Halloween Movie Month: Escape from Tomorrow

Escape from Tomorrow (2013)
not rated
Netflix instant

Escape from Tomorrow is about a family that takes their two young children to "the happiest place on Earth."  While on their vacation, the father finds out that he has lost his job, he becomes increasingly irritated at his wife, and he becomes entangled in his own fantasies about two girls/young women also at the theme park.  The "happiest place on Earth" starts to become the most paranoid place on Earth as the father loses his grip on reality.

The music and setting starts out feeling very much like the beginning of a Disney movie.  That feeling does not last long, as someone gets decapitated on a roller coaster.  It is not excessively gruesome, but you do see the head come off and it is definitely not expected!  I do not know how intentional it was, but I like the symbolism of the guy at the beginning of the movie representing how the main character "loses his head" at Disney.

Some of the things that happen while they are on rides start looking creepy to the dude and the film being in black and white adds to the creepy feel.  Some of the effects that are done are very simple, but they still work in setting the creepy tone.  Plus, the music does a good job of setting the appropriate tone throughout the film.

There is a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie saying that Disney had nothing to do with the making of the film.  I wonder how much of what they filmed was done with permission, how much of it was replicated, and how much of it was filmed illegally.  Some scenes are obviously filmed in front of a green screen, but there are other scenes that look like they were actually filmed at the park.  Even though the disclaimer at the beginning says that it is a work of fiction, the book that I use to teach my abnormal psychology course has a story about a guy who does go through a psychotic episode at Disney.

Along with the implications of the guy following the young women/girls and nudity, there is also a weird sex scene.  There isn't actually any nudity during the scene, but the woman is wearing a necklace and the necklace keeps hitting the guy in the face.  The sex scene takes place after there have been several scenes showing his declining grip on reality, so I do question whether or not the sex actually took place or if it was just in his head.

Rating and Recommendation:  2.5/5.  Worth checking out, but you won't be missing too much if you pass.  Escape from Tomorrow is ambitious and, at times, it works very well.  However, sometimes the ambition outweighs the execution, leaving the film feeling unfinished and not fully thought out.  I really like how things started out and I thought that it had a lot of potential to be a really cool indie movie about a guy slowly losing his mind.  But, towards the end of the film, they started throwing too much into it.  "He's crazy.  No, it's the flu.  No, it's a secret Disney plot.  No, she's a witch.  No, it's like the Shining..."  If they had just stuck with one thing, it could have been really awesome.  Or, if they had just made things a little more clear, it could have worked.  I did find it to have some very interesting aspects and I would be interested in watching it again with a group of friends so that we could have a more in-depth discussion about it afterwards.  But, I don't know if I necessarily see myself watching it on my own again anytime in the near future.  If just a few things had been different, I would say that this one is definitely worth checking out.  But, unfortunately this falls short of being a must see.


Be sure to check back soon for more reviews in Halloween Movie Month!  In the meantime, leave comments on this (or any other) review, follow me here and on twitter (@GargyleReviews), and let me know what movies you'd like for me to review for Halloween Movie Month!



- The Gargyle

Halloween movie month: Creature from the Black Lagoon

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Netflix, instant
Rating:  3.5/5

Basic plot:  After finding a strange and unknown fossil in the Amazon, an archaeologist, a group of scientists, and their guide go on a search for the rest of the remains.  Their search leads them down river to a lagoon (the Black Lagoon) where they eventually discover that there is still a living form of this ancient creature (they never actually say if the creature had been around since pre-historic times, or if it's a descendant).

As with many movies in the 50s and 60s, there is a narrator setting the stage in the early acts of the film.  I have mixed feelings about narration in current movies, depending on how well it is done, but I generally like the narration in older movies.  Maybe it's because it brings about an inherent sense of nostalgia.  Or maybe it's because the narration in movies was basically the same type of narration that was used in documentaries of the day - which, in a way, makes the movie seem like a documentary and suggests that you should accept that what takes place really happened (or, at least, could conceivably happen).

This movie actually does a lot to suggest that the creature could conceivably exist.  For starters, the movie starts off by saying that God created the world, and then describes the millions of years of evolution that took place afterwards (and then explosions.  Lots of explosions).  So, whether you are religious, scientific, or both (or Michael Bay...cause of the 'splosions), this movie starts off with a viable explanation as to how there can be such strange and unknown creatures in the world.  There is also a conversation between two characters over whether or not they can believe the creature actually exists.  During that conversation, they discuss the lungfish (they explain that it is a creature that has basically remained unevolved for thousands of years), as well as how people believe it is possible for there to be life on other planets but they have a hard time believing in the unknown under the water on Earth.  And after watching River Monsters: with Jeremy Wade on Animal Planet, it's not that hard to believe that there are unknown creatures lurking in fresh waters.

I talked about the importance of music in my Nosferatu review, and the same holds true for Creature - the music plays a major role in helping to set the tone of the scene.  One of the reasons that the music is so vital in Creature from the Black Lagoon is that many of the scenes with the creature take place under water.  This was in the days before scuba masks that allowed people to talk to each other under water, so the music is the primary way of conveying the characters' emotions.

The look of the film isn't too bad either, but I think that a lot of that has to do with the film being in black and white.  When they are traveling on a boat, it's clear that the backdrop behind them is a video of scenery moving and not actually following a moving boat.  But it didn't look nearly as bad as some current movies that use a green screen to give the appearance of movement.  The creature effects weren't too bad either.  Nothing terribly amazing.  But, they did at least pay attention to enough detail to have air bubbles coming out of the gills rather than out of its nose/mouth.  Even though I didn't think that the effects looked too bad, I think that was due in large part to the overall picture quality and to it being in black and white.  For instance, the creature didn't look too bad because there were less details to focus on to notice whether or not it was bad.  Nowadays, everything is filmed and projected in much higher quality.  So when something doesn't look quite right, there is a much bigger discrepancy.

Recommendation:  It's a classic - everyone should see it.  As far as leading up to Halloween, it's worth seeing, but I wouldn't say that it's necessarily a "must see."  The scare factor of Creature from the Black Lagoon comes mostly from the fear of the unknown.  There is one scene in particular where Julie Adams's character is swimming in the lagoon and the creature swims up to her and touches her leg a few times before she swims back to the boat - playing on the fear that anyone who has ever swam in nature can tell you about...when something brushes against their leg and there is instant terror of "what was that??!!!??"  You might not have a fear of a part man, part fish, part reptile creature grabbing you when you are swimming - but there are certainly plenty of other deadly creatures that hide just below the surface of the water - and that scene reminds you of it.

Side note:  expect typical 50s movie stereotypes:  guys with dashing hair (even immediately after getting out of the water), damsels in distress (and the related sexual undertones of creatures capturing women.  After all, horror creatures need love too), etc.


Be sure to check back tomorrow for the next review in Halloween movie month.

-GR