Tag: Tony Todd

[31 Days of Horror Part VI: Jason Lives] Day 20 – Final Destination 5 (2011)

Director: Steven Quale

Cast: Nicholas D’Agosto, Emma Bell, Miles Fisher, Arlen Escarpeta, David Koechner, Tony Todd

Screenplay: Eric Heisserer

92 mins. Rated R for strong violent/gruesome accidents, and some language.

 

After The Final Destination (intended to be the last film), I wasn’t quite sure how the Final Destination franchise could keep things interesting and exciting going into a fifth film. Personally, I was so disappointed in how the fourth film went, I didn’t even really know if I wanted it to continue. So when Final Destination 5 popped up, I was skeptical as to what, if anything, it could bring to the table. This one swung for the fences, though.

Sam (Nicholas D’Agosto, From Prada to Nada, TV’s Masters of Sex) is embarking on a company retreat with several other employees when he has a vision of the suspension bridge the bus is on collapsing, killing hundreds. Concerned, he gets off the bus and runs to safety, followed by a handful of his employees, and the suspension bridge indeed collapses. Blessed but also shaken, Sam and the others notice that the survivors are dying in the exact they would have died on the bridge, and they learn that in order to save their own lives, they may have to take another’s.

Final Destination 5 does not reinvent the wheel, but it’s probably the best entry in the series. It has interesting characters with real motivations, strong set pieces, an overall sense of dread, and it teams with mythology. I’m not entirely on board with the “take another life to save yours” notion that is legitimately brought into this film (something that’s been toyed with before), but it does add another layer to the film.

Nicholas D’Agosto and Emma Bell (Plus One, Different Flowers) are both strong leads, and the film has some fun performances like David Koechner (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, TV’s American Dad!) as Dennis, Sam’s boss. Koechner is always fun and he’s restrained enough here to fit in nicely within the horror while still getting to do his own thing. The absolute win of the film, though, is the return of Tony Todd (Candyman, Reign of the Supermen) as the coroner Bludworth, who is given little screen time and just does so much with it. I’ve been saying for some time that Todd’s Bludworth needs to be expanded upon, especially how he seemingly knows so much about Death’s design and plan, and while we don’t get that in this film, his reintroduction is a step in the right direction.

Outside of the main story, I am happy to say that Final Destination 5 gets back to the horror roots of the series after the almost-silly fourth installment. It’s also the film that feels the most like it’s connecting a saga, with little references to other films in the series and an overarching mythology that’s been cleaned up and streamlined. This is one that you kind of want to watch again after unlocking the big reveals of the film and how it all comes together.

Final Destination 5 wins it with the ending though, a doozy of a revelation that makes it the most fun installment of the entire series. How this franchise seemingly stalled out after the fifth film is beyond me, but this is definitely one worth seeing. It’s gruesome and bloody and filled with atmospheric flavor. Go check it out.

 

4/5

-Kyle A. Goethe

 

 

For more 31 Days of Horror, click here.

For my review of James Wong’s Final Destination, click here.

For my review of David R. Ellis’s Final Destination 2, click here.

For my review of James Wong’s Final Destination 3, click here.

For my review of David R. Ellis’s The Final Destination, click here.

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Candyman Reboot Inspired by Toxic Fandom

Jordan Peele is an incredibly exciting filmmaker and storyteller who has hit the ground running with horror films Get Out and Us, and up next, he seems to have his heart set on producing the reboot to Candyman, a fantastic horror character made famous by Tony Todd in the 90s. With his production company Monkeypaw, Peels has also bring forth series like the new incarnation of The Twilight Zone and the coming-soon Lovecraft Country. Monkeypaw’s Creative Director Ian Cooper recently spoke of the concept for the new Candyman being centered on toxic fandom.

If you haven’t heard the term, it’s one that has been a hot topic of conversation among the film community as of late, with trolls attacking films like The Last Jedi or shows like Game of Thrones for not giving the audience exactly what they want.

Cooper was quoted as saying:

“I think what we’re trying to do with ‘Candyman’ is both be mischievous in how we address the relationship to the first film but also be very satisfying.”

This quote came from an interesting discussion on fandom and the problem of toxicity, so it will be interesting to see exactly where the new Candyman goes.

What’s great about this property is that it is perfect for the reboot treatment. While the characters and franchise are regarded quite well among horror fans, the term classic hasn’t been really applied to them. It feels like a franchise you wouldn’t have to be afraid to play around with and try something new, and it seems from both Peele’s previous comments and Cooper’s new ones that there is a complex take on where to go with this new installment, one that has been cloaked in mystery and some confusion. I’m ecstatic to see that Peele and Cooper seem to know exactly what they want to do with this property.

So what do you think? Have you experienced toxic fandom? Are you excited to see this new take on the Candyman franchise and mythos? Let me know/Drop a comment below!

Candyman returns on June 12, 2020.

 

-Kyle A. Goethe

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Jordan Peele’s Candyman Casts Aquaman Villain

According to Variety, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is in talks to star in the rebooted Candyman from Producer Jordan Peele. Nothing has been officially confirmed, but the Aquaman actor has experience with Peele from the upcoming Us, which hits theaters in March.

The film, a “spiritual sequel” to the original 1992 film, is set to release in 2020. The 1992 film starred Virginia Madsen and Tony Todd, followed a graduate student who discovers the Candyman legend while writing a thesis.

Nothing in the report states explicitly if Abdul-Mateen will be taking over the role of the Candyman from Todd or perhaps be cast alongside him as a principal lead. Nia DaCosta is set to direct.

I only recently saw the original Candyman, but I really enjoyed the story and would like to see it more further explored in a present-day setting, and with Jordan Peele set to produce, that only excited me more coming off his recent Oscar nomination for producing BlacKkKlansman.

I know Abdul-Mateen from his turn as the villainous Manta in last year’s Aquaman, and I liked what he did with the character. Overall, if Peele liked him enough from Us to try to court him for Candyman, that only spells good signs for this one.

So what do you think? Does this casting make you more excited for Candyman to return? Let me know/Drop a comment below!

 

-Kyle A. Goethe

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[31 Days of Horror Part V: A New Beginning] Day 11 – Hell Fest (2018)

Director: Gregory Plotkin

Cast: Amy Forsyth, Reign Edwards, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Tony Todd

Screenplay: Seth M. Sherwood, Blair Butler, Akela Cooper

89 mins. Rated R for horror violence, and language including some sexual references.

 

Damn, this movie made me want to visit a haunt real bad.

In Hell Fest, Natalie (Amy Forsyth, A Christmas Horror Story, TV’s Channel Zero) returns to her former apartment to find that her best friend Brooke (Reign Edwards, 35 and Ticking, TV’s The Bold and the Beautiful) has rented out her old room to Taylor (Bex Taylor-Klaus, The Last Witch Hunter, TV’s Voltron), an old classmate who did not get along well with Natalie. Brooke won’t let Natalie sulk about it for long, though, because tonight is all about Hell Fest, a traveling horror theme park set up during the Halloween season. What they do not expect, though, is that a masked killer has entered Hell Fest this year, and he plans on taking out his murderous rage on Natalie and her friends.

Hell Fest was a fun time, but it didn’t feel like it met its unique setting with a unique style. The Hell Fest setting is rather cool, but at times, it made the film feel very repetitive. As the haunts progress into more and more terrifying, I didn’t feel like the haunts actually became scarier. They became a little too distracting.

The performances fluctuated between serviceable and awful. Edwards delivers some truly terrible lines. The only performance that I truly enjoyed was the quick near-cameo performance of Tony Todd (Candyman, Death House) as The Barker of Hell Fest. Todd knows how to get the most from his limited screen time, and he isn’t utilized greatly, but he is a lot of fun.

The design of the killer in the film was made by Tony Gardner’s company, which also created the masks for Scream and Happy Death Day. The killer is rather unnerving, as is his limited background.

Director Gregory Plotkin (Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension) worked very well with atmosphere and visual appeal in the film. He does ride a line between cheesy and frightening with the world he has created.

Hell Fest is a fun time and could make for an interesting franchise, but the first film stumbles pretty often. The performances don’t really work, the pacing is a little off, and the film feels repetitive. The look of the killer and the atmosphere surrounding him make for an enjoyable experience, but a flawed one nonetheless.

 

2.5/5

-Kyle A. Goethe

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[31 Days of Horror: The Final Chapter] Day 12 – Final Destination 3 (2006)

Director: James Wong

Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ryan Merriman, Kris Lemche

Screenplay: Glen Morgan, James Wong

93 mins. Rated R for strong horror violence/gore, language and some nudity.

 

When I was young, I would watch scary movies with my mother. At a certain point in the film, when she could take the scares no longer, she would announce, “I’d just give up and let ‘em kill me!” In the Final Destination franchise, I’d actually be inclined to say the same.

Final Destination 3 picks up five years after the original with an entirely new cast being hunted by Death/Fate. Wendy Christensen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, 10 Cloverfield Lane, TV’s Fargo) is at an amusement park with boyfriend Jason, best friend Carrie, and Carrie’s boyfriend Kevin (Ryan Merriman, 42, A Sunday Horse). But when Wendy has a premonition that the rollercoaster she boards will have a horrific malfunction killing everyone on board, she and several others get off the ride. When her premonition rings true, everyone rejoices, until they begin dying one by one in the same order they would have died on the coaster. Wendy has one tool: a camera that has clues to each death. Now if she can just stop Death from killing her friends…

Final Destination 3 is more of the same, and in that way, fans should enjoy themselves. It retains the mythology of the original film after the first sequel skewered the rules for its own amusement. My only major problem with being same old in this franchise is that, after two films, you kind of just stop caring if the characters will live because you know, there’s no chance of that. It’s only, who will die next? This is the installment where that becomes extremely apparent and it takes all the emotion out of it, even if that emotion is replaced with a macabre humor.

The other big disappointment in this installment is the loss of Tony Todd’s Bludworth from the first two films. Todd does not appear in this film save for a cameo voice role as the devil at the amusement park, but I felt that his character really means something and to lose him is a big waste.

Overall, though, the film was fun enough to keep my enjoyment level high enough for the runtime. Leads Winstead and Merriman are very nice to watch and have good chemistry. The film is nicely shot and the pace is quick enough. In fact, some versions of the DVD even feature a Choose Your Fate feature that plays like a Choose Your Own Adventure where you get to interact with the movie as it plays out. It’s a fun little feature that should make watching with friends enjoyable.

Final Destination 3 is more of the same, but that isn’t necessarily the worst thing. The film could have been much worse, but as expected horror, it plays well enough thanks to some nice lead performances, a smart screenplay, and capable enough cinematography. Fans of the franchise should be sated here.

 

3/5

-Kyle A. Goethe

 

 

For my review of James Wong’s Final Destination, click here.

For my review of David R. Ellis’s Final Destination 2, click here.

 

 

For more Almighty Goatman,

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[31 Days of Horror 3] Day 30 – Final Destination 2 (2003)

finaldestination22003a

Director: David R. Ellis

Cast: A.J. Cook, Ali Larter, Tony Todd, Michael Landes

Screenplay: J. Mackye Gruber, Eric Bress

90 mins. Rated R for strong violent/gruesome accidents, language, drug content and some nudity.

 

Sequels are tough. Sometimes tougher than the original. Especially when it’s the first sequel of a big franchise, which Final Destination ended up becoming.

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Final Destination 2 begins on the first anniversary of the explosion of Flight 180. Kimberley Corman (A.J. Cook, TV’s Criminal Minds, Mother’s Day) and her friends are heading to Florida for Spring Break, but when she has a premonition of a major traffic collision, she inadvertently saves multiple lives. Now, though, she and the survivors are dying one by one, and the only person who can help her is the lone survivor of Flight 180: Clear Rivers (Ali Larter, TV’s Heroes, Resident Evil: Afterlife), who resides in a psychiatric ward where she can be safe.

Final Destination 2 makes the fatal error of breaking the rules of the first film multiple times and insinuating that there are ways to cheat death when it regularly breaks its own rules. Death’s motives and methods change drastically in the film. The decision to bring back Larter and series regular Tony Todd (The Man From Earth, Hatchet II) were good choices, but to play with a pre-established set of rules really messes with the series.

I personally didn’t like many of these characters who came off as caricatures of normal humans. Kimberley is a nice lead and Thomas Burke (Michael Landes, Burlesque, 11-11-11), the Deputy Marshal, is a nice male lead, but most everybody else is rude, unlikable, or generally cartoonish.

Final Destination 2 definitely ratchets up the body count and style of the first film in spectacular fashion, now if only we liked the characters enough. The screenplay from J. Mackye Gruber and Eric Bress (TV’s Kyle XY, The Butterfly Effect) gives us little in terms of character development other than interesting but fizzly Rube Goldberg-esque deaths.

FINAL DESTINATION 2, Keegan Connor Tracy, 2003, © New Line
FINAL DESTINATION 2, Keegan Connor Tracy, 2003, © New Line

Final Destination 2 is a fun movie, but one that is picked apart quite easily. This movie has straight-up flaws, and most of them could be fixed by just understanding and respecting the mythology. Director David R. Ellis (Shark Night, Snakes on a Plane) would return to helm the fourth entry of this franchise to similarly misunderstood results.

 

2.5/5

-Kyle A. Goethe

 

 

For my review of James Wong’s Final Destination, click here.

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31 Days of Horror Part II: Day 19 [Happy 25th Birthday!] – Night of the Living Dead (1990)

 nightofthelivingdead1990c

Director: Tom Savini

Cast: Tony Todd, Patricia Tallman, Tom Towles

Screenplay: George A. Romero

92 mins. Rated R for adult situations/language, nudity, and violence.

 

Last year, we covered Night of the Living Dead, an incredible classic of the horror genre. This year, we’ll cover the remake, a less stellar but still interesting reworking of the zombie hit.

nightofthelivingdead1990b

Night of the Living Dead runs in much the same way as its predecessor. Barbara (Patricia Tallman, Army of Darkness, Atlas Shrugged II: The Strike) is out visiting her deceased mother’s grave with her brother Johnny. When Johnny is attacked and killed by a vicious ghoul, Barbara flees for the countryside, stumbling upon a farm house where she meets Ben (Tony Todd, The Man from Earth, Sushi Girl). Together, Ben and Barbara, along with several other survivors, attempt to make it through the night of the living dead.

Tony Todd makes a great Ben. Patricia Tallman makes a better but not great Barbara. Tom Towles (Halloween, Miami Vice) does okay as Harry Cooper, who only has one goal: protect his wife and sick child (a goal that would prove to be less on his mind as our story progresses). Performances all around are passable.

The real divergence from the original is the screenplay from George A. Romero (The Crazies, Bruiser). Many won’t notice the differences between the two stories, and in fact, there are but few. Barbara’s character arc alters, and the film omits several plot points from fellow screenwriter John Russo, who originally wrote the screenplay with Romero. I prefer this script, but I prefer that movie. Just saying.

nightofthelivingdead1990a

There isn’t a whole lot wrong with the film. Tom Savini’s directing is still very novice here, but it works well enough. Night of the Living Dead has the potential to keep you up all night. It does. You just need to get over a few bumps along the road.

 

3.5/5

-Kyle A. Goethe

 

 

For more 31 Days of Horror, click here.

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31 Days of Horror: Day 29 – Final Destination (2000)

finaldestination2000a

Director: James Wong

Cast: Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith, Tony Todd

Screenplay: Glen Morgan, James Wong, Jeffrey Reddick

98 mins. Rated R for violence and terror, and for language.

 

Death comes to all of us. When it is your turn to die, it is your turn, and there is little that can be done about it. That’s the message we get from Final Destination, from director James Wong (The One, Dragonball: Evolution). The original idea for this film came from James Wong’s time as a writer on The X-Files. He envisioned the story as an episode from the wildly popular sci-fi television series. Unfortunately, the idea was scrapped several times and eventually was reformed into a feature film screenplay.

It tells the story of Flight 180 and its passenger Alex Browning (Devon Sawa, TV’s Nikita, Idle Hands). Alex has a premonition of the plane exploding upon takeoff, and forces himself and several other students from his field trip from the plane. The plane explodes and the seven survivors feel as though they just cheated death. They soon discover that you can’t cheat death for long, as the survivors are being picked off in the order they were supposed to die on the plane, but Alex starts seeing clues, and along with fellow student (Ali Larter, TV’s Legends, Resident Evil: Afterlife).

finaldestination2000c

The original film in this series is the best one, though it is still riddled with multiple technical and artistic issues. These characters are just not very smart. Alex keeps searching out clues and getting himself deeper and deeper with law enforcement as he tries to stop these crimes. He grabs murder weapons and tracks DNA all over crime scenes. He sees signs that clues him into the next death, yet at one point, he sees a man burning leaves and then assumes that a house will blow up. I like the idea of a magazine getting shredded and his friend’s name comes up, but the fire is a bit much. Then there’s the cops who believe that Alex is somehow capable of committing these crimes, like somehow orchestrating a bus hitting someone when they are surrounded by witnesses that could attest to his innocence. We have a character who believes that if it is his time, he should kill everyone else with him. I get it, these are students and teenagers, so they still have some learning to do, but these are dumb teens.

I like the performance given by Tony Todd (The Man from Earth, Hatchet II) as coroner Bludworth. It doesn’t amount to much more of a cameo appearance, but it is a classic horror film trope of the warning of death and dark times to come, much like Crazy Ralph from Friday the 13th. He practically yells “Doomed! You’re all doomed!”

Wong’s directing is really nothing special. His cinematography is disappointing. The film has nice pacing though and moves along with ease, not stopping long enough for most of these issues to take away from the enjoyment of the film.

I do really enjoy the clues that Alex and Clear do not see. I like that there are numerous noticeable clues in the film that foreshadow events soon to come, many of them are ones that aren’t even pointed out by our main characters. There is even the inclusion of John Denver songs at many of the Rube Goldberg style deaths. If you didn’t know, Denver died in a plane crash and his music works as a calling card in many ways, a warning like Bludworth’s. I know I didn’t listen to his music for a while after seeing this film.

I also like the score of the film. It stays with you long after the film ends. It won’t win any major awards, but as far as horror scores go, not bad.

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So there you have it. Final Destination is far from perfect, but it is a lot of fun. I find that it still holds up now, 14 years later.

 

3/5

-Kyle A. Goethe

 

For more 31 Days of Horror, click here.

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