Fright Night 3D

OPENING: 08/19/2011

STUDIO: Dreamworks Studios

RUN TIME: 106 min

ACCOMPLICES:
Trailer, Official Site

The Charge
You can’t run from evil when it lives next door

Opening Statement
Fright Night 3D is one of those horror remakes that probably didn’t need to happen. Regardless, it’s fun, creepy motion picture entertainment boasting a strong performance from Colin Farrell and some fairly nifty special FX. The 3D ain’t bad either.

Facts of the Case
Charlie Brewster (Anton Yelchin) lives with his mother (Toni Collette) in a quiet suburban town just outside Las Vegas. Seemingly on the verge of escaping his geaked-out past playing superheroes with the school nerd (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and preparing to dive head first into his red hot girlfriend’s (Imogen Poots) pants, Charlie’s life takes an unexpected detour when Jerry (Farrell) moves in next door and turns out to be, of all things, a vampire.

Charlie must enlist the aid of crazy magician Peter Vincent (David Tennant) in order to ensure his friends survive the blood sucker’s wrath.

The Evidence
Fright Night 3D taught me many things. One, that Hollywood will never grow tired producing vampire flicks, regardless of box office. Two, actor Anton Yelchin must know somebody fairly high up, hence Hollywood’s insistence on throwing him into every high caliber, potential blockbuster series, despite his obvious lack of cinematic presence. And three, Colin Farrell should’ve been on the A-list many years ago.

The talented veteran has retreated to starring in many little-seen films, namely the terrific In Bruges and London Boulevard, after flopping in early attempts to attain leading man status – see American Outlaws, Hart’s War, The Recruit, and Daredevil. Fright Night 3D gives him the freedom to play loosey goosey in a throwaway roll (reminiscent of his early bit in Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report), mainly because there’s not much else to the production. It’s as if the producers knew a remake of Tom Holland’s nifty 1985 cult classic was a bad idea, but realized Farrell was in it for more than just the paycheck and decided to let him run away with the show.

Good move.

Farrell instills life into an otherwise stilted film. His performance, comprised of slight twitches and snakely motions that even Voldemort would envy, carries Fright Night 3D above the annals of average cinema into a chasm above decent and below “actually quite good.” I was reminded of Heath Ledger’s Joker from The Dark Knight, and Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow in the first Pirates film (remember, when he was actually cool?). It’s one of those performances that can turn an average film into a good one, or a good film into a great one. Without him, Fright Night 3D would line Target discount shelves for years to come. With him, the damned thing might just find redemption…time will tell.

Of course, that doesn’t excuse the remaining film. What is it about modern horror films that keeps them from being scary? Is it the CGI FX, which pale in comparison to those grotesque, imaginative schlocky ’80s make-up FX? Or the need to lean heavily on pop culture to connect with audiences (Twilight is mentioned several times)? Or is it the glossy look caked over the production, making everything too neat, too perfect? Tellingly, I didn’t mind some of the CGI in this film, and felt Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl) did a fairly good job with the gore. It’s still not utterly grotesque, but at least a few people in my audience expelled grossed out reactions to the proceedings. (Some of his scare tactics were quite effective as well.)

However, what bugs me about modern cinema is the digital look all films seem to carry. Remember the old days when films like Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre had dust particles splashed across its images? Remember the murky, unprofessional lighting in the original Friday the 13th? Hell, even Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead films, while inherently low budget (and cheesy), still scared the crap out of you with its muddy, over-the-top happenings.

Maybe the problem is that all films these days receive a budget north of $100 million. With that kind of money, directors don’t have to be creative (unless you’re James Cameron, and must make imaginative cuts in order to ensure your film comes within its $300 million price tag); they simply point and click. Thus each shot is carefully laid out; everything looks and feels artificial because the creativity that carried on behind the scenes lacked emotional investment. Imagine if Gillespie was told to remake Fright Night 3D on a $10 million budget. Don’t you think a better film would emerge? One filled to the brim with creativity?

That’s why films like Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project work so well: they require imagination. Everything looks and feels low budget and so the audience is never sure how far the director can go. The scares stem from utter surprise at a director’s ability to achieve the impossible in a film that costs less than a pack of chewing gum. When a production carries an enormous price tag and throws buckets of CGI blood in your face, shock and awe go out the window. By then, it’s not a matter of what the producers can’t do, but what they won’t do.

Perhaps I’m just fickle. In truth, I enjoyed Fright Night 3D for its offbeat humor, and Poots’ dooey eyed charm. Yelchin bores me. And I’ve grown tired of Mintz-Plasse’s foul mouthed MacLovin charade. At least David Tennant injects some much needed energy into the film’s latter half, even if he comes across as a bit too eager for laughs.

In truth, remakes never are necessary unless you can add something to counter the original (see True Grit). Fright Night circa 1985 never was a perennial classic, per se, but it was one hell of a freaky movie; one that gave me nightmares as a kid. Fright Night 3D won’t give you nightmares, but Farrell’s performance will give you chills.

Closing Statement
With Colin Farrell in fine form, Fright Night 3D becomes watchable horror fluff, even if it never truly frightens.

The Verdict
7/10

Drag Me To Hell

OPENING: 05/29/2009

STUDIO: Universal

RUN TIME: 99 min

ACCOMPLICES:
Trailer, Official Site

The Charge
Christine Brown has a good job, a great boyfriend, and a bright future. But in three days, she’s going to hell.

Opening Statement
It’s hard not to mention The Evil Dead when talking about Sam Raimi’s newest horror show, Drag Me to Hell, but you know what? I’m going to try it. I’ll start of by saying that Drag Me to Hell is unlikely to have the same epic cult appeal that made the aforementioned video nasty such a genre delight, but on its own merits Raimi’s latest is solidly entertaining with an ending not lacking in wit or bite. You’ve seen the man on better form, but honestly, Raimi’s legions of fans can sleep easy because Drag Me to Hell is a good return to the trademark tongue and cheek horror that made the man’s name.

Facts of the Case
Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is a hardworking gal looking for a promotion, so as to prove once and for all that she is good enough for Professor boyfriend Clay (Justin Long) and more than the sum of her farming roots. Such a work based opportunity arrives in the position of Assistant Manager, left vacant, with Christine a prime candidate in the Bank owners eyes to fill the slot. However competition is stiff and in order to prove herself the Bank Manger requests that Christine improves her ability to make “tough calls”. Such a chance arrives when a one eyed Crone Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver) arrives looking for a third lone on her property, set to be repossessed later in the week. In a bid to be seen taking a firm stance Christine refuses, but an enraged Mrs. Ganush refuses to leave without dishing out some vengeance of her own, and places a curse on the career minded heroine. Soon Christine is seeing visions and being physically tormented by evil spirits and poltergeist style menace, but after a consultation with those viced in the supernatural, it seems the particular hex placed on Christine is just not ghosts and ghouls, in three days time it sends you directly to the fires of hell.

The Evidence
I said earlier that I wasn’t going to mention Evil Dead and I still intend to uphold that promise, it’s after all unfair to hold up a horror picture as acceptably crafted as Drag Me to Hell against something so beloved, purely because they’re spawned of the same artist. The first thing likely to deter the die-hard devotees concerning the flick is the PG-13 rating it showboats, usually a mark of creative death and greasy fingered cash grabbing from the filmmakers and studio. Indeed, upon entering Drag Me to Hell it wasn’t Spider-Man 3 that planted seeds of doubt in my mind, but the fact that Raimi was seemingly catering to the acne covered clientele that bad Asian remakes are generally preheated for. So back slaps to all concerned, because despite the family friendly certificate Drag Me to Hell is an at times intensely spooky and joyously dark piece of popcorn cinema, seriously, give Night at the Museum 2 another run because despite what the MPAA says, this ain’t for the kiddies.

The film is pretty much fully centered around Lohman as the female hero, and I have to say that the young actress does a really good job in the part. Lohman has shown promise in several previous projects but always in fairly minor parts, here promoted to leading lady she fares more than competently. Christine isn’t a typical damsel in distress, she’s ballsy and determined but when the going gets tough the audience is rooting for her and not the demon hungering for her soul. Raimi cooks up a good character and compliments her effectively with a serious of supporting acts that are used to further flesh out her persona or push the story forward. This is one of the greatest strengths the picture possesses; it’s a mean and lean efforts with no unnecessary run time expounded on characters that just slow the picture up. Justin Long’s boyfriend is the perfect example, Long actually provides a rather quaint and believable performance, but never takes up the screen when his participation doesn’t work to build up the character of Christine. We are treated to a Meet The Parents style sequence at one point that really is only present to solicit dark giggles and a little bit of eerie tension, but other than that virtually every sequence in Drag Me to Hell is a motor for the plot are a way to further enhance the three dimensionality of the leading lady. In a time when cinema has become increasingly flabbergasted and bloated, audiences tend to applaud a director who edits his movies with a chainsaw, keeping the story at the requisite length so it remains both engaging and exciting.

Those looking for genuine fear might feel under-served by Drag me to Hell. The movie definitely packs a respectable amount of creepy atmosphere and nifty boo moments, but isn’t really that fascinated with amassing a cavalcade of adrenaline rush terror. Raimi has lost none of his potency with a well placed gag, turning yuks and slime into the source of belly laughs, and even hardened horror fanatics will be caught once or twice by the loud and bombastic jumpy moments that populate the production. Those inexperienced in the horror genre are advised to avoid the supersize soda before venturing to this movie, via Raimi’s talent for catching viewers of guard they’re bound to have spit all over themselves by the 30 minute mark. On leaving the theater a friend of mine commented that Drag me to Hell was remarkably like An American Werewolf in London in it’s well crafted teaming up of salacious humor and efficient horror, a contrast that I would endorse.

Kudos also has to be handed out for the tricky and hard-to-handle ending. The movie toys with the viewer constantly in the last 10 minutes, suggesting at least three different conclusions to the picture, and then taking the most surprisingly effective one. The finish is also without giving too much away, a ballsy move, especially within the benchmarks of PG-13 material.

From a technical stand point some of the CGI deployed is dodgy but the cinematography is stylish without being to overstated, a sort of amalgamation of Raimi’s times in the low and high budget ends of the filmmaking spectrum. The lighting is often well placed to heighten the more frightening and shocking moments, and the soundtrack actually works as a neat comedic prime one more than one occasion. It’s not outstanding musical work from Christopher Young but it’s no disgrace either, and lets the visual energy steal the spotlight.

The movie is worked from an original concept by the Raimi brothers, sure at times they rely on hokey plot devices and creaky mythology, but their movie moves effortlessly and at a pace that keeps the fun levels at an intense and enjoyably relentless high. Drag Me to Hell isn’t a perfect film by any means and probably won’t go onto be considered a genre classic, but given it’s creator has been out of the horror game for 22 years, it’s a semi-spectacular return.

Closing Statement
Well I made it……a full review without comparing Drag Me to Hell to The Evil Dead. I think from my analysis of the film you can come to the conclusion on how the two size up to each other, basically there isn’t much of a surprise in the victor. Still, Drag Me to Hell is a fresh, funky and at times really funny way to spend a summer evening, Raimi is back in the genre that made his name and on the basis of this enjoyable and spooky frolic, I hope he stays for a long time.

The Verdict
7/10