Night Of The Demons 3

aka Demon House

Directed by Jim Kaufman
1997
Rated R
85 minutes

Summary from IMDB: A group of bad twenty-something actors posing as teens wind up hiding out at the “possessed” HULL HOUSE after a shootout with some cops in a convenience store. Resident hussy ghoul Angela (Amelia Kinkade) makes them feel welcome in gory ways while they have sex at the drop of a piece of lint.

My rating: ★ out of 5

"C'mon children, morning is almost here. It's time to return to the bowels of hell!"

Let it be said that I never suffer for my readers but after reviewing the first two films of the classic Night Of The Demons series and the remake it just didn't seem right to skip over the worse in the franchise. And believe me I'm sitting here with several large cups of coffee and a bowl filled with munchies to ponder my way through this film just to put a checkmark next to my 'review ALL of the Night Of The Demons films'. Somehow I just have a strange feeling like I should strap myself into this computer chair and put a large metal device around my head just to keep me from moving and force my eyes open to keep from escaping the shock of what is to come.

First of all let me state that this sequel to the franchise was thrown together on a very minimal budget when Kevin S. Tenney, who wrote and directed the original movie, became available to write another chapter in Angela's twisted film saga. This actually sounds like a very positive start but due to a scheduling conflict with Kevin they were forced to grab Jim Kaufman, who was the cheapest available director at the time. Jim was mostly experienced with some lesser known television shows and a few made for cable thriller movies but was more then willing to take up the challenge. Nothing could possibly prepare anyone from the train wreck that was about to happen when casting was completed and Amelia Kinkade was called back in to play Angela again only to discover that she was the only experienced and talented person there when filming actually started. Everything about the film just didn't function at all properly including the dialogue which is left completely unpolished and delivered by the actors with hardly much emotion at all outside of screaming, throwing lame insults around, and just plain acting like they all just got out of acting school.

Of course the next failure to drop in the bucket started with a horribly low special effects budget that just turned every scene they were used for into an inside joke because of how laughable they appeared on screen. Angela's demonic face looked far more like a bad dime store mask, the gore and demon forms of the actors just seemed cheesy and the CGI that was used was simplistic and more worthy of being on a TV show then a movie. Jim never seemed to understand that less is more when you deal with certain kinds of film making and seemed to really enjoy pushing the sexual nature of every shot he could get away with it in. Characters just seemed to be constantly bouncing between states of violence or sex and clothing being removed more often then you would expect it even for previous films in this franchise.

To save you from suffering like I am doing now by watching this.. monstrosity...let me summarize the storyline for you here quickly. A group of troubled teens are out on Halloween night looking to making mischief when they stumble across some innocent girls with car trouble on their way to a school dance and offer to give them a ride. The bad attitude guys go inside a Quick-E-Mart for some beer and cigarettes which leads to an altercation with the store owner and a couple cops who wonder in at just the wrong time. A fire fight with a shotgun and pistols takes place which sends the teens scattering and dragging one of their badly wounded friends back to their van and driving off thinking they killed one of the policemen. The leader of the teens decides to hide out at Hull House since nobody in their right mind goes anywhere near it after all of the missing people and bodies that keep showing up there every Halloween. Of course Angela is already preparing for her demonic annual traditions and welcomes her guests with surprise attacks that pick them off one at a time and possessing them.

I probably should save you the brain cells being lost while trying to figure out how the survivors escape from the clutches of Angela's demons and what happens to them when they finally stumble across the police chasing after them. It's hardly worth the explanation and figuring out how a homicide detective knows enough magic to do parlor tricks for the occasional suspect but somehow manages to throw out magical words that can match the power level of Angela who is a freaking demon for crying out loud. It's pretty obvious that some folks get away and Angela once again has to wait for another Halloween to escape her prison inside Hull House.

It's a real shame that this mess was the last time that Amelia Kinkade played the role of Angela and she has since moved on from her acting days to making a living as a animal psychic. You really would think that a special edition of the original Night Of The Demons with Amelia and Linnea Quigley doing commentary together would be worth doing for an Anniversary or something. Oh well.

------------------------- NO TRAILER FOUND --------------------------------

However I was able to locate this one sexy scene with Angela showing her own unique way of dealing with a horny teenager waving a gun at her..

Night Of The Demons (2010 Remake)

Directed by Adam Gierasch
2010
Rated R
93 minutes

Summary from Netflix: When she set out to throw the ultimate Halloween party, Angela Feld (Shannon Elizabeth) picked the spookiest site she could find: the rumored-to-be-cursed Broussard Mansion. But by "ultimate," she didn't mean for it to be her last. Still, thanks to gates that have inexplicably locked, Angela and her friends (Edward Furlong, Monica Keena, Bobbi Sue Luther, John F. Beach, Michael Copon and Diora Baird) are now trapped inside with no way out.

My rating: ★★★ out of 5

It takes a lot of guts to remake a horror cult classic like the original Night Of The Demons but I assume it was time for a fresh new take on the characters since nothing good has been done with Angela since the 2nd movie way back in 1994. Since filming in New Orleans has been a real advantage for Hollywood and Louisiana lately they moved the setting of the haunted mansion from some unknown state into a large plantation owned by the Broussard family who all vanished after a party they held in 1925.

Angela in this version is a well known person in the Big Easy circuit for holding the wildest and biggest parties drawing in quite a large audience. This year she planned on outdoing herself by holding the ultimate Halloween party in the alleged haunted mansion of the Brossard family. It's quite a success as the house is nearly standing room only and becomes quite the showcase of costumes and popular music that everyone is enjoying. Three young college girls arrive at the party to find that a few of their ex-boyfriends also are in attendance as well as the hunky punk guy they all have a crush on. Of course Angela also discovers that the local drug dealer has decided to sneak in to make a cash killing for those needed something a little extra to get a buzz outside of the wet bar. Once Angela makes her nightly introduction to her guests and starts making her rounds the police arrive and shut down the party chasing off nearly everyone who isn't willing to help clean up the mess.

While exploring the basement they discover a hidden door leading into a chamber where several corpses are laid in a pattern around a larger guy in the middle. Angela notices that the larger guy has a gold tooth and on impulse tried to pull it from the mouth of the skeleton but somehow it bites her finger. The group goes upstairs to kill time while one of the girls starts to explain the legend of Evangelina Brossard who messed with black magic trying to get a man she was obsessed with to fall in love with her. She started communicating with spirits beyond that told her that having a party and holding a séance would give her what she desired most. Something went wrong during the summoning and all those who attended the party had never been seen again until they discovered their remains. Angela starts to not feel well and leaves to the bathroom where some demonic force takes over her body and returns her to the party moments later.

One by one Angela starts seducing her remaining party guests until she possesses enough of them to start taking the more resistant victims by force. One of the survivors named Colin remembers there are tunnels under the mansion which were put in place during the prohibition but they find them blocked off. They fight their way past the demons into a room that seems to hold them at bay and discover under the wallpaer and plaster was tons of strange writing and symbols. It seems that very room belong to the family maid who used voodoo magic mixed with other black magic spells to create a safe hiding place until she was found alive later by police and sent away to an asylum because nobody believed her story of demons attacking after the séance.

I will not spoil the ending but it's quite different from the original film and once again leaves Angela open to return for sequels and taking more victims at further Halloween parties at the mansion. While I was entertained by this new take on the original film I was not horribly impressed with the writing and all of the special effects were quite underwhelming as they didn't look realistic at all (the gore effects looked extremely fake and the CGI just didn't blend in with the live action part of the shots at all). Sure this film didn't have a lot of star power in actors (especially digging up Edward Furlong as the washed up drug dealer Colin) but I will have to admit casting Shannon 'American Pie' Elizabeth as the new Angela was a stroke of genius. And just to put in a wink wink nod nod to fans of the original film Linnea Quigley makes a cameo appearance in the beginning as a mother giving away candy to trick or treaters and dressed in a ballerina outfit similar to what she wore as Suzanne. It was a nice visit back to the franchise and definitely far far better then Night Of The Demons 3 (aka Demon House).

Night Of The Demons 2

aka Night of the Demons: Angela's Revenge

Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith
1994
Rated R
96 minutes

Summary from Netflix: At first, Shirley's idea to throw a party for her schoolmates at a rumored-to-be-haunted house seems like a killer idea. But their antics anger their unseen hostess, who unleashes an army of teenage demons with orders to hunt them down. Zoe Trilling, Amelia Kinkade and Christine Taylor (The Brady Bunch Movie, Zoolander and Dodgeball) co-star in this direct-to-video sequel to the 1988 gore fest Night of the Demons.

My rating: ★★★ out of 5

"The day after the party, the county sherrif went in with his deputies. They found the bodies, or rather what was left of them. They were chopped, graded, sliced and diced, totally toasted! I'm talking ground-round."

Making a sequel to a camp classic is a challenge when you want to make it as memorable and shocking as the first film but push it up a few more notches so you can make it your own style. All that was needed was signing on Amelia Kinkade back as Angela and opening the influence of the demons outside of Hull House into a wider environment. The film makers did exactly that and gave the villians of the story a worthy challenge by introducing a strict nun who just happens to have a few surprises. Sister Gloria starts off as a stereotypical background character who is a thorn in the side of the students there and having her evolve into a superheroine level of a butt-kicking nun who uses her ruler like a sword of purity. I honestly did not see that coming and it was one of the films highlight moments. Not to mention that some of her lines just are funny enough to stick with you for awhile.

Sister Gloria: "A kiss is a sin when it is an upper persuasion for a lower invasion."

The special effects were definitely much better this time around and the gore level was pushed much farther then the previous film. I could see where some issues were had that led to it being banned in Australia for 10 years but it hardly compares to films like SAW and Hostel which push the limits of intense gore. I honestly believe that shifting part of the demon attacks to a parochial school hosting a Halloween party and having Angelia deal with a pair of Jehova's witnesses who decide to pop by Hull House and tell her about her sins and the end of the world just pushed some limits with more conservative ratings boards folks at the time.

Shirley and her group of juvenile delinquents decide after making trouble for Mouse (a shy girl who was placed in custody of the church when her sister Angela was killed and vanished years earlier) that they should hold their own private party at Hull House when her and a group of students are banned from their parochial school's lame Halloween party. Of course things get much worse when a student at the school decides to summon forth a demon using his limited skills in demonology which awakens Angela from her slumber and seek out her sister. The few survivors that escape from Hull House decide to retreat to the school and Angela and her possessed goons decide to pay a visit and reclaim their lost family member. It's up to Father Bob and Sister Gloria along with a small group of students to enter Hull House once again and rescue Mouse from the demonic clutches of her sister before she can sacrifice her and be reborn in her body.

As I stated in my review of Night Of The Demons, no Halloween movie marathon would be complete without a double feature showing of both the 1st and 2nd Night Of The Demons. Sure they both are rather cheesy demon possession stories with a haunted house as the source of the supernatural power but that's what makes them even better for showing during a Halloween party. Share with your guests with silly massacres of Angela and they may never forget or forgive you for exposing them to her demonic ways.

***************NO TRAILER FOUND******************

However I did find the sexy dance that Angela did in NOTD2...

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[REC] 2

Directed by Jaume Balagueró
2009
Rated R
85 minutes

Summary from Netflix: In this sequel to their 2007 horror hit [Rec], directors Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza take viewers back to the scene of the original nightmare -- a now-sealed-off apartment where a raging virus was unleashed on rescue workers. With camera once again in tow, a medical officer and a SWAT team venture into ground zero of the virulent virus to try to contain the disease and abort its deadly spread. Manuela Velasco and Jonathan Mellor star.

My rating: ★★★★★ out of 5

It's nice to see a sequel to a low-budget film that actually excels upon the original movie and makes things even far more claustrophobic and tense then the first time around. The first film established that a virus was unleashed upon the residence of an apartment building and the authorities on the outside quarantine everyone inside while specialists try to figure out what is going on. It's now just hours after where the original film ended and a specialist has arrived and being sent inside with a SWAT team to figure out why all contact was lost with those inside. The single camera aspect is removed this time around as each team member has a helmet cam of their own and often a picture in picture aspect is used when the team splits up during their investigation.

The supernatural plot element is further expanded upon as we discover along with the characters that the virus unleashed has demonic properties and that a much bigger cover up is going on then anyone was led to believe. No longer are we caught within a zombie outbreak movie but a much larger supernatural mystery and unless the source of the virus is found there is a far worse outcome for the world outside. Many minor plot elements from the first film are revisited as well including an escape route and the father of a family trapped inside who talks a fireman to sneak inside. We also discover that there is a survivor who managed to escape the chaos inside after all and helps the SWAT team explore the deeper chambers inside the apartment.

I will not spoil the big reveal of the film including a few twists along the way but it was a very enjoyable ride and manages to make the film hardly as predictable as one would might expect a sequel to be. If you were curious that an American version of this movie will come along as well then don't hold your breath because Screen Gems already moved on to writing their own sequel to Quarantine and placed it within an airport. Maybe they might pursue this storyline for a further sequel but with the elimination of the supernatural plot it's very doubtful they would be willing to expand on further exploration of the apartment building incident.

During a recent interview with Jaume Balagueró he has stated that he has plans for a prequel to REC showing the initial virus escaping into the apartment building as well as a third sequel which shall deal with the evil escaping into the outside world and the chaos it causes.

Double Feature: [REC] & QUARANTINE

[REC] - Directed by Jaume Balagueró    
             2007
             Rated R
             78 minutes

QUARANTINE - Directed by John Erick Dowdle
             2008
             Rated R
                                                      89 minutes

 Summary from Netflix:
[REC] - Trapped in a quarantined Barcelona apartment building with residents, firefighters and a growing horde of ravenous zombies, television reporter Angela (Manuela Velasco) and her cameraman, Pablo, record brutal deaths and terrifying events while trying to stay alive. Filmed entirely from unseen Pablo's point of view, this tension-filled Spanish horror film thrills viewers with its aggressive action. Paco Plaza and Jaume Balagueró direct.

QUARANTINE - While on assignment shadowing firemen, a Los Angeles news reporter (Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman (Steve Harris) get trapped in a quarantined apartment complex with a vicious unknown killer. With all forms of communications cut, the news crew keeps the cameras rolling as they search for a way to escape rabies-infected zombies. John Erick Dowdle writes and directs this frenzied horror film that also stars Johnathon Schaech.

My rating: [REC] ★★★★ out of 5         QUARANTINE ★★★ out of 5

[REC] - "It's nearly 2 A.M. and we're still sealed in this building that we came to with the firemen earlier this evening, to assist an elderly woman who later attacked a policeman and a fireman. They're both in critical condition. The police won't let us leave and are giving us no explanations."

QUARANTINE - "They won't let us out."

Low-budget horror movies are not as common as they used to be but foreign film makers get quite noticed in Hollywood when they manage to make something that almost redefines an entire genre. We have seen many "hand-held" style movies over the years since Blair Witch Project managed to become a large hit but nothing really that pulled you into the film so much that the audience loses themselves completely within the point of view the camera is actually portraying. REC manages to pull it off by building up levels of suspense and a growing mystery of what is causing the spreading infection which trapped everyone inside the apartment building. The cameraman just seems to fade away in your mind as you are pulled into the story and when the shocks of the film come out of nowhere it's quite easy to jerk backwards and protect yourself out of a subconscious reaction.

Maybe it's just because we live in such a video camera and webcam addicted world that makes it so much easier to handle these kinds of movies. Thankfully the film makers only create that "hand-held" feeling by staging each shot so carefully that it only appears that way. This was a welcome change for those who have suffered through so many higher budget films that just abused this effect so much that motion sickness just becomes so overwhelming they need to leave. The scenes are paced out enough that only when the action picks up or requires the camera holder to move around that sensation of forced moment comes though your mind at all.

While most foreign films find their fan base outside their own home country once they are released on DVD with subtitles and/or redubbed dialogue, REC caught the attention of Screen Gems productions and a much higher budget remake of REC was written and filmed under the title of QUARANTINE. Most folks would think that an Americanized version of an award winning Spanish film might lose something in the adaptation but even though it was mostly filmed shot-for-shot - it was done in a single take improv style for more realistic effect. Once you add on the enhanced camera tricks for practical special effects to be hidden until they are needed for their shot it becomes quite an achievement for "shakey-cam" films. There are several major changes in the storyline between both versions but that mostly deals with the background of many of the characters and the origins of the virus (REC depicts that a supernatural element might be involved while QUARANTINE focuses on chemical weapon experiments).

Both films really stand on their own in their respective countries they were filmed in and deserve reviews of their own but these two movies earn the unique right of becoming alternative versions of the same story concept and sold together in a special double feature collector's case (these films are sold separately but were both released on DVD by Sony Pictures so it's possible). REC really stands out as a thriller documentary-style "found footage" film and keeps the audience guessing while taking them through an intense drama filled story. QUARANTINE was a good adaptation of the same plot but suffers from falling into typical Hollywood formulas once the supernatural element from the original story was removed.

Ink

Directed by Jamin Winans
2009
Rated NR
102 minutes

Summary from Netflix: Late one night, a lost soul named Ink snatches 8-year-old Emma into the world of dreams. There, he hopes to use her soul to join the ranks of the evil Incubi. In the real world, Emma lies comatose, to the despair of her father, John. But the Incubi's benevolent opposites -- the Storytellers -- rally to help Emma, motivating John to wage war for his daughter.


My rating: ★★★★★ out of 5

"They're all reactions! One thing begets the next. A man has a weakness, he's flawed. That flaw leads him to guilt. The guilt leads him to shame. The shame he compensates with pride and vanity. And when pride fails, despair takes over and they all lead to his destruction. It will become his fate... Something's gotta stop the flow."

Some people who aren't heavily into watching movies, unlike most of my friends or those that will most likely come across this blog, just cannot understand why I prefer watching Anime, Foreign and/or Independent movies before I touch a commercialized US movie.  Watch this movie, Ink, and you will have a slight idea why I favor the not so typical that you won't typically find at the cineplex.

And here's the kicker.  I am not going to tell you any more plot then what the summary above has said or the trailer shows below.  Why not?  Well, why in the world should I spoil such a great movie for you and make you miss the opportunity to have a wild ride watching it like I did?

I laughed, I cried, I cried a whole bunch more during the credits, then I sat there once it ended and went, "What in the world just happened?"  I totally didn't expect the ending.  At all.  It has been soo long since a movie moved me like that.

This movie is incredibly beautiful, not in a blockbuster way and not in an independent movie way.  It is gritty, has it's own unique special effects, and neither go overboard.  The story line and composition can confuse at the beginning, then it starts to build.  Curiosity makes you stick with it as you learn more and more about the two main characters such as where eight year old Emma is being taken and the destruction of the father and why we have to know what is happening to his life. Even saying that isn't exactly all the plot the movie has. There are several different layers going on in this movie at the same time.

Ok, maybe a little bit of plot explanation.  Trust me, if I really tried to describe the plot any more then this you'd wonder I came down with a sleep deprived version of ADHD.  ;)

(BTW, no offense to anyone with ADHD.  I am just meaning that the plot skips and jumps from past to present to dream state to another dimension throughout the entire film and if I tried to describe it to you, you will most likely not follow me at all. Just trust me. Go see the film if you haven't already to know what I mean.)

A few other characters besides Emma and her father stick out in my mind.  The Pathfinder Jacob is funny like a jester and as philosophical as Yoda.  He also has got some really good lines (i.e. "Hello dirt. How are you today?").  I loved Liev the Storyteller as well for her character as well as how her hair was styled (someone teach me how to do that, please!) and her overcoat (which I am sorely tempted to make one for myself now).  The Incubi costumes, however, scared the bejesus out of me with their simplicity and overall effectiveness.  I hope I don't get bad dreams from those guys.  *shiver*

Once you get the flow of the movie, the ride will cause you to stay with it and just as you are really getting into it... WHAM!  Everything falls into place and you wind up with a box of Kleenex in your lap while you root and cheer for the ending to turn up to be a not so tragic one.

Overall, this movie was far better then I expected.  It has been a while since I saw a movie this good.  I have read other reviewers say this movie sits on the same shelf as Brazil, Matrix, Donnie Darko, Sixth Sense, Sin City, as well as several others.  I have to agree and yet I have to completely disagree.  This movie is unlike anything I have seen in a while.  It has so many different layers and it's own uniqueness which is very refreshing.

Here's the best part of it all.  If you don't have the ability to watch this on Netflix (rental or instant queue) or some other way to rent this movie, you can watch Ink for free on IMDB thanks to hulu.com (linkie linkie)!  Sure you will have to deal with a few commercials, but it's free, so there isn't any other excuse for you to miss seeing this unless you don't have 102 minutes to spare.

Little Shop Of Horrors: Special Edition (Musical Version)

Directed by Frank Oz
1986
Rated PG-13
94 minutes (102 minutes Uncut)

Summary from Netflix: Plant yourself in front of the tube and veg out with Frank Oz's horticultural horror flick. Gawky Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis), looking for a way to save his job in a ramshackle, skid row flower shop, purchases a curious exotic plant hoping it will make business bloom. And it does. There's just one problem: The little creeper possesses a rapacious appetite for fresh human plasma … and it's mushrooming out of control!

My rating: ★★★★ out of 5

"Feed me, Seymour!"

Remakes are a tricky thing but Little Shop Of Horrors kinda holds a unique place in film history for holding it's cult status as a musical comedy horror film. There is a rumor that in 1960 Roger Corman placed a bet that he could make a budget movie in just a few days and figured by redressing already constructed sets and a group of actors willing to work for small pay he could even make a successful movie while doing it. That black and white film grew enough of a cult status in small theaters over the decades in midnight showings that a musical producer picked up the rights for making a stage play which also grew quite an audience of it's own over the years in off-broadway circles. Frank Oz, Howard Ashman, and Charles B. Griffith decided to adapt the musical version into a modern musical comedy and finally create a big budget version of Audry II using the skills of Lyle Conway.

I first watched this film when it was released in 1986 in a movie theater with my parents and a few of my friends. It was quite an experience from what I remember because I never really had gotten into musicals before and yet it kinda held my attention since it featured many actors I enjoyed as well as an awesome scary puppet beyond anything I've seen up to that point including Jabba The Hutt in Return Of The Jedi. Audry II just held the audience in stunned silence every time he was on screen and I could imagine that every kid sitting in the audience had many nightmares that night and never could look at a Venus flytrap the same way again afterwards. As a muscial it was very well done and got fantastic reviews and the special effects even earned the movie an Academy Award nomination for the groundbreaking work that was done on Audry II alone.

However there is a whole different ending to the film that was long rumored to be true because of special screenings of the movie that left quite an impression on the audiences that viewed it. Many behind the scenes photos and reports claimed that extensive sets were constructed with multiple versions of Audry II but never seemed to be shown within the movie as it was widely released. The cult status of the movie even grew wider over the years from rumors of that "lost footage" being locked away and interviews with Frank Oz who claimed that the film was drastically changed when Warner Brothers forced him to film a happy ending. Those who had seen the off-broadway musical version confirmed that the original ending which was made for the movie followed the story of the play and had Audry II's seedlings taking over the world.

For the 12th Anniversary of Little Shop of Horrors Frank Oz was rumored to be finally making a special edition DVD that would make fans of both movies incredible happy. News through the video collectors grapevine buzzed when it was revealed that a rough cut of the "missing ending" was going to be included as a special feature along with more behind the scenes interviews and even a commentary by Frank Oz which covered everything including the original ending. It was released in 1998 for only a day before Warner Brothers was forced to recall the entire shipment because David Geffen still retained the rights for the unfinished footage of the ending and he was never asked for permission.

One can only imagine the level of cult status the film reached now as die hard collectors had refused to return their purchased copies and other fans wanted to see the special features that the later DVD re-release had removed. Those looking for a unopened mint or used copy of the special edition can expect to pay around $150 and upwards in the collector's market for a copy if they want it. Hollywood press has revealed that Declan O'Brien who directed Wrong Turn 3 had purchased rights for a modern horror remake of Corman's original film and that a possible 25th Anniversary Edition of the musical will be released in 2011 as well. Providing that Frank Oz and David Geffen can wrangle out further rights issues and David can finally release his own copy of the original cut to help restore the film for an official Director's Cut. I very much enjoy watching both the original Corman version AND the musical version every year as part of my Holloween marathon and having this special edition in my collection allowed me to enjoy both of them.



And for those who want to see the "original ending"... well, I'll be nice and help you along since finding a copy of the DVD is next to impossible.

**************************** SPOILER ALERT!! ************************************

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3: