It (2017)

I watched a movie and it was called It, directed by Andy Muschietti, starring Jaeden Lieberher and Bill Skarsgård, released in 2017. It is an adaptation of the 1986 novel by Stephen King. The movie follows 5 kids who are terrorized by a malevolence in a small town, Derry after one of their own, Bill’s brother Georgie gets killed by It. It is a complicated story to synopsize without revealing too much of the plot. Though to be fair, this is the second adaptation of the classic horror novel, the first being in 1990, as a tv movie and that one was more or less a condensed version of the book. Here, the 2017 version, focuses solely on the kids and how they navigate through the town. All of the kids are terrorized by 3 bullies AND their parents in different ways (Bev’s dad is sexually abusive though it is mostly implied and not shown so explicitly and Eddie’s mother is a hostile hypochondriac) as well as the adults in town avoiding helping Ben when he is getting abused by the bullies. There is something off about Derry, that is very conveyed through the style choices that Muschietti uses, as I mentioned earlier. There are some differences, as Ben is now the historian of Derry rather than Mike though in one scene Mike mentions his grandfather knowing something was not right about the town and even calls out the It curse.
Bill Skarsgård does an amazing job as It. Even from the first scene with Georgie, you can tell there is something most definitely wrong. However Bill adds a childlike voice to It that just feels off as well. The effects of It and everything surrounding it are really spot on, the jumpiness of the character when it attacks the children, the manic change of faces and the way everything just escalates was frightening. The kids all sold on their performances, sounding like kids, rather than Adult kids. It helps that they were all age appropriate so that there was some realism there, as with the dialogue overlapping in certain scenes and really terrified looks on their faces and in their actions. It has a weird air to it too since it rides the line on winsome tween coming-of-age story to terrifying clown horror. Ive read some of the book (online and it was hard to follow as I am distracted by school and life in general) and I felt that there was enough in this adaptation to see that it was adapted really well. A lot of what I imagined was on screen which is pretty rare and it also changed enough, not in 1958 rather in 1988 setting the story this time, that it could be relatable. Additionally, the terror comes from both ends which really has meaning and was not really conveyed in the first tv movie adaptation.  I am sure that a lot people will have mixed feelings about it but I would recommend it. Something that is interesting here is the adaptation of two films and using the same source material; what gets cut? What gets saved? How does one adapt such a thick book into a different medium? How does one make it fresh for new audiences while there is another version that is 27 years old? Overall, it is a great adaptation to King’s work which has been called hard to adapt many times. Little things have changed but the message is still there overcoming fear both as a child and an adult.

Buio Omega - Beyond the Darkness

I watched a movie and it was called Buio Omega, which loosely translates to Beyond the Darkness, directed by Joe D’Amato, starring Kieran Canter, Cinzia Monreale, and Franca Stoppi, released in 1979. It is an Italian horror movie about a man, played by Kieren Canter, whose fiancé, played by Cinzia Monrele, dies and he falls into the arms of his maid, Iris, played by Franca Stoppi, then things take a turn for the worst and weird. It’s a very shocking movie, to be sure, as it is quite graphic, like a good Italian horror movie should be (autopsy, dismemberment, and a few other scenes).  The music by Goblin is really great and gives it a very interesting vibe along with being very ear wormy. Kieren Canter has pretty good charisma on screen despite having one expression; however I have to admit that it works because he is in mourning and a lot of weird stuff is happening to him. Cinzia Monrele as the fiancé plays a really great dead woman. Franca Stoppi is menacing as Iris and chills you to the bone at how ruthless she is through the whole movie. She is scary looking and has a very Norman Bates Mother quality about her. The action takes place mostly at a villa and it is creepy as hell in a few scenes here and there, creating such an atmosphere.
                Gobin does the soundtrack and like I said, it is very earwormy. The main theme is toe tapping and really adds to the weirdness in what is happening. It still has that very 70s prog rock sound though which makes it listenable outside of the movie. It makes a lot of the scenes really tense when the scenes are already tense. A lot of the time there is no music in some scenes, which, again, adds to the tense atmosphere.

The story is kind of drawn out, for a 94 minute movie and it does take a while to get anywhere. It can be confusing too but mostly it makes sense. There is also a fair amount of nudity in addition to the gore and some other questionable parts that I’ll let you see for yourself. The version I saw I got is uncut as part of a “Necro Bundle” from Severin Films.
                Definitely a weird movie and I only recommend it if you have a very, very strong stomach! OR if you are into Italian Horror films or horror films in general and want something very different. 

Black Christmas

I watched a movie called Black Christmas (also released as Silent Night, Evil Night and Stranger in the House), directed by Bob Clark, released in 1974. It stars Margot Kidder, John Saxon, Olivia Hussy, Andrea Martin, Keir Dullea, Marian Waldman. The story is about a group of sorority sisters who are going on Christmas vacation but end up getting killed one by one in their sorority house by a stalking murderer. This movie has the distinction for being the first “slasher” movie of its time, apparently predating Halloween and Friday the 13^th. I don’t know about any of that though, it’s just what I read and it seems dubious when you think about other films that came before it such as Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock or even The Spiral Staircase, directed by  Robert Siodmak, released in 1946. Though to be fair, “slasher” films are a totally different genre. I will say however that the acting is superb. Kier Dullea is very at home being kind of a weird boyfriend to Olivia Hussy’s character; Margot Kidder is amazing at being a total bitch who is obsessed with booze and sex and John Saxon plays it cool with his portrayal of the detective. The direction is exception, especially the camera work by Albert J. Dunk, using the first person perspective of the killer, which is reminiscent of The Spiral Staircase or even Italian Giallo/Horror films of the 1970s, adds much more to the character than being some creeping terror with a knife. In fact, the killer uses objects that are around such as cellophane and a glass unicorn head decoration. There is a subplot of calls that the girls keep getting through the entire film and apparently they have been getting them before the Christmas holiday. They don’t think anything of it until the first girl goes missing. Like I said, it has a very Giallo/ Italian Horror quality to it as well which is interesting, as it holds the suspense for the audience and also the lighting is sparse giving it spaces of darkness that make you tense as scenes unfold.
To modern horror audiences, it can be boring though to its credit, it doesn’t establish a lot of backstory, as with some grindhouse movies like this, you just take it as it is and there is action right away. It also doesn’t have a lot of excessive talking that makes you hate the characters with later films in this “slasher” genre. You feel genuinely bad for these girls because they aren’t really deserving of any of this, even Margot Kidder’s character, Barb.
This movie also has the distinction for being directed and produced by someone who directed another Christmas classic most audiences are familiar with.  There was a remake in 2006 that Bob Clark also produced, which I haven’t seen, has more gore and a little more backstory. I think this one stands on its own for being a horror film that is set against a backdrop of a festive holiday such as Christmas. If you haven’t seen it, I suggest you do, if only to see what the director is capable of with two kinds of Christmas movies.