Reaper: Greg Schmeg
(S01E16) “Trust, honesty, integrity…I don’t like those words, not one little bit. - Jerry
I found it funny that Sam and Andi were comparing scary demons when they got attacked, because for my money, very few things are scarier than an chainsaw wielding dude in a mask. It’s like Leatherface, Michael Myers and Casey Jones all rolled up together.
I really wish we could see more of Gladys. I find her to be really funny. I think it would be great if she had one small scene in every episode ala Carlton Your Doorman. Just the idea that the DMV is where demons do the work of the devil still makes me laugh.
I liked how Ben got busted pretty much right away. It saves us from having to watch any “wacky” attempts to hide the marriage. It’s that kind of thing that makes Reaper such a quality show. I sometimes think the writers try and figure out what would be the typical TV plot line and then head in the exact opposite direction. Also, how great is it that Ben has such an interesting storyline?
So, in case, you are one of the three people who didn’t have this episode spoiled by the promos, Greg made a deal with the devil to get Andi back. Brilliant. What better way for the devil to mess with one of the few good things Sam has in his life? Moreover, this is another example of the show exploring all the avenues of making deals with the devil. We spend so much time thinking about how awful it must be to spend eternity in hell, we never stop to think how awesome it was when that person was alive and getting exactly what they wanted. I doubt there was a day on the set of Good Luck Chuck when Dane Cook was sorry he signed his contract with Lucifer.
When the devil pointed out that Sam was the “only person playing by the rules” it brought to light an interesting theme for this show. Even though Sam does the devil’s bidding and does it willingly, he still abides by his own moral code. It’s convenient that all of the souls are already dead and need to be sent back to hell, but he never forgets himself while doing his job. I would think it would be pretty easy to be corrupted by the power to send people back to hell and the devil would certainly be happy to help anyone take advantage of every member of society any way he could, but Sam simply won’t go there. I have a feeling that Sam’s good heart isn’t just a convenient part of his personality, it’s a part of something much bigger.
Is it me or is Tyler Labine even funnier when he doesn’t say anything? When Gladys took Sock and Sam to the storage place and was explaining everything, I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. I never thought I would say this about anybody, but the way he steals a scene without saying a word reminds me of John Belushi, which is ironic since Labine has actually played Belushi.
I guess it was only a matter of time before Jeff Kober showed up on Reaper. The guy has played so many creepy characters that he was even on Buffy twice playing two different roles. It’s cool to see the different ways demons live their lives on earth. Most of them seem so normal, it makes me wonder if anybody I know could be a demon. Specifically, this guy at work who always either combs his hair into bangs or wears a hat.
I had completely forgot about that card but it was cool that Sam used it on Greg. Oh, and am I the only one who’s ears perked up when the devil said, “My little boy is becoming a man?”
Child’s Play Remake
Any who had a MyBuddy when they were a child, was terrified of the Chucky films (Yes, even though at times the animatronics were rather lame). But I think even most Horror fans lost interest in the series before The Seed of Chucky was even conceived.
My friend Alex at FirstShowing was at the Martian Child junket where producer David Kirschner revealed that they are working on a all-out remake of the first Chucky movie, Child’s Play. The film has not yet been given the greenlight, in fact, it’s just being written now (by Child’s Play screenwriter Don Mancini), but Kirschner promised that it would definitely be “more terrifying” than the previous films. No director is attached.
If this Child’s Play remake does get off the ground, it will be interesting to see if they use anamatronic puppets or a computer generated Chucky. My suggestion is that they use a mix, using the CG mostly for the action sequences. The Chucky movies kind of became a parody of themselves, and I’m not sure if anyone from the new generation actually takes them seriously. So I’m curious to see how people may react to a more horror/thriller orientated remake. But the real question is: should they even be making a remake at all? Rob Zombie’s Halloween was bashed by most fans and newcomers because while it did add some back-story to the Michael Myers character, it also took away from his mysteriousness.
Liev Schreiber is Sabertooth in X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Crawling out of the sewers over at Chud is the news that Liev Schreiber will grow a mane and fangs to play the villain Sabertooth in the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The intense Scream 3 actor had been pegged earlier for the role of William Stryker, a minor character in the canon and previously depicted by Brian Cox in X2 as a mutant hating colonel (a variation from the comics).
The first X-Men spinoff film will explore the cloaked Weapon X program that gave Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) his famous claws and indestructible adamantium skeleton, though to what extent this figures in is debated. The alias of Schreiber’s character is Victor Creed, a mutant who shares Wolvie’s healing power, penchant for gruff violence, and woodland musk. Director Gavin Hood (Tsotsi, Rendition) takes his first stab at genre fare with the high budgeted summer blockbuster, due in theaters on May 1, 2009.
Schreiber can turn on the rampage when needed, but to me he’s better suited to play a smart and dubious plotter than a towering brute. That’s probably part of the role’s appeal to him, though. When Sabertooth appeared in the original X-Men, he was played by the fittingly named Tyler Mane aka Michael Myers in Zombievision. As Chud mentioned, Sabertooth is a rather one-note howl, and he always struck me as overcompensating and lacking ambition. When I was a kid I thought he was related to Monkian from Thundercats, and under heavy psycho analysis probably still do, so forgive me if I’m discriminating.
Rob Zombie’s Halloween Movie Review
Why exactly would anyone want to remake a classic film? With so much to live up to, times five, due to the time tested nostalgia factor, there is almost no conceivable way you can trump the expectations. But if there was one person that I would trust to remake Halloween, it would probably be Rob Zombie. House of 1,000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects were a call back to the classic horror films of the 1970’s. It’s almost like Zombie, and his collected crew, are able to channel Tobe Hooper and the directors of that era. It’s more about mood than anything else. It’s that creepy unsettling feeling that you feel. A mixture of the set design, camera direction, casting, and soundtrack. This is why I knew Rob Zombie would scare the living hell out of us again, with one of horror’s classic characters. But I was wrong.
Zombie’s re-imagining of the John Carpenter 1978 classic went wrong in conception. The concept is simple, and a good one at first glance: Who is Michael Myers? We got a small glimpse of his childhood origin in the original film, but Zombie’s vision was to expand upon this mythology. Because Myers was the key to the first film’s success. Sure, you had Jamie Lee Curtis’ lungs, and Carpenter’s now classic score, but the kids came because of the man in the mask.
In Zombie’s new film we learn why Myers wears the mask, and we even learn why he doesn’t speak. We learn a lot about Michael Myers, and that is problem #1. The reason why we enjoyed his character in the original was because he was such a mystery. It was what we didn’t know, what we didn’t see, what we were forced to make up in our heads.
Zombie’s script paints a picture of his early childhood, with an angry passive aggressive crippled old man, a stripper mother, a young baby sister and a promiscuous teenage sister. The family is a living breathing, walking talking, hick cliche. The step-father yells at Michael and calls him a faggot, because, well, that’s what his paint by numbers character type does in movies. Young Michael likes to kill animals, and one day decides to do the same to a school bully who had been bothering him. We see his anger build, and we understand that he is just projecting the anger thrown upon him. But somehow we relate too much to this kid wearing a clown mask who brutally murders most of his family members on Halloween night. These people have been mean to him and deserve what’s coming to them, right? Well not exactly. But because this is now Michael’s story, we are along for the ride.
So 15 years later, when Michael breaks out of his mental institution, it’s no wonder that we don’t care for his countless victims. No, it’s not that we want to see Michael kill innocent people. But it’s his story we’ve been following this whole time. And by whole time, I mean 45 minutes. Because in Zombie’s Halloween, the first 45 minutes is Myers’ childhood origin story. The second problem comes in because we now begin following the story from the first film, but from Michael’s point of view. Sure, we do cut to the group of teenage girlfriends, and the virtually unnecessary story of Dr. Sam Loomis. But some of the attack scenes are shown from his point of view, so when the masked head shows up behind the glass window, it’s not a scary because, A. We know who is behind the mask, and B. the story has made us relate more to the killer with it’s deceptive point of view storytelling.
And I’m left with so many questions, and not too many answers. How did Michael become “pro wrestler big” while living in a mental institution for all those years? I’m sure they didn’t allow him to lift weights. How does a monster like Myers even attempt to find his younger sister in a town full of teenagers? It seems like one photo from 15 years earlier alone would not be nearly enough to do the trick. With no legal records in the system, it’s not like Myers could have found the information in a computer database. And It’s not like he would be able to access said database if it had existed. Where does Myers get his superhuman like powers? And what even happened to him in the end of the film? It seemed like Myers began his killing spree as a child by only hurting the people who bullied him (which probably explains why he left his mother and baby sister untouched). So why does Michael of a sudden discard his moralist killing tendencies as an adult? And when did he get a chance to hide his classic mask below the floor boards?
Zombie isn’t as much at fault as a director. He did the best he could. Although, this film feels way more mainstream than anything else he’s ever created. The creepy 70’s horror feeling is missing in action. Replaced with extreme close-ups, short focal shots, and at times, Saving Private Ryan-like shaky cam sequences. Halloween is not a bad movie, it’s just not great. It stands in the shadow of a legend. And by today’s standards, Halloween is probably the best American created horror movie in a couple years (but is that really saying much?)