Alien (1979)

“In space, no one can hear you scream”

The perfect tag line for one of the best movies of all time, “Alien” set a new standard in horror. There are so many reasons why I and millions of other people love this movie. From the frightening landscape and look of the alien that was brought to us by the talented Mr. H.R Giger, to the Lovecraftian sense of dread and foreboding atmosphere, to the honest reactions and terror of the actors themselves, this movie has it all. Some may say that it’s just a cleverly done slasher flick where crew members are killed off one by one; and this is partly true but it is so much more beyond that. The alien is a monster from our nightmares. It is lithe, it drools, it’s huge, it changes, it screams, and it bursts out of your chest after you think the worst has passed. Just admit it, the face-hugger itself was enough to give you nightmares once upon a time. When you add in a killer cyborg that you thought was just the prerequisite prick of the crew, you have no idea who or what to trust at that point!

The ship Nostromo is heading back to Earth with its crew and a payload of millions of tons of minerals when it picks up a faint distress transmission. Following programed protocol, it changes course and heads towards the beacon and awakes the crew from stasis. The crew is thrilled at first because they believe that they are a week or so away from home but quickly find out that they are still in the middle of nowhere. The crew follows protocol as well, landing on the small planetoid and searching for the source of the transmission. What the rescue crew find, which is made up of Capt. Dallas, Officer Kane, and Navigator Lambert, is a large derelict ship. Inside they find a large alien corpse that has a damaged chest area as well as a vast chamber under the main cockpit room. Kane goes down to investigate and finds hundreds of large leathery eggs. One has movement inside and as he bends over to look at it, a face-hugger lunges forth and attaches itself to his helmet. Dallas and Lambert drag Kane’s body back to the ship but Officer Ripley refuses to let them on, following protocol and in fear that they could be infected with whatever is on Kane. The science officer Ash breaks the protocol and opens the door so they can board. Once inside and in the medical lab, Ash and Dallas try to remove the alien from Kane’s head but are unable to do so without killing him, but several hours later the creature let’s go and crawls away to die. Eventually Kane wakes up without remember what had happened to him. The crew has one last meal before going back into stasis but their joy of returning home is interrupted when Kane begins to spasm violently and as they are holding him down, a terrifying little baby alien bursts out of his chest, looks around and quickly runs away. Kane has died but he is not the last to do so….

Favorite moment - too many to list! But I would have to say at this point my favorite is the scene where Ash break downs and tries to kill Ripley.

Author's Note - Space

“In space, no one can hear you scream”

Outer space is a prime environment for a horror movie for a few obvious reasons. First of all, it’s vast and endless and we have no idea what is out there or if there isn’t anything at all (that concept really scares me). Second, if you are out there in space, you are trapped with whatever you find…or what finds you. So fear of the unknown as well as enclosed, small spaces and/or otherwise hostile environments set the stage for a pretty harrowing adventure. And don’t think for a moment that life is made any easier if the alien force comes from space and visits us on Earth!

The problem of trying to commit a week to horror movies taking place in outer space or having to do with beings coming to Earth is that I want to avoid the films that fall into the Sci-fi category. I did have some trouble finding suitable movies but that is because I don’t remember several of the ones that qualify that I saw when I was much younger. I could have easily done a week in honor of “Visitors” but I wanted to include two of my favorite movies that almost made my top 7 favorites list. Please feel free to let me know of any great movies I may have overlooked or have yet to discover.

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!

Cursed (2005)

Sadly, not every werewolf movie Grade A material. Some are actually quite horrible and should be avoided and “Cursed” is such an example. Directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson, the pair that created the film “Scream” clearly didn’t have the right chemistry this time around. I’ve read that that there were numerous reshoots and script changes demanded by the studio executives, but if the film was worth making in the first place, then I believe that these demands wouldn’t have been given in the first place. Now it I should say that Wes Craven is a director with a long history of creating both hits and utter failures so it shouldn’t be surprising that this was one of them. It doesn’t help that none of the actors seemed to give a damn about their work in this film except for Jesse Eisenberg. The movie was filled with actors that teens at the time loved and that was apparently good enough for Craven.  Another issue with this film is that it was way too predictable so it leaves the viewer with nothing to anticipate. Finally, the werewolves themselves look horrid and the transformation scenes are rendered in outdated CGI.

Ellie and Jimmy are siblings who hit a large creature and another car while driving home one night. They get out their car to see if the other car is alright only to see its driver killed before they are attacked. They manage to survive the attack and go home, where Jimmy starts to research werewolves since that’s what he thinks attacked them. The rest of the movie revolves around the two dealing with their their condition and finding out who to break their curse. It includes high school bullies and a cute girl for Jimmy, and a noncommittal boyfriend and his various ex’s for Ellie.

Ginger Snaps 2 : Unleashed (2003)

In 2003 two movies inspired by “Ginger Snaps” were filmed. The first was a sequel titled “Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed” and the other was a prequel called “Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning”. At the moment I’m going to focus on the sequel and as most sequels go, it’s decent but not nearly as strong of a film as the original. First of all the title is a bit misleading because Ginger died in the first movie and is still dead. She does make a couple of appearances as a ghost/vision that talks to her sister Brigitte. The movie also tries (half-heartedly) to compare her symptoms to those of a recovery drug addict. It doesn’t work but luckily it doesn’t interfere with the movie too much. I do want to point out that I really enjoy and appreciate the creative choice in this film series to have the change into the wolf form a permanent metamorphosis. They are unable to change back and forth so the stakes are drastically raised to keep their humanity and prevent the change as long as they can.

The film begins some time after the original. Brigitte is on the run across the suburbs of Canada. She is taking doses of monkshood to keep from turning into a wolf creature like her sister Ginger had. She is seen cutting herself and keeping a detailed record on how long the cuts take to heal. The quicker they heal, she realizes, the sooner she is doomed to complete the change into the beast. The monkshood is not a cure but only slows down the process, so she decides to take a second dose in one day…which turns out to be nearly fatal. After taking the second dose, she hears the male werewolf that has been stalking her (Ginger’s ex-boyfriend from the first movie), and runs out of her apartment but suffers from shock from her OD. When she wakes up, she finds herself in a drug rehab center. The staff believes she using the monkshood to get high and her cuts are the results are her being a “cutter”. She tries to escape and fails but is able to steal a piece of glass so she can continue timing her cut/healing rate.

At the hospital she meets Tyler, an orderly who offers her monkshood in exchange for sexual favors, which Brigitte promptly turns down. She also meets a young girl called Ghost who is at the hospital with her grandmother, who had suffered 3^rd degree burns over her body. Ghost comes and goes as she pleases throughout the clinic and quickly attaches herself to Brigitte. Ghost is clever enough, as well as imaginative enough, to figure out what Brigitte is. She tries to help by sneaking Brigitte some monkshood but they are caught by Tyler. Eventually Tyler gives in and lets Brigitte have some monkshood. Soon, Brigitte and Ghost escape from the hospital and drive out to where Ghost and her grandmother lived. There they prepare to fend themselves to kill the male werewolf that has tracked Brigitte down.

Favorite part – The last 15 minutes. Once the film changes scenery from the hospital to Ghost’s house, the pace picks up and becomes much more plausible and enjoyable.

Silver Bullet (1985)

I’m finally reviewing a second movie that’s associated with Stephen King. Don’t worry, there’ll many more to go over as the weeks go on. The film “Silver Bullet” is adapted from King’s novella called “The Cycle of the Werewolf”. It’s a good movie but not nearly as dark as some other werewolf movies from the 1980’s such as “An American Werewolf in London” or “The Howling”. “Silver Bullet” wasn’t as great as I remember when I first watched it in the late 1980’s and then rented it in the 90’s. It also has the distinct dialogue that most of King’s secondary characters tend to have; I’ve noticed that they all sound the same and if you are watching a film that he wrote the screenplay for, you can often tell it’s one of his stories by this trait. It stars Gary Busey and Corey Haim; two years later Haim would star in his best known film “The Lost Boys”.

The movie “Silver Bullet” is about Marty, a young boy who is paralyzed from the waist down, his favorite Uncle Red who makes motorized wheel chairs for him but isn’t the best role model due to his drinking, and his older sister Jane who he fights with but ends up becoming close to during the year when several people die in their small town. When four murders occur one after another, each in a very violent manner, a mob of locals form a vigilante group to go find the murder but some are killed during one night. The town’s Reverend Lowe had begged for them not to go and begins to have horrible dreams and it is revealed that he is the werewolf and responsible for the deaths in town. Marty discovers this as well when one night he shoots a bottle rocket into the beast’s eye and when Jane later sees Reverend Lowe with the same wound. They beg for help from their uncle who agrees to do what he can, first by sending their parents away on a romantic weekend and then staying with the kids until the Reverend Lowe comes to kill them all. There is a brutal showdown between the four but Marty is able to save his sister and uncle when he fires a single silver bullet to the werewolf’s good eye kills it.

Favorite moment – The nightmare sequence is probably the strongest horror moment in the film beside the ending itself.

The Howling (1981)

“The Howling” is another strong werewolf movie from the early 1980’s but where “An American Werewolf in London” is about one person who changes into a vicious beast, this movie is about an entire colony of them! The make-up and special effects for the werewolves is ok but I don’t particularly care for what the last werewolf in the movie looks like; reminds me too much of a poodle. I liked the plot, the pacing, and overall quality of the movie in general. Several sequels follow ranging from horrible (mostly) to decent but none of them reach the level of quality that the original set. Kudos goes out to director Joe Dante who co-wrote the script and went on to work on many other great films in horror and other genres.

Karen is a reporter who is working on a story about a serial killer. During a sting operation with the police, she meets the killer, Eddie Quist, in a porno theater. When things look like they are getting are out control, the police come in a shoot Eddie. The event is too traumatic for Karen and develops a case of amnesia. Her therapist sends her and her husband to a secluded countryside resort to recovery. There are other patients at the resort and one of them tries to seduce Karen’s husband Bill. When he turns down the advances, he is attacked by a werewolf as he is walking back to their cabin. Soon Karen’s friend Terri is attacked when she comes to visit, only after they discover that Eddie is still alive and hiding out at the resort. Terri’s boyfriend comes to Karen’s rescue, bringing along silver bullets in order to kill Eddie and any other werewolves they may encounter. As they try to escape, they realize that everyone at the resort is a werewolf, including Bill. After getting away and making it back to the city, Karen goes on TV during a live showing to tell the world that werewolves are real. To prove her point, she turns into one and Chris promptly kills her, as she requested. But the viewers are left to wonder if it was a hoax or not…

Favorite moment – The beginning is thoroughly creepy and gross.