This week has been pretty hectic for a variety of reasons. Other than the usual work and health issues which I've mentioned before, and also taking into account that it's the long weekend over here. I also went to two gigs, of which are Lordi in The Button Factory, Dublin (which reminds me to watch their film again), and Devin Townsend in The Stiff Kitten, Belfast (which took place on a Sunday, hence the delay in this blog post).
As I couldn't find the time to write an indepth article on any movie, I have gone with the "Double Bill" structure, of which I started doing a fortnight ago, using DVDs I picked up as part of the collection above. My intention with these blog entries is to watch the films in one sitting, and then write about them. Now in the previous one I mentioned of the delay within the second film, but still got through them on the same night. However, in the week that I had, I didn't have that luxury.
CROCODILE
I was staying over at my parent's house on Tuesday, and I planned to watch a double bill of movies over there with them. My mum was interested in what I bought, mainly due to the monster type films, so she chose three movies out of the collection (of which are Return Of The Killer Tomatoes and Octopus).
I watched the beginning of this film, but had to take an important phone call, so I could only catch the last 30 minutes of the film. Even without watching it, my folks were able to keep me up to speed with the threadbare plot. My dad was pointing out the many continuity errors relating to a certain rucksack, and my folks were able to mock the film by how bad it was, but took into account it was a B-Movie after all, so they were forgiving in that respect.
Well, when I told them that this was directed by Tobe Hooper, who has done Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Poltergeist, my mum said that he should be put down after this. Pretty harsh, but then again I was never a fan of Texas Chainsaw Massacre to begin with. Although I did find the sequel hilarious.
93 minutes later.....
Right from the very beginning, I wanted everybody onscreen to die, even the cute little dog. These people are not only the cliched beautiful but stupid college kids, but they are completely unlikable and unrealistic, in terms of their dialogue, their attitudes and their actions. Not since Quarantine 2: Terminal have I seen a film where I wanted everyone snuffed out within the first few minutes. Which makes them perfectly good Croc bait in that respect.
As for the crocodile itself, there are two versions of it onscreen. One looks like a giant theme park model where victims looks like they're covered in fake blood and stuck between its teeth, and at times used as a battering ram. Other times a terrible CGI model is in place, so I guess the Coca Cola product placement didn't help in that department. Despite these terrible incarnations of the crocodile (not a gator, as the film throws in a few facts about them in a few scenes), I was still rooting for it instead of any of the other dumbasses in this movie.
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| On a sidenote, this was on TV on Tuesday night. Maybe I should have checked that out instead. |
Other than the continuity errors that my dad pointed out, not to mention the overall stupidity of these jerks, the one thing that left me gobsmacked was that this film is so cheap, it even looks like it's cutting corners. There are scenes where it focuses on nothing, the crocodile is offscreen while doing something off camera, and the editing is so bad, that they took the same campfire scene with everyone in the same clothes, and tried to pass it off as a separate night. And this is directed by the same Tobe Hooper who made some of the most highly regarded horror films of all time?
Verdict?
This film is bad, full stop. But in a bizarre way, that's what makes it watchable, the same way my parents viewed it. Which of course, it's a B-Movie, you know what you're getting into, so the more stupid things you can point out, the better. I guess the novelty of being directed by Tobe Hooper does give an example of how low some directors can go, in terms of quality. But when watched by like minded individuals, or at least a ton of beers, there is entertainment to be found in this godawful flick.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
In the past I planned to watch a double bill with this film first, and another called Creature. But on Saturday, I decided to watch Crocodile first, as I was familiar with it by this stage, and then move onto this. The plan was to watch these films while waiting for some of my friends to come over later on that evening. But a ladyfriend of mine happened to come over earlier than expected, so I had to halt viewing 20 minutes into the film.
As I mentioned earlier I spent Sunday travelling to and from Belfast for the Devin Townsend gig. When I got home I thought it would be the perfect time to stick it on to round off the evening. However, I had fallen asleep somewhere towards the last half hour, only to gain consciousness towards the end of the film.
Just as well that I've seen Night Of The Living Dead before, so I'm able to at least write something about it.....man I never intended for these intros to go for more than one paragraph, but given the circumstances this week, it should give you an idea as to my viewing experiences.
96 minutes later.....
Well, what I got from this particular viewing, other than passing out after 7 and a half pints and a two hour drive back to Dublin beforehand, was watching this film for the first time in colour. I was able to get used to it after a while, but for me the modern day equivalent are films that are post converted from 2D to 3D, some work, other don't. This version falls in the latter, as there were some points onscreen where someone forgot to colour it in.
As for the film itself.....well what more can be said about it really? Sure it does have the standard social commentary that George A. Romero sticks in these "Dead" movies. Personally I never cared much for these messages, which may sound ridiculous to most people reading this. Don't get me wrong I understand them and it is quite clever, but at the same time it can come off as pretentious. Plus I choose to view these films on a simplistic level, which is a zombie flick.
In terms of B-Movies, it's one of the earliest examples of this style, not only in graphic content, but by its cheap aesthetic, given the minimal production value this film had.. Unfortunately the colour version highlights these shortcomings, hence why I prefer the black and white version, as seen above. To me the monochrome feel to it just makes the film that much creepier, and even if the movie had been filmed in colour, instead of just added afterwards, it still wouldn't be effective.
Verdict?
Writing about this film would be as difficult as critiquing the likes of King Kong and The Wizard Of Oz. I tend not to look too deeply into picking apart these films, given the fact that they do show their age. But these can be forgiven due to the fact that not only were these films groundbreaking at time of their release, but their influence on modern cinema can be seen even to this day. This film not only kickstarted the zombie genre, but is one of the most influential horror films of all time.Double Bill Verdict?
While I didn't get to watch these films back to back, or stay conscious in regards to the second film, if I was to imagine viewing these flicks in a row, it would work well. At the beginning I was going to watch Night Of The Living Dead first, which probably would have helped if I was gonna pass out during Crocodile, as I've seen the last few minutes previously. But I think it worked better to go with the bad "creature feature" first, and then watched something better afterwards.
And on a final note.....
In relation to last night's gig, to round off this hectic week on a Bank Holiday Monday, I may as well listen to this album by The Devin Townsend Project; Ghost.
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