• About
  • podcasts
  • Shop

Surgeons of Horror

~ Dissecting horror films

Surgeons of Horror

Tag Archives: jesse eisenberg

Retrospective: Cursed (2005)

18 Friday Feb 2022

Posted by surgeons of horror in retrospective, wes craven's the scream years

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

christina ricci, jesse eisenberg, joshua jackson, judy greer, Kevin Williamson, lycanthrope, shannon elizabeth, Werewolf, Wes Craven

Wes Craven: The Scream years part 5 – Cursed (2005)

What should have been a dream project for Wes Craven outside of his involvement in the Scream franchise, combining once again with his writing partner Kevin Williamson would end up being something of a nightmare by the time of its theatrical release.

Boosting its potential recipe for success was a high-hitting young talent to draw in the crowds, with Christina Ricci and Jesse Eisenberg playing the siblings and our lead protagonists, ably supported by Joshua Jackson and Judy Greer.

Chief among the downfall of this werewolf flick was a case of the producers muddying the waters of creativity by insisting on making numerous changes to the script and the production, including ditching creature feature effects by the hands of the late great Rick Baker, and implanting computer generated imagery into the fold. I might be biased in this category, as I’m a huge fan of make-up prosthetics and man-made creature effects, but the CGI here is incredibly dated and looks woefully bad looking back 17 years after it had initially hit screens.

The dialogue is incredibly clunky now and it’s evident upon viewing that a lot of changes have been made to the script as it jars in several places, throwing the viewer out of the picture.

There were reshoots upon reshoots upon reshoots, as the powerhouse company kept demanding changes, proving to be one colossal headache for Craven. Supposedly these original cut versions still exist but whether they will see the light of day or be subjected to the darkness remains to be seen.

For now the version we got sees siblings Ellie (Ricci) and Jimmy (Eisenberg) at odds with one another, their relationship stifled growing up together under the cloud of their parents death. Their bond becomes stronger though when they are involved in a car accident when they are attacked by a creature. The creature we learn later is a lycanthrope, and Ellie and Jimmy go about their separate ways to uncover the truth behind the attack with a whodunnit style approach to their amatuer sleuthing before we reach the reveal and the climax of the movie.

Cursed suffers under the weight of mis-managed production but there is still life in the movie, not to be completely dismissed or left for dead. The film contains flickers of a pulse (ironic as the American remake of Pulse was initially going to be a Craven project, before he was pulled into making this movie instead) and there are moments where the Williamson humour is allowed to surface. It would have been so cool to have seen Craven’s initial vision, but unfortunately it would suffer a similar fate to A Vampire in Brooklyn, where the trust in Craven is quashed. Maybe he should have steered clear of the Gothic-style inspirations and kept carving out his own macabre musings, but when the wind forces you in one direction, you have no choice but to bow. A great shame.

  • Saul Muerte

Related Links:

Movie Review: Scream (2022)

10 Scream inspired movies

Retrospective: Vampire in Brooklyn

Retrospective: Scream (1996)

Retrospective: Scream 2 (1997)

Retrospective: Scream 3 (2000)

Movie review: Vivarium

15 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by surgeons of horror in Movie review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

imogen poots, jesse eisenberg, sci-fi, sci-fi horror, Sci-Fi Movies

In 2004 a TV series hit our screens called Lost.  Soon after that Heroes.  They heralded a new era of a different kind of storytelling.

One with no consequences.  To elaborate – if you look at a story as an equation of cause & effect, then traditionally the challenge of making a story tight, or just good, was that one flowed into the other creatively WHILST maintaining a strong internal logic.

Bruce Willis is dead at the end of Sixth Sense (effect) and suddenly EVERYTHING he has done (only ever interacting with the kid, always wearing the same clothes, never opening doors) makes sense because (cause) when he got shot at the beginning of the film, he actually died.

(Sorry – spoiler if you haven’t seen it yet.  In which case – REALLY!??)

Anyway – along comes Lost and Heroes and suddenly we were hit with a thought.  What if we didn’t focus on the left side of this equation (the cause) but only on the right (the effect)?

Suddenly dramatic options seemed to gain a new dimension as shows steeped in sci-fi weirdness had a texture to it that sucked in audiences not normally charmed by its usual bells and whistles.

Suddenly high concept narratives had good dramatic writing.  They didn’t focus on the WHY, but on the WHAT.  What does this “why” do to our characters?

It’s consequence free writing.  Don’t worry if the set-up makes sense, just set it up, and then get on with it.

A tropical island with polar bears, a terrifying smog monster, and an underground hatch?  How can they all be connected?  WHO CARES!  The important thing is, does it draw you in?  In fact, the more impossible and weirder you make the set-up, the more interesting the dramatic possibilities, yeah…?

Another way of looking at is Monty Python and their unique approach to comedy. Being professional writers, their frustration when constructing a good sketch was the bow.  The end.  The punchline.  Because coming up with an idea that’s funny?  That’s one thing.  Making it work?  That’s another.  But ENDING it satisfactorily?  You’d be surprised how hard that can be.  Especially if you have to churn out a number of scripts to the demanding schedule of a TV series.

Terry Gilliam was their solution.  By simply linking every skit with a surreal fevered animated piece of art, they realised they didn’t have to write a punchline!  And it worked.  It was genius.

But it WAS a solution.

Is writing drama bereft of accountability the same thing?

Vivarium – Latin for “place of life” – is a sci fi horror (of sorts) harking back to the best traditions of The Twilight Zone.

It follows a young couple Gemma (Imogen Poots) and Tom (Jesse Eisenberg) living in the UK, and like a lot of happy twosomes wanting to take it to the next level, they wish to buy a house together.

So they find a random real estate agent (Jonathan Aris – AKA Anderson from Sherlock) who is creepy AF.  Upon their first meeting he convinces them to follow him (by car) to a brand new development called Yonder.

All the houses there are finished and fully furbished.  They are also identical, the clouds up above do not move, and there is not a single living soul (or indeed thing) for what seems like miles & miles.

Half way through the tour of a house (#9) the agent ghosts them, and somewhat bemused by what has turned out to be a very odd day, Gemma and Tom hop in their vehicle and proceed to leave.

Or, rather, they try…. 

In classic Twilight Zonian fashion, every block on the estate is identical and the further they drive away from #9, the more they find themselves winding back up in front of it.

And the strangeness kicks off from there.  But if you want to know in what sort of ways – just check out the trailer attached to this article.

The premise is pretty much there.

And from there on in it’s a matter of finding out – what kind of story is this?  Will it explain the (wonderfully stylish and definitely intriguing) set up our 2 lead characters are in?  Or will it be writing without consequence?

And if it is – will the subsequent dramatic interplay between Poots and Eisenberg (2 powerhouse young actors who have worked together before on 2 other occasions – feel free to imdb it) be enough to pull you through?

Diagnosis:

Imdb says one thing.  Rotten Tomatoes says another.  And that’s the place of life.

Antony Yee

That’s the guy from Zombieland!

Sara Yee

 Vivarium is NOW available to view via Video On Demand

Blu-Ray & DVD from June 2020

Movie review: Zombieland: Double Tap

20 Sunday Oct 2019

Posted by surgeons of horror in Movie review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

abigail breslin, jesse eisenberg, woody harrelson, zombieland, zooey deutch

Here’s the thing with apocalypse movies – and forgive me if we’ve trod over this territory before – but when the world ends, the real world (the one on the other side of the silver screen) goes on.

The classic example being the Matrix.  It supposedly was a replication of society at the height of our technological development, but if that’s the case, why did they choose a time BEFORE iPads, smartphones, and Netflix’s Skip-Intro Function?

And so, in Zombieland 2, there’s a tongue-in-cheek conversation between our beloved heroes from the last movie, and a new character called Madison (she’s the ditzy blonde who features heavily in the trailers).

In it she describes an app idea she once had (pre-end-of-world) where you can book people and use them as a personal chauffeur, “Because the taxi industry is super corrupt you guys”.

Our cast ridicule her notion for its obvious flaws – not least of which…. who the hell jumps into a strangers’ car without any vetted protection? (her solution – customers can rank each driver under some sort of rating system…) It’s a scene very reminiscent of the one in Memphis Belle – where one of the crew of the titular WW2 bomber tells a mate about his plan to create a chain of restaurants that serve the same food everywhere.  These days that’s the goal of every eatery – from fast food to Michelin – but back then, the concept was ridiculous.  Why go to a place far away to eat the same food you’d get at home?

Anyway.  The more I type this, the more I think I have trod over this insight before…

But there is a reason for that!  The Uber scene rams home the point that Zombieland (the first one) is TEN YEARS old.  Which means as a universe it will never know Instagram, Influencers, and idiot presidents.  Yes. That’s right. A world where zombies are real is a world where the survivors get the better deal…

Mind you, it must be said, the original film was released at the height of the zombie craze – which we can all believe was ten years ago – and as with a lot of films that are good (if not great) constant re-watching makes it feel a lot more recent.

But back to the film itself. Three of our 4 original heroes have all aged very well. Stone (Wichita), Harrelson, (Tallahassee) and Eisenberg (Columbus) all pretty much look like they did in 2009.  But we do a LOT of growing and changing in our first 20 odd years, and so Abigail Breslin (Little Rock) who was 13 at the time of the original film, has done just that and her character is understandably restless.   Because as crappy as life is when survival is day-to-day, the fact is if you can survive it (and our 4 heroes quickly show that when it comes to killing zombies, they are now a well-oiled machine) you look to horizons further afield.

So our family – after taking up residence in an abandoned White House (what a gag rich movie this would have been if the first film happened after 2016… ) soon find themselves going their separate ways.

This leaves room to introduce new characters and they’re all pretty much as you see in the trailers.

The afore mentioned Madison (played by Zoey Deutch – the daughter of Lea Thompson.  That’s right – THAT Lea Thompson, as in Back-To-The-Future-Lea-Thompson!), who SLAYS the air-head architype.   Avan Jogia as a hippie douche called Berkeley, Rosario Dawson as Nevada – a kick ass motel owner and Elvis fetishist – Luke Wilson as Albuquerque (a character clone of Tallahassee) and Silicon Valley’s Thomas Middleditch as Flagstaff – a carbon copy of Columbus.

All of them have room to play and own screen time, which does detract from our original 4 from doing anything super interesting or growing (character wise) although you could argue that’s not necessarily important in a film like this, as there is definite joy to be had. 

Signature elements also make a return including awesome interactive GFX in the form of commandments – they’re the new rules! Plus Zombie Kill Of The Week – now in the form of Zombie Kill Of The Year.

And new components are introduced that expand the films mythology – all ticking off the Surgeons of Horror check list of what makes a good sequel. In this case it’s not an entirely original idea, but it’s still cool, because zombies and evolution are concepts that lead to outcomes that are never-not-interesting.

Prognosis:

Scene stealer award definitely goes to Deutch.  And although he seems to always play the same guy all the time, Thomas Middleditch is an immensely talented actor capable of very subtle and convincing range (just search all the stuff he’s done on YouTube with Pete Holmes. From L.A. dude, to French fop to gentle German, the man has some serious talent).  In this case, we get to see him act….violent…

Zombieland was also, at one time, trialled as a TV series and a pilot was released.  Which was not bad, but it didn’t go anywhere.  However, that would have meant that somewhere with some writers, storylines would have been discussed.

Be interesting to see if they borrowed any to put into this film. 

All up the end result is just as much fun as the original, which means you will genuinely lol.  But don’t go in expecting ground breaking/mind blowing twisty insights.  Because that’s not this kind of movie.  It’s just sharp story-telling fun.

Although when it comes to incorporating really dark humour with clever GFX and left-field music choices, Deadpool is the standard bearer, so this film could have done to have been made a few years earlier.  But then again, when your 4 leads are all academy nominated/winners, we should all be grateful we got a sequel in the first place.

  • Antony Yee

PS: The Columbia pictures woman has never been as awesome as she is in this film.

PPS: There is also an (early) end credit sequence that brings back an old favourite.  Well worth it.

I quite liked it!

Hospital Administrator: Sara Yee

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • June 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016

Categories

  • A Night of Horror Film Festival
  • Alien franchise
  • Alliance Francaise French Film Festival
  • Australian Horror
  • Best Movies and Shows
  • Competition
  • episode review
  • Flashback Fridays
  • Friday the 13th Franchise
  • Full Moon Sessions
  • Halloween franchise
  • Interview
  • japanese film festival
  • John Carpenter
  • killer pigs
  • midwest weirdfest
  • MidWest WierdFest
  • MonsterFest
  • movie of the week
  • Movie review
  • News article
  • podcast episode
  • press release
  • retrospective
  • Rialto Distribution
  • Ring Franchise
  • series review
  • Spanish horror
  • sydney film festival
  • Sydney Underground Film Festival
  • The Blair Witch Franchise
  • The Exorcist
  • The Howling franchise
  • Top 10 list
  • Trash Night Tuesdays on Tubi
  • umbrella entertainment
  • Uncategorized
  • Universal Horror
  • Wes Craven
  • wes craven's the scream years

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Surgeons of Horror
    • Join 2,400 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Surgeons of Horror
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...