Ever play Dungeons and Dragons? Ever try it on a bad acid trip? Well I have not done either of those things, but I imagine doing that is how this movie came into creation. And I would like to thank the crazy bastard that did it.
Seriously this movie is weird but in a fun way. Three friends discover a board game that someone (they never really go into detail on who) banned years ago. Why? People playing it got really into it and killed people.
It starts off innocent enough. The three friends place their pieces, read from a book and roll their dice and move their little figures. There is nothing all that weird at this point.
The three seem to fall asleep, have some weird dreams and wake up a little confused at the game board. After a few moments get their bearings and go back to playing. Now as the game goes on they start seeming to hallucinate. A little further in and not only are they hallucinating they are leaving the apartment dressing up with pots and pans and make shift armor and killing people, tho admittedly they believe they are killing demons and wearing actual armor with real mystical weapons.
As the movie goes on you see one of the three die in a fight with a guy at a garage. But that isn’t weird its expected. The odd part is later they start using powers to roll the dice and move the pieces. The book they once read from is now gone entirely and they speak as if they are new people unaware of anything else but their quest.
After they kill 12 “demons” each they have a 13th demon to kill. Each other. Small problem tho, the cops have caught them and they are now locked in separate interrogation rooms. I won’t ruin this closing scene on you but this alone was worth watching for me. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
1. Prom Night- yep, this was my real life prom experience, watching this gaudy dog turd. First sign something wasn’t right- a Pg-13 remake of a R rated movie. We get all the preppy teen drama of a crappy teen movie and no gore of a tension-less slasher pic where the killer is a dude in a baseball cap and sport coat. Shit, I shoulda just went to prom.
2. House on Haunted Hill- This hurt a little less than the next one but it hurt pretty damn hard. Vincent Price was a legend…having some dude with a pornstar stash pretending to be Vincent Price was infuriating. I remember watching it with my parents as a kid, loving the original, and thinking this movie was stupid.
3. House of wax- oh this pissed me off. Turning a perverse, eerie classic staring on of the greatest horror icons of all time into a lame ass Friday the 13th knock off with famous cover celebs to play the “Teens”. And the house of wax has little to jack shit to do with the actual movie. Plus, Paris Hilton is a main character…enough said.
4. A Nightmare on Elm Street- you know that saying “if everyone else jumped off of a cliff, would you jump too?”. Well, they sure as hell did. Lame effects, a miscast Freddy, and a really crappy “was Freddy actually innocent?” side plot that turns out bogus anyway killed this remake. The scariest part is wasn’t a dream, it’s real.
5. Halloween- It’s rare when a remake misses the point of the original so badly as Rob Zombie did Halloween. There are no likable characters, Michael Myers’s is no longer an enigma but rather a “no shit” scenario why he turned, and Zombie’s usual penchant for vulgarity, brutality, and gross porn dialogue kill a simple classic. Granted, there are a couple things I like about the remake but still doesn’t assuage the pain of this crapper.
1. The Thing- I love John Carpenter. I loved the original Thing from another world. Rather than doing a repeat, Carpenter brilliantly kept the base concept but made the creature a microscopic organism that copies the species it comes into contact with, making for some really crazy, bloody moments that are truly unforgettable and I can see I never saw anything quite like it, just pale imitations.
2. The Fly- Much like the thing remake, The Fly took the base concept and went to the nth degree with it. We watch our main character grotesquely degrade as he turns into a man sized fly. Not for the weak stomached especially, The Fly is a gross, tragic, horror tale that should be watched and admired.
3. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre- This one I can see as debatable and I fully appreciate the original but frankly the remake gave the shivers as a kid. Still isolated, I liked the darker, more intense tone, though I wish it didn’t feel so much like a Hollywood movie. The new family and the re-imagined Leatherface intrigued me. Definitely worth a shot if you want an intense thrill ride.
4. Carrie (02)- It was a tie between this or IT and I know i’m a raging IT fanboy so I’d take the other road. Probably the least known of everything on this list, the first remake of Carrie follows the book almost perfectly with just the right amount of drama and special effects. Angela Bettis has a warm inner strength as Carrie and is startlingly blank when enraged. The ending is probably my favorite of the three film adaptations.
5. The Hills have Eyes- Ok, I kinda lied when I said these were in no particular order. The Hills is my favorite; it’s the first movie I ever went to where the audience cheered when the main character got revenge on the mutants at the end. This movie seriously inspired me a lot at just the right age with it’s crazy blend of a horror, revenge, science fiction, epic western. I loved it’s gritty take on mutants and the sense of isolation in the desert, I loved it’s badass fights and amazing score.
