I Walked With A Zombie (#4)

The Time Out Best 100 List countdown continues with Jacques Tourneur’s 1943 film I Walked With A Zombie.

A nurse named Betsy (Frances Dee) travels abroad to care for Jessica Holland (Christine Gordon), the catatonic wife of a rich businessman (Tom Conway). Once there, she finds that Jessica’s illness may have a more supernatural cause. Delving into the voodoo culture of the island inhabitants, she seeks to set things right.

This is a solid film. After viewing all these old Universal pictures over the last few years, the thing that has struck me the most is how they evolved over time. Starting with the monster movie character pieces of the thirties, they morphed into more ensemble-based efforts like this one, and later my personal favourite, The Thing From Another World in 1951. I like the rhythm of I Walked With A Zombie and how naturally the exposition is conveyed via dialogue.

Tom Conway & Frances Dee in I Walked With A Zombie.

It was also interesting to see what pre-Romero zombies were like. Before flesh-eating ghouls invaded Pittsburgh, zombies were just mindless slaves, usually controlled by voodoo or black magic. Or as Dr. Maxwell (James Bell) explains in one scene.

“(A zombie is) a ghost, a living dead. And it’s also a drink.”

That made me think of some Nicotero zombies sittin’ around a pool drinking Bloody Marys.

I liked the look of this film, as well. The scene with Betsy and Jessica walking though the cane fields in genuinely creepy, and well, I don’t think I need to say how striking Carrefour (Darby Jones) was in this film. It likely took no work on the part of the cinematographer to make Jones look eight feet tall. It’s a rare talent for an actor to look menacing by doing barely anything at all.

Carrefour (Darby Jones) stands guard.

So, I Walked With A Zombie is another winner, succeeding with straightforward narrative and stark visuals. That’s no easy task with a colourful title like that.

DKTM 177

Sad news this week, as we lost two cinema icons. The first was filmmaker Jess Franco, who passed away in Spain on Tuesday at the age of 82. With 199 directing credits spanning seven decades, he was one of the most prolific genre filmmakers in history. Though a good number of them weren't exactly winners, I have fond memories of watching some of his more stimulating pictures like She Killed In Ecstacy and Vampire Lesbos on late-night television and his flick Bloody Moon is among my favourite examples of slasher sleaze. It is depressing to hear another one of the old guard has left us, but at least his legacy with live on. The second loss this week was film critic Roger Ebert, who passed away Thursday. He was 70.

Jess 'Jesus' Franco (1930-2013) & Roger Ebert (1942-2013)

Siskel & Ebert's At The Movies was extremely important to me as a youngster. Apart from the fragmented glimpses I got from all-too-brief TV ads, their show was really the only place I got to see clips of the newest horror flicks. I can still remember when they covered Halloween II. I recall they weren't exactly impressed, but I vividly remember the clip they showed was where Karen (Pamela Susan Shoop) answers a room buzzer and gets jumped by Bud (Leo Rossi). I wasn't able to find that review on line, but here's a very favourable discussion about its predecessor.

Farewell, Mr. Ebert. We'll miss seeing you at TIFF.

Trailers.

There were a bunch of trailers released this week, so let's go through a few of them, shall we?

I find this one a little confounding. Even if I did suspend my disbelief, the logic of this setup still seems flawed. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around how giving psychopaths a day pass will lower unemployment and improve the quality of life. Perhaps Universal wanted the feed off the buzz of Lion's Gate's upcoming You're Next by making their own home invasion thriller with masked antagonists. The  difference is, I want to see You're Next (again).

Yeah, this trailer isn't really selling me. I love Moretz and Moore, but the only thing that seems different than the original are the visual effects. Like I said, not selling me.

I think I can get onboard with this. A thirteen episode run will allow this project to take its time and not rush things like most of King's television adaptations. Most of the cast are unknowns to me, so they'll be blank slates in a sense. So, yeah. I'm kind of excited for this. One of three ain't bad, right?

Camp Solo.

This week, a poster was released for Isaac Cravit's Canadian campsite horror flick, Solo.

The movie centers around a camp counsellor whose initiation involves spending two nights alone on the camp's island. Of course, the tension mounts when she realizes she may, in fact, not be alone. Okay, show me more.

You Can't Go Home Again.

Okay, so here we go. My thoughts on Evil Dead 2013...

Having seen this movie twice in the weeks leading up to its release, I’ve had ample time to digest Fede Alvarez’s redo of Evil Dead. Before I get into it though; a small preface. Regardless of all the things I am about to say, I did actually have a fun time watching this movie...

Evil Dead 2013 is a heavily flawed piece of work. My main problem was just how slick and manufactured it looked, which constantly reminded me – much to my chagrin – of the Platinum Dunes canon. Even though the pretense of why the characters are at the cabin was rather clever, the first act was extremely clunky. To be honest, the whole sequence before the title card could’ve been omitted and no one would have missed it. And even when the movie was running at full clip, it still lacked the raw energy of its predecessors.

There were many other small decisions that perplexed me, as well. Rather than an unseen force, Alvarez chooses to take the J-horror route with his demons, which makes the movie rife with now tired clichés. Even the actual Deadite designs – not the execution mind you, as that is solid – seem out of place, like they would've been more at home in an Exorcist sequel than an Evil Dead remake.

There is also the fact that this incarnation of Evil Dead isn’t scary. Claims of “this is the most terrifying film you will ever experience” look good on posters, but you have to, you know, actually back it up. Sam Raimi’s 2009 flick Drag Me To Hell had way more tension and frights, and that was 95% camp.

However, this movie does deliver in the gore department. There are a pile of set pieces – for which a good chunk are in the trailer sadly – which likely add up to the bloodiest film that has ever had a wide release. Most importantly, the reports that most of the effects were done practically are most definitely true. So, gorehounds rejoice!

My, my Jess. You do Dead up nice.

All the building blocks were in place to make this a rousing success, so I’m not sure what happened here. I have to chalk it up to the oft-used phrase at the top of this post. The world has moved on, and horror films are just aren’t made with the same sensibilities. Films like The Evil Dead, Texas Chainsaw and Last House on the Left were made by wiry mavericks who likely only followed through because there was no one there to tell them they couldn’t do it. Hollywood films are made by committee these days, not singular vision. This is not an environment conducive to fostering the take-no-prisoners attitude of the seventies.

And yet, I did have fun. For some reason, my reaction to this remake not being as awesome as SXSW had me believe was not one of anger. If you can believe it, depsite all its faults, I’d say that Evil Dead is still one of the better remakes out there. For what its worth...

Little Bits Of Flesh.

So, now it's time to turn my attention over to the 2013 incarnation of The Evil Dead. There's been a lot of great things unearthed from the Web over the last few weeks, so here's a sampling.

First, is a cool claymation recreation of the Evil Dead remake trailer.

Adding onto the retro VHS covers from last week, here is CMac Custom Design's take on The Evil Dead.

Check out this bad-ass poster for the remake from graphic artist Laz Marquez.

And finally, here is an excerpt from a recent Tribute.ca interview with Fede Alvarez, the director of the new remake.

Tribute: You really put your actors through hell in this movie! How did you convince them to take on their roles knowing what they were going to have to endure.

Fede Alvarez: I tell you they were all troopers going into this movie. Not only was there a lot of blood and  physical exhaustion from the intensity of the script but we also shot everything at night. They were all up for  the challenge and they were ready to do anything I asked of them. They knew that it was going to be a tough shoot and we warned them as much as we could when things were going to get really rough.

Evil Dead 2013 director Fede Alvarez.

T: Was there anything from the original film you felt obligated or just wanted to put in your movie?

FA: Definitely the house, the five friends and the Book of Dead. Those are the quintessential Evil Dead elements. Plus the chainsaw and the girl in the trap door and the car, those are just elements, but conceptually the idea of the demons and the girl torturing men. That was crucial in the original film and I felt it had to be present in this one.

T: What scares you and what kind of movies scared you growing up?

FA: What scares me is everything you see in this movie (laughs). As a writer, when you’re going to write a scary film and every time you are facing a new scene, you write your deepest fears. I'm not going to write about something that I think may scare people but doesn’t scare me, that would be stupid. So having made this film, it’s hard to get scared when I watch it, but I can tell you that I was really scared when I wrote it. I had a few sleepless nights!! Films that influenced me or ones that really scared me growing up was definitely the original Evil Dead. I rented it when I was 12 and I was really terrified. Another film that scared me when I was younger was The Exorcist and I pay homage to that one in my film.

For the rest of the interview, click here.

Check back tomorrow for my review of Evil Dead 2013.

It Came From The Archives 19!

My initial intent to throw some of my Evil Dead stuff on here became a bigger job than I was expecting. I really didn't realize how much I had until it was all out in one place. Granted, most of it is Army of Darkness related, as I didn't really start hoarding until I was in my teens. Anyhoo, to celebrate Evil Dead Week here at The Horror Section, here are some goodies from everyone's favourite Sam Raimi trilogy!

First off, some wit from the man himself.


Now onto the archives. Let's start with the posters.

The next four things were mail ordered from Western Renaissance. I got some T-shirts from them too, but they have since disintegrated into nothingness.

The two figures below are so beaten up it was a chore to get this picture taken without something falling off. How's that for authenticity?

So, that's when I learned to never take things out of the box.

Now, onto the mags.

Before people incessantly talked about Evil Dead IV, they talked about...

On the gaming side of things...

Here are programs for both Toronto incarnations of The Evil Dead Musical. The first one on the right opened the same night as the infamous 2003 blackout. The show went on, taking it outside to the front lawn of the theatre where it was lit up by flashlights and even car headlights.

Here are three variant covers of Issue #1 of A.O.D Ashes 2 Ashes.

Evil Dead Analogue.

And Digital!

Check back tomorrow as Evil Dead Week continues...

Trailer Tuesdays: The Evil Dead

In keeping with my Tuesday tradition, it made sense to play a classic trailer for this classic movie.

Trailer courtesy of horrornymphs

Then, several years later came Evil Dead II. I remember seeing ads for this on late night television during reruns of Benny Hill. I had no knowledge of Evil Dead at this point, but I knew I needed to see this. And thanks to YouTube user robatsea2009, I was able to find one of those original Rosebud TV spots from 1987.

So many great memories!

Lastly, I commemorated the twentieth anniversary of Army of Darkness here a few months back, but here it is again to complete the trilogy.

Screw April Fools...

This week all about The Evil Dead. So, to kick things off, I wanted to turn back time and show you something I posted back in 2008. Click the pic below to check it out.

All week I will be doing Evil Dead-related posts celebrating of Sam Raimi's classic debut, leading up to when I post my review of the new 2013 remake releasing this Friday. Join usssss, won't you?