Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 18, 1994 TAG: 9407070087
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Mike Mayo
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
For sheer paranoia, Abel Ferrara's take on this tale may not be as suspenseful as Don Siegel's original, but, for my money, it's better than Philip Kaufman's 1978 remake. It's certainly got more inventive special effects. In fact, the best of them are about as skin-crawly as any you'll see these days. They involve soft, gently probing little tendrils that do absolutely revolting things.
Writers Stuart Gordon and Dennis Paoli (also responsible for ``Re-Animator'') and Nicholas St. John decided to make some interesting changes in setting and character. This one takes place on a Southern military base, and the protagonist is a newly arrived teen-ager, Marti Malone (Gabrielle Anwar).
Rebellious and sullen, she doesn't like this new assignment her dad (Terry Kinney), an EPA scientist, has taken. On more general terms, she doesn't care for her stepmother (Meg Tilly) and little brother (Reilly Murphy). The only thing she likes is a handsome chopper pilot (Billy Wirth).
As things work out, they haven't even gotten to the base before she learns that something is wrong there.
In the first part of the film, Ferrara uses a funereal pace to turn the ordinary into the ominous. It's an effective way to build tension until the icky effects kick in. On the minus side, he overuses the shortcut of panning his camera through walls between rooms. It's a technique that rudely reminds viewers they're watching a movie when they should be getting into the action, and toward the end, the plot makes a misstep or two. But judged against the rest of the film, those are minor flaws.
Horror fans take note: When ``Body Snatchers'' hits video stores next month, reserve a copy.
Though it was obviously made on a much smaller budget, ``The Dark'' is almost as good. It's a fine little horror film with a creepy creepy premise, an overdeveloped sense of humor and a deep streak of humanism.
The main characters are a half-mad ex-FBI agent (Brion James), a doctor (Stephen McHattie) on a mission, a sympathetic coffee-shop waitress (Cynthia Belliveau), an understanding gravedigger (Jaimz Woolvett), and the monstrous creature who lives under the cemetery and eats bodies.
Robert C. Cooper's script follows the rules for the genre and gives fans what they want to see. But it goes a step farther and gives all of the characters - including the monster - more depth than you usually find in horror flicks. The effects are fine. Director Craig Pryce handles the underground action scenes well. In short, ``The Dark'' is a lot of fun and could be the beginning of a fine series.
``Demon Keeper,'' on the other hand, is a cheesy guilty pleasure that benefits hugely from liberal use of the fast-forward button. This Zimbabwean production is a supernatural variation on the ``Ten Little Indians'' plotline. Isolated mansion, dark and stormy night, a group of strangers who quickly become murder victims. The differences here are two psychics, played by Dirk Benedict and Edward Albert, and a monster who's obviously a guy in a scaley suit with a skull on his jockstrap.
It's fun if you're in the mood for a really bad movie. Otherwise, forget it.
Producer Charles Band has made a Carpathian connection for some of his horror movies. Both the recent ``Bloodlust: Subspecies III'' and the upcoming ``Lurking Fear'' were filmed partially or in toto in Transylvania with overlapping production staffs. For ``Bloodlust,'' a contemporary vampire sequel, it's altogether appropriate. ``Lurking Fear,'' based on one of H.P. Lovecraft's better stories doesn't fare as well. It's supposed to be set in America, and several scenes just don't look right. Also Lovecraftians will be appalled at the liberties writer-director C. Courtney Joyner took with the story. He turned it into a crime movie, with lots of shoot-'em-up violence. That was not what HPL had in mind.
Beyond that, both films are fast-moving horror movies with solid production values and a high Yuck! factor for gross special effects.
Next week: Guilty pleasures, celebrity skin and bad taste!
New releases this week
Tombstone: ***
Starring Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, Powers Booth, Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton, Dana Delaney. Directed by George P. Cosmatos. Buena Vista. 135 min. Rated R for graphic violence, strong language.
Despite dozens of flaws, this western is surprisingly enjoyable and easy to like. Purists may be horrified at the revisionist take on one of the genre's central events - the shootout at the O.K. corral. But audiences in the mood for fast paced, sometimes tongue-in-cheek adventure will be richly entertained. As Doc Holliday, Val Kilmer steals the film.
Geronimo: An American Legend: *1/2
Starring Wes Studi, Jason Patric, Gene Hackman, Robert Duvall. Directed by Walter Hill. Columbia TriStar. 115 min. Rated PG-13 for violence, strong language.
This remarkably flat western is slow and talky. Given the impressive credits of co-writer John Milius and director Walter Hill, and their deliberate efforts to correct Hollywood's negative stereotypes of Indians, this could have been a fine, realistic Western. The supporting performances are good. In the title role, Wes Studi has little to do but look impressive and stoic, and deliver lofty speeches.
Gunmen **
Starring Mario Van Peebles, Christopher Lambert, Patrick Stewart, Dennis Leary. Directed by Deran Serafian. LIVE. 96 min. Rated R for violence, strong language, sexual content, brief nudity.
Here's an unexceptional exercise in mindless comic book violence that's punctuated by a few moments of coarse humor and enough overacting for a dozen movies. Though there are a couple of dozen violent deaths on screen, by far the most disgusting moment comes when Christopher Lambert eats a bug and then talks with his mouth full.
\ THE ESSENTIALS:
Body Snatchers ***
Warner Bros. 87 min. Rated R for icky special effects, violence, strong language, brief nudity.
The Dark ***
Imperial. 90 min. Rated R for violence, subject matter, strong language, brief nudity and sexual content.
Demon Keeper *
New Horizons. 90 min. Rated R for ridiculous violence, strong language, brief nudity, sexual content.
Lurking Fear **
Paramount. 76 min. Rated R for violence, strong language, gooey special effects.
Bloodlust: Subspecies III **1/2
Paramount. 83 min. Rated R for even gooier special effects, violence, brief nudity.
by CNB