PROM NIGHT (2008)

Ah…the early 80’s. Horror movies were all the rage and the slasher film was in its heyday. Halloween, Friday the 13^th and COUNTLESS rip-offs (many of which were actually quite good) flooded the cinemas and home video Beta market. It was hard to distinguish one from another – except the ones which starred Jamie Lee Curtis. Terror Train and Prom Night are probably two of the better known horror/slasher films to emerge from this time. While Terror Train was an entertaining, old school “whodunit” murder mystery, with ample doses of blood and violence thrown in, Prom Night benefitted from the casting of Jamie Lee Curtis and not much else. To be fair, it was pretty standard horror stuff (even back then) – teenagers keep a secret and one-by-one they are hunted down and killed by an anonymous killer. Prom Night had some great scenes, a likeable cast and a great twist ending. While certainly not bad, it just seemed to come up a bit short.

Enter 2008 and the age of the remake. Since a great deal of success had been attained by reworking “classics” (most notably, horror films) for several years, Sony’s Screen Gems thought the time was right for a Prom Night redux. Given Screen Gems’ history of releasing “teen friendly” films which usually carried a PG-13 rating (often considered a death sentence for horror movies), fans sat in bewilderment as one of the underground classic slasher films was now being given the watered-down, “big-budget” treatment on the silver screen. However, I eagerly awaited the release of this redo - curious to see what would be done to remake the original which, in my opinion, wasn’t all that great to begin with.

While both horror fans and critics unanimously dislike this movie, I once again find myself in the very small (nonexistent?) minority that actually liked this movie. Much more than the (gasp!) original.

Even with the lack of any blood, graphic violence, or nudity, make no mistake – Prom Night (2008) is a great little thriller. The story is simple, yet effective; a mentally-disturbed teacher becomes obsessed with one of his students and follows her to the prom to kill all of her friends in order to be with her forever. That’s it. No overblown story with motives and contrived situations. That’s needed for certain horror films, but not here. Prom Night (2008) is a full-throttle horror film that never lets up on the action for its full 90 minutes. The cat-and-mouse tension is very entertaining, the kills are bloodless (but effective) and the characters are likeable. What’s more to want in a tamed-down slasher film? Not much - I really liked this one.

Stumble across the original 1980 version and the 2008 remake and torn between which to choose? I vote Prom Night (2008) – it’s the night to die for.

My Rating - 8 out of 10

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SCREAM 4

When the original Scream hit theaters in 1996, it was a huge hit – mostly due to its satirical biting nature of the entire horror genre. It was funny. It was scary. It was original and it worked. Two sequels were released in quick succession over the next four years – Scream 2 (which remains the strongest entry of the franchise) and Scream 3 – an enjoyable, yet underwhelming, trilogy-ender.

Now, 11 years after the last sequel was released, Scream 4 arrives to reboot the seminal 90s horror series. With so many years having elapsed (in both screen time and “real” time), many people may be wondering – does it succeed? Well, yes and no…

Once again, original Scream creators Wes Craven (director) and  Kevin Williamson (writer) are in charge - along with returning veteran franchise favorites Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courteney Cox. While it’s an amazing feat to have everyone back on board both behind and in front of the camera, Scream 4 suffers from the “been-there-done-that” syndrome and (aside from a clever opening with great cameos and a great conclusion) comes across as mediocre and even bland. The film contains more blood and violence than the first three installments COMBINED, but never manages to reach the sheer genius of the first two films.

There are, however, a few strong positive elements working in Scream 4’s favor: 1) it is better than Scream 3, 2) its self-awareness is still dead-on (the film even manages to get in quite a few jabs at the Saw franchise!) and, most importantly, 3) the returning characters from the original trilogy are front and center once again. With all of the “younger generation” actors on board, the original three are still the stars – no passing the torch or supporting roles. They were the ones who made the series a success and the creators behind Scream 4 understand and respect this.

Surprisingly, where Scream 4 falters mostly is in its storyline. The film has practically no character development, no logic, and feels disjointed and sloppily thrown together at times. Even worse, the characteristics and mannerisms of the main leads make them seem completely different people than what were originally portrayed in the earlier films. Obviously, some changes are expected since many years have passed. However, these characters seem cold, detached from one another, and all-around different. Very odd.

Plans have been announced to kick off another trilogy of Scream films. While Scream 4 certainly won’t change the direction of horror like the original did in 1996, it’s still better than most of the crap out there. Worth a watch, but don’t expect a nostalgic trip down horror memory lane.

My Rating - 6 out of 10

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PUPPET MASTER: AXIS OF EVIL

In 1989, a litte low-budget horror film was released direct-to-video, spawning the beginning of what has become the most successful direct-to-dvd series of all time. The Puppet Master series chronicles the story of a puppeteer named Andre Toulon and his living marionettes as they try to protect the secret of their magical reanimation from unscrupulous characters out to exploit the puppets' secret for their own good. Despite how the series' reputation has developed incorrectly over the years, the puppets are "the good guys" and generally only turn violent out of self-defense for themselves or their "puppet master" creator. For a horror series over 20 years old and with 10 installments (and yet ANOTHER one scheduled for  a 2012 release - sweet!)moving freely forward and backward through time, the continuity has admittedly become problematic. However, make no mistake - the Puppet Master series is one of the classic horror franchises and deserves its often-overlooked respect. 

While the sequels have varied greatly in quality (parts 4 and 5 remaining my personal favorites), they have each added their own chapter to the Puppet Master legacy (ironically, one of the unfairly maligned installments - Puppet Master: The Legacy, tries to makes sense of the convoluted storyline by assembling the best scenes of the series into a cohesive, chronological order). After nearly a decade without a new PM movie and following in the wake of what many consider to be the worst of the franchise (Curse of the Puppet Master & Retro Puppet Master - of which I enjoyed both), Puppet Master: Axis of Evil was released in 2010. How does it hold up? I'm happy to say probably towards top of the list.

Puppet Master: Axis of Evil starts intriguingly with new scenes added to the now-classic original film's opening to create one of the more clever twists to the franchise - a simultaneous act unfolding, which steers the story in a believable (NOT contrived, for a change) direction and allows for AOE to hit the ground running. Over the years, many puppets have been introduced into the "family", severely limiting each puppet's screen time to accommodate the ever-growing group.  However, this latest installment dusts off the main five puppets that originally made the first film a success: Blade, Pinhead, Jester, Leech Woman and Tunneler. Everyone else is absent for this particular cinematic outing. Fan favorite Six-Shooter is acknowledged, but Torch (my favorite) is nowhere to be found and still remains the best, most underused puppet in the series. What a shame.

To regurgitate the film's plotline at this point is pointless. Fans of the series (of which I am a HUGE one) simply want to know several key things: is the film good, is there a lot of "puppet" screen time, are the effects well done and - most importantly, is CGI used. First off, yes - the film is good. Interesting story, decent pacing and likeable characters (minus the HORRENDOUS acting) keep this PM movie near the top of the pack. Secondly, once again, the puppets' screen time is limited. However, this is one of the best screenplays for a PM movie to date, so it compensates for the lack of "puppet" action - somewhat. The gore effects are minimal, but effective. Blood is believable and there are some great "puppet" scenes, unfortunately there are not many of them. Lastly (and most importantly), as with the other PM installments, I am happy to report that CGI is not used.

While this is great news, the "stop motion" technology that had originally given the puppets "life" in the earlier films (and remains a fan favorite technique) seems to be gone as well. Rods are used to animate the puppets this go around, with CGI being used only to digitally remove the wires and rods from the final product. This works pretty well, except for the fact that the puppets are now very limited in their movement (think of a hand puppet bouncing up and down on camera and you get the idea of the effect). However, their screen time is so scant that it hardly shows their limitations.

The last 15 minutes or so of Puppet Master: Axis of Evil kicks into overdrive with one final confrontation between our "heroes" and the evil characters in the film going head-to-head in old school Puppet Master style, proving that the well-worn franchise still has several tricks up its sleeve - and at least several more installments in its future. Full Moon founder Charles Band and director David Decouteau both know the franchise - and its fans - extremely well by this point and the two of them throw everything they can into making Puppet Master: Axis of Evil a worthy entry and a great jumpstart to an aging franchise that may very well be in its twilight years, but still has enough gas in its tank to run with the big boys.

My Rating - 7 out of 10   

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