Showing posts with label Fred Dekker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fred Dekker. Show all posts

House 2: The Second Story (1987) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_330" align="alignright" width="220"]Official Score = 2 1/2 Devils Official Score = 2 1/2 Devils[/caption]

Written & Directed by: Ethan Wiley (Children Of The Corn V: Fields Of Terror), and based on the story created by Fred Dekker (The Monster Squad). Starring: Arye Gross (Minority Report), Jonathan Stark (Fright Night), Royal Dano (Space Invaders), Bill Maher (Cannibal Women In The Avacado Jungle Of Death), John Ratzenberger (Cheers), Lar Park-Lincoln (Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Beginning) & Amy Yasbeck (The Mask).

I have always known that I had seen one of the house movies when I was a kid (at this point I have seen both) but I always thought that it was the first one that I had seen, but as it turns out the first one that I had seen was actually the second one!

Well to be honest with you when I had seen this movie, I had seen parts of this on TV and I thought the movie was alright, but the truth is, is that since I have seen this movie all the way through, I can say that this movie is one of those rare opportunities where the sequel is just as good as the original! The actual original movie being more a sort of Sci-Fi movie, this one seemed to be more of a horror/fantasy movie, but was still a lot of fun!

For example, the story for this has to do with Jesse (Gross), and Kate (Park-Lincoln), a young couple who move in to the old family mansion...

Now in this house Jesse's parents had previously been murdered by an unidentified person, but with their success kind of slowly growing, Jesse decides to movie in the old family home with his family!

[caption id="attachment_1486" align="aligncenter" width="600"]'Jesse', (Arye Gross) and, 'Kate' (Lar Park-Lincoln) before they realize what home ownership is really all about! 'Jesse', (Arye Gross) and, 'Kate' (Lar Park-Lincoln) before they realize what home ownership is really all about![/caption]

From the first night he gets there things are significantly different, what I mean by this is that Charlie (Stark) and Jana (Yasbeck) decide to move in with them and arrive at their door step drunk out of there mind... After that and while Jesse is researching his ancestor with the same name, (Dano), they come to discover that not only in his grave is a magical crystal skull (that can essentially give some one eternal life, but his ancestry is still alive but really old!

And after a music producer by the name of 'John' (Maher) comes to the house and takes the talented Jana, and Kate (who is a music industry executive) away to work, Jesse, Charlie, and, 'Gramps' will be thrown in to a world, where they will have to protect the skull from, cave Men, Aztecs, Dinosaurs, and all manner of monsters and men and what not, because if they don't then that could be it for Grandpa, and you know what? They are going to have to do this all from the comfort of Jesse own home!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Jesse, his ancestor, and his best friend as they battle a real dead cowboy![/caption]

Another thing that I thought was cool was how they added an element of adventure to this movie... I,e... the various times that they go to rescue the skull!
And the last thing that I wanted to mention here is the talent in this film... I mean the talent for the first one was great, and usually when you have great talent in the first one, for what ever reason the talent in the second one suffers, but not this one!

No, this movie has a great cast of awesome 80s/90s talent that includes: Arye Gross, Jonthan Stark, Royal Dano, John Ratzenberger, Lar Park-Lincoln & Amy Yasbeck. Also as a surprising twist, it turns out that George Wendt (Harold Gorton from the first House movie), and John Ratzenberger (who worked on, 'Cheers' with Mr Wendt) was also in this film!

Also the last thing that I thought you guys might find to be rather amusing is the fact that Bill Maher, with whom most people at this point would probably recognize him for the political commentary shows that he does was in this movie as well!

In the end this movie is a fun one, and I thought was definitely worth viewing, and you might as well!

http://youtu.be/5ouvkZzJ-Nc

House (1986) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"]Official Score = 3 Devils Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

When I was kid there was a movie series that I thought looked great... (In The segments that I happen to see that is...)

That movie series being, the House series... You see the thing is, is that for some reason, while the first two movies were on TV often through out the 1990s, I would always catch Ten - Fifteen minutes of these movies... (Between 1990 - 1999) I probably saw both movies at least once each!

With that in mind though, I was finally able to see House (1986) for the first time all the way through, recently! And I gotta say that I really liked it! But we'll get in to that in a moment:

Written by: Ethan Wiley (Brutal) and Directed by: Steve Miner (Friday The 13th Part 2). Starring: William Katt (Carrie), George Wendt (Forever Young), Richard Moll (Galaxis) and Kay Lenz (Fear).

[caption id="attachment_469" align="aligncenter" width="640"]There are a lot of creepy things going on in this house! There are a lot of creepy things going on in this house![/caption]

This movie, which is based on the story by, Fred Dekker (The Monster Squad), is a fascinating tale of a traumatized Vietnam Veteran turned recently divorced writer by the name of, Roger Cobb (Katt) whom after the suicide of his aunt and the latest bad dream about his dead kid being terrorized by a Zombie, decides to head over to his Aunt's house while he works on his latest book in peace...

Now at first it actually looks like Roger might get his wish and to have some peace and quiet to write, what with extremely normal looking house. A nice enough, yet over-zealous neighbor by the name of Harold Gorton (Wendt)... That is until Roger really begins to get settled in to his Aunt's home that is...

As time goes on, and as the house begins to get more and more violent, Roger will come to discover a secret that is connected to his son and a mistake that he had made a long time ago!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="755"] Roger (William Katt) finds a nightmare world in his new house and if he survives it, he will get the ultimate gift![/caption]

In the case of this movie I have to say that the best part, is the cast and crew! Don't get me wrong, I mean the special effects in this movie were great and the story was a lot of fun! But with a teaming up of Steve Miner of, (Friday The 13th fame), and WIlliam Katt of, (Carrie fame), along with George Wendt of, (Cheers fame), and Richard Moll (Of Night Court fame), I found the cast and crew were well matched for both thrills and chills as well as a little bit of comedy thrown in for an extra added benefit!

I also thought that I would mention that besides, Steve Miner, there was another person that made the Friday The 13th franchise legendary... That is of course, Sean S. Cunningham (The Last House On The Left), who had directed Friday The 13th (1980)!

Ultimately this movie is a lot of fun, and for those first time horror fans, this one is worth it, and for you horror vets, it is definitely worth it also!

http://youtu.be/zyW7yuW2scg