The Bigger and Badder Halloween Top 13:#1- Gojira (1954)

Here we are, finally. It’s Halloween night, and after 31 posts in 31 days capped off with The Bigger and Badder Halloween Top 13, we've finally arrived at the end of the month and the countdown. While all the little kiddies are out trick and/or treating and ghouls, ghosts, and goblins come out to play, why not kick back for a while at The LBL with me and let’s get our giant monster obsession rockin’ one last time. Yesterday, I practically fell all over myself giving King Kong accolades for starting the popularity of the giant monster, but while the giant ape made some splash in 1933, it was during its 1952 release that it really caused major waves. One of those waves ended up lapping the shores of Japan, a country still reeling in the post-WWII era as they tried to find closure, purpose, and direction for their country. No other place in the world has known the true horrors and devastation of a directed, intentional nuclear blast save for Japan. So is it any wonder that the same year American filmmakers released their first nuclear powered monster movie with The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, that the Japanese did them one better and created a monster that was a walking nuclear incident with Gojira (and I don't mean Godzilla, King of the Monsters, but more on that later.) It is Halloween, and a discussion of Gojira could get pretty heavy, pretty quick, but I’m going to try to keep it on the lighter side. After all of these films in The B&B H13 about fear, of nature, of man, of nukes and science, Gojira is a film that certainly touches on a number of fears, but it is really a story of hope.

The Bigger and Badder Halloween Top 13 #2: King Kong (1933)/King Kong (1976)

For the penultimate entry on The Bigger and Badder Halloween Top 13, I am including two films in the same slot. Not only because they share a single title, but also because they both share distinct, though differing, views of a classic tale. The two films, as I'm sure you have already noticed are the original King Kong from 1933 and the remake from 1976. What you won't find is any further mention of Peter Jackson’s indulgent, bloated remake from 2005 because it’s a lot of old bleh, and the less said about it the better. On the other hand, the original King Kong is a triumph of screen trickery, acting, filmmaking, and story, and the ’76 remake updates the formula, the drive, and the symbolism of the tale for a modern age. Both films are still entirely as relevant today as when they were made, and I'm sure these two occasions will not be the only times this classic tragedy will be brought to the cinema. So come with me as I roll the screen on two classic monster movies, and discuss the creature known as the Eighth Wonder of the World.

The Halloween Top 13: The Devil Made Me Do It #1 - The Exorcist (1973)

" The point is to make us despair. To see ourselves as... animal and ugly. To make us reject the possibility that God could love us." -Father Merrin

The above quote is from today's film, and it comes in answer to Father Karras' question, "Why the girl?" In many ways Merrin's words explain why I was able to come up with 13 great devil movies, why the reader lists were filled with titles I didn't picks, and why more Satanic cinema is right around the corner. Nearly each of these films features a "real" devil or demon, but they speak to the real evil that lurks in man's heart. As Merrin calls it, "Animal and ugly." They also intend to inspire faith, to make people stronger in their beliefs, just as the cinematic demons would diminish it. After all, if an evil like Satan could exist and possess a little girl or summon forth his minions to do his bidding, an equal force of good and right must also exist. Even as a devoted Atheist, I found that watching these films, especially today's, made me very hopeful there was such a thing in the universe. (In fact, I told my wife that two minutes in the room with a verified possessed person, and I might well leave behind my heathen ways.) In many ways, #1 on the Halloween Top 13: The Devil Made Me Do It is where the conversation about the devil on film begins and ends, and so what better way to end this countdown and begin celebrating Halloween in earnest than with 1973's The Exorcist. 

 Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) is a normal little girl, but her mother, actress, Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), starts noticing changes in her behavior and speech. She takes Regan to a string of doctors and psychologists looking for some answer to why her daughter is experiencing such strange behavior. When she runs out of places to look for answers, one doctor suggests an exorcism. If the possession is all in the child's mind, then perhaps the ritual would clear it up. Desperate for help, Chis seeks out Father Karras (Jason Miller), a priest and psychologist suffering a crisis of faith. He doesn't believe there's anything he can do, but when confronted with the reality of Regan, the voices she makes, her strength, and personal details of his own life, tKarras begins to take the matter seriously. After catching a recording of the demon sounding fearful, Karras enlists the help of the priest mentioned on the tape, Father Merrin (Max von Sydow). The young priest and the old priest band together to rid the demon from Regan's body no matter what the cost may be. 

The Exorcist was first published in 1971 by William Peter Blatty, who would eventually win an Oscar for this adapted screenplay, and it remained on the best seller list for 51 weeks including seventeen weeks in the top slot. With a built in audience,Warner Brothers was quick to option the film, and in the end they were rewarded with ten Academy Award nominations, winning two, Blatty's and for Sound, and seven Golden Globes with wins for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Blair), and Best Screenplay.  Over the years, The Exorcist has become one of the best known horror films topping best of lists from the American Film Institute and eventually marked for film preservation by the National Film Registry. It also is one of the most debated horror films of all time. When it was released opinion ranged from Variety who called the film, "an expert telling of a supernatural horror story…The climactic sequences assault the senses and the intellect with pure cinematic terror." to Rolling Stone which said it was, "Nothing more than a religious porn film, the gaudiest piece of shlock this side of Cecil B. DeMille." The Exorcist would become the second most popular film of 1973, behind The Sting (which beat out The Exorcist for the Oscar), and would go on to become one of the best selling catalog titles of all time. This is partially because it has gone through more cuts than any film I know of this side of Bladerunner. 

William Friedkin was riding high off the success of The French Connection when William Peter Blatty, exhibiting enormous influence for a writer, leveraged the studio to hire Friedkin for the Exorcist.  Like the Gene Hackman cop classic, The Exorcist is a film that moves on its own energy and tone. Throughout, Friedkin used camera work and gentle use of sound atmospherics and music to enhance the mood. Some of the most effective moments are the silences that punctuate the exorcism sequence. These breaks into the quiet of the house from the cold, vile world of Regan's bedroom help to ramp up the tension as the film comes to its epic conclusion. Friedkin was also not afraid to go the extra mile to get the performance he wanted out of his actors. Many of Linda Blair and Ellen Burstyn's effects shots were violently handled to provoke a reaction, and Jason Miller even recalled the director discharging a firearm behind him before a scene was filmed. (Perhaps he went to the Werner Herzog school of directing.) While the director was on a roll in the early 70's, he never regained his footing after The Exorcist, his next film Sorcerer was a box office flop and wildly over budget. However it cannot be denied that he helmed one of the best and most influential horror films of all time. 

While Blatty's script and Friedkin's direction are paramount in The Exorcist, I can't ignore the contribution of the actors. Linda Blair really went through the ringer playing Regan. She had to endure freezing temperatures on the bed room set, a director who was cavalier about her physical safety, and a script full of incredibly adult content. None of the strife shows up on film, her performance is alternately harrowing and heartbreaking, exactly as it should have been. Ellen Burstyn brought depth to Regan's suffering mother, and her scene with Jason Miller's Father Karras when she begs for his help is astoundingly emotional. As for Miller, the stage actor had no experience on screen (Jack Nicholson and Ryan O'Neal were considered for his role.), but he perfectly embodied the doubting priest. In the early '70's, many young people in America felt lost, and Miller brought that unmoored feeling into his character perfectly. Max von Sydow, who was more well known in European cinema, brought a great deal of gravitas to Father Merrin, and with only a handful of scenes and few lines that are not liturgy, he makes the old priest a fully realized character. The last actor I must mention, Elaine Deitz, is never heard from and rarely seen, but the flashes of her face as the avatar of Panzuzu are pivotal to the film's unsettling feeling. 

After a full month thinking about the devil on film and almost two weeks writing about Satan's cinema, I'm starting to feel like I might need an exorcism, but the power of Christ compels me to finish up The Halloween Top 13 first. While The Exorcist might be an expected choice to top this list, that doesn't take away from the fact that it deserves it. While each of the films on this list attempts to address the issues of faith and evil, The Exorcist handles both of these themes perfectly, and it became such a part of pop culture nearly every devilish movie that followed it owes a debt. No matter what version you watch (for the record I watched the spider walk inclusive "Cut You've Never Seen"), no matter how many years pass, the core of The Exorcist will remain the same. There is something out there, something bigger than us that means to do us harm. This need to feel like there is something beyond, good or evil, will never leave mankind, and neither will films like The Exorcist. 

Before I sign off today for the last time in October, I want to thank everyone who read any or all of The Halloween Top 13: The Devil Made Me Do It, all those who sent in a list to participate in the reader lists, and once more Daniel Leslie for his incredible work on the banner. Once again, I can't thank you all enough for making this 4th year of Halloween madness wonderful, and I'm sure I'll be ready to do it all over again in a year. Join me back here in a day or two for more new reviews and nonsense, and don't forget, before you go scroll on down and check out the final submitted list, this time from my wife Kathy "The Lady Bugg" Kelley. 

Bugg Rating

Without the love and support of "The Lady Bugg", Kathy Kelley, none of this would be possible. She inspires me,  helps me keep focused, and encourages me to be all the Bugg I can be. For the fourth year in a row, I close out The Halloween Top 13 with her list of Satanic delights. 

1.The Exorcist - #1 on the Bugg's list and on mine as well. 

2.The Witches of Eastwick - Jack plays the devil. Possibly the role he was born to play. 

3.Rosemary's Baby -The Bugg omited this one, make sure to give him crap about it. 

4.Phantom of the Paradise - A musician sells his soul to the devil, Paul Williams songs ensue. 

5. The Devil's Advocate - The devil needs a lawyer. I thought he was a lawyer. 

6. The Amityville Horror - a good reason to ask the right questions about your new home.

7. The Omen - a.k.a birth control 

8. Petey Wheatstraw: The Devil's Son in Law - Dolomite meets Lucifer, need I say more.

9. Crossroads - Ralph Macchio goes the Robert Johnson route. 

10. Needful Things.  - It's never said that the shop owner is the devil, but, yeah, it's the devil.

Violent Kind (2010): Teddy Boy's Bloody Picnic

When you sit down at home and press play on any film, unless you’ve already seen it, there’s really no telling what you’re getting yourself into. Like most people I try to make judgments based on the cast, the director, or a brief synopsis, but if worse comes to worst and I’m on the fence, sometimes it comes down to cover art. In the case of today’s film, I knew nothing about it when I came across the cover on Netflix. Here it is...

Taking what I could from the cover, I first tried to ignore the connection to both the lackluster Halloween and Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot, but moving on to the main image, it comes across like a biker themed horror film, Sons of Anarchy with a higher body count perhaps. Having recently watched the entirely tepid biker horror flick Poker Run,  I wasn't really looking for another chopper themed slasher, but something in the synopsis caught my eye, "rowdy bikers who find their partying cut short by a malevolent force and a gang of equally rough Rockabilly types who may already be dead." Now that, I thought, would be worth a watch. So setting aside the qualms given me by Violent Kind's cover, I pressed play wondering if I'd just gotten myself into Night of the Easy Riders. 

The tiny tidbit that intrigued me from the Netflix synopsis was surely a fresh, interesting hook to get me into the film, but it was also only the start of things. Cody (Cory Knauf), his sister Shade (Taylor Cole), and their friends Q (Bret Roberts) and Elroy (Nick Tagas) travel to the California mountains to attend their mother's 50th birthday party at the old haunt of "The Crew" a biker gang founded by their father. Cody's old flame Michelle (Tiffany Shepis) shows up trying to make trouble, but she finally wanders off into the night with the intent to bone her new boneheaded beau. Before Cody can breathe a sigh of relief that nothing had gone wrong at the party, Michelle shows back up covered head to toe with blood. Now possessed by a supernatural force, Michelle attacks Elroy and sews the seeds of dissension among the friends. As if a friend under demonic possession wasn't bad enough, then a group of '50's style toughs show up and start torturing the crew in preparation for a dark ritual  to welcome what now resides inside Michelle. 

If that at all seems convoluted, I apologize. The film shifts in tone so drastically throughout that it's a bit hard to explain. To begin, Violent Kind goes almost a  full twenty minutes feeling much like an episode of Sons of Anarchy stripped of its stars, but when it takes that bloody, bloody left turn, it means business. In the second portion of the film, the possession piece, there were flavors of favorites such as Cabin Fever and Burnt Offerings, but it stayed away from taking the easy pea soup route. Throughout this portion,  the audience is kept guessing and tension is very effectively built. When the film tumbles over into its last third, the supernatural sock hop set, it veers into territory I would have thought far too dark from what either of the first two thirds of the film had shown. It goes dark in a Last House on the Edge of the Park kind of way filled with that specific kind of nihilistic, sexualized violence that can really, really make my skin crawl. 

Violent Kind is the third film from directing duo "The Butcher Brothers" (Phil Flores, Mitchell Altieri), and never having seen 2006's The Hamilton's or their 2008 film April Fools Day, I have no way to compare it  to any of their other output. Taken on its own merits, Violent Kind is easily one of the best horror films I've seen since 2008's Martyrs. The Butcher Brothers skillfully weave together a number of tones ranging from comic (See lines like: "You tried to eat Elroy's face honey."), to deviant (simulated lesbian bottle sex and cling wrap fetish are just two examples) to just plain horrific (Girls covered in blood never want to make out.) They also do an incredible job with using music in the film. I thought they had dug up a number of retro gems, but it turns out that the soundtrack was packed with indie rock, rockabilly, and folk artists. The most effective example to me was the placement of Lys' Guillorn 's song Little Wren  playing while Shepis' possessed Michelle is struggling to resist being tied to the bed. 

I'm already gushing way too much, but I really must talk a bit about the acting. Tiffany Shepis is a well known name to horror fans as she's one of the current reigning scream queens, but I've rarely enjoyed Ms. Shepis as much as I did in Violent Kind. While certainly she spent a good portion of the film muttering and writhing, she does solid work early as "the bitch" and later hit a bloody, emotional home-run with simply the phrase, "you saw me different." Cory Knauf, who also appeared in The Butcher Brother's The Hamilton's, proves that he's an actor that should be in many more things. Providing a vulnerable performance that set a fulcrum for the film, Knauf easily anchored the film's weightier portions. The real star performance though has to be Joe Egender as the greaser's leader Vernon. Full of menace and mirth in a gleeful meshing of David Hess in anything meets Johnny Cash in Five Minutes to Live, Egender  (who has appeared in all three of The Butcher Brother's films) easily summons up more onscreen menace than that freaky puppet in Saw has for the last three sequels. 

Now, let me get back to where we started, the cover. After I watched the film, I pondered what kind if image might have better conveyed the type of film it was. Coming up with something in my mind that would have been inspired by classic, lurid posters for 50's exploitation films such as The Blackboard Jungle, Live Fast and Die Young, or Teenage Doll, I then went looking to see if Violent Kind had any other alternate images associated with it. I did find two. Here's the first.... 

I like this one more, but I think it might be even less indicative of what the film is. While it does actually show the face of Knauf  and the side of Egender's head, I would read this poster as possibly being a French horror film out of the same school that produced Ils and Frontier(s). Here's the second one....

Finally one that conveys something about the film. Featuring the glowering eyes of Joseph McKelheer as Jazz (Vernon's henchman/lover?), it captures a retro feel, draws me in, and would make me want to know what is going on with this flick. While I was lucky enough for Violent Kind to catch my eye, it might not happen for everyone. So I hope this post leads a few people to check out this film. You still can't judge a movie by its cover, but you'd think that they could help you out a bit!

Bugg Rating

Tourist Trap (1979): Mannequins, Murder, and The Cleanest Bathrooms In the State

To kick off Spring Slashers, I thought I would see if there was someone’s first film that would fit the bill. I found just what I was looking for in the premiere feature from David Schmoeller, future director of Puppet Master, Netherworld, and Crawlspace. With a career filled with both cult classics and complete misses, I knew that Schmoeller’s first film could go either way, but I had heard things about Tourist Trap (1979). Good things mostly, but I’d also been told it used a slasher formula that was tired even by late Seventies standards. However, I had to see it because no one loves a tourist trap quite like I do. No matter if an attraction boasts a two headed snaked, cavemen hanging with dinosaurs, a weird cave, or a giant statue, you can sign me up because I will go. After watching House of 1000 Corpses, the thought of crazy people inhabiting a tourist trap never strays far from my mind when I pull into one of the invariably dusty parking lots, but it wasn’t quite enough to make me stay away. What might do the trick though is mannequins and The Rifleman, and that’s not a combination I would expect.

The movie does start formulaically with a group of teens and their broken down car. One goes up the road to get help (never to return) and the others soon run into Mr. Slausen (Chuck Connors), proprietor of Slausen’s Lost Oasis, a wax museum. The stranded teens (including future That 70’s Show MILF Tanya Roberts) hitch a ride with Slausen back to his place. While the group’s lone guy, Jerry (John Van Ness) and Slausen head back to try to fix the car, three girls are left at the Oasis and warned not to venture out due to coyotes. The real danger is Davey. As the girls start to venture out exploring the creepy old house behind Slausen’s tourist trap, they soon encounter the doll faced Davey and his telekinetically powered killer mannequins. The girls are soon picked down to one, the sweet and wholesome Molly (Jocelyn Jones) who discovers the true nature of the slasher’s secret.

So, Tourist Trap sounds like a stale, crusty, hackish slasher, but the first few minutes disprove that notion. The film starts out like a DIY version of Herbie Hancock’s Rockit video plus blood, and sets the film’s strange tone from the get-go. Judging from David Schmoeller’s other film, the man has an offbeat sense of humor and it’s on full display here. Not only does the killer alternate between incredibly creepy and neurotically hilarious, the situations that the film presents appear deliberately broadly portrayed. There is a subtle spoof going on under the surface at all times, and Schmoeller has rarely been more in command. With Dolomite (and frequent Graydon Clark) DP Nicholas Josef von Sternberg behind the cameras and a supremely eerie score from Italian maestro Pino Donaggio, the whole feeling of the film keeps the viewer off kilter. Tourist Trap is the type of film where I felt like I knew what to expect, but the result was something more erratically charming.

With all the great people at work behind the camera, the real magic for me happened in front of the camera. Chuck Connors, a.k.a TV’s Rifleman, landed in several cult and genre films late in his career, but I’ve never seen him be better anywhere than in Tourist Trap. The sad thing is that I can’t talk about the complete greatness of his performance without spoiling parts of the movie, and the sadder thing is that just saying that is a spoiler unto itself. So I’ll leave it at this, if you like Chuck Connors, this is THE Chuck Connors movie to see. The supporting cast is not anything to write home about, but they all serve their purpose as grist for the eerie, weird murderous Davey. I do have to take a second to mention Tanya Roberts’ miniscule tube top barely containing her assets. The replacement Charlie’s Angel does get a chance to show off some of the ditzy adorable humor she would tap into again in the ’90’s, and she far outshines female lead Jocelyn Jones (The Great Texas Dynamite Chase). The other two characters, played by Jon Van Ness and Robin Sherwood, do prove themselves utterly disposable, but the kills are so strangely imaginative their deaths were indispensable.

I will always take a chance on films from a director like David Schmoeller. Even his lesser efforts have some kind of attraction to them. Sure Netherworld is a piece of crap, but just try and resist the crap-tacular wonders of the flying stone hand. Tourist Trap needs no such defense. As a first film it captures something that Schmoeller would flirt with in every film of his I’ve seen, horror as tone. There are moments of Tourist Trap that feel like Mario Bava was let loose in Charles Band’s backyard. Even though there were many dark laughs, Tourist Trap also served up more than its share of disconcerting moments equaling anything in better known slashers. If I were going to compare Tourist Trap to a roadside attraction, I would have to say it was the kind that draws you in from the highway and shows you something incredible that might also make you throw up in your mouth a little. In other words the best kind, and for that it gets the first five Bug rating of 2011.

Bugg Rating

Halloween Top 13: The Remake #1: The Thing (1982)

Trust is a hard thing to come by these days. Or any days for that matter, but I hope you folks will trust in me that John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) ranks up top as the best remake around. Yes, we’ve finally made it to Halloween and the top of the Halloween Top 13: The Remake (which also heralds the era in which I promise to never have such a lengthy event title again), and I hope everyone is having a great All Hallows Eve. I’ve had a wonderful weekend dressing up and going out with my friends, and we’re capping it off tonight with a Walking Dead viewing party. One of the highlights of Halloween, as it has been for the past three years, is doing this countdown and getting to share movies I love as well as getting all the fabulous lists from my blogging friends. Before I get into the review I want to thank each and every one of you folks who pitched in, stopped by to read a post, retweeted, liked, or whatever other kind of social media thing you did. You’ve all made this a wonderful Halloween for me, and I can’t thank you enough.

I also can’t thank Mama Carpenter enough. Without her, we wouldn’t have John, and my list of favorite films would be devoid of Escape from New York, The Fog, Big Trouble in Little China, They Live, and Christine. (You may notice that I failed to list Carpenter’s eponymously titled holiday film from the list. I like it and respect it, but I don’t love it.) Of course, tonight’s film, The Thing, also belongs on that list. Looking back over all the lists that folks sent in, The Thing was the most popular title to appear on a list as well as the most popular choice for number one. When I first jotted down notes for this list back in November of 2009, The Thing was the first film I wrote down, and without a doubt it took top honors. Combining horror, suspense, paranoia, and action into a cohesive film, Carpenter showed everyone how isolated terror and remakes were done.

The original 1951 film, entitled The Thing from Outer Space, was directed by Howard Hawks and starred James Arness (Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke Fame). In it, ‘The Thing’ is a Frankenstein’s monster type creature from space, frozen in a block of ice, but when a group of scientists stationed in the artic thaw it out, it seems that it hadn’t come in peace and proceeds to start killing them off. Carpenter’s film dispenses with the plot of the ‘51 film, and instead goes back to the source material, the novella ‘Who Goes There?’ by John W. Campbell, Jr. Sticking closer to the original story, the 1982 Thing once again terrorizes an Artic base, but it no longer needs a single actor playing it. Instead through a series of great performances and an array of mind blowing special effects, the updated ’Thing’ no longer looks like a Western star with a huge forehead, but in its place can look like anyone, any creature, or reveal its horrible metamorphic form.

Carpenter begins his film by introducing us to the stark whiteness of the location which was filmed both in the Artic and snowy British Colombia. Throughout the film the camerawork and lighting is stunning, and major kudos have to go to cinematographer Dean Cundy for his incredible high contrast work. The careful viewer will also notice several times that Carpenter fades to white or the black during the film which subtly add to the atmospheric tone of The Thing. We are soon introduced to our reluctant hero R.J. MacReady, another wonderful character brought to life by Kurt Russell in a John Carpenter film. Russell is one of the best at playing heroic characters that are everymen, and he hits that perfectly here.  Surrounding him are a cast of characters played by wonderful actors like Keith David, Wilford “Diabeetis" Brimley, T.K. Carter, David Clennon, and Charles Hallahan, and they all give great singular performances differentiating the characters in what could have been a crowded field. This group of men finds themselves trapped by a creature that is a ruthless killer and an unseen menace. Suspicion and paranoia soon run rife though the outpost, and soon people are beginning to question if they could be the creature and not even know it.

As I mentioned yesterday with The Fly, the invasion of the body by an outside force is a common theme in horror films, but what Cronenberg and Carpenter share is the ability to execute their vision. That being said, Carpenter takes a less graphic (and less sexual) path to get to where he was going. He relied on good old fashioned Hitchcockian suspense and a claustrophobic atmosphere to draw the audience into the story of these men. They are, after all, the last line of defense against ’The Thing’ destroying the Earth. Carpenter cleverly hides his hand until the last reel of the film, and then you better hold onto your hat. The whole film is enhanced by the score which is uncharacteristically not penned by the director himself. Instead the duties were handed to Italian maestro Ennio Morricone who gave the film a sound very complimentary to Dean Cundy’s moody lighting. I also have to mention the use of pop songs in a few parts of The Thing because I can never hear Stevie Wonder singing ‘Superstition’ without my mind going to this film.

With The Thing, Carpenter thrills and horrifies in exactly the way I want during Halloween. I want to be afraid of the thing (no pun intended) that goes bump in the night, but I also want to keep a healthy fear of my fellow man going on as well. It delivers on every level, and it not only ranks at the top of this list, but also very near to the top of my favorite Carpenter films overall. That about wraps it up for HT13: TR and my review of The Thing. Once again I want to thank everyone who got involved in the events over here at The Lair, and I hope you all keep coming back. I have lots of great stuff in store for the next couple of months, and I’m already kicking around ideas for next year’s list. 13 Giant Monsters? 13 Foreign horrors? 13 Classics? Who knows? You’ll have to stay tuned right here for the next year to find out. It will be worth it. Trust me.

Bugg Rating

Today's final list of horror remakes is the person that takes the number one spot for me each and every year, my number one, my wife, the lovely and talented Ms. Directed. As always I have to send out a big thanks to her for being a trooper and not killing me as I tried to cram in 31 posts in 31 days. It takes an awful good woman to deal with that, and on top of that she has horror remakes. Take it away, hon…..

1. Thirt13een Ghosts- Taking the concept of the original film and taking the special effects too a whole new gory level, Thrit13een Ghosts made for a great film and Tony Shaloub and F. Murray Abraham were pitch perfect.

2. The Thing- Because I like Kurt Russell in (or out) of anything. I even love Overboard. When you look at it, it could have come out really silly, but Carpenter made it work.

3. The Fly- If you like Franz Kafka and horror movies, how can you not like this one?

4. House on Haunted Hill - I love William Castle, and his event films lend themselves to be remade. Perhaps not the gimmicks, but his stories are so strong. The only thing that holds it back is that Lisa Loeb doesn’t get killed.

5. Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman- It brings the pre-feminist fear of the original into a post-feminist world, and it proves that giant women kicking ass will always be fun to watch.

Triangle (2009): A Film that Would Make Pythagorus Give Up Math

As a general rule, no one likes making the same mistake twice. Most people tend to try and better themselves and break free of destructive patterns, but sometimes they are too strong and pull us back in time and time again. At the core, that is what Christopher Smith’s 2009 film Triangle explores. I’ve had this film on my radar for a while as well as Smith’s other well known film 2006’s Severance, but until now, I haven’t had a chance to fit one of them into my viewing. I can practically guarantee that now I will be going back to look over his whole filmography and anxiously await the 2010 release of his new film Black Death. Before I get into talking about Triangle, I want to stress that I am going to desperately strive to make this a spoiler free review, but this film is going to be very tricky to discuss. However, I would not want to ruin a second of this film for anyone who hasn’t seen it. For those of you who have, I would love to discuss it in the comments section.

Seeing as the film is called Triangle and it has to do with boating, the Bermuda Triangle of course springs to mind quite quickly, but the film never expressly states it has anything to do with that mysterious area though from the events that unfold it is easy to assume that it does. More plainly the film gets it name from the boat ‘Triangle’ where single mother of an autistic child Jess (Melissa George) is meeting Greg (Michael Dorman) and four other friends for an afternoon pleasure cruise. Their day at sea comes to an abrupt halt when the wind suddenly dies out, and the tiny yacht is rocked by an electrical storm that moves in from nowhere. The five survivors are set adrift on the upturned boat until a massive cruise liner named the Aeolus appears from out of nowhere. They find the ship empty, but soon someone is trying to kill all of them leaving only Jess alive to fight the masked gunman. After Jess battles the killer off the side of the ship, she hears cries from off the bow of the ship and sees herself and her friends climbing aboard the Aeolus again.

I think that is about all I could possibly say about the plot without venturing into spoiler territory. Triangle is a film that could concern time travel, mental breakdowns or schizophrenia, or a damnation of the sort not seen since the Greeks got their hands on the idea of eternal punishment. I say that it could concern all of those things because honestly, after a single viewing, I can’t say for certainty which of those that it derives more of an inspiration from. The film that I’m sure Triangle will be most compared to is Timecrimes, which is in and of itself a befuddling experience in time travel. However, I think there is little comparison beyond killers with a bag over their head. Both films play with the perception of time, but where Timecrimes all but spells out the whys and hows of the events that occur, Triangle leaves much up to the interpretation of the viewer. Overall, a fairer comparison could be made to The Shining, a film that clearly influenced Mr. Smith.

That being said, I want to make it clear that Triangle is not a film to put on while you’re clipping coupons or diddling around with your Facebook. It requires your undivided attention to detail so it can unfold its story. Nearly every detail in the film is important, and the more intently you watch it, the more rewarding the outcome of the film will be. Christopher Smith doubled as both the writer and director of Triangle, and on both fronts he made a film that stands up with some of the best edge of your seat thrillers. Each time I thought I had this film figured out or trapped in its own created paradoxes, I soon encountered either an explanation or another mystery that I could not wait to see unfold. Very seldom do I use the word ’rapt’ to describe how I felt during a film, but this time it seems to suit both my response and the film quite perfectly.

While the scripting and direction (which I have more to say about later) were both spot on, none of it could have been possible without the powerhouse performance of Melissa George. The Australian born actress has made several noteworthy appearances before in films like Mulholland Drive, Turistas, and 30 Days of Night as well as runs of TV in shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and In Treatment, but I find it hard to believe she has ever given such an emotional and gripping performance as in Triangle. Her character Jess is the only constant throughout, and while all the actors are fine, we get to know very little of them. Jess is the core of the story, and as such, Ms. George carries the weight of the whole film on her back. If we are to believe the events transpiring or really get tied up in it, we must sympathize greatly with her character. I found it very easy to do, and that might well be the best trick the film has to offer.

I said I wanted to say more about Chris Smith’s directing, and I don’t want to make a liar out of myself. I haven’t seen a movie this tense that unfolds in the light of day since I sat down to watch And Soon the Darkness some time ago. From the sun-drenched decks of the Aeolus to the bowels of the engine room, Smith creates a heavy atmosphere that is pervasive and smothering. While there are a few nifty camera tricks thrown in, they were not distracting at all, and if anything, they added to the story immensely to illustrate to the audience what was going on without ever needing to explain it. In fiction writing, a common piece of advice is to “show, don’t tell”, and Triangle should be at the top of the list for how to do that right. Even when there is exposition, of which there is little, it only adds to the layers of the story rather than holding your hand.

If I had made a best of 2009 list (and seen this in ’09 for that matter), I have a sneaking suspicion Triangle would have taken one of the two top spots. I can’t rightfully say it was the best film of 2009, but it is by far the best film I have seen in quite some time. From top to bottom this is a film that deserves the attention of any film lover. I know that in a couple of days after I let it sink in; I’ll be ready to see this one again. That my friends would be no repeated mistake, but another chance to spot more clues, to derive more meaning, and to be thrilled once more by a film that far exceeded my expectations. So if you feel like you’re caught in a destructive cycle of crap films (maybe you watched Nightmare on Elm Street 2010), then break the pattern and track Triangle down so you can break free.

Bugg Rating