Get Out (2017) - Peele arrives in a big way with funny American race nightmare

♥♥♥♥♥

 

Star Daniel Kaluuya screaming from intense emotion in a lounge chair on this striking B/W poster for Jordan Peele's Get Out

Chris is an African-American man, who is going with his Caucasian girlfriend Allison away for the weekend to visit her family's country estate, defying his misgivings about her not informing them of the color of his skin in advance ...

 

Get Out is written and directed by great New-Yorker filmmaker, debuting Jordan Peele (Keanu (2016, writer)).

It is terrifically awkward and amply shows what it feels like to be the new (literally) black sheep of a family; and then it is funny, really funny, - not least in the scenes of repartee between Chris and his friend (Lil Rel Howery (Good Boys (2019)). Get Out cultivates racial paranoia, (SPOILER whites overtake black bodies with brain transplants!), and the reluctance among blacks for other blacks to become 'too white'.

In the horror part of the film it is especially the 'sunken place' scenes, where this nightmarish hell is achieved through hypnosis, which is rather frightening, and Catherine Keener (The Soloist (2009)) functions well as a stoic hypnotist. You might have to be black to find Allison Williams (College Musical (2014)) actually scary here, SPOILER and the culmination in which Chris murders his way through the house to escape it, could have been achieved to greater effect.

But Daniel Kaluuya (Chatroom (2010)) is outstanding as Chris, and Get Out has a timely electricity to it that must have been most powerful in an American cinema around the time of its release. It is original and, in my opinion, more funny than frightening, - and hopefully it brought its multi-racial audiences closer together than it divided them further?

 

Related post:

 

Jordan Peele: Us (2019) - Get in line to scratch your head (writer/director)

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 4.5 mil. $

Box office: 255.5 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 56.7 times its cost)

[Get Out premiered 23 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 104 minutes. Shooting took 23 days from February 2016 - ? in Alabama. The film opened #1 to a 33.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#3-#4) and grossed 176 mil. $ (68.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were South Korea with 15.5 mil. $ (6.1 %) and the UK with 12.7 mil. $ (5 %). Deadline Hollywood calculated the film's net profits at 124.8 mil. $. It was nominated for 4 Oscars, winning for Best Original Screenplay. It lost Best Picture to The Shape of Water, Actor (Kaluuya) to Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour and Director to Guillermo Del Toro for The Shape of Water. It was also nominated for 2 Golden Globes, 2 BAFTAs, won an AFI award, won 2/5 Independent Spirit award nominations, 3 National Board of Review awards, among countless other honors. Peele returned with Us (2019). Kaluuya returned in Robot & Scarecrow (2017, short), Great Performers: Horror Show (2017, short) and theatrically in Black Panther (2018); Williams in Girls (2012-17), Patrick Melrose (2018, miniseries) and theatrically in The Perfection (2018). Get Out is certified fresh at 98 % with an 8.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Get Out?

Ginger Snaps (2000) or, Howl of the Emo Sisters

♥♥♥♥♥

Gothic and bloody indications mixed with mysterious teen sexuality howl from this poster for John Fawcett's Ginger Snaps

When one of two very emo teenage sisters are bitten by a werewolf, it gets her to run amuck in monstrous, adolescent sex!

Ginger Snaps is written by Karen Walton (Deep in the City (1999-00)), with great Canadian co-writer/director John Fawcett (The Boys Club (1996)) contributing story elements.
Here is a highly surprising and edgy horror; most of its shots are deliberately shot askew (cinematography by Thom Best (A Good Meal (2016)).)
The film is ripe with strange or unusual things, and, yes, it is also scary! Mimi Rogers' (Cleaners (2014, TV-series)) deeply humorous performance as the sisters' mother also deserves highlighting.

Watch a 2-minute clip from the film here

Cost: 4.5 mil. $
Box office: Reportedly 572k $
= Box office disaster (returned 0.12 times its cost)
[Ginger Snaps premiered 1 August (München Fantasy Filmfest, Germany) and runs 108 minutes. 15 companies collaborated to make the film. Shooting took place from October - December 1999 in Ontario, including Toronto. The film won an award at the Toronto International Film Festival and made 425k C$, making it the 5th highest-grossing Canadian film to come out for nearly a year. It made just 2k$ in the US, from two film festivals. But the film became a 'cult favorite' on DVD, though with sales undisclosed. This led to the sequel, Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed (2004), which had an even smaller theatrical gross, and another direct-to-video sequel, Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004, video). Fawcett returned with 8 TV credits before his next theatrical outing The Dark (2005). Emily Perkins (Repeaters (2010)) returned in Christy: Return to Cutter Gap (2000, TV movie), Christy: Choices of the Heart (2001, miniseries) and theatrically in Prozac Nation (2001); Katharine Isabelle (The Arrangement (2017-18)) in The Fearing Mind (2000, TV-series)), The Immortal (2001, TV-series) and theatrically in Josie and the Pussycats (2001); Kris Lemche (Haven (2013-15)) in Saint Jude (2000); and Rogers in 8 TV and short projects prior to her theatrical return in Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003). Ginger Snaps is certified fresh at 89 % with a 7.4/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Ginger Snaps?

Zombieland (2009) - Reese/Wernick and Fleischer hit the post-modern bull's eye with undead escapade

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Zombie Movie of the Year

Four game stars look ready to create mayhem on this poster for Ruben Fleisher's Zombieland

A phobic, neurotic young man partners with a gun-crazed Texan in America, or Zombieland, after a zombie apocalypse has spread death and destruction everywhere, but the two are tricked by a pair of sisters.

The highly sarcastic, reference-laden kind of dialog that runs through Zombieland rarely works for movies, as it mostly gets tiring after a while, but somehow it does work here. Certain parts of Zombieland is likely to have made Zombie Godfather, New Yorker master filmmaker George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead (1968)) proud, not least the section in the theme park.
SPOILER Best in this great zombie horror-road movie-romcom genre-mixer, however, are the scenes with Bill Murray (Groundhog Day (1993)), in what purports to be his Hollywood mansion, which reaches a level of post-modern brilliance that is wholly unexpected, hilarious and delightful. Zombieland also contains some amazingly cool slo-mo shots of zombie attacks, (cinematography by Michael Bonvillain (Wanderlust (2012))), and may or may not beat Shaun of the Dead (2004) as the great modern zombie horror-comedy, according to your taste. It's a fun neo-classic in my book.
Zombieland is written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (Deadpool (2016)) and directed by feature-debuting, great Washingtonian filmmaker Ruben Fleischer (Superstore (2015-17)).

Related posts:

Ruben Fleischer: Gangster Squad (2013) or, Good Men vs. Bad Men!
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]  
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
30 Minutes or Less (2011) or, Idiots and Lesser Idiots

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]  

Watch a 2-minute scene from the film here

Cost: 23.6 mil. $
Box office: 102.3 mil. $
= Big hit
[Zombieland premiered 25 September (Austin Fantastic Fest) and runs 87 minutes. Harrelson only took the part in the film on conditions, including that the set be 'environmentally conscious' and Fleischer not ingesting dairy products for a week. Shooting took place in Georgia and in Los Angeles from February - April 2009. The theme park section was mostly shot at Georgia's Wild Adventures Water and Theme Park, with 160 zombie performers in one scene. The film opened #1 to a 24.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top 5 for another week (#2) and grossed 75.5 mil. $ (73.8 % of the total gross), becoming the top-grossing zombie film ever there, beating Dawn of the Dead (2004), - until Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 5.5 mil. $ (5.4 %) and Russia with 3.9 mil. $ (3.8 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, equal to a notch harder than this one. Home video sales of the film in North America alone totaled another 55.4 mil. $. If added to the theatrical gross, it would change the film's status to that of huge hit. Sequel talks began with the film's concluding production, and Harrelson talked enthusiastically of another film but later backed away from that stance. A TV-series pilot without the stars but with the writers was made for Amazon in 2013 and not picked up for serialization. The writers and Fleischer still seem intent on making a sequel (by 2017). Zombieland is certified fresh at 90 % with a 7.4 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Zombieland?

An American Werewolf in London (1981) - Landis' great, funny, scary werewolf favorite

♥♥♥♥♥

This poster for John Landis' An American Werewolf in London trusts its product (the movie) and the general public enough to let them know in advance that its ambition is to be both frightening and funny

Two young, American men begin their European journey in wet Northern England, - where they are soon attacked by a werewolf! Only one survives, but an unfortunate repercussion of the attack is that he transforms into a beast and starts killing under the full moon in the clammy London streets.

Illinoisan master writer-director John Landis (The Blues Brothers (1980)) made with An American Werewolf one of the three best werewolf movies of all time in my opinion. With a relatively unknown but brilliantly cast acting troupe, Landis' own enthusiasm and love for old werewolf and horror movies in general shines through in his playful, youthful and creative script, which delivers an original angle, - the werewolf as a boy-to-adult-male transformation metaphor, - taken out in a number of highly memorable, sometimes funny and sometimes nightmarish scenes. The central transformation scene, arguably the film's highlight, is a scene that every one familiar with the film will look forward to, and Rick Baker's (Missing Link (1988)) incredible make-up effects are a vital part of the film's lasting power.
An American Werewolf in London is a horror classic that gushes with the vivid energy that its brilliant young creator Landis enriched it with. - Don't miss it!

Related posts:

John Landis: Top 10: Best cop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Deer Woman (2005) - Landis and son's solid Masters of Horror entry
Coming to America (1988) - Landis and Murphy's second amusing but less well-constructed collaboration The Twilight Zone (1983) - Fear takes many forms in tragedy-struck anthology
Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: The best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
The Blues Brothers (1980) - Try to sit still to this one!

In this video from the 1982 Oscars, Johnny Carson introduces Kim Hunter and Vincent Price, who present the nominees for the first Best Makeup Oscar, which was won by Rick Baker for An American Werewolf in London

Cost: 10 mil. $
Box office: Reportedly 61.9 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 6.19 times its cost)
[An American Werewolf in London was released 21 August (North America) and runs 97 minutes. Landis got the idea for the film, when he witnessed a gypsy burial ritual during production of Kelly's Heroes (1970) (on which he acted as assistant director and production assistant) in Yugoslavia in 1969. His script was shelved for a decade, while he built up a solid hit reputation in Hollywood, and financiers grew a willingness to bet on his wild ideas. Shooting took place in Wales and England, including London, from February - April 1981. The film opened #1 with a 3.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 30.5 mil. $ (49.2 % of the total gross), or possibly 31.9 mil. $ (different reports). Its international gross (30 mil. $), if accurate, indicates that it was a global hit. David Lynch's great The Elephant Man (1980) was not premiered for its makeup excellence at the 1981 Oscars, causing criticisms, and so a Best Makeup category was instated for the 1982 Oscars. An American Werewolf in London was nominated against Heartbeeps, and Rick Baker won the first statuette in the category. An unrelated sequel, An American Werewolf in Paris (1997) was made and flopped. Landis' son, filmmaker Max Landis (Me Him Her (2015)) is working on a remake of An American Werewolf in London at the moment (6/3/18, ed.). Landis returned with video documentary Coming Soon (1982) and theatrically with comedy Trading Places (1983), before his career was derailed by the three tragic deaths which happened as a result of a helicopter crash on his set of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983). David Naughton (Cool as Hell (2013)) returned with 3 TV credits before returning to big screens in Hot Dog... The Movie (1984); Jenny Agutter (Child's Play 2 (1990)) returned in a 1982 TV movie, a video and a bit part before she had her next theatrical role in Secret Places (1984); Griffin Dunne (Straight Talk (1992)) returned in The Wall (1982, TV movie) and theatrically in Cold Feet (1983). An American Werewolf in London is certified fresh at 88 % with a 7.75/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of An American Werewolf in London?