Hellbound: Hellraiser II 20th Anniversary Edition

I’ve read a lot of Clive Barker’s fiction over the years, and I’ve always found his shorter fiction superior to his longer works. Restraining his wild imagination to a limited amount of words, Barker is a master of the macabre; but when given free reign and a thousand pages, his novels become complicated, convoluted and confusing. The reason the first Hellraiser worked so brilliantly was that Barker based it on his novella, The Hellbound Heart. Hellbound: Hellraiser II has no literary basis, but shares many of the problems present in his long novels.

The plot of Hellbound is so confounding that it’s actually beyond my understanding, so it’s much easier to list some of it’s elements. Julia’s back; as is Kirsty, joined by a psychic teenager; there’s a mental institution that I think transforms into some literal version of Hell; the Cenobites, all powerful demons in the first film, are here, and get beaten pretty handily. And then there’s Dr. Chanard. I defy you to watch this movie, and tell me with a straight face that his Cenobite self isn’t being carried around by a giant penis. If only all these could play nice together. Bloated and confusing, the further the script goes, the less sense it makes. The Lament Configuration itself would be easier to solve than the film. Much of the blame falls on Peter Atkins, who wrote the script in Barker’s stead, but at least part responsible is Barker, who was constantly on the set in his role as executive producer. Because the plot is such a mess, there’s no way I could ever like this film, even if the Cenobites are still among the best monsters in all of film.

As with the reissue of Hellraiser, the new Hellraiser II disc has a multitude of extras, many of which carry over from Anchor Bay’s previous release of the film. I’ll cover them separately below:

Repeat: Commentary with director Tony Randel and Ashley Laurence, moderated by Peter Atkins. Missed greatly is Clive Barker’s presence, which gives me the idea that this film isn’t so much Barker’s vision. It’s a decent commentary, though listening to Randel isn’t really enchanting.

Repeat: Lost in the Labyrinth: A 17 minute featurette, it’s a companion piece to “Resurrection” on the first film. It’s got some good insights, but it’s too brief.

New: “The Soul Patrol.” 22 minutes of interviews with the three other actors behind the Cenobites. Nicholas Vince, Barbie Wilde and Simon Bamford are all affable, and provide some cool insights and background stories. Definitely worth a watch.

New: “Outside the Box.” A 15 minute interview with Randel. He discusses his earlier career under Roger Corman, his work on Hellbound, and the problems with its release. Interestingly, the director himself describes his film as “marginally successful” and states, “there’s a lot about the film I can’t watch.”

New: “The Doctor Is In.” A 14 minute interview with Kenneth Cranham, which appears to have taken in a piano bar. His comments on Gary Oldman’s envy and Randel’s ignorance of Lady Macbeth are precious.

New: “Under the Skin, Part II.” Doug Bradley’s observations on the film. I love listening to this man. You should too.

Some trailers, television spots and a stills gallery round out the package.

So, should you buy this if you have Anchor Bay’s original release of the film? I had a conversation with Rob G, my boss and editor at Icons, and he said the upgrades made the purchase worth it for him. In honesty, I went back and forth as to whether they did the trick for me. When I realized I still had my old copies of Hellraiser and Hellbound, the answer was clear. If another 45 minutes of interviews are enough to sway you, go for it.

Hellbound: Hellraiser II would have benefitted had Barker devised a story that was stark and streamlined, as the first film was. Instead, unfettered by the other hands involved, he, Atkins and Randel created a distended, unfocused mess that many fans nevertheless love. It’s not for me, but if you like the first film, you may enjoy this continuation of Pinhead’s saga.

--Phil Fasso

Posted by RobG at 04:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hellraiser: 20th Anniversary Edition

In the pantheon of movie maniacs, the top tier is dominated by Leatherface, Michael, Jason and Freddy. Cresting the rim of the second tier is Hell’s minion himself, Clive Barker’s creation, Pinhead. He earned this reputation on the strength of the first Hellraiser movie, a superbly crafted horror film that stands out because of its bold originality and its methodical villains.

Hellraiser is the twisted tale of a twisted family. Travelling a world that has run out of perverted pleasures for him, Frank Cotton purchases a puzzle box that, once he opens it, releases the Cenobites, fetishist angels of darkness. When his brother Larry and new wife Julia arrive at Frank’s old house, a moving man accidentally spills blood and awakens Frank. As the adulterous Julia attempts to get him new flesh, the Cenobites come calling for the escaped Frank.

Put plainly, Hellraiser is a superior. All the pieces fall together perfectly, with its offsetting score, stark scenery lit brilliantly, and cast of monsters both human and otherworldly Even if Andrew Robinson is a little flat as Larry, or Ashley Laurence a bit raw as his daughter Kirsty, Doug Bradley’s performance as the Lead Cenobite we would come to know as Pinhead is powerful and, in a dark way, charming. The rest of the Cenobites are a rogue’s gallery of fetishistic fright, as the creatures define the film and differentiate it from so many straight slasher movies. The film transcends the genre, taking it to bold new places into which horror rarely forays, and we have Barker to thank for it. Hellraiser is the perfect example of one man bringing his vision to the screen. The movie is a direct translation straight from Barker’s dark, twisted imagination to the screen, as if the movie projected itself right out of Barker’s id. This is probably the most artistic horror film I’ve ever seen, paired with guttural images that shock and disturb. Barker’s ability to balance the two is impressive.

The new Hellraiser disc has a multitude of extras, many of which carry over from Anchor Bay’s previous release of the film. I’ll cover them separately below:

Repeat: A commentary by Clive Barker and Ashley Laurence, moderated by Peter Atkins, acts as a love letter from Barker to his fans. 15 years removed from the film, Barker is honest with his doubts as a first time director, and the discussion seems to take him back to a very happy time. Atkins does a great job in keeping the conversation flowing. Laurence, however, is silent for much of it, but I think that’s because she understands that this is really Barker’s film.

Repeat: “Hellraiser: Resurrection.” This 24-minute documentary begins and ends with Doug Bradley reading from Barker’s novella The Hellbound Heart, over scenes from the movie. Clive Barker then claims that this is the last he’ll ever talk about Hellraiser. Thankfully he provides some quality insight, as do Ashley Laurence, Doug Bradley and several others. This documentary is entertaining and informative, well worth a watch.

Repeat: The stills gallery and trailers.

New: “Mr. Cotton, I Presume?” During this 16 minute interview, Andrew Robinson discusses his part in Dirty Harry, his role in Hellraiser, and his subsequent reason for not appearing in Hellraiser II. He’s happy with the film, and his part in it. Worth a watch.

New: “Actress from Hell.” Bear through the ridiculous first minute of this 12 minute interview, and then Ashley Laurence provides some interesting information on how she got hired for the movie, and what it means to her. Most interesting is her discussion of Kirsty’s appearances in other films from the franchise, which don’t please her nearly as much as the original. Again, low volume.

New: “Hellcomposer.” Christopher Young rambles on for 18 minutes about the score.

Be aware: For some reason, the volume is incredibly low on these three interviews.

New: “Under the Skin.” Doug Bradley discusses his relationship with Barker, and about the perils of working under extensive makeup. It’s always a pleasure to listen to Bradley, because he’s intelligent and dignified, and has a great voice.

New: TV spots, trailers and a DVD-ROM of the script round out the package.

The question with a re-release is always “Do I buy it if I already have the earlier version?” In this case, no. Unless you’re a completist, four new interviews are unlikely to add much for you. If, however, you’ve never owned Hellraiser, this is the definitive version, the only one you should buy.

So why, based on this superior movie, isn’t Pinhead in the top tier with the other maniacs, considering his first film is better than most of their catalogues? I think this has everything to do with his greatest strength being also his greatest weakness. Unlike the others, he’s refined and well-spoken, a literate gentleman who also happens to be a monster. He’s too classy for most horror fans. This is a crime, and I’d hope that when future generations look upon the pantheon, they’ll reorder it and put Pinhead in the top tier.

--Phil Fasso

Posted by RobG at 04:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Last Horror Film
 
Every so often, a picture comes out that pales in comparison to its back story.  As is almost always the case when this occurs, the final product is a muddled mess, a victim of a troubled production and its own lavish excesses.  So it was with Elizabeth Taylor’s bloated epic Cleopatra, with Taylor’s “illness” and love affair with Richard Burton, a total of three directors, and its absurd budget, (when adjusted for today, it would have cost $297 million).  And so it is with Joe Spinell’s The Last Horror Film, one part slasher flick and one part vacation to Cannes for Spinell and company, no part great movie.
 
It begins with Spinell’s New York cabbie Vinny Durand watching a horror movie.  obsessed with horror and scream queen Jana Bates, he’s convinced she’s going to star in his magnum opus.  So he travels to the Cannes Film Festival (where she’s being voted Best Actress over the likes of Meryl Streep and Faye Dunaway, no less) to try and get her to sign on with the film.  Upon his arrival, those around Bates start to get killed.  Because the film portrays Durand as an unbalanced stalker, it makes every attempt to sway its audience to believe that he’s the killer.  But is he? 
 
More importantly, will you care?  Sadly, the odds are you won’t.  The problem is, sympathizing with Durand is nearly impossible.  Spinell portrays him as a pathetic, desperate dreamer who’s taken his obsessions to an unhealthy end.  Whether he’s responsible for the killings, he’s got delusions of grandeur that make him dangerous;  several times, the film compares him to Mark David Chapman and John Hinckley Jr., two men who lost the ability to draw the line between fiction and reality, and killed John Lennon and attempted to kill President Reagan, respectively.  The film seems to want to excuse Durand by showing how violence is everywhere, but I don’t buy it.  It’s even harder to sympathize with Jana Bates, because Caroline Munroe’s performance is extremely limited.  When a horror movie can’t generate audience sympathy for an innocent victim, it’s failed.
 
And then there’s the other film here, a travelogue of Spinell’s vacation in Cannes.  Many of the festival’s excesses, from the lavish parties to naked beauties on the beach to the five star hotels, are on parade across the movie.  In his commentary, Spinell’s best friend Luke Walters discusses how the production ran several million dollars over budget, and the staff had to sneak out of the Ritz Carlton in the middle of the night.  Clearly, Spinell and the production team were more concerned with partying than the film, and it shows.  Many of the film’s scenes were improvised, such as when Durand crosses an elevated hotel sign, and when he chases a near naked Bates through a hotel lobby.  As a result of the loose production, Last Horror Film is a sloppy effort that could have benefitted had its makers tightened it up and reeled in its star.
 
It’s hard not to compare the Last Horror Film to Spinell’s more popular grindhouse effort, Maniac.  Judd Hamilton, the film’s writer and Munroe’s husband at the time, certainly intended this, as here he reteamed Spinell and his wife in an effort to capitalize on the earlier film.  As anybody who read my review of Maniac will already know, that film is powerful and effective, because it wallows in its grime.  But Frank Zito is a much more layered character than Durand, and tonally Maniac is a much darker film.  Had Spinell taken both Durand and Last Horror Film into that territory, perhaps it would have been more successful.  As it is, it pales in comparison, as does Spinell’s performance.
 
Our unhinged friends at Troma have re-released The Last Horror Film as part of the Tromasterpiece collection.  Actually, they released the film once before under its other title, The Fanatic, without any extras, but this time Troma wasn’t shy with them.  First there’s Walters’ aforementioned commentary, which is more interesting when he discusses the film’s back story than the film itself.  He’s also involved with what’s billed as a half hour interview, though it runs several minutes short.  The highlight of this, sadly, is when a man who runs the local diner where Spinell used to go has no memory of him.  Even more morose is the piece’s end, where Walters cannot find Spinell’s grave.  A short interview with Maniac’s director William Lustig is even more depressing, as he talks disparagingly of Last Horror Film’s production.  There’s also the first 10 minutes of Mr. Robbie, a proposed sequel to Maniac.  It’s slapped together roughly, and gives just a taste of what the finished film could’ve provided.  Clearly, it’s no Maniac.  A number of trailers for Last Horror Film under both titles round out the package.  There are also some Tromatic extras, a bunch of trailers for recent releases from Troma.  Conspicuous by its absence is the Radiation March;  this is a great letdown (Watch any other Troma disc and it’s there).  And if you watch the movie without the introduction from Lloyd Kaufman, Troma’s co-founder and creator of the Toxic Avenger, you are committing a crime.
 
Be forewarned:  Troma put The Last Horror Film together from some inferior film elements, so the picture is a mess in spots.  But it’s the best they could do.
 
Clearly, however, this film is not the best that Spinell could have done.  Had he and the producers been more intent on making a coherent film than taking an all-expenses-paid vacation to Cannes, it would be more the topic of conversation than the drama behind the scenes.  No one in his right mind would ever put Spinell in the same league as Liz Taylor, but they were equally capable of creating a bloated mess.
 
--Phil Fasso

Posted by RobG at 06:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Prowler

As a big fan of Tom Savini’s effects work, I’m surprised it took me all these years to see The Prowler, especially when some fans have told me it’s got Savini’s best stuff. In fact, it so impressed Friday the 13th producer Phil Scuderi, that he hired director Joe Zito and Savini to make The Final Friday. Given this pedigree, I was surprised that The Prowler didn’t come close to living up to its hype.

The plot goes like this: At a graduation dance, a jilted WWII vet returns to kill his lover and her new beau with a pitchfork. 35 years later, new college kids decide to have a graduation dance. Conveniently, a psycho killer has escaped a few towns over. As the dance begins, so does the body count. The girl who organized the event and the young deputy try to stop the killer as the night goes on.

I can forgive The Prowler for suffering from the usual sins of its genre, which include bland acting, an overwrought score and silly dialogue. But I can’t be so forgiving to the plot. The script leaves so many loose ends that it plays like a first draft. Major Chatham, who seems early on to be a major player and even grabs the heroine by the arm, disappears from screen entirely. The movie sets up the dance hall as its central location, and then drops it entirely as the leads hunt down the killer, arriving at Chatham’s house for not one long scene, but two. The last scene in the hall has another old pervert licking his lips as he watches two teens engage in sex in the basement; of course, there’s no payoff at all, as the audience never sees these three again. And please don’t give me the argument, “It’s just a horror flick; who cares about logic and plot?” Because when you do, you validate every argument that people make against our beloved genre. This movie needed at least one rewrite, and probably two or more. As it stands, this script of The Prowler should never have made it out of development.

Worse, the script gives Savini very little to do. Instead of focusing on a high body count and his trademark creativity in kills, The Prowler spends most of its time trying to build suspense as it follows its bland leads. The buildup is decent, but let’s face facts: a slasher film is defined by its kills, and they’re far too sparse here. When Zito lets Savini loose, his work is among the nastiest of his entire catalogue; a shower scene is particularly nasty, as is a knife through the head. If only there were more.

The main extra on The Prowler is a commentary by Zito and Savini. The track’s got some interesting anecdotes, including one about a used coffin. But be forewarned: Though Savini’s done some great tracks discussing films with George Romero, here he’s a mess. He forgets much of the script, and the names of several people involved in the project. Zito has to do a lot of work in reigning him in, and seems mildly annoyed with him at points. There’s also Savini’s behind-the-scenes recordings, which show a lot of the effects work in creation.

In a market that was soon to become glutted by slasher flicks, The Prowler is one of the subgenre’s less than stellar efforts. A sloppy plot that leaves too many questions unanswered and doesn’t provide nearly enough gore or kills produced a film that got Zito and Savini the fourth Friday film. But it’s a pale shadow of even a lesser Voorhees flick.

--Phil Fasso

Posted by RobG at 06:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Devil Dog:  Hound of Hell
 
When my Icons of Fright compatriot Mike Cucinotta first mentioned Zoltan:  Hound of Dracula a few weeks back, I thought he was talking about a different film.  After all, as a film reviewer for Icons, I’ve become good friends with what I call the Horror Movie Relocation Program, my title for horror flicks that, for one reason or another, go by more than one name.  When he informed me I was wrong, I knew I couldn’t escape reviewing both films.

Devil Dog begins with a group of Satan worshippers buying a German Shepherd, which they mate with Satan (apparently the Prince of Darkness can’t get a date himself?).  After Mike and Betty Barry find their own German Shepherd dead in the street, a Satanic peddler gives daughter Bonnie and son Charlie a puppy to replace the family pet.  When the Spanish housekeeper begins to suspect that Lucky the pooch may be more Devil than Dog, she dies mysteriously in flames.  Flash forward a year, and Lucky manages to exert his influence over the family and the neighborhood:  he transforms the kids and wife into soulless disciples;  kills several people in the neighborhood;  and, in a mind bending sequence, nearly forces Mike to run his hand into a lawn mower blade.
 
Regrettably, Lucky primarily does this by looking like a happy German Shepherd with a wagging tongue, and not at all like some demon spawn.  That is, until the filmmakers dress him up in feathers and horns in two key scenes;  though the intent was to toughen him up, the effect is absolutely laughable.  As the dog rarely appears on-screen (odd, considering the film’s title), the film follows Richard Crenna’s Mike as he attempts to vanquish the demon canine and save his family.  Crenna delivers a solid performance, despite the silly material and the sea of melodramatic actors around him.  He’s about the only competent element in Devil Dog.  But then again, this is a made-for-TV movie that stole its name from a Drake’s cake, and considered it a casting coup to pair the kids from Disney’s Witch Mountain series.  So this is probably what he should have expected.
 
Astonishingly, Devil Dog gets a 2-disc set.  There’s an audio interview in which director Curtis Harrington slams the movie.  “To the Devil a Dog” is a collection of interviews with producer Jerry Zeitman and actors Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann.  Though Zeitman is excited and thinks the project deserves some credence, these are some dull discussions.  Some trailers for Shriek Show films (but not this one) round things out.
 
1978 was a banner year for demonic hounds.  Ultimately, Devil Dog is superior to Zoltan because it’s got a slightly higher production value, and the pacing isn’t quite as torpid.  This doesn’t mean that Devil Dog’s a good movie.  Barring Crenna’s performance, it’s a silly affair that will elicit more laughs than screams, just as Zoltan will.  My advice to filmmakers:  Keep the Devil Dogs to the snack counter.
 
--Phil Fasso

Posted by RobG at 05:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)