Tag Archives: Poltergeist II

Editorials

We Need That Long-Forgotten Poltergeist Prequel Kane Origin Story- With Walton Goggins

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It’s a tragedy that we NEVER got a villainous prequel to one of the greatest horror films of all time, Poltergeist, giving us an origin story of what is equally, the goddamn scariest horror villain ever. Don’t even try to fight me on this very right opinion: I will die on the hill that Henry Kane is the definitive underrated and most terrifying horror movie antagonist of the last 50 years. I know I’m not the only one that thinks this to be true. So why haven’t studios who are so keen to reboot and churn out 12 sequels to every damn property on the planet to make a quick buck, picked up on this note that a Poltergeist prequel film featuring the malevolent Kane, would not only be a pre-determined hit with fans but could potentially be the perfect way to reignite a masterful franchise that left us on a lowly note with the third installment and a not so great remake of the 1982 movie.

Well, let me in… Let’s talk about it.

On public record straight from the official Poltergeist III website, an industry insider by the name of Macklin Crux stated a script of Kane’s backstory was being developed in the early ‘90s. According to Crux, the story would have explained Kane’s descent into madness and his direct connection to the Freeling family putting all the missing pieces of the puzzle together that sort of left us hanging and only lightly touched on with Poltergeist II. Had the project gone through, we would have seen descendants of the Freeling family escape the clutches of a 19th-century cult leader with the help of an Indian Medicine Man, marking the future Freelings’ as a target for revenge.

Which makes perfect sense in regard to the sequel where Kane first appeared, showing his 10,000 teeth and scaring the ever-loving shit out of a generation and Taylor coming into the mix, as a present-day medicine man would know how to defeat the entity like his ancestors before him.

Seems like the perfect idea to reinvent the franchise but the project was killed off before anything solid scripts were written. Given the tragedy of the previous films and the untimely death of Heather O’ Rourke before even finishing the third movie, it was probably doomed from the start of even uttering the word, “another Poltergeist film” to studio execs. However, in today’s climate, I still feel like it would work and if MGM ever sprouts a pair of balls to move forward with it, I got the perfect actor to take on the daunting role of his “Holy Temple-ness”. We need someone that not only can pass as a younger Henry Kane, but has the acting chops to pull off a believable performance.

My friends, I do believe Walton Goggins is our man.

Goggins has proven himself to be an ever-changing chameleon- and a HIGHLY underrated one at that. The man has some serious range. From his award-worthy performance on Sons of Anarchy as a southern belle trans, a salty employee in Vice Principals, to a fantastic jerk-off in Django Unchained, and most recently his over-the-top character as Uncle Billy in The Righteous Gemstones. Goggins has the resume to take on such a pivotal role that could very well bring this franchise back to life again the way it rightfully should be. The man already has that important southern preacher-like accent and as seen in the photo above, wears those large hats quite nicely. Physically, he would just need to wear color-changing contacts, as Julian Beck’s eyes were that of a baby blue. Other than that, he’s a grand choice to fill those mighty big shoes.

Just in case it ever WERE to happen, I hope the right people reading this take at least take this into consideration. Seriously, hire the man and make all our dreams of a Kane prequel come true. Also, as a Poltergeist mega-fan through and through, I’m also up for hire as a consultant.

Thanks for your time.

Editorials

Horror Movies Dominated The Oscars Special Effects Award In 1987

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Welp, it’s Oscars season folks and you and I both know, for the most part, deserving horror films worthy of such an honor get the almighty snub. Albeit, the snooty Academy has thrown us horror fans a bone via recent years with at least acknowledging that the genre is more than blood and guts, there’s still no excuse to snub a perfectly deserving film to appease what Hollywood deems as true art. Given their stance on the subject, it’s even rarer when a horror movie sequel gets that kind of recognition. But, as a matter of fact, that did indeed happen 35 years ago at the 1987 Academy Awards when the horror genre, two of them a sequel and one a remake, were all competing for the Best Visual Effects Oscar!

The Nominees

Poltergeist II: The Other Side

Although the visually terrifying film didn’t take home the win, it’s a bit of a breath of fresh air to know it was even considered, as this sequel to the Hooper/ Spielberg classic is gorgeously shot and beautifully terrorizes you in all the right places- mostly thanks to Julian Beck and his portrayal of the malevolent reverend, Henry Kane.

Alongside the Boss Film Corporation of effects team,(Richard Edlund
John Bruno, Garry Waller, and Bill Neil) the Swiss magician of horror imagery H.R. Giger was the key designer for ‘The Great Beast’ version of Kane, and it most certainly stands out as an unholy bundle of nightmares from the film alongside the slithery worm that protrudes from Steven’s projectile vomit from the movie. Although it’s been noted in interviews that Giger was for the most, displeased with the end result of the monster creations, it just goes to show that even Giger’s less than impressive standards according to him, are still some of the best horror visual and practical effects that we’ve seen in the wonderful decade of ’80s monster magic. And hey, the Academy board thought so as well, so that’s something I guess.

Early design of The Great Beast by H.R. Giger

Little Shop of Horrors

Nominees Lyle Conway, Bran Ferren, Martin Gutteridge had some stiff competition up against not one, BUT TWO H.R. Giger-inspired designs in the effects department. However, the Audrey II mechanical puppet in itself is a monumental accomplishment more than worthy of being in said company and if anyone was gonna take that sort of threat on, it was going to be master muppet-men Jim Henson and Frank Oz.

The movie utilized multiple animatronic versions of Audrey II, ranging from a tiny bud to the enormous version for the climax. Though not an official Creature Shop production, many of the same designers and technicians worked with Oz on the film. As Jim Henson stated in a 1987 interview, he didn’t have a hand in the puppetry for Little Shop, but “I was very close to some of the people in that production.” These included Jim’s own children Heather Henson, in a bit part as a dental patient, and Brian Henson, who served as a principal puppeteer on Audrey II.

If anything Audrey II should have won an Oscar just for those one-liners.

AND THE WINNER IS…

ALIENS!

When someone like Stan Winston is involved in a H.R. Giger design, we may as well just hand that Oscar on a silver platter. Along with effects specialists John Richardson and Suzanne M. Benson, the trio took home the naked-man gold for their marvelous efforts on Ridley Scott’s Aliens.

Aliens featured extensive use of miniatures and puppeteering, redefining the whole aspect of special effects. Queen Mama Alien was incredibly complex, requiring anywhere between 12 to 14 different operators in order to get the puppet to function properly. It’s been stated by the crew in numerous reports that James Cameron’s ability to shoot the Queen without capturing all of the wire riggings that were present, is a testament to his directorial capabilities.

The alien facehugger samples, which the marines find suspended in glass tubes early in the film, were also brought to life through puppetry. Interesting to note, A Spydor vehicle, which was part of the He-Man toy line, was purchased and used as a model to serve as a visual example of how the facehuggers should walk.

So, can we get an Oscar nod for the Masters of the Universe toyline?

For the most part, I hate the Oscars. But every season when it comes snaking it’s Hollywood ass around the corner, I like to remember that in one point in time, the horror genre absolutly destroyed the special effects category.

Editorials

The Psychology Of The Scare: Gerontophobia In Horror Films

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I’ve always been under the impression horror is what you make of it. Stories and films relay on our innermost fears and phobias to make an impression with the viewer, hence the art of the scare. I don’t care if you’re badass Kurt Russell or Samuel L. Jackson, everyone has one thing or another that makes them uncomfortable.

Horror films have utilized a wide-range of phobias to attract audiences to give them the “safe” scare adrenaline rush. Sub-genre horror movies with the focus on clowns, kids, psychological warfare are some of the most popular among fanfare. However personally speaking, the use of older folks in horror films as the core of fears is some of the most powerful I’ve seen – and most effective. GERONTOPHOBIA, which means the fear of elders or aging, is actually a fairly common fear amongst the populous. We associate looking at our elders with our own mortality and it can be a hard pill to swallow- so we place a heavy fear on it. As authoritarian as it sounds to place our once care-givers who have aged in years at the center of what we fear most sounds inhuman at best, in horror cinema it works to a degree; and all too well.

I mean, who WOULDN’T be horrified of this?!

The first film I saw as a young girl with an elder in a terrifying role was that of Julian Beck’s portrayal of the malevolent Henry Kane in Poltergiest II. That being said, I’m fairly certain I wasn’t the only one his performance affected in a unfavorable manner. To this very day I get very anxious when an elder comes knocking on my door mostly thanks to his frightening exchange with Craig T. Nielson in front of the Freeling home. Knowing later in my older years, Beck was suffering from pancreatic cancer and basically dying at the time of filming haunts me in waves of periodic guilt trips for being so petrified of the man; who literally giving a dying performance and the one most people remember him by. Whether that was his intention, and I’m sure it was to give it his all, I still can’t help but feel horrible that I myself associated his deathly appearance with such fear; and still kind of do. Little Heather O’ Rourke was so afraid of her on-screen antagonist that she cried and ran away from him on set upon first seeing him. I’m not sure if the mall scene in the movie IS the actual first time she saw him as I can’t confirm it at this time, but knowing that it did indeed happen as stated by crew members, makes this scene all the more believable.

That had to have stung.

Four years later came a more prominent display of gerontophobia in film in the form of William Peter Blatty’s TRUE sequel to The Exorcist, The Exorcist III based off Blatty’s PHENOMINAL novel Legion. Most of the story is set in the gloomy atmosphere of a hospital, particularly in the disturbed wards and of those suffering from dementia and catatonics. The demon this time around, James Venamun, ‘The Gemini Killer” has possessed a once-thought deceased Damian Karras and is tormenting both the fallen priest and old friend Kinderman (George C. Scott) as a revenge tactic on behalf of “friends” for the McNeill incident 15 years prior. If that couldn’t get any more fucked up, the Gemini hops from body to body in the wards possessing the older dementia victims and feeble-minded to carry out murderous acts; hammering home how vulnerable and horrifying it can be to age. Because now we have to worry about getting possessed by demons to boot.

Fantastic.

A more recent film by Adam Robitel, The Taking of Deborah Logan works on the same concept as The Exorcist III except the entire film is focused on this matter and not just an excerpt. Miss Deborah Logan (Jill Larson) is slowly slipping away with Alzheimer’s but something is obviously more sinister afoot with an actual possession going on here. This one really leans into the fears of mortality within us all and what happens when we have reached that bridge in our life span. The pain and the suffering can be tremendous and not only affects us as individuals, but our loved ones as well. The reality of the matter at hand is, if we so happen to live beyond our 70’s and 80’s, it is most likely to come with some painful challenges such as a degenerative disease as terrifying as that of Alzheimer’s- which mind you is displayed pretty accurately in this movie. If one has never suffered from good ol’ gerontophobia prior to seeing this one, chances are you’ll at least be thinking about it soon after.

There are many other film I could list here, some notable ones like The Visit or Ghost Story, but I think you guys are smart and get the point here. Old age in itself can be a source of true horror and is obviously an effective tactic as plot point in the genre. However, it can also be very damning unfortunately and further put a damper on our views of aging. The human experience is one hell of a ride isn’t it? Let’s just hope we don’t piss off any demonic entities’ along the way as we grow into our twilight years.