The third season of Forgotten Horror not only comes with four new movies, but we switch to numbers instead of roman numerals. You know, because there's no rhyme or reason to what we do. It's Forgotten Horror 3: Season of the Scare!
This season came about during a time when we took a pause form the short films, so alas, no bonus video to see us making fools of ourselves. Check out our slate of movies for season 3!
Prince of Darkness
It's time for the third annual Forgotten Horror! On this first adventure in fear, we take on the 1987 John Carpenter film Prince of Darkness.
We discuss the interesting way that the film attempts to blend science fiction and biblical horror. Then there's the fantastic use of practical effects in the film and the way that the film succeeds with it's singular location and tight script. We'll also talk about some of the less than spectacular performances and a cameo that Butler finds to be a little too much. And we agree that the film is rife for a sequel that can also serve as a reboot of sorts without ignoring the original.
30 Days of Night
In Northern Alaska, Josh Hartnett is fighting vampires to protect his small town in 2007's 30 Days of Night, directed by David Slade.
We discuss this action/horror film; both the good and the bad. We enjoy the action, the setting, and some of the actors in their roles, but film is plagued by other characters that seem wasted, generic, or just plain useless. Some of the vampire lore that the film attempts to set up also seems to make little sense or contradict itself at times. We'll talk about how the character actions occur only to move the story along and Butler believes that the final act was a big rush job just to wrap it all up. That being said, we thoroughly enjoy the action, and the story presented within the film. It's a decent film that like a vampire victim's neck, has a lot of holes.
In the Mouth of Madness
Read any good books lately? No? We haven't either because w e're too busy with our next Forgotten Horror film, John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness, starring Sam Neill.
We discuss this 1994 horror film — part of Carpenter's self proclaimed Apocalypse trilogy — and talk about how the concept for this film is its strongest point. A writer creating Hell on Earth when everything he writes comes true. The homages to both Stephen King and HP Lovecraft abound in this film as well. Butler is a big fan of the anything goes, monsters from beyond aspect to the film, as well as some abstract, almost David Lynch moments that occur.
Though Butler enjoyed the film quite a bit, he agrees with Field that In the Mouth of Madness has story beats that are missing. This could either be from deleted scenes or just inherent to the script which is why before landing on John Carpenter it went through a revolving door of directors.
Let's Scare Jessica to Death
We talk about the 1971 film, Let's Scare Jessica to Death, directed by John D. Hancock, who got the directing gig for Jaws 2 based on one of the scenes from this film...before he got himself fired from said big career opportunity.
We bring up that fact and more as we discuss what we thought of this film. From the odd way they present the vampires in the film, to the poor use of the supporting actors. Butler will lament that although the idea of the film is solid and the attempt at tackling themes of mental health within a horror film is admirable for a film from 1971, everything else is incredibly lackluster and handled in such a muddled way. Field will, of course, disagree with Butler and talk about his respect for a low budget film that goes so far and gets the director a shot at the big show; even if said director does blow it. Butler is probably wrong though, as this is one of Stephen King's favorite horror films.
You can listen to Forgotten Horror II: The Bloody Return at your favorite podcast portal.
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