The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1996)

Quasimodo, eh. That name rings a bell. *guffaw*

With that lame gag out of the way, it's worth starting this review by mentioning that THAT gag is funnier than most of the lines in this movie. I could also belt out a tune and tell you that my choice of songs would be better than most of the tunes in this movie. Neither of these things made me enjoy the film any less though. I'm just making this clear at the very start.

My lame gag is also a way of clarifying that I'm going to assume people know enough about this story already. Written by Victor Hugo, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame is all about a deformed bell-ringer (Quasimodo, voiced here by Tom Hulce) who lives in the heights of Notre Dame Cathedral. He ends up out in the midst of the public one day, jeered and mocked, and shown some kindness from a beautiful Gypsy woman (Esmeralda, voiced by Demi Moore). The plot then concerns Quasimodo's love for the woman who was kind to him, a "trespassing" suitor (Captain Phoebus, played by Kevin Kline), and the nasty Judge Claude Frollo (voiced by Tony Jay), who is the acting guardian of Quasimodo.

So, bearing in mind it's not too funny and none of the songs are that memorable, what would make The Hunchback Of Notre Dame worth your time? Well, it's just a really good movie, and one that incorporates a number of themes not usually found in cute and colourful animated outings. And the fact that it's not too funny doesn't mean it's completely unfunny, while the songs not being too memorable doesn't mean that they're bad. I found this entertaining throughout, and I enjoyed a few of the main songs, even if I cannot hum any of the tunes right now. Maybe a rewatch will change that.

Written by a whole heap of people, and directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, it's worth celebrating this as a Disneyfied adaptation of quite a dark and twisted classic. All of the voice cast do a great job, it's worth mentioning the presence of Jason Alexander as a gargoyle appropriately named Hugo, and they match their characters perfectly. Kline and Moore are the standouts, but you also have small roles for David Ogden Stiers, playing a kindly head priest, and Paul Kandel as a puppeteer who introduces the main theme of the story.

It's an immersive and rewarding experience, made so by the gorgeous animation and shot choices that bring viewers into the world of late 15th-century Paris, letting them float and fly around the streets and rooftops when free from the confines of Notre Dame itself, and putting viewers alongside some nicely-rounded characters. I'm kicking myself for not getting to this sooner, and I'll look forward to revisiting it. Who knows, maybe one day I'll even check out the sequel, although my expectations will be kept very low down for that.

Highly recommended, unless you're wanting the more standard Disney flick, complete with more hearty chuckles and singalong moments. But you can pick from about fifty of those. So at least give this one your time someday.

8/10

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Dead By Dawn 2016: Jacob's Ladder (1990)

Jacob's Ladder is one of those movies that I missed when it first came out. And I didn't catch it until approximately fifteen years. I appreciate that many other movies came and went in that time that were influenced by this one, but I've still never quite loved it as much as many other horror fans. It's a good film, don't get me wrong, and the cast is a wonderful one. It's just never as horrifying or downright eerie as it could be, especially when you compare most of the movie to a few of the impressively unnerving images that are produced in the first half of the film.

Tim Robbins plays Jacob Singer, a Vietnam veteran who starts to have dark and unsettling visions that affect his health and daily behaviour. It's also making things difficult with his girlfriend (played by Elizabeth Pena). Are the visions the result of some experimentation on his unit during wartime? Are they signs of a mental breakdown? Or are they something more sinister?

Director Adrian Lyne works confidently here, and also makes popular that special effect that we will refer to by the technical term "really fast shakey head and blurry face moves". He doesn't rush things, even when the third act will probably be obvious to many viewers. This is a film more about the journey than the final destination, funnily enough, and that journey is interspersed with some fantastic phantasmagoria.

The script, by Bruce Joel Rubin, is equally confident, taking the time to flesh out a number of the supporting characters while leaving plenty of breathing room for the moments of tension and spookiness. In fact, it could bee argued that the main strength of the film is how it gets you to invest in a number of people who could so easily have been consigned to much smaller roles without any real damage to the central horror strand of the narrative.

That's also helped by the casting. Robbins has always impressed me in the way that he can equally use his full height to his advantage or fold himself up to make himself more vulnerable, depending on the role. This is somewhere in between, with Jacob a man who has clearly left his army days far behind him yet retains the strength to withhold a sustained attack on his mental faculties. Pena is a strong woman opposite him, alternating between sympathy for what Jacob appears to be going through and reminding him that she will only put up with so much shit. Elsewhere, Danny Aiello is a chiropractor who tries his best to guide Jacob through his dark path, Jason Alexander pops up momentarily to portray a lawyer who may or may not end up helping the ex-soldiers find out what was done to them, and Pruitt Taylor Vince, Ving Rhames, Eriq La Salle, and one or two others play the men who fought alongside Jacob in his platoon.

As influential as it is derivative, Jacob's Ladder remains an impressive horror that is relatively interesting and intelligent throughout, and also played completely straight. Which perhaps explains, more than the actual premise, why it went down so well in 1990, when first released.

If you enjoyed this review, and live in the UK, feel free to browse and buy some shit here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/

If you enjoyed this review and live in the USofA then feel free to browse and buy some shit here - http://www.amazon.com/

7/10

The Burning (1981)

Developed by the Weinstein brothers (Harvey helped to come up with the story while Bob wrote the screenplay with Peter Lawrence), The Burning is, arguably, the most beloved of the many slashers that immediately began to flood the market in the 1980s after the success of Friday The 13th, which was itself created due to the success of Halloween.

It all starts, as so many slashers do, with a prank that goes horribly wrong. A mean caretaker, named Cropsy, is badly burned by some kids who just wanted their revenge for him spoiling their time at summer camp. Fast forward a few years and it's all fun and frolics with a bunch of horny teenagers at some other summer camp. But some musical cues and POV camerawork let viewers know that Cropsy is hanging around. And he's not happy.

With some interesting music provided by Rick Wakeman, great special effects by Tom Savini, and THAT fantastic set-piece, it's certainly easy to see why The Burning lingers in the memory long after the end credits have rolled. Of course, that doesn't mean that everyone will love it.

It's simplistic stuff, directed with little flair by Tony Maylam, but it's effective, both for what it shows onscreen and what it often implies, thanks to the famous slasher flick that it most closely resembles.

Brian Matthews and Leah Ayres are acceptable, if slightly bland, leads and Brian Backer tries his best, despite his character - the youngster who doesn't make friends easily - being just a bit too sullen to gain any sympathy. Larry Joshua plays one of the nicer bullies that this subgenre has given us, understandably smitten with Carrick Glenn, but the most fun for modern audiences is in seeing the few stars who appear here before becoming much more famous a few years down the line. Holly Hunter has a small role, Fisher Stevens is memorable and Jason Alexander is like a smaller version of the Jason Alexander that we've all come to know and love over the years. It's good to know that he was always ready and able to be a smartass when the situation needed it.

If you're looking for something fresh and complex then look elsewhere. In fact, if that's the case then most entries in the slasher subgenre probably aren't for you. But if you're looking for a film that throws together a bunch of kids and camp counselors, setting them up to be killed by a memorable madman, then this is as good a choice as any. Indeed, it's one that you kind of have to check off "the list" if you're a fan of the horror genre, in my opinion.

8/10

http://www.amazon.com/Burning-Collectors-Edition-BluRay-Blu-ray/dp/B00BCMSY80/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392384419&sr=8-1&keywords=the+burning