THE DANMAN CAN

"No, not the cheese ! The keys !"   Chuck Russell Films Ranked

The Blob  (1988) has a mean streak that I'm not typically a fan of, where everyone is disposable, and the filmmakers really seem to delight in killing people off in innovative ways, but when the effects work is as good as it is here, it doesn't bother me too much. The tone is just a bit weird, when characters that you're supposed to care for die horrible, particularly cruel deaths. I do appreciate the killing off of the character that you think is going to be the male lead less than a half hour in (à la  Psycho  (1960)) though. A lot of the effects appear to be homages to setups from  John Carpenter 's  The Thing   (1982) ( review ), including a few gags that are straight up rip-offs of  Rob Bottin 's work from that most perfect of perfect horror films. There are also some shots that are reminiscent of 1987's  Street Trash   ( review )  which is enough to melt a grue lover's heart (literally). But it's hard not to love practical eff...

A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors  (1987) probably doesn't deserve quite as high a star rating as I award it (and I even toyed with giving it **** this time around), but the first three NOES films (my reviews of the first two here and here )—and in particular this entry—are so intrinsically linked to my preteen self that it's impossible for me to separate my nostalgia from serious critical analysis (which, is that really necessary with a slasher anyway?). ANOES3  was a formative horror film for me, but I do think it holds up incredibly well. I have fond memories of being equally terrified and fascinated by the first three NOES  films and I particularly love  Dream Warriors for its inventiveness, likable characters, and of course Freddy 's one-liners (including this immortal one ). Thanks to the likes of  Kevin Yagher  and  Mark Shostrom , the movie is a marvel of makeup and practical effects, and the production design is equally satisf...

The Blob  (1988) has a mean streak that I'm not typically a fan of, where everyone is disposable, and the filmmakers really seem to delight in killing people off in innovative ways, but when the f/x work is as good as it is here, it doesn't bother me too much. The tone is just a bit weird, when characters that you're supposed to care for die horrible, particularly cruel deaths. I do appreciate the killing off of the character that you think is going to be the male lead less than a half hour in (à la  Psycho  (1960)) though. A lot of the f/x appear to be homages to setups from John Carpenter 's The Thing (1982) (my review here ), including a few gags that are straight up rip-offs of Rob Bottin 's work from that most perfect of perfect horror films. There are also some shots that are reminiscent of 1987's  Street Trash   (my review here )  which is enough to melt a grue lover's heart (literally). But it's hard not to love practical f/x and makeup in ...

"1, 2, Freddy's coming for you..." Apparently, the ability to do flips in your dreams is a good deterrent against Freddy Krueger . "In my dreams, I'm beautiful..." Fred Nancy