31 Days of Monster Mania: Day 18: Demon Knight

Written by Stu Cooper

It's time to meet up with one of my favorite characters in horror history, The Cryptkeeper! Last year I talked about some of my favorite "Tales From The Crypt" episodes but this year I'm going to address some of the feature films that the series created. The first "Tales From The Crypt" feature was known as "Demon Knight". The script was originally written almost 2 years before the show had even started, but it had been bounced around by multiple directors, never truly finding a home until Joel Silver got it. The film was initially supposed to be part of a Three-Part trilogy, but the other scripts weren't strong enough. "Demon Knight" was the only one out of the original 3 to get made. The other two proposed were called "Body Count" and "Dead Easy". Those two never made it to production and instead they made "Bordello of Blood" and "Ritual" as the follow-ups. The film was directed by Ernest Dickerson and released in January 1995, though the original intention was to release the film Halloween of 1994. The film stars William Sadler, Billy Zane, and Jada Pinkett Smith. The film also co-stars horror familiar Dick Miller, and Thomas Hayden Church.

"Demon Knight" tells the story of a man on the run from a demon. The demon wants an item that the man has in his possession, and he will do anything to obtain it. The film starts off with "The Collector" played by Billy Zane chasing a man named Brayker (Sadler). The two are involved in a high speed chase on the freeway which leads to a massive car crash. Brayker barely escapes with his life, while "The Collector" walks away with ease. Brayker goes to the nearest building he can find which happens to be a old crusty hotel full of colorful low-life individuals. The apprehensive hotel staff let Brayker stay there. This is when we are introduced to Jeryline (Pinkett) who is the rude degraded assistant at the hotel. She is apparently stuck there having to scrub the floors and clean up the beds (even after the prostitute is done with them). The film focuses heavily on Brayker, but also on the Jeryline character. Brayker joins some of the locals for dinner and that is when the hotel staff begin to suspect something is up with the guy. Soon after "The Collector" gathers the help of the police and tells them Brayker stole a very expensive item from him, and he aims to get it back.

After being introduced to a cast of misfits such as the disgruntled Postman (Charles Fleischer), the local prostitute (Brenda Bakke), the hotel Manager Irene (CCH Pounder) and many more, we get a true sense of the tone of this film. It's very slapstick in it's nature, but balances the slapstick with brutality. We get to know each of the guests in the hotel in some way or another. The postman goes on depressive rants, the prostitute shows she wants love but can't find it, Jeryline shows she wants an adventurous life. They each have some type of wish or hope.

When "The Collector" arrives at the hotel in search of Brayker, he uses the hopes and dreams of each individual against them. The Collector disposes of the police once he locates Brayker and the story escalates rather quickly from that point on. He makes it clear to the inhabitants of the hotel that Brayker possesses some type of antique key that he needs, and he is willing to grant any desire to obtain it. We find out through a series of conversations between Brayker and the hotel people that he is a chosen guardian. He is the guardian of the key. The key he is guarding actually contains the blood of Christ. It doesn't get anymore serious than that. I'd like to see somebody bring that thing into the Pawn Stars shop! The key seems to contain a semi-infinite amount of blood as long as it's in a guardian's hands. The blood can be used to created locked gates on property. If you put the blood on a doorway, it essentially blocks that doorway from allowing any demons inside. Brayker uses this to protect himself and the hotel people from The Collector.

The Collector quickly grows frustrated with the situation and decides to create an army of demons to patrol the hotel and take control of the key. The movie then turns into a zombie survival type situation where everyone is stuck inside the hotel, fighting for their lives against these bizarre demons. The demons themselves look a bit like the crypt keeper, which makes you wonder if they are somehow related to him. That unfortunately is never elaborated on. To provide some levity in the movie, The Collector is actually quite the goofball. Billy Zane plays the part perfectly. He balances a sense of demonic evil with a goofy comedian like persona. He often dances around and makes jokes, while threatening the lives of the humans. He also possesses the power to cause hallucinations, which can lead to possessing or manipulating humans into doing his bidding. He can make the humans see their deepest darkest desires, and he offers them a chance to grant that wish. Of course like any Faust or Devil character, he is full of shit. Any human that falls for his manipulation is doomed. It's up to those with strong will power to defeat The Collector.

Through out the film we are given some background on Brayker and the key that he has in his possession. We find out that this key contains the blood of christ from his actual crucifixion and the demons were actually present for that moment. The war for good and evil has been waged ever since. If the demons get a hold of the key, they will win the war and essentially conquer humanity. Brayker is one of many in a long line of guardians that have existed since the time of Jesus. He is actually ready to pass on the key to a new guardian, which is where Jada Pinkett comes in. I'm not a huge fan of her, so the fact that she is the next guardian in line didn't do much for me. Her acting is pretty bland, and her character is really obnoxious. You will find yourself wondering what makes her special enough to carry such a heavy burden.

I don't want to spoil the end result for you, but I will say the film is full of action and classic Faust story telling. It's one part zombie movie and one part "Bedazzled". The supporting characters also provide a lot of fun dialogue, and most of them are good actors. Thomas Hayden Church is always good in whatever he does, and Brenda Bakke is incredibly sexy in her role. William Sadler does a good job playing the role of Brayken and at this point he was actually a "Tales From The Crypt" veteran. He had appeared in a couple episodes, and even appears as The Crypt Keeper's mummified friend in "Bordello of Blood". Sadler is a quality actor and it shows. Billy Zane is the perfect counter for Sadler's serious attitude.

Overall "Demon Knight" is a fun and entertaining horror movie. I find myself watching the film often, and I never get sick of it. It has a great cast, an interesting story, and a truly kick ass soundtrack. I'd actually recommend picking up the soundtrack by itself. It features a lot of good rap and even some Henry Rollins. Out of the three "Tales from the Crypt" films that were released, this one is by far the best. If you want a spooky story with a little bit of humor, this is an excellent choice.

31 Days of Monster Mania: Day 4: The Craft

Written by Stu Cooper

It's Day 4 of Film Enigma's Monster Mania and things are about to get real! Real Wicca that is! Today's entry is about the 1996 film “The Craft”. If you grew up in the 1990's then you most likely remember the surge of horror that took place from 1995 to 2000, in which we saw tons of teen angst horror like “Scream”, “Disturbing Behavior”, “Urban Legends”, “I Know What You Did Last Summer”, and “Phantoms”. Okay...so maybe not everybody saw that last one, but you get the point. “The Craft” hit theaters in May of 1996 and has been remembered ever since. I'm going to dive into the film and talk about why so many of us Generation X kids remember this movie, and if you haven't seen it, maybe you will give it a chance.

“The Craft” is a suspenseful film that revolves around a group of high school girls that are exploring the powers of witchcraft. The film features Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Rachel True, also future 90's slasher stars Neve Campbell and Skeet Ulrich. The main character is a troubled teen named Sarah (Robin Tunney) who has moved into a new city with her father and when she arrives at her new school she immediately grabs the attention of 3 fellow students who sense that there is more to Sarah than meets the eye. The three girls consist of a timid bookworm named Bonnie (Neve Campbell), a swimmer named Rochelle (Rachel True), and Nancy (Fairuza Balk) who acts as a Gothic leader to the group of girls. The girls have formed their own coven but they realize they need a fourth witch to complete their group, and that is where the new girl Sarah comes in.

Sarah is befriended by the group and starts spending a lot of time with them. You quickly pick up on the fact that these girls are quite rebellious and may not be the best candidates for mystical powers. Nancy in particular is quite unstable but thankfully the others in the group seem to just be along for the ride and don't quite share Nancy's insanity. The coven convinces Sarah to join after catching her using her powers. Since Sarah has quite a troubled past, she goes a long with It and seems happy to be a part of a group, despite not practicing witchcraft as much as the others. It's not long until the girls begin playing with spells that create trouble and this leads to more lust for power within the group. The leader Nancy becomes obsessed with summoning a god named Manon, while Bonnie uses her powers to cure a terrible skin condition she has, and Rochelle uses her power to exact revenge on a school bully. Sarah, who I'll refer to as “The Good Witch” seems apprehensive about using her powers to serve herself, but gives in to peer pressure and casts a love spell on a high school football player (Skeet Ulrich).

The spells and lust for power begin to corrupt the members of the group, except for Sarah. The others start to show personality changes and continue to add spells to their lists, never being truly fulfilled with the power they already have. Sarah stays true to her morals tho and begins distancing herself from the activities of the coven, realizing that they are using magic for the wrong reasons. This is where the main conflict of the film comes from. Nancy has basically brainwashed the coven at this point, which leads to the coven inflicting all sorts of pain and chaos on fellow students. Sarah “The Good Witch” becomes a target once she vows to no longer be involved. It then becomes Sarah vs. The Coven. Without spoiling the rest of the film, I will say that this conflict leads to some pretty spooky scenes and a Good vs. Bad witch fight between Sarah and Nancy that is quite unforgettable.

“The Craft” is a memorable film for several reasons. The film features a young cast with lots of talent. Fairuza Balk as “Nancy” shines as the villain and the scenes where she lets loose are incredibly unsettling. It may have something to do with the fact that the actress actually does practice Wicca in real life, and she truly believed in a lot of the things her character was doing. If you've seen her in “American History X” then you are probably familiar with how insane and creepy she can be. Robin Tunney does a good job as the lead Sarah, tho she has a wig on the entire film because she shaved her head for the film “Empire Records” and had not yet grown it back. So you may get a bit distracted by her odd hairline. She does a good job playing the innocent girl who gets mixed up with the wrong crowd. Neve Campbell, Rachel True, and Skeet Ulrich all do a good job in their supporting roles.

One thing you may notice if you revisit the film is that it has a lot of parallels with the film “Mean Girls”. I'm not sure if the writer of “Mean Girls” drew any influence from this film, but it does seem almost identical in some parts, minus the comedic tone. The one negative I will say is that the 90's tone of the film does make the film feel a bit dated. There are some pretty outrageous wardrobes, but the music is top notch and gives you a great 90's horror feel. If you are a fan of 90's horror/suspense, you can't go wrong with this one. I would put “The Craft” above films like “Urban Legend” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer” because it's less by-the-numbers horror and tells a story that you don't see too often.

Just to add a little extra spook factor to the film, the cast reported having some serious issues during the film, possibly because of the subject matter and the fact that they used REAL spells. During the scene where the coven is on the beach trying to summon Manon, the cast said that bats swarmed them and caused the candles to blow out, the ocean waves got more aggressive, and the crew actually lost power. So add “The Craft” to films like “The Exorcist” and “Poltergeist” that caused real life fear and drama amongst the cast and crew. I will also note that while the spells that the characters used were real, the writers made sure to change a few details so that people would not be encouraged to practice potentially dangerous spells. Again blurring the lines between entertainment and reality. I would encourage horror fans to revisit this film, and if you haven't seen it at all it's actually available on Netflix this month. It's the perfect film for the Halloween season.

Monster Mania Day 26: The Faculty

Written by Stu Cooper

In the peak of the 90's slasher wave we got to see a film that was quite unique for the time period. The film was called "The Faculty" and was directed by Robert Rodriguez in one of his first big film breaks. The film was released in 1998 on the heels of the SCREAM franchise success as well as "I Know What You Did Last Summer". The 90's horror trend was in full effect, evident by the generic layered faces poster that "The Faculty" got. One thing I really hated about that era of horror films, all the posters were just layered images of the cast, no redeemable artwork whatsoever!

The film starred a couple familiar faces like Josh Hartnett (on the heels of Halloween H20), Elijah Wood, Salma Hayek, Robert Patrick, Daniel Von Bargen, Usher, and more. It's a great cast and they all really come together. The plot is basically lifted straight from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". The teachers at the school get taken over by aliens and begin using their authority as teachers to manipulate the students and eventually turn them into aliens as well. Robert Patrick takes the role of the leader. He plays the football coach, who instantly converts the whole football team to aliens. This makes for some really creepy imagery that has to be seen. Also the track "Another Brick In The Wall" plays in and out through the movie. It's a great fitting song for the tone of the film. There is a core group of students who is essentially avoiding the aliens. The main members of the group that the film focuses on are Josh Hartnett and Elijah Wood. Hartnett plays the burnout who got held back and now sells drugs out of his car. It's a great character and the homemade drug he creates actually plays a huge part in the movie. You gotta love when the burnout gets credit. Elijah Wood plays your typical virgin high schooler with social anxiety. Together they fend off the aliens and meet some pretty hot women a long the way, but I don't want to spoil much else. It's a fun film if you're into alien invasion films. It's not the most realistic movie and is definitely cheesy, but that is part of it's charm. Also you get to see a small role played by Jon Stewart and it leaves you wishing he had more film roles!