Fever all through the night

Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever(2009)

Cabin Fever 2 is not so much a film that was released, as escaped, and you could say that the escape was only partially successful as it was on one screen for only one show in Austin, TX, two years after it was made. I went to this screening that the director himself had boycotted after having his film taken away and re-cut, expecting a train wreck. Instead, I got an unloved mongrel of a film, as much slapstick comedy as gory horror. It’s not remotely scary but must be admired for how determinedly it tests the audiences’ gag reflex. The gore effects are good, but unlike the original, we don’t really get the time to see them fester before people die, apart from the bus/genitals/ swimming pool highlights. I actually preferred it to Eli Roth’s original, because whereas the original left me feeling cheated by its moments of absurdity, this pinned out its comedy credentials from the onset, as much Porky’s(1982) as Bodymelt(1993). In fact, that’s wrong, there’s also a strong dash of John Hughes, and the real shame about CF2, is that when it’s good, in the teenage anxiety of the first half, it promises to be a much better film than it turns out to be. We could also have done without(unless perhaps in a cameo at the start or in a gruesome death), the return of Sheriff Winston from the first film. Annoyingly, it seems at one stage as though he’s going to grow from comic relief into hero, ala Ash in The Evil Dead trilogy, or Malcolm in Jurassic Park(1993), only for this to be thrown away in favor of tension sapping comedy scenes, to cut away to, every time the Crazies(1973) like ending shows signs of getting suspenseful. CF2 then feels strangely unfinished but also overburdened with unnecessary subplots, but it definitely deserves a dvd rental, and sadly is still more fun than most of the horror movies that get released. And although a 28 Weeks Later(2007) third part seems offered at the end, we’re probably not that interested to warrant one. 5/10

Wax On, Wax Off.

The Karate Kid (1984)

Even 25 years after the fact, watching The Karate Kid for the first time, I can see why it became a hit with teenagers everywhere, and also despair at the fact that it puts most modern teenage movies to shame (come to think of it most modern movies are remakes of the old ones), despite being Rocky Jr. Same director, same soundtrack composer, and you can hear Stallone in many of Ralph Macchio’s utterances, especially when trying to woo Elizabeth Shue. I half expected him to shout, “Yo Adrian, I did it,” at the end. It’s been stated before but what keeps KK from sinking into the mire of straight to dvd releases, and differentiates it, is the relationship between Daniel and Mr Miyagi which is a sweet natured if hard to believe friendship. Shue adds the usual polished performance from this period and Cagney and Lacey’s Martin Kove, on his second most memorable villain duty after Rambo 2, makes a hilariously hissable baddy- even his club has an evil name. Like Rocky, it also deservedly spawned a fistful of sequels, but the original deserves to share shelf space with Back to the Future and Ghostbusters as one of the 80s best. 9/10 Also, Bananarama featured on a soundtrack isn’t exactly commonplace even in English movies of the time, and cheered me up that they got the work

The Witching Hour is Upon Us.

Trick R Treat (2008)

Praised to the rafters by all who’ve seen it, yet left on a shelf for two years by it’s myopic distributer, Trick R Treat finally escapes to dvd. And while it is unfair that it misses out on a totally deserved theatrical release( it puts 90% of horror movies in cinemas to shame with the quality of its cast, script, look and direction), it probably has found its true home, where it can become a holiday fixture to replace John Carpenter’s Halloween(1978), which has been doing all of the heavy lifting single handedly for 30 years. Basically an anthology in the Creepshow(1982) guise, complete with animated inserts, it also brings back happy memories of the best episodes of the Tales from the Crypt series. The joy is that also unlike similar films, no particular story stands out as weak, although the serial killer/werewolf strands could have taken more time, at least they don’t get boring. Brian Cox’s fight with a demon and the ghosts of the murdered children are superior, but it’s also refreshing how the stories both stand alone but also support and guide each other. As stated, the look and color scheme is beautiful mixes of blacks and oranges, the humor complimentary(I was reminded of An American Werewolf in London(1981) and it’s nice to end a film wanting a sequel for a change. 9/10

Diesel Power

Hush(2008)

A great little British horror movie which plays out like a cross between Road Games(1981), and Breakdown(1997). Making a virtue of not showing its villain’s face or having him talk, it apes Halloween(1978) and Friday 13th (1981) in a couple of scenes while keeping it grittily real. Low budget it may be but never short of ideas, the script is well written, especially the couple’s argument early on. It never lags and the last twenty minutes is nerve-racking, nail-biting with a wonderfully abrupt finish. The only downside is that the story isn’t particularly original, but when it’s remixed as well as this with such a menacingly English twang, who cares? 8/10