Ju-on: The Grudge (2002)

The original "Ju-on: The Grudge" is an excellent Japanese horror film that inspired an American remake, allowing director Takashi Shimizu that chance to go back and tweak his original work. I was surprised at how many little differences there were and yet satisfied that the two films were still alike. The first half is almost identical to the remake with only minor differences. The sound effects and visuals are better in the remake but the ones in the original still do a decent job. The story line in the remake also makes more sense, having an American family seen moving in versus having a family already there. Otherwise, everything is more or less the same.

In the Japanese version there is one additional chapter that is not seen in the American version, and this particular piece is perhaps the scariest part of the movie. It takes place several years later and revolves around a high school girl who, with her three friends, went inside the house. She ran away while her friends were killed, and now she knows that they are coming for her.

The final chapter revolves around Rika, the character that was later re-written for Sarah Michelle Gellar in the remake. This chapter also takes place several years later. Rika still works for the mental health insitution, and meets up with an old friend who is now a teacher. Her friend is having to make house calls and ends up visiting the same house. Meanwhile, Rika is having visions of the ghost boy and his cat, and when she realizes that her friend is in danger, Rika tries to stop her before it's too late. But this is a horror movie, so it's always too late....

Dahmer (2002)

The film "Dahmer" is a well made crime biopic about Jeffrey Dahmer, showcasing scenes where he tries to rationalize his killing motives as well as his interactions with his victims before he kills them. This movie is not about the killings themselves although it does include three noteworthy moments; his first killing, his victim that he drilled a hole in his head and who later was found wandering the streets before Jeffrey found him and took him back home, and the man who was almost a victim but got away and later turned Jeffrey in to the authorities. The film has two distinct time lines, a current time line going forward and flashbacks that steadily go further in to his past and up to his first killing and the aftermath. Once you realize that the flashbacks are going further into Jeffrey's past, the more sense it makes. The names of the victims have been changed for the film but I did pick up on the details of the three victims after looking up the real victims.

Jeremy Renner gives an amazing performance and it's amazing to see his earlier work. He looks like Jeffrey Dahmer did and this just adds to the believability of the film. The movie does have a slower pace than a typical horror movie, but this film allows the slower pace for Renner really develop the character that he is playing.

The ending itself is different than what I, and probably most people were expecting. The ending is a flashback showing Jeffrey being dropped off by his father to see a therapist about his teenage drinking problem. Jeffrey goes up to the office, stares at the door for a few moments but returns outside. He has a smoke and notices a forest on the other side of a concrete barrier. He climbs over the barrier and walks through the trees. The end. Does the forest represent the wilderness of his true emotional state? That he would rather walk freely through the wilderness than settle for the "social programming" that he spoke of with his first victim? Could be...

An intense scene where Jeffrey is trying to keep his father from finding the human skull he has been keeping in the wooden box.

Resident Evil (2002)

In 2002, Paul W.S. Anderson presented the world with his movie version of "Resident Evil". He had already directed the movie adaption of "Mortal Kombat" and the incredible "Event Horizon" before tackling this franchise, taking on both writing and directing duties. Taking bits and pieces from the first three games in the cannon, Mr. Anderson crafted an adrenaline filled, action packed, zombie horror film that did justice to the original source material. While the characters are more one dimensional than not and are barely fleshed out, the viewer is still wanting to root for franchise hero Alice, played by Mila Jovovich in all five films.

Alice wakes up naked on the floor in a shower, unable to remember who or where she is. While exploring the beautiful house that she finds herself in, she runs into a specialist military team who takes her and two other unknown persons into the Hive, a large scientific and military complex hidden beneath the house. The complex is in a lock down and the military team is there to find out why. The reason is because a dangerous virus has been released and locking down the complex and killing all within was the protocol that the AI had determined to be the best and only course of action. Now that the military team has forced their way in, they must fight their way out through a mob of endless zombies, mutated dogs, and something worse....

The Ring (2002)

“The Ring” is one of my favorite remakes of an already effective Japanese horror film called “Ringu”. The American version stars Naomi Watts as a reporter for a Seattle newspaper that has seven days to figure out the mystery of why people are dying after watching a bizarre video tape. It’s a creepy ghost story that has an excellent set of pacing, spooky clues, and a seemingly original ghost concept. I say seemingly because the original Japanese version of this ghost is a part of their culture and history and is a reoccurring theme in their own ghost stories. It’s also interesting when a movie takes place at a location that you are familiar with and notice what details the film makers get right and what they get horribly wrong.

Rachel Keller is a journalist who begins investigating an urban legend after her teenage niece suddenly dies. The legend concerns an unmarked VHS tape and anyone who watches the tape will die after seven days. Rachel learns that her niece and her group of friends that had watched the tape all died the same night at the same time. Rachel finds a copy of the tape and watches it and after it finished, she received a phone call where a girl’s voice simply says “Seven days”.  With the help of her son’s father Noah, Rachel discovers the truth behind the tape and mystery of the young girl named Samara. 

Cabin Fever (2002)

Summer is the perfect time to go camping and sadly so many young adults are killed by various silent maniacs wielding machetes and other sharp objects. So imagine what a breath of fresh air the film “Cabin Fever” presented to the horror movie loving masses. You still have a group of young college age friends, you still have nudity for the target audience, and you have people dying. But “Cabin Fever” doesn’t have a person killing people but rather a contaminated water supply. The movie also has some of the best unexpected moments of black comedy thrown in to keep the viewer engaged. This film was Eli Roth’s big picture debut as a writer and director and he impressed the hell out of me.

Five college friends (Paul, Karen, Bert, Mercy, and Jeff) go out to the woods for a camping getaway to celebrate the end of the school. They meet some interest locals at the gas station/market, making a great first impression. Once they are at the cabin the group breaks up to do their own thing; Paul and Karen go swimming, Macy and Jeff have sex, and Bert goes off alone to shot squirrels…and eventually a homeless guy. Later that night the homeless guy shows up at their front door, bloody from the gunshot wound as well as something else. He’s sick and wounded and when they refuse to help him and he realizes that Bert is in the cabin, the homeless guy goes to their truck and begins to get blood all over the inside. They manage to chase him away in the morning they split up to find help. But unaware to them, they have been drinking the same water that affected the homeless guy. Soon they begin to show signs of the infection and things only go downhill from there.

Favorite moment – Watching how the group treats Karen and the process of her decay. It’s hard to imagine how a group in real life would approach this situation and the way the movie handled it is a very likely possibility. 

Hellraiser: Inferno (2002)

Where the first four "Hellraiser" movies where in chronological order, the fifth film in the franchise is the first of the stand-alone productions. The viewer will need to have some seen at least the first film in order to truly enjoy this movie, in my opinion, but it is the first attempt to get back to the feeling and nature of the original movie. This is not hero versus Pinhead but rather a story about an individual's dark journey into sin and the "priest" that meets him at the end.  Pinhead is meant to issue pain and pleasure in the name of his master Leviathan and that is exactly what he does.

This, and the next few films, upset lesser horror fans because Pinhead doesn't appear until the very end. They want him to go around killing people from opening to closing credits. But Pinhead is not a slasher killer like Jason or Freddy. He is merely the result of the main characters actions and I prefer him this way.

I really enjoyed the Cenobites in this film; they are kept simple and haunting. Along with Pinhead there are two almost faceless women who try to seduce the main character as well as a new Chatterer who seems to be only a set of shoulders and a head!

Finally, the movie stars Craig Shaffer who played Boone in Clive Barkers “Nightbreed”. I think this was a great casting choice because he fit the role well and did a great job as well as being a familiar name to fans of Clive Barker and bringing those fans back to the tarnished “Hellraiser” brand.

Simply stated, this film is about Detective Joseph Thorne, a corrupt cop who steals evidence, frames his partner, cheats on his wife with prostitutes, and doesn’t visit his parents in the old folks home (how ghastly!). He is on the case of trying to solve a grisly murder involving a former high school classmate who met his end after solving the Lament Configuration. The more Detective Thorne learns, the more people around him begin to die and slowly frames him as the only suspect for these foul deeds.

Favorite moment - My favorite moment, although very brief, was when Detective Thorne reached out to his daughter and her arm breaks off. It was something that I was not expecting and brought a heavy sense of gravitas to the scene.

Dog Soldiers (2002)

“Dog Soldiers” is a violent and fun werewolf movie that is brave enough not to rely on CGI. The werewolf bodies look odd as they are actors in spandex-like suits but I think the heads and arms look great and these beasts are still vastly superior to the werewolves in “Cursed”. This film was the directing debut for Neil Marshall, who would later go on to write and direct “The Descent”. The film costars one of my favorite supporting actors, Sean Pertwee, in a role that’s absolutely perfect for him.

“Dog Soldiers” is about a unit of British Army soldiers running through a training mission against elite forces deep in the forests of the Scottish Highlands. Notable members include Sgt. Wells, Pvt. Cooper, and Spoon. When they cross “enemy lines” and raid the elite forces campsite they find the camp ransacked and empty except for one wounded survivor, Capt. Ryan. A few weeks before, Cooper had tried out for a spot on a Special Forces unit under Ryan’s command but failed to get in when Cooper refused to shoot a dog. Suffice to say, the tension between the two is high. The team moves out with Capt. Ryan in two as they realize that whatever took out the Special Forces was closing back in on the camp. They manage to get to a road just as a local woman named Megan was driving by. She picks them up and takes them to the nearest house. No one is home and so they barricade themselves in for the night. From what Megan and Capt. Ryan reveal, the soldiers learn that they are being stalked by a pack of werewolves, smart werewolves. Before they can leave to get help, the car that Megan was driving is torn apart, forcing the soldiers to buckle down and fend of the monsters until daylight. In classic horror movie style, they are picked off one by one until the big finale.

Favorite moment – Sgt. Wells was wounded as he went back to look for one of his men, having his stomach sliced open and some of his intestines falling out. Once at the house, Cooper and Megan try their best to Sgt. Wells back together. I love how he keeps grabbing a bottle of whiskey and chugs it until it’s promptly taken away from him so he grabs a gun until it’s taken away from him so he grabs the whiskey again. It’s a very playful scene and you can’t blame him for trying!

Second favorite moment – The fight scene between Spoon and a werewolf in the kitchen is EPIC!