Crimson Screens visits a "Hostel", hangs out with the "Vice Squad" and podcasts galore!

Crimson Screens visits a "Hostel", hangs out with the "Vice Squad" and podcasts galore!

Hostel is one of the new breed of horror movies which are seemingly inpspired by the works of Takashi Miike and other over the top Japanese film makers. That is not a bad thing. Those movies usually deal with wild storylines and deal out completely over the top amounts of action, blood and gore. Hostel does the same. Unfortunately, Hostel fails where a lot of those films succeed.
You see, to have a movie where really bad things happen to the characters, for the movie to have any emotion effect on the viewer, we have to care about the characters. In Deliverance, really bad things happened to good people, and we cared because the characters were well drawn and we got to know them before the bad things happened. The same can be said for movies like Halloween and Dawn Of The Dead. Even non horror movies, such as Saving Private Ryan, let us know the characters before the bad things happened. Hostel completely fails to do this.
The first 45 minutes show a group of boys treking across Europe in search of sex, drugs and parties. They find them, oh yes they do. Did you see where i said, "the first 45 minutes"? Good. Because it baffles me to as how I watched these guys for half the movie and I did not care about them at all. Actually, the first half of the movie seems like one of those 80's teen sex comedies that we all love. And them the movie quickly turns into a hideous display of death. The characters are lured to a 'Hostel' where they are promised wild sex and similar joys, but unfortunately for them, it is a cover for a business who has people coming from all over, and paying to experience what it is like to kill someone. The movie picks up pace for a while, but once the survivors escape, it turns into a prolonged and boring cat and mouse chase. It seems to me like after the survivors made is out of the Hostel, he didn't know how to tie this movie up and end it.
This was directed by Eli Roth, who also directed the entertaining Cabin Fever. He is a horror fan and that is quite ovbious. And from what I have read, he is a good dude, and I am one hundred percent sure that he has a genuine horror classic in hime somewhere, waiting to be made. But this is just not it. Sorry dude.
As for the gore factor, it has been a long time since the mainstream screens were splashed with grue of this calibre. The victims just don't die quickly, the suffer long screaming deaths and we see all of it. Characters are sliced and diced with knives, guns chainsaws and even a train! It is all pretty graphic and its not often we see shit like this in regular theatres. But, by and far, the most unsettling thing I have seen in the theatre in years is the part with the woman and her dangling eyeball. Yikes! I've always feared eyeball violence and that part was just tough to watch. I won't say that about much either. Anyways, a average movie with great gore that could have been better, had we cared about the characters.

Vice Squad was always one of those movies that you could read about everywhere, about how great it was, but it was hard to find, seeing as it was out of print on video for years. Luckily, I found a copy of it and ever since it's been one of my favorites. It is about a crazed pimp who spends the duration of the movie, which takes place in one night, chasing after a hooker who ratted him out for killing another hooker. This movie would have been crap but it is moved up to great status by the performance of Wings Hauser as the crazed pimp, Ramrod. He becomes completely obsessed with getting the girl who ratted him out. He screams, he yells, he takes on rooms full of police and escapes and he beats people with a wire hanger. All of this is convincingly partrayed by Wings Hauser, who starred in many 80's action and horror titles. Had the role of Ramrod been given to a less capable actor, the movie would have failed. The other actors aren't shabby either, especially the ones who play the various hookers, as their descriptions and reactions to Ramrod only help to show how feared he is.
This movie has long been hailed as one of the lost early exploitation classics, which it is, and now thanks to DVD, it can be seen by everyone.
This is such a great movie, with many memorable lines and scenes. I think action movies these days should take lessons from movies like this. It doesn't have to be 90 minutes of explosions and multi million dollars of effects. Just get a good storyline, some characters we care about and some action, nothing absurb, and then you got a hit. True story.

Recently, I got an iPod, mainly to consolidate my enormous CD collection. I knew nothing about the added stuff for them. Well, just the other day I was reading about them and I read about podcasts, which are basically self made segments, kind of like a talk show, which anyone can make and post on the internet. The best part is that they are free. After some investigation, I found a lot of them for topics that I like. One of which is horror movies. So far, the best three, which come in weekly installments, are Mondo Movie, The Horror Podcast and The Infected Sound. Mondo Movie and The Horror Podcast are out of the UK and are quite informative and fun to listen to. It took a while to get used to their british accents, but all is good now. The Infected Sound is a similar show, but it is out of the US. It takes a lot less serious tone though, which is ok. lots of juvenile humor and laughs. I'll keep listening.

Ok, that is all I have for today. There will be more tomorrow, with a guest review.
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From Times Square to a seaside town... "The Exterminator" and "The Fog"

From Times Square to a seaside town... "The Exterminator" and "The Fog"

it was definately a boring night, so it was decided that to alleviate the boredom, it needed to be movie night. In fact, it was "catch up on movies that have been sitting in the 'to watch' pile for weeks" night. So, off we go...
The Exterminator is a low budget exploitation movie from 1980, which follows two men upon their return home from Vietnam. Life isn't easy for them, but they have their families and each other. Well, after one of them is nearly killed by a gang, the other one swears revenge and he spends the rest of the movie dispatching New York's sickest in all sorts of creative ways.
The Exterminator definately playes off the success of movies like Death Wish, since it basically is made from the same template. But where many other movies did the same, and failed, The Exterminator succeeds. The movie is filled with decent acting, especially from Robert Ginty as the Exterminator. There is a lot of action, with multiple car crashes and explosions, gun fights and a grisly opening in Vietnam. All of that doesn't mean jack though, because if it doesn't work, the movie is garbage. Car crashes and shoot outs don't make a good movie. Luckily, it all flows together nicely here.
There are multiple nice arial shots of old Tiimes Square and also, a few scenes takes place on the streets, so we see a lot of the old theatres, which used to showcase grand movies like this one.
On to the carnage... as I said, the movie opens in a Vietnam prison camp and there is all sorts of bloody wartime action there, including a creepy beheading. Later on in the movie, there is a lot of gunshot violence and a character is wounded with a gardening tool. The Exterminator uses a flame thrower at one point, but discards it for plain old gasoline and a lighter later on. The movie is every bit as sleazy as the streets it takes place on.
Towards the end, it seemingly runs out of energy, as the final moments are a definate let down. No worry though, Robery Ginty would return in The Exterminator 2.
Overall, a notable early 80's exploitation movie and one of the best of its kind.
On the otherhand, The Fog, a remake of the John Carpenter movie, is not so hot. Yes, you read that right, another horror remake. Bah! You know, the original The Fog was hardly a classic. In fact, it wasn't too great at all. So you would think if someone was spending the money to remake it, they would take extra care to fix all the faults of the original and make the movie a good time. Well, no, that is not the case here! Seriously, what the fuck? First off, the acting is kind of bad, as the cast is filled with teeny bopper actors, who don't do much besides try and look scared. Second, the plot keeps all of the same bad idea from the original and makes them worse. Hey, maybe that is why remakes suck? Especially this one. I mean, it's based off a bad movie, so why expect something good.
We got the same bad story about angry seamen who were wronged a long time ago coming back for revenge. While the original at least had some creepy atmosphere, this one has none. The effects are not too special, as they are mostly of the fog doing things and swirling around. My head was swirling about 15 minutes into this thouogh, so at least I can relate to the Fog. Hahaha!
There is no gore to talk of. No scares. No suspense. Just super annoying Selma Blair blabbing her mouth, trying to sound hip, over some radio station. Ugh! Help! Please make it end! Ok, it eventually does end, with, get this... An ending that is even more dumb than the one the original had! Oh man, yes, it is that bad. Ok, to hell with this movie. It sucks.
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Welcome to Crimson Screens online!

Greetings! Well, it has been over a year since the last print issue was made and since time constraints, at the time being, really limit the chance to do another print issue, I figure I can do this and update it multiple time a week and keep this whole mess going. Deal? Deal! For now, I will stick to reviews and commentaries, but later on, I will add an occasional interview. I will review just about anything I see, from horror to comedy to mainstream movies. But... the movies I review will fit in to the Crimson Screens label... Strange, odd, violent, weird, bloody, funny, makes no sense, exciting, boring, etc. Got it? Good. I will have articles from time to time, with my thoughts on various things in the world of cinema. Hey, most of the stuff I will be writing about will be horror, or similar movies, so don't get all sad if you have come here expecting something else. Horror is what I know and it is mostly what I watch. But of course, from time to time, there will be other items reviews or talked about. Time will tell.
Also, a new print issue will eventually be released, as will a long in the works Crimson Screens book-type project. Those are both way off in the future though. So be patient.
Ok, enjoy!