Filmstruck Friday: After Hours (1985)

I didn't love After Hours when I first saw it. I think I was almost twenty, I didn't really get the tone of the film, and I loved it more for the fact that Scorsese directed it than the content of the film itself.  It's a spiralling nightmare that can make it hard to find the comedy until you are in a position to identify more with the central character, which is why I like it a lot more today.

You see, as much as I hate to say it, I have now had episodes that come close to the feeling I get while watching After Hours. I've had nights that have gone from bad to worse, as I make numerous unwise decisions to stay in the company of an attractive woman who was also a bit . . . whacky. I've had nights when I have lost my money and had a hell of a long journey home ahead of me. And I've had nights when the fun has stopped but I have somehow found myself somewhere, or in the company of someone, that feels quite dangerous. Treading carefully while drunk is always harder than doing so while sober.

But let's get to the film. Griffin Dunne plays Paul, a man who ends up out later than intended after he meets the lovely Marcy (Rosanna Arquette). One thing leads to another and Paul eventually finds himself in the company of an artist (Linda Fiorentino), a lonely and sad bar worker (Teri Garr), and, eventually, another artist (Verna Bloom). That's not to mention his temporary state of poverty, a suicide, a surprisingly helpful barman (John Heard), and a woman who seems to want to help him while simultaneously testing his last nerve at the same time (Catherine O'Hara).

Part of the pleasure of watching After Hours, and why I enjoyed it enough before identifying more with Dunne's character, is seeing this material handled by Scorsese. It has a number of his familiar directorial flourishes, a typically eclectic soundtrack, and benefits from his ability to make some of the darkest moments still seem entertaining. This is a film in which a man finds the corpse of someone who has committed suicide and then has to stick up signs pointing towards the dead body as he leaves the scene, after calling to inform the police.

The script by Joseph Minion helps a lot, bringing in plenty of memorable characters and plot elements that plague our lead more than once. Although the general feeling is one of chaos and madness, the script is very tightly put together, slotting various pieces together expertly and leading to an insane final sequence that serves as a brilliant punchline to the proceedings.

Dunne is wonderful in his role, but he's not left with the whole film on his shoulders. Everyone I have already mentioned above does great work. Many are absolutely right for their roles, but O'Hara and Garr are the real standouts. You also get fun cameos for Will Patton, Cheech Marin, and Tommy Chong.

If, like myself, you last watched After Hours before you recognised exactly how those nights can occur then I encourage you to give it a rewatch. Despite the title, this is not a film just about a late night out. It's about a state of mind.

8/10

I recommend buying this set.
Americans can get it here.

April Fools: Trail Of The Screaming Forehead (2007)

Apparently, writer-director Larry Blamire has been churning out a number of enjoyable comedies lovingly spoofing b-movies from the '50s and '60s for a few years now. On the recommendation of a friend, Trail Of The Screaming Forehead was the first one that I finally decided to check out. I'm glad I did. While it's not a great film, because a number of the jokes are overused and many moments are just a bit TOO ridiculous, it is an amusing one, and it manages to skirt close enough to the feel and style of the movies that it's paying tribute to.

Here's the basic, silly, premise. A small, American town is invaded by alien foreheads. Yes, crawling foreheads that plant themselves over human foreheads and end up controlling their human hosts. This happens, coincidentally, at the same time as Dr. Sheila Bexter (Fay Masterson) is conducting her ground-breaking research on foreheads, in an attempt to show that it's the forehead, and not the brain, that houses our intelligence.

Ridiculous? Oh, indeed. But also very funny, if watched in the right frame of mind. The movie revels in a mix of lame gags, all-too-familiar moments that seemed to be present in every film of this type, and daffy special effects created on a low budget.

Blamire may not get everything perfect, but he does a great job of ticking plenty of boxes. Theme song using the title of the movie? Check. Newcomers in town stumbling on to the bad situation? Check. Scientists taking their work too far? Check. Dick Miller? Check. Disbelieving local police? Check. A potential solution to the problem that seems very silly, but also seems to make sense? You may have guessed by now, but . . . . . . check.

The cast are all being deliberately awkward and (slightly) wooden, but they all do a great job with the material. Hmmm, I MEAN that as a compliment, honestly, even if it doesn't seem like it. Daniel Roebuck may be the most familiar to viewers (not counting Dick Miller, James Karen and a fine actor who makes a cameo appearance at the very end of the film), but Brian Howe, Dan Conroy and Alison Martin are the main trio trying to keep the foreheads at bay. Masterson is great as the scientist, Andrew Parks raises numerous laughs as the fellow scientist who agrees to be her guinea pig, H. M. Wynant is great in every scene he gets, and Jennifer Blaire is suitably hard-nosed with a touch of sexy in the role of Droxy Chappelle.

If the title is enough to put you off then don't watch it, it's as simple as that. Give it a chance, however, and you may find that there are a lot of plus points throughout the never-ending silliness.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trail-Screaming-Forehead-Directors-Cut/dp/B004N5UTUO/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1397839879&sr=1-1&keywords=trail+of+the+screaming+forehead

Night Of The Creeps (1986)

The 80s were good for Fred Dekker, the writer-director behind both this movie and, the much-loved, The Monster Squad. Those two movies garnered him a loyal fan-base for life, and rightly so.

Night Of The Creeps is all about little, parasitic aliens that take over human bodies and turn them into deadly zombies. This is a big pain in the backside for Chris (Jason Lively), who is finally getting a chance to woo Cynthia (Jill Whitlow), a girl he has fallen in love with. With gruff Detective Cameron (Tom Atkins) trying to figure out what's going on as bodies start to, apparently, wander off on their own it's not long until the living have to band together to keep the living dead at bay.

A cross between '50s sci-fi B-movie, teen comedy and zombie flick, Night Of The Creeps really does remain a hugely enjoyable little film that should be seen and appreciated by as many genre fans as possible. A lot of the movie may be wish-fulfilment stuff usually delivered by John Hughes back in the '80s, but that doesn't detract from the overall enjoyment.

Tom Atkins has never been more fun (his "thrill me" answering of the telephone just one small, enjoyable nuance from a selection of many), the rest of the young stars are good enough (Steve Marshall as the best buddy, J.C., strikes just the right balance between confident and irritating) and Jill Whitlow's character is easy enough to grow fond of, making the lengths that Chris will go to to keep her safe all the more believable. Allan Kayser is an easy-to-hate douchebag named Brad, and there's also a nice little Dick Miller cameo for fans to watch out for.

With a sharp script, many wonderful, individual moments and pacing that perfectly delivers a number of little, eerie moments before building up to an all-out battle of a finale, the movie delivers just the right mix of fun, thrills and overall entertainment. Fans of sci-fi and horror will enjoy the fact that all of the main characters are named after the likes of Raimi, Carpenter, Cronenberg, etc and the more eagle-eyed viewers should easily spot a piece of graffiti exclaiming "GO MONSTER SQUAD".

It's not perfect though, by any means. What are the main flaws? Well, there aren't many scenes that are actually tense, even when things are supposed to be getting that way, and the last ten minutes or so are a bit of a let-down compared to the fun had beforehand. Despite those things, this remains the best parasitic, zombie-creating, alien horror comedy ever made. Yep, it's still better than Slither.

8/10

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Looney Tunes: Back In Action (2003)

Back when Looney Tunes: Back In Action was released in cinemas I recall a sense of mild disappointment. I was one of those people acting mildly disappointed. Rewatching the movie recently, I have no idea a) why most people were so disappointed and b) why I felt the same way as most people. Looney Tunes: Back In Action is a glorious, demented mix of live action and animation, directed by Joe Dante, that stands proudly as exactly what it was meant to be: the anti-Space Jam.

The plot starts off with Daffy Duck being kicked off the Warner Bros. studio lot after he decides that he's had enough of always losing out to that damn Bugs Bunny. Daffy ends up causing a security guard, DJ Drake (Brendan Fraser), to lose his job. He continues to be a pain in the backside, even as DJ finds out that his father, Damien Drake (Timothy Dalton), is in some serious trouble. It turns out that Damien Drake isn't just an actor who played a legendary spy in movies . . . . . . . he's actually a bit of a legendary spy in real life. Daffy and DJ head off on a journey to save pops, while Bugs and a studios exec named Kate (Jenna Elfman) head off to catch Daffy and get him back where he belongs. Everyone is, of course, now at risk from the dreaded ACME Corporation (headed up by Steve Martin).

Written by Larry Doyle, this is a gag-packed, reference-packed, rip-roaring ride through a world populated by some of the best characters to ever appear in animated form (I'll always take a classic Looney Tunes cartoon over a Disney short). You get Bugs, Daffy, Yosemite Sam, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Michigan J. Frog, Foghorn Leghorn, Wile E. Coyote, Marvin The Martian and many more. Think of it as Who Framed Bugs Bunny and you're close. It also features some great cameos, as you'd expect in a Joe Dante movie, from classic sci-fi beasties of yesteryear.

Leading man Fraser proves once again that he's really one of the best in the biz at acting with not much around him. The blend of animation and live action isn't perfect, but it's certainly amongst the very best that you'll ever see, in my opinion. Some of the animated characters display better acting skills than Jenna Elfman anyway, who is someone I have never warmed to (her success always astounded me). Steve Martin has a lot of fun, Dalton is wonderful, Joan Cusack has a few minutes alongside a veritable "greatest hits" selection of aliens. Bill Goldberg is a suitably intimidating henchman, Heather Locklear struts her stuff as Dusty Tails and genre fans will take great pleasure in spotting cameos from the likes of Dick Miller, Roger Corman, Ron Perlman and Mary Woronov.

It's not perfect, but there are times when it comes pretty close. The set-pieces are all brilliant, with a chase through the paintings in The Louvre being the absolute highlight, the characters never feel as if they're being squeezed into the movie just to sell more merchandise and the young will be kept entertained by the slapstic and visuals while adults also get to pick up every sharp gag and in-joke.

8/10

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Unlawful Entry (1992)

In the late '80s and early '90s, the glossy psycho thriller was a popular box office choice for many viewers. This was due, in no small part, to a certain smash hit by the name of Fatal Attraction. Then audiences were treated to the psycho-centric likes of Pacific Heights, Dead Calm, Single White Female, The Temp, The Crush, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle and many other entertaining releases, including this one.

Directed by Jonathan Kaplan and written by Lewis Colick (though there were a couple of other people involved in creating the story), Unlawful Entry holds up as a superior entry in the psycho thriller sub-genre for two reasons. First, the presence of Ray Liotta, who can play a menacing psycho like few others. Second, the fact that this particular psycho is also a policeman, which really hits home just how scary it can be if any member of Joe Public is ever at the mercy of someone in authority abusing their power.

Kurt Russell and Madeleine Stowe play Michael and Karen Carr, the married couple who meet Officer Pete Davis (Liotta) when he is one of the men who responds to their call after a traumatic experience with an intruder in their home. Pete and his partner, Officer Roy Cole (Roger E. Mosley), make a great impression, both being professional and friendly, and it seems as if Officer Pete may be a good man to have as a friend. However, when Michael realises that Pete doesn't always act in accordance with the law himself he starts to get worried and he tells Karen that they shouldn't spend any more time with him. Of course, by then it's a little too late. Pete sets out to get what he wants and he has his powers as a policeman to help him get it.

The movie, essentially, boils down to a battle of wills between Russell, playing a regular guy, and Liotta and those two men really work well against one another. Madeleine Stowe isn't left out, but the film is certainly more about different types of alpha males. Roger E. Mosley does well in his role, Ken Lerner is good as the friend/attorney Roger and Deborah Offner is likable enough in the role of Karen's friend, Penny. Fans of Dick Miller will be pleased to see his brief cameo and fans of Djimon Hounsou will also be happy, despite the fact that his role is even smaller than that of Miller's.

It may be, like many others of its kind, quite hard to believe at times, but Unlawful Entry also keeps things more tense and uneasy throughout because of the thorough feeling of helplessness that Kurt Russell ends up experiencing. It may be nothing more than a slick, well-made thriller, but there are moments that strike uncomfortably close to home when aligned with news stories that have been known to crop up about corruption in the police force. It serves as a worrying reminder that bad people can do bad things, no matter what uniform they wear.

7/10

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Truck Turner (1974)

"Who's the black bounty hunter
That's a sex machine to all the chicks?
Truck!
You're damn right.

Who is the man
That would risk his neck for his brother man?
Truck!
Can you dig it?"

Yes, although this is a movie all about a bounty hunter named Truck Turner (played by Isaac Hayes) it's really just a great blaxploitation flick that keeps Hayes as close to the Shaft persona (played by Richard Roundtree, but arguably made more famous thanks to that great theme sung by Hayes) as possible while throwing in everything else that will keep audiences happy: a great cast, plenty of violence, some gratuitous nudity and a script full of gems. The fact that many scenes end with a punchline or laughter akin to the end of each Police Squad episode makes it all the better.

Here's the plot. Truck Turner is an ex-football player who is now the toughest bounty hunter going. He's like Dog the bounty hunter, except for the fact that he's black, unsympathetic to anyone he catches and quick with his fists and gun. So he's not like Dog at all, I suppose, but they do at least share the same vocation. When Truck takes a big pimp out of action he ends up in a whole heap of trouble when a madam named Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols) puts a big price on his head. All guns are aimed at Truck, but perhaps the biggest threat comes from the cool and calculating Harvard Blue (Yaphet Kotto).

Oscar Williams and Michael Allin may have written the script and Jonathan Kaplan may have been sitting in the director's chair, but this movie belongs to Hayes. The man owns his central role, whether he's blasting holes in baddies or seducing women away from their fried chicken (no, I'm not being racist for the sake of a cheap gag, that ACTUALLY happens), and he's also responsible for a soundtrack so funky that it may have been playing during the conception of Prince.

Mind you, let's not dismiss everyone else so quickly. Alan Weeks is good fun as Jerry, Truck's partner and good friend, and it's always nice to see the likes of Scatman Crothers and Dick Miller, even if they don't get a lot of screentime. Annazette Chase plays Annie AKA Truck's woman and does fine with her role, but the woman turning heads is Nichelle Nichols. What would Captain Kirk say if he saw/heard Lt. Uhura looking and speaking as she does in this? It's certainly a lot better than her appearance years later in the dull horror movie, The Supernaturals. Yaphet Kotto is fantastic from the moment he appears to his very final scene, the man was at the top of his game in the '70s in my opinion.

There are one or two genuinely decent action sequences, though some moments are marred by entertainingly incongruous fashion choices, and even an impressive early use of a technique (SnorriCam) that has become quite commonplace in recent years, but those don't add enough to make it a great film. It is, however, a good one and fans of blaxploitation movies should certainly love it.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Truck-Turner-DVD-Isaac-Hayes/dp/B00009MGKJ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361165112&sr=8-1

Used Cars (1980)

Used car salesmen have long been the source of mirth on the big screen, on the small screen and in other forms of entertainment. They're all fast talkers in cheap suits with a smooth style that lasts right up until the time someone drives a purchased car off the forecourt. Or so many of us assume.

Kurt Russell stars in this comedy that contains plenty of used cars and he's the fastest talking salesman with the smoothest style that you could possibly imagine. I'm not sure if he wears the cheapest suits but he's the ultimate used car salesman. Sadly, there's trouble on the horizon as his boss, Luke Fuchs (Jack Warden), is harassed so much by his brother, Roy L Fuchs (also Jack Warden), who owns the competing lot across the road that he ends up dying. The salesmen (Russell, Gerrit Graham and Frank McRae, a mechanic who is roped into things) can't let anyone know that their boss has died so they start to enjoy a new-found freedom and try more and more outrageous stunts to get customers trying out their cars. An extra complication arises when the estranged daughter of Luke, Barbara Jane Fuchs (Deborah Harmon), turns up and wants to catch up with her father.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Bob Gale, Used Cars is a lot of fun from start to finish. The script is full of great lines, the pacing is perfect and the finale is actually as wildly entertaining as it is pretty ridiculous. There are also some fantastic stunts in the mix as a huge number of cars are driven from a to b while Roy L. Fuchs tries to stop them reaching their destination.

The cast is great. In fact, Russell in the lead role makes everything feel like a Disney movie aimed at adults. It doesn't require the biggest stretch of the imagination to think of his character, 'Rudy' Russo, as an adult incarnation of Dexter Riley. Gerrit Graham and Frank McRae are both a lot of fun, with the former playing a character who is obsessed with superstition. Jack Warden is always good to watch and in this film . . . . . . . he's good to watch. Deborah Harmon is an enjoyable female presence and holds her own admirably amidst the predominantly male cast. Al Lewis, best known to many as Grandpa Munster, is excellent as Judge H. H. Harrison (AKA "Hanging" Judge Harrison). Joe Flaherty and Michael McKean have small, fun roles and fans of Dick Miller may want to keep their eyes peeled - he appears for a second or two, billed as Man In Bed.

Used Car isn't quite as good as some other movies that focus on similiar characters (Tin Men being the first, and one of the best, to spring to mind) but it's consistently amusing and makes the most of a great cast, headed by the charming and silver-tongued Russell.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Used-Cars-DVD-Kurt-Russell/dp/B00005U0HE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352024274&sr=8-1

Amitville: It's About Time (1992)

AKA Amityville 1992: It's About Time.

Well, brace yourself for some very surprising news because this Amityville sequel is almost, ALMOST, an entertaining movie. Compared to the two crap movies that preceded it, it's a veritable masterpiece.

It's based on the same source material as the earlier, horrible movie about the evil escaping the famous Amityville home in the guise of a lamp but this time evil escapes the famous Amityville home in the guise of a clock. Not much better, you might be thinking, and it's a fair assumption. However, this time around there is no attempt to show the demonic force physically inhabitng the household object. Instead, we have a mixture of evil taking over a household while some time trickery is used to keep people on their toes.

Stephen Macht plays Jacob Sterling, a man who unwittingly brings a piece of Amityville horror into his home when he brings a large clock back from one of his many work trips. Things quickly start to become quite strange for Jacob, as well as for his son, Rusty (Damon Martin), and his daughter, Lisa (Megan Ward). When Jacob is savagely attacked by a neighbourhood dog he has to rest up at home and enlists the help of his ex-girlfriend, Andrea (Shawn Weatherly), which adds further tension.

I'm not going to try and tell anyone that this is a great movie. Because it's not. But I will try to tell people that this is a good movie. It has lots going against it, the actors aren't the best in the world and the script by Christopher DeFaria and Antonio Toro isn't that interesting, but director Tony Randel also paces everything perfectly and includes that savage dog attack, a transition from plain Jane to sexy siren for Megan Ward and one or two decent moments of gory fun.

None of the leads - Macht, Martin, Ward, Weatherly - are unbearably bad, it's just that they're not all that great either. Jonathan Penner and Nita Talbot do a bit worse because they're given some more outrageous moments but this is compensated for by a very brief cameo from the great Dick Miller.

So, basically, this is far from the worst movie with the Amityville name attached to it. Which isn't saying a lot, I know, but it's not a bad little chiller.

5/10

http://www.amazon.com/Amityville-About-Time-Stephen-Macht/dp/B000ARTMSO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347550535&sr=8-1&keywords=amityville+its+about+time