King Me: Stephen King's The Stand (1994) *Part 2*

 All plans to do this in 4 days like how the Mini-Series ran pretty much ended by the next morning.
That said, let's keep looking at the Mini-Series with Part 2.

To keep up, see the first part the first part here.

Part 2- The Dreams is all about two things.

Introducing New People to our Cast and moving said People to a new location.
That's pretty much it.

So, we get Molly Ringwald leaving home (after Scrubs Dad died) with Definitely Not Her Boyfriend.

The Rock Star goes to New York City (after his Mom died) to see the Waitress we met once.

Instead, he meets Laura San Giacomo (an upgrade, to be fair).
They both leave the city, while she seems seduced by a dark power...

A new Character named Trashcan Man (Matt Frewer in yet another Garris FilmGarris Film).

In typical fashion, he's crazy.  He sets oil reservoirs on fire and is called to Vegas by a strange voice.

Said Voice is that of Randall Flagg, who we next see breaking Miguel Ferrer (who was arrested in Part 1) out of Prison.

He agrees to be Flagg's Lieutenant.

To be fair, I'd follow someone with a mullet that glorious too!

Less glorious are the adventures of Rob Lowe (a deaf mute) and...sigh...Lenny from Of Mice an Men.

He's actually Tom Cullen (played by the man who voices 'Patrick Star') and it's...something.
I'm curious how the 2020 Mini-Series handles him.

They also briefly meet Shawnee Smith (playing a more crazy version of Audrey Horne) too.

Gary Sinise is free of the CDC and meets up with some folks, including Ringwald and Seriously, He's Not Her Boyfriend Guy.

They go to Colorado.

In Vegas, Flagg has assembled a group of Lieutenants, although we only saw the Introduction of Ferrer and Frewer (Not Attorneys at Law).

He's up to...something.

The main group has met up with the Old Lady from their Dreams and go to Colorado.

They see a group of people- including Sinise and company- arrive as Part 2 ends.

Unfortunately, this Part either sinks or swims based on how invested you are in the Characters- especially the new ones.

For me, I'm more interested in the Story and very little progresses here.
Yes, you do need a part in a Story like this where people travel from Point A to Point B.  The trick is to make that part interesting AND/OR make the Characters great.

I don't dislike the Characters- other than the representation of Cullen- but I'm not super-invested in them at this point.

As it is, Part 2 is just them making bigger groups and traveling.

Like I said, it's a necessary part of the Story...but man is it not that interesting.
You have Flagg around and we only get TWO SCENES of him.

Don't worry, we get lots of Cullen, so I get to keep making this face for most of the 90 minutes...

Next up, Part 3 hopefully moves the actual Plot forward and delivers.  I'm giving it a chance!

King Me: Stephen King's The Stand (1994) *Part 1*

 We just passed the 30th anniversary of this airing on ABC.  10-year-old me was DEFINITELY not allowed to see it then.

So, what is 1994's The Stand?  Well, it was one of King's more epic tales and locked in some form of developmental hell for around a Decade before this came out.  Many great names- like George A. Romero and Dario Argento! - were approached/attached and many Studios had a say in the matter.

This finally came out as a 4-Part Mini-Series that aired from May 8th to May 12th.

Many names of note are here from Kathy Bates to Ed Harris to Rob Lowe and Gary Sinise.  Many more 'That Guy' and 'That Lady' Actors and Actresses will show up throughout.  

You want Molly Ringwald and The Dad from ALF?  Done.  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Voice of Patrick Star?  Yep.  Freaking Patrick Kilpatrick?  Scan him in!

The Plot involves, well, the end of the World.  Can you see why this was hard to adapt?

To find out if this one holds up after 3 Decades, read on...

A bioweapon of some sorts is accidentally released in a Government Lab.  

One of the men flees the Facility with his Family, traveling across multiple States in 4 days!

He crashes and dies in a small Texas town, where the people- lead by Sinise- try to help him.

He dies from a strange virus and the Government soon finds out!

Of course, this is Part 1 of a 4-Part Mini-Series, so we have to play the Introduce Every Character Game.

First up, this Musician guy, who will be important later.

We have Molly Ringwald (I didn't pick the most flattering shot, did I) and her wannabe boyfriend.

She's also going to be important later.

Rob Lowe plays a Deaf-Mute Character- a role he wanted to play since he is legit dead in one ear- who gets on the bad side of Kilpatrick.

He's the first to see the strange visions that will lead to stuff later.

Throughout the first part, we see a General- an uncredited Harris- trying to cover things up when all else fails.

He's a big part here...but likely won't be in the next 3 parts.

Here's a random Scene for you- in the midst of everything breaking down- with lots of people dying and rioting happening- we get a Found Footage-style section with this Reporter and her crew.

They're targeted for leaking some footage and assaulted.

Oh and sudden Kathy Bates!

She plays a Radio DJ who tries to report on what's happening before some unplanned company arrives.

The key player here is Sinise, as he's proven to be immune to the Virus.  The Scientists- including ALF Dad- try to find out why, but all succumb to the plague.

He escapes the Facility, but also dreams of Mother Abigail as Part 1 ends.

A really vast, but also interesting Story.  There's LOTS going on here, which is both a blessing and a curse.

On one hand, there's many diverse Characters, locales and Stories.
One the other hand, that same thing makes it hard sometimes to keep up with who is where and why.

The fact that they do stuff like randomly introduce a guy named Rat-Man and have Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as a 'The End is Nigh!' guy keep popping up is a bit distracting.

With so much going in, it can be hard for a Story like this to focus on what matters.  I think that they do alright, but I can easily see people in 1994 or 2024 needing a score card.

Hell, even following the ownership of this one is, as it ran on ABC, but my DVD was released by CBS!

For a TV Mini-Series, they get the scale pretty good.  The make-up work, which won an Award, is great too.  I don't have complaints about the content- just the format, I guess.

Personally, I found it kind of funny that Mick Garris was hired based on his work on Psycho IV (and, also Sleepwalkers).  Alright then!

For better or worse, this sets up a big, long King Story.  It also features 2 notable Cameos (at least to me).  We've got Ken Jenkins, 7 years before SCRUBS...

...and Joe Bob Briggs himself.  I wonder how many 'Captain Trips' he gave this Film?

Next up, I'll do my best to match the release Schedule of the Show.  Now that most people are dead, let the drama begin!  Stay tuned...

Quick Reviews: Valerie on the Stairs (Masters of Horror)

After a short break, let me return to the Showtime Show.  Once again, Mick Garris has decided that his work on Sleepwalkers makes him a 'Master of Horror'...

In this Episode/Movie, a House for Writers holds many strange secrets...

An unpublished Author moves into a House for unpublished Authors, since that is a thing.

Incidentally, this is a Clive Barker Story (originally), so is this how we should picture a young Barker?

He starts to see visions of a woman named Valerie, but she's not real...Is she?

She's being followed by a mysterious black creature.  What is the Story here?

Oh, it is a literal Story.

See what I did there?

Basically, three of the Residents made a Story and the energy in the Hotel made it come real...or something.  It is all just a bunch of silliness.

Ultimately, our Hero defeats the Monster and takes Valerie outside...where she evaporates.

As the Police show up (since three people died in like 20 minutes), we learn that our Hero isn't real either- he's just part of the Story.  The End.

Decent stuff, but nothing great.  I'm not going to pick on Mick Garris too much here, but this is nothing too remarkable.  To be clear, he has a Screenplay and Directing Credit here, so you shouldn't disconnect him too much from the final product.  The Story is decent enough, but hinges upon the twist of the Story.  If you don't buy it into, nothing really works.  It was so-so for me.  They made sure to explain plenty, but I'm still not sure how 'the energy of the Hotel' made the Story come to life.  I'm not going to pretend to be a full-on Novel Writer, but I can at least get behind the idea of Fantasy being affected by Reality.  I just didn't 'feel' the connection they were going for- if that makes any sense.  The basic concept of Valerie on the Stairs- interesting.  The execution- hit-or-miss.  There is some fun in trying to diagram what is and isn't commentary from the original Story by Barker about himself.  Is he Lloyd's Character- the one who wrote a 'bad' Novel and had it made into a 'worse' Film- or is he the new guy's?  Decide for yourself, I suppose.  I'm sorry, but Garris continues to give me more so-so Films in this Series than people like Argento, Dante or Carpenter.  Speaking of so-so, is anyone else getting a bit of a Wishmaster vibe from the creature (especially if you think of the gray version from 3 and 4)?

Eh, I've seen better and worse on this Series.  It still isn't good enough for me to not give Garris crap for calling himself a 'Master of Horror.'

Quick Reviews: Chocolate (Masters of Horror)

After a bunch of Episodes by others, how about one by the guy who actually started this thing?

In this Episode/Film by Mick Garris, a man gets mysterious visions which lead him on a dark path...

The Film/Episode begins at the End (ooh, how arty!) with the man being questioned while covered in blood.

Flashing back to earlier, we see our Lead in a rough situation.  He's divorced, doesn't see his kid much and is very lonely.

When he tries to live his life in peace, he starts to get weird visions of places he's not at!  Timing!

After some more awkwardly-timed visions (including mid-coitus and when his ex-wife shows up), he finally can see the person who's eyes he's seeing through.  Sorry for the black bars- I really am.

Things get really bad when he links up with her again at the moment that she kills her lover!

Using visual clues from earlier, he tracks her down.  She is, naturally, creeped out at first, but seems to believe that he loves her.

...until she decides that he has to die.  In her defense, you knew that she was crazy from the get-go!

He battles for his life and he gets one last vision during their big stand-off.  He kills her (obviously) all the same and is presumably going to Jail now.  The End.

Not bad, but kind of odd.  The Story has a neat hook, even if the execution is a bit odd.  The Lead sells the chaotic nature of them..but I never really bought him as being that sane.  The key is that he starts normal and is slowly driven crazy.  He always seems 'off' though.  Aside from that, they make the situations seem real enough for you to buy into the Story.  It eventually escalates at a good rate and has a good Climax.  I almost wonder if the Framing Device hurts the Film more than it helps.  It does tell us that something bad is going to happen, which is good.  On the other hand, it makes the Story 'show its hand from the get-go.  How many of these have 'Happy Endings?'  Not many.  So was it necessary to tell us that it has a Bad Ending?  Oh and not to be 'that guy,' but our Lead doesn't end up with blood on his neck like in the Interrogation during the Events, so where did that come from?  The brief moments of Gore are well done, since this (like all of the MoH stuff) were done in part by Greg Nicotero.  There is one moment with a fake hand that seems a bit silly.  It is a good-looking fake hand...but the angle of it is all wrong.  That is such a minor point, I know.  Mick Garris does better than I expected, but didn't exactly blow me away.  You know what does though?  Punk Rock Matt Frewer!

As far as Mick Garris Films go, it is pretty good.  Compared to other Episodes though, it is alright.

New Year's (TV) Evil: New Year's Day (Fear Itself)

In honor of the start of the year 2015, I'm joining some other Film Bloggers for some fun.  We are all doing New Year's Eve/New Year's Day stuff like The Poseidon Adventure and others.  I've done most of the interesting stuff- like Terror Train and New Year's Evil- so I decided to get a little creative.  Back in 2007, the success of Masters of Horror on Showtime led to two things: Fear Itself and Masters of Science-Fiction.  Both of these non-Cable Shows lasted more than a Season, but did produce some interesting stuff.  While neither show is remembered that well right now, we'll see if things change.  In the mean-time, let's take a look at Darren-Lynn Bousman's 'New Year's Day' Episode.  In it, a young woman wakes up on the beginning of a New Year to see just how bad things have become.  Who will live?  Who will die?  To find out, read on...

At around 4 am on New Year's Day, this young lady (the daughter of Greg Evigan) wakes up.

She hears glimpses of bad news, but only a little with the power out.  She sees blood on the hallways and...that can't be good.

As her bad morning unfolds, we get flashy flashbacks to the previous night.  She was at a Party (naturally) and she ran into some awkward company (read: her ex).

Speaking of awkward. the late Cory Monteith is here in one of his pre-Glee roles.  He's not bad here, really, but...can you blame me?

Ultimately, our heroine makes her way to her friend's house, but things get weird.  Why the gun?

As it turns out, she was infected from the get-go!  They just lied to us by only giving us her P.O.V.  Alright then.  The End.

Sadly, it is easier to see the problems here instead of the good points.  Let's begin with those though.  I liked the general idea of the Story and you do sort of feel for the heroine.  It is nothing ground-breaking, but it is solid.  Now here's where it all falls apart.  First- the constant mixing of Flashbacks.  Look- the day before is a bit important, but it gets almost equal time as the Horror of the Present.  The problem is that there is not enough build-up in these parts to make it worthwhile.  It just short-changes the Main Story.  Secondly- the flashy Editing Techniques.  I don't dislike all of these modern Editing flourishes by any stretch of the imagination, but this one goes overkill on it.  Flashy strobe lights and super-quick cuts are par for the course here.  For me, they are just too damn big of a distraction and make the Story hard to follow.  If you like all that stuff, you won't have my issues.  This is obviously only one of the Episodes of Fear Itself, so I'm not exactly giving up on it just yet.  While there are no real losers here, there is one clear winner...

Despite an interesting Story, this one falters by succumbing to too many stylistic tricks.  Too distracting for me, at least.

Quick Reviews: Dreams in the Witch House (Masters of Horror)

You know that old expression 'One Stuart Gordon Film deserves another?'  Of course you do!

To be honest with you, I've had this one for a while, but never saw it.  No good reason.  It is even on the same Disc as Cigarette Burns!

Oh well, doing it now!

In this Tale, a young man goes to a cheap Building to live in while he works on his Grad School Thesis.  The subject: Dimensional Planes.

It isn't long before he starts to notice some weird things.  There are the rats, the freaky neighbors and the fact that the corner of his room appears to be the same shape as 3 Dimensional Planes intersecting to form a Portal.

In spite of that, he makes friends with the lady next door and her young baby.  Will this Miskatonic University Student manage to get some on the side?

Unfortunately, his titular Dreams are a bit freaky.  They include a Witch that goes from Hot to No F#$%ing Way in seconds and this Rat with a face on it.

It appears that someone or something has plans for our hero as they keep visiting him, which always come from that corner and accompanied by some purple light.

When he finds out what they are (which I won't SPOIL), he makes this face (as you would too).

Will he fall to darkness or escape into the light?  I won't say.

As a bonus, here's the OG Version of the Necronomicon.  Is that in Fiction or Non-Fiction?  The End.

Easily one of the better Lovecraft adaptations.  The Story is great, giving you quiet moments and shocking moments.  It is a bit bloody, but...well, it is Lovecraft.  Alot of his stuff is about madness and despair (as this one is too), but there's no making these things PG as far as blood goes.  You don't get a whole lot of gore, so it has a bigger meaning when it appears.  The Acting is quite good too, making you feel for all those involved.  Gordon re-uses his lead from Dagon, which was a good choice.  You really see his ups and downs- especially downs!- and understand how he feels about what is happening.  He ends up in a terrible situation and goes from denial to acceptance.  What the Film does especially well is use their effects wisely, making the low-budget nature of it (and all Masters of Horror 'Films') not noticeable. The make-up work is as great as you'd expect from Greg Nicotero and his people.  All in all, this is a dark and moody Tale that is quite good.  It even gives you a splash of Nudity...although I won't.

A dark and eerie tale for sure.  For me, it just shows again how to do Lovecraft right (and on the cheap)!