Trimark pictures was thrilled with the money that Leprechaun made. Leprechaun especially became a huge hit on video. It also helped that Wayne's World 2 had a scene in which one of the characters is scaring the other one pretending to be the leprechaun. Leprechaun 2 seemed inevitable in the minds of the studio.
As always we begin with the trailer. The trailer once again is lackluster. It promotes the movie as gross, but not very engaging. The tagline is better though: This time, luck has nothing to do with it! It's really ominous and plays well off of the tagline of the original film.
The movie itself is both the most frustrating and engrossing part 2 of any horror franchise I have ever seen! Let's start with the frustrating: the movie doesn't respect the original film at all. This is an entirely different leprechaun (even though it's still played by Warwick Davis). I guess the leprechaun at the bottom of the well will stay there for eternity. The way you kill the leprechaun has also changed: the first film it was a four leaf clover, this film it's by iron. The basic plot of the leprechaun trying to get a wife every thousand years is also very stupid. It's simply infuriating to watch a film called leprechaun 2 that pays no homage to the original film.
However, the film is the most engrossing sequel I have ever seen because it surpasses the original film in everything it does. It's obvious that the studio intended the film to be an R right off the bat (the biggest problem with the original film) and that helps the quality of the second film skyrocket. This film is vicious and it's super surprising after a quite tame original film. The first time the leprechaun comes out in the present day, he sees a gold tooth on a drunk and pulls it out. It's so painful to watch. He also rips off a guys finger to have a gold ring. The leprechaun is so much meaner and that's a welcome change.
It's very easy to tell that the second one would be more appealing to watch as a teenager than the first one. The film also has the best death scene of the entire franchise. A greedy uncle asks for the leprechaun's gold. The leprechaun gives it to him, but it starts falling down in his stomach. His stomach stretches as it holds the pot of gold inside his body. He begs the leprechaun to take it out. The leprechaun rips the stomach open killing him in order to take the pot of gold out. It's a thrilling and completely surprising viewing experience.
It does everything better. The acting is much more bearable this time round too. As frustrating as it is, considering it surpasses the original in every way, I can forgive the film for having no respect for the original. The original shouldn't be that well respected anyways.
On April 8, 1994, Leprechaun 2 premiered in theaters. The film grossed $2,260,622, which was enough to warrant another sequel from the studio. How would the second sequel go after the first sequel's leprechaun exploded by the end? Considering the rules had changed would they possibly change them once again...well, we'll discuss that next time.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Monday, July 8, 2013
Leprechaun Review
Leprechaun is undoubtedly a franchise. With six movies under it's belt there's no question about that. What is surprising is that there were so many sequels for a franchise that has barely been heard of today. Even for the horror genre, Leprechaun is a C series. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the original's release, I have decided to do a franchise analysis of one of the most bizarre and mind bogglingly problematic (continuity wise) series I will ever attempt. Bare with me, folks, this one's gonna be a bumpy and infuriating ride.
As always we begin with the trailer. The original trailer had a lot to be desired. It was engaging enough to make me want to see the film and it definitely made the leprechaun seem much more menacing and scarier than he actually is, but it just wasn't a great trailer. The tagline for the film: Your luck just ran out! really is the only tagline that could sell the movie for what it is. It's a pun, like several of the lines in the movie, and that's one of the most irritating qualities of the first picture.
Leprechaun's first problem stems from the fact that Mark Jones shot this movie for young children. It was intended to be a young children's scary movie. This makes sense because it seems to be the only audience that would find a leprechaun scary in any sense.
The characters are a mess. I just don't care about Jennifer Aniston or any of the human characters in the movie. The acting is simply atrocious. It is by far the worst acting of any horror movie I have ever seen! This movie just infuriates me to no end!
The only positive element of the film is the casting of Warwick Davis as the killer leprechaun. He is just so mesmerizing as an actor. I just can't take my eyes off of him. He is so much fun to watch, which is the only thing I can think of that makes sense as to why we have five sequels to a crappy film.
The biggest problem with the film is this: they shot it for children like I said before. When they sold the movie, the studio asked for the film to be made into an R. They then vamped up the violence. However, this makes the whole picture disjointed. The violent sequences are incredibly violent for a 'kids film.' It definitely warranted it's R rating in 1993, however the rest of the film is so childish that it just tonally makes no sense. I can't seem to understand why anyone would like the original film for this reason alone. I thought it would be so much better than it was seeing as it's the original of a long series, but I clearly overestimated it's quality.
The leprechaun in this film is killed, or at least stopped, by a four leaf clover. Keep this in mind for next time. It is also trapped inside a well at the end claiming revenge. I rewatched the film for the first time in a few years for my review. I watched it on VOD on amazon. The movie was presented in glorious HD and for the first time that I've ever seen it in widescreen. That made the experience of watching the film fresh. I finally felt complete with this film having watched it in widescreen. But even with the HD and the widescreen it didn't save the film from being incredibly boring. I can never forget the total knockoff of the phone gag from Nightmare on Elm Street. I've always thought of Freddy every time that scene comes up and it's so far from Nightmare's quality it's just painful to sit through. While I was watching it, about halfway through I was itching for the film to be over. It just always seems to drag on for FAR too long. Like I said, it's a disjointed piece. Keep that in mind when you watch it.
Leprechaun was released in theaters on January 8, 1993. On a budget of $900,000, the film grossed $8,556,940. That is an incredible profit for such a crappy movie! That profit margin was something the studio could not ignore, so the studio demanded a sequel. But how would the leprechaun get out of the well, would the sequel still have the childish quality of the original, and how ultimately would the leprechaun return to the big screen...well, we'll discuss that next time.
As always we begin with the trailer. The original trailer had a lot to be desired. It was engaging enough to make me want to see the film and it definitely made the leprechaun seem much more menacing and scarier than he actually is, but it just wasn't a great trailer. The tagline for the film: Your luck just ran out! really is the only tagline that could sell the movie for what it is. It's a pun, like several of the lines in the movie, and that's one of the most irritating qualities of the first picture.
Leprechaun's first problem stems from the fact that Mark Jones shot this movie for young children. It was intended to be a young children's scary movie. This makes sense because it seems to be the only audience that would find a leprechaun scary in any sense.
The characters are a mess. I just don't care about Jennifer Aniston or any of the human characters in the movie. The acting is simply atrocious. It is by far the worst acting of any horror movie I have ever seen! This movie just infuriates me to no end!
The only positive element of the film is the casting of Warwick Davis as the killer leprechaun. He is just so mesmerizing as an actor. I just can't take my eyes off of him. He is so much fun to watch, which is the only thing I can think of that makes sense as to why we have five sequels to a crappy film.
The biggest problem with the film is this: they shot it for children like I said before. When they sold the movie, the studio asked for the film to be made into an R. They then vamped up the violence. However, this makes the whole picture disjointed. The violent sequences are incredibly violent for a 'kids film.' It definitely warranted it's R rating in 1993, however the rest of the film is so childish that it just tonally makes no sense. I can't seem to understand why anyone would like the original film for this reason alone. I thought it would be so much better than it was seeing as it's the original of a long series, but I clearly overestimated it's quality.
The leprechaun in this film is killed, or at least stopped, by a four leaf clover. Keep this in mind for next time. It is also trapped inside a well at the end claiming revenge. I rewatched the film for the first time in a few years for my review. I watched it on VOD on amazon. The movie was presented in glorious HD and for the first time that I've ever seen it in widescreen. That made the experience of watching the film fresh. I finally felt complete with this film having watched it in widescreen. But even with the HD and the widescreen it didn't save the film from being incredibly boring. I can never forget the total knockoff of the phone gag from Nightmare on Elm Street. I've always thought of Freddy every time that scene comes up and it's so far from Nightmare's quality it's just painful to sit through. While I was watching it, about halfway through I was itching for the film to be over. It just always seems to drag on for FAR too long. Like I said, it's a disjointed piece. Keep that in mind when you watch it.
Leprechaun was released in theaters on January 8, 1993. On a budget of $900,000, the film grossed $8,556,940. That is an incredible profit for such a crappy movie! That profit margin was something the studio could not ignore, so the studio demanded a sequel. But how would the leprechaun get out of the well, would the sequel still have the childish quality of the original, and how ultimately would the leprechaun return to the big screen...well, we'll discuss that next time.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Friday the 13th Analysis Overview
As I play The Man Behind the Mask and the Friday the 13th (1980) end credits theme, I can't help but reminisce on this whole analysis. This analysis took everything I had. It took a long time and by the end I got so busy with school that the analysis was pushed aside to focus on finishing up college, but I've gotta tell you guys, this analysis was truly a passion project for me and I'm so grateful that I did it and I'm overjoyed to see that some of you have stuck with it the entire time. I've learned so much about analysis and writing critiques through this gigantic analysis. When I look back on the Tremors reviews, I cringe because they are so poorly written in comparison. I've also learned that to truly stand out from the crowd, you have to do something unique with your analysis. In my experience, and I've been a horror fan for over half of my life now, every horror fan that voices their opinions of franchises does a Friday the 13th franchise analysis, but most of them would skip over the TV series, and of those I had never found one that did an episode by episode analysis. This helped my analysis stand out for you readers out there, and I've gotta tell you, even through the terrible episodes and movies, I've enjoyed every single minute of this analysis. I can't make this clear enough to you, I LOVE Friday the 13th! I ADORE the original film, I love the franchise, the comic books, the TV series, the alternate cuts...I love it all. Friday the 13th is a huge part of my life. I can honestly say that I've never spent this much time analyzing any franchise before. I wanted to give a special shout out to some people associated with the franchise: thank you Sean Cunningham for an astounding rip off movie that amazingly turned out to be a better product than the film it knocked off, thank you Adrienne King for being the best final girl I have ever seen, thank you Betsy Palmer for being the most extraordinary female killer in cinematic history, thank you Steve Minor for continuing the franchise by making Jason the primary killer and giving him the iconic hockey mask, thank you Frank Mancuso, Jr. for continuing the film franchise for many years at Paramount and for bringing the beloved series to TV, thank you Corey Feldman for being in more than one entry, even if only for a dream sequence in A New Beginning, thank you Robey for being in nearly every episode of The Series, thank you John D. LeMay for being in both The Series and the movie franchise, thank you Bob Shaye for picking up the franchise when Paramount dropped it, the New Line products weren't the best, but it kept the franchise alive for another two decades, thank you Kane Hodder for not only playing Jason once, but four consecutive times, you are truly the ultimate Jason actor, thank you Jeff Katz for finishing the Freddy Vs. Jason storyline and giving a solid conclusion to the original franchise, thank you Michael Bay for making a remake that didn't suck, that paid homage to the original, but made it's own identity, thank you Peter Bracke for writing about this amazing franchise in the Crystal Lake Memories book, thank you Daniel Farrends and company for turning that book into a documentary, but most of all thank you, the readers, the fans of Friday the 13th, for sticking with me and geeking out over the various incarnations of this extraordinary franchise. It's so sad to see this end...I feel so accomplished, but in many ways, I feel like this is a goodbye to Friday the 13th. I don't think my love for Friday the 13th will ever die as long as I'm on Earth, but it may take a few years before I rewatch an entry. I love my readers so much! You guys are the best! Please continue to support horror film analyses! Honestly, it'll be about a month and a half before I can post again, but I'll be back with another, smaller, franchise analysis. Next franchise analysis: Leprechaun to commemorate the 20th anniversary
Friday the 13th (2009) Killer Cut Review
The Killer Cut of the Friday the 13th 2009 film is astounding in this fact: 9 minutes and 46 seconds are added back into the film, but none of the changes were noticeable upon first viewing, it simply felt like the same movie. I'll be honest guys, I had to look up the differences on a movie comparison website. This is the Friday film I definitely know the least also, but here it goes: the biggest changes are that we see Jason see his mother killed and pick up the machete, there's a new scene between Jenna and Clay when they first enter the campground, and there's an alternative storyline involving Whitney who in the Killer Cut actually gets herself out of the handcuffs that she's chained to for over half of the picture, she gets out of the underground and runs to the window where Trent and Bree are having sex, but Jason grabs her before they even notice that she's there. Aside from that we have alternate shots of various nudity and various violent scenes. A good number of scenes have extended violence. Honestly, guys, I don't know what to tell you with this one. This is a tough one. The theatrical cut is definitely harder to view because of how the blu ray is encoded, but just because it's harder to find doesn't mean it's better...I'd say the better cut is the Killer Cut. The added moments didn't really add anything, but unlike the original's uncut version, it didn't detract from the impact of the film either. I'd watch both versions of the 2009 film at any time, but if you had to choose one, watch the Killer Cut.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday Uncut Review
The first uncut version available of a Friday film in the U.S. was Jason Goes to Hell. You already know how much I despise this film, but here it goes. The biting of the heart and spitting of the black blood is extended. There's a few extra beats before the sex scene when the couple enters the tent. The doctor stabs the girl outside the tent two more times. The sex scene is extended. The girl's death is actually shone and it is by far the most violent moment in all of Friday the 13th history. This moment is extraordinary. The melting man has an extra beat. The killer in the police office gets shot an extra time. The killer gets shot a few more times in the dinner. The waitress has an extended death which is also spectacular. There's also a few more seconds with Duke and Diana before the climax. In total there's an entire 2 minutes and 8 seconds more in the unrated cut. Unlike the original film, the better version of Jason Goes to Hell is by far the unrated cut. This movie sucks in either version, but the impact is much stronger and carries a lot more punch in the unrated cut. Next up: the killer extended cut of Friday the 13th (2009).
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Friday the 13th Uncut Review
Having uncut, unrated versions of the Friday films has always been a Friday the 13th fans dream. There are three officially released uncut versions of the films. The first one is for the iconic original film. This version has been widely available overseas for quite a while, however it wasn't released in America until February 3, 2009. There's not too many changes to note in this version. This version is only 10 seconds longer. Annie's death in the beginning is extended. We don't fade to white quite so quickly. There's an extra beat in the sex scene. Jack's death gets a whole new shot added in which showcases the great gore effects of Tom Savini brilliantly. Marci's death has a few more beats to it. Mrs. Voorhees death also has a few more moments in the film. The added gore affects work fine with the film. The film flows great with it's uncut version. However, the longer gore affects have made it more obvious where to spot the make up effects. This has greatly been enhanced by the blu-ray. It's much easier to tell that they're just effects. The magic gets a little lost with the uncut version on blu. Which version is the better cut? I'm in the minority on this I'm sure, but I prefer the theatrical cut. I like the shorter version of Jack's death, I think it has more impact with the shorter version. I like not dwelling too long on the deaths. Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE the uncut version of the film and I'm stoked that of all the Paramount films, the original, my personal favorite is the one that has the uncut version available. Having said that, I think the theatrical cut flows better. It may just be a nostalgia thing for me, but I really think the theatrical cut is the more effective cut of the film. Only two more cuts to go! Next alternate cut: the unrated cut of Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Friday the 13th (2009) Review
Slasher movie franchises appeared dead. Torture movies had taken over and created a whole new generation of horror fans. Movies like Cabin Fever, Hostel and the Saw series set the bar for graphic violence and what was acceptable to show extremely high. Friday the 13th had always been fun. In 1980, when the original came out it was shocking how violent it was. The remake could not compare to the common trend in horror. With the Freddy Vs. Jason sequel movie in development hell and New Line losing their brilliant maverick Bob Shaye, Warner Brothers who now owns New Line Cinema teamed up with Paramount and Michael Bay to bring Friday the 13th and more importantly Jason to a brand new audience.
As always we begin with the trailer. The trailer is very old school. It's a throw back to the carnival attraction that the first three films trailers were like. It was great fun, but I don't know if it gained a new audience using that technique. The tagline: Welcome to Crystal Lake. is really stupid. I think the tagline just plain sucks.
Here's the thing: with the blu ray release of the film, it is nearly impossible to find the theatrical cut. I did find it, but it was super hard to navigate to. If you have trouble finding the theatrical cut, go to amazon and look at frequent questions on the blu ray page for this film.
I must say, the first time I saw this was on Friday the 13th, 2009 in the movie theatre and it was an AWESOME experience. I instantly gave the film 9/10 on IMDb. I couldn't remember the last time I had had so much fun at a movie. Rewatching it, however, it doesn't fare as well. It is by far the best film since The Final Chapter. Friday got really really jokey and hokey in the subsequent zombie Jason sequels. But this film really really drags. It's actually quite boring. I was shocked when I rewatched it. Granted, this is the Friday film I've seen the least, so I don't know it nearly as well as the others, but still...it's really boring.
I now understand why everyone said the best part of the movie was the opening scene. That opening scene is also long, but it gets to the point fairly quickly and the deaths are really cool. The gore affects are great in this film and for the first time in ages, there is a creative and more importantly SHOCKING death sequence. I still jump when that arrow goes through the boat driver's head.
Let's be straight, Derek Mears as Jason rocked. He was the perfect casting decision. He's such a fan boy and that's perfect for the character. Let's get one thing straight: the controversy over Jason running in this movie is uneducated and stupid. Jason runs in Part 2, and Part III in 3D. Jason running is nothing new. I guess some people just want to complain about everything even things that were alluded to in the first entries of the franchise. Jason also gets a moment when he actually puts on the mask for the very first time. We never saw that in Part III. It's a great moment for the fans.
As far as following the original film's plot line, they do a fairly decent job, but it's only given 2 minutes of screen time. Let's face it, the replacement for Betsy Palmer is very poor in comparison. Betsy just OWNED Mrs. Voorhees. It's a calmer take with this film, but I gotta go with the original on their take on Mrs. Voorhees. The rest of the film departs from the original storyline and plays more like a sequel than a remake, but I'm fine with that. Expanding on what audiences responded to in a remake is never a bad thing. Take the 1956 remake of The Ten Commandments. Cecil B. DeMille just expanded on the Moses storyline from his 1923 original film. Now, Friday the 13th is no Ten Commandments, but the basic idea still applies. However, I just can't say that the 2009 remake is a better film than the 1980 original. Film quality, it's a ton better. Storywise, character moments, acting, the 1980 film is better.
This movie tries to explain how Jason appears out of thin air. This movie put tunnels underneath Crystal Lake. I still like this idea. This, to me, brought it back to the realness of the first film. It's still not as realistic as the original classic, but it's a vast improvement over previous entries.
With so much going for it, why does it feel so slow when you watch it? I think the problem lies in two fundamental areas: our main character is a dude and the ending is cliche. Our final heroine spends a good amount of the film chained in the underground tunnels. We don't know much about Whitney at all. We do know this: Whitney has a strong heart. She cares for her mother who is dying from cancer. She goes missing in Jason's woods, but Jason doesn't kill her. Jason feels like she is his mother. So he keeps her chained underground. What is interesting about our final heroine to date is that she doesn't seem like she's a virgin. She has a boyfriend who she goes out to the woods with. Her friends were all screwing, so who knows what Whitney has done with her boyfriend in the past. However, like it's stated before, Whitney is MIA for the majority of the film and that is not ok.
The ending is really bad. There's no way of getting around it. We've seen it all before. Jason jumps out of the water again, only this time we don't get an iconic, horrifying jump scene, we get a scene that's so forgettable you'll forget it within an hour. The ending ended on such a cliche note that I think it screwed the course of the remake series.
Friday the 13th, the remake, premiered on Friday the 13th, February, 2009. On a budget of $19 million, the film grossed $64,997,188. I do enjoy the remake. A lot of complaints are said that I don't think carry much weight at all, but it does drag and the ending sucks. So there you have it, but we're not done just yet. There's three officially released alternate cuts. Those will not be a typical review, they will only compare with the theatrical cut and I'll determine which cut I feel is the better cut. Until next time...
As always we begin with the trailer. The trailer is very old school. It's a throw back to the carnival attraction that the first three films trailers were like. It was great fun, but I don't know if it gained a new audience using that technique. The tagline: Welcome to Crystal Lake. is really stupid. I think the tagline just plain sucks.
Here's the thing: with the blu ray release of the film, it is nearly impossible to find the theatrical cut. I did find it, but it was super hard to navigate to. If you have trouble finding the theatrical cut, go to amazon and look at frequent questions on the blu ray page for this film.
I must say, the first time I saw this was on Friday the 13th, 2009 in the movie theatre and it was an AWESOME experience. I instantly gave the film 9/10 on IMDb. I couldn't remember the last time I had had so much fun at a movie. Rewatching it, however, it doesn't fare as well. It is by far the best film since The Final Chapter. Friday got really really jokey and hokey in the subsequent zombie Jason sequels. But this film really really drags. It's actually quite boring. I was shocked when I rewatched it. Granted, this is the Friday film I've seen the least, so I don't know it nearly as well as the others, but still...it's really boring.
I now understand why everyone said the best part of the movie was the opening scene. That opening scene is also long, but it gets to the point fairly quickly and the deaths are really cool. The gore affects are great in this film and for the first time in ages, there is a creative and more importantly SHOCKING death sequence. I still jump when that arrow goes through the boat driver's head.
Let's be straight, Derek Mears as Jason rocked. He was the perfect casting decision. He's such a fan boy and that's perfect for the character. Let's get one thing straight: the controversy over Jason running in this movie is uneducated and stupid. Jason runs in Part 2, and Part III in 3D. Jason running is nothing new. I guess some people just want to complain about everything even things that were alluded to in the first entries of the franchise. Jason also gets a moment when he actually puts on the mask for the very first time. We never saw that in Part III. It's a great moment for the fans.
As far as following the original film's plot line, they do a fairly decent job, but it's only given 2 minutes of screen time. Let's face it, the replacement for Betsy Palmer is very poor in comparison. Betsy just OWNED Mrs. Voorhees. It's a calmer take with this film, but I gotta go with the original on their take on Mrs. Voorhees. The rest of the film departs from the original storyline and plays more like a sequel than a remake, but I'm fine with that. Expanding on what audiences responded to in a remake is never a bad thing. Take the 1956 remake of The Ten Commandments. Cecil B. DeMille just expanded on the Moses storyline from his 1923 original film. Now, Friday the 13th is no Ten Commandments, but the basic idea still applies. However, I just can't say that the 2009 remake is a better film than the 1980 original. Film quality, it's a ton better. Storywise, character moments, acting, the 1980 film is better.
This movie tries to explain how Jason appears out of thin air. This movie put tunnels underneath Crystal Lake. I still like this idea. This, to me, brought it back to the realness of the first film. It's still not as realistic as the original classic, but it's a vast improvement over previous entries.
With so much going for it, why does it feel so slow when you watch it? I think the problem lies in two fundamental areas: our main character is a dude and the ending is cliche. Our final heroine spends a good amount of the film chained in the underground tunnels. We don't know much about Whitney at all. We do know this: Whitney has a strong heart. She cares for her mother who is dying from cancer. She goes missing in Jason's woods, but Jason doesn't kill her. Jason feels like she is his mother. So he keeps her chained underground. What is interesting about our final heroine to date is that she doesn't seem like she's a virgin. She has a boyfriend who she goes out to the woods with. Her friends were all screwing, so who knows what Whitney has done with her boyfriend in the past. However, like it's stated before, Whitney is MIA for the majority of the film and that is not ok.
The ending is really bad. There's no way of getting around it. We've seen it all before. Jason jumps out of the water again, only this time we don't get an iconic, horrifying jump scene, we get a scene that's so forgettable you'll forget it within an hour. The ending ended on such a cliche note that I think it screwed the course of the remake series.
Friday the 13th, the remake, premiered on Friday the 13th, February, 2009. On a budget of $19 million, the film grossed $64,997,188. I do enjoy the remake. A lot of complaints are said that I don't think carry much weight at all, but it does drag and the ending sucks. So there you have it, but we're not done just yet. There's three officially released alternate cuts. Those will not be a typical review, they will only compare with the theatrical cut and I'll determine which cut I feel is the better cut. Until next time...
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