I’m still not sure whether to call this a reboot, a return, a miniseries or “Season 10.” Fox is calling it “a six episode event,” but that takes too long to type.
Now I’m starting to get excited. This ad, which emphasizes the monster-of-the-week-type episodes, looks a hell of a lot better than the trailers focusing on the conspiracy. The imagery looks damn cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szVb8-c9oH4&feature=youtu.be
And your Darth Maul, Darth Sideous, Darth Billoriellycus and Darth Revan.
[Puff]
The Cigarette Smoking Man is a complex, nuanced, and alternately sympathetic and frightening villain. He’s played by an outstanding actor, William B. Davis. And he’s a better suited nemesis for a paranoid modern America than those pun-monikered space-zen anger-samurai from a galaxy far, far away. All those guys (save for the apparently mute Maul) always sound like a fascist Deepak Chopra when they talk. (In fairness, though, so does CSM, kinda.)
[Puff]
Behold — the new poster for the the return of “The X Files” in January. (I guess I was wrong in predicting we would see only a younger CSM in flashback?)
[Puff]
Fun with fandom: go up to someone who is obsessing over “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” and say, with as straight a face as possible, “Man, you are REALLY into ‘Star Trek,’ aren’t you?” Watch them implode.
It really just seems to show us everything we’ve seen before: ominous dialogue; dire, vague warnings from sources; and flashbacks to urgent looking 50’s-era soldiers and government workers. All of those things taken together were sufficient to entertain for, oh, say … eight years or so. But by the time we reached Season 9, the show really suffered from what seemed like endlessly recycled tropes and story arcs.
If the show does take new directions, as it needed to before it was cancelled, then it will need time to develop. The January “miniseries” will only be six episodes to start with. And I thought I read elsewhere that Chris Carter intends some of those to go to the popular “monster-of-the-week” eps that had nothing to do with the overarching mythology.
Nor do I think our main characters will be reunited with the Cigarette Smoking Man. We do not see the face of (priceless) actor William B. Davis. It’s only a hand, and it looks like a young man’s hand. I’m betting we see him only in flashback.
See what you think from the trailer below. (It’s in two parts.)
I know this is probably non sequitur, but if you love Davis’ work the way I do, then please check out his supporting role in the criminally underrated thriller, “The Tall Man” (2012).
“Deliver Us From Evil” (2014) pleasantly surprised me by being a pretty decent horror movie; I’d give it an 8 out of 10.
I expected a predictable melodrama between its two primary protagonists — the hardened, intractably “close-minded” cop and the wise young priest. This, I thought, would upstage a thin, generic, supernatural backstory.
Well … there was some of that expected character interaction, but I admit that it was done pretty well. And the old fashioned scares served up here make this an above average horror movie.
I say “old fashioned” because this seemed to channel the demonic possession classics that defined this horror movie sub-genre, for me, anyway — “The Exorcist” (1973) and “The Exorcist III” (1990). It has an expansive story that begins in a nicely surprising battle scene in Iraq, then shifts its focus to several chilling violent crimes in New York City. Then it effectively blends a horror story with a police thriller. And the story is detailed, with some thought put into the demon’s modus operandi and choice of victims, as well as the their investigation by streetwise New York City cops. A straight horror-thriller like this is a nice contrast to recent well made supernatural horror films like last year’s “The Babadook” or “It Follows,” which were ambiguous and heavily thematic, personal stories with virtually no exposition.
Eric Bana and Edgar Ramirez were both terrific; even they might have been upstaged by Joel McHale in a supporting role as Bana’s foul mouthed but loyal anti-hero partner. I was rooting for him more than the thinly drawn hero scripted for Bana. (Can any NYC cops really wield a knife like that? If so, that’s totally badass.) McHale is damn good — I’ll be looking for him in his regular role in the upcoming revival of “The X Files.” If you were an NYC cop, wouldn’t you want a partner like that? Seriously … that dude is BADASS.
Regrettably, this movie’s thought and creativity do seem to lose steam toward the end. Certain scares and images were done wonderfully. The scenes inside the asylum were great, for example, especially one shot that made me think of the Batman mythos’ Arkham Asylum. Others fell flat. Our Big Bad, when finally revealed in full, is just a generic ugly dude in drab whiteface. And a sequence involving a piano is shot with little visual flair.
The most frightening subplot of all involves a troubled girl in her bedroom; it’s cut short and rendered irrelevant in order to move the plot forward. And the finale features an exorcism that recycles mostly old tropes from the sub-genre.
Hey … this was still a good movie, though. It certainly was better than I thought it would be. I’d cheerfully recommend it.
Oh! One more thing — this is supposedly based on a true story. Scott Derrickson’s interesting screenplay derives from the 2001 book, “Beware The Night,” by retired NYC police officer Ralph Sarchie (Bana’s character). I wonder what evidence anyone has gathered to either support or debunk the story here.
David Duchovny posted it publicly on Facebook, saying: “I think I know you from somewhere …”
Gillian Anderson responded: “It’s all coming back to me!”
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I submit that the direct-to-video “Fright Night 2” (2013) is the paragon of average horror movies. It is neither great nor terrible. You don’t immediately call your friends to recommend it, but you don’t bemoan its $1 rental price at Redbox either. I’d give it a 6 out of 10.
The movie suffers greatly from an insufferably irritating iteration of protagonist Charlie Brewster. He’s uncharismatic in every scene, including those showing his weaselly entreaties to the girlfriend who left him after he cheated on her. (He is played blandly by Will Payne; she is played rather well by Sacha Parkinson.) Entirely absent is the charm and likable innocence that Anton Yelchin brought to the role in 2011’s “Fright Night.” (Kyle Reese fought vampires in 2011, then aided John Connor in the future to fight terminators, evidently.)
The lackluster Charlie here is compensated for by a terrific villain. Jaime Murray is a fantastic female equivalent of Dracula. She’s a strong actress, she’s a quite tall brunette who looks the part, and she knows how to both sex it up and scare us. I love her as a bad guy (gal). I’d love to see her play a conspirator on one of the nerd community’s most anticipated upcoming revivals: “24” or “The X Files.” I’m told she has a role on that … medieval show that people watch. “Shame of Thrones?” “Dame of Thrones?” I’ve never seen an episode.
“Fright Night 2” benefits from Romania as a wonderful shooting location, and it’s captured nicely by the talented eye of director Eduardo Rodriguez. What is the deal with average or mediocre horror films being filmed on location in Romania? Is it just really cheap to shoot there, like Prague?
Anyway, this movie’s title is a misnomer. This movie isn’t a sequel to the terrific 2011 film. It is actually a remake — we again meet Charlie Brewster and Peter Vincent (the very cool Sean Power) for the first time. It’s confusing. I’m guessing that this was a rejected script for the 2011 film that they decided to shoot anyway?
And here is my requisite exposition to silence the pedants in advance — of course we are all aware that this is a “remake of a remake.” The 2011 film is a nice update of the 80’s classic. (And wasn’t that fun flick the talk of the neighborhood back in the day?)
Sooooo, seeing how average this film was, I really can’t recommend that you ether watch it or skip it. I guess I can just offer a neutral “hmm.” I’d suggest that it is acceptable fare if you’re an especially ardent vampire movie fan who has already viewed the classics that are easily available.
Season 6 of “The X Files” is probably the best season of the series, in my honest opinion. It deserves a perfect 10.
The mythology episodes (and their conclusion in the “Two Fathers/One Son” story arc) are the best ever – a perfect blend of science fiction, horror, mystery, suspense and spy thrillers. It’s fantastic the way Chris Carter gave us convincing special effects for a 1990’s tv show.
Standalone episodes were also at their best, with gems like “Drive,” “Milagro,” Arcadia” and “Monday.”
The only failure was the truly horrible episode, “How the Ghosts Stole Christmas.” It was truly as stupid as it sounds. It just can’t drag down the otherwise amazing season, though.
“The X Files” was in its heyday during Season 5 – this deserves a perfect 10. There were a slew of fantastic mythology episodes, and the standalones included all-time classics such as “The Pine Bluff Variant,” “Folie a Deux” and “Bad Blood.”
There was only one misfire – the draggy and unsatisfying “Chinga.” And even that was at least watchable, thanks to onscreen chemistry between David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson.
Great stuff.
After a shaky Season 1, the second season of “The X Files” showed it coming into its own and becoming the classic sci-fi horror show that I remember. I’d give it a 9 out of 10.
The program got scarier, tighter, and better directed. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson settled into their roles, and became the unique characters fan loved, and their trademark dry banter and sexual tension finally appeared. The overarching plotlines and themes also more or less really made their first appearance in Season 2. The conspiracy and “The Project” finally take shape, with characters like Alex Krycek, The Well Manicured Man and Bill Mulder becoming part of the story, and the sadness and sense of tragedy that pervaded the series became a part of most of the show’s episodes – even the standalone monster-of-the-week episodes.
There were really only four misfires — “Little Green Men,” “3,” “Firewalker” and “Fearful Symmetry” were weak. The rest of the season was quite good.
Some of the eps, like “F. Emasculata,” “Aubrey,” “Irresistible,” and “Our Town” were genuinely scary. Just about any fan of the show will name the hilarious “Humbug” as a classic. And the mythology episodes, while not always frightening, were at least great sci-fi thrillers – especially the fantastic and perfect classic eps, “Colony” and “Endgame.”
Great stuff.
The independent werewolf movie “Late Phases” has been getting a lot of positive buzz among horror fans — and it deserves it. This is a smartly written, well performed fright flick to which I’d give an 8 out of 10.
Nick Damici hands in an understated but perfect performance as a blind Vietnam War veteran antihero. Don’t worry — his blindness is not a gimmick, it’s more of an interesting plot element. (And, by the way, here’s a little trivia — Damici is also the screenwriter for 2010’s outstanding “Stake Land.”)
Tom Noonan is fantastic, as always. Has he ever given a poor performance? I sooooooo loved him trading barbed quips with Fox Mulder as an evil vacuum cleaner salesman — that was one of the best episodes of “The X Files” ever. And am I a weird guy if I think his voice sounds hypnotic?
Regrettably, this film suffers just a little from something its makers probably couldn’t help — a limited special effects budget. We are definitely in the habitat here of man-in-a-suit werewolves, and it does show. Most of my friends who are serious horror buffs will not mind this, but I noticed, and it did “take me out of the movie” just a little. So many people lament the overuse of CGI in today’s movies. I think that when it’s absent entirely, you can start to miss it.
This is still a really good movie, though. It’s on Netflix. Give it a look.
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 