Poltergeist

Director: Tobe Hooper
Writers: Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais and Mark Victor
Released: 1982
Labels: Chiller|Supernatural|1980's

Poltergiest is an exciting and somewhat comedic romp about a family terrorized by an incredibly active haunting. The haunting occurs because the family live in a house built over the top of an old graveyard. The ghostly activity focuses its attention on the youngest member of the Freeling family, five year-old Carol Ann who, soon after announcing ''they're here'', gets ''kidnapped'' by the disgruntled spirit. Reluctantly (it's ALWAYS reluctantly) the father, Steven, agrees to call in a team of parapsychologists, the spirits taunt and unsettle the team and they decide to get help of their own in the (diminuative) form of spiritual medium Tangina Barron. 


The family, under Tangina's instruction, set about rescuing Carol Ann by entering a whirling portal guarded by a demonic Beast that seems to be the orchestrator of the mayhem. The plan seems to work and Carol-Ann is freed, Tangina announces that ''this house is clean'', and the family relax in their spirit-free home. Not for long though as they have understandably decided to move on and not a moment to soon as, on their last night in the house, it becomes obvious that the Beast is not done with them yet and it makes a new bid to capture Carol Ann. The house positively erupts in a frenzy of activity and the mother, Diane, must battle the demon to save her kids.....

Although ''directed'' by Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre), it is certainly arguable that most of the decision-making about the feel and look of Poltergeist comes from producer Speilberg himself. You are constantly reminded of films such as E.T. (which Spielberg made back-to-back with Poltergeist) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, with the small town setting for other-worldly events, the way the haunting is introduced slowly at first, how it is treated by the family with some amusement and how it escalates rapidly into full-on action. Also the inevitable ''everything seems ok now, oh, no it isn't'' plot twist is classic Spielberg.

Considering this was released in 1982, the visual effects are varied and sophisticated, there are animated ghosts, stuff moving (and/or flying) on its own, rotting corpses, gore and goo. The plot on the other hand, isn't particularly sophisticated and the reasons for the haunting focusing on this house in particular are never satisfactorily explained but, as an entertaining, well-acted, exciting visual treat, Poltergeist really does come up with the goods. 

Poltergeist Official Website

Poltergeist on IMDb

Poltergeist on Wikipedia

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The Evil Dead

Director: Sam Raimi
Writer: Sam Raimi
Released: 1981
Labels: 1980's|Gore|Supernatural

Five friends on vacation head to a remote cabin in the woods where in the basement they find a strange book and tape recordings of incantations that they play and unwittingly release sleeping demons. The woods that surround them become possessed; the demon spirits attack the cabin and one by one the friends become evil incarnate turning on each other with a thirst for blood. Only one remains untainted by the demons touch and must fight the woods and his friends in order to survive the night.

It's difficult to know where to start with The Evil Dead because over the past three decades it has transcended being just a horror movie; it's one of the most referenced and the most revered films of its era.  The Evil Dead combined a rarely seen level of SFX, gore and bloody mayhem with a tongue in cheek humor and maverick camera techniques, but what gave it such notoriety was the fact that it polarized its viewers. It was as despicable for some as it was enthralling for others, in fact in the 1980's in the UK it became a 'poster-boy' for the whole video-nasty furor and got itself banned.

What director Sam Raimi (Darkman, Spider-Man, Drag me to Hell) achieved (aged 21) for little over $375,000 is truly remarkable considering that would not even cover five blood-filled minutes of a Hollywood torture-porn set piece nowadays. The make-up effects by Tom Sullivan and the use of prosthetic body parts are convincing and clearly the actors relished every second of poking, chewing, stabbing and dismembering. Speaking of the acting, it must be noted that The Evil Dead sees the birth of a cult movie icon, Bruce Campbell (Bubba Ho-Tep, My Name is Bruce). Longtime friend of Sam Raimi and his brother Ted, Campbell was executive producer of the movie, was involved in many aspects of the cinematography and was chosen as the "actor" of the group because he would be the one that "girls wanted to look at." Campbell reprises his role for the continuation of The Evil Dead story in two further movies "The Evil Dead 2 : Dead by Dawn" (1987) and "Army of Darkness" (1992), increasingly witty one-liners and the coolest shotgun/chainsaw melee weaponry galvanized Campbell's cult status.

The trivia and interesting facts about this movie are seemingly endless but you can check out the best of them here.

If you like a movie with plenty of scares, laughs and splatter then this is most definitely for you.

The Evil Dead Theatrical Trailer

The Evil Dead at iMDB

The Evil Dead at Wikipedia

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Other than film spin-offs The Evil Dead has spawned comic books, cellphone apps and there's even been a stage musical made based on the movie!

Horror Movie Friday has also heard that The Evil Dead remake is in development with Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell as producers, Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Alvarez has been commissioned to direct after Raimi saw his short film  Ataque de Pánico!  and apparently academy award winning screen writer Diablo Cody is revising the script!

The Thing (1982)

Writer: John W. Campbell Jr. (story), Bill Lancaster (screenplay)
Director: John Carpenter
Released: 1982
Labels: Monster|Sci-Fi|1980's

Continuing our current theme of Universal Studios horror with milestone special effects, we decided to feature John Carpenter's The Thing.

A re-working of the 1951 film The Thing from Another World based on the story Who Goes There? by John W Campbell Jr, The Thing is set in as about a remote place as you can get, the Antarctic. A group of scientists become cut-off from civilization as events unfold and are preyed upon by a shape-shifting alien life-form. The "thing," as it becomes known, is able to take on the appearance of it's victims and gives our team at the base the secondary terror of not knowing who is human and who is the Thing! 

John Carpenter's films are famously hit and miss (Halloween is a must-see but films like Christine and The Ward really don't live up to the promise) but 'The Thing' has got to rate as one of his best. 

The film impresses with its incredibly bleak look and sound, a low bassy score by genius film composer Ennio Morricone adds to the claustrophobic tension that builds throughout. Much like the characters in the film you are kept guessing as to who has been infected by the Thing and in-fact you never really know what happens to a few of the characters, and rather than an oversight this is entirely intentional as it gives you a taste of the confusion in the base. You can't even say for certain if our hero, MacReady (played perfectly by Kurt Russell) is infected or not! 

The special effects by Rob Bottin (The Howling, Witches of Eastwick, Se7en) and his team may look a little dated 30 years on but are still very impressive nonetheless. Plenty of slimy shape-shifting, body-ripping gore and teeth and tentacles will keep you squirming but it in no way lessens the dramatic impact of the film. 

Universal Studios Orlando Horror Make-up Show

A really well detailed feature on the creation of these effects can be found at the excellent fan-site Outpost #31.

The Thing performed poorly at the box office and was not well received critically, apparently audiences weren't quite ready for this level of body horror, and because of this it has remained relatively unknown in this genre in comparison to films like Alien or Predator. It is good news that this year they intend on releasing a prequel (confusingly also entitled The Thing) which we are told will reveal what happens right up to the opening credits of the original and remain true to all that has been told thus far, and in addition will also give some conclusion to the original film. We just hope that this new movie will re-kindle some interest in the original and allow many more horror fans to experience this excellent film.

The Thing theatrical trailer

The Thing at iMDB

The Thing at Wikipedia

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