Rocky and Shocky is my late night double feature picture show. I fell in love with Rocky Horror Picture Show in time for it's 25th anniversary, which means I saw the VH1 special that mentioned it's sequel, Shock Treatment, which I hunted down on VHS, which I loved. They are both cult classics, but achieved that status in their own way.
Rocky Horror Picture Show, released in 1975, was based on the stage play Rocky Horror Show, written by Richard O'Brien, who also wrote the movie along with director Jim Sharman. The basic plot of Rocky Horror Picture Show follows Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick) and Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon). Brad proposes to Janet after their friend Ralph Hapschatt (Jeremy Newson) and Betty Monroe's wedding. The couple then decide that they want to share their good news with their friend Dr. Everett Scott (Jonathan Adams) since he was the one who introduced Brad and Janet. However, fate--or a sweet transvestite, it's not clear which--gives them a flat tire on the way and leads them to the castle of Dr. Frank N. Furter (Tim Curry) the night he reveals his creation. Everything after that is just pure sex, violence, and rock 'n roll. The events of the story are narrated by the Criminologist (Charles Gray). The movie is a horror B-movie spoof, the way I feel Plan 9 From Outer Space should have been. While the movie did not originally do well, it found a late night audience who took advantage of the movie's many pauses to insert their own lines, making it the audience participation classic it is today.
The rest of the major cast includes Meatloaf as Eddie (a rebel), Nell Campbell as Columbia (a groupie), Richard O'Brien as Riff Raff (a handyman) and Patricia Quinn as Magenta (a domestic). The cast is probably one of the best ensemble casts I've seen in anything and their characterizations help to make the movie so much fun.
The music in Rocky Horror is phenomenal. On DVD, I like to watch the UK version because it has one more song than the US version--"Superheroes". In fact, many people who have never seen Rocky Horror still know what has sort have become it's anthem, "Time Warp", a karaoke and dance classic that's even been covered by Alvin and the Chipmunks. The only song I don't personally like is "I'm Going Home", and I'm pretty sure that's personal preference. I just think it feels forced and out of place.
Rocky Horror Picture Show is just 90 minutes of fun and shouldn't be taken too seriously. It still plays in theatres to this very day for midnight audiences who still take as much fun participating with the movie as they did 34 years ago. The popularity of Rocky Horror as a cult classic did make Fox decide that they wanted a sequel.
The "sequel" went through many phases before it became Shock Treatment. Originally, it was supposed to be a direct sequel to Rocky Horror Picture Show (Rocky Horror Kicks Up His Heels), but the studio didn't like it. It was completely rewritten as The Brad and Janet Show, which was supposed to shoot in real life Denton, Texas, but a strike made it impossible to film in the United States. Since actors were only available for a set amount of time, the movie was slightly rewritten again to become Shock Treatment and set completely inside a TV studio. Shock Treatment is actually a "sub-cult" movie, and that's because marketing of the movie was so horrible the only way you've probably heard of it was if you'd heard of Rocky Horror. Released in 1981, wanting to repeat the success of Rocky Horror, the movie only played at midnight. While much milder than Rocky Horror, Shock Treatment also shares an R rating with it's predecessor. I'm aware of the fact PG-13 did not exist in 1981, but Beetlejuice, a movie rated PG after PG-13 was introduced, was much racier than Shock Treatment. If given a chance with a mainstream audience, the movie may have actually developed it's own reputation, but the movie was a flop.
The only cast member to play the same role in both movies is Jeremy Newson, who reprises his role of Ralph Hapschatt. Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon wouldn't reprise the roles of Brad and Janet, so they were recast with Cliff DeYoung and Jessica Harper. Tim Curry was actually offered the dual role of Brad Majors/Farley Flavors, but he didn't feel he could keep up the American accent, so he turned them down. When Jonathan Adams wasn't interested in reprising the role of Dr. Scott (who was in the script for The Brad and Janet Show), the character was rewritten as Bert Schnick and played by Dame Edna herself, Barry Humphries. Also returning from the original movie, albeit in different roles, are Charles Gray (Judge Oliver Wright) Richard O'Brien (Cosmo "Mac" McKinley), Patricia Quinn (Nation McKinley), and Nell Campbell (Nurse Ansalong). Some suggest that the movie does hint to the fact Mac and Nation are really Riff Raff and Magenta, but since they never actually say this in the movie, it's just speculation, but there are plenty of hints in the movie to make you wonder.
The plot of Shock Treatment is a little more involved than that of Rocky Horror Picture Show. There are plenty of characters as the whole town of Denton is involved in this movie, and with that, plenty of storylines. We have Betty Hapschatt, embittered by her separation with Ralph Hapschatt and trying to spark a romance with Judge Wright while the two of them try to uncover a conspiracy they think his being led by fast food magnate Farley Flavors. Ralph has a new girlfriend Macy Struthers, both of which are likely using the other, as the two of them are willing to do anything to gain massive television popularity and get out of Denton. There's Bert Schnick, a pawn of Farley Flavors, who in turn uses Mac and Nation as pawns, even though it's obvious from the very beginning those two are masterminds. All of these stories circle around the main plot of Brad and Janet Majors, who are having marriage problems because Brad is "emotionally repressed" and Janet decides to have him committed to a mental institution. All of the movie unfolds in a series of reality shows, unheard of in 1981, but so commonplace today if this movie was remade it would certainly find an audience.
The music in Shock Treatment is also great. Why wouldn't it be, it was written by the same people as the Rocky Horror music. "Lullaby" is one of my favorite songs from any musical ever, and is definitely in my top 10. There is a lot less sex and violence in Shock Treatment than in it's predecessor. In fact, the only two we're really sure is having sex in the movie are the only two who we were pretty sure weren't having sex in Rocky Horror--and it still never gets very risque.
There is debate at times whether Shock Treatment really is a sequel. It's been said to not be a "sequel" or a "prequel" but an "equal". Rocky Horror is still clearly superior to Shock Treatment, so it's not an "equal" in that sense, but as for whether or not Shock Treatment could stand on it's own, then it would be fair to say that they're "equal". It is still a very, very loose sequel to Rocky Horror as the events in the movie clearly take place after, it's just that the movies aren't at all tied together by plot. And while Rocky would win over Shocky in a battle, both movies have found themselves a loyal audience.
I would give Rocky three stars, if only for it succeeding at being a spoof and having wonderful music. I would give Shocky two stars for it's entertainment merit. Both movies are definitely worth a watch.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Plan 9 From Outer Space
Written, produced, and directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr., Plan 9 From Outer Space has gone down in history as the worst movie of all time. Is it deserving of this title? Well, that would depend on the viewer, but I will go ahead and review it to give you some insight.
Unlike my previous review, Cool World, the plot of Plan 9 is fairly clear. Aliens have tried to contact Earth in order to stop them from building weapons that could destroy the universe, but when their attempts at communication go ignored, they go on with Plan 9, which is to resurrect recently dead humans. The zombies then attack and kill some people, and eventually the aliens use them to kidnap a pilot, some police officers, the pilot's wife, and a military general to finally talk with them.
I think that this movie gets so much bad press because of what it was supposed to be, and what good marketing could have done to save it. The only part of the movie I didn't like was this part in the middle with the general translating what the aliens said for some other guy...which was unnecessary as the aliens clearly spoke English. Why are you translating a language that you speak? That makes as much sense as stabbing yourself in the eye with a spork. Besides that part, though, the movie was really funny. The problem is it wasn't supposed to be, it was supposed to be a horror movie. If it had been a horror B-movie spoof, history may not have treated this movie so badly.
The production value was a joke, and parts of the story just don't make sense. Apparently, Edward D. Wood, Jr. liked to work on the cheap, which is understandable, but props were always shaking and falling over when they shouldn't. The funniest part of the movie is when a character wants to know why one guy was enclosed in a tomb when his wife was buried in the ground, like that was the part of the movie that was troubling everyone. The shots constantly switched between night and day, and there's a part where a character is hit by a car but you can see his shadow standing straight up even as it happens. It helped to make the movie hilarious. There's also a part where one of the zombies has a key to a house and goes and attacks the woman inside. Him having a key to the house makes sense, it used to be his. However, the fact that she got away but went back home to a house that a zombie had a key to was pretty stupid. I would never return to a house that a zombie had a key to. There's a part where the alien addressing the Earthlings starts off sounding authoritative, but at the end of his speech he breaks down into a hissy fit. It's just plain funny.
Critically, I would only give this movie half a star, it is pretty bad. But to call it the worst is completely unfair. I haven't seen every movie ever, but I've seen worse movies before I was ten years old. In fact, to compare this movie to Cool World, which was my last review, this movie was better if for the fact that it's more memorable and has a plot that makes some sort of sense. But Cool World was visually pleasing because it wasn't cheap on production, so win some lose some. Stay Tuned, which I promise to review one day, still is the worst movie I have ever seen. If you like bad movies, or if you can convince yourself it's a horror B-movie spoof, I would definitely recommend seeing Plan 9. But if you're the boring kind of person who only likes good movies, this movie is definitely not for you.
Unlike my previous review, Cool World, the plot of Plan 9 is fairly clear. Aliens have tried to contact Earth in order to stop them from building weapons that could destroy the universe, but when their attempts at communication go ignored, they go on with Plan 9, which is to resurrect recently dead humans. The zombies then attack and kill some people, and eventually the aliens use them to kidnap a pilot, some police officers, the pilot's wife, and a military general to finally talk with them.
I think that this movie gets so much bad press because of what it was supposed to be, and what good marketing could have done to save it. The only part of the movie I didn't like was this part in the middle with the general translating what the aliens said for some other guy...which was unnecessary as the aliens clearly spoke English. Why are you translating a language that you speak? That makes as much sense as stabbing yourself in the eye with a spork. Besides that part, though, the movie was really funny. The problem is it wasn't supposed to be, it was supposed to be a horror movie. If it had been a horror B-movie spoof, history may not have treated this movie so badly.
The production value was a joke, and parts of the story just don't make sense. Apparently, Edward D. Wood, Jr. liked to work on the cheap, which is understandable, but props were always shaking and falling over when they shouldn't. The funniest part of the movie is when a character wants to know why one guy was enclosed in a tomb when his wife was buried in the ground, like that was the part of the movie that was troubling everyone. The shots constantly switched between night and day, and there's a part where a character is hit by a car but you can see his shadow standing straight up even as it happens. It helped to make the movie hilarious. There's also a part where one of the zombies has a key to a house and goes and attacks the woman inside. Him having a key to the house makes sense, it used to be his. However, the fact that she got away but went back home to a house that a zombie had a key to was pretty stupid. I would never return to a house that a zombie had a key to. There's a part where the alien addressing the Earthlings starts off sounding authoritative, but at the end of his speech he breaks down into a hissy fit. It's just plain funny.
Critically, I would only give this movie half a star, it is pretty bad. But to call it the worst is completely unfair. I haven't seen every movie ever, but I've seen worse movies before I was ten years old. In fact, to compare this movie to Cool World, which was my last review, this movie was better if for the fact that it's more memorable and has a plot that makes some sort of sense. But Cool World was visually pleasing because it wasn't cheap on production, so win some lose some. Stay Tuned, which I promise to review one day, still is the worst movie I have ever seen. If you like bad movies, or if you can convince yourself it's a horror B-movie spoof, I would definitely recommend seeing Plan 9. But if you're the boring kind of person who only likes good movies, this movie is definitely not for you.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Cool World (1992)
Cool World, produced by Frank Mancuso, Jr. and directed by Ralph Bashki, was released in 1992. It's a movie that mixes animation and live action scenes, telling a dark and gritty story. It stars Brad Pitt as Frank Harris, a Noid who becomes a Cool World detective, Gabriel Byrne as Jack Deebs, a cartoonist who thinks he created Cool World, and Kim Basinger as Holli Would. The best way I can describe Holli is an animated whore. I'll get more into the characters later. I bet you'd like to know what the movie is about?
Back in the 1940s, a doodle (cartoon) scientist creates a device to enter the real world, but ends up pulling Frank Harris, a Noid (human), into Cool World. And then we don't know what happens for fifty years. Jump straight to 1992, where we see a dude in prison just randomly get pulled into Cool World and dumped right back into the real world. Yeah, the first 20 minutes of the movie can be a little confusing. Anyway, the prisoner, Jack Deebs, gets released from prison. We find out that he's a cartoonist who created popular comic Cool World...oh, and he killed a guy. I guess it's nice they tell us why he was in prison?
Anyway, we find out in the Cool World that Holli wants out into the real world so she can have all her dreams come true or something... That part of the plot seemed a little thin. She had no real purpose to be in the real world other than to have her dreams come true, but she never really revealed what those dreams were, except to be a whore, but she was doing a fine job of that in Cool World.
So basically, there's one rule in Cool World...okay, there's like random rules, but the only one they make explicitly clear is that Noids and doodles can't have sex. So of course, Holli the whore manages to break that rule with the cartoonist and she convinces him to take her to the real world with him. Then all hell breaks loose. Frank must go back to the real world he doesn't really want to go back to to find a way to stop Holli from moving this power spike that the doodle scientist from 50 years ago created.
Despite the plot having some holes, Cool World is totally cool. The set designs for Cool World (as opposed to the real world) were visually appealing and totally awesome. It's like no toon world we'd seen before, it's all dark and gritty, and even items that look like they could be from the real world are shown at an angle to only be two-dimensional, only adding to the awesomeness of the look. The story itself isn't so bad, it's just not as strong as it could have been, and it has a pretty cool resolution.
Now, let's get down to the characterization, which basically does end up carrying the movie. The thin plot would make you leave part way through the movie if the characters themselves had not been so well developed.
First, there's Frank Harris. Just before being pulled into the Cool World, he had to watch his mother die, just after returning from war. It was tragic. I think Frank carried that tragedy with him, because you always know he's seen too much. He's in a frustrating relationship with a doodle, Lonette, who loves him as much as he loves her. Frank is probably the strongest character in the whole movie, definitely the most fleshed out (no pun intended), and has possibly the best line in the movie: "Be content with the cards you've been dealt." He has a partner on the police force, a spider named Nails. Nails is an idiot, and a typically cartoon one, but he works well paired with Frank.
Next, we have Jack Deebs, the cartoonist. He thinks he created Cool World, but it's always been there. He's fallen in love with Holli. He was in prison for killing a guy. He did make Cool World a comic in the real world. He gets bitch slapped with a stiletto by Holli while driving. There's not really much memorable about Jack Deebs, other than he's somehow the hero. But he's not even on the DVD cover. They have other non-memorable toon characters on the cover, but not the alleged hero. Just Frank, Nails, Holli, the scientist, a random telephone, Slash (who isn't even important at all to the plot), and some other characters I forgot are on the cover...but no Deebs. He is kind of important to the plot, but he's treated more like a prop than a character. There are moments though where you do feel for him, so he's not even that badly developed...just they could have fleshed him out more.
Finally, there's Holli Would. Holli Would is a whore. That's basically the whole summation of Holli. She wants to go to the real world to have all her dreams come true, because she heard Vegas Vinnie did it. She tries to seduce every Noid who's come to Cool World so she can get out, and Deebs is the first to fall for it. Of course, Noid and doodle sex disturbs, as Nails put it, the interworld matrix. She's almost sweet and innocent (if you can ignore her insatiable lust) when she's first in the real world, wanting to experience everything, like a little kid who's seen the world for the first time. With an insatiable lust. Seriously, there is no better way to sum up Holli than "whore". She's also the villain. She does have a very "Through the Looking Glass-esque" line: "Am I dreaming you or are you dreaming me?"
Out of four stars, I would give the movie 2, really, but it was still enjoyable and very, very cool. There should be more sets like Cool World, and more characters like Frank Harris.
Back in the 1940s, a doodle (cartoon) scientist creates a device to enter the real world, but ends up pulling Frank Harris, a Noid (human), into Cool World. And then we don't know what happens for fifty years. Jump straight to 1992, where we see a dude in prison just randomly get pulled into Cool World and dumped right back into the real world. Yeah, the first 20 minutes of the movie can be a little confusing. Anyway, the prisoner, Jack Deebs, gets released from prison. We find out that he's a cartoonist who created popular comic Cool World...oh, and he killed a guy. I guess it's nice they tell us why he was in prison?
Anyway, we find out in the Cool World that Holli wants out into the real world so she can have all her dreams come true or something... That part of the plot seemed a little thin. She had no real purpose to be in the real world other than to have her dreams come true, but she never really revealed what those dreams were, except to be a whore, but she was doing a fine job of that in Cool World.
So basically, there's one rule in Cool World...okay, there's like random rules, but the only one they make explicitly clear is that Noids and doodles can't have sex. So of course, Holli the whore manages to break that rule with the cartoonist and she convinces him to take her to the real world with him. Then all hell breaks loose. Frank must go back to the real world he doesn't really want to go back to to find a way to stop Holli from moving this power spike that the doodle scientist from 50 years ago created.
Despite the plot having some holes, Cool World is totally cool. The set designs for Cool World (as opposed to the real world) were visually appealing and totally awesome. It's like no toon world we'd seen before, it's all dark and gritty, and even items that look like they could be from the real world are shown at an angle to only be two-dimensional, only adding to the awesomeness of the look. The story itself isn't so bad, it's just not as strong as it could have been, and it has a pretty cool resolution.
Now, let's get down to the characterization, which basically does end up carrying the movie. The thin plot would make you leave part way through the movie if the characters themselves had not been so well developed.
First, there's Frank Harris. Just before being pulled into the Cool World, he had to watch his mother die, just after returning from war. It was tragic. I think Frank carried that tragedy with him, because you always know he's seen too much. He's in a frustrating relationship with a doodle, Lonette, who loves him as much as he loves her. Frank is probably the strongest character in the whole movie, definitely the most fleshed out (no pun intended), and has possibly the best line in the movie: "Be content with the cards you've been dealt." He has a partner on the police force, a spider named Nails. Nails is an idiot, and a typically cartoon one, but he works well paired with Frank.
Next, we have Jack Deebs, the cartoonist. He thinks he created Cool World, but it's always been there. He's fallen in love with Holli. He was in prison for killing a guy. He did make Cool World a comic in the real world. He gets bitch slapped with a stiletto by Holli while driving. There's not really much memorable about Jack Deebs, other than he's somehow the hero. But he's not even on the DVD cover. They have other non-memorable toon characters on the cover, but not the alleged hero. Just Frank, Nails, Holli, the scientist, a random telephone, Slash (who isn't even important at all to the plot), and some other characters I forgot are on the cover...but no Deebs. He is kind of important to the plot, but he's treated more like a prop than a character. There are moments though where you do feel for him, so he's not even that badly developed...just they could have fleshed him out more.
Finally, there's Holli Would. Holli Would is a whore. That's basically the whole summation of Holli. She wants to go to the real world to have all her dreams come true, because she heard Vegas Vinnie did it. She tries to seduce every Noid who's come to Cool World so she can get out, and Deebs is the first to fall for it. Of course, Noid and doodle sex disturbs, as Nails put it, the interworld matrix. She's almost sweet and innocent (if you can ignore her insatiable lust) when she's first in the real world, wanting to experience everything, like a little kid who's seen the world for the first time. With an insatiable lust. Seriously, there is no better way to sum up Holli than "whore". She's also the villain. She does have a very "Through the Looking Glass-esque" line: "Am I dreaming you or are you dreaming me?"
Out of four stars, I would give the movie 2, really, but it was still enjoyable and very, very cool. There should be more sets like Cool World, and more characters like Frank Harris.
I like movies
It's no secret that I like movies, I'm going to school to learn how to make them. I watch so many of them and have pretty solid opinions on them, I can go on forever about them. So I decided to make a blog dedicated to reviewing movies.
I do go to the theatre a lot, so I could review new movies. I rent what I missed when it comes out, so I could review new DVD releases. I watched a lot of movies growing up, so I could review nostalgic movies. But then I decided: why not just review what I see? Who cares if it's new or old, I can still have an opinion on it.
So, basically...I'm just going to review random movies for the fun of it.
I do go to the theatre a lot, so I could review new movies. I rent what I missed when it comes out, so I could review new DVD releases. I watched a lot of movies growing up, so I could review nostalgic movies. But then I decided: why not just review what I see? Who cares if it's new or old, I can still have an opinion on it.
So, basically...I'm just going to review random movies for the fun of it.
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