Let There Be Fright: Dreamcatcher

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Dreamcatcher - 2003

From the diary of Lawrence Kasdan: "May 1, 2003: Dear diary, Shit! I fear that I have done something horribly unjust to my own fucking career. It's possible that my only hope now may be Plan X: Remake my beloved 'Big Chill.' All is lost."

This film is a fucking disaster. I got it for free, in a box of VHS from a friend who was moving (I never turn that offer down, even if it's a box full of cartoon classics and copies of Jerry Maguire). I glanced at the back of the sleeve: Stephen King blah blah, What? Kasdan? Hmmm, Jason Lee (I love him! His delivery is classic.), Morgan Freeman (Cool!) and Donnie Wahlberg, (Weird. Ok.) I'm in. Well, Party-Fucking-Foul. This shit had me squinting and tilting my head, early on. How the fuck did they pull this cast, with this script? I mean, Lee brought his signature snaps ("Reefer Sutherland." Put that one in the bag, for the hipsters.) but why would Freeman sign on to this piece of shit? For fun? Is he an avid reader and wanted to try a King adaptation (He did mention that he likes Elmore Leonard, while filming The Big Bounce.)? Or was it just the chance to rock that ridiculous flat top and those wild-ass eye-brows? The second choice is my guess on Kasdan's motivation for this, having had a handfull of his fellow, old-school "New Hollywood" peers offer up thier attempts at the name-bassed sub-genre. Embracing that observation, I saw scores of classic King-isms: from leeches on my dick, to childhood flashbacks and buddy teamwork. From sewers and train tracks and snowy mountains, to fuzzy meteors and Mr. Flagg, I mean Gray. Along with those King-isms you also get bits of tricks o' the trade, signatured by Kasdan's bros: Lucas's wipe transitions (out of nowhere, I'll add), Cameron's infamous water worm, Spielberg's Alien Investigation team, complete with puffy white space-man suits, and Scott's flesh-busting aliens. So if you're a junkie for nostalgia, all of this stuff is crammed in there for ya, tragiaclly leaving no room for a sensible plot. Yep, this one crashes and burns early. And Let's not forget the real loser in all of this: poor Donnie Wahlberg, who gets to keep his film career afloat by taking one for the team and playing a chemo-mumalard (they coulda just rang up Clint Howard and saved the make-up) who's cheeseball transformation later, is a step up. Man, way to cowboy up, Donnie. Seriously, Props. All P.C. comments aside, I'll reiterate: This film is a fucking tragedy. If there is no other option, invest in this film. Have fun! It's all this mess is worth.

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History

I have a serious VHS library that I continue to grow and nurture. And, where videos are rarely more than 2 dollars nowadays and often times free, I collect them faster than I watch them. So, I created this annual marathon to get some of these lovely films watched. The event has turned out to be something to look forward to and I usually hold out on watching horror movies throughout the year, eagerly waiting for October. Once October hits I’m excited to watch all the movies I’ve saved up all year and I end up watching some amazing films in the most appropriate month. I look forward to it every year and I always have something to do on Halloween.

The first year I attempted the feat was 2007. I’d just moved to Austin and needed cheap entertainment. But, I’d set a few rules about the marathon that year, and along with trying to keep up a blog of reviews of the movies I was watching (back then, it was on my MySpace account), I didn’t make it to 31. On Halloween I had 7 movies to watch, but I had a great time. Some of the reviews from the first year are in the archives, below.

In 2008, I decided to give up on the reviews all together (though, because I’m always jotting something down, there are probably notes on the movies, in a notebook somewhere) and to hold only 1 rule: the movie had to be from my own collection. This made for regular outings to all the local second-hand shops throughout the month. Again, I didn’t reach 31 but I watched some great movies.

In 2009, I had a new apartment, a new tiny bedroom and a new reason to hole up and stay up late and watch scary movies all month long. In an attempt to reach that 31st viewing by Halloween, I ditched the idea of rules all together, meaning I could go to the theater, rent or watch my own videos, so long as they were thematic and within the month of October. I did do a little blogging and those reviews are listed by title, in the archives. Another important part of this year’s marathon is that my boss let me use the theater in the back of the coffeeshop I worked at, to close my marathon on the big screen with a handful of friends. The last movie I watched was the German film Dod sno (“Dead Snow”: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1278340/ )

2010 found me in my own apartment, living with no roommates, for the first time in my life. (I highly recommend this to anyone.) Rap records at 4am, minimal clothing, a self-structured cleaning schedule, and . . . horror movies at anytime, in any condition (especially all October long). It also marked the year that my boss let me go a step farther and host a 12 hour VHS marathon in the back theater, open and free to the public, as part of my own month-long marathon. It was a blast, a lot of people saw some amazing films and at the end I was invited to interview for a documentary called “Rewind This” by some local Austin film-makers. (You can view a trailer and donate to the effort here: http://www.rewindthismovie.com/ ) Alas, I only made it to 23 movies. I did jot some notes, but only ended up making a list to post in my notes on my Facebook account, Which I’ve posted. Anyway, something to reach for next year, no?

2011. Okay. This is the 5th year I’ve run this lovely gauntlet. Let’s get serious. No rules, notes only ticky-tacked in my phone, I’m gonna make it this year. So, despite leaving to Chicago for 4 days in the middle, I hit the ground running (I was able to kick off with a 4-movie Zombie-thon at the coffeeshop, complete with silk-screened fliers done by a friend, on her coffee table), doubled up on many days to give some breathing room, and . . . on Halloween, I watched The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as the sun came up, the 31st movie I watched this year. I made it. 31 movies in 31 days.

2012 finds me ready and willing. Thankful that this lovely month is upon us. While I can nitpick about details over last year, the goal this year is to see if I can post a few words about each film, regularly as I watch. Time will tell. Regardless, this event is now dear to my heart, and I hope you make the most of any of it as well, be it watching along, or just reading the rants and opinions of my ever-increasing palate for scary movies, adding your own 2 cents at will. Thanks for reading and Happy October! Now. . . .

Let there be fright!

Let There Be Fright

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Dreamcatcher - 2003

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