T.H.C II

Tom Six has a fantastic eye for creepy character actors; Dieter Laser as Dr. Heiter in the first and Laurence R. Harvey as disturbed loner Martin in this installment of the man/insect fecal fest. Laurence Harvey is amazing as the bug-eyed protagonist, an abused loser who…ok, he’s a psychopath, and not in the Ted Bundy charismatic sort of way. Martin is borderline
mentally challenged, the beauty is he has zero lines in the entire movie; a feat more impressive since he’s in every scene. It’s his perverse presence that makes this film amazing. Where T.H.C lacked in gore, this one delivers, but it’s almost unnecessary. The point was to make it more brutal, since Martin isn’t a doctor, his centipede is far more crude and thus, much scarier. His centipede is much bigger, because it is a total labor of love, so much so that he has to profess his love for it, so to speak. The mood is right; the story is consistent, if not even comical at times, but it’s the characters, not the story that makes this film. So, I’m torn; not a fantastic film, but perfect casting of caricatures of real, real disturbed people. Look for the ode to, Schindler’s List, according to Six.

AND, they made a sequel?

Being a bit of Horror movie aficionado, I am able to suspend my disbelief accordingly; especially, when it comes to the Villain/Hero’s abilities. When Jason pops up after NOT running after his prey that should be at least a half a mile away, it’s okay because he’s basically a zombie with a hockey mask and absolutely NOTHING else has seemed plausible up to that point. Basically, when all bets are off, one can accept almost anything. Laid to Rest does not play this game effectively. As a matter of opinion, this may be one of the worst attempts to pander to an audience I have ever seen. The cast is not stellar, but I’m not sure we can even blame them for the poor showing that this proves to be. The lead actress, Bobbie Sue Luther is very nice to look at, but when she delivers the line, “I woke up in a, in a, dead box!” You’re like…”what?” She has amnesia and can’t remember the names of things, so, yeah. Every character makes such bad decisions in this bucket of turds, that at some point I had to stop the movie and actually wonder aloud if this was either an attempt (bad attempt) at high art spoof or if the screen writers actually thought that moving the story along meant having our characters hide from the bad guy in some of the most bizarrely obvious and poorly planned places and maneuvers. When I say obvious and stupid, the main character wakes up in a funeral parlor and when given the option to get the hell out of dodge or go back to where she was 1st introduced to the killer, guess what she chooses? Apparently, this is an option because she absolutely has got to remember something and that’s the only place possible!? I wasn’t aware that riding in a car to safety made one incapable of thinking. Ugh, Chrome Skull…ok, this is the most offensive aspect of this film. The folks behind this movie wanted to come up with a modern horror icon and that’s basically it; this is the only explanation for how bad the rest of this movie is. He’s a high tech killer, with out of date equipment, he has a seemingly impervious metal skull for a face and video cameras on his shoulders, for which there is little or no explanation. Apparently, a maniac surgeon on the loose is the entire back story necessary, how is that possible? The guys license plate on his Mercedes is CRMSKL…in what world is it a problem to track this guy down? Crazy surgeon, uses high tech, satellite linked cell phones, with a messed up face (allegedly) and a license plate that says CRMSKL, seems to me like Encyclopedia Brown would have had that one solved in 30 minutes or less, and that’s pre-internet; plus, the opportunity to use Suicidal Tendencies on your soundtrack and not use “I saw your Mommy.” Really? Party foul, guys!