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TONIGHT SHE COMES (2016) movie review

October 25, 2017, 9:55 am
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Tonight She Comes (2016) d. Stuertz, Matt (USA) (2nd viewing) 84 min.

Rural mailman James (Nathan Eswine), just finishing up his rounds, drops his buddy Pete (Adam Hartley) off on the side of the road to answer the call of nature while he makes one last delivery: dropping a letter off at the (wait for it) remote cabin in the woods where party girls Ashley (Larissa White) and Lindsey (Cameisha Cotton) are planning to meet their pal Kristy (Dal Nicole) for a little weekend of R&R. Unbeknownst to anyone, Kristy’s body has been tasked with hosting an unholy spirit and is now wandering the bucolic outdoors in the buff, a lethal pawn in a mystical ritual set into motion by a bizarre backwoods family (Frankie Ray, Brock Russell, Jenna McDonald).


Ladies and Gentlemen, your pizza 'n' beer flick for 2017 has arrived.

Writer/director/editor/producer/DP Stuertz appears to have made a list of everything he loves in classic '80s splatter films, rolled them up into a big gooey burrito, and slapped it onto today’s Blue Plate Special with pride. There’s a little Friday the 13th, a little Evil Dead, a little Xtro, and a whole lot of everything else, all done with so much infectious enthusiasm that it’s hard to resist. When the opening title card reads, “THIS FILM SHOULD BE PLAYED LOUD ... AS HELL,” one gets a pretty clear idea of the level of juvenile fun Stuertz is aiming for, and he hits the bulls-eye more often than not.


True, the characters and dialogue are hardly realistic, but knowingly so, and the game ensemble swings for the fences with every single cliché. (I’ve seen some online beefing about this, but for my money, Stuertz & Co. know exactly what they’re doing – i.e. embracing the artifice of what has gone before – and are doing it extremely well.) Every cast member is given a chance to shine, but it’s McDonald who leads the pack as the resourceful hillbilly priestess-in-training who ain’t taking crap from no one.


A special blood-soaked shout-out to Katherine Shae Spradley for her expertise wielding the splashy practical effects and gruesome gore galore; there is a moment late in the film that had me sitting bolt upright, cheering and asking, “Why have I never seen THAT before???” I had a lot of fun with this one, both when I first saw it at BIFFF and this most recent viewing, and I can't recommend it highly enough.


Tonight She Comes is arriving soon via streaming outlets from The Asylum (I know, I know, but don’t hold it against them) and is making select appearances this month at Cinemark Theatres. (Details HERE)

You can also stay updated via their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/tonightshecomes/


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THE ZODIAC KILLER (1971) Blu-ray review

October 26, 2017, 9:47 am
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The Zodiac Killer (1971) d. Hanson, Tom (USA) (1st viewing) 87 min

Creating a movie about a serial killer while said serial killer is still at large and still very much active is a strange and exploitative notion indeed, but producer/director Hanson’s backstory further wrinkles the equation. The owner of a chain of slowly-going-bankrupt Pizza Man restaurants claimed (and continues to claim on the audio commentary track for the American Genre Film Archive aka AGFA’s blu-ray release) that his reason for the film’s genesis was that he hoped to catch the murderer, suspecting that the killer would not be able to resist the urge to watch his (or her) exploits dramatized on the big screen. It was a wild scheme, but it’s somewhat charming to believe - however unlikely - that altruism could actually coincide with exploitation.


Obviously, Hanson’s big plan didn’t work out as planned, since the mystery of the Zodiac Killer has yet to be resolved, but what about the film itself? Technically flawed and clumsily performed, it falls squarely in the realm of independent schlock, redeemed only by the “good bits,” i.e. the murders themselves, and while some of these do mirror actual historical accounts, others are constructed from whole (and wholly ludicrous) cloth.


Watching a multitude of victims being done in by guns, knives, spare tires, and car hoods (!) is the film’s real attraction for modern day viewers, and there are plenty of memorable mo-mos to be found in the brisk 87 minute running time.


Padding out the proceedings are a parade of bizarre characters who cross paths with the killer, and their wackadoo quality is welcome since there’s not a lot of mystery; writers Ray Cantrell and Manny Cardoza can’t wait any longer than the first half hour before revealing the (fictitious) identity of their killer. (I’ll save the surprise.) Which begs the question: why create a movie to catch a murderer where the identity is clearly incorrect? Was Hanson hoping the killer would leap out of his seat and shout, “THAT’S NOT HOW IT HAPPENED!!! THAT’S NOT ME!!!!”


TZK is the inaugural release from AGFA, who recently teamed up with Something Weird, and while the film itself isn’t mind-blowing, there is definitely reason to be optimistic considering the generosity shown by the new label with their various supplemental materials. In addition to a (relatively) illuminating and entertaining audio commentary featuring AGFA’s Joseph A. Ziemba sharing the mike with Hanson and producer Manny Nedwick (as well as at least one of Hanson’s kids sitting in the background), there is an onscreen-interview with Hanson and Nedwick, a collection of “Tabloid Horror” trailers (Manson Family Murders, Three on a Meathook), an interview in the liner notes with Hanson conducted by Temple of Schlock’s Chris Pogialli, reversible cover art, AND an entirely different feature film included as a bonus, 1977’s Another Son of Sam.


The Zodiac Killer is available now from AGFA and can be ordered from MVD Entertainment HERE:

https://mvdb2b.com/s/ZodiacKillerTheBlurayDVD/AGFA-001


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MADHOUSE (1981) Blu-ray review

October 30, 2017, 12:50 pm
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Madhouse (1981) d. Assonitis, Ovido (Italy) (1st viewing) 92 min

Julia (Trish Everly) has spent her entire adult life trying to forget the torment she suffered at the hands of her twisted twin Mary (Allison Biggers)... but Mary hasn't forgotten. Escaping the hospital where she's recently been admitted with a horrific, disfiguring illness, Julia's sadistic sister vows to exact a particularly cruel revenge on her sibling this year, promising a birthday surprise that she'll never forget.


Co-starring Dennis Farina lookalike Michael Macrae, sexy blonde Morgan Hart (aka Morgan Most), and an especially juicy turn from Dennis Robertson as Julia’s spiritual leader Father James, legendary producer/director Assonitis, the man behind such cult favorites as The Visitor and Tentacles, serves up a crimson-soaked tale of sibling rivalry taken to a terrifying and bloody extreme.


An Italian production shot entirely in Savannah, Georgia, Madhouse (aka And When She Was Bad and There Was a Little Girl) fuses slasher tropes with vicious Rottweiler (and Rottweiler puppet head) attacks, all administered with over-the-top ’80s Italian terror splatter, culminating in a bloodbath finale so garish that the British authorities saw fit to brand it as an official Video Nasty.


Arrow’s new blu-ray release has been remastered from the original camera negative and includes an audio commentary featuring the hosts of The Hysteria Continues podcast, as well as brand new interviews with the cast and crew.


Madhouse is available now on Blu-ray from Arrow Video and can be ordered HERE:

https://mvdb2b.com/s/MadhouseBlurayDVD/AV094


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BEYOND THE SEVENTH DOOR (1987) DVD review

October 30, 2017, 1:09 pm
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Beyond the Seventh Door (1987) d. Benedikt, Bozidar (Canada) (1st viewing) 83 min

Upon learning that her boss is a certain moneyed Lord Breston (Gary Freedman), recently released thief Boris (Lazar Rockwood) hits upon the idea of having his ex-girlfriend Wendy (Bonnie Beck) get him into the mansion to make a quick buck. But Breston has taken more than a few precautions, having designed an elaborate series of puzzle traps that the unsuspecting duo must navigate – before long it becomes a question not whether they will escape with the loot ... but rather with their lives.


According to the Severin website, “Beyond the Seventh Door remains one of the most ambitious, sought-after and totally bizarre low-budget Canadian features of all.” The Yugoslavian-born Rockwood – making his debut in what would prove to be a shockingly prolific screen career – is the main attraction, grinding out his lines in mangled English, emoting like an alien imitating human behavior, and sporting an mullet hairstyle that must have been the envy of many a gold-chain-wearing ’80s player.


Beck, by comparison, comes off as exceedingly capable, saddled with being the requisite eye-candy wearing thigh-high stockings and a fancy cocktail dress that decreases dramatically in substance as the minutes tick by.


Considering its low budget and limited locations (presumably a collection of found basements and shabbily assembled sets), the premise – which predates Cube and Saw in both themes and setting – delivers more imagination and tension than one might suspect. There’s no doubt that watching the car crash that is Rockwood’s thesping provides a goodly portion of the film’s watchability factor, but even once that novelty wears off, the viewer finds him/herself surprisingly invested in the unfortunate duo’s outcome.


Writer/director (and future best-selling “religious thriller” author) B.D. Benedikt proves as interesting as his onscreen muse Rockwood in the audio commentary shared with Canuxploitation.com and Rue Morgue contributor Paul Corupe. There’s also a 30-minute collection of interviews with all three called “Beyond Beyond the Seventh Door,” just to see Rockwood’s mullet is still thriving even if hanging a limper these days. (But, hey, aren’t all of us.) There’s also a fun featurette on “The King of Cayenne: An Appreciation of Legendary Toronto Eccentric Ben Kerr,” celebrating the “actor” playing a dead body in one of the showcase trap scenes. How’s THAT for a special feature???


Beyond the Seventh Door is available now on DVD from Severin Films and can be ordered HERE:

https://severin-films.com/shop/beyond-the-seventh-door-dvd/


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ESCAPES (1986) DVD review

October 30, 2017, 1:24 pm
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Escapes (1986) d. Steensland, David (USA) (1st viewing) 87 min

You gotta meta-love it when a character in the movie you’re watching mirrors your own experience by describing the movie he’s about to watch onscreen to a friend on the phone as, “I don’t know where this movie came from. It’s got Vincent Price in it. It’s called Escapes.” Appearing as a bonus feature on Intervision’s recent release of the 90s SOV killer scarecrow flick Dark Harvest, chances are that most viewers will have the exact same assessment and will probably watch it with the same “Oh, what the hell, why not” attitude that both the aforementioned onscreen character Matthew Wilson (Todd Fulton) and your humble reviewer did.


Price, who worked for a single day’s shooting, plays himself (serving as the host for the eponymous anthology of short films) as well as a shabby U.S. mail carrier who drops off the mysterious VHS tape for our less-than-discriminating protagonist. The shorts, written and directed by Steensland, seem to have been produced individually and then collected into a portmanteau format using the Fulton/Price wraparound conceit. Not the most unique or innovative approach, but it serves the turn, and the same could be said about the stories themselves which all borrow from Twilight Zone premises with less punchy punchlines.


Aside from Price, the only other “name” on hand is John Mitchum (best known as Robert’s younger brother and Clint Eastwood’s partner in the Dirty Harry movies) who appears as the coffee-pushing diner proprietor diner in the third of the six episodes.


“Hobgoblin Bridge” is a spin on the classic Billy Goats Gruff fairy tale, with a young lad, bullied by an older brother and his friends, having to cross a strange covered bridge that is supposedly the lair of a sinister creature. The notably brief “A Little Fishy” gives a worm-skewering fisherman a taste of the hook himself, while the prolonged “Coffee Break” trots out the “you can check out any time you like but you can never leave” trope. “Who’s There?” is a mostly comedic vignette featuring a Twinkie-gobbling jogger on the run from an escaped tribe of biological throwbacks hiding out in a forest preserve.


The most emotionally resonant of the bunch, “Jonah’s Dream,” centers around a reclusive backwoods widow who spends her days panning for gold in the streams and her nights pining for her long-lost husband until her routine is shattered courtesy of a UFO landing. The sextet wraps up with “Think Twice,” a so-so morality tale about a two-bit thief attempting to steal a wish-granting gem from a mysterious, magnanimous homeless gent.


Being that it is a special feature itself, it’s pleasantly surprising that Intervision has included a supplement for the film, that being a five-minute conversation with distributor Tom Naygrow who has nothing but kind words for Steensland, a man he cites as the “unluckiest guy you ever met.” Seems that the deeply religious filmmaker was pursued by the studios based on his short-form efforts, but wasn’t interested in doling out the kind of exploitation material that Hollywood was demanding from late ’80s horrormeisters, preferring to deliver the gentle fables seen here (i.e. no sex, gore, or harsh language). Being that you’ve likely never heard of him before now, you can guess how that worked out.


Escapes is available now (along with Dark Harvest) on DVD from Severin Films and can be ordered HERE:

https://severin-films.com/dark-harvest-escapes-films/


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DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004) Blu-ray review

October 31, 2017, 9:09 am
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Dawn of the Dead (2004) d. Snyder, Zack (USA) (3rd viewing) 110 min

“The world is in danger when a mysterious virus turns people into mindless, flesh-eating zombies. In a mall in the heartland, a handful of survivors wage a desperate, last-stand battle to stay alive ... and human!”

Sound familiar? To be fair, when Snyder’s remake of George A. Romero’s 1978 classic was first announced, the landscape was not cluttered with undead onscreen shamblers everywhere. In fact, with the exception of 28 Days Later and Resident Evil (both 2002), zombies were kind of, well, dead. But with the success of this worthwhile reboot, which in turn sparked Romero’s own return to the fray (for better or worse) with Land of the Dead later the following year, the stage was set for all manner of rotters, microbudget to blockbuster, and the face of horror would never be the same.


Back in 2004, Snyder (now hailed as the “visionary director of 300 and Watchmen”) was just a guy trying to make his big break in Hollywood; ditto screenwriter James Gunn (Slither, Guardians of the Galaxy) who was doing his best to crawl out of the Troma cellar. And there was SO MUCH HATE being farted in their general direction for even attempting to put a new coat of paint on what was considered a masterpiece. In retrospective, it’s intriguing to imagine the world where zombies and/or remakes did not become big business, where these best-laid planned plans fell flat on their Karo syrup-soaked faces.


But such was not the case. Armed with a capable cast of second-tier Hollywood regulars (Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mehki Phifer, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, and Matt Frewer), Snyder and Gunn put all fears to rest by the time the opening credits (underscored by Johnny Cash’s kicky “When the Man Comes Around”) had finished rolling.


While there are still scores who decried the dawning of the age of ferocious running zombies (which those of us in the know were quick to shut down with “Um, 1985? Return of the Living Dead, anyone?”) and the softening of Romero’s “the living are the real monsters” social commentary, it was and remains difficult to deny the big-bam-boom adrenalized entertainment factor, and the splatter factor is impressive for a mainstream Hollywood effort, earning its hardcore stripes with oodles of exploding heads and dripping grue.


It’s not a perfect movie (the zombie baby is goofy and the dialogue is barely a notch above the original’s parade of clunkers), but it could have been a lot, lot worse. Plus, points for clever cameos for 1978’s cast members Ken Foree, Tom Savini, and Scott Reiniger.


Shout! Factory unveils a special two-disc Blu-ray issue just in time for the Halloween season, with both the R-rated theatrical release (101 min) and the 110-min unrated version, with more nudity and gore and a few more character flourishes. Many of the supplements are ported over from the original DVD release, but there are a number of extras that might justify the upgrade for fans.


In addition to the HD mastering for both versions from their archival negatives, there are new interviews with Gunn, Burrell, Weber, and special effects artists David Anderson and Heather Langenkamp Anderson (yes, Nancy from Nightmare on Elm Street herself). A smattering of deleted scenes (several of which show up in the unrated version) and a theatrical trailer round off Disc One.


The second disc has the original audio commentary track recorded by Snyder and producer Eric Newman, as well as the vintage featurettes “Splitting Headaches: Anatomy of Exploding Heads,” “Attack of the Living Dead,” “Raising the Dead,” “Andy’s Lost Tape,” “Special Report: Zombie Invasion,” and “Undead and Loving It: A Mockumentary.”


Dawn of the Dead is available now on Blu-ray from Shout! Factory and can be ordered HERE:

https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/dawn-of-the-dead-collector-s-edition?product_id=6374


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DARK HARVEST (1992) DVD review

October 31, 2017, 9:59 am
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Dark Harvest (1992) d. Nicholson, James I. (USA) (1st viewing) 89 min

This may be the top-billed offering for Intervision’s double feature DVD, but while it leads the way in terms of low-budget nudity (really, almost everyone takes their top off here) and a few gore moments, it falls way, WAY short of its poor relation (the Vincent Price-hosted omnibus effort Escapes, which appears as a bonus) as a coherent slice of entertainment. Seriously, this does nothing to dispel the myth that most killer scarecrow movies flat-out suck. Because Dark Harvest flat-out sucks.


I can barely work up the energy to discuss this yawnfest, but I’ll try. A group of tourists (sigh) played by no-name actors (sigh) plan an excursion in the great outdoors (SIGH) and their engine breaks down (BIG SIGH) and they are forced to trek over dangerous terrain beset by crazed locals (SIIIIIIIIIIGH) and amateur-hour costumed killers (GAHHHHHHHHHHH), all shot with terrible sound (OH GAHHHHHH) and miserable shot-on-video (SOV) cinematography (I JUST... I... OH...) and bargain basement special effects (*falls off chair, collapses on floor*).


So, yeah.


But, just in case you wanted to know more about those involved in making this colossal waste of time, there are a couple extras, kicking off with “Patti Negri Remembers Dark Harvest” (we’re sorry, Patti) as the actress and “famous psychic” discusses the shoot where found elements were often incorporated into the script including the deserted cabin and a dead dog, as well as a few supernatural tales from her own life.


“Dan Weiss Remembers Dark Harvest via Skype” (oh my god, could I get any more excited) has the actor –whose only other onscreen credit is “Denise’s Husband” in Scanner Cop II– revealing that Negri helped get him the gig and confirming that Nicholson was all about improvising and discovering moments on set. Good times.

Dark Harvest is available now on DVD (with Escapes) from Severin Films and can be ordered HERE:

https://severin-films.com/dark-harvest-escapes-films/


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THE EYES OF MY MOTHER (2016) movie review

November 1, 2017, 5:38 am
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The Eyes of My Mother (2016) d. Pesce, Nicolas (USA) (2nd viewing) 76 min

In their secluded farmhouse, a mother (Diana Agostini), formerly a surgeon in Portugal, teaches her young daughter, Francisca (Olivia Bond), to understand anatomy and be unfazed by death. One afternoon, a visit from a mysterious gentleman named Charlie (Will Brill) shatters the family’s life, deeply traumatizing the young girl, but also awakening unique curiosities about the human condition and the skin it travels around in. As she grows into adulthood, while still clinging to her increasingly withdrawn father (Paul Nazak), Francisca’s (now played by the astonishing Kika Magalhaes) loneliness and emotionally stunted outlook on the world lead her to strive for connection in haunting, twisted, unspeakably disturbing ways.



Like Nikos Nikolaidis’ breathtaking and unclassifiable masterpiece Singapore Sling, writer/director Pesce’s assured feature debut is shot in crisp black and white and employs incredibly composed tableaus (cinematographer Zach Kuperstein's mind-blowing opening high-angle shot, for example), setting an elevated tone from the outset. While some might ascribe this to arty-ness for arty-ness’ sake or a desire to be “taken seriously,” it actually serves the purpose of emotionally preparing the viewer for the horrors to come – by creating distance through the monochromatic artifice and muting our knee-jerk shock/revulsion at some of the more startling concepts or imagery, it allows us to venture closer, to lean forward, to engage and relate with these "monsters" on their own terms.



Though I first encountered Mother at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival earlier this year, I was not able to view it on the big screen or with a crowd (it screened before my arrival, so my only option was to watch it on the press room computers).Even within that smaller format, it instantly made an impact and I found myself enjoying that rare sensation of already looking forward to watching it again before we were even halfway through.


So it was my great pleasure to witness it as it was intended on a cold late October evening in the presence of the like-minded at DePaul University’s “Horror of the Humanities V,” hosted by the inimitable H. Peter H. Steeves, Professor of Philosophy and Director of the DePaul Humanities Center, with Pesce in attendance.


To experience a film through Steeves’ lens is to connect with it deeper and fuller than one would have thought possible; it’s akin to receiving a crash course in cinema appreciation, as if to say, “this is merely watching a film whereas this is SEEING a film.” At previous HOTH installments, I have taken in Kill List, Antiviral, and Pontypool – all films I had seen and enjoyed before – but listening to Steeves’ post-screening analysis is to be transported to another realm, deeper, more nuanced, and it is a happening for which I am always grateful.


To then share the space as he and Pesce discussed the themes of Eyes of My Mother for 90 minutes (longer than the film itself), listening to these big brained goliaths tangle and tussle the ripest fruit from the topmost branches… it was an experience I’ll not soon forget. (Next year, Steeves will be screening Robert Eggers’ The VVitch, with the director on hand – mark your calendars now, Chicago horror fans.)


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JASON X (2001) movie review

November 1, 2017, 6:01 am
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Jason X (2001) d. Isaac, James (USA) (3rd viewing) 93 min

While the concept (“Jason in Space”) smacks of utter desperation, this ended up being the most fun to be had at a Friday the 13th movie in ages. Granted, the loony plot asks its audience to check its brain at the door and just go along for the ride, but it’s a heck of a great ride, combining elements of The Terminator, Aliens, The Matrix and half a dozen other movies into a boffo bloody smorgasbord.


The whopper of a setup: Jason, having proven himself utterly destructible, has been captured by the military and ends up cryogenically frozen in a top-secret scientific compound. Flash forward 455 years, where a futuristic university field trip uncovers him and brings him aboard their spaceship filled with... lots and lots of nubile student scientists and macho military types. Can you smell where this is going? As expected, Jason gets thawed out and unleashes his old-school brand of mayhem on the ship’s inhabitants, along with a few new twists (the frozen face set-piece is equally original and messy).


And then, just when you think things can’t get any zanier, through a turn of the cybernetic screw, Jason is transformed into a literal killing machine – the good times just don’t stop and the body count has never been higher. Isaac utilizes a fair amount of computer-generated effects, but employs them wisely, and Todd Farmer’s script provides a generous amount of legitimately, intentionally humorous moments and dialogue (along with a few groaners).


The undeniably attractive cast (headlined by Lexa Doig and Peter Mensah) is capable and efficient across the board, with a sly David Cronenberg cameo in the opening reel. Best of all, F13 veteran Kane Hodder is finally given the opportunity to DO something as Jason other than just mindlessly disembowel the masses. He actually gives a bona-fide performance here, filled with sly, nonverbal takes that elevate the proceedings enormously.


Haters be damned, this is infectiously entertaining nonsense for F13 aficionados and casual fans alike.


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2017 SCARE-A-THON FINAL RESULTS!!!

November 2, 2017, 5:42 am
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It is accomplished!!!

For those not in the know, The October Horror Movie Challenge, at least as I have come to know and honor it, was born on the IMDb Horror message boards over a decade ago. The original rules were relatively simple: Watch 31 horror films over the course of the month, 16 of which have to be first-time viewings. Of course, for those with a combination of spare time and an enthusiastic spirit of adventure, it also could be used as an excuse to bury oneself in the genre for 31 days, rediscovering old favorites and delving into the "why have I never watched that?" pile.

With my October plates filled to overflowing with onstage performances (one week left to First Folio's The Man-Beast), teaching self-defense workshops, and a full slate of personal training clients, I elected to return to the basics. 31 flickers were viddied from Oct 1 through 31, 16 of which had never passed before these wondering, wandering eyes before. As always, there were highs and lows (more of the former than the latter), and all in the service of our ultimate goal, to raise funds and awareness for a charitable organization. This year's recipients are the AMERICAN WOMEN'S SELF-DEFENSE ASSOCIATION and IMPACT CHICAGO, for whom we were able to raise a combined total of nearly $1800!

Thanks to everyone who participated, whether it be reading the reviews, pledging, watching alongside, or just stopping by to chat. Your support makes the long days and nights go by so much easier. I’ll be contacting donors directly via email, but if you are still interested in contributing, contact me at drach101@gmail.com and we’ll get you to the right place.

CHALLENGE STATS:
Total Movies Watched: 31
Total First Time Views: 16
Scare-A-Thon Pledges/Donations: $1799.24


BONUS STATS:
Total Time: 2866 min
Average Length: 92 min

Longest Movie: Brotherhood of the Wolf (152 min)
Shortest Movies: The Eyes of My Mother (76 min), The Glass Coffin (77 min)

Oldest Movie: Caltiki, The Immortal Monster (1959)
Newest Movie: Tonight She Comes (2016)

Movies Watched Alone: 27
Movies Watched with Others: 4

Commentary Tracks: 3 (The Zodiac Killer, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Night of the Werewolf)
Blu-ray/DVD screeners (i.e. obligatory views): 26

Seen on big screen: 1

Non-horror movies watched in Oct: 5 (Jodorowsky's Dune, Money Monster, 20 Feet from Stardom, A Fish Called Wanda, Beauty Bites Beast)

FAVORITE DISCOVERIES:
Madhouse, The Glass Coffin

FAVORITE REVISITS:
Beyond the Darkness, Westworld, Jason X, The Devil's Honey, The Eyes of My Mother, Tonight She Comes

SEQUELS:
Teen Wolf Too, Jason X

REMAKES:
Dawn of the Dead, Night of the Werewolf

COUNTRIES REPRESENTED: 10
USA (14), Italy (8), Spain (2), Japan (1), Argentina (1), Canada (1), UK (1), Denmark (1), France (1), Sweden (1)


THE MOVIES (with links to full reviews):

1. LYCAN
2. RED RIDING HOOD
3. TEEN WOLF
4. TEEN WOLF TOO
5. WOLF GUY
6. NIGHT OF THE WEREWOLF (aka THE CRAVING)
7. BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF
8. THE DEVIL'S HONEY
9. THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE
10  THE CAT O' NINE TAILS
11  FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET
12  CALTIKI, THE IMMORTAL MONSTER
13. THE OTHER HELL
14. BEYOND THE DARKNESS (aka BUIO OMEGA)
15. THE HARVEST
16. THE GHOUL
17. WHAT WE BECOME
18. CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT
19. BEYOND THE GATES
20. THE GLASS COFFIN
21. WESTWORLD
22. FEED THE LIGHT
23. TONIGHT SHE COMES
24. THE ZODIAC KILLER
25. MADHOUSE
26. BEYOND THE SEVENTH DOOR
27. ESCAPES
28. DAWN OF THE DEAD
29. DARK HARVEST
30. THE EYES OF MY MOTHER
31. JASON X

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DEAD SHACK (2017) movie review

November 11, 2017, 4:47 pm
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Dead Shack (2017) d. Ricq, Peter (Canada) (1st viewing)

An amusing diversion that mashes up a few well-worn tropes (cabin in the woods, psycho killer, cannibals, zombies) and assembles an amiable and game cast to play them out. In this case, it’s a single dad (Donavon Stinson) toting his boozy gal pal (Valerie Tian), his bratty teens (Lizzie Boys, Gabriel LaBelle), and their wallflower (Matthew Nelson-Mahood) friend out to the boonies for a little chilltime. Upon reaching their remote cabin location, they discover that their nearest neighbor is a hot cougar number (Lauren Holly) with a penchant for dressing up in skin-tight leather and luring the local frat bros back to her domicile to serve as the family meal.


Writer/director Ricq keeps the pace lively, but his script throws as many wild pitches as it does strikes – one wishes he’d been a little more ruthless in cutting away the hardy-har jokes that fall flat and kept only the ones that really sing and zing. Even so, there is plenty of blood and gore for the hounds, and while the characters are decidedly obnoxious, they aren’t entirely off-putting, a testament to the entire ensemble. (That said, I did find the final moment a little discomfiting in its mean-spiritedness. Could have been handled differently and achieved the same result.)


Overall, an entertaining if derivative slice of indie horror/comedy.


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SUSPIRIA (1977) movie review

November 11, 2017, 5:14 pm
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Suspiria (1977) d. Argento, Dario (Italy) (4th viewing)

Considered by many to be Il Maestro’s masterwork, this fiercely original tale of an exclusive (and haunted) German ballet school exhibits more personal style and verve in its opening ten minutes than many directors demonstrate in a lifetime. The arrival of American dance student Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper) coincides with a series of bizarre, violent deaths within the academy, and while the film’s coven-of-witches storyline is tenuous at best, Argento’s striking camerawork and audacious colored lighting more than compensate.


The celebrated opening, which combines one of the most astonishing onscreen rainstorms with Goblin’s driving rock-n-roll soundtrack, instantly informs the audience they are in for a wild ride. Featuring a colorful array of characters highlighted by Alida Valli’s freakishly strident dance instructor, and filled with virtuoso set-pieces (maggots falling from ceilings, random rooms of barbed wire, a seeing eye-dog attacking its owner), Suspiria is an unforgettable, truly cinematic experience.


For mainstream audiences, however, it’s still an “Italian horror film,” which is to say that the dialogue – co-written by Argento and Deep Red star Daria Nicolodi (Argento’s longtime partner and mother of his daughter Asia) – is often clunky, the acting ranges from adequate to the outright bizarre, Harper is barely a dancer (no one would mistake her for the dance prodigy her character is supposed to be), and Argento lingers a little too lovingly on his less-than-convincing gore effects. But the sequences are executed (heyo!) with such obvious glee one is quick to forgive, and you gotta love those crazy slapping German male dancers in the bar.


The Cinepocalypse attendees at Chicago's Music Box Theatre sold-out Monday night event were treated to a truly rare viewing opportunity, as we bore witness to the only uncut 35mm print in existence, recently recovered from the old storage room of a closed-down Italian movie house.


Being an Italian print, the English language track – the film was originally dubbed in English in post-production for international distribution – was then re-dubbed in Italian for its native speakers with no English subtitles. But the good folks at Chicago Cinema Society (who own the print) commissioned their own set of subtitles to accompany the moving image, which made for a unique experience for genre fans who had never heard anything but the clunky U.S. dub.


There were some minor complaints regarding the slightly faded quality of the print, especially when compared to Synapse’s gorgeous 4K restoration that has been making the theatrical rounds, but these were minor and the overall enthusiasm for the event – especially with star Harper on hand and on stage for a post-show Q&A – was undeniable.


For a further appreciation of the Cinema Cinema Society print and the film itself (as well as thoughts regarding the upcoming remake directed by Luca Guadagnino), visit Alex Arabian’s terrific article over at Making a Cinephile.




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CINEPOCALYSE Film Festival 2017 wrap-up!!!

November 12, 2017, 9:38 am
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It was never my intention to dive back into the movie watching fray with such gusto following the madness that was the October Horror Movie Challenge and Scare-A-Thon 2017. Not because I watched so many titles (the final total of 31 was the bare minimum; in years past, I’ve watched over 100), but because it was a jam-packed month what with First Folio’s The Man-Beast and doing full-length DVD/Blu-ray reviews at the same time that I was holding down my personal training practice. In short, it was a full plate, and I was looking forward to chilling out come November. But all that changed with an email from our very own Music Box Theatre, informing us that Cinepocalypse was upon us!


Now, I’d been hearing the rumblings of this event, a genre film festival in its first year at my favorite screening room in town, for a while. But because I was more than a little distracted, I hadn’t really paid much attention and the fact that it was a “new iteration of the Bruce Campbell Horror Film Festival” did nothing to stir my loins. (I had pointedly ignored the previous three installments because Bruce is going to be waiting a long, long time before I give him another dime. Love some of his movies, not so much the man himself. Buy me a veggie burger sometime and I’ll tell you a few tales.)

This Friggin' Guy

However, the Great Chin was nowhere to be seen this time around, but head programmer and Awesome Fest artistic director Josh Goldbloom was. Goldbloom is the guy who had assembled the slates for previous BCHFF installments, which included such cult hits as WolfCop, Starry Eyes, Meet Me There, Zombeavers, He Never Died, Dead Snow 2, Found Footage 3D, Here Alone, and Don’t Breathe. This guy, I felt I could put my faith in.


Instead of relying on Campbell’s “name” to draw the crowds, the focus this time was on the films and the filmmakers, which pleased me to no end. With tributes to independent maverick Larry Cohen (It’s Alive, Q: The Winged Serpent), Eric Roberts (Runaway Train, Best of the Best), and Antonio Fargas (Foxy Brown, Starsky and Hutch), and with special guests Jessica Harper (Phantom of the Paradise, Suspiria), Simon Barrett (V/H/S, You’re Next), Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator, From Beyond), Gary Sherman (Death Line, Vice Squad), and Joe Carnahan (Narc, The Grey) in attendance, there was plenty of marquee value on display.

Applecart (2017)

Meanwhile, the onscreen roster included new releases from Paco Plaza ([REC]), Ryuhei Kitamura (Versus, Midnight Meat Train), Can Evrenol (Baskin), Ted Geoghegan (We Are Still Here), and Mickey Keating (Pod, Carnage Park). The event was running a full week, Friday, Nov 3 – Thursday, Nov 9, with over 60 shorts and features screening. In short, after doing a bit of research, I was ready and raring to stuff my cinematic maw once again.

Dead Shack (2017)

Unfortunately, due to my own weekend theatrical obligations, I was unable to indulge in the Cinepocalypse experience until Monday, which meant that I missed a goodly amount of prime attractions over the weekend, both in terms of celebrities and featured films. However, I still had four full days and I was going to make the most of them. Things kicked off with the Canadian comedy/horror effort Dead Shack (preceded by James Moran’s enjoyably dark comic short, Blood Shack). I had a few issues (full review here), but overall I dug it. Then the crowds started rolling in for what was to be one of the best-attended screenings of the festival: the Chicago premiere of the recently unearthed uncut 35mm print of Dario Argento’s Suspiria (review here)


Following the film and a Q&A with star Jessica Harper (charming and self-effacing as ever), I shared the co-pilot seat with blood brother Jon Kitley for Veronica, a rock-solid “dark spirits from beyond” thriller from Paco Plaza (following Chris McInroy’s hilarious short, We Summoned a Demon). Speaking of shorts, playing in the smaller theatre at the same time as Veronica were the official short films in competition, which included award winners What Metal Girls Are Into and Your Date is Here, as well as recent Project Greenlight winner Danny Delpurgatorio’s latest, Third Wheel. The evening wrapped up with probably my favorite offering of the festival, Cam Evrenol’s Housewife, which perfectly blended sex and splatter and synapse-bending WTF moments, all in a nice and tight 82-minute package. (Good thing too, because as we passed the midnight mark, I could feel myself losing steam in a hurry.)

Housewife (2017)

Tuesday was a bit of a game of hopscotch, balancing work and personal obligations with the screening schedule. As a result, I was not able to see the Midwest premiere of Trench 11 (a popular entry at the Toronto After Dark Festival) or sentimental fave (and Cinepocalypse jury chairperson) Barbara Crampton’s latest, Applecart. But I did make it to the Lovecraftian indie drama The Crescent (which will make you a fan of marbling art if nothing else) and Ted Geoghegan’s Native Americans vs. The White Man action flick Mohawk (which was nearly sunk by the leaden dialogue coming out of everyone’s mouths – seriously, this would have been so much better without words, a la Apocalypto).


And then there was the much-touted “Secret Screening” at midnight which – after a hardy-har-har prank of the opening scenes of Barney’s Great Adventure– turned out to be the shockingly so-so It Came from the Desert, a film which pretty much no one had heard of and that no one was excited to see, so it was a decidedly odd choice for a mystery movie. Generally, for a surprise slice of programming, one can expect a battered print of a long-lost classic or a completely unhinged midnight movie or some feature that has been generating buzz on the festival circuit to justify such build-up. Instead, ICftD is little more than a self-aware, smart-alecky, CGI-laden big-bug movie that would not be out of place on the SyFy Network, which is not intended as a compliment. Better luck next time, kids.


Wednesday was nostalgia day, as director and guest curator Joe Carnahan (Blood, Guts, Bullets, and Octane, which had screened the night before) hosted a slate of films that were both impressive in their variety and in stretching the boundaries of “genre” programming. First up was John Woo’s masterful big-bam-BOOOOOM Vietnam action drama, Bullet in the Head. On more than one occasion, I found myself saying aloud, “Everything is on fire. EVERYTHING IS ON FIRE.” I thought I had watched it before, but I was wrong and WOW is all I can say. It’s like someone took Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter and said, “Yeah, sure, but what if we added some martial arts and a lot more guns and a shitload more car chases? That would be better, right?” This was the 126 minute English-dubbed version (as opposed to the 136 min Hong Kong original), but it was still plenty entertaining and seeing it on film was pretty special.


Next up was Walter Hill’s (Southern Comfort, 48 Hours) Depression-era bare-knuckle boxing drama Hard Times, starring a never-better Charles Bronson and James Coburn respectively as a fighter and his smooth-talking manager. I had seen the picture a few years back at home (on VHS, no less) and thought it was fine, but seeing it on the big screen (via a brand new 4K restoration print) definitely took it to another level.

"AC, you big baby. Sleep when you're dead. Or undead."

I was pretty much running on fumes at that point, so I opted to skip out on the Finnish anti-superhero movie Rendel (though I hope to catch up with it at some point, because it looks pretty awesome), as well as the 35mm screenings of Foxy Brown, Near Dark, and Maximum Overdrive. (I’ve seen the former numerous times, most recently in prep to interview star Pam Grier a few years back at HorrorHound Weekend, and I saw the other two on the big screen during their theatrical releases back in the day because I’m, you know, old.) Sleep was a necessity at this point for me; I knew that the second the lights went down, I would have been O-U-T.

Jailbreak (2017)

Things wrapped up on Thursday with a quadruple feature, kicking off with the French/Austrian/Swiss smash from Fantasia, Animals (aka Tiere), a skilled and intelligent exercise in untrustworthy narrators and narratives. This was followed by the Cambodian martial arts extravaganza Jailbreak, presumably created for fans who thought that Gareth Evans’ The Raid was fantastic, but wished it had a little less plot. Jailbreak is nonstop fighting for nearly 90 minutes and fun as hell.


We headed into the final lap with a special screening of Keenen Ivory Wayan’s blaxploitation send-up, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, starring such luminaries as Jim Brown, Isaac Hayes, Bernie Casey, Clarence Williams III, Steve James, and John Vernon. I had seen it once before on home video, but watching it with an appreciative crowd made it a far more rewarding experience. Then it was time to honor Antonio Fargas with a Lifetime Achievement Award, the second of the fest (the first given to Larry Cohen on Saturday), who took the stage following the screening and proved himself to be a man of big dreams, generous heart, and words aplenty. Like, lots and lots of words. Too many, perhaps. Not to say he hasn’t earned the right to take as much time as he wants and he is a sweet, sweet man... but... that was some serious ramblin’.


Things wrapped up with the closing night film, Beyond Skyline, which is, yes, a kinda-sorta sequel to the 2010 critical car crash that was Skyline. Now, programmer Josh Goldbloom told the audience flat out that he booked this before he’d even seen it, just based on the trailer, but that when he finally got to see it, he couldn’t have been more happy. I’m not quite sure what to say in response, because in spite of the presence of everyone’s favorite modern-day tough guy Frank Grillo (Warrior, The Purge: Anarchy), this was nothing more than a slick alien invasion movie that felt like something we’d all seen before.


I’ll confess to having ducked out after the first hour, because it was late and I was not feeling inspired to stick around and I knew there was snow on its way and I was on my bike. But again, like It Came from the Desert in the “Secret Screening” slot, I had to wonder why Josh had picked This Film to be his Closing Night Film, because this was not what I would have expected from a programming team that also included Nerdist’s Scott Weinberg, Ain’t It Cool News’ Steve Prokopy, and Bloody-Disgusting’s Brad Miska.

My impression was not that This Was The Film They Wanted but rather this was The Best They Could Do, which is never how I feel at the Chicago Critics Film Festival’s closing night. There had to be better films out there, ones that audiences were actually interested in seeing, as opposed to one that was average at best and exciting to no one to be able to say they saw it here first. We’re talking zero bragging rights here.

Lowlife (2017)

Still, this was an inaugural year, a building year, and I was very impressed with how many things went right in spite of the minor quibbles I’ve mentioned above. I was sad not to have been on hand for the screenings of the Larry Cohen documentary King Cohen or seeing Eric Roberts sitting down with the guys who run the “Eric Roberts is the Fucking Man” podcast. I was likewise bummed not to have been able to catch the U.S. premiere of Ryan Prows’ Lowlife, which swept the festival’s awards, as well as a variety of other flicks that screened at inconvenient times. As mentioned above, there were 60+ films (including shorts) and I only saw 15 of them, which should give readers an idea of the scope of the fest. (Still hoping to get a few online screeners, but we shall see.) I am absolutely looking forward to next year, and marking out the calendar so as to be able to appreciate it fully.


Cinepocalypse is sponsored by Bloody-Disgusting.com, The AV Club, IFC Midnight, and The Music Box Theatre, with special thanks to Ryan Oestreich of the Music Box for his generosity, assistance, and enthusiasm throughout. Until next year!







Full Line-up of New Films (with links to trailers)


Sweet Virginia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz3E_CCaAXo




Psychopaths

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef5ShrhWZUE





The Terror of Hallows Eve

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NKuL_LP9kI





The Lodgers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLSV-41h2LQ





Tragedy Girls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GmFP7pfz1U






Get My Gun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f82ZX72Bso





Primal Rage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3qlh1RRyNY






Dead Shack

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScahXsAiTjs







Attack of the Adult Babies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbXt6W2Ukww






Hagazussa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_last886efA






Downrange

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfugiBKNtLc







King Cohen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPblr7nKaYw





Charismata

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCo8Nhik2VI







Lowlife

https://vimeo.com/220921797






Jailbreak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtADEKSAvvY







Get Even

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C585j_r6pDM







Poor Agnes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0boeomU9anM







Snowflake

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj7WeHjWd9Q









Motorrad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atOaoJtNfyY






The Crescent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bji7jatpHqA






Housewife

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuBs3WtYnLY






Sequence Break

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoboPUlZvz8






Suspiria

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPs2ExUL_bc







Veronica

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My-yHZoCk74







Trench 11

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVDGukfxFAk







Mohawk

NO OFFICIAL TRAILER AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME







Applecart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc0kON4afqM







It Came from the Desert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fumQ6XaL6kA







Rendel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olRIJTsDUZw








Animals (Tiere)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT5pr-ES0II








Beyond Skyline

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4Boh1JsCtQ


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VERONICA (2017) movie review - Cinepocalypse 2017

November 13, 2017, 8:34 am
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Veronica (2017) d. Plaza, Paco (Spain) (1st viewing)

Our titular teen protagonist (Sandra Escacena) does not have what many would consider an easy life. Her father recently died in a tragic accident, her mother works all hours to keep a roof above their heads, and she is tasked with caring for her three younger siblings, everything from breakfast to homework to bedtime baths. One day, knowing that the rest of the class will be outside observing a solar eclipse, she and two friends sneak downstairs to the school’s basement to try to contact her passed-on papa via a Ouija board; predictably, things do not go as planned and dark spirits begin to slip into every darkened corner of Veronica’s life, threatening her and everyone close to her.


If things sound a little clichéd in this tale of supernatural goings-on from the afterworld, you wouldn’t be entirely wrong, but that’s not necessarily a reason to dismiss this Spanish import out of hand. Plaza, co-director of the first two [Rec] movies (before going solo on the quite-fun third installment), delivers a solid ghost/possession flick with plenty of style and atmosphere and scares, but what really sets it apart is the fact that most of the performers are in their teens or younger. Escacena, front and center in nearly every single scene, is particularly excellent, anchoring the proceedings with a blend of naiveté and courage in the face of terror, courage earned through a life of hardship.


There are a fair number of frightening visuals and jump-scares, as well as a few narrative twists (that sharp viewers may or may not see coming) and the closing reel packs a genuine emotional punch. There’s no denying that Plaza and co-writer Fernando Navarro know their way around the genre, and deliver the goods even if they aren’t anything revolutionary. Worth a look.


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Fool's Views (11/1 – 11/30)

December 11, 2017, 1:43 pm
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Hello, my friends!

Running out of 2017! Keeping it short this time around, both in terms of write-ups and intros, but happy to report that I got a ton of flicks in – the same number as I did for the October Challenge, as fate would have it. Thanks to the packed schedules that comprised the inaugural voyage of Cinepocalypse at the Music Box and the 15th annual Gobblerfest known as Turkey Day, as well as an impromptu Michael Haneke film festival (inspired by a short film I recently shot called So I Watch You from Afar, which was itself inspired by Haneke’s Cache), the numbers tallied up to a respectable monthly tally in a year that has seen precious few of them.

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!


HORROR:

Summer of Fear (1978) d. Craven, Wes (USA) (1st viewing)

Got the call from my good pal Ian Simmons over at Kicking the Seat that he had picked up the new Blu-ray of this neglected TV-movie from Freddy daddy Craven starring Linda Blair and how could I possibly say no? We ramble on at length for the KtS podcast, but the general consensus was “pretty darn good cheesy fun.” Available now from Doppleganger Releasing.

https://www.musicboxfilms.com/wes-craven-s-summer-of-fear-movies-160.php

http://www.kickseat.com/podcast/2017/11/24/ep277-permanent-vacation.html





Creepshow (1982) d. Romero, George A. USA (6th viewing)

With Arrow Video’s recent Blu-ray release of Creepshow 2 landing on my doorstep, I felt obliged to dig out my old bare-bones DVD copy for a little post-October comfort food with the femalien. Riffing off the classic EC horror comics, this remains one of the best anthologies out there in terms of overall quality of segments and general sense of cohesiveness. Amazing what happens when you have a single screenwriter (Stephen King), single make-up maestro (Tom Savini), a genuinely inspired director (Romero) all pulling in the same direction with an all-star cast (Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Fritz Weaver, E.G. Marshall, Leslie Nielsen, Tom Atkins, Viveca Lindfors) as well as some on the verge (Ted Danson, Ed Harris) happy to get messy for the camera.





Creepshow 2 (1987) d. Gornick, Michael USA (2nd viewing)

A fair-to-middling portmanteau in its own right, but when compared to the A-list roster for the 1982 original, it’s hard not to be a little disappointed by the so-so stories (“Old Chief Wood’nhead,” “The Raft,” and “The Hitchhiker,” as well as the lame animated wraparound of a young horror fan antagonized by bullies), uninspired performances (when late-career George Kennedy is your headliner, you’re in trouble), and “nice try but…” effects (by a then-fledgling KNB working without a budget) on display.


But the movie does have its fans (who happily shout “Thanks for the ride, lady!” at the drop of a hat), and for them, there are plenty of goodies to be found on Arrow’s high-def upgrade, including an audio commentary with Gornick (who cut his teeth as George Romero’s cinematographer), interviews with award-winning effects wizards Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger who share memories of their challenges on the shoot, and featurettes with actors Tom Savini, Tom Wright, Daniel Beer, and Romero (who contributed the screenplay).

https://mvdb2b.com/s/Creepshow2/AV079





CINEPOCALYPSE 2017:

(READ FULL REPORT HERE)


Dead Shack (2017) d. Ricq, Peter (Canada) (1st viewing)





Suspiria (1977) d. Argento, Dario (Italy) (4th viewing)





Veronica (2017) d. Plaza, Paco (Spain) (1st viewing)





Housewife (2017) d. Evrenol, Can (Turkey) (1st viewing)





The Crescent (2017) d. Smith, Seth A. (Canada) (1st viewing)





Mohawk (2017) d. Geoghegan, Ted (USA) (1st viewing)





It Came from the Desert (2017) d. Makilaakso, Marko (Finland/UK/Canada) (1st viewing)





Bullet in the Head (1990) d. Woo, John (Hong Kong) (1st viewing)





Hard Times (1975) d. Hill, Walter (USA) (2nd viewing)





Animals (aka Tiere) (2017) d. Zglinski, Greg (Austria/Poland/Switzerland) (1st viewing)





Jailbreak (2017) d. Henderson, Jimmy (Cambodia) (1st viewing)






I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) d. Wayans, Keenen Ivory (USA) (2nd viewing)






Beyond Skyline (2017) d. O'Donnell, Liam (Indonesia) (1st viewing)





Downrange (2017) d. Kitamura, Ryuhei (USA) (1st viewing)






TURKEY DAY 2017

(READ FULL REPORT HERE)


The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959) d. Berwick, Irvin USA (3rd viewing)





The Brides Wore Blood (1972) d. Favorite, Bob USA (1st viewing)





Frozen Scream (1975) d. Roach, Frank USA (2nd viewing)





The Capture of Bigfoot (1979) d. Rebane, Bill USA (2nd viewing)





Winterbeast (1992) d. Thies, Christopher USA (1st viewing)





Wolfman (1979) d. Keeter, Worth USA (2nd viewing)





The Strangeness (1985) d. Phillips, Melanie Ann USA (2nd viewing)




CIVILIAN:


Black Girl (1966) d. Sembene, Ousmane (Senegal/France) (1st viewing)

Disturbing and groundbreaking piece that examines a young woman’s move to Paris to work as a nanny for an affluent couple, only to discover that they expect her to work as an indentured servant and to serve as a status symbol for their liberal friends. A rich piece within its short running time, delivering a devastating final blow.





Locke (2013) d. Knight, Steven UK/USA (1st viewing)

The entire movie takes place in a car with Tom Hardy the only onscreen character, driving through the night and having phone conversations. Yes, it’s absolutely a stunt, but one that also manages to recall an effective radio drama by engaging viewers’ imaginations as we picture the events under discussion.





O.J.: Made in America (2016) d. Edleman, Ezra USA (1st viewing)

Oscar-winning documentary that contextualizes the racial climate of Los Angeles during the early 90s when “The Crime of the Century” blasted into our consciousness via every means possible (nightly news, tabloids, live courtroom coverage) while also drawing a vivid portrait of a phenomenal athlete and star who refused to identify as an African-American during his rise to fame but whose genetic background ultimately got him acquitted. The 7-hour running time flies by.





Roar (1981) d. Marshall, Noel USA (1st viewing)

Director Marshall (executive producer for The Exorcist) and wife Tippi Hedren (The Birds), in an effort to raise awareness for the plight of African lions and wildlife, decided to make a movie starring themselves as fictionalized versions of themselves and their family (including a young Melanie Griffith, Hedren’s daughter) interacting with the great cats in their natural habitat. The result? 80 of the tensest minutes you will ever spend watching a movie, because the animals are clearly not domesticated and the actors are clearly in danger throughout. “Holy shit” material from start to finish, and highly recommended not so much because it’s a great picture, but because there is no other picture out there like it.





Sometimes a Great Notion (1970) d. Newman, Paul USA (1st viewing)

Newman’s second directorial effort is a curious one – a tribe of union strike-breaking loggers (Newman, Henry Fonda, Richard Jaeckel, Michael Sarrazin, and Lee Remick) try to keep their family business afloat in spite of the fact that their doing so is bound to ruin the rest of the town who are desperately trying to negotiate for fair wages and benefits. There is no noble cause here, and the Stamper clan are comprised of pig-headed S.O.B.s and doormat wives – are we really supposed to root for them? There are a couple of dramatic moments that resonate (including a logger trapped under a fallen tree with the water slowly rising), but overall it’s a pretty unpleasant watch. Based on a novel by Ken Kesey (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest).




UNHAPPY HANEKE, EVERYONE:


I won’t even pretend that I have the intellectual capacity to give the Austrian filmmaker his proper due. In fact, I made a point of watching his movies so that I could check out a few books from the library and enjoy other people’s interpretations of them. I was introduced to the original German-language Funny Games over 10 years ago courtesy of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and I have rarely felt as emotionally suckerpunched as when “the rewind moment” occurred. But I hadn’t made the effort to track down the rest of his output, and watching them over the Thanksgiving holidays seemed like just the kind of sick joke the director would appreciate.

I will still argue that the English language remake of FG (starring Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, and Michael Pitt) is disappointing in its shot-for-shot redundancy, a cinematic experiment that can’t register the same impact for anyone who has seen the original. Of the first-time views this time around, I would say Piano Teacher and Seventh Continent were my “favorites,” with Code Unknown and Cache scoring high the second time around.


The Seventh Continent (1989) d. Haneke, Michael Austria (1st viewing)





Funny Games (1997) d. Haneke, Michael Austria (3rd viewing)





Code Unknown (2000) d. Haneke, Michael Austria/France/Romania (2nd viewing)





The Piano Teacher (2001) d. Haneke, Michael Austria/France/Germany (1st viewing)





Time of the Wolf (2003) d. Haneke, Michael Austria/France/Germany (1st viewing)





Cache (2005) d. Haneke, Michael Austria/France/Germany (2nd viewing)





Funny Games (2007) d. Haneke, Michael Austria/France/Germany/USA (2nd viewing)



2017 Totals: 228 films, 162 first time views, 110 horror, 51 cinema


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Fool's Views (12/1 – 12/31)

January 2, 2018, 11:03 am
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Howdy folks!

I’ll get all reflective and introspective in a bit when I do the year-end recap, so for now we’ll just address the month at hand. Very little horror, even of the seasonal type, which is unfortunate since I would have liked to tackle Shout! Factory’s new BR release of Silent Night, Deadly Night or Red Christmas in a more timely fashion, but it just didn’t work out that way.

Instead, my viewing time was taken up with the remainder of Akira Kurosawa’s filmography that was available to me, a number of revisits to high octane/high profile action flicks of yore, several new releases, and a number of foreign language films and overlooked gems that had been lingering on the to-watch list that ended up falling into my grip during December’s visits to the Chicago Public Library. Bottom line, it was an eclectic mix as per usual, but very few that I imagine are lighting up anyone’s else’s Christmas tree but mine. Sometimes you just gotta dance to your own jingle beat, right?

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!

HORROR:


It Comes at Night (2017) d. Shults, Trey Edward (USA) (1st viewing)

Well-realized spin on a well-worn subject (infection horror), with the emphasis placed where it belongs: the evil that humans do in the name of their own self interests. Joel Edgerton is the main “name” of the cast, but it is very much an ensemble piece with stellar atmosphere generated by writer/director Shults (who gave us Krisha two years back). Hardly the groundbreaking terror-fest it was marketed as, but a worthwhile entry nonetheless.





Killing Ground (2016) d. Power, Damien (Australia) (1st viewing)

By contrast, I heard next to nothing about this splendid slice of vacation horror from Down Under, only becoming aware of it when it showed up on my doorstep from IFC Midnight/Shout Factory. A young couple (Harriet Dyer, Ian Meadows) head off for a little escape from the big city and set up tent on a beach down the way from another campsite. Little do they know, the pair of ruffians (Aaron Glenane, Aaron Pederson) who directed them to the spot has less-than-neighborly designs. Delivering white-knuckle suspense in equal measure with gut-punching incidents of brutality, this recalls Eden Lake minus the “youth vs. adults” angle. Satisfyingly dark and dangerous. Available now from Shout! Factory.

https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/killing-ground?product_id=6393




CIVILIAN:


Air Force One (1997) d. Peterson, Wolfgang (USA) (2nd viewing)

This is a very silly movie with a very silly script (and dodgy CG effects), made watchable by Harrison Ford’s grounded man-of-action POTUS facing off against Gary Oldman’s unhinged Russian terrorist. Nevertheless, I had remembered it being better.





The Darjeeling Limited (2007) d. Anderson, Wes (USA) (1st viewing)

Mean-funny and sharp-witted tale of three brothers (Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody) traveling across India as a means of coping with their father’s death. Not sure why it took me so very long to catch up with this, but I’m glad I did. Only have Bottle Rocket left to see.





The Princess Bride (1987) d. Reiner, Rob (USA) (5th viewing)

Such a perfect film. Of course, it promptly got me wondering what the hell happened to Rob Reiner after his incredible run in the 1980s and early 90s that concluded with the critical and commercial failure of North (1994). Since then, he’s continued to work sporadically, but has never even come close to recovering his footing. I mean, has anyone ever raved about The Story of Us, Alex and Emma, And So It Goes, Rumor Has It, or The Bucket List? Hell, I didn't even realize that he'd directed an LBJ biography (called LBJ) starring Woody Harrelson. How did he fall so far?





A Touch of Class (1973) d. Frank, Melvin (USA) (1st viewing)

Glenda Jackson won the Best Actress Oscar (over Ellen Burstyn for The Exorcist, it should be noted) playing a divorced London fashion designer open to having an tryst with jaunty (and married) American businessman George Segal, but their romantic escape to Spain is beset by an onslaught of obstacles, not least of which being that he’s a complete egomaniac covering up a simmering cauldron of insecurities. I was never really rooting for them to succeed as a couple, so their ups and downs during their mishap-laden holiday and subsequent return home didn’t carry much heft for me. Jackson is terrific in her dour, droll way, but Segal is such a jerk that it undermines the whole enterprise. Ah, romantic comedies in the 1970s.





Very Bad Things (1998) d. Berg, Peter (USA) (3rd viewing)

Berg made his directing debut (as well as writing the script) with this awesomely vicious black comedy about a Vegas bachelor party gone supremely wrong and the escalating array of fallout that follows. Fantastic cast (Jon Favreau, Christian Slater, Leland Orser, Jeremy Piven, Daniel Stern, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and a never-better Cameron Diaz as the bride-to-be from hell) goes all the way without a second’s hesitation, embracing the insanity and nihilism with glee. Yes, that is adult film star Kobe Tai (billed as Carla Scott) playing the sassy prostitute in the bathroom with Piven.




LAST GRASP AT 2017 IN 2017:


Beatriz at Dinner (2017) d. Arteta, Miguel (USA) (1st viewing)

Salma Hayek plays a body worker/reiki practitioner whose car dies in the driveway of affluent client Connie Britton the night that amoral businessman John Lithgow is coming for dinner. What could have made for an interesting examination of the price of capitalism becomes a one-sided screed with Hayek’s character fruitlessly attempting to get Rich White Privilege to look in the mirror and find itself wanting. The performances are all engaging, even if everyone is stuck playing within the caricature lines.





I, Tonya (2017) d. Gillespie, Craig (USA) (1st viewing)

Margot Robbie (as figure skater Tonya Harding), Sebastian Stan (as her husband Jeff Gilhooly), and Allison Janney (as Harding’s monster mom) are the main names who deliver big time, but it’s Paul Walter Hauser who nearly walks off with the film as Gilhooly’s delusional childhood friend and “bodyguard.” It’s a fine story well told, one highly sympathetic to the disgraced athlete who probably deserved better than to be forever painted as a villain in the history books.





Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House (2017) d. Landesman, Peter (USA) (1st viewing)

Conventional but effective biopic of the FBI’s second-in-command who, when ordered to shut down the Watergate investigation, continued dig and subsequently feed information to Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward of The Washington Post as “Deep Throat.” Liam Neeson seems genuinely invested in the role, despite a somewhat distracting wig.





Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) d. Johnson, Rian (USA) (1st viewing)

The last movie we saw in the cinema, and we both enjoyed it quite a bit. Not sure what all the "controversy" is about and not sure I would even bother to seek out an explanation. I was far more entertained by this than Force Awakens.




SUBTITLES, PLEASE:


Ida (2013) d. Pawlikowski, Pawel (Poland) (1st viewing)

Best Foreign Film Oscar winner is a gorgeously rendered black-and-white tale of a young nun on the verge of taking her vows who goes on a road trip with her aunt to find the parents who abandoned her. Deeply affecting and contemplative.





The Intouchables (2011) d. Nakache, Olivier / Toledano, Eric (France) (1st viewing)

The highest-grossing French film of all time when it was released, it’s a rather conventional, if pleasant, story (based on real events) of a quadriplegic music critic (Francois Cluzet) and the former convict (Omar Sy) who ends up his caretaker.





OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006) d. Hazanavicius, Michel (France) (1st viewing)

Admirably energetic spoof of the various James Bond rip-offs that populated the ’60s and ’70s, starring Jean Dujardin and directed by Hazanavicius (who would guide the actor to an Oscar for The Artist five years later). Followed by a sequel.





Wetlands (2013) d. Wenendt, David (Germany) (1st viewing)

Naughty and raunchy art-house fare, with frank discussion of taboo subjects (everything from hemorrhoids to toilet seats to pubic hair shaving to semen-splattered pizza pies) as seen through the lens of an anarchic young fraulein (Carla Juri). Like the main character, beneath the intentionally shocking outer layer lies an appealing sweetness and joy.




HOLIDAY FARE:


Die Hard (1988) d. McTiernan, John (USA) (5th viewing)

I used to think this was the perfect action movie, but on this most recent revisit I found myself wishing that the authority figures (LAPD chief, FBI) weren’t quite so ineffectual and problematic for Bruce Willis’ soon-to-be-iconic John McClane. It’s still a fun ride; I just didn’t remember it being quite so cartoony. That said, it’s also the film that introduced us to Alan Rickman (the best Hans Gruber that ever Grubed).





Die Hard 2 (1990) d. Harlin, Renny (USA) (3rd viewing)

Now, this one, on the other hand, I absolutely remember being brazenly cartoony and setting the “bigger is better” tone for a decade of action sequels to come, with Joel Silver and Jerry Bruckheimer paving the way for Michael Bay. Um, thanks???





Flash Gordon (1980) d. Hodges, Mike UK/(USA) (6th viewing)

This has become our annual Christmas morning tradition, and this year we decided to watch it with French subtitles. “Cela doit être un enfer d'une planète à partir de laquelle vous les hommes viennent.” “Pas mal.” (“That must be one hell of a planet you men come from!” “Not too bad.”)





Office Christmas Party (2016) d. Gordon, Josh / Speck, Will (USA) (1st viewing)

Raucous comedy about, well, an office Christmas party, one led by Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, and T.J. Miller and opposed by Jennifer Aniston. Courtney B. Vance, who I had just seen as the cocky safecracker in Die Hard, delivers a fantastic vanity-free performance responsible for every laugh-out-loud moment. Breezy and quick of wit and pace.




SAYONARA, SENSEI:


Scandal (1950) d. Kurosawa, Akira (Japan) (1st viewing)

Wonderful melodrama about a painter (Toshiro Mifune) who offers a popular singer (Yoshiko Yamaguchi) a ride down a mountain path on his motorcycle to the nearby hotel; when they are photographed together by the local tabloid rag and made out to be having an affair, the outraged pair hire a sad sack attorney (Takashi Shimura) to sue the publication. Surprised this one doesn’t get talked about as much, but then again, it did come out the same year as Rashomon.





The Idiot (1951) d. Kurosawa, Akira (Japan) (1st viewing)

Based on Dostoyevsky’s classic novel, Kurosawa spins the story of a simple-minded war veteran (Setsuko Hara), driven partially mad, who travels to the snowy island of Kameda and finds himself in a sticky web of love involving his best friend (Toshiro Mifune), a rich man’s mistress (Masayuki Mori), and an attorney’s daughter (Yoshiko Kuga). The snow-covered scenes are gorgeous to behold and the story maintains interest even as it goes back and forth over similar ground for nearly three hours (trimmed down from the director’s original 4.5 hour cut).





I Live in Fear (1955) d. Kurosawa, Akira Japan (1st viewing)

Toshiro Mifune convincingly plays a 70-year-old patriarch whose family tries to have declared insane after he announces his intentions to sell the family business and move everyone to South America to escape potential radioactive fall-out from a hydrogen bomb. A bit on the preachy side, but the drama still packs a punch.





Madadayo (1993) d. Kurosawa, Akira Japan (1st viewing)

A beloved professor (Tatsuo Matsumura) retires from school, and his adoring students keep his legacy alive through a series of annual “Not yet” (the literal translation of the title) parties. Even as hardships fall (house burning down, losing a family cat), the quartet of pupils are always there in support. Sentimental to be sure, but somehow a fitting final film for the Kurosawa canon.

2017 Totals: 251 films, 179 first time views, 111 horror, 52 cinema


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Dr. AC's 2017 Horror Wrap-Up Extravaganza!

January 5, 2018, 10:34 am
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Howdy troops,

I openly confess that this year was not my strongest in terms of focusing on the genre of choice, and if it hadn’t been for the two film festivals I attended, it would have been a rather poor showing indeed. I missed out on many of the biggest horror buzzflicks that achieved theatrical releases (Happy Death Day, IT, Alien Covenant, Jigsaw, mother!, Rings, Killing of a Sacred Deer, Leatherface, Life, The Dark Tower, The Mummy) as well as numerous straight-to-streaming – not a reflection of merit in this changing world – such as Gerald’s Game, The Babysitter, 1922, Tragedy Girls, XX, or Creep 2.



Much of this can be attributed to the fact that I spent very little time at the multiplex in 2017, primarily due to a very full plate in what is laughingly referred to as “the real world,” but also (can we talk?) I had minimal interest in seeing many of the big tentpole horror sequel offerings. I don’t need another Alien, TCM, or Saw chapter; there was a time when I felt I needed to be able to weigh in so that I could have the conversation with my fellow fright fans, but that impulse is now tempered by the feeling that my time/money could be better spent elsewhere. That said, several of the films listed above are decidedly on my radar and I will be checking them out as soon as possible and weighing in on them in due time.



In spite of that, reflecting upon the horror releases I did see, it was actually quite a strong year, with intelligent, socially relevant commentaries like Get Out and Raw playing counterpoint to art-house fare (The Eyes of My Mother, The Bar, The Glass Coffin) and straight up pleasure cruises like Don’t Kill It, Killing Ground, The Void, and Tonight She Comes. Along the way, BIFFF and Cinepocalypse provided a welcome sneak peek into the year to come – I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Never was there a more appropriate tagline....

At this time, I’d like to call attention to a couple of mind-blowing WTF films, Suffer Little Children and Winterbeast (as well as the bizarro environmental activism experiment gone haywire, ROAR), which shattered my synapses and have forever lodged in my memory banks. These were truly memorable and monumental Views, which is really all any true cinephile is looking for. I’m thankful I was lucky enough to witness them alongside like-minded folks, which enriched the experiences exponentially. After all, as Jon Kitley always says, “Friends don’t let friends watch bad movies... alone.”


Having thusly attempted to manage expectations, below is my assessment of the year that was. All of the films listed below were encountered for the first time from January 1 to December 31, 2017 (i.e. no repeat viewings were eligible). As in years past, to accommodate and acknowledge as many films as possible, I've broken them down into various categories in alphabetical order, with my top picks denoted with an asterisk. (*)

As always, love to hear what you think about what I think. Let the great debate begin!




TOP NEW HORROR RELEASES (in or around 2017)
The Autopsy of Jane Doe
The Bar
Better Watch Out (aka Safe Neighborhood)
Don’t Kill It
The Eyes of My Mother*
Get Out*
The Glass Coffin
It Comes at Night
Killing Ground
Lights Out
Raw*
Tonight She Comes
The Void






FESTIVAL FAVES (coming soon to a platform near you!)
Monolith*
Dead Shack
Veronica
Housewife*
Animals (aka Tiere)
Downrange*
Small Town Killers
Happy Hunting






HONORABLE MENTION
A Dark Song
Krampus
Split
What We Become






MIXED BAGS
Beyond the Gates
Carnage Park
The Crescent
The Ghoul
The Harvest
Phantasm V: Ravager
Tank 432
31






TOP DISCOVERIES OF 2016 (i.e. non-2017 releases seen for the first time)
Escapes (1986)
Jack Frost (1997)
Madhouse (1981)
Seven Deaths in a Cat’s Eye (1973)
Suffer, Little Children (1983)
Summer of Fear (1978)
Uninvited (1988)
Winterbeast (1992)*






“WILL THIS NEVER END??” ENDURANCE TESTS
Skinwalkers (2006)
Dark Harvest (1992)
Teen Wolf Too (1987)






WORST HORROR VIEW OF 2017
Little Nightmares (aka Innocent Curse)(2017)

Be back in a bit with the Civilian Views, final tallies, and stats! Stay tuned....
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Civilian 2017 Wrap-Up and Year-End Stats!

January 6, 2018, 5:25 am
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Greetings, my friends!

This marks the 11th year that I have taken the time to not only reflect upon "the year in movies" gone by, but attempted to give it context and shape by assessing the quality of the films in question, and noting any particular patterns or interests that made the year distinctive. In 2009, I began breaking the Horror Views and Civilian Views into two separate sections, being that the blog I had just started was called, after all, HORROR 101.

Having already given 2017’s fright flicks their deserving measure of thought (click HERE to see), it’s time to dive into the less-scary side of things, as well as looking at the Views overall.


This year, it should be mentioned, marks the lowest total of films (251) watched since I started tracking such minutiae back in the early 1990s. (I know, I know, it may still seem like a lot to some. Everything is relative, no?) I attribute this to a variety of elements, not least of which being the amount of time I simply sat staring at the computer screen in disbelief at the madness occurring in the political arena. I was, quite literally, stunned by this world that had been allowed to manifest itself and almost didn’t dare turn my back… for fear things would slide past the point of no return during the period between opening and closing credits. I also found myself looking for ways to combat the various situations rather than escape from them, and often decided against a movie if there was a worthier task at hand, be it the organizing of a self-defense workshop or contributing time or money (or both) to a fundraiser or protest, etc.


This is also probably a good time to point out that there also wasn’t much coming to the cinema that I was interested in seeing. Outside of the two film festivals (BIFFF and Cinepocalypse), there was only one day that I spent at the multiplex seeing more than a single movie. One. (August 8, to be exact.) The rest of the time I was single-viewing it, i.e. going to the theater, seeing ONE MOVIE (“inconceivable!”) and then going home. I mean, seriously, who is this and what have you done with AC?


Add to this the insanity of running on minimal sleep during the 25 weeks that I was rehearsing and/or performing onstage while maintaining my personal training practice of 25-30 sessions a week, and suddenly it becomes clearer why the numbers are the way they are. To be honest, I’m genuinely surprised the tally isn’t lower. Then again, BIFFF, Cinepocalypse, and October’s SCARE-A-THON 2017represent approx 35% of the total Views, even though they cover only 6 of the 52 weeks. (It seems we can still dive in deep when the occasion calls for it.)

This is why we record these things, to remember each year and what was different and special. So… let’s look around a bit, shall we?

2017 Totals: 251 films, 179 first time views, 111 horror, 52 cinema

(2016 Totals: 272, 183, 131, 31)
(2015 Totals: 352, 190, 224, 41)
(2014 Totals: 399, 203, 251, 48)
(2013 Totals: 306, 240, 185, 69)
(2012 Totals: 607, 520, 362, 166)
(2011 Totals: 640, 419, 355, 59)
(2010 Totals: 364, 253, 242, 45)
(2009 Totals: 472, 276, 289, 38)
(2008 Totals: 384, 278, 226, 39)
(2007 Totals: 409, 284, 260, 40)




TOP CIVILIAN RELEASES OF 2017
Baby Driver
Boy Missing
Brigsby Bear
Free Fire
Hentai Kamen 2
Jailbreak
Logan
Saving Sally
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Tunnel
Wonder Woman





TOP 2016 MOVIES SEEN IN 2017
Deepwater Horizon
The Nice Guys
Patriots Day
Sausage Party






TOP CIVILIAN DISCOVERIES (i.e. non-2017 movies seen for the first time)
Bullet in the Head (1990)
Le Dernier Combat (1983)
The Hidden Fortress (1958)
The Piano Teacher (2001)
Red Beard (1965)
Roar (1981)
Sanjuro (1962)
Scandal (1950)
Wetlands (2013)





DOUBLE VIEWS (so nice we watched ’em twice)
The Eyes of My Mother
Tonight She Comes
The Autopsy of Jane Doe








SAME BUT DIFFERENT
Funny Games (1997, 2007)
Children of the Night (2014, 2017)
The Lower Depths (1936, 1957)
Our Brand is Crisis (2005, 2015)






DOCUMENTARIES (15)
20 Feet from Stardom
A.K. (Akira Kurosawa)
American Movie
Beauty Bites Beast
CitizenFour
Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me
Forgotten Scares: An In-Depth Look at Flemish Horror Cinema
Future Shock! The Story of 2000AD
Jodorowsky's Dune
Kurosawa: The Last Emperor
Listen to the Light: The Making of Brain Damage
Message from Akira Kurosawa: For Beautiful Movies
OJ: Made in America
Our Brand is Crisis
The Search for Weng Weng







MOST WATCHED DIRECTORS:

Akira Kurosawa (24)
(The Bad Sleep Well, Dersu Uzala, Dodes'ka-den, Drunken Angel, The Hidden Fortress, The Idiot, I Live in Fear, Ikiru, Kagemusha, The Lower Depths, The Most Beautiful, Maadadayo, No Regrets for Our Youth, One Wonderful Sunday, Ran, Rashomon, Red Beard, Rhapsody in August, Sanjuro, Sanshiro Sugata, Scandal, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo)

Michael Haneke (7)
(Funny Games, Cache, Time of the Wolf, The Piano Teacher, Code Unknown, Funny Games, The Seventh Continent)

Peter Berg (5)
(Deepwater Horizon, Patriots Day, Lone Survivor, Friday Night Lights, Very Bad Things)

Dario Argento (4)
(Suspiria, The Cat o' Nine Tails, Four Flies on Grey Velvet, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage)

Alex Cox (4)
(Kurosawa: The Last Emperor, Walker, Sid and Nancy, Repo Man)

Luc Besson (2)
(Lucy, Le Dernier Combat)

James Isaac (2)
(Skinwalkers, Jason X)



LONGEST STREAK OF SEEING MOVIES FROM EACH YEAR: (1993-1964)
Okay, this is insane. Apparently, I did not watch ANY movies from 2008, 2009, or 2010. I can’t remember the last time that my streak has been killed that early. From 2007-1996, then 1993-1964, and then it’s all downhill from there.

GOING A-Z
Came close to seeing movies starting with every letter of the alphabet – missed Q and X (again). As I said last year, one of these days I’m actually going to think about this before the end of the year rolls around!







NOTABLE 2017 VIEWING MILESTONES

4 Peter O’Toole films
First two installments of three franchises (Die Hard, Teen Wolf, Creepshow)
10 werewolf(ish) movies







EARLIEST FILM WATCHED:
The Lower Depths (1936)







FIRST FILM OF 2017:
Arrival (2016)







LAST FILM OF 2017:
The Princess Bride (1987)


COUNTRIES OF RECORD: 31
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Scotland, Senegal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Uganda, UK, USA


VIEWINGS BY MONTH:
January – 5
February – 3
March – 22
April – 53 (BIFFF)
May – 20
June – 15
July – 8
August – 12
September – 18
October – 36 (October Horror Movie Challenge)
November – 36 (Cinepocalypse)
December – 23

VIEWS BREAKDOWN BY DECADE:
(This is only the second time since I start recording this nonsense that the 1970s have lost out to the 1980s. Weird.)
1910s – 0
1920s – 0
1930s – 1
1940s – 5
1950s – 12
1960s – 11
1970s – 27
1980s – 38
1990s – 16
2000s – 21
2010s – 119

Whew. That’s it, folks. Here’s to better times and brighter projector lights in 2018! See you at the movies!
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THE SHAPE OF WATER (2017) movie review

January 21, 2018, 3:18 pm
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The Shape of Water (2017) d. del Toro, Guillermo (USA)

This “adult fairy tale” sees Sally Hawkins’ mute maintenance worker falling in love with an unworldly beast after it is captured in the Amazon and spirited away to a generic top-secret research facility, with scientist Michael Stuhlbarg and government thug Michael Shannon vying for proprietary rights. What follows is a Visually Stunning Effort, with all creative collaborators working overtime to deliver a heightened urban landscape of the early 1960s (we hear references to JFK, the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement), and the inimitable Doug Jones (Hellboy) donning arguably the most elegant rubber monster suit to grace the silver screen.


Full disclosure: I really wanted this to be the movie that renewed my love affair with GdT, following our early romance born with his Spanish-language films Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone, and Pan’s Labyrinth, followed by our agonizing break-up in the wake of the strained humor of Hellboy II, the brainless stumble of Pacific Rim (don’t get me started), and the handsome but bloodless Crimson Peak. Unfortunately, in light of the accolades being showered, I can’t help but feel just a little disappointed by our unrepentant monster kid’s love letter to 50s-60s sci-fi/horror B-movies in general and Creature from the Black Lagoon in particular.


Several of del Toro and co-screenwriter Vanessa Taylor subversions of genre tropes are successful, but for my money, the biggest flaws lie in their creating recognizable character archetypes and then failing to do anything interesting other than bestow more screen time upon them. Hawkins is reliably impish, pure, and charming, providing a number of impressive shades considering her character’s limited box.


Similarly, Shannon is a Capital-V Villain, an unrepentant sociopath from the second he appears onscreen, but rather than travelling a conventional route showing us how and why he became the reviled antagonist he is OR showing us his few redeeming values OR justifying his single-minded hatred of the Other, del Toro merely doubles down on the evil, allowing Shannon oodles of screen time to repeatedly demonstrate what a bad, bad, bad, quirky, bad, quirky, bad man he is.


In terms of giving these gifted actors endless scenery to chew, Mission Accomplished, but with regards to serving the narrative arc, there is nothing learned about our hero or villain by the end of the movie that we hadn’t guessed from their first (beaming or glowering) moments. The same can be said about pretty much every single character we meet – we just keep learning the same things over and over and over while we marvel at the extraordinary production design swirling around.


Another bungled tweak of convention falls in the second act as Jones’ amphibian antihero escapes from his second prison – that of Hawkins’ character’s humble domicile. What should traditionally follow is the standard “stranger in a strange land” sequence, with the uncivilized creature’s rampaging through civilization (a la King Kong and a zillion others), encountering various “exotic” sights with curiosity or fury until it can be safely recovered by our heroes or mercilessly gunned down in the streets. This doesn’t occur, which is fine, but what happens in its stead is so completely mundane and devoid of dramatic payoff that one can’t help but say aloud, “Wait, that’s it? Why did you even bother having a dramatic escape into the real world?”


There’s no denying the artistry on display here, but I couldn’t latch onto the limited yet indulgent characters I was asked to emotionally invest in. Ultimately, I liked it instead of loving it, to the tune of a 7/10 rating.


Shape of Water will likely win some awards on Oscar night, perhaps even one for del Toro as Best Director, and I will quietly applaud, choosing to view it as a decade-delayed recognition for Pan’s Labyrinth, which still represents the high water mark for adult fairy tales, expertly blending joy, pain, fear, and redemption with sumptuous visuals and peerless technical expertise.

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THE RESURRECTED (1991) Blu-ray review

February 5, 2018, 4:11 am
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The Resurrected (1991) d. Dan O'Bannon (USA)

Private investigator John March (John Terry) is hired by the mysterious and beautiful Claire (Jane Sibbert) to uncover what her wealthy scientist husband (Chris Sarandon) is up to with his strange experiments concerning reanimation and immortality. Widely acknowledged as one of the more faithful H.P. Lovecraft adaptations, this retelling of “The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward” (also the source material for the Vincent Price vehicle The Haunted Palace) balances an urbane “modern noir” sensibility, slippery and slimy practical effects that recall Empire-era Charles Band, and the author’s famous sense of the uncanny with predictably uneven results.


Despite (or due to) intentions of fidelity to Lovecraft, O’Bannon’s heightened sensibilities are never really allowed to take flight – there is the sense that he is seeking to recreate the manic feel of Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator or his own Return of the Living Dead, but found himself reined in by a cramped shooting schedule and/or budget. He also doesn’t seem to have a handle on how to use his cast – professional hambone Sarandon feels particularly shackled – and Terry and Sibbert simply lack the charisma and charm for viewers to emotionally invest. It's fun by fits and starts, but a bit of a slog during the chatty bits.


Shout! Factory has lavished an appreciable amount of care in their high-def release, with bountiful featurette interviews with Sibbert, Sarandon, Lovecraft scholar S.T. Joshi, screenwriter Brent Friedman (Ticks), composer Richard Band, production designer Brent Thomas, and effects man Todd Masters, all of whom recall the experience as challenging but worthwhile, with consistently kind words to say for the late O’Bannon (who was painfully suffering from symptoms of Crohn’s Disease at this point in his life and career).


There’s also a fine and informative audio commentary track featuring Masters, Friedman, producers Kenneth Raich and Mark Borde, and Richard Romanus (who plays Terry’s sleuthing assistant, but most viewers will remember him as the deflowering douchebag from Fast Times at Ridgemont High). The flick looks fantastic, thanks to the high quality 2K transfer from the interpositive (fairly standard for S!F issues nowadays), with the gore and slime glistening brighter than ever before, and the package is wrapped up with deleted and extended scenes, photo gallery, and several trailers.


The Resurrected is available now on Blu-ray from Shout! Factory and can be ordered HERE:

https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/the-resurrected?product_id=5188


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