The Thing From Another World

     Typically, I'm not a science fiction fan. Though, of course, I can certainly be persuaded when the film is really good and enjoyable to watch, or just really campy, crappy, and stupid. The Thing From Another World is a much more suspenseful film with an incredible atmosphere that is usually nonexistent in most sci-fi flicks. Its remake, even though concentrated mostly on special effects, also has this same foreboding atmosphere captured rarely in science fiction. 

      The beginning of both movies starts out the same... an arctic research station discovers a strange object buried in the ice. Upon inspection, it appears to be a flying saucer. They use explosives to try and uncover the ice to see exactly what they're dealing with here, and in doing so, they accidentally blow the whole spaceship up. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on one's optimism at this point), a "spaceman" is seen frozen in the ice as well. The spaceship may have been blown to bits, but the spaceman seems unharmed, having crawled out of the downed spacecraft upon it crashing into the snow. They unearth it and bring it back to their camp in a frozen block of ice for study. Some putz who is supposed to be watching over the damn thing puts a blanket over it so he doesn't have to look at its creepy eyes. But what the idiot doesn't realize is that it's an electric blanket that is turned on and it melts the spaceman to freedom in about 20 minutes. 

      This is where the original and the remake split as far as story-wise. The original is funny and somewhat tongue in cheek (while retaining its sullen and effective atmosphere) and the remake becomes the story of a shape-shifting alien that could easily destroy the world if it ever reaches civilization, directed by the ingenious John Carpenter. I do believe that the remake is considered #174 in the top #250 best movies ever made (source: IMDB.COM). 

      Though it may not be the thriller that its remake became, the original has that special something that makes it an instant classic. It takes place in a creepy cold atmosphere placed near the North Pole with some really strange happenings going on. After Mr. Moron melted the creature that was frozen in ice and it escapes into the blizzard outside which doesn't seem to affect it much, a search engages. While tearing apart some sled dogs, "The Thing" loses an arm (that grows back) which is taken back to the laboratory. Upon scientific inspection, it is deduced that the arm is comprised of plant tissue. The scientists in the group explain that in another world, plant life may have evolved in the same way that mammals evolved here on Earth. 

      It feeds on blood though, in fact, blood from the dogs on the severed hand brings it back to life. Much like a plant, severed pieces that break off of "the Thing" begin their own growth. One of the weirdo scientists is actually growing some baby Things that creepily appear to be breathing. The group starts to remember their botany rules and realize that ice-cold temperatures do not always kill a plant which is why the Thing creeps around outside. But, extensive heat will definitely wilt a plant beyond saving. I know this to be true because I've killed many many many houseplants. After a while, you just start blaming it on botanical suicide, and the plant won't know you're lying. 

      They decide that electrocution is the way to go and set him ablaze, which succeeds in destroying him. Not many fatalities in this movie and I can definitely say that the remake is totally superior. But in 1951 they didn't have all the razzle-dazzle of great computer and makeup effects that we have now. Granted, the villain in this movie is basically an intelligent carrot, and I can't say how effectively that could be accomplished even with today's special effects. Watch the remake if you want a really suspenseful alien flick with a very foreboding atmosphere, but if you just want a generally comical story being taken totally seriously with hilarious puns sprinkled here and there... watch this gem of an original, it's a decently well thought out cult flick...a true classic!

Blue Sunshine

     Blue Sunshine came out in 1977 and has all the earmarks of a seventies film. Polyester, disco, and bad hair. Speaking of bad hair... this movie not only has a lot of it, but it's also MISSING a lot of it, henceforth the creepy movie poster and the topic of missing hair is one of the main elements of the story.  

     OK, here goes... A few certain people start noticing unnatural hair loss and displaying very erratic mood swings which are starting to become extremely violent.  Their violent behavior quickly evolves into homicidal actions. I won't go into each one, but there is incredible character buildup which makes the action toward the end of the film much more exciting because by now you feel like you actually know these people. An element that most mainstream horror/sci-fi movies often neglect. 

      Before any of them can be cured of their hair loss or violent tendencies, it's realized that all the balding lunatics went to the same college university ten years ago. It turns out that some asshole sold them all a bad batch of acid called "Blue Sunshine". For those of us old enough to remember, LSD always had colorful names... Blue Sunshine, Black Dragon, Red Mercury, etc. 

      The most suspenseful portion of the movie is figuring out who took the Blue Sunshine and who didn't. You see, a lot of the lunatics are wearing wigs so it's hard to tell that they're about to become homicidal because the hair loss comes before the violent tendencies occur.  A side note that must be acknowledged is the ever-present full moon with a slightly bluish tint, obviously foreshadowing the bald lunatics who took the Blue Sunshine. 

      The climactic ending to this movie is full of humor, which changes the mood of the story tenfold. Three different puppets with the likenesses of Barbara Streisand, Frank Sinatra, and Tom Jones, introduce the opening of a new disco (which was just making its big splash around the time of filming). I guess the techno-pop that disco had, really pushed the bald acid heads (who are more like crazed zombies now) over the top and they start freaking out and killing everyone. The moral of the story... avoid bad drugs (good drugs are OK) and if you freak out from bad acid, you should probably avoid disco techs. A really great period piece and very effective for an independent film from Jeff Lieberman who also brought us the cheap but effective horror film "Squirm" which most of us have only seen on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Alice Sweet Alice

     This is a very dramatic movie, and unlike most cult films, the acting is really good, it looks like it had a decent budget, and it has a great story.  This was billed as Brooke Shield's first movie (I think maybe age 8 or 9), but I'm almost sure that she starred in a film called Pretty Baby just prior to this, but because she appears naked in Pretty Baby, it was considered highly controversial and was labeled as child porn and quickly swept under the rug and this movie was instead chosen to be her first official movie role.  Anyway, this was also Paula Sheppard's first (and only other) film. Paula's other movie "Liquid Sky" can also be found here on Cultarama, so by all means give it a look-see. Paula plays the title role of Alice in this film, and in both movies, she plays such an incredible bitch, but ironically from what information I've managed to obtain about her, everyone says that she's actually a very sweet and generous woman, who after making only two films, retired from show business to become a mother. Oh well, not to be rude but if she had chosen to continue acting instead of motherhood, I'm sure that she would have given us many more wonderful performances. 

      Brooke Shields's character of Karen, younger sister to the demented and violent older sister Alice (Paula) is the main center of the story even though she gets killed off relatively early in the movie. Karen is a sweetheart, but Alice could easily pass for a sociopathic serial killer. She's a prankster (and an evil one too), and she detests everyone, most especially her sister Karen. 

      The movie begins with Alice stealing her sister's favorite doll with the promise of smashing it. Their mom Catherine is convinced that Alice was just up to her usual tomfoolery and soothes Karen by letting her try on her new dress to be worn at her upcoming Communion. The day before Communion, their Priest Father Tom gives Karen a very special present (a beautiful gold cross necklace that belonged to his grandmother). Since Alice didn't get shit, and already has many hostilities towards her sister, this just adds to her hatred of Karen. Mrs. Tredoni (Father Tom's housekeeper/cook/answering service/maid/friend of the family, etc) also seems a little miffed about Father Tom giving Karen such a wonderful gift. 

      Midway through this story, we are introduced to many odd and somewhat annoying characters, such as Mr. Alfonso, the 600 lb apartment landlord with piss stains on his pants who eats cat food right along with his 328 feline friends in an apartment the size of a broom closet. Another is Aunt Annie, Catherine's older sister who adores Karen and despises Alice.

      At the actual Communion, Karen goes missing. We see her being attacked by someone who looks like Alice because it's a small-built individual (probably a woman), wearing the same kind of raincoat that Alice always wears, and donning a specific mask that we know Alice has stashed in her secret trunk in the basement. One of those creepy-ass masks that were mostly clear but had exaggerated makeup on them (typical nightmare fuel). Karen is subdued and thrown into a large wooden box and set aflame. A nun finds her charred body after smelling the smoke. She screams and everyone panics. Catherine is very bluntly told by her bitch sister Annie that Karen is dead. Pandemonium erupts, and everyone starts screaming and crying... meanwhile we see Alice slipping Karen's veil under her raincoat to conceal it. Alice is the perfect suspect in the murder because not only did she like to dress just like the killer was dressed, but she also has very sociopathic tendencies, and is hateful and jealous towards her younger sister for many reasons. 

      The estranged father of Karen and Alice arrives in town for his daughter's funeral, to comfort his ex-wife and to get to the bottom of who killed his daughter. All the clues acquired point directly at Alice. As she's leaving the apartment, Aunt Annie (who is in a constant battle of wills with Alice) is violently attacked.  Again, "someone" dressed in the raincoat and mask that Alice often wears, assaults Annie in the stairwell and stabs her. Once Annie is taken to the hospital, she is convinced that Alice is the person who stabbed her. Alice is then taken to a psych ward and questioned about the stabbing of her aunt. She is given a polygraph test which establishes that she knows who stabbed her aunt, but she tells the truth when she says that it was her dead sister Karen. So either Alice is nuts or she really saw Karen (or someone who looks like Karen, possibly wearing the same yellow raincoat) stab her aunt. Alice's parents think maybe it could have been Angela (Annie's daughter/Karen and Alice's cousin) who also has a yellow raincoat and just happened to be missing when Karen was killed. One problem, Angela is quite a plump young lady and doesn't resemble Karen or Alice in any way. Angela then calls Alice's father (her uncle) and says that she has run away, has Karen's gold cross (which was given to Karen shortly before she died and was then taken by the killer), and asks her uncle if he could possibly meet her at some abandoned building. He follows Angela into the building where she stabs him, he chases after her and they struggle. During the struggle, the mask slips off revealing that it's actually Mrs. Tredoni and not Angela. The cross is hanging around her neck (which identifies her as Karen's killer). The father manages to bite the dangling cross from her neck before she pushes him off a ledge, landing on a pile of concrete, killing him. 

      Mrs. Tredoni hates Catherine and her family. She killed Karen because she was jealous that Father Tom gave Karen his grandmother's gold cross. She also attempted to kill Catherine but misidentified her and stabbed Annie instead. Also being very religious (fuel for the best crimes imaginable), she thinks Catherine is a total whore because she is not only divorced but that she gave birth to Alice out of wedlock. Catherine goes to Father Tom's house, but only Mrs. Tredoni is home. She starts telling Catherine about how she herself had a little girl at one time, who also died during her first Communion. She feels that her little girl was killed in order to pay for the sins of her parents. Afterward, she came to care for Father Tom (she points a knife at Catherine) not YOU! 

      During the autopsy of Alice's father, they find the cross lodged in his throat. The cops make the connection that it's the same cross that was stolen from Karen and figure out that Mrs.Tredoni is the actual killer, not Alice. Mrs.Tredoni goes to the church (where police are waiting to apprehend her) and gets in line for Communion. Since Father Tom knows what she's done, he won't give it to her. She then points to Catherine and screams out "But you gave it to that whore!!". At this time she then stabs Father Tom in the neck. As she holds his lifeless body, the cops rush in. 

      The last scene is the creepiest... as the cops are rushing around, we see Alice pick up Mrs. Tredoni's shopping bag that contains the knife used as the main murder weapon. She looks at it, slowly hides it back in the bag, and gives the camera a really evil look. The look of an accused and innocent young girl who now has the capacity and desire to kill.