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Movie Reviews

But I flocked to ‘THE BIRDS II’ – A fond reflection of the lesser known, or highly forgotten sequel

October 2, 2016 by Jeff T. Smith No Comments
The Birds II: Lands End

Updated October 2, 2016: After having viewed the true Hollywood classic of the original (yet again), The Birds, there were a few interesting notes to take away from it that passed me by before; notes which contribute to elements of The Birds II: Land’s End.  Tippi Hedren’s character of Helen in the film works at a general store and helps the townspeople in time of crisis.  Interestingly, the waitress who helped nurse Melanie’s wound in the restaurant in the original, was named Helen.  I feel this could be a definite homage to a secondary character that provides aid, only this time instead of a restaurant, it’s at a store.  Secondly, and most eyebrow raising, is that Melanie explains to Mitch midway through the film that her Mother left them and found some guy out East.  Taking into the consideration the timeframe of both films, and that the sequel does take place on the East coast, that Tippi’s Helen character would be Melanie Daniel’s half-sister.  I realize this is a stretch but the elements are clearly there to connect both films and I feel that it supports my feeling that the original script/screenplay by Ken and Jim Wheat, as well as Robert Eisele, were trying to take the film seriously and give something to fans of the Hitchcock classic.  At this point, it is all up to interpretation, but I most certainly will continue to enjoy the film through my theories here because you just never know.

Originally Published on 40oz. Of Horror Published by Jeff T. Smith on November 16, 2014

There are three all-time classic horror movies that my Mom loves: Psycho, Halloween and The Birds.  Growing up amidst my array of The Real Ghostbusters, Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, these were the three horror movies I knew about and got to see.  Terrified, I secretly knew one day I could see myself enjoying more of this genre.  The early 90s were not that impressive among even the best of horror fans and by 1994, the horror genre itself was pretty well dead.  Sure there was Jason Goes To Hell or Phantasm III, but the spark that made the 80s so renowned was most definitely extinguished.  Still, on that Fall day in 1994, when I visited our local Waterdown Jumbo Video, I remember the excitement my Mom had on when we saw The Birds II: Land’s End on the New Release Wall.  By that time, I was head over heels for movies like Jurassic Park and had just gotten to see all the Jaws and Aliens movies.  A new trek into the world of killer birds was just what I needed.

“My character in this film is not at all similar to Melanie Daniels … I play someone completely new.”

What we didn’t know by that time was that this sequel was already despised by those genre fans who watched it upon its original Showtime Cable Network Broadcast in March 1994.  We didn’t know that the final version was so disappointing to Halloween II director Rick Rosenthal that he took his name right off the film, opting to use the Alan Smithee label instead.  The film, set 30 years after the Alfred Hitchcock original, picks up on the East Coast (instead of the West Coast).  The story revolves around Ted and Mary Hocken (Brad Johnson and ‘The Last Boy Scout’s Chelsea Field) and their two young daughters who take a summer break on Gull Island.  The family is dealing with the loss of their son after a freak vehicle accident.  The after match being Ted’s instability in maintaining his career as a Biology Teacher and Mary switching jobs to the Island Newspaper.  So far so good right? The movie has a compelling family tale to get behind and how will they deal with the threat of this wildlife gone awry.  I’ll proudly admit right now that I enjoyed this movie but would not have enjoyed it as much if not for the return of original Birds star Tippi Hedren.  Melanie Daniels returns!  Well, not really.  Even in the original script draft, writers Ken & Jim Wheat did not have Melanie returning prior to any commitments by the actress herself.  Instead, Hedren portrays local Helen Matthews, owner of the proverbial General Store and privy to all happenings of Gull Island.  For a smaller role, Hedren still delivered here bringing that much needed class and value to the story and segue for new viewers from the original.  In my own childhood mind, and my Mom enjoyed this aspect, I made believe Helen was Melanie having gone through extensive psychiatric therapy to overcome the horrors of her past and start life anew.  Sadly, Hedren herself confirmed in Fangoria #130 (which covered The Birds II) that “My character in this film is not at all similar to Melanie Daniels … I play someone completely new.”

Check out this original 1994 Showtime commercial spot

So it’s a Made-for-TV movie and has that mid-90s yawn factor at certain points but it also mixes up the internal family drama by having Mary get up-close and personal with her new boss Frank (James Naughton) and includes the stereotypical Lighthouse keeper (Jan Rubes) warning of the evils brought forth by mankind’s treatment of nature.  Spoiler alert – they kill off the Family Dog Scout when he heroically protects the youngest daughter from a vicious Bird attack.  You can also look closely at one of the Mayor’s lackeys because its none other than I Know What You Did Last Summer’s Muse Watson.  The Birds II is also more grisly than its predecessor right from the opening scene where a marine biologist is brutally attacked complete with eye gouges.  Not only were optical effects utilized, but this film also brings the animatronics into the forefront.  Why do I mention this?  Because nowadays, every filmmaker and his mother would probably use CGI.  It’s a damn shame that the pinch of penny now forces people to opt for CGI over the real thing so-to-speak.  The animatronics were provided here by Kevin Brennan (Return of the Living Dead III) and his special effects team.

The Birds II: Land’s End is a total guilty pleasure

Total guilty pleasure or the fact that it is now so rarely seen, or available, that I still love pulling this movie from my VHS archives and plugging it in.  I am so much a fan that a few years back when I had the opportunity to meet Tippi Hedren at Horrorhound, I didn’t ask her about the original, I asked her about The Birds II!  Many interviews have taken place with Hedren having a sour reflection on this film, but she maintained a positive light as she told me that she had no plans to make Helen be Melanie and it was a nostalgic return to a movie that helped define her career.   So far, MCA Universal Home Video has kept this loathed entry tucked away in the archives with only this original VHS release in 1994.  Scoring only a 2.8/10 on IMDB, I have no doubt many of you out there who are familiar with this are unilaterally cheering ‘GOOD!’  Not I, in fact, I would welcome a DVD or Blu-Ray release with some special features documenting the production and post-production debacles that made this film what it is.  The majority of my horror friends don’t have a clue this film even exists until I show them the VHS sitting in my collection.  For any true, open-minded collector, I recommend revisiting The Birds II: Land’s End because remember, “Man may own the land, but the birds … they own the world.”

Palmer, Randy. (1994) The Flap Over The Birds II. FANGORIA. New York, USA: Starlog Communications International, Inc.  www.Fangoria.com

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SURVIVAL HORROR – Why the longevity of Horror among Comic Events?

October 31, 2014 by Jeff T. Smith 2 Comments
R.A. Mihailoff
Photo Credit: Robert Deak Photography: http://rdeakphoto.smugmug.com

Photo Credit: Robert Deak Photography http://rdeakphoto.smugmug.com

Since the early days of the Universal Monsters and Hammer Horror to the present day Slasher and Torture-Porn, what is it exactly that endures about the horror genre? There is no doubt a psychological charge when viewing a horror movie or reading a scary story. Indeed, in reality, a person’s sympathetic nervous system would kick in when experiencing a dangerous or terrifying situation. However, movies are movies and fans willingly subject themselves to this rush. The answer could be as simple as being a retreat from the reality around us and knowingly walk out feeling safe and secure. Comic books and Science-Fiction fantasy all share similar details but convey a variety of nerve-wrecking experiences that are unique to their stories.

Over the last twenty years, the idea of a convention has grown to universal proportions. The biggest being the annual San Diego Comic Con and, for a time, the ever popular Fangoria Weekend of Horrors, which satiated the blood-thirsty needs of the horror fan to meet their favorite horror icons. Today, one would be hard pressed to find any comic event that is completely void of any horror incorporation. October 4th, in Hamilton, Ontario, was the fifth annual Hamilton Comicon where from the ever-gorgeous Catwoman herself Julie Newmar, to the massive popularity of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (show regulars Austin St. John, Walter E. Jones, Steve Cardenas and Robert Axelrod) sat Horror Alley: a small corner spot on the floor that seemed insignificant to some, but a golden horseshoe to the rest.

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On hand for the event was Chris Alexander, Editor of Fangoria Magazine, who was happy to share his thoughts, “If you look around you and any of the iconography of anything we are looking at, horror has always been a part of comic books. When I was a kid, [reading] was one of my gateways into the genre. Reading Tomb of Dracula and reprints of EC Comics, even Spider-Man had elements of horror in it – I mean the death of Gwen Stacy – when I was a little boy reading that and how devastating that was! The Green Goblin himself was a monster. Monsters, Horror, its DNA is smashed into every element of everything we see around here.”

“The reason horror is here is because it’s a significant element of entertainment.”

Genre veteran R.A. Mihailoff (Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Hatchet II) had a similar opinion in that “the reason horror is here is because it’s a significant element of entertainment. Comicon covers everything cultural as far as creative goes. There is an organization based in Los Angeles called The Academy of Science-Fiction, Fantasy AND Horror. Comics encompass all of that fantasy. Its hand-and-glove allied arts. Generally, if you’re a fan of Science-Fiction, you’re a fan of fantasy and horror.”

“I think there’s always going to be a cross-section. I mean horror and Sci-Fi in general, I can find a strong relation between sci-fi and comic books.” exclaims Alex Vincent (known to horror fans a little Andy Barclay from Child’s Play 1, 2 and more recently, a fantastic return in Curse of Chucky), “There’s that cross-over because of the nature of the fans and the fact that horror films and sci-fi have such a following and they continue to because they evoke visceral reactions from people’s fear.”

Chris continues, “as [horror] being a pure entity onto its own, to me, horror is just like the punk rock, nerd sub-genre sort of thing. It’s all part of the same universe. Horror fans are kind of clandestine, almost like a brotherhood, so you’re always going to find its going to be smaller because it has always been a little bit underground and that’s why we love it. It’s like a secret handshake. It’s here. It’s always going to be here, and we like the fact that it’s a smaller component. We’ll intermingle with the 40-year-old man dressed as Aquaman, that’s cool, but we have our own little language we speak of.”

“Let’s face it Halloween is now the second biggest holiday after Christmas. I think it’s a 5 Billion dollar industry.”

The nature of the horror community continues to grow with each generation and while other genres capture imaginations and emotions, the guilty pleasure of immersing yourself into horror creates a bond that cannot be topped, maintaining longevity in this type of cultural aesthetic. “Comedy, Drama, and all that, everybody loves that as well but it doesn’t attract the same type of people. You talk about comedies or dramas and if a movie made you laugh your ass off as a kid, then yes 20 years later, there’s absolutely longevity in it. Just because there aren’t conventions for that doesn’t mean those fans don’t have that to hold onto.” explains Alex, “but I think sci-fi and horror fans are such a community amongst themselves that the longevity we have – for me to be able to do a convention 27 years after the film I was in and people still be interested in meeting me – I think I’m incredibly lucky and fortunate to have been in a horror film.”

Horror has become more mainstream than ever, and yet somehow only in these recent years, does it seem to have broken out of the mold and become a staple to this and future generations. Having seen the progression of the genre, R.A. adds, “I think it’s just been a constant flow you know. I haven’t noticed an increase per se, it just seems it has always been steady. Let’s face it Halloween is now the second biggest holiday after Christmas. I think it’s a 5 Billion dollar industry.”

Whatever the odds that horror fans will be dying for more conventions, it is safe to say that 2014 holds the most conventions so far that integrate Comics, Sci-Fi and Horror. On that note, Chris caps off with, “Dying is the keyword! I think as long as we keep dying and dying violently, there will always be an attraction to horror.”

Not only the cross-over of appeal, but also the safety provided by going to the movies for that 90 minutes of escapism only to return to the normal world is exactly why the genre thrives. Critics can blame horror for encouraging violent acts or corrupting the imaginations of individuals but it often is the exact opposite which keeps fans clamoring for more. In a world that continues to thrive on the true horrors of humanity, it is a blessing that filmmakers, writers, artists, actors and fans can submerge into these fictional worlds and share those experiences all in one place. That is the power of Comicon. R.A. summarizes it best: “Horror is, and always will be, part of popular entertainment.”

Special Thanks to R.A. Mihailoff, Chris Alexander, Alex Vincent, Matthew Miller, Hamilton Comicon, Shaun Wolfe Sandal and Robert Deak Photography.

For more information on Fangoria: www.fangoria.com
For more information on Hamilton Comicon: www.hamiltoncomiccon.com
For more photos of the event, and information on Robert Deak Photography: http://rdeakphoto.smugmug.com

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Days of the Dead Convention 2011 Coming to Indianapolis July 1-3

May 11, 2011 by Chad Butrum No Comments

Days of the Dead is a new horror convention coming to the midwest this summer. Come check out the festivities for vendors, celebrity panels, a Fangoria film fest, costume contests, and even “Rowdy” Roddy Piper doing a one man comedy show! Plus your chance to meet your favorite horror stars, such as Heather Langenkamp, Gary Busey, Edward Furlong, Tom Savini, and many more! Hit the link for more info!

Click here for the website

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