Day 31: Halloween (1978)

The trick is to stay alive.

John Carpenter's Assault On Precinct 13 had a big impact on independent film producer Irwin Yablans and financier Moustapha Akkad. The pair had an idea for a horror film about a killer who stalked babysitters and thought Carpenter could bring the right vibe to the project...

Upon hearing Yablans and Akkad's pitch, Carpenter and his then-girlfriend Debra Hill began crafting a story based on their premise -- called The Babysitter Murders. Yablan suggested setting the film on Halloween night (with that as a title), and Akkad stumped up an incredibly low $250,000 for the film's production. Carpenter agreed to waive most of his fee, receiving $10,000 for directing, writing and composing the score -- although he did insist on taking 10% of the film's eventual profits.

Yablans and Akkad essentially handed full control over to Carpenter and Hill, who set about writing the full script. Their final story would concern a child who commits murder and is sent to a psychiatric hospital, only to escape as an adult and return to his neighbourhood to kill local teenagers, whilst being pursed by his psychiatrist...

Hill concentrated on the female dialogue, while Carpenter enjoyed the length monologues from psychiatrist Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance). They also put a lot of in-jokes into the script for their own amusement: heroine Laurie Strode was the name of Carpenter's ex-girlfriend and villain Michael Myers was the name of an English producer who had entered Assault On Precinct 13 into many European festivals.

Due to Halloween's low budget, costumes and props were harvested from inexpensive shops. Most famously, the film's boogieman (Michael Myers) would wear a William Shatner face-mask spray-painted white.

Unknown actress Jamie Lee Curtis won the role of Laurie Strode, with Donald Pleasance the only famous actor in the film (he received $20,000 for his time). Actor Nick Castle, who played Michael Myers, permanently obscured by the iconic mask, was just Carpenter's friend from university.

Carpenter shot the film in just 21 days in South Pasadena and Sierra Madre, California, in the spring of 1978 -- meaning artificial leaves had to be used and the crew had difficult finding pumpkins at that time of year.

Halloween was released on 25 October 1978, just in time for Halloween night, and was initially dismissed by critics and mass audiences. After one positive review, word-of-mouth began to spread and an interest grew. The film grossed $48 million in the US. It took a while, but Halloween eventually became a landmark film for the horror genre, ushering in the contemporary slasher film that dominated the 80s with cash-ins like Black Christmas and Friday The 13th.

A sequel, Halloween II, was written by Carpenter and Hill, but directed by Rick Rosenthal, and released in 1981. It wasn't as successful as the original (a $25 million gross), but Halloween III: Season Of The Witch, produced by Carpenter, was released in 1982 (it made $14 million). The series seemed to vanish for years, until a resurgence of interest led to Halloween IV: The Return Of Michael Myers in 1995, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (which saw the return of Jamie Lee Curtis) in 1998 and Halloween: Resurrection in 2002.

Just this year, Rob Zombie directed a remake of Carpenter's original. It has received mixed reviews, but has made over $64 million worldwide so far -- making it the most successful Halloween movie yet, adjusting for inflation.

Trivia

1. Dr Sam Loomis' name is taken from the character Sam Loomis in Psycho.

2. Nick Castle, who played Michael Myers, went on to direct The Last Starfighter, The Boy Who Could Fly, Dennis The Menace and Major Payne!

3. In the movie, kids watch the opening of The Thing From Another World -- a 1951 sci-fi horror that Carpenter himself would remake as The Thing in 1982.

4. Half the budget was spent on Panavision cameras.

5. The script only mentions Michael Myers' name twice. He is mostly referred to as The Shape.

6. John Carpenter was initially intimidated by Donald Pleasance, but the two became great friends and Pleasance starred in other Carpenter films (most famously as the US President in Escape From New York.)

7. Out of all the young cast, only Jamie Lee Curtis was actually a teenager.

Links

The Halloween Movies
Official John Carpenter

Day 30: The Exorcist (1973)

Nobody expected it. Nobody believed it. Nobody could stop it.
The one hope... the only hope... The Exorcist.

In 1949, a 13-year-old boy known only as Robbie, a student at Georgetown University, was allegedly possessed by a demon called Pazuzu. A local minister performed a 6-week exorcism on the teen, before ridding him of the possessing entity on 19 April 1949. This real-life case of demonic possession fueled the imagination of author William Peter Blatty, who used it as inspiration for his 1971 book, The Exorcist...

The Exorcist novel, written when Blatty was unemployed and collecting benefits, fictionalized the Georgetown exorcism case and changed a few details, but essentially stays faithful to reality. Blatty's book instead focused on a girl (Reagan), but all of the actual events were said to have actually happened -- except for the boy's head rotating 180 degrees!

After the book's release, it became an instant hit and was brought to the attention of Hollywood. Blatty himself was asked to adapt it into a screenplay, with the studio hoping to secure the talent of Stanley Kubrick behind the camera -- but he turned it down. They approached others, before settling on William Friedkin, who had just enjoyed tremendous success with The French Connection (1971).

Friedkin began casting the movie, and quickly found Reagan, the 12-year-old possessed girl, nearly impossible to cast. At one point, in desperation, Friedkin even began to contemplate using adult dwarf actors! Fortunately, unknown actress Linda Blair was brought to his attention by her mother and was offered the part.

The titular exorcist, Father Merrin, was played by Max von Sydow, despite the studio wanting Marlon Brando. Friedkin was adamant Sydow have the part, or risk The Exorcist turning into a "Brando movie". Jason Miller was cast as Father Karras, after Friedkin saw Miller perform on Broadway. Reagan's mother was played by Ellen Burstyn, after Audrey Hepburn declined unless the film was shot in Rome and Anne Bancroft fell pregnant.

His cast assembled, filming began -- although the opening excavation scene in Iraq proved problematic because the US didn't have diplomatic relations with Iraq at that time. Instead, Friedkin took an all-British crew across, on the proviso he would teach the Iraqi's some filming techniques.

Upon its release in 1973, The Exorcist became a worldwide phenomenon and the biggest grossing film of that year. It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards (winning for Best Sound and Best Adapted Screenplay) and won 4 Golden Globes. The furore over the film reached astonishing proportions, with many theatre-owners claiming audience members were regularly fainting or leaving screenings in hysterics.

Many people couldn't separate fact from fiction, so young Linda Blair was considered demonic by some and had to be protected by bodyguards for 6 months following The Exorcist's release! The film also became the subject of urban myths, such as the death of 9 crew members during the film's 12-month shoot. Some people speculate these stories were concocted by the studio to create interested and additional scares, but Ellen Burstyn commented in her 2006 autobiography that some of the stories were true.

In the 1980s, British film censors delayed The Exorcist from video distribution in 1984, before finally arriving on DVD in 1999, a year after a successful re-release in cinemas! It was only shown on UK television for the first time in 2001.

The Exorcist is still considered one of the best horror films ever made and retains its power to unsettle and disturb people over 30 years later. Inevitable sequels followed (1977s The Exorcist II: The Heretic and 1990s The Exorcist III), both to widespread consternation.

In 2004, a prequel film called The Exorcist: The Beginning was made by Paul Schrader, but his film was infamously rejected by the studio, who quickly remade the whole film again with Renny Harlin! The prequel was a box-office disaster, so Schrader's original cut was later released onto DVD, but proved similarly disappointing.

Trivia

1. The famous steps where Father Karras meets his end were covered in thick rubber to protect the stuntman who had to fall down them. He performed the stunt twice, with local students paying $5 each to watch from nearby rooftops.

2. The scenes in Reagan's bedroom were specially refrigerated to create icy breath from the actors. One morning, the temperature got so low that a thin layer of snow formed on the set!

3. The film was edited at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York!

4. Ellen Burstyn received a permanent spinal injury after falling on her coccyx during filming.

Links

The Haunted Boy Of Cottage City - The Case That Inspired The Exorcist
The Exorcist fansite

Day 29: Lost Highway (1997)

"I like to remember things my own way... the way I remember them... not necessarily the way they happened..."

After Twin Peaks left the TV airwaves, director David Lynch helmed a prequel movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me in 1992, before vanishing from the movie scene in the mid-90s..

He came back in 1997 with Lost Highway, a psychological crime thriller that mixed film noir with surrealism, and proved to be indicative of his current film output, with Mulholland Dr. (2001) and INLAND EMPIRE (2006) both covering similar territory about personal identity...

Lost Highway concerns saxophonist Fred Madison (Bill Pullman), who is accused of murdering his wife Renee (Patricia Arquette) and sent to death row, whereupon he transforms into a mechanic called Pete Dayton (Balthazar Getty) and leads a completely different life. However, Fred and Pete's separate lives between to intertwine, orchestrated by mysterious gangster Dick Laurent...

Lynch's film has many similarities to Detour (1945), which concerned a jazz pianist who similarly creates a different life. The film even opens with the same shot of a yellow road marking. Lynch himself says he was drawn to making Lost Highway after reading the title in a Barry Gifford book called Night People, and tried to pursue making a film with the author...

This collaboration didn't bare fruit, but during a late-night car journey with editor Mary Sweeney, after shooting Fire Walk With Me, Lynch told her about a new storyline he'd been mulling over, inspired by the recent O.J Simpson trial -- which would become act one of Lost Highway. Sweeney liked it, and Gifford was was similarly impressed... so Lynch set to work.

David Lynch made the film for $15 million and, after its release in January 2007, it bombed at the US box-office, making $3.7 million by April. It did slightly better overseas, but it was still considered a big flop -- although non-US fans are the only ones who've been treated to a decent DVD release in 10 years!

These days, its popularity has grown with a cult crowd, with many new fans of Lynch's work experiencing Lost Highway first on late-night TV, then playing catch-up. Following the more commercial success of Mulholland Dr. and INLAND EMPIRE, it's also become a handy touchstone to the later movies, blessed with some memorably weird imagery and frightening sounds... all adding to that indefinable Lynchian creepiness...

Trivia

1. Lost Highway marks the final film appearances of Richard Pryor and Jack Nance. Robert Blake has also not appeared in a film since its release.

2. Marilyn Manson and Twiggy Ramirez appear in the film as porn stars.

3. Interior shots were filmed at the haunted Amargosa Hotel in Death Valley.

4. Fred Madison's house was designed and previously owned by David Lynch in real life.

5. Fred's phone number ends in '666'.

6. Robert Blake was later put on trial for killing his wife, echoing the film's plot. He was acquitted.

7. According to David Lynch, Lost Highway and Twin Peaks take place in the same world.

Links

Lost Highway & Mulholland Dr. Comparison
Lost Highway Explained

Day 28: Scream (1996)

Don't answer the phone.
Don't open the door.
Don't try to escape.

Screenwriter Kevin Williamson saw a 1994 episode of news-magazine show Turning Point about a serial killer operating around Gainesville, Florida, killing college students. Inspired by this real life case, and a fondness for 70s/80s slasher films, Williamson wrote a script called Scary Movie...

Where Scary Movie differed from conventional slasher films, is in how the characters treat the situation. In the mid-90s, teenagers were au fait with horror film conventions and the brainless victims of slasher films just didn't fit with the contemporary streetwise vibe. In essence, Williamson's characters had seen the slasher films they were now a part of...

Miramax bought the script in 1995 and director Wes Craven (horror maestro behind The Last House On The Left and A Nightmare On Elm Street) became attached. Craven had just finished New Nightmare -- a post-modern spin on his Freddy Kruger character -- so Scary Movie seemed like a chance to fully embrace this knowing, tongue-in-cheek style of horror...

Craven assembled his cast: Party of Five teen star Neve Campbell as heroine Sidney, Friends actress Courteney Cox as plucky reporter Gail, Cox's later husband David Arquette as Office Dewey, Jamie Kennedy as Randy, Matthew Lillard as Stu, Skeet Ulrich as Billy, Happy Days Henry Winkler as Principal Himbry, and Drew Barrymore as Casey.

It was Drew Barrymore's casting that would prove particularly clever -- as she was the most recognizable face on-screen, yet is famously killed after the bravura opening 12-minute scene. This worked wonders to unsettle the audience and make everyone unsure who would survive till the end... and, indeed, who the killer was...


Scary Movie was retitled Scream late in production, and released on 20 December 1996. Strangely, it actually only peaked at #3 in the US box-office, but received a lot of positive response from critics -- who felt it revitalized the tired slasher genre by approaching it from a different angle and having fun with the concept, whilst retaining effective scares. It went on to become a huge worldwide hit.

Scream was undoubtedly the catalyst for a resurgence of interest in slasher films, and the horror genre in general. Hot on its heels came Cherry Falls, Urban Legend, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and even parodies like 1999s Scary Movie.

A sequel, Scream 2, that reunited all the cast and crew, was released in 1997 and surprised everyone by being just as accomplished. Critics particularly liked how its nature as a sequel became an integral part of the film's narrative itself.

In 2000, Scream 3 was released, but screenwriter Kevin Williamson only provided the storyline, while Ehren Kruger penned the actual script. Again, everyone returned for this final chapter in the Scream trilogy, and the film did great business at the box-office... but reviews were notably mixed, with many people feeling the genre had again run out of steam and the plot itself was disappointing.

A fourth film has been mooted for a few years now, although the franchise seemed to reach a fitting conclusion with Scream 3. Wes Craven has long said a fourth film isn't likely, but has since admitted the studio is in talks about how to resurrect the franchise for another installment.

Trivia

1. The Ghostface character was mostly played by stuntman Dane Farwell. The actors only wore the costume when necessary (i.e, when taking it off the unmask themselves.)

2. The Exorcist star Linda Blair cameo's as a reporter.

3. To make Drew Barrymore cry, Wes Craven told her stories about animal cruelty and the death of her own dog.

4. Wes Craven found the iconic Ghostface mask whilst location scouting in California. Producer Bob Weinstein thought it looked idiotic, but was told to reserve judgement until he'd seen the first scene... after which, he admitted he was wrong.

5. A real high school in Santa Rosa was going to be used in the film, but they objected over the film's violent nature.

6. Billy Loomis' surname is named after Donald Pleasance's character in Halloween.

7. The school janitor ("Fred") is clearly modeled on the appearance of Freddy Kruger.

8. All Ghostface's phone calls were done on-set, with voice actor Roger Jackson.

Day 27: Evil Dead II (1987)

The Evil Dead was a notorious film in the UK, often cited as an example of the "video nasties" that were supposedly infiltrating people's homes via home video cassette. It was a 1981 low-budget horror about a haunted cabin out in the woods, where a group of friends are terrorized by various demons, until Ash (Bruce Campbell) becomes the sole survivor...

The possibility of a sequel was discussed by director Sam Raimi during production of Evil Dead, with the idea being to send hero Ash back in time to the Middle Ages (an idea that eventually come to fruition for the next sequel Army Of Darkness.)

Post-Evil Dead, Raimi instead went on to make Crimewave and expected it to be a big hit. Irvin Shapiro, a publicist who is credited as being responsible for Evil Dead's mainstream success, asked Raimi to instead consider doing Evil Dead II, but Raimi refused. Despite that, Shapiro put out adverts to promote the as-yet-unmade sequel!

Crimewave was released in 1985 and failed dismally at the box-office. Raimi and his producing partner Rob Tapert, fearing another flop would end their careers, accepted Shapiro's offer to make a sequel to Evil Dead. At the same time, hotshot producer Dino De Laurentiis approached Raimi about making the film adaptation of Stephen King's short story Thinner. Raimi declined, but King himself heard about the discussions and persuaded De Laurentiis to fund Evil Dead II, as he'd been a vocal supporter/fan of the first film.

De Laurentiis stumped up $3.6 million, which wasn't enough for Raimi and Tapert to pursue their Middle Ages idea. Instead, they opted for a straight sequel -- although legal reasons prevented Evil Dead II using scenes from the first film as a recap. They were forced to re-shoot a prologue, only with Ash and girlfriend as the only characters depicted in the prior events.

It's this unusual step that has meant Evil Dead II is often confused as being a remake of the first film. While that's not strictly true, it's very understandable. Both films are essentially the same story, only with Evil Dead II more interested in ghoulish laughs than the original...

Raimi, working with old friend Scott Spiegel, wrote the script with influences of slapstick humour included. Both nen had particularly loved The Three Stooges as children, and Evil Dead II is full of similar gags, physical performance and sight gags.

Actual filming took place in Wadesboro, North Carolina, not far from De Laurentiis' production offices. The shoot was far easier than Evil Dead's, primarily because of Raimi's additional experience, but there were some frustrations along the way: Sam's brother, actor Ted Raimi, had a particularly awful costume to wear as a fake shemp, with litres of sweat collecting under the latex.

Evil Dead II was released on 13 March 1987 and has so far made $5.9 million. It has since become a favourite horror-comedy of many people, and is often used to best exemplify that particularly sub-genre (along with An American Werewolf In London).

A direct sequel, Army Of Darkness, was released in 1993 -- this time with a budget to bring Raimi's Middle Ages idea to life. The sequel was more silly and jokey, so it's not to everyone's taste, but it's still entertaining with memorable scenes and lines. Of the "trilogy", Evil Dead II is most peoples' favourite, as it's far easier to watch than Evil Dead and gets the gore-to-gags quotient just right...

Sam Raimi obviously went on to greater successes, culminating recently with the Spider-Man trilogy (which featured memorable comic cameo's from friend Bruce Campbell.) Along with Peter Jackson, he's another director of a blockbuster movie trilogy who started out in low-budget horror.

Bruce Campbell has become synonymous with the Evil Dead movies and is now a cult hero for horror fans. He never managed to break into the mainstream, despite numerous attempts in the 90s on TV shows like Xena: Warrior Princess and Brisco County Jr, so has since embraced his B-movie credentials to star in things like Bubba-Hotep and various cheesy sci-fi/horror flicks. He's currently taken a straight acting gig on TV show Burn Notice, playing a former spy -- perhaps as another stab at mainstream credibility.

The prospect of a Evil Dead IV is often rumoured, with Raimi constantly teasing fans about the possibility he'll helm a low-budget sequel in-between mainstream flicks. More recently, a musical based on the first film has appeared, as well as a surge in merchandise like video-games, T-shirts, board games, action figures, etc.

A big-budget remake of Evil Dead is also on the cards now, with Raimi's blessing -- although fans are disappointed Bruce Campbell is unlikely to reprise his role...

Trivia

1. After shooting, Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell sang The Byrds' "Eight Miles High".

2. The glove belonging to Freddy Kruger can be seen in the tool shed. This was a return in-joke, as A Nightmare On Elm Street had featured Evil Dead on a TV screen.

3. Sam Raimi cameo's as the first medieval knight to greet Ash when he arrives in the past.

4. The film features an Oldsmobile Delta 88, which is a trademark of Raimi's films -- as that particular make of car appears in nearly all his films.

5. Most of the film was actually shot inside a High School gymnasium!

Links

Deadites Online

Day 26: The Twilight Zone (1959)

The quintessential anthology series is The Twilight Zone; created, written and narrated by Rod Serling. Serling was hot property in the 1950s as a TV writer, having penned scripts for The Doctor, Fireside Theatre and Hallmark Hall Of Fame, before achieving massive acclaim with The Rack and Requiem For A Heavyweight.

But it was in 1957 that Serling wrote the pilot for a weekly anthology series, entitled The Time Element -- a time-travel yarn about a man visiting Pearl Harbor prior to the Japanese attack. Serling wanted to craft similar stories for a continuing series, called The Twilight Zone, but after CBS bought his script, the project was shelved.

Bert Granet discovered Serling's script soon after, and The Time Element was made and released in 1958. It received widespread acclaim from the public, who flooded the studio with 6000 letters of praise. CBS courted Serling to create the intended anthology series, and a formal Pilot episode was written, called Where Is Everybody?

Serling assembled a team of writers for The Twilight Zone, aiming to provide insightful social commentary through fantastical means. Many of the characters would also be used to operate around an episode's parable, or allegory, to reflect their psychology.

The Twilight Zone proved to be a tough sell for Serling, with many critics turning their nose up at the idea of science fiction appealing to adults. Nevertheless, the series went ahead and Serling himself became synonymous with the show, acting as the narrator who introduced every episode -- and occasionally even interrupted storylines.

After its premiere in 1959, the show became a huge hit with critics, although ratings were initially low. The third episode, Mr Denton On Doomsday, fared particularly poorly with a lowly 16.3 rating. A short hiatus could have spelled the end for the show, but it scraped through to complete its first season. Funnily enough, many of The Twilight Zone's classic episodes come from this poor start: Time Enough At Last, The After Hours and Walking Distance.

Season 2 improved matters with better, surreal opening titles and the addition of new writers to the staff. In an effort to keep costs low, the show was shot in videotape instead of film, and it went on to win a few Emmy's, including Best Dramatic Writing for Serling.


By the third season, Serling was feeling drained. He has thus far written 48 scripts, equaling 78% of the show's output! This dropped to 56% in season 3. Critics noticed a drop in quality, but many classic episodes were still being written. Noted author Ray Bradbury also contributed a story. The show reached 100 episodes and got 2 Emmy nominations (cinematography and art design.)

1962. Season 4 heralded a change in title (dropping "The" to become Twilight Zone) and was expanded to an hour. Serling still contributed many scripts, but his producing took a backseat.

The fifth season would prove to be Twilight Zone's last, as behind-the-scenes problems with the staff resulted in unpopular rewrites and mismanagement by producer William Frough. Despite the problems, some classic episodes were still aired, such as Nightmare At 20,000 Feet (starring William Shatner) and Living Doll.

But, in late-1964, CBS canceled the series -- supposedly because of its big budget and poor ratings. Rival network ABC expressed interesting in continuing the show, but Serling wasn't happy about their intention to change the title to Witches, Warlocks & Werewolves!

Serling sold his 40% in The Twilight Zone to CBS and left the show behind... although he would return to the genre in 1969s Night Gallery TV series.

The show left an indelible mark on the TV landscape that wasn't easy to forget. Steven Spielberg produced a homage to the show called Twilight Zone: The Movie in 1983 (which famously remade the Nightmare At 20,000 Feet episode as a vignette with John Lithgow), but the film faced a lukewarm response. CBS had considered reviving the show on TV for many years prior, but it only happened when the young fans of the 50s series grew into adult screenwriters in the 80s...

So, in 1984 an official revival took place and the show was reborn with 80s-era special effects and the writing talent of J. Michael Straczynski (who would go on to create Babylon 5 in the 90s). The new series, sometimes referred to as The New Twilight Zone, wasn't a big hit -- but it has retained a cult following and a few episodes are held in high esteem, such as Her Pilgrim Soul.

In 1994, Serling's widow discovered a Twilight Zone script called Where The Dead Are whilst rummaging through her late-husband's things. A project entitled Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics was produced, using Serling's unmade script and one by Richard Matheson. The resulting 2-hour special met with mixed feelings from audiences. The ratings weren't very good, so a proposed sequel (using 3 more Matheson scripts) wasn't pursued.

UPN created a second revival of the show in 2002, with Forest Whitaker narrating. The show was 1 hour long, but consisted of 2 standalone stories. Most episodes were brand new, although the series did remake some classic stories, such as The Monsters Are On Maple Street and Eye Of The Beholder. Just like its 50s progenitor, it tackled modern day issues through fantasy, but only lasted one season because of bad ratings.

Along the way, the series has also inspired a comic-book run, radio series, theme park ride and pinball game! Not to mention an affectionate parody in the cartoon series Futurama, where the show is known as The Scary Door.

Trivia

1. CBS originally wanted Orson Welles to narrate the series.

2. Rod Serling encouraged viewers to send in scripts for the show. He received 14,000 screenplays from eager fans... but could only manage to read 500... and found only 2 that he liked. Unfortunately, those 2 didn't really fit the show's format, so were never taken any further.

Day 25: Saw (2004)

How much blood would you shed to stay alive?

Saw started life as a 9-minute short film, directed by James Whan. It was essentially a scene taken from a film script Whan had written with Leigh Whannell, which the two filmmakers used as a "calling card" for studios/actors to back their intended feature-length film...

The short film starred Whannell as David, a hospital orderly being interviewed by police about his experience as an escaped victim of a psychotic killer. In flashback, we're shown David in a locked room with the infamous "reverse bear-trap" on his head, essentially reprising the scene from the subsequent film -- which starred actress Shawnee Smith as Amanda. The original short appeared on the Saw: Uncut Edition DVD and can also be viewed here.

Whan's short film worked and Twisted Pictures stepped in to give Whan and Whannell $1.2 million to create the whole film. Whannell himself co-starred as Adam, a man who wakes up in an empty bathroom, chained to a pipe. Cary Elwes played Dr Lawrence Gordon, a stranger chained in the same room. Both discover a dead body between them; an apparent suicide. The movie is essentially a mystery, with both men trying to work out who is detaining them and for what purpose...

Flashbacks slowly shed some light on the matter, and it becomes clear Adam and Lawrence are the latest victims of a man known as "Jigsaw" -- who's being tracked by Detective Tapp (Danny Glover.) Jigsaw's modus operandi is to force those he captures to "play a game" and earn their freedom by forcing them to perform acts of self-mutilation, or murder, often against the clock...

Saw was shot in 18 days, with just 5 days pre-production time! As a consequence, the actors didn't rehearse -- in fact, most of the film is made up of their unrehearsed first takes! After filming was completed and edited, positive screenings at the Sundance Film Festival ensured it a theatrical release -- despite initially being planned as a straight-to-video horror...

James Whan took a risk, but decided to be paid in a percentage of the film's takings, instead of a fixed wage. This proved to be a very wise business decision, as Saw eventually made over $55 million at the US box-office and over $100 million worldwide!

The success of Saw with audiences was such a surprise that a sequel was greenlit the weekend of its release. Saw II was directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, who co-wrote the script with Leigh Whannell. It was released for Halloween, just a year after Saw's release, and made character actor Tobin Bell's performance as villain Jigsaw more integral to events. Saw II had a $4 million budget and made $144 million, despite very disappointing reviews.

The studio were making huge profits, so Saw III was fast-tracked into production for the following Halloween, with a $12 million budget. Saw III was again directed by Bousman, but this time original director James Whan returned to co-write with Whannell. It made $164 million worldwide. Saw IV was put into quick production for this Halloween, but with a slightly reduced budget of $10 million. It is released in UK cinemas tomorrow...

At the moment, there is a plan to rest the Saw franchise in 2008, but Saw V and Saw VI are expected to be filmed back-to-back and released for Halloween 2009 and 2010.

While Saw has undoubtedly become a money-making franchise, with the sequels proving less effective than the original, it's unfortunate that the general consensus is to dismiss 2004's Saw as little more than "torture porn" (a tabloid phrase it's often credited for inspiring.) I didn't like Saw II and found Saw III only a mild improvement, but I still credit the original as being a very effective, low-budget horror idea.

Two people in a room, dialogue, flashbacks, $1.2 million to play with, no rehearsals -- everything basically relied on the concept, execution and script. And it worked brilliantly. I still think Saw's famous twist-ending is one of the most enjoyable such plot-devices since The Sixth Sense pulled the rug from under audiences in 1999.

Saw the franchise may have a bad reputation with critics, but audiences lap them up and, y'know what -- that first film is a great Western translation of Japanese shock cinema... and damn entertaining to boot. But yeah, Saw V and VI? Give it a rest, guys!

Trivia

1. Director James Whan's original cut was rated NC-17.

2. In the film, the detectives trace a fire alarm to a warehouse on Stygian Street. Stygian being the name of Whan's first film.

Links

Official Word Of Saw
Official Saw Website & Fan Club
Official Saw Website

Day 24: Alien (1979)

In space no-one can hear you scream.

After working on Dark Star in 1974, writer Dan O'Bannon wanted to recycle the idea of an alien hunting a spaceship's crew, for a more straightforward sci-fi horror. His first script, Memory, formed the basis for a collaboration with fellow writer Ronald Shusett -- although O'Bannon's time was interrupted by his work trying to adapt Frank Herbert's novel Dune.

It was while working on Dune that O'Bannon met designers H.R Giger, Chris Foss and Moebius, but when Dune fell through he returned home broke. O'Bannon moved in with Shusett, who suggested they combine elements of O'Bannon's early script for Gremlins (later to become a 1984 hit film), with the creature somehow stowing away on board the spaceship.

Later, Ron Cobb, a designer who had worked on Dark Star, suggested giving the creature acid for blood -- so they couldn't just shoot it. O'Bannon and Shusett set to work and drafted Star Beast,a cheesy title they both hated, so O'Bannon decided to use a term that seemed to appear constantly throughout the script: Alien.

This first draft of Alien contains many similarities to the finished film, but the Nostromo spaceship is described as being much smaller (and known as the Snark), has an all-male crew, and the inside of the alien spaceship itself contains a weird pyramid with breathable oxygen inside. The script also didn't feature an impregnation of a crew member until the mid-way point, after a long build-up, and the final scene included a shot of an alien egg attached to the escape shuttle. Indeed, the egg set-up for a sequel was only cut from the script a year before the film's release date.

With the script finished, the writers began trying to sell it around town, with Roger Corman coming very close to buying it. But eventually Alien sold to Brandywine -- a production company run by Walter Hill, David Giler and Gordon Carroll -- who has a deal with 20th Century Fox. Brandywine promoted the script to Fox, where a reader summarized the script with the phrase: "It's like Jaws, but in space."

The tagline generated a last-minute rewrite to make Alien more action-packed -- the changes including the now integral character of robot Ash, almost completely new dialogue and a theme of motherhood. However, Fox stalled on beginning production on Alien, as such films were a rarity in Hollywood and it wasn't expected to be a success. But, after Star Wars demolished the box-office in 1977, Alien was fast-tracked into production with a $8 million budget...

British director Ridley Scott came aboard, with the productions set up at Shepperton Studios in England. O'Bannon's Dune contact, H.R Giger, was shipped over from Zurich to create the overall look of the alien creature and architecture, while Ron Cobb from Dark Star became a resident artist on the film.

It was Giger's work that would have the biggest impact on Alien. His dark, sinister, frighteningly sexual designs were startling creations, and represented an entirely different approach to showing an alien creature on film.

Scott assembled an eclectic cast for the film: Tom Skerritt as Captain Dallas, Veronica Cartwright as Lambert, Harry Dean Stanton as Brett, Ian Holm as android Ash, John Hurt as Kane (who would star in the infamous "chestburster" sequence, where the alien is "born" from inside Kane's stomach), Yaphet Cotto as Parker and, of course, Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley -- the eventual heroine.

These days it's difficult to appreciate, but there weren't many leading female action stars at the time, and Ripley is never treated as the main character in Alien -- which makes her eventual heroism far more unpredicted and powerful as a result...

Alien was released on 25 May 1979, to universal acclaim. It terrified a generation and its influence it still felt today, with most dystopian science-fiction films borrowing from it. Film historians also point to Alien as launching the so-called "body horror" sub-genre of horror, and for twisting sci-fi movies away from the clean, polished Star Trek style into something more believable and atmospheric. It won the 1979 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and received a nomination for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration.

A similarly influential sequel, Aliens, was produced in 1986 -- with director James Cameron retooling the film as a horror/sci-fi action film, with Sigourney Weaver now the undoubted star. In 1993, Alien3 disappointed the fan-base with a weak, depressing sequel, hamstrung by a difficult shoot, although it has since found some respect following a slightly improved Director's Cut from director David Fincher. A fourth movie, Alien: Resurrection, continued the saga, but it was widely panned and is generally hated by fans. Rumours of a fifth film, to complete the saga, often surface on the internet... but nothing ever comes of them.

The iconic H.R Giger-designed creatures themselves recently co-starred in Alien Vs Predator, to box-office success but fan disdain. A sequel is due for release soon, entitled Alien Vs Predator: Requiem.

Trivia

1. For some shots of the Nostromo crew outside their ship, children were used -- to make the ship seem much bigger than it was!

2. The 2003 Director's Cut of Alien restored many scenes; most notably a "cocoon scene" that reveals the fate of the captured Nostromo crew.

3. Alien was the first R-rate film to have its own toy line for kids: a jigsaw, board game, storybook and an 18-inch Alien figure. All of which are highly collectible today.

4. Nostromo is a title of a Joseph Conrad book. The shuttle Ripley escapes on is called Narcissus; another Conrad reference.

5. 130 alien eggs were created for the chamber scene.

6. To get Jones the cat to hiss and look frightened, a German shepherd dog was obscured behind a screen -- which was then lifted at the right moment.

7. There is no dialogue for the first 6 minutes

8. Tendons in the jaws of the Alien were created using shredded condoms!

Links

Alien Legacy
Alien: Director's Cut - Ridley Scott interview
H.R Giger Official Site

Day 23: The Thing (1982)

Man is the warmest place to hide.

Who Goes There? was a science fiction novella written by John W. Campbell, Jr, published in a 1938 issue of Astounding Stories. It concerned a group of Antarctic researchers who discover an alien spaceship, only for its shape-shifting extra-terrestrial occupant to sneak inside their compound, disguised as a sled dog...

The story was first adapted by director Howard Hawks in 1951 as The Thing From Another World. Hawks' version was fortuitously helped by a national fear of communism at the time, so the stalking of the Arctic crew by an alien mind without morality was particularly frightening.

A second adaptation of Who Goes There? arguably came in 1973, with a loose retelling in Horror Express, where a Professor (played by Christopher Lee) is transporting the frozen remains of an alien creature on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

However, the most famous and successful adaptation came with John Carpenter's 1982 film The Thing. Carpenter was already a big fan of Howard Hawks' original -- with scenes appearing on a TV in his earlier film Halloween -- but his remake followed the original novel far more closely. The Thing starred Carpenter regular Kurt Russell and is considered a benchmark in make-up effect. Many of its non-CGI creature effects -- created by Rob Bottin, who had worked on The Howling and The Fog-- continuing to impress over 20 years later...

Sadly, upon its release, The Thing failed dismally at the box-office -- probably because E.T had come out 2 weeks earlier with a more optimistic view of alien contact. Blade Runner was also released the same day, which had another impact on audience attendance. However, throughout the 80s, the film's popularity grew on VHS video and it's today seen as a cult classic of "body horror".

Since the late-90s, talk of sequels and remakes have persisted. The Sci-Fi Channel were planning a 4-hour mini-series in 2003, which had Carpenter's blessing, but nothing came of it. In 2006, Strike Entertainment (the company behind Slither and the Dawn Of The Dead remake) announced they were looking for writers to work on a movie prequel, but that has now gone quiet. Lately, according to Variety magazine, Ronald D. Moore is preparing a remake of The Thing, with Marc Abraham and Eric Newman penning the script.

The Thing has spawned a popular 2002 video game, which acted as a loose sequel to Carpenter's film. Dark Horse comics produced 3 mini-series sequels to the film, although its events are not accepted as canon. Despite that, John Carpenter is a fan of the comic-book sequels and has said he would adapt them if he ever filmed a sequel.

Trivia

1. Ennio Morricone scored The Thing; a rare instance of director John Carpenter not scoring his own film.

2. The film was banned in Finland when it was first released.

3. The video footage the characters watch of the Norwegian teams first discovering the UFO comes from Howard Hawks' original film.

4. During filming indoors in Los Angeles, the sound stages were refrigerated to 40F, with the outside temperate at 100F.

5. In the scene where Dr Cooper's arms are severed, a real-life amputee stand-in was used.

6. The female computer voice was performed by John Carpenter's wife Adrienne Barbeau.

7. There are no female characters in this film, unless you count the aforementioned computer!

8. One character is called "Mac", the other "Windows".

Links

John Carpenter - The Thing
The Thing & Pulp Horror

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Day 22: Re-Animator (1985)

"Who's going to believe a talking head? Get a job in a sideshow."

-- Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs)

In 1921, H.P Lovecraft wrote a serialized short story called Herbert West: Re-Animator, intended as a parody of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, about the eponymous inventor of a solution called "reagent" that can bring the dead back to life.

Lovecraft himself detested the Herbert West series of short stories, which he only wrote for financial reasons, calling them drivel written for the masses. He particularly hated how every issue had to end with a cliffhanger and the subsequent issue had to include a recap. Whatever his feelings, the stories predicted a style of zombie that would become popular decades later in George Romero's movies, so Herbert West: Re-Animator is today considered a notable literary precursor to a whole sub-genre of film.

In 1950, 13 years after Lovecraft's death of intestinal cancer, the stories became the basis for an adaptation in a magazine called From The Tomb. But it was a film update 35 years later that would prove most successful, with the release of Re-Animator in 1985...

Director Stuart Gordon was behind this 1985 adaptation of Lovecraft's uncelebrated work, with actor Jeffrey Combs playing Herbert West -- an expelled student at Zurich, who arrives in New England to continue his work into reviving corpses...

Made for just $900,000, Re-Animator is often considered to be the only adaptation of H.P Lovecraft's work that faithfully recreates the American author's unusual style -- despite the fact it willfully puts a humorous slant on the material. The film is a fun, energetic parody of traditional horror films and has achieved cult following. It's also one of the 80s' goriest flicks.

Two sequels have been made, both directed by Brian Yuzna: 1991s Bride Of Re-Animator (poking fun at Bride Of Frankenstein) and 2003's Beyond Re-Animator. Both are inferior to the original, but still great fun for fans of Herbert West and his special serum...

Trivia

1. Director James Cameron's father appears in the film as the man sitting next to Meg with his head bandaged up!

2. The first man re-animated was Arnold Schwarzenegger's body double!

3. The production used 25 gallons of fake blood on the shoot.

Day 21: Carrie (1976)

"It has nothing to do with Satan, Mama. It's me.
If I concentrate hard enough, I can move things..."

Carrie was the first novel horror maestro Stephen King ever had published -- which was fortunate, seeing as his wife had rescued it from the bin! It was released in 1974 as a run of 30,000 copies, but only 13,000 were sold in hardback. A year later though, the paperback version sold a staggering 1 million copies!

The book told the story of Carrie White, a shy teenager suffering abuse from her Christian fundamentalist mother. As a result of her repressed, tortured existence, she becomes a social outcast at high school; famously taunted when she has her first period in a shower, but doesn't understand what's happening...

As Prom Night approaches, Carrie is amazed when a good-looking boy (Tommy Ross) asks her to accompany him as her date, on the orders of his remorseful girlfriend Sue Snell. However, as Carrie's big day arrives, she's unaware of a spiteful prank to rig the Prom Queen vote and drench her in pig's blood... but the pranksters themselves are unaware Carrie has latent telekinetic abilities...

Not long after Carrie's book release, director Brian De Palma expressed interest in adapting the novel into a film. Lawrence D. Cohen turned King's novel into a faithful screenplay, although his subsequent drafts deviated from the source material.

De Palma held a joint audition for Carrie alongside George Lucas, who was trying to assemble a cast for his Star Wars picture. A common myth exists that Sissy Spacek was cast as Princess Leia and Carrie Fisher got the part of Carrie... but they switched roles when Fisher declined to do any nudity for DePalma's film. Fisher later refuted this rumour in Premiere magazine.

Whatever the circumstances, Sissy Spacek got the lead role and other actors soon joined the film: Piper Laurie as Carrie's religious mother, William Katt as Carrie's date Tommy and John Travolta in an early role as chief prankster Billy.

Carrie had a limited release in 1976 on just 409 screens. After it received a wider release, the $1.8 million film made $5 million. In a year, it had made $33 million. Today, that total stands at $50 million. Reviews at the time were mostly glowing and the film received some Academy Award nominations (Best Actress for Sissy Spacek and Best Supporting Actress for Piper Laurie).

These days Carrie is considered a seminal horror film and one of the best (if not the best) Stephen King adaptation. Sissy Spacek's blood-soaked appearance at the Prom Night is now an iconic horror image, and the film itself has been parodied and referenced countless times.

But it's perhaps best remembered for that classic shock ending....

A Broadway musical was attempted in 1988, but it closed after just 16 previews and 5 dismal performances. A film sequel, Carrie 2: The Rage, was released in 1999. It so disappointed Stephen King that he pleaded in Entertainment Weekly that Hollywood never attempt another sequel. Duly, a 2002 made-for-TV remake was released, with Angela Bettis in the title role and a plot that followed King's novel more precisely (albeit now set in contemporary times.) The remake also flopped, although Bettis performance was praised.

Trivia

1. Actress Betty Buckley (the gym teacher) went on to star in Carrie: The Musical as Carrie's mother.

2. The name of the school is Bates High, after the character Norman Bates in Psycho.

3. The blood dumped on Sissy Spacek was karo syrup and food colouring, although the actress wasn't opposed to having real blood used.

4. Melanie Griffith auditioned for the role of Carrie.

5. The actresses used in the opening shower sequence were reluctant to appear naked, until they saw some test shots of Sissy Spacek.

6. Sissy Spacek slept in bloody clothes for 3 days of filming.

Links

The Original Trailer

Day 20: Hellraiser (1987)

"Jesus wept..."

Clive Barker is an English horror author with a notable bibliography that includes The Damnation Game, Imajica and Sacrament. But it's his second novel, The Hellbound Heart (1986), that has had the most influence over the public's perception of Barker's work. Particularly for film fans, as it was his sophomore novel that provided the basis for his debut movie Hellraiser in 1987...

As well as being a celebrated author, Barker has always maintained a keen interest in film making. Indeed, two experimental short films, The Forbidden and Salome, received critical acclaim when they were later released on DVD. But the feature-film Hellraiser remains Barkers most celebrated work, with him writing and directing this influential late-80s horror...

The story concerns Larry Cotton (Andrew Robinson), who moves into his dead brother's abandoned house in England, with his wife Julia (Clare Higgins) -- who once had an affair with Larry's brother Frank -- and their teenage daughter Kirsty (Ashley Laurence). During their move, Larry accidentally cuts his hand on a protruding nail and a drip of blood is consumed by the floorboards of an empty room...

Unbeknownst to Larry, his dead brother's spirit uses that drop of blood to regenerate a physical form -- later appearing as a bloody corpse to Julia, and imploring her to help him escape a hellish dimension he was swallowed into, after he solved a mysterious puzzle box...

Now, you may have noticed I haven't even used the word "Pinhead" yet. But yes, Hellraiser is best known for actor Doug Bradley's evil demon (a Cenobite), who earned the nickname "Pinhead" because his shaven head is covered in equally-spaced nails. In the film's script he's simple called Lead Cenobite...

It's another interesting example of a minor character later becoming the iconic face you associate with a franchise (just as Jason Vorhees was basically a cameo in Friday The 13th). Even stranger, Pinhead is Barker's second success at inadvertently creating a horror icon, after his short story The Forbidden became The Candyman in 1992.

Made for just $1 million, Hellraiser took $20 million at the box-office. It has spawned 7 increasingly sillier sequels: '88s Hellraiser II, '92s Hell On Earth, '96s Bloodline, '00s Inferno, '02s Hellseeker and '05s Deader and Hellworld.

Clive Barker himself is currently producing a Hellraiser remake, scheduled for a 2008 release, which he will write. Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury are directing, following their critically-lauded debut film Inside. The duo have confirmed their Barker-scripted remake will have a new story and a new Pinhead...

Trivia

1. It took actor Doug Bradley 6 hours to have his make-up applied.

2. Hellraiser's original title was Sadomasochists From Beyond The Grave!

3. The address of the abandoned house is 55 Ludobivo Place, named after The Ludovici Institute where Alex was deprogrammed in A Clockwork Orange.

4. The original VHS release offered a bonus feature; a bizarre Home Shopping Channel sketch where a creepy old lady sold merchandise from the film!

5. The poor special effects at the film's end were a direct result of the low budget. Clive Barker as and an unknown "Greek guy" hand-animated the effects themselves over a weekend, whilst getting very drunk.

6. Actor Andrew Robinson convinced Clive Barker to change a line in the script from "Fuck you" to the now classic "Jesus wept".

Links

Revelations - Official Clive Barker Resource
Hellraiser: The Hellbound Web

Day 19: Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers (1978)

Jack Finney's book, The Body Snatchers (1955), was first adapted into a film back in 1956, where Finney's tale of alien spores taking duplicating and killing the human population, became an allegory for the Soviet "Red Menace" of the Cold War era...

Such political allegory was never the novel or original film's intent, but The Body Snatchers has since become a celebrated science fiction idea that always adjusts to its times. Director Philip Kaufman's 1978 remake of the '56 original is perhaps the more popular version...

It starred Donald Sutherland as San Francisco health inspector Matthew Bennell -- who realizes the world's population are being replaced in their sleep by clones grown from "alien pods". The resulting "Pod People" are identical to the original humans, but lack emotions -- so Matthew joins up with others to try and halt this stealth-like alien invasion, before the world is taken over.

The 1978 remake was considered an allegory for political mistrust in a post-Watergate, post-Vietnam America. This is most obvious when Sutherland's character calls Washington and finds the voice on the other end knows his name and has been intercepting his calls. Many people also consider the film a satire of the so-called "Me Decade", with a self-hero guru (played by Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy) dismissing the notion of an alien invasion, but later endorses it.

Most famously, the 1978 remake disposed of the original's happy ending (where the FBI were alerted to the situation and, presumably, took measures to stop the invasion). In the 1978 version, a classic twist ending is introduced. Interestingly, when the 1956 original was re-released in 1979, its happy ending was cut -- meaning both films now share a tragic finale.

Jack Finney's celebrated novel has been remade twice since 1978, too. In 1993, Abel Ferrara directed Body Snatchers, which received mixed reviews at the time, but is generally considered a worthwhile venture now.

More recently, The Invasion adapted the Body Snatchers idea again, and attracted the talents of Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. German director Oliver Hirschbiegel made his Hollywood debut with the film, after wowing critics with his WWII foreign-language film Downfall. The 2007 remake hoped to provide a post-9/11 allegory -- with terrorist sleeper cells obvious parallels for the "Pod People" walking amongst us.

The Invasion was a box office disaster in the US (and now the UK). As of 3 October 2007, it has taken just $20 million, but cost the studio $65 million to make! Some people claim Hirschbiegel's original cut just wasn't what the studio expected, so they had the Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix) write additional scenes and lengthy re-shoots were done by James McTeige (V For Vendetta), mainly adding action sequences.

Whatever the reasons for the latest remake's failure, the Body Snatchers idea remains a potent one, with its influence stretching across dozens of films and TV series ideas (like The Invaders). I'm sure the Pod People will return to cinemas another day, in a different political climate, with more success...

Trivia

1. The 1978 remake featured cameos from Kevin McCarthy and Don Siegel, actors who starred in the 1956 original.

2. Director Philip Kaufman cameos as a man rapping on the glass of a phone booth being used by Donald Sutherland.

3. Donald Sutherland insisted on performing his own stunts for the finale. A fireball erupting from a factory missed Sutherland, but seriously burned an extra in the explosion.