Prom Night (1980)

Prom Night (1980) 

After playing the titular character in John Carpenter's Halloween (1978), Jamie Lee Curtis plays an all to similar character in the low-budget Canadian 'slasher' flick Prom Night (1980). If you've seen Halloween it's the same basic plot. Some backstory, then Jamie Lee Curtis' friends start dropping off by a mysterious killer, then the great reveal/the end.

That description makes the film, and others within the genre, sound bland. Which is totally not the case.....totally.

After playing a game of, what i can only assume is called, 'killer' (a bit like tiggie mixed with hide and go seek) One of the girls gets cornered, and in a paralysis of fear she then falls from a great height out of a window. Shocked, the kids make a pact to never talk about the situation to anyone in fear of being put in jail.

Soon after, a police detective turns up. Deducting that the girl was probably cornered by a rapist, and in an attempt to resist, she committed suicide.

The film transitions to six years later, the girl died in 1974 and now it's 1980. But the crime is still unsolved...

The detective still suspects the same culprit, a crazed man who was put into an institution. Much like Micheal Myers, this man escapes, and killings are starting to happen again. But who's behind them?

Is it the creepy groundskeeper Mr. Sykes, who has a weird habit of sticking his tongue out and appearing at the scene of strange events?. Is it one of the innocent kids that inadvertently killed the girl?, or is it the detective spot on?

While the production isn't as good as Halloween, but then again, who can touch Carpenter at his prime?, Prom Night is well filmed. The pacing is great, especially the odd occurrences before the killings start. Such as the shattered mirror in the girls room and the school photos from 1974 that appear in the kids' lockers. Prom Night establishes itself as a cult slasher flick, one of the first of the 80s tradition, and some would argue that it's one of the best. 

Full Film: Prom Night (1980)

The Descendents - 'Filmage' Review

 

The Descendents - Filmage 2014

What can really be said about the Descendents? They craft amazing punk tunes that hit from all angels. No matter who you are, the Descendents have a song, or many, that will resonate with you. When people talk about 'relatability' its usually a 'get out clause' for people who want to validate why they don't want to hear songs about anything else other than love and relationships.You know whats ACTUALLY relatable? Liking food, coffee, being a nerd, having your own interests, as well as relationships, whether they be familial or otherwise. The good thing about the Descendents is that they don't bullshit or beat around the bush, they get to the point, expressing themselves and their situations.

Songs such as 'Silly Girl' are so sweet and vulnerable, almost to a fault. While others such as 'Orgofart' are downright dumb. And inbetween these two extremes is a lot of middleground, which is where the Descendents come to their fore.

So then, considering the thirty-odd years they've been at it, how do you summarise such a multi-faceted band that has had many member changes in just and hour and a half?

'Filmage' opens up with various high-profile punkers lamenting on The Descendents and their legacy as the forefathers of 'pop punk'. Among the talking heads are Tim McIlrath, Joey Cape, Mike Watt, Fat Mike, Mark Hoppus, and the 'always interesting' Dave Ghrol, right guys? As typical with these types of intros there is a lot of genralizing, broad statements, and over-exaggerating from excited musicians. I'm not a huge fan of this type of beginning, but it summarises the career of The Decendents/ALL nicely in four minutes or so.

After the intro credits we see the desolate landscape of Fort Collins, Colerado. Bill Stevenson gets out his car, starting off the story with a fishing anecdote. The early stages are told and documented well, its cool to see legends such as Keith Morris refelcting on the past, particularly of Bill as a youngster, the musical climate of the time, which included 'the worst of Fleetwood Mac', and highlighting the influence of powerpop/punk legends 'The Last'.

One particular highlight for me is the fatefull meet up and relationship between Bill and Frank Navetta. This documentary is a must watch just for the demystifying of Frank as a person. When i started getting into punk, the Decendents being a big fixture there, I remember desperatly wanting to know what happened to Frank. As it seems that he played with the Descendents for a few years and then dissapeared of the face off the planet! He was/is one of my favourite guitar players, and the main thought going through my head was 'why would someone just stop playing music if you're THAT good?'. Well it turns out that Frank just stopped being musically active (WTF, right?), and became a fisherman, unfortunatly passing away in 2008. Sad stuff.

Straight from the get go the Descendents were a democratic unit, with different members writing songs/lyrics. The background on Navetta really gives insight to some of the angstier tracks such as 'I'm Not A Loser', 'Parents', and 'Statue Of Liberty'.

Throughout the film it introduces the members as they come and go. Tony Lombardo's sections are quite powerful, fun, and moving. The introduction of Milo, 'Fat', coffee, and DIY all take a small amount of time, eventaully cultiminaing in the greatest record ever made, 'Milo Goes To College', with funny stories about the 'Milo drawings' and band testimonials from Face To Face, Hagfish, Joey Cape, Mark Hoppus...and Dave Ghrol, again...yaaaay...

Around the 25 minute mark the story follows Bill and his Black Flag excursion as well as the eventual reunion with Milo after Bill proposes his 'not-fit for Black Flag material' to him. In order to push the story further the records aren't covered in such detail, the passing from 'I Dont Want To Grow Up' to 'Enjoy' and 'All' doesn't take long at all. Which sucks in a way, but then again, if it went into more detail then the film would end up being long winded.

At the 40 mins mark the story of ALL begins in a similar quick moving fashion, with some neat stories by Dave Smalley, Bills increasing creative control, and the rotating singers. I've got to say that the Scott Reynolds moments are also quite moving as he seems like such a cool guy fallen on hard times.

At about 55 minutes into the film the focus shifts back to the Descendents. 'Everything Sucks', the impact of the reunion on the punk community, and the last few records from ALL are all covered well. And then we come to the the next 'must watch' part of the film, Bill. In the last 20/30 mins or so, the focus shifts to Bill, his personality, work ethic, familial discord/relationship with father, as well as his unfortuante and life-threatening health complications. Not to give anything away, but its almost like a fairy-tale ending!

Overall, 'Filmage' is a definate 'must watch' for any Descendents fan. The information on Frank and Bill is priceless, and the general story arc is entertaining, with plenty of fun and sad moments. It seems that the history of the Descendents is more complicated that i ever thought it was, which makes for a seriously interesting film.

If you get the chance to see it, do it! Highly recommended!

Too Much Horror Business!

+++Happy Halloweenie!+++

Who doesn't like a good horror movie? Okay, so loads of people don't. But i do, and this is my blog, bro. Seriously, I spend most of my time on Halloween watching horror movies and listening to punk rock. So here is a list (complete with Youtube links to the full movies) to some of my favorite horror flicks! Enjoy and......as The Misfits say, BEWARE!

Trick Or Treat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33nGwh0ADIA
With a cameo by Ozzy Osbourne playing the part of a TV evangelist, Trick or Treat is a cool film about a young metalhead who is crushed after his idol has died. When he aquires the acetate of Sammi Curr's new record from a sympathetic friend, Gene Simmons no less!, he gets more than he bargained for! When playing the record backwards, he hears the voice of his idol-speaking directly from the grave!

Dolls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v0TMGFRpgQ
A great film about a family who find a house, owned by an odd couple, to take refuge in- after their car has broken down on a stormy night. Much like many 'haunted house' flicks/books, others soon find themselves in the same predicament. In 'Dolls' case we have some lame 80's new wave/punkettes with terrible Bwitish acciints and a bumbling goofball 'Ralph Morris'.
Soon, murders are happening...and it all leads to the dolls that the eccentric owner creates.

Clownhouse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tv6VoOYok4
Although the film will forever be plagued with the directors alleged molestation of the youngest cast member, Clownhouse is a decent clown based horror romp. Three brothers are left alone for Halloween night, at the same time, a group of mental-cases have escaped their asylum, killed some clowns, and taken their uniforms. As expected, the two worlds collide, teenage boys being stalked by killer 'clowns'.

Basketcase
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsGZyilpLb8
A personal favorite, Basketcase! This is one absolutely bonkers flick about a boy, Duane, who moves to the city. The strange thing is, he always carries a straw box around. Well, it turns out that in this box is his 'twin' brother, who was separated at an early age by some dodgy surgeons. The 'twin', Belial, is a large tumour-like creature with a face and arms. Jealous of his 'normal' looking brother, Belial gets Duane to find the dodgy surgeons who split them up so that they can take care of them. But, his murderous jealously hits breaking point when Duane forms a relationship with a local nurse!

Braindead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9SJP27mR1g
Before Peter Jackson became known as the 'Lord of the Rings' director, he directed many low-budget films such as the fantastic 'The Frighteners', 'Bad Taste', and this gore-tastic gem, 'Braindead'. A 'rat-monkey' gets taken from its native 'Skull Island' and put in an Australian zoo. Our main character, Lionel, becomes 'romantically entangled' with a local Mexican woman. While on a date, Lionel's controlling mother follows him to the zoo where she gets bitten by the 'rat-monkey' and becomes a zombie-like creature that starts to infect the unfortunates that enter her house.
For the majority of the film Lionel is hiding and tranquilizing these zombies in his house, until the body count becomes too much after an unexpected party...where the bloodbath begins.

+++Happy Halloween+++

+++I Can't Wait To Hear You Scream!+++