Friday the 13th (1980) - Cunningham scores with simple but effective teen killer recipe

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The mysterious, knife-carrying killer's contour frames a drawing of the doomed youths in this very neat poster for Sean S. Cunningham's Friday the 13th

Camp Crystal Lake is an idyllic nature hideout that a group of young counselors intend to reopen 20 years after a fatal drowning took place there. But as it turns out, the camp isn't ready for a reopening.

- The youths at Crystal Lake get it with the knife, the ax, the arrow and what have you, one by one, in this classic and effective teen slasher. Friday the 13th showcases the slasher concept that worked 20 years before it was made as well as 20 years later, and which this film was instrumental in streamlining for scores of more or less inventive reproductions in the following decade. At its best here, it is an entertaining mix of suspense, shocks and spectacular deaths.
SPOILER The ending of Friday the 13th, in which Jason's mother Pamela Vorheers fights the girl Alice and is finally beheaded, is cool, and the same goes for the very last surprise scene (invented by special effects wizard Tom Savini, inspired by the ending of Carrie (1976)) that features Jason in the lake.
Friday the 13th is written by Victor Miller (The Black Pearl (1977)) and Ron Kurz (King Frat (1979)), with co-writer-producer-director Sean S. Cunningham (Together (1971)) contributing story elements. SPOILER Later star Kevin Bacon (Saving Angelo (2007, short)) has a small role in the film that entails a sex scene and an arrow through his throat.

Listen to the film's main theme here

Cost: 0.55 mil. $
Box office: 59.8 mil. $
= Mega-hit
[Friday the 13th was released 9 May (USA) and runs 95 minutes. Cunningham had worked with Wes Craven on his The Last House on the Left (1972) and was also inspired by the success of John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) to make a "rollercoaster ride" horror. Shooting took place in New Jersey, including in a reportedly still operating Boy Scout camp, from September - October 1979. Betsy Palmer took the role as Mrs. Vorheers to pay for a car and thought the film was "a piece of shit." Composer Harry Manfredini was inspired by John Williams' score for Jaws (1975) in coming up with the film's iconic ki ki ki, ma ma ma sound before the killer's strikes. Paramount bought the distribution rights for 1.5 mil. $ and spent another million to advertise it, (half a million before its release and another half during its run, which peaked domestically in 1,100 theaters.) The film opened #1 to a 5.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it triumphed its way to a sensational 39.7 mil. $ (66.4 % of the total gross), despite bad reviews. The studio's international release of an independent feature without major stars was unusual at the time but paid off, as international audiences were also sizable. The film became the 18th highest-grossing film of the year and its domestic gross wasn't beaten by the first 9 of the following 11 sequels. They are: Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981), Friday the 13th Part III (1982), Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984), Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985), Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986), Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988), Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989), Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993), Jason X (2001), Freddy vs. Jason (2003) and Friday the 13th (2009). Cunningham returned with A Stranger Is Watching (1982). Friday the 13th is rotten at 59% with a 5.5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Friday the 13th?

Day of the Dead (1985) - Romero's underground-set zombie classic

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A neatly drawn poster featuring Bub the zombie for George A. Romero's Day of the Dead

QUICK REVIEW:

In this the last film in master writer-director George A. Romero's (Night of the Living Dead (1968)) first Dead trilogy, the plot plays out deep below ground in a military compound, where a group of soldiers protect and despise some scientists, who are trying to find out how to tame the walking dead.

Day is nearly as good as its predecessor, the masterpiece Dawn of the Dead (1978). Unlike that film, which is lighter, more action-packed and satirical, Day is intensely unpleasant, scary and disgusting, with some exceptional makeup and prosthetic effects. - It has actually made me nauseous to watch on one occasion.
The film does have a couple of scenes which are quite obviously too long. The conflict between the ignorant, racist soldiers and the good-hearted scientists is a bit over-the-top and contrived, but it somehow works great anyway, thanks in part to the actors giving serious characterizations and giving the film their all.
The music (by John Harrison (Creepshow (1982))) and conflict-heavy dialog is very 80s typical, which I love. Day has scenes and one character in particular (lab 'animal' Bub (Sherman Howard (Jumanji (1996-97))) that sticks in your mind years after you've seen it.
Shiver!

Related reviews:

George A. Romero: Night of the Living Dead (1990) - Romero and Savini hash up a superfluous remake (writer/executive producer)
Creepshow (1982) - Fun, campy horror anthology from King and Romero
Dawn of the Dead (1978) or, Mall of Death!

Sherman Howard as Bub in George A. Romero's Day of the Dead

Lori Cardille as Dr. Sarah in George A. Romero's Day of the Dead

Watch the trailer for the movie here

Cost: 3.5 mil. $
Box office: 34 mil. $
= Huge hit
[Day was made on a budget half the size hoped for, which forced Romero to alter his script drastically, effectively making a smaller and different zombie movie. It was filmed on locations in Florida, including in a mine. Extras were paid 1 $ plus a cap that read 'I was a Zombie in Day of the Dead.' The film had a small American release but still grossed 5.8 mil. $ (17 % of the total gross) in North America. It also became a lucrative VHS and later DVD and Bluray item.]

What do you think of Day of the Dead?
How do you rate it against Romero's other Dead movies?

Night of the Living Dead (1990) - Romero and Savini hash up a superfluous remake

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The persuasive (for horror fans anyway) poster for Tom Savini's Night of the Living Dead

Master director George A. Romero's (Dawn of the Dead (1978)) great zombie classic Night of the Living Dead (1968) received a color-conversion remake 23 years after its release at the behest of Romero himself, who reworked his and John A. Russo's (Voodoo Dawn (1991)) original script for the purpose. The reason was partly copyrights issues concerning the original film, which, due to slobby paperwork, had not turned out the profits for Romero that it should have, (the film was a tremendous hit.) And partly due to a wish on Romero's part to secure control over the first remake of his own classic. For the job, he persuaded his friend, special make-up effects wiz Tom Savini (Day of the Dead (1985), special make-up effects) to take on the job of directing the film. Prior to it, Savini had only directed 3 episodes of the TV-series Tales From the Darkside (1984-88)).

A pair of siblings visit the resting place of their deceased mother but are attacked by living dead. The woman flees to a nearby house, where she fights for survival with some other strangers.

The plot is largely the same as in the original and nothing much has changed in the way of style or tone either. Savini has added some gore and zombies, but not as many as one might have expected. The opening cemetery scene is perhaps the film's most enjoyable, riffing on the original, great scene somewhat humorously.
From then on, the closeness to the original film begins to play as a distracting, ongoing show in the back of the minds of most audiences who are familiar with that film. The color and close repeating of the original's storyline dispels the eeriness that that film had, and what is left seems like a mostly unoriginal rehash of a truly beloved horror movie.

The details:

Fine actor Tony Todd (Candyman (1992)) is good in the role of strong African-American protagonist Ben (originally portrayed by Duane Jones (Ganja & Hess (1973))), who gets a different SPOILER, but still tragic, fate in this new version.
He plays opposite fiery redhead Patricia Tallman (Army of Darkness (1992)), who does alright here but gets stuck with some pretty bonkers material, especially towards the end I thought, as, for instance, SPOILER she addresses the rednecks with quasi-philosophical comments about their barbaric behavior after surviving the zombie massacre.
This remake doesn't seriously hurt anyone in the long run, (Romero's oevre is full of other misfires, which can't detract from his best work), but it is unquestionably redundant and disappointing.
Savini has called the making of it "the worst nightmare of [my] life", because the film's producers made his vision for the direction of the film impossible, which is a sad but not uncommon phenomenon in movies. Since then, he has reportedly been known to show some of his discarded gore material from the film at fan conventions, (the film lost some 'weight' to obtain its R rating.) And Savini has stayed away from directing after Night, besides a short film and segments in two horror anthologies.

Related review:

Tom Savini: Dawn of the Dead (1978) or, Mall of Death (make-up and cosmetic effects, stunts, actor)

Watch the original trailer here

Cost: 4.2 mil. $
Box office: 5.8 mil. $ (US only)
= Uncertainty
[But almost certainly a big flop. The film was poorly received by critics. It made 0.2 mil. $ in Spain. It has since grown in standing among some (overly) nostalgic horror fans. But don't let yourself be fooled.]

What do you think of Savini's Night of the Living Dead?

Dawn of the Dead (1978) or, Mall of Death!

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The iconic poster for George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead

Dawn of the Dead is perhaps the best zombie movie ever made; coming from the grandmaster of the zombie horror sub-genre, New York-born George A. Romero (Creepshow (1982)), Dawn is the crazy sequel to his perennial classic of all zombie movies, Night of the Living Dead (1968). But whereas Night is a truly scary, strange, creepy and claustrophobic horror film in B/W, Dawn is a dramatically different vision; a satirical action gore zombie feast in blazing colors with special effects bouncing off the walls!
The plot centers on two weather journalists and two soldiers that escape a violent mayhem in an apocalyptic, zombie-infested world in a helicopter and decide to isolate themselves in a shopping mall.
Dawn doesn't try to hide its barbaric colors and was released unrated in the U.S., because it was set to get a (commercially lethal) X-rating: Within 10 minutes, you've got an explicit (and spectacular) head-exploding scene; within 30 minutes, zombie kids are being terminated. The film's incredible success despite these risk factors is truly remarkable.
Dawn is too wild and action-packed to ever become truly scary, though, but it seems that that was also Romero's intentions: Arguing about the color of the blood in the film with its special effects designer Tom Savini (Martin (1976)), (who also plays a big part in the film as a biker gang leader and must be applauded at length for Dawn's mind-boggling and extremely voluminous special effects), Romero stuck with the unnaturally bright red color seen in the film, as he liked the comic book-like effect it produced.
Dawn's greatness comes also from the strength of the symbolic meanings that can be interpreted from Romero's juicy script and the irresistible visuals: The film is full of double meanings and what seems like hidden commentary or critique of modern America:
Facing crisis, our quartet chose to isolate themselves with wealth and a hankering for uncontrolled consumerism; "We've got everything we need here!", the weak weatherman points out to persuade his doubting, pregnant girlfriend that the mall is the place to be. But the consumerist life is empty and devoid of values and substance, which she later realizes, saying "What have we done?!?" Then, when outsiders threaten to break into their isolated 'paradise' to get their part of the wealth of resources in there as well, the males of our group respond with a plan to gate themselves in, "They won't know that we're here", one of them rationalizes. That plan of course misfires, and complete anarchy and depravity breaks out, as the outsiders lacking means break the borders and ravage and steal all that they can in the now plundered and wrecked mall micro-world. - The zombies might be taken as symbols of the mindless consumer people of modern society, or as simply the death that faces the faithless, amoral live people we get to know; future-set to forever stumble around in an empty, consumerist Purgatory.
That is merely my reading of the inspiring Dawn of the Dead. Watch it to develop your own ideas about its meanings.

The eye-popping head-exploding scene from the beginning of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead

The details:

I base this review on the 139 minutes long director's cut, initial edition that Romero premiered at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival, (several shorter versions are also available.) This length for a zombie movie is unheard of and crazy in itself. But Romero's material can bear it, as he's got so much great footage and four very well-acting leads as well as tons of great zombies. 
Some say that it's a slow movie; I think it takes its time and gives the audience time to enjoy it and get into its world. I have watched it numerous times and now always feel a strong nostalgia, whenever I put it on; my old zombie best friend ...
It's a great home-watch: Its length demands several food- and snack-gathering kitchen breaks, (for those with gore-trained tummys), and it's also paramount to be able to talk and howl if need be while watching it. The film is most enjoyable as a very interactive experience like that.
The main hero is played greatly by Ken Foree (From Beyond (1986)), and like its franchise predecessor, which also had a black male hero, who in the end SPOILER died as a martyr of an implied racist society, Dawn also makes us root for a black male hero, which isn't a stereotype. Here, we get SPOILER a semi-romantic (interracial!) ending, which also cements the film's forward-thinking, wild nature.
To top it all off, Dawn of the Dead is robed in a phenomenal Italian score by Goblin (Deep Red (1975)) and horror master Dario Argento (Phenomena (1985)), who also helped to finance, distribute and conceive this masterpiece.
Romero's zombie movie series continues in the amazing Day of the Dead (1985), which is a third completely different zombie-apocalyptic vision, the series' darkest, corniest and most disgusting. From then on, Romero has added three recent titles, Land of the Dead (2005), Diary of the Dead (2007) and Survival of the Dead (2009), all of which do not hold up to the old classics.

Watch the original trailer here

Cost: 0.65 mil. $
Box office: 55 mil. $
= Mega-hit

What do you think of Dawn of the Dead?
And George A. Romero's other zombie films?
Any other zombie films that are as solid as these?

Dario Argento: An Eye For Horror (2000, TV documentary) - Great bio-doc of master filmmaker Dario Argento

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A DVD case front for Leon Ferguson's Dario Argento: An Eye For Horror that features 8 pictures of its fascinating filmmaker subject

An Eye For Horror is a mostly talking heads biography of Italian master (mainly horror) director, Dario Argento (Deep Red/Profondo Rosso (1975)), the man behind great movies such as The Bird with the Crystal Plumage/L'uccello dalle Piume di Cristallo (1970), Suspiria (1977), Inferno (1980), Tenebrae (1982), Phenomena (1985) and The Stendhal Syndrome/La Sindrome di Stendhal (1996).

This portrait is wholly fine with many relevant people, including Argento himself, talking about the works, their making and what makes them stand out. Argento's story and his stories are so incredible that he sells the documentary in his own right here. He has done amazing things in his movies, and surely stands as one of the most inspiring and ingenious filmmakers of all time. (Nevermind that his output has undeniably gone substantially down in quality since Stendhal.)
Dario Argento: An Eye For Horror is written by Charles Preece (Bra Wars: Boom or Bust (2005, documentary)) and directed by Leon Ferguson (The Second Bakery Attack (2010, short, production assistant).

Related posts:

Doc. subject Dario Argento: Demons/Dèmoni (1985) or, Cinema of Death! (producer/co-writer)
Dawn of the Dead (1978) or, Mall of Death! (music/financing/distribution)
The Cat O'Nine Tails/Il Gatto a Nove Code (1971) - Solid genetics-themed giallo murder puzzle
The Bird With the Crystal Plumage/L'uccello Dalle Piume di Cristallo (1970) - The great debut giallo of Dario Argento

An Eye For Horror is available on Youtube. Here is a medley of some of the nightmarish and spectacular horror in Argento's films

Cost: Unknown
Box office: None - TV movie documentary
= Uncertain
[Details about the documentary's production and initial release are hard to come by. It runs 57 minutes. Ferguson has not returned as a director with anything since. 1,604 Rotten Tomatoes users have given Dario Argento. An Eye for Horror a 3.5/5 average rating.]

What film director bio-docs would you recommend?
What do you think of Dario Argento: An Eye For Horror?