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One of the most endearing moments in film is in The Fifth Element when LeeLoo crash lands in the cab of Korben Dallas and says, “Please help!” Cute factor + 100.
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I was playing around with my Stumble account today and ran across an amusing little thing.
It is a site that offers minimalistic cut and headache remedies as well as random bits of helpful information. Are you bored? Drunk? Topless? Fear not, help is here.
In the spirit of Halloween and after much persuasion from a specific source, I not only watched, but purchased the movie The Strangers this weekend. A few people had made mention of it being a good terror film and felt I would likely love it.
I waited to tuck the kiddos to bed Sunday night before settling down on the sofa. I was eager to be scared out of my wits. The movie began with FBI statistics on violent crime and a disclaimer that the story was based on actual events. Ooh goodie! True life horror, right? Nope.
It was inspired by actual events, alright, (we will get to those details in a moment) but any allusion to horror was an exaggeration. There was not one moment where I found myself scared, paranoid, or nervous. It was like a middle school project slasher film- only for the slasher part to come at the very tail end with minimal gore. Parts of it were creepy, yes. I will give credit to that.
The 3 ’strangers’ were definitely creepy. Two girls in doll masks and one man who wore a brown sack over his head with the face cut out. Very Scarecrow from Batman Begins. He would quietly present himself in the background of a given scene unbeknownst to the person in the room. All 3 Strangers would fade in and out of the picture at random moments. Over and over we went. It did not take long before what little creeps they stirred within me turned into monotony.
Here is he is. The first appearance of Mr. Scarecrow Copycat in the background which gave me a little cold chill. It was at this point I still had hope for a great scare.
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Stranger girl #1. I wonder if she’s gonna do something or just stand there? Oh-just stand there for now. Ok.
Hope fades.
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Stranger girl #2 following an injured Liv Tyler. Surely she’ll take advantage of the situation and at least inflict a wound or two.
No, of course not. After a moment she disappears. I’m ready for bed.
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The movie proceeds in this same manner for entirely too long. The first bit of gory action comes when Liv’s boyfriend (actor Scott Speedman, hubba hubba) accidentally blows the face off of his buddy with a shotgun. Good job there, buck-o.
After the movie ended and I came to grips with the fact that I had just wasted a perfectly good evening, I became curious as to the supposed true life events that inspired the movie. Sure, this made for a boring film but had it happened to me in real life I would have been scared to death!
I did a little online research (thank you Wiki) and found that the background story was just as lame as the movie!! When writer Brian Bertino was a child, a stranger came to his front door asking for someone who was not there. He had later found out that empty houses in his neighborhood had been broken into the same night. Thus inspiring the poor excuse for terror that he so graciously contributed to the world of cinema in May of 2008.
One thing that I did enjoy was the soundtrack. An old record player provided the background music from a few great singer-songwriters as well as Merle Haggard. TomandAndy did an excellent job on the film score. The soundtrack is just under $20 at Amazon.
In my opinion, this would have been a much better pre-teen Goosebumps book. It isn’t the most horrible and apalling thing I’ve ever seen. Even THAT would’ve been more exciting than this. I do not recommend watching it unless you are really really really really really really bored. Even then, it would be a decision you are likely to regret.
Years ago, before the terror of Silent Hill, Dead Space or Doom there was Clock Tower. This is one of my favorite video game series of all time. I venture to say that it is the creepiest game for me, ever. Running and hiding from that lunatic Scissorman made me a nervous wreck many an evening! I remember hiding out in closets and wardrobes, a firm grip on the controller, ready to run if he were to discover me. Ohh the sound of those blades! Every step he took they would open and close. A constant reminder of the death that awaited.
Not only was the fear factor impressive, but game play itself. This was not a difficult video game. There were puzzles but strategy was not a necessity. In fact, strategy was almost obsolete as the game was different every time you played it. There were multiple endings and your actions (or lack there of) affected the storyline.
I would play at night and turn every light off. Create my own miserable fear so that every time he would discover my hiding place, lunging at me with those scissors, I’d scream. It was fantastic!!! It was the anticipation that would kill me. The sounds and images while having to watch your character sit still behind a curtain while he stalked past. I would hold my breath at times as if it could help.
There have been rumors of a script being written. Never much detail and only enough to tease and keep my curiosity peaked. That is, until now. Milla Jovovich has signed on to play the character of Alyssa in the movie version of Clock Tower 2 which was originally released to the Playstation in 1998. She will be joined by Britney Snow with shooting scheduled to begin next month! Her character will be yet another super hot yet mentally complicated chick who will kick ass to overcome her past. These video game adaptations seem to be working for Jovovich and I, for one, am eager to see her work in bringing Clock Tower to life!
