Movie Review -.The Being

The Being

1983

Bill Osco Productions

Best Film & Video Corp / New World Pictures / Thorn EMI Video

5.25 / 10

This isn't a magnificent movie, though it isn't a bad one either.  This is pretty much as average as they come.  A year before Toxi the Toxic Avenger graced out screens there was The Being.

This is a story about a boy who falls foul to a greedy Mayor who sells his soul to a corporation so they can dump pollution in his township.  Once the boy is mutated, his damaged brain send him on a killing spree.  As always, with the plethora of horror films, this could have been better, especially the story which is only there to create The Being.

What this film has in its favour is it's cast, though not the cream of the crop there are some very good masters of their craft involved.  Both Martin Landau and Jose Ferrer in their respective roles of Dr Garson Jones and Mayor Gordon Lane, who is nice and sleazy.  In fact, most of the cast give good performances with the material they have, even Roxanne Cybelle Osco, who is the little girl in the Easter Egg Hunt scene (one of my favourites in the film).  The only person who seems miscast is Bill Osco as Detective Mortimer Lutz, his style is that of a Chippendale chair...  Oh, and there's even a naked Traci Lord painting her toenails before being attacked by a rubber monster (sorry I couldn't resist - though it is true).

So why didn't this get a higher rating?  For me, it's the directing.  Though Jackie Kong's story isn't too bad for an '80's horror film his directing skills aren't up to the same standard.  That said there are some good scenes.  As I stated I liked the Easter Egg Hunt; I liked the opening sequence where you hear a radio broadcast informing the town that the storm has passed, this creates a nice atmosphere... which is then spoiled by a narration.  The narration isn't required as everything is explained throughout the movie.  I don't know if this was requested to be added later, it feels that way, or if it was the original plan, but what I do know is that it kills the atmosphere and spoils the feel of the film.  This may even get a few people turning off.  Kong is also good at filming in the dark as he opts to make everything visible (there's nothing worse than when a scene is so dark you cannot see what's happening).  He can even build up the tension as the scene in the dinner shows, nice and creepy.  If he could have kept this up for the entirety of the film it would have been so much better.

Then there are the effects.  The ripping out of a heart is well done as is the oozing pollution which comes through the car's vents and radio.  However, the monster itself is laughable and it's a good thing that you don't see it fully until the finale.  It resembles a box of goo on a skateboard and the one eye it has doesn't look at all realistic; I was waiting for the glue to go off and the table tennis ball to fall off.

If you like, leave your brain at the door '80's horror and you've not seen this one yet then give it a gander as it's at least worth one viewing.  It should be said that it would be better viewed in the dark with a nice cold drink... or two... or three... while the rain outside is spattering your window.

Movie Review - The Relic

The Relic (1997)

British Broadcasting Corporation / Cloud Nine Entertainment / Pacific Western / Paramount Pictures / Polygram Filmed Entertainment / Universal Pictures : Lions Gate Films

7.5 / 10

With some of the dire, drab and boring horror movies which are getting good credit and reviews it was nice to jump in a time machine, thanks to terrestrial television (and the Horror Channel), and see how horror should be done.

This was a breath of fresh air especially after watching The Babadook.

Though there's a lot of action in the film and a smidgen of science fiction there's more elements of horror.  There's an occult/religious angle, there's a demonic beast on the hunt for its next victim, which it dispatches in a very nasty way indeed, but most of all there's tension and suspense by the bucket-of-blood load.

All of this is handled brilliantly under the experienced direction of Peter Hyams, he does a great job of keeping so many components from spilling over while keeping the story believable.  Taking a story of this magnitude and getting the reader/viewer to believe it could actually happen is a skill.  The first time they think this cannot be real then the writer and director have lost.  So respect is also due to the writers and screenwriters for a very impressive job.  If somebody want's to make a decent Stephen King adaptation then they should take notes from this movie.

More respect for the creature creation wizard Stan Winston as this is some of his finest work in the horror genre... except of course "John Carpenter's The Thing".  The scene where the beast catches a member of the S W A T team while he's running away and pulls his head off his body is awesome; this would have been spectacular to see on the big screen and one of the reasons I prefer wet-work over CGI in effects.

Though there are no big name actors in the film they still give credible performances.  The only one that partially hams it up is Chi Muoi Lo, who plays Dr Grant Lee, his character is meant to be annoying but Lo does tend to go over the top; luckily enough he's not in the movie much.

This is an enjoyable horror film which romps away joyously in the action sequences and slows to a creepier pace in the suspenseful scenes.  This film speaks to more than just horror movie fans and I would definitely recommend this to everyone to watch just once.