Five Nights at Freddy's - The scoop and digest

Series creator Scott Cawthon co-produces, co-writes screenplay and story, while Emma Tammi directs Blumhouse's first video game based film.

Josh Hutcherson - Mike

Piper Rubio - Abby

Elizabeth Lail - Vanessa

Matthew Lillard - Steve Raglan/William Afton

Mary Stuart Masterson - Aunt Jane

Summary

After beating the ever loving shit out of a father whom he mistook for a kidnapper, troubled security guard Mike is offered a job by his career counsellor Steve.

He initially refuses, but the threat of social services taking custody of his kid sister Abby and passing her over to Aunt Jane forces a change of heart.

As the nights wear on at Freddy Fazbear's, Mike's nightmares about his missing brother Garrett intensify and the truth about what happened at abandoned pizzeria is gradually revealed.

Mid-credits

An off-duty taxi driver is woken up and yelps when Balloon Boy is left on passenger seat.

End-credits

As wall of text draws to a close, William Afton's distorted voice spells out 'come find me'.

Let's eat!!!

Despite high production values, Jim Henson's Creature Shop and puppeteers doing a fantastic job with animatronics, we endure a dreary human drama.

15 certificate suggests a splatter fest, but kills taking place off-screen and/or in the shadows means there's hardly any gore.

Also, it's never creepy or scary, so completely drops the ball.

Even though Willy's Wonderland is a complete rip off, that was more fun.

Box office success ensures sequels are inevitable, but filmmakers need to listen and address criticisms.

Killers of the Flower Moon - The scoop and digest

Martin Scorsese co-writes screenplay with Eric Roth to adapt David Grann's nonfiction book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.

Leonardo DiCaprio - Ernest Burkhart

Robert De Niro - William King Hale

Lily Gladstone - Mollie Burkhart

Jesse Plemons - Tom White

Tantoo Cardinal - Lizzie Q

John Lithgow - Peter Leaward

Brendan Fraser - W.S. Hamilton

Summary

As Osage elders mourn their descendants assimilating into white American society, members of the tribe find oil erupting from the ground of Oklahoma reservation and become stinking rich.

Unfortunately for them, laws require white guardians to manage finances.

Ernest Burkhart returns home from World War I to his crime lord uncle William King Hale.

Knowing she owns oil headrights, Hale tells nephew to give special attention to Osage family member Mollie.

Before we know it, they're married with children.

Meanwhile, Hale has already put heinous get rich scheme into action, ordering the murders of several Osage, with Ernest also participating.

An extremely sick Mollie begs President Coolidge for help, and the Bureau of Investigation (forerunner to the FBI) sends Agent Tom White and his assistants to investigate.

Children of the Middle Waters

First off, is controversial running time a problem?

Apart from the first hour, not really.

But I suspect many will wait to stream epic on Apple TV+.

Oscar nominations beckon for DiCaprio and De Niro, but surprisingly - Lily Gladstone steals the show.

Towards the end, Ernest points out Hale in court, mirroring Ray Liotta's Henry doing the same to Jimmy (also played by De Niro) in Goodfellas.

Cute.

It Lives Inside - The scoop and digest

Inspired by a story his grandfather used to tell him, writer-director Bishal Dutta makes feature-length directorial debut.

Megan Suri - Sam/Samidha

Neeru Bajwa - Poorna

Mohana Krishnan - Tamira

Betty Gabriel - Joyce

Gage Marsh - Russ

Summary

Samidha attempts to reject her cultural heritage and mix with white friends at school, but in the process, grows apart from bestie Tamira, who is never without a strange glass jar.

When Tamira tells Sam about a monster living inside makeshift comfort blanket, she reacts unfavourably and lashes out, causing vessel to break.

Shortly after, Tamira goes missing.

Following a series of terrifying nightmares, Sam asks her teacher Joyce for help, whose digging returns a demonic entity in East Indian mythology called the Pishach, that feeds on negative energy.

Pennywise anybody?

The race is on to rescue Tamira.

Devourer of souls

Interesting concept is hindered by generic execution.

Having said that, I've seen much worse.

There are some decent set pieces and jump scares can be effective.

Appearance of Jenaya Ross's demon is predictably kept mysterious until climax, but Xenomorph crossed with Predator looks pretty goofy.

Creature is weakened by Sam and Tam chanting shanti and ultimately contained when Sam allows it to enter her body.

Apart from lifting elements from A Nightmare on Elm Street and It Follows, Karan's journal is unashamedly modelled on Evil Dead.

Yes, I'm talking about 2013 re-imagining, not The Evil Dead.

Damn filmmakers and their irritating titles.

I did note Sam wears a tee which appears to be based on Army of Darkness.

Most of all, this smells strongly of The Babadook, right down to satisfying entity's insatiable hunger for food.

Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem

A few years back, I looked at both Doom films in greater detail.

https://nukesandknives.blogspot.com/2020/10/doom-2005-and-doom-annihilation.html

Now Xenomorphs and Yautjas butt heads.

Star Beast

Dan O'Bannon's original concept for Alien was for eggs to be discovered inside a pyramid-like temple.

Here's a drawing from 1976 screenplay.

The silhouette of the pyramid is instantly suggestive of the scrawled triangle in the alien ship.

Alien: The Original Screenplay - issue 2 (September 2020)

Now epic journey can officially begin.

Alien vs. Predator

Charles Weyland Bishop's team find the pyramid.

Sacrificial chamber

Layout of stone plinths are identical to sleep pods on the Nostromo.

Pushing pause.

Concept artist Ron Cobb depicts Kane exploring the guts of pyramid.
His torchlight illuminates a hieroglyph explaining the Alien life-cycle.

Every 100 years, the Predators visit Earth to take part in a rite of passage, where humans sacrifice themselves as hosts for Xenos, creating the ultimate 'prey' for the Yautja to hunt.

Alien Invasion vs poster

As only one is born, tagline 'We do not come in peace' doesn't make any sense.

Confusingly, appalling pile of shit rapes Alien, not AVP.

Man in a piss poor suit stalks young hotties in a house.

Miscellany

Hieroglyph vs poster 2

Centre of floor vs Alien³ poster

Prior to Queen fight, Scar gives Lex's cheek something to remember him by.

As story draws to a close, issue 4 of Aliens vs. Predator (December 1990) sees the Predator mark Machiko Noguchi's forehead.

Predator: Concrete Jungle¹

Scarface can wear the Alien Hunter costume (Antarctica 2004).

Also, Hunter Borgia mentions to his daughter Lucretia that he knew Charles Bishop Weyland before he 'vanished'.

¹ntbcw with 1995 novel or comic series (originally just called Predator).

Interesting this one.

Knowing his fate is already sealed, Sebastian begs Lex to kill him, and she obliges.

Principle smacks of Alien (Director's Cut).

Ripley stumbles across Dallas, who says 'kill me'.
She torches him before he fully becomes an egg.

Ironically, a similar scene with Burke is described in the novelisation of Aliens.

Aliens: Newt's Tale - issue 2 (July 1992)
Rather than mercy killing him, Ripley hands over a grenade 

Cut sequence was restored as a bonus feature in Blu-ray boxset Alien Anthology.

Rip offs

Scar breaking chestburster's neck vs Alien³ - issue 3 (July 1992)

Whoa!

During pull out shot, Predators battle Aliens.

I have no idea if this is coincidence, but...

The One (2001)
Yulaw (one of several characters Jet Li plays) takes on an army of prisoners in the Hades Universe.

Guess what camera does?

And no, Paul W.S. Anderson didn't direct sci-fi action fantasy.

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem

Even if we can hardly see it (because film is so dark), at least sequel upped the gore.

2008 DVD vs AVH: Alien vs. Hunter

Considering the latter is a mockbuster of AVP, sleeve designers were either aware or taking the piss.

Carrie vs Ripley - Alien³

It may have gone unnoticed, but third act blatantly clones Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999).

Cops vs aliens

Cops vs zombies

Capcom took 'inspiration' from:

The Return of the Living Dead (1985)

Colonel Stevens sends an F-22 Raptor to deploy a nuclear missile to obliterate Gunnison.

Dallas and fellow survivors Ricky, Kelly and Molly escape in a helicopter.

The Government wipes Raccoon City off the map with a missile strike.

Although there are three possible endings, cinematic is essentially the same.

However, it's entirely possible that The Brothers Strause (Greg and Colin) were huge fans of Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), which used Resi 3 as template.

Alice, Jill, Carlos etc flee nuke.

Allegation is strengthened by subsequent scene, as explosion forces respective helicopters to crash land.

Bonus round

Very briefly, let's check out soulless PSP exclusive (released shortly before film).

Cover vs Batman/Aliens - issue 1 (March 1997)

Homage?

Maybe.

Big River Hospital has a ward named after Hudson.

Game over man!

The Amazing World of Alien, Predator and Friends

Rather than spamming franchises as a whole, I mix specifics with other media.

Alien (1979)

Before proceeding, why not reacquaint yourself with another fascinating story?

http://nukesandknives.blogspot.com/2021/11/alien-special-order-937.html

Miscellany

The Alien Legacy (1999)
Owing to the limitations of VHS edition, Nostromo crew profiles were created specifically for DVD boxset, and also the first time every film was made available for said format.

Going through Brett's service record...

Sep 15, 2097 to Oct 21, 2101 - DSV Ozymandias

Percy Bysshe Shelley's sonnet Ozymandias was published on 11 January 1818 (under the pen name Glirastes).

Horace Smith's poem on same subject matter was brought on 1 February 1818 with the initials H.S.

Alien: Covenant (2017)

David quotes an excerpt of Shelley's work:

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

Dino Crisis 3 (2003)

Guess what they called their version of the Sulaco?

And.

Clive Barker's Nightbreed - issue 21 - The Mad God Baphomet Part One (July 1992)
I am Ozymandias -- savior of saviors, god of gods.

Mouthbursters

Rule book is ripped up.

Alien: Icarus - issue 4

Alien: Covenant

Aliens vs. Predator (2010)

Please compare to:

Alien³ - issue 1 (June 1992)

WTF?

Chestburster leaving Newt's mouth and transferring itself to Ripley doesn't make any sense anatomically, but is unique to comic.

Alien: Isolation (2014)

Random crew member killed off-screen by a Working Joe is an obvious reference to Ash failing to do the same to Ripley.

Game is closer to comic adaptation, as magazine is violently shoved down her throat.

Alien: The Illustrated Story

For the record, he tries to strangle her with his bare hands in Alan Dean Foster's novelisation.

To be extremely mischievous.

Japanese flyer vs Dinosaur King¹ - S1 E48

I'm sure there's nothing in this, but shot of Max hiding from Black T-rex is uncanny.

¹rather than manga, anime series was adapted from 2005 arcade, with gameplay mechanics similar to Mushiking.

Keeping with the above theme.

Aliens: Tribes (April 1992)

Aliens: Newt's Tale - issue 2 (July 1992)

Aliens: Music of the Spears - issue 3 (March 1994)

Mixing it up.

C: The Contra Adventure (1998)

Starship Troopers (1959)

You can see a lot of Robert A. Heinlein's classic novel in Aliens.

Space marines, Powered Armour (as Power Loader) and Dropship.

'Inspiration' was not acknowledged.

Queen Alien

Beastie was designed by James Cameron in collaboration with Stan Winston, based on Cameron's initial painting at the start of project.

Cameron later stated in a letter to H.R. Giger's agent Leslie Barany:

"Mr. Giger's visual stamp was so powerful and pervasive in Alien (a major contributor to its success, I believe) that I felt the risk of being overwhelmed by him and his world, if we had brought him into a production where in a sense, he had more reason to be there than I did."

Subsequently, Winston is credited as Aliens Effects Creator, while Giger was the Original Alien Designer.

Get away from my eggs you BITCH!

While unconfirmed, there's strong evidence to suggest monster was based on a deep sea creature.

Phronima

Back with Giger.

Eggsilo exterior (1978)

Whether as nest or hive, others took note.

Aliens - issue 4 (May 1990)

Aliens: Labyrinth - issue 3 (November 1993)

Alien vs. Predator (1994 arcade)

Predator (1987)

For shiggles, an unrelated Wilbur Smith novel of same name exists.

Anyway, action classic blatantly rapes Without Warning (1980), as both concern trophy hunting aliens killing for sport.

To take the piss even further, Kevin Peter Hall played each antagonist.

One of the key differences in Paul Monette's pretty bizarre novelisation is that the alien is a shapeshifter, capable of taking the form of any creature it makes contact with.

Interestingly, this is opposite to the T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), as liquid metal assassin can only imitate humans.

Predator 2 (1990)

There's only one place to begin.

Greyback gifts Harrigan flintlock pistol.

This was supposed to be explored in Predator 3, but poor box office performance ensured sequel never came to fruition.

How mofo obtained firearm remained a mystery until 1996 Dark Horse comic Predator: 1718.

With his last breath, Raphael Adolini whispers "Take it..."

Greyback prepares a grave and out of respect, leaves his extendable sword there.

Prey (2022)
Live-action counterpart (Bennett Taylor) hands firearm over to Naru before monster cooks his goose.

At the end of Alien vs. Predator (arcade), Predator Warrior gives wrist blade to human cyborg Major Dutch Schaefer.

Cute.

Orphan: First Kill (2022)

Just before escaping the Saarne Institute, Esther literally bribes fellow patient Betsy by saying "Do you want some candy?"

Odd, but whatever.

Predator (June 1989 - March 1990)

Comic series (later subbed Concrete Jungle) serves as a sequel to Predator.

Detective John Schaefer suspects his brother's disappearance is connected to the spate of horrific murders plaguing New York City.

Mike Harrigan vs John Schaefer

Volatile personalities are very similar.

Little boy in park offering 'ghost' some candy probably came from:

Some son of a bitch thinks it's Halloween!
Let's give him some candy!

Subway massacre was lifted directly from issue 1.

Taking shit to extremes.

Yes, camera actually pans to show bloody hand.