Sometimes these weekly themes are more rigid than others. This week is really more of a three movies I’ve always wanted to watch but never found the time and am now catching up with them than anything else. Of course, there’s a long list of movies that fit that criteria, so filtering by Sci-Fi Horror makes it easier to narrow down to three. All of which is to say that Sci-Fi is somewhat loosely defined for the purposes of this theme. I’m a big fan of science fiction and could probably bang out 10,000 words giving a good definition of the genre, but that’s overkill for the purposes of the Six Weeks of Halloween. Anyway, here’s three movies I watched this week:
Six Weeks of Halloween: Week 4 – Sci-Fi Horror
- The Fly (trailer)
- Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers (Looney Tunes Short)
- Them (trailer)
The Incredible Shrinking Man – Richard Matheson has this knack for coming up with goofy sounding premises that he somehow manages to wrangle into grounded, interesting stories. This mode of operation was perfect for things like the Twilight Zone, a series where he contributed some of the more memorable episodes (most notably Nightmare at 20,000 Feet), but some of his pitches could sustain a full feature film too.
Due to a hand-wavey exposure to radiation and insecticide, Scott Carey is shrinking, slowly but surely. He eventually becomes so small that he begins to live in a doll house, and as he becomes even smaller, his home becomes an obstacle-laden wilderness. As he continues to shrink down to mere inches (and even smaller), he must survive encounters with the likes of house cats and spiders.
50s science fiction has a certain reputation as being a little silly or hacky, and reading the plot here, you can’t help but feel that the high concept is probably all their is to it. To be sure, the film delivers on the exasperation of exploring a familiar environment from a radically different perspective, and there’s plenty of action. The effects are often quite simple, but they remain remarkably effective, even to this day (when he gets really small, there are some shots that are perhaps not perfect, but they’re still quite good – I’ll take those over some of the weightless CGI slop of today’s blockbusters.) The cat chase is pretty fantastic, the challenges of navigating the basement to find some food are also quite well executed, and the spider is genuinely terrifying (it helps that they use the biggest, hairiest tarantula they could find rather than a simple daddy long-legs or orb weaver).
What you’re probably not prepared for are the dark, existential monologues that Matheson peppers throughout, particularly in the ending, which contains a bittersweet glimmer of hope. Again, it’s one of those things where Matheson takes what could be a deeply unsatisfying ending and turns it entirely around, even though all the unsatisfying stuff is still there. There’s a few elements that aren’t entirely baked (an abortive romance with a circus performer, the way his wife just assumes he’s dead), but at just 86 minutes long, it never wears out its welcome. Great stuff. ***1/2
- The Thing (trailer)
- Hell No: The Sensible Horror Film (fake trailer)
- The Blob (trailer)
Mimic – Guillermo del Toro began his career in Mexico with Cronos, a unique blend of vampires, alchemy, and del Toro’s distinct brand of fairy tale. This garnered enough success that he was able to make the jump to Hollywood to make Mimic at Miramax, which was apparently quite an ordeal:
“I really hated the experience,” del Toro said to the crowd at the festival. “My first American experience was almost my last because it was with the Weinsteins and Miramax. I have got to tell you, two horrible things happened in the late nineties, my father was kidnapped and I worked with the Weinsteins. I know which one was worse… the kidnapping made more sense, I knew what they wanted.”
Yikes. Apparently tons of studio interference here, but enough of del Toro’s style remains that the film is worth a look, and the idea behind the film is kinda interesting, though a little far-fetched.
In order to combat an emerging epidemic in NYC, an entomologist genetically engineers a breed of insect that will kill the cockroaches that spread the disease. The insect was specifically designed to die off after one generation but life, uh, finds a way. What’s more, their heightened metabolism has allowed them to evolve the ability to mimic their greatest predator, human beings. Hijinks ensue.
This turns out to be del Toro’s most conventional film, and while there are some interesting ideas bubbling under the surface here, they’re pretty clumsily presented. The cautionary theme of unfettered science is presented through overly literal exposition and on-the-nose dialogue; there are much better explorations of this sort of thing that are more subtle and thorough. The titular mimicry is an interesting idea, but ultimately, you are left having to believe that 6 foot tall cockroach monsters are walking around New York undetected (in the dark, from a distance, maybe, but with the creature design they have, it would not survive any real scrutiny). del Toro gets around this a bit with the way he frames and blocks these sequences, so it’s probably good enough, but this movie requires you to make several leaps that make suspension of disbelief a bit of a challenge.
On the other hand, the set design and atmosphere are impressively moody, and the creature itself is well done. Goopy and gross at times, these things all play to del Toro’s strengths. The more ambitious effects are perhaps a bit dated, but it’s pretty good for a low-budget attempt. The cast is actually quite good, with Mira Sorvino leading the pack as the entomologist who figures everything out, and Charles S. Dutton playing the thankless role as a subway cop who gets caught up in events (that guy deserved better in the 1990s, he always brings a gravitas to the proceedings that elevates anything he’s in…)
Unfortunately, perhaps due to the studio interference, the film’s pacing grinds to a halt on a few occasions. It’s an interesting movie, well worth a look, especially for fans of del Toro, but it’s not exactly a classic. **1/2
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide To Murder (short)
- Duel (trailer)
- “Gremlins 2” Brainstorm (Key & Peele)
Maximum Overdrive – By the mid-80s, Stephen King had parlayed his phenomenal success in the writing world into films, with tons of successful adaptations, and he finally got a chance to direct his own movie, an adaptation of his short story, Trucks, in which a group of people at a truck stop are terrorized by a bunch of tractor trailers which have become animated by some unknown force and mow down every human they can find. In this movie, King expands on the concept beyond the Trucks of the story, with all technology betraying mankind, and the result is a fine example of cocaine-fueled 80s excess.
This is quite obviously not a strictly good movie, but man it’s wildly entertaining. I would say that it’s unintentionally hilarious, but I don’t know, I suspect everyone knew what they were doing with this one, even if they never actually wink at the audience. I mean, this is a movie where Stephen King himself has a cameo in which his ATM repeatedly calls him an asshole. Emilio Estevez is putting on some kind of bizarre accent. After the trucks start their rampage, the scummy manager of the truck stop whips out an actual rocket launcher and starts blowing up trucks (a trend from the 80s we desperately need to bring back). The vehicular mayhem is suitably destructive and frequent (something we also need to bring back: massive practical explosions). One of the trucks is inexplicably sporting a giant Green Goblin mask strapped to its grill. AC/DC provides the soundtrack. There’s a weird romantic subplot. The cast is a veritable who’s who of character actors, including the aforementioned Estevez, the woman who would go on to voice Lisa Simpson, Barney from Silence of the Lambs, a bartender from Deadwood, and probably a dozen other recognizable “that guy” or “that gal” faces.
Look, it’s not really scary in any way, but it’s such a singular oddity of 80s cheese that I can’t help but love it. I’m glad that King would sober up and mostly return to writing, because he’s just so great in that arena, but this is actually an interesting film to have under his belt. This is one of those things that sorta defies ratings, but what the hey: ***
Next up, some televised (er, streamed) horror. After that, I’m planning on a few things. I should probably catch up with the Terrifier movies at some point this year (ah, I see the new one just came out), and I’ve got some Neo-Slashers on the schedule too, not to mention a few other potential themes. A few other themes may have to be relegated to the Speed Round, but I wanted to watch some Fly sequels, horror musicals, and moar. Stay tuned!