I Remember Me (2000) by Thomas Tessier - Horror Short Story Review

First published in the 2000 anthology; Ghost Music and Other Tales, I Remember Me is the second of two Thomas Tessier short stories I was sent to read back in 2014 (and the first for me to put into a post). This very strange story told a nightmarish tale within a strange alternate Earth.

In a modern New York, a man attempts to head back home to his apartment. This is a task made much harder due to a memory loss causing pandemic that has swept the world. Dubbed 'The Flu', this disease causes intense memory loss, not just key information such as names and addresses, but even down to the basic, such as how to cook food. With much of the population infected, it has caused no end of issues, with even the doctors trying to find a cure, hampered by their own memory loss. It has led to a transient world where fake I.Ds are in full rotation, and people seemingly on a whim decide what their names are and what property they own.

There was a horrifying free-form feel to the world of the story, one that the characters within are none the wiser to. The protagonist here is aimless, drifting from life to life, unsure if he is married, or where he lives. For him nothing is really different thanks to his supreme memory loss, but from afar it appears a dystopian Hell-scape. Over the course of the story, our protagonist takes on a variety of names and identities, moving from location to location without even being aware of the changes taking place.

This is a world that seems on the brink of societal collapse. Roving gangs stealing the identities of victims, safe in the knowledge they likely won't even remember being robbed. Entire countries losing contact with each other, food shortages due to farmers forgetting to plant crops. A bewildering out of step world that is somehow screeching on.

I Remember Me was unique in that it is only from the distance of reading the story that the pure horror of this world is apparent, the characters all too deeply entwined with it to be aware of that fact. Dizzying and inventive, this is one story that I feel will stick in the mind for a good while. 

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What Lies Beneath (2000) - Horror Film Review

I try and visit my father once a week, so on Wednesday (at the time of typing) after a long, long day at work I went to his. Turned out he had brought some random films from a charity shop and asked if I wanted to watch any of them. Seeing one of them was a horror, I jumped at the chance, in my head, an ideal entry for next weeks film reviews. What Lies Beneath is a supernatural horror that for much of the runtime I was convinced I had once already seen. In fact, just writing that last sentence had me racing to my VHS collection to search through for it, that convinced that I had once long ago brought this. Directed by Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Back to the Future trilogy), this took a heck of a long time to get going, and had an increasingly obvious direction the story was going in. With my brain turned to mush after a long work day, I was happy for my eyes to glaze over and zone out to this mild ghost story featuring two big name actors.

Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer - Batman Returns, Scarface) has recently moved to the lakeside former home of the parents of her research scientist husband - Norman (Harrison Ford - Star Wars and Indiana Jones series of films). Obviously, being happily married, he has moved there with her, as well as their seldom seen dog Cooper. Norman has been busier than usual on a project at the University where he works, and so Claire has been left on her own and is feeling a little lost, even more so as her daughter has recently gone off to college. Odd occurrences start happening around the home, doors open on their own, a photo frame falls on the floor and shatters, and she sees a vision of what appears to be a young woman while investigating the bathtub which had inexplicably filled itself up. Claire increasingly becomes convinced the home is haunted, and she first suspects that it is the wife of her next door neighbour who she has become convinced was murdered by the husband. Norman meanwhile is getting ever more annoyed at Claire's antics, seeing her as being hysterical and getting in the way of his important work. Is Claire slowly going insane or is there something more supernatural at play?

My heart sank a little when I saw this was over two hours long, I had hoped for a shorter film to watch. Initial impressions were not good, nothing was happening. Time and time again it felt like something was on the cusp of occurring, but it never did. Slowly, much like the slow pace of the film, things begin to get more and more interesting. In the supernatural sense not so much. This may feature a ghost at the core of the story, but that part is used very sparsely. I didn't really mind, the times the ghost makes an appearance were well chosen. The lack of much paranormal activity may have been an issue if not for the red herrings going on. The first act has Claire barking up completely the wrong tree, but it was entertaining, and led to some amusing moments. I enjoyed the amount of characters that Claire interacts with, and while she might not be imagining the hauntings, she is hardly the epitome of balanced calmness, known to many around her as someone who gets a bit emotional about things.

Pfeiffer was a good lead, I enjoyed her character throughout the movie, even if there was some bad writing. The poor dog Cooper! He appears in literally about four scenes and really added nothing to the story. He may as not have been there as it became a bit distracting wondering where the family dog was for the majority of the film. Ford wasn't so much of a good character. Not really his fault, but Norman seems to have wild mood swings that make him a bit off putting, and Claire's meekness around him even when hidden secrets come out is a bit pathetic.
The story was predictable, I had worked out what was really going on a good thirty minutes before characters in the film work it out. It does lead to a thrilling finale though, I thought it had some good parts to it, especially the unique use of the bathtub as a weapon, a unique scene.

What Lies Beneath isn't something I would class as a classic. It is nostalgic due to the time it was made, the internet in the film is incredibly basic looking and no one has mobile phones (which would have solved a whole load of plot points if this had been made today). It was fun seeing two iconic actors, and in a horror film no less. The story really wasn't anything to write home about, but it was adequately satisfying to see play out. Well worth a watch if only for nostalgia, and can be a real slow burn at times, but overall, yeah, not bad. As a final word, I read that the director was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's way of making films, I can really see that thinking back.

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The Gift (2000) - Horror Film Review

I requested a screener of the 2000 supernatural horror film The Gift but later discovered I already owned it on VHS. This wasn't a good sign for this Sam Raimi (Drag Me to Hell, The Evil Dead) directed movie as usually if I can't remember something it means it left little impression. I found the film to be a bit of a slow burn, but maybe due to being more mature, I found myself really enjoying this story, and it was a delight spotting a whole bunch of famous actors throughout this.

Cate Blanchett (Thor: Ragnarok, The Lord of the Rings trilogy) stars as Annie Wilson, a small town psychic who performs readings for the local townsfolk. After socialite Jessica King (Katie Holmes - Brahms: The Boy II, Miss Meadows) goes missing, her worried father convinces the local Sheriff (J.K Simmons - Spider-Man) to enlist Annie's help, and soon using her powers she is able to locate the body of the woman hidden in a pond of the property of local redneck Donnie Barksdale (Keanu Reeves - John Wick). After a trial however, Annie discovers her visions about the murder have not stopped, and that the wrong person might have been convicted of the crime.

The Gift is played super seriously and super straight, with the paranormal elements only popping up every now and again. At its heart this is a small town drama, made up of a variety of important characters who add texture to the film world. You have Donnie's abused wife, Valerie (Hilary Swank - P.S. I Love You), mentally ill mechanic Buddy (Giovanni Ribisi - Ted) and Annie's husband to be (Greg Kinnear - Mystery Men) all fleshing out Annie's character, with Valerie she is trying to do the right thing by her, with Buddy she is trying to be a friend to him, while with Annie's husband she is forced to confront her own past with relation to the husband of her three children who died a year or so previously. The three children also play a part, but felt much less developed and there just as a prop rather than feeling like living breathing characters. As the movie's most vocal antagonist, Reeves was on fun form, even if he seemed far too good looking and well presented to be playing a backwater redneck.

The story plays out like a murder mystery, including police procedure scenes, and a relatively lengthy court case sequence that makes up a lot of the second act. I found this all interesting in my more mature guise, but I will admit, I have a giant soft spot for films from the early 2000s, I have such a huge feel of bittersweet nostalgia for that time in my life. It was a delight spotting so many famous faces, with most the actors here doing great jobs. The horror is very slight, mainly taking the form of a couple of nightmare/vision sequences that Annie has, there are more elements of a thriller here, including a satisfying finale that works despite using old horror film tropes (the final encounter taking place at night during a thunder storm). Special effects were minimal, but the blood shown on screen was fine enough, and the make-up effects on the corpse looked effective.

The Gift is light on horror and high on drama, it can easily be seen as a slow burn. For me, I was there for the acting, and the tightly woven story that while predictable for the most part, I still enjoyed seeing play out to its thrilling conclusion. The Gift is currently streaming exclusively on ARROW in the UK.

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Hellraiser: Inferno (2000) - Horror Film Review

Way back in around 2011 I decided I was going to watch through all the currently available Hellraiser films. For one reason or another I only made it to the fourth entry, Hellraiser: Bloodlines, before I stopped, despite having brought a whole bunch of them. With a screener link for the film I had intended to watch for review today not working, and with a new Hellraiser film recently released I decided it was high time I got back in. Hellraiser: Inferno is the fifth entry and one I had seen before a long time ago. I remembered quite enjoying it, but would time be kind to this installment?

Joseph (Craig Sheffer - American Horror Story TV series, Nightbreed) is a corrupt detective who is a fan of puzzles. At the scene of a brutal murder he discovers a small puzzle box, and decides to take it for himself. One late night, he decides to try and solve the box, a bad thing as this is actually the 'lament configuration', a device that acts as a portal between our world and Hell. Having solved it, Joseph begins to experience wild hallucinations of demonic creatures, something which he is sure is linked to a mysterious figure known in the criminal underworld only as 'The Engineer'. It seems this figure has kidnapped a child, leaving a severed finger of theirs at the scene of every murder they commit. Joseph finds himself in a race against time to find and save the child, but this race has a heavy cost, as those around him all begin to become victims of this dangerous foe.

Watching Hellraiser: Inferno, I was taken with how little of the Hellraiser mythos it really includes. There are cenobites, yet these don't really factor in to the story too much, at least to begin with. Of course, Doug Bradley reprises his iconic role as Pinhead, but this character doesn't really appear until the end of the film's second act. This had a film-noir feel, with Joseph narrating the story at set points, while the majority of the film takes place during night. I read someone else commenting that this felt more like a Silent Hill or Jacob's Ladder type experience than a Hellraiser film, and I can certainly see that. The whole quest the detective finds himself on seems designed personally for him. The victims are all people who have some link to him (such as a childhood schoolmate, his main informant, as well as others closer to home), so it seems in a Saw or Se7en type way he is being punished for the way he has chosen to live his life.

Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000) - Horror Film Review

The Blair Witch Project made the 'found footage' genre of horror films mainstream, everyone knows the iconic premise of 3 teens vanishing in the woods and a year later their filmed footage being found. The sequel wisely ditched the found footage aspect, a move that the Paranormal Activity films should have taken long ago.

After the worldwide success of The Blair Witch Project, the town of Burkitsville whose woods that film was filmed in has become a tourist trap with thousands visiting the area much to the anger of the local townsfolk and most specifically the long suffering Sheriff . One such group arrive to go on the 'Blair Witch Tour' led by local resident Jeff. The plan is to go into the woods and visit the locations used in the film. They set up camp at the ruins of Rustin Parr's house. After a run in with a rival tour group they decide to stay up all night to ensure the group don't return to cause them more trouble. The next morning they awake to find chaos. All their cameras have been destroyed, and the work of researchers Stephen and Tristen has been torn to shreds and raining down like snow over the group. With no memory of what occurred in the night the group head to Jeff's wood side house to go through their tapes and discover what happened during their missing hours. This is just the start of their nightmare...

Why all the hate people? I have only ever met one other person on this planet who loves this film as much as me, it is no joke one of my favourite films of all time. I wasn't that big a fan of Blair Witch, it was ok on the first watch but repeated viewings it lost it's impact. Not so for this sequel, every time I see it I see something new. The film much to director Joe Berlinger's anger was vastly changed on the cutting room floor creating a really chopped up, messed up feeling. Throughout the film there are quick shots of vicious murders as well as scenes of the future with the group in Police custody. As it progresses clues unravel to the events that have happened.

The key hook of discovering what has happened to the group in their missing hours is a great plot device that creates some genuine creepiness and has a great pay off. Though not a found footage film it still has plenty of handheld cameras, as Jeff comments at one point 'cameras never lie'. The whole mystery of the film is left to viewers interpretation. That the group are newly met and don't know each other leaves ambiguity for just what sort of people they really are, lot of mysteries!

Now there are some pretty terrible effects used I must admit. The ghostly children who appear throughout the film have terrible makeup on them, the scenes of violence don't look that great either but the locations are fantastic. The woods are used sparingly with most the action taking place at Jeff's house that is a converted mill. This place manages to be more creepy than the woods themselves, would love to live somewhere like that! Special mention has to go to the soundtrack. The introduction with Marilyn Mansons' Disposable Teens playing out as the camera sweeps over the woods inter cut with close ups of people being killed is genius, other tracks such as Queens of the Stone Age playing over a drunken montage is also just perfect. The score by Carter Burwell is fantastic also, the signature tune is sublime and the score is chock full of drums and wind instruments evoking a feeling of the woods that seeps everywhere.

Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 is almost a perfect film, one that stands up to repeated viewings, has an astounding soundtrack and is a hell of a ride. Before you judge it give it a view, you may just fall in love with it like I did.

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Battle Royale (2000) - Horror Film Review

Battle Royale is one of my favourite films of all time, having seen The Hunger Games last year I felt compelled to once again see this film due to the similarities that film had with it. As a side note apart from the first five minutes Battle Royale II: Requiem is not a good film and should be avoided. As an extra side note the novel Battle Royale by Koushun Takami (that the film was based on) is fantastic and very recommended reading!

The film takes place in Japan in the near future where a piece of legislation named the 'Battle Royale Act' has been passed to combat the rising unrest by the young. By impartial lottery once a year a class of children are picked to be taken to a remote location and forced to fight to the death as a scare tactic for others. The teens are all fitted with explosive necklaces and given three days to fight until just one is left. More than one left after three days and the necklaces will explode. Shuya Nanahara (Tatsuya Fujiwara of Death Note) and his class mates are drugged and awaken on a deserted island where their 7th grade teacher Kitano informs them of what awaits them. The rest of the film follows the class as they battle and fight to survive. Some decide to try and win, some try to hide, while others come up with plans to try and escape the island. Shuya, his love interest Noriko and mysterious transfer student Kawada are the main protagonists.

This was such a unique film at the time and still today feels quite unlike any other. Despite the grim tone of teens being forced to murder each other the film has quite a comic feel to it, violence is over the top with characters often taking ridiculous amounts to get killed, there are darkly humorous moments and some prolonged death sequences that give it a fun unrealistic feel. With a class of 42 kids there is plenty of room to fit in all the school stereotypes that exist. The geeky kids, the loners, the bullies and the bullied, the class joker; all are featured and it is interesting to see their interactions with each other as their day to day relationships change now they all have weapons and permission to kill.

The teacher Kitano is a fantastic, unnerving character, having taught the class previously he knows them and for the most part dislikes them, he seems to have a lot of enjoyment being in charge of the act, commanding from the nerve centre, giving reports every six hours of which of the classmates have been killed, and giving light hearted advice to the survivors. Transfer student Kiriyama (who volunteered for the event) is menacing as the bad kid, for the whole film he doesn't utter a word, systematically killing everyone he comes across, he even gets his own theme tune that plays whenever he appears like he is some sort of boss character which reminded me of the Final Fantasy VII Sephiroth theme!

Words cannot do justice to this film, I am having trouble expressing just how awesome this is, awesome scenes of violence (a severed head with a grenade jammed in the mouth thrown through a window is a fantastic moment) and great classical music to go with the violence that just fits perfectly. The plot is really interesting, you really come to care for a lot of the characters and the way that many different short stories are neatly fitted in creates a lot of emotion for characters when they die. At times it is almost like a collection of short stories, something that the book also gave the impression of.

Some of the flashback sequences are not that exciting to see even if they do give some context for characters relationships, and the translation text is sometimes quite messily done but other than that this film is near perfect. Battle Royale is a film I can just watch time and time again and never get bored of.

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