The Haunting and The Innocents
As Dave Barry would say, those would be great names for rock bands.
Actually, I got to see two infamous black and white horror flicks last night...and I thought both were well done. But there was one that stood out to me more than the other.
The Haunting was one I was highly anticipating because I have read most of the book, The Haunting of Hill House, on which the film was based. AND, I have also seen the remake with Liam Neeson...a movie which I know I was one of the remote few to *really* like it. So my expectations were high...and admittedly, that may be why I felt let down by the end of the original The Haunting. It was certainly a well crafted movie...the writing and acting and the set (particularly the nursery in the house...seeing "Suffer the Children" carved in gothic-style font everywhere was quite creepy) were/are impeccable. And being more of a thinking man's horror picture than the remake, the original certainly should have appealed to me more than it did. But it all came off to me as an hour and a half long mediocre Twilight Zone episode. And my comparing it to Rod Serling's pride and joy is actually not a bad thing, considering that TZ to me is one of the greatest sci-fi/horror shows ever done. But just like the original The Haunting, there have been TZ episodes for which I have never gotten the high praise...a classic example being the one about Jack Klugman becoming the "greatest pool player ever".
The Innocents, on the other hand, would have awesomely worked as an hour-long Twilight Zone episode...and probably the only hour-long one I would have liked if Serling had ever crafted such a thing. Just like certain TZ eps, The Innocents was based on a short story/novella...in this instance, "The Turning of the Screw", which I now definitely want to read after seeing The Innocents. No other words I could say, other than Deborah Kerr of The King and I fame plays the main character, can properly convey the utter genius of this movie. Glad I saw The Innocents after The Haunting...certainly turned the night around a bit. Of course, the Blue Kamikaze I fixed myself in between flicks probably helped too... ;)
Blue Kamikaze
Fill glass with ice.
2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. Blue Curacao
Dash of Lime Juice
Stir.
(My Bartender's Black Book recommends the Blue Kamikaze as a shaker drink...but I have found it works just as good, if not better as a stirred drink...sorry 007. It should also be mentioned that "Blue Lemonade" would work as a name for this drink too...the lime juice and the Curacao combine to taste not too different from lemonade.)
"Drink and A Movie"...hmmmm, I like that idea. Between that and *really* wanting to change that gawdawful "Very Funny" slogan, I should work for TBS.
Current Music: "Bullet the Blue Sky" by U2
As Dave Barry would say, those would be great names for rock bands.
Actually, I got to see two infamous black and white horror flicks last night...and I thought both were well done. But there was one that stood out to me more than the other.
The Haunting was one I was highly anticipating because I have read most of the book, The Haunting of Hill House, on which the film was based. AND, I have also seen the remake with Liam Neeson...a movie which I know I was one of the remote few to *really* like it. So my expectations were high...and admittedly, that may be why I felt let down by the end of the original The Haunting. It was certainly a well crafted movie...the writing and acting and the set (particularly the nursery in the house...seeing "Suffer the Children" carved in gothic-style font everywhere was quite creepy) were/are impeccable. And being more of a thinking man's horror picture than the remake, the original certainly should have appealed to me more than it did. But it all came off to me as an hour and a half long mediocre Twilight Zone episode. And my comparing it to Rod Serling's pride and joy is actually not a bad thing, considering that TZ to me is one of the greatest sci-fi/horror shows ever done. But just like the original The Haunting, there have been TZ episodes for which I have never gotten the high praise...a classic example being the one about Jack Klugman becoming the "greatest pool player ever".
The Innocents, on the other hand, would have awesomely worked as an hour-long Twilight Zone episode...and probably the only hour-long one I would have liked if Serling had ever crafted such a thing. Just like certain TZ eps, The Innocents was based on a short story/novella...in this instance, "The Turning of the Screw", which I now definitely want to read after seeing The Innocents. No other words I could say, other than Deborah Kerr of The King and I fame plays the main character, can properly convey the utter genius of this movie. Glad I saw The Innocents after The Haunting...certainly turned the night around a bit. Of course, the Blue Kamikaze I fixed myself in between flicks probably helped too... ;)
Blue Kamikaze
Fill glass with ice.
2 oz. Vodka
1/2 oz. Blue Curacao
Dash of Lime Juice
Stir.
(My Bartender's Black Book recommends the Blue Kamikaze as a shaker drink...but I have found it works just as good, if not better as a stirred drink...sorry 007. It should also be mentioned that "Blue Lemonade" would work as a name for this drink too...the lime juice and the Curacao combine to taste not too different from lemonade.)
"Drink and A Movie"...hmmmm, I like that idea. Between that and *really* wanting to change that gawdawful "Very Funny" slogan, I should work for TBS.
Current Music: "Bullet the Blue Sky" by U2
posted by Stormbringer at 8/26/2006 01:11:00 PM
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