Strangeland (1998)

Sorry, this movie sucks

just watch it!

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

First, the acting is horrible. I get the archetype of the disaffected detective, but disaffected does not mean disconnected. Gage is an iceberg except when he finds his daughter, than he becomes an emotional wreck before allowing himself to get beat up by a skinny kid. How did he make detective without learning self-defense? When he found the house, why didn't he call for backup? Next, the chat scene is completely unbelievable. There's no way you set up a new chat account and go right after the subject, and get an invitation for a face to face in 15 minutes. It's takes the FBI weeks, sometimes months, to get a suspect to trust them enough to meet. They were made as soon as they changed the profile, which was also bogus. The whole idea of a chat-room is anonymity. You can't get exact names and addresses. If you could, there would be no point to having a screen name. Also, ISPs did not store IM chats then. Only recently has the technology been developed to store them with a third party service. The technology didn't exist in 1998. At best, they might be able to trace the screen name back to a credit card.The tracing scene was also a joke. The guy's father was a marine. He had to learn something about tactics, like, I don't know, using an untraceable peer-to-peer network for his computer.As someone commented earlier, the 2nd half of the movie is pointless. If you are a seasoned detective, and you get a call from the guy who kidnapped your daughter, don't you grab her up right away? He seemed surprised that she was taken again after the nut-case sees him let the lynch mob take him. His powers of deduction are nonexistent.When this movie was released, it was scarier. This time, I spent more time laughing at all the mistakes and bad acting. This is now a 5***** rotten tomato.

Dee Snider's "Strangeland" had a long, strange trip. It really started with Twisted Sister songs, then Dee tried writing about a psycho clown, but "IT" had that idea, so Dee set about writing a horror film like "Seven". Hey, Dee! I liked this better than "Seven."Strangeland" is a really sick film. The protagonist, played by Dee himself, is a sicko named Carleton Hendricks aka Captain Howdy, a deviant with tattoos and piercings galore, he stalks young girls online and does really depraved stuff to them. Poor Geniveve Gage is the 1st victim. Note the actress! It ER"'s Linda Cardellini! What follows is really nasty, and scary, note the cauterization! But the film pulls a shocker early!Later on, see Dee in Mr. Rogers mode! Perhaps the most frightening shot in the movie! Kevin Gage plays Gage and yeah he sucks. Actually other than Robert Englund, delightfully playing a righteous redneck, the acting stinks. And the director's idea of suspense is cutting to black every three minutes! Still the heavy metal soundtrack, featuring, Marylin Manson, Pantera, Coal Chamber, Megadeth, Twisted Sister and Snot is truly awesome. Buy it."Strangeland" offers some great stuff and certainly doesn't stint on the horror, though its not anywhere near as bad as I was led to believe. For you DVD fans, Dee's commentary is every bit as disturbing as the movie! A really good horror flick with some very interesting twits and turns. I really have to agree with Robert Englund, the truly frightening thing about this flick isn't the death, its the suffering.. Cool!

this is just the kind of movie that feeds weak losers like edwin hall (26 year old factory worker) father of 1 son. he liked this movie so much he allegedly got his kicks out of torturing and killing an 18 year old high school girl after kidnapping her from a target parking lot. there is another girl from the area who has been missing for over a month. for life may the boys in prison reverse the role of this feeble freak and may he (hall) wish for, plead for death. anyone with any sense of human decency would walk away from this simplistic plot. it appeals to the same kind of people that get their kicks out of torturing small animals. if it is intended to shock, there is nothing new or clever or worth the time it takes to sit through any part of the movie. the lack of depth is an insult to anyone who is a horror film fan.

The sadistic Captain Howdy (Dee Snider) lures kids to his lair of torture and bondage via the Internet. After being caught (by the police father of one of the victims) and released, will the reformed Howdy be accepted into society? Will he accept the society? Is he reformed? I call this a 1990s horror film because unlike any other horror film that I can think of, this one really drove home the 90s underground scene: piercing, tattoos, leather, industrial music, bondage. These things existed in the 1980s and the 2000s, but as someone who grew up in the 90s, I can tell you that they were by far the most prominent from 1994 until 1999. My friend Jason even goes so far as to say this film is more of an advertisement for a lifestyle than it is a horror film. He may be right.Another great thing about this as a 90s film is the use of the Internet. It may not be the first horror film to utilize the Internet, but it stands out for me as one of the earliest to really make it a central theme. Later films would use the Internet and computers as killers or as tools for killers ("Stay Alive", "Pulse", "Watch Me", and even "Memory" with Billy Zane). But the late 90s were the days of the Internet boom, and this really shows the danger of online chatting before even MySpace existed. (Coincidentally, 1998 was also the year I would meet most of my online acquaintances.) The film draws on a history of horror with its use of the "Captain Howdy" name (the ghost from "The Exorcist") and the inclusion of Robert Englund, as well as some subtle (or not-so-subtle) "Nightmare on Elm Street" references. The movie knows it really isn't covering any new ground, and pays proper tribute to its ancestors.I don't think this one should be dismissed as just a period piece. Sure, it can be described that way, but look at what it set up. There's the computer aspect I already mentioned, but also look at the bondage and torture. Today, torture in films is big business ("Hostel", "Saw") and this film beat them to the punch. Again, it's likely not the one that started the torture subgenre, but I think it may have been one of the biggest films of its time.I recommend this film. If you grew up in the 1990s, you might have a better appreciation for it, but overall it's a good exploration of horror and Gothic themes. Dee Snider knows his stuff, and he has earned his place as the DJ for Fangoria Radio. I only wish he would make another film, if he has it in him to match or improve upon what he laid down here.