The Wing Kong Exchange (feat. Inferno)

[Fuji Vice]

Re: The Wing Kong Exchange

Yeah, that Scarwid/Leigh thing really struck me from the beginning, but as I said she was certainly more than just a Leigh clone. Even though I consider Psycho III the weakest of the sequels, I still think it has a lot going for it as far as horror movies go.

And yes, outside of maybe his performance in Body Parts, a pretty obscure 80's horror, this was Jeff Fahey's best work by far.

 

[Fuji Vice]

Re: The Wing Kong Exchange

Psycho IV: The Beginning

As popular talk show host Fran Ambrose hosts an episode on matricide, a man named Ed calls in to tell the story of how he killed his mother, along with several others. Through the course of the conversation, a doctor present becomes convinced that Ed is in fact Norman Bates, the infamous owner of the Bates Motel. Things take a turn for the worse when Ed says that he feels compelled to kill again, and so Fran desperately tries to get him to tell his whole story in an attempt to find out where he is before its too late.

After 1986's Psycho III proved to be less than successful at the box office, plans for a fourth film from Universal were put on hold in favour of a television pilot called Bates Motel. It would take nearly four years for another Psycho film to be made, and this one wouldn't even have the honour of being theatrically released, instead debuting on the cable channel Showtime. However, that doesn't prevent Psycho IV: The Beginning from becoming an integral part in the mythology of the series and an excellent way to end the story of the troubled Norman Bates once and for all. Delving into the past would prove to not only be disturbing, but also quite effective in explaining exactly why Norman Bates became the man that he did. Its this back story that gives us the opportunity to develop even further sympathetic feelings towards the character, and at the end of the film its quite easy to not only understand but also identify with poor Norman's plight. We've all been picked on in one way or another, but most of us could always rely on our parent's for support. Not so in Norman's case, and if you felt bad for him before this movie, believe me, you haven't seen anything yet.

"Norman Bates...king of the crank calls."​

The film was directed by Mick Garris, an unproven talent who had previously done one feature, Critters 2, which wasn't very well received. Garris would eventually develop into a strong horror director (with Stephen King's The Stand mini-series to his credit as well as being a co-creator of Masters of Horror) and the signs of this are certainly noticeable here. Even his stylish intro (complete with a slowed down Bernard Herrmann theme) shows that he was interested in putting his own personal stamp on the film. That could be due to the fact that he was constantly at odds with the previous films director, Anthony Perkins, who also happened to be the star of this one. Perkins was apparently upset that he hadn't been given the chance to direct this one and tried to undermine Garris whenever he could. Thankfully Garris was capable of dealing with this pressure and he was also lucky to have a script written by Joseph Stefano to work with. Stefano wrote the original film and here once again turns in a solid effort, though obviously one that's not on par with his previous work. He expertly weaves the back story and wraparound one together and creates a real coherent piece, which is never easy when you're jumping backwards and forwards in time. While Anthony Perkins would reprise his role as Norman Bates, virtually guaranteeing at least one strong performance, the rest of the cast were all up to the challenge as well and worked together nicely.

"Norman and mother in happier times..."​

Before we get to Perkins performance its important to look at all the others, since there are some real gems here. Henry Thomas does a fairly good job of playing the young Norman, totally making me forget how much I hated him in E.T. (I don't care if he was a kid then, he still sucked). He does the awkward Norman well, particularly in an early scene where he has an encounter with a very promiscuous girl (who has a nice pair of boobs I might add). He also has great chemistry with Olivia Hussey, who plays his overbearing mother very well. Its very refreshing to see Hussey in a role that's such a departure considering she's more well known as a heroine. She has a great moment where she locks Norman in the closet for getting an erection, and tells him he has to stay in the closet until he learns not to say no to his mother when she tells him he's a girl. That's pretty damn vicious, and Hussey seems to revel in her delightfully evil ways, which makes her a very hateable character. The wraparound story features CCH Pounder, who plays the radio host, Fran Ambrose. She's a strong actress who makes the most of her screen time and has a very believable and realistic repartee with Norman on the phone. Speaking of Perkins, he's on fire here again and really layers even more into his character, particularly when he reveals why he wants to kill his wife. It's unsettling but from Norman's perspective you have to agree that his motives are perfectly logical.

"...and in not so happier ones."​

There's a lot to like here, and not just from an acting perspective. I really appreciated the attention to detail that Garris and company showed, particularly in the flashback sequences. It was great to see the Bates home and motel in a newer looking condition and I also have to mention the subtle nod to Norman's hobby of taxidermy (he's seen holding a book about it at one point). Its little things like this that go a long way to legitimizing a film and they also help to make it stand out, even if it was just a simple made for television piece. Norman using the name "Ed" on the call in show was also a nice nod to the fact that his character was at least loosely based on the very real and very creepy Ed Gein. I also didn't mind the nudity (obviously) or the kill sequences, and was actually very impressed with Garris' level of restraint. While I realize that he may have been on a short leash and that the film was made for television, its still nice to see less blood rather than more of it. Besides, that's not what's meant to scare you in the first place. Psycho has always been a series designed to play with the mind of its audience, and this film is no different. In fact, one could argue that its actually the most disturbing in the series, especially when you look at what's going on in the flashbacks.

"Get back in the closet with Tom Cruise you bastard!"​

As I said earlier, if you felt sympathy for Norman before, watch out because you're going to have a whole boat load of it dropped on you throughout his horrible back story. When he's not being forced to rub orange oil on his mother in a completely inappropriate way, he's being told that he's the cause of all her problems. In fact, she goes as far as saying she wished she'd terminated him in the womb because he damn well tried to kill her on the way out. This sort of tosses out the story of Psycho II and III and clearly makes this woman Norman's true mother, but that's alright because its all about creative license anyway. Besides, we really did need to see all of this abuse that Norman went through, if only to further understand his fragile mind and state. At the end of the day, the unifying theme in Psycho is that women are evil (potentially true, at least it is if you're married) and that theme is further explored here. More than anything else though, this film further explains to us that Norman really cannot be held responsible for his actions and that he is just a sad victim of the type of abuse that most of us would never even dream of. I felt the ending of this film was excellent from both a literal and a metaphorical sense. Through his actions, Norman has finally freed himself of "mother" once and for all (still the ending that III should have had) and her screams as the door to the cellar shuts are like music to the ears. So while it may have been just a made for television movie and not one that will be well remembered, Psycho IV: The Beginning serves its purpose well and provides a solid epilogue to the entire Norman Bates story.

"Check out that pearl necklace."​

Psycho IV: The Beginning was never released in theatres, though it did manage to pull in more than 10 million viewers during its television premiere, proof that its just really hard to keep a character like Norman Bates down. While its got some issues, particularly in the script continuity department, its still a great movie given its made for television pedigree. I'd certainly recommend it to any fans of the other films, though I'm sure most of you have already seen it if you liked those three. This will conclude our look at the Psycho movies, but fear not Fuji fans, we're not through yet, oh no. On Monday we'll be back to look at that television pilot I mentioned in the opening paragraph today and then on Tuesday we'll be taking a look at the remake of the original, which I know you'll want to be around for. Until then folks, stay out of the shower. 7/10.

"We're not through with this old house just yet."​

 

[TroyTheAverage]

Re: The Wing Kong Exchange

I will comment on this after watching it and it is fresh in my mind. I have yet to read it, so I will do that then too.

 

[TroyTheAverage]

Re: The Wing Kong Exchange

I agree with most of what you said about the movie, so there is no argument there.

What I didn't like about the movie was the, I don't know if I could call it an incestuous overtone between Norman and his mother, but it does kind of fit. I only say this because it seemed to be very relevant throughout this movie and not the others. I know we hadn't gotten much of a back story with the other ones that would have linked everything together, but this to me was just unneeded. I guess I had more of a Mommie Dearest mother in my mind with her where it was just straight abuse and nothing at all sexual, with of course, his obsession of staring at other women or having, for lack of a better term, feelings for other women.

Before watching it, I could have sworn I had seen it before. During my time watching it though, nothing seemed familiar; like it was all new to me. I'm totally lost on if I had seen it before or not now.

 

[Fuji Vice]

Re: The Wing Kong Exchange

I
What I didn't like about the movie was the, I don't know if I could call it an incestuous overtone between Norman and his mother, but it does kind of fit. I only say this because it seemed to be very relevant throughout this movie and not the others. I know we hadn't gotten much of a back story with the other ones that would have linked everything together, but this to me was just unneeded. I guess I had more of a Mommie Dearest mother in my mind with her where it was just straight abuse and nothing at all sexual, with of course, his obsession of staring at other women or having, for lack of a better term, feelings for other women.

It was definitely an incestuous overtone but I can't decide if it was totally misplaced or not. At times during the other films I felt that it was possibly Norman suffered some form of physical abuse as well as mental abuse from his mother, so it kind of fits. However, I did think they went a little too far in attempting to show just what kind of abuse it was.

Bates Motel

After being convicted of murdering several people including his mother and Marion Crane, Norman Bates is sent to an institution for the rest of his natural life. There he is introduced to and befriends a disturbed young boy named Alex West. After Norman's death, his will is read and it seems he's left the Bates Motel to Alex, who is also on the verge of being released. Seeing this as a chance to start a new life, Alex heads to Fairville to re-open the motel, but strange things start occurring from the moment he gets there.

There's no denying that in the 1980's, horror was hot stuff. In fact, some of the franchises that grew very popular during the decade even tried branching out into the medium of television, with decidedly mixed results. While some of these would prove to be minor successes, such as Friday the 13th: The Series, others would not be so lucky. In fact, some never even got past the pilot stage and were quickly abandoned due to lack of quality or interest, or in some cases, both. Among these unlucky shows was Universal's attempt to convert their popular Psycho franchise into a series of its own. Having shot the pilot and soon realizing that it wasn't going to fly as a series, the executives instead decided to release it as a television movie during the 1987 July 4th weekend. Though it takes a lot of liberties with the mythology of the series of films on which it is based, Bates Motel is nevertheless an interesting oddity that suffers from too much misplaced hate from horror fans. Sure it doesn't have good old Norman Bates, Hitchcock's sense of direction or even any kills, but what it does have is a unique ability to entertain an audience who is willing to accept it at face value. If there's one thing we've learned while examining these films, its that you can't hope to top the original masterpiece from which they've all been birthed. Thankfully, like its predecessors, Bates Motel doesn't try either, and that's why, much like the character of Alex, it deserves a second chance.

"By george, there's life in the old girl yet!"​

Bates Motel was written and directed by Richard Rothstein, a journeyman who had some minor success as the creator of a horror anthology series known as The Hitchhiker. He'd also proven to be a fairly adept writer, having handled the scripts for Human Experiments, Death Valley and Wes Craven's own television film, Invitation to Hell. Obviously Rothstein was chosen to make this for both his pedigree and his comfort working in the medium of television, and I'd say the executives at Universal made a good decision. While he doesn't really break any new ground with his script, he manages to create a story that's completely unique to the Psycho franchise, putting his own personal stamp on it. Working within the confines of television meant he had to sacrifice a lot of elements that make horror films work but he manages to work around the lack of these conventions and still keep things fairly creepy. His direction is adequate, though its clear that his talents lie mostly in the writing department, but it never manages to come across as amateurish or overly weak. As this was going to be more of a character driven film, he needed to ensure that he assembled a top notch cast, and while there are a couple of misfires, the majority are delightful to watch on screen.

"It's not Bud, its Harold...GOT IT!!"​

Bud Cort stars as Alex, the main character and protagonist of the film. Mr. Cort is responsible for one of my all time favourite performances, playing the character of Harold in Harold and Maude, and here he shows why he's one of the most underrated actors of his generation. He doesn't so much channel Anthony Perkins Norman Bates character as he layers it subtly into his own, making him a hybrid of the two. As he was essentially "raised" by Norman in the institution, it makes sense that he'd end up with more than a little Norman in him, and Cort does a great job of showing this through both his actions and his facial expressions, which are excellent. The always serviceable Moses Gunn lends support and provides some more legitimacy to the film, while Gregg Henry plays a suitably sleazy banker who may or may not have a hidden agenda. Lori Petty also stars as Willie, a slightly unstable woman who befriends Norman and helps him restore the motel. I actually like Petty's work most of the time, though here I found her to be a little over the top for my liking. It wouldn't have been a bad thing if her character had called for that kind of behaviour, but it really didn't so she ends up coming across as more of a caricature than a real person. Outside of that though, she's easy on the eyes and she does have good chemistry with Cort, so I can look past some of her shortcomings.

"Don't mess with Tank Girl."​

Bates Motel is a tale of two films, one a wraparound story and one a sample of the possible television series that never came to be. The wraparound story features Cort, Petty, Gunn and the rest of the principal cast, attempting to re-open the motel while strange things happen. There were actually some pretty cool sequences with the "ghost" and I also enjoyed seeing the old motel once again, along with hearing some slight snippets of Bernard Herrmann's score. The second story plays more like an episode of The Twilight Zone which is clearly what the series was meant to be if it had indeed been greenlit. I actually rather enjoyed the eerie little tale of the suicidal woman and the ghostly teenagers, but I felt there was something missing, or perhaps it just seemed out of place considering it just sort of gets shoved in partway through. Either way, I would really have liked to see what Rothstein could have come up with on a weekly basis, assuming the idea was that a different guest would check in each week to help tell a different scary story. Unfortunately that was not meant to be, and so we end our wraparound story with a Scooby-Doo like finish before Bud Cort pops back up and hams it up for the camera by offering to let us stay with him in the motel if we ever get a chance. Personally I don't think I'd ever stay at the Bates Motel since I like showering, but if you're into filth, feel free to take him up on his offer and for heaven's sake, don't steal $40,000 from your office before you go there!

"Well it sure as hell ain't Fawlty Towers."​

Bates Motel was not picked up as a show and was repackaged into the film that we just finished reviewing. As I said, that's too bad, because I'm a sucker for any horror anthology series and would have enjoyed seeing at least a season or two's worth of episodes centered around the most dangerous motel in film history. As it stands, Bates Motel isn't going to replace Psycho or even its sequels as far as quality goes, but its a quirky little piece that's well worth checking out for the sake of seeing just how bizarre the 80's television scene really was. After all, you can only watch so many re-runs of Miami Vice and Who's The Boss before demanding something with a slightly different taste. 5/10

Tomorrow we discover everything that's wrong about this picture."​

 

[TroyTheAverage]

Re: The Wing Kong Exchange

Well I know I have never seen that, so I guess I am going to have to check that out.

 

[Fuji Vice]

Re: The Wing Kong Exchange

Well I know I have never seen that, so I guess I am going to have to check that out.

Yeah, give it a shot man, its worth it if you like Bud Cort or if you just like seeing the old motel again. The whole thing is on YouTube, here's the first part and the rest link from there...

[video=youtube;tJsjIjguG9M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJsjIjguG9M&feature=plcp[/video]

 

[TroyTheAverage]

Re: The Wing Kong Exchange

Bud Cort is awesome, and I too enjoyed him in Harold and Maude.

 

[Fuji Vice]

Re: The Wing Kong Exchange

Bud Cort is awesome, and I too enjoyed him in Harold and Maude.

I'm going to have to review Harold and Maude one of these days, I love that movie so much. I honestly think its one of the greatest love stories ever told and there's virtually no cheesiness involved at all.

 

[Fuji Vice]

Re: The Wing Kong Exchange

Gus Van Sant is Psycho

After realizing that younger audiences probably wouldn't just watch a re-release of a virtually flawless film, acclaimed director Gus Van Sant set out to remake it in colour and with a star studded cast. What resulted is one of the all time greatest failures in the history of the cinema and a perfect example of why some things are best left undisturbed. With that set-up out of the way, its time to get Psycho one more time here in FujiFilm and of course I've saved the "best" for last. So strap in folks, because we're ready to rocket into full on hate mode.

To start us off today, a little quiz based on the question I asked at the end of yesterday's review. What is wrong with the above picture? Your choices are as follows...

1. Anne Heche is in it.
2. It is in colour.
3. Anne Heche is in it.
4. It is in colour.
5. All of the above.

If you answered 5, you can continue on with this review, anything else and I suggest you go back to the asylum because you're fucking crazy! Seriously, the very notion that colourizing Psycho would somehow make it better or scarier is absolutely insane. The haunting black and white imagery used by Hitchcock in the original is a major reason why that film will stand the test of time and this one just tests your patience while consuming your time. As for Anne Heche, she's just the beginning of the problems, but since I'm on her case already I might as well get to the other things that piss me off about her.

"What is she wearing? What is she carrying? Wait, what year is this supposed to be again?"​

At the very beginning we establish that this film is set in 1998, as the title card even tells us so before we creep into the extremely seedy motel complete with overly loud dubbed in sounds of people having sex in the next room. For 1998, it does appear to me that Heche is dressed in garb that is much more reminiscent of what Janet Leigh would have been wearing in good old 1960 when the original film took place. Anachronisms abound in this film though, including a distinct lack of cellular phones and even a direct line to the operator! As for Heche, her performance here totally sucks...SUCKS!!. When Janet Leigh said a line as simple as "I'll lick the stamps" it made you realize how desperate she was to be with Sam, no matter the cost. With Heche it just sounds like she's into licking stamps, which is kind of weird and certainly not as good as some of the other things she's been known to lick. Sam is played by Viggo Mortensen, a good actor who clearly realized that he either a) wasn't getting paid enough to be in this mess or b) realized too late that it was in fact a mess. The evidence of this can be seen etched on his face in this very telling still...

I can't blame Viggo for busting out the stunned expression he has on his face there, I basically had the same one throughout the whole film. Before I switch back to the really bad performances I thought I'd actually heap a smidgen of praise on this film, lest you think I'm being completely negative in this review. James Remar is decent as the Mort Mills character, as is James LeGros as California Charlie. I did enjoy the line "you can do anything you have your mind to; being a woman you will" since he sort of mutters the last part under his breath as opposed to the original character saying it straight to her face. This fits in with the changing times and women being more empowered than back in 1960 when the original was released and was one of the only nice touches in this entire film. Robert Forster is also pretty good as the psychiatrist and takes the award for best performance in the film simply because he doesn't try to do anything other than what he's asked to do. The worst part about these individuals? They don't get as much screen time as the leads, and speaking of the leads, let's get to the biggest failure of them all.

"Vince Vaughn stars in a remake of the video for Turning Japanese."​

Casting the role of Norman Bates was always going to prove troublesome, since it would be virtually impossible to live up to the great performance by Anthony Perkins. Vince Vaughn desperately tries way too hard to be creepy where Perkins just had it come across in a realistic and genuine way. His nervous yet slightly psychotic laugh does nothing for me, nor does the dinner scene in the parlour between he and Heche. How they managed to take one of the best scenes in the original and turn it into something that looks like a Junior High School stage production is beyond me. The fact that he is also seen jerking off when Heche is undressing just ruins the film even further and destroys any semblance of sympathy I could have had for the character. I'd say he gives the overall worst performance in this film, but I'd be forgetting to mention the voice of "mother", who here sounds absolutely dreadful and nowhere near as creepy as she did in the original. Oh, William H. Macy plays Arborgast and while he's not too bad he is involved in perhaps the single most bizarre moment in this trash.

"LOL"

"WUT?"​

The above two images come during the moment that Arborgast is being stabbed in the face at the top of the stairs by "mother". I have to ask...WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY AND WHY ARE THEY IN THIS FUCKING MOVIE!??!?!? It's almost like Van Sant tried to make an art house film at some points and a direct remake at others. Either way, it totally fails, just like virtually everything else in this film. I mean, I'm all for a good mind fuck every now and then and count films like "Erasherhead", "Santa Sangre" and the extended cut of "Caligula" among my most prized possessions, but at least there's some sort of logic behind their attempts to mess with you. With this one it simply appears that Van Sant did it because he could and left it at that. To me, that's not only brutal but also totally irresponsible filmmaking. This "remake" was supposed to be a tribute to Hitchcock's legacy...instead it ended up tarnishing it. I could only imagine what he'd have to say about this if he'd seen it but I'm sure it wouldn't be too far off from what I'm saying right now.

"Never mind if you've seen this girl, have you seen what I'm wearing?"​

It's very rare that I delete any movie from my archives or get rid of the DVD. I am a pack rat and love to have them even if I know full well I'll never watch them again. I deleted this film the second I grabbed the screenshots and I refuse to even upload it here because for once I really don't want anyone else to suffer through it as I have. That may be the most damning statement I've made, because in the past I've tried my best to get you people to watch stuff like "Squirm", "Jaws 4: The Revenge" and "Abraxas". Well trust me, those are goddamn Oscar-bait when put next to this pile of crap and with that I am blissfully done.

Oh, sorry, not quite. 2/10.

Now I'm done. See you tomorrow when we'll be taking a look at a really interesting little Canadian horror film I checked out on the weekend. Then I'll be getting to a few requests before starting into some random films I've been meaning to cover in here.

 

[Fuji Vice]

Re: The Wing Kong Exchange

The Corridor

After watching his mother die of a drug overdose, Tyler has a breakdown and ends up attacking some of his friends who have come to help. A year later, the friends decide to reconvene with Tyler at his mother's cabin in the woods to stage a wake and mend fences. Soon Tyler discovers a pocket of energy in the middle of the forest, an ever expanding gateway that when entered seems to clear his mind. Once the friends discover this as well, they believe they've made a significant scientific discovery, but the corridor, which is ever expanding, also begins to warp their sense of reality.

The Corridor, released in 2010, is one of the new wave of Canadian genre films that have been slowly popping up over the last couple of years. Along with Hobo With a Shotgun and Father's Day, it represents the dawning of a particularly fruitful creative period in Canadian cinema, one that hasn't been seen in some time. A "slow burn" film if ever there was one, it also stands as a compelling psychological thriller that's truly horrific in its subtlety. Though things tend to get a little corny at times and the special effects are certainly not among the best I have ever seen, the story more than makes up for it and by its chilling conclusion we're left with more questions than answers. The mark of a good horror film is in both its unpredictability and its ability to resonate with its viewers long after its finished. The Corridor manages to excel at both of those things, and also provides more than its fair share of violent and bloody imagery. It takes us to evil and frightening places, but the ride on the way there is more than worth it.

"All roads lead to nowhere....."​

The film is directed by Evan Kelly, making his feature debut, and written by Josh MacDonald, who also wrote a hilarious little film called "Faith, Fraud and Minimum Wage." While Kelly may be brand new to the feature scene, he's been well known in the Canadian film industry for awhile, having directed an award-winning short called "Quality Viewing" back in 2002. Here he takes the skills he's learned from subsequent stints as an assistant director and takes them out a whole new door, creating a tight and tense piece that's paced perfectly. In fact, as a fan of the "slow burn" style of filmmaking, I have to say that this is an incredibly auspicious debut and expect great things out of him in the future. MacDonald's script is not only intelligent and creative, it also provides ample twists and turns along with some unbelievably grotesque moments. He also has a knack for writing both believable dialogue and characters, and creates some very distinct yet eerily familiar personalities. These diverse characters are brought to life by an excellent assortment of actors who, while not household names, prove that sometimes the best ones are those that you've never seen before.

"I knew I should have gotten John to cut the roast!"​

The central characters to the film are the five friends who meet up in the cabin, and each brings their own personal touch to the story. Stephen Chambers plays Tyler, the man who instigated the incident that shaped their lives and the one who discovers the energy field, and he does a great job playing a man teetering on the brink of insanity. There were several times that I felt genuine sadness for his character, as he is simply trying to recover from his traumatic experience but cannot due to the strange incidents occurring around him. David Patrick Flemming plays his friend Chris, a man struggling to understand where his place in life is, and he gets this point across very well in many of his expository scenes. Matthew Amyotte plays the jock who is hanging on to his old glory days and who still chooses to pick on the "nerd" of the group, played here by Glen Matthews. Both provide not only some much needed comic relief but also add another dimension to the storytelling when their home lives, hopes and fears become known to the audience. Finally, if there is one breakout performance here, it is from James Gilbert as Everett, a struggling musician and the "pretty boy" of the group. Gilbert is quite simply chilling, particularly as he becomes slowly consumed by the energy field, and his character seems to stand above the others in terms of its interesting qualities. I would not be surprised to see him, or any of these other actors for that matter, do quite well for themselves in the coming years.

"Everett ponders the meaning of life...or maybe he's just thinking of banging his boss."​

As it tells a mostly supernatural/horror based story, its of the utmost importance that we care about these characters and don't perceive them as stereotypes. Thankfully MacDonald does more than enough to imbue all of them with stark realism and the conflicting personalities that come along with that. Things as simple as a man fearing his wife will leave him due to his possible impotence or another masking his hair loss by claiming virility are par for the course here, yet they are also normal feelings that everyday people have. Another character simply doesn't understand why his life has taken the path that it has, and in that he becomes easily identifiable with an audience that understands his plight all too well. Unfortunately, even though our parents make us think "the sky's the limit" when we're children, the harsh reality of life is that this is all to untrue. These characters all seem to deal with that falsehood and each in shockingly different ways. However, even though we may be disgusted by the actions that some of them take throughout the course of the film, we must also question whether we too would do the same thing if we'd slowly lost our minds yet still believed we were sane. It's this very fine line between the real and the surreal that propels both the film and its characters forward, and it does a very fine job of keeping us unsettled at all times.

"I feel like I'm inside Galactus man...."​

Now, I want to go on the record and say that The Corridor is most certainly not for everyone. Those who have weak stomachs would do well to avoid it due to some extremely graphic and gory scenes towards the end. Others that lose patience with a film easily will undoubtedly find themselves reaching for the fast forward button after about 15 minutes, but in doing so they'll miss so much of the film that it will become unbalanced and lose its poignancy. Still others who don't like to be challenged by a film, forced to think about it long after its over, will cast it aside and call it boring or some such nonsense. Unfortunately people like that will have totally missed the point. A great film can tell a lot without saying more than a little, and if you're the type of person who has an open mind to these sorts of things, perhaps The Corridor is the film for you. It ends on an ambiguous note, and doesn't attempt to answer any questions it poses nor does it leave you with a feeling of joy. Instead it slaps you across the face and forces you to confront the things in life that are most important to you, those that frighten you and indeed, those that reside in the darkest corners of your subconscious. Yes, it won't be everyone's cup of tea, that's to be sure, but then again life is all about taking chances and I can think of no better film to take a chance on than this one.

"She was Karen Black's stunt double in Invasion of the Body Snatchers."​

The Corridor has been released to Video on Demand in the US and Canada and has done quite well on the independent festival circuit, making quick stars out of its writer and director. Many critics have praised its originality and its subtle use of horror to really unsettle its viewers. I've uploaded a copy of it here for you to check out if you so choose, and while I don't expect a lot of you to watch it, and even less to enjoy it, I hope one or two of you do. It's quite rare for me to think about a film days after I've watched it, but even now, as I type these words, its still lingering in my mind. Perhaps that's its greatest strength, the fact that it, much like life itself, is something that you can never truly escape. 8/10.

"Tomorrow we go further into the abyss and smell....dookie?"​

 

[TroyTheAverage]

Re: The Wing Kong Exchange

I'm surprised you gave Psycho 2/10 lol. I figured .5/10 the way you bashed it all the way through.

 

[Fuji Vice]

Re: The Wing Kong Exchange

I'm surprised you gave Psycho 2/10 lol. I figured .5/10 the way you bashed it all the way through.

That's half a point for Remar, half a point for LeGros and a full point for Viggo Mortensen's face in that picture. :

 

[TroyTheAverage]

Re: The Wing Kong Exchange

Well OK, that makes sense. :

 

[Fuji Vice]

Re: The Wing Kong Exchange

No Holds Barred - Part One

Rip is the champion of the World Wrestling Federation, an all around nice guy who adores his fans and loves his charity work. He has proven to be a big ratings draw for the network he wrestles for, a fact that does not escape the attention of World Television Network executive Brell, Seeing Rip as the key to ratings success, Brell offers him a blank check to come perform on his network instead, but Rip won't hear of it. Rejected, Brell decides to start his own wrestling show, The Battle of the Tough Guys, and soon a violent, mysterious man wins the contest. His name is Zeus, and soon Brell realizes that the ultimate ratings can only come if Zeus and Rip square off in a battle to the death.

The year was 1989. Hulk Hogan was fresh off his title win over Randy Savage at Wrestlemania V and had already cemented his place as the top wrestler in the world. Not only that, he was a goddamn superhero to millions and probably banged every woman in the continental US. Ok, so maybe that's an exaggeration, but the truth is, Hogan was HOT. One man who knew this was Vince McMahon, self-styled genius, billionaire playboy and part-time steroid junkie. Vince was also Hulk's boss, the owner of the World Wrestling Federation and he soon came to realize that if Hogan was so popular in wrestling, it stood to reason that he'd have some serious crossover appeal. So he commissioned a script for a film that would star Hogan as, what else, a wrestler. Unfortunately when he got it back he hated it, so he and the Hulkster spent 72 hours in a Florida hotel room, binging on cocaine, banging ring rats and "tweaking" the script until it satisfied them. What came from that 72 hours, besides a scorching case of herpes, is one of the all time greatest pieces of cine-trash ever made, a film so brilliant in its stupidity that it truly defies words. No Holds Barred may be the best worst movie ever made, and because of that I felt it only fair to look at it in the same way I covered the Star Wars Holiday Special. So get ready for a real treat folks, because there's no ring, no ref and no rules in this review, and yeah, there's no holds barred too.

That is actually the very first shot in the film, which just tells you how fucking awesome everything else is going to be from here on in. I mean, nothing starts a movie off properly like a slobbering Hulk Hogan right? Jesse Ventura and Gene Okerlund are at an arena where Rip is putting his title on the line against Jake Bullet (Demolition's Ax, Bill Eadie), a tough guy who wears eye shadow. Bullet has Rip down, but he magically rips up and gets the victory, shouting his catchphrase, "Rip 'Em", to all his adoring fans. This pisses off the evil network executive Brell (Kurt Fuller), a no nonsense motherfucker who just hates Rip to pieces. How do I know this? He calls him a "jock ass", which is just about the most manly insult I've ever heard in my life. Seriously, what other reaction could you have from someone calling you a "jock ass" than to cower in fear and soil yourself? Brell has a meeting with his associates and, after grabbing a phallic symbol off of his desk and talking about Rip stripping down to his sweet nothings, takes the time to tell one of them, a female no less, to "take a leak". This sends her scampering out of the room in tears while I realize someone should be paying Brell everything. He shows a poster of Rip, while still clutching the phallic symbol, and says "THIS IS WHAT I WANT" in a completely non-sexual way. He also says that "even Rip has his price" which made me think that the only way this film could have been better is if Ted DiBiase had played Brell instead of Fuller.

"Everbody's got a price for the Brellion dollar man."​

This leads Brell to call Rip in for a meeting where he slowly explains that he'll pay him to switch networks. He explains it slowly because he thinks Rip is stupid see, but Mama Rip didn't raise no stupid Rips and after Brell calls him a jock ass one too many times, Rip decides to shove his blank check down his throat. He prefaces this bold move by saying "I WON'T be around when this check clears" which is funny because its a poop joke. This further serves to piss Brell off and so he has his limo driver take Rip to a secluded garage where a bunch of thugs are ready to take him down. Of course, this is Rip we're talking about here, and he's not going to go out so easily. First he basically destroys the limo from the inside with his feet of fury before causing it to crash through a bunch of props while Jim Johnston's modal jazz music plays in the background. After the limo comes to a stop, Rip decides to Rip Up and blow his way RIGHT THROUGH THE FUCKING ROOF OF THE LIMO!!!!

He gets thrown from the top of the limo to the concrete and hits it hard, but this is Rip so he totally no sells that shit! He then beats the shit out of a few of the thugs for a minute or so before he gets his hands on the driver. Of course he's SO scary that the driver literally shits his pants, which causes Rip to smell something funny. He asks the driver what it is and the poor guy says "DOOOOKIE". Rip's response is worth more than a million words, so lets see it in animated form instead....

"DOOKIE!!!!"​

Of course Rip is such a fucking man that not only does he get disgusted by this smell, he actually sniffs away at the air for a few moments after finding out what it is. If that was improvisational, Hogan is a genius, because nothing proves your manhood more than revelling in the smell of shit! After this harrowing experience, Rip goes to his own network and meets his new accountant executive, Sam, who turns out to actually be a woman named Samantha (Joan Severance). She goes on about Rip's merchandising and q-rating but all Rip cares about is what she's got on under that white power suit she's wearing. Hell, he even makes odd grunting noises when he's looking at her, as if he needed to give any more indication that he just wanted to jump her bones right there in the boardroom. He tells her his main interest is his charity work and that she should "put that in her brief" which is apparently such a good line that she invites him to a fancy French restaurant for dinner. The second she said it would be "dressy" I was hoping Rip would show up in a tuxedo with no arms, but unfortunately that probably would have been too awesome and so he wears a simple white one instead. This leads to a funny scene at the restaurant where a stuffy waiter tries to make fun of Rip only to find out that he actually speaks French and goes to the restaurant all the time...oh the laughs!

"Oh Hogan you so fine, you so fine you blow my mind Hey Hogan, Hey Hogan!"​

Meanwhile, Brell and his cronies head to a place called The No Count Bar, quite possibly the most vile place in the entire universe. This place features guys like Jos Le Duc and Rick Allen beating the hell out of each other, a beer drinking midget in a cage above the ring and a waitress who suggests they go to a gay bar instead. You know what else this bar has? Stan Hansen.

That's right folks, Stan MOTHERFUCKING Hansen, and he's at his ornery best here, taking Brell's money and beating the shit out of Le Duc. Hansen is such a man that after he mauls Le Duc he punches holes in a beer keg with his bare hands and guzzles it, totally making Stone Cold's trick with a simple can look like something a little girl would do. Brell's cronies go to the bathroom and boy what a bathroom it turns out to be. First of all, it doesn't even say bathroom, it says V.D room, which is usually not a good sign unless you're into that sort of thing. There's no urinals, just some nasty looking piss troughs and there's also a dog chained up in the corner. Why is there a dog chained up in the corner? Because this is the bathroom from hell, that's why, and also because hey, why shouldn't there be dogs chained up in bathrooms? The executives are "bleeding the lizard's" (their words, not mine) when suddenly they hear something disgusting coming from a toilet in the corner. It's STAN MOTHERFUCKING HANSEN again, and he's none too pleased that they just called him and idiot, though he says "idit" because he's too cool for the letter "o". He threatens to shove their faces into the piss but then he notices their teeny wang's and says that it ain't even worth it before grabbing his obviously huge cock and laughing his way out of the room.

Stan Hansen is my fucking hero and he really should be yours too. Anyhow, from all of this excitement, Brell decides to host his own show "Battle of the Tough Guys" from the No Count Bar. This involves a competition where guys like Brock Chisler, Klondike Kramer and others can compete to win a prize of $100,000....tax free. They head back to the bar, where Hansen gets to diss the teeny wangers again while his sister gets in some jibes as well. Once the battle begins, things are getting pretty hairy until out of nowhere this big fucking dude shows up and smashes through the wall of the bar. Everyone tries to take him out but he's having none of it as he literally beats them to pieces while Rip, his brother and his trainer (who looks like a human Doc from Mike Tyson's Punch Out) watch on television. We discover that Doc knows the big guy (but he's not proud of it) and that he went to jail for killing some kid after the bell had rung. Now that's a fucking bad ass if I've ever heard of one, and soon this bad man has taken out everyone including Hansen. He shows his dominance by ripping off Hansen's hair...now THAT'S fucking manly!!!

Brell gets into the ring, announces him as the winner and asks him his name. His reply..."ZEUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSsssssssss". As the winner and reigning champion, Zeus heads off to an industrial building for Battle of the Tough Guys II, where his opponent is a man named Lugwrench Perkins (Jeep Swenson). This guy not only has an awesome name, he also carries a big lug wrench with him and tries to take out Zeus with it. Of course Zeus is just way too much man for that and before long he annihilates Perkins and basically kills him because he's evil you know. If you didn't know that by now, you sure as hell will after this shot....

Yep, that's one evil dude alright, only evil dudes wear chain mail vests and big belt buckles with the letter "Z" on them, its a rule. Meanwhile, Rip and Sam(antha) head off to have some dinner at a local greasy spoon. Unfortunately their romantic evening at a place that serves grits as a side with everything is interrupted by some pesky robbers. Rip is obviously way too much man to take something like that lying down so he takes out the robbers with some carefully timed pie throws to the face. That's right folks, he defeats them with pie, which basically proves he's the greatest man to ever walk the face of the earth. There's a really great song playing in the background here that sounds exactly like the one that they used to use to intro Monday Night Football but with some modified lyrics like "I've got ketchup on my blue jeans". Damn, even the soundtrack to this movie is awesome. After Rip gets rid of these douchebag robbers who had the audacity to interrupt his date, he gives the famous "Rip 'Em" sign like only he can.....

What a man. That will conclude our trip through the first half of No Holds Barred and trust me, things just get better from here but you'll have to wait until tomorrow for that one. The thrilling conclusion features high drama, emotional walls, push up's, electrocutions and the ultimate showdown between Rip and Zeus. Until tomorrow kids...RIP 'EM!!