The Original Nightmare Returns

Fans of Robert Englund's Freddy Krueger will get the opportunity to embrace the original Nightmare on elm street this Halloween. Coming to UK cinemas (no word regarding us Irish), A Nightmare on Elm street (1984) will re-emerge to celebrate both the creepiest night of the year, as well as the movie being regarded as one of the best horror movies to date.

Fans of the horror genre were left bitterly disappointed in what was quiet an obvious, yet bluntly dissatisfying remake that saw Jackie Earl Ray play the scarred child slasher in the remake of 2010. While I for one saw it as nothing other than entertaining, the majority of fans will want to quickly forget the attempted re-creation directed by Samuel Bayer.

For one night only, on October 31, Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street will darken cinemas with ultimate frightfulness in order to give audience a satisfying scare, something that is very rare in modern horror.

A new HD trailer is available to support the release, in which you can see over on Empire. In the meantime, check out one of the many iconic scenes involved with this horror classic.

A Trick-or-Treat Review; Carrie (1976)

As we continue to celebrate Halloween, let's look at another classic of the 70's; a year in which most original concepts of horror had come about.

Released in 1976, Carrie is a tale of vulnerability at the highest as we follow the path of Carrie (Sissy Spacek); a reclusive high-school student who through-out has had her fair share of incidents regarding her lonely persona which seems to attract malicious bullys.

Not much help in her troubled life is her mother Margaret (Piper Laurie) who has strong, sadistic religious beliefs. The controlled paranoia of Carrie's mother is particularly seen when she features in one of many sinister moments between mother and daughter; Carrie is sent home early due to a scene in the schools showers when she freaks out after getting her first period, attracting the attention of heartless students to laugh and throw things at her. (Yep, quite sad really).

Margaret can only see her daughters situation as a sin, while constantly revealing her regrettable desire of killing Carrie as a child. Margaret condones intimate relations, viewing such an act as extremely sinful.

While Carrie is sometimes forced into repeating her mothers religious chants and locked in the "Sin" room for forgiveness, Carrie begins to notice a telekinetic change in her mind, revealing an extraction of movements and powerful forces.

While not fully understanding the sheer power behind this, it is when Carrie is suddenly asked to the dance by Tommy Ross (William Katt). Carrie mistakenly sees this a glorious opportunity to be accepted and for once in her life, sociable. However the events concerning Carrie and a minority of bully's change the course of her haunting ability.

From start to finish Carrie offers an original spookish concept of ones desire and utter portrayal that leads a reclusive to believe in sociability outside the home her mother continues to rule. The constant Psycho resemblance is seen through-out an plays a wonderful tribute to Hitchcock's masterpiece, referencing the "Eeek" almost slash sounds occurring through-out the films time line.

Directed by Brian De Palma, with Stephen King's novel at hand, Brian creates a fantastic jerk of back-forward scenes that involve Carrie at the happiest of times, even though you know deep down this girl is tormented by pretty much everyone surrounding her. The terrifying jingles of emotions are heard and witnessed by Carrie alone in her bedroom, then a couple of brief reflections of the teens in high-school who are truly enjoying themselves but oblivious to Carries haunting presence.

I was quite surprised to see a goofy John Travolta appearance. He plays Billy Nolan; a puppet alongside high-school popularity queen Chris (Nancy Allen) who some might know as Murphy, aka Robocop's annoying partner. It is more so the antics of Chris who is hell bound on destroying further-more the reputation of Carrie.

The haunting element of this classic are carried out by the freakish chemistry between Carrie and her brain-washed mother. Although the finale results in a memorable cinematic climax, you never forget the performances from both Sissy Spacek and onscreen next of kin, Piper Laurie.

Overall; Another horror classic that leaves a frightening taste before bed. If it isn't the conclusion of this short masterpiece that gets you, it will be the onscreen performance of Carrie's mother that will stay with you for a very long time.

John Carpenter's Halloween

John Carpenter's suspenseful masterpiece consisted of some real quality, cold blooded quotes. Quite simple ones also, and very misleading to the eyes of some; Tommy - " Laurie, what's the boogieman?   Laurie -  "There's no such thing."

How wrong was Jamie Lee Curtis's vulnerable high school sweetheart to think that. 1978 brought absolute terror to cinema-goers around the world.  A good ten years before my time, Halloween night never appealed to me very much, however the video tape of Carpenters classic, in which was kept hidden from me for years due to child-hood trauma, the creation of sheer terror was really upon me the day I watched it. (I was brave, but not enough to watch it at night)

The quiet suburban neighbourhood of Haddonfield was about to become quite an iconic scene; a young Michael Myers is about to lay the path for a dramatic return to his home town 15 years later.

Only 6 years old, nobody knew what drove the mind of such a young boy. His dark and twisted mind would drive him to stab his 16 year old sister, carving a whole new perspective to the way the town would celebrate Halloween.

Institutionalised for almost 15 years, Michael Myers escapes the outskirts of Illinois as he makes his way back home, hoping to arrive on a very convenient date; October 31st, 1978, Halloween.

Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is your stereotypical book worm slash high school virgin who chooses babysitting over drunken nights any day of the week. Softly spoken and well behaved, she is unaware of the danger about to curse Haddonfield that very night.

Michael Myers, played by Tony Moran is off the grid, however it is the introduction of his doctor, Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) that makes the night a nerve wrecking cat and mouse chase as he seeks to find Myers before he reeks havoc in Haddonfield. Desperate for assistance, Loomis contacts Sheriff Leigh Brackett (Charles Cyphers) to warn him of Michael's presence to be, believing that Michale will reenact the murder of 1963.

Dr Loomis - I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face and, the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes."

Sheriff Brackett is not fully convinced of Sam's accusations, however it is no convenience of the friendship between his daughter Annie (Nancy Kyes) and Michael's target, Laurie.

A series of events leads to the category of classics Halloween will forever remain. When Loomis finds out Michael's motive for escape, he is hell bound on preventing the murder of another family connection, Laurie Strode, who is oblivious to any past the psycothic killer had created.

Hot on the trail of Michael, Loomis is adamant to get in contact with Laurie as she spends her Halloween night babysitting Tommy Doyle (Brian Andrews). However it is not all horror movies and pumpkin making as Laurie converts into survival mode as when Tommy told her he had seen the boogieman previously, she should have believed him.

My favourite horror movie, if you want to call it horror? unlike a majority of Horrors of that era, Halloween was so original in terms of frightening you with nothing other than suspense. John Carpenter did not need a truck full of fake blood to convince the audience of the dangers of someone with a psycothic frame of mind. A simple concept; an average joe in a Captain Kirk mask. Let's not forget the anticipation of the classic theme tune which proved another simple way of terrifying the audience without revealing anything.

Halloween is also one of the originals to introduce what lurks in the background. Like I said, Michael Myers is an average Joe with a twisted heart. The concept of someone watching you, but yet not knowing, will always give me goose bumps. Of course a lot of movies are created on the monsters of our dreams, and done it so well, but Halloween will always frighten me with its short, yet mediocre plot that proves a possibility along with a more realistic chance of being stalked by the unknown.

In so many parts of this movie, Loomis sums up what he is feeling, and somehow you believe in his disturbia, hoping his presence will prevent the horror that eventually follows.

Dr Loomis - "I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realised what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... evil."

The acting is mundane but acceptable. Jamie Lee Curtis was so amateur in this movie but some how I believe there could have been no other. The sequels, threequels etc that would follow eventually made Laurie strode out to be some sort of "Sarah Connor" when in fact the original shows the conversion of  vulnerability to survival mode that leads to a dramatic conclusion in the film. However it was not fully a bad thing they opened the door for a sequel, I enjoyed the follow up, but the rest were pure garbage. In fact I think it is sometimes fun to watch the apparent trilogy to really embrace how much a qualitative piece of work John Carpenter created back in 1978.

Overall; John Carpenters Halloween is and always will be one of the best horror/suspenseful thrillers ever made. Along with The Thing and Psycho, this can not be missed come October 31st.

Robocop Review (1987)

The 80's was the epidemic of landmark movies. It was no doubt an era of heavy artillery supplied by Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. To name a few; Predator 87", First Blood 82", Aliens 86", The Terminator 84" and more would all go forward to rule the 1980's. Released in 1987, Robocop would have to bring something explosive to the table.

This futuristic sci-fi takes place in Detroit were crime rate is at its highest. The streets are crawling with Junkies, prostitutes while a global tech business, OCP (Omni Consumer products), over looks the city and controls the reign of law. It does not get more gritty than the portrayal we see at first hand.

OCP is known for its advanced technology and continuity in daily developments created and mastered to protecting the public from the scum. With not much belief in your average police department, it is when the giant company buys out the police task force in hopes to creating something stronger and less vulnerable as murderers and rapists pile the dark streets of Detroit.

It is when rogue cop Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) is blasted to death during a tense infiltration into one of Detroit's cold blooded gangs, (a gruesome scene that joined movie history) that sees Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer) of OCP perform a body transformation. With adjustments to save the general organs of Murphy's remains, the staff at OCP construct a steel shell around the dead body of Murphy resulting in a ""Robocop",a programmed walking talking killing machine assigned to protect the innocent with the ability to sustain and arrest.

While Murphy's soul is nothing short of deceased, it is when former partner and witness to the crime Lewis (Nancy Allen) discovers the man behind the metal plates resulting in Robocop's reflection of memories, which is something OCP didn't want. The action packed plot sees Bob's Robocop create a kill list behind the death of his former self. The main target is indeed, in my opinion one of the biggest dirt bags to ever hit our screens, Clarence (Kurtwood Smith). If Satan had an apprentice, it was this guy. It delights me to witness the path of revenge that Robocop follows, leading to an all out war as Clarence and his men try ridding the streets of the only thing standing in their way.

Although OCP staff and second man on the managers board Dick (Ronny Cox) represents true justice, Dick has eyes on a different future for the advanced company, a future without Robocop, which leads Robocop on an investigation that connects dots between the criminals of Detroit and the rich that overlook it.

Ah yes, the nostalgic reflection of this movie still excites me. One year before my birth, Robocop was swarming cinemas global, estimating a total of 13,000,000 in budget. Just like a plethora of 80's action, Robocop was, and still is one of the best of that era.

Its concept was highly original then, and unfortunately could not have competed with The Terminator and T2, it did succeed in terms of Sci-fi action and joined a host of movies that showed the possible gruesomeness of real-life shootings.

Scene of Death: Upon the origin of Robocop, Murphy had to make a sacrifice. Not knowing he would become a protective cyborg of Detroit, he foolishly rushed in, disturbing a group of animals, resulting in a terrifying scene. Do you remember? He had his leg, arm, and eventual head blasted with shotguns, machine guns the lot. Clarence and his affiliates were a new breed of murders and rapists, which lead to a whole new direction in my movie history. The gore was frightening and the screams of laughter toward a dead cop is more haunting.

The overall cast consisted of some well known faces of that era, if not genre of movies. In my opinion, it was just as well Peter Weller had to play out the movie in a metal suit and robotic concept as I don't think I could have stuck his cheesy acting through-out the 100 minutes or so. Although he is the hero an lead star, he is the worst actor associated with this classic... sorry. Apart from a handful of low budget movies, Weller has done the voice for Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 & Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2...random?

Ronnie Cox, as we know from Eddie Murphy's Beverly Hills Cop, was then and maybe still an accomplished actor playing numerous roles of good and bad.  Kurtwood Smith made appearances in Deep Impact, Rambo 3, Broken Arrow and many more.

Apart from its cheesy one liners, Robocop is and always will be one of my Childhood favourites. I know, it was strictly 18's (strictly), there was just no way I wasn't watching this movie. Unfortunately I can't say the same for what was to follow. I am sure the majority of fans will agree if I say that  RoboCop 2 was mediocre, although it will never, NEVER be as bad as RoboCop 3!!!  It is hardly worth referencing, but I believe the situation was played out with Peter Weller witnessing a script that read Robotic Ninjas and immediately decided to shove the pen he was given up the writers ass!

For those who don't know, a re-make is set for release in 2013, with a cast Gary Oldman, Joel Kinnaman and Samuel L. Jackson.  At this stage I struggle to see how anything can go wrong when the legendary Gary Oldman is involved. Joel Kinnaman is the star of the murderous tv series, The Killing. As for Samuel Jackson?...

Overall: 80's Sci-fi action, 80's bloodshed, 80's acting = a damn good time!

8/10