pelikula:

It’s Always The Same and It’s Always Different
by Francis Cabal

As a horror enthusiast, October is my favorite month. October is the month of Halloween, which means it is also the month of Horror film marathons. There is nothing more enjoyable than sitting in the comfort of your couch, food and beverage of choice in hand, while watching your favorite horror movies. It’s as if you get to celebrate Christmas early and you turn into a child all over again. From the classic Hammer films to the video nasties of the 80s, there’s much to be said about cheap thrills and the gratification one gets out of being scared. 

Usually, most film fans will break out their collection of classic monster movies, DVDs and DVDs of several incarnations of Draculas, Frankensteins, Jasons, and Freddies. While this is not a bad way to spend your Halloween, I am here to propose something different: here is a list of five films that feature the most deranged psycopaths to ever grace the big screen… because after all, there’s nothing far more frightening than the darkest pits of the human soul. 

Psycho (dir: Alfred Hitchock, 1960) 

Norman Bates is everybody’s favorite serial killer with mommy issues. And Anthony Perkins’ masterful portrayal of the mentally deranged and creepy Bates is as iconic as the “shower scene” from the film. A tense plot mixed with expert direction by Hitchcock cemented this film’s status as one of the finest American thrillers ever made.  

Man Bites Dog (dir: Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel, Benoît Poelvoorde, 1992)

Man Bites Dog is a darkly comedic mockumentary portraying the exploits of the charismatic criminal played by Benoît Poelvoorde. The film contains the right balance between the nihilistic humor and the more sinister aspects of Poelvoorde’s activities. What elevates it to a gripping film is how they portray Poelvoorde as an everyman, making his sadism and his justification for doing the things he does far more chilling. 

Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer (dir. John McNaughton, 1986)

There is indeed truth in advertising. Because, yes, this film is a portrait of a serial killer named Henry. There is no method to his madness, just the compulsion to kill. Michael Rooker’s stoical features add to Henry’s cold and calculating demeanor. Shot on a budget of $110,000 with a 16mm camera, this film is indeed raw and gritty and is a benchmark of independent horror filmmaking.

No Country For Old Men (dir. The Coen Brothers, 2007)

While not a horror film, No Country For Old Men features the most iconic psychopath in recent years: Anton Chigurgh. Chigurh is an enigmatic hitman who kills people with a cattle gun. The film is based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy about a drug deal gone wrong and the bloodbath that ensues. Javier Bardem won several awards for his menacing and downright scary performance as Anton Chigurh.

The Night Of The Hunter (dir. Charles Laughton, 1955)

Reverend Harry Powell is a misguided preacher with “LOVE” and “HATE” tattoed across his knuckles. He is not above terrorizing families and little children to get his hands on a cache of stolen money hidden away by a fellow inmate. Robert Mitchum gave life to this character, stealing every scene he’s in. This is the only film credited to Charles Laughton in his all-too-brief tenure as a director. 

…Now this movie is so familiar that i don’t feel the need to have a run through of what the story is all about.

so here’s what i think about the movie:

It’s a movie to watch!!!

Reason why it has a remake series in the first place, because people can’t get enough of the things to reminisce about from the movie. It’s interesting enough that it was based from a Shakespeare novel, how much more from the fact that this was during Heathe Ledger’s cute-hunky days. I fell in love with him the moment i laid eyes on his character, and just the way he played made it so fun to watch except from the smoking part. Julia Stiles could not make any more justice to her character either, she ensembles every strong spirited teenager girl in the planet, who wanted to save the world and disappoint people by her oppressiveness at the same time. And not to mention, the combination of the two was an EPIC!this automatically made them in the HOT list back in the days, and movies after this were being offered to them in just a snap, proving how popular this movie was. But lets not get wooed by the casts., the STORY itself definitely was the bottomline.

If you fell in love with a boy you were suppose to hate, then watch this movie.

If you’re ready to do anything or put anything at stake to get the girl/boy of your dreams, then watch this movie.

If you can’t get enough of the roller coaster life of high school, then watch this movie.

If you realize your crush isn’t really the guy you thought he was and ended liking another because he’s different from your crush, then watch this movie.

If your getting tired of all the house rules and your parents policies and would do anything to get away with it, then watch this movie.

If your sick of the plastics, then watch this movie.

If your desperate to get out of loserville, then watch this movie.

If you make silly thing and want to do sillier stuff, then watch this movie.

If you like punk music back on the 90’s, then watch this movie.

and 

IF YOUR BORED, then watch this movie.

So out of ten in a thumbs up scale, i think this movie is a whooping 8 thumbs up score. 

SO BETTER YET, WATCH IT NOW!!

What a perfect way for me to begin my first movie blog through this classic 80’s movie. Sixteen Candles has the tingle, chills and blush that made John Hughes a Rom.Com. God of the decade. 

So to begin with, i’m going to give you a run through of what the movie is all about:

On the eve of her sister’s wedding, suburban teenager Samantha (Molly Ringwald) suffers silently as her family forgets her birthday. Even worse, some total dork (Anthony Michael Hall) keeps propositioning her with sophomoric innuendo when she really craves romantic attention from high-school hunk Jake ( Michael Schoeffling. Moving from Samantha’s family home as it’s invaded by outre relatives to a high-school dance where nothing seems to go her way, this bittersweet teen comedy traces the hopes and disappointments of not only Samantha, but also a host of incidental but memorable characters, from a hapless Japanese exchange student to a prom queen and a posse of barely pubescent nerds. A climactic party scene at which these various strata of young America overcome their rigid hierarchies sets the stage for resolutions both tender and torrid. 

Honestly if this movie was screened in the present, this definitely would not make a shot to the box office list, but this was during the 80’s when someone just invented cellphones that very few people used, compared to now that everybody has them.Well, its the mother of teen romantic movies and everything follows, some, unfortunately exaggerated. Another thing was, it made a new kind of teen leading persona  that was played by Ringwald as Samantha to it’s audience, not a long-blond-hair-cheer-leader nor a spoiled-rich-dream-girl, the character was a normal person having a normal life with a normal problems that some of us are going or gone through. It’s something that exist in our day dreams came to life, and as the movie ends with the leading man waited for the girl in front of the church leaning in his red sports car, aaah! it was magic…
So when I saw the film for the first time i could not stop my self from screaming because it’s just so wonderful. It gave me the idea of how teen romance are in the 80’s and i sure want to belong there…where innocence and genuine love still exist in high school.

I’m moved by this movie!

So if you haven’t seen it, please do or you’ll miss half of your hair. 

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