Carpenter/Cronenberg Part 3 of 3 - Their Very Best Movies
The final part in my consideration of the movies of John Carpenter and David Cronenberg. Finally we have reached what I consider to be their very best works. (Once again, I must remind everyone that I have not seen "Fast Company" or "M Butterfly" from David Cronenberg. They're a bit hard to come by it seems.)
Wondering about some other movies by these directors? Well if you look into part 2 you'll see some quite strong recommendations, while in part 1 I considered the movies from these directors which I viewed as most disappointing. (Please note that I like every movie mentioned in parts 2 and 3. In part 1, movies I might suggest as "worth watching" would be "Dark Star" and "Prince Of Darkness" from Carpenter and "Shivers" and "eXistenZ" from Cronenberg.)
The Very Best Of John Carpenter
Personal Favourite: The Thing (1982)
Remarkably this wasn't very popular when it came out. It seems that this was the same year that E.T. was released so I can only presume that people were so caught up in Spielberg's wuvvy duvvy psychic aliens that they weren't terribly interested in Carpenter's terrifying shapeshifter. Carpenter suggests that what upset people about The Thing was that it didn't stick to the normal horror tradition of leaving the horror to your imagination. Instead, the monster is very much on screen, as is the gore. The thing is that Carpenter provides some of the most incredible model-work in this movie's effects and it really hasn't dated much in that time. This is undoubtedly one of the greatest horror movies ever made. I don't really see how anyone could dispute that.
My score: 5/5 (Plus, my favourite movie of 1982)
Current Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80%
In The Mouth Of Madness (1995)
Giving Sam Neil the starring role helps a great deal. Sam Neil does a really job of pulling the audience in as he tracks down the missing horror author, Sutter Cane. There are some points where the movie gets very silly, but it keeps your attention from beginning to end. The ending of the movie is quite haunting and sticks with you long after you turn off the DVD player.
My score: 5/5
RT score: 48%
They Live (1988)
My review was as follows:
Yet another re-watched, but I was stunned to find how much better it seemed this time around. The storyline seems particularly relevant to the current economic climate as it begins with the protagonist desperate to find work when there's very little to come by. The general sentiment is that times are hard and that people are just going to have to try their best to get by. Then they discover that there's a more sinister explanation for their situation.
Yeah sure there's a point where two friends decide to beat the s*** out of each other and that scene lasts rather too long and looks a more like a wrestling match than a real-life brawl. Also the famously cheesy line "I've come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass and I'm all out of bubblegum" seems extremely out of place. However, I'm inclined to forgive these few things since the movie as a whole is engaging, imaginative, exciting and really quite clever. I love it.
Despite being essentially an action movie, this has quite a mature message to it. When I first saw it I was still in school and wasn't able to get the full message of it. In this era of economic recession, however, the message seems particularly relevant. Do note that I am deliberately avoiding describing who "they" are.
My score: 5/5
RT score: 88%
Escape From LA (1996)
This might come as some surprise seeing as in my previous consideration of various directors I said that I wasn't so keen on "Escape From New York". The thing is that Escape From LA is essentially a spoof of Escape from New York, as well as a satire on both Hollywood and the American far-right. As such, the film cannot really stand alone as a movie. While it doesn't follow on from Escape From New York, many of the gags do not work unless you are familiar with the previous movie. That said, I actually think that Escape From LA does a better job of getting you into the right mood since it makes it pretty obvious right from the start that this isn't a movie you are supposed to take seriously. From Snake Plissken avoiding a shark as he passes the now-submerged Universal Studios to surfing on a tidal wave alongside a car, this is a sci-fi comedy satire of epic randomness. Also Bruce Campbell has a cameo role.
My score: 5/5
RT score: 56%
The Very Best Of David Cronenberg
Personal Favourite: Eastern Promises (2007)
David Cronenberg's latest outings have been rather different from earlier in his career. He seems to now be moving from bizarre abstract horror to real-life horror. For some reason Cronenberg seems to like setting the occasional movie in London and I can't say I'm sorry for that. I hear that Vincent Cassell's Russian accent is appalling, but I was much more concerned about Naomi Watts and I'm pleased to say that her English accent was quite convincing. Cronenberg successfully presents some quite complex characters in this movie about the Russian mafia. Some fantastically subtle performances from Armin Mueller-Stahl and Viggo Mortensen make this an absolutely outstanding film.
My score: 5/5 (Plus, my favourite movie of 2007)
RT score: 89%
Videodrome (1983)
This movie is quite abstract with much of the film consisting in dreams and halluncinations. Still the triumph of Videodrome is how it exploits a fear of television while you watch the television. It focusses on television's relationship with sex and violence while featuring a fair bit of both itself. Some of the ideas in the movie are utterly bizarre, but still it succeeds in pulling you in. While abstract, that doesn't stop the movie from having a consistent plot and a genuine sense that characters are meaningfully interacting; an attribute in which some other abstract Cronenberg movies are rather lacking.
My score: 5/5 (Plus, my favourite movie of 1983)
RT score: 80%
The Fly (1986)
My review was as follows:
Re-watching David Cronenberg's remake of The Fly it didn't seem quite as exciting as the first time around. Still, I guess you can expect that to some extent when you know what is going to happen. I didn't remember the female protagonist's ex-boyfriend seeming quite so creepy before, but then again I'm sure there are overly posessive creeps like him in real life. Cronenberg's new take on the premise is not to give us the comfort of knowing precisely what the central scientist has become, but instead to make the change a gradual one. This is extremely effective and stands to put a stark distinction between the remake and the original. Jeff Goldblum's performance is excellent and really gets us under the skin (so to speak) of the scientist as he changes.
It's generally not a good idea to remake a movie unless you have something new to bring to it. With the original movie of "The Fly" being such a classic, it would have been difficult to justify a remake. As it is, Cronenberg's take on The Fly is so drastically different from his source material that it can barely be called a remake at all. It seems that Cronenberg was fascinated by the idea within the original movie that the scientist is slowly turning into a fly. What he then does with this idea is quite incredible.
My score: 5/5
RT score: 91%
A History Of Violence (2005)
Yet another example of Cronenberg's more recent style of real-life horror rather than body horror. A History Of Violence is an adaptation from a graphic novel about a peace-loving man who is approached by some shady figures who are convinced that he has a less-than-peace-loving history with them. Towards the beginning there's a rather awkward sex scene with Maria Bello wearing a rather unflattering cheerleader outfit and this served (I felt) to make the beginning of the film rather slower than it ought to have been. Still, once the story gets going it becomes really interesting and once again Cronenberg manages to finish the movie leaving you a little haunted by what has come before.
My score: 5/5
RT score: 87%
Scanners (1981)
In spite of the weird noises, odd soundtrack, a few particularly daft lines and an utterly stupid revelation towards the end, I cannot help but love this movie. As weird as the sound effects often are, there can be no doubt that they do a great job of convincing us that these people really are psychic. Cronenberg's style of body horror means that his portrayal of psychics is much more convincing than it might otherwise have been with a director who allowed for more mind/body dualism. Rather than portraying psychics as simply being people with powers (a la X-Men) this film portrays telepathy as a weird form of mental illness (since it's the mind working abnormally). It's an extremely interesting approach, imaginatively explored, and this more than makes up for the films failings in terms of character development and plot. A clever (as well as visually spectacular) ending solidifies Scanners as one of Cronenberg's best movies.
My score: 5/5
RT score: 76%