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Friday, May 28, 2010

Sorority Row

MIND TO MOUTH:

SORORITY ROW

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Prethoughts:

The trailers made the movie feel like an all-female version of I Know What You Did Last Summer. It doesn’t really excite the senses, but I do suppose I am a required as a straight male with an enjoyment with looking at attractive women to view it with an open mind. Not sure what the “watching them murdered in increasing unique and violent ways” says about me, but thankfully I’m too poor to go see a psychiatrist and find out. Hey, anyone want to come to my place for a party?!

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But first…some posters:

1.

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2.

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3.

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Winner: #3…I favor the needless piling of the Theta Pi gals.

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With that out of the way…

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Movie:

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Here…we…go…

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It’s night. Creepy thudding noises and a slow zoom brings us towards a house, with my veteran movie instincts assuming it’s a sorority house. Screams. A crash. A screaming girl in runs out shouting… “Danny, gimme my shirt!”

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A party is going on. Girls dance and bounce on a trampoline while having a pillow fight. A typical party event I suppose? At the Playboy Mansion, maybe. Don’t look at me, I went to college to study and learn…which has worked so well for me so far. Close ups of bikinis and alcohol drinking. Some guy is standing slack jawed in awe. I’m not sure if he’s an actor or some random guy who walked onto the set.

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More dancing, drinking, and making out. Actually, the dancing is more of them just jumping up and down and randomly thrusting in the direction of the camera. An argument happens by the keg, shocking, I’m sure. A shirtless guy wants a beer and gets one when a girl throws it in his face…IN SLOW MOOOOOOOTION! Well. Kind of. It completely misses the guy and hits the camera. Thanks, now I have to change my shirt.

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Okay then…More people we don’t need to know or care about and then we see an older woman (compared to the presumed students) in the kitchen pouring some tea. A couple drunks bust into the room and she shoos them away.

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More pillow fighting. There is random dialogue throughout this and I’m not sure if I’m actually supposed to be recognizing main characters. Some girl who I don’t recognize whatsoever (but since the camera is stalking her, I’ll assume she’s a Main Character) wanders around as we see more partiers. Finally, she gets pulled into a room. Hooray. The victims…uh…seniors of Theta Pi.

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Theta Leader makes a joke about the Asian Girl making the group multi-cultural. Haha, sarcastic racism. Asian Girl then compliments Beer Tosser who responds by making a joke about sleeping with AG’s dad. Pleasant. Our slutty chucker of alcohol then compliments the Nerd of the group. You can tell she’s a nerd because she wears glasses. Nerd compliments the unknown girl we’ve been following, calling her Cass. Cass then compliments the leader on being a horrible person so that the circle can be complete and we can know and care about (STOP LAUGHING) the crew.

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They chant a chant and take a shot. But someone is missing…Megan. Theta Leader via webcam shows that she is currently seducing an ex-boyfriend. They mock the guy’s abilities and Megan’s chest, which has apparently increased in size through unnatural ways. Turns out that a couple of the girls gave the ex, who is Beer Tosser’s brother, some roofies to help Megan along. Beer Tosser keeps making stupid jokes, such as saying that roofie sex is great because you get a good night of sleep. I don’t like this character.

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Uh-oh, Unconscious Megan starts throwing up. Turns out Brother BT overdosed her accidentally. Theta Leader goes for mouth-to-mouth as the guy heads out of the room. Beer Tosser calls the CPR “Hot” as Megan suddenly awakes and starts kissing back. SURPRISE, it’s all a joke on the guy. Cass, who is very obviously going to be the Final Girl, is surprised and shocked as they explain that this is payback since the guy cheated on Megan…even if she did cheat first.

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Oy.

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This is the best prank ever, girls.

I can’t see how this could go wrong in any possible way!

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They joke and mock around a bit. They hear a car horn, as the brother has arrived to try and take her to the hospital. Cut to the car driving along, the guy freaking out in the back because “If she dies, I’ll be responsible.” Cass tries to let the cat out of the bag but gets interrupted by Theta Leader. After being stopped mid-sentence, Cass gives up for some reason.

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Theta Leader claims to have taken a wrong turn, which freaks out the would-be-rapist. The further they go, the more the guy starts trying to be responsible by saying he’ll stay with her and call for help so the girls don’t get in trouble. He tries his phone but has no service. Theta Leader tells the guy to “Look at me” three times despite the fact her mouth only moves for two sentences and then offers him a chance to “get rid of the problem.” He reverts to his natural idiot self and agrees.

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Cut to a creepy place because pranks can’t happen near rainbows.

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Fog machine, check. Ominous shadows, check.

Most likely stand-ins for a second unit shot, check.

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The guy throws up after leaving the vehicle and all (minus Cass) try to hide a chuckle at his stress. They debate whether to toss her into a well or cut her up first. Apparently, because it’s “funnier” they decide to slice her up. They split up to find sharp objects. Cass is reluctant. A couple other girls are starting to chicken out. Our would-be-rapist is very despondent but walks away.

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The other girls talk to Theta Leader wanting to call off the joke. One problem…The guy found a sharp object and plunged it into Megan’s heart. SURPRISE! She isn’t dead, but now she’s actually on her way. Commence group freak out. Asian Girl tries her phone but, as established, has no reception. Cass goes into first aid mode and Nerd attempts to help. No chance, though, because Megan’s silicone walls failed to protect her. Theta Leader looks sad…at least I think that’s the emotion she’s trying to convey. Finally, they realize that Megan is gone.

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“What are we gonna do?!” Take three guesses.

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They discuss what to do, taking their time to the solution that anyone with half a brain realizes they’ll do. Theta Leader suggests lawyering up and sending the would-be-rapist-now-murder to jail. Beer Tosser refuses to let “her little brother” fry for the prank. Asian Girl is panicking. Theta Leader decides that Megan would want them to hide the body. Oh yeah. Makes perfect sense.

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Cass isn’t buying it so our fearless Leader tries to guilt the obvious Final Girl by saying that if she reveals what happened, she’d ruin everyone’s life. It doesn’t work. The girls somehow bring up guys because, you know, being responsible for someone’s death ruins your social life. The guy is still freaking out as he grasps that he’s a killer. Then this beauty is unleashed upon the world:

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“There’s a dead person. A girl we murdered.” “Accidentally!”

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Anyway…Cass tries to convince everyone that they should fess up while everyone else slowly agrees to hide the body and lie. This has taken longer than it really should. Theta Leader establishes that she is not surviving the movie with another “Megan would want this,” rant. The Nerd breaks down and joins the “hide” group because her life is so awesome…

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And they finally get to the “Hide the body” solution. Theta Leader lays down the law. But brother is back and he’s not happy. She quips, “You gonna kill me, too?” which causes him to whither again, curling into a ball. So the girls (minus Cass) drag the dead body and throw it down the well. No cutting up is done. Cowards.

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They toss her into the well, but no one makes a wish. Cass appears…she was trying to make a phone call. That’s three times they’ve now confirmed the lack of signal. How…useless. Anyway, the girls wrapped Megan up in Cass’s jacket, so if she squeals, they’ll put the entire blame on her. Because, you know, murderers often wrap victims in their own very recognizable clothing…especially when it’s covered in other people’s fingerprints.

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Cass finally relents and Theta Leader drops the weapon, a tire iron, down the well. Again, FINGERPRINTS. I mean, come on. Oh well, they make a big deal about it falling, so it’ll probably show up again... I don’t really care.

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EIGHT MONTHS LATER

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Graduation with graduates. Hats fly into the air. Beer Tosser has alcohol. I’m astounded. Nerd takes a swig. Cass looks sad. Theta Leader gives her a knowing look and smirk. Asian Girl…stands around looking clueless. Crap, she’s looking right at this!

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Majors anyone? I assume Nerd is an engineer. Asian Girl is a mathematician.

And Theta Leader majored in Communications AKA “Looking to marry someone rich.”

Hey. They are cliches, after all.

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Anyway, Cass is with her boyfriend (The Valedictorian…) afterwards. He brings up how she used to be close with the sisters until Megan disappeared. This must have been an obvious change, but no one ever suspected anything. Anyway, they flirt about and then she tackles him to the bed like a lady.

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Later, there is a meet-and-greet for parents and sorority members. Theta Leader greets a couple and then sees Cass and beau. Snarky comments follow because she isn’t a nice person. Inside, Beer Tosser is making out with the first willing guy she found. She makes light of the fact that she threw up earlier and follows it up with obvious sexual suggestions to him. It’s too much for him so she calls him gay and leaves. Like a lady.

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Theta Leader is giving a speech. Beer Tosser arrives, drinking again. Cass has to stand with the rest of the sisters. Renovations are occurring. We find out the older lady is named Mrs. Crenshaw. Theta Leader then goes into talking about Megan, “We hope and pray she comes back to us.”

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However, Beer Tosser sees a familiar face in the viewing crowd. Oh my! It’s MEGAN!!! Kind of…close enough I guess as Nerd shrieks and faints. Cut to the kitchen where Nerd is awakened and yelled at by Theta Leader. “It was just her sister!”

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“I’m Maggie” says the sister as she enters. Looks like she’s going to attend the college next year. Looks like she’ll join the Theta Pi crew next year. Looks like the group is happy they won’t be there next year. If they only knew…

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Nerd gets sick and runs off. Theta Leader chats and leads Maggie to the door, telling her to not come to the party. All the girls (Minus Cass) thought the girl was creepy. Murdering someone’s sister will do that to you.

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“Who is ready to party?!” enter some jocks. Theta Leader and Asian Girl’s boyfriends. AG’s guy let’s Cass know he’d like a run at her mother. Wonderful. Party planning dialogue that is useless. The guys leave, which is convenient because…

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Cell phones go off. All of them. They’ve all got picture mail. And it’s a picture of…

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A TIRE IRON! SHOCK AND AWE!

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They instantly assume that the brother is playing a sick joke. Asian Girl assumes he has snapped and is going to kill them all, making her the closest of the group despite freaking out extremely quickly. Beer Tosser defends her bro. Theta Leader demands everyone delete their picture. This done, they start getting ready for the party. Cass says she isn’t coming and Theta Leader acts evil again. In case you haven’t figured that out, yet. “If you really wanted to, you would’ve went to the cops by now.” Burn.

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Cass calls her beau. She pinged him. He’s a 1.5 miles away. They discuss fishing. Seriously. It’s quick though because she cuts in and tells him she has something to confess…but it has to be later. Then she asks him to go to the party with her because…I really don’t know, but she’s going now. He obviously agrees. Hooray ping establishing scene.

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Mrs. Crenshaw gives a small speech. Blah…She looked the other way when boys were brought in. Asian Girl makes a joke saying that Beer Tosser snuck in 5 guys one night. Cause she’s a whore. Isn’t that funny? Anyway, speech ends and Crenshaw gives gifts.

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Bracelets with the same amount of links as members (22). Theta Leader mocks the gift as cheap. I wrote that before she actually did it because it was clearly coming. She’s not a good person. Do you get it, yet? Come on movie. Just get to it.

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Anyway, Crenshaw leaves and they get ready. Asian Girl hops into the hot tub and invites in her guy. He’s very hesitant because people are around, but then she drops her top and he instantly agrees because…he’s never seen boobs before? Honestly, they make it obvious that she promiscuous so he’s “had” her multiple times, and they even mention that they’ve steamed up the hot tub on many occasions. How is her dropping her top really supposed to bribe the penis out of his pants if he doesn’t want to have sex in public? Oh wait…stupid college guy cliché. Got it. Maybe I’m just weird…

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Meanwhile, Beer Tosser is at a new place wandering around alone and finds alcohol. She’s looking for “Dr. Rosenberg” because she’s here for her “five o’clock.” She finds him handcuffed to his bed. “Sorry, my last session ended abruptly.” He hits on her and then bribes her with prescription meds for sex. She goes to get ready.

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While she prepares off-screen, an unseen entity appears. Slowly walking towards the not-so-good doctor. So Doc stretches and grabs the key to the lock, which pretty much gives away that he was looking to get some (some more?) from Beer Tosser. He frees himself and gets up…Just in time for a hooded cloth wearing being to toss a tire iron like a shuriken and kill him. SERIOUSLY.

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And it STICKS in his head. A TIRE IRON, TOSSED FROM AT LEAST 15 FEET AWAY STICKS IN HIS HEAD. You know movie, when I said “Just get to it,” I didn’t mean “Go crazy stupid as quick as possible.” We don’t see the doctor during this, just his shadow followed by blood spatter. I suppose it “stuck” in his eye…but…Come on.

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Beer Tosser hears none of this because she’s on the phone with someone explaining she’ll be late. She looks in a mirror medicine cabinet for drugs and when she shuts it…Nothing is there because she isn’t deaf. She’s a slut, remember? I’m sure she’s had to sneak out of plenty of places after hearing nearby footsteps…Anyway, it’s a stupid fake scare that doesn’t work at all.

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She exits the room and sees that the not-so-good doctor is no longer handcuffed. It surprises her. I guess the killer is really good at cleaning up afterwards. Maybe Jason Voorhees teaches summer classes on the subject.

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Beer Tosser wanders around looking for the doctor, throwing out witty comments like “I don’t have time for ‘catch me, rape me.’” Okay movie…the joke is very, very dead. Let the character join it. She drinks and lays on a couch. Drinks some more…SURPRISE!

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Our Killer materializes smacks the bottom of the bottle, driving it down her gullet as her remarkably trained mouth contours around the wider glass. This causes her to “quick drink the alcohol while freaking out…but not sitting up…and the killer tilts her head back and cracks her in the neck with the tire iron causing blood to fly up into the bottle to confirm fatality. That’s one dead whore…I’m sorry.

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Bottles Up, Ho's Down.

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Back at the party, the hot tub is overly bubbled. I guess that allows the shy guy to have…cover? Oh well. A girl walks out wasted while the sun is still up causing the Nerd to joke she’ll be pregnant by the nights end. Hilarious. Cass walks away.

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Theta Leader is dressed up fancy and nervous. You can tell because she forcibly breaths. Amazing acting…astounding, really. She walks in and greets her boyfriend’s father. “You are a spirited girl.” He tells her, but it isn’t a compliment. Apparently he may get chance to be vice-president and he doesn’t want his boy with an unscrupulous girl. I’m so proud of myself for getting that word into a review. He basically threatens her not to screw up his chances with “surprises” that could embarrass his son, and therefore himself. Hopefully this leads to something later.

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Back at house, the girls shoo a guy out as they finish preparing for the party. Nerd takes this opportunity to separate herself from the group. Cass worries how the girl will do once away from the college and her friends. Theta Leader, who must have a fast car, says she doesn’t care since she doesn’t need her anymore. Ahem…DO YOU GET IT YET?!

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Shower scene! Shadowed side boob galore. Asian Girl takes an extra long one (No nudity for her, fellas) and the other girls leave. So she’s alone. This movie wouldn’t rip off Psycho with a tire iron, would it?

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She stops the shower and…JUMP SCARE! Some random girl coming to ask her a question. Don’t worry though because Theta Leader shows up from nowhere to be mean to the girl because she isn’t a senior. She makes the girl drop her towel and leave naked. And…boob shot.

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I don't really have a joke, but I will point out that the shower scene is gratuitous to the story without actually being gratuitous since it hides the majority of girls shown.

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Now “alone” except for a girl hiding, Asian Girl brings up the text and Leader mocks her for being afraid and openly admits that they killed Megan. Hiding girl knocks over soap but isn’t discovered. Before she can leave, the showers start turning on. Oh, and boob shot. She reaches for a towel and wraps it around her…because that’s important to do when fearing for her life.

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Hiding Girl is no longer hiding but slowly walking. Her towel might as well say “Victim.” The completely cloaked killer grabs her, shoves her into a shower and drives a sharp tire iron through her throat... it looks like the tire iron is a blade. Why? That makes no sense, but whatever. This person sucks at revenge. That’s two non-related and one related kills. And how did the killer know that the hiding person was there? Daggone…

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Meanwhile, Nerd is officially well-separated from the group up in the dark attic. She’s there about 10 seconds before she starts the “Hello, is anybody there?” routine. Hint: They probably won’t tell you. A quick moving object darts by. If the killer got to the attic this quick, they’ve got secret passages...or poor editing.

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Nerd finds a light, turns it on, and there is Cass’s old bloody jacket hanging in front of her. Her discovery is rewarded by a JUMP SCARE!!! Some guy who was looking for her…because she might need some help. Apparently, he was too stupid to answer her earlier questions. She leaves and we jump to the group having an emotional filled conversation. Or at least things that resemble emotions.

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Nerd cries about killing Megan. Theta Leader scolds her because there are “30 others” who are outside the door who shouldn’t know. Whatever, blabber mouth. They discuss the jacket and whine. Conversation blames the would-be-rapist. They try Beer Tosser’s phone, but she doesn’t answer because she’s giving a bottle job…what is wrong with me?

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By the way, Beer Tosser’s actual name in the movie is “Chugs.” Yeah. Whatever, movie.

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Nerd assumes that Beer Tosser is dead. Theta Leader says “Nobody is dead…except for Megan.” Do. You. Get. It? She continues to blame the guy, saying he’s went nuts. It’s admirable that he waited 8 months to do so. Leader declares they still need to go to the party because otherwise they are admitting guilt. How does that make any…screw it. Carry on, movie. Nerd is instructed to hide the jacket. This makes her sad and weepy. Weepier?

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Commence the party. Girls dance with very little on. Some guy stage dives into a load of bubbles…that doesn’t have any water to go along with it. Heavy thud. Darn it, the movie made me laugh.

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Random boob shots. Dancing shots. Cass’s beau appears with her. She doesn’t want to be alone, he promises her. Elsewhere, Asian Girl is sticking tight to her obviously inebriated guy. He gets on her nerves but he doesn’t care because he could get “any of the girls here.” Again, if he didn’t really care about the relationship, why would he…screw it, stupid college horndog stereotype. She instantly breaks up with him and storms off like the genius she is.

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Heavy drinking. Dancing. Underpaid extras. AG’s former boyfriend walks outside and instantly hits on the Nerd. She threatens to kill him if he touches her again. She leaves and he sees a few girls trying to sneak in. He offers to get them in for a sight of flesh. They move into a closed location…but something makes a slicing noise and the girls go all “Hook Hand Urban Legend” with the “Did you hear something?” He investigates and sees the cloaked killer standing…cloaked…with no one questioning it. As he goes to confront him, the girls decide to not flash him because he’s creepy. When he turns back around, our tire iron blade wielding ninja is gone. Nerd spies down on the guy and he asks her not to tell Asian Girl. I wonder if she saw our killer? Doubtful.

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Asian Girl complains to Cass. She regrets not going to the cops. Cass does her best not to say “I told you so.” So pointless. I’m not going to feel sorry for this character 60 minutes into the movie. It’s not happening.

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Drunk Boyfriend ambles around a dark area. Can you put two and two together on what comes next? Slice and dice. He lasts the longest of anyone so far, even managing to bust a window and shout for help…but everyone assumes that he is wasted…because they’re stupid. Anyway, he tries to crawl down a laundry shoot and the shuriken tire iron, which looks to now have multiple weapons (The heck is this thing?) hits the wall and freezes him in his place because if he falls, he’ll be killing himself. So instead, he just waits and the killer eventually does it themselves. And the Nerd saw it all. Where are her glasses?

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A SCREAM!!! No one pays attention because they’re stupid. It’s Nerd who is running off. Asian Girl behind her to find out what’s wrong. Theta Leader excuses herself from the boyfriend who suggests she get everything under control.

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The remaining four girls meet up as Nerd tries to find her words. “Gown.” Theta Leader explains that it is graduation and everyone is wearing graduation gowns. Mine didn’t come with a total face covering hood. Darn Honors College. They cheated me. Cass yells at Leader to stop harassing her but that doesn’t work.

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They end up splitting up. Leader and Cass go in to where Nerd saw the killer, Nerd and Asian Girl stay behind. Nerd and AG are now “Team Fodder.” Anyway, they find the dead guy and the tire iron. The ever pleasant T. Leader nicely points out that the tire iron has been “pimped out.” A cell phone rings and Theta Leader has been sent video. The video recorded on Megan’s phone of her being killed...sent by Megan’s phone. OooEeeOoo.

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It starts up where the guy stabbed her. Theta Leader is still saying it is Beer Tosser’s brother. Meanwhile, Nerd screams. When Cass goes to update them, Nerd is missing and she calmly drops that AG’s boyfriend is dead before leaving. AG takes it well. Or it was bad acting. Either one.

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Meanwhile, Cass’s boyfriend is waiting for her when someone comes up and asks if he sells weed. Hilarious. She appears and asks him to leave and she’ll explain later. She loves the word “later.” I bet boyfriend is very happy at the “I need you here, now leave,” junk she’s pulling. Anyway, she then takes off for outside where Theta Leader has rounded up the troops in her car. Team Fodder cries in the backseat. Cass jumps in and they head out without weapons or defense of any kind.

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They have to suddenly STOP because Megan’s sister is IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. Convenient? She tells Theta Leader that Megan hated her (as well as insulting her hair) and walks off. With that complete, they head off to the original place.

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Nerd is now convinced that it is Megan behind this. They get there and Cass grabs flare gun. They didn’t even bring a flashlight so Leader turns on her headlights for a JUMP SCARE!!!

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I'd rather have a Flair gun. Wooooooo. Sigh, I need better jokes.

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There is the brother mumbling about “she made me do it.” Asian Girl grabs the Flare gun and threatens him. He has blood on him and barely makes sense. He shouts something at one of the girls while holding a piece of broken mirror and then gets PLOWED by Leader’s car. She is apparently tired of the jump scares, too.

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The other girls yell at her for doing so. “Three to one odds he’s still alive.” She quips because we haven’t had a reminder of how uncaring she is lately. Shock. Shock. The blood on him was his. He slit his wrist with the broken mirror. Plus he got the same message on his phone. This convinces the ever-dumbing down nerd that it’s Megan behind it all.

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They decide to “find out” by lowering Cass into the well to find the body. What the heck? The chain breaks as she’s lowered and she crashes to the ground. The girls panic…but she’s Final Girl so she’s just fine. Leader accidentally drops the piece of mirror and it barely misses her hand. Cass pulls out her phone and looks around.

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She finds a nice message. “Theta Pi Must Die.” Because, dead or alive, the killer knew they’d search the well. Sure.

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They go back to the house. Party seems to be over. Everyone is gone to the after party. Oh, and the Jacuzzi overheated. Theta Leader decides to find her guy, leave, and get married. Asian Girl decides to go turn off the Jacuzzi…probably because she caused the problem with her over need for bubbles. Cass suggests she not go alone, but she still has the flare gun.

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Inside the house, the music is still blaring as Leader looks for her love. Cass and Nerd enter the house. Outside, AG attempts to turn off the thing, but it won’t. So she finds the cord and starts following it. Brilliant.

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Theta Leader finds a couple stragglers and throws them out. That was needed. AG is still following the cord and hears a creepy noise. Keeps walking. Tension...

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Andy is 83 miles away. Thanks Ping but for some reason I don’t believe you unless he secretly has wings. Cass and Nerd stay together. Leader pulls the plug on the music. Phone rings. It’s Beer Tosser! Or at least her phone. She couldn’t make it to the party…cause she’s dead. Smiley Face Emoticon. The killer appears and takes a swing at the Leader, missing because a quick kill is too good for her by movie law.

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AG makes it to the door and tries to get in, but the cord has somehow got around her foot and she is pulled into the bubbly abyss. Cass grabs a walking cane and rushes out, but it’s too late. She approaches a glowing spot in the bubbles and discovers the killer apparently decided to forgo the ever-witty tire iron kill by instead shooting the flare gun in AG’s mouth. That’s some lazy CGI…moving on, separated from the group Cass runs back inside, locking the door behind her, showing some actual smarts.

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Worst Hunting Show...Ever.

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Theta Leader apparently assumes that her boyfriend who only really cares about himself would stay behind to wait for her because she is still searching for him. She finds Megan’s sister in her bed. Maggie claims to have slept with Theta Leader’s rich boy and they cat fight. Seriously.

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It spills out into the hall. Cass and Nerd have to break them apart and reveal that the killer is here. Theta Leader is tired of this crap and grabs an axe. Where did that come from? Anyway, they heard a noise coming down the hall, so she’s about to ambush the wrong person. Yep.

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It’s Crenshaw. She grabs the axe and smacks her in the face. Crenshaw don’t take crap, y’all. Also, she has a shot gun. Wowza. Anyway, she says that Leader had that coming for what she did. Leader immediately spills the beans by apologizing for killing Megan. Crenshaw was talking about trashing her house. SURPRISE!!!

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Anyway, Maggie isn’t too happy to hear about this and goes to resume the cat fight but Crenshaw fires a shot into the ceiling. Cause Crenshaw don’t take crap, y’all. Cass quickly explains that multiple people are dead. Is anyone else around? Rich Boy, explains Theta Leader. She then spills the beans that she spilled the beans to him. This doesn’t make Cass very happy, but makes sense because she’s a manipulator.

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Maggie says that Rich Boy left when he heard Leader coming. Everyone has dropped their phone. Maggie considers leaving and Leader puts on a fake concern voice. Maggie heads out to find her sister…oy.

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Crenshaw heads into the kitchen. She sees a shadowy figure and since they don’t announce themselves to her, she unleashes three shotgun blasts that they have to avoid. Cause Crenshaw don’t take crap y’all. She gives a speech telling how she isn’t afraid. I believe her.

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Theta Leader realizes they can sneak out the back. Cass lays down the law of “don’t abandon me.” Like that’s going to work. Nerd is advised to take a chance to run if possible. Nerd’s emotion as they leave is weird. Seemed almost happy. Probably bad acting, but whatever. Elsewhere, Maggie is looking for Megan. Good luck with that.

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Crenshaw hears something running behind her so she turns and fires. She is looking to ask questions second. Turning a corner, the shuriken tire iron is flung at her, but she strafes and fires. Halo Elite.

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Crenshaw. She don't take crap.

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She’s out of bullets though, giving the killer time enough to charge her and shove her against the weapon, impaling her. The full gown wearing killer walks away, leaving Crenshaw to die, but she instead finishes loading her gun, aims, and takes one last shot, sadly missing. Hardcore. I salute you, Crenshaw.

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I guess the killer has multiple pimped out tire irons as many are being left behind.

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Maggie finds the cloaked killer, asking if she is Megan. She then has to duck a Molotov cocktail that lights the front door on fire.

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Rich Boy shows up. He’s dressed in a gown, Theta Leader’s gown. She accuses him of sleeping with Maggie and he shoves her through a table. “This can’t get out!” he shouts. He tackles Cass and Leader smacks him with the blunt end of the axe. When he gets up he threatens her with his father’s power like the manly man he is. Leader suggests that perhaps she’s having relations with the wrong member of the family…although she handles that sentence with different words…

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Cass gets an extinguisher and smacks Rich Boy. The two head off. They enter into a room and realize the house is on fire. They are not amused. Rich Boy is apologizing as he walks down the hall. Her phone goes off giving away their position. Guess who lied about losing her phone? Sigh.

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They move into a bathroom and for some reason open the shower curtain. They find a JUMP SCARE!!! It is Megan’s decomposing body. They don’t really react or care. I’m pretty sure our ever lovable Leader makes a quip. Rich Boy is near. Leader tries to listen at the door and gets smacked in the head as he tries to break in. “We aren’t leaving until we come up with a story!”

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He quips that Cass’s boyfriend isn’t there to save her just as someone shoves a pipe through his Rich Skull. SURPRISE!!! It’s the boyfriend! I guess the Ping was wrong. Theta Leader wakes up and walks out of the bathroom. She sees it first.

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Cass’s Boyfriend has the specialized tire irons. Leader starts to try and talk her way out of it and he SHOVES a blade through her mouth. He then reveals that Nerd spilled the beans to him. Heh?! Are you serious?!

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Anyway, he killed to protect his girl. He rants about how horrible the people were and how he was helping her “cut the cord.” He claims to have only killed people who knew, but I don’t think that Beer Tosser (I got to mention her again!) told that Doctor…He rants his explanation. It’s a bit blah, blah as he explains everything yet nothing.

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You know...you could've just got flowers to show that you love me. I like flowers.

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How is Theta Leader dead from being stabbed in the mouth? It doesn’t even have an angle to the brain. All that “She’s evil” build for nothing? Why must you keep disappointing me, movie?

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Cass plays along thanking him. He removes his blade from the former Leader and her corpse falls. He invites Cass along to help him kill the Nerd. “You did say we need to do more things together?” Boo. Just…Just Boo.

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Cass tries to talk Boyfriend out of it but he declares the Nerd the weakest since she told him. I can’t really argue with him there. Anyway, Cass splits away from him to go outside while he “finishes up.” They share a kiss first. She then lies and says she told the Nerd to meet her in the basement. He heads down and she rushes to get the Nerd. They run for the exit but Boyfriend confronts them and questions his girlfriend for lying to him. She grabs something and smacks him up a bit before running. She hears Maggie screaming for help and runs.

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Maggie is trapped behind a wall of fire. I’m not really sure how she got there. Cass comes up with the brilliant plan of…Jump over the flames. Daggone it…Anyway, Boyfriend’s back and everyone’s in trouble.

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He puts Maggie in the “Rock and a Hard place” position by saying she can stay there or jump over and get killed. He grabs a Tire Iron Shuriken that has a rope around it and throws it at the kinda twin a couple times, recovering it afterwards. This distracts him long enough to get hit by a lamp. It doesn’t keep him down long though and he takes a swing at Cass.

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Cass tries to hold on as the holes in the story start to break the film apart.

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He somehow breaks the floor and she almost falls through. Clinging on. She asks him to help her up. He admonishes her for lying to him and not telling him about Megan and does “Little Piggies” cuts to her fingers. He stops to quip…but gets interrupted by Nerd with a shotgun.

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Hot Nerd with a Shotgun. Next on G4.

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Pump Action. Fired. Impact. I take this as a win for Crenshaw. He falls backwards into the flames. The floor breaks and he falls into the basement where fires wait for him. Symbolism? Whatever.

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They save Maggie and the three head to safety. And they do it with a SLOOOOOOW MOTION Hero Walk. Seriously movie? Triumphant music.

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Hero Walk or Walk of Shame? You decide.

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15 MONTHS LATER~! RUSH WEEK

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Happy music plays. A big breasted woman gets hit with a water balloon to the jugs. Maggie is now a Theta sister, just as she promised.

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One problem, the movie’s music goes tense. There is a guy holding some sort of sharp object that is probably for gardening. He clinches them angrily. He has a scar on his wrist. Would-be-rapist-obviously-a-killer is back.

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END MOVIE

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Sigh. Screw you movie.

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The Score: 0.5 out of 5

It hurts…so bad. I’m not even sure what the half a point is for. Perhaps the mild surprise of having three survivors? Sure. I’ll live with that. Daggone it.

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Look at this:

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What is the point of this? Seriously? It especially doesn’t matter when the killer is revealed to be the Valedictorian boyfriend! He’s killing everyone off so that his beloved Final Girl won’t have to worry about going to jail…so what is the point of the tire iron influenced killing weapon? Wouldn’t pimping out a tire iron get you some…attention? Especially since he made MULTIPLE ones so that he could leave them as calling cards that no one besides the girls would get. How long did he have to train with that thing?

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WHY?
WHY?!

WHY?!!!!!

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Constructive Criticism:

You could probably write a worse movie if you tried really, really hard. That’s you’re constructive criticism. Deal with it.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Random Thoughts: Nightmare on Elm Street Remake

Got a group of people together and ventured into theatre for the latest offering from Platinum Dunes, Nightmare on Elm Street. For me to do a typical “Mind-to-Mouth” review is virtually impossible (Ever try writing at a rapid pace while in the dark?), so I’ve instead collected some “Random Thoughts” on the film.

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Yes, there will be spoilers as I mention exact things in the film.

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Enjoy…or don’t. What do I care?

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I actually care a lot. Please enjoy!

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~ What happened to that third guy with Quentin & Jesse at the start?

~ That cake at the restaurant looks pretty darn good.


~ Who falls asleep at a FUNERAL...especially when you're in THE DAGGONE FRONT ROW!

~ I've seen things man. Bad things. Bad, bad things. Dude. Whatever.

~ LOUD NOISE!

~ "Why are you screaming, I haven't even cut you, yet." is the best line from the trailer, but in the movie, the "We've got 6 more minutes to play..." was a top line.

~ I'm guessing that Jesse's cellmate only had two days until release. Poor guy. He's the true victim.

~ Stop lying! I'm not lying! Stop lying! I'm not lying! STOP LYING! I'M NOT LYING!"

~ How awkward was it that Nancy was crossing out the faces of the dead people? Their names are on the back. Just mark those off, you dope.

~ EXTREME CLOSE-UP!

~ Speaking of awkward, nothing like seeing a murderous "flashback" while in a speedo. Although, having a burning man running at you full steam is rather amusing. And by amusing, I mean I had to stifle laughter.

~ Who posted that VLog?!

~ You are experiencing random sleep that you can’t control. You have decided you need to get to a certain area in order to stop the killer…so why do you detour to a pharmacy…and then leave the other person with you…ALONE IN THE CAR!

~ She burns herself while already awake…and then promptly has another micronap scene. Good job, Nancy.

~ Micronaps are always possible...unless the plot needs to develop without Freddy around.

~ Some of the drawings from Nancy’s room are also in Freddy’s “cave.” Is that supposed to be her “seeing” things in the dream and copying them (extremely accurately) or were the set designers just lazy?


~ LOUD NOISE AND EXTREME CLOSE-UP!!!

~ So the one girl gets tossed around like crazy while Freddy tortures her, but Nancy stays in place during her dream battle with him tossing her into walls?

~ Heavy dose of adrenaline to the heart?! Boom, it explodes, movie over!

~ Why is Freddy so daggone powerful OUTSIDE of the dream realm? Shouldn't he be more human since he's in the real world? He chucks Quentin with absolute ease.

~ The ending didn't really pack much of a punch. Kind of lame in my eyes…

~ Did they explain HOW Freddy became a Dream Stalker? "Just cause" isn't much of a reason. Yes, I know he got power since he was remembered...but I'm pretty sure that doesn't typically happen with deceased killers.

~ If it is a reboot, then why are you relying on people knowing certain things from the original? Like where the finger blades come from. Or why Freddy likes using a furnace room.

Overall…

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Meh. Is it darker than the later Nightmare films? Yeah. But even with an “unforgiving” step into the shadows, it still doesn’t really hit the mark. No legitimate scares and at least 20 Jump Scares that produce no tension and only provide a momentary discomfort to the audience’s ears. A complete disappointment to me.

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SCORE: 1 Out of 5

That single point is for you Jackie Earle Haley. Nice try as Freddy.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings

MIND TO MOUTH:

PUMPKINHEAD II: BLOOD WINGS

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I like the 1st poster better. And it isn't just because the tagline is in English.

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Pumpkinhead 2. It is constantly mocked for not being like its original. Of course, it’s hard to follow up a movie carried by Lance freaking Henriksen. But this was essentially a direct to video cash-in on the popularity of the original.

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Here…we…go.

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Live Entertainment Presents. Motion Picture Corporation of America.Presents. Wow, double presented. That’s a great sign…right?

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We’ve got an all read background with the cast being named off in white letters. Slowly we pull away, as Roger Clinton’s name is bolded on screen, to show off the blood wings design. Bill Dill was Director of Photography. Just felt like adding that.

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Jeff Burr is our director and…

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THROUGH HELLFIRE AND BRIMSTONE IT’S KANE! Wait…sorry. They ended the credits with an explosion and then quickly jumped into a black and white flashback of 1958, a blind woman calling for “Tommy” before leaving a plate of food on the ground and walking away.

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A deformed hand takes the food and a 1950s style car pulls up, a bunch of obnoxious (supposedly) teens hopping out. “Hey! There he is,” chimes the most-likely ring leader of the group since he gets a close-up when he speaks. Someone is told to turn the radio off so that the freak won’t hear them coming. Ring Leader declares “Let’s finish this” before brandishing his switchblade. Wow, this movie is going to be short.

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The group then grabs a bunch of weapons and rushes at Tommy, giving up any of the stealth that they apparently wanted no less than 20 seconds ago. A mild chase occurs.

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“Run!” shouts the blind lady, sensing Tommy’s troubles. Ring Leader shouts taunts as they run. Blind Lady runs in slow motion, which isn’t very helpful. A cheesy 50s sound song is playing; I suppose to add to the timeframe?

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Tommy’s scurry brings him to a large well or something like that. This traps him for some reason. Ring Leader happily shouts “Batters up!” while Tommy gets smacked with a baseball bat. Blind Lady apparently feels Tommy’s pain and collapses. “Single” “Double” “Triple” “Home Run!” I feel like I’m watching a Pirates game, and Charlie Morton is pitching.

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They then “String’em up” on the ropes around the well while the Ring Leader now dips into fishing terms before slashing defenseless deformed Tommy with the knife. The deformed Tommy coughs up blood and they finally release the rope and let him plummet to his doom. The End.

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Or not, I suppose. “Dirty job, but someone had to do it,” unimaginatively quips the ring leader and we cut to…I don’t know, present day I suppose.

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Anyway, we’re introduced to the new sheriff in town who is joking about how he gave up a big city job to come here. “Did you hear that?” “What?” “Silence. Beautiful silence.” How very Martin Brody of him.

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The mother is concerned about their daughter since they’ve randomly moved to this country area. The sheriff/father is sure that Jenny will be fine. Apparently, she got into trouble in the city so the new location could be good for her.

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Right on cue, we cut to a couple of goofs outside of the school, sitting in their car, lighting up a joint while a couple makes out in the back. They spot Jenny and wave her over. The lead goof who is wearing ridiculous sunglasses introduces himself as Danny. Jenny mocks them since she’s been around tougher people. This someone gets respect from the group. Okay. Danny offers her a ride and, since she’s a rebel, Jenny decides to skip school with them. Yay new starts.

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Meanwhile, Sheriff is selling hunting permits, but the prices have gone up so random redneck, Ernst, is upset. The local judge is hanging around and calls the redneck Slick, something Ernst grumbles about while leaving. The local judge, who for some reason resembles Martin Mull, takes a route to exposition highway revealing Slick and he were friends in school. Judge looks completely dumb with an oversized hat, suspenders, plaid, and a cheesy political grin. I don’t know why I’m using so many negative words to describe people; it’s just what is popping into my mind when I see them.

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Anyway, Judge reminds Sheriff he has a physical and we cut to sheriff in the examination room with the nurse talking about Dr. Pettibone. The good doctor enters and we have a brief exposition conversation with Pettibone revealing her grandmother was a witch doctor. Ooo Eee. Ooo Eee Ahh.

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Anyway, some guy comes in and says the mayor is ready to meet the sheriff. And enter our esteemed Mayor Bubba, played by Roger Clinton. Yeah, Bill’s brother. They chat, Bubba suggesting the sheriff not underestimate the small town and blah, blah, blah. He then takes his guitar (that apparently was being tuned by the nurse?) and heads out while the sheriff gives an “O…k?” face to the camera. Not directly at the camera, so the fourth wall remains intact.

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Cut to our rebels who are rebelling by the “old iron mine.” Exposition about odd circumstances and people dying there. Check. Random comment about it being bottomless. Stupid check.

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Anyway, they are drinking beer in cans that simply read “Beer.” The couple of the group pick at each other giving lines that are supposed to give them character. It doesn’t work. Danny grabs the chain and asks if our ever-lovable city girl Jenny if she’ll give him a kiss if he swings across. She says no and he fakes falling in. After knowing him for all of 20 minutes, Jenny becomes afraid he’ll be hurt and shouts. Anyway, he swings over and takes the kiss.

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The “lookout” of the group who wears black but isn’t really goth or emo as much as uncomfortable in heat, spots someone coming. It’s Daddy Sheriff and Danny tries to wipe the kiss off his lips. Manly.

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Danny is revealed to be the judge’s son through forced dialogue. Sheriff suggests that they leave since there is a “No Trespassing” sign. He then tells Jenny to come with him, which she does reluctantly. The couple mocks her, but Danny defends her since she’s apparently his woman now. Black Clothes Guy (BCG) flips off the sheriff behind his back. Manly.

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So we cut to Sheriff and Daughter arriving home, her complaining that he doesn’t like her new friends. They have a cliché conversation around that type of subject. He asks her not to see “those kids” again. Guaranteeing she’ll be back with them within the next scene.

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Cut to Jenny sneaking out. A black cat crosses her path. At least I think it was a cat. That or a very deprived dog. As their car rushes down the road, this occurs: “What did you tell your dad?” “I didn’t.” Whoa, rebel!

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They need to figure out what they’re going to do and BCG suggests cow-tipping. That idea is rejected. Danny then comes up with the idea of driving without the headlights on. No one gets to reject the idea since Danny is the driver. It is indeed as stupid as it sounds with the couple cheering as they blindly charge into the night while Jenny screams for Danny to stop. BCG? No clue. He’s probably cheering.

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Anyway, Danny turns the lights back on to appease Jenny…and then turns them off again for another run. She yells at him. He turns them on AND HITS AN OLD LADY!! Oops. His bad.

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Screeching halt. The old lady gets up because she’s tougher than a two dollar steak. Random profanity from the couple. The crew get out and run over to where the old lady was. She’s not there, obviously. More profanity. Jenny asks who they hit. Danny brushes it off as a “crazy lady” who lives…somewhere. Anyway, the female member of the couple decides to get a close-up and explains that the lady is thought to be a witch. Ooo Eee Ooo.

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Danny obviously cares more about the dent in his car. Jenny wonders where the woman went. Danny assumes that she’s fine since she left and wants to leave himself. Jenny lays down the law about hit-and-runs and says they have to go check on her. Reluctantly they go, with male member of the couple (also our Token Black Character, poor guy) grabbing BCG and dragging him along.

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They walk through a creepy, pentagram shaped cemetery. They talk but nothing useful. BCG is dragging his feet. So they get to the old lady’s cabin, just to confirm to us that it’s blind lady from the beginning. Her place has held up well over the years. They go into her house uninvited, essentially breaking and entering to see if she’s okay. That makes sense right? A B&E is much better than a H&R.

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While the TBG makes stupid jokes, his lady lights some candles and finds some sort of model of the cemetery they walked through. “This looks like a page from the Book of Shadows.” You know, because that is instantly recognizable. Thanks Lady. Movie paused for a second because I want to say…

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I don’t care that she’s the one into supernatural stuff, it’s a silly jump that one piece of wrinkly paper = one specific book. As if all supernatural books have their own form of paper. You think that only one book is made of human flesh? I don’t care. Necronomicon. Book of Shadows. Blah, blah, blah. I’m sure more than one “supernatural” writer thought it was a cool idea…Anyway…pushing play.

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Lady declares the spell shown is one to bring back the dead. They find blood in a vile and Lady keeps babbling about things and I’m starting to tune her out. Danny comes up with the ingenious idea of helping out the old lady by bringing whatever is buried “out there” back to life. Mainly because he thinks it’ll be “real dangerous” and he apparently loves danger. This is so stupid…but it’s getting us to the slaughtering of these people so I’ll allow it.

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Apparently BCG’s name is Paulie. Yeah, I’m sticking with BCG. Lady warns Danny. Jenny asks to leave. Old Lady walks in. “We knocked when we first came in,” spouts Danny, preparing for his B&E court case. Old Lady doesn’t care, tells them to leave.

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Danny then takes the time to confirm she’s blind. This may bring up the “Then why was she walking late at night” thing, but how would she know it’s dark? No, that’s not a serious question. The serious question is “Where would she be walking to if she never goes anywhere?”

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“These eyes can see more than you, boy.” Owned. “We didn’t see you,” says Jenny. The Blind Woman doesn’t take an obvious quip. The group leaves, but Blind Woman steps in front of Danny. She senses he has the blood vial and tells him to leave it. He responds by punching her in the face. This is the leader of your group people. This guy.

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“You…will…die.” The Blind Woman states using her best Shatner pause. “Miss Osie curses you…” I assume that means she is Miss Osie. So, that makes Tommy…Tommy Osie. Just sayin. Anyway…”…to the vengeance of Pumpkinhead.”

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We cut to the cemetery. “There’s no turning back now,” declares Danny like a moron since turning back would be extremely easy to do. You even have a car that is still by or perhaps ON the road that you can go to. Anyway, they dig up the grave, including a “Shovel hits ground and throws dirt” POV shot from the end of the shovel. BCG stands and watches while Danny and TBG share the digging. Manly.

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They finally find…something. Perhaps it is the 2nd Act. They open the coffin they found and the thing inside has a skull that looks…like a pumpkin. You don’t say? Anyway, Lady helps Danny do the spell. Jenny leaves when they start.

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As Danny reads a pamphlet, Blind Woman knocks over a candle lighting her place on fire. BCG howls at the moon and they yell at him. Jenny, during her storming sees the fire and runs back for help. The spell doesn’t work immediately and Danny gets disappointed. Jenny returns screaming about the fire.

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They rush back to the cabin seeing the fire. “Where’s old witch?” asks TBG while Danny replies “She probably already got out.” The leader of the group always looking for danger, folks.

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Anyway, the model of the cemetery catches on fire and this somehow complete the spell. Back at the actual cemetery, our title character busts out of the coffin, allowing us only to see his hand. Dun, dun, dunnnnnnnnnnnnnn.

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Next day, Daddy Sheriff and his Deputy go through the remains of the “Witch’s” house. Uniquely enough, nothing else around the place caught on fire. The nurse from earlier appears to give us the exposition that the Blind Woman is still alive but in “critical” condition. Sheriff finds a windowsill that has been scratched by rather large claws, guessing that something was trying to get in. I actually think it’s a nice touch that Pumpkinhead Tommy (Tommyhead?) would try and rescue his mother/caregiver.

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Meanwhile, our Rebel Crew is now at the “Old Iron Mine.” Cause that’s a great place to fall back to. Danny apologizes to Jenny. “We were just havin’ fun.” Idiiot. Anyway, they somehow know the woman is in the hospital. Danny gets mad and tells people to keep quiet about what happened. Perhaps scared straight, BCG isn’t wearing all black clothes. Sigh…he keeps the nickname anyway. His jacket does go from zipped to unzipped in a couple shots though…Anyway, Danny makes up with Jenny since she’s his woman after one whole day in town. Not sure who’s the quicker worker.

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Meanwhile, Ernst shows up at the Sheriff’s office to get a refund for his hunting permit. He gives exposition about seeing the kids in the woods and after what happened to Miss Osie he doesn’t want to go in the forest. Hence the need for a refund. “I ain’t a hunter no more, I’m the hunted!” Ernst seems in the know about Tommyhead but tells Sheriff to go ask the judge and the mayor if he wants to know more. For the heck of it, I'll make Ernst my "Character I want to Survive" but we all know he's doomed.

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Cut to the Sheriff taking Ernst’s tip and showing up to see Danny and his dented car. Danny tries to act innocent. Fails. At acting that is. Sheriff points out the dent and asks how it happened allowing Danny to say he hit a dog. Dumb. Judge walks out and confirms a horribly forced alibi made up by Danny. “I was home studying…right?!”

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Danny, realizing he’s got absolutely no shot of being liked by the Sheriff, decides to take a shot saying “Tell Jenny I said hi.” Judge berates Danny after Sheriff leaves, stating he’s on probation. That’s one angry Martin Mull.

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Over at the hospital, the Blind Woman senses that Tommyhead is about. Over this realization, we see Ernst feeding his goats. Apparently he decided not to flee like he stated originally? Oh well, bad move by him. Lightning and wind picks up and Ernst immediately picks up that he’s first in line, making him a very knowledgeable horror movie character.

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We get a red warped POV shot representing…well…you know. Seemingly all monsters have to have odd sight. We see his stomping feet as Tommyhead follows Ernst to the barn. We then see a tail…because…I don’t know. Finally, there’s the snarling mouth.

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In-side the barn, Ernst is reciting scripture while loading his shotgun. Tommyhead sneaks in…somehow…and attacks. Ernst shouts “Come on, Satan!” and charges. Surprisingly brave for a fodder character, but stupid just the same since he doesn’t just aim and pull the trigger.

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Tommyhead swats the gun away and grabs Ernst by the throat, lifting him into the air. Close-up of Tommyhead’s angry face while some random preacher preaches (kind of like the random 50s song from the beginning). A very fake looking shot as Tommyhead tosses Ernst into a meat hook (You can see the wires on both Monster and Man) before using him as a punching/slicing bag. Ernst’s limbs are ripped off which is a good sign he didn’t make it. Just like the first one, Miss Osie feels the pain as Tommyhead does his work.

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The next day, Sheriff and Dr. Pettibone are in the surprisingly clean barn. They uncover the body showing that Ernst also got decapitated. The judge appears and blames a wildcat for the death. We see a shot of a blood spatter that has the look of a design…wings. Blood…Wings. You don’t say? Judge says he’s going to round up a posse to go after the wildcat and Sheriff tells him not to. Judge talks ill of the dead (Poor Ernst…) and leaves.

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We cut to Daddy Sheriff at home discussing the destruction of Ernst with Pettibone in front of his family. That’s nice. Real nice. They piece together that whatever killed Ernst was also at Miss Osie’s. A revelation that causes Jenny to drop plates, apologize, and run to a phone. Danny and her give us some exposition on stuff we already know and to set-up that they’re meeting up after school tomorrow.

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Holy crap, why are they showing the Sheriff’s wife the picture of dead Ernst? And why is she taking it so well?! Holy crap! Anyway, they debate the wildcat idea, dismissing it. Pettibone makes the declaration of “Pumpkinhead!” and we get Monster Exposition. This includes the nursery rhyme being recited by Daddy Sheriff while the daughter looks on.

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“Bolted doors, and windows barred. Guard dogs prowling in the yard. Won’t protect you in your bed. Nothing will…from Pumpkinhead.” We end the rhyme with an EXTREME CLOSE-UP of Daddy Sheriff.

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Fade to Jenny in bed. A full moon outside. Suddenly, the bed is outside and Danny jumps in with her. I’m going to guess this is a dream. She wakes up from her dream and PUMPKINHEAD IS RIGHT THERE SCREAMING IN HER FACE!

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Yeah, that’s also a dream. Sadly, they don’t go for the trifecta of dreams but do cut to Tommyhead stomping through the forest, coming up on a small house/cabin/thing. Inside, a couple is consummating their relationship, the man revealing that he’s married…but not to the woman he’s with. The woman is Scream Queen Linnea Quigley which makes me believe that she won’t be hiding quietly in a moment.

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Linnea goes to get some smokes out of the man’s truck as he talks about how this is “better than delivering the mail.” This guy is getting way too much character development for someone who’s about to be brutally slaughtered in three minutes.

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Quick cut to the hospital as Miss Osie starts shaking in pain. A pumpkin decoration is knocked over and shatters. Cue lightning and wind as Tommyhead waltzes through the front door. Our mailman anti-hero throws a bottle of booze at it. This doesn’t work.

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Country music starts playing from the truck as Tommyhead drops the Mail Man with a Back Breaker and throws him through the wall. That’s hardcore. Anyway, this causes Linnea, uniquely enough, to start screaming her head off.

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Cut to Daddy Sheriff getting a call about another murder. I’m sure he secretly regrets moving back to the “silent” country. He makes his way to our murder Mail Man’s shack and discovers another bloody set of wings prompting our first on-screen reference of “Blood wings.” Apparently our Mail Man was stealing mail, not that it matters now. Sheriff starts piecing things together with Pettibone.

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Pettibone has found a blood sample different from the departed Mail Man and decides it could be the killer’s. A noise from a closet causes them to freak, Sheriff pulling his good. Linnea bursts from the room screaming her head off, as usual, and gets sedated. Pettibone declares that whatever she saw “shut her mind down” one step away from being dead. So, no exposition from her.

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Back in town, the judge is rounding up a posse and Sheriff is not happy, especially when he gets to his desk and finds the judge sitting at it. Apparently hunting season has been moved up. They snipe at each other with the judge basically saying that no matter what, his mob is going “hunting.”

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So, after that, we immediately cut to Jenny and Danny making out. However, Jenny throws up the stop sign on the anxious “teenager.” She’s upset about the killings and Danny is worried she might say something about the fire. Nothing new here. They agree to get together with the group “Tomorrow.” In essence the earlier phone call could have set this up without having this scene.

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Anyway, the rest of the crew shows up and taunts Danny for talking to Jenny. TBG figures she wants to “rat” them out. Apparently Lady read Jenny’s permanent file. Whatever problem she was in, her father got her out of, so they don’t believe they can trust her. Dun Dun Dunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.

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Anyway, Lady wonders if they brought back Pumpkinhead. Danny mocks them and declares that they’ll go to the cemetery and see that the coffin is still occupied.

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Back at Daddy Sheriff’s home, his wife is helping him with his case again as they look at Mail Man’s belongings. There are clippings about a “deformed boy” and this causes an exposition conversation about Daddy Sheriff growing up and hearing the horrible rumors about the kid. Apparently, our main character, at age 7, bumped into Tommy after the deformed kid dropped his fire engine toy into the well and almost fell himself reaching for it. Boy Sheriff saved him. We get a close-up of Tommy’s face. It’s…a face. With bumps. Anyway, Daddy Sheriff realized he “was just a regular boy, like me.” Then he drops the revelation that Tommy’s death was ruled “suicide by hanging.” Wonder how they explained the baseball bat shaped bruises.

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Cut to Pettibone’s examination room. Sheriff requests the coroner’s report on Tommy. Pettibone then goes on that the blood was freakish and she knows “It’s not an animal. It’s not a human. So what is it?!” Before more of this riveting conversation can continue, in walks Mayor Bubba and a couple of his lackeys.

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Since people are suspecting a supernatural being is doing the killings, Bubba is excited. Why? INCREASE IN TOURISM. Apparently, a blood-thirsty Tommyhead is just what their economy needs, stating the Loch Ness Monster as an example of how this is good. Completely ignoring that the Loch Ness Monster isn’t reported to eat a tourists daily. Sheriff does his best not to break the forth wall with a look of disgust as Bubba shouts that he wants the creature “Dead or Alive!”

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Meanwhile, our Rebellious crew minus Jenny discover that the hole they dug is now empty of oddly shaped corpses. Lady says they need to tell somebody cueing another “But we caaaaaaaan’t!” from the ever irritating Danny.

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Cut to a nighttime cock fight. Seriously. The Knox Brothers collect their winnings and Little Knox, who is as short as Martin Short (completing the Martin Trifecta for this review), mocks a deaf woman. Apparently, attacking the handicapped is a no-no in the land of Tommyhead and we see monster vision (without Joe Bob Briggs) and cut to Miss Osie jumping in pain again in her hospital bed.

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Big Knox helps up the deaf woman, who is apparently their sister. Little Knox mocks him since “I ain’t the one sleeping with her.” Come on, movie. What the heck?

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Lights start flashing. The wind starts blowing. A random extra runs by shouting “What’s happening?!” And There’s Tommyhead, ever irritated. We cut to shots of Big Knox looking scared. Little Knox looking scared. Random Extra looking scared. Followed by Tommyhead looking ticked…which is its only emotion.

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As the deaf sister hides, Tommyhead pimp slaps Little Knox into a chicken coop where the ever feisty animals attack and peck him to death. Seriously.

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Random Extra gets whacked. Then Big Knox gets punched and curpstomped. Finally, Tommyhead stares down the Deaf Sister, leading to the next scene with her being inspected, as she sits blank eyed, like Linnea earlier. Pettibone reveals she’s deaf and mute. Daddy Sheriff declares, “Whatever she saw, she can’t help us.” Because I guess she’s illiterate, too.

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Daddy Sheriff believes this is all connected but can’t figure out how…as he throws down a blood wings symbol. We get a fade to him reading through history books and expositing to a tape recorder. Apparently, deformed children were considered demon spawn and blah, blah, blah.

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Meanwhile, the mother has figured out that Jenny was at Osie’s cabin. This angers Daddy Sheriff, but Pettibone busts in with shocking news from the coroner’s report. Even though he’s shared random information with his wife the entire time, Pettibone and he go for a walk for more exposition.

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The shocking information…Tommy was brutally bludgeoned before death. Dun Dun Dunnnnnnnnnnn! They also reveal that Ms. Osie isn’t Tommy’s mother. Dun Dun Dunnnnnnnnnnn!

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They go to talk to her, but they walk into her room just in time for her to flat line. Bummer, dude. Before they can leave, the door SLAMS SHUT and Osie SITS UP! Creepy Exposition follows as she explains that she was the guardian of Tommy’s soul. His mother…had nothing special about her. However, his daddy…PUMPKINHEAD!

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Alright. Tommyhead is Pumpkinhead’s son. I’ll take it. Anyway, the talking corpse reveals that Tommyhead killed the people he killed. “Them boys with their wings.” Red Wings. She reveals that there were six boys that killed him, leaving one more victim from that group, but after he finishes his business, he’ll take care of hers by killing the ones who burned her.

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Cue wide eyes from Sheriff since he knows his daughter was involved. So he asks for help. Asks how to stop Tommyhead. Osie hands him a necklace, saying it may help. Suddenly, we have lightning and see Tommyhead screaming his angry head off. I guess it was his turn to feel her pain. Osie finally dies. For real this time.

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Recovering quickly from the creepy stuff they just saw, Pettibone and Sheriff start investigating “Red Wings” finding that they are a hockey team…wait, sorry, no. They were a group of kids from a high school group. The 6th member? THE JUDGE!

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No. Not Judge Dredd. That’d be freaking awesome, though.

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Meanwile, Danny brings Jenny to his place and shares an awkward conversation with his father. Jenny is very flirty with the constantly jerky Danny. Danny gets her a jacket cause she’s cold. Any guess what jacket it is?

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Yeah. His dad’s old Red Wings jacket. That’d be a shocking reveal if they hadn’t already given away that Judge was the 6th man. Anyway, with her properly warmed, they walk to the guest house where the rest of the group rests. Lady is already in the know of dead Osie. BCG is now completely out of black clothes but is moping. Danny doesn’t care. Cause he’s a prick and yet somehow the leader of this ridiculous group of “rebels.”

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BCG reveals that he saw Danny punch the old woman and Jenny finally stands up for herself. BCG says he wants to go to the Sheriff and Tommy responds in his typical fashion…by punching him in the face. For an encore, Tommy pulls a gun. Profanity occurs.

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Tommyhead is just ambling through the forest, working his way to the Judge’s house. The Judge calls his posse to come to his place since he knows he’s next. Of course, waiting until night to do this is rather ridiculous. Anyway, he hears a noise and walks into the next room…which is covered in blood wing symbols. Not sure how Tommy got all of this done so quietly and then snuck back outside so he could kick the door down once Judge realized what was going on…but he did.

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Judge rushes to the phone and demands that whoever is on the other line get there immediately. He also grabs his six-shooter (seriously, he has a six shooter) and fire about eight shots. Yeah…I know. Anyway, Tommyhead pimp slaps him into a window and pulls him back in.

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Judge recognizes Tommy somehow. This is his last realization at he gets his head popped like a pimple. No re-election for the judge.

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Back with the rebels, BCG hears the noise and says it’s Pumpkinhead. Danny puts the gun to his head, gives him a set of car keys, and tells him to get the transportation. BCG takes off running, gets to the car, and promptly drops the keys. Picks them back up and discovers that all movie cars stall in a stressful situation.

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Tommyhead, now done with his own chores, decides it’s time to do some work for Osie, seeing BCG and attacking him. We cut away before he gets to the car. Probably because they couldn’t do an effect where BCG gets ripped out of the car.

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Back in the side cabin, Danny keeps his gun aimed on the rest of the whining group. That is until a dead BCG comes flying through the window. They all take off out the back door and decide to split off. The main characters (Jenny & Danny) go one way, the fodder couple (TBG & Lady) the other. We see shots of both groups running with Tommyhead pursuing. Guess who he gets to first. No. Seriously. Guess.

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Yeah, Fodder couple’s Lady trips and starts screaming instead of getting up, allowing Tommyhead to rip up a piece of the metal off a fence and impale her while TBG shouts angrily. Sadly, he didn’t think his plan out further and when our monster turns around to confront him, he’s left with the screaming strategy his girl just failed with. TBG keeps screaming until red vision gets within grabbing distance.

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Cut back to the house where Sheriff and Pettibone have arrived to find the Judge’s and BCG’s corpse.

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Tommyhead has impaled TBG onto the stake as well as if the two were kissing. How…sweet? Anyway, with that done, it’s time to get the last two. But as it starts to chase, the Judge’s posse arrive. Daddy Sheriff runs through the woods screaming for his daughter. Pettibone follows. Danny makes Jenny take a turn and of course leads them directly into Tommyhead.

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Danny empties his gun and gets goozled by the monster. Cue a “Tore his head off” special effect. Jenny actually shows intelligence and instead of just sitting and screaming, gets up and runs. Danny gets off much lighter than he should despite the decent effect. Ernst had a worse death.

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Of course, she flees to the old iron mine. And just like Tommy before her, is trapped for no good reason. Daddy Sheriff shows up and shouts out to Tommy, begging Tommy to trust him like he did Osie. “You avenged your own murder. You punished those who hurt Osie!” He begs that his daughter wasn’t one of them. Sheriff asks Tommy if he remembers him saving his life.

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Tommyhead indeed remembers despite keeping his angry face. He lets Jenny go. “Thank you, Tommy.”

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CUE POSSE! Sheriff tells Tommy to run but Tommyhead just stands there and takes bullet after bullet from the gun toting mob while we get flashbacks of battered Tommy. Tommyhead ends up on the hook from earlier. Then to complete the cycle, Tommyhead expands his arms and they drop him into the mine. Score one for mindless violence.

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Anyway, the mine spits out fire and we get the same explosion effect from the opening scene. This is a bookmark, I suppose.

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We fade to Sheriff and Jenny discussing Tommy. She is filled in about her father saving Tommy as a kid and thanks him. Sheriff finds an old fire truck toy…the same one Tommy played with the day that Sheriff saved his life. Ooo Eee Ooo.

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Shoot of the necklace swinging in the wind and…credits. The first thing listed is the Producers. How random is that? Producers before the cast.

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The end.

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THE SCORE: 3 out of 5.

Yeah, I liked it. Sure, it really has absolutely nothing to do with the original, but if you give it the Halloween 3 treatment, it is a passable little horror movie. Flaws of course, but fills time nicely. Not a cult classic, but a pleasant surprise.

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Constructive Criticism:

With a short time to film and a budget that probably didn’t excite, the film is put together well and side steps many expensive scenes. A quick cut for whenever Pumpkinhead interacts with people (outside of the Ernst scene that explains why they do that) can irritate sometimes, but is still handled well. It’s good work by the director.

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Afternote:

The director actually has a commentary on the DVD and I plan on listening to that eventually.

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How ticked is Mayor Bubba going to be when the posse gets back to him?

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"So...you killed it?"

"Yeah! We got him!"

"Okay...where is the body?"

"Uh...it fell into the old iron mine and exploded."

"Exploded?"

"Exploded."

*Awkward Silence*

*Mayor Bubba takes his guitar and walks away slowly*

*Stops and turns*

"Hunting permits just went up 300%."

"Guess that's what we get...for taking a shot."

*CSI Miami Theme*

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THE END!