Dreamscape (1984) #456

 

One of my favorite horror movies when I was a kid was "Dreamscape", starring Dennis Quaid, Kate Capshaw, David Patrick Kelly, and Max Von Sydow. It's only PG-13, there's no excessive profanity or sexual situations, but there are some truly effective scary scenes in this movie and a real sense of dread in some of the dream sequences. Once again, a PG-13 film proves it can be just as effective as an R rated movie when it comes to horror. 

A very young Dennis Quaid plays Alex Gardner, a gifted psychic who spends his days using his unique abilities to win horse races and charming women. He is recruited by a secret government agency that is experimenting with technology that allows psychics to enter and influence peoples dreams. Alex is gifted and highly intelligent, and Mr. Quaid plays Alex as arrogant, confident, but caring. He delivers a great performance and shows a real sense of vulnerability and fright when he comes face to face with a little boy's nightmare. 

David Patrick Kelly, best known to horror fans as T-Bird from "The Crow", steals the show as the psychopathic Tommy Ray Glatman. Tommy Ray is the original psychic at the agency and considers himself as the master of the dream world. When Alex and Tommy Ray first meet, Tommy Ray makes it clear that he's the best and the only one that can influence peoples dreams. Without the agency finding out, Tommy Ray has learned how to control his surroundings and manipulate the dreams from within.

The supporting cast is rounded out with Max Von Sydow ("The Exorcist") as Dr. Paul Novotny and Kate Capshaw as his assistant Jane DeVries. Both of their performances are great and their characters greatly add to the narrative. Dr. Novotny has previous history with Alex and is the reason why Alex decides to stay. Jane becomes Alex's love interest and helps him when the agency is taken over from the good doctor. 

An important theme that is a driving narrative point in "Dreamscape" is the fear of nuclear war. Like "The Dead Zone", flashes of nuclear use haunt the dreamer, and in this case it's the President of the United States. Unlike Greg Stillson, this President wants to avoid this horrible outcome. This was a real threat and fear to many at this time and it's interesting to see how it's used in film as a narrative device.

  

C.H.U.D. (1984)

"C.H.U.D." is truly one of those weird little films that defied the odds and reached cult status; no one apparently saw this movie when it came out in theaters but everyone knows about it! It has a great concept, talented actors that include a young Daniel Stern and John Heard ("Cat People"), and decent looking creepy C.H.U.D.s aka Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers. The action starts early on and stays pretty constant, which is helped by the energetic performances of the three main characters. This is one to most defeinetly watch and enjoy or at least to see and understand all of the jokes that "The Simpsons" make about the film.


The citizens New York city, particularly the homeless, are being the main food source for nasty little mutants that hide in the vast underground world of old buildings and sewers. Police Captain Bosch, photographer George Cooper, and soup kitchen AJ "The Reverend" Shepherd all become involved in trying to figure out what's really happening beneath New York City and soon find that the C.H.U.D.s are a direct result of another kind of C.H.U.D - Contamination Hazard Urban Disposal, and that the head of the Nuclear Regulartory Commission is just as dangerous as the mutant cannibals themselves.

Gremlins (1984)

"Gremlins" is one of the best horror movies set during Christmas, as well as being one of the best horror movies with a PG rating ever made. It is a brilliant mix of horror and comedy, finely directed by Joe Dante with a heavy influence by producer Steven Spielberg. The soundtrack is incredibly catchy and easily becomes an ear worm when you least suspect it. The film's violence helped to encourage the rating of PG-13 to be created, mainly for the scene where a gremlin is killed by a microwave. The mogwai and gremlins were created with puppetry and not computer animation which is wonderfully; multiple puppets were created in all sizes for the various scenes that were shot.

Billy is given the most unique present a boy could ever have, a mogwai! Billy's dad found it while doing business in Chinatown and secretly bought the miniature creature from the owners grandfather. Billy is told the three important "rules" of owning the mogwai, named Gizmo; keep it out of bright light, never get it wet, and never ever let it eat after midnight. Of course all of these rules are broken in due time and that's when havoc breaks loose. When Gizmo gets wet, he multiplies. And when the new mogwai break Billy's clock and he feeds them after midnight, the cute fuzzy creatures become devilish and violent little imps. It's up to Billy, Gizmo, and Billy's love interest to save the town from Stripe and his horde of green misfits.

Gizmo

Stripe

Firestarter (1984)

“Firestarter” is another fun Stephen King novel that was turned into a movie in the early 1980’s, starring a young Drew Barrymore as Charlie, a girl who can create and control fire and heat. It also stars Martin Sheen in his second role as a Stephen King villain, this time in charge of the secret government agency known as The Shop, and George C. Scott as the deadly John Rainbird. It’s an easy movie to follow and understand and is simply fun to watch. Stephen King’s story is similar to “Carrie” in regards that both girls have mental powers but this film explores the “how’s and why’s” which allowed this movie to feel fresh and new.

College student Andrew McGee meets Victoria at a clinical study group that needed volunteers to test a new drug called Lot-6. They both survive the testing and discover that they have developed various mental powers. They get married and have a daughter together who ends up having a very dangerous and powerful mental gift, pyrokinesis, the ability to manipulate and create fire and heat. The government agency that performed the original testing is known as The Shop, and they become interested in harnessing the power their daughter Charlie has. The Shop kills Victoria and tries to kidnap Charlie but Andrew arrives in time to save her and the two go into hiding, trying to stay ahead of The Shop. They are eventually subdued and taken to The Shop itself where they are separated and coerced into demonstrating their abilities to the scientists there. But it’s only a matter of time before father and daughter are able to find a way to reunite and try to escape, but The Shop has other plans in mind…

Charlie unleashing her powers

John Rainbird, the assassin or the friend?

Charlie and Andrew on the run

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

“Nightmare on Elm Street” was one of those movies that everyone at my school talked about, especially around Halloween. Those who had older siblings were the most likely to get a sneak peak at the original or one of the sequels that followed. It was difficult not to see the previews or clips that were shown on various shows. Freddy Krueger was just as well known to any grade school kid as Jason Voorhees, maybe even more so! I personally loved knowing that the psycho dream killer was played by the sympathetic and likable Willy, from the mini-series “V”. When I finally got to see “Nightmare” from beginning to end, I was truly impressed by how intense the scenes with Freddy were. The first film in the series is a straight forward horror movie with great special effects and no attempts at funny catch phrases. Some of the acting is cheesy and the script feels very 1980’s horror genre but these facts are a small part of the movie’s charm. The two unknowns in the lead roles, Heather Langenkamp and Johnny Depp, stood out with incredible performances.

A group of high school friends admit to each other that they’ve been having intense nightmares and after talking about them, they realize that they are dreaming about the same person who is chasing them in their dreams, a man in a green and red sweater who has a glove with knives on the fingers. During a sleep over, Tina is the first to be killed in her sleep while her boyfriend Rod is blamed for the murder. Tina’s best friend Nancy is the next to be harmed while sleeping, burning herself on a radiator while running away from Freddy in a boiler room. When she tries to tell her parents what’s wrong, they quickly become distant and quiet. When Nancy wakes up from a nightmare and has Freddy’s hat in her possession, her mother finally tells her the truth about Freddy’s past…when he was alive and how he was killed. Now it’s up to Nancy to kill Freddy a second time, if she can!

Favorite moment – I don’t know why but I love Glen’s death scene. It’s over the top and straight to the point. I also love the moment that Nancy shows her mom and the dream clinic staff that she had Freddy’s hat after taking it from him during her dream.

Freddy performing a trick

Nancy and her mom fighting about Freddy's hat

Nancy, Tina, and Glen during happier times

The Company of Wolves (1984)

“The Company of Wolves” is another untraditional werewolf movie like “Cat People”, except this time it does deal with wolves, lots of them. Like “Cat People”, it explores the exploration of sexuality and the loss of innocence. This topic matter is presented through different stories that are told throughout the film with the major story arc on the film ending in with its version of Little Red Riding Hood. Again, there is little violence in this film and it could have had a rating besides R if it hadn’t been for the last story told. The special effects were mostly puppetry and make-up which provided some impressive visuals but were not scary in the least. The cast was included Angela Lansbury as Granny, David Warner (“The Omen”) as Father, and the film was directed by Neil Jordan, who would direct “Interview With the Vampire” ten years later.

The movie begins by setting up the fact that the film takes place within a dream. A modern day Rosaleen is dreaming of herself living within a medieval fairytale forest. Her older sister has been killed by a wolf while she was in the forest; to give Rosaleen’s parents time to mourn, Rosaleen’s Granny takes her to her house for the night. While there, Granny begins to tell Rosaleen stories about men whose eyebrows touch and warning her of the beasts within men. After hearing a few stories over a few visits and being told to never stray off of the forest path, Rosaleen finally agrees to go for a walk in the forest with a boy her age that has a crush on her. They kiss once but she tells him that he has to catch her if he wants to kiss her again. She succeeds in hiding from him but while he is looking for her, he finds a cow that has been killed by a wolf. The townsmen go and trap the wolf, and when her father returns, he has the beast’s forepaw. He thought that it was the same wolf that killed Rosaleen’s older sister but he tells his family that the paw had turned into a human hand. They burn the hand and try to forge the horrid image. One day, Rosaleen meets a handsome hunter in the forest as she is going to visit Granny…and thus the Little Red Riding Hood tale begins, ending with its own unique ending.

Favorite moment – I love the visuals that are used during the killing of Granny.

Second favorite moment – I also love the wedding banquette scene and how the party guests change into wolves and run out…and over a poor peacock walking by outside.

Not frighting but still pretty cool for the 1980's

Rosaleen and Granny

The Wedding Banquette

Return of the Living Dead (1984)

There are some many wonderful things about “Return of the Living Dead” that I don’t know where to begin. For a long time this was one of my favorite guilty pleasures but that recently changed when I found out how many other people I know who also love this film. This movie is one of the reasons why I began writing this blog because it’s one of the movies that I love to talk about often and seemingly endlessly! This is the first time that it’s explained why zombies eat people; by consuming brains, the pain of rotting goes away for a little bit. This is brilliant! This movie also has zombies that can run, talk, use radios, and act just like they’re alive…except for the eating brains part. I find this completely acceptable because I like the all or nothing approach; they can be stumbling, slow, and relentless or they can be like the zombies in this film. Or maybe I accept this movie’s version of zombies because I first saw it when I was nine, my first zombie movie ever!  

I love how this movie directly mentions “Night of the Living Dead” several times, mainly in the beginning. I always thought that they could do this because of the lack of a copy right for “NOTLD”. Not so; I found out that John A Russo co-wrote both films! Romero did sue Russo for his part in “Return” but it obviously didn’t damage the movie I know and love! One of the best references of “NOLTD” occurs when Bud, Frank, and Freddy are trying to kill the reanimated corpse in the freezer. They decide to impale it in the head with a pick axe and when it doesn’t die, they begin to panic.

Bud - “I thought you said if we destroy the brain that it would die”

Frank - “It worked in the movie”

Bud - “Well it ain’t working now, Frank”

Freddy - “You mean the movie lied?!”

“Return of the Living Dead” begins with Uncle Frank showing his nephew Freddy around the medical supply warehouse where the two work. To impress his nephew, Frank tells Freddy how they have canisters that were involved in real life events of that inspired the movie “Night of the Living Dead”. They go downstairs to see the canisters and when Frank slaps the side of one, the pressure within bursts and a poisonous toxin fills the warehouse. They pass out and when they come to, the find that the dead bodies have come to life; first seeing a dog that’s cut in half barking and then hearing the dead body in the freezer pounding on the door to get out. The warehouse owner comes to help them, and after they manage to neutralize the reanimated corpse (by cutting him up into pieces with a bone saw); they go over to the mortuary across the street in hopes of using the furnace to burn up the evidence. The embalmer, Ernie, eventually agrees and the body is burnt to nothing but the fumes (and toxins) go into the air and come back in the rain, affecting all of the corpses in the graveyard and bringing them back to life!

Meanwhile, in the graveyard are a group of friends who are waiting for Freddy to get off of work so they can go party. They start to have a good time in the cemetery, including Trash who takes off all of her clothes and dances around. When the rain begins to fall, it burns their skin so they run to find shelter. Freddy’s girlfriend Tina is already at the warehouse when it begins to rain. She goes into the basement and comes across the zombie from inside the canister. She hides in a metal closet and screams. Her friends hear her and come to the rescue, but one of them dies when he’s bitten in the head. They run back to the mortuary for shelter. There Tina finds Freddy, but Freddy and Frank are feeling sick and have been infected by the toxins. They soon turn and then it becomes a free for all as to who lives and who dies when the dead return back to life!

Favorite moment – One of the scariest moments I’ve ever seen in a horror movie was when Zombie Freddy is asking Tina to be nice and open the doorway to the attic that she’s hiding in so he can eat her brains. I was nine when I saw this and it still gives me shivers! His pleading, so sweet and gentle, quickly turns to rage. As Ernie moves himself behind Tina, you can see him raise his pistol to her head, ready to kill her before Freddy can get to her. It’s super intense!

Bud is ready with a bat to kill canister zombie!

Bud calls the military for help. Spider uses a sledgehammer, just like I would!

Frank and Freddy have been told that they're dead. Not the best news to hear...

Children of the Corn (1984)

Stephen King’s novels and short stories were one a driving force in the horror genre in the 1980’s. And how could Mr. King pass up the chance to write about a cult? And staying true to his style (that he had then), this wasn’t any normal cult, nay, but a story about a cult of children who must kill anyone over 18 and offer the victim as a sacrifice to their dark god! “Children of the Corn” is such a story and was one of the few movies that I was forbidden to see even if it was an edited-for-TV version by my mom. It was a dark and violent movie for its time but what impressed me the most was the film quality. This movie was produced in 1984 but looks like it could have come out this year. It’s a fun movie but the horrible acting by the two evil children Isaac and his enforcer Malachai are distracting.

The tiny farming town of Gatlin, Nebraska has fallen on hard times and when the crops fail to grow one year, the townspeople resort to prayers (sounds a lot like the premise of “Dagon”!”. Their prayers are heard by “The One Who Walks Behind the Rows” and orders the child Isaac and the other children of the town to murder their parents in his name, which they violently do. Not all of the children are “believers”, including Job, his sister Sarah, and a few others. The story really gets going when one of the non-believers is killed by Malachi in the corn rows, and the child stumbles into the road and is hit by Burt and Vicky, two adults who are trying to drive to Seattle for a new job. Burt and Vicky quickly realize something is wrong in Gatlin as they look for help and a phone. Under Isaac’s direction, the two adults have been sent as a sign and must be sacrificed to their “god”. Vicky is caught and prepared for the ritual, Malachai challenges Isaac’s aurthority, and “The One Who Walks Behind the Rows” gets really pissed off and tries to kill the adults himself.

Favorite moment – The Southpark paradoy of this film is one of my favorites!

   http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s04e16-the-wacky-molestation-adventure