Breezy (1973)

 In the film 'Licorice Pizza' - which is set in 1973 - a plot element involves the making of a thinly veiled version of 'Breezy' called 'Rainbow'. In addition, having now watched 'Breezy' I can see a number of aspects of that film embedded in the later films DNA, including an age gap romance and a similar California setting. 

'Breezy' was the third film directed by Clint Eastwood, after 'Play Misty For Me' and 'High Planes Drifter', in fact characters in this film go to see 'High Planes Drifter' in a theater. 'Breezy' is a character study romance film in which an imbittered, divorced, real estate agent played by a 55 year old William Holden, slowly, and against his better judgment, falls in love with a free spirted 17 year old played by a very lovely 20 year old Kay Lenz.

The Final Conflict aka The Omen III (1981)

 The last entry in the feature film 'Omen Trilogy' is a disappointment even compared to its middling predecessors. Damien is now a grown up played by Sam Neill, whose mostly waisted in this. 32 years of age and heading his family conglomerate, he takes a step back from day to operations to assume his father's old post as the US Ambassador to Great Britian (a vacancy having been conveniently opened up for this job via the forces of darkness). The forces of light are back too, mostly monks and priests, they have relocated the sacred daggers which are the only instruments capable of killing the Anit-Christ. Several assassination attempts fail. 

There are also story points concerning the impending second coming of Christ, but in a break with prevailing doctrine apparently Jesus is coming back as an infinite again (so he can grow up to face a sixty-something Anti-Christ?)  But Jesus won't have to be the one to end the Anti-Christ's reign, which will prove to be short and low key, as he is to be felled by a single mother that he recently started dating. This film lacks the scale which would seem to go with such a cosmic story, there's a few decent set pieces, but its mostly people talking in rooms and Damien raging in front of a crucifix which he keeps just to rage in front of. This was silly, rather cheap looking, and really bad. *

Damien: Omen II (1978)

 'Damien: Omen II' is of course a sequel to the 1976 film 'The Omen', a film that is considered a classic but that I thought was middling. I think this was middling as well, but in some ways, I found it more interesting than its predecessor, in part because the first film has worked its way into the collective consciousness, so I felt like I'd kind of seen it even before I saw it. 

This movie follows a young pubescent Damien coming to the realization that he is to be the Anti-Christ, something that he is legitimately upset about at first, but which he comes to embrace. Damien also learns of a conspiracy of people dedicated to helping him, including an instructor at his military school and the number 2 official at his uncle's multi-national conglomerate. 

After his parent's deaths in the first movie Damien is taken in by his father's brother. We learn that the Thorne family run a multinational conglomerate, and that while Gregoy Peck was able to use his privileges to have a prominent diplomatic career, his brother William Holden took over the family business. Holden seems a decant enough guy, but when approached by representatives of a 'conspiracy of light' dedicated to stopping Damien, he just refuses to see his nephew's evilness (despite all the people around him that conveniently wind-up dead) until it might be, and in fact is, too late. 

Some interesting ideas here, but similar themes are tackled more interestingly in other films from around the same time, such as 'The Fury' (1978) and 'The Visitor' (1979). The movie also fails to take advantage of a plot twist they seemed to be setting up, in which Holden's wife Lee Grant knew that Damien was to be the Anti-Christ the whole time. **

The Burning (1981)

 'The Burning' is an early 80's slasher film using the New York City area urban legend of "Cropsey" as a jumping off point. Here Cropsey was the grounds keeper of a summer camp who was horribly disfigured by a fire caused by a prank against him gone wrong. After five years in the hospital, undergoing ultimately unsuccessful skin grafts, the disfigure and embittered Cropsey decides to seek his vengeance on campers and their councilors. 

It is in effect a pretty standard type 80's slasher film, but I thought one of the better done ones. It hits all the expected beats, the fairly large cast of characters are mostly well fleshed out and distinct, and its got a decent gimmick with Cropsey making his kills via a pair of pruning shears. This is also of note as the first movie produced by the notorious Harvey Weinstein, who is also one of three people listed under story by credit, the actual screenplay was co written by his brother Bob Weinstein. You can see a little of Harvey in a couple of the characters. 

This movie also boasts an unusual amount of future stars in the cast, including Holly Hunter, Jason Alexander and Fisher Stevens. The film under performed at the time owing to the slasher glut of the early 80's, but has since gained a cult following. There has never been a sequel or a remake. Again this is a pretty standard horror, but I thought the cast was unusually good and so I enjoyed it more then most films of this type. I would even say its better then any of the 'Friday the 13th' films. ***

Piranha 3D (2010)

 A few years back I watched 'Piranha DD' confusing it with 'Piranha 3D'. Turns out 'Piranha DD' is the sequel to 'Piranha 3D', which could loosely be construed as the 3rd film in a franchise going back to a couple of Roger Corman films in the 70's and 80's, if you ignore the 1995 Piranha reboot. 

In 'Piranha 3D' an earthquake opens up an underwater fissure connecting an Arizona surface lake to an unground lake and thus releasing a species of piranha thought extinct for 2 million years. The first person killed by these piranha is Richard Dreyfus in a rowboat singing "Show Me the Way to Go Home", and the person who explains the "science" to the audience is Christopher Lloyd in 'Doc Brown' mode. This movie likes its references. 

The lake into which the piranha are released is a popular spring break destination, and you guessed it, this happens during spring break. The action in the film centers around 3 or 4 groups; local law enforcement and family centered around sheriff Elisabeth Shue, a 'Girls Gone Wild' codded porn shot centered around Jerry O'Connell, and a geological survey team centered around Adam Scott (guess which one of these three center spokes survives).

Somewhat to my surprise there are moments when I felt a genuine sense of horror during the course of this film, something that wasn't the case with the sequel. Also, unlike the sequel the script here is actually pretty tight, it's a legit if often comic disaster movie. My favorite bit was probably the piranha eating all the flesh off a bikini clade babe and then the breast implants floating upward.  ***

The Haunted Palace (1963)

'The Haunted Palace' is the 6th entry in director/producer Roger Corman's "Poe Cycle" of the 1960's (a total of eight Edgar Allen Poe inspired works were released by Corman between 1960 and 1964).  The titles source material, Poe's 1839 Poem 'The Haunted Palace' is short on plot, so this is supplemented by grafting on the story from H.P. Lovecraft's 1927 novella 'The Case of Charles Dexter Ward'; making this the first feature film based on a Lovecraft story. 

In 1765 Arkham, Massachusetts local rich guy Vincent Price is burned at the stake (actually he's tied to a tree and then set on fire), for being a warlock and seducing local woman via magic. 110 years later in 1875, a descendent of the dead warlock also played by Price arrives in town to claim his inheritance. The 18th century Price lived in a century's old castle or palace, which he had bought in Europe then had re assembled brick by brick in the new world. 

The new 19th century Price is actually a pretty good guy, by his evil great grandfathers ghost initiates a psychic link between the two via his old portrait. 18th century Price slowly takes control of 19th century Price's body, and with the help of two fellow warlocks, one of which is played by Lon Cheney Jr., he proceeds to get revenge on the descendants of the people who killed him. In a typically Cormanesque cost saving measure the decedents of the villagers in the opening 18th century sequence are played by the same actors in the 19th century bulk of the film. 

The films okay and by Corman standards better than usual. The 18th century Price had cursed the decedents of the Arkham villagers with having an unusual number of deformities among them, so we have an excuse for some reasonably good make up and prosthetic work. The hero of the film turns out to be the town doctor played by Frank Maxwell, he takes a reasonable course between the superstition of the towns folk and the early skepticism of 19th century Price. Maxwell save's Price's life at the end, but the film concludes with the implication that his ancestors ghost is still hanging around inside of him. Actress Debra Paget, 22 years Price's junior, plays his wife in the film, she is still alive at 93 years of age. **

Halloween: Resurrection (2002)

 'Halloween: Resurrection' aka 'Halloween 8' is a sort of soft reboot that ended up not producing any direct sequels. The story does away with Jamie Lee Curtis's Lauire Strood in the first 10 minutes or so, Micheal finally gets her and I can see how this would be very unsatisfying to devotes of the franchise. But as the films use of the word "resurrection" in the title implies, this movie is not so much concerned with the past, as it is with trying pump new life into a series that was nearly a quarter century old by this point. 

This movie has more African American characters in it then it any of the previous films and attempts to exploit the then relatively recent arrival of 'reality TV' in its plot. A group of Haddonfield University students (since when did Haddonfield have a university), are locked overnight in the Meyers house on Halloween for a live stream reality show; there a cameras planted throughout the house and each 'contestant' has a head mounted camera with them. This proves to be especially usefully as the online friend of one of the contestants is able to use information gathered by the cameras, as well as an early texting feature, to communicate the location of Mike Meyers when he inevitably shows up.

This isn't a very good movie, but what I enjoyed about it most seeing it for the first time now is just what an artifact of its time it is. This is a very 2002 movie in the casting, in the music, in the reality show and period internet elements of the story. This is really a pretty generic slasher, but adding in a nostalgia kick for the period in which it was made, and in which I was also in college, made it rather enjoyable. **