Because nobody likes spending an hour reading a movie review, I bring you Quick Horror Movie Reviews, a site offering to the point reviews of horror films from a guy who has seen thousands of them. From the classics to the hidden gems, the slashers to the creatures, the multi-million dollar blockbusters to the direct to video awfulness, it's all here! Read, enjoy, and for the best experience, go old school and view the desktop version!
A madman is killing prostitutes during Mardi Gras...or at least, sometime prior to Mardi Gras (more on that momentarily). Not only is he killing them, he's sacrificing them in some bizarre Aztec ritual.
"Hailing from Tenochtitlan, and weighing in at..."
If the plot and silly looking costume reminds you of a movie that would have been made ten or fifteen years prior to when it was actually shot (1978), you're not alone. Aside from the obvious (a million similar movies were made in the 1960's), this is also explained somewhat in that this movie is kind of a sequel to the 1963 flick Blood Feast. Another interesting note to this film is it was on the UK video nasties list, and actually received an X rating in the United States--though I'm honestly not sure why. There is nothing really eye-catching as far as presenting anything new or shocking, and the violence we see is so absurdly fake looking it's a wonder anybody took it seriously at all. The killer, whose identity we know from the start, takes a woman to his apartment, ties her to a table, cuts her hands and feet, and then cuts her heart out--sounds interesting, but the cutting out of the heart is done on a torso that is so clearly a prop you will actually laugh when you see it.
Look in the bottom right
This scene plays out almost identically three times, with three different women. We also follow a police officer, his prostitute girlfriend, and his dopey partner as they chase the killer. We see random fights breaking out, several scenes of strippers and go-go dancers, and a street performing dancer who should have given the others some lessons. The dialogue is dull--you could probably not listen to a word anybody says and still have a complete understanding of what is happening. Don't mute this one, though--the music is the best part of the film. The song that plays during the ritualistic killings is fantastic, there's a good bit of hot funk, and more disco than you can shake your bellbottoms at--yes, I said, in part, that disco is one of the best elements of this film--this really tells you most of what you need to know, but continue I will. The acting is atrocious, and gets even worse during the few dramatic scenes. One fascinating thing happening throughout is the sheer number of people looking directly at the camera for a moment. This happens so often you wonder if there is some sort of running gag happening.
"End scene? Oh, not yet?"
Finally, there's the whole Mardi Gras thing--remember in Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, when you expect Jason to be causing havoc in, you know, Manhattan, only to watch the movie for over an hour before seeing The Big Apple (or Vancouver, as it were)? It's the same deal here--you see no hint of Mardi Gras whatsoever until 74 minutes into the movie, and when we finally see the party, it's only for about four minutes.
I always pictured more...beads
Mardi Gras Massacre is a hard one to score--it certainly is not a good, decent, or even mediocre horror movie, but there is enough going on to keep you interested, right up to the abrupt, police-chase filled, unsatisfying ending.
And we’re back. When we last saw our heroes, they were heading full speed toward the inevitable final battles (my review of the first volume of this season can be found here). The second part of season four has just two episodes, but the combined run time of these is over four hours, so don't underestimate the time required to wrap this up. As is tradition with my Stranger Things reviews, I'm applying a spoiler alert here.
Halt! Spoiler Alert!
Having just recalled sending Henry/One off to become Vecna, Eleven has regained her powers, but the battle between Sam Owens (Paul Reiser) and Brenner/Papa (Matthew Modine) over her fate continues. Vecna provides Nancy some rather grim visions of the future, and the Hawkins group plots to destroy him once and for all. Mike, Will, Jonathan, and (unfortunately) Argyle return (they were not in episode 7) and are on their way to find Eleven. Finally, Hopper, Joyce, Enzo, and Murray fight their way out of the Russian prison, only to fight their way back in, and then fight their way back out.
"I'm so confused"
The final two episodes continue the horror theme set in the first seven episodes, and we see the story unfold quite nicely, with every layer peeled away leading to more intrigue. The visuals continue to stun as well, with the red color scheme of the Upside Down being especially effective. As a fan of the desert, seeing the scenes set there was an enjoyable experience as well.
Out in the desert
Some of the drawbacks from the first volume continue on here--I'm not a big fan of the whole government/military part of the story, and good grief, was there ever a lot of it here. The comedy was off a lot of the time, and provided few actual funny moments--this could have been scaled back, or removed entirely, to focus more on the terror; that said, the Domino's bit, a company that ran Stranger Things promotions this season, made me laugh. The music also continued to largely be a letdown. The first season featured The Clash, Joy Division, and New Order, and seemed to unleash a feast for the ears every few minutes. This season lacked that element, though it did bring Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill", a song a few of we of Gen X have enjoyed for many years, into the lives of millions who never heard it before--much less impressive is the use of Metallica's "Master of Puppets" in an otherwise cool scene (maybe Lars will be able to buy a new Porsche as a result of this). There's also the head-scratching use of Moby's "When It's Cold I'd Like to Die" for the second time in the series (the first time being in season one). Though not a bad song, a track released in the mid-1990's seems way out of place in a show set in the mid-1980's--I'll still take it over Metallica any day though. The musical misfires are somewhat redeemed, however, when "Spellbound", by the eternally awesome Siouxsie and the Banshees, plays.
I'll save you the trouble
If you have read to this point, you either missed the previous spoiler alerts, or you saw them and decided to press on...in case you missed them, I'm going to throw them out there again, because what follows, more than anything else, qualifies as major spoilers, so...
"SPOILER ALERT!!!"
After the military invades the underground facility that houses Eleven, we see Dr. Brenner shot and killed by a dude in a helicopter--Eleven disposes of them, and in his dying moments, Brenner tells Eleven he only did what was best for her, but she'll have none of it. The California kids arrive soon after, but they don't have enough time to make it to Hawkins, so Eleven piggybacks via Max's mind to help battle Vecna. Meanwhile, the crew in Russia have contact with a government official in America and learn what's happening--they realize that since Vecna and all his creatures in the Upside Down are connected via a hive mind existence, killing the remaining monsters there will help the kids back home. The results are somewhat shocking--new fan favorite Eddie is killed by the bats in the Upside Down, and Max is killed by Vecna...for a minute, anyway, before Eleven brings her back to life. As for Vecna, he pulled the classic horror movie "the good guys think they've killed the villain, but when they go to see the body, he's gone" act. A couple days later, everybody is reunited in Hawkins--Max is in a coma in the hospital, and she's suffered broken arms and legs and may also be blind. Nancy decides (at least for now) to stay with Jonathan instead of Steve. We get the family reunions and see the damage Vecna caused throughout the town. Most importantly, in the final scene, we find the Upside Down is beginning to take over Hawkins, and Will confirms Vecna is still kicking.
"Well, this is no good"
We know for sure there will be one more season of Stranger Things, and rumor is there will be a time jump leading into it--this will help with the obvious age discrepancy of the kids, but wait too long, and you could still have the same issue. Other than what I previously covered, there are a couple other loose ends that have not yet been tied--Lt. Colonel Jack Sullivan is still on the search for Eleven, we don't know the fate of Owens, Will still seems uncomfortable with the idea of leaving childhood behind, and at least one Russian of questionable morals is aware of these Americans wanted by the KGB still being alive.
"Wait...you're talking about me!"
Once again, Stranger Things didn't fail to deliver. I loved the focus going back to horror--I cannot express this enough. To me, it was the best thing about season four. The sets and visuals were wonderful, Vecna and the creatures looked cool, and there are some genuinely scary moments this season. The focus is more on the girls (Eleven, Max, and Nancy) than the core four boys this season, and I'm okay with this too. The new characters are a mixed bag--I could certainly do without Argyle and the basketball team, but Henry, Eddie, and Enzo were all welcome additions. I didn't care for the bait and switch of Max dying just to come back to life, but it did result in possibly the strongest dramatic performance we saw all season, when Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) absolutely breaks down--one has to sort of feel bad for Finn Wolfhard, whose performance in a similar situation at about the same time looked forced and amateurish by comparison. The final few scenes, from the battle with Vecna until "Spellbound" starts playing, have a general feel of sadness--even with seeing Hopper and Joyce reunite with the kids, there is a melancholy that really could be felt throughout most of the season. If not for the first two episodes of the season being so slow, season four would have scored much higher for me--shaving some time off them, and other episodes here and there, could have really done wonders. Even with this, season four was a very fun ride and well worth the extended wait for it, and I'm already itching for that final season.
