Horror Corner: “The Last House on the Left”

Horror Corner 2010 #5

The Last House on the Left, 1972

In this cult horror favorite from twisted writer-director Wes Craven, a pair of repulsive, sadistic escaped convicts kidnap, rape, torture and murder two teenage girls — but the criminals have picked the wrong teens to victimize. One of the girls’ parents, not content with turning to the law, set out to exact an equally brutal revenge on the vicious murderers, who are hiding out in the family’s home. (Netflix)

Watch the trailer here

Carter’s Take: Until the teenage girls are actually kidnapped, The Last House on the Left feels like non-sex scenes from a 70′s porno edited together, complete with corny jokes, perplexing musical choices, bad acting and a silly premise. Perhaps it was an artistic choice by Wes Craven to start the film this way but most likely it was because The Last House on the Left was originally conceived of as hardcore porno, a fact I only learned of after watching the film. Once Mari and Phyllis are kidnapped there is plenty of shocking ultra-violence perpetrated by some truly rape-happy, sadistic creeps but the lingering effects of the laughable beginning along with the ongoing gag of the hapless Sheriff make it seem much more gratuitous and off-putting than actually scary. There would have been some palatable tension while the murderous gang is hiding out in the family’s house if it wasn’t undermined by the stupid convenience of their car breaking down outside in the first place. From there, The Last House on the Left turns into a bloody and gruesome revenge story that overshadows the rest of the film but is far from compelling due to a lack of character development. Overall, The Last House on the Left is for hardcore horror buffs only.

Tricia’s Take: Enjoy the viewing pleasures of inserting your own voice-over comedy throughout a film from time to time? The Last House on the Left seems to be made just for this purpose. Although at the time of its release in 1972 this was far from the truth. Wes Craven’s first film introduced audiences to a new form of sadistic violence and documentary style camera work that drew in audiences due to its sheer shock factor. But the film has definitely not stood the test of time. The Last House on the Left remains an important step in horror film history but as a stand alone flick in the desensitized 21st Century, it simply leaves you laughing. But hey, sometimes that’s just what you need.

Horror Corner: “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer”

Horror Corner 2010 #4

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (filmed in 1986, released in 1990)

Serial killer Henry serves as mentor to dim-witted fellow killer Otis and as the object of his sister’s affections. Trouble is, Henry’s heart is too hard for friendship to penetrate. The film was loosely based on the story of confessed murderer Henry Lee Lucas. (Netflix)

Carter’s Take: Henry is everything a good horror film should be – powerful, raw, terrifying, and shocking. Director John McNaughton does a masterful job on a shoe-string budget, taking you into not only the mind of a serial killer but into the world of fringe society, where people come from nothing and expect nothing from the future. It’s not just the violence, both implied and portrayed, or Henry’s calculating and detached demeanor that make this film so nightmarish, but the stark realism of the life depicted – from rundown apartments, dive bars, and the wet streets of Chicago to rusted out cars, dreary clothing and even Otis’ teeth. Henry reaches into the emotional depth and development of the main characters, in particular Henry, reminding us that monsters are rarely born and too often created, a thought far scarier than anything a slasher flick has to offer. This film also has some interesting parallels to Dexter worth noting for all you fans out there.

Tricia’s Take: Sometimes you just need a film that makes you feel weird – or at least I do. Henry is David Lynch, John Waters and Russ Meyer all in one without even trying. And the scary thing is, this is real, right? The genius of a great cult film is its ability to take you so deeply inside a world you never knew existed that you’re dying to leave, but you just can’t turn away. Taken at face value, Henry is what it claims to be – a portrait of a serial killer – but upon deeper analysis the film forces you to consider the nature of human beings, that of its characters and you as the viewer. Henry was shot in just 28 days with only $110,000, a testament to the creative power that can be revealed through limitation. Learn more about Henry via Wikipedia.

Horror Corner: “The Descent”

Horror Corner 2010 #3:

The Descent, 2005

One year after a tragic accident, six girlfriends meet in a remote part of the Appalachians for their annual extreme outdoor adventure, in this case the exploration of a cave hidden deep in the woods. Far below the surface of the earth, disaster strikes, and there’s no way out. The group splinters and each woman pushes on, praying for another exit. But there is something else lurking under the earth. As the friends realize they are now prey, they are forced to unleash their most primal instincts in an all-out war against an unspeakable horror – one that attacks without warning, again and again and again.

Tricia’s Take:The Descent may be the first scary movie in which I was never actually scared. From the start, the plot seemed to lack pertinent information (and not in a purposeful, the-details-will-be-answered-in-due-time sort of way) and the characters came off as so unrelatable I was actually annoyed with them throughout the film rather than rooting for their escape. Perhaps I jumped a few times at the cave dwelling monsters and my claustrophobia kicked in when the ladies had to crawl through some small spaces, but in the end I was left with no scary afterthoughts – not planning on spelunking in an uncharted cave with my girlfriends any time soon, so I think I’m safe.

Carter’s Take: The beginning of The Descent – the tragic accident – starts off the movie just about the same as The Changeling. The film then moves from stealing plot lines of The Changeling to Deliverance, as the female spelunkers (many of whom have terrible quasi-Scottish accents) prepare for for their adventure in the creepy Appalachians. Once inside the cave The Descent becomes an increasingly stupid affair that plays into several horror movie cliches, from the fatal mistake of leaving behind a guidebook to the close encounters with the cave dwelling flesh eaters who were an unoriginal cross between an Orc from Lord of the Rings and Lord Voldemort. By the last third of the movie I was actually rooting for the monsters to kill the stupid spelunkers as they blindly traveled through some very un-cave-like looking caves. The Descent could have been better had it used the psychologically fragile state of the main character and her dynamic with frienenmy Juno to lead the story in a more ambiguous direction, but alas it was just another ineffectual monster movie.

Watch the trailer here

Horror Corner: “Cube”

For our second installment of Horror Corner 2010 we present Cube. Read about the origins of Horror Corner and our first film review for The Changeling here.

Cube, 1997

Six different people, each from a very different walk of life, awaken to find themselves inside a giant cube with thousands of possible rooms. Each has a skill that becomes clear when they must band together to get out: a cop, a math whiz, a building designer, a doctor, an escape master, and a disabled man. Each plays a part in their thrilling quest to find answers as to why they’ve been imprisoned. (IMDB)

Tricia’s Take: I had seen this film originally around the time of its DVD release, at the height of the psychological thriller (The Matrix, Pi, Memento, Seven, Fight Club, Donnie Darko). As a high schooler, I don’t think I was too adept at – or too concerned with – deciphering the theories and philosophies touched upon in the film, so seeing it for the second time was just like new (which is actually not an experience I’m too unfamiliar with, as I have a terrible memory). This is not a flashy jump out at you scary movie, but the implications of governmental conspiracy – or lack thereof – are definitely frightening and left me a little afraid to fall asleep, the thought of waking up in the cube still lingering in my mind.

Carter’s Take: While at times tedious due to played out character types, a small indie budget and lackluster acting, Cube was still a cerebral sci-fi/horror thriller with plenty to offer in the way of insights into human nature. As Tricia said it won’t startle you in the way a creature feature might but the psychological effects of locking conflicting personalities in a stressful situation is far scarier than any fictional monster. There is some well-executed gore thanks to lethal booby traps, but Cube ultimately relies on the menacing high tech environment, claustrophobic vibe, unanswered questions and your own internal philosophical debate to achieve its chills that both sci-fi and horror fans will be pleased with.

Horror Corner: “The Changeling”

Here at The Rathaus, we, as in Tricia and Carter, have an admittedly geeky tradition – for the entire month of October, just to set mood for Halloween, we regularly watch a horror film at least one of us (usually Tricia) has never seen before. Over the past few years we’ve made it through most of the mainstream must-see horror films – like Friday the 13th, Halloween, The Exorcist, Hellraiser, An American Werewolf in London, The Thing, Rosemary’s Baby, The Wicker Man, Silence of the Lambs and The Shining – and have now moved on to examining the lesser known gems of a very diverse genre.

And because Tricia is a verifiable scaredy cat – incapable of watching a horror movie of any kind without hiding her eyes at least once – and Carter is grizzled veteran of the grotesque – who’s seen Audition more than once and has watched parts of Men Behind the Sun – our reviews will be a solid assessment of just how frightening each film is. So in hopes of introducing all of you to some spine-chilling, blood-curling and maybe even scream-worthy movies over the next month, we present the first installment our horror film extravaganza 2010. Feel free to leave us any suggestions in the comments section or through our twitter and facebook.

First up, The Changeling, 1980

It was the perfect family vacation for composer John Russell (George C. Scott) and his family when a freak automobile accident claims the lives of his wife and daughter. Consumed by grief, John, at the request of friends, rents an old turn of the century house. Mammoth in size, the house seems all the room that John needs to write music and reflect. He does not realize that he is not alone in the house. He shares it with the spirit of a murdered child who has homed in on John’s despair and uses him to uncover decades of silence and deceit. With the help of Claire Norman, the one who aided John in procuring the house, they race to find the answers and soon learn that a devious and very powerful man guards them.(IMDB)

Watch the trailer here

Carter’s take: George C. Scott delivers a solid performance as John Russell in this haunted house thriller. The first half of the movie uses many of the conventions you might expect in this type of horror film – creepy noises, plenty of gloomy passageways and some eerie references to Russell’s dead child – none of which were particularly effective for me. Only after Russell participates in a seance with a spooky medium are the scares, intrigue and action finally ramped up. But even at its peak The Changeling never had my pulse racing and the ending was far too predictable. There were some interesting visuals of the ghost that horror buffs might find interesting because of the similarities to The Ring.

Tricia’s take: This was our first scary movie of the season so I was of course scared out of my wits. I’m totally into 1980 right now (fashion, film, etc) so when Carter presented me with the list of horror flicks to choose from, I jumped on The Changeling because I figured it would be quite a bit more campy, and therefore less scary, than the rest. I’ll admit some of the action did look a bit cheesy, but that did not detract me from believing in the ghost of the murdered child. And although I laid in bed quite a while that night listening for any out of the ordinary sounds, I’d have to agree with Carter, it wasn’t that scary as most of what has stuck with me from the film was the fashion (definitely a good reference point for some fall fashion inspiration, and I die for Claire’s winter hat).