SWH07: Week 5 (sixth)

Six Weeks of Halloween 2007
Week 5 (sixth)

Beneath Still Waters (2005)
The orgy at the town's anniversary showed small signs of old school Yuzna, who was barely detectable in the dull and poorly plotted remainder. (5/10)

d. Brian Yuzna


Masters of Horror: "The Black Cat" (2006)
An excellent adaption, capturing the spirit of Poe and his work near-perfectly. (9/10)

d. Stuart Gordon


Baby shower 2/2 was the main focus of this weekend, again, rather than Halloween. Though, driving through Michigan at this precise time of year is incredibly beautiful.

I gave two Jones Soda flavors a day in court: Strawberry Slime and Gruesome Grape. They taste almost exactly like their equivalent Faygo flavors (which, I'd like to state, was good drinkin' long before utter idjits started promoting it). What this means to me is that they're completely drinkable. Unbelievably, I found all 4 of the half-can Halloween flavors to be tasty this year. Jones is getting better at this. Of course, next weekend I will be experimenting with their new licorice-flavored drinks. That may change my opinion.

Silent Hill 4: The Room was about as bad as I was expecting. A dull game full of bad choices. One of the worst ideas from the Resident Evil series -- the item box -- was imported and made even more annoying. Rather than multiple boxes that magically teleport your items between each other, there's only one box with which to manage your limited inventory. Accidentally pick up too many bullets and have no room for that key item? You'll have to make a trip all the way back to the apartment, dump some stuff in the box, and walk all the way back. There's no way to simply drop items where you stand. In the universe I live in, this is not remotely close to fun.

About half of the game is an escort mission, essentially. Making sure that a dumb AI-controlled character doesn't get itself killed is rarely more than frustrating (though I did get into it in the excellent Dead Rising). Herding Eileen through levels isn't too bad. You can run faster than her, making it easy to trap her in a room by exiting it before she's close to the door (the AI being too stupid to using doorknobs). Still, during my playthrough, she got wounded enough to get me the worst of the four endings.

There are no bosses, really, to speak of until the end of the game. There aren't really any puzzles outside of collecting items. The areas are the same old stuff: the requisite hospital, a subway, a prison, a forest, an apartment building. To play the game, you shuffle from area to area, occasionally batting down a mutant dog (also a requisite) while picking up items to unlock the path ahead. That's about it. It's as tedious as it sounds.

Play mechanics were never the series' strong suit. The storyline is supposed to be where SH shines. Not so much, here. A serial killer -- who happens to come from Silent Hill, though the game takes place in a different town altogether -- everyone thinks is dead isn't really and he's trying to finish a black magic ritual by killing 21 people. Also, he thinks your apartment is his literal mother. Outside of that bit of psychosis, SH's trademarked psychological horror is largely absent here. You're the hero: you save your pretty neighbor and the world from a bad guy. The end. It's a complete disappointment. I hope the Americans making the next two games can rescue the series from this low point.

Brian Yuzna

Brian Yuzna (1951 -)

1. 1989 - Society
2. 1989 - Bride of Re-Animator
3. 1990 - Initiation: Silent Night, Deadly Night 4
4. 1993 - Return of the Living Dead III
1. 1993 - Necronomicon: "The Library" & "Whispers"
2. 1996 - Tarzan: The Epic Adventures: "Tarzan's Return, Part One"
3. 1996 - Tarzan: The Epic Adventures: "Tarzan's Return, Part Two"
5. 1996 - The Dentist
6. 1998 - Progeny
7. 1998 - The Dentist 2
8. 2000 - Faust: Love of the Damned
9. 2003 - Beyond Re-Animator
10. 2004 - Rottweiler
11. 2005 - Beneath Still Waters

The Brian Yuzna Chronocinethon
4 Oct 2005 - 26 Oct 2005
(originally posted at IMDb)

opening thoughts
1989 - Society
1989-1990 - Bride of Re-Animator, Initiation: Silent Night, Deadly Night 4
1993 - Return of the Living Dead III, Necronomicon
1996 - Tarzan's Return
1996 - The Dentist
1998 - Progeny
1998-2000 - The Dentist 2, Faust: Love of the Damned
2003 - Beyond Re-Animator
2004 - Rottweiler
closing thoughts

Prev: Don Coscarelli
Next: Coen Brothers

Yuzna (closing thoughts)

Like Wes Craven, Brian Yuzna is a pretty uneven director: he has his good films and his bad films and it's hard to predict which type will come next. However, he still produces interesting movies consistently enough that he's definitely worth keeping up with. Here's what he's good at:

Ignoring previous movies and forging his own, unique path with sequels (Initiation: Silent Night, Deadly Night 4 and Return of the Living Dead III).

Horror-romance. Maybe I'm alone, but anytime Yuzna takes a romance in one of his movies seriously, it lifts the entire film up a level (Return of the Living Dead III's Julie and Curt, Rottweiler's Dante and Ula, and, to some extent, Progeny's Sherry and Craig).

"Kicking it up a notch." Especially when he's got Screaming Mad George on board, Yuzna can be counted on to push things a little bit further than your average horror director. From the fleshy ending of Society, to the grotesquely beautiful Bride, to a Wolverine clone that actually, for once, chops people up with his claws onscreen, Yuzna delivers great visuals.

Beneath Still Waters, I'm looking forward to. I actually own a signed copy of the novel, though I've never read it. I think I will, in preparation for the movie.

(comment in the main post)

Yuzna (2004)

2004 - Rottweiler - I was very surprised by this movie. The title, the DVD cover art and the plot description all make this sound like an impossibly cheezy movie; the sort of thing you watch half-drunk on cable in the middle of the night. Instead, I found it to be quite good. A man escapes from prison in some slightly futuristic, fascist Spain to search for the woman he loves as he tries to piece together what happened to her on the last night her saw her. He also happens to be chased by a robot dog (hence the title). I love the unelaborated future. There's no "It is the year 2525" subtitle, no explanation of how the dog was resurrected as a cyborg, no description of why Spain's borders are guarded so ferociously. Instead, we glean bits of information here and there, which is always more fun. I like the locations. The countryside reminded me -- fondly -- of spaghetti westerns. The industrial buildings in the city were a great backdrop. To my American eyes, they definitely looked alien/futuristic (I have no idea if they're really just a common design over in Spain). The music was quite good, as well. Mixed in with traditional Spanish guitars, I detected hints of Near Dark and Carnivàle's scores in there, setting a nice mood for the film.

(comment in the main post)

Yuzna (2003)

2003 - Beyond Re-Animator - There was a lot of good stuff in this film. Jeffrey Combs eases back into Herbert West's skin like no time has passed. It is always entertaining to watch the unfailingly scientific, though psychotically tainted, Herbert start some mayhem. I always wondered what would happen to a living person injected with the reagent and now I know. Punishing criminal by hanging them and then giving them eternal life was very clever. Having the main "good guy" cut the head off of his girlfriend in a spray of blood was nicely messed up. The "nano-plasm" was a great way to keep the Frankenstein theme alive, with it as a modern, interesting substitute for the lightning in the original story. Unfortunately, all of this good stuff hangs on the skeleton of movie that doesn't quite work. The story sort of lumbers along; the riot wasn't one tenth as scary as in Natural Born Killers. Like the Looney Tunes-style iris-out on the cackling Feinstone in The Dentist 2, a few things in this film were far too silly for my taste. Yes, Re-Animator movies are supposed to be horror-comedies, but the style of some of the comedy in this sequel wasn't right at all. Yes, a rat fighting a re-animated penis is funny... but it's not Re-Animator funny. The same applies to the warden suddenly growing rat-shaped incisors because of a little rat energy injection. Still, I hope the rumored House of Re-Animator will see fruition. Comb's West is reason enough to watch, not matter what.

(comment in the main post)

Yuzna (1998-2000)

1998 - The Dentist 2 - Breaks the unwritten rule of horror sequels that calls for a higher body count. In fact, this film more much subdued than its predecessor in general; it takes a while for Feinstone to truly snap. The journey to that point has the absurdly fun tension that only a horror movie can have. I *know* the good doctor will go nuts at the end and start mutilating mouths. I wince when he snaps at his banker friend or accuses Jamie of being in love with Robbie. I wince not because I'm afraid he's going to go "dental" on them, but because he's endangering his new life in Paradise. Once again, Corbin Bernsen does an excellent job of portraying the arrogant, psychotic Dr. Feinstone. Until the very lost shot, this is a solid slasher film. The last shot, however, leaves a sour taste: it's far too silly for to match with the preceding movie.

2000 - Faust: Love of the Damned - The first half of the movie is quite good. Nice shots, nice music, interesting plot, interesting characters. As soon as Faust appears, dressed in his rubbery, wiggle-horned suit, things go downhill. His Ichi-style slaughtering of people was fun, but the character itself just looked and acted a bit goofy. Seems clear from what was on screen and what I've read that there just wasn't enough money to create what the script/comic called for. Jeffrey Comb's character's inexplicable 180 near the end, as well as Jade falling instantly in love with John, suggests a lot of character development was left in the editing room or was unwritten. As Yuzna was also creating the Fantastic Factory studio at the same time, the film's shortcomings are understandable. Extra bonus point for Screaming Mad George's excellent transformation of Clair into -- literally -- pure "TNA".

(comment in the main post)

Yuzna (1998)

1998 - Progeny - More medical horror, but unfortunately nowhere near The Dentist's league (though Dr. Burton's hospital seems to have acquired two of Dr. Feinstone's staff). The film desperately wants to be a sort of Communion-Rosemary's Baby hybrid. Its Communion segments are, for the most part, pretty cool. I like the design of the alien's first form and I like the fact that Yuzna shies away from showing them clearly. Jillian McWhirter's extended nudity in those scenes is both welcome and realistic. The details are nicely accurate to "true" accounts of alien abductions I've read. However, those scenes just weren't eerie in the way Communion and Fire in the Sky were. I'm not sure what the difference is. The Rosemary's Baby stuff was mostly boring due to predictability. The ending, in which the aliens effectively kill Sherry with missing time while husband Craig has her open on the operating table, was very creative. The film should've stopped there. Instead, we get an unnecessary dream-abduction-jailhouse coda. Overshadowing all of this, however, was Arnold Vosloo's utterly wretched acting. He sleepwalks through his lines without a hint of emotion; it's a shame character actor god Brad Dourif had to share scenes with him.

(comment in the main post)

Yuzna (1996)

1996 - The Dentist - A superior slasher movie. As far as I know, no one thought to make a horror movie about a dentist before (I don't think Little Shop of Horrors counts). That, to start, is an excellent idea. Combine this with some spot-on acting from Corbin Bernsen and you've got yourself a surprisingly fresh horror movie. Yuzna's directing skill has noticeable improved in this film as well. He seems a lot more comfortable behind the camera here and the "crazy dentist vision" shots are fun. This movie and Return of the Living Dead III are the two that turned me into a Yuzna fan in the first place.

(comment in the main post)

Yuzna (1996)

1996 - Tarzan: The Epic Adventures: "Tarzan's Return" - One of those Z-grade genre TV shows that crop up on cable all of the time. This one is characterized by very poor fight scenes, typically cartoonish mid-90s-era TV-budget CGI, and an actually fairly cool depiction of the world in the center of the Earth. Andrew Divoff, as always, is fun to watch, but the rest of the cast is pretty forgettable. I would've thought they were setting up the golden gateway to be a Sliders-style story generator, but by the end of the show it looks as though Tarzan is leaving it behind. I'd be curious to see what other places the unused gems in the gate lead to, and whether Divoff made his return from the center of the Earth. Not a good show by any means, but it did get my curiosity up.

(comment in the main post)

Yuzna (1993)

1993 - Return of the Living Dead III - Excellent zombie movie that dares to break ground in the genre. Never thought I'd have a crush on a zombie, but then Mindy Clark came around. Yes, this film drops the humor that had distinguished this series, but after the disaster that was Return of the Living Dead Part II, this can only be seen as a wise choice. Instead of bad jokes, we're treated to some of the best horror S&M outside of Cenobites. The only flaw: the goofy-looking zombies that storm the military base at the end look like they belong in Evil Dead 2, rather than in this more serious love story. A special raspberry to the morons at Lions Gate for releasing only the censored cut on DVD.

1993 - Necronomicon - I love horror anthology movies. I don't understand why they never do well at the box office (and, hence, they're rarely made), because bite-sized stories are just plain fun.

"The Library" - Jeffrey Combs (who else?) is H.P. Lovecraft in the wraparound. As a wraparound, it works just fine. Reading all of the film's stories from the Necronomicon, which is buried in a mysterious vault in the middle of an old library run by strange librarians, is great. However, I winced at the very poor miniature work at the end, when the eldritch creature bites the librarian's head off.

"The Drowned" (directed by Christophe Gans) - Probably my favorite of the stories. It's shot in an interesting manner, with great angles and great lighting. The constant glimpses of things falling through the floorboards into the basement builds tension; we know something will wake up down there eventually. The story (and story-in-the-story) builds nicely. But, the creature under the house should've been shot a little more indirectly. Again, unfortunately, the SFX just weren't up to snuff for a full-on view of it.

"The Cold" (directed by Shusuke Kaneko) - Pretty standard stuff with a pretty predictable ending. David Warner is always good. The constant thump of Dr. Madden's piston-driven refrigeration machine in the background was a nice touch.

"Whispers" - Fairly disturbing. Critters that saw off your limbs and drink the bone marrow out of them while you're still alive was an unexpected splatterpunk addition to what had been a relatively tame piece. This was not unwelcome, though it might feel a tad out of place. I liked the surreal touches. The steady descent into the bowels of the building/creature felt like a nightmare. I'm told this is much different from the story "The Whisperer in Darkness", but it's a nice piece of horror filmmaking on its own.

(comment in the main post)

Yuzna (1989 -1990)

1989 - Bride of Re-Animator - The Bride, when she's completed, is one of the most memorable creatures in horror movie history. Her Elsa Lanchester-style head movements are icing on the cake. Outside of West's hilarious body part creations (and the aforementioned Bride), this sequel doesn't really break out of the mold of its predecessor. West and Cain go back to the very same hospital, have a lab in their basement, kill an older authority figure and bring him back to deranged life, involve Cain's girl in matters, and West and Hill seemingly get killed at the end by re-animated corpses. The new bits it does add are more than enough to make the film worthwhile, however. And, Jeffrey Combs proves once again that he is the king of mad scientists.

1990 - Initiation: Silent Night, Deadly Night 4 - Kind of the Halloween III of the SNDN franchise. I don't have any problem when franchises go off on tangents like this. I do wish the winter solstice angle was played up more. As it is, this film has nothing to do with Christmas, really. The plot likewise doesn't really make much sense. They're anti-men witches, but have Ricky rape Kim to initiate her? After she'd supposedly puked up all of her bug-shaped man-fear? Personally, I was rooting for the witches. I wanted Kim to slice Lonnie up like Christmas ham and become a full-fledged member. The happy ending we get instead pretty much makes this a perfectly average horror movie. But, dammit, Reggie Bannister and Clint Howard in the same movie? Gold. (I still want to know what Lonnie's other present was under the tree...)

(comment in the main post)

Yuzna (1989)

1989 - Society - Two-thirds of the movie is a serious film about a high school kid either going insane or uncovering a conspiracy in high society. During the last third, the movie takes such a hard left turn into absurdity that you almost feel violated. It's not an easy change to get used to; the movie you invested 60 minutes into simply disappears. Eventually, as absurdity piles onto absurdity -- seeing someone turn into a literal butthead (and then cracking that very joke), or seeing someone get their head pulled through their ass -- you just have to crack a smile. In a way, the entire movie is like one of the jokes my Grandpa always tells. His jokes always start out sounding plausible and end up with a one-liner that takes you a beat to catch. I do think the script for this film could've used some tightening up: I didn't feel like it built properly towards Bill's realization and Milo, given his importance in the last third, should've showed up more in the first two-thirds. And, in the end, I think They Live said what Society was trying to say, but better.

(comment in the main post)

Gordon-Yuzna (opening thoughts)

What is a chronocinethon? It's just a word I made up to describe when I watch all of someone's films in chronological order. It allows me to marvel at their growth over the years... or lack thereof.

This time, I'm doing a combined chronocinethon: Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna simultaneously. It makes sense to me to watch their movies mixed together, since they've worked with each other so often (and it allows me to watch all 3 Re-Animators).

(comment in the main Stuart Gordon post)
(comment in the main Brian Yuzna post)