31 days of horror Year 3 day 25 extra film 02

Scarecrows
1988
MGM DVD

I have no idea how I didn't hear about this film till the early 2000s. When it came out on VHS I was renting like 6 or so horror movies every weekend. I started seeing posts about how good it was. So when the DVD came out I had to get it. Well I got it and it sat on the shelf unwatched until today.

We start off with a group of 5 people who have just robbed a military base of it payroll. They got 3.5 million and hijacked a plane to take them to Mexico. But one member of the group has other plans. He sets up a smoke bomb on a timer and when it goes off he throws the money outta the plane then jumps. So the rest of the group follow him out.

Well he lands in between an old graveyard and a cornfield. And goes off to find the money. He find it and loads it up in an old abandoned truck he has found. He is on his way out when the truck starts acting up. Well he goes to check the engine and there is no engine at all. He grabs two sacks of cash and takes off running. But being lost he ends up back where he landed. Some scarecrows attack him and gut him.

Well the other 4 make it to this old abandoned house that is right next to the corn field. One of the guys,Jack,goes to the roof and using his night vision scope sees where the money's parachute is. So they head out to get it. Well they get there and the money isn't there. So the guys head back to the old house. Not too long after getting back the guy who stole the money shows up. They beat the fuck outta him trying to learn where he hid the money but he wont talk. So they go outside to formulate a plan. And when they come back in the traitor attacks them. It seems like nothing will stop him. But Corbin manages to cut off his hand and head. Now with the traitor not attacking them they closely examine him and discover his organs are missing. They seem to have been removed and replaced with straw and money.

Two of the guys,Jack and another guy,go out to see if they can find the money. While out there Jack gets attacked by the scarecrows. They gut him and chop one of his hands off. Well the other guy sees this and manages to escape. This leads to this guy going nuts and the rest of the group heading back to the plane to get the hell outta the area.

Well for being done on a low budget this film does a bunch with very little. The various Scarecrows are well done and very creepy. The gore effects look pretty good. And the acting is decent. Scarecrows gets a B.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 25 extra film 01

Thinner
1997
Republic Pictures DVD

I read this "Richard Bachman" novel back when I was about 13. And back then thought it would make a fun movie. Well I missed the film when it first came out,but caught it on HBO later on that year. Until today that is the last time I have watched it,even though I have owned the DVD for years now. Saw it was airing on AMC middle of the day,and that prompted me to go dig out my DVD and give it a watch.

Billy is a fat ass rich lawyer. Who one night while driving home and getting head from his wife,accidentally hits an old gypsy woman. Thanks to him being friends with all the local cops and the judge he gets away with killing the old lady. Well her father shows up and brushes his hand against Billy's cheek ,then whispers "THINNER" into Billy's ear.

Well almost the next day Billy is losing serious amounts of weight each day. Very soon he goes to talk to the judge and finds out the old gypsy man has also cursed him. The judge is turning into some kind of human looking lizard. Well Billy heads out to find the old gypsy man and to get him to remove the curse. After confronting the entire band of gypsies at their camp,and getting shot thru the hand with a ball bearing,Billy calls on a old friend he knows through his work  to help him out.

This old friend just happens to be a mobster. Who goes and makes sure the old gypsy man is willing to remove the curse. Well Billy is almost dead from having lost so much weight,when he meets up again with the old gypsy. The gypsy removes the curse and places it into a pie. But warns Billy that with in the next few days someone has to eat the pie. They will die a quick death,but this will prevent the curse from coming back to Billy. So Billy heads home . And knows just who to serve the pie too.

Now I had completely forgotten how over the top every actor/actress in this film is. We get Joe Mantegna as the mobster friend. He with in the first 5 minutes hits almost every mobster film cliche. Then Kari Wuher is chewing all the scenery as the dead gypsy woman's daughter. Plus she is super hot in the film. I had forgotten that the guy playing Billy is also Cousin Micky on Rescue Me. The effects work,making him at first close to 200 lbs more than he actually weighs. Then making him look like he is barely 100 lbs is amazing. I also thought the twist at the ending was better than the one in the book. Thinner gets a B-.

31 days of horror Year 3 extra 04

Texas Chainsaw Massacre series overview

Now most people reading this know that I am a huge fan of the TCM franchise. The original film was the first movie I ever saw. I believe that the original is the first true American entry in the slasher sub genre.

Texas Chain Saw Massacre-Released in 1974 ,this film became infamous fairly quickly. It has been called the goriest film of all time. Which is strange cause there is very very little blood shown on screen. Now sure the film starts off with a disclaimer on how the movie is based off true events. And while I was living in Texas I met many many people who claimed to have seen the actually house this "real event" happened at. But this is all bullshit. The film was inspired by stories of Ed Gein that Tobe Hooper heard from relatives who lived up north. The pacing,camera work and acting in the film are almost perfect. This is not only my favorite horror film,but one of my favorite films of any genre. A+.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2-Released 12 years after the original,TCM 2 is in some ways the polar opposite of the original. In this film we get lots of gore and obvious comedy. Where as in the original we got not much gore,and the comedy wasn't so obvious. Too bad we didn't get Gunnar Hansen back as Leatherface. Originally when I saw part 2 I hated it. I thought the comedy was way to forced and didn't care for the over abundance of gore. But going back now I do enjoy the film. B+.

Leatherface:Texas Chainsaw Massacre III-The only entry in the series to not be filmed in Texas. Leatherface is ,in it's uncut form, a great film. We get some great acting from Ken Foree,Bill Butler and Kate Hodge. And the  family,who now has some new members,is extremely creepy. Lots of people seem to hate the little girl,who seems to be Leatherface's daughter,but I love how in the uncut version she is the one to kill Bill Butler. In it's uncut form I would give this film a A-.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre:the Next Generation-This entry was held up for years. It sat on the shelf for at least 3  years. The story I have heard is Matthew McConaughey and Renee Zellweger were trying to keep it from being released. Cause between when the film was made and when it came out both of them had become pretty big stars. Well I can see why they didn't want it to come out. It is a horrible film. McConaughey overacts and chews all the scenery. And Zellweger doesn't do much besides cry and scream. Some of the gore FX isn't bad. And really until the out of nowhere twist in the final 20 minutes the film isn't a complete waste. But then we find out that the Sawyer family is being aided by some secret government group. This makes no fucking sense at all and is one of the major reasons I hate this damn movie. F-.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake-Released in 2003,this was the first of the big slasher remakes to come out. We get some great acting by R.Lee Emery and Jessica Biel.The gore FX are well done. Plus the changes to the back story are explained well. Sure it isn't as good as the original,but it is almost as good than parts 2 and 3. B-.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre:The Beginning-A prequel to the remake,this film seems to be better received than the remake. It is mainly a good film cause of R.Lee Emery. Mr Emery is the major highlight of the film. And shows that he should be considered as a new master of the horror genre. B.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 25

Phantasm
1979
MGM DVD

Back sometime in the mid 80’s , while working my way through the local video store’s horror section I discovered Phantasm. I had never heard of the film, but it quickly became one of my favorite horror films. So I was super excited when I heard that MGM was releasing it . Then word got out that it was gonna be loaded down with extras. On the day of release I went on my lunch break to go buy it. And watched it 2 times that day at work.

The film is about 2 brothers and their best friend. Mike is the younger brother . His parents died a few years earlier so his older brother Jody is taking care of him. But Mike gets the feeling that Jody will be leaving soon. So Mike follows Jody where ever he goes. Well one day after following Jody and their friend Reggie to a funeral, Mike sees the funeral director lifting up a coffin by himself. Mike tries to tell his brother about this but Jody just blows him off. So Mike breaks into the funeral home late one night and discovers that the funeral director, The Tall Man played by Angus Scrimm, is using the dead bodies to create this creature that looks kind of like  a Jawa from Star Wars.

Mike finally convinces both Jody and Reggie that something is strange up at the funeral home. All three of them go to the funeral home and find a warp gate. It seems that the Tall Man is an alien who is sending these Jawa like dwarfs off to another planet. They get found by Angus and the rest of the film is him chasing them. And the trio trying to figure out how to kill off the Tall Man.

This movie has a style of it’s own. It feels like someone filmed a nightmare. But it isn’t like the various David Lynch films that have the same feeling. Mainly cause after one viewing you can pretty much understand what is going on in Phantasm. Unlike Lynch films that require multiple viewing to understand what is happening. Now the DVD like I said before is loaded down with extras. We get a great commentary with the three main guys plus the director. About 10 minutes of deleted scenes. A interview with the director and Angus that is from 1979. The original trailer plus a bunch of radio and TV spots. A few years ago Anchor Bay re-released the film. The only real difference between the two releases is the MGM one isn’t anamorphic and the Anchor Bay one is. Phantasm gets a A.