Haeckel's Tale (2006, TV movie) - Another bland Masters entry

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Gothic elements fill this packed poster for John McNaughton's Haeckel's Tale

A man wishes his wife back from the dead, but his wish is stunted when he hears 'Haeckel's Tale', in which a curious young man discovers that the strange necromancer Montesquino can bring back people from the other side ...

 

Haeckel's Tale is written by Mick Garris (The Fly II (1989)), adapting a short story by Clive Barker (The Damnation Game (1985)) from anthology Dark Delicacies: Original Tales of Terror and the Macabre (2005), and directed by John McNaughton (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)). It is part of Garris' Masters of Horror TV movie series as the 12th entry in the first of the show's two seasons.

Jon Polito (Son of Morning (2011)) is good (as always) as Montesquino in this adaptation that was supposed to be directed by George A. Romero. McNaughton seems unable to lift the task of making it come fully to life.

 

Related posts:

 

Other Masters of Horror TV movies: 2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Fair Haired Child (2006, TV movie) - Malone turns out another weak Masters of Horror TV movie 

Dance of the Dead (2005) - Hooper's ugly Masters of Horror nonsense
Chocolate (2005) - Flavors, visions and eroticism in Garris' TV movie thriller
Deer Woman (2005) - Landis and son's solid Masters of Horror entry 
Cigarette Burns (2005) - Carpenter burns out in weird, tiresome TV movie   

 John McNaughton: Top 10: Best debut movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) - A deeply unsettling portrait 

 

McNaughton speaks about his films in an interview at Filmfest München from 2014 here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: None - TV movie

= Uncertain

[Haeckel's Tale was first shown 27 January (North America, Showtime channel) and runs 59 minutes. When Romero was unable to direct it as planned, Roger Corman was approached but also unavailable due to a health problem, and McNaughton was finally hired. Shooting took place in Vancouver, British Columbia. McNaughton returned with John from Cincinnati (2007, TV-series)). Steve Bacic (Killing Gunther (2017)), who plays the young man John Ralston, returned in Safe Harbor (2006, TV movie); Polito in Cutting Room (2006). 2,800+ IMDb users have given Haeckel's Tale a 6.1/10 average rating.]

 

What do you think of Haeckel's Tale? 

Halloween Movie 2017: Candyman (1992) - Racial tensions inform Rose and Barker's Chicago-set horror favorite

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A mysterious and curiosity-sparking poster for Bernard Rose's Candyman

As part of her thesis project on urban legends, Helen and a student friend visit Chicago's Cabrini-Green housing project, where the feared Candyman is said to have killed...

Candyman is a hugely suspenseful, heavily loaded horror favorite that treads new ground in a thought-provoking way. Virginia Madsen (Joy (2015)) is outstanding and a trooper for the genre here, and the same goes for Tony Todd (Agoraphobia (2015)), SPOILER who among other things endures having bees in his mouth for his performance in Candyman. Madsen and Kasi Lemmons (The Silence of the Lambs (1991)), who plays her friend in the film, both have the added quality here of irresistible, glamorous hairdos, and Xander Berkeley (Nikita (2010-12)) is perfect as Madsen's disloyal partner.
Candyman also has a cute boy performance (by DeJuan Guy (Make It Rain (2008))), a strong score by Philip Glass (No Reservations (2007)) and a gruesome core to it that is interpretable in several ways: There are undeniable sexual overtones in the relation between misty-eyed Madsen and Todd with his huge hook (yes, the mandingo fantasy kind), but the film could also possibly stand as a conservative warning against 'slumming' on 'the wrong side of the tracks.' SPOILER The ending also made me speculate whether the black populace of Cabrini-Green want to burn Candyman for his bloodlust or for crossing racial barriers with his ancient romance? The film taps right down into the still boiling, rich stew that is the fraught race relations in modern America and in this could be seen as a precursor of recent huge hit Get Out (2017).
Candyman a a film scoffs at the supercilious academic world in favor of the superstition and religion that is held high by the under-privileged black community. It is over-lit more than once, - perhaps so we won't miss the great production design (by Jane Ann Stewart (About Schmidt (2002))) and strong use of colors.
Candyman is written and directed by great English filmmaker Bernard Rose (Paperhouse (1988)), adapting Clive Barker's (Sacrament (1996)) short story The Forbidden from his Books of Blood: Volume 5. It is a major horror favorite in my book.

Watch the title sequence for the film here

Cost: 8 mil. $
Box office: 25.7 mil. $ - North America only
= Some uncertainty; at least a box office success and likely a big hit
[Candyman premiered 11 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 99 minutes. Although Barker's story was set in his native Liverpool, Rose changed the setting to Chicago and found shooting in the US easier than in England. Eddie Murphy was sought for the Candyman part but was too costly. For the lead, Rose cast his then wife Alexandra Pigg, but when she found out she was pregnant, the role was offered to Madsen. Sandra Bullock, who had not broken through yet as an actress, was also in contention for the part. Rose held meetings with the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) before shooting to avert racial controversy, but relates that when they read the script they felt it was all "just good fun." Madsen was also worried about the race aspect and related fear that Spike Lee would not like the film. Shooting took place in Chicago, Illinois, including in the real Cabrini-Green project, and in California, including Los Angeles, from November - December 1991. The film opened #4, behind Under Siege, The Last of the Mohicans and The Mighty Ducks, to a 5.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent the next two weeks at #3 before leaving the top 5, grossing 25.7 mil. $. The foreign grosses are not reported, but if the world gross is set at a conservative 35 mil. $, the film rates as a big hit. Roger Ebert gave film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch harder than this review. The film inspired two lesser performing sequels; Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995) and Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999, video), both without Madsen and Rose but with Todd. Candyman is fresh at 70 % with a 6.3/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Candyman?