Classic Film Night - The Shining

The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror drama film based on the Stephen King's 1977 novel of the same name. The movie was produced by The Producer Circle Company, Peregrine Productions, and Hawk Films and distributed by Warner Bros. The Shining was written and directed by Stanley Kubrick.





The story is a writer named Jack Torrance takes his family to Colorado and spent their time at an isolated hotel called Overlook Hotel. Jack's hoping that this will cure his writer's block however the more he finds out about the hotel's dark secrets the more and more he begins to unravel and fall deeper into madness, which puts his wife and son in grave danger.

My Thoughts




Let's just get this out of the way right now, the performances are amazing. Jack Nicholson is definitely the main attraction for this movie. His acting for this movie is just amazing, he can really play a crazed man. Although I also feel like the performances from Shelly Duvall and Danny Lloyd are highly underrated. Shelly's character (Wendy Torrance) is a mother who gets completely devastated and scared that her family is being terrorized and torn apart from this supernatural force and Shelly knocks it out of the park. You'll really feel for her. Then we Danny Lloyd playing Danny Torrance and he had great acting for a six year old.



One of the many great things about the movie is there are legitimately scary moments. There aren't any set up for jump scares but actually set up. Which is what's great about the more scary moments. Stanley Kubrick wanted us to be scared by the atmosphere and the overall story. And I think other than Jack finally going mad and trying to kill his family my favorite scare might just be the Lady in the Bath Tub. That scene both terrified and grossed me out.



What also makes The Shining great is the writing. I already talked about how the story has great scares but there are also many quotable lines. I'm not just talking about "Here's Johnny!" but also lines like "I didn't. I wouldn't touch one hair on his god-damned little head. I love the little son of a bitch. I'd do anything for him." Other lines like that.



Then we have the score by Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind-Tourre. What's so interesting about is other than the opening theme there's really not music here. It's mainly just sounds. Which I find quite interesting.



The other thing that made The Shining a classic film is well Stanley Kubrick's directing. There are so many shots that you'll instantly keep on remembering. Even if you haven't watched the movie in months some of those shots will still be in your head.



The final thing I'll give the movie credit for is how there's so many things to analyze. I have never seen a horror movie of all things have so many fan theories (one in which apparently Kubrick faked the moon landing and is admitting it. Don't know how that works but okay), people having different interpretations of the ending, or anything else.








The Shining is definitely one of the best of many horror classics. All of the performances are great, brilliantly made scary moments, spectacular writing, a great score, Kubrick's amazing directing, and just so much to dissect.








My final rating is A Must Watch








Alright guys, that's all for me. Come back on Thursday, October 31st the exact day of Halloween. On this day I'll review the greatest Ed Wood film ever! That movie being Plan 9 from Outer Space. I can't wait to watch, then write, and then upload it. I'm really excited why more excited for this movie than I was for Reefer Madness and Troll 2.

Raiders of The Lost Media - Event Horizon - The Lost 130 Minutes

WARNING!: GRAPHIC IMAGES INCLUDED! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE GRAPHIC VIOLENCE I RECOMMEND LEAVING NOW!

Hello everyone and welcome to the third Raiders of The Lost Media of 2019. This time around I tell you all about the lost 130 minutes to the 1997 science fiction horror Event Horizon. Now if any of you read my Top 8 Director's Cuts I Want To See then you probably saw me bring this up before but in more a short abridged version. Well today I give you the full story of this movie's lost footage. Let's begin.

Part One - What is Event Horizon?



Event Horizon is a 1997 science fiction horror movie directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and written by Philip Eisner. It tells the story of how a crew of astronauts were sent on a rescue mission to a ship called the Event Horizon. They soon discover the ship was an experiment engine that opened a riff in the space time continuum and let in a hostile entity that possess the ship.





Part Two - Early Development



After making 1995's Mortal Kombat a commercial success in the States, Paul W.S. Anderson (known for the Resident Evil films) was giving lots of screenplay opportunities. Two of those included the Mortal Kombat sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997) and the upcoming X-Men (2000) but Anderson turned down those offers because he wanted to make a R-rated horror movie as suppose to making another PG-13 flick (honestly he dodged a bullet by not accepting to do Mortal Kombat: Annihilation). Paramount Pictures then sent Philip Eisner's script for Event Horizon, a film they've been trying to make along with producers Lawrence Gordon and Lloyd Levin. Eisner said when he first pitched the concept to Gordon he described it as a "haunted house story in space", both the producers thought the story had potential to become a motion picture. Eisner would later go on to say that Gordon liked the idea enough to trust him to do it. Anderson's initial reaction to the script was that it bore a striking resemblance to 1979's Alien, while producer Jeremy Bolt felt like it was a "terrific concept" but also felt like it was "very dense" in terms of length and the storyline was a "bit lost". Anderson also disliked the fact he was basically going to direct a copy of Alien so he decided to give the script a major rewrite. Anderson had in his mind a "classic haunted house movie" that would incorporate influences from classic horror films like 1963's The Haunting and 1980's The Shining because those films enforce a suspense from the unknown. Also around this time Anderson was interested in the concept of Hell as well as the idea of the ship itself being possessed as suppose to it being an alien consciousness that is doing it.





Part Three - What Ever Happened to The Deleted Footage?



Paul W.S. Anderson explained that because of the Directors Guild of America directors are usually given a 10-week editing period to produce a final cut of their movie, however this wasn't the case for this film. Paramount Pictures really wanted a big hit on their hands before they released James Cameron's Titanic. But with a short production schedule, an approaching release date, and principal photography not being completed it was clear to Paramount that they had to cut the editing period to six weeks instead of the usual ten weeks and Anderson agreed with this decision with Paramount that way the film could be released in August. The main unit wrapped but this was the time that Anderson had to start editing the movie but he still had two weeks with the second unit because of this time was shortened of what could have been spent in post-production. So Anderson had no choice but to make a rough cut of the film. During test screenings the cut was very poorly received, the main complaint being the extreme amounts of gore. In fact it was so gory that according to Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt some test audience members fainted. Paramount was also with the test audience when viewing this cut and also were shocked about the amounts of violence and they demanded a shorter length time with a decrease of the more gruesome scenes. While Anderson believed that the movie was considered too long he also felt like Paramount had him edit a movie that was too short, and thought the movie would have benefited with restoring 10 minutes of missing footage, including the deleted gore scenes. Due to a successful DVD release the studio was very interested in making a director's cut of Event Horizon something even Paul W.S. Anderson was excited about doing. However there was a huge problem, the footage was not handled properly and much of it was gone. The deleted scenes were soon discovered in a salt mine in Transylvania (yes footage of a horror movie was located in Transylvania. What are the odds?) and had sadly rotted away due to how they were stored. So with the footage pretty much destroyed a director's cut was cancelled and instead a special edition two-DVD set was released, the special edition featured one deleted scene, two extended scenes, and a few shots of deleted material in the making-of feature.





Part Four - Known Deleted Scenes



Known deleted scenes included a meeting with Weir and people in charged in which they discuss Event Horizon, more backstory for Cooper and Justin, a stronger explanation for Justin entering the black hole, a deleted backstory on the relationship between Starck and Miller, additional explaining the gateway to hell/what the black hole is, Miller finding a tooth floating in Event Horizon, a longer version of Peters hallucinating her son's mangled legs being covered in maggots, a scene where Weir hallucinates that Justin turns into his wife Claire, a more bloodier version of Claire's suicide, a longer version of the scene where Miller finds D.J.'s dead body with his guts on the table, and a longer version of the "Vision From Hell" scene during Miller's final fight with Weir with more shots of the Event Horizon crew being tortured. The "blood orgy" scene was also notable longer. Because Anderson was sometimes too busy filming other scenes, second-unit director Vadim Jean had to film some parts of those scenes. The film's ending was also different from it's theatrical cut. In fact the original ending was a combination of two unused alternate endings that were filmed. One didn't have a jump scare when the two survivors are found by another rescue crew and Starck hallucinates that she sees Weir, although there is a similar version that included Starck hearing the screams of the Event Horizon crew and screams in fear before Cooper wakes her up. The other ending had Miller fighting with the burned man from his visions at the core instead of Weir, but was changed because of the negative feedback from the test screening.





Part Five - The Remaining Footage



Now people have been able to dig up some of the footage and/or photos of the deleted scenes but the videos are in poor quality. You can watch/view them here but like I said at the top they're pretty gruesome so if you're not interested it in just turn back now.

And last but not least someone on Imgur uploaded a lot of photos. But yet again If you're very sensitive to graphic violence DO NOT LOOK AT THESE. Hell even I got a little woozy looking at them. So here they are, just click right here.

Part Six - Is There Still a Possibility?

Now in my Top 8 Director's Cuts I Want To See post I said the chances of seeing this were unlikely. However I failed to do more research of the subject, because during an Event Horizon Q&A in 2011 when asked about the footage Paul W.S. Anderson did say it would "never" be available because the footage is gone forever. But then in 2012 during an interview at that year's San Diego Comic-Con he announced that producer Lloyd Levin had found a VHS copy of his original cut. Anderson would later go on to say that after his done with Resident Evil: Retribution he planned to watch it for the first time since making the film. Then in January 2017 Anderson would later retract what he said, saying a director's cut will never be released because the footage doesn't exist anymore. When asked about he VHS tape, he said neither him nor Lloyd have watched the VHS copy because Levin moved to Spain however he said that he is still excited to watch it at some point.

Now sure that does sound like a bummer what with Anderson saying the footage doesn't exist and going on to say he hasn't seen the VHS tape. But really think about it, if Lloyd Levin does in deed have a copy of the deleted footage of the original cut of Event Horizon like he's claiming that would put this movie close to the Snyder cut of Justice League. What I mean by that is it's close to having a director's cut what with there being existing footage of the original cut. So I say if you've been waiting for this film to have it's original scenes intact I say don't give up hope quite yet.

So guys, that's all for me. Come back on Thursday, October 24th for my review of the Stanley Kubrick classic, The Shining. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.

Underrated Films - Trick 'r Treat Review

Trick 'r Treat is a 2007 anthology horror film. The movie was produced by Legendary Pictures and Bad Hat Harry Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Trick 'r Treat was written and directed by Michael Dougherty.





The story is we see four interwoven stories throughout the night of Halloween in the town of Warren Valley, Ohio. During these stories we seen one peculiar trick-or-treater dressed in orange pajamas and a sack over his head. His name is Sam and he's here to enforce the rules of Halloween.

Why It's Underrated



The main reason why Trick 'r Treat is so underrated is because it mostly goes under people's radar. I mean the film's been around for over ten years and I've only seen once on television. I don't know if there are more showings like it appears on HBO or something but the main thing is it's not shown on TV enough and often times nobody really talks about it.








My Thoughts



One of the aspects that makes Trick 'r Treat great is the character Sam. We don't know much about other than if you don't follow the rules of Halloween Sam's gonna pay you a visit. So he's definitely got a mysterious factor going for him. What also makes him great is what he looks like underneath the mask. I won't give it any but it was definitely a surprise. Seriously his face is nothing I've seen before in a horror movie.



Now since this takes place on Halloween does it give off a Halloween feeling? Simply put yes. The movie has everything related to Halloween. From the jack-o-lanterns to the costumes to even the origins of why Halloween was even made and how it transitioned to the holiday we know and love. Hell the movie is so into Halloween we have a clever easter egg to 1978's Halloween in the story "Surprise Party" and 1998's Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island can be briefly scene in the story "Meet Sam". Which is awesome.



With the movie being anthology this means we get quite a few stories and each one of them are done great. If I had to pick one I would say "The School Bus Massacre Revisited" is my favorite. It has great child actors, a great backstory, and there's just this claustrophobic feel about it that creeped me out and I'm not even claustrophobic. However while "Surprise Party" is good it's build up to it's ending (which takes a turn nobody saw coming) does leave more to be desired. Overall all of the stories are well done and you'll have a blast watching them.



Another thing I found enjoyable about Trick 'r Treat is the performances. Like I said about "The School Bus Massacre Revisited" the child actors of Britt McKillip (played Macy), Isabelle Deluce (played Sara), Alberto Ghisi (played Chip), and Jean-Luc Bilodeau (played Schrader), and Samm Todd (played Rhonda) we're all great in their roles. Which is also a shocking thing to say because usually child actors aren't that great but these kids were. The other great performances were Dylan Baker as the crazed principal Steve Wilkins. He really brought out this characters crazed obsession with Halloween. Then we have Brian Cox as Mr. Kreeg. He essential plays the Scrooge of Halloween and he plays the part to perfection.



The final thing I'll give Trick 'r Treat credit for is Michael Dougherty's directing. The guy brought so many great and wonderful made shots. Each frame from the cinematography is so beautiful when it needs to be and creepy when it needs to be.








My final rating is Great








Accomplishments



Trick 'r Treat won not one but two awards those being



Screamfest Horror Film Festival (2008)



Audience Choice Award





Toronto After Dark Film Festival (2009)



Silver Audience Award






Now I'm willing to bet those awards are great accomplishments in their own right but I feel the movie's biggest win was gaining a cult following. Without that cult following and that one time the movie was played on AMC, I would have never known about this movie. But thanks to both of those factors I found a great horror flick to enjoy whenever the Halloween season rolls in.








Alright everyone that's all for me. Come back next time on Monday, October 21st when I tell you the story of lost footage from the 1997 sci-fi horror movie Event Horizon. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.

Wonder Woman: Bloodlines Review

Wonder Woman: Bloodlines is a animated direct-to-video comic book film as well as the 14th film of the DC Animated Movie Universe, and 36th overall movie in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line. The movie is produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment and distributed by Warner Home Video. Wonder Woman: Bloodlines is written by Mairghread Scott and directed by Sam Liu and Justin Copeland.





The story is Diana is chosen to take fighter pilot Steve Trevor back to Man's World. After that has happened along with a couple of other adventures with the Justice League, she now has to stop a group of devious women who known as Villainy Inc.

Initial Reaction



Since Wonder Woman 1984 got moved to 2020 I like many other people had to wait for this movie to come out because we certainly wasn't going to get Wonder Woman 1984 anytime soon. What also made me interested in seeing this was 1) we haven't gotten a Wonder Woman animated movie since 2009 so a new one was definitely welcomed and 2) once again it was a DC animated movie and I'm always willing to watch one of those.








Cons



One bad thing about the movie is a character dies and it really didn't have an effect on me. I mean we only knew this character for I don't know two minutes and the story wants us to care but you won't because again we haven't been with her long enough to give a damn. And no her being one of the villain's mom doesn't help. The other issue I had with the movie was the twist. It's a not good "oh this is who the big bad was along" moment because you saw it a mile away. I mean the moment you're introduced to the character and pay attention to certain things you know exactly who it is.








Middle Ground



I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.








Pros



One thing I liked about the movie was the different art style. Now I've got no issue Phil Bourassa being the character design for all of the DC Animated Movie Universe's films but I care understand people wanting to see a different style. Especially since he's been doing it since 2014's Justice League: War all the way to the more recent film in the franchise Batman: Hush. So yes I think people much like myself will take a liking to the new art style. The other aspect I liked was the action. It was like many animated DC films fun to watch. Hell it even got pretty intense sometimes, especially this one brutal thing Diana does to her eyes during the final act. Now onto the animation and I gotta say once again DC has some nicely done animation for something that was made direct-to-video. Now if any of who are a fan of the 2017 film what with it's balance between Wonder Woman's amazon warrior side and her more caring side I think you'll definitely enjoy it when this movie does it too. The final thing I'll give the movie credit for is the voice work. The cast does a good job giving these character's personalities and all of the voices they gave to said characters was done nicely.








Wonder Woman: Bloodlines is a pretty good movie. It has a good and very welcomed different art style compared to previous films in the DC Animated Movie Universe, the action was awesome, the animation was good, Diana having a balance of her caring side and fighting spirit gave the movie a lot of heart, and the voice work was good. The only down sides was a pretty forgettable and not really emotional character death and that predictable twist with one of the villains.








My final rating is Good








Alright guys that's all fun me. Now it's the October which means it's the Halloween season which also means it time for me to review some horror movies or horror movie related topics. Either way come back on Thursday, October 10th for my Underrated Films review of 2007's Trick 'r Treat. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.

Joker Review

Joker is a psychological thriller film based on the DC Comics' villain the Joker. It's also the first film in the DC Black Label. The movie is produced by DC Films, Village Roadshow Pictures, Bron Creative, and Joint Effort and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Joker is written by Todd Phillips and Scott Silver and directed by Todd Phillips.

The story is it's 1981 and all Arthur Fleck wanted to be was stand-up comedian, that way he could bring smiles to everyone. However after been made fun of, beating down, and treated horribly Arthur Fleck turns to a life of crime and becomes Gotham City's most feared criminal...Joker.

Initial Reaction



When I first heard about this movie I was quite curious. I mean it was going to be low budget, rated R, set in 1981, no Batman and just to top it all off it's going to be directed by Todd Phillips, yes the same guy who gave us the Hangover movies. Then I saw that teaser trailer...and I was hooked. This was clearly going to be something vastly different compared to other comic book movies and I didn't mind that at all (seriously variety is good for the comic book genre not everything has to be quote "fun" in order for it to be good). Although I do admit waiting for this movie to come out did feel like a drag what with all of the "controversies". It kept getting worse from "wokes" on Twitter, bloggers, and journalist who you could have sworn wanted something bad to happen at film theaters because everytime it was "Oh man. I sure hope nobody causes a massacre when Joker arrives in theaters." But other than that bullsh*t I was still looking forward to the movie.








Cons



I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.








Middle Ground



I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.








Pros



The first thing that makes this movie great is Joaquin Phoenix's performance. OH MY GOD! If this man doesn't win an Oscar for this performance then the Oscars really need to rethink what a great performance is because Phoenix is just amazing. I mean the what he did to his body for this movie and the laugh that laugh was one of the many many MANY highlights of the movie. In matter fact I actually though Joaquin was actually getting hurt from that laugh. Because it's treated as a medical condition in this film and throughout the film you can see Joaquin try to hold it in, coughing, and saliva coming down from his mouth. Like I said an amazing performance from Joaquin Phoenix and he definitely deserves an award for Best Actor. Now during all of the "controversies" for this movie, one of them was that audience would sympathies with Arthur Fleck even though he's clearly a maniac in this movie (which is funny in itself cause I don't remember such a controversy whenever a horror movie comes out). Now yes at first you do sympathies for him...AT FIRST! But the moment he crosses the line and descents into madness you see him for what he is and that's a complete and utter psychopath. Which is what made the movie great, when you see from start to finish what exactly sent Arthur over the edge to the point where he WAS an innocent man you felt bad for but then you just want to see him get sent to Arkham Asylum (or Arkham State Hospital as it's called in the movie). Another amazing part of the film is the score. Hildur Guonadottir composed such a brilliant and yet at the same time haunting score. There was even a time when I was tapping along with the music. It's that good. The other part of the movie that's great is it's tone, the tone for this movie dark, creepy, unnerving, and everything that should describe the character of Joker. From start to finish the tone for this movie is everything I said it was and with that it really helps the movie stand out from other comic book movies (not that it already didn't before). The final thing I want to give this movie credit for is Todd Phillips' directing. I mean I never would have thought in a million years that the guy who brought us the Hangover trilogy would bring us such a beautifully shot psychological thriller. I mean yes the Hangover movies were shot well but when you compare them to Joker it feels like despite the name it seems like someone else shot this. I mean there at frames in this movie that might as well be it's own piece of art.








Joker is without a doubt one of my favorite movies of 2019. Joaquin Phoenix gives a 10/10 performance, Arthur Fleck's journey to becoming the Joker made him become a great villain, the score is amazing, the tone is great, and Todd Phillips' directing has awe inspiring.








My final rating is A Must Watch








Guys I definitely recommend checking out this movie it was truly great. Hell even my buddies said this is their favorite movie of the year and they can't wait to get this in their film collection. Anyhow that's all for me. Come back on Monday, October 7th for my review of Wonder Woman: Bloodlines. Until then enjoy the rest of your day and once again go see this movie.

A Change of Plans for October

      Hi guys. So I wanted to make this announcement to once again keep you up to date of what's going on around here. Now if any of you read my review for The Monster Squad you would know that I said that in 2019 I would review all of the Ghostbusters movies (including the awful 2016 movie). Well those plans ain't happening. Yes I'm going to review those movies for next year what with the newest film coming out on July 10th, 2020. Yes I will be doing a Road to Ghostbusters 2020. So if I'm not reviewing the Ghostbusters movies then what will I be doing, well you're just going to have to wait until October to see. So that's all I wanted to tell you I hope this doesn't put a damper on your day. Hope you guys read what I've written for October until then enjoy the rest of your day.

Abominable Review

Abominable is computer-animated adventure film. The movie is produced by DreamWorks Animation and Pearl Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures. Abominable is written and directed by Jill Culton.

The story is a teenage girl named Yi seems to be having an average day for a girl her age. Until one night she discovers an Yeti on your apartment roof. She and her friends Jin and Peng all decide to bring Everest (the name they gave the Yeti) back home to his family. However evil forces are trying to capture the Yeti.

Initial Reaction

Now if I'm being honest I really didn't have any intention of seeing this movie. Don't get me wrong the trailers and tv spots did showcase the film has a beautiful experience. The problem was I would always forget this movie was coming out. But since my theater wasn't going to show Rambo: Last Blood I told my audience (what a small time reviewer like me has anyway) that I make up for that no show review by reviewing this movie.

Cons



I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.







Middle Ground



The real grey area with the is it's story. We've seen a lot of familiar stuff revolved around this kid finds a strange creature plot. Yet I think what helps the movie stand of it's own feet is it's execution. That'll hopefully help it not be compared to other movies that used this same type of story.







Pros



One thing I liked about the movie was the humor. This is a very funny film and there were a couple of times when I let out a big laugh (thankfully at the time of my showing I was the only one there and I didn't bother anyone). What also makes the movie an enjoyable experience are the character arcs. Throughout the movie our main characters going through some sort of arc that helps develops them from where they were at the beginning of the movie. Now when you make a movie revolving around a strange creature it's very important to make it charming and the writers definitely made Everest a charming character. From beginning to end you'll just fall in love with him, it was impossible for my to hate this character. Since this is an animated movie it's time to talk about the animation and wow...it was really good. There were so many moments were the animation is eye catching and you never want to look away. It's especially beautiful whenever Everest is using his powers.








Abominable wasn't my most anticipated movie for the month of September (that title went to Rambo: Last Blood) but I'm actually glad I went to see this movie. It has a lot of funny moments, great character arcs, Everest was cute, and the animation is great. The only mix bag was the story. While it's definitely something we've seen I think the execution will help it in the end run.








My final rating is Great








Alright everyone, that's all for me. Come back on Monday, September 30th even I bring you an update about my plans for October. Until then enjoy the rest of your day and give Abominable a watch.