{"id":9243,"date":"2022-11-14T14:56:56","date_gmt":"2022-11-14T14:56:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mattshorroraddiction.com\/?p=9243"},"modified":"2022-11-14T14:56:56","modified_gmt":"2022-11-14T14:56:56","slug":"fright-night-hatching-and-more-guest-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/?p=9243","title":{"rendered":"Fright Night, Hatching, and More Guest Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Frank Pittarese <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FRIGHT NIGHT<\/strong> (1985)<\/em> Suburban teen Charley Brewster discovers that his neighbor, Jerry Dandridge, is a vampire. Worse, Jerry knows<\/em> that Charley knows. When no one believes him, Charley desperately turns to cowardly TV horror host Peter Vincent for vampire-killing help. But then Jerry sets his hungry eyes on Charley\u2019s girlfriend\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Total fun from start to finish. There are no real surprises here, and the movie includes every vampire trope you can imagine (including the \u201cgirl looks like the vampire\u2019s long-dead lover\u201d), but that makes it even more terrific. Everything familiar actually feels energized and fresh. Everyone \u2014 literally everyone \u2014 in this movie is wonderful. With a fair share of mild frights, and character-driven humor providing plenty of lighter moments, it\u2019s never silly enough to be a legit horror-comedy (which is good for me; I\u2019m not big on horror-comedy). The script by director Tom Holland is smart and self-aware, and the haunting, sometimes sexy, score by Brad Fiedel (The<\/em> Terminator<\/em>) is outstanding. The visual effects by Richard Edlund (Ghostbusters<\/em>) and makeup effects by Steve Johnson are also memorable. This movie really fires on all cylinders. There\u2019s some queer subtext, however unintentional, which \u2014 if you\u2019re into subtext \u2014 gives the whole story a metaphorical boost. Three of the lead actors (Roddy McDowell, Amanda Bearse, and Stephen Geoffreys) were\/are gay, Chris Sarandon\u2019s ever-suave Dandridge has a interesting dynamic with his \u201croommate,\u201d Billy, and Evil Ed\u2019s journey is more powerful and touching if viewed through an LGBTQ lens. Or, ya know, they\u2019re just a vampire, a henchman, a nerd\u2026 Taking everything at face value doesn\u2019t make the movie any less perfect or fun. Followed up with a lukewarm direct sequel, a pretty great 2011 remake (with darker, more contemporary values), and sequel\/reboot of that<\/em> remake (which erases the events of the 2011 film), but this is the one to see. Every time I finish it, I want to immediately watch it again. A<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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HATCHING<\/strong> (2022)<\/em> Tinja, a 12-year-old gymnast, lives with her well-to-do family in a Finish suburb. Her brother is obnoxious, her father is emotionally impotent, and her mother is a selfish, demanding adulteress, more concerned with her social media presence \u2014 and Tinja\u2019s success \u2014 than her family\u2019s well-being. One day, Tinja takes home a strange egg she finds in the woods, which quickly grows to a massive size. A horrible, unsightly creature hatches from it, and soon bonds with Tinja in more ways than one, becoming her fierce protector \u2014 and a deadly threat to everyone in her orbit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I went into this with very low expectations, expecting a dull, pretentious, metaphor-heavy experience. I\u2019m happy to say that\u2019s not the case at all. While not the fastest moving flick in the queue (and there is<\/em> a metaphor under its creepy skin), the film\u2019s deliberate pace constantly builds a feeling of dread. The hatchling (which I won\u2019t even describe here except to say hooray for practical effects), as it evolves, takes the film in surprising, if occasionally repulsive, directions. The film initially seems like a by-the-numbers creature feature, but it turns into something else completely, with an ending that (in a rare reaction from me) was totally chilling. Avoid spoilers going into this one \u2014 and be ready to want to throw bricks at your screen because the mother is horrible. Strong and disturbing stuff, with fantastic acting by young Siiri Solalinna. Currently streaming on Hulu (with subtitles). A<\/strong>–<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SLUGS <\/strong>(1988)<\/em> Toxic waste disposal leads to hordes of slugs killing the citizens of a small town. Based on a pretty decent novel by Shaun Hutson, this\u2026snail\u2019s-paced (I\u2019m sorry) movie has little to offer. The characters aren\u2019t a bit engaging and the script is lazy. The slug \u201cattacks\u201d (such as they are, because they don\u2019t really do anything proactive on-camera) are adequate thanks to some gruesome makeup effects, but only one scene \u2014 in which a guy is eaten from the inside out \u2014 has enough unsettling tension to keep me from checking my phone. Currently streaming on Tubi. F<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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TORSO<\/strong> (1973)<\/em> A masked madman is murdering women in a small, Italian college town. To avoid potential danger, Dani and three of her friends take off to a remote villa. But the killer has followed them, and things take a very bad turn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This 1973 giallo is chock full of women, nudity, and nude women\u2026but very light on characterization (I couldn\u2019t tell several of the girls \u2014 and two of the guys \u2014 apart). For the genre, the violence is subdued\u2026mostly implied. But what feels like a rather soft proto-slasher takes a big turn in the third act when the suspense suddenly cranks up. I went from \u201cthis is okay\u201d to being fully invested in a blink. The vibe of the last 20-30 minutes is almost a precursor to Dean Koontz\u2019s Intensity<\/em> (infamously ripped off as Alexandre Aja\u2019s High Tension<\/em>), and it\u2019s that thrilling close-out that elevates the movie. I watched the original Italian edit, but there are several cuts out there. Currently streaming on Tubi and Shudder. B<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow Frank on Twitter<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Frank Pittarese FRIGHT NIGHT (1985) Suburban teen Charley Brewster discovers that his neighbor, Jerry Dandridge, is a vampire. Worse, Jerry knows that Charley knows. When no one believes him, Charley desperately turns to cowardly TV horror host Peter Vincent for vampire-killing help. But then Jerry sets his hungry eyes on Charley\u2019s girlfriend\u2026 Total fun […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-capsule-reviews","category-guest-reviews"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9243\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}