Monday, October 15, 2007
Well, The Keck Horror Film Festival went off without a hitch.
That means…I watched horror movies. Not really a lot to it; get something to drink, put in a video.
But it went well. Although friends do join me for certain showings in the festival, I was alone for this round. I always enjoy company when watching movies, but being the wacko that I am, I like it just as well all by myself…where no one can hear me scream. I don’t actually scream, but I do mumble to myself upon occasion.
Anyway, I like to start with the ones that are just good. Then gradually I work my way through those on the lower end of the scale, moving on to the very good, then the extremely good, and finally end up at the end of the festival watching the several true greats of the horror and sci-fi genres.
This year, we started out with The Car Directed by Elliot Silverstein. It’s a little known movie from the seventies about an older model matte black Lincoln, the with the suicide doors, that terrorizes a small present day American town. It stars James Brolin as an officer in the town’s sheriff’s department who has to contend with the metal beast. Its action is fast paced and the character of the car is strong and real as the film’s temperamental villain. Yes, temperamental. The car is so well presented that it has an infantile but definite personality. It even has a kind of ‘face’ that’s a little disconcerting. It’s slightly hokey at times, but fun.
Next we have the original 1950’s The Blob with Steve McQueen directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth. Talk about hokey! The cheesy factor is in the high 90’s on this one, but even with the abominable acting, the amateurish editing, and stumbling directing, it’s still a worthy addition to the line up. McQueen shows why he made stardom. Not a great actor at any time, but he’s got that definite something. He out shines the other actors in the film, without a doubt. And his acting isn’t bad for his being so young. And the way they did the Blob itself was very good for the time, and even stands up today. If you see the remake, be sure to shoot yourself in the head first. Really, don’t even bother with it. If I remember right, the new Blob has tentacles. Tentacles! I’m sorry, the Blob doesn’t have tentacles. For safe movie watching, just remember, if it doesn’t have Steve McQueen in it, it ain’t The Blob.
And finally, we finish up the first days line up with Brian De Palma’s Mission To Mars. It’s a pretty good movie. Although I like some of De Palma’s flicks, I don’t think he’s that good. So I was surprised to find myself liking this one. Brian De Palma isn’t known for science fiction, so when I saw that he had directed it, I was skeptical. But he came through. It’s set in the fairly near future and takes place mostly in outer space where a team of astronauts go on a, well…mission to Mars. The acting is sufficiently admirable, the characters are endearing and believable, and the special effects are good without being pretentious. That’s a rarity in sci-fi and horror movies now days. It seems that directors/producers tend to rely on their SFX guys to carry the film, not bothering to have a substantial plot. Not in this case. The story is solid and holds a trajectory–little space lingo for ya’ there.
I guess that’s about it for now. I’ll do another Let’s Talk column at the end of the festival when I can talk about the all time heavyweight champions of horror and science fiction. There aren’t really that many. But of those that garner such a title of grand distinction, you can be sure that they will always be found on the list of movies in The Keck Horror Film Festival.
Keck
