He Who Walks Behind the Rows: Children of the Corn (1984)

And He Who Walks Behind The Rows did say, “I will send outlanders amongst you: a man and a woman. And these outlanders will be unbelievers and profaners of the holy. 

So first let me start off and say Happy Halloween everyone. And with this posts ends our Horrorfest II. When writing these it is always hard to pick the first and last films. I want to start this countdown off on a high note, and always end with a bang (I mean who doesn’t?) I also was trying to pick a film that had something to do with Halloween, and this one does. For those of you who have seen it, the special child’s birthday just happens to be Oct 31st. It says so on the scroll.

Well let’s commence our swan song.

So Children of the Corn is one super creepy movie. I mean first of all it is Stephen King, and his stuff is always freaky (even Stand By Me). I mean you’ve got Carrie, The Shining, Creepshow, Cujo, Christine, Pet Sematary, Misery, Thinner (so gross!), The Green Mile, Secret Window (a Horrorfest post), It, and The Mist . 

This has got to be one of the creepiest and one of his most sequelfied films. I mean you have:

• Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice, Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest, Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering, Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror, Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return, Children of the Corn: Revelation, and Children of the Corn: Genesis

So Children of the Corn was based on a short story, and while that is creepy, the movie was super scary.

So the film starts off really creepy with all these hand drawn pictures and a creepy child’s choir.

We then go into a little boy’s narration of what has happened to his town. The boy, Job, lives in a little agricultural town in Nebraska. He tells the viewer about how things haven’t been going as well, as there have been a lot of failed harvests. He also tells the viewer about this kid Jacob, who came to town one day and takes the children out to the cornfields. Job’s not allowed to go out there because his dad thinks Jacob’s creepy. (Totally agree with the dad, Jacob looks like one creepy guy.) Job is chilling with his dad after church in the soda shop, his mom is at home taking care of his sick sister,  when Jacob’s right hand man Malachi comes in with some other kids. When Jacob gives the signal, they take out all the adults, all over the town. It is uber creepy and it makes me think of “Zero Hour” by Ray Bradbury

Evil look

I mean it is pretty gruesome with the scythes and everything.  Job’s sister Sarah starts having these visions and draws them out when she is “moved”. Everything she draws comes true.

Three years later, we have couple Burt and Vicky. Vicky is Linda Hamilton.

LINDA HAMILTON!

As soon as I saw her I was like, oh yeah this is going to be good.

So she and Burt are headed West to Seattle as Burt just graduated medical school and is taking a job there. Vicky is hoping for a proposal, but no dice. 😦 Poor girl.

So as they are traveling toward the town, someone is trying to escape it. There are only three children who don’t follow Jacob and his law. Job, he doesn’t get Jacob and what he is preaching; Sarah, and Joseph who wants to escape. He tries to leave, promising Job and Sarah that he will be back with help.

He tries to run, but every way he goes the corn goes in his path. It’s moving!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He is followed by Malachi and his goons. Eventually they find him and attack.

Isaac: And He Who Walks Behind The Rows did say, “I will send outlanders amongst you: a man and a woman. And these outlanders will be unbelievers and profaners of the holy. And the man will sorely test you, for he has great power, even greater than that of the Blue Man!

Corn-Children: The Blue Man! Yes, the Blue Man!

Isaac: And just as he was offered up unto Him, so shall be the unbelievers!

Malachai: Make sacrifice unto Him! Bring Him the blood of the outlanders!

Corn-Children: Praise God; praise the Lord! Praise God! Praise the Lord…!

Burt and Vicky are making their way down the road, when Joseph darts out of the cornfield, his last action before he fully croaks. Unfortunately, Burt hits him and he becomes involved in finding the child help and his family. Even when they try to escape they can’t, because He Who Walks Behind the Rows controls the corn and the weather and will not let them escape.

It is a great movie that you need to watch for yourself, I cannot ruin the ending. One of the ultimate creepy things is that you have no idea who He is and what He looks like. Also Malachi is one psychotic dude. Just try to ignore some of the bad ’80s CGI. To watch the movie go here.

 Here’s a cover page I made for facebook this year as part of my countdown to Halloween.

So that’s it for Horrorfest II. I wish you all a safe holiday full of sweets! May it be everything you wish. 😀

Midnight Madness: Are You Afraid of the Dark (1993)

I’m not going to Midnight Madness again

Are You Afraid of the Dark was such a big part of my childhood. It used to come on Nick and I remember watching the creepy stories with my sisters. I think its funny how my mom hated Goosebumps and wouldn’t let me watch the movies or read the books; but let me watch this.

In Are You Afraid of the Dark, there are a group of kids who form The Midnight Society and meet late at night telling scary stories. This story is told by Frank.

So there is this old Rialto theater that is doing badly. Nobody seems to care about old movies or want to see anything. If they keep doing this bad they are going to be shut down forever.

Pete is heartbroken as he not only loves theaters but old movies. (Why are these guys always named Pete?) He tries everything he can, but no luck. Soon the doors will be shutting forever.

One day everything changes.

Dr. Vink comes on the scene (this is the first episode that introduces this character). He offers the manager a bargain. He will give them the film Nosferatu, and he assures the they will soon be rolling in dough. All he asks is for one night a week to show his other films. They agree and the film is put upstairs and forgotten.

One day the reel they were playing breaks, and they have no choice but to play Nosferatu. They do and it becomes a sucess. They start raking in the dough. Soon they are showing it all the time and even opening a special time, Midnight Madness.

Dr. Vink returns for his part of the bargain, but the manager won’t listen. He promises that they will regret making that choice.

Pete is watching the movie again, to try and figure out why it is becoming so popoular. He looks at the screen and starts to notice that Nosferatu is looking toward him.

In a style of Last Action Hero, Nosferatu comes out of the screen and starts wrecking horror on others. It’s a great episode that you must watch for yourself. I haven’t been able to find a link, besides Amazon Instant watch. Let me know if you do.

Disnified Horror

So artist José Rodolfo Loaiza Ontiveros’  came up with this idea to combine Disney characters with images we have of celebrities, calling it DisHollywood.

It deals with a lot of different cultural issues,  homosexuality, drugs, physical abuse, etc; but the pictures I was really into were the horror and disney mash-ups.

 

1) A Clockwork Apple 

(Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs meets A Clockwork Orange)

“Alex: It’s milk that make the menfolks’ mouths water. [Presenting the milk-plus to Snow White] Milk-plus like this.

Snow White: Oh, it does look delicious.

Alex: Yes, but wait till you taste it, dearie. Like to try it, hm? Go on. Go on, have a sip…And because you’ve been so good to poor old Alex, I’ll share a secret with you. This is no ordinary milk, it’s magic *wishing* milk.

Snow White: Wishing milk?

Alex: Yes! One sip, and all your dreams will come true.

Snow White: Really?

Alex: Yes, girlie. Now, make a wish, and take a sip.”

2)The Silence of the Dwarfs

(Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs meets The Silence of the Lambs)

“Snow White: A dwarf once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some soup, bread, and a apple martini.”

3)Pan on Halloween Night

Peter Pan meets Halloween

“[referring to dead Tinkerbell]

Wendy: A man wouldn’t do that.

Peter Pan: This isn’t a man.”

4)Edward Scissorhands in Wonderland

Edward Scissorhands meets Alice in Wonderland

“Alice: [to Edward] Oh! Eddie, is there anything you can’t do? You take my very breath away, I swear. Look at this! Have you ever cut a woman’s hair? Would you cut mine?”

5) Snow White and the Seven Gremlins

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs meet Gremlins

“Queen: Magic Mirror, on the wall, who, *now*, is the fairest one of all?

Magic Mirror: Over the seven jewelled hills, beyond the seventh fall, in the cottage of the Seven Dwarfs, dwells Snow White, fairest of them all.

Queen: Snow White lies dead in the forest. The huntsman has brought me proof. Behold, her heart.

Magic Mirror: Snow white still lives, fairest in the land. ‘Tis a gremlin you hold in your hand.

Queen: A gremlin! Then I’ve been tricked!”

6) And my personal fav The Creature and the Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid meets The Creature from the Black Lagoon

“Creature: Rawr, rawr, rawr!”

I hope you liked those. I thought they were pretty funny.

No Force on Earth or Heaven Could Get Me on That Island: Jurassic Park III (2001)

Are you saying you wouldn’t want to get on Isla Sorna and study them if you had the chance? No force on earth or heaven could get me on that island.

So Jurassic Park III is not nearly as good as Jurassic Park, but much better than The Lost World because of one thing.

Love this guy!

Yep, Jurassic Park III sees the return of Dr. Grant, Sam Neil. 😀 It was supposed to have Jeff Goldblum too, but he injured himself and dropped out.

A lot of people don’t really like this film either.

However, I really like it. I like all the Jurassic Park films. 😀

This version isn’t based on any books of Michael Crichton, but was a newly created plot with a few pieces from the orginal scripts. They took the aviary scene in her from the orginal Jurassic Park novel.  But more about that later.

So the film starts off with two people parasailing around Site B of Jurassic Park, where The Lost World took place. They go into a fog, and the next scene are gone!

Dr. Grant has become famous for his discoveries, but more people want to know about the Jurassic Park incidents than what he has found.

Dr. Grant: [Dr. Grant is giving a lecture] Now, are there any questions?

[everyone in the audience raises their hand] Dr. Grant: Questions not related to Jurassic Park

[many people lower their hand] Dr. Grant: Or the incident in San Diego, which I did not witness.

[everyone else lowers their hand]

Dr. Grant goes to visit Ellie who is married with a baby. (Now this is something I hate, in the book Ellie & Dr. Grant weren’t dating she was already engaged, so I hated in the films how they were dating in the first film but then weren’t together in the last one.) Dr. Grant and his assistant Billy are working together to create a larynx of a Velociraptor.  The two are appraoached by a couple, the Kirbys, who like to go on wild adventure trips and want to have an air tour of Jurrassic Park. They got a special permit and will only be up in the air. Dr. Grant is adamant, no way, but then the Kirby’s place an extremely large check in his face that changes his mind.

While on the plane, Dr. Grant discovers that the two are lying. They have actually been planning the whole time to stop on the island. Dr. Grant tries to get them to stop, when he gets knocked out.

So Dr. Grant is on the island. Although its not the same one, as he was on Site A originally. They try and  leave, but are stopped by a Spinosaurus, something that was’t on InGen’s list.  As they try to escape, a T-Rex appears and they manage to escape right before the Spinosaurus snaps the T–Rex‘s neck.

As they are moving through the island, and being followed by the Kirbys & Co., they discover parasail remains.

This when the whole story comes out. It turns out that the Kirbys are divorced. The wife is remarried and her husband and the Kirby’s son went parasailing and disappeared. The father, played by William H. Macy, went to the traveling agency and hires a guy. The guy who is a “mercenary” and “knows guys” doesn’t really know or do anything he said he could.  And the check is completely fake too. They are looking for their son Eric and needed a guide, so they tricked Dr. Grant. Unfortunately, Dr. Grant was never on Site B, so he’s like I don’t know what is out here.

The group is trying to make its way through the island without dying, and they end up in the actual area where the dinos were constructed.  The one they showed them in Jurassic Park was all for show, but isn’t the real area. When they are there they get attacked by Raptors.

What’s interesting about this portrayl of the raptors is that the designers wanted to incorporate the archeological findings. Scientists have discovered that Raptors were covered in feathers made out of keratin. They couldn’t go completely over the top, so they just put the feathers on the head.

The group gets seperated and Dr. Grant finds himself all alone. He is saved by a young boy, Eric Kirby. Eric Kirby, against all odds, has managed to survive 8 weeks on the island. He’s been living off candy, uses dino pee to scare things off, etc. Eric used to be a big fan of Dr. Grant too.

Erik: Be careful with that. T-Rex. It scares some of the smaller ones away but attracts one really big one with the fin.

Dr. Grant: This is T-Rex pee?

[Eric nods yes]

Dr. Grant: How’d you get it?

Erik: You don’t wanna know.

Erik: I read both of your books. I liked the first one more. Before you were on the island. You liked dinosaurs back then.

Dr. Grant: Back then they hadn’t tried to eat me yet.

Dr. Grant: Did you read Malcolm’s book?

[Erik nods]

Dr. Grant: So?

Erik: I don’t know. It was kinda preachy. And too much Chaos. Everything Chaos. It just seemed like the guy was high on himself.

Dr. Grant: That’s two things we have in common.

The two go out looking for the rest of the group when Eric hears his father’s satellite phone.

I love the Spinosaurus there, he reminds me of my dog Katy, when she gets all riled up and you have her chew toy, she makes that face, posed to attack.

The group manages to escape and head to the compound, hoping to find some radio equipment to call for help. After they catch their breath, Billy asks for his bag back, and Dr. Grant tells him he is fine carrying it. Billy keeps insisting and insisting that Grant hand over the bag. This makes Dr. Grant very suspicious and he looks inside, discovering that there are raptor eggs in there. Along the way, Billy found some and took them, hoping that when they got off the island he could sell them. That’s why they have been chased by raptors.

Dr. Grant is furiuous with Billy. And who can blame him. I mean that it has to be tempting to steal those eggs, but come on Billy these aren’t chickens.

Billy Brennan: You have to believe me, this was a stupid decision but I did it with the best intentions.
Dr. Grant: With the best intentions? Some of the worst things imaginable have been done with the best intentions. You know what, Billy? As far as I’m concerned, you’re no better than the people that built this place.

They then make their way into a large outdoor cage that hold pteradactyls and other pteranodons. This one of the freakiest scenes in the whole movie. It is super creepy with the fog and the birds. When my sis, niece, and I went to the San Diego Safari Park they have the birdhouse/plant area, it looked JUST like the aviary in Jurassic Park III. I kept saying that if I go in, there are going to be  pteradactyls in there that are going to try to kill me. It freaked my niece out soooooooooooooooo bad!!! She started crying and said she wasn’t going to go in. We had to say so many things to convonce her that she would be okay.

Anyways so they get in the aviary they think is abandoned, but it turns out there is something hiding in there.

The group is reeling from Billy’s death, and make their way down the river on a boat. They float by the Spinosaurus’ poop and find the satillette phone. The Spinoisaurus comes upon them and they begin to fight to  get away.

Dr. Grant manages to get out “Site B River” on the satillete phone to Ellie before he loses it to the river. They manage to get away again. The Kirbys are now all reunited and happy and want to be together.

They are almost free when they are come upon by the raptors. They sense that the Mrs. Kirby, Amanda, is a female and go straight for her. Dr. Grant saves the day when he uses Billy’s larynx creation. He blows in it just right so that it sounds like other Raptors are calling for help.

After they manage to get out of there they take off to the coast where the Coast Guard, Marines, and Navy are waiting for them. They even manage to find Billy.

Billy Brennan: I rescued your hat.
Dr. Grant: Well… that’s the important thing.

They all  make it home okay.

So a couple of years ago they were talking about making a Jurassic Park 4 film, which my friend Margarita and I were super excited about it. But then they canceled when Michael Crichton unexpectedly died.

However, now that it is back on and supposed to be out in theaters in 2015, I am so jazzed! In a few years I can include it in the Horrorfests. 😀

Well that concludes our Jurassic Park Week. 😀

Here’s a cover page/poster I made for my Halloween countdown on Facebook.

Just Follow the Screams: The Lost World (1997)

Just follow the screams

So The Lost World: Jurassic Park II is the sequel to the first film and based on the the written sequel. Now many out there say that this movie sucks and is the worse out of the three films but I have to say it isn’t that bad. It is pretty good and some of the things wrong with it are not solely the writer’s and director’s fault. The book wasn’t nearly as good as the original so of course the film was only ok as well. However, even though it will never be as amazing as it’s older brother Jurassic Park, it still has some great things in it.

So the plot of this film is that Ian Malcolm has told everyone all about Jurassic Park (even though he signed a contract saying he wouldn’t) and has therefore been thrown through the InGen shredder, every bit of his respectability and credibility has been destroyed. He is approached by Hammond who has turned over a new leaf and wants him to help the dinosaurs. Apparently some evolved from the lysine dependency and are running loose on the “real island”. The island that Dr. Grant, Malcolm, and team went on was only the decorated park, not the real place where they created the dinosaurs. Hammond wants to turn this second island into a wildlife preserve, but his evil nephew has taken control of the company and wants to ship the dinosaurs over to create a park in San Diego. To make matters worse Malcolm’s girlfriend Sarah is already over on the island, and when Malcolm goes his daughter Kelly stows away with him. As you can imagine there are some crazy scenes on the island and in CA when the dinos run amuck.

What’s also interesting about this film is that there were quite a few  pieces taken friom the first novel and placed in here, such as the procompsognathus that attack the young girl; one guy being killed by Procompsognathids (Hammond in the novel). Also in the novel, the opposing group on the island is not led by Peter Ludlow, the evil nephew, but by Lewis Dodgson, head of the rival company BioSyn, who had hired Dennis Nedry in the previous film/book. Dodgson hides from the T-Rex under a Jeep with Sarah Harding, who kicks him out to lead the T-Rex away. The T-Rex takes him home to its nest to feed to its young. This is closely paralleled by the fate of Ludlow in the film.

1) Jeff Goldblum

First of all Jeff Goldblum! Jeff Goldblum is in this film, already that makes it pretty amazing. I mean it would have been even more amazing if Sam Neil was in it too, but hey, Jeff Goldblum is really amazing,

2) Free the Dinos!

John Hammond’s nephew, the evil Peter, is trying to capture and cage the dinos and send them over to CA. The group goes over and frees all the dinosaurs. I love this scene because it makes me thnk of one of my fav parts of E.T.

3) The Car Goes Over the Cliff!

In Jurassic Park, we have the scene where the T-Rex knocks the car over the edge of the wall. In this one we have a siimilar scene where a very angry T-Rex almost knocks the RV over the edge of a cliff.

4) The School Cut You From the Team?

So Malcolm, Sarah, and Kelly are being chased by velociraptors in a very intense scene. It is really good, almost as good as in the orginal. Then Kelly, who was cut from her school’s gymnastic team, does this huge number and takes a raptor out, impaling him. Pretty cool!

5) T-Rex in San Diego

Okay, now this has to be one of the best parts of the film as the T-Rex is running amuck in CA, like a modern day, American version of Godzilla.

I love this scene when the little boy discovers a dino in his backyard. 😀

Utter destruction

Pretty sweet! Not as cool as the first but pretty great! 😀

Here’s a poster/cover page I made this year for my facebook Halloween countdown.

In this film