Classic Villain "The Reaper" Jeepers Creepers

A brother and sister driving home for spring break encounter a flesh-eating creature in the isolated countryside that is on the last day of its ritualistic eating spree.

Jeepers Creepers takes a welcome approach back to the old days of monster movies. It was this premise and presentation that made Jeepers Creepers 1 of my all time favorite films to watch. It also seems to have put actors Gina Philips and Justin Long on the map with their fantastic complimenting performance per brother and sister.

The film’s intro instantly focuses on the level of relationship that the 2 share with a back story of where they are coming from. An urban legend is planted in discussion with a mystery menacing vehicle not far behind. This road threat is only the begiining to the twist of events that are about to play out. Gina Philips stars as Patricia ‘Trish’ Jenner, the snappy sister who is getting over a relationship gone sour. Justin Long is her brother Darry Jenner returning home from college break. The 2 have opted for the scenic route which takes them thru the rural parts of the countryside. This countryside is also home to highway 9 which legend has it “claimed 2 victims” who to this day have gone missing.

The road trip is suddenly turned into a adventure when a extremely large menacing truck starts to play road games with them. Though it’s the passing of an old church that they spot the driver dumping dead bodies into a pipe that really ramps their interest. The film progresses into elevated levels of terror as they end up confronting this monster-menace of a stranger. The stranger is known by his pseudo villain name of “The Creeper” played by actor Jonathan Breck. “The Creeper” has an agenda and a mission that directly effects the 2 travelers. “Once he gets your scent, he’ll follow you to the ends of the earth”. “The Creeper” provides an instant villain with new surprises around every corner. His supernatural associations makes him an interesting mythical entity that seems to exist within the Jeepers Creepers world. Oh ya, the song “Jeepers Creepers” plays when trouble is brewing….take note

To date I believe I have seen this film 10 times. My attraction to this movie is the gradual build up of character on “The Creeper” character who transforms several times over the course of the movie. This transformation comes simple in a lack of full exposure that the director gives to us in portions. These portions being the redneck, the dirty old man, the monster, the villain and then at last the full fledged demon. In short we don’t get the full picture really all at once in explanation or visuals. We barely even know the origin of this thing which is hinted at thru script dialog. The 2nd film, tends to fill in those missing pieces a bit more, but there is something to be said for “lack of” and implication.

The movie was initially received with great response and a theatre showing .Jeepers actually exceeded its budget in returns by 49 million which made it a winner to “United Artists”, the studio behind it. Though somewhere along the line, some ass hole reviewer started to pick it apart and over criticize the film creating a wave of “it’s not cool to like “Jeepers Creepers” in motion. My research, determined that the film has a cult following that agree on its certain brilliance.

I say, stick to your gut instinct, as by my interests, this is not only a great film but an iconic addition to the genre. “The Creeper” should have been a icon it itself, though less than favorable reviews on its sequel sort of killed it’s motion. Director Victor Salva had his bases lined up in the original making it a classic by its own right. It follows the directorial “direction” of great filmmaking using a constant progression of events and tension culminating into it’s ultimate final confrontation.

Those who saw the film were not as pleased with its ending, which to me was more of an add on than a resolve. Though for those who might attempt to analyze it tighter would find that it provides a base for sequel, a follow up to the earlier foreshadow and a revolve on the main character of Darry Jenner. Even in it’s nastiness, there is a darker sense of humor left to consume as the titles roll by. Perhaps not the ending you were looking for, but original and unique. Upon review, a 3rd film has been announced that is currently under production.

Fun Facts – IMDB
Gina Philips (Trish) and Justin Long (Darry) were not allowed to meet Jonathan Breck before filming (in order to get a true reaction from them when they actually did see him with his full costume and makeup), nor did they see the BEATNGU truck before the opening scene was shot. When Philips first saw the truck, she said something to the effect of: “Is that the truck? Jeepers, that’s creepy.”

The original title was “Here comes the Boogeyman”.

At the time of its release Jeepers Creepers was the highest grossing film to ever be released during Labor Day weekend. The record would subsequently be broken by its own sequel,

The Exorcist Re Master Blu-ray

When a 12-year old girl is possessed by demons, a young priest takes it upon himself to selflessly save her at the behest of her famous movie-star mother.

The Exorcist Blu-ray Review
Warner is plotting to take over the world, one magnificent catalog release at a time...
Reviewed by Kenneth Brown, October 5, 2010

If the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist, the greatest trick The Exorcist ever pulled was convincing audiences he just might. Can any film that's risen in its wake say the same? It never ceases to amaze me that some thirty-seven years after its original theatrical release, horror filmmakers are still desperately chasing director William Friedkin and writer William Peter Blatty's legacy, each one failing to deliver a more startling depiction of evil incarnate. Many have tried. To their credit, a small but frightening handful have even brushed greatness. But while these scant few have chipped away at The Exorcist in one regard or another -- be it storytelling, special effects, atmosphere, shock value or any one of the elusive elements that transform a horror film into a horror classic -- it's tough to name a single standout from the last four decades that bests Friedkin and Blatty's macabre masterpiece on every front. Owen Roizman's deceptively simple, utterly haunting cinematography. Steve Boeddeker's unnerving score. The film's unexpected yet flawless casting. Jason Miller's raw but restrained performance. Sweet, little Linda Blair's mangled, unholy face. Ellen Burstyn's unhinged terror. Blatty's searing screenplay. Pazuzu and its ungodly mindgames. Friedkin's sharp eye and steady hand at the helm. Ten Academy Award nominations... make no mistake, The Exorcist may just be a perfect genre storm.




The following is primarily a review of Friedkin's theatrical cut; in my opinion, the superior version of the film.



It all begins with one of the classiest, creepiest openings to ever launch a horror film. Archaeologist and veteran Catholic priest, Father Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow), examines a small stone carving in Iraq before locking eyes with a larger statue; a sneering, animalistic totem whose insidious face all but taunts the aging man. Dissonant music ascends to a feverish pitch, ravenous dogs battle to the death and The Exorcist, without much pomp or circumstance, announces its arrival. Elsewhere, in Georgetown, an actress named Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) grows increasingly concerned as her twelve-year-old daughter Regan (Linda Blair) undergoes a series of strange behavioral changes. Seizures, outbursts and inhuman developments leave the girl's doctors and psychiatrists baffled, unable to provide her mother with a viable physical or psychological diagnosis. When a personal friend, a grown man no less, is found dead outside of their home, Chris seeks advice from a dramatically different source: a nearby church. Its priest, Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller), agrees to visit the MacNeil household and observe Regan. What he finds though -- a disheveled girl tortured by mysterious forces, claiming to be Satan himself -- leaves Karras reeling in doubt. Soon thereafter, the church orders an exorcism, Father Merrin flies in to perform the ritual, Karras struggles to reconcile his beleaguered faith and a showdown of the cinematic ages ensues.

But how does one begin to dissect the many, many elements that make The Exorcist everything it is? Why does it continue to resonate all these years later? How, in an age of CG-magic and seamless practical effects, can a horror flick from the early '70s leave such lasting scars? From the birth of Blatty's vicious soul-bender to the culmination of Friedkin's disturbing, stomach-churning vision, it really all comes down to one thing: the film's methodical approach to what might otherwise be a derivative, schlocky tale of good versus evil. Blatty taps into the mundane aspects of everyday life and, like every great horror maestro before and after him, places a small group of flawed but relatable protagonists into truly terrifying circumstances; unspeakable horrors that bend and break anyone and everyone unfortunate enough to be caught in Evil's snare. His story isn't just about a distraught mother and her possessed child; it's about a man struggling with a crisis of faith, a wise sage's willingness to reenter the veritable lion's den and the inexplicable victimization of an innocent. Blatty takes the time to examine Chris's unyielding love and powerless desperation, Karras's dance with his own personal devils and Merrin's exhaustion at the end of a long and eventful career. Each emotion is terribly familiar, each reaction genuine; each development organic, each revelation a shock to the system. All the while, Blatty pits mother, daughter and men of the cloth against an ancient entity so awful, so immoral, so unabashedly obscene that it seems unstoppable. Blatty didn't just create one of cinema's most vile villains, he pitted his bristling beastie against believable human beings.

Friedkin, in turn, presents The Exorcist without unnecessary flash or spectacle. Regan's rotating head and projectile vomit may stick in audiences' minds, but the film's gory details are in short supply compared to its study of Miller and Burstyn's authentic reactions to the girl's torment. His camera lingers on their faces far more than it does on Regan's physical torment; his eye is drawn to the quaint conversations and meaningful bonds that connect Blatty's characters to the real world rather than the pulpy nature of the horrors that await them; his actors are given leave to dig as deep as they can and serve up their souls for all to see. The result? Miller, Burstyn, von Sydow and Blair invest every fiber of their being into their performances, making The Exorcist a nuanced multi-character study, a heart-wrenching drama, an intense supernatural thriller and a gruesome, altogether grim horror film. Those who believe in demons and their hellish ilk will find Friedkin's classic to be more paralyzing than they probably care to admit. Even those who scoff at the mere mention of fallen angels will feel the hair on the back of their necks creeping across their skin. Faith isn't required, it's rattled; suspension of disbelief isn't necessary, it's inevitable. Modern filmfans may be yanked out of the experience from time to time -- not every special effect that slithers into view is as petrifying in 2010 as it was to trembling cinephiles in 1973 -- but Friedkin nevertheless proves himself a timeless talent and The Exorcist proves itself a timeless tour de force.

High definition enthusiasts who pick up the Blu-ray edition of The Exorcist will be treated to two versions of the film: a 132-minute Extended Director's Cut and Friedkin's 122-minute Original Theatrical Cut (each one presented on its own BD-50 disc). Both are exceptional as far as I'm concerned, but the original still stands as the definitive version in my eyes. The extended cut features a number of notable changes -- some worthwhile, some less inspired -- but the bulk of the additions and extensions are more distracting than anything else. Only one reintegrated scene (involving a conversation between Karras and Merrick outside of Regan's bedroom) elevates the film, and even then, it only shoves an already underlying theme into the spotlight. But I'm sure there are plenty of people who adore Friedkin's more recent cut for equally valid reasons. Regardless of which version of The Exorcist you prefer, Warner's 2-disc Blu-ray release is a godsend. Two versions of the film, two incredible AV presentations and a slew of special features. I have a feeling we won't be seeing many complaints about this one popping up in the forum.



The Exorcist Blu-ray, Video Quality



My gratitude to Warner Home Video for presenting this high definition Blu-ray, which was color-timed by the cinematographer Owen Roizman and myself and represents the very best print ever made of 'The Exorcist.' Enjoy!

So writes William Friedkin in a gushing insert included with Warner's striking Blu-ray release of The Exorcist. Presented via two separate, comparably restored and remastered 1080p/VC-1 transfers (each version of the film has been granted its own BD-50 disc), Friedkin and Blatty's horror classic, be it the director's extended or theatrical cut, has never looked better. Roizman's atmospheric photography is teeming with stunning primaries, ominous shadows, stark whites and lifelike skintones. A few faces are slightly flushed (mainly during the first twenty-five minutes of the film) and blacks succumb to minor crush and inconsistent contrast leveling during the final showdown sequence, but the whole of both cuts rise above such fleeting shortcomings to deliver a fit and faithful rendering of each. Moreover, detail is nothing short of stunning, particularly for a film rapidly approaching its fortieth birthday. Fine textures are surprisingly well resolved, edges are crisp and clean (with only a hint of intermittent ringing), many closeups and midrange shots look fantastic, and delineation, though a tad problematic at times, is true to its aging source. I can't tell you how often I shook my head in disbelief. Not at any glaring distraction, mind you, but at the near-pristine quality of the print, the clarity of some of the thirty-seven-year old scenes and the disarming beauty of the transfers' most remarkable shots. Yes, softness abounds (as it does in most any film from the era), and yes, grain-haters will be aghast at the at-times uneven, at-times aggressive grain apparent throughout both presentations. But purists and diehard videophiles will cheer. Edge enhancement has only been employed here and there, and judiciously at that; DNR clearly isn't an overriding issue; artifacting and banding rarely make an appearance (although the film's opening sunrise does suffer from faint banding and a handful of establishing shots are home to some negligible digital clutter); significant print damage has all but been eliminated; and glaring anomalies -- macroblocking, aliasing, aberrant noise and the like -- aren't a factor.

Warner delivers yet again as The Exorcist, gristly grain and all, emerges as another exceedingly faithful, lovingly restored and deftly remastered Blu-ray presentation in the studio's march toward catalog dominance.



The Exorcist Blu-ray, Audio Quality



The Exorcist also arrives with two full-fledged lossless audio mixes in tow -- a DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1 surround track on the Extended Director's Cut and a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track on the film's Original Theatrical Cut -- both of which are quite good. (Again, particularly for a thirty-seven-year old catalog title.) Dialogue, though sometimes challenged by inherent environmental noise and reasonable hiss, is clean, clear and neatly prioritized. Several lines are buried beneath the ensuing demonic chaos, sure, but it rarely affects the overall experience. The LFE channel, meanwhile, doesn't miss a single opportunity to impress, all but assaulting the soundstage with powerful thooms, room-splitting crashes and guttural groans. The rear speakers make their presence known as well, transforming Regan's possession into an all-too-convincing 360-degree nightmare. Ambience, both quiet and forceful, skitters from channel to channel, pans are unnervingly smooth, directionality is eerily precise (and often caught me off guard), acoustics are believable and Steve Boeddeker's score inhabits the entire experience. That being said, the film's smartly crafted sound effects range from tinny to hollow, muffled to muddy, effective to strong, and natural to realistic. I know, I know. Certain considerations should probably be made for a film of its age, and most of the effects are spot on, but too many misfired clangs and bangs will strike casual listeners as stagey and a bit weak-in-the-knees. By no means should that scare filmfans away -- any quote-unquote mishap present in the mixes is most likely attributable to the condition of the original elements -- as even the most hard-hearted audiophiles will be thoroughly pleased.

Apollo 18 Thoughts

its The Blair Witch Project on the moon, Apollo 18 takes the found footage horror genre into outer space. story of a lost NASA mission hidden from the public for nearly 30 years, Apollo 18 somehow manages to seem fresh and exciting even as it recycles the edgy tensions of the Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity.

From official account, the Apollo 18 mission never happened. However, footage has somehow popped up on a conspiracy obsessed website and it reveals footage shot by three astronauts of a mission to the moon gone horribly wrong. In the course of 85 minutes we will watch what begins as any other mission to the moon, as it becomes a slowly unfolding tragedy.

The mission goes off without a hitch, from launch to the landing of two astronauts on the lunar surface as a third circles the moon waiting to drive everyone back to earth. Once on the moon however, strange things begin to happen. First, communications breakdown between the moon lander and NASA.


Then, in a shocking and unexpected twist, the astronauts find that they are not alone on the moon; another country has recently been on the moon and they left behind terror in their wake. I won’t spoil the surprise as many other critics already have; I will only say that there is blood and plenty of it on the moon.

Apollo 18 was directed by the ingenious Spanish director Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego who makes clever use of ancient camera technology, the film is set in 1974, to limit what we can see and reinforce the film’s found footage premise. The cameras that the astronauts were instructed to plant on the moon give us static images that when lingered on require audience members to search the screen for clues in what becomes a tense search for signs of life.

Actors Warren Christie and Lloyd Owen are cleverly cast as the terrified and confused astronauts. Both actors are vaguely recognizable but are not so well known that they take you out of what is supposed to be an assemblage of found footage edited into ‘documentary’ form. Cast Matt Damon as one of the astronauts and the movie-ness would undermine the notion of found footage.

Apollo 18 doesn’t break any new ground but the film is well shot, the scares arrive in a strong rhythm keeping the audience in a state of perpetual tension and the finale leaves no questions about the astronauts’ fates. Most importantly, Apollo 18 has one moment, one big scare, that will elicit more than a few terrified shrieks.

What Horror Movie Is your Favorite?

This is definitely a tough one I know. Even for me there are so many horror movies to choose from. But for me one movie stands a little taller than them all in my eyes and that the Original "HALLOWEEN”. Personally it’s such a rare movie.

First thing is that if you never noticed there is so little blood in the movie. Whereas now a days and the copy cat movies that followed Halloween used tons of blood to scare you and creep you out. John Carpenter instead used the creepy music and the element of surprise to get you Jumping out of your seat. Even love the funny flaws through the movie. Like Jamie Lee Curtis is walking home from school one scene its dry out and next scene ground is soaking wet. Again every movie has there screw up but all in all my favorite horror movie what is yours?

Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn Blu-ray 11/15/11 Release

Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn Blu-ray offers solid video and great audio in this excellent Blu-ray release

Ash, the sole survivor of The Evil Dead, returns to the same cabin in the woods and again unleashes the forces of the dead. With his girlfriend possessed by demons and his body parts runnning amok, Ash is forced to single-handedly battle the legions of the damned as the most lethal — and groovy — hero in horror movie history! Welcome to Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, director Sam Raimi's infamous sequel to The Evil Dead and outrageous prequel to Army of Darkness!

For more about Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn and the Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn Blu-ray release, see the Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn Blu-ray Review

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley, Theodore Raimi
Director: Sam Raimi

Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn Blu-ray Review
Groovy.
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, November 14, 2011

When is a sequel not a sequel? Well, take the case of Evil Dead II, also known as Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn. This second Evil pairing of writer-director Sam Raimi and star Bruce Campbell doesn't pick up from where the first Evil Dead left off, it instead reinvents some of the same characters from the first film, notably Campbell's daffy hero Ash and putative girlfriend Linda (played by Denise Bixler in this film), and plops them back in the same basic plot setup as the first film, in a kind of horror-comedy Groundhog Day scenario. Once again Ash visits an isolated cabin in the woods, turns on a tape recorder that has a professor spouting verbiage from the Necronomicon, and the next thing you know, all hell has broken loose, quite literally. Raimi is a director who may not win points for finesse, but he works in a manic, breathless style that is perfectly suited for the outré black comedy of the Evil Dead franchise, and that devil may care, throw caution to the wind spirit is what has made the Evil Dead trilogy (Army of Darkness was the third film, though there's evidently a Raimi-Campbell remake of the original Evil Dead in the offing) such a cult sensation and what continues to draw audiences to the films to this day. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn is an extremely gruesome affair, but it's also laugh out loud hilarious a lot of the time, with Campbell's intentionally arch delivery and wide-eyed crazed, cartoonish performance style making the most of Raimi and co-scenarist Scott Speigel's reinvention of the Evil Dead premise. While there are certainly a few shocks along the way, courtesy of typical horror film clichés like jump cuts and sudden LFE on the soundtrack, Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn is really a sly, if sometimes sinister, comedy, one blacker than, well, death, but which delivers some consistent guffaws mixed in with the more typical "avert your eyes" blood and guts which Raimi obviously loves and loves to exploit.


The relationship between Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell may not rise to the iconic level of, say, John Ford and John Wayne, but there is an undeniable symbiosis between the two that finds its near-perfect expression in the Evil Dead franchise. Campbell is frequently reminiscent of a live action version of something you'd see in a Chuck Jones cartoon, and Raimi and Spiegel's screenplay allows the actor to literally go a little (maybe more than a little) crazy throughout the film. Campbell's glaring, manic performance is the anchor of Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, as flippant as that anchor is. But the entire film is filled with absolutely goofy humor. Not to give too much away, but after Campbell's character Ash has to, um, deal with his right hand, which has become possessed by an evil spirit, he places the dismembered limb in under an overturned bucket, on top of which he piles a stack of books just to keep the bucket in place (for a second, anyway). The book on top of the stack? Why, A Farewell to Arms, of course. It's that kind of silly, but very smart, humor that makes Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn so much fun so much of the time.

The film is a veritable riot of practical effects, including puppets, outrageous make-up, and even some Ray Harryhausen- esque stop motion animation. It all gives Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn its palpable Looney Tunes ambience, even as some of the special effects are so over the top with regard to blood and gore that they virtually drown the film in rivers of blood. Some of the supplements included on this Blu-ray give us a peek behind the scenes at how many of these sequences were created, but even without that knowledge, the film is rather impressive within its lo-fi confines, with a wealth of effective, if not exactly current day state of the art, effects sequences.

The best thing about Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn is that it knows exactly what it wants to be. This isn't an exercise in gratuitous gore—well, it isn't just an exercise in gratuitous gore, it's a film which takes a whole series of horror film clichés and then bends them to Raimi and Spiegel's brilliantly funny revisionism. Raimi doesn't miss a beat in this film, wasting little to no time in setting up his premise and then delivering one horrific-hilarious sequence after another. The audience may well be dead by dawn after watching this film, but only because they've been laughing so hard.

Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn Blu-ray, Video Quality

Bruce Campbell is on record stating that this 25th Anniversary Edition of Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn sports a new AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1, supposedly much improved from the problematic original Starz/Anchor Bay Blu-ray release, but generally speaking, Evil Dead 2 has never really looked very good in any of its home video iterations. This was a film shot on the fly for a very modest budget, and it looks it. The stock here is quite grainy almost all of the time, only magnified by some of the optical effects utilized in several sequences. But a lot of this Blu-ray pops rather nicely, especially in the better lit sequences which feature close-ups, when the gash-filled make-up on Campbell's face offers some gruesome detail, and we can see everything from the pores in his skin to his flyaway hair. Some of the special effects sequences haven't aged particularly well from a technical standpoint, so some of the green screen and composite effects literally show their seams in this high resolution format. There's also persistent crush throughout this presentation which may be particularly troublesome for some videophiles as so much of the film takes place in darkened environments.

Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn Blu-ray, Audio Quality

Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn is presented with a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that offers some fair immersion with a couple of really spectacularly effective surround effects. In a general sense, this track offers abundant LFE throughout the film, and while some might have wanted more consistent surround activity, when we get the evil spirits marauding through the forest or the cabin, and then, much later in the film, when the survivors hear a bunch of roars and crashes surrounding them, the surround channels are fully alive and nicely immersive. Dialogue (and screams—lots of them) are clear and well prioritized, and the wealth of sound effects also are presented with clarity and precision. There's not much dynamic range in this film, as it pretty much starts at "11" and then stays there for the vast bulk of the film.

B Movie Classic Killer Klowns From Outer Space

If the title did not get your attention, you probably have been riding the short electron on the Internet. This is a cult classic. Ray guns turn people into cotton candy wrapped corpses that the Klowns feed on, popcorn grows into little fanged Klown monsters, and there are even killer pies. Killer pies!

To start our story, all of the college students are at the "Top of the World," which is just a hill where kids go to park and make out. I am a bit confused about Mike and Debbie, and the other couples, because they are a little old for college students. Both of the main characters must be around twenty-five. Most people are not in college by then (you grad students shut up), nor are they forced to use their sole personal bailiwick, their vehicles, for romantic interludes. Anyway, Debbie and Mike are basking in the afterglow of deep kissing when a fiery object streaks through the night sky. What could it be? A meteor? It has to be a meteor, and it landed in the nearby woods! The two lovebirds go looking for the fallen star.

What are you two doing? Haven't you ever seen The Blob, Slither, or any other science fiction horror film? You do not want to find whatever it was that just arrived on Earth. Go home and arm yourselves with a shotgun and/or fire extinguisher.

Another individual watched the object fall from the sky: old Farmer Gene Green. He heels his dog (more like, "Come on, boy!") and plunges into the trees. Farmer Green does not find Halley's Comet fallen to Earth; he discovers a brightly colored circus tent in the middle of the woods. A weird glow radiates from inside the strange pavilion. By the time Mike and Debbie reach the circus tent of extraterrestrial horror, the farmer and his dog are gone. Mr. Green did not leave, nor did his dog run off chasing a rabbit; the Klowns got them.

Mike thinks that the circus tent is awesome, and I have to agree. A subtle beauty of "Killer Klowns from Outer Space" is the props and set designs. They are great! Cheap, but great all the same. Maybe that is the beautiful simplicity of making a Killer Klowns movie - you can create the sets and props out of just about anything, judiciously apply bright pastels, and voila! On the other hand, maybe the people who came up with all of this simply had a great idea and knew how to apply it.

Exploring the arcane alien artifact convinces Debbie that this is no mere circus tent. The neutrino power plant gives it away. Oh, and the dead bodies wrapped in cotton candy. Mike was prepared to argue with his hyperventilating girlfriend until they discovered the cotton candy corpses. After that grisly find, the two protagonists are frantic to find their way out of the Klowns' tent. Some of the painted alien horrors chase after Mike and Debbie, but the pair escapes with only a slight coating of popcorn on their clothes. The Klowns' balloon dog bloodhound is killed during the humans' escape (Mike runs over it).

Yes, the Klowns make a balloon dog that barks as it follows Mike and Debbie's trail. The movie is full of fun little touches like that. What else would a Killer Klown from outer space use for a bloodhound? Okay, maybe an elephant would be fitting. However, elephants are not cheap. They might work for peanuts, but we are talking about an awful lot of peanuts here. Quantity can be a critical factor. Don't believe me? Give me a penny. Give me a hundred pennies. Now give me enough pennies to fill a football stadium.

Moving on.

When Mike and Debbie arrive at the police station they are faced with two problems. One is where to put the car, because Mike completely forgets how to parallel park and becomes a hazard to anything less than six inches from the curb. The second hurdle is convincing a police officer that the town really is under attack by Killer Klowns from outer space. Mooney is not having any of it. Impressively, Dave listens to the story and agrees to go check it out. Part of Dave's cooperative spirit comes from the fact that he and Debbie used to be an item. The young policeman still has feelings for his old girlfriend. Hearing that she was making out at the "Top of the World" with Mike catches Dave by surprise. However, kudos to Dave for not immediately tossing his romantic rival into a cell (especially one already occupied by a mother-stabbing father-raper).

Mike should thank Debbie for introducing him to Dave. "Oh, so this is your old boyfriend. The one with the pistol, wooden baton, and handcuffs. I was kind of hoping this guy would never know I even existed. Don't kiss me in front of him! Are you insane?"

The guys drop Debbie off at her place, then proceed to where Mike and Debbie found the circus tent. The tent is gone; the only thing that remains is a huge hole in the ground. That is because the Klowns are rampaging through the town and knocking off the residents in various clownish ways. Unfortunately, Dave does not know that. He thinks that Mike and his old girlfriend are playing a practical joke. Dave discovers the truth soon enough. Make-Out Point has been devastated. The only thing left is empty cars.

"It was as if dozens of canoodling twenty-somethings suddenly cried out in terror, and were replaced by honking clown horns."

Back at the station, Mooney has been swamped with phone calls from frightened citizens. The whole darn town is going crazy! Imagine if you were a police officer - a fat one, who hates the people you pledged to protect and serve. Now imagine what you would do if those hoodlums all tried to play a practical joke on you by calling in obviously false reports of Killer Klowns from outer space. Gets you a little angry, doesn't it?

I have a news flash for you: if the whole town hates you, maybe they are not the problem.

Mooney does eventually get what is coming to him (karma, thy face is painted with the reds and whites of slapstick). A Killer Klown turns itself in, and Mooney tries to commit a little police brutality on the frightful invader. So, when Dave arrives back at the station alone, having dropped off Mike en route, he finds the inside of the cellblock covered with Klown footprints, and Mooney turned into a ghastly ventriloquist's doll. It is by luck alone that the young officer shoots the alien in its weak spot: the nose.

Meanwhile, Debbie has been taking a shower. The whole time that Dave and Mike were driving back and forth, poking around the woods, and reacting with horror to the implied carnage on Make-Out Mountain, Debbie has been in the shower. She spends enough time getting clean that the strange popcorn which had covered her clothing turns into a bunch of Klown-headed serpents. Escaping those is easy enough (though her sweater sustains a pair of mortal wounds), but when she leaves the bathroom Debbie finds the Klowns waiting for her. The young woman is not embalmed in cotton candy; instead the Klowns imprison her in a giant balloon.

There is a great scene in here with the Klowns walking down the street, zapping people and turning them into pink eggplants, and then sucking up the cotton candy treats with a huge vacuum that is attached to the front of their Klown death machine. We also see where the Klowns moved their headquarters. The circus tent is cleverly hidden right in front of everybody's eyes - at the local amusement park! Of course they would disguise their spaceship (it is a spaceship) in an amusement park! It's genius, like a butler hiding in a penguin colony!

Have you ever watched one of those nature specials and thought you caught sight of a butler milling about among all of the penguins? That is what I am talking about!

Feel sorry for the lone security guard at the amusement park. He tries to stop the Klowns and they pie him to death. I guess Killer Klown Kreme Pies are made with graham cracker crust, vanilla filling, whipped cream, VX, and perchloric acid. Mike, Dave, and the Terenzi brothers avoid painful dairy death and infiltrate the Klowns homestead. Once again, the humans are forced to deal with unusual situations. There are progressively smaller sets of doors, ball pits, female Klowns whose breasts inflate, and other oddities that only make sense in light of the plot's context. The balloon-filled hallway sort of reminded me of my senior prom. Never have so many done so much with construction paper, streamers, and balloons, for so few who cared.

The protagonists finally reach the center of the ship, and encounter the overlord of the comic cosmic invaders: Klown El Grande. Whether they live or die will be decided by Dave's ability to slay a twenty-foot-tall monstrosity. If Dave is not up to the task, King Klown is going to use the trio as human whoopee cushions. I guarantee you that if a two-ton Klown sat on somebody, they would make a funny sound.

The BloB Remake Rob Zombie Style

Rob Zombie will be directing a remake of The Blob, a film about the monstrous jelly like creature from another planet. This remake of the 1950s movie will likely debut in 2011.

Rob Zombie is well known for writing and directing hair raising gruesome movies such as House of 1000 Corpses and Halloween. The Devil's Rejects, which he directed also had garnered almost $20 million dollar wordwide, that's not too bad for a low budget film. According to reports, Zombie will be directing a remake of the 1950s The Blob. The movie is about a jelly like creature from another planet which consumes everything on its path. It was believed that this creature is indestructible and unstoppable.
Via IMDB:

A meteorite falls in the country of a small town, bringing a jelly creature. An old farmer is attacked by the alien in his hand, and the youths Steve Andrews and his girlfriend Jane Martin take him to Dr. T. Hallen. The local doctor treats carefully the blister, and asks Steve to investigate the location where they found the old man. When Steve returns, he sees the blob killing the doctor. Steve and Jane try to warn the police and the dwellers, but nobody believe on them, while the blob engulfs many people, getting bigger and bigger.

According to some reports, Rob Zombie's The Blob remake will be ready by 2011.by john auriada