Mr Frost (1990) #454

After making an another huge impression as Seth Brundle in “The Fly”, Jeff Goldblum returns to the world of horror as the Devil himself in “Mister Frost”. Where “The Fly” was gruesome and packed with violence, “Mister Frost” is a slow, meditative exploration of true evil. Story and narrative are the primary focus with brief moments of mild violence sprinkled in for good measure. A difficult film to find due to never being transferred to DVD for wide release, “Mister Frost” does enjoy its status as a cult favorite. 

Jeff Goldblum really gets to shine as Mr. Frost. While his unique style speech is present, Frost does spend a good deal of the film silent, which allows Goldblum’s physical mannerisms a chance to take center stage. It’s fun seeing Goldblum chewing the scene without saying a single word, proving once again that he is a master thespian. The Frost character himself is a unique character and I’m so impressed that the film allows the time a space for him to fully explored. The movie begins with a police detective coming by to ask about a missing person. After a quirky visit to the kitchen, Frost happily and honestly tells the detective that the missing persons, and others, are buried in the back yard. Twenty-four bodies are found, all killed violently while some are horribly mutilated. From young to old, Frost had killed indiscriminately.

Kathy Baker plays Dr. Sarah Day, the only psychiatrist at the asylum that Frost will talk to. Her character is complex and complicated even before Frost enters her life. Dr. Reynhardt, the lead psychiatrist, talks down to her and tries to use her as a puppet as she works with Frost. When she tries to stand up for herself and her professional capabilities, the arrogant Reynhardt tells her that this case is to difficult and important for someone like her to take on. It's only after repeated attempts and repeated failures to get Frost to respond to him does Reynhardt acquiesce to Frost's original request to work with Dr. Day. Frost is always in control of the conversations, driving the topic at his whim. When he declares that he is the Devil, Dr. Day's life is turned upside down and will never be the same.

 

Alan Bates plays Felix Dertwiler, a former police detective who was the one responsible for discovering that Mr. Frost was a mass murderer. His obsession with Frost and his victims is his undoing, causing him to lose his job and more, and yet he continued to study and learn more about him, warning the staff at the new asylum that Frost has been transferred to.  Mr. Bates retains a grounded performance while being passionate about his nemesis. His scenes with Dr. Sarah Day feel a bit too muddled down and slow at parts. Their relationship, that becomes romantic in nature as the movie moves along, feels more natural than most films that tend to rush and force such relationships. 

 

"Mr. Frost" was directed by French director Philip Setbon. There is no hiding that this film feels very European; more style and substance than traditional horror. The melodrama feels like akin to the British ghost story movies of the past. Some may not consider "Mr. Frost" as a true horror movie but that doesn't change the fact the it scared and sent chills down my spine when I first saw it as a young teen.

The Exorcist 3 (1990) #395

Although the idea of a sequel to the "The Exorcist" seems like a very horrible idea (and "The Exorcist 2: Heretic" was an extremely horrible idea), the 1990 film "The Exorcist 3" is perhaps the best that we could have ever hoped or expected. The writer of "The Exoricst", William Peter Blatty, wrote and directed this decent follow up, completely ignoring the events in the horrid original sequel. The film suffered the usual demands and re-shoots from studio executives which forced Mr. Blatty to deliver a film that was not his original vision. Even so, this movie is effective and has it's fair share of scares and tense moments. With an all star cast that includes George C. Scott, Brad Dourif, and the surprise return of Jason Miller (who played Father Damien Karras in the original film), the movie is interesting, scary, and highly worth watching.


Lieutenant William Kinderman is drawn into the realm of the supernatural while he is investigating a string of gruesome murders that involves a young boy who was crucified, a priest that was decapitated, and the murder of his close friend who had most of their blood removed and placed in same containers next to their bed in a hospital. Signs at the scenes remind the Lieutenant of a series of murders committed by the Gemini Killer, a murderer who was put to death 15 years earlier. Lieutenant Kinderman soon tracks down a mysterious psychiatric patient in a mental ward who may hold the answers to the recent murders....

Bride of Re-Animator (1990) #394

"Bride of Re-Animator" is a sad, sorry roll of film that should never have been produced. The reasons for the harsh criticism are numerous; characters that were killed off in the original film are back without any explanation or acknowledgment of their previous demise, the main characters return from the original film but fail to have any further development, and a plot that seemed unmotivated and directionless. There were a few elements that reminded me of events from H.P. Lovecraft's original story, so I find that somewhat redeeming as well as Jeffrey Combs reprisal of Herbert West, but overall I was not impressed by this addition to of the Herbert West "trilogy". The film quality was poor, the special effects were tired, and watching this film was more of a chore than it should have been.

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

"Gremlins 2: The New Batch" is the delayed, less successful follow-up to the smash 1984 hit by director Joe Dante. After being given complete artistic control, Mr. Dante finally agreed to make a sequel six years after the first film, taking the chance to create a satire of his film and sequels in general. This film is much more of a comedy than horror, keeping the violence at a minimum and less intense. Horror fans will be delighted to see Christopher Lee making an appearance as an "evil" scientist whose experiments result in some of the gremlins evolving into more chaotic creatures. With the different types of gremlins, Rick Baker was brought in to work some of his special effects magic.


After Mr. Wing dies of old age and his grandson is no where to be found, Gizmo ends up in the science labs of Clamp Enterprises, located inside an office building in Manhattan. It isn't long before Gizmo has some water splashed on him and he multiplies again, and of course it isn't long before those new mogwai grab a bite after midnight and turn into the evil gremlins. But it just so happens that Billy and Katie, now his fiancee, also work at Clamp Enterprises and saves Gizmo from the gremlins. Together, along with the help of Clamp Enterprises ego-driven owner Daniel Clamp, they try to keep the gremlins from escaping the office building and causing havoc all across New York City.

Brain Dead (1990)

“Brain Dead” is a trippy horror film that keeps you guessing at what reality is the real one for the main character that’s played by Bill Pullman. It was written by a main contributor to the old “Twilight Zone” episodes, Charles Beaumont. Bill Pullman does a great job as a man who is experiencing a never ending nightmare while Bill Paxton gives a very held back performance when compared to some of the other films that he has worked on. The only distracting aspect of this movie that I had to force myself to get over is the poor lighting and film quality. This was a lower budget movie and it shows; both Paxton and Pullman had been in major movies where the quality is outstanding (“Aliens” and “Spaceballs” for example), but this film feels like it’s from the early from the early 1980’s and not 1990. The other, much lesser issue is the fact that a 15 second special effect is the prominent selling point, the picture of a disembodied face that is being manipulated by the doctors in a research lab. This thing had nothing to do with the movie!!

Dr. Rex Martin (Bill Pullman) is a neurosurgeon who is working on mapping out the brain and the various ailments that it can suffer such as paranoia and other mental illness. An old college friend and rival, who now works for a megacorporation shows up asking for help with an employee who has had a mental breakdown. Dr. Martin is coerced into helping and after he does what he’s asked, he begins to suffer the delusions that his patient had. His nightmarish decent shifts and changes constantly, always giving Dr. Martin a glimmer of hope before having it dashed away.

Favorite moment – Bud Cort plays Halsey, the original mental patient that Dr. Martin operates on. His presence in the films keeps the viewer easily entertained during some of the drier scenes in the film.

Halsey

The Bills

Is he real?

The Bills again

Child's Play 2 (1990)

“Child’s Play 2” is a surprisingly strong sequel that follows and repaired Chucky who continues his quest to possess Andy, the young boy who was given Chucky as a birthday present. Andy has been placed in a foster care program since the authorities think that his mom has gone insane after she tells them all about Chucky. Andy is taken in by a couple who are also taking care of a rebellious 17 year old girl. When Chucky finds out where Andy is and starts his attempts to get to him, all of the adults believe that Andy is behind the trouble. The movie is clever, has suspenseful moments, and has only a glimmer of the cheesy dialogue that would soon turn the franchise into a lame horror spoof.

Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)

“Tales From the Darkside: The Movie” is a fun anthology that has three great acts that are connected together with a cute “Hansel and Gretel” style story about a boy who is biding his time from the evil witch that wants to cook him as the main course for a dinner party. What’s noticeable about this film is that the cast consisted of some established actors as well as a few who were just cutting their teeth and have risen to stardom since then such as Steve Buscemi and Julianne Moore. The make-up and special effects are fine considering when this film was made although the gargoyles in the third act look too much like puppets to be effectively scary.

The first story arc is an adaption of Author Conan Doyle’s story “Lot 249” about a graduate student (Steve Buscemi) who uses a mummy to exact revenge against those who have wronged him.

The second story arc is an adaption of Stephen King’s short story “The Cat from Hell” about a hit man who is hired by an eccentric owner of a pharmaceutical company who is being terrorized by a black cat.

The third story arc is an adaption of an old Japanese ghost legend Yuki-Onna, about a painter who witnesses a gargoyle murdering a human. The gargoyle is about to kill the painter but spares his life, making him promise to never tell anyone about this moment; if he ever breaks the promise, the gargoyle will find him and kill him. The painter promises but how long can he keep this secret?

The witch and her dinner

The Gargoyle and the painter

Misery (1990)

“Misery” is easily one of my favorite Stephen King adapted films because the movie is so intense and realistic. There is nothing supernatural or extravagant here; there are no ghosts or premonitions or psychic powers or possessions (all of which I enjoy). This is a believable story about entrapment, isolation, mental and physical abuse, and being at the mercy of a lunatic with anger management issues. James Cann has a stunning performance but it’s Kathy Bates who steals the show, later winning the Academy Award for Best Actress. The movie was a critical success and it remains one of Stephen King’s favorite adaptions.

Paul Sheldon is a famous author who found success with a series about a character known as Misery Chastain. He’s grown tired writing about Misery and wants to try other styles, and while on his way from Colorado to LA with a new manuscript, Paul has an accident and drives off the road during a snow storm. He’s found and rescued by a local hermit, Annie Wilkes, who nurses him back to health. She searches through his belongings and discovers who he is, and when he’s awake she tells him that she’s his “number one fan”. While he’s resting and healing, she buys the newest (and last) book about Misery and she freaks out when she reads the ending and learns that Misery has died. In retaliation, she destroys Paul’s new manuscript in front of him and forces him to write a new story about Misery. Paul soon realizes that Annie is keeping him hostage, that she never called anyone to let them know that he’s alive and with her. Her anger and demands rise as the tension builds between the two which leads to a violent, all or nothing climax.