Movie Review: Kong Skull Island

So last week I went out with the family to see Jordan Charles Vogt-Roberts Kong: Skull Island, which turned out to be a pretty great decision. As with any giant-sized monster movie, the film really benefits from being seen on a big screen. Past that, it was funnier, scarier, and much more interesting that I first imagined.

Taking place in 1973, the film follows a team of scientists, soldiers, a tracker, and a journalist, as they explore Skull Island, a previously undiscovered island for a simple geological survey, but things are not as they seem and the team quickly (and horrifyingly) meet Kong for the first time...

It's important to note for this film that the violence is pretty extreme (not to a horror-movie level, but definitely more intense than a standard action-adventure film), and that Kong himself (modelled largely after the original 1933 film) is pretty awe-inspiring in size and scope.

This film is meant to the first in Universals "Monsterverse", which will eventually include popular Japanese monsters such as Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan, but works as a nice stand-alone film using a historical setting to give the film an interesting aesthetic as well as great standout performances by Samuel L. Jackson and John C. Reilly as well.

In the end the movie was a lot of fun, and considering it wasn't a horror film, a nice way to do a reimagining as well.

Why I love horror: The Early Parenting Years

Picking up from where I left off two years ago - as a young man working in a local video store learning to love the horror genre alphabetically, we move on to the next stage of my exploration of the horror genre.

Kids.

As a father of two young daughters in the late 90's, I did see a number of really great horror movies in theatres with my wife (...28 Days Later, The Blair Witch Project, etc.), but on a day to day basis I found that I really couldn't have horror films on display as they might freak out my kids (or any friends they may have over for play dates - this included my super-cool Clive Barker designed toys which spent five years in a box in the basement, hidden under a blanket before I could find them a good home), so I found the horror icon that got me trough those dark years.

Reptar (Pictured left).

Yes, I'm talking about the giant dinosaur from the Nickelodeon television series Rugrats.

For those of you who don't know; In the show, a bunch of adorable babies toddle around their homes and have adventures.  The main character is named Tommy and his favourite TV show character is Reptar, a giant dinosaur who is sometimes portrayed as a giant monster and sometimes as a misunderstood hero.

Basically he's Godzilla, only changed slightly for a kids show - and you know what?  The kids in that show LOVE him!  He stomps around smashing stuff and does everything a giant dinosaur would be expected to do, and like all kids who love horror stories, the kids in Rugrats somehow immediately adore this bizarre giant creature who, in their world, is incredibly popular (he appears in theme parks and ice shows!) and is either a hero or villain depending on the episode.

For me, this green monster was a great way to introduce horror icons to my kids and get them to understand just how awesome movie monsters could be.

Things I've noticed: Some things you can't un-see

Anyone who has taken the time to read a few posts on my blog can probably tell a few things about me: I’m married, I have kids, I enjoy Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction in my television, movies, reading material and heck – even breakfast cereal (well, not horror in my breakfast cereal, except for Count Chocula, or Frankenberry... you know what? never mind), and finally the fact that I’m a guy who likes to look over an artist’s entire body of work.

Whether reading the collected works of Richard Matheson or watching the rash of recent horror re-imaginings, I’m the kind of guy who likes to pick a creative person, start at the beginning of their work and enjoy it the way I would have if I had been around since the beginning. I even do this with the shows I inflict on my children – when we watched Star Trek with them, we took weeks off between seasons, and a whole summer off between the original series and the movies (with a quick week spent in late July watching the Animated series). Anyway, my methodical approach to genre works out pretty well for me, most of the time. Take for example the works of Robert R. McCammon – his first novel Baal was not the best I’d read, but by reading each of his books in publishing order I think I actually get more out of them than a casual reader Unfortunately, sometimes I overlook an early work by an artist and have to go back, throwing my order out a little.

So where was I? That’s right, Roland Emmerich. This German-born writer director has been behind a number of the Sci-Fi blockbusters I’ve enjoyed over the years (Independence Day, 2012, The Day After Tomorrow, Godzilla (and yes I was one of the tens of fans who liked his version of GODZILLA! I HAVE NO SHAME!)) and my wife is a pretty big fan of his 1992 Jean-Claude Van Damme film Universal Soldier. Anyway, as a horror comedy fan (and if you haven’t been there yet check out Paul Castiglia’s Scared-Silly blog for a much deeper look on the topic than I’ll ever do) I got pretty excited when I heard that Emmerich had done a horror comedy film in 1987 called Ghost Chase (aka Hollywood-Monster), so I requested it from my online rental place and immediately watched it with my wife and younger daughter last night.

This move was not good.

I can’t even begin to explain where it went wrong... okay I’ll try.

The sound on the DVD we got was horrible – if the actors had their back turned to the screen you couldn’t here them. The story was a little confusing, but had just enough humour in it that you stayed with it in case it was some sort of hidden gem.

This movie was not a hidden gem.

Basically you have two wannabe horror-movie makers who find they have inherited a briefcase which includes a clock haunted by the ghost of the butler of one of their grandfathers, so they build a sort of mutant cross between ET, Yoda and the devil and this ghost inhabits it. The ghost (designed to be cute, I think) can comfortably be considered one of the creepiest things I’ve ever seen (I’m talking super creepy, like that clown doll from Poltergeist).

Personally, I’m a fan of Roland Emmerich; I’ve enjoyed his movies and seen most of them in the theatre, but this one, wow. Like I said in the header, some things you just can’t un-see.