Oct 25 2015

Movie Reviews 101 Halloween Midnight Horror – A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

Director: Chuck Russell

Writer: Wes Craven, Bruce Wagner, Frank Darabont, Chuck Russell (Screenplay) Wes Craven, Bruce Wagner (Story)

Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Craig Wasson, Patricia Arquette, Robert Englund, Ken Sagoes, Rodney Eastman, Jennifer Rubin, Bradley Gregg, Laurence Fishburne

Plot: Survivors of undead serial killer Freddy Krueger – who stalks his victims in their dreams – learn to take control of their own dreams in order to fight back.

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: Building the Legacy

Story: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors starts with Kristen (Arquette) a creative teenage girl being forced into sleep by her mother, where she ends up entering into a dream world she has never seen before. Kristen meets a little girl that she tries to save while being chased down by Freddy (Englund) before being left in the situation where it looks like she tried to kill herself.

We hear that the teenagers have being committing suicide and with Kristen ending up in a psychiatric hospital where all the kids have sleeping disorders. The hospital staff Doctor Gordon (Wasson) believe to have everything under control but a new member is joining the team none other than Nancy (Langenkamp) (So forget whatever you might have heard in the last film about her) who has been receive high praise for her work with children with sleeping disorders.

As Kristen’s nightmares continue she calls for Nancy giving Nancy a chance to meet back up with her old enemy Freddy Krueger. Nancy learns that Kristen has the ability to call people into her dreams. Nancy has to convince the surviving members of the group to work together to finally take Freddy out for good.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors brings the story back to where we want it to be, we have returning characters in Nancy and her father, which does end up making most of the previous film almost pointless. This feels like the sequel the first film did deserve to have where Nancy has learnt to deal with the Freddy problem and is teaching other people how to fight him. We do get to look deeper into the Freddy origin story which I do know is too extend the story but what we learn does help with his characteristics. Sure this doesn’t live up to the original but it does bring the scares back to the level we are expecting that the second one lost. This will be considered the best sequel in the franchise too. (7/10)

Actor Review

Heather Langenkamp: Nancy Thompson is our returning heroine who has studied dream theory and has come to the hospital where she wants to help the children struggling with the nightmares that Freddy keeps appearing in. bringing Heather was a huge plus for this film because you finally get to see the effects of the first film had on her life. Heather does a good job as the one teaching people about Freddy. (7/10)

Robert Englund: Freddy Krueger continues to haunt the children of Elm Street and this time he has become stronger making the children commit suicide, but this time he comes up against an old enemy in Nancy. Robert is showing why we all love the Krueger character with another good performance here. (7/10)

Patricia Arquette: Kristen Parker is the target Freddy is after who has the ability to call people into her dreams to help fight the treat Freddy brings to her friends. Patricia showed that she was a star in the making that could easily get out of the horror genre with this performance. (7/10)

Craig Wasson: Neil Gordon is the doctor who likes to do things by the book but manages to get convinced by Nancy to think outside the box when it comes to treating the children. Craig gives a solid performance as the side solver of the problem. (6/10)

Support Cast: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors has a supporting cast that includes all the other kids in the hospital dealing with the sleeping disorder some become victims while others help in the fight.

Director Review: Chuck Russell – Chuck does a good job bring the franchise back onto the right path with this good sequel to the classic. (7/10)

Horror: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors doesn’t reach the same horror levels as the original but does bring the franchise back to the horror we would like to see. (7/10)

Settings: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors brings the horror of not being able to sleep into the world where we only see doctors trying to solve the problem rather than thinking they are just being troublesome kids. (8/10)
Special Effects: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors has some great effects with the kills and Freddy nightmare scenes. (9/10)

Suggestion: A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors is one to watch and if you only see one sequel to the original this would be the one to see. (Franchise Must Watch)

Best Part: Bringing back Nancy.

Worst Part: Makes the second film pointless.

Kill Of The Film: Phillip, easily the most memorable of the whole franchise.

Believability: No (0/10)

Chances of Tears: No (0/10)

Chances of Sequel: Franchise still going strong with number 3 here

Post Credits Scene: No

Oscar Chances: No

Box Office: $45 Million

Budget: $4.5 Million

Runtime: 1 Hour 38 Minutes

Tagline: If you think you’ll get out alive, You must be dreaming.

Trivia: First writing credit for Oscar-nominated writer/director Frank Darabont.

Overall: The best sequel in the franchise that opens the doors to all the future films.

Rating

Oct 25 2015

The Crow Week – The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005)

Director: Lance Mungia

Writer: Lance Mungia, Jeff Most, Sean Hood (Screenplay) James O’ Barr (Comic Book Characters)

Starring: Edward Furlong, David Boreanaz, Tara Reid, Emmanelle Chriqui, Danny Trejo, Dennis Hopper

Plot: On his way to becoming an immortal demon, gangleader Luc Crash (Boreanaz) orchestrates the murder of Jimmy Cuervo (Furlong) and his girlfriend, Lily (Chriqui).

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: Poorly Modernised

Story: The Crow Wicked Prayer starts by showing three men Pestilence (Okumoto), War (Chong) and Famine (Ortiz) playing a major part in a miner strike gone wrong which is just a distraction to help Luc Crash (Boreanaz) escape from county jail to continue his satanic cult along with girlfriend Lola (Reid).

Next we meet young lovers Jimmy Cuervo (Furlong) and Lilly (Chriqui) as they plan on running away together after her priest father Harold (Trejo) disapproves of their relationship. When Luc comes after the young lovers for revenge he kills them both in an act of revenge against the Indian tribe the banished them. As the films before have shown us Jimmy will return from the legend of the Crow and kill everyone responsible for his lover and his own death.

The Crow Wicked Prayer brings the Crow up against his deadliest enemy to day with the inclusion of a satanic cult. I did like the idea that the original murder is more personal which is a good change in direction. Now for the negative, the crow looks so weak and comes back way to easily with nothing pushing the return like the previous ideas with a set day. Everything ends up feeling messy building up to the final fight. This film feels different but doesn’t capture the changing ideas. (4/10)

Actor Review

Edward Furlong: Jimmy Cuervo/The Crow is the young lover who gets murdered by a gang only to return to kill everyone responsible for his death. Edward really has struggled to become the adult star his childhood movies had promised us. (4/10)

David Boreanaz: Luc Crash is the leader of the satanic cult that kills Jimmy and his lover in his quest to become immortal while driving his men with the idea that he will become Satan. David over does the villainous role in this one. (5/10)

Tara Reid: Lola Byrne is the spiritual sidekick of Luc Crash who is performing the spells to make his returns as Satan happen, she is twisted and shows this by taking Lilly‘s eyes. Tara Reid enough said. (2/10)

Support Cast: The Crow Wicked Prayer has the trademark villains and supporting roles from Danny Trejo and Dennis Hopper, wow just showing what they will turn up in.

Director Review: Lance Mungia – Lance does a not have the best direction style because it ends up feeling lost through the story. (4/10)

Fantasy: The Crow Wicked Prayer does use the legend of the Crow to bring fantasy but counteracts the idea with satanic cults. (5/10)

Settings: The Crow Wicked Prayer uses a different settings with the small town of miners that could lose their jobs for the settings. (8/10)

Suggestion: The Crow Wicked Prayer is one that the fans should watch to finish the series but otherwise it can be missed. (Fans Watch)

Best Part: The idea of the Crow versus Satan.

Worst Part: Ed Furlong doesn’t work as the Crow.

Believability: No (0/10)

Chances of Tears: No (0/10)

Chances of Sequel: Was last one.

Post Credits Scene: No

Oscar Chances: No

Runtime: 1 Hour 39 Minutes

Tagline: Passion..Revenge…Eternity.

Overall: Disappointing final nail in the coffin of the franchise.

Rating

Oct 25 2015

Halloween Kingathon – Sleepwalkers (1992) From Early Morning Horror

Early Morning Horror Reviews is written by Whorer Fan, usually within the blue hours of the morning, when everything is quiet and eerie and there is no sunshine to ruin the mood. Her reviews are short, sarcastic, and sometimes very careful to make fun of as many painful details as possible. She enjoys good-bad horror films the most, collecting Halloween costumes and items, and having theme nights. She is afraid of spiders and dummies/ marionettes. See more here

Sleepwalkers (1992)

Score: two out of five Stephen King appearances

TV Mini-Series? No (91 min)

I paid $3.99 for this on YouTube. Totally vaguely remember watching pieces of it as a kid, and am now kind of horrified, but glad I didn’t really get what was going on. And the fact that Brian Krause aka Leo from Charmed stars in this with his fluffy blond hair, did not make me feel any better. It’s about two catlike, slimy, bad werewolf make-upped creatures who stalk a beautiful teenage girl while they flee from their enemies aka real cats. (Just a warning in case you are hard into munching on your butter chicken Lays potato chips and throw on this movie… it starts off with a bunch of strung-up dead cats.) Did I mention the reason they’re stalking her is because they feed on virginal human females?! How smart and creative. If that wasn’t enough for you, there’s tones of incest! As terrible and dark as I’m making this movie sound, it’s actually kind of light and super cheesy.

Oct 25 2015

Halloween Kingathon – Sleepwalkers (1992)

Director: Mick Garris

Writer: Stephen King (Screenplay)

Starring: Brian Krause, Madchen Amick, Alice Krige, Jim Haynie, Cindy Pickett, Ron Perlman, Lyman Ward, Dan Martin, Glenn Shadix

Plot: A mother-and-son team of strange supernatural creatures move to a small town to seek out a young virgin to feed on.

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: The New Breed of Creature Feature

Story: Sleepwalkers starts when the Brady family Charles (Krause) and Mary (Krige) having gone missing when the police find the remains of a little girl in the house. The mother son have fled after feeding to a new small town to continue their lives with a twist.

In the new town Charles has to find his mother someone new to feed on and his targeting Tanya (Amick) but until this chance comes for Mary to feed again. We learn just what Charles is during a police chance as he has the ability to shape-shift while cats prove to be their mortal enemies. When the latest search for food goes wrong the Sleepwalkers find themselves fighting for their chance to survive.

Sleepwalkers brings us into a world where we follow the villainous creatures that we only learn about as the story unfolds. They are a dying breed so we get left trying to sympathise with their battle. The story keeps things simple and tries to move the idea of previous films like ‘The Lost Boys’ to another level. I do feel there are negatives about this though, I would say Charles could have a much more efficient way of collecting his victims which would be a lot less risky and the idea that cats are the only weaknesses of the Sleepwalkers seems slightly cliché. When it comes to just creature feature film this is solid enough story. (6/10)

Actor Review

Brian Krause: Charles Brady is the high school aged boy that has to help lure the latest victims for his mother Mary, but when he meets and Tanya he has to find a way to bring her back without giving away his plan. Brian looks slightly too old for this role and ends up making everything feel slightly awkward. (6/10)

Madchen Amick: Tanya Robertson is the high school girl that Charles has targeted to help feed his mother, she takes an instant shine to Charles but has no idea what she has got herself into. Madchen gives us a good damsel in distress performance. (7/10)

Alice Krige: Mary Brady is Charles mother who is desperate to feed but can’t hunt leaving the hunting to Charles even though she is starving waiting for her next meal. Alice is the star of the film showing just how far her character will go. (7/10)

Support Cast: Sleepwalkers has a very generic supporting cast that Ron Perlman’s cameo like performance is one of the highlights.

Director Review: Mick Garris – Mick gives us a good horror film that isn’t going to be a mega highlight of King’s work but will always be a good different film. (7/10)

Horror: Sleepwalkers fills the horror check list, while it isn’t scary it uses the elements of horror well. (7/10)

Settings: Sleepwalkers brings the story to a small town, where the characters can get away with their actions easier. (7/10)
Special Effects: Sleepwalkers has god special effects with the transformations process. (7/10)