Review of May (2008) by Chad V — 22 Jul 2008

Black Christmas, a 1974 slasher flick, pre-dates all the Elm Street, Halloween, Friday the 13th movies. It is about a psycho killer living in the attic of a sorority house, and the girls keep disappearing. It sounds cheesy, but is actually very well done. Its quite creepy, and the characters actually have some substance to them. Somewhat dated, but it must have been oustanding and terrifying in its day.

Bug is about a guy who says he has been infected with tiny bugs by the government, and the sort of trashy, lonely woman who believes him and gets caught up in his paranoia. It is more of a film about psychologically disturbing events rather than the usual horror monsters, killings, etc. Based on a Broadway play, the whole movie takes place almost entirely in one tiny apartment (or motel room?). The acting was absolutely fabulous, the infested character is disturbing, and the question of his being insane or not (is he really infected or isn't he?) makes the plot very intertesting. My only complaint is that it was a little slow.

May is the story of a very weird, shy girl with a lazy eye trying to be normal, having a job, meeting a guy, etc. The thing is, she is completely oblivious to the way one ought to act, and is also somewhat insane and talks to a creepy doll when she's at home. This is an interesting horror movie, since a majority of the film is just a study of May's character and quirks, and there is very little horror, but a great deal of anticipation and uneasiness. It builds to an ending that is fairly disturbing, and very good.

The Monster Squad is like a horror version of Goonies. All the old classic horror creatures (Dracula, Frankenstein monster, Mummy, Wolfman, Creature From the Black Lagoon) are somehow back and together, and converging on a town where a bunch of kids live who are obsessed with monsters and call themselves The Monster Squad. Adults don't believe in monsters, obviously, so it is up to the kids to save the world from them. I think if I were a kid, this would be absolutely amazing. As it is, it was pretty dated, made me cringe at some of the bad jokes in places, and a little boring. This makes me question how good Goonies really is. Do I like it because it is good, or because I am nostalgic for how much I liked it as a kid?

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, about a crazy guy with a chainsaw chasing young people, is very short and to the point (just a little over 80 minutes), intense, and terrifying. This is one of the best horror movies I've seen in a long time. Even having seen the re-make, I was still petrified over what was happening/what was going to happen. Its actually not very graphic, but manages to create a lot of disturbing feelings. I had to go out after watching this, I didn't want to be alone in the house. Surprisingly very good and not dated after 34 years (except the main character's giant, but awesome, bellbottoms).