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KRAMPUS – Douglas Pipes
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Having grown up in the UK, Christmas for me has always been a time of joyous innocence, especially for children. Religious considerations aside, the season is dominated by the figure of Santa Claus, that jolly, rosy-cheeked old fellow who drives a magical sleigh pulled by reindeer and brings presents to children who are on his ‘good list’. Not much thought is given here to what happens to those on the ‘naughty list’, but that’s not the case in other parts of the world. In the Netherlands, for example, there is Zwarte Piet, who accompanies Santa around the world, and while the big guy is handing out gifts to the good kids, he is flogging the bad ones with a rod of birch twigs. Then, in the German-speaking areas of Austria and Switzerland, there is Krampus: a terrifying demon-like creature with cloven hooves and the horns of a goat, who carries chains, bells, and a sack on his back, into which he puts naughty children, so that he can eat them later, or transport them to Hell. The new film Krampus transposes this legend to contemporary America, and tells the story of a dysfunctional family who are forced to do battle with Krampus when he comes to visit… The comedy-horror is directed by Michael Dougherty and stars Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, Allison Tolman, Conchata Ferrell, and Emjay Anthony. Read more…
TRICK ‘R TREAT – Douglas Pipes
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
It’s taken almost two years for Michael Dougherty’s horror film Trick ‘r Treat to see the light of day. Originally filmed in 2007 and intended to be released in October of that year, the film was pulled from the release schedules after the executives at Warner Brothers got cold feet about some of the film’s more graphically violent content, some of which involved children. As a result, the film sat in ‘distribution hell’ for almost two years, unable to find a way onto screens: it played at the 2008 Screamfest Horror Film Festival in Los Angeles, and has had a few scattered showings at other festivals here and there in the meantime, but never made it to multiplex screens, despite the film garnering glowing reviews from all who saw it. It will be released straight-to-DVD in October 2009, just in time for Halloween. Read more…
MONSTER HOUSE – Douglas Pipes
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Discovering the work of a brand new composer is always an exciting event, especially when that composer’s debut score is a success. So, I hereby introduce the film music world to Douglas Pipes, composer of the new animated comedy-horror from Sony Pictures, Monster House. The film is a computer generated fable about a group of teenagers in suburban America who discover that their neighbour’s dilapidated, scary old house is really a living, breathing, monster – which has a penchant for devouring anyone, or anything, which ventures too close! Although the film owes a great deal to both Ray Bradbury and Rod Serling in terms of its story and overall tone, the film has been roundly praised for its excellent animation, multi-faceted appeal for both children and adults, witty screenplay, excellent voice cast (which includes Steve Buscemi, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kevin James, Catherine O’Hara, Kathleen Turner and Jon Heder), as well as its music. Read more…
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