The Secret of the ooze

Now lets get to the good stuff. On a similar note as that deep dive into the font, there's a feeling about a Carpenter flick that has a way of comforting you like an old blanket. Now, I knew who was at the helm of the movie. There was nothing about it that eluded my observation. But even still, it had that unmistakable aroma of John Carpenter. I suppose seeing some familiar faces right off the bat didn't hurt. Donald Pleasance had a long standing career with such unrelated films like "Pumaman" ( I only note it because it's a ridiculous MST3K movie and it's the only reason I know it). But as I alluded to at the top of this entry, Dr. Loomis exists because of Pleasance. I won't ever think of him as anyone else. The perpetual Pleasance presence in the world of Haddonfield and Michael Myers has him etched in horror movie iconography. So to have him in this film definitively lent a certain amount of credibility right off the bat. Then, seeing two faces from Big Trouble in Little China just made it feel almost more like a reunion than anything. I didn't bother to check if any of the other actors really had long standing tenure in Carpenter's orbit, but I can say that nobody else jumped out initially. Wouldn't have minded a Rowdy Roddy Piper or Kurt Russell cameo just for fun but I don't knock the film for omitting such obvious low hanging fruit.

The second piece I want to address is the music. Knowing how much Carpenter invests personally and otherwise in the audio aspects of the film is another hallmark of his work in my book. Having been so involved in several of his films, there was another tone that felt very inviting like you were being welcomed back again into his universe. Additionally, there really was a fantastic 1980's vibe to it as well. Appropriate since that's when the movie was made. Again, kidding. But there is that organic feel of not just Carpenter's work but so many other films that highlighted the horror sounds of the 80's. It feels like it adds another layer to the film that many might miss. Sure, the varying intensity of sonic interaction between the audience and the film is used across the board in horror movies. So I'm not breaking any new ground. But as for it being particularly enjoyable in this film, it really pulled me into the universe he we as creating that much more. The richness of the world building felt that much more enveloping because the sensory immersion simply felt broader and more inviting.

Finally, in the realm of the positives, I have to give Carpenter credit for the practical effects. Special effects were still in somewhat of an emerging infancy in the late 80's, but there was some serious capability available. However, there's a much greater connection to the tangible nature of the environment, in my book, when the effects are done practically and executed really well. Some of it was simply the fullness of the settings. All of the pieces of the world they created made it draw you in, but also isolate you. Thematically in this movie, our core cast is stuck where they are at. The finality of the space is highlighted by the areas they embodied. Then the makeup on both the simple and complex levels really shone nicely. I know throughout the 80's there was a real evolution, lead by guys like Tom Savini, when it came to achieving genuinely terrifying effects with very practical makeup. I think Carpenter and team really nailed some of the sullen and distant looks on the acolytes as well as the truly gruesome makeup jobs of characters who faced physical transformations. Not every effect landed perfectly. Some of them were limited. Some of them were cheesy. Sure. But there were far more hits than misses and so I have to hand it to John for injecting this movie with real stylistic horror through some of the most basic effect.

So now some of the things that didn't work for me. There weren't a lot but there definitely were elements to this movie that didn't land. I think the biggest one is an overall trope that the 80's embraced across the board, and it's the inverse of the hurry up and wait. It's more of a linger and then a weirdly timed immediacy of an element that reminds me of Charles Barkley's golf swing. There were two scenes especially that nailed this for me. The first was the guy who is stabbed with a bike or a wheelchair or something of that effect in the alley near the building. As the hoard of homeless zombie-like soldiers engulfed him on both sides, eventually Alice Cooper simply runs him through and we stand there and watch him slowly expire. Not egregiously long. But it just sort of happens and it's almost like the mechanics of it are supposed to be a prolonged jump scare maybe. But ultimately there's no flow to it and it simply feels unnatural.

The second was the result of a really interesting and nicely framed shot from afar but overall it didn't work for me. By this point in the movie I hadn't really invested in a lot of the characters names. I wasn't completed emotionally uninvested in the characters, but they also didn't have enough depth or invitation to make me recall them that much. Mustache was my favorite because I knew his facial hair was going to allow him to survive. Grandpa Ninja from Big Trouble, and more importantly, Three Ninjas, along with Dr. Loomis, were my other favs. Everyone else was there. But they didn't have actual names because it just wasn't necessary. But there was a wide shot with a guy outside the building in a large open parking lot. Well dressed. It was at night. He looked up at some sort of external staircase and the woman who was first zombi-fied by the green Kool-Aid stood there ominously looking at him. Bugs started to appear, as was the theme by this point. Then from WAY off screen, a crazy homeless woman just charged at him from at least a half mile away. He stood there, somewhat preoccupied with the bugs, which I think we were supposed to really believe that this made it difficult to see the crazed woman running at full speed with a large knife drawn. Eventually, like John Cleese attacking the wedding guests in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, she was upon him and the stabbing ensued. What was played for ridiculous comedic effect in one was supposed to translate to horror in the other and it simply did not. Swing and a miss. Well not for the guy. He definitely got stabbed. But overall, still a swing and a miss.

My only other real critique is I just sort of wandered away from the plot. They set it up well and I didn't know who all would survive all the way until the ending. So it wasn't like I was bored because I knew everything. But it just sort of unfolded once we established everything. It became a shooting gallery where we had scene by scene where a character or two would become consumed by the evil entity, many times through the seltzer water gag where somebody super soakered a line of the green Kool-Aid out of there mouth and somehow directly into the mouth of so many other people. I know screaming is supposed to be a natural fright response but my goodness. This ancient evil fails miserably if everyone just keeps their mouth closed and avoids the refreshing minty flavor of evil Scope being shot directly into their gaping face holes. So I didn't hate it like a lot of films end up pushing me to do. But I did feel like I was just sort of waiting for the conclusion by around halfway through the movie. Which made it a lot less fun than I think it could have been.

Ultimately I think I have to give this movie a C+. I know it's day 13 and I'm supremely embarrassed by this, but I just realized that I have completely strayed from my normal numeric scale to this letter grading. I honestly have no idea what prompted the switch. I certainly have no idea how it took me almost two weeks to realize I had entirely forfeited my previous scale I had employed. But I'm not giving it up at this point. I'll just stick with it for now and hang on to the way I'm doing things until next year when I'll hopefully remember and employ a measuring metric with some intentionality. This is one that I went back and forth between a C+ and a B-. I know in some respects the difference feels negligible but in the end I think I just had to stick with the middle of the road C and give it a little extra credit for having some great features I really enjoyed. Out of the Apocalypse Trilogy, this one ranks the lowest for me. I'd have to re-watch The Thing because I know how iconic it is but In the Mouth of Madness is one of my favorite Carpenter flicks and legitimately scary. So I'm a little bummed this one fell so flat for me. It wasn't bad. If you haven't seen it, it's still worth a watch. Even the bad Carpenter movies, which I'm not saying this one even is, but the bad ones are still great flicks. So it's worth the time if you haven't seen it. So that wraps up the Prince of Darkness. I suppose now we just wait and see what day 14 has in store for us tomorrow. Until then, I'll catch you on the flip side.