Cast a Deadly Spell (1991)

Most of the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft takes place in the 1920s and 1930s. Most film adaptations decide to put the stories in the era they were filmed, but a few take the leap for period production elements. Then you have this film, which moves the action to the 40’s, has a character named Lovecraft, contains the Necronomicon and a huge monster rising up to destroy the earth. It is as if the pulp magazines of the war years exploded all over the screen.

Summary:

It is 1948 in Los Angeles, and everyone uses magic. Well, everyone except for private detective H.P. Lovecraft (Fred Ward). It makes his job a bit tougher, since the police are using spells to catch the rampaging criminal gangs summoning demons to whack targets. Let’s not mention the werewolves, vampires and unicorns wandering around. Things take a turn for the weird when Amos Hacksaw (David Warner) hires Lovecraft to retrieve a stolen tome: a little book called the Necronomicon. Before you can say Cthulhu, all kinds of craziness starts to happen.

Turns out that the local crime lord (and former pal to Lovecraft) Harry Bordon (Clancy Brown), may have sent his hulking zombie after it. Lovecraft’s old flame Connie Stone (Julianne Moore) has a few clues of her own to share, but is the price worth it? Let’s not forget the car full of gremlins, a creature bursting from a pot of oatmeal and the sacrifice of a lovely virgin. Lovecraft has his work cut out for him, especially since he won’t stoop to actually Cast a Deadly Spell.

Good Points:

• Fred Ward is a hoot as the hard boiled, square jawed detective
• The concept and production are handled really well
• Never takes itself too seriously, which helps with all the crazy creature effects

Bad Points:

• Some of the humor falls pretty flat
• None of the monsters are all that scary
• The tone of the film never quite gels

Overall:

Oh man, how badly do I want to love this movie? I really do. But in the end it just never quite comes together. The concept is fun, the actors are game and the visual effects are pretty darn impressive. But the humor doesn’t always land, and contrasts with some of the over the top gore that ends up splashing around. Instead of going for slapstick humor, the film should have embraced a drier and darker variety of comedy, that would have fused well with the horror and noire overtones. It is a fun film.  If you’re looking for something a little bit different, this sure fits the bill.

Scores(out of 5)

Visuals: 4

Sound: 3

Acting:  4

Script:  3

Music: 4

Direction: 3

Entertainment: 4

Total:  4

Curious about a full review, sent me an email and I’ll make additional thoughts to this review.

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Movie Musings: The Strange Journey of the Star Trek Films - Part 1

Part One - The Original Series Cast

"So a Klingon, a Romulan and a Vulcan walk into
a bar..."

It is hard to argue Star Trek's legacy within pop culture. It’s characters and universe have endured almost as long as James Bond.  Every time I think we can count the franchise as down and out, along comes a new incarnation to bring it back to whole new group of fans yearning to explore strange new worlds.

One of the interesting things about the franchise is that its longevity is due in large part to the success of the feature films that were released starting in 1979 with StarTrek: The Motion Picture. While the television series is where the franchise started, if the films were not as successful as they were, Star Trek would be a fondly remembered relic of the 1960s.  In addition, we can see how Paramount, the studio that owns Star Trek, feels about the series depending on how they approach the films.

I think Decker wants his chair back.

In this two part blog, I’ll take a look at the ways the films were impacted by and impacted the franchise, and why they are important to its legacy. I won’t be going into too much detail on my thoughts on the films, but I will discuss critical reception (and perception of that reception) and how that affected the films.

The original series ended in 1969 after three seasons. While it was popular among science fiction fans, it never really exploded in popularity during its run. Instead Star Trek got syndicated and that is where the fanbase really started to grow. During the 1970s it was hard to avoid a rerun of Star Trek and even growing up in the 1980s, it felt like the series was always around.

Wait! There was a cat girl in Star Trek the Animated
Series! Sign me up!

An animated series followed in 1973 and 1974 that expanded the voyages a little bit, and allowed the writers to take the series in directions that would have been impossible with live action.  All this exposure of Star Trek in the 70s inspired Paramount to look into creating a new series of adventures with the same crew for Phase II. Production started and then a little movie called Star Wars erupted onto the screens, and suddenly Paramount shifted gears to turn Star Trek into a film franchise.

The increased the budget to a whopping 35 million dollars (of 1970s money). They pulled in acclaimed director Robert Wise and got their marketing into high gear. This was the turning point. If Star Trek: The Motion Picture was a failure, than the franchise was dead.

The moons of Vulcan are affecting her mind!

Critical and general response was average. But the combined fanbase of the 60s and 70s had been thirsting for new Star Trek adventures, and they went back to the theaters over and over again to see the film. For all it’s faults The Motion Picture has a huge visual scope, impressive visual effects and a wonderful soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith. Seeing it in the theater is a real experience (one I actually had the pleasure of revisiting in 2012). There was also a frenzy of interest in space adventures because of Star Wars, so I bet a lot of little kids dragged their parents to see the film. In the end, the Motion Picture was a financial success.

Paramount felt confident in continuing the series as a film franchise, and moved forward producing Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. But they reduced the budget to a little over 11 million, and asked director Nicholas Meyer to make sure there was more action in the film (a criticsm of the previous film they wanted to avoid). Meyere delivered a film that is more visceral, goes back to the roots of the original series, and cranks up the action with some excellent visual effects and high stakes. The Wrath of Khan was an immediate hit, with excellent critical response and fan approval. It also did very well on VHS, a new medium that studios were just beginning to explore in 1982.

"Is that a giant worm in your hand, or are you just
happy to see me?"

So Paramount kept the same focus when it came to The Search for Spock in 1984. Once again the budget was increased to 17 million. But the focus on characters and the quest to bring Spock back to life helped pull viewers in the theaters to find out how it was all going to shake out. Director Leonard Nimoy obviously knew the series inside and out, and crafted a solid follow up to the previous movie. The film got average critical response and most people enjoyed it well enough. But the film had a dark undertone that surprised many viewers.

Do you think he's using colorful metaphors here?

Gears were shifted in the storytelling for the next film, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Nimoy was back at the helm and the budget was given a bit of a boost (to 25 million) for some really impressive visual effects by Industrial Light and Magic. But the script involving time travel, saving the whales, and the crew interacting with the denizens of San Francisco circa 1986 was a blast. It was a fun movie with plenty of laughs and adventure all mixed together. Critical response was full of praise. But it was the success of the film with a wider audience that gave Paramount a view of what a successful Star Trek franchise could be. This was the most financial successful Star Trek film until the reboot in 2009.

In 1987, Star Trek: The Next Generation arrived on television screens. It was a new cast, new starship, hell it was a new century! Paramount understood that in order for the franchise to continue it would need to evolve. To do this, they needed to inject it with new blood creatively. Obviously the film franchise was still profitable, but a new television series could create new fans and lead to a new series of films.

It is like that Depeche Mode song, reach out and touch
face.

1989 brought the first good season of The Next Generation after its rocky start over the first two seasons. Meanwhile Paramount attempted to strike gold in the theaters again with William Shatner directing Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Unfortunately the film was plagued with production issues, and arguments over the direction and tone of the script. Shatner wanted to go darker and more intense. Paramount wanted to keep it light and fun. The end result was a film that was critical and financial failure. Fans disliked the film for a whole host of reasons and rumor is that even Gene Roddenberry felt the film was not part of the official cannon. The movie also had the unfortunate release during one of the most crowded years in movie history. Batman, Ghostbusters 2, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Back to the Future Part 2 were all battling for seats in the multiplexes. Someone had to lose and Star Trek “won” that honor. While it did eventually recoup it's 28 million dollar budget, no one was really pleased with the final film.

"No, it's not Tribbles. The joke only works if
the Klingon asks the bartender first."

This did set off alarms at Paramount. They wondered if the aging cast was losing their audience appeal. But they also learned some lessons. Budget cutting your special effects heavy films is not a good option. So they turned back to Nicholas Meyer who did so well with The Wrath of Khan to helm Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. In a cunning bit of synergy, the plot for the film directly impacted events in The Next Generation episodes Unification with Nimoy making a special appareance as Spock in the two-part adventure. Meyer brought back high stakes, tension and excitement to the series. The plot was inspired by world events, and with the increased budget (to 30 million) the movie looked great. Meyer’s script balances humor and tension better than the previous film did. Even with all that, the movie was also declared the final voyage of the full cast from The Original Series. All those elements stirred together made The Undiscovered Country a critical and financial success in 1991.  It was a win for Paramount and the franchise. But everyone knew it was time to switch gears.

In part two of this post, I take a look at the trails and Tribble-ations of the films featuring the case of The Next Generation and Beyond...

"Just imagine it. We are all animated, and there's
a cat girl in a red uniform! That is my vision."

Subspecies (1991)

Introduction:

Back in my video store days, I remember seeing the cover to Subspecies and its sequels many times over the years. I never got around to watching them at that time, wasn’t as into horror flicks back then (unless they were anime). A few years ago, comedic reviewer Allison Pregler (aka Obscures Lupa) took a look at all the films in the series and made them look like a goofy good time. So I picked up the box set. Was it worth the journey, or was this one bloodsucker I should have left on the shelf?

Summary:

Three college friends travel to Romania to research medieval castles and folklore. Michelle (Laura Mae Tate) is the most studious of the trio, and always looks cute in her hat. While wandering around the local villages they discover a castle that is shunned by the locals because they fear that a vampire still lives in the crypt within. The girls joke around, but one of them gets cut while exploring and that is bad news.

Sure enough the villainous Radu (Anders Hove) rises from the crypt, gets a taste of the blood and starts stalking the girls. At the same time a mysterious young man named Stefan (Michael Watson) seems to know more than he lets on, and why does he only appear at night. Soon villagers end up dead, legends of the Bloodstone are unveiled and Michelle comes face to face with the fearsome Radu and his minions, the Subspecies.

Good Points:

• Wonderful location shooting in Romania
• Has some great creepy moments of atmosphere and suspense.
• Hove is one hell of a vampire 

Bad Points:

• Very traditional storyline that you’ll be able to predict
• Some of the acting is pretty flat
• Some elements of the script never seem to have a payoff

Overall:

This movie manages to smash classic vampire folklore with the 1990s angsty vampire genres together and keep it all pretty entertaining. Hove is dark and unsettling as Radu, but Watson is pretty lifeless (pun kinda intended) as Stefan. Tate gives Michelle a bit of personality. But really this movie’s best points are the creepy settings and the Romanian countryside and castles. Plenty of riffable moments abound, but the movie is just trying to be a good time, and it succeeds. Not mandatory viewing and the sequels are actually a bit goofier and more riffable. But this is fine Halloween viewing if you crave some bloodsucking action.

Scores (out of 5)

Visuals: 4

Sound: 3

Acting: 3

Script: 2

Music: 3

Direction: 3

Entertainment: 4

Total:  3

In Depth Review

Live from Romania, it is RADU!

Subspecies comes to us courtesy of the direct to video boom of the 1980s and 1990s. Full Moon Entertainment was cranking out medium and low budget horror films like it was no ones business. You did get some gems among the massive glut of films, but most of these movies were fun entertainment for a weekend viewing. I know a lot of folks have a big chunk of nostalgia for the Full Moon catalogue, and I admit movies like Trancers and Puppetmaster fall in that area for me.

But I just never got around to Subspecies. Looking at the date, I have to wonder if this movie was conceived of to cash in on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the Coppola film that came out a year later. I can see the pitch now, “So we combine a vampire story with puppetmaster creatures and we get … um… Subspecies!” And yeah, I’m not sure how they thought that was a good idea, but that is what we ended up getting in a way.

The thing is, I don’t want to sell Subspecies short, because the movie has a lot of good points and there is a reason it makes for fun Halloween viewing. In its corner is the fact that the movie was filmed on location in Romania. In fact it is the first American film to be allowed to film in the country after the iron curtain collapsed. So for that alone, Subspecies gets some props.

Nothing wrong with a picnic in front of mouldering
medieval ruins, right?

But director Ted Nicolaou actually uses the setting to his advantage. Lush rolling hills and mysterious forests add a lot of atmosphere. But the two castles that house the bulk of the action give the movie some authenticity. The crew didn’t just film on the castle grounds, which offer some great scenes for Radu to lurk among crumbling ruins. But they also filmed inside the castle for a lot of the interiors. I really puts the girls in an world in stark contrast with their late 80s fashions and hair.

I also have to comment on some of the effects. Radu is a nasty piece of work. Hove has presence of course, but his make up highlights his angular features and makes him look demonic and otherworldly. They also use some fun effects with shadows and lighting to make it appear as if Radu is vanishing into thin air or moving with uncanny speed. It is all simple stuff, but Coppola used a lot of the same techniques in Bram Stoker’s Dracula and it was just as effective.

No guys, you're doing the YMCA dance wrong.

I can’t go without mentioning the titular characters, the Subspecies themselves. These little stop motion creations are muscular miniature demons that Obsurus Lupa referred to as finger demons. They are kind of cute and creepy all at the same time. It is neat to see old school effects even if there are moments where they just don’t seem to be quite standing on the floor. Makes you appreciate the magic of Ray Harryhausen.

I should also mention the goofy looking prop they used for the Bloodstone. This is supposed to be a mystical gem that holds the blood of all the saints in it. Any vampire who drinks from the Bloodstone… um… is really cool and stuff. They never really explain what the big deal is about it, but Radu and Stefan keep rambling on about it. Once again I’ll reference Lupa, because I thought the same thing she did – it looks like an overly ornate push pop that drips ketchup, I mean blood, on the vampire’s tongue. It is too silly looking to take seriously, and adds to the fun seeing all the vampires get in a lather over this goofy push pop.

The real Phantasm is his wig!

Sound effects are pretty solid. There’s lots of creepy atmosphere with wind howling in the woods, creaking crypt doors and crackling flames during the Vampire Festival. Nothing really crazy accomplished here, but it all works fine. The music is also solid. Looks like several composers were hired, or a wealth of library music was used. In any case, it is effectively spooky and haunting, but saturated with 1980s style synthesizers. This will either make your ears bleed, or just add to the cheesy awesomeness that is Subspecies.

Alas the acting is very uneven. Angus Scrimm (of Phantasm fame) has a cameo in the film. He plays the king of the vampires and he seems to giving it a good try, even if his wig renders him terminally goofy. Luckily he doesn’t stick around too long. Of the three girls Laura Mae Tate brings the most to her character (of course her character actually has an arc as opposed to the other two). I love the scene where she meets Stefan and they get googly eyed at each other. Or at least she does, I’m not sure what he was attempting.

"Stefan, I am your father! Get it! Like Star
Wars. Oh come on Stefan, its funny!"

But the real reason to enjoy these movies is Anders Hove as the villainous and over the top Radu. He skulks and looms like Count Orlok from Nosferatu. He speaks with a wheezing voice that is actually pretty disturbing. He often drools blood from his lips and looks just dementedly evil when the occasion calls for it. Hove brings the intensity to the part, and it actually makes Radu fun to watch but also intimidating and a bit of a wild card. You get a real sense of danger from Radu, and it makes you wish the rest of the story was less conventional and predictable.

Irina Movila as Mara and Michelle McBride and Lillian do solid jobs with very thin characters. Mostly they are around to joke with Michelle, run in terror from Radu, and then get drained of blood and come back as half naked vampire brides. They do it well enough. I blame the script for the flat characters.

Lili Dumitrescu as the Old Crone is wonderfully emphatic, over the top and difficult to understand with her thick accent. She almost seems like a Monty Python character, but it adds to the fun. I also liked Ivan Rado as Karl, the imposing groundskeeper who knows all about the vampires and tries to help the girls. He puts in some effort, and his eyebrows do most of the heavy lifting.

Our hero? Nice scarf!

Alas the real weak point when it comes to acting in Subspecies is with our hero Stefan. Michael Watson doesn’t bring much life to the role. His character is also supposed to be the sensitive vampire with the heart of gold. But he ends up sitting around looking a little sad eyed and mopey. He shows his most energy when fighting Radu during the climactic sword fight. But that is just hilarious for other reasons, so I don’t really count that. Maybe they were going for a contrast between the two vampires, but really Hove just blows Watson out of the water whenever they share the screen together. It’s not a big surprise that Stefan’s character doesn’t make it far into the sequel.

I’ve mentioned the script a few times already and well I’ll be honest and say that it is a bit of a mess. There are some really good ideas in the film, but none of them really get fleshed out. I like details like the Bloodstone becoming addictive to Radu – but nothing ever comes of that statement. Since they never explain what the Bloodstone does for vampires, if anything, it just doesn’t seem to have much of a point in the film. And yet all the vampire characters seem obsessed with it. I guess the blood of saints is like pumpkin spice latte to these guys.

And now I will know how many licks it takes to get
to the center of a Bloodstone,

Then you have the little Subspecies demons. While they are cool looking and have some potential to create some creepy scares, the script doesn’t do anything interesting with them. The most useful thing they do is open a secret door that Radu can’t get to. That’s it. Otherwise he just has them torment Mara in one scene, which is them just kind of jumping around near her. And then in another scene they bring Radu the Bloodstone, which is just lying on the floor a few feet away. They do fetch Radu’s head at the end of the movie, so we can have a sequel, but all in all they are just wasted special effects. It is so strange that they name the whole series after these guys. Radu is the main attraction and make no mistake.

Aside from those two odd details the rest of the plot is standard vampire stuff. The trio goes snooping where they shouldn’t. Radu picks up their scent and stalks them. Then you’ve got girl meets vampire, girl falls for vampire, vampire whines about how they can never be together, vampire fights evil vampire to save girl, girl is infected – oh no! It all ends with Stefan drinking deep from Michelle and they sleep it off in a coffin. You can see the beats coming a mile away. That is why it is so strange that the Bloodstone and Subspecies are around but don’t impact the story. A really interesting story could be made with Michelle finding the Bloodstone and that attracting Radu and Stefan, and the two attempting to get it from her. One using fear and threatening her friends. The other attempting to seduce her. Hell Stefan didn’t even have to be a good guy, just less insidious than his brother. I just made up that story and I think it is actually more interesting than what we end up getting.

Looks like Michelle is filled with strawberry
preserves.

That said, Nicolaou does manage to tell the story pretty well. There are a few moments that almost seem like a travelogue, but I can forgive that since this was the first American film in Romania. The pacing can drag a bit here and there when Radu isn’t around. But the movie has plenty of gothic atmosphere, some moments of genuine dread and chills, and a powerhouse performance by Hove.

Subspecies is solid if a bit standard vampire entertainment. It sets things up for the sequels, which expand the story of Michelle and Radu. The sequels tend to go bigger in a lot of ways and have goofier moments that are plenty of fun. But you also get the feeling that the sequels know they are goofy, and so they are winking at the audience a bit. The first film is going for a genuine creepy feeling, and succeeds several times. Worth checking out if you want to shake up your Halloween viewing.

Romania? How the hell did you drive us to Romania?
Must have been that left in Albuquerque.

Oh my gawd! Stefan! Put your pants back on. No one
wants to see that.

No seriously, put your pants back on. 

The search for Stefan's pants drags into the night.

"And now Stefan, I will push you and a push pop!
BWAHAHAHAHAAAA!"

"Slumber Party! I want to pillow fight first!"

Radu, ugly with the mask on and off.

Score Sample: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

When it comes to Star Trek the movie franchise has a pretty impressive legacy. Jerry Goldsmith knocked it out of the park with Star Trek: The Motion Picture and followed it with the excellent score to The Final Frontier a decade later. In between James Horner brought us to tears with The Wrath of Khan and to thrills with The Search for Spock. Now we have Michael Giacchino giving us top notch scores for Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek into Darkness.

But there have been a couple of other composers who got to tackle a single movie. They tend to get lost in the shuffle, and I wanted to spotlight the work of one of them today: Cliff Eidelman and his music for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. His score is much different from the ones that preceded it. Instead of starting with a bombastic fanfare he gives us a dark brooding opening theme that builds and builds in intensity until it erupts into a barrage of notes at the end. it does a great job of setting us up for the darker movie we had coming our way. But I also want to share Eidelman's cue Sign Off which acts as a wonderful farewell to the cast. The heroic theme plays as each cast member's signature appears on the screen before erupting into the classic Star Trek theme for Shatner's name. Eidelman composed one of the best scores of the series, and deserves some recognition for it. So please enjoy two samples, the Overture and the Sign Off cue from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Overture

Sign Off

Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)

Introduction:

When I first heard about this film it was still called Bill and Ted go to Hell. I thought that was just a statement by a grumpy movie theater owner. Little did I know that Bill and Ted were coming back to the big screen for a sequel. Did anyone ask for this? Not that I’m aware of. But Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is a lot of fun, so maybe this one will turn out Ok. Or maybe it will be bogus in more ways than one.

Summary:

In the future where the rock group named Wyld Stallyns has achieved world peace and Bill Preston (Alex Winter) and Ted Logan (Keanu Reeves) are considered musical geniuses, things are most excellent. But the angry, bitter, and nefarious De Nomolos (Joss Ackland) hates the 24-hour Mtv music video that the world has become and hatches a scheme. He creates two robots that look just like Bill and Ted. He sends them back to the early 1990s to kill Bill and Ted and ruin their impact on society. Nothing can go wrong with his perfect plan.

Soon enough the evil robots from the future find and kill Bill and Ted! But the story doesn’t end there, because the Grim Reaper (William Sadler) arrives to take them. Bill and Ted manage to escape his clutches and begin a journey that takes them to the depths of hell, the heights of heaven and even facing an alien scientist called Station. Pam Grier, George Carlin and Amy Stock Poynton all join in the fun as our clueless heroes experience their most bogus of journeys.

Good Points:

• Takes the fun premise of the original and goes in a new and unexpected direction
• Sadler pretty much steals the show as the Grim Reaper who can’t catch a break
• Stays fun and fast paced throughout

Bad Points:

• Bill and Ted are pretty much the same doofuses we met in the first one
• If you are looking for more fun with historical figures you’ll be disappointed
• The ending is… well, it’s kind of a cheat actually

Overall:

Bill and Ted’s adventure this time around is just a silly and fun as the previous one. In fact, in terms of creativity, it is actually more impressive. Having these two jokers interact with death, Satan and God is all pretty fun. But it is the Grim Reaper’s presence that really makes the film memorable. Up to the point where he shows up the film is less entertaining. But you can also tell that Winter and Reeves are having a lot of fun playing the evil (but very stupid) versions of themselves. The movie is bursting with fun visuals and crazy ideas, but it also feels less cohesive than the first one. I had a good time with it, but I like the Excellent Adventure a bit more.

Scores (out of 5)

Visuals: 4

Sound: 3

Acting: 3

Script: 4

Music: 3

Direction: 3

Entertainment: 3

Total:  3

Curious about a full review, sent me an email and I’ll make additional thoughts to this review.