WCW Anniversary/Space Opera Celluloid- Sigourney Weaver in Aliens (1986)

“Get away from her, You Bitch!”

Ellen Ripley awakes in a commercial space vessel.  She was pleased that Jonesy the Cat survived.  They escaped the Nostromo together but there’s a catch.  57 years have passed since the tragic events that occurred on LV-426.

She has constant nightmares about being impregnated by the Alien.  However, the confines are safe and all’s well.  Carter Burke wants her to assist in a mission.  He’s a corporate a-hole and was intent on harvesting the creatures alive.  Then, he wants to bring them back for further research.

Ripley was pissed off and not having any of that.  He offered her a position as a flight officer on a mission.  She would be leading Space Marines but she refused.  He placed her as an adviser instead reluctantly.  The mission was to return to LV-426.

Since her long rest, the planet had been colonized successfully.  Something went wrong and all the humans were wiped out.  Ellen knows why and how but Burke has a money boner like nobody’s business.

Did Burke get his samples?  Would Ripley rip the a-hole a new one?  Bishop’s an android but did they correct the prior errors from Nostromo?

Aliens was directed and co-written by James Cameron.  He took the universe created by Dan O’Bannon & Ronald Shusett and cranked it to eleven.  Sigourney Weaver returned as Ripley.  She was back at kicking ass and taking names in deep space.  Paul Reiser was terrific and an atypical rival for her.  He was best known for being a stand-up comic but his timing countered Weaver equally.

The film was a critical and financial success.  It earned 7 1987 Oscar nominations including Best Actress (Sigourney Weaver) and Best Original Score (James Horner).

Yet, it won for Best Visual Effects (created by the late Stan Winston) & Best Sound Editing.  Winston took the creature created by H.R. Giger and increased the species number.  He introduced the Face Huggers and the Hive Queen to the Alien universe.  This would be a continuation of their work from The Terminator.  It would span several films including Terminator 2:  Judgment Day & Avatar.

Cameron would later reunite with Weaver for Avatar in 2009.  Yet, it was this first pairing that solidified their sci-fi cult status.  She continued to grow as Ripley and influence a younger group of fans (this blogger included).  Cameron let other dominate female characters take shape as well in the film.  He had several headstrong, female Space Marines including Corporal Dietrich and Private Vasquez.  The little surprise of strong female roles was Newt.  She survived and evaded the Hive Queen and Drones despite the odds.

Be warned of the following and heed Newt’s advice:  “…They mostly come at night.  Mostly…”

Don’t miss this sci-fi classic!  Set plasma rifles to torch and show that Hive Queen who’s boss!

From The Deep Celluloid- The Creature Below (2016)

Olive Crown, a marine biologist, was on an expedition with Dr. Fletcher.  She was assisting in his research on an experimental dive suit.  All was going well in the decent but that changed at 1500 ft.  Suddenly,  a giant squid-like creature grabbed her and both dropped into the darkness.  Then, Olive woke up from a blackout surrounded by Dr. & crew.  He wanted answers because his suit was destroyed.  He dismissed her from the project for not remembering.

She returned home to great fanfare from her dad and Matt, her boyfriend.  Unannounced to them, she smuggled something from the ship and her near-death experience.  It was an egg that was lodged into air tank.  What was this?  Would it unlock the lost memories of that tragedy?  Could she keep this discovery a secret?

The Creature Below was directed and co-written by Stewart Sparke.  His debut feature was equal parts Alien, The Abyss, Little Shop of Horrors, & The Call of Cthulhu.  Anna Dawson portrayed Olive Crown as a sexy hybrid of Ellen Ripley & Seymour Krelborn with just a twist of Dr. Herbert West.

The film was released on August 27, 2016 in the U.K.  However, it made a regional premiere at the 21st Annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival &  Cthulhucon in Portland, OR on October 7, 2016.

Seek out this Lovecraft film and enjoy a dark expedition into the unknown.  The twist and ending will leave viewers talking long after the credits role.

http://hplfilmfestival.com/hplfilmfestival-portland-or#top

http://www.darkriftfilms.com/

 

Cautionary Celluloid- War Dogs (2016)

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FBF Anniversary/Space Opera Celluloid- From Beyond (1986)

Dr. Edward Pretorius and Crawford Tillinghast, his assistant, are developing a Resonator at The Pretorius Foundation on 666 Benevolent St.  The Resonator would allow users to go outside of our known galaxy.  Yet, it has an unexpected side effect in stimulating the pineal gland.  In the case of Pretorius and Tillingham,  they are able to view alien creatures.  The research was going well until one night when the Resonator brought through an unseen, foreboding creature.  It murdered Pretorius and the energy field destroyed the Resonator.

The police were called to investigate.  When they arrived, Tillinghast was still physically intact but emotionally detached.  So, they arrested him for murder and sent him to a psych ward.  He kept trying to explain the details but the doctors just sedated him.  Yet, Dr. Katherine McMichaels, a rogue psychiatrist, took him for a CAT scan and found the pineal gland was still growing.  She convinced to staff to release him into her custody.  However, she has her own ulterior motives and wants to use the Resonator for mental health treatment.  She takes him along with Detective Bubba Brownlee back to the Foundation.

Will Dr. McMichaels make the machine plausible for mental health purposes?  Will Tillinghast ever become sane again?  What in the hell happened to Pretorius?

The answers would be come From Beyond.

From Beyond was based on the H.P. Lovecraft short story.  It was brilliantly directed and co-adapted by Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator).  Jeffrey Combs followed up Re-Animator with a brilliantly, subtle performance as Tillinghast.  Ted Sorel went above and beyond with his playful & sadistic role as Dr. Pretorius.  Barbara Cramden was beauty and brains as Dr. McMicheals.

I had the privilege of attending the 21st Annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival & Cthulhucon in Portland, OR from Oct. 7-9, 2016.  The festivities included shorts, feature films, and Q&A with filmmakers.  Stuart Gordon was in attendance as the Guest of Honor.  He introduced From Beyond and held a Q&A with the audience afterwards.

The interesting facts about this film are as follows:

1.   The entire short story was only six pages and told in the opening credits.
2.   Gordon borrowed from other Lovecraft fiction to fill the remainder including  “At the Mountains of Madness”.
3.   After criticism of the blood splatter in Re-Animator, he decided to use slime instead.  His wife said, “The slime is even worse than the blood was.”
4.   The most challenging visual effect aspect was Ted Sorel’s makeup.  It took six hours for him to prep.  He decided to film as much as possible with Stuart’s agreement.  However, Gordon began to notice that Ted was forgetting his lines after several hours of shooting.  He noted that Ted was very intelligent and this was atypical of him.  The makeup had constricted blood flow to Sorel’s arm and impaired it to other areas of the body as well.
5.   Gordon and other film crew members had an ongoing joke about how many visual penis gags that they could squeeze in.  The first one is the “Don’t Tread of Me” flag with the snake.  He recommended lightly to make this into a drinking game.
6.   He notes that his adaptations of Lovecraft are funny and sexual to an extent.  Also, Lovecraft captured this aspect in various parts of his stories and novellas.  Viewers will notice Pretorius Foundation is located on Benevolent Street.  Also, the house number was 666.
7.   The house featured in the film was modeled after the Salem Witch House.  Also,  Stuart Gordon jokingly noted that the scale miniature was the same size as the actual Salem Witch House.

From Beyond was and still is a great follow up to Re-Animator.   It was equal parts humor, slime, sex, & Lovecraft.  So, be aware of purple lights and bolts from the neighbor’s house.  Just, be forewarned that you’ll be wishing for Frankenstein’s monster.  It hails in comparison to what lies from beyond…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Gordon

Also, I had the privilege of attending a VIP reception at Lan Su Chinese Garden as part of the festivities along with a few other festival attendees.  Stuart Gordon was very nice and answered questions from a few other party goers (myself included) as well.

He was kind enough to pose for a picture when I asked at the end of the evening on Oct. 6, 2016.  Thank you, Stuart Gordon for the photo op.  It is great when you meet someone that you admire and they exceed your expectations.  He is a modest, humble man who has conceived & continues to create works for stage, cinema, television, and radio/digital podcasts.

 

Twisted Celluloid- Dead Tongues (2016)

Tony Germaine has just returned from exploring the Nazca Lines on October 18, 2015.  He’s greeted by his girlfriend, Stacie.  She was glad to see that he’s back from Peru.  However, Tony’s psyched about the potential of discovering a new language in some unknown part of the lines.  She is distraught because he forgot their anniversary.  Yet, he’s already begun a new journey despite being home.  The alien lines have begun to be his new love/obsession.  She saw him alive this day for the last time.  Two weeks later, he was dead.

Stacie headed back to Tony’s apartment to box his belongings.  However, she was unexpectedly frightened.  A familiar face greeted her in the apartment but it wasn’t him.  Tony had a twin and his name is Travis.  She’s perplexed because his twin brother was never mentioned.  Also, the study contained encrypted zip drives and other research material.

Who is Travis?  What’s on the zip drives?  What drove Tony to an early grave?

Dead Tongues was inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s short story, “Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family”.  The film was co-directed by Roberto Drilea & Brianna Dorn.

Tongues slithered stealthfully due to the dual role played by Robert Justin Dresner. Dresner portrayed Tony & Travis without missing a beat.  He found the right nuances to make each brother chill and thrill.  Phoebe Fox was mesmerizing as Stacy.  She had the innocence and strength that comparable with Ashley Laurence’s Kirsty in Hellraiser.

Drilea and Dorn have directed a debut film that is on par with Hellraiser and Psycho.  The film is nonstop thrills and chills with twists that will leave audiences mesmerized.  Also, this is a micro-budget independent film and cost only $2,000 to make.  The film was the 2015-16 Applause for the Cause feature film project by Northwestern University.

On October 9, 2016, Dead Tongues was awarded Best Feature at the 21st Annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, Oregon.  It deserves this honor and is worth seeking out.

Dead Tongues is one of 2016’s Best Films and will be making the rounds of horror film festivals for many years to come.

http://hplfilmfestival.com/films/dead-tongues

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertodrilea

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianna-dorn-593492103?authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=Csoz&locale=en_US&trk=tyah&trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Amynetwork%2CclickedEntityId%3A440125887%2CauthType%3ANAME_SEARCH%2Cidx%3A1-3-3%2CtarId%3A1476241033180%2Ctas%3Abrianna%20dorn%20