Category Archives: Editorials

‘PREDATOR!’ Retrospective Of The Classic Film And A Look At Some Of Its Original Designs

Image June 5, 2021 Manic Exorcism 1 Comment

The Decade of alien parasites, killer cyborgs, and, oh yes, the Predator

It was the ‘80s, the magical decade of mother fucking HEAVY METAL culture. Iron Maiden, AC/DC, and Ronnie James Dio captivated our airwaves and MTV was in its infancy and proving to be nothing but pure A1 classic kick-ass amazement. Spike studs lined leather jackets and chains hung off jeans. Of course, us kids were running around in MOTU underwear and that was just as badass. It was a glorious time to be alive.

And that Heavy Metal attitude penetrated all aspects of culture, but no medium was more impacted by this heavy cord-shredding phenomenal attitude (adjustment) than cinema. Hell, even My Little Pony movies were saturated with some heavy rock n roll. It wasn’t music for us. It was literally a way of life. One that remains with us over here at Nightmare Nostalgia.

So it was no surprise when that same Metal attitude began popping up in our movies. And us hardcore kids knew that if the movie was rated R it meant absolute quality.

So you could say there must have been something in the air, or it could have been all that cocaine executives sucked up their noses back then, but we could count on some imperially spectacular films! The time of hardcore inspiration was on and we rode it like it was a metal crunching dragon! We were lucky enough to grow up with Aliens, Terminator, and Robocop. They hit the theater big and they hit the audience hard like a fist punching through a wall.

It was like a quick kick of roaring diesel to the mind that revved us up and made us kids a bunch of screaming monsters out on the playground. “Did you see Terminator? He cut his eye out in front of the mirror!” and so the schoolyards were filled with us describing each one of these movies to each other. I think we may have gotten a little spoiled and just expected every single ball blazing movie to be a mad rush of fury, fights, and ferocious suspense.

But then among these high-octane sci-fi/horror fusions came a lethal creature from another world who sought to slay the most dangerous killers on planet Earth – that means us, my nasties. And I’m talking about none other than the Predator. If one single film could jump on top of your desk and kick your teeth in while expecting you to be grateful for it it’s this movie.

If you like Aliens and Terminator you’re gonna love this guy!

It wasn’t enough that the film sported Arnold Schwarzenegger, who alone amassed an onslaught of loyal fans thanks to his movies (Conan, Terminator 1 & 2, Total Recall), and whose name was a seal of pure excellence over any project he was involved in, but this time around Arnold was leading a secret team of the meanest, baddest, and toughest hombres imaginable deep into the humid labyrinths of the South American jungle to slaughter some sumbitch guerrilla forces.

This team of ultra badasses showed the world what manliness was all about. The majority of these guys were built just like tanks and they tore through that jungle with the most orgasmic firepower this side of DOOM and proved right away they are not with whom you want to fuck! There’s no man on earth who could outsmart, outmaneuver, or outgun Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his team. The first part of the movie is a heavy metal ballad of heavy artillery and bullets shredding down guerrilla headquarters and no good bastards.

It’s beautiful, but only because it sets up how indestructible these men are right before introducing the one thing that can make them run for their lives and cower down in the mud like children.

This is a genius way to introduce your movie monster and speaks volumes to why people still love this creature. He alone slaughters, skins, and devastates the strongest men on the planet and he does so alone. Oh! And he does it for sport!

Need I go on about the ultimate coolness of this beast from the stars?

Using the trees as his advantage point, the Predator stalks Dutch and his team, systematically kills them one by one, and comes in silently to take away their dead comrades right from under their noses.

His weapons include gauntlet blades, a shoulder cannon, and stealth technology that makes him practically invisible to the naked eye. He also has signature infrared vision making it nearly impossible to hide from him. He really is made to be the perfect killer.

At its core, the film is a slasher horror film set in the sweltering heart of the jungle, which, if we’re being honest, jungles are fucking scary places on their own. So this is a one of a kind type of slasher movie and, as my nasties all know, I love slashers! I’ve even named a pet shark Slasher.

The look of death – designing the Predator

One major thing that stands out for any monster movie is how the creature looks, and, once again, Stan Winston brought life to another timeless creation.

However, it’s well-known by now that action star Jon Claude Van Dam was slated to play the part of the Predator. Some set pics are around showing off what he would have looked like too and… the original look had more in common with a big lobster bug than the monster we know today.

Goddamn, I’m so happy someone on set looked at this thing and saw how stupid it looked. Someone just knew it was going to get laughed at and more money was poured into the budget to build a proper-looking intergalactic killing horror.

Kevin Peter Hall (1955-1991) slipped on the monster suit and a whole new movie came to life.

Stan Winston (Aliens, Terminator, Jurassic Park) says he was on a flight and working out some of the designs for the Predator when James Cameron (Terminator 1,2, Aliens, Avatar) looked over to see his sketches. It was then that Cameron made the comment, “Know what I’ve always been interested in? Something with mandibles.” And so Winston quickly drew some mandibles over the creature’s mouth and they could not stop staring at it. Stan Winston knew he just discovered his newest movie monster. The Predator took on brand new life.

And outside of the violence, I would say the main thing fans remember from the film is the Predator’s iconic look. Some didn’t even know that his true face was hidden under a very cool-looking mask. A mask that gets taken off in the final act as the last struggle comes down between the Predator and Dutch in a fistfight to the death.

And I mean the Predator wipes the floor of the jungle with Dutch’s pretty face.

It’s a nail-biter and packs a kick-you-in-the-nuts kind of intensity all the way to the nuclear blast of an ending.

Predator is possibly more famous today than ever. What with the release of the new game, Predator: Hunting Grounds, on PS4, Steam, and Xbox, a renewed interest in the old and classic Dark Horse comics, and, one of my personal favorites, NECA’s ongoing toy releases.

Today I own at least a dozen different kinds of Predator figures thanks to them. NECA gives fans a new way to admire the classic monster by getting him into our hands where we can examine the details in his armor and features. Nothing short of pure art, folks,

It remains one of the absolute best kind of creature feature flicks in film history today. One that is a must-watch and still holds up in 2021. Yes, it’s one of those voyages down the nostalgia river where metal, monsters, and mayhem thrive on from yesteryear.

It most certainly deserves a fresh re-watch.

Duu et. Duu et naow!!!

Images are thanks to Fox Studios, the Stan Winston school of special effects, Black Sabbath, and NECA

Editorials

The Deleted Scene From “Poltergeist” That Almost Gave it An “R” Rating

Image June 5, 2021 Patti PaulterGeist 3 Comments

Photo Credits: Poltergeistiii.com

In keeping with the theme of celebrating Poltergeist‘s legacy on it’s last year before the film hits 40, I wanted to highlight a scene that although filmed, never made the cut into the final film. Poltergeist is rich in film lore history and the fascination surrounding the supposed curse, is just one piece of the horror puzzle that has captivated fans throughout it’s run in the 80s’ and beyond in the present. And if you’re a superfan like myself, you might know about this somewhat cringy bit that has since been lost to the abyss of the editing process. Let’s talk about that spider ceiling scene.

Tentacles have been an obvious theme in the first two films, albeit more pronounced in the second film, however here in what was to be an extended and more brutal scene involving Diane (JoBeth Williams) after her bath, it basically gives The Entity (released in the same year) a run for its money. The scene without the added context strongly suggests sexual assault, but the deleted scene takes it to full on rape.

Mike Wood, who served as mechanical effects supervisor for the film and Mitch Suskin, visual effects supervisor, remarked on the cut footage and what it was to entail in an old Cinefex article circa 1982:

“At times we got overwhelmed by fun effects and audacious ideas,” Mitch Suskin remarked, “possibly more than the film required. The one scene that sticks in my mind is where Diane is pulled up the wall, across the ceiling, and down the other side. During that, there was going to be a kind of ‘stain’ in her path-something foreshadowing the closet turning into a mouth. It was a pulsating, organic, ugly thing.” The concept was eventually discarded, but not before the physical effects crew had gone ahead and built it and it went before the cameras. “We made a large latex bladder for the stain,” Mike Wood related. “There were holes in the wall so we could actuate it manually from behind, and we had people strapped to the outside of the set, putting their hands through. During the scene, the stain was to have grown bigger and more amorphous, and the girl was supposed to roll through it from her bed.” A more risque notion was to be the violation of Diane Freeling by unseen forces as she involuntarily defied gravity in her upturned room. Wood contrived a special harness to facilitate “rape” movements in that position, but when the idea endangered the picture’s PG rating, it, too, was scrapped. An alternate scene of Jobeth Williams writhing in bed remains in the film, but its darker implications are less apparent.
poltergiestiii.com

Well, that alone would have indeed given the film a hard “R” rating and I can certainly appreciate why they made the decision they did. I for one, think it may have taken away some of the sophistication the movie has engraved in it with it already embodying plenty psychological scare tactics without all the gore, guts, and torture porn. Don’t get me wrong, I love me a good gorey trash flick. But with Poltergeist, it just doesn’t fit in well with the purity and horror innocence of the film; which is what makes it so damn great. Although I admit, I don’t think I’d be able to suppress the curiosity that resides in me if this footage is ever unearthed and released.

The above images credited to the ultimate Poltergeist fan site, poltergiestiii.com, are the first to my knowledge to have been displayed on the internet. It’s also a fantastic go-to for anything on the film(s) you would ever want to know- so I highly suggest rummaging through their web pages for some fun trivia and stills on the movies.

Editorials

‘Army of the Dead’ Movie Review.

Image May 28, 2021 Manic Exorcism Leave a comment

Army of the Dead is an exciting (and controversial) rock n roll thrill ride sweeping across a zombie-infested Las Vegas! At its core, this is a bank heist film with plenty of twists, turns, and WTF was that kind of moments. Zack Snyder throws his motley band of heroes – led by Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy 1, 2, Avengers: Infinity War) – directly into the rotting heart of the apocalypse.

The movie is jam-packed with Easter Eggs and a lot of love for classic horrors from the past and packs a lot of (bite) punch for horror fans to enjoy.

Stakes are high and is the temptation of a few billion dollars really worth risking their lives against a zombie army? Stick around as we get deep and dirty into Army of the Dead and the road that led up to it!

Reviving the Dead circa 2003

When I heard Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead, 300, Justice League) was returning to the zombie field I was immediately intrigued. Snyder began his career with the zombie apocalypse so it was exciting to wonder what he had to bring to the genre that debuted his style, art, and themes.

via Universal Pictures, ‘Dawn of the Dead’

It’s hard to believe how vastly popular zombies are today considering – not too long ago at all – there was a considerable lack of zombie movies. Some of our readers will know what I’m talking about. I mean it almost felt like the zombie genre was almost taboo. The sub-genre was something dirty that nobody wanted to soil their careers with and so the undead were as good as dead.

I don’t think it’s out of line to propose that had it not been for Capcom’s Resident Evil games during the ‘90s zombies may have never been on anyone’s mind at all. But video games were proving that there was still some life stirring in the ghastly genre perfected by George Romero.

And then they came crawling out of their graves to take the world by storm. I don’t know if the hyper paranoia of the dawning new millennium had anything to do with it, and, let’s be honest, it could be that entirely now that I’m looking back at it. Because as soon as 2000 rolled around the zombie film was resurrected.

And why wouldn’t it? Prophecy pushers were telling everybody that as soon as the clock clicked midnight and 1999 ended so would the world. We would be plunged into frenzied hysteria as machines turned against us and we fell back into a modern stone age. The world would end, Jesus was coming back, and electronics were gonna go KABOOM!

Obviously, none of that happened but the apocalypse was still heavily on everyone’s subconscious. It was the perfect breeding ground for zombie movies.

I also don’t think it’s a stretch to say that a few movies, two, in particular, were responsible for reviving the living dead at the dawn of the new millennium. Those movies being 28 Days Later (2003) and the remake of Dawn of the Dead (2004).

Already collecting criticism and controversy over his debut, Snyder’s DOTD had fans of Romero’s horror classic furious that anyone could dare remake it. And, to the surprise of many, DOTD was an international success! People were not just talking about zombies but were foaming at the mouth about them! Smartly, Snyder’s movie does not feel like a shot-for-shot remake, and had it been given another name it may have won over even more fans upon its release. But outside of a story about a group of survivors taking refuge inside of a mall, it has nothing in common with the Romero classic.

And, like 28 Days Later, it bared its teeth and furthered the idea of running zombies. These two films made the living dead even more challenging by giving them rushing bull-like speed as they chased down their unsuspecting victims who woke up to a dangerous new world where the grave was no longer safe.

Some people hated the concept but many were thrilled by it. And please don’t judge me too harshly but I’m one of those who really enjoyed DOTD. It definitely got me excited for zombies all over again.

The zombie movie was back and it was taking no prisoners.

Since then we’ve had the global success of The Walking Dead and it’s easy to say zombies have become a permanent fixture in pop culture’s heart. We even had a zombie rom-com that is…well yeah whatever. But what I wanted to know was could anyone bring something fresh and original to a subgenre that’s been shoved through the industrial meat processer and flushed onto home video, streaming services, and cinemas. Was there still anything new to bring home to the genre, kinda like what DOTD helped do with those screaming running horrors?

Army of the Dead says ‘hold my beer.’

Right off the bat, we’re shown an army convoy heading out of Area 51, and to drive the idea home there are two glowing UFOs in the distance, hovering silently and possibly watching the convoy before flashing skyward and utterly disappearing. I didn’t even notice the UFOs upon my initial watch but couldn’t deny them the next time around.

Something about seeing two UFOs at the start of a zombie movie makes it eerie, like great old X-Files episodes. It tells us to expect the unexpected.

The precious cargo being hauled across the desert via army convoy is none other than the Alpha, a new being of what can presumably be a super soldier gone wrong (or right?). Irreverently the mission comes to an abrupt end thanks to some unforeseen road head, and, you guessed it, the Alpha is released and proves to be far more formidable than any of the trained military troops are prepared to handle.

This is a movie that calls its audience a pussy if they’re not ready for the kind of experiences it has in store. As we’re introduced to Zeus, the alpha zombie, the start of a new kind of species, he rips, tears, and shreds his path through armed soldiers as he reforms their flesh, tainting their DNA with his own malignance, and builds his very own army. Zeus defies death and spreads disease wherever he goes. He then sets his eyes on the bright lights of Las Vegas and the intro credits begin.

This movie starts right off with the middle finger and tells us this isn’t like what we’ve seen before. And let’s be honest, us zombie movie fans have seen A LOT! We have the likes of George Romero, Lucio Fulci, and Stuart Gordon. And know what? I’m gonna include Sam Rami even though his beasties are Deadites. The point being they were demon zombies or the Evil Dead. They were the dead brought back to life.

My point is thanks to past zombie movies we’ve seen some crazy ass shit. I mean we’ve seen a zombie fight a shark under the ocean, zombies got on intercoms to call in more cops just to have more brains to eat, and Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) chainsawed his dead girlfriend’s head off, and then she danced for him. We love crazy shit in zombie movies, those happy little scenes that come out of nowhere and rip our faces off. Those are the moments we talk about, the moments that make these movies classic.

Oh yeah, and who can forget when a dead head gave Barbara Crampton head in Re-Animator?

Us Drive-In Mutants eat this kind of stuff up!

Army of the Dead gives us possible alien zombies. Imagine if Area 51 decided to fuck around with DNA splicing between an alien and a human. Well, that’s where Zeus (possibly, strong possibility) comes in. The super-soldier, the alpha zombie to kick-start Armageddon just because he can.

But that’s not anywhere near enough though! Oh hell no. Then, like a sumbitch, the movie goes and throws friken cyborg zombies at us out of the clear blue! Then, once the initial WTF wears off, we’re left begging for more of that shit. And no, that wasn’t your imagination. Zac Snyder’s gone on record and insists there are legit robot zombies in the film and we will get to explore what that’s all about in the upcoming Army of the Dead anime movie. Holy shit!

But scattered across the dead streets of Las Vegas are Romero-like zombies called Shamblers. They’re a little dried out thanks to the Nevada sun but once it rains they come back to life for a few hours. So people who hated the fast zombies get their tried and true classic shambling zombie horde.

But that’s just it. There are classes among the zombies. The shambling dried out ones who cluttered around the gates … oh yeah. Las Vegas has been walled off by shipping containers to keep the zombie legions locked in. But this is no prison, oh no. That’s too simple. Vegas has become a zombie kingdom ruled over by Zeus and his zombie bride.

So yes, this is a movie that dares to have different kinds of zombies all living together in a zombie kingdom ruled over by an intellectual class of the undead who strictly monitor the happenings both within and outside of their boundaries. Did you get that? There are intelligent zombies in this movie!

Zombies that can reason things out, communicate, make decisions and strategize. WTF, Snyder? Horror fans only expect so much out of a zombie movie and you go and slam down a sledgehammer on those very expectations. The film keeps giving us glimpses into a much broader lore than anticipated. With promises a future films in the making to further explore that lore. So what we see here is only the tip of the iceberg for what’s developing into a very interesting new zombie saga.

I don’t have enough fingers to type all this out fast enough and I’m trying to condense this review, but there’s so much to cover! I mean I just told you this movie has a zombie monarchy! And with the higher functioning zombies, it almost feels like a sense of telekinesis is shared. Maybe? But whatever the case these guys can and do communicate. This movie introduces a group of undead who are organized, structured, and driven by purpose. That makes them very scary and very dangerous.

And just because we’re in Las Vegas we also get a zombie tiger. Oh, my unholy hell a zombie tiger that is infinitely cool!

Now all I want is for NECA to take note and let me have that zombie king astride his zombie horse (oh yeah, there’s that too) with his zombie tiger. My horror figure shelf is needing all that right now.

Add to that a proposed infinite time loop that traps the heroes in an endless pursuit within the zombie kingdom with no escape outside of a gruesome death. It’s very likely these heroes are doomed to repeat their fatal decisions over and over, facing new deaths but no closure as they gradually draw closer and closer to reaching their goals. So the question is will they finally (if ever) escape from this grizzly fate?

Holy shit! There’s some heavy stuff in this zombie film!

If this was a video game I’d be on my feet and starving myself to death until completing every single mission.

This movie is heavy metal and brutal to the bleeding core.

Needless to say, this is one helluva wild zombie movie, one we’ve been due for a long time now. It’s something to shake up the genre and informs us all that there’s so much more to be explored with tired and used zombie formulas.

Criticism explored

It’s no secret people love to hate Zack Snyder and the haters are out in full force. The same people who accuse this movie of being a direct rip-off of Aliens will also praise the pants off of Star Wars. Meanwhile, George Lucas has gone on record to claim SW is nothing more than a direct rip-off of classic Japanese Samurai films. There’s nothing new under the sun and directors will repeat formulas that inspired them. It may only be a subconscious thing, or maybe it’s deliberate.

Bottom line there are a lot of movies – films we all love to this day – that are guilty of this.

Let’s get this straight though. This movie is not Citizen Kane we’re talking about. It’s a bank heist zombie gore film using a fusion of action-adventure/horror/sci-fi elements. It was made to be fun and entertaining. And it does its job right.

Like I said some people love to hate Zack Snyder and are already predisposed to find fault and flaws in anything he does. I mean they hate his guts and act like he walked into their parent’s house and punched their mothers right in the face.

If you do hate his movies but like horror films, especially stuff like Return of the Living Dead, Re-Animator, and Evil Dead (you know the fun ones) then you won’t want to miss out on this one. See it for what it is. A brand new zombie film that introduces some fresh elements to the genre.