Shocktoberween

I've written many times before about how much I love October....
Clearly, this is the best month of the year. It gives us good food, nice weather, and fine holidays. Plus, October is the perfect time to watch lots of horror movies.


With that in mind, I thought I'd tell you about a great resource for finding all of the classic monster movies you could possibly need. It's Cinnemasacre's annual Monster Madness October. Yeah, remember when I wrote about the Angry Video Game Nerd about a year ago? Well, the Nerd's real name is James Rolfe, and he's a huge monster movie fan. In fact, most of his website is devoted to crappy old films, and each October, he puts up a video profile of a different classic horror film every day. That's right -- 31 days of campy goodness.

I'm finding it all very fascinating this time around because Rolfe is focusing on the dumbest, most obscure stuff he can find. It's not just King Kong or The Invisible Man here; he's talking about crap like Fiend Without A Face and Dracula Versus Frankenstein this year.

(Dracula vs. Frankenstein)

Heck, a fella could simply plan his October around Cinamassacre's Monster Madness series. You know -- rent each pic as Rolfe profiles it. Hey, I know that I'm bringing up the subject a little late, but whatever. We've still got, like, 20 days of this month left to go, which is plenty of time to catch up. Why not queue some old monster flicks?


Now here's one of them movies that blurs the line between the psychological thriller and horror genres. It blew my mind.

Bug (2006)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470705/


Netflix description:
Based on a play by Tracy Letts, this claustrophobic thriller from Exorcist director William Friedkin focuses on the love story between a man (Michael Shannon) and a woman (Ashley Judd) convinced that the government is implanting insects in its citizens. Harry Connick Jr. plays the woman's abusive ex-husband in this nightmare tale of paranoia that takes place in an America where no one -- least of all the authorities -- can be trusted.

So, Bug stars Ashley Judd as Agnes, a hard-drinking, motel-dwelling single waitress who hooks up with a paranoid schizophrenic. His name is Peter, and he thinks that the military is using his body to incubate mind control insects. You know -- fairly normal stuff.

When we meet Agnes, she's cowering in her hotel room, convinced that her recently-paroled ex-husband is on his way to find her. See, he's the abusive type and Agnes has been trying to get away from him for years. Peter walks into the picture shortly before the ex-hubby (played by Harry Connick Junior) actually does show up, and serves to kind of scare the dude away. Maybe that's why Agnes lets him stick around, even though he's completely nuts.

Anyway, Agnes and Peter stay locked in this cheap motel room for days on end, doing a lot of crack or something (I'm not exactly sure what substance they're abusing, but it's white and they smoke it). Perhaps because of the drugs -- or maybe because she, too, has been crazy all along -- Agnes starts to believe Peter's bug conspiracy. They line the walls with tin foil and spend all day analyzing Peter's blood under a microscope. Attempts by friends of Agnes to get her to come out of the room are unsuccessful, and even her ex-husband's threats of violence fail to elicit a response. Nope -- Agnes and and Peter are full-blown wackaloons.

...Or, ARE they???


As stated, Bug completely blew my mind. I've always been fascinated by mental craziness, and this picture displays it in its wildest, most unabashed form. Like all paranoiacs, Peter sees proof of his imaginary government insect conspiracy in everything, and anyone who tries to talk sense to him is clearly in on it. His illness gets truly out of control, though, when he finds Agnes, a person who is actually willing to go along with him on all of this stuff.

I gotta give special props to Ashley Judd, who is excellent as our white trash heroine. I mean, she embodies the spirit and mannerisms of a half-lesbian, alcoholic trailer native superbly. Broken down by years of abuse, Agnes has the same weary look in her eyes that Vietnam vets do. She has one insane monologue towards the end of this picture that may be embarrassing for some to watch, but I found to be brilliant. Ashley really goes all out in this picture, giving one of them throw-restraint-to-the-wind sorts of performances. Who woulda thunk anyone this talented would come from the Judd Family?

(Wynonna's a MAN, baby!)

The tension in Bug climbs steadily from start to finish, and by the halfway mark of the third act, I actually felt like I couldn't take it anymore. For instance, at one point, Peter pulls out his own tooth with a pair of pliers. Now, that's tough to watch...especially when it happens after ten minutes of unrelenting psychotic ranting. It was like sensory overload for me. The drama in Bug had me alternately leaning forward in my seat, and averting my eyes. What fun!

Now, I know that I've been saying throughout this review that Peter is just a nutball; but in actuality, that's not made TOTALLY clear in the film. In fact, there's a certain open-endedness about Bug. Is all of this stuff really just in Peter's head? I think so, but you should really check it out for yourself.

And I thoroughly recommend doing so. I loved Bug -- it's the wildest movie I've seen in some time. Expertly crafted by William Friedkin (director of The Exorcist) , brilliantly performed, and with an absolutely compelling story by Tracy Letts (usually a TV writer), Bug had my undivided attention from start to finish. It takes us on a descent into madness like few other films have. Check this little gem out.

I give it a rare...

5 out of 5.

b.