So, on the item on my Stephen King plate right now is a book called Duma Key. I didn't really have any particular expectations when I started reading, I mean I expected it to be up to King quality standards, but I wasn't even really sure what the book was about. In a nutshell, the book is about Edgar, a man who loses and arm, a marriage and almost his life in a construction accident. He moves to a remote Key off the Florida coast and begins drawing and painting. As his skills progress, he is able to paint sort of telepathically using some phantom limb connections. That is a really rough sketch of what is going on in the book and I am speaking being only 347 pages into the 611 page novel. The style is really good. Edgar dealt with some memory loss and messed up head stuff after his accident. King expresses this really well in the way he writes and when the story is told from Edgar's point of view. A lot of the King that I have read has made me feel uneasy at points, especially Pet Sematary, but even though that was a book that I had to stop reading before bed, it never really kept me from sleeping.
Last night, Duma Key scared me to the the point that I could not get to sleep. The thing that scared me was not necessarily something that came out of the novel and scared me, but was, I guess, the shared fear that Edgar was experiencing. He sees the ghosts of two little girls and they slowly climb the stairs toward him. He is so frightened that he faints and when he finally comes back to consciousness he is scared to open his eyes once he goes to bed, thinking they will be standing on either side of his bed if he looks. I went to bed and closed my eyes the second the light was off and didn't open them again. Even then, it was like I could feel the girls standing there beside the bed. With my eyes closed, it still took me 20 or 30 minutes to fall asleep. Honestly, I am still feeling uneasy writing about this and thinking about it right now.
Moments like these are what make King's work so impressive to me. I am a horror veteran, I have seen hundreds or horror movies and read a lot of horror fiction. I like to think that it takes a lot to really scare me, to stick with me outside of the movie or the book. King is really the only creator of horror who can do this to me consistently. All the book gave was a few vague descriptions and the fact that Edgar was genuinely terrified that the girls would be there and I couldn't sleep. If you're looking for this feeling or something like it, I can tell you that Pet Sematary, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, The Shining, Bag of Bones and Duma Key have all done this for me so you may want to check them out.
I'm sure I will have more to say as I finish the book over the next few days and look forward to starting the next King novel. As always, suggestions are welcome.
Welcome to Bleak House. If you're not a horror fan then you probably aren't going to enjoy much of what is posted here. I hope to generate discussion about horror movies in particular and the horror genre in general by reviewing and ranting about movies and books. In the reviews, I’ll try to keep the plot summary to a minimum so they will be better if you have seen the movie being discussed. Please keep the conversation going and check back in each week for new reviews.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Amusement
Amusement is one of those horror movies that I have looked at multiple times at the used DVD place here in town and finally broke down to buy. It was cheap and has one of the creepier looking clowns I have ever seen on the cover, so I figured it would at least be entertaining if not genuinely scary. The movie is broken up into four main segements so I will try to comment on each of those individually and on the movie as a whole.
I guess it makes sense to start with the beginning, which is something that I liked about this movie. As the opening credits are rolling, I thought that we got a really adequate explanation of what was happening. Three good looking, popular girls and a boy who had serious mental problems. We have the stalker and the victims so I was happy to move onward. Although I liked this explanation, I thought that things were over explained as we get the "why" both in the weird scene-in-a-box part and when Tabby is giving her monologe at the end, but we will get to those later.
In the first scene we are introduced to Shelby. Her boyfriend seems a little stereotypically douchey as he is doing 100 on the highway to "keep up with the convoy", a concept that I personally thought he took a little too seriously. For me, the scenario of following the convoy into danger was new enough to me that it didn't seem overdone at all. The guy in the car seemed creepy and kept referring to his family that we never saw which made me suspicious, but that is obviously erased when we see the girl looking terrified in the truck and especially once she holds up the "help me" sign. Once she holds up the sign, things really kicked into high gear. I really liked the shot of the "help me" sign hitting the windshield briefly and was not at all expecting it when the body hit the windshield. I thought that the rest of the scene did a really good job keeping suspicion on the trucker and making you forget about the creepy guy. He just seemed scared and doing his best to help. I thought that Shelby's boyfriend Rob was a little slow on the uptake when he first heard the girls moaning in the back seat, but I liked the moment of realization as the creeper is killing the trucker and the girls get unconvered. It was also nicely open eneded.
Now, we are introduced to Tabitha. From the get go, it is clear that the kids are in on something that they aren't telling Tabby, which for me was really unsettling. We know what kind of movies this is and the fact that the killer is using the kids to make his plan work is pretty messed up. All I have to say about that clown room is FUCK that shit. I don't are if there isn't the world's creepiest life-size clown in there, there is no way in hell I am sleeping in there for anything. That being said, the clown mask was really well done and it alone made the shots creepy and menacing. I think my favorite part here, and maybe in the movie for that matter, was the tension build as Tabby slowly builds the courage to pull tha mask off of the clown doll. It was really effective and well done. I didn't like, however, that they used the same tension builder when the T.V. turned on and she reached for the remote. Give me one or the other. I thought both were severly cheapened by the lack of originality in the second "scare". I don't know about anyone else, but even though I was expecting the clown to move from the second it came on screen, I was no less creeped out when it finally did. I thought that the slow head turns of the clown were really effective, especially when Tabby was on the phone and the focus was shifting between Tabby and the clown. The clown being gone was another good moment, and I didn't expect the violence of the knives through the door or the violent persistence of him hacking through the door and the wardrobe. After another open ended segment, I was just hoping that we would get some resolution at some point.
I said earlier that I thought there was some over explanation in the movie as to why it was all going on, and this next segment is one of those over explaining moments. Things cut seemingly randomly to a group of kids each holding a box. In Shelby's box there is a couple in a car by a cabin in the woods, in Tabby's there is a carnival scene with clowns a plenty and Lisa, the final girl has a slumber party set up. Inside the creepy boy's box is a rat that is cut open and still alive. Tabby sees, says it isn't funny and the boy looks and laughs as the girls run away. I just thought that this scene seemed really forced, especially Shelby's box which seemed a little unrealistic for something a young girl like that would come up with. I don't like the fact that we needed that specific of a why in terms of the scenarios that the girls get captured in. It takes something away from the deranged part of the killer that doesn't need a motive, or at least not one as specific as the scenes in the boxes.
Now, we move onto Lisa's scene, something that we now know will be slumber party/sleeping related. I didn't like how Lisa didn't seem at all suspicious that her celebate room mate was not coming home and just assumed she must be hooking up with someone. The whole hotel and the hotel "manager" were almost unbelievably run down and creepy for me. Would they really allow some completely run down building in town remain operational and would anyone actually stay there? I believed and liked the scenario of the boyfriend going in to investigate and although his fate seems bad, it is sealed when the creepy manager tells him that the maching will give him a "surprise". I couldn't believe that Shelby just sat in the gazebo all day waiting for her boyfriend and just kep leaving him messages. If he isn't answering don't you think that something may have gone wrong. I thought that the deaf guy was more weird and a little funny than creepy or sad which I feel they must have been going for. The face rising in the sheets was a nice moment, my only problem with is was that when the face came through the sheets it had a distinct mouth and the girl's mouth was gagged. The revalation of that girl and of the other girls sew into the beds was a nice twist on the "slumber party" scenario that Shelby's box showed was going to be hers.
Although the girls being strung up and cut open like the rat was a little forced when looking referring back to the boxes, it was pretty brutal and, best of all, the fake out of the girls not actually being cut up was awesome and totally unexpected.
I guess my big question with all of it is why Tabby? Is it because she looked in his box when they were kids and told him that it wasn't funny? I mean, her segment seemed the longest of the "kill scenes" and Lisa is alive once she is freed for maybe 15 seconds and Shelby for maybe 90 seconds. I did like that the cabin was connected to the labyrinth of tunnels that he was keeping the girls in and that the room she ran into was on a flatbed truck. The "now that was funny" line was cheesy in a good way and I liked that she stabbed him in the face with his own weapon.
As I said in the beginning, I thought that there was over explanation as to why , especially since it didn't go into the specifics of why Tabby was being singled out. Some of this explanation that seemed unnecessary and weak was Tabby's monologue at the end saying that they laughed at him and made fun of him and so this happened. Overall, it was a great movie, although I would almost prefer one that focused on Tabby and played out the clown killer scenario much more fully. Always good to have a obscure horror film come through.
I guess it makes sense to start with the beginning, which is something that I liked about this movie. As the opening credits are rolling, I thought that we got a really adequate explanation of what was happening. Three good looking, popular girls and a boy who had serious mental problems. We have the stalker and the victims so I was happy to move onward. Although I liked this explanation, I thought that things were over explained as we get the "why" both in the weird scene-in-a-box part and when Tabby is giving her monologe at the end, but we will get to those later.
In the first scene we are introduced to Shelby. Her boyfriend seems a little stereotypically douchey as he is doing 100 on the highway to "keep up with the convoy", a concept that I personally thought he took a little too seriously. For me, the scenario of following the convoy into danger was new enough to me that it didn't seem overdone at all. The guy in the car seemed creepy and kept referring to his family that we never saw which made me suspicious, but that is obviously erased when we see the girl looking terrified in the truck and especially once she holds up the "help me" sign. Once she holds up the sign, things really kicked into high gear. I really liked the shot of the "help me" sign hitting the windshield briefly and was not at all expecting it when the body hit the windshield. I thought that the rest of the scene did a really good job keeping suspicion on the trucker and making you forget about the creepy guy. He just seemed scared and doing his best to help. I thought that Shelby's boyfriend Rob was a little slow on the uptake when he first heard the girls moaning in the back seat, but I liked the moment of realization as the creeper is killing the trucker and the girls get unconvered. It was also nicely open eneded.
Now, we are introduced to Tabitha. From the get go, it is clear that the kids are in on something that they aren't telling Tabby, which for me was really unsettling. We know what kind of movies this is and the fact that the killer is using the kids to make his plan work is pretty messed up. All I have to say about that clown room is FUCK that shit. I don't are if there isn't the world's creepiest life-size clown in there, there is no way in hell I am sleeping in there for anything. That being said, the clown mask was really well done and it alone made the shots creepy and menacing. I think my favorite part here, and maybe in the movie for that matter, was the tension build as Tabby slowly builds the courage to pull tha mask off of the clown doll. It was really effective and well done. I didn't like, however, that they used the same tension builder when the T.V. turned on and she reached for the remote. Give me one or the other. I thought both were severly cheapened by the lack of originality in the second "scare". I don't know about anyone else, but even though I was expecting the clown to move from the second it came on screen, I was no less creeped out when it finally did. I thought that the slow head turns of the clown were really effective, especially when Tabby was on the phone and the focus was shifting between Tabby and the clown. The clown being gone was another good moment, and I didn't expect the violence of the knives through the door or the violent persistence of him hacking through the door and the wardrobe. After another open ended segment, I was just hoping that we would get some resolution at some point.
I said earlier that I thought there was some over explanation in the movie as to why it was all going on, and this next segment is one of those over explaining moments. Things cut seemingly randomly to a group of kids each holding a box. In Shelby's box there is a couple in a car by a cabin in the woods, in Tabby's there is a carnival scene with clowns a plenty and Lisa, the final girl has a slumber party set up. Inside the creepy boy's box is a rat that is cut open and still alive. Tabby sees, says it isn't funny and the boy looks and laughs as the girls run away. I just thought that this scene seemed really forced, especially Shelby's box which seemed a little unrealistic for something a young girl like that would come up with. I don't like the fact that we needed that specific of a why in terms of the scenarios that the girls get captured in. It takes something away from the deranged part of the killer that doesn't need a motive, or at least not one as specific as the scenes in the boxes.
Now, we move onto Lisa's scene, something that we now know will be slumber party/sleeping related. I didn't like how Lisa didn't seem at all suspicious that her celebate room mate was not coming home and just assumed she must be hooking up with someone. The whole hotel and the hotel "manager" were almost unbelievably run down and creepy for me. Would they really allow some completely run down building in town remain operational and would anyone actually stay there? I believed and liked the scenario of the boyfriend going in to investigate and although his fate seems bad, it is sealed when the creepy manager tells him that the maching will give him a "surprise". I couldn't believe that Shelby just sat in the gazebo all day waiting for her boyfriend and just kep leaving him messages. If he isn't answering don't you think that something may have gone wrong. I thought that the deaf guy was more weird and a little funny than creepy or sad which I feel they must have been going for. The face rising in the sheets was a nice moment, my only problem with is was that when the face came through the sheets it had a distinct mouth and the girl's mouth was gagged. The revalation of that girl and of the other girls sew into the beds was a nice twist on the "slumber party" scenario that Shelby's box showed was going to be hers.
Although the girls being strung up and cut open like the rat was a little forced when looking referring back to the boxes, it was pretty brutal and, best of all, the fake out of the girls not actually being cut up was awesome and totally unexpected.
I guess my big question with all of it is why Tabby? Is it because she looked in his box when they were kids and told him that it wasn't funny? I mean, her segment seemed the longest of the "kill scenes" and Lisa is alive once she is freed for maybe 15 seconds and Shelby for maybe 90 seconds. I did like that the cabin was connected to the labyrinth of tunnels that he was keeping the girls in and that the room she ran into was on a flatbed truck. The "now that was funny" line was cheesy in a good way and I liked that she stabbed him in the face with his own weapon.
As I said in the beginning, I thought that there was over explanation as to why , especially since it didn't go into the specifics of why Tabby was being singled out. Some of this explanation that seemed unnecessary and weak was Tabby's monologue at the end saying that they laughed at him and made fun of him and so this happened. Overall, it was a great movie, although I would almost prefer one that focused on Tabby and played out the clown killer scenario much more fully. Always good to have a obscure horror film come through.
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