The Willies (1990)

A strange mix of comedy and horror aimed mainly at children (I would say the perfect age range for this is about 10-13), The Willies is an anthology film that makes the mistake of not maintaining the energy and fun of its opening sequence.

Sean Astin, Jason Horst, and Joshua John Miller are three kids spending a night together in a tent. Which means they obviously start to tell one another scary stories. After a few “appetisers” it is on to the mains. Story one involves a young, put-upon, school student who discovers a creature that will happily munch on anyone it catches. Story two involves a teenager who is obsessed with dead flies, even putting them into biscuits that he then tries to get others to eat. 

Written and directed by Brian Peck, an actor who has only helmed this one film, The Willies is easy to see appealing to younger viewers, if they can be patient through the less horrifying moments. Think of a cross between Goosebumps and any American TV show that just depicts a couple of main characters being deemed as outcasts in their school and you should know the tone. Peck does well when it comes to the scares, knowing just how far to push things with the tension and occasional gore effects, but he sets everyone up for some disappointment by presenting a strong opening that the rest of the film never equals.

The child actors already mentioned do just fine in their wraparound section. Ian Fried is a decent young lead, playing Danny Hollister in the first main story about the creature in the school, but Michael Bower isn’t given enough to help make him worth journeying with throughout the second story. Genre fans will have fun seeing the likes of Kimmy Robertson, James Karen, Kathleen Freeman, and a few other familiar faces in supporting roles.

I am fairly sure that I have heard some friends refer to this film with some fondness, and I guess seeing it at the right time would explain that. Although not a great anthology, nor a great kid’s film, it’s a fantastic gateway. But even then . . . you could always just pick the wonderful “Eerie, Indiana”.

6/10

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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

Poltergeist (1982)

A classic tale of suburban horror, Poltergeist is just one of those films that most people of my generation saw 101 times during the 1980s, and deservedly so. It’s a polished thrill-ride of a movie, an entertaining horror film that mixes humour in with the scares and blends jumps with atmosphere (and some great special effects) for a fantastic package. To many true horror fans it may be viewed as “horror-lite” but it’s pretty bloody good horror-lite.

The Freeling family are a normal, everyday American family. Mum and dad look after two daughters and a son and breakfast revolves around the usual minor squabbles and family disputes. Things change when they find that their house has some strange power within it, something that starts off by harmlessly moving furniture (and people, when placed in the right spot). The harmless soon becomes a nightmare, however, when young Carol Anne disappears and her voice is heard coming from the TV. Energy and strange activity builds in the house and the Freeling family have no choice but to call in some specialist investigators to help them with their unique problem.

Based on an idea by Steven Spielberg (who also produced the movie), Poltergeist is directed by Tobe Hooper but you’d hardly be able to tell that. Hooper hasn’t exactly held himself up as a master of cinema, with the exception of his phenomenal horror movie that revolved around a certain chainsaw-wielding maniac, and all of the main choices here just look like they were made by Spielberg. The shots of suburban Americana, the wonderful score by Jerry Goldsmith, the smooth and quick push-in shot up to a character’s face, etc, etc.

But just who did what behind the scenes is irrelevant anyway, when it comes to the viewing experience. What matters is just how enjoyable the thing is. The cast are all fantastic. JoBeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson remain likeable and believable throughout experiences that grow increasingly far-fetched. Heather O’Rourke is angelic and wholly innocent as Carol Anne. Oliver Robins is great as Robbie, the middle child, and Dominique Dunn is just fine as the eldest, the one who fully realises how crazy everything is and just wants to get the hell out of the house ASAP.  Everyone else onscreen is just fine but James Karen deserves a special mention as an unscrupulous businessman and Zelda Rubinstein will always be remembered for her turn as Tangina.

 

Followed by two inferior sequels, and referenced in many other films and shows, Poltergeist remains a top-notch haunted house movie and is as entertaining today as it was back in 1982, when it was first released. 

8/10

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