dorothy making out under the bleachers when a group of boys climb up them and start making comments, calling Dorothy and Jeremy "Buffalo" and "Pervert" respectively.  The boys dump a punchbowl over Jeremy and start ripping his clothes off.  The last images we see of this scene are Jeremy, cowering in the middle of the gym with a bloody nose as the kids look on (including one in a cherub mask).

We flash ahead to the present day, where one of the girls who turned Jeremy down, Shelley, is on a date with a boorish idiot named Jason.  Jason talks about human reproduction (specifically how it relates to he and Shelley) and impresses her by splitting up the bill (and referring to himself in the third person repeatedly).  At the end of the date, Shelley just walks away after he asks for a kiss.  Later, we see her driving up to the medical school she's attending for some late-night studying.  While she's about to dissect her cadaver, she hears a sound and runs into another student near the lockers.  She also finds a strange Valentine with a sinister message to it.

Heading back to the lab, she starts to put her knife to the cadaver's abdomen when it suddenly draws a deep breath.  Shelley reacts, jumping back to the wall by the door (and being surprised by her actual cadaver appearing behind the door).  Shelley takes off running, being chased by a cloaked figure, eventually hiding in the morgue.  The killer, finally revealed to be a tall person in a Candyman-style coat and cherub mask, enters the morgue and sees several bodies inside body bags.  The first two, the killer unzips, but then loses patience and starts stabbing each bag violently, except the last one.  On the last one, the killer unzips it and grabs Shelley, cutting her throat in the process...

I really enjoyed this film.  Sure, it's a bit formulaic in places, but really, that's what made the original slasher films so successful.  It looked to me like they had alot of fun filming it, which is always more fun for me to watch.  They also put alot of work into it, which also really shows through.

Cast-wise, there are alot of somewhat big names that stand out.  Playing adult Paige Prescott is Denise Richards, the ex-Mrs. Charlie Sheen.  Besides being known for that, she's also been in Scary Movie 3 (playing Charlie Sheen's wife in the Signs-inspired scenes), Starship Troopers, the lead role in Tammy and the T-Rex, and National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1.  Playing Alex, adult Kate's boyfriend, is David Boreanaz of Buffy and Angel fame.  Besides his role as Angel, he's also been in Justice League: The New Frontier as the voice of Green Lantern Hal Jordan, The Crow: Wicked Prayer, and as the voice of Squall Leonhart/Leon in the first Disney/Squaresoft mashup Kingdom Hearts.  In our starring role as adult Kate is Marley Shelton.  Besides playing Dr. Dakota Block in the Planet Terror segment of Grindhouse, a bit part at the beginning of Sin City, and the role of Victoria Winters in the attempted 2004 revival of Dark Shadows, you can find her playing Dr. Jacob Hood's bodyguard/co-worker Rachel Young on CBS's series Eleventh Hour (one of my favorite new shows this season).  Lastly, the part of Ruthie, an abrasive, spurned woman with a grudge against Dorothy's current beau, was played by Hedy Burress.  Mostly known for voicework roles nowadays, I was surprised to find out that she voices the summoner Yuna in both the Final Fantasy X games and the Kingdom Hearts II game.

All in all, I score this one a 4 out of 5.  It was a good movie, and definitely fits in with the typical slasher films that popped up in the late 1990s/early 2000s.  If this kind of slasher film is your cup of tea then I can definitely recommend it to you.  And so, until next time, take care of yourselves, and this is Red Hawk signing out!

Halloween (1978 film)

I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized that what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... evil. - Dr. Sam Loomis

Greetings, Happy Horror faithful, and I hope you had an excellent Halloween!  We had a great one here, breaking our previous records for trick or treaters by five kids, and getting alot of compliments from people coming to the house.  The night before, I decided to watch Halloween as soon as I got home from work.  I should have worked this review out right after that, but I didn't, and didn't realize just how busy I'd be all day for Halloween, so now I'm extremely late in getting this done.  But, as I always say, better late than never!

So, Halloween!  The film that started it all for slasher films (outside of Psycho, of course).  In 1978, John Carpenter (no relation to me) was hired to make a film about babysitters being stalked by a mysterious killer, when the producer suggested theming the film around Halloween.  Made on a $300,000 budget, the film was made over a period of twenty days and filmed around the South Pasadena area.  Despite the theme, the film was actually made in April, which produced quite a few problems production-wise.  How did they do?

The film centers around the figure of Michael Myers (billed as "The Shape" in the end credits), a young man who killed his sister when he was 6 years old and was institutionalized for 15 years, only to escape the hospital he'd been living in 15 years later.  Arriving in his hometown of Haddonfield, he spies young Tommy Doyle and his babysitter, Laurie Strode, and fixates on them, following them around town and generally scaring the daylights out of them in general.  Come the night of Halloween, Michael starts doing more than stalking them...

This movie has come to be known as the progenitor of modern horror, or at least the slasher genre.  It features everything that the genre has come to be known by: a masked killer following and stalking several teenagers, then getting them alone and ending their lives in relatively gruesome ways.  It also seems to start the tradition of the "final girl", the survivor of the film who proves to be more resourceful than her friends (or, some would say, just more lucky).  John Carpenter mixed and wove together the elements that brought the characters to life.

The cast brought together for the film was excellent.  Donald Pleasence played Dr. Sam Loomis, Michael's psychiatrist and hunter, a part originally offered to Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee (who, according to Wikipedia, later told Carpenter that declining the role was the biggest mistake of his career).  Pleasence played Blofeld in You Only Live Twice, Dr. Kobras in Pumaman, as well as The Devonville Terror and Escape from New York.  Jamie Lee Curtis made her film debut here as our heroine, Laurie Strode.  She became known as a "scream queen", going on to star in such films as Prom Night, Terror Train and The Fog.  P.J. Soles played one of Laurie's friends, Lynda, who heads to the house another friend is babysitting at for a romantic tryst with her boyfriend.  She was also in the original Carrie and cult film Rock 'n' Roll High School.  Nick Castle played The Shape in most of his appearances.  He went on to direct The Boy Who Could Fly and The Last Starfighter, as well as Tag: The Assassination Game.

A true classic film, marred only by the one thing I'm guaranteed to dock a film for, so I give it a 4 out of 5.  Thank you for bearing with me throughout this whole month, and for being patient with my delayed article posting.  I'll be back soon with another article, but for now, I'll be taking a short break.  Thanks again, take care of yourselves, and this is Red Hawk signing out!

Friday the 13th (1980 film)

Did Christy ever tell you 'bout the two kids murdered in '58? Boy drowning in '57? Buncha fires. Nobody knows who did any of 'em. In 1962, they was gonna open up... the water was bad. Christy'll end up just like his folks, crazy and broke. - Enos, the Truck Driver

Here we have the second of our Big Three.  It's kind of funny that I post these in reverse to when they came out, but it wouldn't do to have my review of Halloween two days before!  While it's true that Halloween set up a bunch of the conventions to slasher films, I think that Friday the 13th refined the process a bit.  It ups the ante on the amount of kills in the film, it adds a "Prophet of Doom" in Crazy Ralph (possibly the first Prophet character ever), and it hides the identity of the killer throughout all of the film, until the very end.  The "through the killers eyes" camera does well making you wonder if we're just seeing a regular shot like in any normal film, or if we're seeing what the killer sees.  There have been times in the film where I wondered, myself.

The film opens on Camp Crystal Lake in 1958.  After a gathering of the campers to sing, two of the counselors, Barry and Claudette, sneak off to have an intimate moment together.  Heading up the stairs in an equipment shed, they're making out when they hear a stair creak.  They get up and turn to the stairs and see someone watching them (we see this through the unseen person's eyes).  Barry starts to explain himself when he receives a stab to the gut.  Claudette panics and heads to the back of the loft, trying to keep something between her and the unseen assailant, but to no avail.  After this opening sequence, and the credits, we head to the present day (as present as 1980 is, at least), with Annie, the newly hired cook for the about-to-be-reopened Camp Crystal Lake.  When she asks directions in the local diner, all eyes turn to her like she said something foul.  Once given a ride (and encountering Crazy Ralph, who warns her that she's doomed if she goes up there), she heads for the camp...

Getting to see this again was fun, though the experience was slighly marred from watching it during the day.  Lots of shadows do not really lend themselves to daytime viewing, especially when all you see is a flashlight beam!  I did enjoy the film, as I said it was an interesting viewing.  Tom Savini worked on the special effects and make-up for this film, and even did a little stuntwork.  The only scene I really have a problem with is where the counselors kill a snake in a cabin.  Other than that, a great watch and a great piece of slasher film history.

Adrienne King played Alice, who's talked into staying at the camp for the summer to help out in restoring it.  She almost didn't take the part, but later decided to, and she also reprised her role in the sequel.  Following her appearance in these, she had some issues with a stalker, and so she dropped out of filmmaking for a number of years.  In 2008, she was at first offered a role in the Friday the 13th remake, but then was told they weren't going to have any previous actors appearing in the film.  She did go on to play parts in Walking Distance and Silent Night, Bloody Night: The Homecoming.  Kevin Bacon plays counselor Jack who's brought in to help restore the camp, as well.  He's had a long and storied career, with appearances in Animal House, Footloose, Flatliners, Tremors, The River Wild, Hollow Man and the TV series The Following.  Betsy Palmer played Mrs. Voorhees, a role she reprised for the second film.  She also was a regular panelist on I've Got a Secret, and has starred in The Fear: Resurrection and Bell Witch: The Movie.

Altogether, a true classic that still is as effective today as it was when it first came out.  I give it a 4 out of 5.  Tune in tomorrow for the last of the Big Three... it's Halloween on Halloween!  As always, take care of yourselves, and this is Red Hawk signing out!

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984 film)

Whatever you do, don't.  Fall.  Asleep. - Nancy

Welcome to the first of the Big Three reviews.  I will be covering the original films for the three biggest horror franchises of recent times: A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and Halloween.  These three films are synonymous with horror, due in large part to the efforts of their major antagonists: Freddy Krueger, Jason and Pamela Voorhees and Michael Myers, aka The Shape, respectively.  While other icons of horror, such as Leatherface, Chucky, Pinhead and Jigsaw, to name just a few, have "carved" their own nich (no pun intended), it's these three film series that stand out above and beyond the others.  Let's start with our celebration of the very first A Nightmare on Elm Street.

I never got to see the first three of this series in the theater, having to wait until they came out on video to see them (or, in the case of the third film, cable).  The first one, I remember watching it when I was probably 8 years old with my mom and my cousin who was living with us at the time.  I enjoyed the movie then, but I remember my cousin having a couch cushion in her lap and every time something scary would happen, the cushion would come up and hide her from what was happening.  Needless to say, she was not a horror fan!

The basic premise of the film is this: The teenaged children of Elm Street in Springwood, Ohio, all start dreaming of the same strange sweater-clad man with burns on his face and a knife glove on his hand.  This mysterious figure stalks them through their dreams, inevitably leading them to a boiler room.  As far as the teens know, these are just strange dreams, but when Nancy's friend, Tina, meets a seriously gruesom end, Nancy begins to wonder if her death isn't more than what it appears to be.

As I said, I enjoyed this film as a kid and it's only gotten better since.  The pacing is good, there's some very fine acting, the special effects are amazing... everything lines up for this film.  From the arm stretching gag to Freddy's face coming off to something simple like a burn makr on Nancy's arm, everything came together well.

Heather Langenkamp played Nancy, our main lead of the film and the one who realizes that the scarred killer in her dreams is really stalking her and her friends.  Her first film was The Outsiders, and she's gone on to reprise the role of Nancy in the third Nightmare on Elm Street film, as well as playing herself in Wes Craven's New Nightmare.  Other than the Nightmare series, she also did a cameo on Shocker and was in Star Trek Into Darkness.  John Saxon makes his second Happy Horrorween appearance (his first was in Blood Beach) as Lt. Don Thompson, Nancy's father.  Besides Blood Beach, he was also in The Night Caller (aka Night Caller from Outer Space), Queen of Blood and Enter the Dragon with Bruce Lee, and Mystery Science Theater 3000 classic Mitchell.  Robert Englund plays mystery man Freddy Krueger.  This was his first outing as the madman, of course, and hadn't developed Freddy's later characteristic joking manner (though he does play around with his victims somewhat).  Englund's become known primarily for his horror roles in such films as Eaten Alive, Galaxy of Terror, Phantom of the Opera, and the host of Shadow Theatre, one of my favorite horror showcase shows.  Johnny Depp made his film debut here, as well.  He went on to major stardom with such films as the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Sweeney Todd, Dark Shadows and tons of others.  Also look for cameos from Lin Shaye (Dead End, 2001 Maniacs) as a high school teacher and Charles Fleischer (Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight, voice of Roger Rabbit) as a specialist in sleep disorders.

All in all, a fun viewing was had, and I gladly give this film a 5 out of 5.  Tomorrow, we go back to the woods to Camp Crystal Lake.  It's Friday the 13th!  Until then, this is Red Hawk signing out.