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This second part of my favorite scary movie moments series has sure taken a long time. As you know from previous posts, I’ve been very down lately. I’ve been trying to pick myself up though, and write when I can. Just because it isn’t published on here yet doesn’t mean I’m not writing anytime I get a dose of hitch in my giddy-up. I am. I might slowly but surely be coming back! As always, let me hear you! None of this means anything without you folks! This edition features a demon attached to a child, a psycho stalker with a knack for the telephone, a serial killer, and a vengeful British ghost. Hope you like the GIFS, but be gentle – it was my first time! 
Insidious (2011)
We all know that some people were bigger fans of Insidious than others. And while there were flaws in the film, there were quite a few startling, and unique scenes. Some were just plain brilliant, and the entire movie is visually innovative and appealing. It’s strange for me to say, knowing that this film was made by the people who created Saw (not scary – gory – but not scary), and Paranormal Activity (lame beyond lame, even refund-worthy). Not to mention, Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne are two incredibly sexy human specimens. Here are my favorites moments!
1. Gettin’ Down to Tiny Tim
Not only is it incredibly horrifying to have a turn-of-the-century dead ghost child dancing terribly in your house, he’s also groovin’ to Tiny Tim’s “Tiptoe Through the Tulips”, which is creepy in itself. Not that I’m not now addicted to that song, and classify it as one of my many guilty pleasures, but mixing the two together, especially in broad daylight, creates one scene none of us are likely to forget.
2. Creepy Demon in the Room
Anytime there is some kind of demonic creature, or any creature for that matter lurking in the shadows, especially one with elongated arms, pointy fingers, and what looks to be perhaps cloven hooves, it creeps me out. Obviously, it’s because it’s unexpected – it’s the jump factor – but you gotta admit, that creep standing there is enough to make you check your own room before jumping into bed!
3. Creepy Demon in the Room Again
Okay, so this scene is up for much debate, as some found it totally scary, and others simply saw a bad Darth Maul rip-off, but as before, the jump factor is present. While talking to his mother (a very nicely aging Barbara Hershey) and his wife about the weird goings-on, this cosmetically-pleasing, red-faced punk appears behind Josh, opening its mouth and revealing his, well, sort-of-razor-sharp teeth. As usual, the creature is only on-screen momentarily, and quickly disappears as Josh’s mother shrieks in horror and jumps up from her chair.
The Woman in Black (2012)
I did have serious misgivings going into this film, because most horror flicks these days, well, bite the big one. But I was pleasantly surprised! It’s nice to see Daniel Radcliffe in something else (HP is not my cup of tea, if you’ll forgive the British reference), but he is actually pretty sexy in this movie. Oh, he can act, too! Of course. 
As is usually the case, once we find out the motive behind the ghost’s vengeful haunting, it’s not so scary. But the build-up is the most important aspect, and this movie has it…..in spades!
1. The Marsh….Itself!
Does this really need any explaining? The setting of the movie itself is enough to scare someone, without even adding the ghost element to the mix. Just look at it! If you have to go through that, and that, and that, to get to that, it’s a bad idea. Just say no.
2. Bad Rocking Chair
This house is full of secrets, and of course, the usual creaky floors, awkward silences, and startling BANGS just as you put some delicious popcorn in your mouth (trust me, I know). But rocking chairs that move by themselves (or not….) have always given me the willies. There’s something about them, but I’ve never been able to put my finger on it. Not to mention, this chair rocks backwards unexpectedly far, which sort of looks like fun! Not so fun when we get a glimpse of the horrid witchy bitch causing the ruckus, and Harry Potter is none the wiser.
3. Dead Boy Returns
More creepy sequences in the house of doom, Harry Potter watches as the little dead boy rises from his mucky grave in the marsh, and books it to the front door. Well, he doesn’t book it, ghosts always walk, yet somehow get to where they’re going incredibly fast. So does Jason Voorhees. And Michael Myers. But I digress. The little dog who has been sent to keep our hero company begins barking at the door, as the knob begins to rattle. Dogs are smarter than people, how many times must I say this?! Upon opening the door, no one is there, but in the distance there appears several more young dead children, looking horribly soaked from the rain. Or just from being dead. The little boy pulls a jump scene, covered in mud, with his mouth open, a few short scenes later. So does the Woman in Black, several times. Why do scary characters always have to have their mouths open? I’m unclear on this.
When a Stranger Calls (1979)
This often-quoted, frequently criticized gem from 1979 is part cheesy detective story, part psychologically horrifying thriller. The latter is the reason for its mention on my list. The opening sequence is a classic, even if most of us could totally do without the rest of the movie! The “Babysitter and the Man Upstairs” urban legend comes to life!
1.Opening Sequence
Ahh, the classic opening sequence, which still stands the test of time today, is absolutely terrifying. First of all, the phone ringing constantly is just plain annoying. Not helping matters is when the caller is taunting, tormenting, harassing, and scaring the receiver half to death, after having killed the two children upstairs sleeping in the babysitter’s care. Carol Kane delivers an Earth-shattering performance, and really portrays fear well. The calls are coming from upstairs (somehow, I’ve yet to figure this out), and Jill is saved only because the operator was able to trace the call, and warn her to leave the house, just as killer Curt Duncan emerges from the shadows. Phones are creepy, don’t you agree?!
2. Psycho Stalks Another
When the killer escapes his confinement in an insane asylum, he approaches a woman at a bar. I mention this scene because, as a woman, well, even just as a human, I know the apprehension and fear of being around someone who is not all ‘there’ in the head’. We have gut instincts for a reason, and this woman, Tracy, followed hers by pacifying the creep when he follows her home, lets himself into her house, and sits down on her couch for a spell. She convinces him to come back another time, which grants her a temporary reprieve from his wily charms. That was not a compliment. Later, he comes back to kill her, but is finally stopped by the detective who has been hunting him since his escape. Whew, that was a close one!
Zodiac (2007)
A David Fincher masterpiece, Zodiac is one of my favorite movies. It’s one of those few near-perfections in life, and the psychological thrills have definitely been burned into my mind. Chasing a killer that to this day has never been apprehended is scary to begin with, but the way it consumes cartoonist Robert Graysmith’s life is inspiring, mind-numbing, and depressing all at the same time.
1. Lake Berryessa Terror
I have referenced this scene before in other posts, but when Cecelia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell are tormented and stabbed at the lake, it goes through me like few other things have. Cecelia’s screams are enough to give anyone the chills, as she watches her date being stabbed in the back repeatedly, dreading her own turn at the hands of the Zodiac Killer. Utterly horrifying, because it isn’t demons, or ghosts, or any other supernatural being, it’s a human doing this to another human, on purpose, and enjoying it.
2. Arthur Leigh Allen’s Interview
After incriminating tips from a former friend lead Inspectors Toschi, Armstrong, and Sgt. Mulanax from San Francisco and Vallejo to pay Arthur Leigh Allen a visit, we get a wonderfully crafted and chilling scene, which, if one did not know any better, would absolutely convince us that he was the Zodiac. Though DNA “cleared” him decades after the murders and his own death, I myself am still convinced he was involved somehow. Too many coincidences. Anyway, John Carroll Lynch portrays pedophile creepster Allen with quiet but menacing calmness, even proclaiming, in a deeper voice, “I’m not the Zodiac, and if I was, I certainly wouldn’t tell you.” Shudder.
3. A Visit to Bob Vaughn
After years of indirectly being around the Zodiac investigation at the San Francisco Chronicle where he worked as a cartoonist, Robert Graysmith plays detective, and decides to put an end to the mystery once and for all. He never officially succeeds, as the case remains open, but in one such instance, he happens upon some movie posters that contain handwriting strikingly similar to the Zodiac’s. It turns out the man he goes to speak with about the suspected killer, Rick Marshall, Bob Vaughn, drew the posters himself. This causes Graysmith to automatically suspect him in the crimes, and when he ventures to the basement to find out when his theater played The Most Dangerous Game, Graysmith hears footsteps and creaking from upstairs. He questions several times if anyone else is in the house, and Vaughn (Charles Fleischer) is quietly creepy throughout, adding to our own suspense and tension. We begin to question him ourselves! This scene always freaks me out – it is so wonderfully filmed. It also gives us a different perspective on the murders. Perfectly brilliant and nerve-wracking.
During the teen slasher craze of the 90s, and after the wild success of Scream, this little movie comes along. Original? Yes. Violent and bloody? Yes. Great music? Yes. Pop culture references and cool dialogue? Yes. Excellent, groundbreaking filmmaking? Well, no, BUT, awesome for what it is, and completely entertaining. It’s definitely a guilty pleasure of mine. But I don’t feel one bit guilty!
The film opens on a dark and rainy night (don’t they all?), and we meet a young woman, Michelle (Natasha Gregson Wagner), driving down the road, singing along to “Total Eclipse of the Heart” (not very well, mind you). After nearly crashing into another vehicle, she realizes she’s practically out of gas, and stops at a nearby station, which looks a bit on the creepy side. The attendant (played by Brad Dourif), has a stutter that does not come in handy for Michelle. He lures her into the station, telling her there’s something wrong with her credit card, and she thinks he is trying to attack her. She pepper-sprays him, and takes off in her car. Finally able to get his words out, he yells, “Someone’s in the backseat!” As she drives down the road, in shock, she notices someone behind her, as he/she lifts an ax, and chops her head off. Back in town, on the campus of Pendleton University, we meet Sasha (Tara Reid) who has a daily radio show about nothing but sexual advice, her boyfriend, Parker (Michael Rosenbaum), and friends, Natalie (Alicia Witt), Brenda (Rebecca Gayheart), and Paul (Jared Leto). Parker tells the girls about the Stanley Hall Massacre, a local urban legend that does hold some truth to it. Journalist Paul is a bit of a prick at first, but it’s somewhat acceptable because it’s Jared Leto. Anyway, later that night, Natalie and Brenda decide to mix stories, and say Bloody Mary five times in front of the old, worn-out Stanley Hall building. They are spooked by another friend, Damon (Joshua “Pacey Witter” Jackson).
Natalie goes back to her dorm, and is unpleasantly surprised to see her roommate, Tosh (Danielle Harris), having sex, which she is forced to listen to all night long. The next day in Folklore class, taught by none other than Robert Englund, they discuss urban legends, and how prevalent they are in society, and how they change from person to person, and such. Professor Wexler tells Brenda to come up to the front of the class to volunteer for an experiment (the mixing of soda and Pop-Rocks). She refuses, but Damon decides to go for it. He’s fine at first, then launches into a dramatic fake-out, freaking Brenda out. Everyone on campus is now aware of the murder, as Paul has written about it in the school paper. He makes light of it, but Natalie is clearly hurt by his lack of emotion and compassion. Natalie is depressed about the murder, but everyone else does not seem concerned, with Damon even remarking, “I’ll miss her too, cuz that girl gave great head!” Okay, totally crass, but it was fucking hilarious.
Later when Natalie goes back to her dorm room, we learn that she knew Michelle and they used to be best friends, after she is bitched out by Tosh over the phone line usage (oh, the days of dial-up!) She is sad and takes Damon up on his offer to talk. While trying to start his POS car, the radio comes on suddenly, loudly blasting, “I Don’t Wanna Wait”, the theme song from Dawson’s Creek, to which he replies, “Oh, god!” Yeah, that was pretty rad. Anyway, he listens, but really just wants to get into Natalie’s pants in the woods, though I do think he means well, sort of. Hey, he played Pacey, what can I say? Anyway, she rebuffs his advances, including punching him in the face, and he goes to take a piss. He is then attacked by the killer, and hanged above the car, causing Natalie to hear squeaking on the roof (“The Boyfriend’s Death” urban legend). When she peels out, he is left to hang and die. When Natalie goes to get Reese, the awesome security guard, they can’t find any trace of his body. Her friends tell her he’s snowboarding in Killington, but she knows what she saw was not a mannequin.
She ventures into the library stacks and finds a book on urban legends, after realizing that Michelle died in a similar manner, while back in the dorm room, Tosh types away in a chat room looking for a gothic dude to hook up with. Big mistake, girl. Tosh is attacked by her new online “date” who has snuck into her room, and when Natalie comes home, she doesn’t turn on the light because she thinks her roomie is having sex yet again. She wakes up to find Tosh dead, and a cryptic, bloody message scrawled on the wall, “Aren’t you glad you didn’t turn on the light?” Everyone thinks Tosh killed herself because her wrists are cut, but Natalie knows someone else was there. Honestly, that is one of my favorite urban legends; it really is creepy if you think about it. Anyway, Natalie is completely paranoid now, and Paul confronts her about knowing Michelle in high school. She confides in him her theory about an urban legend serial killer.
He thinks it’s a stretch at first, but begins to believe her, and they begin investigating what really happened at Stanley Hall years ago. They start wondering whether the murders have anything to do with the 25th anniversary of the massacre, which is the subject of Parker’s fraternity party that night. They ask the janitor if he knows anything, and he tells them to talk to Professor Wexler. They snoop around his office, and find an ax, as well as Wexler himself, who promptly turns them in for trespassing. They accuse him of the murders, but are met with disbelief and anger from the administrators. They also bring up Natalie’s hush-hush criminal record, for reckless endangerment from high school, which pisses Paul off. Also pissed, Natalie goes to the campus pool where Brenda is swimming laps. Up in the viewing area, she sees someone walk in wearing the same coat as the killer does. She tries to get Brenda’s attention by breaking the window, but it’s only a fellow swimmer.
Natalie confides in Brenda that she knew Michelle, and that they were no longer friends because of what she did. What he did was run someone off the road playing a dumb game, and using the urban legend “The Gang High Beam Initiation” as an influence. It was Natalie’s car, and she was riding shotgun, but she didn’t tell her to stop. The other guy died, and they only got probation. Dean Adams is killed while attempting to get in his car in the parking garage, and Brenda convinces Natalie to come to the party at the frat house, so she does. Parker is making his dog, Hootie, do a beer bong (oh, Lord), and Paul finds Natalie to tell her about what the janitor gave him – a newspaper from 25 years ago, stating that Professor Wexler was the sole survivor of the massacre. She gets scared, and they start kissing, and Brenda witnesses this. She gets pissed and storms off, because she has a massive crush on Paul, and Natalie knew that. Tsk, tsk….
Paul tells Parker his theory, but he’s drunk, acts like an asshole, and blows him off. Sasha goes to host her radio show, and Parker begins receiving harassing phone calls. Though this is a crowded party, the killer somehow has taken his dog and put it in the microwave, killing it (I was mad, but it was a take-off on the “one where the old lady dries her wet dog in the microwave”). He finds the bloody mess, and goes to puke in the bathroom. There is attacked, and tied to the toilet. The killer emerges, and forces a funnel into his throat, and gives him a concoction of Pop Rocks and drain cleaner, killing him. Damn, that’s harsh. Sasha is attacked at the radio station soon after, and is chased around. Natalie can hear her screams over the radio at the party, and rushes to help her. She is killed with an ax, and the killer waves menacingly at Natalie. She bumps into Paul, who tells her the phones are dead and he can’t find Reese. They run back to campus and meet back up with Brenda, who says she heard Sasha screaming on the radio.
They all get in Paul’s car and take off down the road. Stopping at a gas station, the girls rekindle their friendship, and notice a nasty smell, and discover it’s the Professor’s body in the trunk. Freaking out and thinking Paul’s the killer, they run back to campus. There is so much running in this movie, I’d be exhausted. Paul gives chase, wondering why they took off, and the girls get separated in the woods. Natalie makes it to the road, and hitches a ride with the janitor. She notices he has a similar coat to the one the killer wears (this coat must be popular in New England), and begins to suspect him as well. Paul’s car passes them on the road, and the janitor signals that his lights are off, starting the Gang High Beam Initiation. The car runs Natalie and the janitor off the road, and he is either killed or knocked unconscious, because we don’t see him again. Natalie runs back to campus, and hears Brenda scream from inside Stanley Hall. Bravely, she makes her way inside, and comes across the dead bodies of her friends.
She finds Brenda passed out on a bare mattress in a room filled with candles. Upset, she begins crying, when Brenda sits up and punches her hard in the face. Now Natalie is tied to the bed, and Brenda enters wearing the now infamous coat. She is the killer, and her motive? The guy Michelle and Natalie ran off the road and killed two years earlier was her fiancée. She’s clearly snapped and gone crazy, well, she might have been crazy already, but the death of her fiancée triggered her rampage. She thinks she’s going to frame Professor Wexler by using the urban legends as the method of killing, and because of the 25th anniversary of the Stanley Hall Massacre. Reese pops up, just as Brenda begins cutting into Nat’s stomach, attempting to perform The Kidney Heist legend. Reese frees Natalie, and forces Brenda against the wall, but Brenda has other plans. She cuts Reese with a knife she has hidden, grabs her gun, and holds Natalie hostage again. 
Paul shows up, and tries to coax Brenda into giving him the gun by pretending to be on her side, causing Natalie to question him once again momentarily. But Reese saves the day, and shoots Brenda with another gun, and Natalie grabs the other, shooting her again. She falls out the window onto the ground below. Natalie and Paul leave the scene, which is just weird because it’s a crime scene, and not to mention, I would want to stay with Reese even if the cops took over, because she saved them practically. Regardless, they begin driving away, when Brenda pops up in the backseat with an ax. She attacks Natalie, while Paul attempts to both drive the vehicle and help her. He purposely crashes into the guard rail above the river, causing Brenda to fly through the windshield into the water below. Presumably months later, at a different college, we see a group of students discussing that very case, and the fact that it has become an urban legend. Much of the dialogue is verbatim to the conversation that was had at the beginning of the film. Only one girl believes the story – it’s Brenda! Fade to credits.
So, yeah, if you’ve seen it and liked it, you understand how fun and entertaining it is, but if you haven’t, I can see how from my description it might sound sort of lame. It is not the best horror flick of the 90s, or the 90s teen horror phase, but it is worthy, and pretty good. With all the cultural references, and current as well as classic songs (anything from Rob Zombie to Paula Cole to The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies and The Crystal Method), there’s really nothing wrong with this film at all. It is a hoot to watch, sort of creepy at times, but like with most horror movies, once you realize the killer’s motive, it’s not scary or atmospheric anymore. Does that make sense? Oh well, it’s still good, and worth a watch. I always liked it, and I had a blast seeing at the theater years ago. Being eleven at the time, I didn’t get the head joke back then, but now that I do, it’s flippin’ hilarious. Also, and it’s surely obvious by now, I love anything that references Dawson’s Creek, so that’s a given. I saw the sequel to this movie, and it sucked, really badly. So, I stopped watching them after that. I sometimes get sick of numerous sequels being made, especially ones that get worse and worse each time. Ergo, I will stop with this first Urban Legend film. I wonder, what are some of your favorite urban legends?
Okay, so I’ll just come right out and say it – I love this movie. I love it, love it, love it. I have yet to see why people don’t like it, maybe you guys can explain it to me. But I liked it so much, that I saw it in theaters three times, and no, I wasn’t attempting to go for Scream 3, 3 times, or anything clever like that. It just happened that way. I like this one more than Scream 2, but also wayyyy more than Scream 4, which, let’s face it, kinda-sorta sucked.
So, we open with Cotton Weary on the phone, on the 405 Freeway in Hollywood, stuck in traffic. He’s talking about his most recent role, a cameo, in Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro. He gets a call on his other phone, and at first it appears to be a woman, a fan, actually of his new talk show, 100% Cotton (ooh, clever!). She can’t believe she called the wrong number and it turned out to be a celebrity, until she reveals she is a “he”, Ghostface, in fact. He tells Cotton he’s at his house, watching his girlfriend, Christine, in the shower. Cotton panics, and gets out of the traffic by going another way, cutting off cars and nearly crashing in the process. At his apartment, Christine gets out of the shower and gets dressed, when the stereo comes on, playing Creed. She think it’s Cotton, especially when she hears his voice. Suddenly, Ghostface appears and chases her. After locking herself in a room, she hears Cotton’s voice again, telling her it was just a Stab game, but he really wants to rip her insides out. It’s not Cotton, of course, as he is just now arriving home. Christine attacks him, thinking he was really attacking her, but after she whacks him upside the head with a golf club, Ghostface appears and stabs her in the back. Cotton attempts to fight him off, but he’s overpowered, and stabbed in the chest twice. Ghostface had wanted to know where Sidney Prescott was, but he refused to tell (I admire loyalty). I was really sad, actually, that Cotton died. Because, well, first of all, he proved himself to be a good guy after all, despite the fact that he was a fame-seeker and very arrogant at times. Second of all, did you see him wearing that tan and white outfit, walking down the hall with the andiron? Helloooo! Sorry, had to say it, it’s a fact.
Next day, in Sidney’s world, she has now moved out to the country, with her loyal and adorable dog, Cherokee, and has her house locked and chained to the nines. Understandable, of course. She works for the California Women’s Crisis Counseling center, helping young, troubled women from home. She also calls herself, Laura, to the outside world. At the same time, Gale Weathers is giving a lecture on how to break into the news business, and she is hassled by a student in the audience, played by David Arquette’s real life brother. Outside, she is confronted by a policeman, Detective Mark Kincaid, LAPD, played by Patrick Dempsey (prior to his McDreamy days), who tells her that Cotton and his girlfriend were murdered. She is stunned, but even more so when the cop shows her a picture of Maureen Prescott, at a young age, that was left at the crime scene. Back on the set of Stab 3, the cops (Kincaid and his sarcastic partner) continue to investigate whether or not the murder has anything to do with the film. We are introduced to John Milton, the producer (Lance Henriksen), the director, Roman Bridger (Scott Foley, fresh off his stint on Dawson’s Creek, and portraying resident advisor Noel on Felicity), and actors Angelina Tyler (Emily Mortimer), Tom Prinze (Matt Keesler), Sarah Darling (Jenny McCarthy), Tyson Fox (Deon Richmond), and Jennifer Jolie (Parker Posey, who is brilliant, by the way). Gale shows up, and comes face-to-face with Dewey. Apparently, they had not spoken in some time, and aren’t exactly on the best of terms. She is also accosted by Jennifer (playing the role of Gale), who is obsessed with her, and soon finds out she can be a real bitch.
Jennifer and Dewey have been getting along famously, much to Gale’s chagrin, and Jennifer says Dewey’s told her a lot about her real personality. Tom Prinze plays Dewey’s character, who also gives Gale the business about talking trash about people on her pop culture show. The other castmates talk about how “Tori Spelling and David Schwimmer didn’t wanna come back”, and Angelina, who won the talent contest to find the new Sidney, is broken up about the deaths, but Tom gives her hell for some reason. Tyson’s character is, he says, an homage to Randy, “named Ricky, who works at the video store!” Gale is kicked out by the producer, even though she is technically working with Kincaid on the case. She runs into Jay and Silent Bob outside, who think she is “that t.v. news chick, Connie fuckin’ Chung”, which is HILARIOUS. Later that night, Sidney has a conversation with her father, who is concerned for her mental health, and she says that it’s better that way, so she cannot be found. She takes a nap, and dreams that her mother is standing at her window in a nightgown, calling out to her. This part is really creepy, but also sad, considering the back story. The next day, Sarah is called into the studio to talk to the director, but she is called and stalked by Ghostface, who uses Roman’s voice to trick her. She is eventually killed at the studio, after being smashed through a window and stabbed in the back. 
Dewey and Gale go to a restaurant to talk, where he tells Gale she’s selfish, and she tells him she couldn’t stay in Woodsboro, but she does care about him. They discuss Sidney and the murders, and he tells her that the Woodsboro police station was broken into, but he already removed her file. They think someone involved in the movie is after her. Jennifer pages Dewey, needing him. So, Gale follows him to her house, where he lives in a trailer on the property. They are told about Sarah’s murder, and postulate that the actors are being killed in the order they die in the movie. Jennifer is freaking, because apparently, Gale’s character dies next. Jennifer has started smoking again, and leaps into the arms of her bodyguard, Steven Stone (Patrick Warburton). Gale gives Dewey crap about living with Jennifer, and he tells her he’s her “rock”. Haha, oh Dewey! They go with Kincaid to the studio, where his partner, Wallace, gets pissed about a news anchor joining an investigative team. He even quips, “In that case, I’m gonna go dust for fingerprints with Jane Pauley”, haha. There is a new picture of Maureen at the scene, and Roman is taken in for questioning after Sarah’s roommate said he called her before she died, which he denies.
Later that night, Sidney is called by Ghostface, who mocks her mother’s voice, and tells her to turn on the news. She is shocked to see that another cast member was killed, and that the movie has now been shut down. Back in Hollywood, the cast mates have gathered at Jennifer’s house, along with Dewey. Tom is drunk, and starts tearing up the script because he is pissed. Gale begins to lurk around outside, jealous of what might be happening between him and Jennifer. Steven catches her, and brings her inside. She and Dewey discuss Maureen’s pictures, and that she can’t find anything that happened to her around that age in the photos. They discover that the pictures were taken at the same studio. Meanwhile, in Dewey’s trailer, Steven is snooping around, and is called by Ghostface. He is attacked, though he does his best to fight back. In the house, everyone gathers together and becomes paranoid. They see Steven stumbling towards them, and then he falls down dead. Everyone freaks and runs back in the house, then the lights go out. They run outside by the pool, and receive a fax. Tom goes in to read it, and it’s a script page, detailing what is happening at that very moment. Tom looks around for something to read the last fax with, that answers who the killer will grant mercy to. As he flicks his lighter, the page reads, “whoever smells the gas”, and suddenly, the house explodes. Dewey, Gale, Jennifer, and Angelina all jump over the balcony and roll down the hill. They are all separated, but end up back at the road by a car. Ghostface appears to attack Gale but is shot by Dewey. Jennifer gets jealous of them, and punches Dewey, so Gale punches Jennifer. At least Gale didn’t get hit this time! There’s also another picture of Maureen left at the scene, with the message, “I killed her”, on the back.
The next day, Kincaid is convinced that Sidney knows more than she says, and tries to force Dewey to get ahold of her. She actually ends up showing up on her own, telling the group that the killer found her. She hugs Gale, which is heartwarming, after all the tension between them over the years. Sidney wants to see the place in the pictures of her mother, and is upset that she has no idea what it all means. So, they travel to the film lot, and bump into Martha Meeks, Randy’s sister, who had come to show them a videotape her brother made at Windsor College. He gives a heartfelt speech, making us miss him even more. He also lists the three rules for the “concluding chapter of a trilogy”:
1) The killer is going to be super human. “Stabbing him won’t work, shooting him work, basically in the third one, you gotta cryogenically freeze his head, decapitate him, or blow him up!”
2) Anyone including the main character can die, “this means you, Sid!”
3) The past will come back to bite you in the ass, “whatever sins you think were committed in the past are about to break out and destroy you”
He sadly wishes them Godspeed and the tape ends. Gale goes off to look for some answers on Maureen’s back story, and Jennifer shows up, proclaiming to cling to her until the killer is found since it’s really Gale and friends they’re after, not the actors themselves. They go down to the Sunrise Studio archives and find out her stage name was Rina Reynolds, and that she had small roles in three horror movies produced by John Milton. Hmm, the plot thickens. At the studio, Sidney encounters Angelina in the bathroom, who tells her she wanted to make her proud of her in the film, had it finished filming. Sidney then goes snooping around, and finds herself on the movie set, bringing back all kinds of haunting and disturbing memories, of Billy, Stu, and her mother, probably because the set is a mirror image of her house, with Dewey’s police car and everything. Sidney enters her room, and begins hearing noises. For some reason, the killer knows she is there, and attacks her. It was really messed up, because the killer hid under the coroner’s sheet in her mother’s bedroom (on set), and used her voice to taunt Sidney. After a struggle, everyone shows up, including the cops, who find nothing. Kincaid and Dewey believe Sidney, even though they are worried about her mental health.
After the fiasco, Gale and Jennifer catch up to Dewey, and they all go to confront Milton about Rina Reynolds (Maureen). Roman and Milton are talking about how he was questioned, and that he’s worried it might ruin his career. After the three barge in, Roman leaves to go to the house to celebrate his birthday. Milton denies it at first, but then admits that she was a bit player in his films, and she used to go to his house to “meet men”. Those men could get women parts if “they made the right impression”, meaning that Rina was either raped or severely taken advantage of, which is really sad. At the station, Sidney and Kincaid discusses movies and trilogies, and also her mother. Dewey, Gale, and Jennifer are driving when they receive a call from the killer (pretending to be Sidney), telling them she’s going to John Milton’s house. So, they head there, and meet up with Roman, Tyson, and Angelina. Milton and Sidney are nowhere to be found. Angelina and Tyson go snooping around, as do Roman and Jennifer, while Dewey and Gale “wait” for Sidney. They discover the killer’s costume and voice changer in a closet, and realize the killer is there or nearby.
Meanwhile, Jennifer finds Roman stabbed to death in the basement, and Gale finds her, and they take off running. They try to convince Angelina to come with them, but she gets scared and runs the other way. Not before telling them she screwed the producer to get the leading role, though. She is stabbed to death shortly after, and Gale and Jennifer, who now seem to be friends, or at least more understanding of one another, take off to find Dewey. The four remaining – Gale, Dewey, Jennifer, and Tyson – all end up in a bedroom upstairs, when Ghostface rushes in and attacks. Jennifer finds herself in a secret passage after falling against a false wall, and Dewey is slashed in the arm. Tyson is chased downstairs and stabbed, and eventually killed when he is thrown over the balcony onto the concrete below. Ouch. Jennifer, in the secret passage, ends up behind the mirrors in the same bedroom, but isn’t seen by Gale or Dewey because they are one-way mirrors. Ghostface attacks and stabs her, as Dewey shoots out the mirrors trying to save her. Going back downstairs, Gale tries to call for help, and is pulled into the basement by Ghostface. They fall down the stairs, and he is knocked unconscious, so she is trapped. She calls Dewey, but as he comes to get her, Ghostface awakens, throws a knife at him, which hits him in the forehead blunt side up, causing him to fall as well. Now, they’re both trapped.
Sidney, who really is still at the police station, gets a call from the killer, telling her to come to Milton’s house, threatening Gale and Dewey’s lives. She gets there, and is forced to use a metal detector on her person to make sure she has no weapon. She does, a small gun, and is made to throw it in the pool. She goes inside to find Gale and Dewey tied up. She tries freeing them, and is attacked. However, she pulls a fast one, pulling another gun from her boot, and shoots him several times. Kincaid shows up, and for a split second, everyone thinks he is the killer, because he has a quite suspicious smirk on his face momentarily. But Ghostface shows up, and kicks the shit out of him, and Sidney gives chase to lure him away from her friends. She ends up in the screening room where her mother was taken advantage of by the movie industry men. Turns out, this is where the killer wants her, and he has set up some home movies showing her mother before and after several trysts, with Cotton Weary, and Hank Loomis.
The killer shows up, wearing the bloody body bag from the movie set, using Maureen’s voice to taunt Sidney once more. He reveals he’s wearing a bulletproof vest, and electronically locks the doors so she cannot escape. He tells her it’s time she “came to terms with me and with mother”, exposing the fact that he searched for a mother named Rina Reynolds, and that four years earlier, he found her. He found that she had a “new life and a new name – Maureen Prescott”, and he reveals himself to be….Roman Bridger, “director, and brother”. He was likely conceived in that very room by one of those men years before, and she gave him up in favor of leaving Hollywood, prompting Roman’s jealousy of Sidney and her fame. This is obviously a ridiculous reason, because Sidney herself had nothing to do with it, and didn’t even know anything about him, or her mother’s past, but Sidney seems to attract insane, psychotic people so this should come as no surprise. I really dug the back story, because I feel there really is so much on the dark side of Hollywood that no one ever really knows about, and it’s kind of frightening, and also sad on a human level. Roman is so insanely jealous that once he tracked Maureen down, and found out about her affairs, he decided to tell Billy about it, who in turn, ended up killing her, before he and Stu “made a movie of their own”. All the events of the Scream films are all traceable back to Roman and his greed and envy. He drags out John Milton, who he wants to try to frame Sidney for killing, so he can get away with, like Billy and Stu tried to do. He slits Milton’s throat, and attacks Sidney. The ending fight scenes are really kick ass, and to talk about them doesn’t really do them justice. This whole time, Gale and Dewey are trying to figure out a way to get in the secret room, while they listen to Roman beating Sidney to a fucking pulp. Seriously, she gets beaten so badly, it made my ribs hurt. It really is brutal and violent, pure hatred on Roman’s part. This is even more crazy considering the timid roles that Scott Foley typically played in the early days.
He even shoots her twice, and we think she is dead, but it turns out she too is wearing a bulletproof vest. She gets the upper hand eventually, and stabs him twice. Once he’s down on the floor, she says “Stab 3, right?” and stabs him viciously a third time. As he lays dying, he says that he still got to make his movie and that Mom is gone forever. They grip one another’s hand tightly, as though they were just meeting for the first time in a nice setting, much like how Laurie Strode touches Michael’s hand at the end of H20 before she kills him (to me, it’s Michael, okay? Y’all know I don’t even consider Resurrection). As Sidney gets up to leave, Roman jumps up one last time, because as Randy says, “The killer is gonna be super-human”. Dewey whips out his gun and shoots him several times in the chest, before Sid yells at him, “Shoot him in the head!” He does, and Roman falls to the floor with a mortal head wound.
Weeks later, at Sidney’s house, Dewey proposes to Gale in a very sweet way, and she tells him he’s a brave man. She accepts and they share a long-awaited kiss. Sidney comes back from walking with her dog, Cherokee, and actually leaves the front gate open. She is no longer afraid. When she comes in the house, we see that Kincaid is there, and they are all getting ready to watch a movie. She doesn’t set the alarm on her door, and starts to walk to the living room. Suddenly, the door slowly creaks open, likely due to the breeze, but I think it might have been her mother’s spirit, honestly. At least, that’s what I like to think. It’s a little creepy, but Sidney just smiles, and walks into the living room, leaving the door wide open.
So, can anyone explain the hatred surrounding this movie? Because I really don’t get it. I know, I say that a lot when it comes to movies I love and everyone hates, but what’s the big deal? I found it a tad bit superior to Scream 2, but like I said, I love all three of them. Now, Scream 4 is a different story. I don’t like that one, like some people don’t like this one. It has a fantastic storyline, and I found Ehren Kruger’s (who also penned the underrated The Skeleton Key) writing to be similar to Kevin Williamson’s, and it works with the other two films perfectly. It is a believable back story, because that kind of thing goes on in Hollywood all the time – people are used, abused, and thrown away – and sometimes, the outcome isn’t good. Granted, most kids won’t turn out to be serial killers, but still, if Maureen had so many secrets before, what makes you think she wouldn’t have even more hiding in her past? I found Roman to be an incredible serial killer, albeit very selfish and evil, of course. It was definitely a surprise, maybe not that she had a brother, but that it was Roman, because we all thought he died earlier in the film.
The soundtrack is great, too. It is more hardcore than the other films, featuring songs by Creed (not that they’re hardcore, but more so than the laid-back feel of the first two films), Fuel, System of a Down, and an amazing, amped-up version of Red Right Hand. The characters were pretty awesome, too, although, I’ll admit, a little more one-dimensional that I would have preferred. But I thought it was neat that all their names had something to do with a real-life actor (Angelina = Jolie, which is Jennifer’s last name in the film; Tyson = Beckford, Tom Prinze = Freddie Prinze, Jr., you get where I’m going). I don’t know if that is the reason behind it, but hey, it can’t be that much of a stretch. The kills were pretty cool, although nothing new, but I did hate that they killed off Cotton Weary, like I said. His character evolved, and we saw in the end of Scream 2 that he may not be such a bad guy after all. The film had a good pace, funny lines, and great cameos from Carrie Fisher, and Jay and Silent Bob, not to mention the wonderful appearences by Lance Henriksen and the beloved Jamie Kennedy as Randy Meeks. I am at a loss to find what is not likable about this movie.
The second Scream film is just as fun as the first, though it doesn’t have the exact charm and charisma as the original. That said, I do love it. It has charm in its own way, as most good sequels do, although it is hard to find really good horror sequels these days. However, now that we’ve already been introduced to Ghostface, and Sidney’s plight, it is no longer really scary. Creepy and entertaining, yes, but not scary as the first one was, particularly considering no scene in any other Scream film could match the tension and terror of watching Casey Becker fight for her life. That’s just a fact.
We open at the premiere of the new film, Stab, which is based on Gale Weathers’ new book, The Woodsboro Murders, and the first film. A young couple, Maureen and Phil (Jada Pinkett and Omar Epps), are waiting in line to get in, when she begins a clever, and smart, diatribe about how the horror genre always excludes African-Americans, and if they are in them, they always die. Maureen would rather go see a Sandra Bullock film, but goes to Stab to appease her boyfriend. The theater is packed with rowdy fans, all donning Ghostface costumes that were part of a free promotion package by the film studio. This is really an interesting look at how horror films make people crazy, almost like some kind of generational thing, like Woodstock or protests. Anyway, Maureen and Phil take their seats, and as the movie starts, she wants some popcorn. Heather Graham plays Casey Becker onscreen, but it’s way more dramatized and fictionalized than what really happened. As Maureen comes back, Phil jumps out at her with the Ghostface mask on. He tells her to go ahead in, because he has to go to the bathroom. In the men’s room, he waits patiently at the urinals for two guys wearing full Ghostface costumes, who stare at him eerily. He decides to use a stall, and hears light talking next door. Curious, he leans his head closer to the wall, and is stabbed through the head by the assailant on the other side. Now, it’s Maureen’s turn, and the killer returns to Phil’s seat with a mask on. She, of course, think it’s him, and begins shrieking at the film and holding onto his arm. She notices her hands are now covered in blood, as the killer whips out a knife and stabs her in the stomach. She gets up, trying to get away, as the killer continues to stab her viciously. A woman in the audience notices blood spatter on her arm, but the rest of the audience thinks, at first, that it’s not real. Maureen makes her way up to the screen, and stands in the front of the picture, crying out. Only now does the crowd get that it is real, and Maureen falls to the floor, dead.
Next, we are brought back into Sidney’s world, as she is now attending Windsor College, and lives with roommate and new best friend, Hallie (Elise Neal). She is prank phone called because of the premiere of the movie, but now has Caller ID, so she can shut that shit down (I love how this is at the beginning of the call screening era – Star 69 and Caller ID boxes, which Maureen also referenced). On TV, we see that Cotton Weary has been freed and exonerated of Maureen Prescott’s murder, and is now doing his best to rectify his good name. A news broadcast comes on, announcing the murders at the movie premiere, and Sidney knows it’s starting again. She goes to find Randy, who is busy in film class, debating the suck factor, or not, of sequels, and the effects of violence on society. This is where we are first introduced to Cici (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Mickey (Timothy Olyphant), and another film student, trying to make a case for House II: The Second Story, played by Pacey Witter, I mean, Joshua Jackson! I love the Dawson’s Creek reference, which is not surprising, considering Kevin Williamson created the Scream franchise and DC. After class, Sidney tries to convince Randy to take the new murders seriously, but he just wants to go back to their “pseudo-quasi-happy-existence”. We also meet Sid’s new boyfriend, Derek, who Randy is obviously supremely jealous of. Gale Weathers is back in town, promoting her new book, and still crusading for Cotton Weary’s innocence. She is accosted by a female reporter, Debbie Salt (played by Laurie Metcalf, aka Jackie Harris from Roseanne), who sings her praises, but is also very annoying. She also has a new cameraman, the funny and sarcastic Joel (Duane Martin).
Sidney is constantly being hounded by two perky sorority girls (Rebecca Gayheart and Portia de Rossi) who are bent on getting her and Hallie to pledge. Sid is happily surprised when Dewey shows up, concerned for her safety because of the recent murders. Gale is also on the warpath, forcing Sidney and Cotton to confront one another, on camera, without Sid’s knowledge or consent. So, she punches her again, and deservedly so. Supportive Hallie quips to Joel, “Did ya get that on film?”, to which he responds, mockingly, “Yes, I got that on film!” Ha, I just think it’s funny. The writing is on par with that of the original Scream, especially when it comes to the squabbles between Gale and Dewey, who come face-to-face. Dewey confronts Gale about the way she described him in the book (“Deputy Dewey filled the room with his Barney Fife-ish presence”, “Deputy Dewey oozed with inexperience”). She tells him it didn’t mean anything but he’s not buying it. He attempts to get his point across by saying, “How do you know that my dim-witted inexperience isn’t merely a subtle form of manipulation used to lower people’s expectations, thereby enhancing my ability to effectively manuever within any given situation??” Oh, boy, that line just kills me. He’s so right. No one ever thought that maybe Dewey acts unassuming on purpose. He really gives Gale the business, even telling her sarcastically, “Nice streaks”, about her hair, which looks, well, not great.
That night, at the sorority party, Sidney continues to be harassed by the ditzy girls, and Randy and Mickey continue arguing the attributes of film sequels. Meanwhile, at the Omega Beta Zeta house, Cici is harassed by Ghostface, and is subsequently killed by being stabbed and thrown off the third floor balcony. News spreads, and the party breaks up to go check it out. Sidney is distraught and goes to grab her jacket to leave. The phone rings, and of course, she answers it. It’s Ghostface, who proceeds to attack her. Derek attempts to help and is nearly stabbed through the front door. She makes her way out of the house, and Derek goes in to find the killer. He is cut on the arm, and Dewey arrives and saves the day. At the hospital, Dewey makes it known that it’s awfully convenient that Derek’s wounds were minor, and that he suspects him. Gale and the police come to the conclusion that someone is trying to copy Woodsboro and its victims (Casey “Cici” Cooper = Casey Becker, Phil Stevens = Steven Orth, Maureen Evan = Maureen Prescott), so Sidney is put under the surveillance of two plain-clothes guards. Sidney tells Derek that he should just stay away from her because she doesn’t want him to get hurt.
However, Derek won’t take no for an answer, and proceeds to serenade her at lunch with “I Think I Love You” in front of many other students. He gives her his Greek letters, which according to Mickey is a “big frat faux-pas”, and she accepts, kissing him, as the crowd cheers. Later on, Randy and Dewey have a delightful conversation in an ice cream shop, where they see on television an interview with Tori Spelling in the movie Stab (“Thanks, Dewey, with my luck, they’d cast Tori Spelling” – well, they did). He says he’s not impressed and that he’ll wait for video. He’s also pissed because the guy that plays him is just some “Joe Blow Nobody” and that Dewey got David Schwimmer. Billy is played in the film by Luke Wilson, and he’s got the greasy, messy hair down pat. Randy then proceeds to list his rules for a sequel, which are as follows:
He is actually interrupted by Dewey on the third rule, but it is stated in the film’s trailer. He then talks about the suspects, Derek – the obvious boyfriend (“The guy’s pre-med, and his pity-me service wound conveniently missed every major vein and artery”), Mickey – the freaky Tarantino film student (“But if he’s a suspect, so am I, so let’s move on”), and Hallie (“Mrs. Voorhees was a terrific serial killer, and there’s always room for Candyman’s daughter!”) This scene is one of my favorites, really giving the audience their much-needed Randy fill. I always felt he wasn’t a huge part of the first one, so I was glad he got more lines here. Joel confronts Gale about how her cameraman died (“First of all, he wasn’t gutted, I made that up. His throat was slashed”), to which Joel replies, “Gale – gutted, slashed – the guy ain’t in the union no more!” This guy is so great, and I especially liked his earlier line, “I came here to do an interview, not Face of Death 14“. Brilliant. Sidney has been cast as Cassandra in the school’s play about Troy, and seems to see Ghostface everywhere, including on stage. She begins to get more suspicious of Derek, and tells him she needs distance.
Later that day, Randy, Dewey, Gale, and Joel are sitting around in the courtyard of the college, discussing who the killer might be. When Gale brings up Kenny, we get more great Joel lines: “Okay, time out. I don’t need to be hearing about no dead cameraman, alright? I’m warning you, I am a verb away from vacating these premises. I’m gonna go get me some donuts, some Prozac, see if I can find some crack, Special K, X – not Malcolm, and I’ll be back when y’all start talkin’ about something a little more Saved by the Bell-ish!” Ha, I LOVE IT! After Joel leaves, Randy answers Gale’s incessantly ringing phone, and it’s the killer. He’s watching them, so Gale and Dewey go on the hunt to find someone with a phone, while Randy keeps him talking. Randy says that his favorite scary movie is Showgirls (“Absolutely frightening!”), and rattles off a list of movies he thinks the killer would like. The killer taunts Randy by saying he’ll never be the leading man or ever get the girl, causing Randy to go off on him. He tells him he shouldn’t copycat “two high school loser-ass dickheads”, calling Stu a “pussy ass wet rag” and Billy a “rat-lookin’, homo-repressed Mama’s boy”. He gets to ”You wanna be one of the big boys? Manson, Bundy, O.J. –”, and he is pulled into the news van, and stabbed to death. Oh, wow, I hate that he dies. I really loved Randy’s character, and I hated it, though I know it was bound to happen eventually.
Dewey and Gale become concerned about Randy, and Joel comes back. They all find him dead in the van, and Joel faints, and Gale screams. Back in the library, Sidney begins receiving threatening instant messages, prompting the guards to search everyone’s computer. Cotton appears, and tries to talk Sidney into going on a Diane Sawyer interview with him. She refuses, and he gets pissed, yelling, “Loveable and fucked up Sidney Prescott – everybody’s favorite little victim!” He is arrested, but let go, because they have nothing to pin on him. Sidney and friends are upset about Randy’s murder, and the cops decide to put her in a safe house. Joel decides to quit his job, Gale tells off the annoying newswoman, and she and Dewey decide to go look at news footage, seeing if the killer is among the crowds. They go to one of the classrooms in the audio-visual department, and start looking at tapes. Dewey tells Gale he’s sorry he was rude, and she says she never meant to hurt him. They start making out, finally rekindling what they had in the original, when another tape begins playing. It is footage of all the victims shortly before their deaths, and the couple looks up, and sees Ghostface up in the projector room. Dewey goes after him, but he’s already back around to Gale, and begins chasing her. Dewey falls down the stairs, and Gale ends up eluding the killer in soundstages, and different rooms.
Dewey ends up in a sound proof room right next to Gale, but she cannot see that he is being stabbed in the back until he yells into the microphone. He spits up blood all over the window, and we assume he is dead. Back at the dorms, Sidney gets ready to leave for the safe house with Hallie and the two guards. She says goodbye to Derek, and he is kidnapped by his frat brothers for giving away his Greek letters. He is taken to the theater, and tied to the huge Sun that is used as a prop in the play. The killer attacks Sidney’s car at the stoplight, and kills the driver. The other cop is beaten and run over, but manages to stay on the hood of the car as the killer drives into a construction zone. This kills the other cop and knocks the killer unconscious. The only way out, since the car is jammed, is to climb into the front seat, over the killer, and out the driver’s side window. They both do this, quietly and carefully, and begin running. Sidney goes back to see who it is because she’s sick of running, but he’s gone when she looks. The killer jumps out, and stabs Hallie in the chest, and Sid takes off running again. She ends up at the theater. While trying to escape the building, Gale runs into Cotton, whose hands are covered in blood. He says he tried to help Dewey, but she doesn’t believe him. She runs outside to the payphone, where she runs into Debbie Salt, the annoying woman.
At the theater, someone turns on the lights, and brings down all the props for the play, including an unconscious Derek, still attached to the Sun. Sidney tries to untie him, and the killer appears. They both recognize the voice when he says, “Don’tcha know history repeats itself?” It is Mickey, and he takes off the mask. He’s holding a gun to both of them, and he tries to convince Sidney that Derek was his partner, making her question this boyfriend, too. It’s not true though, and Mickey shoots him. He tells Sid he’s going to blame the movies, “the effects of cinema violence on society”. He says, “I’ll get Dershowitz or Cochran to represent me, hell, the Christian Coalition’ll pay my legal fees”. He wants attention and to get caught, which is how he says he distinguishes himself from Billy Loomis. Sid takes off her necklace and whacks him in the face with it. She starts kicking ass, but Mickey overpowers her. He decides to bring in his mystery guest, the other killer – Debbie Salt – who is actually Mrs. Loomis, Billy’s mother. She’s got a gun to Gale, and the four have a stand-off on the stage.
The two killers reveal how they met, on the classified section of a website. When Mickey starts ranting on about their upcoming trial, Mrs. Loomis says there won’t be one, and she shoots him. While he’s falling down, he shoots Gale, who falls into the orchestra pit. Now, it’s just Sidney and Mrs. Loomis. She tells Sidney her “motive isn’t as 90s as Mickey’s, mine’s just good old-fashioned revenge”. She is out to avenge her son’s murder, completely disregarding the fact that he was a psychopathic killer, and Sidney tells her she’s as crazy as he was. Mrs. Loomis tells Sid to blame her mother because of the affair. They begin a tussle, and just as Mrs. Loomis is about to stab Sidney, Cotton shows up, grabs a gun, and shoots it into the air. Mrs. Loomis holds a knife to Sid’s throat, as Cotton tells her, “I bet that Diane Sawyer interview’s lookin’ really good right now”. Sid accepts, and he shoots Mrs. Loomis, knocking them both backward. Sidney recovers, and the two help Gale get up from the orchestra pit. Cotton tells Sid he never would have hurt her, so that last part was just a ruse. Sidney’s worried that they’ll come back just as Mickey pops up again. Gale and Sidney both shoot the shit out of him, and he’s finally dead. Sidney puts one more in Mrs. Loomis’ head, “just in case”. Outside, it is morning, and police and paramedics are on the scene. Joel comes back, hoping he and Gale “can get the scoop, like in the old days”. The paramedics bring out a living Dewey, saying the wound was in his scar tissue. Gale leaves with him in the ambulance. Sidney is accosted with reporters, but she tells them to go talk to Cotton, because he’s the hero. They flock to him, and they give each other a look of understanding and acceptance. Cotton tells them, “No one wants to give you this story more than me, but unfortunately, there is a time, a place, and indeed, a price for everything”, as he hands the reporters his business card. Joel tells him to give them something to work with, to which he says, “I’ll tell you one thing – it’ll make a hell of a movie”. The film ends as Sidney walks across the campus, with Collective Soul singing, “She Said” in the background.
So, this movie’s pretty kick-ass, and I love it, though, like I said, I really do like the first one a lot better. There’s just some kind of magic in the original that I don’t think can be recreated. That said, this is a very nice and worthy sequel, full of blood, gore, great music, fantastic writing and one-liners, and a continuation of Sidney’s tragic story. Let’s see if we can name all the movie references in this one: Final Exam, Graduation Day, The Dorm That Dripped Blood, Splatter University, Showgirls, Terminator, Terminator 2, House II: The Second Story, Return of the Jedi, The Godfather: Part II, some unnamed Sandra Bullock film, Faces of Death, Alien, Aliens, did I miss any? Let me know if I did!
The soundtrack is great, featuring catchy tunes from Collective Soul, Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews Band, Less Than Jake, and The Eels, among others. Once again, the ending credits are superb, showing the cast with a snapshot of their face, which I absolutely love. I loathed the fact that Randy died, but like I said, I knew it was going to eventually happen. I just thought he might have made it to the end, at least. Mickey was a terrific serial killer, truly psychotic, and his motives were out of this world. Timothy Olyphant was brilliant, as was Laurie Metcalf. With her big, expressive eyes, she can really pull off a serial murderer. It was just kind of strange seeing Jackie from Roseanne as a lunatic. I also liked that the police chief was played by Lewis Arquette, David’s real life father. Joel was a great cameraman, and I was glad he survived, unlike poor Kenny. He was very self-aware, and got the hell out of dodge in the nick of time. Cotton was very interesting, and I was happy to see he actually had some lines in this one, unlike the original. I liked that throughout the whole movie, the audience probably thought he was the killer, especially the way he acted towards Sidney in the library. The film also made it seem like Randy could be the killer, because after Cici is murdered, Sidney asks him what took him so long to get their drinks at the party. I figured Mickey would be the killer, but the Mrs. Loomis angle came completely out of the blue, and I was truly impressed. A great, great sequel – very fun, clever, and entertaining.
As another film on my list of good remakes, The Hills Have Eyes is pretty much scene for scene, word for word from the original, which is pretty rare these days, but also which should not come as a surprise, since Wes Craven had his hand in both of them. This can go very well as we see here, or very wrong, as we saw in the shit-ass remake of Last House, but we won’t go there right now. As with many films, the idea behind them is usually better than the execution of the movie itself, which is more or less the way I feel about the original Hills. Though I do love it, don’t get me wrong, I felt this version was surprisingly superior to its predecessor, and good thing, too, because I can only take so many shitty remakes before my brain goes haywire. When my friend said I ought to give this a chance back in 2006, I honestly didn’t want to, but I am sure glad I did. Not only is it worthy, it’s visually appealing, the characters have personalities, and the music rocks.
We begin in the New Mexico desert, as some scientists are collecting fish, and observing ground magnetism or something. Suddenly, they are all killed, one in a particularly gruesome fashion, and they are tied to the back of a truck and driven away. After a fantastic (and one of my favorite) opening credit sequence, we are introduced to some old man (Tom Bower) with barely any teeth. He hears noises, and asks if it’s Ruby, and yells to whomever’s out there that they’re on their own now. He goes wandering around with a shotgun, and hollers at someone named Jupiter that he’s got some buckshot for him. He goes back to his gas station/convenience store, and there is a duffel bag awaiting him. The old man opens it, and finds a severed, bloody ear, and a wallet containing a picture of one of the victims whose ear had been cut off. Upon hearing a car horn honk, the man goes back outside to service their vehicle.
Now, we are introduced to the Carter family, “Big” Bob (the fantastic Ted Levine), his wife Ethel (Kathleen Quinlan), and their children, Brenda (Emilie de Raven), Bobby (Dan Byrd), Lynn (Vinessa Shaw), Lynn’s husband, Doug (Aaron Stanford), and their baby girl Catherine. Its the Carter’s silver anniversary, and they are driving cross-country to San Diego to celebrate, and just happened to take the scenic, desert route. Doug is in telecommunications, and hates driving across the desert, thinking they should have flown. He’s also bitching about the air conditioner not working in the trailer home they’ve hitched to their truck, which I understand, and that there’s no cell phone reception. It’s clear that Big Bob and Doug don’t really get along, and Lynn always tries to keep the peace between them. Brenda is also pissed because she would rather be with her friends than her large family. Big Bob is a former cop, looking to start his own security firm, and carries two guns in the truck. Ethel would rather pray a situation away than deal with it as Bob would. The family has two lovely German Shepards, Beauty and Beast, who keep running away from the truck. Brenda hangs out with a little pig that lives at the gas station for some reason, and Bobby goes to pee. Meanwhile, an unknown figure reaches in an open window, and takes Bobby’s red hoodie. The old man verifies their route, and upon thinking about it for a minute, tells them about a “shortcut” they can take to cut miles off their drive.
So, off they go, and the kids are forced to listen to their parents singing “My Bonnie”. Brenda curses, and her mother chastises her, to which she comes back with “Didn’t you grow up in the 60s? Why are you so uptight?” Big Bob says she was a little hippie chick, thoroughly grossing out the kids. Anyway, family gushing aside, they run across some kind of spiky thing on the road, placed there on purpose by those goons in the hills, and they wreck the vehicle. Bob realizes it’s totaled, and Doug asks if they can fix it. Clearly, he has no automobile expertise, and Bob replies with a “What?” that will go down as one of my favorite parts of the movie. I don’t know why I like it so much, it’s just hilarious the way he says it. They get the guns out, despite protests from Ethel, and set up camp. Brenda decides to sunbathe, while her brother-in-law looks at her a little longer than a brother-in-law should. The dogs run away, and Bobby is forced to go find them. Lynn notices a strange reflective light off in the distance, but thinks nothing of it. Bob decides to walk the long way back to the gas station, and tells Doug to walk the opposite direction, hoping one of them will be able to find help. Before they leave, Ethel forces them to huddle like a football team to pray.
After some witty conversation between the family about Freud, phallic symbols, scorpions, and chronic, Brenda inadvertently lets the dogs out yet again. Bobby chases after them, but can’t find them. Beast is long gone, but Bobby comes upon Beauty’s mangled, mutilated body (noooo!!), and it’s clear that it was done by human hands. Bobby freaks and runs, but falls down a small cliff, and is knocked unconscious. The small girl with his red hoodie, Ruby, comes over to see if he’s okay, and it’s obvious she’s just curious and means him no harm. Up above, another hill person sits, chewing on one of Beauty’s legs. Meanwhile, Doug finds nothing but a big car graveyard in the middle of a crater, and decides to grab a small teddy bear for his little girl, and some other items. This car “cemetery” reminds me of something similar in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003).
Later that evening, Big Bob has finally made it to the gas station. He can’t find old dude, so he goes in, gets a bottle of water, and snoops around. He comes across a bunch of old newspaper clippings, discussing nuclear testing, that residents won’t evacuate, and there are families vanishing in the area. He’s very spooked, and runs outside. He goes to get in the man’s car, when he hears him talking and moaning. Gun drawn, he goes over to the outhouse, where the man is sitting inside, repeating, “What kind of a place is that?!” He’s clearly having a freak attack, and Bob sees a shotgun. The old man mumbles something about how he’s sorry, but he can’t do it anymore. He puts the barrel of the gun to his head and pulls the trigger. Boom. No more old guy. I always thought that part was kind of sad, because you don’t really know what he’s seen, done, or been through. Suddenly, a gravely voice calls out, “Daadddyyy”, several times, over and over. Bob is scared, and honestly, this was the part that freaked me out the most. He begins pointing the gun in all directions, as he cannot tell where it’s coming from, and he runs back to the car. As he closes the door, he hears “Daddy” once more, and realizes it’s coming from the backseat. He glances in the rear-view mirror and sees Papa Jupiter (Billy Drago). Jupiter proceeds to bash poor Bob’s head against the inside of the car, gushing blood everywhere. He is placed on a pallet, and taken into the mines by the clan. Funny story – I scared the shit out of my mom once by coming in the bathroom while she was in the shower, and saying, “Daaadddyy”, haha, okay, end of funny story.
Brenda goes to find Bobby, and when he gets back to the trailer and cleaned up a bit, he’s panicked, but won’t tell the girls that he found Beauty murdered. Doug finally comes back with a baseball bat, a toy, a fishing pole, and a teddy bear from his excursion to the vehicle dumpsite. He and Lynn go to bed, but Doug tells Bobby if his dad isn’t back by midnight that they’ll go look for him. Everyone goes to sleep, except uber-freaked Bobby, who stays up, waiting for midnight. He finally can’t take it and goes to wake up Doug and Lynn. He tells them about Beauty, and that there’s someone in the hills. While he’s talking to them, creepy-looking Pluto enters the trailer, and begins to touch sleeping Brenda’s hair. She awakens, and tries to scream, but he places his hand over her mouth. As Bobby and Doug walk towards the trailer, Pluto screams, “Now” into a walkie-talkie, and far off in the distance, Big Bob begins screaming. He is tied to a tree and has been set on fire. Everyone but Brenda run out to see what’s going on, while Lizard, the fantastic, methodical Robert Joy, joins Pluto in the cabin.
Pluto is straddling Brenda, but Lizard tells him he’s “gotta be a man to do that”, and forces him to get in the floor at gunpoint. Gross. Brenda struggles to get away, screaming the whole time, but she is punched hard in the face. Lizard proceeds to rape her as she cries out for help, and tries to get her family’s attention. They’re too busy trying to extinguish Bob, and crying themselves to even know what’s going on in the trailer. . Soon after, Lynn walks in, and is shocked to find the creep holding her baby. She grabs a frying pan, and whacks him in the head. He puts the baby down, and aims his gun at little Catherine. Brenda is still screaming and being held back by Pluto. Lizard rips Lynn’s dress, and pulls down her bra strap, and presumably begins to nurse her. She complies momentarily, but only for her baby’s safety. Ethel runs back to the trailer, and is shot by Lizard, giving Lynn a moment of reprieve, as she grabs a knife and plunges it into his leg. He screams in pain, and puts his gun to her head, and pulls the trigger. Brenda screams in horror, and is dragged from the trailer. Bobby and Doug rush back, and save Brenda. Doug enters and is horrified to find his mother-in-law shot, his wife nearly dead, and his baby girl kidnapped. This really is one of the most intense scenes in a horror movie, of the past few years, or anytime, really, and is especially more intense than its predecessor.
Doug cradles his wife’s head, as she gasps for one final breath. He recoils back against the cabinet, in utter shock. Outside, Beast has come upon the fuckhead that killed Beauty, and proceeds to bite his neck open. Ethel, as she dies, awakens slightly, and asks Doug for a blanket, and tells him she understands why Lynn loves him so much. Awe! She slowly passes away, as Bobby places a blanket over Lynn’s corpse. Bobby’s determined to go after the killers, but Doug tells him to calm down. Bobby calls him a pussy, and they begin arguing. A noise is heard from outside, and it turns out that it’s coming from the killer’s walkie-talkie. Someone is looking for Goggle, and discussing their plans to kill the rest of them. Baby Catherine’s voice is also heard. Doug now takes the reigns and goes from pussy to badass (a very remarkable transformation for his character, me thinks), and sets out the next morning to hunt them all down with a baseball bat, and trusted pal, Beast.
He crosses the mountains and hills, and enters the mines. Though pitch black, he can see enough to view a mini graveyard, and newspaper clippings, and photos of those killed in the nuclear testing that caused so much havoc and turned everyone into vengeful, bloodthirsty mutants. Upon exiting the mine, Doug ventures into one of the nuclear testing villages, where it’s assumed that most of these goobers live. Burned, old mannequins are strewn about, giving the ghost town an even creepier feel. Back at the trailer, Brenda and Bobby rig a wire around their perimeter so they will know if anyone shows up, and Brenda lights a tire fire. In the village, Doug notices another creeper, with a huge brace on his head and back, carrying an anonymous dead woman. He urges Beast to be quiet, and goes into a house. Inside, he finds baby Catherine just lying alone on a bed. But, in the next room is a very large, scary, bald woman watching Divorce Court. Strange, right? That’s what makes this movie so fantastic! He grabs Catherine, and thinks he’s home free, but that scary woman comes out of nowhere and knocks him unconscious.
Brenda and Bobby move the bodies of their mother and sister to the truck from the trailer. Doug wakes up in a freezer full of bloody body parts, and though it is locked, he manages to break free. He walks into the kitchen, and sees the burnt, crispy body of poor Big Bob, with an American flag sticking out of his skull. He hears someone singing, horribly I might add, The Star Spangled Banner, and goes to investigate, baseball bat raised. He encounters a chair-bound man with an enormous skull, whose head is so massive he can’t even sit up. He tells Doug that it’s their fault that their homes and towns were blown up, and “turned everything to ashes”. He asks where Catherine is, but he doesn’t know, and if he does, he refuses to tell him. The big-headed man begins laughing, and says, “It’s breakfast time!” Pluto suddenly bursts through the door, and attacks Doug, chasing him from room to room, beating the hell out of him all along the way.
Doug is brutally beaten and bloodied, but is determined to survive his ordeal, and rescue his infant daughter. He stabs Pluto in the stomach with the now-broken end of his baseball bat, but it does not faze Pluto. Pluto chases him with an ax, nearly hitting him several times. Eventually, the ax does make contact with two of Doug’s fingers, severing them. His glasses are knocked off, and just as he is on his knees in apparent surrender, he stabs Pluto in the foot. This gives him a chance to get up, and when he does, he grabs the flag from Bob’s head, and rams it into the back of his neck, through his throat. As Pluto is bleeding, Doug grabs the ax, and bashes it into his skull. Doug has won….for now. He is pissed off, and wants his daughter. I was expecting nothing less from him by the end of the film! Afterwards, he picks up his broken glasses, and puts them back on as some interesting, patriotic-sounding music plays in the background.
Doug goes outside, and kills that mutant with the neck brace by breaking his kneecap with an ax, driving said ax into his back, and finally, putting out his eye with the pointy end of it (this would be second to the eye death in A Serbian Film, of course). Back inside the house, Beast kills the big-headed guy. Ruby, the nice little girl, decides to take the baby and replace it with a pig, so Lizard can’t kill her. She makes her way up the cliff with both Doug and Lizard chasing her. Brenda and Bobby notice something rustling the fishing line they rigged, so they get scared until they realize it was just a tumbleweed. But it wasn’t just a tumbleweed, because someone has taken Ethel’s body from the truck, prompting Brenda to cry and panic. Bobby takes the gun, and goes in search of the assailant. He finds Jupiter sitting on a rock, eating his mother’s heart, as her corpse lays broken open. Bobby shoots and Jupiter gives chase.
Bobby lures him back to the trailer, where the siblings have set a trap. They open gas containers, filling up the space in the trailer, and rig matches to the door of the trailer, so when Jupiter opens it, it will explode. After a struggle, it works, and the trailer is blown to smithereens. Back on the mountain, Doug fights off Lizard, while Ruby holds and protects little Catherine. Doug bashes Lizard in the face with a shotgun several times, which looked very painful. Lizard slams Doug’s face into the earth multiple times. I swear, Doug has been beaten so terribly, I really don’t see how he could still be alive. But Doug shoots him three or four times, and he falls to the ground. Ruby hands Doug his child, and he kisses her. Behind him, Lizard somehow manages to get up again, and Ruby notices this. She runs towards him, and tosses him, along with herself, over the cliff, killing them both. I felt really bad for Ruby, she was so nice, and not like any of the rest of her psycho family. She was selfless, and likely put herself out of her misery. As Bobby and Brenda walk around the destruction, taking in all that they’ve been through, Pape Jupiter is still alive, so Brenda puts a pick-ax in his skull. Man, I guess if these people had survived the nuclear destruction of their towns and family’s gene pool, it would definitely take a lot to kill them. Bobby and Brenda surely think Doug is dead, but then he stumbles, bleeding heavily, back to the campsite, where they all embrace. Happy ending…..except a pair of binoculars is watching them from above as the film closes.
So, yeah, it’s pretty rad, especially for a remake. Brutal as hell, great acting, excellent make-up, swell music, and even sad in some places. To me, that’s a really good movie. Sure, there was a lot of blood, but with how awesome the rest of the film is, it doesn’t take away from anything. I loved that Ted Levine played Big Bob, because, let’s face it, there’s no one like Ted Levine. He has that great voice that makes me think that Buffalo Bill went on vacation to New Mexico. I hated that the dog died, but hey, we have to stick to the original story, and at least it didn’t happen on-screen. Plus, I think when Doug, Bobby, and Brenda were kicking ass, they were doing it for the Beauty’s sake, too. Call me sentimental. The score was pretty menacing and hardcore at times, and the use of “In the Valley of the Sun” over the end credits was brilliant, not to mention, “Leave the Broken Hearts”. I felt, like I mentioned before, that the opening title sequence was one of the best I’ve ever seen, showcasing the effects and results of nuclear weapons and testing, and that they used the song “More and More” over the beginning credits was sheer genius. This movie really had the tone of the original one, just with better effects, and better acting.
This post may draw a bit of criticism, or at the very least, disagreement, but hey, that’s okay. I love this sequel, and I am proud to admit it. Yep, that’s right. I fucking love this movie! I know, I know, it’s the most hated amongst the Chainsaw films, but for me, it’s one of my favorite movies to watch, period, horror or not. Besides being kooky and crazy in a good way (unlike Part 2, which was frantic and somewhat muddled), there are three fantastic cameos, not to mention, amazing performances from Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey. On a side note, for some reason, the program I use to grab my screencaps doesn’t want to work for Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, so I will try to get it working soon, but for now, we’re going a little out-of-order!
I’ll tell ya, when I was about nine, and this was finally released on Pay-Per-View, I begged my mom to let me see it. Having seen the other films, she wasn’t sure, but since I had watched horror movies my whole life, she gave in. After it was over? We both looked at each other, like, that’s it? Because it truly is more schtick than shock, and more hilarious than horrifying, but it’s absolutely fantastic. Unlike Part 2, which seemed to have no direction it was headed in, period, this one had no direction it was going in on purpose. It was supposed to be wild and ridiculous, and make the viewer really feel like they weren’t quite sure what was going on. If not for the funny parts, I would seriously compare it to the original in that one regard.
Its May of 1996, and we meet some teens going to their high school prom. Jenny, the resourceful, cute, nerdy, girl-next-door (brilliantly portrayed by Zellweger) is dating Sean (John Harrison). Friends Barry (Tyler Cone), the jock, and Heather (Lisa Marie Newmyer), the ditzy, cheerleader type, are all decked out in fancy prom gear. Heather can’t seem to find Barry, when she comes upon him cheating on her with some other chick. She loses it, and takes off in his car. She slows down to let him in, and takes off down the road. He tries to calm her down, but basically blames her for his cheating, telling her that guys can get prostate cancer if they get blue balled. Jenny, hiding in the back seat, smoking weed with Sean, emerges, stating that it’s a lie, nearly scaring the couple half to death. Heather, startled, wonders out in the middle of the intersection, and Barry’s car is struck.
Barry’s pissed, worried that his dad will find out about the pot smoke and now the damage, but they keep driving on down the road. Jenny continues to tell Heather not to blame herself, because you can’t get cancer from not having sex. Heather doesn’t really seem to buy it, and Barry tells Jenny to shut up. He harasses her about wearing conservative clothing, and that he thinks she and Sean are just friends, and that she hates guys. Sean even tells Heather about when they were little, and he used to brag about all the boobs he’d touched, because he told girls “his father was a doctor, and they’d get cancer if they didn’t get felt up enough”. Heather’s disgusted by her boyfriend’s behavior, but not seemingly enough to do anything about it.
After the kids continue joyriding deeper into the woods, they are struck by another car, only this time, it’s harder, and the other driver is hurt and unconscious. Concerned, Jenny, Heather, and Barry decide to go call for help, while Sean stays behind with the victim. They walk along into the woods, with only a flashlight and uncomfortable prom shoes, while Heather acts paranoid that someone is following her and wants to kill her.
They reach a little business, operated by a very eccentric woman named Darla (Tonie Perensky – you might remember her as the teacher-by-day, stripper-by-night from Varsity Blues). She calls her boyfriend, Vilmer, to tell him to take his tow truck out to their crash site. She tells a joke that, of course, Heather doesn’t get (Why do blondes stick their head out a car window? To get a refill). Suddenly, a rock flies through the window, and Darla goes to the window to flash the pranksters. Striking the kids as a bit odd, they leave as soon as they can. Meanwhile, at the crash, Vilmer (McConaughey) arrives to check on the injured teen. Sean tells him he’s been talking in his sleep, but Vilmer keeps insisting he’s already dead, and Sean refutes this. So, Vilmer reaches down and breaks the kid’s neck. “Well, he’s dead now”, Vilmer says. Sean, completely fucking freaked, begins backing away from the man with the mechanical leg. He asks him what he’s going to do, to which he replies, “First, I’m gonna kill you; it ain’t no fuckin’ biggie!” He hops in the wrecker and chases Sean down the road, and eventually hits him. He also backs over him several times while listening to rock music.
As the teens make their “about a mile” trek back to the crash site, Heather wants Barry to carry her, but he refuses. A car drives by, and the couple attempt to flag it down, and follow it. Jenny goes on another way by herself. Heather sort of drops the stupid act, revealing that she only acts that way because that’s what’s expected of her. She tells Barry she’s a bitch, and just like her mother. She also begins to defend Jenny, saying she’s shy because her stepdad(s) always hit on her, but she has a body to die for. Soon, Heather and Barry reach an old farmhouse, thinking they can pay someone for a ride into town. They knock, but no answer. Barry goes around back to check, and Heather sits in the porch swing. Leatherface soon sneaks up behind her, completely silent, and one of the few times in the whole series that he gave me the creeps. He begins touching her hair, but she swats him away, thinking it’s a bug. Meanwhile, out back, a man pulls a shotgun on Barry, as he attempts to explain that they just need a ride. The man, W.E., begins reciting the first of many historical quotes, and forces him around to the front of the house. Heather gets up to walk away, since she is annoyed with that “bug” that keeps fucking with her, and she sees Leatherface. She screams bloody murder, and tries to run, as he grabs her. She puts up a hell of a fight, but he drags her in the house, and stuffs her in a freezer. Leatherface begins screaming his loony scream, as W.E. forces Barry to go inside. He says fine, that he needs to use the bathroom anyway. He has no idea what he’s walking into.
Once inside, he uses the bathroom, still calling for Heather, not knowing she’s been attacked. He comes across a decaying, nasty corpse in a bathtub, and freaks. As he runs, Leatherface pops out and bashes him in the head with a sledgehammer, and kicks him repeatedly. Heather attempts to get out of the freezer, so Leatherface picks her up, and impales her on a meat hook. Surprisingly, I do feel bad for her character, because though she’s a bit ditzy, she was a good person, and a good friend. Back on the road, Jenny flags down the wrecker, and asks Vilmer where Sean is. She finally gets in the truck, and he begins telling her how it’s not good getting in a car with strangers these days. Jenny nods, making polite conversation, and he adds that he heard about a guy who picked up a hitchhiker, cut both her arms off, and threw her in a culvert (It’s likely that he’s referring to the Mary Vincent case – a real crime that happened to a 15-year-old hitchhiker. She was raped by an older man, who afterward hacked both her arms off, and threw her in a ditch. Thankfully, she lived). Jenny gets really scared when, after telling the story, Vilmer says, “That sorry son of a bitch didn’t have shit for an imagination! How fuckin’ simple can you get?” She wants him to let her out, but he tells her if she really wants to be scared, to look in the back of the truck. She finally does, and to her horror, sees the injured teen, and boyfriend Sean dead, strung upside down like deer carcasses. Vilmer tells Jenny he doesn’t care what happens to her, that it’s her life, so she leaps from the moving vehicle.
Apparently, he does care a bit what happens to her because he begins chasing her through the woods in his truck. Eventually, she runs into a cluster of trees the vehicle won’t reach, and he tells her she doesn’t know what the hell she doing, and to ‘live and learn’. He turns off the truck’s spotlight, backs up, and drives away. Suddenly, a chainsaw-wielding Leatherface bursts forth, and starts chasing Jenny. Zellweger really shows off her true athletic ability, especially in this chase sequence, which I found to be my favorite amongst the Chainsaw films. She makes her way to the farmhouse, where she runs upstairs and finds a gun. Leatherface begins sawing his way through the front door (he has no regard for doors or decency, clearly he was raised in a barn), and Jenny fires the gun, but there are no bullets. So, she chucks the gun at him, and runs back upstairs and flings herself out the window, onto the roof.
Jenny manuevers around the roof, running from Leatherface, and climbs up the antenna. He hacks that down just as she jumps on a wire. Well, he cuts that down too, and she falls into the old greenhouse. Dazed and stunned, she begins running again just as Leatherface revs up the chainsaw’s engine. Another really cool chase scene ensues, ending as Jenny finds herself back at the business they used the phone at earlier. Darla tells her to calm down, and that is was probably just a prank. Jenny insists that the dude had a chainsaw, and Darla uses the phone, telling someone to get there “mucho quicko”. W.E. arrives with a cattle prod, and Darla tells him he should’ve brought a gunny sack or something, and he replies, holding out a garbage bag, “What’s this look like to you – green eggs?” She tells him to tie her up, and Jenny freaks, realizing they’re in on the whole thing. W.E. knocks her out by continuously beating her with the cattle prod, as well as zapping her with it, much like The Cook did in the original with a broom.
Darla calls to order pizza, as W.E. stuffs Jenny in the trunk. She goes to pick up the pizza, and is nearly caught by a police officer who notices her talking to someone in her trunk. Jenny tells Darla she can’t breathe, so she pokes a hole in the bag covering her head. As she gets her food, the police watch her suspiciously, and follow her for a while. They move on, and Darla continues driving home. She comes upon Heather laying in the middle of the road, having escaped somehow. She begins beating her ridiculously with a stick, and tells her not to go anywhere. Darla has Leatherface grab Jenny and bring her inside, as he is shocked by W.E. with the cattle prod. Leatherface appears to be scared of him, but listens to Darla and Vilmer. W.E., holding pieces of wood, states to Vilmer, “Look what your brother did to the door!” (Another obvious homage to the original. That’s part of the insanity I love in these films – they kidnap and kill people, but they’re concerned about a fucking door!) Once inside, Vilmer sits her down, and removes the trash bag. She’s terrified to see the same man who killed her boyfriend, and he proceeds to taunt, tease, and torment her. Once they bring Heather back inside, Vilmer says he’s in the mood for love, and bites the crap out of Heather’s nose and face, his mouth dripping with blood as he laughs maniacally.
Cut to the next scene, and Darla is attempting to comfort Jenny in the nasty, filthy bathroom. Jenny wants her to help her escape, but she says she’s not allowed to. She also tells Jenny that Vilmer works for a group of people who are always talked about, but no one knows who they are (“Who do you think killed Kennedy??”) It’s presumed that this so-called group is the Illuminati, which is on the side of Vilmer’s wrecker, though it’s never mentioned. Darla, for a psycho, is actually being pretty nice, but Vilmer bursts in, throws her out, and pins Jenny up against the door, stating, “I’ve got a mind…..to slit your goddamn throat!” as he raises a knife to her neck. He tells him she has ten seconds to give him a good reason why he shouldn’t do it. As he counts down to one, she says, “You want me alive for some reason”, and Vilmer thinks it’s a good enough answer. He even kisses her on the cheek. As they leave the room, Darla attacks him for “embarrassing” her “in front of company”. He gets her on the floor, with his boot on her throat, when Jenny grabs the shotgun, pointing it at all of them. With all the madness going on, Jenny tries to coax an unconscious, dying Heather to get up, but she can’t, and falls back asleep in a pool of her own blood. Jenny tells everyone to get on the floor with their hands up, and they all comply, even Leatherface. Vilmer tells her it isn’t loaded, to which she replies, “Maybe it’s not loaded, but maybe it is, so fuck you!” Vilmer goes crazy and begins cutting himself with a razor, and Darla attacks him again, yelling and screaming. Jenny tells Vilmer to leave her alone, and he turns around and sticks the gun in his own mouth.
Jenny closes her eyes and pulls the trigger, but nothing happens. Vilmer grabs the gun, points it above her head and shoots. He begins cheering and hollering for some reason, and Jenny runs outside. She gets in the car and backs up, but Vilmer jumps from the window onto the vehicle. He tries attacking her from the windshield, when she brakes, and he falls. As she drives on, however, the hood flies up and she cannot see. She ends up crashing, and Vilmer takes her back inside. The family is getting ready for dinner, which by now, would probably be really gross and not safe, but Leatherface dresses in drag, and puts on lipstick, and admires himself in the mirror. Darla, now dressed in some kind of S&M looking outfit, begins flirting with Vilmer in the kitchen, and fucks with his mechanical leg by pressing all the buttons on his remotes. They begin heavily making out, before she kicks him with her heel. Well, now it’s time for dinner, but I’m sure the pizzas are cold by now, despite what Darla says.
The dinner guests include, besides Leatherface, Darla, W.E, and Vilmer, three dead individuals, the dead-looking grandfather figure, an unconscious Heather, and a very terrified Jenny. She is now in a completely different dress, a very strange black, silver, and red get-up, and is seated at the head of the table. Once she looks around her to see who her dinner companions are, she begins screaming hysterically, while Vilmer begins screaming at the top of his lungs in her ear. She begins having a panic attack, and Vilmer mocks that, as well. Darla gives her a paper sack to breathe into, and she calms down a bit. Jenny asks if Darla’s going to help her or not. Darla says she cannot, because Vilmer put a chip in her head, and all he is to do it is push a button, and she makes an exploding noise. Jenny finds this hysterical, so Darla repeats it, to which Jenny replies, “There’s nothing in your head”. W.E. states, “Girl, you just said a mouthful”, and Jenny finds this hilarious as well. I fucking love this scene, because, well, it’s just perfect. It is hilarious in a darkly comical way, the way part 2 tried to be but wasn’t. Jenny is finally realizing these people are insane, and that to stay sane herself, she must defend herself, and separate her mind from this bunch of misfits.
Vilmer tries to grab Jenny, but she slaps him hard across the face, twice, and tells him never to touch her again. Thinking she could very well just walk out the door of this madhouse, she states that she’s going to leave, and no one will stop her. Leatherface stands up and begins screaming, to which Jenny hilariously replies, “You sit the fuck down! And shut up!” Haha, wow, I love that part, and among the many fantastic lines of the movie, this one just really struck me funny. I always look forward to that part. After her defiant act, Vilmer returns to the dining room with lighter fluid, pours it on Heather’s back, and sets her on fire. Jenny screams and begs him not to, and that she’s sorry for acting up. Heather runs into the wall, where Darla uses a fire extinguisher and puts her out. She complains about never getting that smell out of her clothes. Heather, however, is not dead yet. Suddenly, the doorbell rings, and in walks a strange man in a business suit named Rothman. He stares at Vilmer, disapprovingly, and makes his way through the house. Once he reaches the dining room, Jenny runs to him, asking him to help her. Leatherface, however, grabs her and makes her sit back down. Rothman corners Vilmer, and asks him what the hell is going on, and that he knows he’s here because he wants these people to know the true meaning of horror. He proceeds to take off his shirt and walk toward Jenny. She is disgusted when he reveals his stomach is covered with scars and piercings, and he begins licking her face.
As he buttons up his shirt, and turns to leave, she wipes his nasty saliva off of her face. Vilmer, upset by that Rothman guy, walks over to Heather, puts his boot on her head, and proceeds to slowly crush her skull, while Leatherface holds back a crying Jenny. It sounds really gross, and like I’ve said before, sometimes sounds are worse than what you’re actually seeing. After he kills her, Vilmer starts repeating, “Why?”, as he cuts himself in the arm and his chest with a razor blade. He’s crying, and Darla tries to stop him from hurting himself. During the chaos, Jenny takes off running, but Vilmer grabs her again as Leatherface starts his chainsaw. Vilmer tries to hold Jenny down so Leatherface can kill her, but she grabs the remote to his electronic leg, and begins pushing buttons. After a long back and forth of the two of them trying to gain control of his leg, Jenny gets the upper hand, and takes off running out the front door. Vilmer stands on the front porch telling Leatherface to “get that bitch”, and yelling his own name.
By now, its early morning, and a recreational plane flies overhead. Jenny is still running from Leatherface, and on a dirt road, comes across an old couple driving in an R.V. She runs out in front of their vehicle, yelling for them to stop. The woman, Mrs. Spottish, tells her husband not to stop, until she sees that the girl is being attacked and that there’s a “monster chasing her with a chainsaw!” She gets in the vehicle, and along comes Vilmer in his wrecker right alongside them, and Leatherface hitching a ride in the bed of the truck, still trying to get Jenny. This causes the RV to crash, and land on its side. We don’t know if the old couple is killed or not, but all we do know is that Jenny is still running. She hops off the wrecked RV and runs down the dirt road, with Vilmer on her heels. As if by fate, plan, or coincidence, that recreational plan flies just low enough to hit Vilmer in the head with one of its wheels. He’s finally dead, with his head oozing an amount of blood that seems just about right for what just happened to him. Jenny stares at the body with disgust, as Leatherface begins crying, screaming, and wildly swinging his chainsaw. A limousine pulls up, and honks for her to get in. She does, but the kind-hearted stranger turns out to be Rothman, sitting quietly, reading a newspaper.
He tells her not to be frightened, and that everything that happened to her was intended to be a religious experience. He rambles on about his inferiority, and the things he’s done, to which Jenny simply replies, “Fuck you”. He asks her if she wants to go to the hospital or the police station. At the hospital, a policeman is talking to her (Cameo #1 – John Dugan – The Original Grandpa), telling her it’s not the first time something like this has happened, and that they’ll look into it. As he talks, an orderly (Cameo #2 = Paul A. Partain – Franklin) walks by, pushing a patient (Cameo #3 – Marilyn Burns- Sally Hardesty) on a gurney. The two stare at one another, as if they know exactly what the other is thinking and feeling. The woman on the gurney continues to stare, as does Jenny, while the policeman tries to get her attention. The film ends with the officer asking, “What the hell’s goin’ on around here?”, as we get a final shot of the sun, and Leatherface swinging his chainsaw down the dirt road.
I have to start off by saying I don’t know why so many people hate this movie. Seriously. I know tastes are different and all, but people like the second one, but not this? But that’s just me. I just hope I’m not the only one out there who loved this movie! The soundtrack is fantastic, utilizing a mixture of rock and country, definitely giving the movie a backwoods feeling at times. My favorite song, though, was definitely “Blue Moon at Dawn” by The Coffee Sargeants. To me, this really is like a cheesy 80s movie, because it has all the elements of the ones we love; Sleepaway Camp, Motel Hell, Return of the Living Dead, movies like that. Of course, I am not comparing this movie to those classic greats, I’m simply saying that it is possible to do horror and comedy right. Vilmer’s character is so wildly insane at times, and so eerily calm at others, that I feel this makes him a very worthy villain. Plus, you’re never really sure if he is some kind of secret agent acting, or if there is some society out there using him and his fucked up family to do their bidding. I always sort of loved the conspiracy theory aspect, because when one thinks back on all the incidents over the years of the Chainsaw films, it seems too good to be true that no one was ever discovered, apprehended, or brought to justice (well, except for whoever the introduction mentioned in a prior film, but I don’t count that). All we’re ever told is that the victims are brutally killed in the middle of nowhere, the killers seem to vanish in plain sight, and the survivors are left dazed, catatonic, or fucking insane themselves. I think, like many people might, that the idea of the films is better than the actual presentation of them (i.e., for me, Part 2). Zellweger did a fabulous job, and this is one of my favorite roles of hers. She really has the qualifications of a scream queen, and genuinely looked terrified. McConaughey was remarkable – he sure can play a psychopath well.
John Dugan, Marilyn Burns, and Paul A. Partain
That’s why I found this one so refreshing, because, let’s see: we get two amazing actors who have gone on to have two of the biggest careers ever, three cameos that only a horror fan would have caught unless they’d been made aware of it, gruesome kills, funny yet menacing characters, a sympathetic final girl, a believable premise (prom night), and a lovely soundtrack. Oh, yeah, and Leatherface is dressed in more drag than I’ve ever seen him in before. He even puts on lipstick and admires his body in the mirror like Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs! Have I convinced anyone yet?…..No? Well, maybe I never will, but I will always enjoy this sequel, semi-remake, whatever people want to call it. I call it a sequel, because other incidents are referenced, and I always took the patient on the gurney at the end to be Sally Hardesty, no matter what the prior sequels said about her dying in a private care facility. Bullshit. W.E.’s character was another favorite; I loved all the quotes he spouted in the film (“Discretion is the better part of valor”, “The woman’s a whore, and there’s an end on it”, “I have not yet begun to fight”). I mean, seriously, the guy’s really smart, and he doesn’t seem as crazy as the others, so it makes me wonder what the fuck he’s doing there! Plus, Kim Henkel directed this, bringing back three actors we all know and love from the 70s film, so if you still don’t like it for whatever reason, you should at least respect that it had some throwback to the original predecessor throughout. It’s a lot better than it’s given credit for!
Because of some prodding from my fellow bloggers, I decided to write a review of this awful film. Well, not really so much of a review as a scathing expose. I am a pretty open person, and like to give things a chance, but even this abomination couldn’t be saved. There are some things you don’t do, one of them being kill Laurie Strode, whether Jamie Lee Curtis in on board or not. They could not have thought this was a good film, let alone a good idea. They blatantly, and horribly, exploited a beloved film franchise, and decided to use it as a cash cow to get money from unsuspecting teeny-boppers. But we lifelong fans know better.
The dumbass premise of this one revolves around Laurie supposedly killing a paramedic in a body bag instead of the real Michael Myers at the end of the previous film, which was ridiculous to begin with. Then, she’s in a mental home looking scraggly and old and insane, and then lets Michael finally kill her. What a letdown! And total bullshit too – you really think Laurie’s gonna go down like that after 20 years? I was done with this movie five minutes in. This movie, and especially this part, is a complete insult to its audience, and presupposes that we’re a bunch of idiots who are just going to accept this blasphemy as gospel. Lara Croft, Ellen Ripley, Katniss Everdeen, Beatrix Kiddo, Clarice Starling…I mean, come on! Even if any of these other characters have died or will die, they sure as fuck aren’t gonna go out like that! Then, to add to the misery, we get fucking Tyra Banks and Busta Rhymes hosting some lame ass reality show featuring some young horny idiots who are dared to spend the night in the Myers house. With the ever-growing ignorance of the emerging internet generation, we should have seen this coming. Sadly, we never thought they’d degrade one of the most infamous movie villains of all time in such a way. But, of course, they did. And what did we get? Practically another American Pie sequel with some oblivious young morons seeking their fifteen minutes of fame. Well, they got it – though they probably just didn’t think it would be in the form of a hate-filled review online. Too bad. They portrayed Michael Myers as almost a caricature, a monster you have to beat in a video game in order to advance to the next level, or win a prize. It’s practically vomit-inducing. I haven’t watched this movie since it was in theaters ten years ago, and I don’t plan to. Busta should stick to rhyming, and Tyra should stick to “smising” on ANTM.
I only have two dvd’s in my hands….and neither one is this shit!
Sorry, guys, that’s all I got. I can’t talk about this garbage anymore. Avoid this piece of shit at all costs, it’s a fucking sacrilege.
Halloween 5 is likely one of the more divisive sequels in the series, as Michael’s niece has an even more prominent role, surrounding her uncle, of course. But in this one, Michael is the focus of a more supernatural, psychic-like direction, which can throw some people off. Jamie is able to sense her uncle, even though she has become mute after last Halloween, and is able to tell where he is, and what he is about to do. Yet, with all of this, Michael is still stalking and killing teenagers (and those adults that get in his way), and is determined to finish the job with his niece. We are still given the “teenage” sin factor; drinking, sex, partying, as well as Dr. Loomis, who appears to grow more and more bitter and angry with each sequel. Who wouldn’t be? I mean, he’s only tried to stop this guy for the last 26 years he’s known him, and more people continue to fall victim. I suppose we can understand this frustration, even if we’ve never dealt with a seemingly unstoppable force of evil of this magnitude in our own lives, unless you count this year’s Republican nominees, which I do. Okay, on to the flick!
We jump back into the ending scene from the last film, with Michael falling down that mineshaft thingy. He escapes and floats downriver, ending up near this old hermit guy who takes pity on him. Apparently, this sweet old man has taken care of him for the last year (doesn’t he recognize the mask? or wonder why this guy just floated downstream?), and as Halloween approaches, Michael kills him. I hated that part myself, because I hate when older people get killed, especially nice old guys with a parrot for a friend. Anyway, we jump to the Children’s Clinic, where Jamie is having a seizure, sensing Michael’s revival and murder of the old man. She’s really tweaking and the doctors want to give her medicine, but Dr. Loomis jumps in and says she will stabilize, which she does. The next day, Jamie wakes up to see Rachel by her side. Soon, Rachel’s friend, Tina, shows up with her cute dog, Max. Someone throws a brick through the window, with a note attached, stating, “The evil child must die!” Loomis tells Rachel to calm down, but she feels guilty about going with her parents on vacation, leaving Jamie behind at the hospital. Tina and Rachel go back to her parent’s house, chaining Max up outside, while Tina goes to buy Halloween costumes. Rachel takes a shower, debating whether or not to go with her parents or to the party that night at the Tower Farm. Max begins barking and the phone rings. It’s Dr. Loomis, who tells Rachel Jamie’s having visions of her being in danger. Rachel goes downstairs, and the door is open and Max is gone. She goes to the neighbor’s house to call the police, who promptly find nothing out of the ordinary. Rachel, relieved, is also embarrassed when Max comes running down the street, just fine. Loomis knows Jamie is aware of something, but still won’t speak. He is very harsh with her, feeling she’s protecting Myers for some reason. Rachel goes back to getting ready, and she hears a noise. Upon investigating, she finds Jamie’s picture shattered, and Myers appears in the reflection behind her. She is stabbed in the chest, and at the same time, Jamie is aware of it and has another seizure.
Tina meets up with her friend, Sam, and tells her Rachel’s apparently gone to stay with her parents in the country. They plan to have the house to themselves that weekend, and go to meet their boyfriends, Mike and Spitz. Sam has decided to lose her virginity that night with Spitz, and he is able to get Mike some stolen beer from the convenience store where he works. Mike, upon collecting the beer, is killed with a garden tool. Meanwhile, everyone is getting ready for Halloween. Jamie puts on the princess costume that Rachel and Tina brought her, and Billy, who has a hardcore crush on her, gives her a bracelet for good luck. The hospital is putting on a costume ball for all the families. Myers puts on a mask that Tina gave Mike earlier, and goes to pick her up. Thinking it’s her boyfriend, she goes with him, and stop for some cigarettes. Jamie has had a huge panic attack and tells Loomis (she begins speaking here) where Tina is and that she is in danger. The police make it in time, and Michael has vanished. Jamie tells Tina not to go anywhere, but she disregards her warnings, and hitches a ride to the Tower Farm with some cops who are supposed to be keeping an eye on her. After some drinking and dancing, Spitz and Sam go the barn to have sex, and Tina eventually gets worried when they haven’t come back. Everyone else is leaving to go skinny dipping (…it’s October 31st, wouldn’t it be cold?), so she ventures to the barn and finds them dead. Myers pops up in Mike’s car and chases her down to the woods. Jamie and Billy have escaped the hospital and set out to find Tina. They find her, and now Myers is after all of them. After crashing the car into a tree, everyone thinks he’s dead. But of course, he’s not. He is thisclose to getting Jamie, when Tina runs up and sacrifices herself. I actually thought this part was really sad; a lot of people liked it because they found Tina irritating. Loomis finds them in the woods, and convinces Jamie to help him stop Michael. They all go back to the Myers house, to set a trap. 
Michael complies and shows up. He kills all the cops on duty, injures Loomis, and chases Jamie all through the house. He nearly gets her, too, when Loomis appears and grabs Jamie. He is trying to lure Michael closer, meanwhile scaring this already traumatized child half to death. Michael is caught in a trap of some kind of netting and chains, and Loomis begins to beat him senseless with a huge board. He’s not dead, but he is arrested, and taken to jail. It is kind of funny and strange to see Myers sitting in a jail cell, but he won’t be there for long. After Jamie states, “He’ll never die”, she is taken outside by a patrolman. Suddenly, a massive explosion rips through the police station. The mysterious and never-really-explained Man in Black from Halloween 4 & 5 has broken Michael out of jail, and killed all the police officers. The film ends with Jamie offscreen, staring into a now-empty jail cell, crying, “No!”
This movie has several aspects that fans found offensive. Number one, no one explains this Man in Black. Not that movies have to explain everything, but this guy has just randomly shown up in scenes from both the fourth and fifth films, apparently on Michael’s side, but with no reason behind it. Breaking Michael out of jail is just one of these confusing parts. I didn’t mind it as much as some others might have, but I did find it a little strange in a Halloween film. I think just seeing Michael in cuffs for a few seconds threw people for a loop. Another complaint is that the Myers house is completely different from in the first two films. Not even close! They didn’t even try to make it appear similar! This continuity error likely riled up a lot of fans. I thought it was ridiculous as well, but I did enjoy the rest of the movie enough to sort of let that go. But to some horror fans, this is an ultimate sacrilege. In the original, it was just a simple, small-town house, but in this one, it appears to be huge and castle-like. Other than this, though, I do love this film. It broke my heart when Rachel was murdered, although I felt they should’ve spent more time on the scene. I like Tina, though most people hate her, and found her to be funny and a good friend. I was sad when she sacrificed herself for Jamie, made especially painful by Danielle Harris’ tremendous screaming and crying skills. I love the 80s music, and the kills, and of course, you gotta respect that Donald Pleasence has still stuck around to bring us Dr. Sam Loomis, no matter how downhill critics feel these films have fallen. My grandma and I always enjoyed watching this one during our horror marathons! :)
The film adaptation in 1968 of Ira Levin’s popular novel, Rosemary’s Baby, is an absolute classic, beloved by horror and nonhorror fans alike. This movie has many horror film aspects, but much of it is also deeply psychological. Polanski is brilliant in bringing this novel to life, giving due respect to the book and accuracy to Levin’s words. The gothic feel of New York also serves the film well.
We begin by being lulled into a sense of security by Mia Farrow herself singing a lullaby as we watch the credits roll and first encounter Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse apartment-hunting. Rosemary falls in love with an apartment in the Bramford and talks Guy into taking it immediately. The prior renter had died and the rental manager reveals a hidden closet behind a bureau in the apartment that confuses them all. They don’t see any big deal, but this closet does come into play later in the film. Ro and Guy’s friend, Edward Hutchins, Hutch for short, tells them of all the strange occurrences that took place in the apartment building, including a famous devil worshipper, cannibalistic sisters, and dead infants. Ignoring events of the past, the couple dives in, and Ro especially becomes transfixed in redecorating and creating a home for her and her husband. He is an actor, as Ro repeats to anyone who asks, and is struggling as many actors do.
Rosemary meets a young woman while doing laundry, Terry, who tells her she lives with an old couple on the same floor as the Woodhouses. Rosemary also admires a necklace, once again, of great importance later, of Terry’s that was given to her by the generous couple, the Castevets. Days later, upon arriving home at night, the couple sees a crowd gathered outside their building. Apparently, Terry has committed suicide by jumping out the window onto the sidewalk. It is here that they are first introduced to the busy-body Castevets. Minnie Castevet stops by their apartment to thank Rosemary for her kind words on that fateful night, and thus begins a series of visits and near stalking by the old couple, at first concerning the Woodhouses with their clingy behavior.
I gotta tell ya, Minnie reminds me of my grandmother on my father’s side. Not the annoying, devil-worshipping part, but the clothes, the blunt attitude, and basically saying whatever she wants, no matter what. Besides being an excellent film, that’s another reason why I get a kick out of this movie and love it so much. Okay, back to the movie. So, Rosemary tells the couple how she wants to have three children one day. Minnie gives her the necklace that Terry wore, creepy I know, but Minnie doesn’t know that Ro knows it. At first, she finds it disconcerting, but eventually wears it. She and Guy have a strange dinner at the Castevet’s apartment, showcasing all the idiosyncrasies of their personalities, and Guy is intrigued by the stories Roman tells, while Rosemary finds them a bit odd and too pushy. Now, the Castevets are involved in their lives in every way, always interrupting and without regard to a couple’s privacy. One night, she brings over some Chocolate Mousse, and Rosemary passes out, and dreams of a demon raping her. Turns out, it had been drugged, and her husband admits to having sex with her while unconscious. A little perturbed, she is quickly rid of any weird feelings when she turns up pregnant, what she always wanted.
Strange occurrences continue over the following months, with Rosemary becoming more and more concerned about just how friendly her new neighbors are. They virtually make her go to their doctor friend, who ignores a severe pain she endures for months, and even Guy takes up for them. It’s really just a movie you have to see. To describe it all would not do it justice. Essentially, Rosemary discovers a betrayal of the worst kind, and a supernatural force within her perceived comfort zone of safety and security. You never really know what you are seeing, as that is what Rosemary is experiencing, and it is a completely mind-blowing experience. Revered as a classic among film buffs and film novices alike, I believe Rosemary’s Baby has something for everyone, and it just so well made, you cannot help but become entranced. This movie proves that a film does not have to be “scary” to be scary, and also that what you don’t see is often more terrible than what you do see. Polanski’s use of light, dark, colors, and strange nuances really makes for a unique film, as well as classic shots that really show the personality of the 60s. The scene where Rosemary is waiting outside the Time-Life Center for Hutch is one of my favorites. This movie is highly recommended to any and all.
It was always rumored that there was a curse surrounding this movie, because of events such as the horrific murder of Polanski’s beautiful wife, Sharon Tate, at the hands of members of the Manson family in 1969, as well as the 1980 assassination of John Lennon outside the famed Dakota where he lived, which played a role in and of itself in Rosemary’s Baby. While we may never know that for sure, it definitely makes for an even creepier atmosphere.
