Cooking and Cinema

Short Stories, Film Reviews, and Recipes

Month: March 2020

Short, Film Reviews Part 2

March 6, 2020 /
Groovy Van. The bloodstains are a nice touch.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Franklin: If I have any more fun today, I don’t think I’m gonna be able to take it!

Tobe Hooper’s second feature-length film is full of bad decisions, and for a movie named The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, it’s odd that the lovable Leatherface kills only one person with a chain saw.

The film’s story involves a young woman and her brother who travel with their three friends to a cemetery in Texas to identify the vandalized remains of a family member.

They decide to search for their relative’s family estate in the country but eventually run into Leatherface and his family of killer rednecks.

When I was a kid, I heard rumors about a scary, bloody movie in which tons of people were murdered with a chain saw.

Years later, I realized the rumors were untrue, and most of the meatheads spreading the lies were children who had not watched the movie.

Compared to most horror films, Chain Saw is not a bloody movie. It may be more terrifying than any film in history, but its horror doesn’t rely on cheap thrills or gory carnage.

It had a tiny budget, around $140,000, but it’s hard to tell if you watch it in HD. When I was in high school, I watched it on VHS, and it was bleak and grainy.

I thought the faded colors were merely the marks of a low-budget film made in the early ’70s. I loved the movie when I watched it on videotape, but I was shocked by the remastered version on DVD.

In the remastered cut of the film, the sprawling countryside of Central Texas is bright and beautiful. The colors are crisp, the sun is intense and impressive, and the imagery draws you in. The camerawork and editing are not low budget at all. They’re brilliant.

Although the actors weren’t well known at the time of the film’s release, they aren’t too bad. They’re talented and believable performers, but their characters make incredibly stupid decisions throughout the film.

This includes picking up a disgusting hitchhiker, letting the hitchhiker borrow a pocketknife, reading horoscopes from American Astrology, and wondering into an isolated home that Ed Gein would be proud of.

I don’t think it’s a slasher film, but it popularized the notion that young adults enjoy walking into dark places and dilapidated homes. It certainly influenced the dumb teenager craze of the ’80s and ’90s.

The jarring sound effects and grisly images propel you into a twisted world that makes you cringe. It’s horror at its finest, and I don’t recommend viewing it with young children or the grandparents.

Unless, of course, your family consists of cannibalistic bumkins who sell human barbecue. If that’s the case, they’ll really dig it.

Short, Film Reviews Part 1

March 2, 2020 /
Hugging these ladies makes me angry. Hey Janet, jump in the shower real quick, I want to try something. (from an Italian Movie Poster)

I’m adding reviews to the Film Lists section of the website, and the content will be split up into a series of blog posts. Although the current lists focus on horror films, I’ll add more genres in the future.

I’m not covering every type of film (no documentaries on Hungarian, accordion virtuosos), but I’ll review movies I enjoy and believe others will appreciate.

When I decided to create a “best of” horror section, I viewed the movies, made notes, and tried to remember the first time I watched each film.

I didn’t read other critics’ reviews or lists from The American Film Institute; I solely used my brain to publish the lists. Like many of you, my opinion of a film changes over time, and as it’s often the case, I like the flick more after seeing it a second or third time.

The biggest problem I encountered while developing the lists was how to rank the films. All twenty-five are exceptional horror films, and although Psycho ranked first and Lords of Salem ranked twenty-fifth, the order is less important than the film’s impact on the world.

Psycho (1960)

I believe Psycho should be ranked first because it changed the film industry and the country forever. There’s nothing like it. The shower scene, creepy Anthony Perkins, gorgeous Janet Leigh, Bernard Herman’s excellent and memorable soundtrack, and high-caliber camerawork set Psycho apart from any movie made before or since.

Before the premiere of the film in 1960, filmgoers often arrived and departed theaters at odd times. Hitchcock persuaded theater owners to forbid anyone from entering the theater after the starting time.

The director wasn’t being extreme in his requests. He understood that anyone arriving late would not understand what was going on. Missing the shower scene and first murder, which might have been a good thing for some, would warp the viewer’s understanding of the plot.

Hitchcock’s shocking murder scene in the shower convinced many Americans (including Janet Leigh) to follow Ernie’s (from Sesame Street) advice and make bath time more fun.

I think that changing your bathing habits because of a horror movie is strange, but I’m fascinated when art influences everyday life. Even Homer Simpson changed his bathroom habits after watching Lethal Weapon 2. He started checking behind the toilet for a bomb before sitting on the commode.

Norman Bates, played by Anthony Perkins, is unlike most villains in horror movies. He’s friendly, hesitant with his words, menacing, and completely bonkers.

Perkins’ performance was so convincing and notorious that his career suffered after Psycho. He continued to work in movies and television, but producers were reluctant to offer him major roles. Norman, the psychopath, would not grab the starring role in a romantic comedy or adventure film.

From the opening shot to the finale, Psycho is a scary film that never loses steam. Inventive editing, a jolting soundtrack, and Oscar-level acting propel the “pulp” material into a masterpiece. It’s a sordid tale, and although it recently turned 60 years old, it’s still relevant and entertaining in the year 2020.

If you’re nervous or a little freaked out after watching the film, relax. Have a few drinks and take a long, hot shower.

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