Van Helsing ヴァン・ヘルシング （１）

ヴァン・ヘルシング

先週はあまりに時間がなかったので一週お休みにした。今週は通常通りお送りするよ！

先週末、たまたまWOWOWで録りためていた映画の中で『ヴァン・ヘルシング』を観ていたら、その話の中でハロウィンのシーンがあることに知った。「そうなんだ」と、観るのは初めてじゃなかったんだけど、それを知って今週はヴァン・ヘルシングをお送りすることにした。

ヴァン・ヘルシングは、２００４年のアメリカ映画。今からもう７年前になる。ヒュー・ジャックマンとケイト・ベッキンセールが共演したアクションファンタジーホラーの大ヒット作だ。

Casper キャスパー （５）

キャスパー

Dr. Harvey and the Ghostly Trio appear, the former having died by falling down a manhole while drunk. Dr. Harvey has no memories of Kat, who is heartbroken, but when she reminds him of who she is, he is shocked at what he has done to himself. Casper gives up the chance to become human by allowing Dr. Harvey to use the Lazarus and reunite with Kat.

The Halloween party kicks off downstairs, but Kat realizes she was tricked by Vic and Amber (who planned to upstage the party) when Casper's uncles chase them out of the manor. Casper sits sadly alone in his room until the spirit of Amelia appears and grants him a wish in gratitude for caring for her daughter and husband—to spend one night alive, allowing him to dance with Kat until ten o'clock PM.

Casper キャスパー （４）

キャスパー

Meanwhile, Casper and Kat find a secret passage down to the laboratory of Casper's father, while Carrigan and Dibs spot a vault where they assume the treasure is.

Upon learning that the Lazarus works by inserting a formula which brings back the dead, Carrigan and Dibs steal said formula with the intention of using its power to rob banks as ghosts then come back to life to enjoy their ill-gotten riches.

Casper キャスパー （３）

キャスパー

Kat finds a newspaper article describing how Casper's father attempted to create a machine named the Lazarus, designed to resurrect his dead son but he was sent to an insane asylum.

As Casper and Kat go to find the Lazarus, Carrigan and Dibs sneak in after the Ghostly Trio drag Dr. Harvey out for a happy hour.

While out, the Trio consider killing Dr. Harvey, certain that he will become a ghost and join their band, but when he tells them that he won't force them out of their house, they decide they like him too much to simply murder him.

Casper キャスパー （２）

キャスパー

Dr. Harvey travels the country with Kat, really in search of the ghost of his deceased wife, Amelia. They move into Whipstaff, but Casper's attempt to befriend Kat backfires when his uncles arrive home and cause havoc. The next day, Casper tries to keep the peace between his uncles and their new mortal guests.

Dr. Harvey begins to counsel the Ghostly Trio who claim they know where Amelia dwells, but Fatso pulls a prank on him. Kat begins her first day at school, and unintentionally convinces the class to hold their Halloween party at Whipstaff. She also is befriended by classmate Vic, who asks her to the dance by order of his friend Amber, the stroppy, spoiled class president who was originally going to host the party.

Casper キャスパー （１）

キャスパー

今月はハロウィン月間ということで、先週は『E.T.』をお送りした。今週は『キャスパー』をお送りしよう。

キャスパーの本編にハロウィンのシーンが登場するわけではない（と思うんだけど）、やっぱり、"オバケ"ってことで。ハロウィンに観てみたい一本。

主演は、クリスティーナ・リッチ。彼女の名を一気に高めたアダムス・ファミリーから早２２年ほど。１０歳くらいだった彼女ももう３３歳だ。

本作での彼女は１４歳くらい。まだまだ可愛い子役だ。映画に登場するオバケのキャスパーも可愛い。親子で楽しめる一本だよ。

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial （５）

E.T.

Standing near the spaceship, E.T.'s heart glows as he prepares to return home.

Mary, Gertie, and "Keys", a government agent, show up. E.T. says goodbye to Michael and Gertie, as Gertie presents E.T. with the flower that he had revived. Before entering the spaceship, E.T. tells Elliott "I'll be right here", pointing his glowing finger to Elliott's forehead.

He then picks up the flower Gertie gave him, walks into the spaceship, and takes off, leaving a rainbow in the sky as Elliott (and the rest of them) watches the ship leave.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial （４）

E.T.

On Halloween, Michael and Elliott dress E.T. as a ghost so they can sneak him out of the house. Elliott and E.T. ride a bicycle to the forest, where E.T. makes a successful call home.

The next morning, Elliott wakes up in the field, only to find E.T. gone, so he returns home to his distressed family. Michael searches for and finds E.T. dying in a ditch and takes him to Elliott, who is also dying.

Mary becomes frightened when she discovers her son's illness and the dying alien, just as government agents invade the house. Scientists set up a medical facility there, quarantining Elliott and E.T.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial （３）

E.T.

At school the next day, Elliott begins to experience a psychic connection with the alien, including exhibiting signs of intoxication due to the alien drinking beer, and he begins freeing all the frogs in a biology class. As the alien watches John Wayne kiss Maureen O'Hara in The Quiet Man, Elliott kisses a girl he likes.

The alien learns to speak English by repeating what Gertie says as she watches Sesame Street and, at Elliott's urging, dubs itself "E.T." E.T. reads a comic strip where Buck Rogers, stranded, calls for help by building a makeshift communication device, and is inspired to try it himself.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial （２）

E.T.

PLOT

The film opens in a California forest as a group of alien botanists collect flora samples. U.S. government agents appear on the scene, and the aliens flee in their spaceship, mistakenly leaving one of their own behind.

The scene shifts to a suburban home, where a 10-year-old boy named Elliott is trying to hang out with his 16-year-old brother Michael and his friends. As he returns from picking up a pizza, Elliott discovers that something is hiding in their tool shed.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial （１）

E.T.

ハロウィンの季節ということで、今週はスティーブン・スピルバーグ監督の名作E.T.。ハロウィンと言えば、あのホラー映画のハロウィンが頭に浮かぶんだけど、去年やったので。 Holloween

下記本文にも出てくるけど、こういうE.T.のような大ヒット作を、英語で "blockbuster" と言う。ブロックバスターと言えば、アメリカのレンタルビデオ店を思い出すけどそういうことだったんだね。

E.T.  とは、"the Extra-Terrestrial" の略で、『地球外のもの』といったような意味。E.T. は、映画史上に語り継がれる名作中の名作だ。ドリュー・バリモアが子役で出演していることはよく知られているよね。

Solstice 死霊の棲む森 （５）

死霊の棲む森

PLOT 3

Megan realizes that the ghost is not that of Sophie, but Malin's, and she takes Nick to the ruins she encountered earlier, when she fell over. The other friends all follow, including Christian with a gun. Nick and Megan get split up, and Christian almost shoots Nick.

Megan then digs up Malin's body, and finds that the key on the key chain is for Malin's bicycle, which was buried with her. They then call the police. Christian then admits that the year before, when they all came to the lake house, including Sophie, he and Sophie were going for a drive and hit Malin.

Solstice 死霊の棲む森 （４）

死霊の棲む森

PLOT 2

Megan goes running, but she trips over a hole in the ground, and cracks her nail(which she had foreseen in several nightmares). As she limps back to the road, she meets Leonard again. Inside his van, she sees a hat identical to Sophie's. The next day, the day of the solstice, after recovering from her fall, she walks down to Leonard's house.

She finds several large knives, and farming equipment. Inside the house, she looks around, and finds a young girl's bedroom. On the cabinet, Megan notices a cutting from a newspaper regarding Malin's disappearance. Leonard arrives home, and Megan has to jump out of the girl's window to escape. Back at the lake house,

Solstice 死霊の棲む森 （３）

死霊の棲む森

PLOT 1

Megan (Harnois) has been distraught since her twin sister Sophie (Harnois) committed suicide a few months ago. When it comes time for their annual summer solstice trip to a lake house in the bayous of Louisiana with her friends, Megan reluctantly decides to go.

Once the five friends arrive, Megan soon begins to suspect that her dead sister is trying to communicate with her as the solstice—the time when our world and the next are closest—approaches. she sees numerous shadow-like figures, mud runs from all the taps, and Megan is "followed" by Sophie's key chain that she keeps getting rid of.

Solstice 死霊の棲む森 （２）

死霊の棲む森

PRODUCTION AND RELEASE

While working on The Strand in 2005, Myrick announced the imminent shooting of Solstice, and his hope that it would "hark back to elemental horror films like Rosemary's Baby and The Shining."

The film met with problems due to Hurricane Katrina and production was postponed. Filming commenced in New Orleans in April, 2006, shooting in the Garden District and in bayous around Louisiana.

Solstice 死霊の棲む森 （１）

死霊の棲む森

夏のホラーシリーズ、１３日の金曜日をPART4までお伝えしてきたけど、今週は別の作品、『死霊の棲む森』(原題 Solstice）。

アマンダ・セイフライドが出ているんで観たんだけど、アマンダは主役じゃなくて別の女優が主役だった。でも、「どっかで見たことあるなあ、この女優・・・」と思っていたら、過去にテレビドラマで観ていた『ポイントプレザントの悪夢』の主演女優、エリザベス・ハーノイスだった。

今となってはアマンダの方がメジャーになっているんだけど、エリザベスは確かに美人だ。アマンダと言えば、この作品ではちょっと太っていて、確かにこの作品においては主役はエリザベスって感じだよ。