Thursday, October 25, 2012

Nit-Picking: Special Halloween Edition

Since 31 Days of Horror 4 has been delayed this year, I still wanted to bring something Halloween themed to the blog. I decided to do a special edition of Nit-Picking, focusing on the inconsistencies and plot holes of numerous horror movies. It will be fun!
Yet, before we dive into this I want to thank everyone who has been reading the Nit-Picking series and making it popular. I appreciate it.
Now, before we start I’ll explain how this nit-picking will be done. I have chosen a few horror movies and a few nit-picks for each. They’re all divided to make simple and easy to follow.



Friday the 13th (1980)
Let’s start with one of my very favorites.
The original Friday the 13th made way for ‘80’s slashers, it was really the first slasher to be overly gory. The films that came before it such as Halloween and Psycho weren’t really that gory. Yeah, in Psycho we get the chocolate syrup going down the drain but Halloween really had no gore. So, Friday the 13th was starting something new that would cause other horror movies to follow. It also has things that don’t make sense.
The first thing I’m going to talk about is the strip Monopoly scene, which always bothered me.

The Dice
During this scene we see the character Brenda roll the dice and she claims to have rolled two sixes, where we can clearly see she rolled a one and a two. Why in the hell are the other characters allowing her to cheat? Do they know how to count?
I know that this was probably not even thought of when they made the movie and they most likely thought no one will notice. Well, I noticed and it’s distracting.

Alice
Alice (Adrienne King) is our hero girl in the movie but some of her decisions puzzle me, especially when we get to the end.
After realizing that Pamela Voorhees is the killer, Alice runs around the camp trying to evade her. She ends up back in cabin where Mrs. Voorhees revealed her true identity to her. I mean really? You couldn’t have gone into another cabin? At least try to make it difficult for the killer to find you, it’s only your life at stake.
Now, after Alice defeats Pamela, she takes a canoe and heads out on the lake for the rest of the night. Why? Why not start walking back to town and getting the police? Maybe she was tired? But if I had a night like hers I most likely would find it hard to rest.

Police
At the end of the film the police show up at the camp and find Alice. Now, how did the police know to go to the camp? Is it something they do daily? Did someone call them? Was there another survivor we don’t know about?


Halloween 4: Return of Michael Myers (1988)
The Halloween film that brought Michael Myers back, hence the name, due to people disappointed about his absence in Halloween III.
The film takes place 10 years after the events of Halloween I and II. Michael Myers who was in a coma, comes out of it to wreak havoc on the town of Haddonfield and his niece, Jamie. Who has been adopted by the Carruthers family after her mother, Laurie Strode, had died in an accident.

The Ambulance
In the movie Michael Myers comes back into action while on board an ambulance. He kills the people that are with him and then we go to a scene with Jamie looking out a window. Outside the window is an ambulance that looks like the one that Michael was in. But how can it be?
A little further into the movie we learn that the ambulance Michael was on is in a river, four hours away from Jamie and Haddonfield. So, did Michael drive four hours to Haddonfield and then drive four hours back to the river to dump the ambulance? Was it a different ambulance? But how convenient is it that an ambulance that looks just like the one Michael was on is parked outside his niece’s house. It doesn’t make any sense anyway you look at it.

Michael’s Knowledge of Jamie
How does Michael know about Jamie and more importantly how does he know where to go to find her?
Michael has somehow found his niece who has a different last name and lives with a different family. Did he somehow find his way to a library, pulled up newspapers and learned the truth about Laurie Strode and also learned about her daughter? Would he really have time to do this? I mean looking at the movie it seems he goes from the ambulance in the river, to a gas station and then to Haddonfield. I guess we’re just supposed to accept that he knows. How he knows is anyone’s guess.
Also, why in the hell would you keep Jamie in Haddonfield? Move the kid to a different town or even better a different state!

The Jumpsuit
In the movie we see Michael at a garage and he kills a mechanic by impaling him in the chest with a metal pipe. He then takes the man’s jumpsuit to wear. Yet, when Michael is wearing the suit, there is no blood or hole on the chest. Detail! Come on guys, how about some attention to detail!

Michael’s Name
Here is one showing my true geekeness. Michael Myer’s full name is Michael Audrey Myers. So, his middle initial would be A. But, in the scene where they’re typing his name on a form we see them type Myers, Michael M. Again with the details! Come on!

Michael’s Mask Hair Color
Michael’s mask hair color has always been brown and in this movie it is still brown until one scene.
Towards the end of the film Loomis and Jamie head into the school to hide from Michael. He of course finds them and throws Loomis through glass doors. During this whole scene you’ll stop yourself and say “is that Michael”, because at first you might think it’s a different character. Michael’s mask hair color goes from brown to a very noticeable blonde and it’s stupid.
Why in the hell didn’t they use the mask with the brown hair? What’s going on? Did they think no one will notice? How could you not notice? It’s very blonde!

Resident Evil Series (2002-2012)
*Sigh*
Everything.


Scream 4 (2011)
I like all the Scream movies but let’s face it there is some great stuff to nit-pick.
The Scream franchise has an interesting premise, the killers and the victims are well aware of horror movies. This is causing the killers to take their revenge on a certain character by structuring their kills on the rules of the horror movies we all know.
In Scream 4 its Sidney Prescott’s cousin, Jill Roberts, is the killer and it attempting the reboot the franchise by making herself the last one alive. Yet, there is some problems with her plan.

Jill
Jill is a psychopath and in the movie we learn she is the mastermind behind all the murders.
Jill and her partner, Charlie Walker, are seen killing people in the movie by stabbing them multiple times. Then when we get to Sidney, the person they want dead the most, Jill only stabs her once in the stomach and leaves her to die. Sidney of course survives, which I’m glad because Jill is nuts, but this just shows how stupid Jill actually was.
For a girl who obviously devoted a lot of time to this plan she just couldn’t execute it in the end.

The Closet
During a scene where Ghostface calls Jill and Kirby, he tells them he is hiding in THE closet. Kirby opens the closet and of course there is nothing in there. He then informs Kirby that he didn’t say THEIR closet. He then jumps out of the neighbors’, Olivia, closet instead and kills her.
Here’s my problem with the scene. Ghostface isn’t being quiet on the phone. So, how in the hell didn’t Olivia hear him talking in her closet? Does her closet have a sound proof door?


Paranormal Activity (2007)
A demonic presence haunts Micah and Katie in their suburban home. But lets be honest it’s a lot of footage of people sleeping.

Why Aren’t They Running?
After the first encounter of this thing why wouldn’t you just leave the house? It’s obviously something terrible is going on … just run.

Alarm System
They have this alarm system in the movie which they set every night. Yet, Katie is walking outside every night without setting it off. I would definitely consider returning it.


Gremlins (1984)
Three important rules get broken and Billy Peltzer’s new pet gives birth to the Gremlins!
Gremlins is a great movie but there is something that has always bothered me about it.

The Water Rule
First, let’s quickly review the three rules for raising your mogwai.
1. Don't expose them to sunlight.
2. Don't let them get wet. 
3. Don't feed them after midnight
Probably not the exact wording but you get the idea. The one I want to point out is “Don’t let them get wet”. This rule was broken numerous times throughout the movie.
The movie is set near Christmas time and there is a lot of snow on the ground. Did they forget that snow is just frozen water? Shouldn’t the gremlins be multiplying left and right? It makes no sense and bothers me every time I watch it.


Hocus Pocus (1993)
Last movie I’ll discuss is a Halloween favorite – Hocus Pocus.
This film is one of those movies that has a large following, and I remember always watching it around Halloween as a kid.
The movie is about two teenagers, Max Dennison (Omri Katz) and Allison (Vinessa Shaw) and Max’s little sister, Dani (Thora Birch) who accidentally resurrect three witches in modern day Salem, Mass., who are bent on sucking the youth out of children.

The Black Flame Candle
In the movie, the heroes find themselves in the house of the three witches, which has been turned into a museum.
In the house there is a black flame candle, which legend says if it’s lit on Halloween night, by a virgin, the witches will come back to wreck havoc on Salem.
Of course, Max lights the candle and brings back the witches.
The problem I have here is that Max uses a Zippo lighter that he gets in the house; apparently they were selling them as gifts. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t you need to add lighter fluid to Zippo lighters? How is there lighter fluid in the lighter?
I know it was just to move the plot, but couldn’t they just have Max have is own lighter already?
Also, why is he lighting something that shouldn’t be lit. I get the fact he just doesn’t believe in it, but still just leave things alone.

Jacket
After Max brings back the three witches he uses his lighter to set off the sprinkler system. We see his jacket get completely drenched but once he’s outside his jacket is magically dry. I hate when things like this end up in movie. Same thing happened in Fellowship of the Ring.

Dates
Now let’s get into some history. The witches, or Sanderson sisters, are hung in the beginning of the movie. For me it’s implied that this is happening during the Salem Witch Trials. Yet, let’s look at the date, they are hung on October 31, 1693, The Salem Witch Trials were started and ended in the year of 1692.

There you go some quick nit-picks to some horror/Halloween movies.
To find some horror movie recommendations check out my 31 Days of Horror series, links on the side.

Happy Halloween!







1 comment:

Unknown said...

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Cheers
Much Complex