Godzilla Apology, Overhead Storage Ghosts, Hurtful Space Things

Still face-planting over Cinemablend.com’s recent article/interview titled: There’s A Reason Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla Was A Flop, According To The Producer. So co-writer/producer Dean Devlin is “apologizing” now after 20 years? This movie still continues to rip us off.

In the article written by Conner Schwerdtfeger (real name, I swear), the film, which Conner accurately claims has since gone on to become known as one of the worst cinematic versions of Godzilla (1998) ever, Devlin burps, “Roland and I made an intellectual idea that was interesting but not compelling filmmaking. We said in real life, a lizard is neither evil nor good, it’s just a lizard. So what if one got to that size and in its effort to survive, it threatened us, but it wasn’t mad at us? It was just simply doing what it did and it causes this problem for us. Well, that’s interesting, but that’s not Godzilla.”

I assume he was wearing his ass hat while doing the interview. And saying Godzilla is just a lizard? That’s like saying the Titanic was just a row boat. And while we’re on the subject, the design/look of 1998 Godzilla’s face was more akin to that of a dirty city bus with unbrushed teeth than the iconic visage the world has come to love/fear/pee your pants over. 

Here’s a few just released/upcoming horror/sci-fi films we can only hope Devlin had no creative control over…

FLIGHT 666 (available now)
“Passengers and crew on an international flight are attacked by unseen forces that threaten all aboard. As they fight to stay alive, they realize these are spirits of murdered girls determined to stop their killer who is on the flight.”

That title’s been taken: the 2009 Iron Maiden Flight 666 documentary. That one had ghosts, too — the spirits of all the emo bands Iron Maiden crushed out of existence. Heh.

THE UNTHINKABLE (June, 2018/Sweden)
“The Unthinkable takes place in the aftermath of a mysterious attack in Sweden. Amid the chaos, a young man is forced to return to his hometown, where he crosses path with his high school sweetheart and falls back in love with her.”

And this is considered to be a horror movie why? Sounds like some teen romance flick, which, ironically, is pretty darn horrifying when you think about it.

5TH PASSENGER (July 10, 2018)
“Set in the aftermath of an oppressive class war, Miller, a pregnant officer aboard an escape pod must struggle to survive with her remaining crew when a mysterious and vicious life form attacks, determined to become the dominant species.”

Sounds like those Republicans are gettin’ all uppity even more than usual.

THE GOOD SAMARITANS (2018)
“A beautiful young woman is stranded alone in a desolate corner of 16th century Romania. Two opportunistic highwaymen seek to take advantage of the woman’s predicament but all is not as it seems…”

Highwaymen is what we now call “ride sharing.” Once you contact them by e-crows, they’ll be by to pick you up in a few days. Be standing on a corner/pile of dirt where they can see you. 

Shades of Demonic Baldness

Shades of Darkness (2000) is an overly-complex independent horror video that throws everything into the pot: crazed townsfolk on a vigilante kick, a good twin and a bad twin, time travel, lightning bolts, and…the Titanic! Ambition is the only thing not lacking here.

Problem is, the plot about a young, almost attractive girl with a blouse answering the voices in her dreams to return to her hometown to confront a malevolent force, gets too bogged down by the story line when they should have been using more lightning bolts.

Apparently, a bald guy manifested his hate about something (male pattern baldness?) into an evil doppelganger with a spooky voice. This skinheaded demon has a plan to destroy the women’s hometown for some reason. The women deal with this by traveling back and forward in time, ending up on both versions of the Titanic (floating and non-floating).

The effects aren’t too low-rent (the lightning bolts are kinda neat), and the acting is serviceable (although the dialogue could use a few swigs). Never could figure out why the evil bald twin was so hell bent on wrecking the town. Oh, well.

Ghosts, Strippers, Sharks and Flying Reptiles

Sometimes watching horror movie trailers is better than watching the entire movie. (I suffer from “don’t bore us, get to the chorus” syndrome.) You get all the money shots, snippets of boneheaded dialogue instead of 90 minutes worth — and more importantly — spoilers.

How many movies, horror or not, have been ruined by trailers that, in a two-minute bid to sell you on their product, give away the whole darn thing? (When I watched the trailer for Titanic and they showed the ship hitting an iceberg (or possibly Godzilla) of all things and sinking, that gave away every reason I might have had to see the flippin’ thing.)

Here’s a few upcoming (as of right the heckaroo now) horror movies that might command more of my ever drifting attention span. I SAID MIGHT…

PEELERS (2017)
“A small-town strip club owner must defend her bar from infected raiders on closing night.”

That’s a horror movie? Aren’t most people who go to strip clubs, like, pre-infected? Not me – I take baths, man…sometimes before I go into a T-bar (Mary’s Club in downtown Portland). But if you don’t want to live life to the fullest by experiencing one of these vital institutions, try Strippers vs. Zombies (2008). Wash your hands afterward. To do so before is kinda pointless.

CAGE DIVE (release pending 2016/2017)
“Cage Dive follows three friends from California who set out to film an audition tape for submission to an extreme reality game show. To ensure they stand out, they decide to travel to Australia where they will be documenting themselves taking part in a most extreme activity…shark cage diving. While on the dive, a catastrophic turn of events leaves them in baited water full of hungry great white sharks and turns their audition tape into a survival diary.”

Gotta love shark movies that use real sharks. They probably don’t get paid as much as those snobby Hollywood sharks, though. But if these true-to-life biters are as good on the big screen as they are in the killer trailer, bye-bye to all you Sharknado posers. (Or if you live in France, “poseurs.”).

UNSPOKEN (October 28, 2016)
“In 1997 the close-knit Anderson family vanished from their country home without a trace without an explanation. No bodies were ever found and for 17 years the house has remained undisturbed…until now. A sinister tale of haunting and murder, Unspoken is a refreshing twist on the horror genre.”

No it isn’t. Not being a hater here, but refreshing twists on the horror genre are as likely as me winning the jackpot on the Mega Meltdown™ slot machine at the Tulalip Resort Casino. (Only thing I’ve been able to win is dirty looks from the staff.) But if you want a hot slap in the face of sinister haunting and murder, look no further than The Changeling (1980). Put a stain on/in your Old Navy™ pants, it will.

TERRORDACTYL (November 1, 2016)
When a meteor shower rains down outside Los Angeles, friends Lars and Jonas head out to find one and strike it rich. After recovering one they’re stalked by Terrordactyls – ancient flying reptiles – that launch a full-on assault on the city. They soon discover there’s more to the meteor than meets the eye…”

Flying monsters rock my world. (Flying Monkeys/2013 – craptacular movie, but hey…FLYING MONKEYS!) My wings tend to flap in the direction of Godzilla frenemy Rodan (1956) for sweet flying reptile city destroying action. But hey, I’ll get a boarding pass for Terrordactyl.

Note: The DVD cover says Terrordactyl, but the kicker line says “They want their planet back.” Somebody needs to put an “s” on that airborn noun.

Row Yer Boat To Hell

A big ass huge cargo ship roams the seas, its only passengers being seven people who suddenly wake up and don’t know where the hell they are. And Hell™ is precisely this vacation’s destination. Think Titanic meets Poltergeist.

Each of these douche bag victims has done something in the past that put them on the You Lose Cruise. There’s a couple of greaseball crooks, a scheming Russian guy, a movie producer, a model/actress/do-it-with-anyone-who’s-a-producer chick and a prison inmate.

The steward shows up and informs them that they can wander about the ship, but to not try and breach any closed doors (ghosts are doing stuff behind them). And no jumping overboard, either, ’cause the water will eat your brains. Sorry — wishful thinking. Of course, they need someone to break the rules to set an example for the others. I’d do it but I’m busy.

As they find out this tub is commandeered by Charon, The Ferryman, the guy that takes you to Hell, which just happens to be inside that lightning-powered whirlpool off the port bow. As it’s discovered, they’re already dead; Going to Hell is just a formality at this point. But the steward informs them there is one path to redemption. For me that’d be about 12 life preservers duct-taped to my body. And some cool sea goggles.

The wretched special effects in Ghost Voyage (2008) only serve to emphasize dialogue no one would speak even if they were a drunken sailor. Main star Antonio Sabato, Jr. was in no trouble of drowning because his wooden acting skills can easily keep him afloat until another crappy horror movie comes along to pick him up.

Horny Women vs. Sea Monster

The ultra-low budget Viking Women and the Sea Serpent (aka, The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent/1957) is, on the surface, a simple story about horny ladies. Symbolically throwing pointy spears at a fully erect tree trunk, each gal takes a shot, the final impalement being the judgment of what plan of action to take now that all their boyfriends have gone off to distant lands (i.e., a bar.)

So it’s decided – build a boat, get in the boat and use the boat to travel to the Land of Baloney Pony Rides. Never mind that not one girl has ever sailed a boat, let alone built one. (On the maiden’s maiden launch, they drop and lose an oar in the ocean before you can say, “Titanic.”)

Fortunately, one guy sporting a tree trunk for one of the women stows away on the canoe built for two (but now holds 11). A lot of good his boating skills do up against a giant inflatable sea serpent, thunder AND lightning, and swirly seas. Yes, I said swirly.

The storm whittles the crew down to six, and after barely dodging said monster of the sea, make it to an island, only to be captured by barbarians with suspect hygiene. But all is not lost – this is the exact same island the Viking women’s mattress mates are being held captive. What happens next is a testimony to a girl’s needs.

After a Barbarian vs. Broads lock-up worthy of a $1.99 pay-per-view, the gals rescue their stud muffins and lay a course to get laid. But dang it all to heck – the barbarian warlord, still stinging from his defeat at the manicured hands of women, rallies all his battle boats to go after them. The sea monster surfaces up in an effort to cash in on his 40 second allotted movie time to run swirly interference.

Wanna know what happens next when the ladies get their men home? You’ll need to have “The Talk” with your mom about that one.

Reflecting on Horror

Back in the day the Mayflower was New York’s grandiest of department stores. Kinda like the Titanic, but with shoe sales. Thinking there was someone/something in the store’s fancy haunted mirrors, a mentally agitated security guard lit the entire place on fire with shoppers still shopping. (Too bad the Mayflower didn’t sell Aloe Vera™.)

Enter Ben Carson, an ex-police detective, who takes a job as a night watchman (janitor with a gun) in the burnt husk that is the Mayflower. First night on duty the horror of the fire flares back up. Ben hears a woman screaming, tracks her down in the crispy dressing rooms and yet can’t see her – until he notices her well-done flesh in a mirror. This is good and yet not.

Using his ex-detective skills Ben unearths the backstory: the Mayflower was built over a mental health facility, housing a 12 year-old girl who was the dictionary definition of dementia. Doctors strapped her in a room of mirrors and forced her to look at herself. Nice going medical experts – the mirrors absorbed her craziness.

The evil finally gets out of the mirror, deaths occur, then the hospital gets shut down, the store built, and many shoes thus sold to as yet unburnt customers. You’d think Mirrors (2008) would be over at this point. But one more twist puts a sweet charred cherry on top. Now all Ben has to do is reflect on the outcome. Heh.

Titanic Failure

Here’s a good idea: rebuild the chill-fated Titanic to spec, loudly proclaim nothing can sink it, then go on an ocean cruise that traces the original Titanic’s scenic route near whale-sized icebergs. That totally sounds like something I’d do while under the guidance of Budweiser™.

Thanks to global warming, glaciers are splitting off in Greenland and headed straight for cocktails in America. An incoming tsunami  that apparently no one saw coming throws the ice chunks right at U.S.S. Screwed Yet Again.

The rest of the movie has everyone trying to saves themselves, though I don’t know why. It’s not like they can realistically do a sequel with me as its star who saves everyone and gets all the chicks at the end.

The interior shots of this “state of the art” cruise liner has people going into the hold that looks like a ratty warehouse with peeling paint and leaking pipes. But then, that was the predestined fate of Titanic II (2010) – to boldly sink to new depths.