Movie Appraisal: Detention (2011)

Detention, directed by Joseph Kahn, whose only other directing credit is Torque, is an absolutely enjoyable movie. While quick-paced, it's also memorable and really fun. I probably didn't catch half of what happened in this movie just because of the breakneck speed of the film, the dialogue, and the characters. It almost seems to be made for the ADD generation while having references to the nineties literally throughout the movie. It's odd, and my awkwardness at describing it is probably already showing.

I have no idea how to talk about it, and I'm pretty sure I don't want to spoil it. It's a horror comedy, although it's also fairly light on most of the horror and pretty heavy on most of the comedy. Strangely, although I do not tend to like comedies, I really found this one guffaw kinds of funny. The witty banter along with references, and the characters giving a joke every thirty seconds made this movie really enjoyable to just watch. I had heard about the synopsis and a bit about the movie in general, and I knew I needed to watch it. It's definitely an oddball movie, but it so happens to fall right under what I love in movies. I guess I could call it the horror-comedy version of Donnie Darko mixed with The Breakfast Club (to a point). And it certainly feels as good as either of those movies.

I don't really want to spoil the plot. Let's just say it's odd, almost nonsensical, and really fun. The actors look like they're having a blast. They certainly make the characters into something memorable at the very least. The weirdness of the film mixed with everything else about it makes this a much watch movie if you've ever agreed with me on some of my more outlandish movie likes. I can't really even think of another movie like this one.

I recommend this almost more than any other movie. It's really odd, and I think it will be a love it or hate it kind of film for almost everybody. I loved it, but I can totally understand someone disliking it. I do have a hard time really calling it a "horror" movie, but it does have gore and horror elements in it, and all of them work really well although most of them are also disregarded. The movie- it almost feels like one of those teenage parody movies being put out a few years ago, something like Not Another Teen Movie or whatever. Not that I've really seen movies like that, but just watching the previews, that's what this movie almost acts like. And that might seem like a turn-off, but it does that in a way that actually works.

I'm so scattered about this film. I have no idea what to talk about. If I were having a conversation with you, I'd be trying to say three different things about this movie at once. It has so much density and so many elements in it that I find it very difficult to adequately talk about everything. I love the background moments, things that happen completely in the background that have plot relevance, but are not focused on. On love the adherence to foreshadowing, which seems to be a near-constant thing in this film. The continuity seems like it was a major consideration throughout the movie.

When I watch this film again, I may write a bit more about it. I think this might be a movie that needs multiple viewings to really get everything going on. I may not be giving you much, but this is a really fun movie and really worth watching. Yeah. I think that's all I have to say about it now.

Fear Street Review: Cheerleaders: The Third Evil

Fight, fight, fight or die, die, die!

It's Back!

Well, I guess R. L. Stine learned from his mistake of a second book of this series and hit a homerun with this one. I know it sounds a little odd for a grown man to be praising a teenage horror book, but you do have to remember that these are from my childhood and that I actually have really fond memories of them despite their corniness. And yes, this book is actually quite good all the way around. While it never quite hits the powerful moments that the first book in this series does, it still hits some great notes.

Unlike the second book which had no ultimate point except for killing off Chip, having the evil possess Kimmy, and telling the backstory of Sara Fear, this book has a greta deal more to say. First of all, it touches back on those social issues from the book. Yes, it does it in a very different way with completely different issues, but it still hits those points. And what are those points? Well, jealousy, friendship, trust, and teamwork just to name a few. See, the second book should have hit upon the emotional issues of loss, mourning, and dealing with grief for the teenager. Instead it failed at all of that, but we seem to get a decent amount of those issues in this book as well, which is a little crazy since this is a pretty short book to pack all of that into.

I think this is one of the most interesting R. L. Stine books I've reviewed so far (and may be one of the most interesting I review period). It twists both the story and reality to its own devices, so that you're never certain what's happening and what isn't happening until the reveal. Even moreso, the twist also involves emotional impact, something this series had been lacking throughout the second book and the first half of this one.

Anyway, there's a lot to say, and I want to get the ball rolling, so let's do this thing.

"Corky stared inside Bobbi's head. And gasped.

In the darkness the inside of  Bobbi's skull appeared to pulsate and throb. But Corky's eyes adjusted quickly to the pale light, and she saw what was moving in there." 

The story starts out yet again with Corky, this time part of the cheerleading squad and relatively happy. It's been a while since everything went down in the last book, and a new cheerleader, Hannah, has joined their ranks. The problem is that everybody thinks that Hannah is a showoff, so much so that most of the girls do not like her very much. At the same time, there is a cheerleading camp the girls are going to, and that promises to be interesting.

There's not much I can really say about the first half of this book. It's pretty dry, mostly there to set up things later in the book rather than to really be terrifying (or crazy interesting) right away. That being said, the story here is more interesting than the last book already. The writing is much better, and there are no mystery people or graveyard visitors or weird anti-mournings going on. Corky seems to have adjusted to her life in Shadyside pretty well, becoming fast friends with the girls on the cheerleading squad, especially Debra and Kimmy. I mean, that's what's basically established in the first half of the book, that and the fact that the girls don't like Hannah all that much.

The only real issue here is that Corky keeps dreaming of her sister opening her skull and showing her what's inside. These dreams are pretty well done and establish early on that something isn't quite right, although, we, as the readers, have no idea what's wrong yet.

"Hannah is doomed." 

We see Corky become afraid of the other cheerleaders again, suspecting them of possibly being possessed. We see all the motions of what Corky was worrying about in the last book. Once the girls get to the cheerleading camp, the issues start cropping up again. Accidents and sick pranks start occurring. Hannah's braid is cut off, a girl on another team is tripped and breaks some teeth, and Corky and Kimmy are suspected of basically hazing Hannah because of jealousy or a dislike of her. Corky believes that Kimmy is to blame, that perhaps the evil never truly left.

And that's when the story gets interesting. The jealousy is an important part of the story. Corky feels alone. She's feels afraid of losing the small bonds of friendship that she has made over the course of the year. She is ultimately afraid of being alone again, without even a sister to fall back upon as a friend. I know this is a much more supernatural story than those explanations, but those explanations also still hold. Her fears as a teenage girl are important to her. She feels like she could be replaced with Hannah, forgotten about, thrown aside like trash. And she hates that feeling. She is afraid of that feeling. There doesn't need to be supernatural evil spirits to see the darkness and horror of what high school can be, and how fleeting friends sometimes feel.

"Red then black. Red then black.

She shut her eyes, but the flashing colors continued on her eyelids.

The roar in her ears grew louder.

She thought she heard laughter, evil laughter, somewhere far away."

The twist though, is that Kimmy, although she is acting odd and strangely suspicious, is not to blame for anything. Shockingly, Corky is to blame. It was the old unreliable narrator trick! Oh, man! But here it works. It's good. The jealousy and hatred she seems to be feeling, the dreams of Bobbi, and her odd thoughts and antics at times point to her own possession by an evil spirit. It could all be seen as a metaphorical possession. I could certainly work on that hypothesis. Mostly though, she is possessed by a murderous evil and has to find out how to control it or how to kill it.

I think this is when the story enters into its best territory. Corky leaves her companionship behind, distancing herself from her friends to save them. The evil goes after what she doesn't like, who she has issues with. It targets and tries to kill those people she is annoyed by. So, she becomes antisocial for the most part, taking away the very thing she certainly craved so much in the first half of this book and the other two books as well.

I have to say that the evil within plot here is done very well. Her conversations with the evil, her trying to find out how to defeat it using the past memories of its possessed victims, and her tenacity to fight it really drive home Corky's character that was barely defined at all in the first two books. She becomes both interesting and her own person through this book. Her fighting spirit, and sometimes even her cowardice as much as her courage, shape the reality of her character. I guess I find it really well done, especially for a glorified kid's book. There is meaning here in between the lines, and, to me, that makes the book and the series worth it.

"I'm going to vomit forever. Forever! Corky thought, her entire body trembling as the green gas spewed out." 

There is some horrific imagery in the last third of the book, specifically Corky's inability to control herself. She spews forth "putrid smelling" green gas from inside of herself, becomes a bit unhinged with and without the evil spirit controlling her, and dives into her subconscious mind for a good long while trying to figure out what to do about the whole possession thing. It may not sound "scary," but to her it very much is. Losing control of one's body to a foreign entity is a terrifying prospect, and Corky's worst fears are realized. She can do nothing to save herself except (as she finds out) to die with the evil inside of her as Sara Fear did nearly a century ago.

To me the flashback is very well done. It's probably the only thing that the second book set up that actually is worth anything at all. Corky, for a time, is reliving Sara Fear's last moments alive, seeing her decision to kill herself and take the evil with her. Because, unlike what the last line of the second book stated, the evil can be drowned, but only if the person possessed is willing to die first. I like this a lot, and obviously so did R. L. Stine. He focuses on Corky's fear of death and her willingness to both die and balk at death very well. She doesn't want to die, but she has to die to save the others. But she doesn't want to die.

To me this shows the nature of not only a teenage girl, but of humanity as well. It is a very human response to fear death, to fear suicide, and to ultimately want to save others when you can prevent terrible things from happening. The problem is that Corky isn't strong enough to stop what the evil wants to do. She can't kill herself yet, and so the evil goes after Debra and fails because of bad timing. Then it goes after Kimmy, and we see something interesting. It isn't the scene with Kimmy that's interesting here, but rather the way the evil operates. We can imagine that in the previous books with Jennifer and then Kimmy being possessed, it probably acted very similarly, isolated victims and trying to make the deaths accidental rather than clearly murderous. It's interesting to see both intent and a modus operandi. I like that. And I also like that this is how it probably operated in the past as well.

"A grin spread over Corky's face as she stood, hands on hips, and watched Kimmy plunge to her death."  

Corky is the worst killer by the way. She killed fewer people than Kimmy or a dead girl. Just remember that. It's kind of sad actually. I assume it's because the girls are more careful and because Corky is actually fighting pretty hard against the evil spirit. Sure, Corky tries to kill Kimmy, but she fails. Yes, despite that quotation up there, Kimmy actually survives being pushed off of a cliff to her death in the waters below. Kimmy is hardcore. The thing is that Corky isn't. She's the one that actually dies here.

"I'm choking. I'm going to die.

But I don't want to die.

I want to live!

I can't drown. I can't die!

I have to live. I have to!

But I can't. I have no choice.

I have made my choice.

To die!"

Yes, believe it or not, R. L. Stine actually kills off the main character yet again! And in water again too! It's kind of crazy actually, but also incredibly well-written. Corky basically sacrifices herself to save those she cares about- her friends and her family. She wants to end the evil spirit once and for all, and if her death is the only way to do that than despite her conflict about death and life, she is willing and does sacrifice herself for the greater cause of killing something truly evil.

Corky drowning is actually quite poignant, written in a very high tone throughout. It works as a beautiful image of a strong girl doing what she needs to do. I like it a great deal. Believe it or not, this is how female empowerment is written. Sure, Corky is a cheerleader, but not once is there oversexualization or a reliance on a relationship. She doesn't need to be protected by some guy nor does she ever cry out for her crush to come and save her. She relies on herself to see this through to whatever bitter end there will be.

I know R. L. Stine was primarily writing for a female audience, but this is actually fantastic. This isn't Twlight with a girl being literally defined by who she wants to love. It's not a supernatural romance. It's not her running around and screaming and crying because she's frightened. I can't focus enough on how this is all about Corky coming into her own, being the hero of her own tale, a true hero of the ages, sacrificing herself against both evil and horror.

And winning.

"And then Corky drowned. She felt as if she were shrinking.

Shrinking until she was nothing but a tiny acorn floating in the water. Then a dot. A lifeless dot. She knew the evil spirit had shrunk too.

And knowing this, she died."

Because of course, she has to die. She has to die to defeat the evil.

While this book is never truly horrific nor ever truly scary, it piques emotions that aren't often brought out in simple teenage stories. You want Corky to survive because she goes through so much hell. Her character has emerged like a butterfly from a cocoon only to see her drown and thus die before she can truly spread her wings. I know this is a horror review for an October Night, but the horror here, possession, is so far removed from what the horror of this story truly is. Corky's death doesn't matter as much as her emergence from possession by society and by the evil spirit. Dying shows that she has thrown off the shackles and finally learned what life truly is about.

In many ways the spirit could have been removed from this story entirely, showing more of a young woman coping with high school, expectations, jealousy, and hatred. The evil could easily be her own evil being intensified, and I'm sure that that was what was meant. it works too well to be a simple coincidence.

I'm probably saying too much and reading way too much into this, but there are such beautiful words and images in the last few chapters of this book that I have a hard time not speaking at length about it.

"The evil faded, then disappeared. Washed away forever in the rain-stirred brown river current."

And with that death, Corky's death, so too does the evil die.

Yes, Corky is saved by Kimmy (who didn't die), and with her being saved the world is a better place. Yes, people died because of the evil spirit, but with it gone somehow and (ha ha) finally, there is a brightness in the story despite the image of rain hanging over them. They have survived. They have persevered. And mostly, they have transcended the spirit world and become something more, if only for a moment.

The Third Evil

Well, R. L. Stine wrote an amazing "ending" to the trilogy here. While there are two other book in the series, this really does end this powerhouse of a horror trilogy. The book is a little lesser on its own, but as the final piece of a trilogy, it works incredibly well. It is effective in what it does and how it uses the set-ups from the previous books to make a payoff that works incredibly well.

This book doesn't have the iconic images that the other books do have though. There are no deaths here (besides Corky's temporary death), and while that works within the narrative, it does take away from the memorable moments. Besides the Bobbi dream I didn't remember anything about this book at all despite reading it quite a lot as a kid. See, the first book has Bobbi's death which is both tragic, hard-hitting, and tough to stomach. It comes out of nowhere and is iconic because of how abruptly it happens. The second book, although basically terrible has Chip's death, which, for me, is one of the most iconic deaths I read in my early life. Something about the saw cutting off his hand and him lying there bleeding to death in shock really hit me hard. It's something I remembered very well throughout my life. This book doesn't have those images, but what it does have is a great narrative about jealousy, anger, hatred, and perseverance.

Corky comes into her own character, becoming nearly as strong of a character as Bobbi was. She sacrifices herself, dies, and is reborn without evil. And the way it happens is so well-written that it's pretty spooky. The cheerleading camp is telling, showing a darker side of Corky than we had ever seen before, even before we knew she had the evil spirit inside of her. She isn't bland here, but amazingly resourceful even in her own weakness at times. I like that, her being both human and hero. It makes the whole story come together. Both sisters, the main characters of this trilogy, dying in water, and both being reborn in a way, Bobbi being a spirit of good, and Corky living in the end.

I really like this book. It has a lot to offer even if you have to read the second book to get a lot of it. The convenient characters are gone, replaced by Corky's own resourcefulness, and while the other cheerleaders don't factor in the story as much as previous books, the focus on Corky as a character (especially as a character I thought was bland and uninteresting before this book) really worked well. I'm glad it ended up working that way.

There is some horror to be had here, even if it is kind of heady horror. I think the book has a very psychological slant to it that makes it fascinating and not a slasher story so much as a possession story with a twist. I don't know. I think it's a fitting book for itself and for the series. I liked it quite a bit and recommend it completely for everybody to read even if it is a horror book and series for teenage girls. It's good and worthy of a look. This is one of my favorite horror series, and while the second book wasn't great, the series itself wasn't disappointing. I was glad to read through them all again.

Anyway, that will be the last Cheerleaders book for a while. We'll get to another eventually, but that seriously could be years from now. So, let's enjoy this decent little trilogy and see where we go from here...

Fear Street Review: Cheerleaders: The Second Evil

Cheers- from the grave!

Out of the Grave

It's been a long time since I had one of these. I hate to say it, but I had a tough time reading during the summer even though, embarrassingly, I took this book with me to work literally almost every day after my last review of an R. L. Stine book. I know, I know, shame on me. Even more than that I must have looked mighty strange carrying around the same book (with a title like Cheerleaders) for months. I finally finished it, and here is my mostly kind of lackluster review. Sorry I'm not very bombastic with this one, but this book is very safe in my opinion.

What do I mean by safe? Well, it's simple enough. This book doesn't do anything new or different from the last book. Sure, it introduces a few new plot points and a new character or two, but mostly it is just like the first book except less interesting. Without the tension of the main character being blamed and hated for literally everything (and the subsequent mystery about what is actually going on), the book becomes a very simple evil spirit exorcism story. And an ineffectual one at that.

"The hooded man with the strange ghostly eyes- he must have followed her home."

This second Cheerleaders book starts a little after the last one. It is fall, and Corky is in the graveyard visiting her sister's grave. She's almost made out to be an odd sort of person for doing this, but she's obviously disturbed by the whole incident. Who can say that she's wrong to show her grief in this way? What is kind of weird and wrong is that she started dating her sister's boyfriend Chip. That does seem a little creepy, although I don't know if it's creepier for her or for him. You just know that relationship won't last...

I guess the story is pretty simple. Corky is trying to get her life back together. The other cheerleaders want her to rejoin the team, but she's reluctant to do so. And that's the basic premise of the majority of this book. Sure, a few new characters are introduced. John Daly, the brother of Jennifer from the first book, is shown in basically a single scene. He promptly goes missing and dies after threatening Corky. And Sara Beth, a college girl who seems to know a lot about the occult and the titular Fears of Fear Street. It's later explained that she is a Fear herself, which is why she is so knowledgeable and interested in the subject matter.

It's not very exciting to say the least. Most of the book revolves around Corky dealing with her issues, trying to pick her life up, and then slowly realizing that the evil is still around, although she has no idea where it could be. Her subsequent search for both history and truth is decently entertaining with the most interesting aspect of the story being the background on Sara Fear and Sara Beth telling the sordid tale.

"Chip's hand, cut off at the wrist, rested like a glove beside the blade."

There are a couple of deaths in the story, the most prominent being Chip, who dies after getting his hand sawed off. I will say that from my younger days this was the death from this series that was most ingrained in my mind besides Bobbi's own death from the first book. For whatever reason though, I had remembered Chip being more important than he ultimately turned out to be. He honestly did absolutely nothing in the narrative besides date both sisters and Kimmy. Then he died and left nothing else. Hell, he's barely mentioned after his death. Corky seemed to have gotten over it all fairly quickly. Then again she has to be numb about the whole thing at this point.

The gruesome bits in this book are few and far between, and the problem is that nothing here is all that interesting. I don't really care about Corky. I don't know why her character is so bland and uninteresting compared to her sister, but she truly comes off as a very dry character. Her mourning doesn't even really mean anything, and it should. There is an emotional detachment throughout this book. While the first book really pushed what bullying could do, showed some truly graphic deaths, and ultimately hit hard and didn't pull punches, this book does the opposite of all of those.

It doesn't show Corky's personality or grief, shoehorning her with Chip because he was a male character that was mentioned and dated Bobbi, I guess. It should be a book about her dealing with the death, ultimately finding a way to move on. Yeah, put the spirit story in there. Hell, even better, have her research the thing to see what it had been. But bringing the same story back again with simply another person possessed seems like lazy writing more than anything else. This whole book misses a ton of marks, and ultimately feels bland and uninspired.

Shame on you, R. L. Stine. For shame.

"A disgusting green liquid poured from her mouth. The stench of it rose up from the tossing water.

Corky gagged, struggled to hold her breath, trying not to breathe.

The thick green liquid oozed out of Kimmy's mouth. Took shape. Formed a long snakelike figure.

Longer. Longer."

Kimmy was ultimately the one possessed by the evil spirit. While this is perfectly acceptable, I guess, it also comes off as kind of stupid. Kimmy survives the book. But two guys are dead by her hand. I suppose the whole point of the spirit is that it doesn't (or isn't supposed to) get its hands dirty, but then it goes and tries to drown Corky with Kimmy's bare hands. In reality, a person who kills other people may actually get arrested and thrown in prison or something. There might be some sort of police investigation. Just maybe? But no. Those deaths were accidental evidently. Kimmy is never even looked at, and the spirit defense doesn't ever come up in court. That's really disappointing.

I'm being a little silly, but I do have a point here. This book clearly doesn't take place in our world, certainly not as I know it works. When I was younger this book worked so much better, back when I didn't know as much about things and stuff. But now it comes off as really stupid at times. I cannot suspend my disbelief as much as it wants me to, and thus my entertainment is stymied.

In the end Corky drowns the evil spirit out of Kimmy. It seems to work, giving a great description of what an evil spirit looks like in its native form. I don't mind the end of the book so much as the rest of it. At least there was some action rather than a reliance on Corky's personality like the rest of the book. I liked the apparent death of the spirit. And I liked how Kimmy's memory of all of the events since the graveyard were completely gone. That was a neat twist even if it was also pretty silly.

"IT CAN'T BE DROWNED."

In the end, there has to be a trilogy of books. So, the evil isn't gone, obviously. And it'll come back. That's for sure.

The Second Evil

I think it's obvious I didn't like this book. While it may have narrative important to the five book Cheerleaders series, it is wholly uninspired. I started reading it a while back, hoping to whip out a quick review of this months ago, but found myself unable to continue reading through pure lack of desire to want to read it. I found the writing lesser than the first book and the story completely uninteresting. There was no mystery, no great moments, nothing to really read and be in awe over.

The characters are mostly bland and uninteresting, especially Corky, who has no defining characteristics beyond "teenage female." Her mourning for her sister and her boyfriend should have been the main focus of the plot, but even though those aspects of her character were mentioned, very little ever came of it. He mourning was glossed over, becoming less about her character and much more about the fact of her mourning. That really seems like a poor choice to me. The emotional impact should have been there. It would have made the whole book much more than it was.

And what was it? A schlocky overdramatic evil spirit story. There were some good moments here and there, mostly involving Sara Beth Fear, who I don't think comes back in any of the other books (although egg on my face if I'm wrong). The history of Sara Fear was both interesting and nicely handled. It should have been the main focus of the book, showing Corky searching for answers about what really happened, rather than forcing a plot of the spirit possessing and killing others. Maybe that's just me though.

There are a few other creepy scenes, but most of them are simply written to be creepy, which in this case actually made me less interested in them. The graveyard scenes and the scenes with Corky in the school before she finds Chip dead really stuck out at me as those kind of scenes.

I don't know. There's not much else I can say. I didn't like this book, and would suggest others not to read it unless the Cheerleaders saga is important enough for you to read all the way through. The younger me loved this book, but older me sees it as an utter mess that could have been a whole lot better if it were planned out better. Corky finding Chip was still pretty good though. I liked that a decent amount. And I liked Sara Fear's backstory. Other than that, this book was utter dreck. Easily the worst R. L. Stine book I've reviewed so far.

Fear Street Review: Cheerleaders: The First Evil

When the cheers turn to screams...

"Give me a D-I-E!"

So, here we are at our first R. L. Stine teenage book released in August 1992 called Cheerleaders: The First Evil. Unlike the Goosebumps books these really weren't for kids at all. Now, that didn't stop me from reading them when I was very young, but it is a fact. These are pretty creepy even for an adult to read. They are not baby books for babies, but I don't think any of these R. L. Stine books are. They all have that little special piece of horror that most books, especially those made and written for kids and teenagers, seem to be missing. And how ballsy must it have been for R. L. Stine to actually write these books for teenagers at all? I mean, look at the teenage books that are popular today- supernatural romance, vampires, werewolves, supernatural romance, fantasy romance, romance, and maybe a little fantasy for the adventurous. But that's about it. You don't get horror books written for teenage audiences anymore, and certainly not horror books for teenage girls starring teenage girls! That's insane! That's just crazy!

And yet here it is- a book that involves no romance elements written for teenagers- specifically teenage girls- that is good in every way. Well, saying this book is good is underplaying the quality. It is an excellent book, standing up to my memory in every single way. I remember this being one of the best R. L. Stine books and series around, and it certainly didn't disappoint me thus far.

I know that a story centered around cheerleaders seems like it would probably make a pretty uninteresting book, but it really works amazingly well. One can relate to the characters, the situation therein, and the emotions. The horror, very vague for most of the book- more similar to paranoia and regular high school drama than actual horror- really hits a stride that I haven't seen equaled in many other horror books at all.

"When you jump up, everyone can see your underpants."

The story begins in such an innocuous way and goes to very dark places. It begins in an almost typical Goosebumps fashion- a prank set upon a younger sibling. The lead character, Bobbi, and her sister, Corky, set up a prank on their younger brother. They plan to scare him with a fake rat, succeed, and enjoy the evil of their deed. This works so well at establishing their characters. They become strong from the get-go, each with her own personality, and each with her own establishing moment. Corky is the younger one, in Bobbi's shadow more than likely, but not caring all that much about it. Bobbi is the perfect one, the more mischievous one, and the one who the story follows around. They are both new to the town of Shadyside (where the Fear Street books take place) and are looking to try out for the cheerleading squad even though it's a bit late in the season for that. But they're good, and it shows. They're given a chance, and the story kicks off.

Is it about cheerleading though? No, not really. You could substitute any high school activity into here and get the same results. Drama club, football, chess club, etc. It doesn't really matter since high school kids will be themselves in the end. The cheerleading squad works well though because of what they have to do, because of the trust they need to have, and because of the utterly non-horrific imagery associated with cheerleaders.

"Jennifer's startled scream was drowned out by the squeal of the skidding tires.

By the crunch of metal.

By the shatter of glass." 

The sisters are allowed onto the squad to their elation because of their obvious talent. The problem is that things go wrong quickly. Kimmy, one of the cheerleaders, does not like the sisters at all and seems bent on turning the other girls against them. Jennifer, the captain, seems able to keep everybody together- but then an accident. The bus they are traveling on to get to a game crashes, Jennifer gets hurt, so much so that she is thought dead, fallen on top of the tombstone of "SARAH FEAR." She awakens, but is paralyzed, and a new captain is to be chosen.

The book has a limited third person narration. It follows around certain characters' thoughts. Though it mostly focuses on Bobbi's own thoughts, Corky's, Kimmy's, and Jennifer's are also seen. While Bobbi is the main character, it becomes very obvious that the whole plot is much larger than her. Corky is largely forgotten in the background, just another girl in the shadows as Bobbi's teenage life goes through its moments. A boy, Chip (the football quarterback himself no less!), asks Bobbi out, she is chosen as the new cheerleading captain, and everything seems to be going her way.

And yet...

And yet.

"Everyone is watching me, Kimmy thought, forcing back the loud sobs that pushed at her throat. Everyone is feeling sorry for me."

One of my favorite aspects of this book is how right it gets the teenage mentality. Everything is in the moment. Each thought is hectic and pumped up and ultra-emotional. Both Bobbi and Kimmy act in emotional manners, both lashing out because of jealousy or anger or a million other little emotions that they cannot hide. This book gets it so right though. It hits that pitch-perfect feel of teenage and high school life. I can remember going to high school football games with my girlfriend at the time, watching the cheerleaders, feeling the charged atmosphere, and hearing the noise throughout the bleachers. And R. L. Stine captures that atmosphere perfectly, right down to every little description. The teenage life reminds me of those teenagers I used to know and those that are left behind in my memory- and it works- it works so well that it's scary.

I think that's the point really.

"He's dead, she thought.

It was so silent in the stadium. So unearthly silent.

We're all dead. All."

The narrative keeps going as Bobbi's new "boyfriend" freezes during a game. This comes back as she later freezes as well while trying (unsuccessfully) to catch a girl during a routine. And this all happens as her relationship is straining with the other girls on the squad, even her own sister. It seems like only Jennifer seems to have any time for Bobbi, but even that is- strange. Bobbi keeps seeing and sensing odd things. First some lockers seem to shut on their own, then she freezes and is completely unable to move, and then, finally, she sees a paralyzed Jennifer, in silhouette, seem to stride across her window.

This seems impossible, but she feels the need to believe her own senses. She tell Corky who thinks she's cracking, and they leave each other to sleep, both angry at the other.

"'Help me! I can't- breathe!'

She closed her eyes and covered her ears.

The roar didn't go away.

The pain didn't go away.

The roar grew louder.

Then all was silence."

The twist in this tale is that Bobbi, our lead, is the one to die. She dies, or is killed, in an incredibly gruesome fashion, drowning and being scalded to death all at once in the girl's locker room. This has always stuck in my mind as one of the creepiest and most descriptive deaths I read about in my early life. I can't say I enjoyed it, but the artistry and the writing are just so incredibly well done. To write a death that has stuck with me for well over a decade has to mean something. I always remembered this scene, was even looking forward to it in a sick kind of way.

I can't seem to remember a single other death in an R. L. Stine book, but this one sticks out so vividly, perhaps because of the twist that Bobbi was never the main character, she was never the one we were supposed to be following, and she was nothing more than a false protagonist. And something about that shattered the illusions that I had always known in my young mind. I no longer could trust the narrative or the author. I was tricked into a false sense of security. Surely nothing could happen to the lead character, nothing bad could befall that character, that would be silly.

And when something bad did befall Bobbi, I found myself a little shattered. I was shocked and upset. I didn't understand how this could happen. And I realized it could never be any better. In many ways this book introduced me to an adult narrative, a gave me a huge distrust of horror that has continued to this day.

"'Fear Street,' one of the policemen had said grimly, shaking his head. 'Fear Street...'" 

See, Corky figures it all out after Bobbi's death. She first thinks that Kimmy killed her after she noticed that she found Kimmy's pendant on the floor with Bobbi's stuff when she found Bobbi's body. but Kimmy had given the pendant to Jennifer, but poor paralyzed Jennifer couldn't-

Well, she could actually. She wasn't paralyzed. She wasn't anything. She had died in that bus accident and was possessed by the spirit of Sarah Fear... or something, it seems. Corky sees Jennifer walking, then driving, then dancing near Sarah's tomb. Corky confronts Jennifer, and after a few chapter long struggle, defeats her, leaving only a body of bones and dust behind, much to the confusion of literally everybody, police included. Although, it seems everybody knows something is wrong with Fear Street, but they're unable to do anything about it... 

The First Evil

Well, here we are, again through another R. L. Stine book. And what a great book this one is. It stood in my mind as a high point of horror in my young life, and it didn't disappoint. It is an excellent book from beginning to end. The characters are brilliant, each fleshed out in turn. The setting of the high school works well, and it is incredibly surprising just how right the details seem, even to me, who went to high school a decade after this book was released.

It is a horrifying book, one with creepy and incredibly descriptions. The deaths are so well detailed, and yet still left ambiguous, not gory exactly, but leaving a great deal to imagination. It still is a teen book, but the terror is a much older and thicker terror than that. It works so well that it has to be one of the very best R. L. Stine books out there. And I wouldn't be surprised if it is the best teenage horror book as well. 

I don't think this book will ever leave my mind. I've thought about it a lot in the years since the last time I read it, which was well over a decade ago. It is one of the few R. L. Stine books that comes back to me from time-to-time, and I have no clue why. Maybe it was because this was the first Fear Street book I read and therefore the first teen horror book I read as well? Maybe the descriptions were brilliant even to my much younger mind- or maybe it did truly scare me, and maybe it still does even today.

I can't help but recommend this book. It works so well at everything it does. It is incredibly well-written, well-paced, and well thought out. I can't think of a single negative- unless I include the slightly too quick ending and the lack of characterization of Corky. Then again... well, I know what's coming, so neither seem like huge flaws because of that.

Well, now I have a choice. Monster Blood and Cheerleaders: The Second Evil were both released in September 1992. I'm going to choose Monster Blood to review next to shake stuff up a bit, but realize that very soon we'll be hitting the sequel to the first Cheerleaders book...

Anyway, see you next time, readers.

Movie Appraisal: Brick (2005)

Here I go away from horror movies again, and this time I'm into something a little different for me. I guess you could say I've been in a different phase of late, trying new things and having a good time all around. Now, I know Brick is a relatively obscure movie. I certainly had never heard of Brick before, or of Rian Johnson, the film's director. Now, if you recognize that name at all, you probably recognize it from Looper, a  recent movie I haven't seen but have heard excellent things about. The problem is that Brick was Rian Johnson's directorial debut, and what a debut it was. I say "the problem" because I will never remember Rian Johnson for Looper, no matter how good it may or may not be. I will instead remember him for Brick, forever and always.

Brick is an incredibly interesting film, basically a high school drama/thriller with some comedic elements done in the style of 1940s era film noir movies. That's not saying the movie looks or acts like a film noir, not exactly. Instead the movie is a little inconsistent (This is not a bad thing.), with dialogue and characters very reminiscent of film noir, but situations and settings consistent with an entirely different movie, something more like a teenage drama, comedy, or thriller (if the teenage thriller genre even exists, which I'm pretty sure it doesn't). I love early film noir, stuff like The Big Sleep, The Maltese Falcon, The Postman Always Rings Twice, and basically anything and everything that starred either Humphrey Bogart or John Garfield in that era of film. These movies defined that era, defined an entire age, and became the centerpiece of what a male, a hardboiled male, really was. I know it's a gender role and whatnot, but man, how can you not like to watch Humphrey Bogart being snappy with dialogue and cool with women? And how can a man not want to emulate that? I know I did/do. It's hard to see a more masculine man, to me at least.

But Brick is different, very different, WHOLLY different, from those kinds of films. It fits a little bit better as a neo-noir, but even that is a tough place to define it. It takes the genre apart certainly, but it also stands absolutely brilliantly on its own, simultaneously showing the hardships of high school life and the relative ease and childishness of it as well. It nearly compares a high school kid's problems to that of a tough no-nonsense detective, and the results are... interesting to say the least. I really enjoyed the juxtaposition between those two very different kinds of people. I enjoyed how Brendan, our protagonist, went about solving his problems in both a straightforward and highly convoluted manner. He simultaneously made things more difficult for himself while also doing the very best he could to determine the best outcome available to him. The movie had all the regular tropes of a film noir: the femme fatale, the antihero detective, the intelligent and informed friend, the boss of some kind of shady organization, a wrongly accused person, being set up, and manipulation all over the place. All of these things help make this movie more enjoyable with every moment you watch it.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt shines as the main character Brendan Frye. I've always liked the man as an actor, and he doesn't disappoint here, bringing full life to this character and to the situations of the story. He is believable and works well as a person both resourceful and intelligent. I don't know if I've ever seen another performance by him that I've liked anywhere near as much. And I've liked him in a fair few roles. The fact that he states the dialogue, often very noir-ish dialogue, with such conviction is a point in his (and this movie's) favor. The humorous, and often unsettling, thing about this movie is that despite the dialogue, the characters act very much like high school kids. Despite what they do, what they say, and everything else, there is a constant reminder that they are young, with Brendan telling his friend "Brain" important information all while dancing around and balancing on top of a wall. Or an important meeting happening over a drug kingpin's mother making cookies and giving Brendan something to drink.

It's almost surreal in a way, certainly comparable to The Third Man, which I often cite as one of the oddest movies of this type from the film noir era. Brick moves at such an odd pace, but never feels bad. You never question the quality, even if the situations are almost ridiculous- or are certainly ridiculous.

I have to mention Zora Zehetner's performance as Laura Dannon, the classic film-noir woman, as being one of the highlights of this film. She simulteously makes you hate her and love her with her performance. There was never a moment I didn't enjoy her on screen. Her acting was brilliant from beginning to end. The last few scenes she's in with Brendan are some of the very best, if not the very best, of this movie, if not almost all other neo-noir films in general. I don't think I've ever felt so sorry for a high school girl character before while despising her in the same breath. Noah Fleiss as Tug is amazing as well, really showing a performance worthy of praise. He has a look in his eyes the entire movie that shrieks DANGER to me as the viewer. There was never a single moment I trusted his character, but I loved the way that character was portrayed. He was sympathetic even if he was also despicable and terrifying. I also very much enjoyed the performances by Meagan Good as Kara and Noah Segan as Dode. Both characters added a great deal to the movie and character motivations. Kara, especially, becomes one of the best nearly sociopathic characters I have ever seen in a movie. And the sad thing is, when I was in drama club back in high school, I knew girls just like her, girls who would do nearly anything to get ahead. Dode is also a wonderful character, showing yet another social clique in the high school environment and representing that very well.

And that's one of the best things about this movie, while a film noir, it shows high school cliques and groups as well as any movie I've ever watched before. The accuracy of that depiction, despite the dialogue, is astounding. Honestly, the characters, social moments, dialogue, and settings are really the high points of the movie. The plot is pretty well done also, but never quite reaches the upper pinnacle of storytelling. It is well done, sometimes predicable, but also has elements of surprise to it. I kind of wish Emily, Brendan's ex-girlfriend, wasn't shown to be dead in the opening of the movie, which occurs in medias res. I think it would have been more surprising to see her show up dead without pre-knowledge of her death and more impacting besides. That being said, the way the movie is structured is clearly referential to earlier film noir, so it's not something I can complain about all that much.

This movie is literally brilliant from beginning to end. It's a movie for somebody who's looking for something different: great acting, an obviously indie film, and mostly a really good juxtaposition between ideas that don't usually go together. I can't really say much else. I recommend that everybody check this out. I also have to say that I wouldn't have ever even heard about this movie if not for seeing a fantastic preview trailer for this film before I watched Doom. It's pretty rare that a trailer makes me want to watch a movie, but Brick's trailer was so amazingly well done, I had no choice but to find this film at any cost and watch it. I suggest that anybody can watch this film an enjoy it. It doesn't have a lot of gore, no nudity, a few blood stains and such, but nothing really all that terrible. The dialogue alone is worth the price of the movie, and the performances are worth even more. While it's a bit of an oddball movie, it's one that really needs to be watched. It's deconstruction of both high school and noir is a pleasure to behold.

I also get the feeling that the movie might leave a few confused. Don't be. It's relatively easy to understand. A girl, Emily, is seeking help from her loner of an ex-boyfriend. She trusts him to look after her even if she doesn't love him anymore. She asks for help, and he does what he can even after she tells him to leave her alone. He is committed to helping her in anyway he can because he still cares about her despite himself. She shows up dead at a meeting place, and Brendan, our protagonist, hides the body and starts investigating anybody Emily could have been involved with, eventually leading him to a drug lord called "The Pin," a gang leader called "Tug," and a high school girl who has her own motives by the name of Laura. The central point of the film is for Brendan to find who killed Emily and to get even. He eventually learns that she was set up, being implicated in stealing a brick (of the title) of heroin from "The Pin." He also learns that Emily was with a bunch of different guys, Tug and Dode included, and that she was more than likely pregnant, which was the reason, on top of other things, why she was killed. The last moments of the film are spent on Brendan getting even with the person who ultimately set Emily up in the first place, and it is an amazing scene. I'm not giving spoilers out. Go watch the movie if it sounds interesting and you haven't seen it yet. It's good enough to not be spoiled.

And... yeah. That's about it. It was a wonderful movie, far outside my expertise in reviewing, but also really a great watch. It is probably one of the very best films I've seen in quite a long time, and easily the best non-horror/non-franchise film I've seen in quite a while.

Check it out. Seriously.

Movie Appraisal: Chronicle (2012)

So, every year I see about one movie or so in theaters. I mean, mostly they're not even good movies. Two years ago, maybe three I started doing this, not from a conscious effort or anything, but rather because that's how it happened to work out. I already know this won't be the only movie I'll see in theaters this year, what with The Hobbit and The Dark Knight Rises, but it is my first and the one I knew almost nothing about. Expect spoilers in this review. Just a warning.

I had heard some decent things from both reviews and from word of mouth, but I didn't really know what to expect. There are a glut of what seem to be described as deconstructions of the superhero genre. I haven't really seen many of them, and I have no real desire to see any of them either. This is not out of any malice towards the movies, but rather because I simply am apathetic about these movies. They don't usually mean much to me. This movie, Chronicle, is a deconstruction, certainly, but is also a found-footage film done very well, and a pretty good dark high school drama film as well.

The film centers on three high schoolers who find something strange in a a hole underground. The main character Andrew (Dane DeHaan) is a bit of a recluse, a loner, a strange nerdy guy with a lot of issues at home. He is not only unpopular, but is largely unnoticed. The other two characters are the very popular Steve (Michael B. Jordan) and Andrew's cynical cousin Matt (Alex Russell). These three have incredibly good interactions with one another in the first half of the film, and almost make it feel good as a film, rather than dark as it will eventually become.

The first half of the movie centers on both Andrew, his home life, school life, lack of social life, etc. and the interactions and friendships between the three leads. Andrew is the loner, the one who never really had friends. The only person he seems close to is Matt, who also seemingly dislike him. Andrew's father is not only an abusive, unemployed drunk, but he also sees reality in his own way rather than the way it actually is. He is a largely despicable character.

The movie in general can be predicted in advance. Everything can be seen even to the people who are not exactly genre-savvy. It plays out exactly like one would think it would, with Andrew being pushed off the deep end through his home and social lives, a character dying, and a hero and a villain emerging. That being said, although this movie is predictable, it is also very good. I enjoyed it thoroughly, although the ending was not exactly to my liking. I would have much rather liked the father to have died and Andrew to have burnt himself out on his own power. That would have worked beautifully. The way it ended fell flat for me instead.

This is one of the few movies I have ever seen that has a fantastic opening though. The characters seem real when introduced. The plot moves along at a steady and enjoyable pace, and the darkening of the plot is thoroughly foreshadowed even when the story is downright silly. The first half of the movie does have a lot of comedy in it, something I probably wouldn't have enjoyed as much if I hadn't seen it in the theater. I tend to not love comedy, which is why I never do comedy reviews, but the comedy in this one feels very real. Teenagers with these superpowers would play pranks and have fun in these ways. I like that a lot.

The plot is pretty standard and works pretty well. I like how the movie darkens after the death of Steve, and I like the set-up to his death... with the plane scene happening before foreshadowing the whole thing, showing the happiest day of the three characters' times together contrasted with the darkest, saddest day. I thought it was very well done, appropriately sad and terrible, showing how close Andrew was to falling all along, and how Steve was really the one he was relying upon for support. It also shows just how terrible Andrew's father is, being the kind of person to throw Andrew's enjoyment right out the window. Yes, I understand that there are dire things going on at home and everything, but it's not Andrew's fault and there's nothing he can do. He obviously cares about his mother, obviously helps in every way he can. The father is simply a selfish prick who can't see past his own faults. It's terrible.

The cinematography is found-footage, that's certainly true, but because of Andrew's powers, it makes the camerawork almost artsy. I liked it even if in the theater it gave me a headache. I think I would have enjoyed it more on DVD probably. Not much else to say about it then that. I thought it was a good example of found-footage, and mostly very well done all around.

As for characters, here comes some criticisms. I liked both Andrew and Steve. They both came off as heavy contrasts of characters, but could and did get along very well. Their friendship seemed incredibly apparent, and their stage show was one of the  most heart-warming parts of the movie to watch. Both characters had incredibly deep and meaningful antics and dialogue, and both felt very real and very needed in the story as a whole. I thought that they were beautifully done. Steve seemed to be an amazing, heroic type of guy, whereas Andrew is trouble but trying to be the best he can.

Now for Matt. I didn't like Matt. I thought he was superfluous to the entire story and a big huge Marty Stu besides. He is the typical "good guy" character. He has an "arc" that is so apparent it feels like somebody was etching it on a nail they were pounding into my brain. His whole "love" sideplot was unneeded and ridiculous, easily one of the lowpoints of the movie for me. The portrayal of women in the film, especially in regards to Matt, but all around too, seems heavily exploitative, almost showing that girls are only good for sex (making a kid into a man) or being a backup cameraperson. I would have much rather had a female taking the part of Matt and going with that rather than having Matt as the "hero" character. I simply did not like it. It did not work for me at all.

Maybe it was because Matt wasn't very good at anything, or maybe it was because he just seems so "good" and so "righteous" when he put his cousin down for years, never thinking anything more about Andrew than he's weird or a fly on the wall or whatever else. He seemed both insincere and obnoxious. To me he was unneeded and the ending felt worse with him saving the father, killing Andrew, and ending off the film. Andrew should have burnt himself out. The father should have died. Matt should have not existed. Those things would have made the film much better.

I heard in the original version Andrew kills his father like he kills the spider earlier in the film. That would have been fitting. I didn't like how the father got away with everything he did in the end. I felt a little cheated.

The acting here though, despite some character complaints, is very good all around. I think the only person I can criticize is the girl with the camera, Matt's girl. I don't think it necessarily had anything to do with her acting, but rather her part. I hated that part with undying passion. I hated why it was there and what it meant to the story. Dane DeHaan and Michael B. Jordan are really the outstanding players here, but Alex Russell shines as well, especially in the emotional scenes. The father, played by Michael Kelly, also does a fantastic job of making me hate his guts. So, take that for what it's worth.

I liked the movie quite a bit. I didn't love it, but I thought it did a good job at being both different, the same, and quite enjoyable besides. I wish certain things had been different because it would have changed my feelings about the movie quite a bit, but I liked it and would recommend it to people who like superhero movies (deconstruction or otherwise) and people who like found-footage films. It's not necessarily for the whole family with the gore in the film and the brutal family and social life of Andrew, but it works pretty well as an experience.