31 Days of Monster Mania: Day 20: Constantine

Written by Stu Cooper

It's time to hit the road and get on the highway to hell with NBC's "Constantine"! The new series made it's debut this past Friday and it was just in time for the Halloween season. The series is separate from the film and comic series, opting to create it's own universe. The pilot episode was directed by Neil Marshall and written by Daniel Cerone & David S. Goyer. The title of the first episode was "Non Est Asylum". Matt Ryan stars as "John Constantine" an exorcist and ghost whisperer of sorts. He is followed by an angel named Manny played by Harold Perrineau.

The first episode revolves around Constantine dealing with the aftermath of a botched exorcism. During the exorcism a young girl was taken by a demon, and Constantine could not save her. He has never forgiven himself, and is apparently doomed to go to hell. He decides to use his remaining time on earth to battle demons and exorcise them from the earth. Manny the Angel plays a helper who likes to rudely remind him of his doomed fate.

The show opens with Constantine admitting himself to an asylum. He is drugged up and goes through therapy, trying to purge himself of his illness and sadness. He seems to consider his life a burden instead of the typical super hero approach. He is definitely a reluctant super hero. He is freed from the asylum after encountering a demon. At this point the show introduces his cab driver Chas who proves to be a special individual later in the show.

Constantine later meets the daughter of his old friend Jasper. Jasper has passed away but left a medallion with magical powers. Constantine gives the medallion to Jasper's daughter Liv. At first Liv struggles to believe all of this mystical stuff and writes John off as crazy. Soon Liv sees first hand the power of the demons around her and she has no choice but to believe. This leads to a team-up between Liv and Constantine. Throughout the episode we see Constantine teach Liv different terms and ideas in the demon world. He shows her how to detect demon activity, essentially helping her fight it. He also shares with her the story of Astra, the girl he lost to the Devil. Astra becomes a regular character in the thoughts of John.

A big staple of the Constantine prior to the series was the cigarette smoking, but you will notice right off the bat that this incarnation does not feature that. I suppose it was NBC's conscious decision to be overly sensitive and politically correct. The problem is, the smoking is important. In the film Constantine gets lung cancer and that's how he meets his fate, and I believe something similar happens in the comics. It will be interesting to see how they fill that void in the character. Overall tho I was pleased with the portrayal of the character. He has a bit of a "Doctor Who" element to him which may turn some off. I actually told my friend that he looks like a evil Gordon Ramsey. Only time will tell whether his character is good or not. Not a bad start. The effects are also well done, and when you see John finally use his power it's a really cool sight to see.

Overall the quality of the show was quite impressive and goes well with something like "Grimm". It's fairly light on the violence and may seem tame compared to the comic and the previous film. It's more of a CW kind of show. I would be surprised if this show ended up being edgey. Only time will tell and I'll stick around to find out. The characters are interesting and who doesn't want to see a man fight demons? It's not too late to jump into the series. It's on Friday nights on NBC so check it out, just in time for the Halloween season!

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.

Top 5 Godzilla Villains: Number 5

Written by Stu Cooper

With the upcoming release of Godzilla I figured I would countdown my top 5 favorite Godzilla villains. As a life long Godzilla fan, I love thinking about this kind of stuff. The villains in the Godzilla franchise are often what makes the films so memorable. It was always amazing seeing Godzilla mow down a city, but introduce some weird alien monster and you have an extra added bit of entertainment. Over the course of 5 days, leading up to the release of the new Godzilla film, I will be counting down. Today I start with number 5...GIGAN!

GIGAN first appeared in "Godzilla vs. Gigan" in 1972. "Godzilla vs. Gigan" is considered one of the worst entries in the Godzilla series, mostly due to it's slow pacing and bad effects. I on the other hand, love this film. I am slightly biased because as a child my local Blockbuster only had two godzilla films, "Godzilla 1985" and "Godzilla vs. Gigan". I grew to love Gigan and Ghidorah because of this. In the film, Gigan is sent to earth, along with King Ghidorah. The monsters are used as tools of destruction for yet another alien takeover on earth. This time the attackers are weird cockroaches that live inside human skin, and did I mention they live in a giant statue of Godzilla?!

Gigan then later appeared in "Godzilla vs. Megalon" in 1973. Gigan appeared to help Megalon try and defeat Godzilla. This film is also considered one of the weaker entries and I don't really remember much about Gigan's role in the film other than the fact that it was small. Gigan would not appear in another Godzilla film until 2004's epic monster rumble "Godzilla: Final Wars". In that film he actually sported a brand new look and ended up being the most intimidating monster in the movie. Fans reacted positively to the makeover and many consider Final Wars to be the perfect final entry to the TOHO Godzilla series. It's unclear if we will ever see Gigan again, but if the new Godzilla film is successful then anything is possible. Gigan did appear one other time, on a show called "Zone Fighter" in which he fought the star monster of the show. I just recently discovered that series so that is something I may have to revisit on here. Gigan has also appeared in a number of Godzilla video games. I remember him most in the NES lost gem "Godzilla". He was one of the bosses, which was great for me as a kid since he was one of the few monsters I was familiar with at a young age.

Gigan comes in at number 5 and it's because of his unique look, deadly weaponry, and frequent appearances in the Godzilla universe. The guy has a chainsaw in his chest and hooks for arms. Do you really need to think about how badass that is? Gigan is a deadly combination of awesomeness. Check back tomorrow to see what monster comes in at number four! At the end of the countdown I will be posting a review of the NEW Godzilla film!

Monster Mania Day 16: Zedd's Monster Mash

Written by Stu Cooper

As a young child I grew up in the peak period of several awesome trends. G.I. Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers, and of course The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The Power Rangers ruled my world from 730am to 800am every weekday, and of course the new episodes on Saturday Mornings. I bought all the toys, coloring books, games, and video tapes I could get. I even saw the movie in theaters opening day and it was absolutely remarkable. Unfortunately as an adult my imagination is somewhat limited and my tolerance for terrible jokes, corny dialogue, and insane over-exaggerated fight sequences is somewhat lacking. I still love the show, but I usually have to be intoxicated or in a very weird mood to sit through several episodes of the Power Rangers. I do love the character Lord Zedd who was the main villain in seasons 2 and 3 of Power Rangers. He has an incredibly creepy voice and an appearance that absolutely screams villainous. It came to my attention after getting Netflix that there was an actual Power Rangers Halloween special called "Lord Zedd's Monster Mash"! Since it's the Halloween season, what better time to take a look at it.

The episode starts off with the whole crew of rangers in goofy costumes (Pirate, Einstein, some kind of cheerleader, etc) and they are throwing a Halloween party for kids. The parents are dropping off the kids and leaving them in the hands of these annoyingly happy teenagers, who are apparently obsessed with helping the community. The camera pans out and Lord Zedd is usually his super space telescope to watch the party. Instead of being pissed that the rangers are partying he reveals he is actually quite interested in Halloween since it appears to be a celebration of monsters. This gives Zedd the idea to throw a Monster Mash party, which basically means he is going to invite older villains and one new Halloween themed villain to all gang up on one ranger. This would be Zedd's idea of a party. So Zedd sends these creepy little fake kids to the party and convinces Tommy (the white ranger) to go off on his own. This is when we are introduced to one of the most random villains in Power Ranger history...DOOMSTONE! A grave stone that has come to life. He is joined by several other villains like Pumpkin Rapper, Rhinoblaster, Primator, Snizzard, and Invenusable Fly Trap. Shew what a collection of weirdos. They all proceed to gang Tommy but eventually he is joined by the rangers and they open a can. Nothing out of the ordinary here. The cool parts are really seeing the collection of villains. It's worth a watch if you want a random halloween oriented 90's special to watch.

Monster Mania Day 4: Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

Written by Stu Cooper

After viewing this film it immediately became one of my favorite horror films ever. It's a horror comedy, and certainly one of the best in that style. It is a satire of the backwoods redneck killer horror films with an element of madness to it that leaves you in awe. The film is called "Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil" and it was released in 2010. It was written and directed by Eli Craig and Mark Jurgenson. It starred Alan Tudyk as Tucker and Tyler Labine as Dale. I must say the casting was absolutely perfect and this is one of those films where you can't picture anyone else in the roles after watching it.

The plot follows two redneck best friends by the name of Tucker and Dale. They are on their way to Tucker's new cabin to remodel and do some maintenance while relaxing in the wilderness. These guys are on their way when they run into a group of college kids and the kids immediately assume Tucker and Dale are psychotic killers, because ya know...everyone in hill country is. Dale attempts to introduce himself to the group but is immediately mistook for a sickle fielding maniac. One member of the group named Allison (played by Katrina Bowden) is actually rather smart and does not see Tucker & Dale as anything out of the ordinary. Later in the film she becomes a critical part of the story when she injures herself in a local lake and is about to drown but she is saved by Dale. Over the course of the film Dale nurses her back to health and they form a bond. Unfortunately for Tucker & Dale the college group assumes they have kidnapped their friend, and they vow to rescue and avenge her. I don't want to spoil much more than that because from that point on the film turns into a complete madhouse, almost of slapstick proportions. It is absolutely brilliant and something I've never seen before in a film.

I watched this film with my brother who is not a horror fan, and he found it incredibly entertaining. I can remember a few moments where he was laughing so hard he was almost crying. It truly does elicit that kind of reaction. Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine are really the highlight of the film. Their on-screen chemistry is remarkable and you really do see these guys as being the best of friends. Since this film has seen some moderate success I'm hoping we get to see future adventures with the pair. I realize this all sounds rather odd, it's kind of hard to type out how ridiculous this movie is. It's all about perspective, and that is something you can't really describe in words, so all I can say is PLEASE watch this film and see for yourself. The film is available streaming on Netflix right now and the blu-ray is under 10 dollars, so no excuses for missing this one. I can't recommend it enough. If you like fun horror films with a satirical comedic smart spin, this one is for you.

Monster Man

Written by: Stu Cooper

So I was facebooking the other day and a film friend of mine was going on and on about how amazing this new show "Monster Man" was. Well any show with the word Monster involved, I'm inclined to checkout. Turns out this is a show on Syfy that just premiered. The show revolves around the world of special effects in horror/filmmaking. This is a show that I naturally enjoyed.



I grew up admiring the work of Greg Nicotero and Tom Savini. Unfortunately the show does not feature either of them, but mostly revolves around Cleve Hall. Hall has plenty of credible experience (and he is not shy about mentioning this on the show). The other cast members are his ex-wife, his daughter, and his boss. The show did sadly feature some lame reality show pre-scripted drama, but when you cut out all that, it's a great show! The episode I saw featured a "double" theme. One project was making a conjoined twin mold that would be ripped apart (complete with blood ending) and the other was a two-headed shark rig that would be used for the Asylum film "Two Headed Shark Attack". I would definitely recommend setting your DVR for this one!



For more information about the show checkout:

Monster Man on Syfy