Horrorfest 2015: Cravenfest - Deadly Friend

Now back to big(ger) budget flicks with 1986's DEADLY FRIEND. This one I have a little history with. I remember catching a little bit of it when I was at my grandma's house as a kid. She had cable and my family didn't so whenever we visited it was time to catch up on all the pop culture I'd missed (mostly Nickelodeon and MTV). I was happily flipping channels when I suddenly came upon a young Kristy Swanson throwing a basketball at an old woman so hard that the old woman's head exploded in a fountain of gore. Needless to say, I was scarred for life.

DEADLY FRIEND stars Matthew Laborteaux as a young genius moving to a small town for a university scholarship. He's built an artificially intelligent robot called BB (voice of Charles Fleischer). BB's kind of a cross between R2-D2, Johnny 5 and Pauly's robot from ROCKY IV. But we get early glimpses that BB might have a mean streak. A well intentioned one (he chokes out thieves and nut punches bullies) but mean nevertheless.

Laborteaux starts a tentative romance with the beautiful girl next door (the afore mentioned Kristy Swanson) who is dealing with an alcoholic and abusive father (Richard Marcus). Other shitty adults in their lives include the mean old woman who lives across the street (Anne Ramsey) and both steals kids' basketballs and eventually blows BB up with a shotgun for trespassing.

Swanson also ends up dead at the hands of her father, and faced with the loss of his two closest friends, Laborteaux recruits the local paper boy (Michael Sharrett) to help him carry out a desperate plan: augment Swanson's dead brain with BB's microchip brain and bring her back to life!

Swanson/BB ends up going on a kill crazy rampage to exact revenge for all the wrongs she/he suffered in his/her life, which is where the basketball and the old woman's exploding head comes in. Laborteaux is left trying to cover this shit up.

So, it's an interesting premise, and for the most part Craven carries it out pretty well. The suburban setting is nice, the actors are all great (Swanson's especially surprisingly good in robot mode), the robot design is good. The only problem is tone, and reading about the movie's production makes it clear this is an issue with unwanted studio intervention. This is the only time I've ever heard of a studio demanding MORE gore. Apparently Craven wanted to make a PG-rated flick, a dark kids' story about a boy, his robot, and his dead girl, and the studio wanted a Wes Craven flick. So, they tried to strike a balance, and it comes off super weird.

Even forced into this situation, there is one element that I think could have gone a long way towards clearing up some of the movies problems: just get rid of BB's voice. It's a cute voice for a kids' movie, but not for this one. If the robot was just silent, the movie would be a lot more scary.

Horrorfest 2015: Cravenfest - Chiller

Time for another made for TV movie! This time it's 1985's CHILLER. It's crazy this flick was only a year after INVITATION TO HELL, because INVITATION TO HELL looks like a million bucks and CHILLER looks and sounds like it was shot on mud.

That's not the worst of it, though. The worst thing is the movie is boring. Like, really boring. Not like "If you understood it you wouldn't be bored" or "You really have to pay attention." No, like legit boring.

Michael Beck stars as a rich guy whose family freezes him when he gets an incurable illness, hoping they can thaw him when a cure comes around. 10 years later his freezing tank malfunctions, he has to be removed in an emergency and his mother (Beatrice Straight) arranges to have the now-available surgery performed. Beck survives and goes on to take over and fuck up the family business.

Paul Sorvino's on hand as the local reverend who notices Beck doesn't seem to have a conscience or any empathy, or any emotions at all, really. The reverend's theory? Since Beck basically died, and then came back, he now has no soul! Bodies start piling up, also, with signs pointing to Beck as the killer, but mom won't hear of it. Since this is a Craven flick, I'll give you one guess who the only other one is who can tell there's something wrong with Beck. If you guessed the family dog, YOU GUESSED RIGHT.

This one's a long, hard slog from one lifeless scene to the next, to yet another "twist" ending. There's not much worth seeing here, except Paul Sorvino, who acquits himself nicely. It's the first real misfire of Cravenfest. But nobody's perfect.

Horrorfest 2015: Cravenfest - Invitation to Hell

Now we head back to TV land for 1984's INVITATION TO HELL and, after a slight departure, head directly back into Craven's favorite theme so far: a family in peril.

The movie wastes no time getting started, with TV's Susan fucking Lucci displaying supernatural powers in the very first scene. It's an effective (if unintentionally comedic) first scene, but it kind of undermines some of the suspense of the movie. More on that later.

TV's  Robert Urich stars as the patriarch of a family (including TV's Soleil Moon Frye) who is moving to a new town for a big time, big paycheck job. Some technology he's been working on is going to be integrated into a space suit intended for upcoming missions to Venus.

Everyone at work seems to be a part of the local country club, which is run by Susan Lucci, including TV's Joe Regalbuto who can't shut up about how Urich's family should join. Join the club! Join the club! Broken record, amirite? Urich's too much of a rugged individualist for all that but the wife and kids want in.
So, it's clear something sinister's going on at the country club. Urich's family starts to act weird. The family dog starts barking at them, and then disappears (dogs are becoming a thing with Craven). We get a glimpse at the "joining the club" ritual and it's clearly not on the up and up. Plus, we already know Lucci is magic. BLACK MAGIC!

INVITATION TO HELL is similar to STRANGER IN OUR HOUSE in that both stories involve one character suspecting something bad's going on, and no one else believing them. Even Kevin McCarthy from INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS is on hand to make sure the proceedings get as paranoid as possible. The difference is, STRANGER IN OUR HOUSE buries the lead and makes you wait for the awesome payoff, and INVITATION TO HELL tips its hand to the viewer too soon. We know what's going on way before Urich does and the movie loses some suspense because of it.

The movie bounces back a little in the end when Urich gets the idea to use his space suit to fight the bad guys (even though the audience has long since figured the space suit was going to be the key to victory here).

This movie also kind of reminded me of the flick from HORRORFEST 2014 called SOCIETY in which a Beverly Hills teen discovers his upper class friends and family are all part of an inhuman species who literally feeds on poor people. INVITATION TO HELL isn't as good as SOCIETY, and doesn't get as weird or gross as SOCIETY, but they'd make a pretty good double feature.

Oh yeah, don't miss creepy John Berryman in a cameo.

Horrorfest 2015: Cravenfest - Swamp Thing

Craven takes a stab at the super hero genre BEFORE it was cool with 1982's SWAMP THING. Really it's half super hero flick/half creature feature. I've always been curious about this movie ever since I was a kid and for whatever reason someone chose to put a SWAMP THING cartoon show on TV. You could tell from the video store box art that this was not necessarily a kid-friendly property, but there was a cartoon show and action figures anyway. Go figure.

Ray Wise kinda stars as a scientist who is developing a technology to merge plants and animals in an attempt to create a being that can live under extreme conditions. His lab, hidden deep in the swamp, is attacked by some soldiers of fortune hired by another scientist (Louis Jourdan) and his soldiers for hire, who thinks the technology holds the key to eternal life. In the attack, the lab is destroyed and Wise is splashed with chemicals, set on fire and ends up at the bottom of the swamp.

When he emerges he is… Dick Durock! And Dick Durock is… SWAMP THING!

Adrienne Barbeau is also there doing something governmenty. And she runs afoul of the bad guys, so Swamp Thing has to rescue her. But she's freaked out by Swamp Thing, even though she kinda like him when he was a human. So Swamp Thing's tortured, like the Phantom of the Opera.

A young actor named Reggie Batts basically steals the show when he unexpectedly shows up as the tweenage employee of a bayou convenience store who ends up helping Barbeau and Swamp Thing save the day.

The whole thing is ridiculous. There are some cool swamp chase scenes and eventually even a little bit of gore when the bad guy mutates himself into a monster. Barbeau even takes her shirt off! You can definitely tell having an innovative director like Craven on hand elevated the proceedings a little bit, embracing the CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON elements instead of running from them.

Maybe the greatest asset of the film is the location – like the desert in THE HILLS HAVE EYES, the very swamp locations themselves are impressive enough, without even considering the fact that it must have been a pain in the ass to shoot a whole move in them. This flick benefits hugely from being knee deep in muck its entire running time, instead of settling for cheap looking sets.

Horrorfest 2015: Cravenfest - Deadly Blessing

Next we jump into a higher budget tier with 1981's DEADLY BLESSING, an example of a good premise that Craven doesn't quite nail. But he gets close!

Maren Jensen and a Bruce Campbell-esque Douglas Barr star as a happily married (and newly pregnant) couple who live and work on an idyllic farm right next door to an Amish-like community of technology shunning Hittites. Barr has been excommunicated from the group for marrying Jensen and tensions run between neighbors run high.

Ernest Borgnine is the patriarch of the group which includes Craven regular Michael Berryman from THE HILLS HAVE EYES. With Berryman lurking around and trespassing on the happy couple's farm, it's no wonder Jensen becomes suspicious when her husband turns up dead.

Borgnine declares there's a succubus in their midst, and heavily implies the succubus is the new widow herself. It isn't long before Berryman also disappears and allegations of a revenge killing are bandied about. Amidst all this, Jensen's friends from LA show up (Susan Buckner and Sharon Stone) to keep her company, and one of them catches the eye of a young, reluctantly engaged Hittite (Jeff "Superman" East again).

That's a lot of plot, huh? Sorry. The point is, Sharon Stone has scary dreams (foreshadowing Craven's most famous flick!), the Hittites lurk around, some other neighbors are weird too and there may or may not be a succubus in the mix. The movie comes to two not entirely satisfying twist endings, the first of which needlessly relies on "othering" one of the characters to scare the viewer and the second of which is awesome but totally arbitrary.

So, it's not perfect, but the acting is all good, it's the first Craven movie with beautiful cinematography (courtesy Robert Jessup), the suspense works throughout, there's a great James Horner score and there are a few legit scares (including a snake in the bathtub!).

Horrorfest 2015: Cravenfest - Stranger in our House (a.k.a. Summer of Fear)

Two horror icons team up when Wes Craven directs Linda Blair (THE EXORCIST) in STRANGER IN OUR HOUSE, a 1978 television movie later re-released overseas as SUMMER OF FEAR.

Blair stars as a teenage horse riding enthusiast who has to adjust when her college-aged cousin (Lee Purcell) moves in after losing her parents in a car crash. Everything seems fine at first but it isn't long before Blair notices Purcell putting the moves on first her boyfriend (Jeff East, young Clark Kent from SUPERMAN!) and later on her dad (Jeremy Slate). Purcell even steals Blair's best pal (Fran fucking Drescher!).

Not only all that, but Blair's usually well-trained horse freaks out any time Purcell's around and Blair breaks out in a mysterious bout of hives just when it's time to go to the dance. Blair pokes around and finds some weird stuff around their shared bedroom, including wax figures, spent matches and disfigured photographs.

Now, I don't want to spoil anything but I will say that Blair is lucky that a local expert in the occult happens to live in her neighborhood (Macdonald Carey of DAYS OF OUR LIVES fame).

Similar to THE HILLS HAVE EYES, STRANGER IN OUR HOUSE benefits from featuring a believable family. Blair might get a little whiny at times but she is playing a jealous teenager, after all. Purcell is perfect as the goody-goody who's up to no good.

Most of the movie is a slow burn but the climax really takes it to the next level and delivers without wimping out. There's even a "twist" ending that could have led to a made-for-TV sequel. I guess the ratings just weren't there.

Horrorfest 2015: Cravenfest - The Hills Have Eyes

It's that time of year again. In my yearly quest to watch and review 31 horror movies in the month of October, preferably ones I've never seen before, I decided to make my movie choices easier by coming up with a theme to follow. But the joke was on me, because then it was hard to think of a theme. Sequels to movies I've already reviewed? Every Universal Horror I haven't seen? Every Hammer I haven't seen?

Then, Wes Craven died. So I thought: what better tribute than to make Horrorfest 2015 "Cravenfest." I mean actually I think there are probably a shitload of better tributes. But, it would be a timely theme. I looked up his filmography, which is extensive, and full of movies I've never seen before, which is a shame, considering I watch at least 31 classic horror flicks a year.

Craven is the rare horror director who became so famous and influential that his iconic character, Freddy Krueger, is known all around the world to people who haven't even seen a NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET film, let alone any scary movies at all. I knew about the character when I was a kid, long before I had the guts to watch any of the movies. I'd browse the video store, and there'd be Mickey Mouse, Indiana Jones and Freddy, waiting on the shelves. His face, costume and knife-fingered glove was a staple image of the 80s. I was too scared to watch the movies, but I'd read parodies in CRACKED magazine and hear breathless retellings of murder scenes at school, from kids who had older brothers.

Later, Craven's SCREAM went on to similarly define horror in the 90s. It came at a perfect time for me, when I was in my teens and starting to become a serious movie buff. It was funny and scary and all about movies. It was such a big deal, that my whole family went to see it at the theater and we NEVER went to slasher movies.

Anyway, I'm going to watch all the Craven flicks I've never seen before (except MUSIC OF THE HEART -- sorry, this is HORRORfest). I'm going to skip some of the ones I've seen but I'll re-watch a few.

Let's start with THE HILLS HAVE EYES from 1977. You'd think I'd start with Craven's first flick, THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, but I saw it back in my teens, and re-watched it in my 20s, and it's a pretty rough watch, with all the rape and everything. In some ways, I think LAST HOUSE is one of the reasons it has taken me until now to see THE HILLS -- I read so much about how intense both flicks were, that after I saw LAST HOUSE I was like, "Eh, I think I can wait on HILLS."

Well, the time has finally come. THE HILLS HAVE EYES tells the tale of a family on a cross country trailer trip whose car breaks down in the middle of the desert. The titular eyes from the hills belong to a family of cannibal savages who are possibly mutated from nearby nuclear tests and definitely bent on killing, robbing (and possibly) eating the stranded family.

It's a simple film, alternating between scenes of humor among the stranded family members, suspense as they attempt to get help and deal with ominous warnings that someone is out to get them and bursts of violence as they eventually confront the savages in the hills.

The most striking cast member is the guy who gets all the poster and box art attention, Michael Berryman as Pluto. Based on seeing his unique face throughout the years, I always assumed he was going to be the main bad guy of the movie, but that turns out to be the family patriarch, Jupiter (James Whitworth). Also notable among the cast is a young Dee Wallace, probably the most sympathetic (and talented) of the besieged family, who later went on to play Eliot's mom in E.T.

As much gore and depravity as the film includes, probably the creepiest moment is a simple one when Wallace tries to reach someone on the CB radio and gets heavy breathing back in return. It worked in 1977, it still worked when SCREAM came along.

Craven makes great use of the natural locations and the movie must have been hell to shoot. They're really out  there in the desert and in ruined small town landscapes. An early striking image involves a house that has been so leveled the only thing left is the chimney standing up in the middle of a wasteland.

Craven also makes great use of the wildlife, spending much of the story focusing on the unfortunate family's dogs, Beauty and The Beast, who almost steal the show. I say almost because even Lassie couldn't steal the show from the scenery-chewing Hill people, who gnash their teeth and wail and seem to enjoy and revel in their own evilness.

I can see why the movie has endured, and can see how it influenced many others, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit I was getting a little tired of the mayhem by the time the last couple battles rolled around. Still, it's a fitting beginning to a whole month of CRAVENFEST.