'The Hitcher' was released in 1986 (fuck that remake) to mixed reviews, with critics criticising the film on its action over character development approach and that the action was needlessly overblown. Style over substance, basically, but it has gone on to become a cult classic, so what do they know, eh? There is also loads of talk of homosexual undertones but then they say that for every film and I never see it.
What did I think? Well, I'll keep this brief because I really can't do it justice. It's a 1980's film featuring Rutger Hauer as basically the Terminator...but he is completely human, which makes him a billion times more badass. The film is brilliantly directed, features some beautiful cinematography and some absolutely kick ass practical effect set piece moments as it spends an hour and a half teasing you with hope and then snatching it away every moment you think you're safe, John Ryder you scary, scary bastard. The Hitcher is not just a classic, but a downright masterpiece, I fucking love this movie.The 1974 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' was the birthplace of one of horrors most iconic villains, Leatherface - the name comes from the fact he wears masks of human skin. The film pretended to be a true story, came politically charged and took elements from real life murderer Ed Gein. The production of the film has become pretty famous too given the films tiny budget and what the filmmakers had to do to get around that fact. Despite initially getting banned in a lot of places and taking a slamming from the critics, it was extremely successful financially and has gone on to become not just a cult classic, but a true classic. And look, even more than with The Hitcher, a few sentences really doesn't do the film justice. Just know, there is a reason this is regarded as a classic, it's a masterpiece.
My final recommendation sorta fits with the general theme of the post, being that is a remake of a 1985 horror film. Two classics and a remake! It's been a long time since I saw the original so I can't really comment on how good it is as a remake, that will probably be something I'll have to get too later, but as a film it's highly enjoyable - and that is Fright Night.Guess what, the critics actually liked this one! And you know it's good if the mainstream critics praise the thing. They were impressed with the way it balanced scares and laughs.
What really saves Fright Night from otherwise genericness is that it doesn't assume you are an idiot. Whereas many vampire films bog themselves down with lore and waste half of the movie having the main characters fight over what is real and refuse to believe in what is happening so the plot can't bloody start, Fright Night goes 'look here is a bit of vague evidence, vampires are real, get the fuck on with it' giving the film a great sense of pace and way more time to actually concentrate on the action and scares. There is admittedly some terrible CGI which does undermine a lot of the film, being that it is more action in focus than horror but the action is still well shot, directed and scripted that means it's still heaps of fun, if you look past the lacklustre special effects.Plus the central performances of Colin Farell as an absolutely awesome vampire and David Tenant as well...his awkward blend of personality threads that makes him feel like he is from another movie entirely provide something really quite special for the film.
In the end, it's just a highly enjoyable little vampire movie, with a much more badass flavour than the sea of Twilightesque vampire movies out there. And one I'd highly recommend.Think About It!
-Locke
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