The film is Deadly Blessing. And like Summer of Fear it is a film I know virtually nothing about. Here is what I do know. It stars Sharon Stone and Ernest Borgnine. It's 100 minutes. It's rated R (in the US of A). There you go. That's it. That's all I know.
A week ago I would of said that I wasn't looking forward to this film. In so much as that I wanted to watch it and see what it was all about but I just didn't think it would be any good. I had the same reasons as I had with Summer of Fear. It was a little seen or remembered film by a known name director that all but disappeared from North American shores since it's release. Never a good sign for a movie.
Now a week later, having watched Craven's first three films I can say that I have a different pre-opinion of this film. I would recommend so far, two (The Last House on the Left and Summer of Fear)of the three films I have seen and not so much recommend the third (The Hills Have Eyes) as more than a curio piece. But Craven has surprised me. The Last House on the Left was much better than I remembered and Summer of Fear, a TV movie from 1978, was a pleasant surprise.
Craven's direction over these three films has grown stronger and stronger (well strong, weak, strong to be honest) and I now look forward to seeing where he turned next. Is it another realistic horror flick with real life monsters or is it another supernatural/occult themed movie? Or does it fall into the slasher genre of horror, a personal favorite of mine and something that Craven, in the future, would prove to be quiet adept at? Let's find out...
Review:
Film Rating: 71%
Breakdown (How DeadlyBlessing scored 71%):
Directing: 8 out of 10
Craven really comes into his own on this film. He shows a certain knack and skill for the slasher film and directs the horor scenes with a sure hand. While other scenes could use a bit of work, the horror scenes are well directed, coming off as scary, original and highly enjoyable.
Re-playability: 8 out of 10
This is a film that could be watched over and over. Minus a few scenes here and there most of this film is incredibly enjoyable and will hold up for countless repeated viewings. Another aspect for it's durability is that it holds up well over 30 years later and gives the audience a preview of the legendary films that Craven would release later in his career.
Originality: 7 out of 10
There are parts of this film that are direct rip-offs of slasher films from the past (specifically Halloween and Friday the 13th) but then there are parts that are strikingly original for a slasher film. The Amish like community is a well done menacing construction and there are scenes of stalking (the barn), along with creatively directed scenes of horror (the bathtub) that are unique and original and raise the bar for horror movies to come.
Production Design (Special Effects/Sets/Locations): 7 out of 10
Craven's biggest budget so far and he does a fine job with what he has. The special effects are well done and look real enough to capture the imaginations of the audience. The deaths, although not gory enough, are done creatively and convincingly. The final scene (don't want to give to much away here) has the best effects so far of any Craven film.
Again, Craven is using more sets and locations here than he has in the past. He does a hell of a job establishing the major locations and the differences between them. As well, the use of the interior sets are used to their full capacity, utilizing every corner and every room to help create tension and uneasiness as the scenes play out.
Again, Craven is using more sets and locations here than he has in the past. He does a hell of a job establishing the major locations and the differences between them. As well, the use of the interior sets are used to their full capacity, utilizing every corner and every room to help create tension and uneasiness as the scenes play out.
Costumes and Make-Up: 7 out of 10
Unlike previous efforts, Craven seems to have paid full attention to the costumes in this film. With a much bigger cast than he's had before his costumes tell a lot about the characters. The Amish like community look convincing and real. They are juxtaposed with regular folk who dress and wear what they feel like. And then there is the small town folk who look completely different to the big city folks. And then there is Lois Nettleton who (I believe) is made up to look like a very familiar character from a famous slasher film from the past.
The make-up is well done but surprisingly enough, coming from the man behind such violent flicks as The Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes, it is not bloody enough. I was expecting some serious blood spilling but the deaths ended up being almost bloodless which didn't fit well with the tone and feel of the movie. The rest of the make-up effects are decent and work well enough but we never get a full on view of them in order to see how good, or bad, they actually are.
Script: 6 out of 10
Like I said above, there is plenty of original and thrilling scenes in this movie. It covers all the bases that a slasher film should. Stalking, chasing, nudity, murder, mystery. But again, it also steals completely from the slashers that have come before it. This is not a bad thing in and of itself as the slasher formula lends itself to this, but couple it with a few lines of dialogue that are just plain bad and scenes that sometimes play to long and we are left with a highly enjoyable if not terribly well written film.
Cinematography: 7 out of 10
This is a well shot film that like the story, has scenes and shots that steal liberally from other films. But it also has great lighting that elevates the mood of the film. The film never comes off as too dark; everything is clear and visible and tends to give off a surreal feel and a general sense of uneasiness. The actual framing of the shots though are somewhat generic and could of used a bit of pizazz.
Editing: 7 out of 10
The editing is well done here. Craven, who edited his first two films, wisely has chosen to use a profesional here (like he did with Summer of Fear) and it works for the better. Scenes play well and the rhythm of the cutting works to create a mysterious and scary atmosphere. There is no bad cutting, and no shots that don't gel together but the film does drag a teeny bit which I found was more due to the editing than the actual story. The film could of been tightened by about 10 minutes.
Acting: 7 out of 10
Ernest Borgnine delivers a terrific and menacing performance as the leader of the Hittite's. His performance is by far the best in the picture but, with that said, everyone else does a pretty good job too. Sharon Stone appears in a very early performance, and although a good performance, there are no signs here that she will one day win an Oscar. Out of all the performances, of the actors and actresses that grace the screen in Deadly Blessing, only one comes off as wooden and weak. That solely lands in the hands of Douglass Barr but thankfully he isn't around long enough to hamper the film too much.
Music: 7 out of 10
Music: 7 out of 10
James Horner does a great job conjuring up the scares here. Whenever there are scenes of horror or mystery or tension or what have you on the screen, Horner's music is great. It's scary, it's intriguing and it gets the pulse going. But there are also times when people are talking, or sitting, or not much is happening when we have either unnecessary music or music that doesn't hold a candle to what he does in the other scenes (let alone what he does in the future).
***ALERT: THE REST OF THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SERIOUS SPOILERS: ALERT***
***ALERT: THE REST OF THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SERIOUS SPOILERS: ALERT***
After:
The year is 1980. During the month of May, the 9th to be exact, a movie comes out in theatres. This movie is a rip-off of the 1978 (coincidentally the same year of Summer of Fear) horror classic Halloween that sacred audiences into breaking box office records. This rip-off was Friday the 13th and it was a gargantuan success. It, off all films, is the one that defined the slasher formula and defined box office gold.
After Friday the 13th people everywhere were looking for the next slasher film to release to the masses. Two guys cooked up their own story and with Wes Craven they banged out a screenplay. It was called Deadly Blessing. Deadly Blessing followed this style of slasher film but gave it a unique story. Within that story it stole liberally from Friday the 13th. It played with the audience by never revealing the killer. Who is it? So many suspects.
Like Friday the 13th the use of the protective mom as the villain is replayed. It is obvious right from the beginning of the film strictly because of two reasons. One, because it happened in Friday the 13th and two, because she even looks like Pamela Vorhees right down to her hairstyle and choice of clothing. Lucky there are other things afoot here.
We also get these things. A girl who is haunted by nightmares of a man in a wide brimmed hat. We get a 5 finger rake that glistens in the dark and look lake a razor sharp hand. We get the man in the wide brim hat popping out of shadows and dark corners. We get a scene with a girl in a bathtub. A menacing force coming for her from between her legs. We have a final coda, where we think everything is alright and suddenly our heroine gets pulled through a hole by a monster of a man.
Wait a minute? Doesn't that sound like another movie? A movie called A Nightmare on Elm Street? A film by Wes Craven that won't be made for 3 more years? It does. For what we have here, and what makes this film so great, even though there is lots to complain about, is that we can see here where Craven got his first sprinkling of ideas for the now legendary first film to feature Freddy Kruger.
It's as if the two writers of Deadly Blessing had a great way to rip-off Friday the 13th and when Craven got involved he through in this other stuff. This other stuff therefore was a secondary story to the main one, one that created more mystery and suspense and one that Craven latched onto and ended up creating a whole movie based around these things that he added, right to the same shots, look and feel.
It's actually amazing to watch this film now and see what it led to. Craven as well, directs this movie better than any film he has so far. It's his best looking, best acted and best edited film so far and it's his most professional job so far. It is really his first slasher film and it is plain to see he holds an affinity for it. His style and direction is the perfect match for the slasher film, something he has proven over and over again as the years roll by.
There are moments though that feel like they are straight out of the TV mentality of Summer of Fear. Moments where the acting gets wooden, the dialogue trite and the tone cheesy. These scenes drag the film down (and perhaps it's a tad long) but when they aren't there instead we have a very scary, well made slasher film with an intriguing and unpredictable story. And it is scary. As scary as A Nightmare on Elm Street is when you are watching it on a dark, rainy and thunderous night with no light but the glow from your TV.
And I haven't even mentioned the music. For the first time Craven has picked someone with some real talent. James Horner. James F'ing Horner. A very young James Horner but a very talented young man how has written a creepy and stylized score (if not terrible original) that puts the music in Craven's last three films to shame.
There is death and demons, and violence and full frontal nudity in this picture. There are scares and thrills and disturbing scenes that shock and titalize and there are unexpected turns and twists and deaths that come out of nowhere.
But there are also many problems within the film, problems that make this film less of a success than films that would come later from Craven. Yet it is still his best effort to date and it is a film that shows a) where Craven excels at and b) what the world could expect from him in the future. It's funny, in a film that ini initially was a rip-off of a previous slasher film, it ended up paving the way for the most original slasher film to be released since Black Christmas.
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