Category: Horror

“The Vanishing” (1988) directed by George Sluizer, starring Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets  and Johanna ter Steege / Z-View

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The Vanishing (1988)

Director:  George Sluizer

Screenplay: George Sluizer, Tim Krabbé, based on The Golden Egg by Tim Krabbé

Stars: Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets  and Johanna ter Steege.

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Rex and Saskia are young and in love.  While on vacation in France, they stop at a busy gas station.  They stretch their legs and take a break in a nearby grassy area.  As Rex waits at the car, Saskia heads in to get drinks for the road.

She never returns.

When Rex realizes Saskia should have been back, he searches the gas station and surrounding area.  Nobody saw anything.  Rex goes to the police.  Searches and appeals to the public turn up no clues.

Rex is obsessed with finding Saskia.  He makes sure posters with Saiska’s picture and information about her disappearance are always up.  He follows up on even the smallest possibility.  Rex realizes Saskia is probably not alive.  Still, it torments Rex to not know what happened to her.

Three years after her disappearance, Rex is contacted by Saiska’s kidnapper.  He wants to meet.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Stanley Kubrick reportedly considered The Vanishing the most terrifying film he’d ever seen.  Entertainment Weekly listed The Vanishing  as one of the all-time scariest films ever made.  The Vanishing is a movie that doesn’t have jump scares.  There is no unstoppable killer or traditional monsters.  And that makes it even more frightening.

The Vanishing will stay with you.  You’ll think about the movie long after you finish watching it. THAT ending.  The killer alone practicing his moves.  The fact that Rex gets his wish.

The success of The Vanishing, the Dutch film was optioned to be remade in the United States.  George Sluizer, who co-wrote and directed the original, was brought on to direct the American remake.  Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland, Nancy Travis and Sandra Bullock were brought on to star.  The budget was set at $20 million dollars (over ten times the budget of the original).  The ending was changed because “American audiences don’t like sad endings.”  Change the ending and you’re making a totally different film.  Why bother?  Audiences and critics overwhelmingly prefer the original.

The Vanishing (1988) rates 4 of 5 stars

“Psycho II” (1983) starring Anthony Perkins and Meg Tilly / Z-View

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Psycho II (1983)

Director:  Richard Franklin

Screenplay: Tom Holland, based on characters created by Robert Bloch

Stars: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Meg Tilly, Robert Loggia, Hugh Gillin, Claudia Bryar, Robert Alan Browne, Lee Garlington, Jill Carroll, Chris Hendrie, Tom Holland, Osgood Perkins  and Dennis Franz.

Tagline: It’s 22 years later, and Norman Bates is coming home.

The Plot…

Twenty-two years have passed since the murders that made Norman Bates infamous have passed.  Norman has spent that time in a mental institution.  His therapist believes that Norman is now sane.  Therefore a judge rules that Norman be set free.

Norman returns home with plans to re-open the Bates Motel.  In the meantime, he takes a job at a local diner.  When Mary, a waitress at the diner, suddenly becomes homeless, Norman offers her a place to stay.  She reluctantly accepts.  Not long after, Norman begins to get messages from his dead mother.

Norman begins to fear for his sanity and Mary’s safety.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Making a sequel to an Alfred Hitchcock classic is a tale, dangerous order.  Psycho II fills the bill better than you might expect.

The actor playing a young Norman Bates is Anthony Perkins’ son Osgood.

The original Bates house was able to be used for this sequel, but the hotel had to be rebuilt.

The scene where Norman plays the piano is actually Anthony Perkins playing.  He was an accomplished pianist.

Robert Bloch’s novel PSYCHO II and the movie sequel tell different stories.

Critics praised Anthony Perkins and Meg Tilly’s on-screen chemistry.  In reality, they didn’t get along.  Perkins actually wanted her fired after filming was underway.  Tilly called making the film the worst experience of her career.  She didn’t attend the movie’s premiere.

Dennis Franz steals every scene he’s in.  Franz could play a sleazy character with the best of them.

Psycho II (1983) rates 4 of 5 stars

Luc Besson’s “Dracula: A Love Tale” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Luc Besson’s Dracula: A Love Tale – The trailer is here.

Although the poster and trailer leave out “A Love Tale” that is reportedly the official title of the film.  Besson wrote the screenplay which he adapted from Bram Stoker’s novel.  Dracula: A Love Tale stars Caleb Landry Jones, Christoph Waltz and Zoë Bleu.

DRACULA Trailer International (2025) Caleb Landry Jones, Christoph Waltz, Matilda De Angelis, Luc Besson

“Alien: Earth” – The Trailer is Here!

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The Alien: Earth trailer is here.

And I like it!  Deal me in.

We were safer in space.

Alien: Earth. OFFICIAL TRAILER.   #AlienEarthFX premieres August 12 on ‪@FXNetworks‬ | ‪@hulu‬ and with #HuluOnDisneyPlus.

When the mysterious deep space research vessel USCSS Maginot crash-lands on Earth, “Wendy” (Sydney Chandler) and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet’s greatest threat.

FX’s Alien: Earth is created for television and executive produced by Noah Hawley.

Guillermo del Toro’s “FRANKENSTEIN” – The Trailer is Here!

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The trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s FRANKENSTEIN is here.  I’m going to check it out.  My worry is that too many viewers will expect the Universal movie Frankenstein and not Mary Shelley’s novel.

Written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, FRANKENSTEIN is on Netflix this November.

Starring Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, with Charles Dance, and Christoph Waltz.

Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro adapts Mary Shelley’s classic tale of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation. #TUDUM

“Curse of Frankenstein” (1957) directed by Terence Fisher, starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee / Z-View

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Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

Director:  Terence Fisher

Screenplay: Jimmy Sangster; based on FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley

Stars: Peter Cushing, Hazel Court, Christopher Lee.

Tagline: PLEASE TRY NOT TO FAINT. Not recommended for people of nervous disposition.

The Plot…

As he waits for his execution, Victor Frankenstein recounts how he ended up headed to the gallows.  Frankenstein was obsessed with bringing the dead back to life since he was a boy.  Working with Paul Krempe, another scientist,  the two achieved success with reviving a dead dog.

Krempe wanted to share their results with the world.  Frankenstein wanted to keep their success a secret and begin experimenting with reviving dead humans.  Very quickly Krempe sees that Frankenstein is obsessed.  Frankenstein robs graves, pays for body parts and even resorts to murder to get the parts he needs.

When his creature comes to life, Frankenstein is shocked to learn he cannot control it.  And the monster isn’t happy.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Curse of Frankenstein was a huge box office success.  Over the years, the film’s reputation has grown.  I’m in the minority, because the movie just doesn’t resonate with me.  I hate the creature’s design.  It reminds me of a bad attempt to monsterize Cesare the the somnambulist from 1920’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.  Dr. Frankenstein is totally unlikable, so who cares if he hangs?

Christopher Lee (who plays the monster) reportedly complained to Peter Cushing during the start of filming, that he had no lines.  Cushing replied, “You’re lucky. I’ve read the script.”  If this isn’t true, it should be.

As always, your mileage may vary but for me…

Curse of Frankenstein (1957) rates 2 of 5 stars

“The Eternaut”: Season 1 (2025) created, co-written & directed by Bruno Stagnaro; based on “The Eternaut” by Héctor Germán Oesterheld, Francisco Solano López / Z-View

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The Eternaut: Season 1 (2025)

Created by: Bruno Stagnaro, based on The Eternaut by Héctor Germán Oesterheld, Francisco Solano López

Director:  Bruno Stagnaro

Teleplay by: Bruno Stagnaro, Ariel Staltari, and Gabriel Stagnaro (Eps. 1-2, 6), Bruno Stagnaro and Ariel Staltari (Eps. 3, 5),  Bruno Stagnaro, Ariel Staltari, and Martín Wain (Ep. 4)

Starring: Ricardo Darín, Carla Peterson, César Troncoso, Andrea Pietra.

Tagline:  None

The Plot… (beware of spoilers)

One summer evening snow begins to fall.  Juan Salvo and some friends move to the window to check it out.  They’re shocked to see anyone outside suddenly drop dead as the snow touches them.  The snow falls though the night.  Juan rigs together a suit with gas mask so that he can venture out to search for his daughter.

As the days go on, it becomes clear that few have survived.  Many of those who did are just as dangerous as the snow.  Then they learn about the arriving aliens.   Juan and his friends will need to band together in order to live.

Thoughts 

The Eternaut is an Argentine television series created by Bruno Stagnaro.  It is based on the comic strip The Eternaut created by Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Francisco Solano López.  The strip ran from 1957 through 1959.  In 1977, Héctor Germán Oesterheld, along with his four daughters were taken into custody by Argentina’s last military dictatorship. Oesterheld’s writings against the military junta made him a target.  He and his daughters were never seen in public again.

I liked the pacing of season one.

Bring on season 2!

 

“Peninsula” (2020) Presented by “Train to Busan” / Z-View

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Peninsula (2020)

Director:  Yeon Sang-ho

Screenplay: Yeon Sang-ho, Ryu Yong-jae

Stars: Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun, Kwon Hae-hyo, Kim Min-jae, Koo Kyo-hwan, Kim Do-yoon, Lee Re and Lee Ye-won.

Tagline: Escape the Apocalypse

The Plot…

A zombie virus outbreak left South Korea a wasteland.  When the apocalypse started, Jung-seok, a Korean marine, brought his sister, her husband and their little boy to a military safe location.  While there a man infected with the zombie virus made it through.  When the man turned, Jung-seok’s sister and child were killed.  Both Jung-seok and his brother-in-law have carried the guilt of not being able to save them.

Four years later, Jung-seok (now a civilian), his brother-in-law and two others are offered a job that will make them rich.  Chinese gangsters say that a truck containing $20 million is located in the Busan peninsula.  If the four can make it to the truck and bring it back, they are promised $10 million to split.

Jung-seok and his three partners take the gig.  They know the area is overrun with zombies.  What they don’t know is that a rouge military and others have made the area home. And they don’t like strangers.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

I’m a huge fan of Train to Busan. I consider it a classic zombie movie.  So you can imagine my anticipation to see Train to Busan‘s writer/director Yeon Sang-ho’s sequel, Peninsula.  Sang-ho cowrote and directed Peninsula.  Unfortunately it falls short of the original.  I’m reminded of how I felt after seeing Escape from LA since I loved Escape from New York.

Although Peninsula is a Train to Busan sequel, no characters from the original film appear.  It’s another story set in the same world as the first film.  I wouldn’t mind seeing more tales from Busan.

Peninsula (2020) rates 3 of 5 stars