livinitup2589

I gotta hand it to Rob Zombie. The guy knows how to make a horror movie. I haven't seen his first film House of 1,000 Corpses, but I don't really have to in order to recognize his flair for film-making. The Devil's Rejects, the sequel to Zombie's debut, is so strikingly violent that it's hard to watch for more than five minutes. But at the same time, there's a certain diabolical charm to the movie that keeps the sickest acts of human kind very watchable. In a strange way, I couldn't look away.

After a TCM inspired opening, we're taken into the Firefly house. As Otis, Baby, and the rest of the clan awaken to the sweet smell of rotted corpses, their house is bombarded by the police, headed by hot head Sheriff Wydell. The family arm themselves with guns and metal face plates, and all hell breaks loose. After a shooting spree that leaves a good number from each side dead, the cops seize Momma Firefly and Baby and Otis manage to escape through the sewers.

The rest of the film follows the two fugitives as they shoot, stab and molest their way across the state. Eventually, the two meet up with Captain Spalding, a perverted clown who's just as psychotic as they are. Running parallel to the storyline is Sheriff Wydell's manhunt for the three of them.

Taken at face value, this isn't a movie you'll likely enjoy. There's far too much here for the squeamish and the violence is completely reprehensible. But Zombie (a former hard rocker who's self image seemed to be right out of a horror film) handles every moment with such a strong sense of humor that we forgive the movie for much of its ugliness, and begin to enjoy the madness . As unforgivable as some of it is, the movie is somehow able to win us over.

There's a chance, a good one, that this is the first movie that I can remember laughing out loud at such incredibly nasty people. Captain Spalding, with his dirty beard and scary clown makeup, is absolutely hilarious. This is funny, considering I don't find clowns to be really funny at all. It seems strange that when I finally find one, he's a homicidal nut job. Otis, the bearded, trigger happy psycho is just as funny because he's so careless and clueless that only he can take himself seriously. As far as Baby goes, she's not nearly as funny as she is sexy. Although I do wonder how she grew up to be so good looking.

Besides the fact that the movie mixes so well elements of splatter and comedy, it's a technical achievement as well. Zombie's script is packed with witty dialogue and scenes of true emotion between the characters. He even goes so far as to develop the Fireflys into an actual family, which only works in the movie's favor. His directorial skills are impressive as well, as he seems to have mastered pacing and has a real manic energy with the camera. He's not just another horror hack, but a guy who knows his stuff.

While Zombie is the movie's heart and soul, the actors seem to be its backbone. Each actor, no matter how small their part is, is superb at what they're given. As the film's lead, Sig Haig gives Captain Spalding a perfectly believable menace and a strange charm. The scene where he car jacks P.J. Soles (who is terrific in her short time on screen) is just as funny as it is scary because of Haig's ability to be intimidating and goofy at the same time. As Otis, Bill Moseley is second only to Haig with the most scene stealing performance in the movie. As Baby, Sheri Moon Zombie is not as good as the other two, but does a good enough job at being sick and twisted. William Forsyth gets the more conventional role as the revenge bent sheriff and runs with it.

Despite its wretched characters and even more wretched content, I think The Devil's Rejects will someday become a horror classic. Zombie defies modern horror in a way that hasn't been seen for a long time. He pushes the entire genre over the cliff of absurdity, and brings it back with an entire new set of rules. There may be no more rules left by the time he's made his next film.

My problem with most teen movies is that they tend to be either too exaggerated or underdeveloped. Their depictions of adolescence lack conviction and realism. All of them, at least in the era after the great John Hughes, seem to think that every high school is the same, every kid is a stereotype and that jocks reign supreme while all the nerds serve as easy targets for cruelty.

The fact is, teenagers don't exist in a black and white world. Movies like She's All That and Jawbreaker should take a lesson from Thirteen, a film that shows teenage life at its most tragic. This is a movie where the ugly truth about peer pressure and fitting in is put on display without apology or remorse. Where the emotional fragility that comes with of growing up is put through hell and is never the same again. In other words, it's the real thing.

The story is told through the eyes of naive Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood), a middle schooler with an average but happy life. She has the kind of outlook on life that every girl her age needs. She lives in a single-parent home with her brother (Brady Corbet) and mother (Holly Hunter). When the first day of seventh grade arrives, Tracy begins to develop a sudden craving to be part of the "it-crowd", and decides to ditch her friends in an attempt to meet Evie (co-writer Nikki Reed), the most popular girl in school. When she finally approaches her new-found idol she's surprised when Evie gives her number to go shopping after school. Tracy wouldn't dream of passing the opportunity up, and her decision to befriend Evie causes a chain reaction of corrupt behavior, sex and drugs that will change her life forever.

The most striking thing about Thirteen is that it more-or-less resembles real-life. This day and age is a dangerous time to be hitting puberty, and that is exactly what the movie says about contemporary America. At a time in life where the evils of society shouldn't be near a thirteen-year old, they seem to be disturbingly invited. Tracy and Evie are just as inclined to steal as a pair of middle-aged panhandlers, as willing to destroy as an immoral drug-dealer. The only difference is that these two don't have any of the responsibilities that come with adulthood, only the consequences of premature corruption.

With all the poignancy that develops throughout, Thirteen's power also comes from its uncompromising view of what teenagers do when there's no parents or authority watching over them. With its R-rated content surely deserved, this is a movie that ironically deserves to be seen as a family film. Parents with a preteen should make an exception to constricting their children to violent movies and sit down with them for this one. In a year or two, they'll be glad when their kids are practicing abstinence when the majority of their classmates won't know what the word is.

So, I've established Thirteen as an important movie. This, above all, is thanks to a script that was written with authenticity by a girl who knows how it feels to be changed by her age. Nikki Reed, along with director Catherine Hardwicke, has told a brutal but undeniably effective story. But the problem with its impact comes in the technical storytelling. Hardwicke, who manages to get great performances out of everyone on screen, doesn't always do the right thing with the visuals. There are moments that, with more subtle and restrained energy, could have been better than they are.

For example, when Tracy first meets Evie, Hardwicke uses a few freeze-frames too many and employs rock music that camps up an otherwise serious scene. The same is done to a number of the girls' most horrific moments, where the camera moves as much as it needs to, but doesn't stop. For a movie that holds so much contempt toward contemporary America, it tries awfully hard to fit in to the MTV clique of teen cinema.

The only flaw to the movie's content comes with its treatment of social acceptance. Unlike real-life, Thirteen classifies its characters into two-dimensional ideas, not as individuals, but as groups. I don't notice much segregation in terms of popularity at my high school, but it seems to exist beyond belief here. After meeting Evie, Tracy completely abandons her former friends because she feels herself as superior in terms of her social status. This wouldn't be such a problem if the movie wasn't aiming for realism, but in reality, teenagers aren't this subjective to their temporary reputation high school.

But Thirteen's message is so strong that people will be probably look past these flaws and take the movie as is. It defies the limits of modern teen movies and substitutes truth for PG-13 falsity. In its attempt to tell the audience what really goes on when teenagers have the freedom to do whatever they want, it leaves its mark long after the last shot ends. For every parent and teenager living in denial about the social tragedies that surround them, Thirteen is required viewing.

The first time I saw Angel Heart, I didn't know for sure what it was. About two years ago I had been flipping through stations on TV and stopped on a movie with Mickey Rourke and a bearded Robert De Niro. Already I was hooked, but it wasn't just the presence of these two actors that had me watching, it was the look and feel of the film. Considering I had only caught the last ten minutes of the movie, I was completely engrossed. But it wasn't until earlier this year that I was finally able to sit through the entire movie.

The story of Angel Heart is one of noir essence accompanied by overwhelming dread. It begins in 1950's New York, with Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke), a low class gumshoe with quite a low prolific career. In his office, he gets a call from a potential client's lawyer, asking him to meet him in of all places, a Harlem church. The client in question is Louis Cyphre (Robert De Niro), a mysterious figure who offers Harry a case: Find Johnny Favourite, a war veteran and jazz singer who went missing after returning from the war.. This seemingly simplistic case takes Angel from the roughness of New York to the steamy bayous of New Orleans. As he investigates Favourite's disappearance, he finds himself in the middle of something far more sinister than he ever suspected.

As a through-back to the detective thrillers of the 40's and 50's, Angel Heart takes us to places that weren't often traveled in thrillers of the 80's. We're taken to the backwoods of Louisiana where locals practice Voodoo, jazz clubs where classic sounds are still new, and seedy motels that make alleys look like suites at the Ritz-Carlton. There aren't many clean places in the film and it rains in nearly every scene. Writer-director Alan Parker creates a world where only the noir exists and darkness is constant.

But this is not a genre film in the conventional sense. Parker keeps most of the story within the nostalgic South and even adds Satanism to the mix. Eventually, the movie begins to completely turn away from its noir roots and becomes surrealistic horror.

In what can be called a virtuoso performance, Mickey Rourke gives Angel a perfect glibness that makes his journey all the more surprising. Balancing pompousness with certain professional drive, Rourke perfectly captures a down and out gumshoe. Sharing his every scene with Rourke, De Niro shines in a purposely understated role. As Cyphre, De Niro is at his most stoic and creepy in only a few scenes.

At the time of its release, the real interest of the movie came in the appearance of then Cosby Kid Lisa Bonet. As the gorgeous but mysterious Epiphany Proudfoot, she gives an against type performance that showed its power by getting her fired on the role that made her famous. The sex scene that most scarred her innocent persona is anything but sexy and is something you have to see for yourself.

For me though, the ultimate standout of the film's legacy lies in the brilliant cinematography by Michael Seresin. In terms of capturing a film's visuals with its atmosphere, Seresin's photography is some of the best I've seen in the horror genre or any other. Along with Seresin, Parker uses another one of his regulars, Trevor Jones, to create the perfectly toned music for the film.

Angel Heart is a prime example of a filmmaker creating a perfectly envisioned piece of work. Everything about the movie fits the genre to a perfect pitch and follows its dark visage to the very end. Criminally underrated at the time of its release, its finally found an audience ever since its release on DVD, and rightfully so. A horror film this brilliant shouldn't be missed by anyone remotely interested in horror or mystery films.