File Review : "Godzilla Minus One"

It would have been hard for Toho Films to have messed this up. But they were committed to making more than just a monster movie, they wanted to make a movie that stood up against other genres. You do not have to be into Godzilla to enjoy this movie. Granted this is coming from someone who has been a fan of Godzilla for over 45 years. This has not made me like American films like the recent mess that is "King Kong vs Godzilla".  This movie stomps that film like Godzilla stomps through Tokyo. By taking it back to post-World War 2 they were wisely able to craft something with the feel of the period while making the most of the special effects of today, but not abandoning practical effects together. 

I feel like I need to watch a making-of-documentary to fully wrap my head around the movie. But that would be overthinking it. It is the best Godzilla design yet as it takes the massive scale of the creature and makes it make sense, even when it comes to his nuclear breath. Sure there are bursts of emotional exclamation that feel like they are from an anime, and there is also the lack of other big monsters for Godzilla to fight, which leaves him as the antagonist. The ex-kamikaze pilot who fills the role of the protagonist, feels like he could have stepped out of "Attack on Titan". But their humanity keeps you invested enough, though I might have asked for fewer humans and more Godzilla, but get why the story is told in the manner it is. 

I have not seen "Oppenheimer" but imagine this is a similar cautionary tale. It shows the costs of war, and Godzilla serves as the force of nature that is man's reckoning. No matter how cute the little kids whose lives hang in balance are, it is hard for me to root against Godzilla, the best I could do is similar to the destruction you see in Gaza, is a" you better get the fuck out of there and run to survive or your ass is about to get stepped on". I think the parallels drawn here are not intentional in that regard, but Godzilla represents the horrors that man brings on himself, this movie just personalized it. One of the best kaiju movies in recent memory even if it is just man vs the force of nature that is Godzilla. 

Film Review: ' the Munsters"

First let us consider what was the last movie Rob Zombie did that was worth a shit? Well "31" was entertaining, but not the greatest if we are not measuring it against other b-grade straight to video/ streaming standards. That would make "Halloween 2' the last movie really worth watching, and that is being generous. Up until this point at least his movies looked good and gave enough wink at Grindhouse horror to make it worthwhile.  With adapting the Munsters, you would think since one of his biggest radio hit songs was about their race car Dragula, that Zombie would protect the legacy of the television show in making, what amounts to a prequel. Instead, what we got was Zombie taking a piss on it with something that has the production quality of a Six-Flags Halloween commercial. There are yard props that you can buy at Spirit Halloween that looks better than what he made here. 

While I appreciate the lighting and the vivid colors, that is the only redeeming aspect of this garbage. Richard Brake is really the only actor who tried with his Vincent Price impersonation. Sheri Moon, acted like Elvira, who was ironically also in the movie but not acting like herself. Then the rest of the cast camped it up to the point beyond cheese making every interaction painfully awkward. When you go back and watch the original sitcom, it is clear Fred Gwynne was a closet queen, which was not uncommon with Hollywood actors back in 1964. But even then, his acting is far superior to anything that happens here. The script was cumbersome and seems like it was written by a child. Speaking of children how Eddie Munster was not included even as a bundle of fur, is a testament to how the pacing and plot were poorly mapped out. 

It is hard to really sum up my thoughts after watching something that bad. It was so bad it was funny in places where it was not trying too hard to be funny, much like one of Herman's stand-up routines. While those types of jokes were in the original show, they were delivered much better. Zombie should have taken notes from Tim Burton's reboot of "the Addams Family' as to how to take creative license and still pay proper respect for the source material. Instead, we got a piece of trash that I found myself having to endure rather than enjoy and makes me hope this is the last film Zombie is allowed by the studios to make.   

Film Review : the Shape of Water

Remake the Creature From the Black Lagoon with the same thoughtful quirk of "Amelie" and you are sure to win over the critics and win every award. Guillermo del Toro has made it no secret that he pulled inspiration from the Creature, but it is almost impossible to make a movie about a "mer-man" and not. While the Creature in this movie is as stunning visually as any of the things that go bump in the night, this is about as much of a horror movie as "Twilight", This time the forbidden love is not necrophilia, but bestiality.  I am sure it will be implied that this is making a deeper social commentary, about racism, what it really asks is ..."is it ok to have sex with animals?" The movie insists he is more human than his looks might suggest. Is he really more sentient than a chimpanzee? By he we are referring to the monster and not the director. While I am not opposed to human on monster sex the context here is a little more awkward as it's not just getting raped by tentacles.

The acting is great with Michael Shannon pretty much stealing the show with his fingers rotting black. The story is endearing, though the movie  gambles with your suspension of disbelief. Would the bathroom really fill up with water like that ?Who would have thought the cold war was really a race to send a mer-man into space? The movie is well paced. It keeps things tense when needed as the clock begins to tick. This is not the first time we have seen the role reversed and the audience was asked who is the monster and the answer has been the human. The most horrific thing the monster did was eat a cat and someone got scratched by mistake. I think he defended himself as needed in fact like the Hunchback he probably took too much shit and I do not think it was a coincidence he was chained on the dais like he was in the one scene. There are plenty of winks to the old classic monster movies . Like this movie most of which are not considered horror movies by today's standards.

The only mis-step was the musical fantasy. I am not sure if that was a wink to the Creature from the Black Lagoon musical that tanked or Jackson's King  Kong. It was silly and I was the only person laughing out loud in the theater at it. I went to an art theater so every one else was watching it like they were in an art gallery and trying to ponder the deeper racial issues before going homse to wank off into a PBR. So was it a good movie? Was it worth the wait? I can say unlike most movies I am glad I paid the $ 11.00 ticket, I think this is my new movie rating system how much was it worth. it's an endearing and cute $11.00, $15.00 might have given me buyers remorse. I have a friend who said it was one of the 20 twenty movies now , that is an exaggeration as I can think of at least 50 that are better.

Frankenstein's Army

Director Richard Raaphorst is no stranger to the business having worked as a conceptual artist for films like Dagon and Beyond Re-animator, so the concepts for the monster experiments in this film are well realized. The movie works off the found footage angle, as it's being shot on film that looks grainy but pretty good to be taken in the 1940's, as a Russian Platoon stumbles over  the workshop belonging one of the many heir's to the Frankenstein legacy.

For me the pacing works better than most, especially the other Frankenstein found footage film the Frankenstein Syndrome which played out like a poor man's Troll Hunter. This movie is like a walk through a haunted house, with creatures popping out from claustrophobic corridors to mangle their victims , which it is a horror movie so we know is going to be the soldiers whose eyes we are seeing this from. 

The quality of the gore effects could be better , it comes across as 70's Grindhouse, not as intentional campy in most parts as Hobo with a Shotgun or Dear God No, when a helmets is pulled off of a head and takes the brain with it, the effect is close to comedic. 

Where this movie works is in the monsters, though some could have used a little more love from the make up department, but when they are almost more robotic in nature, they succeed in looking like Nazi was machines, one even has a propeller for a head which as you can imagine make for good chopping, but highly combustible. 

The acting despite the variance in accents , is pretty convincing considering the budget being worked with though one of the main characters reminds me of Buster from Arrested Development and I can always appreciate an original take on the Frankenstein myth, though if you are hoping for a Boris Karloff clone in a nazi uniform, guess again  ,nor does this go for the same feel as say Inglorious Bastards or Dead Snow, in capturing the time period. I was entertained despite the budget constraints of gore and hope some one makes action figures of those monsters.       

Troll Hunter

While it will be lumped in with horror films, in the same manner Cloverfeild is i have a hard time with it as a horror movie, though the running through the woods using night vision might be scary to some, bringing us back to the psychology of what scare people. I for don't have a fear of giant monsters, Godzilla and King Kong are icons of the genre but are they scary, i would like to meet some one who is scared by a godzilla movie.
This movie like cloverfeild , a comparison very easy to make though , i found Troll Hunter the superior film, never for once did i buy the disaster movie element to cloverfeild, or Monsters for that matter , which might have beaten Trollhunter to the theater , i might even have like Monsters better than Cloverfield and i think it has a higher fear factor than all three. While we are on giant monsters it should og on the record that the Host is the superior movie of the new wave of monster movies.
Where troll hunter excels is painting the picture , the suspension of disbelief and for having the balls to put those goats on the bridge but not make the gag too heavy handed .. or hoofed. i could also raised to a toast to the fact any under used monster appears on the screen, i think minotaurs are due a better shake than the narnia movies . Up until this point lotr and the 80's comedy-ish troll series were the only trolling on screen.
The acting in troll hunter succeeded in the sense , you believed thats what these people were really doing , despite the cgi troll, i think for realism and the aiding of the suspension of disbelief the trolls could have been shorter. I doubt it will make it onto my top ten horror list though i suppose it's bubbling under as the competition isn't very stiff , see next post for the mid year report card. i think with trolls the scene on the bridge was handled best because less was more, in other scenes the trolls looked more like the creatures from the where the wild things are movie, losing their menace , when you are trapped in a cave by ugly teddy bears. so i will conclude it by saying , i was entertained , kinda like a band who wears there influences on their sleeve but does such a good job in the execution you let it slide. recommended to those willing to keep their expectation low and then they will be pleasantly surprised. so while i am not on the fence about if this is a good movie or not i am trying to figure out how good was it , good not great .

Welcome

ok, I have willsmashforcomics , but needed a forum to discuss my love for horror in print and on screens, those of a theater or computer these days as i don't pay for cable. So what will and won't you see here ? It's my blog and when it comes to the macabre i have my preferences , there will be a lack of teeny bopper vampires or anything geared to that demographic, so don't hold your breath for breaking dawn or scream 4 reviews. I am not a fan of americanized re-makes they are for idiots incapable of reading subtitles and don't mess with the classics either , if it isn't going to be a different or improved take on something why bother. The dawn of the dead re-make is the only one i really tolerate ,so yes there will not be coverage of the fright night re-make as it will fall into the previously mentioned demographic. Horror with comedic elements aside from the uk's being human is not my thing. i liked shaun of the dead and zombieland but neither was horror so would not belong here.
Yes there will be tv shows on here, being human, supernatural...ok they balance the humor , true blood and walk dead . i'm sure preist, bereavement, insidious and lords of salem will get there time in the spotlight here as well.
Now what do i like ? Exorcisms, monsters and torture porn are my faves, the realer the better unless we are talking about monsters then suspension of disbelief goes out the window. My fave movie monster is Frankenstein, but don't call him a zombie and i won't hit you with my monster manual to prove other wise . the last horror movie that really did it for me was i saw the devil. anything depraved gets points for me. I'm kinda burned out on zombies, i know atlanta is the horror capital of the south but it seems any horror hipster in town is hung up on them and they have bored me, though i did like rec 2 .
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