It's
hard to believe that THE SHINING had its network television premiere thirty
years ago tonight on ABC-TV.
THE SHINING, released on May 23, 1980
THE SHINING, broadcasted on May 6, 1983
In
that pre-home video era, if we didn't
have access to cable television, most of us were only able to see horror films
on local or network television channels, and those films were often watered
down with heavy cuts both for gore and for time (many plot points simply
disappeared in favor of commercials).
There
has been a lot of speculation in the years since THE SHINING was released as to
what it is really all about.ROOM 237 is
the name of the in-depth documentary by Rodney Ascher.In the film, five narrators give their
points-of-view on Stanley Kubrick's
initially disappointing yet subsequently revered 1980 film version of Stephen
King's novel of the same name,
and what it means to them.
ROOM 237
As
a die-hard fan of this film for the past thirty years, I must say that even
though I have seen it easily more than fifty times I never noticed the props,
visual references or subtexts that these five narrators diligently point out,
nor was I even aware of the obvious continuity errors, such as the carpet that
changes direction in the hallway or the chair against the wall disappearing
during Jack Torrance's
(Jack Nicholson) emotional outburst after his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall)
interrupts his writing.An argument can
be made that ROOM 237 isn't so much about THE SHINING's supposed hidden meanings than it is an
explanation of five different people's of
the film.Among the subtexts: the
strange layout of the Overlook Hotel; the significance of the number 42; the
architectural impossibility of the window in Mr. Ullman's office; the silly
sexual reference in Mr. Ullman's first handshake with Jack; the Minotaur motif;
the references to the killing of Native Americans and even the Holocaust.
ROOM 237
The
director makes the choice of not showing the faces of the narrators, and this
technique works to the film's
advantage since so much of it is about pointing out what the narrators
see.Cross-cutting between the narrators
and the points they want to make would have either reduced the film's running
time or would have left most of the best points out altogether.I can only hope that the forthcoming DVD will
offer up some nice extras in the way of deleted scenes.
Interestingly,
ROOM 237 uses the framing device of Lamberto Bava's DEMONS (1985) and DEMONS 2:
THE NIGHTMARE CONTINUES (1986) (both of which are due out on Blu-ray from
Synapse Films in the coming months) as footage of an audience viewing THE
SHINING in a theater and on television, respectively, to make certain
points.Ideally, THE SHINING should be
viewed in a movie theater, although realistically that is unfortunately not an
option for most of us.The home video
revolution saved many a film from inevitable obscurity and this is where the
majority of us Shining enthusiasts had the opportunity to see it and thrill to
it to our heart's content.
For
screening information, take a look at the film's official
website.If the film is not playing
near you, you can also see it On-Demand for roughly $7.00.
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THE
DEFINITIVE DOCUMENT OF THE DEAD is the newest (and hopefully final) version of
director Roy Frumkes's terrific behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of
George A. Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) which was filmed on location while
the movie was actually being shot.The fun
of watching the new cut of this film is to see the additional footage that Roy
has taken in the years since 1978 when he and his crew spent a weekend on the
set of Mr. Romero's revered zombie epic.What this 16mm documentary illustrates quite clearly is the overall creative
process that a director must experience, and it gets its point across to the
average moviegoer who may not know how a movie is made.
George Romero on the set of DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)
The Monroeville Mall blanketed in snow, January 1978
Dawn
went into production in October 1977 at the Monroeville Mall in Monroeville,
Pennsylvania and lasted roughly six months.Mr. Frumkes was given access to the mall set over a weekend in January
of 1978 to follow Mr. Romero and the cast and crew around.Most documentaries that appear on DVD and
Blu-ray nowadays are nothing more than self-promotion pieces. THE DEFINITIVE
DOCUMENT OF THE DEAD, on the other hand, actually takes you behind the scenes
of the film and enlightens the viewer on the creative process, specifically the
teamwork and the collaborative nature of the people working on the film.Mr. Frumkes talks to Tom Savini, Michael
Gornick, John Amplas, Richard Rubenstein, the cast of DAWN, and of course
director Romero.The documentary gives
us a great look into his creative methods of filmmaking.As shooting progressed, Dawn took on a comic
bookish feel and there is an obvious lightening up of mood. Whereas Mr. Romero
had a crew of about eight people on MARTIN (1977), Dawn has a cast and crew in
the hundreds. The most fascinating part of the documentary, for myself anyway,
is where Mr. Romero describes the rhythms created by editing and spatial
design. Prior to his foray into feature filmmaking, Mr. Romero honed his
editing skills by making many 30-second commercials.
Tom Savini on the set of DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)
Roy Frunkes
After
a discussion about the distribution of the film and leaving it unrated with a
running time of just over two hours, the documentary switches gears to the 1989
summer filming of TWO EVIL EYES (1991). Mr. Romero discusses how he wants a
family atmosphere on the set without any of the political Hollywood
nonsense.There is also a follow-up
segment on LAND OF THE DEAD (2005) which focuses on Mr. Romero's daughter, Tina
Romero, who discusses how she got involved in filmmaking.Be warned: there is a trailer for a hard-core
sex parody of NIGHT, and I'll let your imagination guess what the title of this
film is!While this trailer does not
contain any overt sex, there is much nudity.
There
is also footage of the Chiller Theater convention in 2005 which features a
reunion of the cast of DAY OF THE DEAD, discussions with Greg Nicotero, Bill
Lustig, and some of the cast and crew of DAWN. The final segments, all of which
are shot on standard definition video, ends with Mr. Frumkes heading to the
Toronto set of DIARY OF THE DEAD in the fall of 2006.While these last few segments are nowhere
near as incisive as the footage shot for Dawn, they still are relevant, fun to
watch and make THE DEFINITIVE DOCUMENT OF THE DEAD a worthy addition to the
libraries of Romero fans.
The
documentary is available in two versions: as a single, stand-alone standard
definition DVD with a newly-recorded commentary provided by Mr. Frunkes running
102 minutes that covers DAWN up to DIARY, and as a limited edition DVD/Blu-ray
combo set that includes a standard definition DVD with the aforementioned
extras, plus a Blu-ray of Mr. Frumkes's original, 1978 documentary DOCUMENT OF THE
DEAD, which runs 66 minutes and was scanned in high definition from the 16mm
master.If you have a Blu-ray player, it
is worth spending the extra cash to get the limited edition, which also
contains a fold-out poster of Wes Benscoter's beautiful new cover art for the
DVD and Blu-ray.Have a look at this
artist's website.His work is excellent.
It would be impossible to discuss the horror genre and not
bring up A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET.Arguably one of, if not the most notable horror franchise of the modern
era this series of films has fascinated and entertained audiences for decades
and until this release collectors had to kind of piece together a complete
collection from various labels and sources.
Warner Brothers has taken care of that with this wonderful 5
disc, 7 film spanning Blu-ray collection of all the original Robert Englund
starring films, the only missing Englund/Kruger work is Freddy vs. Jason.Starting with the ground breaking Wes Craven
game changer and ending with the his final installment in the franchise Wes
Craven’s New Nightmare we are given a tour de force of all things Freddy.
The particular franchise, at least for this fan, has been an
interesting journey.Several of the
installments are nothing short of groundbreaking pieces of work while others
are a mere shell, almost comical, barely recognizable installments.I’ll let you all figure out which ones are
which.
At the end of this review I’ll post up the specs that list
the individual films and all the special features included but needless to say,
this is exhaustive collection.The 7
films are crammed onto four discs with the fifth disc being reserved for a band
new retrospective and a couple episodes of Freddy’s Nightmares, the short lived
TV series.
While the films stand on their own merits, or lack there of,
the true meat and potatoes and the reason to rush out and pick up this
collection is that fifth disc.The
retrospective FEAR HIMSELF:The Life and
Crimes of Freddy Krueger is a wonderfully entertaining look at the films and
all that went into bringing Freddy to us through the years.Of late there has been a glut of NIGHTMARE
related documentaries, most all quite excellent.From NEVER SLEEP AGAIN to I AM NANCY they all
have been wonderful, well made looks in the world of Freddy but FEAR HIMSELF
focuses not so much on the world of Freddy, but Freddy himself.It’s interesting to watch how even though the
look and make-ups changed through the years, Englund never swayed from the
persona he created and always remained true to the character even when the
stories started to sway a little out of control.
The films all look great on Blu, I won’t get into the
technical mumbo jumbo, just know they look and sound great and if you’re a
horror fan, a Freddy fan or just a film fan you must own this collection.
Here’s all that technical mumbo jumbo, if you’re interested:
The collection includes Wes Craven's original A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), as well as
its six sequels: Freddy's Revenge (1985), Dream Warriors (1987), The Dream Master
(1988), The Dream Child (1989), Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
(1991) and Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994). Every Elm Street
film to date, except that is for producer Michael Bay and director Samuel
Bayer's 2010 remake. Only the first three films are
available for separate purchase on Blu-ray; the fourth through seventh entries
have yet to receive standalone or double feature releases.
Each film features a DTS-HD Master Audio track and a number of special
features. The set's fifth disc also includes a number of additional extras:
A
Nightmare on Elm Street
Audio Commentary: Craven, DoP
Jacques Haitkin, Heather Langenkamp and John Saxon
Audio Commentary: Assorted cast
and crew
Never Sleep Again: 50-minute HD
documentary
The House that Freddy Built:
23-minute HD documentary
Night Terrors
Focus Points
Alternate Endings
Fact Track
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
Heroes & Villains
Psycho Sexual Circus
The Male Witch
Freddy on 8th Street
Theatrical Trailer
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
Onward Christian Soldiers
Trading 8's
Snakes and Ladders
Burn Out
That's Showbiz
The House that Freddy Built
Fan Mail
Music Video
Theatrical Trailer
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
Krueger, Freddy Krueger
Hopeless Chest
Let's Make Up
The Finnish Line
Theatrical Trailer
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
Womb Raiders
The Sticky Floor
Hopkins Directs
Take the Stairs
A Slight Miscalculation
Music Videos
Theatrical Trailer
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
Rachel's Dream
3D Demise
86'd
Hell Raiser
Theatrical Trailer
Wes Craven's New Nightmare
Audio Commentary with Wes Craven
Becoming a Filmmaker
Craven Interview
The Problem with Sequels
An Insane Troupe
Two Worlds
Theatrical Trailer
Bonus Disc
Fear Himself - The Life and
Crimes of Freddy Krueger: 30-minute retrospective
Two Freddy's Nightmares TV
episodes
Conclusions: 20-minutes of
interviews
Welcome to Prime Time: an
additional 50-minutes of materials
To get your copy now CLICK HERE and
head on over to the WBShop and they’ll be happy to get one in your hot, razor
gloved little hands.
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Book Review: DARIO ARGENTO - THE MAN, THE MYTHS AND THE MOVIES By Jonathan Stryker
Second, updated edition of PROFONDO ARGENTO, published in 2012
When I saw my very first
Dario Argento film in the summer of 1985, I knew that he was a director to be
reckoned with. The cinematic style of CREEPERS, the significantly editedAmerican version of the much longer international
cut of PHENOMENA, made me eager to seek out his previous work up to that point.
I simply had to see his other movies. I also had a very strong desire to read
about him and his films, although I was hard-pressed to find anything in
writing as there was a dearth of material available to me. With the exception
of several back issues of Fangoria magazine, I could find literally nothing on
the Italian maestro.At that time, the
Internet was not available to the public, so there was no such thing as typing
his name into a search engine to locate articles or criticism on his work. I
would have given anything for a hardcover copy of Alan Jones's DARIO ARGENTO:
THE MAN, THE MYTHS AND THE MOVIES in my hand.Nearly three decades after I stumbled out of the multiplex filled with
excitement after having seen CREEPERS, unfairly labeled by critics and even
die-hard fans as one of his worst films, Mr. Jones's book, published near the
end of last year, is quite simply the definitive book on Mr. Argento, and a
true valentine to his favorite film director.
PROFONDO ARGENTO, published in 2004
For those of you who
purchased PROFONDO ARGENTO in 2004, this is essentially the same book, however
it has been updated to include Mr. Argento's work since then.The original manuscript has been left
completely intact along with all of the beautiful photographs that illustrate
the now 400-page second edition.
While other brilliant
works have been written about Dario Argento by writers as diverse as Maitland
McDonagh, Chris
Gallant and James
Gracey, Mr. Jones goes the extra step of including lots of in-depth
interviews with not only Mr. Argento himself, but those closest to him who
worked with him over the past 40 years.Mr. Jones is not just an interviewer. He has visited the set of just
about every project that Mr. Argento has worked on since OPERA was filmed in
the early summer of 1987.
Mr. Argento began his
career in the industry as a film critic for a local Italian newspaper in the
1960's.It helped enormously that his
father Salvatore was already in the film business and he managed to get his son
a contract to make his very first film, the highly cinematic THE BIRD WITH THE
CRYSTAL PLUMAGE.It's amazing to me that
this is the very first film that Mr. Argento has directed. Most people make
short films or mess around with their closest friends and a camera prior to making
even a short film.BIRD solidified the
director's signature style which is evident from the very first frame.
Architecture and off-kilter camera moves are just some of his trademarks that
would find their way into his successive films.
If you are a fan of Mr. Argento's
films, you owe it to yourself to have this new edition in your collection.
Click here
to order the hardcover book from Amazon.com.
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Alan Jones
Fox has long been a beacon of hope for horror fans when it comes to genre friendly shows, The X Files, Fringe, you get the picture.
This month they take another stab at it (pun intended) with a way better than average serial killer tale called THE FOLLOWING. At it's core it is very much like the Hannibal Lector films as we have Kevin Bacon starring as the retired FBI agent drug out of retirement when a psychopathic killer he put behind bars escapes leaving a trail of blood and carnage in his wake. Reminded me a whole lot of Red Dragon.
I've seen the first four episodes of THE FOLLOWING and I can tell you that I was riveted to the screen. Writer Kevin Williamson, yeah the guy behind SCREAM and I Know What You Did Last Summer, he's back and he's got a few tricks up his sleeve. While the premise of the show may be tried and true, Williamson has managed to craft a multi-layered story that offers twists and turns that will have your head spinning and keep you guessing.
The works of Edgar Allen Poe figure prominently in the storyline and Williamson is a master of giving you just enough info to make you peak around the corner and then he hits you in the head with a hammer when you do.
Throughout the first several episodes we meet the rather large cast of characters and view their back stories via flashbacks that highlight their involvement and brings the story full circle.
Highly imaginative and completely engrossing, THE FOLLOWING pretty much has it all and maybe, just maybe might be the vehicle that propels Kevin Bacon into super stardom. His stellar career has been peppered with fantastic supporting roles but never the big hit. This could be that hit.
There is so much more I want to tell you about this show but to divulge any of the plot line would be to ruin it for you, and I would never do that to you. I will tell you this though, in the second episode there is a scene that actually made me jump. I haven't jumped during a viewing of anything in a long, long time, let alone a TV show but this one did it, it gets my respect for that point alone.
THE FOLLOWING is much more than just a creepy, spooky, crime tale, it is a sharp, twisted story of revenge, madness, hope, redemption and ultimately the fact that rarely is anyone who or what you believe them to be and that we all wear masks and sometimes when we take those masks off, we don't even recognize ourselves.
THE FOLLOWING premieres Monday Jan. 21st at 9 PM on FOX. Don't miss the pilot episode as it is one of the best "first hours" of TV I've seen in a while. It's pretty gutsy stuff for a "broadcast" channel to put out there and is definitely on track with anything airing on HBO, Showtime or FX.
I'm hoping fans embrace the show and we all get to spend a couple years watching Kevin Bacon chase a madman around.
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