My Guilty Pleasure's Movies

This is the root of my guilty pleasure list. When this movie came out, it was like the writers/studio execs just took a snapshot of my brain and regurgitated a Bruckheimer action version of my favorite things: hacking and puters made to look cool, quoting other movies and filmmakers, beating the crap out of Hugh Jackman (I was bitter about his Wolverine casting at the time), John Travolta as a bad guy, purposely convoluted plot, cars that just look cool, secret societies, and Halle Berry's boobs.

Indeed these are also a list of things that have ruined many a promising film's chance at being a legitimate film. Swordfish is such an awful movie, but so packed with things I like and in a manner I just can't fuss about when the movie's got a gun to my head, the best hooker in Vegas sucking me off, and 15 seconds to decrypt the highest level encoding. Usage of film for all the wrong things for all the reasons that feel good.

another suprisingly good sequel

I can't imagine a better third horror movie that so bravely strides on the live wire fence separating solid horror story from campy self indulgence. I love this movie, and though I disagree with Wes that the story should have ended with the first movie (one main thing I want to research is how Craven currently considers this oversight) but I do agree with Wes that if the series should have stopped at some point, it should have been at the conclusion of Dream Warriors. In my opinion, as the following three movies decline exponentially in story value.
Though the idea of a team working together and they all have a "special power" is very superhero and done with full 80s flair. At the same time, the effects are at peak and the dream setups are still juicy (and bloody). In this one, Freddy plays mainly on his territory - in dreams. The return of our heroine Nancy is very welcome and the heirs to her powers seem like formidable pupils, but they are also very human, moreso than previous "group of kids" subject to Freddy's spree. At the same time, because of the "super-hero" aspect I can see how someone would promote the idea that the story operates on archetypes, but I have to disagree and say that this is an original piece and done with expert crafting.

a misunderstood and underrated movie

revived the TCM franchise and inspired countless copy films
May-03-08
Had a craving to rewatch this today, partly because I needed a gorefest and finally because this movie has received so much praise from horror fans in particular so I had to re-watch this to get a fuller view of it.
The biggest thing this movie has going for it is that it is scary. From Leatherface's design and characterization, which went down many twisted and too revealing versions of the character. Leatherface didn't need the pageantry he displays in TCM2 and TCM The Next Generation; TCM3 elevated Leatherface to that "supernaturally indestructible" level, and this remake goes with the original plan, the best one: mysterious, a human bull, deviant in unimaginable ways living out his supreme fantasies. Still, this is no TCM original; I have only seen the original once, much the same as The Exorcist or The Last House on the Left, because I felt I didn't want to see it again because those films were so solidly jarring and within their own demented yet believable universe.
With this remake, somehow most of the gore and chasing seem more entertaining than frightening.
R. Lee Armey gives a standout performance; I think his character is given the best lines and delivers them well to make for a supreme baddie and a believable totally horrifying character.
Script wise, I always have my complaints. Obviously, this is just the first TCM re-written in the same plot sequence and premise. I especially don't like that when the film needs to move on to a scare scene, it typically does so by condescending the viewer and portraying the characters as foolish and oblivious whose fear does not justify their actions, especially in incidents before gore is unleashed upon them.
Also more technical complaints: this movie made me question many anatomical things such as, if you have a meathook puncturing your lung and several other severe cuts, how long would one really live and how does a simple knife in the stomach end that? So this movie isn't consistent on being realistic in the death scenes, and though horror can be said to have a license to exaggerate above any other genre, it is too gratuitous here that sometimes a death loses its scare appeal
(the kid on the meathook).
Filming and set design: well done. As I said in my opening line, every twenty something serial slasher since has imitated Leatherface's basement and the Crawford mill in general. It's tightly cut with a great shot of Leatherface chasing two protagonists through several laundry lines of white sheets.
Basically, this is a thrill ride. You get your jumps, but if you've seen the original TCM, you're not going to see anything near that impeccable portrait of insanity; this movie is for this age, instead of atmosphere and story, this moves quicker and concentrates on being very showy with any special effects or sets.

pure guilty pleasure

This is a pretty fuckin awesome Z-budget film. If you think this is a bad zombie movie, you ain't seen bad zombie movies.

Would it be nice if there was better acting? Yeah, sure - that's always the answer for most movies though. How does this bad acting compare to typical zombie movie bad acting? It's a good 40% better than typical crap Z-movie acting, as in the acting is actually tolerable.

How about the visuals? The crew hasn't got millions, and I don't actually know how much they had to work with - but the effects in this are damn cool. I like the old fashioned use of production effects, and a lot of the makeup/fx is pretty damn awesome, definitely in the higher end of Z-movies.

Could the script be better and carry a bit more continuity? Almost always, but in this case, I'm too tickled by the parasite alien babies growing in zombies' scrotums and the end "solution" to the zombie plague. It's a funny and interesting Z-movie, and actually enjoyable.

Hypercube may become a guilty pleasure of mine. For those fascinated with the first flick or generally interested in quantum physics fiction, Hypercube is a decent followup. The cast all act well, and the new "spin" on the Cube (that it is a space in which the '4th dimension' is at the center of all the traps). The plot has all the necessary twists this type of flick requires without becoming cliche. My biggest complaint is the design choices. I simply don't like the white cube, but if they are going with that, they should have done some artful things with blood against that canvas, but the Cube remains immaculate during any bloodshed moments. Some of the traps are theoretically interesting (again if you like quantum mechanics) but they are not at all horrific. The Cube kills are computed generated effects that appear poor, and the CGI blood is even more annoying. All complaints considered, I still like this flick because of its plot edge and good ensemble acting.

I must say that this is a formidable sequel (now remember I'm watching these in order and have only seen 1 and 2 thus far). The concept in this film is similar to the first: Freddy uses whatever teenager occupies his house to link himself to more people, and thusly more victims. In this entry, instead of saving his central kid for last kill, he uses the kid to manifest himself in the real world temporarily. The acting is annoying (with the exception of Clu Gulager) and the two main characters do not get my sympathy, but that's fine because the effects and FX concepts in this one are just as cool as the firts movie. Freddy's makeup has gotten even better (no lighting tricks needed now - it looks like real flesh in a closeup). I was disappointed that this movie didn't show the grotesque "crime scenes" after Freddy has killed, which are highly memorable moments in the first movie. I like the bookend aspect of the script - the bus scene - and Freddy's new tactic. Some of the scenes are incredibly well directed and co-ordinated: when the coach is attacked by a roomfull of balls and sports equipment and the great pool party sequence. I wish there were more scenes of the sprite Freddy running about scaring people shitless as he does at the pool party, but his 'quickness' is not a signature feature of his in this one. Also I didn't experience a single "gotcha" scare. All in all, a good entry because Freddy is fantastic in this one, but the kills are less creative. These are more "knives in the chest" than elaborate dream kills, which the movie deceptively begins with. Still, Freddy looks great and the scene where he pops out of the main kid is just unbeatable.

I don't know why people slag this entry off. I watched this again for the first time in three years, and I have to say it again - *this* is my favorite Hellraiser movie. Now, I may say that a few more times this week as I still have V-VIII to go.
Like the comic book style reverberating multiplot story, love the designs for the Lament configuration. After this movie, the puzzle shouldn't hold much of the series' thematic attention. Lovin the gore and effects; like the Cenobite creation scenes, though I can always do with more of them. It's too bad we can't visit Pinhead on his home turf in this one, but the "Earthly realm" settings we get instead are sufficient for the story. I like the little period piece (though I doubt Merchant is really the FIRST maker of the Lament configuration, though I do believe he is the first to "innovate" it a step further with the light channeling) and I think there's some cool traditional Gothic tributes with great gore. The modern day bit is fun because, again, a whole building is used as a puzzle, and that's always damn cool. I don't like Pinhead's pins and face design throughout the movie - for some reason they are really off, but I do like alot of the other Cenobite designs, especially the Twins. Back on the spaceship, the design of which I think is ingenious (as intended), it's time for a cool scifi deep space horropera, but not as cool as it could have been, and not as impressive gore wise as the previous sequences. All in all the best thing that could've been done to this film would be to make it another 22 mins longer and give me a fourth story, so I could give this flick four stars.