Tusk (2014) Review

Tusk is a comedy horror directed by Kevin Smith (the guy behind the Clerks series). For a guy who usually focuses on comedy and comic book related media, it was super interesting to see his dark side. This movie was brought to my attention by my dad, who claims it was one of the most disturbing movies he's ever seen. That's saying something given the history with scary movies he's had. Even my brother backed him, and he's tough as nails. It would take something pretty edgy to weird him out.
The movie focuses on a podcaster who goes to Canada and ends up in an interview with an old man who has a history at sea. This man as it turns out, survived on a deserted island for quite a while with the help of a walrus who saved his life. As his time went on, he eventually was forced to eat the animal, who he had named Mr. Tusk. Now, he seeks to give his friend another chance at life. By which he means surgically turning our protagonist into a walrus.
Now, this is the part where people would nervously laugh or just stand up and leave the movie. The first thing that comes to mind is that Tusk is basically Human Centipede with a walrus instead. Did Kevin Smith really write and direct this?
But its really not. Human Centipede is arguably the most unwatchable torture film ever that tries way too hard and lingers on every detail that would be best left up to audience interpretation. I went into Tusk expecting a movie like that, but left completely underwhelmed.
As strange as the movie is, its actually somewhat decent. It's not too focused on the torture and gory details and saves the shock factor for the walrus man...thing reveal which will effectively burn itself into the viewer's memory. In short, it's basically a man who has his legs removed and arms stitched to his torso. Then his femur bones are sharpened akin to walrus tusks and attached to his face. He is then sewn a walrus suit made from human flesh.
It's not just his physical transformation that is emphasized, but also his mental. This poor man's mind begins to break and he loses grip of his humanity and becomes more like an animal, a walrus. At the same time, his friends from the podcast are looking for him.
Of course, there is some dark comedy thrown in the mix. But depending on who you are, it may not be laughable as it is rather horrifying. For me, it was a little bit of both.
Tusk isn't the best thing ever, nothing I'd write home about. It's understandable that some people find it hard to watch, but that's part of its appeal. It's one of those movies that you have to give a bit of time to appreciate. Also remember, there is much, much worse that the movie industry has to offer then this.
As it turns out, Tusk is also the first part in a trilogy of movies that Kevin Smith has planned. The common theme is Canada, as weird as it sounds. The second movie is in progress, which I don't know a whole lot about. The third movie is apparently titled 'Moose Jaws'. And as Smith puts it, "it's Jaws, but with a Moose."
Say no more, I'm on board.

Horror Icons: Tobe Hooper

Tobe Hooper, every horror fan should know him. He's up there with the greats like John Carpenter and Wes Craven. If you're not familiar with him then you might better remember his 1974 picture, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. If it's bloody and edgy, then Hooper's name is attached to it. Here I'll be running down his movie career, not the whole package just some of his that I've seen and am familiar with.
We'll start with Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Hooper directed completely under a low budget and independently. Before its release, the only monsters we had were demons and the classical likes of Frankenstein and Dracula. Horror was taken to a whole new level when this movie came out as it brought gory bloodshed and sometimes hard to watch scenes. What made it truly scary was the fact that the beginning set up a documentary like setting before diving in. This set up the illusion that the events were true. They weren't really, but it could happen. There's nothing supernatural about a family of maniacs living in the backwoods and killing people after torturing them. The villain, Leatherface, would become one of the future faces of horror with his chainsaw.
The sequel, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, was released 12 years later in 1986 with Hooper returning to direct. Not really much to say about it except it upped the bloodshed and took an aim for a dark comedy. A really, really dark comedy. It wasn't as good as the original, but still has that Tobe Hooper feel. From there on out, the series would receive a number of other sequels, each one worse then the last. Then an ok reboot, I guess.
Before Texas Chainsaw 2, Tobe Hooper directed The Funhouse in 1981. My dad saw this movie with his parents while it was in theaters when he was a kid...I think he left the auditorium shaking and traumatized. Its really a lesser known movie and is often included in compilations of underrated horror movies. The plot focuses on a two teen couples attempting to spend the night in a carnival's dark ride funhouse. The attraction is run by a strange man with his son who always wears a Frankenstein monster mask when out in public. I won't give away too much, but the face reveal of the killer will burn itself into anyone's mind, regardless of how it ages.
The following year in 82, Hooper would work alongside Steven Spielberg and bring us Poltergeist. This is a supernatural horror story at its finest. It's also fair to mention that it was rated PG, even though there are some scenes that pushes it into the R territory. Spielberg then got the brilliant idea to suggest a rating that ran between PG and R, and we all know what came of that; the PG-13 rating. So, in a way, Tobe Hooper helped create PG-13. Poltergeist would also go on to be nominated for three Oscars, a rare case for a horror movie. We also got a Poltergeist remake earlier this year...yeah, but why though?
The last Hooper film I remember watching was The Mangler from 1995. Yes, based on the Stephen King short story about a possessed laundry pressing machine. This wasn't the first time Hooper did a King story, he directed a TV movie of Salem's Lot back in the 70s. The movie starred Ted Levine (Buffalo Bill from Silent of the Lambs) and Robert Englund (Freddy from the Nightmare on Elm Street series). For such a short story to be adapted into a movie, new material had to be added. The gore and scare factors play well here and it has the Hooper fib to it, but I guess it didn't work out in the long run. Despite it, it actually stays pretty faithful to the short story, about the same as Children of the Corn did. IMDB is way too harsh on this movie, giving it a 3.9. I say its worth about a 5.5. Its no masterpiece, but its worth a watch. As for the two other sequels, throw them in the garbage.
A few honorable mentions are Salem's Lot (1979), Eaten Alive (1976), and Spontaneous Combustion (1990). Tobe Hooper continues directing today, but all his work is a bit under the radar and don't see a theatrical release unless its big budget. I would agree that Texas Chainsaw Massacre is his magnum opus and heavenly contribution. He made his impact on horror and continues to be referred to as one of the masters of the genre.

SOMA Review

When I last discussed Frictional Games, it was during my revisit to Amnesia A Machine For Pigs, the sequel to The Dark Descent (said to Frictional Games' magnum opus). Unknown to me, is that during that time in September, Frictional Games released a new title, SOMA.
I'm late to jump on the band wagon here. It took me sometime around to actually get the game, then another month or so to complete it. SOMA is another survival horror game, masterfully done by Frictional Games. What sets it apart from the other titles is that it sinks a bit into the Science Fiction genre with its extremely immersive setting.
The game puts you in the role of Simon, a Toronto native, who suddenly finds himself in the underwater lab, Pathos II in the far, doomed future. I'm going to keep this spoiler free, because if you were to play the game knowing everything, then the entire experience would be ruined.
The world of Pathos II is super immersive, everything can play a role in advancing forward and the whole plot isn't explained to you up front. There's interactive objects throughout the levels that elaborate the hidden lore. The gameplay borrows several elements from the Amnesia series. There's no methods of fighting back or attacking, all you have is a light and a certain amount of health (usually its two hits and you're dead). You have to entirely use your wits to continue.
Each of the levels are designed as mazes with certain puzzles that must be completed. The jump from an old dark house to a desolate undersea lab creates a much more claustrophobic feel. If the brain teasers aren't enough, then the robotic monsters will drive any player from taking a break.
The monsters of this game are kind of mixes of barnacles and machinery. They're huge dark blobs for the most part, but it starts to get pretty freighting when they take on humanoid shapes.
Seriously, imagine walking down a dark hallway and the screen starts to become disorienting and you could just make out a human shadow at the end, that's this game. And if your stomach hasn't dropped yet, then the creatures actually break out in a full sprint towards you. You can run all you want, but eventually they will catch you.
But they really appear in every other level. The true essence of SOMA is in its level design and immersion. You can use computer terminals throughout Pathos II to solve the puzzles most of the time, the game heavily stresses this. The hidden lore also has a certain charm to it, like uncovering the mystery about what happened to Pathos II. There's also points in the game where you can make your own decisions and take a break from the linear path, don't worry they don't seem to effect the ending.
So in short, SOMA is another great game released by Frictional Games. And from my time with their library, it's better then Amnesia A Machine For Pigs and slightly falls beneath Amnesia The Dark Descent. Primarily because SOMA doesn't really have a good replay value while The Dark Descent does. Once you know everything, it loses its novelty. But give it one play through and its like being apart of a really good movie.

Tales from the Crypt, A Short Revisit

I'm not talking about the TV series that most people are familiar with, I'm talking about the comic book series from the 1950s which the episodes are based off of. Now, the show didn't draw its inspiration from just the Tales from the Crypt books, but also its running mates (lack for better words); The Vault of Horror and Haunt of Fear. Each of these presented their own collection of stories. Each one had their own mascot-like character, the Crypt Keeper was for Tales from the Crypt, the Vault Keeper was for The Vault of Horror, and the Old Witch was for the Haunt of Fear.
Now, aside from the television series, these comics also inspired other horror classics such as Creepshow and its various sequels. I can't talk about the comics without addressing the stir that they caused. The 1950s was the hay day of creating stereotypical images of what a nuclear family should look like and it was believed that these comic books were unhealthy for kids to read as it would leave bad impressions on their minds. Sort of akin to today's myths that video games and movies would provoke kids to commit violent acts. I beg to differ since people such as R.L. Stine, Stephen King, and George Romero bought and read these as kids and look at them today.
Each issue had three stories within them, each one being from the three different story tellers. As the side bar on the title suggest, they all had something to do with that theme. Tales from the Crypt tried to provoke terror, Vault of Horror was horror, and Haunt of Fear was fear. Some of the best stories arguably came from the Vault of Horror.
They can be enjoyed by anyone since they have been reprinted numerous times since the 50s. I, personally have a few issues from the time they were reprinted in the 90s and the whole set of Tales from the Crypt issues within the three volume set of hardcover books.
I've read a fair amount of the stories, and I can honestly not see why there was such a fuss over them. The stories are extremely well thought out and there isn't a whole lot of emphasis on gore (for better or worse). If anything, I can honestly say that they can provoke creative thinking.
Despite the demise of these comics, numerous revivals have been made to keep them alive.