21st Century Terrors, Part 9: 2008

Welcome back, after quite a long hiatus, to the Vault's rather exhaustive look back at the decade of horror cinema that ended last December. It's probably for the best anyway, since the more distance that accumulates, the easier it is to properly judge exactly what it was that went down, and exactly what it all meant. When last we left off, we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of the late '00s, right at the moment when the remake craze had truly strapped the horror genre to the speedboat like Fonzie...

One of the decade's most egregious remake offenses occurred this year, when American filmmakers took what had been one of the most talked about foreign films of the previous year, [REC], and turned it into Quarantine, a virtual scene-for-scene English translation of the Spanish original, with Dexter's Jennifer Carpenter in the lead role. It was a very cynical affair, too, with the Spanish version being purposely withheld from home video or theatrical release in America until the inferior remake had had a chance to run its course with a public who generally believed it to be an original work.

Quarantine may have been the most obvious and most cynical of the bunch, but it was far from the only. Alexandre Aja, who had previously given us the admittedly well-made redo of Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes, this time dished up the Keifer-Sutherland vehicle Mirrors, a remake of the 2003 South Korean film Into the Mirror. Jessica Alba headlined The Eye, a vastly inferior rehash of a 2002 flick out of Hong Kong. And the utterly inane One Missed Call, taken from a 2003 Japanese movie, assaulted our senses as well. The bankruptcy of ideas was reaching epic proportions.

But it didn't end there. Cult classics and long-time favorites of American horror cinema continued to be liberally raped, as well. Take the PG-13 version of Prom Night, which took an enjoyable little Jamie Lee Curtis slasher of the early 1980s and turned it into something that could've aired in prime time on Nickelodeon. And then, although it pains me to even bring it up, there was the tragically wrong-headed remake of George Romero's Day of the Dead, undertaken by '80s veteran Steve Miner, who should've known better. The less said about that abortion, the better.

But although the heyday of the early-to-mid portion of the decade was decidedly over, there was still enough original, engaging material out there to keep the die-hard fans entertained, even while the masses were being spoon-fed Hollywood's easily digestible pap. For example, for those savvy enough to seek it out, there was The Midnight Meat Train, a grim and unrelenting adaptation of one of Clive Barker's classic short stories that stands as possibly the finest Barker screen adaptation since Hellraiser (superior in fact, if you ask this blogger.)

And although they divided fans--as most horror films of the recent past always seem to do--films like The Strangers and The Ruins were fresh and interesting enough to provide some relief from the onslaught of garbage. The former, borrowing liberally from the grand tradition of home invasion cinema, was a taut psychological thriller that threw in a sprinkling of torture porn sensibility for good measure. And the latter, an adaptation of the wildly successful 2006 novel by Scott B. Smith (author of A Simple Plan, brilliantly adapted by Sam Raimi in 1998), took the painfully trite teen horror sub-genre and gave it a much-needed supernatural kick in the ass.

On its last legs, the zombie subgenre offered up Dance of the Dead, an endearing take on some well-worn territory that managed to succeed by grafting familiar tropes into a high school setting, resulting in something like a John Hughes-esque response to Shaun of the Dead. And although nowhere even approaching the sublimity that rom-zom-com achieved, this one at least gave us some hot zombie sex, and cemented Pat Benatar's "Shadows of the Night" as one of the most memorable rock songs ever featured in a horror film.

But of course, no discussion of horror film in 2008 would be complete without bringing up Darren Lynn Bousman's Repo! The Genetic Opera, one of the most unique, confounding, and possibly ingenious movies to hit the genre in some time. A bold rock opera with a star-studded cast, it scores major points for effort and originality, even if the finished product is admittedly not without significant flaws. Most impressively of all, however, is the way the film managed to become more of a cultural event than most horror films do these days--even if that status was achieved in a much more carefully orchestrated and less organic manner than with such films as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, for example.

And then, there was Let the Right One In. The film, which for my money, was the most memorable, best-made and most evocative the horror genre gave us for the entire decade. Yes, it was not entirely a horror movie, but whatever it was, this unique Swedish adaptation of the vampire novel of the same name was a damn fine motion picture. Standing out head and shoulders in the crowd of mediocrity that was 2008, Let the Right One In was the kind of film that reminded many--this blogger included--of not only why they love horror film in the first place, but why they love film, period.

The touching tale of Oskar and Eli, the young mortal boy and the otherwordly vampire girl with whom he falls charmingly and platonically in love, LTROI was the finest of all the foreign horror that washed ashore during this period. It may also very well be one of, if not the best vampire film ever made. If the 2000s in horror is remembered for nothing else at all, it will always be remembered for giving us Let the Right One In.

With the decade creaking to a close, the horror genre was stumbling toward the '10s with all the grace of an unraveling mummy. There were gems to be found, no question--it was just taking more and more effort to look for them. But for those willing to trudge through the muck spewed forth by the remake machine, it was still a pretty decent time to be a horror fan. And fans certainly had more than enough movies over to which argue vociferously--and if that's not what being a fanboy is all about, I don't know what is.

Also in 2008:

• Saw V
• Shutter
• Splinter
• Teeth
• Zombie Strippers

Part 1: 2000
Part 2: 2001
Part 3: 2002
Part 4: 2003
Part 5: 2004
Part 6: 2005
Part 7: 2006
Part 8: 2007

Hump-Day Harangue: What the Hell Is the Industry's Problem with Clive Barker?

As if I don't rant enough already up in here, I'm kicking off a new very special section in which to unleash my vitriol in print form. And in this case, the source of my frustration is the apparent complete lack of confidence that film producers and distributors seem to have in one Clive Barker. Yes, Clive Barker, the man who is one of the finest writers of horror literature of the 20th century, the man Stephen King wishes he could be. And yet, for some reason, this guy can't seem to get arrested in Hollywood.

First came last year's Midnight Meat Train debacle. Based on one of Barker's stories, the film was one of the most original, daring and visually stimulating pieces of horror cinema in 2008. And yet at the last minute, the theatrical distribution got pulled. The masterpiece of a horror flick was destined for the direct-to-DVD pile, but thanks to a grassroots campaign started up by an outraged Barker himself, it was at least released to rinky-dink second-run houses in a few select markets. A far cry from what should have been.

I suppose the feeling was that a film with such a hard R rating would have trouble raking in the bucks. But come on, there are plenty of hard R flicks out there that do quite well without pandering to the coveted high school demographic. I mean, here you have a horror film that is actually imaginative and interesting, as opposed to the slew of derivative garbage that seems to get carte blanche out there in the market these days. I just don't get it.

And now, the latest Barker-related controversy has to do with what is, for my money, one of the most underrated horror films of the 1990s, Barker's Nightbreed. The picture marked the return of Barker to the director's chair for the first time since the original Hellraiser, and was another truly original and arresting vision. And yet as great as it was, there was always talk of lost footage that was cut against Barker's wishes, and the fact that a true director's cut would prove to have been an even better film.

So obviously, the recent news that, contrary to previous beliefs, the supposedly lost extra footage of Nightbreed actually exists, was met with some excitement from Barker fans. Excitement that was quickly squelched when it was learned that the studio had no desire to dig up the footage and do anything with it, since they felt there isn't enough of a market for it to justify the expense. Not of creating a director's cut--not even of remastering the film for Blu-Ray release.

What gives? Why the lack of support for the work of one of the most beloved authors in the horror community? The Midnight Meat Train thing was bad enough, but this Nightbreed situation is really a slap in the face, both to Barker and his fan base. Don't forget, we're talking about two excellent, innovative and truly unique horror films--not the PG-13 pablum that gets spoonfed to us on an almost weekly basis (the bad-assery of Drag Me to Hell being a major exception, obviously).

But fear not, gentle readers. Because once again, everyone's favorite openly gay horror writer is back on the case, and we can all help him. The footage does indeed exist, which is very good news. And which means that all it will take is a good swift fanboy kick in the ass to these studio execs to make them see that there indeed enough freaks out there willing to plunk down their hard-earned ducats for this bad boy.

The excellent website Clive Barker Revelations is working with the author on another grassroots campaign. If you're a Nightbreed fan who'd like to see the flick get the director's cut, special edition DVD and/or Blu-Ray release it deserves, email these guys here or send a Tweet to @philandsarah. The full Twitter page is here. The support has already reportedly been rolling in. You can also read a lot more about the whole mess, including comments from Barker himself, right here.

There's nothing we can do about the Midnight Meat Train stupidity, what's done is done. But we can take a stand and see to it that Nightbreed gets the treatment it really deserves. And that the visionary Clive Barker actually gets shown a little bit of respect from an industry that seems content to spew out the likes of Prom Night remakes and Final Destination part 27.

Want to See The Midnight Meat Train?

Clive Barker fans who were outraged at the way in which Lions Gate shafted his latest film The Midnight Meat Train now finally have the opportunity to see it. Starting today, FEARnet is offering the brutal serial killer pic as part of its cable VOD service. If you don't have FEARnet with your cable package, don't worry, it gets better. On October 30, for one day only, FEARnet has announced you will be able to watch the movie for free on their website.

Adapted from a Barker short story, the film version of Midnight Meat Train was the subject of much controversy recently when Lions Gate raised the ire of fans, and of the author/director himself, by making the last-minute decision to consign the movie to an extremely limited theatrical release, then dump it straight to DVD.

FEARnet is currently carrying an exclusive promo clip from the increasingly unhealthy-looking Barker introducing the film.

He Has Such Sights to Show You...

British-born Clive Barker, in addition to being a prolific author and filmmaker best known for writing and directing Hellraiser, is also an accomplished artist who has been exhibiting his work for 20 years now. And now for those in the New York area, a rare treat: Barker's latest exhibition will be taking place at the Sloan Fine Art gallery in Manhattan.

An opening reception will be held on Wednesday evening, and the exhibition will last until Saturday, May 10. Included amongst the pieces on display will be some of Barker's conceptual artwork for his upcoming film The Midnight Meat Train (such as the painting above).

Sloan Fine Art is located at 128 Rivington Street. Gallery hours are: Wednesday and Thursday noon to 6, Friday and Saturday noon to 8, and Sunday noon to 6. For more information, or to check out more samples of Barker's work, go to sloanfineart.com.