Scream 4: Give Ghostface His Dignity Back

There was an extended period in my life where I wanted to have Scream's baby. I was smitten with Matthew Lillard's annoyingly stupid presence. I got hot flashes when Rose McGowan thought she was thin enough to go through the cat door in the garage. Most importantly however, it scared the crap out of me. So much so, that my first viewing of the film resulted in an all night awake fest courtesy of the metal screw in my ceiling light that suspiciously resembled Ghostface. I was convinced that some lunatic was going to bust through my window at any point during the night and kill me.

Some may say that this is not a healthy reaction to a horror movie. To them I say, yes probably true, although to be fair almost everything in life scares me so I'm really not a good indicator of something going too far.

What I do know is that Scream is a powerful film and certainly one of, if not the best slasher movie of the past decade or so. Because let's be honest---I still want to have Scream's baby okay? Who doesn't?

Due to my blazing love affair with the film, I did my civic duty by watching the sequels and did my best to love them. While I quite enjoyed Scream 2, I felt Scream 3 was leaning a little too dangerously close to the edge of "annoyingly self aware". Now with Scream 4, I'm pretty confident that Scream has completely fallen off that edge and ventured into face slap territory. Which isn't to say Scream 4 is a bad film it's just..............depressing because it reminds me how sad our culture has become.

Ghostface in 2011 is like that point in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise where Freddy picks up his first dirty slang dictionary and runs wild with it. Ghostface has become too whimsy or something. He's too HILARIOUS and witty to really be scared of anymore. Before he had such a menacing and dark quality about him. There was something truly sinister behind that voice and we dreaded hearing it come out the other end of that line. Now? Now we giggle in anticipation of what Ghostface will come up with next. He's basically turned into this.

Now, we become less scared of Ghostface and more bored with him. Now he just seems like an annoying person on Facebook who thinks that yes, the world does want to know about his loneliness.

In fact, that's the whole problem with Scream 4. It's not scary. And I'm not just saying that because I am no longer a child who easily spooks. Scream 4 is just an exercise in trying to appeal to the new generation of horror fans and being annoying about it. Not that most horror movies don't do that, but there's something so infuriating about implementing Facebook and Youtube as valid plot developments in a movie. Sorry, I mean in any movie that is not called The Social Network.

I know we need to update things and make them cool and current, but didn't anyone else feel like they were trapped in a mall throughout the duration of Scream 4? Why does everyone seem SO LITTLE? It's like when you go back and visit your high school after you consider yourself an adult. The kids look about 10 years younger than you did and to top it all off....the cafeteria tables are smaller. Okay, okay I know it's all in your head but that's what I felt like while watching this. It felt weird. And creepy. Like grown men watching the little league championship on ESPN.

None of this however compares to the fact that the ending reveal of the killer is so outrageously stupid and....stupid. I'm not joking, it's the worst! I was so appalled and annoyed when it happened that I actually did an eye roll at my cat so that I could share with someone how annoyed I was. I really just don't know what to say about it.

Scream 4 isn't even that bad of a movie but that reveal really just killed it for me. There are even some decent and well done things happening throughout here. Creepy parking garage scenes, sad and brutal moments of killings, up close and personal shots of intestines. Plus Sydney Prescott will never fail as a likable and believable final girl for me.

But that ending? MAN! Terrible. Just terrible. Ridiculous. Not believable and worst of all it completely annihilates any shred of respectability that Ghostface had left. I know, I know it's supposed to be a commentary on how much importance we put on Youtube and that whole phenomena of 5 minute famers but come on. COME ON. This is embarrassing Wes.

So in closing. Damn it Scream 4. Damn you. You ruined everything and now we can't be friends or lovers.

The Nightmare of The People Under the Stairs

Why do I like The People Under the Stairs? It's not a particularly great film-- far from it in fact. And yet, I continue to revisit it time and time again only to be generally repulsed and feel in need of a shower. I first heard of the film from a friend of mine who recounted that this movie scared the crap out of her. We're talking back in the days of being a young one I should add. Some time later when exploring the vast world of horror movies, I happened upon it On Demand. While I knew what my friend had meant when she said it scared her, I couldn't help but notice that the film was scaring me for different reasons. Yes the "mother" and "father" were insanely terrifying, and the actual people under the stairs would probably have left me feeling uneasy had I been a bit younger.

What I couldn't seem to shake however was the constant feeling that the film was invoking one of the strongest connections to a nightmare that I've ever experienced.

Here is a nightmare I have had several times. I'm trapped in some place, I'm filled with a deep sense of dread and I cannot escape or wake up. I'm sure we've all had similar nightmares before and yet to me The People Under the Stairs exemplifies those same exact feelings that I have in those dreams. It could be my strange fascination and fear of extra rooms round beyond the visible means of the house, the labyrinth like system of the space between the walls, or perhaps even the decay and derelict nature of the house itself. Whatever it is--it manages to unnerve me in the strangest of ways.

Aside from all the silliness, the strange decision to don an S&M suit while using your shotgun,

and the entirely too long of a running time, The People Under the Stairs still has something that's difficult to touch. I like to think of it as some kind of evil and twisted fairy tale. Darker even than how the fairy tales were supposed to be--perhaps even a mirror image, the evil twin of something that was already a bit creepy to begin with.

Not only that, the film is gory and isn't afraid of it. There is nothing glamorous or romantic, and there is no pointless cameo of boobs. What you see is a strange hybrid of filth and comedy--of cheese and suspense--of nightmare and of intrigue.

The People Under the Stairs has its fair share of problems, heck, I'm pretty sure it's a terrible movie, but I will keep watching it because I feel like I have to. There's something to be said about it's nightmarish atmosphere and the feeling of being trapped in a place that is too terrible even for the mind to comprehend. The kind of place that makes you feel sick and ashamed--the kind of nightmare that's too real to wake up from.

This weekend, the Coolidge Corner Theater continues their Nightmares on Harvard Street special program, featuring the films of Wes Craven. This Friday and Saturday at Midnight, The People Under the Stairs will be playing. For more info and this month's schedule click here or visit Coolidge Corner Theater'sWebsite.

SCREAM: Looking Back At a Great Opening Moment

This weekend, the Coolidge Corner Theater kicks off their Nightmares on Harvard Street special program, featuring the films of Wes Craven. This Friday and Saturday at Midnight, slasher favorite Scream will begin the month long extravaganza. For more info and this month's schedule click here or visit Coolidge Corner Theater's Website.

Before I became a full fledged horror buff, Scream was one of the few horror movies I truly loved. Sure it scared the crap out of me, but I would watch it religiously, almost as much as I watched Babe the Gallant Pig (which was everyday). I can remember trying to fall asleep the night after I had watched it. The little screw on my ceiling light slowly began morphing itself into the ghostface mask, and I spent the entire night with my light on. I was positive that at any moment, the "killer" would knock down my door and kill me. There was something so real to me about Scream, and in many ways I still feel that same way. There's no supernatural killer, no mutant little boy who died and is now killing people, no boogeyman who kills people in their sleep. Scream featured a very real scenario with very real people--and that scared the hell out of me.

I've spoken before on this but I still can't ever seem to let go of how wonderful it is, that we are immediately thrown into the happenings. No 20 minute crap characterization, or setting the scene up for meeting our killer for the first time. There aren't even any opening credits--only a ringing phone, and an answered phone.

A less frequently talked about part of this opening is the 2nd time that the phone rings. After politely responding to the caller that they have the wrong number, Drew Barrymore's character Casey, hangs up the phone, turns and walks away. The phone then rings again, there is a beat, and Casey slowly turns around to stare at the phone for a brief moment--the subtlest hint of worry starting to appear on her face.

There is no scary music to tell us that we should be scared, rather we sense it in her body language and the overall tone. Even if we know the overall premise of the film that first initial call will still catch us off guard because it's so sudden. The 2nd call however and Casey's reaction causes us to be fully aware how this will all go down.

Now, as I'm sure many of you are aware, killing off a star like Drew Barrymore early in the film was to some a big surprise. Harking back to Psycho and Janet Leigh's infamous early departure, it was actually Drew, who opted for the role of Casey over Sydney. I for one cannot imagine Drew Barrymore playing Sydney (I remain unconvinced that the majority of her acting surpasses her esteemed performance in E.T.) and I still feel irksome about poster's proudly displaying Drew Barrymore front and center. We can't have it all I suppose.

What I really wanted to talk about however was the unsung hero of the opening scene and the major question on everyone's mind...

Who is Steve Orth? Can anyone even identify who the actor is? What does he look like? The poor guy auditioned for the role of Billy Loomis and was instead granted the great pleasure of being the boyfriend taped to a patio chair and being gutted. I don't even know what he looks like without a giant piece of duck tape covering his mouth. I will now take this moment to shed some life on this poor guy. His name is Kevin Patrick Walls and this is what he looks like without duck tape covering his mouth.

Is it weird I like him better with the duck tape? Anyways. Now you know who Steve Orth is.

What I always found most troubling about the opening murder is how relentlessly brutal it is. After this scene, the movies dips up and down in moments of humor and terror but this scene, and the stabbing of Casey is an entirely different ball game. Watching it back now, I start to pick up on a feeling I felt when watching The Last House on the Left for the first time---sadness. In a lot of horror movies we watch, we become accustomed to rooting for the annoying characters to kick the bucket. Here, we feel a strange sense of hopelessness and depression. Casey's parents are literally 20 feet away from her as she gets brutally stabbed. The stabbing is gutsier and more brutal than most of the horror films I have seen and yet it seldom gets mentioned. When Casey gets stabbed in the throat it's like we can feel the knife pierce our own flesh.

It's just so in your face and so off putting it drives me nuts with emotion. We are crushed when we see Casey's parents at the front door, and the little figure of Casey unsuccessfully crying out for help in the background.

Her parent's worry and the tone in their voice kills me every time. Her mother's scream when she finds Casey's body hanging from a tree is devastating. This is I think what freaked me out the most about this film when I saw it growing up. There's a certain amount of protection you expect from your parents when you are little. In the moment where Casey's parents car is seen, and they get out from the car, there's an odd sense of relief. As you know however, the presence of her parents in no way affects her outcome. She is brutally killed steps away from her own parents. This killed me when I was little. To think that one night when home alone, this same situation could happen and that my parent's wouldn't even be able to prevent it, sent serious chills down my spine.

Even still watching this scene today, I have a hard time coming to terms with the way everything plays out. It remains today as one of the most surprisingly brutal depictions of murder that I've seen---and that says a lot.

Scream 2: I'd Be More Upset That My Boyfriend Got My Popcorn All Bloody.

Ooh sequels. As someone who hates remakes and sequels I've realized lately that the only sequels I like are those directed by the original director-or sequels that are continuations i.e. contain the same characters as the original. If all the characters are killed in a movie then the movie should be over. Why would anyone want to sit through the same exact movie with different and less talented actors who just have bigger boobs?

So that brings me to my guilty pleasure of the Scream movies. Wes Craven rarely disappoints and I think he's really taken the Scream franchise and done wonders with it. He's taken his main character and made her strong and even *gasp* grow as a character. Character growth in a horror movie?!! What is this devilry? But it's true.

Sydney Prescott is a woman who will never truly be able to sleep at night. Sure in the beginning she seems over it- the whole caller ID thing and the way she deals with prank callers- but just by the mere sight of Cotton she gets all cold and rigid again. I mean you really have no choice but to sympathize with her. She watched nearly all of her friends get killed except the dorky movie nerd and her slutty best friends even dorkier cop brother......super lame cakes. But anyways Scream 2 is a mighty fine sequel in my opinion.

The beginning is really great. Wes Craven pays homage to Demons but puts a deliciously brutal twist on it. Poor Jada Pinkett Smith gets stabbed to death in the movie theater at the opening night of Stab (the Hollywood version of Sydney's real life story aka Scream) and no one even notices or cares. People are handed out gifts of the killers costume and glow and the dark knives. Of course no one would notice! It's all so wicked and scary- bleeding and screaming and being overshadowed by a particularly wonderful horror movie! Not that Stab is particularly wonderful but you get the idea.

So then we follow Sydney through her college days as she tries to be a woman, and tries to outwit and survive another batch of killers. My favorite scenes are the play rehearsal scene because it's so hectic and dramatic and the story of Casandra is such an interesting one to choose. And of course when the killer is driving the cop car, crashes and Sydney and her token black friend have to crawl over the killer to get out! The tension is seriously dealt in that scene and that horn blowing is so not cool Wes.

While the killers are a little ehh, the movie really works for me. Sarah Michelle Gellar is even in it- thank god she smartened up and joined the cast of a real horror movie fad aka NOT I Know What You Did Last Summer. The movie plays on the fact that the first movie played on the whole idea of horror movies and so it plays on the idea of a sequel! Honestly it's so simple and perfect it's a wonder no one else had even thought to do it. The Scream movies will always be a favorite of mine- although I didn't quite enjoy the third one as much. We'll have to see about the 4th.... regardless I just love that Wes Craven!

The Serpent and the Rainbow: AKA The Scrotum Skewer and the Midget Bride.

One of my favorite pastimes as a wee one, was to look at the covers and back covers of horror movies at the video store. This was nothing short of an S&M relationship because most of these movies scared the crap out of me, but I would always look at them anyways. The Serpent and the Rainbow cover is one of the ones that stuck out to me the most. This fear continued until I became aware that the scary ghost person on the front was actually Bill Pullman and not some terrifying white ghost person coming to eat me in my sleep.

Anywho, all childish fears aside this movie at times can be embarrassing but there are several moments that equal some real honest fear. First of all Bill Pullman maybe not the best in this movie. Independence Day? Believeable as the president? Not really. But did it work for the movie? Sure. This movie however needed someone with a little more suave intelligence and a lot less I'm so cool and hot even though I wear tighty whities. Besides that however, this movie carries with it many of the trademarks of a Wes Craven post Nightmare on Elm Street flick.

For one- the barrier between dreams and reality is extremely thin. Also there are some scenes with abnormally long and creepy arms. Then there's the excess of blood and someone being burned fact. Product of recycled fears or not this movie still generally creeped me out.

Bill Pullman is in Haiti researching some form of drug that literally makes people into zombies. The drug makes it seem as though the person is dead when in reality the person is still very aware of what is happening only they are paralyzed. So Billy goes in search of this drug and often bumps heads with this scary voodoo, also sometimes a government official guy with scary teeth. This man is just no good. He's got people's souls in decorated jars with little nick knacks tied around them, and he can make some scary shit happen like a giant snake leap out of a skeleton midget bride's mouth. He's just bad news.

The scariest scenes to me were that very scene, mostly because the midget bride is a terrible and horrible thing for anyone to see-awake or dreaming. She makes this high pitched screaming thing and you can't see her face and she's all short and stuff- it's just ehhh creepy. Then there was the numerous being buried alive moments especially the one where copious amounts of blood filled up the casket. The dead and gross looking hand that comes out of Bill Pullman's soup, and of course the ending burial scene.

That ending burial scene is especially torturous because there is so much build up to it. If after all that buried alive imagery happened and Bill Pullman never actually got buried alive it would be lame. I think it's pretty safe to say that most people have a huge fear of being buried alive. I know it's on my list of worst ways to die (right behind being eaten by a shark and being raped by Burt Reynolds) and anyone who isn't scared of that scene is just pretending.

Although I will say that that whole situation could have easily been avoided had Bill Pullman listened to Alfred from Batman and not returned to Haiti. But he had to rescue his woman blah blah yeah I guess that's OK. So all in and all there are a lot of pretty decent scares in this movie. Frolicking with a jaguar however is not one of those moments.

The Hills Have Eyes: I'm Craving Bird Blood.

So believe it or not I had never seen the original Hills Have Eyes. I caught the remake on TV one night in my dorm and thought it was fairly decent until the last bit. Watching the original, I am surprised at how true that remake is (except for the end) to the original and it kind of makes me delighted that there are still people out there who wish to preserve what is sacred.

The Hills Have Eyes reinforces the idea that you should never go driving around nuclear testing sites. One thing I do enjoy a little more in the remake is that they play up on that old nuclear testing wasteland thing. The creepy houses with the mannequins, and the hills clan looking more deformed I think works wonders. That is not to say of course that the original hills clan isn't terrifying-because I have never seen a more naturally terrifying person than Pluto. But Ruby pretty much looked like a model except with a bad tooth or two and the mom just looked like that fat lady who dances in Jabba the Hut's palace.

I can only find a picture of her action figure which is strangely kinder in appearance than the real thing.



No comparison picture of the hills clan mother exists so use your imagination. Why can I always find star wars look alikes within horror movies?

Anyways, I found the original to be very unsettling. The scene with Pluto and Mars stealing the baby and the women fighting for the baby is so shocking and really disheartening, Mars biting the head off the bird and eating that raw meat...yowzas. Ok ok and the death of the first dog was terrible as well but I was prepared for it and still no animal death compares to the puppy in SWF. There's really such a primal fear going on in this movie and that constant worry about being watched and stranded in the desert. The hills clan is one terrifying family and there savageness is nothing short of what I would expect from the offspring of a dirty hooker and a 50 foot tall grizzly man. The revenge sequences are incredibly satisfying and even though I don't particularly enjoy the company of german shepherds, Beast completely won my heart.

The ending, like the remake kind of gets a little boring for me. It's like the most climatic and the most startling part is in the camper with the women and then after that it's like let's watch Doug chase clan people- it's gets a little old. But that suspense of leading up to the first time we actually see the clan people and when they first attack the camper is crazy. Oh and when they set the Dad on fire...crazy man just crazy.

The remakes second part is much worse than this and I would guess they were trying to spice up the original. But it just made it even more exhausting. Is it possible that the audience is already so exhausted after the camper scene that anything after it will just be boring and too lengthy of a pursuit? Very possible I would say.

So in short, Wes Craven will continue to have my heart as this movie is truly memorable and very disturbing. The gore is there, but it's not excessive. Oh and I almost my forgot my favorite part. The gymnast Bobby does a superb flip routine in the desert! Skip to about 52 second into the clip if you want a good laugh.

Buy The Hills Have Eyes at Horror Movie Empire!



What an athlete!

Here is Bravo's say.

The Last House on the Left: Wes Craven's First Nightmare.

This was Wes Craven's very first film, and it still stands today as a shocking and brutal look at murder and revenge. A lot of people have a severe discomfort when they watch this film and I would say that I can agree (although it doesn't make me as uncomfortable as Cannibal Holocaust). The innocence of the main character paired with the proximity of her house to the crime, and what happens afterwards is pretty unbelievable and extremely unnerving.

Mari plans to go with her friend Phyllis to a concert for her 17th birthday. Her parents are concerned but let her go anyways. Roaming the streets of the city after the concert, Mari and Phyllis decide to find someone who will sell them marijuana and run into Junior. Unbeknownst to the girls junior is the son of one of the escaped convicts the girls heard of earlier in the day on the radio. Junior leads them to an apartment where they are ambushed by the three escaped criminals. Phllyis is promptly raped, and the scene is juxtaposed to Mari's parents planning a surprise party for her.

The girls are shoved into the trunk of a car and taken into the country for further humiliation and violence. As luck has it their car breaks down right outside Mari's house. The criminals take the girls into the woods and force Phllyis to pee her pants. Then they make the girls perform sexual acts when soon after, Phyllis escapes trying to make a distraction so that Mari can escape. The criminals hunt her down, stab and disembowel her. Mari is later shot in a pond and killed.

The criminals decide to knock on Mari's home, and play the perfect role of broken down travelers that are lost. It is not too long before the parents realize that these people have killed their daughter, and the revenge begins...

So obviously what people find most horrific as with most controversial movies, is the rape scenes. Even the peeing in the pants scene. It's all so realistic and choppy in this movie it just gives you this overall bad feeling, kind of like a snuff film. The girls are only 17, and to have all this happened to them only minutes away from one of their houses is heartbreaking. It reminds me of Scream when Casey is stabbed and her parents are arriving. She tries to call out to them but her vocal chords have been stabbed, it's the same kind of heart break. And what do you know Wes Craven is responsible for both of them! Perhaps Scream was a homage to this...hmmm

The disembowelment scene is pretty gruesome, especially for a film made in the early 70s. The criminals are so brutal and so disgusting that what they receive at the end is nothing short of satisfaction. The scene that a lot of people mention over and over again in this segment, is when Mari's mother gives one of them criminals a blow job and then bites off his penis. That is a crime of passion at it's finest. The mother truly wanted the man to suffer and I imagine if I had a penis it would be a terrible way to go.

So if you haven't seen this, I'd say it's worth a try. I say "try" because a lot of people can't get through it. It is very difficult to watch but it's groundbreaking in what it does for horror cinema and it's Wes Craven's debut-so it is rather historic.

Buy The Last House on the Left at Horror Movie Empire!

Nightmare on Elm Street: Whatchu Doin' Keeping Knife Fingers in Your Basement Woman?!

Freddy Krueger may be the best dreamed up character out there. He doesn't amble around slowly with a dumb mask, and he's not a made up monster or a possessed animal or a crazy girl who kills puppies. He is a guy who can kill people in their dreams. And it's impossible not to dream/sleep so he really is pretty darn perfect and effective at that.

The film begins when a girl named Tina is having a dream. She's walking through a steamy boiler room and sees a goat. Don't get any ideas this isn't a porn it's a nightmare! Freddy pursues her and she wakes up screaming. She notices her night gown is ripped in slashes where Freddy's knife fingers had gotten her in the dream. The next day Tina talks to her friend Nancy and discovers that they both had the same dream last night. That night the teenagers have a sleepover at Tina's. Tina's rebel boyfriend Rod comes over and goes to bed with Tina in her mother's room. Tina has another bad dream and wakes Rod up with her screaming ad thrashing. Rod watches in horror as Tina's body starts being cut opened and drag onto the ceiling by an apparently invisible person. Rod flips and runs away, leaving the police to think he is guilty of Tina's murder.

Nancy is determined to figure out what happened. She makes the connection finally between the bad dreams and Tina's death. She then makes the brave decision to not sleep but it proves too difficult. Nancy must find a way to survive in her dreams or risk being killed by Freddy.

What is great about this movie is the thin line between dreams and reality. Freddy may be in their dreams but he can kill them in real life. That is a pretty powerful advantage. The line is so thin that at times we think we are following Nancy in her day to day consciousness when suddenly we find that she is dreaming. One of the greatest examples is when she has the dream where she goes outside and Freddy appears on the road and his arms stretch out like an evil stretch armstrong. Then there is also the bathtub scene, which is especially frightening because when Nancy is pulled underneath the water she is suddenly in a deep body of water and no longer the bathtub.

This also happens to be Johnny Depp's very first movie. He plays Nancy's boyfriend and just doesn't take this whole not sleeping thing as seriously as Nancy. One of the most famous scenes is his death scene and I must say it is pretty awesome although...there does seem to be a little too much blood for one little Johnny Depp.

I also enjoy the scene where Nancy's mother takes her to the sleep clinic to figure out what's wrong. They watch her on the monitor and once she goes into REM her heart rate is off the charts. She begins wildly thrashing and her mother and the doctor rush in. Nancy's hair has turned white and she's clutching Freddy's hat in her hand. A hat, that even has the name Fred Krueger sewn into it. I wonder if he does his own sewing? Anyways, later, Nancy's mom brings her down to the basement where she takes a small bundle out of the furnace. She tells Nancy about how a while back there was a child murderer named Fred Krueger who used to take his victims to an old boiler room and kill them. He managed to kill about 20 kids before the parents of the community became outraged and decided to burn him alive in boiler room. Lucky for Nancy's mom, she got to keep his knife fingers, which she believes is proof that he can't come back and kill Nancy. But of course he can. And also why would you ever keep a child murderers knife fingers? Sick.

Freddy is a great character, probably the best slasher movie villain to date. He's witty and mean, and has such a gross face that he doesn't need a scary mask. He also likes to wear stripes and a stylish hat. What's not to love?

Here is Johnny Depp's death scene or the geyser blood effect as I like to call it, in all of it's glory. Enjoy.

Buy Nightmare on Elm Street at Horror Movie Empire!

Scream: Jiffy Pop? Lame.

This was probably my first favorite real slasher movie. It's great because it takes stereotypes of horror movies, makes fun of them, while at the same time acting out those very same stereotypes in the movie. It's pretty genius. The first night I watched this one was yet another sleepless night because I keep thinking the bolt on my ceiling lamp looked like the ghost face mask. I know I'm pathetic don't worry.

So Wes Craven really came back with this one. Neve Campbell is a true tortured soul, and it really gives depth to a story which so many slasher movies fail to do. The first scene is somewhat of a shocker, and I of course love it because Drew Barrymore hanging in the tree is a direct homage to the beginning of Suspiria, but it is also just a perfect horror movie scene. When the first thing we ever hear is a ringing phone, you know that phone is going to be the foundation of the frights. And it's true. Every time that phone rings it gets more and more scary. When the killer says, "Because I want to know who I'm looking at" our hearts freeze for a moment as well. It's sets up the rest of the movie so perfectly. Then the boyfriend tied to the chair and the chair through the glass window ahhhh. Although my one qualm with that scene is that I find it a little hard to believe a horror movie fanatic like Drew Barrymore's character would fail to answer that Mrs Voorhees is the killer in Friday the 13th but WHATEVER no judgement.

So this is a whodunit movie at it's best. There isn't some supernatural killer who fails to die in every single sequel, it's some real crazy person. Which is very scary because there are a lot of crazy people out there. There aren't a whole lot of clues to follow so the ending isn't a giveaway. It's surprising, without being too twisty. I'm sorry but some of these twist endings these days are just like....OK what's the craziest shit we can come up with? Now let's write the entire movie based on that premise!" I really feel like the old horror movies are going to be lost forever amongst this crap. At least I have foreign horror movies to look forward to.

ANYWAYS my favorite scenes in this movie would have to be; the beginning obviously, Neve's first run in with the killer, the fact that Arthur Fonzarelli is the principal, also the fact that the janitor's name is Freddy and wears Freddy Kruger's exact outfit, and of course the explanation of the "rules" of the horror movie and the obvious ignorance of them. I also love when Courtney Cox tries to drive away and puts the windshield wipers on but it's just a complete thick film of blood.

It really is a classic film that perfectly combines horror, comedy and entertainment. And what's more the sequels aren't that bad, well actually Scream 3 wasn't really a hit in my book, but there IS a Scream 4 in the making. Also important is that Sydney Prescott is at the center of each sequel so it's really like a trilogy except now there is a 4th one.....ehh never mind. Just enjoy the opening scene. Also as a side note, can anyone identify the person on the cover? It looks nothing like any of the characters...odd.

The People Under the Stairs: Where Ving Rhames Doesn't Kick Anyone's Ass...Sad Day.

If you've never heard of this movie you must rent it/ watch it on netflix ASAP. I am pretty confident in saying that this is the most fucked up family in horror movie history. Even the Firefly family doesn't make me cringe as much, heck they ARE pretty badass. This is a Wes Craven original- written, produced and directed and Ving Rhames is in it so if that doesn't sell you I'm not sure what will.

Poindexter (Fool) has learned that his family is being evicted from their "house" (crack den apartment) because they were 3 days late paying the rent. Their landlords require 3 months rent if you are late and Fool's family does not have the money. Faced with being put out on the street, Fool joins his sister's "friend" (pimp?) in a plot to rob their rich landlord.

The scene changes off and on again to the landlords. You may recognize Alice...It's A.J. Langer from My So Called Life as the daughter of Mother and Father Robeson. As Mrs. Robeson comes to collect Alice's dinner plate she flips out because the fork is gone. Alice pretends like she is looking for it while a white and long nailed hand comes out of the vent and gives it to her. Mrs. Robeson calls in Daddy Robeson and she tells him that Alice has been "feeding that thing inside the walls again". Daddy slowly gets his belt out..... creepy creeps.

So back to the big plan. Ving Rhame's accomplice poses as a muncipal worker and enters the house. But he never returns! Fool and Ving head inside and are corner by viscous dogs. The house is secured like none they've seen and offers a truly creepy vibe.

Skipping ahead a bit Ving Rhames is killed and Fool falls down the basement stairs. What he finds in the basement walls are hundreds of people. White faced some missing tongues, others eyes, and some even their ears. Sensing a pattern? Ma and Pa Robeson aren't married, they are brother and sister who have a habit of adopting children. If the children hear evil, see evil or speak evil they are given the appropriate punishment and forced to live in the basement under the stairs.

There is a lot more to the plot but you need to watch it or it won't be as wonderfully hysterical and unbelievable. Mr and Mrs Robeson are the creepiest craziest fucked up people I have ever seen. When Mr. Robeson runs around the house wearing some kind of bondage suit yielding a shotgun you know it's going to be a great piece of entertainment.

I think what draws me to this movie is that the atmosphere of the house reminds me of a nightmare. One of those nightmares where you are trapped and continously hiding from someone, and you keep having the dream over and over again. Something about the derelict walls and poor Alice being trapped inside the house really just makes me shudder.

The movie is also good for many many laughs, and there is plenty of blood for those in dire need of it. Also That Thing You Do fans can look forward to two cast members making cameos...Del Paxton and the "fan"

Here is a clip where fool is trying to escape from the shotgun of Mr. Robeson. I think the whole movie is on Youtube as well so you can watch it right this minute...which you should.