Day 28 - Vamp (1986)
Vamp (1986) was another one of those teenage sex/horror film that was widely popular during the eighties. This is one of the better ones. Not a great movie mind you but it's entertaining and it does the job. Vamp stars Chris Makepeace, Robert Rusler (whats an 80's movie without him?) Gedee Wantanabe, Dee Dee Phiffer , Billy Drago and Grace Jones.
A group of late teens decide to go to the big city and look for some kicks. They find a seedy strip club, inside are a bunch of wigged out patrons, sleazy strippers and a Reinfried like bartender. Robert is fascinated with one of the strippers whilst Chris falls for one of the waitresses. Grace Jones co-stars as the main attraction. Billy Drago makes a guest spot as a crazy vampire who likes to slum it up in a kiddie corner. It doesn't take Chris too long to find out that the club has a dark secret and he tries to find a way out without drawing the attention of the owners. Can Chris and his buddies make it to safety or will they become part of the staff?
An entertaining film that was heavily borrowed in the nineties cult favorite From Dusk 'til Dawn. The similarities are too obvious. Tarantino must have had this movie in mind (along with about six others) when he wrote the script. I would have to recommend this movie for horror fans and lovers of eighties movies. Fun stuff with a lot of tongue in cheek humor!
On The Dean's List Scale:
Vamp (1986) gets
3- Strap me to a chair, this one's a "Shocker"!
Day 29 - Vampire's Kiss (1988)
Okay, so Nicolas Cage eats a real cockroach. So the majority of the people who've seen this film don't understand the plotline. So black comedy is new to a late eighties audience. These points are minimal considering the great lengths to which the filmmakers go to to reveal the downfall of a hideous relationship between two people. A relationship gone so wrong that the male has to commit himself to therapy and conversely...murder.
Imagine a relationship wherein the woman was so soul sucking, so evil in her ways that you now feel as if she has sucked you dry - literally and figuratively - you are left as nothing but (in this case) a shell of a man - a walking corpse, yearning for the life's blood that she has stolen from you through your very own veins!
Cage gives the performance of his career and should have received an Oscar as the twisted, quintessential jilted lover who now desperately tries to recapture the joy of his most passionate and influential relationship by revisiting the empty, vampiretic bar hopping lifestyle where he found her - working his way through subsequent women, then just as unsatisfactorily moving his way through rape, suicidal tendencies and ultimately, murder.
It's tone is unforgiving alternating comedy and tragedy, confusing us as to whether he is really a vampire or just thinks he is. By flipping from his therapeutic sessions to his bitter and pathetic reality we see just how badly his male ego has taken rejection.
Here is a film where the simple plotline of a man being bitten by a vampire and believing he has become one becomes one where we see a man disintegrating before us, sliding into madness because he is forced to face his empty life.
His obsessive attention to detail, penchant for house bugs, absence of reflection in the mirror and avoidance of sunlight all match the prerequisites for vampirism, but his clumsy attempts at finding another woman and to fill the void that is left by a woman put so far onto a pedestal he cannot reach are overshadowed.
This is not a film for the feint of heart but for anyone who has ever been screwed over by a woman they have loved (or imagined they did) this is a welcome little cult revelation that makes them laugh and brood at the same time.
On The Dean's List Scale:
Vampire's Kiss (1988) gets
3- Strap me to a chair, this one's a "Shocker"!
Day 30 - Once Bitten (1985)
This is a pretty bad 80's teen sex comedy with a vampire slant. It ‘s main attraction is an early appearance by Jim Carrey before he became a big star. Unfortunately the filmmakers seem unwilling to take advantage of his comic talents, forcing him to play it straight most of the time… What makes this even worse are the rich opportunities for him to exploit his particular brand of silliness in a movie with this premise… I mean, Jim Carrey turning into a vampire… that has potential., but for the most part, that potential is untapped.
However there are a few places where Carrey is allowed to showcase his comic abilities, and his talent is apparent… Particularly in a VERY ridiculous dance scene that has to rank right up there as one of the silliest (or stupidest) dance scenes I have ever encountered. This sequence is so crazy that I would almost recommend the movie based purely on the dance scene.
The rest of the movie is mostly bland and not so enjoyable… Lauren Hutton is a looker, but her part is pretty weak here. Carrey's two nerdy friends are supposed to provide most of the comic relief, but they aren't very funny. The story moves along very predictably and there is little or no urgency. It's not the kind of movie that makes you want to turn off the TV, but it's pretty forgettable.
Still…. It does have the dance scene, and there is a certain 80's nostalgia factor. It's worth watching if you catch it on TV and you have some time to kill.
On The Dean's List Scale:
Once Bitten (1985) gets
3- Strap me to a chair, this one's a "Shocker"!
Day 31 - Halloween (1978)
John Carpenter's Halloween is quite frankly a horror masterpiece. It tells the immortal story of escaped mental patient Michael Myers, who returns to his hometown on Halloween night to stalk and kill a group of babysitters.
This was the first and without doubt the best in the Halloween franchise. Carpenter shows great restraint in pacing the story very slowly and building likable characters; unusual for a horror picture.
Even more unusual is the non-existence of blood and gore, and yet it remains the scariest Halloween to date.
Halloween marked the film debut of Jamie Lee Curtis and a defining point in the late great Donald Pleasence's career. A true classic.
On The Dean's List Scale:
Halloween (1978) gets
5 - Great Scares Take "Shape"!
Happy Halloween!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment