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Surgeons of Horror

~ Dissecting horror films

Surgeons of Horror

Tag Archives: Adrienne Barbeau

Movie review: Death House

12 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by surgeons of horror in Movie review

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Adrienne Barbeau, barbara crampton, bill moseley, camille keaton, death house, debbie rochon, Dee Wallace, felissa rose, harrison smith, horror films, Kane Hodder, Michael Berryman, r.a.mihailoff, sid haig, tony Todd

When Gunnar Hansen of Texas Chain Saw Massacre fame wrote and pitched a who’s who of horror films pitted in a hellish place forming a macabre version of The Expendables, it would be a genre fans’ wet dream.
The very idea of Jason aka Kane Hodder sharing the same screen as Tony Todd (Candyman), and Bill Moseley (The Devil’s Rejects) along with the queens of horror, Dee Wallace and Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator) would leave them salivating at the prospect at what could be an Uber-scare factory.
What we do get is a lot of piss and wind in a lacklustre affair that never measures up to its promise.

Before I start lambasting this film though, I do want to focus on the positives.
The very premise of staging a prison break containing some of the most vicious criminals known to mankind housed in a state of the art vicinity, which placates to the criminals whims in virtual space whilst using real victims from the homeless and deprived smacks of genius. It projects a utopian world that humanity could easily travel down if there were no morals or guiding principles attached.

Kane Hodder delivers to a tee and never falters from his iconic presence in front of the camera as the lead antagonist Sieg as he steers those fallen from grace further down into the pit of the jail system – level nine, a place where the five evils preside in a nod to Dante’s Inferno.

Equally Dee Wallace proves once again that she can offer intelligence, vulnerability, and apathy in her character, Dr. Eileen Fletcher and is always a welcome presence on screen.

And full props to Director Harrison Smith who saw fit to carry out Hansen’s vision in his honour, gifting him also with an on-screen presence in holographic form as the father to one of the prison inmates, Leatherlace, which was a nice touch.

And lets not forget those delectable sultry tones from Adrienne Barbeau as the narrator of the movie…

Sorry. Where was I?

Ah yes, all these elements are enough to keep you engaged, at least for a while. Even the strange dark arts that are heavily present throughout adds a decent hook to an intriguing narrative, but those who delve into Death House may find it a struggle as the further down the rabbit hole we go, the more far-fetched and ridiculous the concept goes.

And that’s where it starts to lose me. It doesn’t help that our two lead protagonists, Agents Novak and Boon who are so two-dimensional that not even their strange deep and meaningful conversation about how they became Agents whilst casually sharing a unisex shower cubicle can generate even a twinkle of interest… well, maybe. Which is a shame, because you want to be vested in their journey, but you really don’t care.

The Diagnosis:

This is clearly an attempt to ignite the passion that fans of horror through the 80’s and early 90’s by grouping some favourites of the genre together. Whilst the premise did provide a decent hook, the journey leaves you floundering and left adrift without much care to its conclusion.
A lost opportunity.

  • Saul Muerte

Escape From New York (1981)

04 Tuesday Oct 2016

Posted by surgeons of horror in John Carpenter

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Adrienne Barbeau, ernest borgnine, harry dean stanton, Horror film, Horror movies, isaac hayes, kurt russell, lee van cleef, podcast

escape-from-new-york
THIS DYSOPTIAN VIEW of a troubled America, where crime rate has risen to 400% is the setting of our sixth instalment of the John Carpenter Early Years discussions on Surgeons of Horror.

It would mark a massive turning point in Carpenter’s career where he would stride onto iconic movies such as The Thing, They Live, and Big Trouble in Little China.

It would also prove fruitful for its lead star, Kurt Russell taking on Snake Plissken, a character that has stamped itself into film legend, such is the power of his presence on screen.

It’s setting of the President of the USA (Donald Pleasance) being jettisoned onto Manhattan Island after Air Force One is hijacked, the island in question has been transformed into a giant prison, (Think Alcatraz but on a much larger scale) tips this adventure into an adrenaline-fuelled ride. Even more so, with Plissken’s life is on the line. If he doesn’t retrieve the President in time, the toxins in his system will be released, killing him in the process.

So many things went right for Carpenter in the making of this movie. The ensemble cast all look there having a breeze and produce some memorable characters,

And the film crew, most of whom had been working alongside Carpenter since Assault On Precinct 13 / Halloween have certainly found there stride at this point.

All of which made our podcasts discussions on Escape From New York, such a fun one to take part in.

Check out what we had to say below.

https://surgeonsofhorrordotcom.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/soh-jc-escape-from-new-york.mp3

The Fog (1980)

20 Tuesday Sep 2016

Posted by surgeons of horror in John Carpenter

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Adrienne Barbeau, Horror film, Horror movie, Horror movies, Jamie Lee Curtis

the-fog

JOHN CARPENTER’S FOLLOW up to Halloween would come in the guise of The Fog.

Whilst it didn’t come close to success that Halloween would generate, it did generate enough of a following to push Carpenter’s career along and propel him further as a bankable director.

It would reunite him with co-star Jamie Lee Curtis albeit in a smaller role amongst a fairly strong ensemble cast.

Leading the way is Stevie Wayne played by the amazing and beautiful, Adrienne Barbeau pulling out a strong performance as the radio DJ ushering out the warning of the killer fog with those sultry tones……

Whilst on paper, this movie had a great premise and all the hallmarks of a classic horror,  with the classic ghost camp fire story brought to life of ghost pirates out to seek vengeance on a community that did them wrong 100 years ago.

The Surgeons of Horror podcast team pay close scrutiny to the movie and delve into our fifth subject of The John Carpenter early years sessions to find out by asking all the important questions.

Does it live up to its promise and deliver a classic ghost story?

Can fog actually be scary on film?

And more importantly. Are you weird?

Listen to the podcast below to find out our thoughts.

https://surgeonsofhorrordotcom.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/soh-john-carpenter-the-early-years-the-fog.mp3

  • Paul Farrell

Someone’s Watching Me (1978)

06 Tuesday Sep 2016

Posted by surgeons of horror in John Carpenter

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Adrienne Barbeau, Horror movie

Someone's-Watching-Me OUR THIRD ENTRY into the John Carpenter Early Years discussions is little known TV movie, Someone’s Watching Me.

The fact that this movie has fallen by the wayside in Carpenter’s canon of work is know real surprise, but for enthusiasts, this is definitely worth a visit.

Despite heavy nods and influences from another legend, Alfred Hitchcock, there are early indications of what was to come infused throughout.

Carpenter himself would admit that he learnt his craft in the making of Someone’s Watching Me and keen observers would note that there are a lot of similarities to his next movie, (and the one that would pave a fine selection of movies in arguably one of the best runs in film history) Halloween.

A now much-recognised trait is used here with the stalker POV, as the camera observes the victim or intended victims from afar, and the overall framing and flow of the movie would be repeated in the slasher flick.

It must be a subject that intrigued Carpenter as he once quoted, “Everybody’s a voyeur.”

A simple premise that plays on us the audience, allowed into the world of the killer, with a sense of guilty pleasure and would go on to influence many directors and writers to come.

So with that in mind, The Surgeons of Horror team lift the lid of this little-known movie to discover if it really is a hidden gem or best left forgotten.

Listen to our thoughts and opinions in the podcast below.

https://surgeonsofhorrordotcom.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/soh-john-carpenter-the-early-years-someones-watching-me.mp3

 

Swamp Thing (1982)

21 Tuesday Jun 2016

Posted by surgeons of horror in Wes Craven

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Adrienne Barbeau, Horror movie, louis jourdan, Ray Wise, Wes Craven

AS WE CONTINUE WITH OUR SERIES – Wes Craven – The Early Years discussions, we now draw our attention to his fourth outing in the director’s chair.

Swamp Thing would be the first non-Batman or Superman related live-action movie for DC and it would fall on the shoulders of Craven to turn this around.

It would follow Richard Donner’s Superman movies, so there were a lot of expectations resting on the films success.

Once pointed out by film critic, Roger Ebert that Swamp Thing was a thing of beauty if you knew where to look, which I can’t help but feel that he may have been referring to a certain scene involving its leading lady, Adrienne Barbeau (Escape From New York, The Fog).
Joining Barbeau in the cast would be a number of other faces, namely Ray Wise (Twin Peaks) and Louis Jourdan (Octopussy) the film drew heavily on the comics of the time and would generate another comic book series and even a sequel to the movie.

Essentially though, this was a ‘paint by numbers’ job for Craven who would took on the project to show Hollywood that he could handle set pieces and action sequences.

Essentially, it boils down to a man in a monster suit movie, arcing back to the days of Universal Monsters.

For more thoughts and views on Swamp Thing, check out the surgeons of horror podcast below.

https://player.whooshkaa.com/player/episode/id/98478?visual=true

Also available in iTunes.

– Paul Farrell

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