Similarities

Anyone else notice the resemblances between Jim Henson's Labyrinth (1986) and Hellbound (1988)? I love both movies but haven't seen any threads relating both movies before- and i don't think the connections are far-fetched either.

1) Both films of course feature a Labyrinth central to the role of the movie, and both are referred to as "Labyrinths" in the film rather than "mazes" or any other name.

2)Kirsty goes into the Labyrinth to save her father from eternal damnation at the whim of the Cenobites. Sarah goes in to save her brother from becoming a goblin at the whim of Jareth.

3) Both films feature female protaganists. (Kirsty and Tiffany in Hellbound, Sarah in Labyrinth). Although Kirsty is older than Sarah, Tiffany is about the same age as her.

4) Something bad (we don't know what) has happened to Tiffany's mother in Hellbound, resulting in her to never see her agian, causing her much distress. In Labyrinth, Sarah and her mother have departed ways too, and has caused her distress at some point.

5)Kirsty's stepmother is Julia, who refers to herself as not the "wicked stepmother" but the "evil queen" instead, and calls Kirsty "Snow White". In Labyrinth, Sarah's father is also re-married to another woman, and she thinks that Sarah treats her as a "wicked stepmother in a fairy tale".

6)Both Labyrinths in the movies are based upon the imagery of M.C Escher, which are especially most apparant in the long shots of them. Coincidently, Escher's artwork can be seen on walls in both films; "Relativity" can be seen on Sarah's bedroom wall whilst another peice by Escher (i forget the name) can be seen on the wall in Dr. Channard's room as well as the hospital/asylum in Hellbound.

7) Both Labyrinths in the films exist in another dimension, but encompass imagery based around the individual that experiences them. Sarah's is made up of her sub-consious mind in terms of creatures and scenarios (if one analyses the movie in that sense) as is Tiffany's. The Labyrinth in Hellbound: Hellraiser II however is formed around both the nightmares and dreams of the individual person- Tiffany's features clowns and carnivals which she is fond of fused with macabre and surpressed memories.

8) Regarding the above statement, Sarah experiences a vision of her bedroom inside the Labyrinth which proceeds to break apart afterwards as she realises it's a trick. In Hellbound, Kirsty also experiences the same, her house as it used to be reformed as a trick to lure her in, which then also breaks around her (although in a more gruesome way).

9) The Cenobites in the Hellraiser movies are only called to people if they solve the Lament Configuration puzzle box, and then proceed to take that certain individual away into Hell (The Labyrinth). In Labyrinth, when a certain individual wishes upon The Goblin King, he will come to do their bidding or come to take them away into his Labyrinth.

10)Just as they have to be called to appear, so must they be sent back to dissapear. A special line of dialogue had to be said to Jareth to make him go, and the puzzle must be solved again to send the Cenobites back where they came from.

11) In the Hellraiser films, the Keeper of the Lament Configuration puzzle box is the only bieng from the Labyrinth who is allowed travel to Earth at his own free will, and he takes the form of both a human and a huge winged creature of some sort. In Labyrinth, Jareth (as far as i know) can travel to Earth from his realm too, and he can also take the shape of either himself as a human or another winged creature, in this case a barn owl.

12) In Hellbound after Dr. Channard has transformed into a Cenobite, his palms rip open and long, tentacle-like things with eyeballs attached to the end appear. In Labyrinth, there is a plant of some sort which is protruding from a wall which is tentacle-like and has eyeballs on the ends of them (when Sarah first enters the Labyrinth and can't find an opening, just before she meets the worm).

13) Every time it cuts to a shot of the central Castle in Labyrinth, we hear a distinct 4-note horn melody sound. In Hellbound, everytime we see Leviathan (which is also at the centre of it's labyrinth) we hear a deep horn sound, except there are slightly more notes.

14) Just as the Cenobites and the puzzle box promise dreams of fulfilment to the individual, as does Jareth and his crystal balls. All of them of course give you these wishes- but at a price previously unknown to the individual.

15) Just as Labyrinth can be analysed in it's very multi-layered themes and intrepretations of Freudian psychology that range from many topics including erotiscm, so can the same be said for Hellbound, which demands to be read in that sense though it is a lot more visceral.

16) Both Kirsty and Tiffany unwillingly and accidently solve the puzzle box which bring forth the Cenobites. In Labyrinth, Sarah also unwillingly calls Jareth.

17)Both the Cenobites and Jareth love to toy with their unwilling victims, and are quite well versed in almost poetic dialogue (most notably Pinhead in his lines and Jareth in his music).

18) Jareth is portrayed by David Bowie who is of course a glam rock star. In Hellbound, the Female Cenobite is played by Barbie Wilde, who herself is a trained dancer/mime artist who has toured with many bands including Depche Mode, Adam and the Ants, Ultravox and Classix Nouveaux, who's image in the 80s was also very similar to Bowie's glam rock/punk style, especially with heavy use of colouful eye make-up and even having the same hairstyle which Bowie sports in Labyrinth.

19)Jareth has a very pop/rock image (of course, being portrayed by David Bowie) which can also be atrributed to goth. Pinhead and the Cenobites have a neo-punk look who sport long garbs of leather- also common gothic fashion attire. Both sets of characters encompass popular 80s music fashion trends in their images.

20)Jareth and the Cenobites, once they are called, can all appear and dissapear wherever they want (teleport).

21)Both Labyrinths feature huge animatronic creatures- Ludo, goblins, Humongous etc in Labyrinth and The Engineer creature in the maze corridor in Hellraiser. All performed by actors in creature suits.

22)Labyrinth and the first 2 Hellraiser movies were shot in England.

23) In Labyrinth and both the first Hellraiser movies, the credits are shown at the start of the film before the first scene plays.

24) Both sets of films are coming of age stories for their protaganists; for Tiffany, Kirsty and Sarah.

25) Hellraiser is more closely regarded as a fantasy movie rather than a horror, and though Labyrinth is mainly a fantasy it also has minor horror elements (the goblins at the start of the film for example).

26) Symbolism in the form of babies in some sort of peril feature a lot in the Hellraiser movies. In Hellraiser and Hellbound we hear the sound of babies crying either in dream/nightmare sequences, scenes of re-birth/reformation as well as when Tiffany sees a vision in the Labyrinth of a baby with it's mouth sewn shut. In Labyrinth of course the central story is based around the rescue of baby Toby who is in danger.


I'm sure there are more i can't think of at the moment, but yah.

Review: Eagle vs Shark ( Taika Waititi, 2007)

Jared and Lily= fantastic movie

Words can't express how much i loved this film. I absolutely adored it!

Set in New Zealand It follows two misunderstood and socially awkward "nerdy" characters (Jarrod and Lily) as they each search for redemption, acceptance, friendship and ultimately love through a wayward journey of hilarious sorts. Seeming completely opposite when we first see them together at Jarrod's animal fancy dress party (where he dresses up as an Eagle and Lily a Shark hence the title of the film), in due course we find out that they do in fact share a lot of similarities, and through issues which vary from up and downs we learn that that they, like everyone, have unresolvable differences which make us what we are, and its the decisions and choices we make that decide who we really are and where we belong in this mad world.

Although never mentioned, the two main characters here, like those in similar movie Napaleon Dynamite, show the autistic symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome yet this is not why we care or sympathise with any of them. It's their motivations and their personalities, their heart and soul that we grow to love. I loved the characters the more we i get to know them, Jarrod came across as arrogant and easily unlikeable at the start but during the course of the film, as we understand him better, is much more than that. Lily, who we first thought as simple is again wonderfully multi layered and unpredictably lovable. Ultimately this film is a completely unapologetic and almost satirical study of socially outcast outsiders as they live day to day life with their own problems and troubles, but in the end, as we find out, living it well, and actually better than any of us would have first thought; Loving life despite it's flaws, living it and getting on with it- and i found this to be very inspirational. It also boasts a great script, some truly great comedic moments, superb acting by both main actors as well as some fantastic music.

Eagle vs Shark is in a similar vein to Napolean Dynamite, Garden State and Little Miss Sunshine (which i all loved) so if you enjoyed those then i can't recommend this movie highly enough! Not only is it one of the best indie films i have ever seen but it has also become one of my favourite films ever. Sweet, funky, and charming to say the least- this is one of those rare movies that come out of nowhere and end up staying with you forever.

Verdict: Weird, wonderful, charming and funny- i loved this film. 9/10

Review: The Kite Runner (Marc Forster, 2007)

This is a really beautiful film and I was completely enthralled by it from start to finish. Based on the book by Khaled Hosseini it tells the story of two young boys - Amir and Hassan, living in Afghanistan, divided by class but united by a strong friendship and a love for telling stories and flying kites. Due to some unforeseen events they both become separated, emotionally and physically, and with the oncoming invasion by the Russians both lose each other as Amir is forced to leave the country with his faster and flee to Pakistan whilst Hassan leaves with his servant father to go elsewhere, never to be seen again. Years later Amir, now a successful author and living in California with his father, gets a phone call from someone from his someone from his past, and so he travels back to war-torn Afghanistan (now overrun with the strict regimes of the Taliban) as he must do battle with his past to seek redemption for his future.

I've not read the book so I don't know how much of it is in here (I heard they cut out a fair bit and added some more things) but as a movie it worked brilliantly. All the performances here are magnificent, in particular the two young actors playing Amir and Hassan in their childhood years which are really well done. Khalid Abdalla who plays Amir in his 30s is also really well played, you really feel a presence in him and get to understand his inner turmoil, and the stand out performance, for me at least, was Homayoun Ershadi, who plays Amir's father. I thought his acting was excellent and I complete believed in his portrayal as a quiet yet very strong and determined man standing up for his rights. Atossa Leoni, who plays Amir's wife, was also pretty good though she hardly has any lines her face and eyes did all the acting and it completely worked well.

The story is simple yet beautifully told. It's believable and works thanks to it's construction, execution and the performances by said actors. The relationship between the two young boys is done superbly, as is the relationship between Amir and his father which to me really had an impact. Set in Afghanistan amongst is also done well, we get to see an insight into a culture not really done on this level before (usually it's all drab, dreary and negative) but here it's less stereotypical and seems more real. The visuals are at times stunning (especially the backdrops of Afghanistan which might not have much there but indeed look incredible, warm colours and movement adding great depth to it). The kite flying scenes are also excellent, free flowing and poetic adding as a metaphor to the movie (a special mention must also go to the animated opening credits which are also brilliant! Loved the way it was done).

The serious issues of the country and it's people are of course are dealt with and not ignored, but not over-done in a typical and over sentimental way as is what usually happens in a Hollywood movie dealing with a film like this and it's nature. It' got a right sense of balance in there for us to be aware of it yet a new experience for us entirely too, and for that I must give credit for too. Ultimately it's the simple story at heart which drives the film and which is what the whole movie is about, and that's what we focus on because it done superbly.

All in all a memorable film which is beyond its initial simplistic surface, the more I watch it the deeper it got. Great music, visuals, beautiful and heart wrenching story and superb acting all add to one of the best films of the year. I won't be forgetting this one in a hurry.

Verdict: Beautiful and heartwarming: 8/10

Review: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (Jonathan Liebesman, 2006)

Cool poster, naff film.

Now i love the original 1974 Texas Chainsaw Massacre but thought the 2003 "remake" was lame- nothing new added there, it was just the same old thing we'd all seen minus the terror, but with a bigger budget for styleand gore. However when this new movie in this "revamped" franchise came i was quite intrigued as it's the origins story. Would we fnd out just how the Hewitt family came to be, their fall from sanity, their rise to stardom as Texas's most screwed up family? Kind of...but still to an all to predictable level (thanks, Hollywood! Youv'e done it again!)

Instead of taking this rather cool premise and explain to use how the infamous Hewitt family came into existence and how they transformed into the blood-thirsty cannibals we all know about, the film largely skips on everything and just gives us yet another repetitive and cliché teen horror movie, which i was very disappointed about. The film starts off well, the first 40 minutes showing us how Thomas Hewitt aka Leatherface is born prematurely in a decaying Texas slaughter house; deformed, retarded and silent, dumped by his obese and mentally incompetent mother in a bin and then picked up by wandering lunatic Luda Mae who adopts him into her family of socially outcast and mentally insane freaks, where the young boy is nurtured into the savage killer the movies are infamous for.

Rather than show us how this is done, Thomas and his families past is instead shown lightly through the scenes explained above and crudely edited newspaper cuttings and reports in the opening credits, which i thought was a complete rush-job. Where the film could have really given us an interesting and cool insight into what really happened and how things came to be, they skip passed everything just to rush to yet another cliché plot of more unlucky kids backpacking through Texas who meet their fatal end. The movie does give us explanations into how "Sheriff Hoyt" really became "Sheriff Hoyt" and how Old Monty became demented and bound to a wheelchair but that's just not enough to explain how the family became wacko in the first place. Their dinner table grace-like pledge that every person which crosses their path shall be rightfully theirs as an offering of meat from God is almost laughable, seemingly coming out from nowhere and not making any sense, again a rush-job to explain as fast as possible why they do what they do- which doesn't sit well with me.

I really wanted to see how Thomas Hewitt became so infatuated with killing but nothing is explained, it seems he was just born with the urge to butcher, which doesn't make sense. We understand that he is mentally retarded but i would have at least liked to learn and understand why he becomes so engrossed in his art, and why he decides to wear the faces of his prey. I had a bit too much faith in them giving us a proper psychological account of how he fell from grace so it was very disappointing to not find out about his real past at all, but i imagine this was purposely kept to a minimum because fans just didn't want to know much and wanted to keep him mysterious and scary; giving a soul to a killer makes us sympathise with him when Leatherface and his family is supposed to be the true archetype of evil. Once that is over 30 minutes of quickly-edited scene setting is over in it then cuts to the dumb-ass teenagers driving through the Hewitt's territory, and what follows is yet another chase, hide and kill horror movie to which we have seen plenty of.

Visuals here are on the most part excellent, the cinematography really capturing the rank, dark brooding and menacing stink of a Texas summer, the colour hues perfectly suiting what would be the odour and look of a rotting and decaying meat in the open sun, which is what the movie's look and style has always been about. The Hewitts, visually, look fantastic as usual and carrying on from the 2003 movie work great as a new re-imaging of a classic demented redneck family. R. Lee Ermy is wickedly dark as Sheriff Hoyt and Andrew Bryniarski is gruesomely powerful and menacing as the iconic Leatherface, the character is well portrayed and just how we remember him. The way he is shot is artistically well done, his stark and brooding silhouette is expertly composed against the scenery and so every time he comes on screen the overall effect works in a powerfully awesome way. That is i reckon the best thing about the film- the artful way everything looks. Acting from everyone else is largely forgettable, the teens especially who do their half-assed job with minimal effort. The gore effects are probably the other best thing about the film, enough carnage and blood-splattered, limb-flailing chainsaw-induced kills to keep the target audience entertained, and i for one as a self-admitted gorehound found myself enjoying that at least. So in essence i guess you get what you pay for. I love the original TCSM but these two re-makes have been the same thing, and i would have liked a different angle rather than them re-tread the same movie. Still, this film and it's 2003 predecessor are still miles better than the sub-par and at times horrendous sequels to the original movie, so it does have that going for it, in that sense this is definitely for the fans- though i'm a fan that just wanted something else done with the subject matter.

Still, the film does do what it is expected to do so well so people after decent torture porn won't be short-changed; it's not tense, suspenseful or scary in any way but does offer another round of hardcore butchering for everyone's favorite demented Texans, so fans will be very pleased. It gives us no real informative explanation into how they turned out to be what they are which is what i was hoping for, so there is not much here in terms of interesting story and exponential saga prologue.

If you liked the 2003 remake (which i didn't) then this is definitely for you as it's essentially the same thing- big budget predictable horror which only has a very distinct style which makes it stand out from the rest. This is just another by-the-books re-imaging of a horror classic for the Hostel generation; visually fantastic yet completely empty and brainless. This is decent enough mindless genre entertainment with high production values yet no real substance which is what there should have been, and what i foolishly hoped for.

Verdict: All flash and no substance. By-the-numbers and predictable with fantastic visuals, but not much else. Just like it's remade predessesor. 5/10

Review: The Incredible Hulk (Louis Leterrier, 2008)

This far surpassed my expectations after seeing the trailer and is EXACTLY what i wanted in a Hulk movie! It promised big things and it delivered, big time. In short-it was INCREDIBLE (sorry had to say it)!! At first it seemed they have tried to dismiss Ang Lee's original take and instead re-booted the entire franchise- new actors, new style and a new Hulk design. But we find out that it is a continuation of sorts, and starts where the last one left off. They just wanted to package it differently for Marvel's new future intentions (which you will understand with the last scene of this movie and the extra-special scene after the end credits of Iron Man which i hope you all caught!) Now i'm one of the very few people that really admired Lee's take on the comic in the original movie. Whilst everyone else was expecting mindless action (which is what we get here, but done to a perfected standard), i appreciated that he did it differently and from a psychological drama perspective where we really feel and understand Banner's inner torment properly and thoroughly. That, as we now see here, was the "origin" story- and so with this movie we cut to where it counts: the ass kicking! Wheras Lee's version was a slow, complex drama- this is just straight forward action of epic scales, which juxtaposes perfectly against it's predecessor. Gone is the long build up origin story- here we see the story set up in the beginning credits, and then what follows is a relentless action movie which moves at breakneck pace.

Hiding away in Brazil, Bruce Banner is still on the run from the US Army intent on capturing him and abusing his powers for their own personal use. Unable to catch him , they hire top KGB agent Emil Blonsky- the best soldier on the field. Even when he can't seem to bring The Hulk down, he decides to even the playing field by injecting himself with an even greater quantity of Gamma radiation than Banner was exposed to. Blonsky then transforms into the Abomination- a being with strength and anger that far exceeds even that of the Hulk. What follows then is the biggest, baddest most epic ass kicking i have ever witnessed on film! Norton is terrific as Bruce Banner (a different portrayal than Eric Bana's from the first movie, both work great), Liv Tyler is "meh" as Betty Ross (though her lines are pretty weak, her facial expressions do portray the character really well- its when she says nothing that really make her role work though she is no match for previous actress Jennifer Connelly). Stand out performance here, for me anyway, was Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky aka The Abomination. I've admired him as an actor for years now and here it seems he's just playing himself, but even then he oozes coolness and i thought he was great. William Hurt now plays General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, and whilst he his sneaky, manipulative and menacing to a T i still thought Sam Elliot played it better in the first movie.

The action, at first, is given in suttle doses but when it gears up it literally unleashes hell! Exacty what we want to be seeing in a movie about a giant green angry creature! And when it kicks up near the end, it's unstoppable- perfect pacing for a Hulk movie. Action is intense the whole way through and the final battle between Hulk and The Abomination was mightily impressive; it was pretty long for a finale but even then i still wanted more- and that's saying something considering usually i can't wait for long battles to end (Transformers was guilty of this). CGI here is awesome, Hulk performance is brilliant and the choreography is mind-blowing and there are enough nods and homages to the comics, video games and original TV series to make it stand out (loved the new rendition of The Lonely Man theme from the 1970s show!).

I loved every second of Hulk's screen time and i wanted more! Even though i thought the original was awesome, they upped the stakes here and made him 10 times more angry and it worked a treat. Needless to say i was once again smiling like a kid every time Hulk showed up- bigger and badder than ever before! Director Louis Letterier (Transporter, Transporter 2) a veteran of stylish action movies gives us his piece de resistance here- and it really rocks!

Of course the movie does have it's faults- it seems disjointed at times and the pacing seems off, however it is understandable considering there were disputes between Universal, Letterier and Norton with the final cut of the movie, and so a good 70+ minutes were cut out of the film (which will be put back in for the Director's Cut Blu-Ray). So at times the movie seems a mess but i can see why the cut stuff out considering the first film didn't do particularly well as it was overlong. Still, there's enough depth in the film as needed between the action and it does it's job. There are also other faults but i was having way too much fun to even contemplate looking at those!

All in all a perfect Marvel comic book movie and a perfect Hulk movie- as well as being a perfect overblown wham BLAM action compliment to Ang Lee's original subdued drama. Lee's version played more like Ridley Scott's "Alien", and Leterrier's is more James Camerons "Aliens". Both go hand in hand very, very well!.

Verdict: Incredible and for the fans! 9/10

Review: Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007)

As a big fan of Rob Zombie I was very much looking forward to this film, having loved his stylish, gritty and powerfully visceral style in his critically acclaimed The Devil's Rejects. Whilst I found the same fresh tone in this "re-working/imaging/making" of a horror classic, it is of course not without its flaws, of which there are unfortunately plenty. I myself am not a massive Halloween fan and have only ever seen the first movie, so I thought this new remake was fine to an extent. However, talking to fellow fans of the series they felt that it completely messed around with Michael Myer's character, his past and his universe.

Here we get to see Michael's childhood, a dark and depressing one where we being to see all the factors which make him what he is. He, on the surface, seems like a normal 8 year old child but deep down is battling against angst, powerful emotions and disturbing urges his mind and body can't control. His family are the epitome of "trailer trash" - he is raised by his drunk, foulmouthed, jobless and abusive stepfather, his older teenage sister is the irresponsible school slut and his mother, who at least dearly loves him, is a stripper who can't handle the demands of rearing a family and is always at the end of her tether (excellently played by Sheri Moon Zombie, completely opposite to her role as the feisty and frankly insane Baby Firefly in House and Devil's and who is always a pleasure to watch). Myers is bullied at school relentlessly as he is at home by his stepfather and so, as external and internal factors reach a devastating balance, he completely loses sense which starts the chain reaction where becomes the legendary savage killer the series is infamous for. Act 2 is Myers growing up in a Sanitarium where psychiatrist Dr Sam Loomis (played by the always cool Malcolm McDowell), the only one who understands Myer's true inner being, tries to help him but to no avail as Michael becomes more and more recluse, eventually not speaking, eating and sleeping anymore and completely hiding away behind his obsession of masks. Act 3 is Myers, fully grown into a hulking figure of cold, black emptiness, (now played by 6' 8" Tyler Mane in a brutally awesome performance) escaping from his prison and going on the murderous rampage in his home town as seen in the original Halloween movie in a basic re-treading of the classic movie.

I didn't have a problem with this movie to be honest because this is Rob Zombie's vision and not a direct scene for scene remake, however the latter half of the movie goes against this and it turns out to be nothing more than the original movie albeit sped up to fit into the remaining time limit. Because I'm not familiar with the original Halloween movies this is probably why I was more forgiving, as a standalone film I liked it and thought it was far from the "mess" which people and fans have been saying it was. Alas this is a film which stands in the shadow of a classic series and so it will, no matter what, have a lot to answer for and so the backlash has been pretty big (even though the last few titles in the series have been less favourable).

Whilst Zombie does add some dimensions to the infamous Myers character and his past, it's not enough to make it any more interesting that what we have already seen a million times before in movies about psychopaths. Yes the character typically had issues which transformed into something far greater as is always done with all Hollywood psycho killers, and that's all that is shown here again albeit more stylistically. Zombie's directing is not at fault here as it suitably powerful and artistic, it's more so his writing which is poor that lets the movie down. That and the fact that there's really nothing new here to make it any different to what we have all seen a million times before in slasher films- it's the same old movie just looking different.

Whilst I love Zombie's original look and style this is still a predictable horror movie, more so being the same exact Halloween with a new look. Long term Fans of the series will no doubt be angered and should stay away but if you want a stylish, gory and innovative approach to the predictable by-the-numbers slasher movie then I say watch this. As a fan of Zombie's style and not a fan of Halloween, I enjoyed it, but I'm in the minority here. I rate this film high only gore, action, choreography, style, look, music (great score by Tyler Bates and the Halloween theme always kicks ass) and direction as a stand-alone movie. This director's cut DVD does have some slightly longer scenes and a very good alternative ending which works better than the one in the movie which is why I'm giving it a slightly higher score than the norm too.

As a Halloween series movie and a remake (along with writing and character issues) I would rate this lower. But I honestly say I was entertained by it, it was good for what it is and an interesting take on what essentially is a predictable teen slasher movie. I felt this was a more than a worthy addition to an otherwise dying franchise and definitely boosts it back to where it was before. Though many people will disagree, i think this more than makes up for all the crappy sequels and semi-sequels the series has produced over the last few years.

Verdict: An above average yet all too predictable slasher movie that entertains immensely. 7/10