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.
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.
When your extended family rolls into town to visit, do you enjoy dining with them at a Chinese restaurant? Have any obnoxious family members embarrassed you at the restaurant by making a scene or saying something inappropriate?
I have to answer yes to both questions. Szechuan Gardens, a restaurant in North Carolina I visited for over twenty years, served incredible Chinese food. My extended family was often treated to Szechuan’s, and as for the second question, I was usually the family member who made the embarrassing scene possible.
I didn’t disappoint the family by saying something profane or disturbing, it was my shenanigans that caused a ruckus. Until I was eleven or twelve years old, I had a bad habit of unscrewing the salt shaker tops and placing them back lightly before I left a restaurant.
I don’t know why. I guess I was a slightly-rotten kid. I never witnessed the outcome of my anti-social acts, until I dined with my Uncle and his family at Szechuan’s.
When I finished stuffing Mushu Pork in my mouth, I absentmindedly fiddled with the salt shaker and performed the disastrous act that came right out of the Anarchist Cookbook.
My Uncle reached for the salt shaker and dumped a quarter-cup of salt over his General Tso’s chicken. He looked right at me and said, “It was You.” My Mother and Sister joined in with my Uncle in angrily explaining the evils of “over-salting” someone’s food.
I never performed the NaCl overdose on anyone’s food again. When I was caught in the act, I wished that a distraction would divert the family’s attention away from me. Something like a stumbling waiter, a drunken manager, or a batch of insulting fortune cookies would do.
They Kicked Me Out of the Fortune Cookie Writers’ Guild
If you receive any of the following fortunes after cracking open that cookie, don’t blame the server. Unless he or she claims to be the author of the messages.
This paper is printed on 100% recycled poison.
Many have died to bring you this message.
You have the mark of the devil behind your left ear.
After you finish eating that cookie, your soul is mine.
Reading tiny messages on paper is the first step to not being a complete moron.
While you were enjoying an authentic Chinese American meal, I put sugar in your gas tank.
Steal this fortune…and the salt and pepper shakers, the silverware, and the nifty gas lamp.
In the past, you couldn’t contract syphilis from a fortune cookie, but the future is now.
Have you heard the one about the priest, the rabbi, and the one-eyed pianist?
Do you have a high tolerance for pain? A strong stomach?
No animals were harmed in the making of this cookie, but plenty of animals were killed.
There will be blood is not just the name of a movie.
This cookie had one day left before retirement.
How often do you get diarrhea from eating fortune cookies?
Don’t eat the paper, Einstein!
How many woodchucks does it take to urinate on a fresh batch of fortune cookies?
The sad, young woman pictured above, who appears to have left her Claritin D back in America, is Dani (played by Florence Pugh), and she travels to travels to Sweden with her boyfriend and his three friends in Ari Aster’s Midsommar.
Midsommar is a strange combination of beautiful cinematography, witty dialogue, gory violence, maypole dancing, ghastly beverages, white uniforms, full-frontal nudity, psychedelic mushrooms, and anthropology majors.
It’s not a great film, but it’s entertaining and not lacking a sense of humor. Most of the fun comes from Mark (played by Will Poulter). His goofy comments often lighten the mood of the picture.
He helps his friends temporarily forget they’re surrounded by craft tables populated by cultists and dances performed by screaming women.
Frozen Trees and Loss
The film opens with a stagnant shot of a massive tapestry depicting skulls, the Sun, angels, and people. It looks child-like at first glance, but it appears dark and evil under closer inspection.
The tapestry opens, and you see a frozen, foggy landscape of barren trees and frosty lakes. A woman slowly chanting in the soundtrack accompanies the winter landscape. The scene is cold and serene until a jarring telephone ring changes the mood and focuses on Dani.
Dani can’t get in touch with her disturbed sister, and she fears the worst. Well, the worst happens.
Her sister is found with a long tube connected from her mouth to the exhaust pipe of a running car in her parents’ garage.
Another tube connected to the other running car in the garage leads to the parents’ bedroom. All three are killed from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Like the superior Hereditary, Aster’s main character faces an enormous tragedy and barely has time to grieve before being thrown into a nightmare.
Before the characters reach an isolated village in Sweden, the camera takes the perspective of the van they’re traveling in and rotates until it’s upside-down.
The inverted camera angle continues while the scene depicts an attractive, green forest that surrounds the winding road. The shot is well-done, but I’m not sure if it’s trying to infer that the characters’ worlds are about to turn upside-down. Maybe, the director is only attempting to be experimental or stylish.
Lars, Please Pass the Grey Poupon
The village, nestled in an impressive mountain range with rolling green hills and small wooden buildings and houses, is an idyllic location. It’s perfect for fair-haired weirdos who get their kicks from spinning around a maypole.
When the group enters the commune, they’re greeted by white-frocked, grinning blondes and youngsters playing flutes. Dani smiles and feels uplifted by the colorful scene unfolding in front of her.
It looks like a mountain paradise, but it’s the type of heaven you would see in an old Star Trek episode. The land is pretty and populated by dancing, grinning, Swedish hippies, but it has a disturbing side.
The village holds a festival every ninety years that involves feasting, dancing, bloody rituals, propagation, homemade beverages that bear a likeness to pond water, and lots of flowers. Dani and a group of anthropology students, led by the Swedish native Pelle (played by Vilhelm Blomgren), arrive on the opening day of the festival.
Smile on Your Brother
The villagers seem friendly and full of life. They’re gracious to the new guests, and they treat them like they are part of the family. Everything appears normal in the small commune until two of the guests, appalled by the violent outcome of an honored ritual, demand to leave the settlement immediately.
Midsommar’s pacing is slow and deliberate in the beginning, but it picks up speed after the first ritual. The horror and intensity ramp up in the second half of the film, and it’s not easy to watch.
The movie becomes a living nightmare, and you need a sound and patient mind to make it to the end. A healthy stomach may also be helpful because the gore is gut-wrenching. Saying the movie is graphic would be putting it lightly. It’s foul.
The secret of the festival’s purpose isn’t challenging to figure out. The director tries to keep the film’s intent hidden until the end, but several clues alert the viewer to the awaiting horror. The story isn’t predictable, but it desperately tries to be clever.
Except for Dani and Pelle, I didn’t relate to or sympathize with the students. Mark, Christian, and Josh are so unlikable that you don’t care what happens to them.
The film has excellent acting, but Pugh’s portrayal of Dani stands out. Her character is tormented with loss and guilt before she even enters the freak fest.
Pugh displays a range of emotions, and the physical and psychological turmoil in the film could not have been easy on the young actor. I felt exhausted watching some of her scenes. If she had to go through multiple takes, I feel sorry for her.
I respect the director for making another intelligent horror film. Ari Aster and Jordan Peele are changing the genre by moving away from slasher films and haunted houses. Midsommar is not as good as Aster’s Hereditary, but it is unique. Its images stick in your head, and that’s not always a pleasant feeling.
Honestly, the drinks they serve to the guests scared me more than the gory violence. One concoction is made by adding a dirty root to an orange liquid. The drinks are always yellow or orange, and I doubt that there are too many orange groves in a Swedish mountain range.
3lbs. Center Cut Pork Loin 2 tbsp Kosher Salt 2 tsp Chili Powder 1 tsp Cumin 2 ½ tsp Oregano 1 cup Yellow Onions diced ¼ cup Olive Oil 2 ½ tbsp Fresh Garlic 4 quarts Chicken Stock ¼ cup Lime Juice ½ tsp Cayenne Pepper 2 tbsp Black Peppercorns 1 tsp Fresh Thyme ½ cup Fresh Basil
Instructions
Cut pork into ½ inch pieces and coat with salt, chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Cook in a large pot on medium-high heat with olive oil about 2 minutes per side.
Remove pork from the pot and set aside. Add onions, cook for 5 minutes and add garlic.
Cook 2 minutes and add chicken stock, lime juice, cayenne pepper, and black peppercorns.
Add pork, bring mixture to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and add fresh herbs.
Cover pot and cook for 2 ½ hours. Stir every 10 minutes. Heat oven to 400°F.
Remove pork from the pot carefully with tongs and place it on a lined baking sheet. Pour ½ cup of liquid from the pot over pork and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove pork from the oven and pull apart with tongs.
You may be frustrated with the same old’ recipe you use for Taco Tuesdays or Tortilla Thursdays. If you are, try making Pork Carnitas. It takes more time to make than the average taco-meat recipe, but it’s worth it.
If you refrigerate the sliced pork after you’ve covered it with the spice rub for 4-6 hours before you sear it, it’s even better. Yes, the recipe already takes 3 hours to complete without waiting another 6 hours to cook.
However, pork benefits from a longer marination period. The meat is tougher than a beef tenderloin or chicken. It can sit overnight in the refrigerator if you prefer to prep it the night before.
After stewing the pork for 2 ½ hours, it’s critical to bake it in the oven for 20 minutes. The meat is easier to pull apart with tongs, and the extra baking time crisps the meat and gives it the right texture.
Serve the carnitas with taco shells, tortillas, hoagie rolls, or kaisers.
They’re delicious in a soft tortilla with sour cream, shredded cheddar, pico de gallo, and diced cilantro.
Save the cooking liquid if you have leftovers and want to reheat the cooked pork later. Add some of the liquid to the meat when you store it in the refrigerator and save the rest for re-heating the pork.
2 Large Tomatoes diced 1 chopped Green Pepper 1 tbsp Fresh Garlic ½ cup Olive Oil 3 cups Beef Broth 1 diced Cucumber 1 ½ tsp Salt ½ tsp Paprika ¼ cup Fresh Basil ¼ cup Fresh Parsley 3 tbsp Lemon juice ½ cup Tomato Paste
Instructions
Blend all ingredients in a food processor except 1 tomato and cucumber.
Add tomato and cucumber and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.
Serve with 1 tbsp toasted breadcrumbs and 1 tbsp fresh parmesan.
If you’re tired of making the same old soup recipes, try this fresh Gazpacho. When I served this soup for Basil’s in 2005, some customers were reluctant to try a cold soup.
Once they tried a bowl of the tangy, refreshing soup, they changed their opinions and became Gazpacho fans. The fresh herbs make a huge difference. The dried versions of basil and parsley will not give the soup the same punch.
If you want to make a vegetarian version of the soup, substitute vegetable broth for the beef broth. You can also prepare the soup in a more traditional manner by blending the toasted breadcrumbs (use 1 cup) with the vegetables.
This will give the soup a thicker consistency, but I prefer serving the breadcrumbs and cheese on top.
There are infinite versions of Gazpacho. Some are spiced up with hot peppers and cumin, while others add white beans to the soup.
Try adding other fresh vegetables and herbs, and you can adjust the heat by adding fresh jalapeno the recipe.
I think the soup is better without adding heat or spices because the cucumber, tomato, and green pepper flavors are more prominent.
2 tbsp Olive Oil 1 cup Diced Red Onion 4 cloves Roasted Garlic ⅓ cup Fresh Cilantro ½ cup Cold Water 1 tsp Salt 1 ½ tsp Cracked Black Pepper 3 ½ quarts Chicken Stock 4 cups cooked Rice 1 slice of Lemon 1 tbsp Shredded Fresh Parmesan 1 tbsp Sour Cream
Instructions:
Heat olive oil in a skillet and cook onion for 4 minutes- until translucent.
Purée cilantro, roasted garlic, salt, pepper, and ½ cup of water in the processor for 30 seconds.
Combine cilantro mixture, onions, and chicken stock in a large pot and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to simmer and cover. Cook 22 minutes and remove from heat.
Serve over bowls with ½ cup warmed rice.
Top with sour cream and shredded parmesan. Place a lemon slice on the side.
Serves 4-6
I made this soup in 2009 as a soup du jour, and after receiving a lot of positive feedback, I featured it on the monthly chef special.
You can roast the garlic in the oven, or you can toast the garlic, with the skins on, for 10-12 minutes in a skillet on medium-high heat.
Cooking the garlic in the oven makes it tender and creamy, but since you blend it in a processor, its consistency isn’t important.
Leftover chicken is ideal for this recipe, but you could buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store if you don’t have cooked chicken on hand. I don’t recommend using canned chicken for this recipe (or any other) since the flavor’s disturbing, and it resembles cat food.
Since the recipe is inexpensive to make, it was perfect for the recession times of 2009. It’s a great soup for any season, but if you see another economic downturn coming, break out your cilantro chicken recipe. It will ease your financial blues. Enjoy!
Americans spend over 700 million dollars a year on kitchen knives. With statistics like that, you’d think that every man, woman, and child in the land of the free are experienced masters of culinary cutlery.
Children should be butchering cattle by age five, and teenagers should be experts at the knife game featured in Aliens.
How can we spend so much on cutlery? We haven’t disrupted the restaurant industry with our blade love.
The National Restaurant Association reports the projected sales of US restaurants in 2019 totals 863 billion dollars.
Knife blocks are a common feature of the American kitchen. They display your fancy steel, and they prevent your blades from getting scratched up in a drawer. I should know; I have two of them.
Yes, it seems excessive to have over twenty kitchen knives, but I have an excuse. I’m homeschooling a large group of butcher apprentices, and as you know, I need tons of cutlery for training. Actually, the truth is less entertaining or insane.
After purchasing an inexpensive knife block, I inherited a block of 1982 Chicago Cutlery (when the company’s product was manufactured in Wauconda, Illinois rather than China), and I frequently use the bread knife and chef’s knife.
Alfred Paulson founded Chicago Cutlery in 1930 as a knife-conditioning and sharpening operation. With a steady supply of butchers and commercial retailers, he expanded his business to include knife manufacturing.
Before the company’s takeover in 1988, the knives were crafted by hand. The handles were made from American trees, and the blades were made with U.S. Steel.
Mine has held up well for being 38 years old, and I recommend buying a used set if you can verify the knives’ production date.
Although I have enough steel to declare war on Vermont, I realized that I rarely use most of it. I have three sets of steak knives. As Marlon Brando said, “The horror …. The horror!”
Unless I begin serving well-done beef to dozens of dinner guests each week, I don’t need steak knives. At the restaurant and in the kitchen, I seldom use more than three types of cutlery.
It Takes Three
There are countless myths and clichés concerning the number three, but sometimes, I buy into the idea that good things come in threes.
Except for The Godfather Part III, Episodes 1-3 of Star Wars (at least there were two sets of excellent trilogies), the second and third Matrix films, and the last two Hangover movies, I like trilogies.
I respect the holy trinity of Cajun cooking, which includes onions, celery, and bell peppers. I admire the inept three branches of our government, I’m thrilled by documents that require three signatures, and when I had hair, I excelled at lather, rinse, and repeat.
The same goofy nonsense (my sarcastic analysis of the lucky number) applies to cutlery. All you need in your kitchen is three knives: a chef’s knife, a serrated knife, and a paring knife.
Many of you may also use a carving knife and a cleaver. A well-made chef’s knife can accomplish many of the same tasks unless you need a cleaver for your daily butchering of large animals.
A long-bladed carving knife is handy, but how often do you slice a whole turkey, ham, roast beef, or pig?
If you answered, “very often,” you could use an 8-10-inch chef’s blade. A chef’s knife or butcher knife is the most useful tool in your kitchen. Unless you’re cutting baked bread, a chef’s knife will slice, chop, or slaughter all your meat and produce.
I use a paring knife for peeling apples, slicing peppers and grape tomatoes, and cutting cheese. You can use a chef’s blade for the same jobs, but a sharp paring knife is safer and more comfortable on Los Manos.
Did you sit on my Bread, Chief?
A sharp serrated knife that has points similar to those on a tree saw is perfect for cutting bread. If your dime-store bread blade mashes rather than slices your Uncle’s famous beer bread, buy a better knife.
A lousy knife will make your slices of bread look like they were used as hemorrhoid pillows. The sat-upon look of your food will not impress the in-laws or escaped prisoners.
I understand that it may seem hypocritical only to promote using the holy trinity of steel when I own more knives than the average human, but I’m trying to change.
It’s difficult to sell or donate knives given to me as gifts, and I can’t part with inherited cutlery. I’ll admit it. I’m a sentimental maniac.
After Blending, In a Metal Bowl, Stir in the Following:
⅔ can of Black Bean drained
½ cup Corn
1 cup Tomato diced
½ cup Red Onion diced
In 2010, Basil’s featured the Black Bean Salsa with the Tuna Tacos. It’s a simple recipe that you can make in ten minutes. The recipe uses a 15.25 oz can of black beans.
The instructions mention that you blend ⅓ of a can of black beans, and you mix ⅔ of a can of whole black beans at the end. This measurement doesn’t have to be exact.
After draining the beans, pour them into a clear measuring cup. Grab a little less than half of the beans to blend in the processor. If you want the salsa to have a thicker consistency, use half of the beans.
If you like your salsa hotter, add a quarter cup of diced jalapenos.
Currently, Basil’s uses the salsa in this month’s Chef’s Features. It’s featured with the new Tuna Tacos and the Santa Fe Chicken salad.
This summer, when you’re able to purchase locally-grown tomatoes, try making this recipe again. I really like the salsa, but it’s even better with home-grown( that’s what I use) or farmer’s market tomatoes.
Since the 1976 film Carrie, Hollywood has turned
several of Stephen King’s works into movies. King is a prolific writer whose
vault of horror has enticed screenwriters, directors, and producers for the past
four decades.
From 1976 to 1999, King’s works inspired twenty-seven films.
Since 1999, countless television films, television series, and films followed,
but the best ones, in my opinion, were made during the first twenty-three
years. These include Carrie, The Shining, The Dead Zone, Cujo, Misery, Pet
Sematary, Creepshow, The Running Man, Stand by Me, The Dark Half, and The Green
Mile.
I’ve been a fan of Stephen King since I was nine years old (an
appropriate age to start reading horror). One afternoon in Texas, I quietly pulled
a copy of Cujo from my grandmother’s shelf and read for a few hours. I threw
the book aside when my mother noticed I was reading a horror novel.
Although I was too young to understand why a character in Cujo
was pleasuring himself over a bedspread, the terrifying and depressing story
drew me in.
I continue to enjoy King’s novels, and unlike some of his
die-hard fans, I like many of the movies based on his work. Most of his work is
challenging to translate into films.
King admits that he suffers from “diarrhea of the word
processor”. He includes a vast amount of details and characters in his novels,
and sometimes they’re too numerous to include in a screenplay.
Controversy often accompanies the opening of a Stephen King
film, and Doctor Sleep is no different. Some critics complained that a
scene involving the torture of a young boy was too brutal. It’s a harsh scene,
but it’s based on a violent novel. Critics also slammed It for displaying
acts of violence towards children.
Children always play a significant role in King’s novels. They
are the heroes and often the victims. If you consider how dark and violent the stories
It and Doctor Sleep are, you can’t complain about the brutality
of the films.
It involves a demonic clown that terrorizes and kills
the children of a small town every 27 years. Doctor Sleep centers on a
traveling clan of magical killers. They roam around the country, torturing and
killing children who possess the shining.
Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining did not please Stephen
King. Kubrick’s version wasn’t faithful to the book, and to this day, the great
Horror King of New England cannot understand why people consider The Shining
as one of the greatest and scariest horror movies.
I understand why. Stanley Kubrick wasn’t concerned with
making an utterly faithful adaption of King’s work; he wanted to make a horror
film his way. The film’s rhythm is what makes The Shining so scary.
It’s not the type of horror film that makes you jump; it’s
the type that causes the hairs on your arm to rise. I read The Shining
and watched the movie, and I like both. King’s novel is scarier than Kubrick’s
film, but I treat them as separate entities.
Reading horror gives me a different feeling than watching a
horror film. I don’t get upset when everything I visualized from a novel isn’t displayed
the same way in the movie.
I mention the Kubrick version of The Shining because Doctor
Sleep desperately tries to replicate its mood, characters, and music. The
opening notes of Doctor Sleep repeat the roaring Wendy Carlos soundtrack
of The Shining. I like hearing Wendy Carlos again, and it’s one of the
few “Kubrick tributes” that doesn’t irritate me.
Too Much Heartbeat
Mike Flanagan wrote and directed Doctor Sleep, and
for the most part, he did a decent job. There’s solid acting, stylish visual
effects, and plenty of frightening moments. However, Flanagan went overboard
when his Kubrick man-crush affected his better judgment.
The slow, repetitive, heartbeat sound effect from The
Shining established suspense in the first film, but Flannigan uses the beat
so much that it becomes a common feature of the soundtrack. It doesn’t add to
or increase the tension in the scenes but becomes a constant thump in the
background.
Another aspect of the Kubrick love fest that doesn’t
work is the use of different actors to portray Jack Nicholson, Scatman
Crothers, and Shelley Duvall’s characters from The Shining. I understand
that it’s practical to use new actors when you’re producing a sequel forty
years after the original.
Scatman Crothers is no longer with us, and any digital
representations of the original actors would’ve inflated the budget by several
million. Henry Thomas (Elliot from E.T.) plays Lloyd the bartender/Jack
Torrance, Carl Lumbly plays Dick Halloran, Roger Dale Floyd plays young Danny
Torrance, and Alexandra Essoe plays Wendy Torrance.
The acting by this new group isn’t horrible, but as hard as
they try to look and act like the originals, they can’t pull it off. It gives
you a weird feeling when Danny Torrance doesn’t have the correct hairstyle in Doctor
Sleep.
Danny Lloyd, the actor who played Danny Torrance in The Shining, had a hall of fame “bowl cut.” I’m an expert in the field of bowl cutting because I had the same haircut until 1983.
Roger Dale Floyd’s cut is puny and misshapen. It doesn’t
hold a candle to Danny Lloyd’s massive bowl. The stylist from Doctor Sleep
didn’t use the correct eight-quart mixing bowl to cut Floyd’s hair.
If you look fast, you’ll see Danny Lloyd, the true lord of
follicles, in a cameo during the magic show.
Ewan McGregor plays a subdued Dan Torrance, and he’s right for
the role. McGregor, like many talented actors from the UK, plays an American
more convincingly than most American actors playing British roles.
Have you watched Keanu Reeves or Winona Ryder attempt a
British accent in Bram Stoker’s Dracula? If you haven’t, it would be
better if you only imagine it.
Dan Torrance is a recovering alcoholic, burdened with guilt,
who can’t find his purpose in life. He moves to a small town in New Hampshire to
live simply and forget the horrors of his past.
While working as a custodian in a hospice, he sees a cat scurry
into a patient’s room. Azzie, the cat, knows when someone is close to death. When
Azzie lays down on a patient’s bed, they pass away that night.
Dan uses the shining to speak to the dying men
telepathically. He reassures them that there is life after death, and he
describes death as a long sleep. One man nicknames him Doctor Sleep.
Dan finally finds a use for the shining that doesn’t involve
the ghosts from his past. He’s content with the calm of his new life until Abra
contacts him.
Kyliegh Curran & Rebecca Ferguson
Abra, played by newcomer Kyliegh Curran, is a teenager with
powerful psychic abilities. She has the shining, like Dan, but her powers are
more focused and refined.
She can locate people who are hundreds of miles away, with
her mind. She reads people’s thoughts and tears into their brains to find
hidden memories. Dan finds a message on a blackboard in his room sent
telepathically by Abra, and he corresponds with her in the same way for eight
years.
When Abra’s shine allows her to witness the killing of a
young boy, she cries out in terror. The cry knocks Dan to the ground, and it forces
Rose the Hat to pause her murderous act.
Rose the Hat, played by Rebecca Ferguson, is the wicked
leader of the True Knot. Her clan travels in a caravan to find and feed on
gifted children. The kids release “steam” when they’re tortured, and the group
inhales it to extend their lifespan.
The clan’s eyes glow blue when they take steam. Their wounds
heal, their grey hair turns brown, and their abilities increase in power. They cuddle
each other after killing a young boy. The True Knot are sick puppies.
After Rose becomes aware of Abra and how powerful she is,
she decides her group needs the girl. Slowly Killing Abra would give the group
a jackpot of steam. Rose, using her mind powers, pursues Abra but realizes the
little girl is stronger.
I like the interactions between Rose and Abra. The teenager,
brimming with psychic energy, taunts the experienced killer and injures her.
Most horror movies feature a villain who terrorizes his victims, but in DoctorSleep, the victim torments the villain.
The mind battles between Abra and Rose are incredibly
entertaining. Special effects play a significant role in the action, and the
way they represent telepathic travel between the heroes and the killers is unique.
However, the attractive visuals would mean nothing if the acting reeked. Have you watched Kevin Bacon in Friday the 13th? He’s so bad, you’re relieved when he’s skewered.
Horror movies are notorious for bad acting, but Doctor
Sleep is different. Ferguson’s performance is a standout. Her ghoulish
killer is charming, cruel, and attractive. She’s evil but somehow likable.
Another high point of the film is Curran’s role. She’s new
to the acting world, but she’s a talented performer. She brings humor and
humility to her compelling character.
Doctor Sleep is a worthy sequel to The Shining
and more enjoyable than most horror produced today.
Its excellent acting and nifty effects boost the morbid
tale, but the numerous Kubrick love notes interfere with the storytelling. I ‘m
sorry, Stephen King, but Stanley Kubrick (God rest his Soul) managed to infect
your vision once again.
Recent Comments