Compendium- 'Sometimes, They Come Back' Trilogy

 A Trilogy based on a one-off Stephen King Short Story- why not?

Yep, there are three Films, so here they are...

1) Sometimes, They Come Back- MONDO BIZARRO: Holiday Flix: Stephen King's Sometimes They Come Back (mondobizarrocinema.blogspot.com)

2) Sometimes, They Come Back...Again- MONDO BIZARRO: Holiday Flix: Sometimes They Come Back...Again (mondobizarrocinema.blogspot.com)

3) Sometimes, They Come Back...For More- MONDO BIZARRO: Holiday Flix: Sometimes They Come Back...For More (mondobizarrocinema.blogspot.com)

If you're wondering why there are three of them, well...so am I?

Regardless, I saw them all!

Holiday Flix: Sometimes They Come Back...For More

I mean, I kind of wish they didn't though.  Today's Film is Sometimes They Come Back...For More, the 1998 Film that is the end of the Sometimes They Come Back Trilogy.  I say it is a Trilogy, but Tiger Claws is more of a Trilogy than this.  The original Film started life as a possible segment in Cat's Eye, but was made into a full-feature.  It was about Demon Greasers coming back (I get it!) to get revenge on a now-adult that accidentally killed them.  The 2nd Film was basically the same thing, but with sillier effects and not as good.  It did feature the 2nd appearance of Alexis Arquette in a Stephen King Film Sequel that didn't relate to the Original Film (or Book) though.  Said Film also ended with Sequel Bait, but this has nothing to do with that.  Throw it on the pile of Unresolved Stephen King Film Sequel Bait, I guess.  Remember the possible infection of Germany from Children of the Corn III or the He Who Walks Behind the Rows Baby tease from Children of the Corn IV?  Nope.  This Film is its own thing- for better or for worse.  It also might be a different Film altogether, as my bare minimum research has found.  The summary: the Film is listed TWICE on IMDB- once as Frozen and once as the Title above.  Both Films are from 1998 and its all the same.  Compounding things is the fact that Title Card says 'Frozen' on the official copy, BUT credits the King Book (for Characters).  Is the Film worth sorting this all out?  No.  To find out the odd way that this 'Series' ends, read on...

At a mysterious Antarctic Facility, two MPs are flown in to see what is going on.

This is based on a real thing that was tried involving burying nukes under the ice in Greenland, apparently.  That story is also more interesting than this.

So, let's get the obvious out of the way- is this related to the last Film?

No.  Not one bit.

Well, unless you count them casting a lady that looked just like Hillary Swank in that Film...

Most of the people in the base are dead and strange things start to happen. 

The bodies start disappearing and people see movement outside, despite it being around -70 degrees!

Things continue to get worse after Not Hillary Swank goes missing. 
Can this MP hold things together? 
Is there a reason why he seems to be more calm about this?

The dead start to reappear and have pentagrams on their foreheads.  Man, remember when this Film came out and everyone started doing that?

Good times.

I won't SPOIL it all for you- since it is so weird and silly- but it all relates to someone trying to bring Satan back to Earth.  Why and how I'll leave for you to see.

The Film is free on Tubi and VUDU (with Ads), so stream away if you're curious.

A decent enough Film, but nothing more.  Right off the bat, should this have the Title it does?  It does feature people 'coming back.'  All 3 Films involve some sort of occult element to said 'coming back' moments, so I guess fair is fair.  I still don't see why they credit King for this, unless his Book is WAY different than the first Film.  Are Characters really shared between the 2 works?  On the plus side, this Film isn't a complete rehash of the Original.  On the negative side, all of the crazy visuals and interesting stuff is mostly stripped out.  At the end, you get *some* of that, but it is otherwise very dry and basic.  It takes them ages to get to what the meat of the Film is.  Before that, it is just a bit like watching The Thing (the 1982 version), just with less interesting people and sets.  The bare bones cast should lead to some deeper, more fleshed out Characters.  Sadly, it doesn't really.  Our Lead gets the most, but that is almost all flashback-related and not *that* interesting.  Poor Faith Ford is just there to look sad, be in danger and be rescued.  She literally can't even run to safety on her own by the end!  The first Film struck the right balance of being weird when it needed to be, but not being silly and gimmicky like the 2nd one.  This one tries to go too far in the other direction, sadly.  It is not a *bad* Film.  At worst, it is a missed opportunity for a more interesting Film.  Is it Frozen before Disney?  Yes.  Is it a Sometimes They Come Back Film?  Apparently yes.  It is also...

Next time, I go back to my stack of un-watched Films to review.  This one features Ghosts and a Rig, so that's something.  Stay tuned... 

Holiday Flix: Sometimes They Come Back...Again

Another rises from the dust!  Sometimes They Come Back...Again is a 1996 Horror Film that is a Sequel to a Film based on a Book that didn't have one.  

Thankfully, there are only 3 of these, as opposed to the dozen or so Children of the Corn Films.  I covered the original Film a couple of Years back and it was...interesting.  This is a Sequel that is, well, not a Sequel.  

It's basically the same Movie again- just sillier.  To be clear, the original Film featured Ghost Greasers, murder and other freaky stuff.  

This is still the far sillier Film.  The bar has been raised!  

I have one more of these- probably for next year-, so who knows what the future holds?  In the meantime, let's focus on this one.  It has freaky killers, magical powers, childhood flashbacks and some Casting that has aged interestingly in the ensuing 23 Years.  

To find out more about why you should come back, read on...

A man- Michael Gross- is called back home (presumably Maine) when his Mother dies.

His Daughter- future 2-Time Oscar Winner Hillary Swank!- comes with him and makes some new friends for her stay.

Which is she more proud of- this or The Next Karate Kid?

This is the Villain, an evil Greaser (again).  This time, they are played by Alexis Arquette.

That's...a lot to unpack given her later history, so I'll skip it.  You just can't ignore the 'elephant in the room' completely though.  Not judging, of course- especially since she's no longer with us.

This Priest- whom I last saw as Captain Ahab- is into some weird occult stuff of his own.

To that end, he feels like a character transplanted from a completely different Movie.  

He's in an over-the-top Horror Film, while this initially plays things straight.

Visions of weird stuff start to come up, like this moment.

Beyond the bit of the Casting and the naturally freaky nature of this image, I can't help but notice that Swank did *not* sign the form agreeing to show any nudity.  

They just got as close as humanly possible.

Gross is haunted by memories of his past. In it, his Sister romanced a Greaser, who was in a Satanic Cult with his 2 friends. He accidentally killed them- as you do.

I never thought I'd see another 'bloodtrocution' after Metalocalypse, but there we are.

The demonic Greaser comes back via some sort of magic and starts killing people get parts to bring back his friends.  

They don't come back looking quite as handsome...

A couple things to highlight (good and bad) in this part...

1) Gross' friend (played by 'That Kid From The Sandlot' in Flashbacks) is killed off-camera.  Ouch.

2) They kill this annoying Lawnmower Man in a way that comes from the original Story.  Weird.

3) Nobody seems bothered by the reappearance of Arquette, who died 30 years ago.  Small Towns...

4) An important side-character- one of Swank's new friends- is also killed off-camera (after showing her tits).

5) The other friend- Jan Brady from the Film Versions- is killed by her Tarot Cards in a silly Scene.  Marsha, Marsha- oh god- my forehead!!!

The Greasers have seemingly unlimited powers and 'I Read the Screenplay' Powers a la Vin Diesel.

That said, they walk towards Gross, into a pool of blood and get shocked- again!  

No, really.  

The End.

Completely silly, completely unnecessary and... kind of hilarious fun.  The whole thing is just plain nuts.  Demon Greasers come back- somehow- and use their magic powers to try and kill a guy.  

Their list of powers includes earth manipulation (pulling the Lawnmower Man into the ground), shapeshifting (to be the Cops), telekinesis (the Tarot Card thing), teleportation and many other things.  Basically, they can do what the Plot needs them to.  

The idea that the lead one is more snake-like is a bit on the nose, eh?  The make-up towards the end turns a bit into Buffy too- probably more than intended.  Gross plays this straight, while Arquette turns into Freddy Kreuger by the end!  Seriously, her and the Priest were given 100% completely different direction!  For her part, Swank acts pretty darn well too.  

The whole thing is basically a weirder, sillier and dumber version of the original.  They upped the ante in every way- sometimes way too far.  The Greaser's deaths in the original were definitely a strange accident, while this one is kind-of-definitely murder.  Speaking of murder, I have to re-emphasize how they emulated The Lawnmower Man in what feels like an homage to King.  That's nice...in an unsanctioned Remake/Sequel to a Film that already deviated from his work.  

Speaking of that, Mr. King's name is now no longer above the Title and is relegated solely to this...

Next up, a Cult Classic that I finally watched thanks to Rifftrax.  Will this 8-armed creature not suck?  Stay tuned...

Holiday Flix: Stephen King's Sometimes They Come Back

For one reason or another, I've not done this Movie as an Easter pick.  You could almost say that on the 3rd Year it rose.  Ha ha- sacrilegious.  Today's Film is Sometimes They Come Back, a 1991 Film based on a Stephen King Story.  A Film based on a Stephen King Story- how unique!  Even by King's standards, this one is a bit of a weird stretch.  The Story involves a man moving back to his Hometown with his family, only to discover that something from his past won't stay dead.  Can he finally face up to it?  Will any of this actually make that much sense?  Without SPOILing the Plot's weirder stuff just yet, I do wonder how there are TWO Sequels to this.  I guess you know what's coming next Year then.  To find out if this is more It than Lawnmower Man, read on...

A man- Tim Matheson- moves to his Hometown with his Family after an 'incident' in Chicago.  It's too expensive to shoot there, so just trust us.

What could go wrong?

Oh right- his traumatic past.

As we eventually learn, he lost his brother in an accident involving some bullies who decided to park their car on a train track to mess with them.  Guess what happened.  Oh and put 50s Greasers, Bullies and Train Track on your Stephen King Bingo Card.

He starts teaching at the School and then strange things start to happen.  The biggest is when a car- the same one hit by the train- chases down and kills his student.

So this was Filmed in Missouri and Carnival of Souls was done in Utah, but doesn't this remind you of that same bridge?

When the one student dies, a Greaser takes his place.  Why this 20-something in a class full of Seniors isn't weird to anyone is anyone's guess.

The group continues to kill and replace students until they get back to full power.

Given the fact that nobody sees the car or witnesses the crime, Matheson looks suspicious.

Mind you, the kid above was *literally* torn to pieces, so how does that look normal?!?

He finally finds the connective bit he needs to stop the gang- the lone survivor of them.

On the plus side, Sanderson isn't typecast as a Hacker/Computer Expert here.

The gang continues to attack him and his family, finally revealing their true forms when the Budget allows.

The only way to stop them: get his dead brother back.

Naturally, this all leads to a big showdown at the same tracks and the gang is killed again, but for real...assuming that they aren't in the Sequels.  The End.

It's fun and all, but so full of silliness.  The Film is supposed to be taken 100% seriously, but it is really hard.  For one thing, the Plot involves undead Greasers in 1991.  I mean, do I have to even expand upon this?!?  Second, said Greasers just act ridiculous, constantly doing this stupid laugh.  It worked for Tim Curry, but not for you!  Third, the whole premise is just bizarre.  As someone points out on IMDB, the group is killed because the keys were lost in the previous scuffle.  Back from the dead, they somehow drive around easily without the keys.  For the climax, they lose the keys...again and they can't drive away to save themselves.  Did that make sense?  They somehow act like dicks in public, but also drive a magic, invisible car.  On top of that, when they start to haunt the son, he sees stuff from his dad's memory.  I guess the idea is that *they* are projecting this, but, otherwise, how would he know any of that?  Their powers are just kind of vague for lazy screenwriting's sake.  They have a super-indestructible car (it flips over a parked car with no effort), can possibly teleport and project their pre-death forms to everyone.  Why not just give them a magic, laser-firing ring like Dracula had to while you're at it?!?  So, the final product is a mix of silly and super-serious.  It didn't totally work for me, but you might disagree.  I'll leave you with a pretty sad attempt to copy the 'Everything floats down here' bit from It...

Next time, I look at a Film with a familiar title.  Is it worse or better than the first one?  Stay tuned...