Super 8

SUPER 8                     B

USA  (112 mi)  2011  ‘Scope  d:  J.J. Abrams

Much like this director paid tribute to the Star Trek TV era, especially good at catching the various personality traits of the major players, this film pays tribute to the era of Spielberg, including several of his notable movies.  Again, Abrams does some things extremely well, like catch the E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982) innocent mood of the kids who continually hang out together with no adult supervision, eventually tracing the presence of an alien presence in the community while also establishing a great build up of suspense for the horrible presence of an unseen monster in JAWS (1975), not to mention the U.S. military creating a diversionary catastrophe from CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977) which sends the local community into mass hysteria while covering up their real mission, which remains top secret.  While there is also a shared love for big box-office special effects, like Abrams last film, there is an over-reliance on loud explosions, as if this is the only way to cause adrenaline rushes, yet this kind of destructive mayhem exists throughout the film, led by Noah Emmerich, perennial bad guy who heads the secret Air Force unit, a guy who will stop at nothing in supposedly tracking down public enemy number one, their top secret monster they've been keeping under wraps that is suddenly missing and unleashed on the public, refusing to share basic information, even as it destroys communities and ravages the countryside.  Unlike Spielberg, this has a darker menace throughout, as there are constant images of death, demolition, and destruction, where these kids are running through the streets alone trying to avoid getting killed, which is a far cry from being caught by their parents for doing something they’re not allowed.  Like BAMBI (1942), the first Disney film to kill off a helpless fawn’s mother, the audience quickly discovers that Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney with a slight Ralph Macchio resemblance), the lead child’s mother has also been killed, leaving him alone with his distant and self-absorbed father, Kyle Chandler as the Sheriff’s Deputy, a man caught up in the town’s hysteria with no answers to quell the maddening voices. 

Set in 1979, the film starts out innocently enough with a group of middle school kids led by Riley Griffiths as Charles, who are trying to make a special effects Super 8 zombie movie to enter into a local film contest, though they feel compelled to strain for greater effects, since 15 and 16-year olds will also be competing.  Sneaking out at night, they meet at the railroad tracks, including the presence of Elle Fanning as Alice, the cute girl that the boys think would never talk with them, surprising them all with her own rebellious streak.  Much like Drew Barrymore in E.T., Fanning is a joy to watch, showing maturity beyond her years, not to mention a charming talent in front of a camera, where despite playing a ghoulish zombie, her beguiling presence unsettles the boys who have been best friends for years.  As if to accentuate this imbalance, they witness a horrible train accident, where a train carrying Air Force top secret materials gets derailed in spectacular fashion, where they each defy death and somehow survive while unknowingly capturing the event on film, making their escape before anyone is detected, vowing to keep it a secret, as they believe something horrible will track down their families.  First animals go missing, then appliances strangely disappear, entire car engines are pulled out of cars before people start mysteriously disappearing as well, including the sheriff, where only weird noises can be heard in the dark before a violent attack of some kind snatches its prey.  This leaves Joe’s father in charge of these strange inexplicable random events, but the military finds his incessant questioning curiously disturbing, as if this was somehow preventing them from carrying out their mission.  Unfortunately the warped world of the adults is an unpleasant contrast to the more stellar ideas and enthusiasm shown by the playfulness of the kids, who inherently trust one another, as opposed to the world of adults where suspicion and the unending use of violence reigns. 

Despite the plentiful use of special effects sequences, the best thing in the film is the smaller-world interaction of the kids, whose unique personalities add humor and intrigue to the story, where they’re a close-knit group that draws the audience in with their appeal, led by Joe, who can’t stop thinking about Alice, the real heroine of the story.  It’s impossible, by the way, not to think of Mark Borchardt from Chris Smith’s AMERICAN MOVIE (1999), striving for years to finish his low-budget zombie flick Coven, played entirely by friends and family, which is pretty much what these kids are up to as well.  But when the world around them goes crazy, with people going missing, a military presence taking over the city, and several events witnessed which defy gravity or known science, these kids, perhaps without realizing it at first, feel they are on a mission to save the world, turning this into a Mission Impossible (Abrams directed the 3rd) kind of episode where they are driven to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles, but done with a charming enjoyment and intelligent humor.  What doesn’t work, balanced against this obvious fun, is the unpleasant deviousness of the American military, even resorting to secret arrests and images of torture, all of which defy the efforts of this spirited group, where the American military imposes a larger threat of violence than the actual monster.  Granted, this film reflects the mindset of the culture in the late 70’s, where Watergate, lies about secret bombing campaigns in Cambodia, lies about Generals boosting the number of enemy combatants killed in action in order to justify more troops, and the tortuous end of the Vietnam era did contribute to a general distrust of governmental authority, which included the military.  Still the heavy handed tone of militarism gone wrong, or in the wrong hands, sends this barreling down the wrong track, undermining their own monster special effects with a montage of non-stop military explosions of death and destruction, a whirlwind of exaggerated psychotic mayhem that was never part of the original story, that only detracts from the initial innocent hilarity of making that confounding zombie movie with a cast of overeager kids, and also kills the suspense leading up to the appearance of the monster, who has unfortunately been upstaged by the way over the top, uncalculated madness of humankind.

Scream

SCREAM                         B                      

USA  (111 mi)  1996  ‘Scope  d:  Wes Craven 

A different kind of horror film, one that slyly explains the rules of the genre as it goes along, that from the outset humorously pays homage to teen slasher films like FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980) and the director’s own A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984) where teens in supposedly safe suburbia are stalked by an unseen masked monster.  This film, cleverly written by Kevin Williamson, has a tongue-in-cheek attitude about its witty dialogue where characters are spewing bits and pieces of camp movie dialogue while it’s being restaged in some form onscreen.  Using the telephone as an instrument of menace, the surprises come fast and furious with Drew Barrymore (as a blond) in the opening sequence, where she is terrorized by the strange sounding voice on the phone, where the mood shifts from casual silliness to an overt catastrophe in split seconds, where the audience in their seats probably can’t stop from yelling instructions to her on the screen, but she disregards all common sense and is instead paralyzed in a shiver of fright.  Paying homage to Hitchcock’s shocking treatment to Janet Leigh’s blond heroine in PSYCHO (1960), Barrymore makes an even quicker screen exit while in the background can be heard the faint strains of “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” a Blue Oyster Cult song prominently featured in John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN (1978), perhaps the most perfect example of the teen horror genre, where Jamie Lee Curtis memorably claws her way to survival in that film, showing an uncommon amount of resilience and heady, split second thinking.  In the hearts of many, she won a lifetime achievement award with that single performance, becoming a central theme of this film as well. 

Neve Campbell is next, where she innocently mis-identifies the voice on the phone as that of a friend of hers, Randy (Jamie Kennedy), who works in a video store and his brain is obsessed with uttering movie references, where again the initial playfulness turns on a dime to something distinctly malevolent, where she fortunately survives a similar attack, an incident that leaves her traumatized, as her mother was killed in a similar incident nearly a year ago, where her testimony against the man she saw leaving the scene of the crime put him behind bars.  Nonetheless, her boyfriend, Skeet Ulrich, a Johnny Depp clone, mysteriously crawls through her window shortly after the attack to make sexual overtures.  At school the next day, who should be Campbell’s best friend, but the sexually promiscuous Rose McGowan, where similar to HALLOWEEN, the smart, virginal girl’s best friend is a sexual dynamo, one repressed and hung up on sex, the other free wheeling and wild.  This friendship seems to represent the full range of sexual expression as seen by a typical teenage male.  Quickly arriving on the scene is the unethical TV court reporter Courteney Cox, giving a Nicole Kidman TO DIE FOR (1995) performance, pushing other people aside to get what she wants, always abrasive yet catty, smug and wickedly bitchy, a woman who quickly receives a sock in the mouth from Campbell for writing a tabloid sleaze book alleging her mother’s murderer is innocent.  Adding to the tabloid sensation is the presence of Deputy Dewey (David Arquette), where the onscreen sizzle with Cox is a prelude to their real-life eventual marriage.  At this point, one has to acknowledge these young women onscreen are ravishingly beautiful, all in the prime of their careers, which may have contributed to the movie grossing over $100 million dollars at the box office. 

When the laid back California action moves to an unsupervised teen drinking party in a giant mansion, where McGowan hopes Campbell can forget all her problems, the real absurdity of the premise takes over.  It’s here that Randy offers the rules of the game as HALLOWEEN can be seen in the background playing on TV, claiming if you want to survive in a horror movie:  1.)  You can never have sex (or you’ll be killed)  2.)  You can never drink or do drugs (or you’ll be killed)  3.)  Never under any circumstances say “I’ll be right back,” (because you won’t).  Of course, all the rules are violated, which leads to outlandish circumstances where the stalker reeks mayhem, leading to a near surreal catastrophic finale, a bloodbath of killings and near misses which plays out in choreographed precision, like a funhouse of death using music, close ups, slow motion speed mixed with comic absurdity.  Cox secretly places a video camera inside the party, but there’s a 30 second time gap between reality and what’s viewed onscreen, which allows plenty of confusion, as characters continue to get tripped up by unfortunate bad timing.  Still, despite the graphic gore, the mystifyingly refreshing dialogue continues to amaze, beautifully capturing the Generation X mentality, continuing with nonstop references to past slasher films, where there’s a goofiness to it all, even as lives are at stake.  But the clever tone wins out, openly making fun of itself, as the entire film plays out like a movie within a movie, where the horror genre itself becomes an identifiable character associated with the unseen stalker, adding personality and color to this darkly entertaining film.  The one-liners are so quick and so perfectly embedded into the action that you may need to view this again, where you’ll get your chance, spawning not one, not two, but three Craven sequels so far.  Drew Barrymore sarcastically streams the director’s thoughts on the phone while offering her insight about the numerous sequels to Craven’s A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, the film where the guy has knives for fingers, which the caller acknowledges was a scary movie.  “Well, the first one was, but the rest sucked.”