Review : 31

Rob Zombie's track records with movies has so far been hit or miss, with more in the win column. The main problem with the movie is in the screen play. There are some good ideas at work. Zombie works best when emulating the acid crazed world depicted in his band's old music videos. The over grown Riff Raff that is Death and the more Harley Quinn inspired Sex. I have heard complaints that you do not care for the characters because they are scum bags, and I think that this just plays off of the whole, don't have sex in woods moral that is behind most of the slasher films that are post- Psycho.  The antagonists in this movie are more of a problem than the victims and I think this is partially due to how they are written.

First we have the midget Nazi who is ironically Hispanic. That formula is funny, but is the aim of the movie be funny or scary? The chainsaw wielding clowns are alright and I like the girl mummified in the sex doll. It was at this point in the movie that it was clear they characters were just going to make the same don't go in basement mistakes conventionally horror movies are filled with. Going into this I hoped for more technicolored spectacle that Zombie is know for rather than the warehouse this was shot it. Sure it gave it grit, but I am not sure that it gave it the best ambiance as we have seen that type of environment already in the Saw movies and changing it up would have helped contrast it and set it aside as of right now Saw would be one of the movies this will get compared to.

The gore was almost Tokyo Gore Police at times. In many cases the violence was handled more tastefully than expected, there were many things that worked about this movie and the I was able to watch it all in one sitting with out getting bored says something too, I think Zombie should bring writers to help him. I would not call this movie torture porn as no actual torture occurs. I think it's a survival film that falls short of Battle Royal standards, but beats the hell out of the Hunger Games.

The Exorcist- Tv Show

This is impressive for Fox. Some of the story lines get a little muddle in their attempt to tell the back story in a more maze like manner. The emphasis is on the Priest, who begins having visions of an exorcism in Mexico. Geena Davis plays the concerns mother who is afraid something is brewing in her home. With the movie Reagan was the focal point so you got to see more of what she was like. Here they throw you a curve ball, so when the big reveal is made as to who is actually possessed then it just seems like a conniving big bad.

I think the scene at the end when this possessed person is looking out the window is pretty creepy and effective because the demon is mocking the priest. I hope they don't default to all the contortions and typical things we have already seen from all the movies that took inspiration from the original movie. I think the most effective thing they have done is when the mom comes into the attic to see what is going on the possessed person just acts normal and says the Priest just killed a rat. This can in turn create tension between the Priest and the family who would want him to talk to the most obvious problem child. Plus it seems like the demon is smarter than just throwing hellish temper tantrums and by hiding like this can do more damage.

It doesn't seem to me that this is a re-boot or remake and it's only using the title and theme song to help draw people in. Granted we are dealing with a similar theme, but hopefully the glimpses of what seem to be new elements introduced in this horror sub-genre will devolves into the same old same old we have gotten from Hollywood over the course of the past decade. Geena Davis is really selling me on her concerned mother role? The mentally challenged father could be a dark horse, and he is a former "Farris Bueller" alumni. The demon has some contact or influence with him, I think it was oppressing the house at the beginning, but the end seem to ellude to the fact it's now found a home and ready to let the games begin. The first episode is worth checking out and has me hopeful, though on FOX I can't expect for no survivors and a grim ending.

Deathgasm

You would think a metal horror movie would win me over without problem. It had some enjoyable moments, most of these in the front end of the film when the characters were being developed, but once things hit the fan, then it became almost the equivalent of a zombie movie , but with eyeless demons running around. I don't like comedies so this movie had that going against it. There was lots of senseless blood spaying every where, like something from the Tokyo Gore Police. But for me gore is more effective when it makes you squirm and when it is in such an over top manner than it loses this effectiveness. This is not nit picking is this just looking at what makes good horror movies or doesn't. If someone told me they like Deathgasm I am going to assume the prefer comedy. It takes a sharper writer than the one who wrote this script to make comedy and horror work in the keen manner it does on a movie like "Cabin In the Woods".

Sure they name dropped both King Diamond and Slayer, but so did the Clerks movies and than is not horror. Truth be told "River's Edge " is a better heavy metal movie, and even for all it's 80s cheese, you pretty much have to say the same for "Trick Or Treat". This movie lacked an effective big bad, a few ere hinted at and killed off, then the buddy movie took a sour turn, which had been set up via the tension with the love interest. I like how she was converted into a metal head, but the tension between her and the protagonist with not substantial. I'm over thinking this you say?  Why can't I just let this movie be dumb fun. I am all for horror movies being fun, it's the dumb part I have a problem with. How about a grim serious heavy metal movie? Obviously this is going to come from a movie called "DeathGasm".

The acting and effects were lacking and the winks they did at black metal and the 80s horror movies were more effective in some places than others. The movie started off with a lot of heart that made me return to it but once it got bogged down in the tired running around town with zombies or demons taking over things then it felt stale. If all you need is monsters getting killed with dildos, then you must be under the age of 17 as that must be this movie's demographic. It could have been smarter and that would have made up for the low budget blues.  Maybe one day I'll get that serious horror movie or make it myself.

Fox' s Lucifer

Yes, I am still doing this blog , I know it's been a minute, but truth be told not much has gone on with horror, in fact it is still doing better on the small screen. So Fuck the Million Moms who were protesting Olive Garden it looks like this show is flying. The horror element is creeping in as the buddy cop romance begins to go bad. People that see Lucifer Morningstar's true face go crazy and beat their heads bloody on the plexiglass of their cells in the nut house. That is Hellraiser worthy. Sure this could have been posted in my comic book blog, but it has more in common with horror than it does the Vertigo comic. The actor who plays our infernal protagonist is over the top with wanting to charm you. We are on the third episode so it's still too early to call, but the show could go a few degrees darker and be in the Dexter or American Horror Story zone. But it's on Network tv you say. Did you ever catch Hannibal that show got away with a lot on NBC. The networks all want a show with edge. At this point Gotham is darker, but the smug ex-lord of hell gone good could tone down the comedy and get real at any point.


 Lucifer's real face looks like a bloody red faced skinless demon and is not the most effective use of fx on the show. It is the subtle touches like the scars where his wings once were that is what counts here. Word in the comic book world is Gaiman's cast from the Sand Man might start showing up, which may or may not lead to a Sand Man show. The pilot found more fantasy on the outskirts and from there it has been kept in pretty close check. To get Lucifer's attention I think going into the under belly of Hollywood would be needed. We have seen crooked agents and orgies gone wrong, but I think they need to get into even worse scum like CSI does. Smut film and human trafficking would be good places to start. The crux of the show is what happens when Lucifer starts becoming a good guy.  The "good" angel sent to check on him and give him the nudge to return to hell, seems like more of a bad guy in the same way Doakes was in Dexter, in fact there is a similar dynamic.

I'm going to keep watching. We don't have any other serial killers, leaving us with zombies and Bryan Fuller's odds and ends, I would make a post just about Scream Queens, but with the first season gone, it was more of a comedy, I don't remember any scary moments and truth be told while visual stunning at times there were not any scary moments in  the last season of American Horror Story. The word on the inner webs is new season is going with a Lovecraftian theme, which could really go either way.I don't think I want to see them wink at Re-Animator and From Beyond like they did the Shining this season. Now if Stuart Gordon directed it....

I don't think Lucifer is going to save horror on tele-vision, while the Walking Dead and Fear TWD are both good at what they do I don't think we need anymore zombies on tv, thankfully they have been toned down in the movies. I do think Lucifer has the chance to get better of course it could turn into more of a Scooby Doo bad guy of the week. If this is the case they must use the line "And I would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for Lucifer and you meddling kids." Right now it's at the cusp of being Miami Vice if they don't bring in more Satanic imagery so we wil see where it goes as the fourth episode should be the tipping point.