31 Nights of Halloween

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Also, to reply to something else that Avaitor said, The Thing From Another World is a good movie. I just don't agree with the people who act like that was the only version of the film that there should be. As a monster movie it's a classic, and John Carpenter's film shows it a lot of respect, but at the same time his take on the story is also a much more faithful adaptation of the original novella. It's all about which version you prefer, and personally, I prefer Carpenter's take on the story, but the original still has it's place in Sci-Fi/Horror history.

And to reply to Talon, yeah, I didn't mean to start talking about The Thing already, but to be fair, it's already almost midnight where I'm at, so technically in less than 30 minutes it'll be. October 3rd, anyways.

[Spark Of Spirit]

It's a prequel, but it's pretty much exactly the same as the first film. Just really stupid.

Not to mention that early throwaway line, "Just remember, David, if anything happens, it's your fault." A line that seems to haunt the rest of the film especially considering the first thing he does when trouble strikes is to run away and leave Jack for dead. These early decisions influence everything that comes later. It's pretty great stuff.

That's one of the many great details about this movie that I was talking about appreciating on repeat viewings. A lot of what's going to happen is telegraphed pretty early on in the film in retrospect which you'll notice on repeat viewings if you pay attention, much like in one of the Cornetto movies, except this one did it first.

The best horror does that. Bad actions are punished and carry on throughout, and it usually takes until the end before the right decision is chosen (or maybe not, depending on the story) and the evil is stopped. The whole movie stems ultimately from David's actions, since he was the one who started the trip in the first place. That's why it's really rewarding on re-watch, because you catch everything that relates to his decision throughout.

Those dreams, though. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

NIGHT 3:



Review (Spoiler-Heavy): http://sfdebris.com/videos/films/thing.php

We already talked about this movie some, but there's still plenty left to say about it. The first 2 nights weren't completely serious horror movies, but this is our first genuinely dark one of the month. And no, I don't consider it "scary" in the same way that no horror films can really scare me anymore since they are just movies. That said, I do find it to be an incredibly interesting and well-written story. It's sort of like if you took the concept of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, changed the way that the alien works, and then put it an an isolated Antarctic setting, which is fucking brilliant for a horror movie.

I love every aspect of this film. The characters are great, the mystery is played up incredibly well, and the special effects are top notch. Kurt Russel and Keith David especially pull out their A-game on this one. As far as John Carpenter films go  this is by far my favorite one.

And, I already commented on the original film and the prequel, so I don't really have anything else to add about those other than the original is a classic, but I prefer the Carpenter version, and the prequel doesn't even have my interest, so I don't ever plan on seeing it.

As for favorite scenes from this movie, I have 2:

The first is the one where the head sprouts spider legs, to which the reaction is "You've gotta be fucking kidding."

The second is when they are doing the iconic blood-testing scene, which I won't spoil for anyone who hasn't seen the movie, but suffice it to say that it's so iconic that South Park even did a direct tribute/parody of it in the episode Lice Capades.

[talonmalon333]

I watched this for a second time about a year ago. It was better than I had remembered it being. I always recognized the fantastic stop motion effects in the movie, but it's also really suspenseful.

[talonmalon333]

Spoiler

You know what's one thing I noticed about this movie last time I saw it? At the end, when MacReady and Childs acknowledge the fact that they can't trust each other anymore, then sit down to just wait, if you look closely, you can see that Childs isn't breathing normally. In the cold, human breath can be visibly seen. MacReady is clearly breathing quite regularly, but Childs isn't. Creates some potential ideas as to who is still themselves at this point.

[close]

[Spark Of Spirit]

Yeah, the end of the "prequel" is the chopper chasing the wolf. It's basically this movie again only with considerable lamer execution.

I'm watching it now. It's been a while.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Spoiler

That's a nice observation, but from what I've heard, John Carpenter wanted to leave the ending up to viewer interpretation, so any hints as to whether one of them was The Thing or not by the end were probably completely unintentional on his part. But, if one of them were to be The Thing, it'd almost certainly have to be Child's. While it's possible that MacReady could've been assimilated from off-screen, it just wouldn't make sense since he annihilated that monster form of The Thing with dynamite, so I doubt that any of it could have still remained alive to attack him. Meanwhile, Child's had been off-screen for a little while, and in that time the doctor could've gotten to him, and by all accounts probably did since he was nowhere to be found when they destroyed the ship that he was building.

[close]

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Also, nobody mentioned how awesome Ennio Morricone's score for this movie is, so I'll mention it:

Ennio Morricone's score for this movie is awesome! And super atmospheric, to boot.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Those opening notes are killer. It's obvious where DOOM got its ideas for the sound.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

DOOM took inspiration from one John Carpenter film, and it's rival FPS series of that era, Duke Nukem, took direct quotes from another one. Guess which one that was?

[Rynnec]

DOOM took inspiration from one John Carpenter film

Not to mention Aliens and Evil Dead, among other things.

Anyway, just got done seeing the movie, and it was every bit as good as E-K said it was. The opening bits were rather slow as he said, but it really hooks you in by the time they (minor spoiler) put the Thing in the storage room. My favorite scene had to be

Spoiler

where they tried to revive Norris.

[close]

Carpenter really knows how to do horror.

Also, nobody mentioned how awesome Ennio Morricone's score for this movie is, so I'll mention it:

Ennio Morricone's score for this movie is awesome! And super atmospheric, to boot.

Those opening notes are killer. It's obvious where DOOM got its ideas for the sound.

You mean aside from a bunch of popular metal bands. 

But yeah, like I said, DOOM was inspired by a lot of things from 70's and 80's, and this movie was clearly one of them.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

That scene was great, especially with the spider head by the end of it. Also, I don't know if the joke occurred to you, but there's the scene where after the blood test revealed that Palmer has been assimilated, MacReady's flamethrower jams up and he tells "Windows" to blast him, but he freezes up and gets killed. The YouTube comments on that scene are fucking hilarious. "Goddamn Windows always freezing up at the most inconvenient moments!" It's just another example of the scary accurate foresight in Caprenter's films, even though that was completely unintentional, obviously.

Anyways, I'm glad to see that you enjoyed the movie. Really, it should be no surprise that this film was so good. At least as far as late 70's and 80's films go, Carpenter's output was amazing. With Halloween, The Fog, The Thing, and They Live, he was called a master and legend of horror for a reason.

Also, if you haven't seen it yet, I totally recommend watching They Live, Rynnec. It's one of Carpenter's more underrated films, but it's a great mix of comedy, action, and horror. It's literally the exact plot to DmC: Devil May Cry, except done the right way, without any pretentious context about youth and the media and government and all that sort of bullshit, since the film is actually clever enough to not take itself that seriously with its subtext. It also inspired Duke Nukem's most iconic line (and by inspired, I mean that DN literally just ripped it off, word for word, because it was so bad-ass.

[Spark Of Spirit]

That scene was great, especially with the spider head by the end of it. Also, I don't know if the joke occurred to you, but there's the scene where after the blood test revealed that Palmer has been assimilated, MacReady's flamethrower jams up and he tells "Windows" to blast him, but he freezes up and gets killed. The YouTube comments on that scene are fucking hilarious. "Goddamn Windows always freezing up at the most inconvenient moments!" It's just another example of the scary accurate foresight in Caprenter's films, even though that was completely unintentional, obviously.

Better than the "version" they did in the prequel. Everyone stands around doing nothing while one guy gets assimilated in the middle of the room. It's incredibly infuriating and stupid that NO ONE does anything. In this one, everyone has reasons and motivations for acting the way they do. The director never says, "Okay, this is the part where the character loses all their braincells and the monster takes advantage and kills them." which is probably my least favorite thing about the genre by far.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, in that scene from the original, it at least makes sense. For one thing, everyone else in the room is tied up, so they literally can't do anything. MacReady is shown to be trying to flame The Thing, but his flamethrower is jammed, so that just leaves Windows. In his case, you could say he's so stupid for not doing anything, but it's understandable that he freaks out in the heat of the moment (and to be fair, The Thing is literally mere feet in front of him, so he'd end up burning himself really badly with the flame at point blank), and furthermore if you pay attention earlier in the film, his character is show. To be rather cowardly the way he acts once he knows that weird shit is going down, so it works as part of his character that he's the one who freeze up in fear at the most inconvenient possible time.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Windows was established as being slow on the draw and very jittery, so it made sense that scene played out the way it did. Imagine if it was Childs in his place then you'd have a good idea of how ridiculous that scene (and several others) are in the newer one.

It's nice watching horror movies that don't fall into those traps. So far we're three for three.