The Killing of Satan (1983)

The Killing of Satan (1983)
There are some bad movies that need to be seen to be believed. As one would expect from such a ridiculous title, The Killing of Satan is a perfect fit for this category. The Killing of Satan is a Filipino horror/fantasy exploitation movie about Christianity and the dangers of the devil. Despite the obvious religious themes this movie features plenty of violence, nude women, and snakes (which I hope were rubber) being slapped then tied into knots. One of the most memorable scenes involves a guy running in front of a boulder for some reason then getting crushed by it. Our main character is named Lando but he is nothing like Lando Calrissian as he uses Catholic magic to fight demons and eventually Satan himself in a silly final battle! Despite the poor filmmaking, bizarre moments (which can be seen on YouTube), and obvious heavy handedness, The Killing of Satan is certainly memorable and not as boring as I was expecting for strange z-grade cinema. Bad movie aficionados like myself will have some fun with the material and add The Killing of Satan to their list of conquered films while average movie goers simply won't believe this really exists.
2/10

The Vacation movies

This is the first of three comedy movie series posts. Today we start with the National Lampoon's Vacation series. I had seen parts of Vacation and Christmas Vacation awhile ago so I re-watched them all the way through. I also saw European Vacation and Vegas Vacation for the first time.

Vacation (1983)
The plot of Vacation is pretty simple. The father, Clark Griswold, wants to spend more time with his family (wife Ellen, son Rusty, and daughter Audrey) so he plans a cross country trip to from Chicago to California to visit Walley World (a fictional version of Disneyland). On the way there they visit some family members and are followed by a mysterious beautiful woman. Will the Griswolds make it to Walley World on time.. and alive?!
Vacation was directed by Harold Ramis. Ramis also made Groundhog Day and has written and acted in several other movies, including a few I have written about on this blog! The screenplay was written by John Hughes and is loosely based on a true story of a vacation his family took when he was a boy.
Not only are Vacation and Christmas Vacation the best two movies of the series, they are also the most accessible. Everybody has been on a crazy family vacation or had to spend a lot of time with their families during the holidays. Not everyone has been to Europe or Las Vegas. I know that not everyone has been on a cross-country trip through America and that not everybody celebrates Christmas, but those movies handled those topics in a more general yet personal way that all audiences can relate to.
Vacation is my favorite of the series and it is one of the best comedies of the last 30 years. The only thing missing is the song "Vacation" by The Go-Gos! That said, the Lindsey Buckingham song "Holiday Road" in the opening credits is awesome. I love it when movies do something interesting with the credits, and the use of colorful postcards from around America is pretty cool.
8/10

European Vacation (1985)
The hilarious opening scene of European Vacation features the Griswold family in the middle of a humiliating game show. With a lot of luck they manage to beat the other family and win a trip to Europe! The set-up is pretty solid here and they tried to mix things up since something nice happens to the family after all the crazy stuff in the last movie. Don't worry, shenanigans ensue in Europe, but this time Clark's stupidity causes problems for other people and not the Griswolds. While this was a good idea to not simply re-hash the oiginal, the biggest problem with the movie is that it doesn't really have a plot. The Griswolds win a European vacation and have an itinerary to keep up with but that's about it. There is a sub-plot about a sex tape being stolen but its too little, too late. It was set-up with a scene early on so I assumed that this would lead to the Griswolds running around Europe to stop the distribution of the sex tape, but that doesn't happen. John Hughes is given writing credit but the whole thing felt rushed to cash-in on the popularity of the first movie. The movie performed well at the box office so I guess it worked. The kids were re-cast and the new actors were not as good. I am pretty sure the new Rusty only got the role because he looks like the first Rusty, Anthony Michael Hall! This is also the only Vacation movie that doesn't feature Cousin Eddie and his family. To make up for that we have cameos from actors such as John Astin, Eric Idle, and Robbie Coltrane! Although European Vacation has its moments, its still not nearly as good as the original.
6/10

Christmas Vacation (1989)
The original is still my favorite but Christmas Vacation is very good comedy and a nice Christmas movie. The basic plot is that Clark, the father, wants to host the best Christmas ever for his extended family. While this is not as concrete as the goal in the original, (get the family to Wally World before the two weeks is up!) it works since we see old home videos of Clark's Christmases as a boy which show us how important the holiday and his family are to him. We also have a sub-plot about Clark's boss and a Christmas bonus which has a great pay-off. The kids are played by new actors again, but it doesn't matter since they were never the focus of these movies anyway. Christmas Vacation is quite funny and features another great blow-up by Chevy Chase! This one and Vacation are the only movies in the series you need to watch, so check them out if you haven't already!
7/10

Vegas Vacation (1997)
This is the only Vacation movie that John Hughes did not write the screenplay for. His magic touch is missed but to be honest this one just didn't need to be made. The series was running out of steam by this point and it doesn't help that this is the only one of the series to be rated PG! Vegas Vacation came out eight years after Christmas Vacation, the longest gap in the series. The children are re-cast yet again, although Chevy Chase has a great meta-joke about it: "You guys are growing up so fast, I hardly recognize you anymore!" The biggest problem with the movie is that it is not focused. Funny stuff happens in Vegas, but there isn't much of a real story other than the family going to Las Vegas for a vacation. We have a couple of sub-plots like Chevy Chase's character losing all his money or Wayne Newton (played by himself of course!) falling in love with the wife which are humorous, but that's about it. Randy Quaid returns as the wacky Cousin Eddie and even though its totally forced into the movie he and his family are pretty funny. Vegas Vacation is the weakest of the series but I've seen comedies that are a lot worse. It is not necessary viewing but if you liked the others or are a Chevy Chase fan there is some fun to be had here.
5/10

I am catching up on my posts but still have a lot more to do before I get back to my regular schedule.

Three Christmas Movies

I had seen parts of all these movies before, but never watched them all the way through in one sitting. Christmas gave me an excuse to watch them again, and in their entirety!

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Both this and Mickey's Christmas Carol (nominated for an Oscar for best animated short) are the only film versions of A Christmas Carol that I have seen so far. However they are both excellent! While I usually like the Muppets more when they are playing themselves instead of characters like in this movie or Muppet Treasure Island, it works surprisingly well here. The songs are memorable as I remembered most of them while watching this again despite the fact I hadn't seen this film in years. Michael Caine plays Scrooge completely straight and would have put in the same performance without the Muppets. While this is a Muppet movie, it is also an adaptation of A Christmas Carol, and a surprisingly faithful one at that. The Muppet Christmas Carol was the first Muppet movie made after Jim Henson's death and it was great that the Muppets were able to continue at a high level of quality after his passing. This one ranks up there with The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper as my three favorite Muppet movies. I saw The Muppets (2011) recently and will be discussing it in my next post.
8/10

A Christmas Story (1983)
Every year A Christmas Story gets shown on TBS for 24 hours on Christmas Day. Like most people this was how I was introduced to the movie. And like many people I had never seen the whole movie in one sitting before. I decided to change that this year as A Christmas Story is firmly entrenched in popular culture and is even on Roger Ebert's Great Movies list. While the film has been overexposed with the Christmas marathons, a lot of people still tune in to watch it every year. Although I don't think A Christmas Story is the best Christmas movie ever, it is the best to air on a loop. The film contains many vignettes which are loosely related as they all follow Ralphie's family in the days leading up to Christmas. This makes it easy to start or stop watching whenever you want, which doesn't work with a lot of movies. Although I feel that A Christmas Story is overrated, its still an enjoyable Christmas movie. I usually don't like narration in movies but it works perfectly here and was a direct inspiration for The Wonder Years TV show. Darren McGavin, mainly known for his TV work such as Kolchak: The Night Stalker, puts in a nice performance as the father.
7/10

Santa with Muscles (1996)
I had seen the first third of this movie several years ago but couldn't bring myself to finish it. What can I say, Santa with Muscles is surprisingly boring for a Hulk Hogan flick. Armed with a group of friends who like to mock bad movies and my own higher tolerance for crappy cinema, I was able to make it all the way through this time! The plot is pretty ridiculous, the Hulkster plays a millionaire who gets amnesia and thinks he is Santa Claus. Some orphans then ask for Santa's help since a mad scientist wants to take over the orphanage for the crystals underneath the building. Mila Kunis plays one of the orphans in an early role. We also have Ed Begley Jr., Clint Howard, and Robin Curtis (Saavik from Star Trek 3 and 4). That '70s Show fans will notice that in addition to Mila Kunis, actor Don Stark (Bob Pinciotti - Donna's father) is in this movie as Lenny, Santa's elf and partner in trying to save the orphanage.
When it comes to Christmas movies, this is one of the worst. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians and Santa Claus are pretty damn bad but at least they each have bizarrely amusing moments. Santa with Muscles is probably better than those two but its not as fun to watch. That said, this movie is It's A Wonderful Life compared to The Star Wars Holiday Special or Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny!
2/10

Weekly Wrap-Up (10/16)

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
I love Monty Python but this is not one of their better works. It feels like a long episode with segments that are loosely connected. There are more musicals numbers than usual and they are hit or miss. I liked the short film at the beginning The Crimson Permanent Assurance (technically a separate film as it is sometimes shown with the feature but The Meaning of Life is never shown without it) directed by Terry Gilliam. I laughed quite a bit but these guys can do much better as seen in Holy Grail and Life of Brian. It was a bit of a disappointment but still not bad at all and I'm glad I saw it for completion's sake. I guess the biggest problem was that this was a sketch movie and didn't have the focus like the Monty Python's other two films. For example some of the segments felt like they went on too long and since the topic (life) is so general there are no recurring characters. If you are a Monty Python fan you will certainly enjoy this movie, but if you are just getting into them start with Monty Python and the Holy Grail or their TV show Monty Python's Flying Circus.
6/10

The Blob (1988)
The Blob is a remake of the 1958 cult classic. While the original was not a great film, the blob was one of the most creative monsters of the time period and its still a fun watch today. I wrote about it when I saw it at Blobfest this past summer.
From a technical aspect the movie was better made than I was expecting. The practical special effects are quite good and still horrifying. There is also a nice cut early on from the blob taking over guy's hand to a kid eating jello. The acting is average at best although I enjoyed Art LaFleur as Mr. Penny the Pharmacist and Jack Nance's cameo as a doctor.
The 1988 version tries to be like John Carpenter's The Thing by putting a darker tone to a 50s monster movie. However there is still a decent amount of humor which makes the tone of the film go back and forth from campy fun to creepy horror.
Speaking of Carpenter's The Thing, the blob in the 1988 version acts more like The Thing in the way it takes over bodies. In the original people were absorbed into the blob which made it grow larger and more powerful while this time the blob appears to hide within bodies.
Besides the tone, I noticed the pacing is off. The scene with the freezer is similar to the one in the original, but its placed way too early in the film. Some characters are given a decent amount of set-up time only to be killed pretty early on (the football player who seems to be the main character at first, the sheriff, the restaurant owner). The sub-plot with the priest felt out of place and didn't make a lot of sense. The ending was also kinda abrupt and felt like they were setting up a possible sequel which never came to fruition.
There is a plot twist in this version that the U.S. is responsible for the creation of the blob as a biological weapon. This was an interesting development that differentiates it from the original, although the way its done is quite similar to how the Weyand-Yutani Corporation wants to use the Xenomorphs as weapons in Alien and Aliens. Even the new stuff in this remake had been done before, and better.
I liked the 80s rock song over the end credits ("Brave New Love" by the band Alien) although I'm 99% sure it was only here because of the Dokken songs in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors which came out the year before and did quite well at the box office. The Blob (1988) was a commercial flop when released although it seems to have a somewhat better reputation today, probably because its practical effects have aged so well.
Despite my issues with the remake, I still had fun watching it. I would still recommend it to anyone who likes sci-horror films that don't take themselves too seriously. But if you are only going to see one blob movie, stick with the original. And if you ever get the chance to attend Blobfest I highly recommend it! I had tons of fun and it was one of my favorite cinematic experiences. It was awesome to actually be in the theater that The Blob was filmed in, while watching The Blob! I don't know if the remake is ever shown there but it would make a nice compare/contrast double feature.
5/10