‘The Fly’ leads pack of horror releases

loading...

A slew of new horror movies have been released on DVD over the past two weeks, just in time for Halloween. Some are worth renting, while others unfortunately provide more tricks than treats.

“The Fly” (1986): Kafka would have loved it. This fine remake of the 1958 original, just rereleased on DVD along with its less-appealing sequel, “The Fly II,” is essentially a horror romance. It’s one of David Cronenberg’s best films, with Jeff Goldblum’s inventor-scientist Seth Brundle joining Geena Davis’ Ronnie in creating a heartfelt, B-movie gross-out. What the film creates in Seth’s unflattering transformation from human being to human-fly is as grotesque as anything in Romero’s “Land of the Dead,” yet none of it is served with a trace of intended humor. Cronenberg and company are dead serious about their cautionary ideas about the abuse of science and technology. As Seth deteriorates into a mess of ticks, mandibles and twitches, the movie comes down to the nuances of Goldblum’s spot-on performance and the horror of what some will do with a loaded rifle in the name of love. Rated PG-13. Grade: A-

“George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead”: A satisfying wasteland that continues the “Dead” series without feeling as if Romero only came to cash in. The movie moves the story forward with ease, giving new purpose to the zombies the director conceived in his 1968 classic, “Night of the Living Dead,” while offering fans plenty of gore in the process. The film eschews the blistering, apocalyptic action so popular in today’s horror films for measured chaos that lingers. What the movie proves is that there still are fresh ideas to be found in the familiar rot of Romero’s world. Shrewdly, the director remains firm in his belief that it takes more than just ropes of dripping entrails and severed heads to make a good horror movie. While those elements certainly are welcome, and they do flourish here – some might never wear a bellybutton ring again – the film has other targets to explore, beginning with America’s current obsession with amassing land and real estate. In this case, let’s just say that the bubble has burst, leaving a big red puddle. Across the board, the acting is good, particularly from John Leguizamo and Robert Joy, but even from lead zombie Big Daddy (Eugene Clark), a hulking beast who brings a formidable appetite that leaves everyone here spent in the end. Rated R. Grade: B

“High Tension”: Who knew that studying in the French countryside could be so hazardous to your health? In the slasher film “High Tension,” college students Marie (Cecile De France) and Alex (Maiwenn – yes, just Maiwenn) flee the city to cram for their finals in the presumed quietude of Alex’s country farmhouse. Trouble is, when they arrive, so does a homicidal maniac (Philippe Nahon), who brutally abducts Alex, but not before resourceful Marie slips into hiding with some rather sharp hardware at the ready. What ensues is a cinematic bloodbath from director Alexandre Aja. The movie is lean, mean and initially focused; it wants to repel you with gore, and it might just succeed. The bizarre, fractured ending is a disappointment, so much so that some will wonder what Aja was smoking when he conceived it. Still, the ending shouldn’t negate what comes before it – a visceral thrill ride. Rated NC-17. Grade: B-

“House of Voices”: From French director Pascal Laugier, an old-fashioned creepy set in an abandoned institution for orphans. The tense, effective opening scene involves two kids chancing into the night for a bathroom reprieve; it’s noteworthy for the suspense it creates and it prepares you the promise of something special to come. Unfortunately, promises were meant to be broken. The rest of the movie is silly and derivative, not awful, not great, with actress Virginia Ledoyen joining character actors Lou Doillon as the ghostly Judith and shifty Dorina Lazar as Helenka, the meddling cook, in fleshing out an increasingly shaky story that bleeds into a bum ending. Previously released under the title “Saint Ange,” the movie has a whiff of the supernatural thriller “The Others” about it, but there’s no mistaking that the latter film is superior. Rated R. Grade: C

“House of Wax”: Another house, this one attired with unremarkable rooms perfect for the debut of Paris Hilton’s professional acting career. A broad update of the 1953 version starring Vincent Price, this new version features your typical screen twentysomethings (beautiful, obnoxious, deserving of everything that fells them) trying to outrun a couple of madmen on the loose. It’s a bloody, messy little throwback to such classics as “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” unintentionally brushing against fetish since it eventually dips so many of its hotties in hot wax. Whatever. When a horror movie fails to induce fear or even a few beneficial jolts, as this movie does, the effect is grim. Rated R. Grade: D

“Saw: Uncut Edition”: Same movie, more gore, clever packaging, with rivers of liquid “blood” running and dripping inside the clear DVD case. Cute. Too bad about the movie, which is bad, but not in ways that make bad horror movies good. The film fails to provide a single character worth rooting for. As directed by James Wan from a script by Leigh Whannell, the film’s two main characters – Lawrence (the horrible Cary Elwes) and Adam (Whannell) – are self-centered, unlikable types. You can’t invest yourself emotionally in them, so you have to wonder what the filmmakers were hoping would carry us through to the end. Just the graphic scenes of murder, humiliation, torture, degradation and amputation? Apparently. During the few times the film offers traditional suspense, it succeeds, but “Saw” should have been filled with such scenes. Instead, it chose gore for the sake of gore and in the process, it cuts its own throat. Rated R. Grade: D

“Undead”: The undead in this low-budget horror show are relentless. With verve, they keep hammering away at the screen, eating and clawing their way into someone else’s oblivion, all thanks to a pesky little meteor shower in which aliens thumbed a ride to Earth. If the undead in this movie weren’t so physically hideous, they’d be perfect for next year’s season of “The Apprentice”; they’re that savage, that hungry, that obvious in their killer instincts. From the Australian brother team of Michael and Peter Spierig, the film’s pace lags at the start, but cult horror fans will appreciate the over-the-top gore and the two former beauty queens stewing in the subplot. In one scene, a pair of freshly lopped legs continue to walk with spine intact, a nice touch that creates an amusing diversion. So does some of the dialogue, which is just this side of camp. “Undead” doesn’t have the budget to be slick, so it has to rely on flashes of imagination to see it through. It does, and parts of the movie are fun, though it never escapes the sense that it wouldn’t exist without the efforts Sam Raimi, Peter Jackson, George Romero, Tobe Hooper and Steven Spielberg put forth before it. Rated R. Grade: B-

Visit www.weekinrewind.com, the new archive of Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s reviews, which appear Mondays in Discovering, Fridays in Happening, and Weekends in Television. He may be reached at christopher@weekinrewind.com.

Halloween VIDEO-DVD CORNER

Renting a horror movie this weekend? BDN film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are recommended classics now in video stores.

Aliens

An American Werewolf in

London

Bad Girls from Mars

The Bad Seed

Berserk

The Birds

The Blob

Bride of Frankenstein

The Brood

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Cannibal Women in the

Avocado Jungle of Death

Carrie

The Changeling

Dawn of the Dead (1978 and

2004)

Dead Ringers

Dracula (1931)

Evil Dead

The Exorcist

The Fog (1980)

Frankenstein (1931)

Freaks

Friday the 13th

Ghost Story

Halloween

Hammer Horror Series

The Hills Have Eyes

Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte

I Spit on your Grave

Les Vampires (1915)

Mommie Dearest

Motel Hell

The Mummy (1940)

Night of the Demons

Night of the Living Dead

Nosferatu (1922)

The Omen

The Others

Poltergeist

Psycho (1960)

Rosemary’s Baby

Salem’s Lot

Scream

Shaun of the Dead

The Shining

The Silence of the Lambs

The Sixth Sense

Stir of Echoes

Strait-Jacket

Them

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

(1974)

The Thing (1982)

28 Days Later

Whatever Happened to Baby

Jane?

Wood Chipper Massacre

Young Frankenstein