Dylan_in_the_Movies

A subversive, inventive, and cool sci-fi action comedy, this is John Carpenter at his best critiquing 1980s America. It's a fantastic premise of an alien invasion, slowly taking over in plain sight. 1980s Los Angeles looks real: a gritty setting where religious cults are everywhere and yuppies suck. This is a fun sci-fi film with an unexpectedly solid lead performance from Roddy Piper. The famous back alley fistfight scene between him and Keith David is so classic, so endless, that it alone makes this film worth seeing. Ultimately, it's the message that makes this a cool flick - a paranoid, paranormal modern day "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

Creepy imagery fills the screen, as a story within a story unfolds. Set in Japan, with Swedish characters, the plot is mesmerizing, disorienting, dark and fascinating. Something about translating a children's story, but that's just the starting point for an image-driven trip down the rabbit hole. This is an ambiguous character study open to interpretation. I enjoyed the strangeness of it all. It's unconventional and unique, choosing not to explain every action. This is a movie that does not follow a formula; it clearly has its own rhythm and style. The unsettling sound design adds to the mood, while the cool animation supports the sub-textual narrative. If you like independent thrillers, and are open to connecting the dots, check out EFFIGY.

John Carpenter in his prime was a true master of the genre. He reinvented the serial killer film with HALLOWEEN, and proved equally adept with the monster movie in 1982's THE THING. In between, he wrote and directed this supernatural ghost story and it shows an auteur bringing his 'A' game. Unfortunately, it falls short of being a classic - both in the horror genre and in Carpenter's oeuvre. It feels underwritten. It needs more character and plot development. It has a fantastic premise, revealed through creepy, tension building first half-hour. And then. . . Well it races to a climax. As if there's no middle. Which is fine for short attention spans, but not very rewarding. I wanted more.