Extreme Makeover--Horror Picks
I ran across two flicks yesterday that had really great ideas and/or set-ups, but ended up being less-than-great due to short-sighted production choices. It's Makeover Time!
The Funhouse (1981) Tobe Hooper directed this very simple story about four teenagers who decide to spend the night in a carnival funhouse, witness a murder, then attempt to escape the perpetrators. The idea is a great one and the flick manages to achieve some real tension and pathos, but not in the places one would expect. This flick deserves to be remade, amping up the relationship between the Surviving Virgin and her little brother and the relationship between the Bad Dude and his family. Setting a horror flick in a funhouse is a great concept that the filmmakers did not have the time or resources to fully explore.
Idle Hands (1999) While destined to become a cult classic because of the cast, which includes gorgeous Jessica Alba, hilarous Seth Green, incredibly gifted Elden Henson and always watchable Devon Sawa, the fantastic idea of someone having a demon-possessed hand got lost in a mishmash of not-believeable character relationships, one-liners and general booger-flicking teen-movie shenanigans. A remake would probably not fix these problems, but making a television series out of it might provide the amount of time required to explore the history of this particular demon, who chooses the laziest person it can find, takes control of his or her hand, and goes on a killing spree, dragging the rest of the person along against his or her will. I just felt like the story got chopped off (bad pun) when it came to generating good reasons for the characters to do the things they did. Also, I adored the character of the Airstream-trailer-driving, totally focused demon hunter, played to the hilt by Viveca A. Fox. What I really wanted to see was now-one-handed Devon Sawa boarding that Airstream with Debbie The Demon Hunter to continue the search for Demons Everywhere, guided by his two angel pals (Seth Greean and Elden Henson).
The Funhouse (1981) Tobe Hooper directed this very simple story about four teenagers who decide to spend the night in a carnival funhouse, witness a murder, then attempt to escape the perpetrators. The idea is a great one and the flick manages to achieve some real tension and pathos, but not in the places one would expect. This flick deserves to be remade, amping up the relationship between the Surviving Virgin and her little brother and the relationship between the Bad Dude and his family. Setting a horror flick in a funhouse is a great concept that the filmmakers did not have the time or resources to fully explore.
Idle Hands (1999) While destined to become a cult classic because of the cast, which includes gorgeous Jessica Alba, hilarous Seth Green, incredibly gifted Elden Henson and always watchable Devon Sawa, the fantastic idea of someone having a demon-possessed hand got lost in a mishmash of not-believeable character relationships, one-liners and general booger-flicking teen-movie shenanigans. A remake would probably not fix these problems, but making a television series out of it might provide the amount of time required to explore the history of this particular demon, who chooses the laziest person it can find, takes control of his or her hand, and goes on a killing spree, dragging the rest of the person along against his or her will. I just felt like the story got chopped off (bad pun) when it came to generating good reasons for the characters to do the things they did. Also, I adored the character of the Airstream-trailer-driving, totally focused demon hunter, played to the hilt by Viveca A. Fox. What I really wanted to see was now-one-handed Devon Sawa boarding that Airstream with Debbie The Demon Hunter to continue the search for Demons Everywhere, guided by his two angel pals (Seth Greean and Elden Henson).
posted by Fistandantalus | 7:31 AM
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