Dark Dimension Ep1 - Together, Candyman (1992), and Planet of Dinosaurs

Welcome to the Dark Dimension! A new segment of the Goodell Multiverse where Ike Goodell reviews and reflects on horror film.

Episode 1 - Ike reviews Together, Candyman (1992), and Planet of Dinosaurs.

Transcript

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Hello everybody, this is Isaiah Goodell from the Goodell Multiverse. Welcome to the first episode of the Dark Dimension. Bear with me, guys. I just kind of put this together, a nice little setup. Got some really cool figures, a couple really neat bottles that are horror themed. I got my good collection of horror movies. It happens to not be all of them. But in this segment, basically what we're going to do is I plan on talking about possibly three movies at a time. I want to kind of do a quick review of a movie that I have seen recently that's horror themed. And I'd like to do an in-depth kind of mini retrospective of an older horror movie that I think that you should see, that everybody should know, that would be like a personal favorite of mine. And I want to do a segment I'm going to call the creature feature, which is basically any kind of like really low budget something that, you know, you really don't got to see, but it's just for like specific horror fans. Because I personally have this real love for, you know, 80s, 90s, early-on horror, 70s horror, that practical effects, you know, terrible acting, wild music, just things that went you know way beyond what they were at the time. And uh I think some of those movies are fun and at least worth remembering because when we make movies today, you see that there's a lot of resemblance from them in there. Um so yeah, that's that's kind of what the goal is. There's no real rules here, guys. I'm not sure when I'll do specific things, but I would like to do a longer series that's just on the Saw movies with a special guest. Sometimes I'll have another guest on, like Sam, um, and we'll we'll go from there and see what we can do. So I do have, you know, some note cards. So, you know, don't be alarmed when you look at these. I'm just making sure I'm catching everything. Some of the stuff I tell you about these movies, I want to make sure I get the directors' names right, the actors right, and all that fun stuff, and then I'll kind of give you my two cents on it. And we'll just go from there. So, hey, anyone that's joining in, thank you. And we appreciate everything you've been doing for the channel on the on the Godell Multiverse, and I hope this brings a little more to it. You know, uh, we we really do primarily base ourselves in Marvel, and that was always gonna be our goal. Uh, but we also know we'd like to branch out, you know, seeing that I watch a ton of movies. I can do a whole segment of my own on just horror movies. We can do a whole segment on just drama sometime. And then there is in the future you'll see Sam and I do segments on other movies that we're gonna watch and have a good time to talk about. But for now, we're gonna do some horror movies. And this episode will be a little longer, only because I had to explain everything to you guys, and I'll I'll kind of explain it each time as well. But this time, you know, let's see how it goes. So I want to start out with I saw a movie the other day for the first time that I it's one of those things where you forget a movie come out that you really wanted to see, and then it came out, and then it was like kind of I'm not in the mood to watch this movie. And I don't know, this movie looks like it might be really good, but I really got to be in the mood now. Whether it's because I work late sometimes, I get home, like, man, I'm gonna fall asleep, I'm not gonna watch this. Or I'm not sure if it's even something I should watch. And you know, it's almost every time I do that with a film that I'm interested in, I find that boy, I should have watched that movie because it was excellent. And today, first we're gonna talk about a movie called Together. So you can see it on there right now. I'm sure people have heard of this and seen trailer for it before, and that's this movie right here, okay? I'm gonna go ahead and set that down. So Together is a 2025 movie. It's directed by Michael Shanks. And by the way, it says this man's first directory and directorial debut of a film, to be honest. Uh, which is fantastic. Like for a first time out. Wow. Wow, wow, wow. I mean, this guy, he needs to be given some more projects. But it's starring Dave Franco and Allison Bree. It premiered at Sundance Film Festival, and it was picked up by Neon Studios, which, if anybody knows anything about Neon Studios, they do some wild stuff. So basically, what this movie is about, I'm going to give you a quick little synopse of it before I give you my review points that I want to talk about. And it's a long-term couple by a home in the countryside only to encounter a strange force that begins physically binding them together in horrifying ways. The movie was horror and grotesque physical transformation as a metaphor for codependency and long-term relationship anxiety. And this movie is chalked for full of metaphors, I'll tell you, people. This is a great movie, man. This is a lot of fun. I couldn't believe how much I had fun with this. The pacing of this movie keeps you so engaged. It's very disturbing right from the get-go, and the it holds right on to you. And what the pacing does so well for me is it keeps you interested in the mystery of what's really going on. And this is a movie you can't quite guess because it really never does tell you in the end, either. It leaves you, you know, kind of thinking about it and wanting to understand it yourself more so. So that's what I like about this film, is it's got the imagery with the pacing, makes it work perfect because it gives you just enough to keep you going. And, you know, it it keeps you interested by disturbing you as much as it possibly can. It's unpredictable in in the most fascinating and satisfying way. Um, the scares are unexpected. It's not that they take moments that you wouldn't think were scary. And there's a scene in his film where Franco is in a shower and he loses control of himself, and you're like, oh wow, that scene was very terrifying. And it's in mid-you know, mid-daylight. Like it's unexpected moments of fear that I was very pleased when I saw in this film. Because usually it's, you know, it's always dark, or you're in some dimlit house, or you're hiding in some graveyard, or you're, you know, in in some abandoned building. This was just normal day in your own home in the middle of the day. This is good, this comes at you when it comes at you and decides to. And I tell you that that makes it more unsettling and more unpredictable. And that's something I really, really enjoyed about it. And because of that, it relied very much on the mix of practical effects, um, mixed with CDI, CGI. And to me, that it couldn't have been better, like in that sense. Using practical effects, you're gonna hear me say it a hundred times on this channel, guys. I love horror movies of practical facts. Sometimes the dumber and weirder it looks, as long as it's practical effects. I'm I'm more in than I am on CGI. And this movie does a great job at teetering that line of CGI and practical facts, and you can see it. And when you see it, you accept it because it's just it fits very well. And the CGI compliments it, you know, it kind of brings a believable believability to those practical facts, which is actually real nice, you know. What's interesting is the chemistry between the two main characters in this, the husband and wife, is extremely believable. They are fantastic. And I found out that Franco and Bree are married in real life. So it's kind of a cheat code. They did a great job, but these two people that are already in love and already have started their life, they starred them together in a movie that deals with being in love and doing something together in life. And fantastic, awesome how they did that. And it's not relying on any jump scares. That's not to tell you there isn't some. Of course, every horror movie is gonna have that staple jump scare here and there, and that's gonna make them all fun, and that's what makes them what they are. But this does not rely on them. The majority of the stuff that's frightening in this movie is just showing you a scene and a segment and an image of something being discussed or what they're doing, and that image makes you feel unsettled. And to me, that goes millions of miles forward when it you can jump scare me in anything. You can take a drama movie and have a jump scare in it and still make me jump, you know, and cool. That's a fun feeling. That's what makes it fun, right? But if you can just freak me out from just what you show me, then you got a winner. And this movie, it did, it freaked me out. There are moments like, oh wow, that's very unsettling. And that that really bothered me and had it had me thinking about what I just watched. And part of me was like, I don't know if I wanted to see that. And I kind of enjoy that about this film as it takes you there. It's not afraid to take you there. And like I said, alluded to earlier, there's no clear answer at the end of this movie. This movie requires you to use your thinking cap, you know, to put it on, go watch it, and just be like, okay, I need to think about what's happening because when it ends, it ends. And and it has a very abrupt ending that stays with you a while after you've watched it. Um, not an abrupt ending like you didn't see it coming, but it's kind of what I like to call a snap ending that makes you go, oh wow, that was something else. And I'm not sure how I feel about that, but like it makes you think and it doesn't give you a very clear answer at all. You need to put the pieces together, you need to be zoned in on this one, guys. This isn't us throw it in and wait for the scares and do stuff around the house kind of movie. This is a sit-down, lights off, bucket of popcorn, pay attention to what's going on because the ending pays off because of that. So I highly recommend it. Uh don't wait. If you're like me and you just haven't seen this movie yet, put it in because it's a quick movie, it's a good time, it's gotten moments of levity that you laugh. The supporting characters are great, the setting is great, the pacing is great, you'll have a great time. I out of a 10, one out of 10 rating, I give this an eight out of 10. Go see that movie, guys. It's a fantastic movie. That's gonna be it for together, and that's gonna be the quick review of the day. So I want to do a little retro dive into a movie that I think is dear to my heart and excellent in the horror genre, and I couldn't think of a better one to do first for this first episode of The Dark Dimension. And that, of course, ladies and gentlemen, is gonna be 1992's Candyman. This movie is fantastic. I have a special relationship with this film because I watched it when I was arguably probably too young, and it left quite an impression on me as a young man, not knowing what I was quite into yet. And this movie made me go, there are things that are gonna floor me out there that I can watch that really, really floor me. And this is one of them. And of course, as I got older and watched it again and again, I, you know, gained knowledge and understanding of it, and it turned into a different kind of movie every time, you know. So a little backstory on this film. It's 1992, uh directed by Bernard Rose, and it's based on a short story called The Forbidden by one of my absolute favorite horror authors. I read this guy's stuff all the time. I've got several of his books. I'm hoping to have a little bookshelf up here sometime soon of a few uh classic horror story books that would be fun that you guys can see behind me. Um, and it's Clive Barker. He is so good. His horror writing is phenomenal. If you guys have not picked up anything, it is pick up the books of blood. They're fantastic writings. They've made several movies off of his stuff, you know, whether it's Hellraiser or Midnight Me Train. Um, I'm not a huge Hellraiser fan, which is kind of funny seeing how much I love Clive Barker, but this here is a great rendition of his short story, The Forbidden. Um, it's starring Virginia Madsen and the great Tony Todd. Everybody knows who Tony Todd is, if you've seen any uh of the Final Destination movies. He is an icon icon in the horror industry. Um, and he's I think arguably because of this movie, he is frightening, frightening in this movie, frightening. So a quick little synops of this one, just so you just so you understand what it's about. If you haven't seen it, which I'd be surprised. Anyone watching this that's a horror fan has probably seen this movie. Graduate student Helen Lyle is reaching, is researching urban legends. She becomes fascinated by the legend of the Candy Man, a murdered spirit who appears, if you say his name, five times into a mirror. Of course, it's a lot more complicated than that, but that is without giving a lot away. That's what this movie's about, right? So this movie, guys, is technically a slasher movie. And what's unique about it is it did something that most slasher movies didn't do. And when I say something, I mean a list of things. Because your typical slasher movie was not this kind of movie at the time that it was made. And it what it did is it had serious themes that other slashers usually didn't have. It had elegant cinematography that was full of gothic imagery. Now, you could argue that there might be some horror movies out there before this that also had that, but not in this specific genre of horror. This specific genre of horror really took to, you know, exactly that gothic, kind of elegant, frightening, but yet calm setting that it has that just feels almost unsettling, but you know, just enough to get you there. And it had psychological dread more than anything else. Most slasher movies, it's about where you feel safe and how you feel safe and how you get away from a bad guy and and what they're up to and how they're trying to get you. This one was you're not safe anywhere because it was more psychological than anything else. And it had a social commentary going along with it, which dealt with race issues at the time, um, which even kind of can talk about even today and going further. Uh, the backstory of Candy Man has a lot of that social commentary into it and who he was and where he's from and why he's the way he is. And most importantly, was the villain, guys. Uh, he's a tragic, charismatic, and intelligent villain. He was not here to just freak you out. I mean, he's freaky, he scares you. No doubt. That voice, telling Todd's voice, is just killer. And the way he acts and his movements, very grand in gesture, and very intelligent speaking, you know. Uh, and it's very tragic. His backstory makes some very tragic character that you you feel very bad for something being as malevolent as he's being. And he's very charismatic how he speaks, where he speaks, what he decides to do, a little theatrical, but yet a little undertone, you know. It's real good. Like it's it does something that a lot of slashers don't do, and that's one of them. And, you know, thanks to Tony Todd, to be honest with you, because he he's kind of the one that made that that way, and he he did a great job with it. You're quite sure the director and Clyde Barker's writing had a lot to do with it, but Tony brought it to life in a way that I I don't think you know anyone else could have at the time. Um I always like to say Canyon Man doesn't just kill people, he seduces belief, and that's kind of the theme of this movie. It's a seduction into the belief of this urban legend of him that keeps him alive, much like Freddie in a way. Um, but in this, there's a question of how real he is, even to the end, which I think is what's amazing about this film, how I take this film is you could watch this movie under the guise that he's a real spirit that comes and terrifies these people if they say their name five, if he's if they say his name five times in a row and a mirror. Um, or you could say they say his name five times a row and a mirror and they go crazy and they think they're doing his bidding. And the movie shows it to you both ways. You see him doing these killings and causing these situations, but it also kind of looks like Helen did the killing and caused these situations in the way it's set up when you watch. When you watch this, you'll see what I mean. It she could easily have been the one that went crazy and did all this stuff that he did. Because we're just seeing what she sees, but that doesn't necessarily mean that that's true. So it kind of leaves you with this idea of you could believe that this was all Helen and it was in her head, and she just went psycho and this caused her to do it. Sure, there's a plenty of evidence to prove that, and there's plenty of evidence to prove that he was a real spirit that's shown up and did this for real. I'd like to obviously believe that he did it for real, and he makes it look like that for a reason, especially with Helen, because I I think that he's after her. She is a descendant of a person in his backstory that he requires to have, that he falls in love with. And I think that his seducing her in by using murder around her to make her more like him is kind of his ambition here. And so I'd like, you know, I would love you guys to put in comments your thoughts on what you thought that means when you watch this. I'm assuming you've already seen it. So hopefully you guys already know. Spoiler warning. I know I'm a little late, but watch it anyways, even if you've already seen it. If not, even if I am giving away things to you guys now, this is still worth a watch for these reasons because it'd be neat to know what your thoughts are, because this is a great one for that. Uh and and there's almost zero jump scares. There's a couple here and there, you know, just to kind of give that glimmer of horror like every horror movie does. But once again, this is another one of those that relies on the practical effects a lot and just the imagery of what you're seeing and the lighting, the use of of uh bright lights and uh stagnant light in this movie is phenomenal. Um it it leaves you wanting a lot more, you know. And almost you almost feel like you've been there too long in these scary moments. There's moments that when Candyman shows up when he's terrorizing who he's terrorizing, uh there's times where you're kind of like, man, like five minutes ago, I'd have been running out the door screaming down the street already. But they the camera and the director make you stay there in that moment to witness what she's witnessing, and it almost makes you feel uncomfortable like you've seen too much. Um, but that's kind of what they want you to feel because they want you to be in in the guise of Helen as much as possible. And she does get to see you way too much, and they I think they want us to also feel that same feeling. And a neat thing about it is Candyman's origin has something to do with bees when it comes down to his death when he was a human uh back in the day. And there are several scenes in this where there are bees on Tony Todd's body and coming out of his mouth. They he did all those he did all those stunts himself. So when you see this in the movie, it's pretty amazing the lengths that they went to to make this stuff happen. And it's fantastic, guys. This is I consider this a must-see. This is a must-see in a horror collection. If you're a horror fan, this is the kind of movie that you definitely need to watch. This is one that you should definitely put on the shelf. I think it's one you should buy. It's good to have the physical media for. Um, go for it. This is easily a 10 out of 10 for me. I don't give a lot of 10 out of 10s, folks, but this one is a 10 out of 10, and it is phenomenal. I watch it at least once a year, every Halloween time it goes on as a ritual. It's just something that I've seen that many times because it's an easy watch, it's not a hard watch, it's not a very long movie. Uh it it just works for all those things. So get out there, guys. Watch this movie you haven't watched it. Sometime we'll I'll do a review of the sequels. Uh, I'm not a huge fan of the other sequels. They're okay, they're fun. They kind of lose their potency. Um, and there's a prequel, well, not prequel, but there's a reboot that they did not too long ago, I which I love somewhat. It doesn't do quite the same justice that this deserves. But I'll do a review of that too, sometime, guys. But right now we're gonna stick with just this first one. So Candyman, guys, watch it. Excellent movie. All right, and that's the end of that one. So we're on to our creature feature. This one here is gonna be kind of quick, you know. It's not a big deal. Uh, this is that kind of movie, guys. Uh, these are all bad movies, okay? So I mean, they're bad depending on how much you like them, you know. That's almost so bad that they're good, and that's kind of what I'm getting at. So today's good bad movie or creature feature of the day is definitely going to be planet of the dinosaurs, or just planet of dinosaurs, I guess. There are several different names, a couple different names, but that tends to be the original. 1977. So, you know, you know where we're going with this already when I start throwing out dates like that. Directed by James K. Shaw. Basically, this movie, guys, is like what if you mixed space survival, dinosaurs, and stop-motion monsters, and this is what you get planet of dinosaurs. This movie's awesome, guys. It's so bad, it's good. All right, so the synopsis of this movie, just to give a little quick little background on it, it's a spaceship called the Odyssey, crashes on a distant planet with breathable air and earth-like conditions. The survivors soon realize the world is essentially on an earlier evolutionary timeline, meaning it's full of prehistoric life. That's it, guys. It is a simple movie about these people that crash land on a planet that's much like Earth, that has dinosaurs on it at the time, and now they're there and they're stuck, and they got to start over. You could arguably say maybe this is the beginning of how we got here. I mean, it's this uh definitely gonna be the beginning of how people got to this planet. And you know, you wait millions of years and you forget that a spaceship crash that got them there. But that's kind of how this movie ends, to be honest with you, is they look a Like cavemen because they gotta make their own clothes and build their own little homes and fend themselves away from dinosaurs. But that's what's unique about this film is it starts out with laser beams and and futuristic outfits and scary dinosaurs and ends up with cavemen that look like, oh wow, this is Earth, right? This is Earth, right? So you never know. I mean, I don't think that's what they're going for. I I do believe they talk about Earth already in this, so this is just another planet that is much like Earth, and these people get to be the new inhabitors of it, at least the ones that survive, that's for sure. Think Gilligan's Island meets Jurassic Park. That's pretty much what you're getting with this. It's silly. Uh, not meant to be silly. Gilligan's Island at least was a comedy. This isn't, but man, do you laugh? Some of the stuff they say is hilarious. The dialogue in this is awful. The acting in this is the best it can be. It's passionate. These people aren't horrible, but this is dope. If you're going in this looking for Christian Bale level acting, guys, you're watching, you're watching the wrong movie. That's not this movie. I promise you that. Uh let's see what else I got written down here for just a quick review of it, just to get you in it. Oh, the stop motion effects is some of the best. I mean, it's it is it's some of the best at the time, um, mostly because it's very inventive and violent. You get some of the old stop motion stuff, it's not as violent. You know, it does look it maybe from the visual, but they don't get too violent because they're only working with what they can and and they try not to do too much of that. But in this one, man, they they go the distance and make sure it stays violent. And when these dinosaurs do stuff, they do stuff, and you can see it. And I like how often they use it, and I like uh that it very much relies on it because there's nothing really that good and special about this film except for these moments, and there's a lot of them, so that that is very nice. This is chock full of uh stop motion animation, and it's really good. Um, I would love someday, maybe I'll talk Sammy into this guy's wink wink. We would I would love to do a spoof dub over of this film where we play this movie and we do the voices of the different people on it and make it funny because it already is funny, but like the dubbing of this movie is already bad. When you watch it, you can tell that you know, some of what they're saying and what is what their mouths are doing is different already. So you know they fixed a lot of things and added stuff and went back, all sorts of stuff with this movie. It would be an easy movie to put in and just overdub a fun story, just something funny on how the characters react. You'll see what I mean. This is a mystery science theater kind of watch, and it's the best way to put it. It's the kind of movie you could sit with some friends and just laugh and just be like, this is wild. What a wild, crazy, dumb idea, and it's a lot of fun. And it's the kind of movie that if you really like this kind of stuff, if you like dinosaurs and you like people fighting dinosaurs and that kind of survival thing with that mix of sci-fi, then this is a kind of a must-see. I think this is one of those classics that is like a diamond in the rough kind of thing, where sure it's not perfect, yeah, it's not that good. It's not Jurassic Park, it's not alien, you know, but it it doesn't need to be, you know, it it does its job for exactly what it is, and is is must-see. This is a must-see creature feature, guys. Watch this movie for sure. Um, I'm gonna give it its its practical score on on the real scale of one to ten for horror. Yeah, it's like a two. There's a lot wrong here. You'll see what I mean. There's a lot wrong with this movie, but it's like a two. But on the creature meter, it's a nine out of ten. Like on that, you just don't care. Throw it in because why not? It's a nine out of ten, easily, a must-see for sure. So that will conclude, guys, the creature features and the dark dimension movies of this week. So just a reminder go back, take the time, watch together, watch this with a with a family member or with a loved one. It's a great one, especially if you got a wife or a girlfriend or a boyfriend or whatever you have that uh loves these kinds of movies, is a great one to watch as a couple. Watch that. It's a great film, guys. And of course, you know, one of the classics, one of the best ever made, Candyman. I promise you, won't it won't steer you wrong. Right from the music, beautiful music, guys, all the way through. This movie has all of the gem. It's got everything that you want it to have. It's a million bucks. It's a great movie. This is worth very much. Every horror fan should have this in their minds repertoire of horror movies. And of course, if you like creature features and you like some of that stuff that's just nonsense, sci-fi features, whatever you kind of think of it, then watch this planet of dinosaurs. This movie is fantastic. And hey guys, this channel, you know, this segment of this channel, uh, we're gonna dive into these kinds of movies. As you can tell, it's gonna be horror movies, sci-fi, anything with monsters, that kind of stuff, thrillers. I'll go through them, you know, we'll go through a bunch together. Guys will have a good time with it. My background and stuff will change as we go. Thank you for being with me for this first episode and all the little kinks I have to work out. And uh, I hope to see you next time, you know. So, hey, keep enjoying those horror movies, man, keep it going. Support your local horror movies, go see what's coming out. Let's keep theaters interested in keeping these movies coming so we can get great original horror ideas because man, when they're good, they're good. And I appreciate them very much. So I appreciate you guys. Thanks for watching. Hit the like button, share, all your friends go over and check out the Godell Multiverse. We're gonna be doing more on uh Marvel stuff over there. You'll be seeing us do some Marvel news and all that, and look for part one of the Avengers retrospective coming out this next week or so. So we'll have a lot, and Sam and I are gonna have a lot of time, a lot of fun time doing that. So good talking to you guys. Thanks for sticking with me and see you next time.