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Surgeons of Horror

~ Dissecting horror films

Surgeons of Horror

Tag Archives: elijah wood

How The Craft formed my love for 90s teen horror

02 Sunday May 2021

Posted by surgeons of horror in retrospective

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alcia witt, bebe neurwrith, Christine Taylor, clea duvall, courtney cox, Danielle Harris, David Arquette, devon sawa, disturbing behaviour, drew barrymore, elijah wood, Fairuza Balk, famke janssen, freddie prinze jr., ghostface, Halloween, Halloween franchise, halloween h20, i know what you did last summer, idle hands, james marsden, jamie kennedy, Jamie Lee Curtis, jared leto, jennifer love-hewitt, jessica alba, jon stewart, jordana brewster, Josh Hartnett, joshua jackson, katie holmes, Kevin Williamson, laura harris, matthew lillard, micahel rosenbaum, michael myers, Michelle Williams, Neve Campbell, nick stahl, piper laurie, rachel true, rebecca gayheart, robert englund, Robert Patrick, robert rodriguez, Robin Tunney, rose mcgowan, ryan phillipe, salma hayek, sarah michelle gellar, scream, seth green, shawn hatosy, Skeet Ulrich, tara reid, the craft, the faculty, urban legend, Wes Craven

25 years ago, before Scream would reawaken the horror genre and generate a plethora of like minded movies came a film that tapped wholly into my adolescent brain. I’ll let you decide which part of the brain from which I am referring. Needless to say, Fairuza Balk’s Nancy stirred something inside me that yearned for and connected with females who drifted outside the mainstream of what was considered “normal”.

Recently, The Craft was given new life in the public eye thanks to its sequel of sorts, The Craft: Legacy released by Blumhouse last year, but somehow it failed to ignite the same passion as the original.

Some of this could easily be put down to its strong, young cast with the afore-mentioned Fairuza playing the main antagonist to Robin Tunney’s white witch, Sarah in what is essentially a coming of age teen-drama. Joining these two are also Neve Campbell, Rachel True, Skeet Ulrich, and Christine Taylor, who all essentially lift what comes across as a medicroe tale when reviewed through today’s eyes.

It still however holds a strong place in my heart, despite its flaws and molded my love of 90s teen horror as a result. What can I say, it’s my achilles heel.

It helps that swiftly following The Craft came the behemoth of Teen Slasher films… Scream directed by the great, Wes Craven. It also boasted two of the movie’s stars in Neve Campbell and Skeet Ulrich whose careers were rightfully projected to stardom as a result.

Scream is now the stuff of legend with its meta representation of the horror franchise and again boasted an awesome cast with Courtney Cox, David Arqette, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Jamie Kennedy and let’s not forget that killer opening sequence with Drew Barrymore. Before the decade was out a sequel would also follow the following year and along with it a franchise and Ghostface’s interchangeable personna was born.

Chief among setting the tone for the decade and the success that followed in Scream’s wake was Dawson’s Creek scribe Kevin Williamson, who managed to tap into the pulse of those of my generation, eager to be understood and have those “deep and meaningful’ relationship discussions.

By 1997, Williamson was just starting to hit his stride with I Know What You Did Last Summer starring Campbell’s fellow Party of Five alumni Jennifer Love-Hewitt. 

Love-Hewitt stars as Julie James, who along with three other school friends (Ryan Philippe, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar, the latter was already on the rise thanks to a certain Buffy role) accidentally run down a stranger on the road and leave him for dead. It’s basically an elongated urban legend with the man with a hook hellbent on revenge. Like Scream it would also generate a franchise with a further two sequels to cash the cow. 

Back to the Dawson’s Creek connection and another teen horror, Disturbing Behaviour that would be released in 1998, the busiest year for the sub-genre,  At the time, I more-than jumped on this band-wagon following Katie Holmes’ second feature film. This was a time when I, like Dawson, was undecided about the whole Joey/Jen thing, before realising in my case, that Michelle Williams was always the more interesting person to watch on screen, but more about her in a moment. 

Disturbing Behaviour is probably the weakest in this line up of movies, but does boast James Marsden and Nick Stahl in the mix, in a tale of idyllic suburbia with a sour undertone in both its take of the American Dream and repressed teenage sexuality but it does still have the same beats and touches on the same wavelength that was being generated at the time.

Onto Holmes’ counterpart, Michelle Williams, who, again in my opinion, deserves greater praise for the work that she produces each year. In 1998, Williams would be cast in the support role of Molly in one of Horrors biggest franchises, Halloween. 

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later would have Kevin Williamson on writing duties, so it’s no wonder that Williams would connect well with the screenplay. Aside from bringing Jamie Lee Curtis back for the first time since Halloween 2 to pit against Michael Myers, it also introduced us to the so fresh and hot right now, Josh Hartnett. Let’s not talk about that hair cut though, for in his other movie that year, The Faculty, he slipped easily into the bad boy, good heart character with a brooding presence. Oh and that guy Kevin Williamson is behind the screenplay again.

When I first watched The Faculty I had a strong negative reaction to it, as I wore my snobbery hat when I watched it and took all the homagees embedded within as rip=offs of the great films that preceded it. I was a huge fan of director Rober Rodriguez at the time, which I think added to my disappointment further.

I have since grown to love this film more though and recognise it for what it was, a love of sci fi horror and again had some great stars in Elijah Wood (pre-LOTR), Jordana Brewster, Clea Duvall (I had such a thing for her too – Apparently I have a type, just ask fellow Surgeon Antony Yee), Laura Harris, Salma Hayek, Famke Janssen, Bebe Neuwirth, Robert Patrick, Shawn Hatosy, Jon Stewart, and Piper Laurie. It definitely warrants repeat viewing and holds up because of the fun energy and bold direction that Rodriuez alway brings to his movies.

Rounding out the quartet of movies for 1998 is Urban Legend which is a little forgotten despite generating a franchise in its own right and another strong cast considering with Alicia Witt, Jared Leto, Tara Reid, Rebecca Gayheart, Michael Rosenbaum, Joshua Jackson (Dawson’s Creek again), Robert Englund, and Danielle Harris into the fold. It captures the urban legend tales of horror well enough but can’t quite shake off the fact that it’s riding on the coattails of stronger movies and suffers a little with age.

My last notable film to mention however lifts the  half-decade of teen horror back to higher standards with its clearly tongue in cheek tale, Idle Hands where a stoner, Anton (Devon Sawa currently seen in a cracking film, Hunter Hunter) who discovers his hands are possessed after waking up to find his parents murdered. A cool cast again with Jessica Alba and Seth Green, Idle Hands is great fun to watch and definitely not to be taken seriously.

Sawa would also go on to star in another cracking film at the turn of the next decade in Final Destination as the trend would dial down a little.

For those 5-6  years though, it would produce a number of movies, some to hold high and some probably best forgotten but for nostalgic reasons still resonate with me today. I can only blame Nancy. I should have taken the heed and bound her from harm… harm to others and harm to myself…

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: Come To Daddy

31 Tuesday Mar 2020

Posted by surgeons of horror in Movie review

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ant timpson, come to daddy, elijah wood, karl stevens, michael smiley, Stephen McHattie, umbrella entertainment

As sons, we always have unfinished business with our fathers. So I thought, ‘What would happen if that unfinished business came looking for us?

Ant Timpson – Director

These words surmise the kernel of Ant Timpson’s vision and directorial debut feature, Come To Daddy and its this beating heart that drives the narrative forward and compels you further into what is essentially a dark and twisted comedy. 

Visually and choreographically, this is a simply glorious film, with a beautifully hypnotic and enchanting score by Karl Stevens, that infuses old school 70s espionage thrillers with an eerie, unearthly bass-fuelled playfulness that is the perfect accompaniment to the narrative.

Come To Daddy encloses some of our greatest fears and trepidations by tapping into a family divided by place and time, but connected by blood and loyalty and this becomes tested by opening up Pandora’s Box to be faced with uncertainty and morbid curiosity.
What lies beneath the surface may be better left untouched, and for those that probe and tweak a little further, can herald some unpleasant surprises. Timpson had a clear vision in mind for his feature, drawing from a personal account with the passing of his own father as his inspiration.
This is evident throughout the film and gives the storyline the much-needed gravitas to direct the audience through the wild and strange happenings that occur and explores the relationship of father and son.

When Norval (Elijah Wood), a ‘privileged man-child’ receives a letter from his estranged father of thirty years to come and visit him. Seeing this as a chance to rekindle their relationship, Norval is surprised to find that his father may not be who he had envisioned. And what’s more, carries some baggage that he may not necessarily wish to inherit.

There’s something quite remarkable about off-kilter, independent films that despite appearances play a tune that is so perfectly in sync with its equilibrium and defies expectations and in this case, Timpson belies his novice attempt at a feature and you’d be forgiven for thinking that he was a veteran in his craft.
The notes and beats are flawless as Norval’s trials and tribulations play out on screen to the delight of its audience. Despite its macabre storyline, Come To Daddy peppers along with much amusement as it playfully dances with our hearts in the most dire of situations and keeps us guessing about the fate of Norval.

Wood is fantastic as the lead and is chameleonic in that way that he brings life to the character with his curious eccentricity, both physically and mentally, showing the flaws and humanity, which is both refreshing and ultimately rewarding as we follow Norval’s journey.
Wood’s performance is even more elevated by his support players, who are a real treat to watch, from Stephen McHattie’s suitably unbalanced Gordon, to the always fantastic Michael Smiley as Jethro, and Martin Donovan’s all-round solid delivery of Brian, make this an ensemble cast that would make most directors proud to be involved with.

The Prognosis:

So many ingredients that combine to make this a gem of a movie. 
It’s not something I can pigeonhole, if I’m honest.
Is it a quirky, yet intriguing independent feature? Yes
Does it produce some high quality visual treats in harmony with scintillating audio stimulation? Yes
Does it tickle the darkest humour of the human psyche? Yes
Does it prove Ant Timpson to be a master of his craft with an array of stellar talent? Yes.
So, what are you waiting for? Head over to Umbrella Entertainment and treat yourself to a superbly entertaining movie, that will not disappoint.

  • Saul Muerte

 Come To Daddy is NOW available to view via Video On Demand

Blu-Ray & DVD from June 2020

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