187) House of Usher (1960)

"For hundreds of years, foul thoughts and deeds have been committed within these halls."

Director

Roger Corman

Cast

Vincent Price - Roderick Usher

Mark Damon - Philip Winthrop

Myrna Fahey - Madeline Usher

Harry Ellerbe - Bristol

Roger Corman, "The King of the Cult Film" and "The Pope of Pop Cinema," has a string of period movies based on the macabre works of Edgar Allen Poe.

The first is "House of Usher" (1960) based on Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher." It's followed by "The Pit and the Pendulum" (1961), "Premature Burial" (1962), "Tales of Terror" (1962), "The Raven" (1963), "The Haunted Palace" (1963), "Masque of the Red Death" (1964), and "The Tomb of Ligeia" (1964). All of these films except "Premature Burial" stars horror icon Vincent Price. 

It's worth mentioning that there's a few odd balls in this mix. To begin with "The Haunted Palace" is actually based on H.P. Lovecraft's novella, "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward." The title belongs to Poe. 

The 1968 British horror film, "The Witchfinder General," directed by Michael Reeves and starring Vincent Price, is based on Ronald Bassett's 1966 novel. When it was released in the U.S. by American International Pictures, it was retitled "The Conqueror Worm" in order to connect it to Corman's Poe films. 

Also, Corman's 1963 movie "The Terror" staring Boris Karloff and a very young Jack Nicholson tends to be linked to his Poe films though it's not based on anything Poe has written. Corman himself explains the reason why this is so. In his memoirs, he says, "I was getting so familiar with the standard elements of Poe's material – or at least our adaptations – that I tried to out-Poe himself and create a Gothic tale from scratch." (Corman, 88). 

So, now I'm on another cinematic horror mission like my watching all the "Psycho" movies. I want to get through all these Poe films in chronological order. The challenge is finding them all. I've had them on my radar for a few years. And I happened to find a copy of "House of Usher" at the library. I'll likely include the oddball films as well because, why not. When I go for something, I want to go all in.

In this movie, Mark Damon plays Philip Winthrop who arrives unannounced to the isolated Usher mansion. He's there to visit his fiancé Madeline (Myrna Fahey). But her disappointed older brother Roderick (Vincent Price) doesn't great him very warmly. In fact, he doesn't want Philip there at all and would prefer he leave Madeline altogether. 

Vincent Price and Myrna Fahey in "House of Usher."

"For hundreds of years, foul thoughts and deeds have been committed within these halls," he tells Philip.

So, naturally Philip and Roderick take a disliking to each other. 

Philip's efforts are focused on trying to take Madeline away from the dreary and foreboding walls of the House of Usher. 

Despite Roderick's protests against the two marrying, Philip intends to marry her despite him. 

Roderick tries to convince Philip that he and Madeline both suffer from an inherited madness that's unique to the Usher lineage. As Madeline is very sick, he tells Philip she doesn't have long to live. But Philip refuses to leave and call off his engagement.

Strange noises echo throughout the halls at odd hours. 

Philip turns to the butler, Bristol (Harry Ellerbe), about these noises. He tells Philip that they're the result of a fissure that has existed in walls for decades. 

As the days carry on, and Philip refuses to leave, strange "accidents" begin occurring around him. He's almost killed as a result of some of these strange accidents. 

One of these accidents happen when Madeline is showing him the family crypt underneath the mansion. 

He's almost hit by a flying coffin, which causes Madeline to faint. 

Later, Philip goes to check on Madeline who has been resting in her room after fainting, and finds her sprawled across the bed, seemingly dead of a heart attack.

Roderick quickly has her placed in a coffin to be buried in a plot reserved for her in the family crypt. He wants her to be immediately buried. 

The following morning, Bristol tells Philip that Madeline used to have cataleptic fits. This means she's buried alive. He goes straight to Roderick about. And he admits to it. 

Roderick claims he allowed her to be buried out of love of his sister, and to ensure the tainted Usher blood won't spread to future generations. When he tries to go save her, Roderick assures him that by this time, she's surely dead. 

That night, Philip sneaks to the crypt only to find a trail of blood along the floor leading to a hidden passage. 

Madeline somehow managed to break out of her coffin and escape to somewhere inside the house. 

When Philip finds her, she has gone insane and attacks him. 

He gets the upper hand and tries to shake her back to some level of sanity. 

But she runs off to find her brother. 

Myrna Fahey and Mark Damon.

A violent storm erupts outside, causing the fissures to start splitting the house. 

Philip watches in helpless horror as Madeline attacks Roderick while the house crumbles to pieces. There's nothing Philip can do but watch as beams fall and kill Roderick and Madeline instantly.

Bristol finds Philip and drags him to safety outside before running back into the house which has now caught fire. 

Within minutes, the house burns and sinks into the ground until it's no more. 

Poe has some sort of interest in premature burial. His other stories "Premature Burial," "Berenice," "Black Cat," and "The Cask of Amontillado" have situations in which someone is buried alive. 

In this movie, the audience witnesses the scenario of being buried alive affect those around the victim. 

Everything from the atmosphere, mood, artwork, music direction and acting, especially from Price, fit so well together in this spectacle of a horror film. 

I don't like to quote other critics often, but "Variety" stated it best at the time when it wrote, "In having taken several liberties with the original, the release may aggravate Poe purists and scholars, but the shrewd alterations, since they pursue a romantic course, should prove popular with the bulk of modern audiences. It is a film that should attract mature tastes as well as those who come to cinema for sheer thrills." 

I have a soft spot for period horror pieces like "House of Usher." 

As Corman is known for producing low-budget movies, "House of Usher" doesn't feel like a low-budget picture. It's quite a spectacle despite having a small handful of performers, one being the legendary Vincent Price. 

In fact, it has a solid script, great performances from respectable actors, and a shooting schedule that took several weeks. 

This is such a lavish and well assembled movie. It reminds me a bit of the Hammer Horror productions such as the 1958 film "Dracula" starring Christopher Lee. 

Corman keeps the film truly rich and ornate yet simple with just four actors in the cast. Though he's resourceful, Corman takes everything he can get out of what he has. Every last little drop! 

And Vincent Price, as always, gives everything in his masterful performance. Price never seems to hold back in his films. "House of Usher" is certainly no exception. I love watching him as he delivers each line so meticulously and carefully, ensuring that his deliverance properly fits and supports the scene and the mood. 

Corman's film maintains a steady pace that doesn't drag nor speed up. There's no dull moment. 

It grows more and more suspenseful as trepidation slowly climbs until the final act. I honestly can't wait to get to the rest of Corman's Poe films. 

Death and despair fill the house. Only that which has life and hope can escape it. I can't say how close or loose the movie is compared with Poe's story. But the themes of family, madness, and isolation are certainly well maintained.

There's good reason why this movie was listed on the U.S. National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." 

186) Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) - NEW TO HORROR

"Golden years!"

Director

Gil Kenan

Cast
Paul Rudd - Gary Grooberson
Carrie Coon - Callie Spengler
Finn Wolfhard - Trevor Spengler
Mckenna Grace - Phoebe Spengler
Kumail Nanjiani - Nadeem Razmaadi
Patton Oswalt - Dr. Hubert Wartzki
Celeste O'Connor - Lucky Domingo
Logan Kim - Podcast
Emily Alyn Lind - Melody
James Acaster - Dr. Lars Pinfield
Bill Murray - Dr. Peter Venkman
Dan Aykroyd - Dr. Ray Stantz
Ernie Hudson - Winston Zeddemore
Annie Potts - Janine Melnitz
William Atherton - Walter Peck

👻  Minor spoilers ahead!  👻

In my other blog, dontfastforward.blogspot.com, I occasionally post commentary I call "My thoughts real quick."

In these posts, I simply slap my thoughts down about movies without going into much detail about the story. I try to keep them short, but I don't always succeed. 

This post is going to be something like that. These are my quick thoughts about the newly released "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire."

It's the fourth movie in the Ghostbusters line-up. I admit that I'm a little biased since I consider myself a "Ghost-head." Even so, I have mixed feelings about this new movie.

The story pulled me in right from the beginning with the introductory back story.  

I initially anticipated a ton of call-backs and cameos. There was a little of that, but not as many as I thought there'd be. There was a lot of nods to the first and second Ghostbusters movies scattered throughout. 

The cameos are scarce outside of the original Ghostbusters along with William Atherton as Walter Peck as seen in the trailer. I had a few characters from parts one and two I was hoping to see, but maybe that's for the better. The movie doesn't then rely too much on stuff from the first two movies. It's an original story with new characters making the picture not heavily dependent on the original film.  

The story feels like an episode from "The Real Ghostbusters" cartoon and does carry a bit of the original movie's feel. The entire flow of the story seemed like something I would have seen in the animated series.

While the film is entertaining, it's full of plot points that take up too much space. I wanted to see more ghost busting, especially from the original crew.  

There's some busting, but not much. Instead, there's a lot more talking, explaining, and jumping between plot points.

The final climax is where the movie delivers the most.  

Some of the characters are rather useless, especially Finn Wolfhard's character, Trevor. But at least his character makes sense. He's a Spengler so obviously he'd be in New York City with his family. 

Celeste O'Connor's character, Lucky, is completely useless. She's Trevor's love interest in the previous movie, "Ghostbusters: Afterlife." In this movie, whatever purpose she has is completely forced. She's just there because she was in the last movie, and adds nothing at all to the movie save for filling in one extra ghostbuster jumpsuit. 

The same is goes for Logan Kim's character, Podcast. He does add a little comic relief, but he wouldn't be missed if he wasn't a part of this. 

Kumail Nanjiani's character and purpose, Nadeem Razmaadi, is clearly a play on the Gatekeeper and Keymaster from the original movie and repeated in "Ghostbusters: Afterlife." In this case, it's flipped around. He's meant to conquer the evil rather than channel it into our world. Nanjiani's comedy would fit in well as a Ghostbuster alongside Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, and Dan Aykroyd. 

He has just enough chemistry with the original Ghostbusters, especially with Bill Murray who reprises his role as Peter Venkman. Nanjiani and Dan Aykroyd (Ray Stantz) seem to be having the most fun in their roles. Everyone else for the most part seem to be acting on repeat. In other words, much of the cast could use a little more enthusiasm. 

Still, I suppose after playing the same role for the fourth time, that enthusiasm tends to fade. 

William Atherton returns as Walter Peck from the original, though now in a new political capacity. His concerns about 15-year-old Phoebe carrying a proton pack and catching ghosts are legit, but his animosity towards the Ghostbusters now seems unwarranted. It's as though he still holds a grudge because of how he was treated nearly 40 years ago. With the events of "Ghostbusters" and "Ghostbusters 2" referenced in this new movie, it doesn't make sense that he still thinks they're frauds. But he's an antagonist and those antagonists just keep on antagonizing.

What makes the original "Ghostbusters" movie a brilliant comedy is that the four scientists who go into business for themselves as paranormal eliminators really have no idea what they're doing. It's like a Marx Brothers movie. And, yet they figure out how to save New York City in such an outlandish way. 

The same is pretty much true here, but to a lesser degree. In this story, Winston (Ernie Hudson) as established a paranormal research center with a bigger containment unit, testing area, and the ability to observe and study ghosts. 

They can also extract paranormal entities from possessed objects. When they're up against an evil godlike entity named Garakka who's turning New York City into a frozen hellscape, all the cast (the new and the old ghostbusters) aren't sure what to do outside of shooting their proton packs at it. It's Phoebe Spengler, played wonderfully yet again by McKenna Grace, who has the tools and the talent.

I appreciate how the final act isn't long winded. Garakka doesn't show up and freeze over New York until more than half way through the movie. Then again, Gozer didn't show up in the original movie until the final act. Like the first movie, all the events buildup to the coming of Gozer.

The setup and resolution is styled really similar to the original "Ghostbusters." And it works the second time around. Instead of "Spook Central" being the conduit or portal, it's a brass orb with Garakka trapped inside. And the "Fire Master," as it's referred to in the movie, is the good guy who fights the icy monster. In that regard, this movie has the feel of a Ghostbusters movie. Or, it's just retooling those old elements that worked the first time, and hoping they can still deliver to new audiences under a different look.   

I thought the movie would start preaching about climate change and all that. Thankfully, it didn't go anywhere near that topic. I also hoped it would be a family-friendly flick, which it is. 

While "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" is a tool to set the Ghostbusters back up with new content, characters, and adventures, "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" comes up with something new. 

"Afterlife" takes its time setting up a scenario and placing its elements where they need to be, "Frozen Empire" is constantly on the move with all its various subplots to keep the audience engaged despite the exposition.  

I got some much-needed laughs from the movie and walked out of the theater happy overall. Again, maybe I'm a little biased.

The movie doesn't overstay its welcome. It feels like it plays out in right amount of time. 

I think "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" deserves another view. But, as much as it pains me to say, I think it's time for the original Ghostbusters to retire. Their best days are behind them. If any new movies come about in the future, the business needs to be completely handed over to a new crew. 

185) Thanksgiving (2023)

"There will be no leftovers this year."

Director

Eli Roth 

Cast
Patrick Dempsey - Sheriff Eric Newlon
Nell Verlaque - Jessica
Addison Rae - Gaby
Jalen Thomas Brooks - Bobby
Milo Manheim - Ryan
Tomaso Sanelli - Evan
Gabriel Davenport - Scuba
Jenna Warren - Yulia
Ty Victor Olsson - Mitch Collins
Rick Hoffman - Thomas Wright
Gina Gershon - Amanda Collins

I don't know if it's me, or if there has recently been a kind of campy holiday horror movie Renaissance. By holiday, I mean all holidays. 

Titles like "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey," and "The Mean One" (a horror take on "How the Grinch Stole Christmas") have come out recently. There's has been recent talk of a horror movie called, "Mickey's Mouse Trap" now that early Mickey Mouse cartoons have become public domain. 

The 2024 turkey day horror movie, "Thanksgiving" can be counted among recent cheesy flicks. 

I can't talk about "Thanksgiving" without tossing out references to older horror movies centered around common holidays. Christmas, for instance, is constantly the theme to so many horror movies such as "Black Christmas" (1974), "Silent Night, Deadly Night" (1984), "Better Watch Out" (2017), and one of my personal favorites, "Violent Night" (2022). It's a holiday that always seems to be in need of saving. 

Christmas isn't the only victim of bad horror movies. There are so many others themed on random holidays like "New Year's Evil" 1980), "Terror Train" (1980), "April Fool's Day" (1986), "Trick or Treats" (1982), "Bloody Birthday" (1981), "Uncle Sam" (1996), "Easter Bunny, Kill! Kill!" (2006) …the list is enormous. And let's not forget all the "Leprechaun" movies since we just celebrated St. Patrick's Day. Yeah, I covered all those already. On second thought, let's definitely forget those. 

"Thanksgiving" is a movie where customs and tradition goes head-to-head greed in the form of modern consumerism. 

It's Thanksgiving in the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. A raging, vulgar, greedy mob has gathered outside of the town's RightMart for Black Friday sales. 

Jessica Wright's (Nell Verlaque) dad, Thomas (Rick Hoffman) is the owner of RightMart. And he lets her, along with her friends, inside the store through a side door before the crowd is let in. This makes the crowd rage even more.

When the doors finally open, the fuming crowd push their way in causing multiple injuries, and the deaths of a few people. Amanda Collins (Gina Gershon),
the wife of RightMart's store manager, Mitch (Ty Victor Olsson) is one of the victims of the ruthless shoppers. 

The majority of the crowd only care about getting their discounted items before someone else. Plymouth is now tarnished by this event. 

One year later, Thomas is going to open RightMart on Thanksgiving Day for Black Friday, which sparks protests because of what happened the year before. Mitch is one of those protesting.
Jessica's old boyfriend, Bobby (Jalen Thomas Brooks), returns to Plymouth which arouses some jealousy with her current boyfriend, Ryan (Milo Manheim).

Meanwhile, Lizzie, who was in that RightMart crowd the year before, and as vulgar and unruly as ever, is working as a waitress in a diner. 

As she closes for the night, an anonymous figure wearing a mask of John Carver (one of the founders of the Plymouth colony) murders her. 

Soon after, other people around Plymouth who were involved in the Black Friday riot are killed off one by one. 
Sheriff Eric Newlon (Patrick Dempsey) is putting in as much effort and manpower as he can to catch this killer who's targeting everyone involved in that Black Friday riot. 

Jessica helps as much as she can to bring this killer down. Soon, the murderer goes after those closest to her. 

The movie is full of gore and splatter, and corny one-liners such as "If we let the police handle it, we're all going to end up 50% off." And that's followed by more blood and guts! 

By the end, well... I should have seen the end coming. 

In one scene, Sheriff Newlon tells Jessica, "Be careful who you trust, because this is a matter of life and death." What a giveaway! And it went right over my head. 

The movie is pretty much formulaic. There's a sadistic masked killer out for revenge. And it's a race against the clock for police to catch him before he strikes again. 

Still, it's entertaining enough for being a good ol' fashioned slasher flick. 

Director Eli Roth has directed some popular horror titles like "Hostel," "Hostel: Part II" and "Cabin Fever." He does a decent job with "Thanksgiving." It's clear Roth is a horror fan! He knows how to make an audience cringe and cover their eyes. His talent for making gritty Friday night, creature feature horror movies is ever present in "Thanksgiving." It's a fun and unique Thanksgiving Day horror feast.