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Surgeons of Horror

~ Dissecting horror films

Surgeons of Horror

Tag Archives: Dee Wallace

Movie review: Critters Attack!

21 Saturday Dec 2019

Posted by surgeons of horror in Movie review

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critters, Dee Wallace, tashia washington

Back in 1986 Critters was released on the general public and most people assumed they were a cash in from the success of Gremlins a couple of years earlier.
I too assumed this was the case but director Stephen Herek refuted this connection.
Unlike those little green men, Critters has ventured further and developed four sequels, so for good or ill we’ve witnessed the Krites rampaging and chomping their way across the globe.

This time around, there’s no crackpot Charlie McFadden hurling molotov cocktails in order to save the human race, so instead the Warner Bros team enticed scream horror icon Dee Wallace back to resurrect her bounty hunter character under a different alias, Aunty Dee to keep the franchise “in canon”.

The movie projects our heroine, Drea (Tashia Washington) who offers to take up babysitting duties in order to win brownie points and win her way into the University of her choice, only to be subjected to the balls of ferocious furry carnivores intent on devouring humans and reproduction.

In what is presented as some kind of crazed traditional Hallmark movie infused with horror elements, it ordinarily could be dismissed based on the acting talents on show (Wallace excepted) and the fairly sublime narrative. Thankfully the film’s namesake creatures are appetite enough to subject the average horror fan to some much-needed kills and is injected with some decent humour along the way. This emphasises just how tongue-in-cheek the creators are willing to take the franchise and quite frankly, the audience really shouldn’t take it too seriously at all.

Prognosis:

This maybe their fifth outing, but the Critters prove to be just as insatiable for human consumption and terrorizing their victims with deliciously fun low-budget humour.

The Krites more than make up for their made for tv format as long as you don’t expect anything too demanding or high-brow.

  • Saul Muerte

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

Podcast: Full Moon Sessions: The Howling (1981)

12 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by surgeons of horror in Full Moon Sessions

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Belinda Balasaki, Dee Wallace, Horror movies, Joe Dante, Patrick Macnee, Robert Picardo, the howling, Werewolf, Werewolf movies

THIS YEAR, the Surgeons of Horror team would like to raise our heads to the power of the moon

With the power of the full moon, it’s time to bask in it’s cool glow in honour of all things lycanthropy with a monthly feature called the Full Moon Sessions.

Each month, the team will look into a werewolf movie and dissect them with some warm-hearted discussions to delve into the reasons why the film was a success and it’s overall appeal.

This month we launch with The Howling, one of three movies released in 1981 centred around the werewolf alongside An American Werewolf In London and Wolfen.

The Howling directed by Joe Dante who would spore a career out of creature features would initially turn heads with Piranha, a self-admitted Jaws rip-off.

Off the back of this, The Howling, would be his launchpad to success with The Gremlins, The Burbs, and Innerspace to name but a few.

The movie itself, based on a Gary Brandner novel of the same name, follows Karen White (Dee Wallace), co-anchor and on field reporter who through an investigation involving a serial killer unearths a dark cult immersed in American society.

The traumatic confrontation with the serial killer leads Karen to seek psychiatric help through a retreat known as ‘The Colony’, but all is not as it seems.

A cult following gathered from the back of the movie’s release at the height of the horror movie bang in the 80s and the home video boom, but after 30+ years, how does the movie stand up?

Does it still have an impact today? And can it stand out in it’s own right and away from the long shadow of An American Werewolf In London?

Check out the Full Moon Sessions podcast below to get the point of view from The Surgeons.

https://player.whooshkaa.com/player/episode/id/99898?visual=true

Also available on iTunes

  • “Howling Mad Moon” MacGuire

The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

24 Tuesday May 2016

Posted by surgeons of horror in Wes Craven

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Tags

Dee Wallace, Michael Berryman, The Hills Have Eyes, Wes Craven

FOR HIS SOPHOMORE OUTING, Craven would explore similar ground to The Last House On The Left.

This time, The Hills Have Eyes would see a whole family being besieged upon by a family of mutants in the remote mid-west of the United States.

The Carters are on a road trip when they decide to take a detour to check out an old silver mine that has been bequeathed to them.

The detour would see them cross paths with The mutants. Thus anarchy is carried out upon the wholesome American family.

There’s the patriarch and matriarch figures leading the way, with their son, 2 daughters and a son-in-law in tow.

Oh and let’s not forget their protectors, 2 dogs by the named of Beauty and the Beast.

And so, in the world that Craven chooses to play in, he constantly plays with dark and light, good and evil and the thin line that seperates the two.

When the Carters are pitted into this extreme environment, a world truly removed from their own, they must turn to their animalistic instincts in order to survive.

Where this outing differs from Craven’s first directorial feature, The Last House On The Left, is that not only is he honing his craft but this time around he delivers a more commercial product. That’s not to say that The Hills Have Eyes is in anyway

Check out the surgeons of horror podcast below for more thoughts and views.

https://player.whooshkaa.com/player/episode/id/98474?visual=true

Also available in iTunes

– Paul Farrell

 

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