Review #1,472: 'Revenge of the Boogeyman' (1983)

If there was ever a horror film that didn't require a sequel, Ulli Lommel's cult 1980 hit The Boogeyman is it. Telling the story of two siblings who accidentally release the spirit of their mother's dead boyfriend via a magical mirror, The Boogeyman is a hokey, stupid, and instantly forgettable film, although I can understand why certain fans of the genre may hold it in higher esteem. Following its surprisingly successful limited run, Paramount Pictures were keen to hand Lommel, a bad-boy German arthouse director, a substantially larger budget for the follow-up, but the filmmaker became annoyed at their refusal to allow him to work on other projects outside the realm of horror.

Lommel eventually made Revenge of the Boogeyman, or simply Boogeyman II, out of sheer frustration, and the result was one of the most notoriously terrible movies ever made. You get the sense that the sequel is one giant middle-finger to all those pesky studio heads who were only interested in squeezing some quick cash out of a mediocre horror film that proved an unexpected hit with the horror crowd. Lommel even casts himself as a movie director tasked with adapting the events of the first film for the big screen, who also questions Hollywood's opportunistic, closed-minded approach. You could almost admire Lommel's arrogance if Revenge of the Boogeyman didn't also feel like a huge middle-finger to the audience, who are not only forced to sit through some of the most laughable and badly-constructed set-pieces ever committed to screen, but also over forty minutes of flashbacks which consist of recycled footage from the previous film.

The 'story' follows lone survivor Lacey (Suzanna Love) as she travels to Hollywood to stay with friends and recuperate after the trauma she suffered at the hands of the 'boogeyman'. After recapping her tale, she is quickly pounced on by a bunch of Hollywood types who are keen to profit on her misery. God knows why, but Lacey carries a piece of the cursed broken mirror with her wherever she goes, so it isn't long until the party guests start turning up dead. And how spectacularly they die. There's death by toothbrush, death by exhaust pipe through the mouth after being hit on the backside by a ladder, and worst of all, death by that most terrifying of household items, shaving foam. Looking as though it was shot over a weekend and patched together without any resemblance of a script, Revenge of the Boogeyman is an insult to film and filmmakers, and anyone seeking to find the most reprehensible of all the 'video nasties' need look no further. To make matters worse, Lommel went back to try and salvage the film, releasing a 'Redux' version in 2003. Apparently, somehow, it's even worse.


Directed by: Ulli Lommel
Starring: Suzanna Love, Ulli Lommel, Shannah Hall, Sholto von Douglas, Bob Rosenfarb
Country: USA

Rating: *

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,262: 'Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi' (1983)

As a child, I owned all of the original Star Wars trilogy on VHS, purchased when 'remastering' was all the rage and the iconic sci-fi saga found itself on the receiving end of a much-needed cleaning-up. This was, however, before George Lucas tampered with his already-near-perfect legacy, adding unneeded special effects and elongating certain scenes for seemingly no other reason to show how far CGI had come (although it now looks incredibly dated). Despite the perfection of episodes four and five, my go-to Star Wars movie on a boring Sunday afternoon was always Return of the Jedi, the third instalment now widely remembered as the poorest of the bunch. I don't quite know what it was about Jedi that always caused me to reach for it. It certainly wasn't the Ewoks, those cuddly fur-balls shoe-horned in to sell more merchandise, although they aren't as annoying or distracting as I remembered.

Jedi is most certainly the least effective of Lucas' creation, but there's still plenty of charm and excitement to solidify the entry as, at the very least, a satisfying closure to the saga, despite Disney's welcome efforts to further explore the Star Wars universe. The Empire Strikes Back broke up its characters but managed to keep a firm grasp on the various story-threads. Jedi does the same again, but is less successful at holding all the action together. Nevertheless, the characters get to enjoy an early reunion at Jabba the Hutt's palace on Tatooine, where the slug-like abomination hangs Han Solo (Harrison Ford), still frozen in his carbonite prison from the last movie. C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) and Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) all arrive at various intervals as part of a rescue operation, as does Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), the latter having completed his Jedi training and going about his business with a brooding confidence.

A horrific car crash may have robbed Hamill of some of his boyish good-looks, but it did nothing to dampen his skills as an actor. Skywalker's newly-found intensity, which no doubt stems from his flourishing grasp on the Force and skill with a lightsaber, is matched by Hamill's execution. He stops by to see Yoda (Frank Oz), who confirms that Darth Vader is indeed his father and a fallen Jedi, and has a brief chat with the spirit of his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness). Skywalker's thread is by far the most interesting, inevitably heading towards a showdown with his father and the puppet-master behind the Empire, the rasping Emperor (Ian McDiarmid). Although Vader's brutality has been turned down as he plays lap-dog to his boss, audiences back in 1983 must have been holding their breath as the Emperor tortures Luke in an attempt to turn him to the Dark Side, and Vader is clearly shown to be wrestling with his allegiance.

The rest of the action fares less well, as Han Solo and Leia find themselves captured by the community of Ewoks who seem to want to eat them, while C-3PO bares a close resemblance to the God the little critters worship. Their aim is to take down a generator controlling the energy shield of a brand new Death Star - yes, they have somehow managed to nearly complete a bigger, meaner planet-killer in a remarkably short space of time. Lando and the remaining Rebel Alliance are forced to repeat the climax of A New Hope, and while it's certainly a spectacular battle, it can't help but feel like more of the same. Jedi is best remembered as a series of memorable moments than a truly great film. It's easy to forget the film's messy narrative and cynical desire to boost merchandise sales, especially as a child, but it's hard to forget Leia in a gold bikini, Jabba's grotesque rat-like pet, the high-speed chase through the forests of Endor, or the shockingly crap death of fan-favourite Boba Fett. Nowhere near the annoying child-pandering misfire some believe it to be, but also some way off the magnificence of its predecessors.


Directed by: Richard Marquand
Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, Ian McDiarmid
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,101: 'The Hunger' (1983)

Before he was pumping out heavily stylised action films such as Top Gun (1986), True Romance (1993) and Enemy of the State (1999), the late Tony Scott cut his cinematic teeth on more thoughtful fare such as the slender Loving Memory (1971) and the melancholic The Hunger, the latter a surprisingly sad meditation on love, lust and the destructive nature of age, both mentally and physically. Essentially a vampire movie with little horror, The Hunger is Scott at his most subdued, portraying the tragic end of one long-term companionship and the beginnings of a new one.

Miriam (Catherine Deneuve) and John (David Bowie) are vampires living a life of solitude, emerging occasionally to feed and giving weekly violin lessons to a young girl named Alice (Beth Ehlers). When John wakes up one morning with signs of physical decay, he approaches Dr. Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon), a gerontologist studying rapid ageing in primates in the hope of finding a way to reverse it. Sarah thinks he is a quack and leaves him in the waiting room for much longer than promised, during which John ages decades and flees as his body betrays him. Remorseful, Sarah seeks John out but instead finds Miriam, who instantly strikes up an attraction with the beautiful doctor.

Although he was criticised throughout his career for favouring style over substance with sickly action movies like Spy Game (2001) and Domino (2005), this approach works well for The Hunger. There's a distinct coldness to the aesthetic, like death is all over, and despite the film being very much a product of the 80s, it's aged remarkably well. The absorbing visuals do come at the expense of coherency however, and you are left trying to fill in most of the blanks yourself, with many things left unexplained. The lingering question of just why Miriam seems to be the only true immortal and an ending that had me scratching my head left me frustrated. But if you just go with it, The Hunger is at times moving and beautiful, refusing to give in to traditional vampire mythos in favour of telling its own unique, if flawed, tale.


Directed by: Tony Scott
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, Susan Sarandon, Cliff De Young
Country: UK/USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #900: 'Christine' (1983)

Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon) is a dorky high-school kid with only one friend in the world, jock Dennis (John Stockwell). Arnie is the type of kid who gets pushed around by bullies and has his glasses stamped on while teachers look the other way as they think it'll probably do him some good. Things change when Arnie stumbles upon a run-down Plymouth Fury and decides to buy it, against the wishes of his parents and Dennis himself, who feels an uneasy presence within the car. The car is named Christine, and as Christine's appearances improves, so does Arnie's - he slicks his hair, wears cooler clothes, and is generally more confidant and cocky. But when Arnie starts the date the school's hot newcomer, Leigh (Alxandra Paul), the car is thrown into a bloodthirsty fit of jealousy.

Made on the back of a hot streak that helped turn John Carpenter into a horror icon, Christine is a relatively minor work by his early standards, but is still infused with Carpenter's sense of style and atmosphere. Based on the novel by Stephen King, which went to lengths to explain Christine's psychopathic behaviour, the film instead establishes the red hunk of auto-porn as evil from the get-go as it kills someone before it's even off the assembly line. Perhaps trying to explain why a car was killing people in cold blood and how it possesses the ability to repair itself would somewhat remove the façade, choosing (or hoping) instead to let the audience simply enjoy the movie without the need for clunky exposition. And it works - Carpenter has it play out with a straight face and the film is very enjoyable for the majority of its 100 minute running-time.

The film takes time to develop its story and a supporting cast that includes Harry Dean Stanton, Robert Prosky and Roberts Blossom helps things move along nicely. When heads begin to roll, Carpenter delivers a couple of visually arresting set-pieces involving an attack on some bullies at a gas station and the chasing-down of a fat kid, both of which see Christine attack her sweetheart's aggressors with all the grace of a bull in a china shop. There's only so much you can do when your killer is a car, and it naturally takes a lot of bone-head's to let themselves be killed by it. No-one seems to move sideways, run up some stairs or enter a building (unless it's a flimsy gas station). But Christine does manage to somehow take on a personality of its own, and there's always something oddly satisfying about watching metal scrape, crash or burn on screen. It pales in comparison to the likes of Escape from New York and The Thing, which came the two years before, but Christine is a perfectly well-executed horror.


Directed by: John Carpenter
Starring: Keith Gordon, John Stockwell, Alexandra Paul, Robert Prosky, Harry Dean Stanton, Roberts Blossom
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #805: 'The Dead Zone' (1983)

Throughout the 1980's and 90's, there seemed to be a Stephen King adaptation released every other week. Although his output is undeniably prolific, I've always found King's work, for the most part, formulaic and lacking originality, and many of the big screen adaptations fair far worse. There are exceptions, of course, namely genre classics Carrie (1976) and The Shining (1980). The great directors Brian De Palma and Stanley Kubrick managed to turn King's often plodding narrative into a gripping visual spectacle. Canadian auteur David Cronenberg does something similar with The Dead Zone, and although it lacks the greatness of the aforementioned masterpieces, it is a wonderfully made and solidly-acted film.

It follows Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken), a happy schoolteacher who is madly in love with girlfriend Sarah (Brooke Adams). After suffering a headache on a rollercoaster, he declines Sarah's invitation to stay the night and drives home. On his way, he has a car accident which leaves him in a coma. When he wakes up, he discovers he's lost 5 years of his life and Sarah is now married with a child. After touching a nurse's hand, he sees her daughter trapped in a burning house and warns her. It turns out the coma has left Johnny with the ability to see people's past, present and future, and also the power to change the future with foresight. News of his new gift spreads, and his abilities are called upon by local sheriff Bannerman (Tom Skerritt), who asks Johnny to assist in solving a series of murders.

That is only half of the plot. Characters seem to come and go and eventually the film switches focus to corrupt Senatorial candidate Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen). Cronenberg and screenwriter Jeffrey Boam do their best to streamline King's sprawling plot, but without a focused narrative, the film can sometimes be as sketchy as King's novel. But Walken is great, helping create a character to really care about, and the supporting actors just as good. Rather than offer lazy jump-shocks, Cronenberg is patient and careful to drum up an atmosphere which makes the supernatural themes feel oddly naturalistic. It's far from the Canadian's best, but The Dead Zone is finely made and greatly entertaining.


Directed by: David Cronenberg
Starring: Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt, Herbert Lom, Martin Sheen
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #651: 'The Right Stuff' (1983)

"Is that a man?" asks the pilot of a rescue plane headed towards the crash site of Chuck Yeager's attempt to reach the edge of space in a Lockheed NF-104A. An outline of a man appears on the horizon, blurred by heat and mirage, his face bloody and burned, walking at pace with his helmet in his hand. Yeager's good friend Jack Ridley sits in the passenger seat, having seen Yeager conquer several near-suicidal flight records, including the first to break the sound barrier. Ridley smiles. "You're damn right it is!". The Right Stuff, adapted from Tom Wolfe's best-selling account of the test-pilots in the Mercury Space Program, shows what it takes to be a man; to have the 'right stuff' inhabited by these fearless men, who were the only ones crazy enough to risk everything, on live TV, to beat the Russians in the space race.

Besides the many fascinating and frequently hilarious vignettes involving the test pilots - played by a stellar cast of Dennis Quaid, Ed Harris, Fred Ward, Charles Frank, Lance Henriksen, Scott Glenn and Scott Paulin - the movie's real ace-in-the-hole is the juxtaposition of this story with that of Chuck Yeager (Sam Shepard), a man thought of by his peers to be the finest pilot in the world. Played stoically by an Oscar-nominated Sam Shepard, he is brooding, dusty, a true man's man, but without the college degree needed to join the space program. He is the polar opposite of the 'hot dog's' of the Mercury Program, and when he is not off chasing his wild wife Glennis (Barbara Hershey), he is making sure he is still the fastest man in the world.

Even at over 3 hours, the movie is packed with great and memorable scenes. Director Philip Kaufman managed to retain Wolfe's skill for absurd humour, so we get to see the President crawling on the floor to plug in a projector, two astronauts' slow walk to the bathroom following an enema, and a hilarious moment involving humming and sperm samples. It has an observational aesthetic that America conquered in the 1970's, made even better by some amazing aviation and space travel scenes, easily more exciting than the CGI-laden movies we get nowadays. It's often called the second-best movie of the 1980's behind Raging Bull (1980), and, although I don't necessarily agree with that statement (Blue Velvet (1986), anyone?), it's one of the finest movies to come out of it's era, feeling almost classical despite being modern. Like Shepard's Chuck Yeager, The Right Stuff seems old before its time, encompassing wisdom and poignancy with ease.


Directed by: Philip Kaufman
Starring: Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, Fred Ward, Barbara Hershey, Kim Stanley, Veronica Cartwright, Scott Paulin, Lance Henriksen
Country: USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #458: 'Valley Girl' (1983)

In the early 1980's the teen sex comedy was a prevalent genre, producing such "risque" works as Porky's (1982), Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), and The Last American Virgin (1982) - naming just a few of the many varying qualities of film. Despite Porky's being a more juvenile, and therefore lesser entry, it was the fifth top grossing film of 1982 (even though Fast Times is superior). Basically what these teen movies required was parties, booze and tits. And whilst Valley Girl has all of the ingredients, it is a far more mature film than the antics of a Screwballs, Spring Break, or Private School (all 1983), whose narratives involve the pursuit of sex, in what ever droll form that may take. I'm not suggesting these films are awful - they have their qualities - but the level of drama or realism of character is sorely missing.

Julie (Deborah Foreman), as the title highlights, is from the rich valleys of California. At a house party, she meets Randy (Nicolas Cage), who is a "punk" from the wrong side of the tracks (in this world Hollywood is that place). They hang out for a time and fall for each other. However, the pressures of rich, privileged life gets in the way, as the conformity of Julie's friends, suggests that she is required to get back with her previous, Jock boyfriend Tommy (Michael Bowen). In the high schools of the valley, the need to stay within the confines of your "class" is essential to keep your reputation in tact, and Randy does not fit in to the generic role of preppy boy.

The film does itself conform to romantic comedy tropes, but this does not matter. As with later teen comedies (Clueless (1995) or Mean Girls (2004) for example), Valley Girl highlights, to the mostly teen audience, that it is important not to conform to your peers ideals, fashions and product consumption. Julie's parents are seen by her as lame of course (it's a teenage thing), but Randy sees differently, as they are hippies of the Woodstock age, running a pseudo-fashionable health food shop, their own non-conformist attitude evident, but never pushed onto the daughter. It's a charming little film, that treats its teenage characters with maturity, and they are never simple box-tickers like so many of these comedies of vacuous, shallow, and stereotypical consumer teenagers.


Directed by: Martha Coolidge
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Deborah Foreman, Elizabeth Daily, Michael Bowen
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Marc Ivamy

Review #431: 'BMX Bandits' (1983)

No childhood is complete without a fantastically expensive and frivolous fad, and the BMX bike was one such item - and one which I could even take part in (skateboarding was definitely not for me, as I was incapable of standing on one). Who would have thought that Australia, and the king of ozploitation cinema Brian Trenchard-Smith, would produce the movie to capture the zeitgeist of the colourful bicycles. I first saw this film in 1984 at a film club (basically a small room with a projector and screen, filled with us poor kids, whose parents wanted us out of the house).

Three kids, Goose (James Lugton), P.J. (Angelo D'Angelo), and Judy (Nicole Kidman), spend their summer holidays riding around on their bikes, attempting to get into mischief. They stumble across a box containing walkie-talkies (that's massive pre-mobile phone, communication boxes), that belong to a gang of bank robbers. Once the criminals (crims to use the colloquial term) discover that these pesky kids have "stolen" the items, a hapless pair (Whitey (David Argue) and Moustache (John Ley)), chase the trio around the seaside town, with comic effect.

Of course this is a silly film, it is completely unadulterated fun, and doesn't have the ubiquitous saccharine kids of an American "kids" film, and do not fall prey to the kind of posh-kids found in Enid Blyton's Famous Five stories. The young cast never become annoying, and hold the film together throughout. This is how us kids spent our summer holidays back in the day. Nowadays, children miss out on this sense of freedom, and completely lose out on creating mischief, as parents fear "stranger danger" which has been perpetuated by our "objective" media (thanks for that!). I'm going to end on an appeal: Parents out there, let your kids run free, let them get into trouble whilst cycling with friends in a summer sense of autonomy - if you don't believe me when I state that this will enrich your children, then watch this film and see what happens.


Directed by: Brian Trenchard-Smith
Starring: David Argue, John Ley, Nicole Kidman, Angelo D'Angelo, James Lugton
Country: Australia

Rating: ***

Marc Ivamy

Review #312: 'WarGames' (1983)

In the 1980's, the realisation that computers will soon play an extremely important role in everyday life was becoming more and more evident. This idea was treated with excitement, curiosity, and fear - people genuinely did not know how powerful they would become, but they were certainly fearful of it. Cinema explored this fear in successful films such as The Terminator (1984), which depicted a future where humans were locked into a battle with robots, and Tron (1982), in which a character is sucked into a game where he is forced to battle with the computer to survive. Never had the capabilities of computers been so realistically portrayed than in WarGames, a film that introduced the world to home computers, hacking, and how humanity can be replaced by machines (as well as the idea that nuclear destruction is still a threat).

When two missile controllers fail to launch a missile during a test launch due to uncertainty, government bigwig McKittrick (Dabney Coleman) introduces his superiors to WOPR (War Operation Plan Response), a giant super-computer that repeatedly plays games with itself to generate stats and results of possible nuclear war outcomes. The operation is given the go-ahead, and workers find themselves replaced by this metallic super-brain, that will deal with any potential nuclear threat to the US. High school punk David (Matthew Broderick) is a highly intelligent computer-obsessive who uses his hacking skills to change his grades on his high school system. When he learns that a company is releasing new breakthrough games in California, he scans the area for computers in order to hack into their mainframe. He stumbles upon a computer that lists many strange war games, including 'Global Thermonuclear War'. He begins a game, choosing to be Russia, but unbeknownst to him, he is actually playing WOPR who is playing the game for real. Soon David is brought in by the FBI who suspect him of working with the Russians, while the threat of global nuclear destruction lingers as WOPR carries on playing the 'game'.

I viewed this film quite often when I was a child as I owned the VHS, but admittedly the film went over my head somewhat and I found it quite boring. Watching it now, I was shocked to find out this is a very good film, and it makes for a gripping adult thriller, while maintaining that 1980's kids-film-feel. The technical aspects shown on screen are extremely well-researched, and David's hacking activities make for exciting and interesting viewing. It's also fascinating to see the early giant, clunky computers of the 1980's and an early portrayal of the Internet. Overall, this is a highly entertaining thriller that is well acted, scripted and filmed (and even received three Academy Award nominations), and has plenty of those nostalgic qualities for us children of the 80's.


Directed by: John Badham
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, Ally Sheedy, John Wood
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #76: 'À nos amours' (1983)

15-year old Suzanne (Sandrine Bonnaire) is a precocious child, living with her mother, her career-driven brother, and her sometimes overbearing father (played by Maurice Pialat). She has recently split from her boyfriend and is intent on moving from man to man in search of sexual pleasures and guardianship. When her father splits from her mother and moves out, home life becomes unbearable as her mother and brother disapprove of her lifestyle. She is most comfortable in the arms of a man, be it one of her seducers or her father. Men seems to flock to her, as she is pretty, charming and is happy to accommodate her admirers.

This is the second film that I've seen directed by French master Maurice Pialat, the other being the excellent L'Enfance Nue (1968). They are both similar films in terms of themes and execution, and tell the familiar coming-of-age story from an original perspective. Whereas the former was a sledgehammer portrayal of a young juvenile causing havoc amongst the various foster homes he was placed, where redemption never seems possible, A Nos Amours' Suzanne is a more sympathetic lead character, and her journey is portrayed in a more subtle manner. While it would be shocking to hear of a 15 year old girl bedding a number of men, Pialat is more focused on what drives her to act this way.

She is not a tease, and she doesn't flaunt her body to anyone who will look. Instead, she seems to simply enjoy the comfort of a man. When the father moves away, her home life falls apart and her bed-mates increase. Perhaps Pialat is trying to portray the impact an absent father can have on a child, or that all women need comforting every once in a while. Or maybe this is an individual character study, with no overriding message. What it most definitely is, though, is a wonderfully acted (especially from the young Bonnaire), intelligent, and intriguing film that has Pialat's usual cold detachment alongside a certain intimacy with the lead character.


Directed by: Maurice Pialat
Starring: Sandrine Bonnaire, Christophe Odent, Maurice Pialat
Country: France

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie