Monster Movie of the Week: An American Werewolf in London (1981)

AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981)

Director: John Landis

Genre: Werewolf

Country: USA/UK

THE MOVIE

Anyone who follows movies knows that studios periodically jump on certain genres or storylines which often result in two similar but competing projects released around the same time. We had Armageddon and then we had Deep Impact. We had Rob Roy and then we had Braveheart. We had Priscilla Queen of the Desert and then we had To Wong Fu. Well in 1981 we had The Howling and then we had An American Werewolf in London both released within a few weeks of each other. Either one by itself would have been a revolutionary entry into the werewolf movie genre. Both were directed by young and talented horror directors and both employed make-up gurus to handle the effects. Werewolf was worked on by SFX legend Rob Baker,

An American Werewolf in London is also distinguished from its competitor by its droll British infused sense of humor and its Hammer-esque ambiance. It also gives us a unique lupine werewolf as opposed to the simian designs of past movies or even the men-with-wolf-heads as popularized by The Howling. Landis’ movie also features some very disturbing and surreal dream sequences (such as one in which Nazi wolf ghouls attack attack the protagonist’s Jewish suburban family.)

Plotwise, AAWIL is pretty typical werewolf stuff. The film even rather sneakily references the old Wolfman movie with Lon Chaney Jr. A pair of young Americans are backpacking in rural England and make it to a mysterious village on the moors where the people in the local pub (which features a large pentagram on the wall) seem to be hiding something. The boys are attacked by an animal, one is killed (but returns in some black-humored visions later in the movie) and one survives and is taken to London for care where he hits it off with his nurse. As we all know, once you survive a werewolf attack you become one yourself.

THE MONSTER EFFECTS

Like The Howling, this movie aims to push the envelope as far as visual effects in a werewolf movie goes. It also tries to limit the number of cutaways during the transformation sequence and much is done via animatronics and practical make-up to create the films almost tortuous transformation sequence. One has to admire the great artistry and ingenuity that went in to creating a sequence like this when now all we would need to do would be to create it in a computer.

The other notable SFX or design aspect of the movie is in the final representation of the creature itself, of which you get some good looks in the latter part of the movie. AAWIL gives us a werewolf that actually looks something like a wolf (well honestly it’s a little stocky for a wolf. I think it looks more like a wolverine.) This is harkens back to pre –Cinema ideas of what a werewolf should look like. After all, the whole idea of the European werewolf was that a man would turn into an actual wolf, not some creature that looks like a hybrid of the two, as is more common in the movies.

FAVORITE SEQUENCE

The best shot in the movie is actually the very first one in which we see the creature. The werewolf is chasing a man through a subway station in the London Underground and up until this point we have only really seen cheap werewolf POV shots so we might be assuming this is one of those movies that doesn’t give you a real look at the monster. Anyway, this man has been chased through the station and stumbles upon an escalator. He falls dropping all of his things and is being carried up. Once he is at the top we get a near POV shot of his position. It is a long shot from the top of the escalator. It has a very objective feel almost like a security camera. The shot goes for a bit and then the monster simply steps into the frame. It’s fast but a great shot and very creepy.

SEQUELS

And unrelated sequel called An American Werewolf in Paris.

DVD AVAILABILITY

Widely available.

SEE ALSO

The Howling

TRAILER

Patrick Garone
www.patrickgarone.com
twitter.com/patrickgarone
facebook.com/cityofthegodsnovel

Monster Movie of the Week: Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)

GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE (1989)

Director: Kazuki Omori

Genre: Daikaiju eiga

Country: Japan

After the Showa series ran its course with 1975’s Terror of Mechagodzilla, the Godzilla franchise went on a long hiatus until 1984’s relaunch, Godzilla (known here as Godzilla 1985). The movie was praised for its return to the darker themes of the early films but was criticized for its often ponderous tone and its lack of a monster opponent for the Big G. It would be another five years before the new Heisei, or versus series, would resume in earnest with Godzilla vs. Biollante, a movie that is notable for its remarkably unique and imaginative creature design, introduction of new “hard” science fiction elements, and often bizarre plot.

Biollante begins in the aftermath of the previous movie, as scientists are sifting through the rubble of Godzilla’s most recent attack on Tokyo and pulling out bits of the monster’s biological material from the debris. Godzilla vs. Biollante introduces a element into the series through its biotech subplot. In the Showa movies, Godzilla’s biology had not been given much attention, but in the 1990’s and 2000’s it is a recurring theme. In the 1980’s, the use and ethics of biotechnology and genetics was a huge issue. Biollante was actually released the same year as Michael Crichton’s landmark sci-fi novel, Jurassic Park, which also featured the application of biotech as one of its main themes.

Much of the human activity in the movie concerns the quest to obtain and use the Godzilla cell samples by different factions. This is actually kind of a cool idea, and if there had been a Godzilla attack, you can bet that lots of people would like to get their hands on his samples to use for their own ends. Researcher Dr. Shiragami, mourns the loss of his young daughter in a terrorist attack and spends much of his time looking into psychic phenomena, especially the psychic properties of roses (Um, whaaa?). One of his students is Miki Saegusa, a psychic who develops a bond with Godzilla. Miki becomes a fixture in the later Heisei movies, which feature a fairly tight continuity.

Meanwhile, Dr. Shiragami has come into possession of some Godzilla cells and has been tasked with using them to create a weapon to be used against Godzilla. Unbeknownst to his employers, Shiragami has been combining them with both the DNA of one of his psychic roses and that of his dead daughter (WTF?!), needless to say this does not end up well, and the resulting creature, Biollante, escapes into a nearby lake and grows to an enormous size. Biollante is a genetic relative of Godzilla and begins calling him to her. When the King of the Monsters arrives, the two have a skirmish, and Biollante is apparently defeated.

Godzilla then makes his way to the nearest nuclear power plant (as is his wont) he faces an all out attack from the humans, who unsuccessfully attempt to use Shiragami’s weapon against him. A fully-grown Biollante also appears, and battles Godzilla, nearly destroying him, before he triumphs and heads to sea. Biollante releases spores which briefly form into an image of Shiragami’s daughter and then head out into space(!?).

THE MONSTER/EFFECTS

First, Biollante features a new look for Godzilla and one that stayed fairly consistent throughout the 1990’s. The Biollante suit remains an iconic look for the character and one that is beloved by many fans. Strangely, it adds features that are actually less reptilian, such as a set of mammalian specialized teeth instead of the fangs or jagged teeth of past suits, an almost feline face, topped with what look like cornrows, and small, intelligent eyes. Apparently, this Goji has been doing push-ups, because he has a more muscular upper body, with pronounced pectorals and deltoids (the lower body is still flabby though).

The real star, however, is Biollante herself, who is totally unique in the history Godzilla monsters. This is the rare instance of Toho forgoing the usual man-in-suit technique and opting for a different approach to bring its monster to life. Biollante, in her final form, looks like a giant Audrey 2 from Hell and actually dwarfs Godzilla in comparison. She is a genuinely horrible monster and not at all goofy-looking, as many other Toho monsters are. Her “body” is sort of bulbous with a luminescent potbelly, crisscrossed with sinewy vines . She moves on a bed of tentacle-like vines, many of which end in toothy jaws. On her back are mossy scales. Half of her body is taken up by an absolutely huge and croc-like mouth, which is full of teeth, even on the base and roof of the mouth, and from which she sprays a radioactive sap. She is definitely one of the most original and compelling monsters to have appeared in a Toho movie.

As a Toho monster, Biollante is part of a long line Godzilla clones, demi-Godzillas, usurpers, and wanna-bes that include, the original Mechagodzilla, Spacegodzilla, and Orga (from Godzilla 2000). Even the American Godzilla has been worked into the mythos as a pretender with his reference in Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah and finally his appearance in Godzilla Final Wars. In GMK, poor Baragon, is temporarily confused with Godzilla and it doesn’t end well for him. If there is a real theme to the Godzilla franchise, is that there can only ever be one Godzilla, and you’d better not even try to replace him.

MOST MEMORABLE SEQUENCE

The battle at the end is quite good, and represents a rare moment where Goji is truly outmatched by an opponent.

SEQUELS

Followed by the also interesting, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.

Sadly, this is Biollante’s sole appearance in a Godzilla movie. She does appear in the recent Wii game, Godzilla Unleashed as a playable character. And Shiragami appears in the cutscenes as well.

HOME VIDEO AVAILABILITY

In the DVD and Bluray age, Godzilla vs. Biollante has been pretty much unavailable in the USA. With no official DVD release, it is necessary to order it as an import or wait for the movie’s eventual release on Bluray. As of yet, only the very first Godzilla has been released on Bluray and the 1998 remake. If Toho and Columbia follow suit with what they did last time, you can expect most of the catalog to be released on Bluray with the new American movie in 2012.

TRAILER




Patrick Garone
www.patrickgarone.com
twitter.com/patrickgarone
facebook.com/cityofthegodsnovel

Monster Movie of the Week: The Blob (1988)

THE BLOB (1988)

Director: Chuck Russell

Genre: Horror

THE MOVIE

Thirty years after the release of the classic movie The Blob, writer Frank Darabont (who would later do a series of successful Stephen King adaptations, including The Shawshank Redemption) and director Chuck Russell (who had previously collaborated on A Nightmare on Elm St. III: The Dream Warriors) released this brand new version of the killer slime movie, complete with updated gory effects for a 1980’s audience. Chuck Russell’s remake follows the original movie in the broad strokes, with many characters and situations which correspond to those in its predecessor.

It is again set in a small town—this time a California mountain town that is anxiously awaiting its first snowfall and the upcoming ski season. Kevin Dillon plays Brian—a young trouble maker who-with the exception of his ‘80’s mullet—could have ridden his motorcycle out of any number of ‘50’s youth movies. He even makes it a point to say, “I have a problem with authority.” We get it, Brian. You’re a rebel.

Brian discovers a local hobo who has come in contact with an object that crashed to earth in a fireball. The old man is crazed and his arm has a weird pinkish growth, which he is trying to cut off with a pick axe when we first encounter him. Brian comes across with another young couple on a date and the four go to a local hospital, much as in the original movie. Soon the blob begins feeding on the townspeople, growing larger and larger.

Lady Gaga tries out a new look for the VMAs.

The biggest plot difference in the two movies involves the arrival of a government team to contain the creature and we learn that this version of the blob actually is a government experiment that crashed to earth on a wayward satellite. The government is working to capture the creature alive and is spreading misinformation about a viral outbreak. The townspeople are considered expendable. In the original, the blob was an alien lifeform that crashed to earth on a meteorite and this new origin seems a little unnecessary. After all, if ever there were a believable movie alien, it is the blob.

Stylistically, a lot had happened in the thirty years between the two movies. The 1988 version of The Blob seems to have been informed by such movies as Alien and The Thing and the movie features an impressive level of gore and effects. The remake takes the horrifying idea at the heart of the story—an insatiable shapeless creature that suffocates and consumes its prey—to a more horrifying level. The blob is a great concept and there is a lot more room for development. It has been recently announced that there is yet another remake planned, this one directed by exploitation/horror director Rob Zombie.

He should have asked for them to make his Camarones a la Diabla "menos picante."

THE MONSTER/EFFECTS

Another controversial aspect of this remake was in its depiction of the monster, which is often seen forming “blob tentacles” which whip around its victims. Some blob fundamentalists have said that this is out of character for the creature and that it should always remain amorphous and incapable of forming appendages. This version of the blob is reminiscent of the monster from John Carpenter’s The Thing, which in its base form is also able to form simple appendages and orifices.

One thing that the movie does very well is show how the blob feeds and how it leaves its victims. There are lots of great shots of partially digested people floating around inside the creature. This blob is able to cleanly strip the flesh from people’s bones and seems to have a set of consistent and believable biological processes.

Kevin Dillon, after winning the "Sigourney Weaver from Alien look-a-like contest."

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT

Like the first version of The Blob, the 1988 version has a scene set in a movie theater where people are watching a horror movie. The remake builds a little more suspense and has some more fun with the idea. First the blob creeps into the projection booth through the AC vent and kills the projectionist. Soon, we see the image on the screen begin to distort as the blob presumably works its way into and around the projector. Then the screen goes pink as the light shines through the semi-translucent monster. It’s a very cool sequence.

DVD AVAILABILITY

Available and on Netflix.

SEQUELS

None.

THE TRAILER

Monster Movie of the Week: CYBORG LAW ENFORCEMENT EDITION: ROBOCOP 1987

ROBOCOP (1987)

Genre: Sci-Fi/Action

Director: Paul Verhoeven

Country: USA

THE MOVIE

Robocop was a milestone among the hard hitting science fiction/action movies of the 1980’s and was Dutch director Paul Verhoeven’s first hit English language movie. It has been called an action movie for liberals and is at once insanely violent and surprisingly intelligent. Like many of Verhoeven’s movies, it features a combination of action and scathing wit. Robocop is a satire on Reaganomics disguised as a bloody cop film. The movie is perhaps the best example of the director’s inhuman humanism, which attacks an exaggerated version of the existing power structure but revels in violence and nihilism at the same time. Paul Verhoeven makes comedies that are frequently mistaken for action movies, thrillers or exploitation movies. It is an orgy of over-the-top violence in the same way that his Showgirls and Basic Instinct were an orgy of ridiculous over-the-top sex.

Robocop represents a liberal nightmare of the conservative agenda, in which a powerful corporation runs rampant in a capitalistic urban nightmare where even our most important and public social service, the police, is privatized. It has aged surprisingly well in the twenty years since its release, partially because we just spent eight years under a president who was the ideological heir to Ronald Reagan. Robocop also takes a swipe at the media, which is depicted as a as a series of vapid personalities, misleading news, and idiotic commercials. Yeah, that sounds about right.

The film features one of cinema’s greatest evil corporations, Omni Consumer Products (it’s right up there with Weiland-Yutani and the Umbrella Corporation). In their attempts to take over the police department, they develop an unstable robot police officer, the enormous bipedal ED-209 and ultimately the cyborg, Robocop. Robocop was created from the remains of a police officer who was brutally murdered and he struggles with his remaining humanity throughout the movie. He is one of the great movie cyborgs, along with the Terminator, Darth Vader and The Borg.

THE MONSTER/EFFECTS

ED-209 is realized through the default special effect for realizing large creatures at the time, stop motion. Robocop is or course performed by a guy in a suit, nicely portrayed by actor Peter Weller. Robocop is not really an effects movie and the emphasis is more on action and satire.

MOST MEMORABLE SEQUENCE

Yeah, that guy up there. He comes to a bad end.

HOME VIDEO AVAILABILITY

Robocop is available in a couple of different DVD versions, including a 2 pack with The Terminator, and a collectors edition which features the original X-rated cut of the movie (for violence of course, you don't get to see Robocop's wang or anything). The movie is also available on Bluray and can usually be found pretty cheap.

SEQUELS

Followed by Robocop 2, Robocop 3, and animated and a live action TV series. Like the Planet of the Apes series, the Robocop sequels coast along on the quality and ideas of the original movie and, although not necessarily good movies, are enjoyable explorations of the Robocop universe. There is also a remake planned, which has been attached to director Darren Aronofsky.

SEE ALSO

Starship Troopers (1997)

THE TRAILER

Monster Movie of the Week: Alligator (1980)

ALLIGATOR (1980)
Directed by Lewis Teague
Genre: Horror, Monster-on-the-loose

THE MOVIE

An enduring urban legend from the 1970's and 1980's was that in the sewers below several major American cities, lived alligators which were purchased as pets but later flushed down the toilet when they became too large. These stories are based on infrequent sightings but have persisted over most of the Twentieth Century, probably because they are so cool and something must be keeping the C.H.U.D. and Ninja Turtle population in check. Recently, an episode of one of my favorite shows/exercises in futility, Monster Quest, mounted an expedition into the New York sewers in search of alligators but found only a fat salamander. And my dreams died.

The 1980 horror movie, Alligator, is based on this sewer gator premise and is the big daddy of all the other crocsploitation movies that came after. SyFy pretty much owes their original movie line up to Alligator. While not a great movie by any means, Alligator is a fun-enough riff on the Jaws formula. It's worth watching if only for its very auteuristic Carter-era approach to the material and that great gritty, late '70's/early '80's exploitation movie feel. Supposedly, it is set in Chicago but, sadly, filmed in LA. At least Robert Forster manages to sound like he wouldn't be out of place ordering an Italian beef and a pop at a Chicago hot dog stand.


Forster stars as beleaguered and mistrusted police detective David Madison (not to be confused with Bruce Willis' character on Moonlighting) who teams up with a herpetologist to investigate a series of grisly murders in the sewer system. Add to the mix a shady pharmaceutical company experimenting on stray pets with a growth hormone (every movie from this era needs an evil corporation), a tabloid reporter, and a big game hunter. Needless to say, the beast finally busts out into the city (and apparently onto the set of the Beat It video) and wreaks havoc.


THE MONSTER/EFFECTS

The Alligator-Ramon-is quite a big puppy at about 36 feet long. Otherwise he's a regular gator. I imagine a lot of the shots were done with a real gator scaled to a slightly miniaturized set.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT

In another very '70's moment, Ramon terrorizes a bunch of fat cats at fancy party and goes all T-rex on a limosine.



Throw a Hawaiian shirt on him and you have a scene from just about any Rodney Dangerfield movie. Minus the killing.


SEQUELS

This movie did have one sequel. In 1991, Alligator II: The Mutation was released to no fanfare. Supposedly, it has almost nothing to do with the original movie.


SEE ALSO

Jaws (1975), Rogue (2007)

TRAILER

Monster Movie of the Week: Pumpkinhead (1989)

PUMPKINHEAD (1989)

Director: Stan Winston

Genre: Horror/Revenge

THE MOVIE

When it comes to creature effects from the 1980’s on, there is one artist who towers over the rest: Stan Winston. Winston designed and realized monster effects for such films as The Terminator, Aliens, Predator, Jurassic Park and many other classic monster movies. In 1989 Winston made his directorial debut with Pumpkinhead, a country-fried supernatural revenge movie with an emphasis on creature effects. This is also one of the few starring roles for character actor Lance Henriksen’s weathered face and gravelly voice will be familiar to any genre fans from his supporting roles in movies like the Alien and Alien vs. Predator series, Near Dark and his starring role in the Chris Carter TV series Millenium. He’s a good actor and it’s nice to see him get to stretch his legs.

Henriksen plays a single father who owns a shop in a rural mountain community. When his young son is killed in an accident by a group of reckless young tourists he searches for a way to take revenge on them. He ultimately enlists the help of an old mountain witch who summons Pumpkinhead to take revenge on the teens. As Pumpkinhead slaughters the city folk, Henricksen’s character begins to see visions of the killings through the monster’s eyes and eventually grows disturbed by his increasingly symbiotic relationship with Pumpkinhead. He eventually decides to put a stop to it, shotgun style.

THE MONSTER/EFFECTS

Pumpkin head looks a bit like a cross between a human being and Giger’s Alien. He has an impossibly spindly body design that recalls the original costume in Alien. He also has an expressive, well-animated face. It is likely that the film was built around the idea of showcasing this monster and since the director’s background is in effects the movie does not stint on attention to the design and realization of the titular creature.

DVD AVIALABILITY

Widely available.

MOST MEMORABLE SEQUENCE

The “summoning” sequence is quite good and loans the film an almost Tim Burtonish fairy tale quality. In fact, it resemble Burton’s later Sleepy Hollow.

SEQUELS

Pumpkinhead 2: Blood Wings 1994

Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes 2006 (Cable)

Pumkinhead: Blood Feud 2007 (Cable)

TRIVIA

Henricksen, along with actor Bill Paxton, has the privilege of having been killed onscreen by an Alien, a Predator and a Terminator (although whether Bishop was actually “killed” by an Alien is debatable.)

TRAILER

MONSTER MOVIE OF THE WEEK: PREDATOR (1987)

PREDATOR (1987)

Director: John McTiernan

Genre: Sci-Fi/Survival/Action

THE MOVIE

The 1980’s gave us a wave of hard-hitting and violent science fiction movies. Gone were fare like the cerebral 2001: A Space Odyssey or the innocent space opera of Star Wars. Directors like James Cameron and Paul Verhoeven gave us often nihilistic and ultra violent movies like Aliens and Robocop. Arnold Schwarzenegger made a career doing movies such as Terminator and Total Recall (which was both violent and cerebral) before he became a kindergarten teacher and pregnant and finally governor of California. By the time Predator came out, Schwarzenegger’s career as an action superstar was in full swing and in a lot of ways, the movie was sold as an action vehicle for Schwarzenegger but fortunately Predator and it’s memorable alien creature have had a rich life outside of the first movie. Predator had its own sequel (a better movie in my opinion), another full sequel on the way, a series of comics, novels, and video games as well as a couple of cross-overs with the Alien series of movies.

Predator centers on a Special Forces unit sent to the jungles of Central America. This was during the '80’s when the U.S. and the Soviet Union were using Latin America as a board in a destructive game of Cold War chess. Dutch (Schwarzenegger), leads a troupe of annoyingly macho soldiers (who like the smack-talking marines in Aliens soon find that they are not as tough as they think) in coordination with a CIA Agent (Carl Weathers.) They begin to come across strange things like bodies that are skinned and hung upside down from trees. These soldiers begin to find themselves prey to a strange humanoid creature that is able to camouflage itself into the jungle while it picks them off one by one. Ultimately, Schwarzenegger must go mano a mano with the alien creature.

Predator prepares to lip-synch for its life.

THE MONSTER EFFECTS

Predator is one of the more distinctive and cool monsters to come out of the late, great, Stan Winston’s creature shop in the 1980’s with its distinctive mask, dreadlocks and weaponry. Once unmasked, the creature has a spider like multi-mandibled face. Rumor has it, that none other than James Cameron had a hand in the Predator's distinctive facial design.

Originally, Jean Claude Van Damme was cast as the creature but was replaced after filming started. The role was then given to dancer Kevin Peter Hall, who also portrayed Predator in the sequel. Hall gave the monster a certain unearthly grace and subtle movement flourishes. Check out the very delicate finger movements when Predator removes his mask at the end. Compare this with other actor who played these creatures in the AvP movies who all move like quarterbacks.

Of course, one of the best things about the Predator is its ability to camouflage, an effect that was mind bogglingly cool when I was a kid in 1987. Also very impressive at the time, was Predator’s faux infrared “thermal vision” which I imagine would be of limited use in the steaming jungle. And, who can forget the Predator’s eerie clicking noise, guaranteed to scare the hell out of anybody in a dark alley. Not to mention its creepy mimicking ability.

DVD AVAILABILITY

Widely available in a 2 disc collector’s edition on DVD. Predator has also been made available on Bluray.

MOST MEMORABLE SEQUENCE

I like the down and dirty battle at the end of the movie. This is true of Predator 2 also. In both released Predator movies, it seems to me like the culmination is the hero duking it out with the disarmed Predator, like once you get rid of that shoulder cannon, “It’s on!”

I like when Predator grabs Ah-nold by the neck and lifts him up off the ground so that his feet are dangling.

This is also one of those great, highly quotable movies, such as when Arnold observes:

"If it bleeds, we can kill it."

Not to mention when Schwarzenegger implores the monster at the end:

"Kill me! Kill me now! What are you waiting for?"

And a wounded Jesse "The Body" Ventura spouts:

"I ain't got time to bleed!"

SEQUELS

Predator 2 from 1990, with a totally different cast and two Alien vs. Predator movies. This summer, Predators will release, although to what extent it is connected to the previous movies is unknown. Predators is produced (and seemingly co-directed) by Robert Rodriguez who has been connected with a third Predator movie for many years.

"Who are you calling ugly?"

SEE ALSO

Alien 1979 Aliens 1986

TRIVIA

There was to have been a completely different design for the Predator that was changed at the last moment. This design was smaller and had reverse jointed legs. It can be briefly seen in the special features in the deluxe dvd.

Two of this movie's stars-Schwarzenegger and Ventura-later went on to become the governors of California and Minnesota respectively.

In the expanded Alien and Predator universe, this species is called the Yautja. Their homeworld was briefly seen in Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007).

TRAILER

Damn, that's a great trailer. Not only does it make me want to watch the movie, but it makes me want to get into a Hot Tub Time Machine and go back to 1987 and buy a $3 movie ticket and watch the movie in an '80's theater.

Monster Movie of the Week: The Fly II (1989)

THE FLY II (1989)

Director: Chris Walas

Genre: Body Horror

THE MOVIE

This is a movie that features about a dozen characters brutally killed, some in disgusting and graphic ways and yet it is most famous as “As that movie where that dog got mutilated,” which just goes to show you that in American movies you can do any horrible thing you want to people, but if you mess with our pets you better watch out. The Fly II is the sequel to the 1986 masterpiece The Fly. Director Chris Walas was the make-up director in the original movie and the focus for this sequel is on gore and creature work.

How did this dude come out of the union of Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis?

The movie picks up as Martin, the child of Seth Brundle and Veronica Quaife is born. Conveniently, Veronica dies in childbirth so that we only have a few shaky shots to see that we are dealing with a Geena Davis look-alike. A biogenetics corporation (the same one referenced in the original movie as having funded Brundle’s research) takes possession of the child and he is raised in a lab environment where he rapidly matures and displays a genius level of intelligence and capacity for science. One day he sneaks out of his area and comes across and lab where they are keeping a number of animals, including a dog, which he befriends. When he returns the next day the dog is being led to one of the teleporters from the first movie. The dog comes out of the machine horribly disfigured and aggressive. This traumatizes young Martin and he is told by his handlers that the dog had been euthanized.

Martin, looking like a guest star on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Soon after, Martin has reached physical maturity and strikes up a relationship with a woman who works at the company. Martin is also in charge of getting his father’s teleportation pods to work. One night while walking through the facility Martin discovers that his old dog is being kept alive for study and he puts the poor thing out of its misery in a scene that achieves real tragedy and is a little difficult to watch. Meanwhile, Martin begins going through the same kinds of changes that afflicted his father, eventually morphing into a human fly.

I would suggest throwing this mermaid back in the ocean..

The Fly II is far from a great movie but is an enjoyable exercise in horror and gore. That is if you can stomach the sad and disturbing dog subplot.

MONSTER/EFFECTS

This movie is more horror and gore oriented than the first and the effects are all quite nice. The idea behind the design of the new final Brundlefly is that the fly DNA is now better integrated into the monster so that he is less of a mutant and more of a new creature all together. He is faster and stronger than the final creature from the previous movie. In fact, he looks something like the titular opponent in Godzilla vs. Megaguirus. Hm. Anyway, Brundlefly II is realized mostly using lots of makeup and rod puppet technology.

SEQUELS

None. Although there has been talk of another Fly remake in the pipeline, rumored to be directed by David Cronenberg himself.

MOST MEMORABLE SEQUENCE

I’m not trying to be all Fangoria or anything but I’m a big fan of the scene where dude gets his head popped by a descending elevator. I mean it is just so over the top and unnecessary. A close second would be the also gratuitous scene where a guy gets his face melted off by fly vomit.

Stay classy, Chris Walas.

DVD AVAILABILITY

Available is a surprisingly thorough two-disc DVD set, featuring commentaries and documentaries and everything. WTF?

MINORITY REPORT

Unless I am very much mistaken there is no one of color in this movie at all. I mean, I’m sure it was filmed in Canada, but come on!

TRIVIA

Ironically, Eric Stoltz was originally cast as Marty McFly in Back to the Future before they recast the role with Michael J. Fox. In this movie he plays a character named Mary who turns into a fly. How weird is that?

TRAILER