CiNEZiLLA - Falling asleep to movies since 1970

Doctor of Doom

2012-02-19T11:07:00.008Z

Doctor of Doom
Original Title: Las luchadoras contra el medico asesino
Directed by: René Cardona
Mexico, 1963
Lucha Libre, 75min

René Cardona, director of such classics as the award winning fantasy/family movie Santa Claus 1959 (which sees Old Whitey team up with Merlin to take on the devil who wants to wreck X-mas) and the harrowing Supervivietes de los Andes (Survive!) 1976, and father of René Cardona Jr., actor, director, writer of stuff like ¡Tintorera! (Tintorera: Killer Shark) 1977, and Guyana: Cult of the Damned 1979. For the magnificent female wrestler fun fest Doctor of Doom, Cardona Snr. joins forces with writer Alfredo Salazar for a dynamic tag team, and the results are once again pure fucking magic. Together the team of Salazar and Cardona made some of the best mexploitation flicks ever… try La horripilante bestia humana (Night of the Bloody Apes) 1969 and La mujer murciélago (The Batwoman) 1968 and Santo en El tesoro Drácula 1969, on for size and then tell me that these guys didn’t have some magic going.

An enigmatic Doctor R., [Roberto Cañedo] is determined to complete the first brain transplant, and goes about kidnapping young busty women with the help of his goon Gomar [Gerardo Zepeda – a big buff guy who starred in several other Cardona flicks as well as Alejandro Jodorowsky’s El Topo 1970, Alex Cox masterpiece Highway Patrolman 1991 and Alex de la Iglesia’s Perdito Durango 1997]. Gomar is a brutish beast with the body of a wrestler, and the brain of a gorilla, the tragic result of a previous experiment… After yet another failed brain transplant Dr. R. decides that he needs to stop experimenting with common street girls and go for someone with higher intelligence so that they can appreciate the experiments and not die of the shock following surgery. Hot hellcat, luchadoras, Gloria Venus [Lorena Velázquez – one of the essential female Mexploitation actresses, who played anything from bad girl, to luchadora to evil vampire queen] get’s drawn into the mystery when her friend Alicia goes missing, leading her right into the stern flirtation of Detective Arturo [another Cardona regular; Armando Silvestre]. There’s been a string of dead women found during the last couple of months, and the detectives suspect that there might be foul play at hand… you don’t say.

Back at the gym, Venus is introduced to a “new girl” who has come to train with them, none other than Golden Rubi [American Elizabeth Campbell in her first of a string of Mexican Luchadora films. She’d star as Golden Rubi in at least three other movies after this initial one, before disappearing from the movie scene in 1970]. The Doctor’s experiments on the “intelligent” girl fails too, which has him set his sights on a woman with a strong physique. You guessed it, he goes after the two fighting females and this starts off a series of fights, flights and dramatic meetings where acid is thrown in faces, characters are set on fire, scarred for life, and after a shocking reveal of the Mad Doctors identity, he creates his masterpiece female wrestler Vendetta, and true to the genre’s formula they all end up climaxing in one final fight.

Mexican wrestling movies hold a special place in my heart – hey, I don’t have a half sleeve tattoo of Blue Demon for nothing – I love everything about them, the fights, the semi-tame acting, the quasi effective monsters and foes, their great pulpy soundtracks and the ever repetitive structure that comes with these movies. It’s just like watching a Giallo, an generic slasher or even a Godzilla flick – they all follow the same path, the structure is the same no matter what and if you’ve seen one, you are prepared for the rest of them.

Doctor of Doom is no exception. Being the first in a string of Cardona/Salazar wrestling flicks featuring Gloria Venus and Golden Rubi, it kick starts from the first scene. The initial attack sees Gomar jump out of the shadows and lay his hairy hands on a woman who screams as the movie shifts into the credits. Staying true the subgenre’s formula, the credits take place over a fight, it’s Gloria Venus beating the living crap out of her foes in the ring. Now this print being an Americanized version produced by K. Gordon Murray - you know the drill, buy something cheap outside of the US, redub it and sell it again rehashed for an American audience - the US titles are superimposed over the fight. Normally there would be some arty illustrated titles followed by this fight. Because this is all formula, as these fights are to establish the protagonists of the movies. They always win despite faux danger of facing defeat in the ring. Antagonists be aware, these hellcats kick ass.

Generally Lucha libre, or as in this case luchadora movies, are firmly built around an investigation plot, the most important ingredient is obviously the wrestling – as proven with the bookend fights and frequent bouts with foes throughout the movies. But what makes the genre so unique is the concentrate of genre traits that always form the movie - there’s three legs the genre relies upon – the investigation plot and the wrestling, then the third is the blending of other genre trait such as the horror themes, the science fiction traits, the supernatural, folklore, mad scientists, space invaders, living dead conquistadors and Aztec mummies. There’s almost nothing that these wrestling heroes haven’t faced, fought and defeated.

Just like the films of Santo, Blue Demon, Mil Mascaras and others the Luchadores take on the part of the amateur sleuths or helping the police. In the Golden Venus series, Venus and Rubi are something like girlfriends to the two detectives Arturo and Chema [Chucho Salinas] but also kick ass and help to solve the mystery of Doctor of Doom.

Something else found in Doctor of Doom that Salazar later recycled for the Santo y Blue Demon vs. Drácula y el Hombre lobo (Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and the Wolfman) 1973 and Santo y Blue Demon contra el doctor Frankenstein (Santo and Blue Demon vs. Doctor Frankenstein) 1974 movies, is the wristwatch intercom, which is used at least once in all the movies mentioned. In Doctor of Doom it’s used to save Chem and Arturo from a classic gothic slow moving wall of spikes, on the other end, the angered Gomar waiting behind bars to tear off their heads. The overall plot and structure is not too far from the one later reused in Miguel M. Delgado’s Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dr. Frankenstein 1974, one of the masked duo’s absolute finest moments. A mad scientist experiments on poor victims, kidnaps a friend of the hero character, and after a series of bouts the whole thing culminates with a wrestling match. What connects Doctor of Doom and Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dr. Frankenstein on a deeper structural level is the fact that the Mad Scientist creates a wrestler foe for the protagonists to fight against, in this case and both movies end when antagonists fall to their deaths from extreme heights.

It’s always the directors of these cheap exploitation films that we remember. Say the name René Cardona to a genre enthusiast and they will more than likely have at least one reference point or two. Although I’m still pushing for writer recognition, and Alfredo Salazar needs to be hailed as the one of the important Mexploitation screenwriter he really was. Not only did he write close to a hundred movie scripts, but he also directed a bunch of pulpy rock’n’roll comedies/dramas, and did a lot to lay the foundation from which most future Luchadora movies would be told. The formula or structure I discussed above. Just as I always see Gustavo César Carrión’s soundtracks as a verification of quality, I look for Salazar’s name in the credits, as this also is a confirmation that I’m not going to be disappointed. Alfredo’s brother, Abel Salazar, was an actor, and can be seen in many of Fernando Méndez movies. Movies often penned by that other master of Mexican genre cinema, Ramón Obón.

Five Days of Milan

2012-02-14T09:39:00.009Z

Five Days of Milan

Original Title: Le cinque giornate

Directed by: Dario Argento

Italy, 1973

Drama/Satire, 122min

Perhaps one of, if not the, least accessible of Dario Argento titles, Le cinque giornate (Five Days of Milan), is something of an antithesis of everything one has come to associate his name with. No, you won’t find a single razor wielding leather-gloved maniac here. Nor will you find the gothic horror of his Three Mothers series… Instead you will find a historic comedy about two accidental compadres, Cainazzo [Adriano Celentano – An Italian singer/actor who also starred in three of Lucio Fulci’s early musical dramas) and Romolo Marcelli [Enzo Ceruscio] who find themselves caught up in the midst of the Italian revolution of 1848.

After completing the classic Animal trilogy, Argento wanted to explore other areas as he felt that the Giallo as a genre had peaked. A daring, but kind of odd move as the three previous Gialli had been reasonable successes. So the choice of comedic period piece doesn’t really make sense. Although taking into mind that Argento had previously – and during the time he directed his first three Gialli - written period pieces for other directors, the choice may not be so far fetched. These movies where primarily Second World War, and Spaghetti Westerns – the most famous being his minor part on Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In The West 1968 – so setting Five Days of Milan in a past time can be understood. But the choice of the comedic elements… well, to be honest, I’m convinced that Argento tried his best to script a satirical piece, and that along the way – perhaps through producer pressure - added certain elements to lighten up the script with some half hearted eroticism, some tame slapstick effects and synthesizer renditions of classical music pieces. Something Kubrick would do a few years later too, but then it was Kubrick and considered innovative and genius. Never the less, Five Days of Milan may be a shambles of a film, but it definitely is a unique one off in the career of Dario Argento.

I really beg you to stop relying on the shoddy reviews that compare Five Days to stuff like the Morricone movies and even The Wild Bunch, because it has fuck all to do with those movies and is nowhere near trying to plagiarize or copy them. In my eye’s they either didn’t see the movie at all, or they simply goggled it up and copied notes from each other. What Argento, with co-writers Luigi Cozzi, and Enzo Ungari did was script a satirical piece that polarizes the characters and events all the way through – and makes a comment on the politics of Italy. Keep in mind that the same political corruption and dissatisfaction that saturated the Poliziotteschi genre was already there and Argento has always had a political undertone to a lot of his early movies. Five Days of Milan, is a satire, nothing else.

Also, there are scenes of children dying, violent killings, executions, gang rape and the shocking death of a lead character - none of them themes for a comedy.

Early on the two “accidental hero’s” help a woman in labour, later they can only stand a look on as the armies muskets shoot down a child and mother – in a scene which obviously is Argento’s "Odessa staircase" moment. The revolutionaries are rewarded with consensus sex, where they later rape and abuse their “Italian women”. A string of accidental chance meetings connect the characters and the narrative – almost like in a Buñuel movie – Caniazzo is freed from his prison, by chance/accident. He becomes drawn into the revolution, by chance/accident. He teams up with Romulo, by chance/accident. They become part of Zampino’s [Glauco Onorato] small army, by chance/accident. Romulo seals his fate by chance/accident. I’m almost provoked by the lack of action taken by the lead characters, they are terribly passive and things just happen by chance. It’s not really satisfying. Life turns to death; freedom becomes captivation, and the cynical last minute twist shows that nothing really changes. A stunning metaphor when looking at Italy of today proves to be terrifyingly accurate.

None of the two lead characters are destined to be heroic characters; instead they are accidental protagonists – and weak protagonists at that. In the same random chance of events that make them our protagonists, the same random chance seals the fate of the two characters. It brings a sad and tragic mood to the movie, which again goes to show that the intention can’t have been to make a comedy.

If I where to pick out a few moments to share I’d first and foremost say that the fast motion chases, and slow motion fist fights kind of offend me as they go against everything that Dario Argento stands for in my book.

Argento regular Fulvio Mingozzi makes a brief appearance and there’s supposed to be a rare Argento cameo in the movie too, but two viewings on and I still haven’t seen it. The bandaged character referred to as Argento on the web is not Dario Argento.Cinematography is stunning - Luigi Kuveiller creates some moments that certainly mimic his best Gialli work and one can see why Argento wanted him to shoot the masterpiece to follow, Profondo Rosso.

I really laughed at the scenes with The Countess [Marilù Tolo] who becomes aroused by the blood which squirts over her breasts as one poor revolutionary is shot dead. Se seduces the soldiers, she's raised above the victorious crowd, who shamelessly grope her buttocks and she steers them towards her apartment where she invites them all to celebrate the victory by shagging her. This entire sequence oozes Fellini/Pasolini, and is amongst one of the few highlights of the movie.

During the same year, 1973, Marilù Tolo starred in the Roberto Pariante episode of the TV Series La porta sul buio (Door into Darkness), Testimone Oculare. Supposedly Argento stepped in and took over the episode and directed parts of it uncredited. Perhaps this dabbling in genre themes and the failure of The Five Days where what made him set his sights on the Giallo genre once again. The next movie to come from the pen and direction of Dario Argento, was the legendary Profondo Rosso (Deep Red) 1975, and despite being a somewhat mid/late entry into the genre, this is the one that most connoisseurs consider to be one of the very best Gialli ever put on film.

Pig

2012-02-12T17:29:00.005Z

Pig
Directed by: Adam Mason
USA, 2010
Horror/Drama, 93Min.

You know when a serial killer, or a mass murderer, gets caught, and despite the fact that they raped co-ed’s, ate babies and smashed in the heads of their victims, there is always a neighbour or two who comes forth with the age old “Oh, But he was such a nice and quite person, I’d have never have guessed it…” statement. Well in a pretty harsh way, Adam Mason’s Pig comes off as a video journal of the dark events those blissfully unaware neighbours, never could have imagined their nice friendly neighbor had taken part of.

A woman runs screaming towards the camera… behind her, a truck pulls up and grinds to a screeching halt. Out stumbles a bloke wearing a trucker cap and bloodied wife beater. He stomps up to the woman, punches her so hard that she falls to the ground… he moans that he “doesn’t want to do this” before he returns to beating her to a pulp. He tosses her onto the back of his truck and takes off back to his trailer where a second woman lies on the ground, chained to a pole. He parks the car, flips down the hatch and brutally strangles the woman in the back of the jeep to death... This is the start of a seventy-minute one take that will take you on one sincerely dark journey.

With a tone and atmosphere close to the old grindhouse flicks, and roughies of the early seventies – seriously, if Pig was shot in the seventies when the likes of Shaun Costello, Doris Wishman, and why not, Bo A. Vibenius, where mucking about with their provocative rough and ground-breaking movies there’s a no doubt about it that there would have been graphic sex inserted into PIG, at least in the European version. Anyway, with that kind of tone set, contemporary films that dabble in themes of prolonged sadism, and the zing of white trash redneck – as that’s the first impression the introduction of lead character Andrew Howard gives - this is really the horror version of Guerrilla Filmmaking – Rough, gritty and harsh, Pig get’s right in there, picks at scabs and rams a provocative finger deep into the yet unhealed and septic gash.

Story wise – which I’ll return to in a moment – I at first found Pig somewhat lacking. But there’s a crack of the whip ending that turns everything head over heels and does some great things for the movie. But technically – and performance wise – this is a great movie, impressive and intrusive. Shot in merely four days and seemingly one seventy minute long take, shot – although I do have a few idea’s of where the edits, if there actually where any, may have been placed – the movie passes no judgment or value in the actions portrayed, the camera merely observes rape, murder, torture, abuse, screwdriver sodomy and dinner preparations, where onions and blood of a pregnant woman are vital ingredients to the sauce being is cooked.

Pig is nothing less than a superbly choreographed dance of death, as I can almost sense the minimal crew and effects people stepping in to rig stuff each time the camera leaves them outside it’s gaze. I’m not saying that this is how they actually went about making Pig, but that’s the sensation I get. When the camera moves back – changing focus from a specific character, then you almost know that something bad is going to happen when the camera returns to that person.

The movie, which again, is said to lack any plot or story – which I can’t really agree with – because there are moments that seep through where Andrew shares some moments of tenderness with his just as psychotic partner Molly Black – like removing the contact lens that frightens her, or the patting of her stomach where his yet unborn child lies, and boasting about this same baby later on. There are moments of tenderness there if you look for it. The natural narrative becomes trying to puzzle the constellation together – who goes where, how long have they been there, what who why… And when Black takes the position she does, a backstory comes into play. Who is she? Is she an earlier victim, or an old girlfriend? She’s still caged, but obviously holds some special place in Andrew’s dangerous life. This is just one of the many questions that will stick with you after the last act twist.

The weird rant on radio, which reminds of generic horror’s use of the Southern Religious nut broadcasting to the masses a sermon, filled with fear and hatred for sin and the Devil. Although here it’s a beguiling broadcast of Misogynist talk show where even the female callers are reduced to objects of desire by the chauvinistic show host. It brings a fascinating unease to the scenes and in the same way that the religious chants in generic films warn of evil to come, the radio show in Pig says a lot about the characters who listen to this specific show, it sublimely sends the signal that women hold no value here at all, and is the agenda for the day.

Although, I do have somewhat of a problem with Pig, as there’s really no character development… which isn’t entirely true, but I’ll get back to that soon. Unfortunately I start to loose interest after about an hour of the onscreen antics, but when it jumps into the final act, I’m bitch slapped into paying attention again, and the wait has been worth the while. Yes, Pig has a final last act twist that actually makes it a fascinating movie. I love when movies go full 180° and kick you in the bollocks, giving you a rush of insight that puts everything into a new perspective, which is exactly what Pig does. Now, don’t go there expecting a violent mosh pit ending, because that’s not what you get, you get something so much more disturbing and provocative. See a movie that at first seemed to be of one certain kind, twisted over and became something completely different.

Keep your eyes open for a Welsh Dragon flag when Andrew releases Molly Black from her cage. Howard is from Wales, hence the flag being placed in the cage. Little details like that will have me returning to the movie, for despite being very Spartan in it’s design, there’s details looming in the background waiting to be spotted.

Just like Apocalypse Now, Hostel, Cloverfield and Inception, there are no opening titles to the movie. Just two quick logos then, blam, into the action. Even the end credits continue to mock the viewer, as they actually are the end credits from The Devil’s Chair 2007 played in reverse…

In interviews director Mason has said that the movie was the result of a shared frustration with long time collaborator Andrew Howard concerning the movie business where people literally get away with any god damned thing. Together the two stopped talking, decided that no corporate bullshit would stop them, and set plans in motion. The result is an impressive piece that definitely should be seen as a cynical metaphor for the movie industry and what goes on there. I lift my hat to Mason and Howard, as Pig took me down a road I’m starting to loose interest in, only to have an unexpected surprise lurking for me at the end of the movie.

Innovation is a great thing, rush of insight is a fucker of minds, and this film definitely need’s to find it audience right now. Instead of watching mainstream bullshit, and franchise diarrhoea, demand Pig - perhaps one of the most interesting movies you still haven’t seen.

Friday's Fun with BluRay

2012-02-10T08:20:00.005Z

Just as much as I hate that BluRay brings out the flaws in all my favorite movies, I love that BluRay brings out the details in all my favorite movies...

We where sat in the new cinema at the new office watching the new BluRay of George A. Romero's gritty climax to the original Dead trilogy, Day of the Dead 1985, when secrets that have been kept safe from the eye in previous versions - yeah think umpteenth version dupe, as that's how I first was introduced to this movie decades ago - where suddenly unleashed upon the bunch of us who'd gathered for our weekly dose of big screen carnage.

Day of the Dead is riddled with referents to previous installments in the Romero franchise and also several nod to other classic movies and horror related themes. There's the grand opening which sees Sara [Lori Cardille] have something of a recurrent nightmare. It not only set's the theme of pending doom, but it's also an obvious Roman Polanski's Repulsion 1965 homage. There's the nickname of Dr. Logan [Richard Liberty], Frankenstein - a contemporary spin on the creation of the modern Prometheus, as he tries to tap into the zombies primal "human behavior", and there's referrals to names from previous installments, and the obvious Stephen King's Salem's Lot nod.

But the minimal scene that caught my attention was the scene at the beginning of the movie - let's call it the ordinary world if you like - after the Repulsion prologue, where Lori and Miguel [Antoné DiLeo] are scouting the town for survivors, but merely awaken the horde...

After the crocodile crawls out of the bank, but before the iconic image of Dr. Tounge and the titles are up on screen, there's two shots of a zombie coming out of the Edison Theatre, and in the background of this wonderful high-defenition print from Arrow, you can make out two great posters on the outside of the theatre...

The images are posters for Lucio Fulci's Conquest 1983 and Enzo G. Castellari's I guerrieri del Bronx (1990: The Bronx Warriors) 1982. (There's a third poster hidden behind the door that seems to be shark related, but I'll leave the imagining up to you)

Now this may just seem to be random images which one may come to expect outside an old theatre... but these movies where movies that had a couple of years on their neck at the time Day of the Dead was shot. As far as I'm concerned I'm quite sure that this is a deliberate decision made by Romero - who's movies frequently hold nods to other films, filmmakers and writers that he appreciates - and his longtime collaborator production designer Cletus Anderson, art director Bruce Allan Miller and set designer Jan Pascale.

A great little secret, or perhaps homage, that's been hidden in generation loss and inferior quality since 1985, now finally sees the light of day!

Skew

2012-01-30T21:03:00.005Z

Skew

Directed by: Sevé Schelenz

Canada, 83min

Drama/Horror, 2011

I try to stay away from watching titles that people request me to watch’n’review, because of the obvious risk of getting into something that I don’t enjoy, hence making for a terrible review. But when I was approached by Schelenz to check out his flick – an effective Canadian Indie flick, currently doing great on the festival circuit – and during the same period of time seeing the trailer for Skew, I felt that this was a movie I really wanted to see… and as soon as possible!

Three mates, Rick [Richard Olak], Eva [Amber Lewis] and Simon [Rob Scattergood] who spends the most of the movie hiding behind his small dv camera, take to the road with a friends wedding set as the final destination. But what at first seems to be a fun filled road trip soon becomes a tension-building ordeal when Simon starts seeing eerie omens of things to come, through the viewfinder of his camera.

Skew has got me all excited. This is an impressive little movie which definitely play’s ball with the big boys. Taking a spin on the “Found footage” niche can be one of the most risky approaches to take today, as that’s a genre rapidly becoming watered down, for each day that goes. But Skew has something that manages to keep it above the many imitators that came in the wake of the phenomenal The Blair Witch Project 1999. Yes I love The Blair Witch Project, as it came right at the correct time in my opinion. When genre was becoming mainstream and repetitive, Blair Witch came with its low-key approach, presented its story in a new way, and scared the pants off its audience. But that was thirteen years ago, and god knows that the imitators have had a struggle taping into the innovation of that movie.

It’s not really fair to compare Skew to this early entry, but at the same time, any movie that takes the found footage approach will be compared to it – and the later movies that take the same approach. Although it should be mentioned that Schelenz did actually script and start shooting the movie way back in 2005, years before the success of Paranormal Activity, Cloverfield and Spanish success franchise Rec.

The main ingredient that Skew shares with them, is the first person narrative, everything we see is what Simon sees through the viewfinder of his camera. And this is where it really delivers the goods. I found that I was falling for the gimmicks and scares a lot easier in Skew than with others in the niche.

Right from the start an effective subplot is set in motion. It’s the morning of departure and where Eva and Rick are all giddy to set off, there’s an apparent schism between Simon and his girlfriend Laura [Taneal Cutting]. I get the feeling that she was supposed to come along on the trip, but something has happened that makes her skip the road trip. It’s all kept secret from the viewer, which makes for a splendid subplot that returns through out the movie, and culminates in the climax of the film. “What happened between Simon and Laura to make her bail out?”

Schelenz has complete control of the universe his characters live in and he knows exactly where they are coming from. This is evident in the backstories, which slowly seep out through the narrative. I hate when movies stop dead in their tracks due to tedious exposition. Schelenz weaves just enough backstory and dimension into his characters through camera observations and well-scripted dialogue to keep the interest alive and the intrigue flowing. I easily pick up that Rick and Simon have been pals a long time, that Rick may be a guy who likes his beer’s and that there’s a two sided tension between Simon and Eva due to her loyalty to Laura – where that subplot again comes into play. It’s an ordinary world that the audience can relate to and problems we all know form everyday life.

The Simon and Eva angle brings a tension to the movie in more than one way. Not only is Eva obviously Laura’s mate and holds some kind of grudge – as Laura didn’t tell Eva either why she decided to skip the trip – but there’s something brewing there. There’s more going on that first meets the eye.

I’m a big fan of the slow build. I don’t always find that an initial attack is necessary, as I choose movies in the genre I like. I don’t really need an initial attack to tell me what genre this is. But the slow build is the shit, when it’s done in the correct way. This is where you bring me into the characters world and spill exposition along the way, giving me something to hang onto, characters to understand and empathize with. David Moreau & Xavier Palud’s masterpiece Ils (Them) 2006, takes a whopping 35 minutes to establish the ordinary world before unleashing the terror that it’s main characters Clémentine and Lucas go through, and it never get’s tedious. Instead I get to know the characters, which makes me feel so much more the moment their fate is sealed. This is similar to the path taken by Schelenz in Skew. A slow build that slowly brings me into the world of Simon, Rick and Eva, so that I know them, I understand the constellation before the freaky shit starts to happen. And when talking about the freaky shit, I once again have to point out that Skew got me with it's shock moments on more than one occasion, and I've chosen to avoid using images of those moments here in this review.

When the strange events start happening on Simon’s footage it happens in various ways, sometimes sublime with an effective eeriness, and sometimes with a classic jump scare approach. But these jump-scares and shock moments not only affect me as the audience – as they naturally build tension for the next scare to come - but they also affect Simon. He is forced to question his sanity, and this in turn affects the constellation. Paranoia starts to run rampant as Simon’s anxiety starts to rub off on Rick and Eve. Not only have they indirectly witnessed a series of gruesome deaths, but also Simon claims that the images of the affected he shot previous to the deaths, where distorted when he initially saw them. This is where the stern reception of this reveal comes into play. If anything bugged me with Paranormal Activity it was the lead male characters nudge-nudge, wink-wink approach to the subject matter. Rick and Eva are obviously freaked by Simon’s strange behaviour and don’t believe a word he says. Simon becomes even more alienated from his friends and with no allies left on his side – an emotion also created through the complex Laura subplot – his only companion becomes the audience.

Now if you are a frequent reader then you will already know where I’m going here… yes I‘m playing the sceptic card. Unlike something like Ti West’s The Innkeepers where we need to move a lead character into the unreal realm with the use of her scepticism, Skew put’s a spin on it as the audience see the same things Simon sees. Whilst the others, Eva and Rick, don’t believe the truth, a truth that we know is real, we tend to empathise with Simon. It works similar to the classic child protagonist who nobody believes when he says there’s a monster in the closet. Instead the supporting actors scepticism strengthen the position of Simon, and we can relate through emotional recognition to the frustration and fear he feels when he finally tells them of the strange things his camera is registering.

One final note on Skew would have to be that I undoubtedly stand by the choice of never explaining the reason why Simon sees the things he sees. I’m certain that some explanatory moment that explained whether Simon is going insane, or that the camera is haunted due to some weird reason would have culminated in ridicule. It’s a wise choice to leave the audience with their own thoughts on this, and it makes the movie linger on longer in their minds. Sometimes an explanation can topple a really good narrative where scares have done their job and mystery is diminished. This is one of the reasons why the last part of James Wan’s Insidious 2010 becomes such an anti-climax. All that magnificent tension building is wasted when the reason behind the hauntings is explained, hence loosing the magic and mystery of the road there. Luckily Schelenz skipped the scripted bookend segments showing the camera in it’s pawnshop habitat, and instead stuck to the mystery and never let’s us in on what is really going on, and that’s one of the reasons why I’m certain that Skew is destined to become someewhat of modern horror cult classic. This is a movie that will find it's audience.

Right now you can catch Skew streaming on NetFlix in the US, but being patient pays off as the film will premiere on England’s The Horror Channel later this year and there’s a German DVD slated for a May release. You can also catch the movie on one of the many festivals that it’s currently playing at.

Rabies

2012-01-18T19:18:00.006Z

Rabies

Original Title: Kalevet

Directed by: Ahron Keshales & Navot Papushado

Israel, 2010

Horror, 90min

With Keshales & Papushado's Rabies, I was expecting to see “the First Israeli slasher”. I don’t really know why, but that how I’ve understood it to be reviewed/categorised in certain circuits. But they are all wrong. This isn’t a slasher film at all. There’s no single antagonist stalking prey in the woods. There’s no escaping the slashing knives of the maniac. No, Rabies most certainly isn’t a slasher, it’s something much more sophisticated, complex and damned right fascinating.

A brother and sister hiding their secret love affair, four twenty-something friends on their way to a tennis match, two police officers with way to much time on their hands and two forest wardens tending to the Fox Reserve all get caught up in a violent nightmare when something in the small woodland area brings out the worst in them.

Rabies is an impressive flick and the duo of Keshales and Papushado obviously know what they are doing, and this is possibly where Kashales previous occupation as a movie journalist comes in handy. Knowing what works and doesn’t is a fucking great place to start off at. Because when you know what convention brings in its wake, you know exactly what path’s you want to stay safely away from. There’s more than one unexpected twist to the narrative that completely rockets the movie into new terrain and this brings a fresh vibe with it.

This is a movie where the filmmakers take time to establish the characters, setting up their world and their ever-important traits. Character releations are explored, the relationship between Menashe [Menashe Noy] and Rona [Efrat Boimold] and their growing secret, the raging hormones and repressed desires of preppy lads Mikey [Ran Danker] and Pini [Ofer Schecter] contrasted by the suave chicks Adi [Ania Bukstein, who I definitely want to see more of] and Shir [Yael Grobglas], the lurking fear and frustrations of the two policemen, Danny [Lior Ashkenazi] and Yuval [Danny Geva who gives one hell of a great performance, bringing his sleazebag cop to life]. Familiar characters types, but with depth and several surprises up their sleeves…. and I simply love the way taboo’s are shattered from the very first lines of dialogue, that of Tali [Liat Har Lev] and Ofer [Henry David] as they reveal their secret love affair. This opening sequence also set’s a great tone for the movie as Tali starts the movie deep inside a damp underground trap set by the mysterious man who roams the woodlands. Generic horror would have designated “the man in the overalls” [Yaron Motola] as the main antagonist. It’s familiar stalkers/horror turf, a one-man killing machine tormenting the protagonists. But Rabies merely uses this as a tool to present a threat, an obstacle to start up the drama. It’s an effective one and it also leads the narrative forth to a possible opening for a sequel. This conventional archetype is also used in one of the movies most distressing scenes where identities are mixed up and unfortunate events lead to a shocking violent climax to one of the many subplots.

Rabies is almost like a genre version of Robert Altman’s Shortcuts 1993 or even Paul Haggis' Crash 2004, where a series of subplots with active story arcs always end in effective cliffhangers, before switching over to a new group of protagonists/antagonists. Again, the character we initially think to be the antagonist works merely as a stimulus for the events that take place. It’s a splendid twist on convention and an inventive way of using the old to create new.

Rabies sticks it’s neck out and proves that an ensemble piece can actually have multiple protagonists. Where the generic horror film rarely takes time to establish characters, and showcases familiar stereotypes instead, hence declaring a use of the “final female” formula that’s been done to death since Carpenter’s Halloween 1978. Instead we are introduced to an ensemble of complex characters with their own secrets and hidden agendas. Almost all of the characters have backstories that come into play during the course of the movie. It’s these backstories that also drive the series of events that take place. With the help of “the overalled man”, let’s call him the conventional antagonist, the characters themselves become their own antagonists at the same time they are protagonists.

One could look at the movie as a kind of “the evil that men/women do” when faced with extreme situations. In my take the forest possesses some dark force that becomes something of a catalyst for ill deeds. This is where the name rabies makes sense. Something in that woodland twists the judgments of the characters, transforming them into rabid animals instead. Now I’m not talking about frothy mouthed monsters, but more on an intellectual level, as their moral grounds are tested and that mental restraint that keeps us from reacting in normal life is repressed. Here it’s instinct without moral reasoning.

At the same time, in this rather bleak and violent world portrayed, there are some very sensitive and emotional moments. Several of the subplots have tender motifs for the arcs, which obviously help us to empathise with certain characters. There’s also some great character twists where empathetic characters suddenly, due to the circumstances they find themselves in turn to the dark side and commit some atrocious acts. It’s becomes a violent roller-coaster ride where you never really get the chance to catch your breath. You never really know whom you can trust or where their characters will take you, which creates a haunting edge throughout the movie.

Be prepared for the unexpected in this impressive debut film, which will jerk your imagination and take you on a murky ride beyond prediction.

The Bunny Game

2012-01-06T20:22:00.010Z

The Bunny Game

Directed by: Adam Rehmeier

USA 2010

Horror/Thriller, 76min

Out of the frying pan into the fire. That’s a pretty good way to sum up Adam Rehmeier’s intriguing and provocative debut feature The Bunny Game. There’s a fistful of flicks that come around each year with a buzz from their festival circuit reputation. Movies alleged to be more than the average horror flick, movies that dig deeper than the usual genre fare, movies that leave an aching pain of seeing something disturbing, beautiful and important at the same time. Movies that stay in your head after the end credits have rolled… and if you are a regular reader, you know just how much I enjoy these kinds of movies. These are the specks of gold amongst the black sand we sift through on a regular basis.

Bunny [Rodleen Getsic] is a prostitute taking it day by day. One day she encounters an elderly trucker called Hog [Jeff F. Renfro]. Hog abducts Bunny and drives far into the desert where he begins a series of sadistic games. Games where Bunny’s life is at stake. This is the basic synopsis of The Bunny Game. A movie that causes controversy when watched by people who do not understand what they are seeing.

The Bunny Game has already been banned in the UK, or rather refused a certificate, which may be a gratuitous tool to present distributors outside of Great Britain with. A movie rejected due to it’s sadistic and sexual content will certainly find it’s audience – after all we do live in 2012, and banned discs are only a click away on foreign online stores. But despite a great promotional tool, keep in mind that the BBFC have previously “banned” movies on grounds that they obviously lack the insight to understanding movies. Such as Kôji Shiraishi’s Gurotesuku (Grotesque 2009), a movie I’ve previously explained how the BBFC completely misunderstood. It's a unfortunate day when one has to point out that they have made the same kind of misinterpretation of The Bunny Game as they did with Grotesque.

This isn’t a movie about what is going on on-screen, this is a movie that pushes deeper than the screen images. A movie that burrows into the mind of its audience, taking them on a dark and captivating ride. I am dead serious when I say that this movie isn’t about exploitation or cheap thrills. This is a really dark trip with mesmerizing performances and a captivating narrative brought to life through it’s part improvised, part scripted – if only in the easiest form – and part therapy. Getsic and Rehmeier based the foundation story on Getsic's personal experiences and the line between performance, acting and realism is very vague with this one. Nothing feels fake here, it all feels real, because it is real, and Getsic gives such a powerful performance I doubt she will ever top it.

Whist watching, I frequently found myself thinking of the short anarchistic works of Richard Kern, Lydia Lunch and Nick Zedd that seeped up from the underground art circuit during the eighties. Undoubtedly, The Bunny Game could be seen as the Cinema of Transgression maturing into a potent art form. The movies share certain themes, imagery and have a similar aura of authenticity to them. But I also find myself thinking of grand classics like Carl T. Dreyer’s Le passion de Jean d'Arc (The Passion of Joan of Arc 1928… Perhaps Bunny becomes the Patron Saints of all Women of the Night. The associations are not to farfetched, as The Bunny Game is a mystic combination of improvisation and performance, channelling some very dark places, and there are at least two instances of religious imagery to be found. One subtle in a characters name, the other deliberate image that brought the mentioned film above to mind.

From here on out, I think a spoiler warning should be issued. Yeah, a rare thing on this site, but to be able to discuss The Bunny Game seriously some details may slip out that could harm your initial viewing. So if you haven’t seen the movie ye, then you may want to do that before we go on. If not, you have been warned slight spoilers ahead.

OK so if we break it down it could go something like this.

Setting an ordinary world is of importance in any genre, I ramble on about this frequently so it should come as no shock that I do so here too. Rehmeier establishes it quickly and effective with a pre-title shot of a face being suffocated inside a plastic bag, then hard cut to the titles. I’d actually call this the initial attack, the moment that establishes what genre we are in and what we may come to expect of the film. The image is not only a disturbing one, but also a symbolic description of the movie, because there will be more terror to come, and it also works as a metaphor for the feeling of asphyxia, which the film brings on. Following the titles, we are presented with the ordinary world of Bunny. A graphic depiction of Bunny giving oral sex, a variation of customers, drug abuse, aimlessly wandering the streets in search of the next john, and this is where the BBFC miss their first cue. In this establishment of Bunny’s ordinary world she’s given dimension through small actions she takes during this establishing act. She says No to a customer’s request, she has flashbacks to happier times – I’ll return to the flashbacks later, as they also hold an important key to the movies climax - she resists certain acts, she makes a telephone call somewhere which makes her cry – we can only suppose that it’s to some long gone safety zone which no longer exists such as family or friends or such. Then there’s two final defining moments in establishing Bunny’s character. After one encounter with a john she cries in the shower, and after a second customer steals her backpack she breaks down. There’s a complexity to the character. When she reacts to the stolen bag, we realize that despite only owning a few possessions, these items are of value to Bunny. She does care about things, which help us to connect with her. The crying in the shower scene is important as Bunny’s rueful reactions help us empathize with her. This signifies that walking the streets isn’t her occupation of choice; it is something she’s forced into by circumstance. It’s her fight for survival. This brings dimension to the character. We gain insight, we empathize with her as she’s already a victim… and she hasn’t even met Hog yet.

Staying with the characters, Hog is a fascinating one indeed. Almost everything I have read about this movie after watching it describe Hog as the most evil serial killer in a long time… I’m not going to back that statement. Hog isn’t the most evil serial killer in a long time, although he is perhaps one of the most complex and sadistic antagonists that I’ve encountered in a long time, but a serial killer. Nah.

I think that anyone who watches The Bunny Game and doesn’t become fascinated by the Hog character – and the stunning performance Jeff F Renfro gives, is probably blind and emotionally shut down. Because the thing that fascinates with Hog is that he too, just like Bunny is filled with dimension. He’s not just a coldblooded killer, he’s much more. There are several things that point to this. The first is that he doesn’t jump Bunny straight away. There’s a shared moment of time before he attacks. Like a cat playing with its prey, Hog tauntingly pokes, tugs and gropes Bunny whilst she’s unconscious. He videotapes her – which in a larger perspective reminds me of Hisayasu Sato’s use of voyeuristic themes – and then walks away. He could have started the game there already, but he doesn’t. When he does initiate the game, he’s almost reluctant, and wanders back and forth before setting the game in motion. Following the bursts of insanity Hog frequently sits in the cabin of his rig with something of a remorseful look on his face. There’s no giggling and indulging in past or current trophies, instead there’s almost a regretful tone to his persona. Hog isn’t a dark hearted serial killer but a complex man with dark sexual deviations that torment him. He knows he’s doing wrong, but can’t constrain himself from indulging in the pleasure of his sadistic games. This if obvious in the scene where he stands smoking at the back of the truck and his entire body language is that of guilt. He wanders back and forth, frustrated and restless. There’s no pride in his actions. That’s complexity within a character, which makes him so much more than a plain old generic serial killer.

With the characters explored, let’s take a look at the dramatic structure of the movie. Again, this is where the BBFC prove their ignorance and lack of understanding movies, because if you choose to judge this movie by what you see at a first glimpse, then it will be lost on you.

There’s a fine thread of images that seep through the film telling more about the characters than the images up front are showing. It’s important to point out that the entire movie thrives on expectations. From the first screen… no really before that, from the moment you started reading this text, well actually from the first second you made the conscious decision to read or watch The Bunny Game, it starts building expectations. From the first scene it starts building anticipation, what was that scene, who was it, where is it. What part does it fill? It’s an initial attack and we know that they present the threat to come during the movie’s course. Every scene builds tension. Up to moment when Bunny enters hog’s rig, the music, with the exception of one early Death Metal track, shifts from the mellow atmospherically ambient style of score to a dronish growl. A dronevilish growl that will seep through the most of the coming events that when the music stops and the soundtrack only consists of diegetic sound it amplifies the moment on screen and helps set the audience in the realism of the moment. When music is used, it helps build the tension, and I know it’s going to snap at any given moment. Every encounter between Bunny and Hog builds tension. When Hog approaches the back of the truck armed with his razor sharp army knife, the editing taunts us, Hog walks back and forth, he slowly approaches the makeshift torture chamber, and Rehmeier teases the audience by keeping Hog from approaching his destination as long as possible… building tension.

This is where the videotape flashbacks come into play. Don’t confuse these with the narrative flashbacks, they are of a completely different fashion, and I’ll get back to them in a moment. The videotape flashbacks are moments of torture, bondage and sadism from Hog’s previous victim, fittingly named Martyr [Dretti Page] in the credits. These more or less act as videotape segue ways into the next session between Hog and Bunny and with them in mind, we obviously become intrigued to see what will happen. What will Hog do that he hasn’t done before, and knowing that he has committed similar acts earlier, is there anything that can stop him.

Looking at the style and form of The Bunny Game, I really like the retrained dialogue, the lingering shots that contrast with the hard rapid bursts of fast edits, the feeling of spontaneity found in the cinematography which captures some highly intense moments. It’s here that the bursts of rapid edits from a seemingly happier past create an eclectic narrative filled with questions and answers. Because the flashbacks are not only flashbacks, they are non-linear time capsules. If you pay attention upon repeated viewing you will see the past, and future, of Bunny.

This is how The Bunny Game works. We want to know where it’s going to go, how far will Hog push the envelope this time, how much will Bunny be able to take… fragmented short inserts which we take in and try to put into some context – we do this compulsively weather we choose to or not, it’s in our human nature all add to building tension. Even the final scene works in the same way, who, what, why… Tension is built to a maximum. More questions are posed and not a single answer is given… or is there?

Ok, remember that warning earlier on. Well for real, this is where I crack it wide open. If you haven’t seen the movie think twice before progressing, this is spoiler turf.

In the early flashback scenes whilst still in Bunny’s ordinary world you will see images of Bunny with her shaven head. She’s lying on what is obviously a mortician’s table. So yes Bunny does die. Although I’m not certain that it’s Hog who is the killer. Again looking at the videotape flashbacks these work as a blue print for Hog’s torture games. If you take time to think about it, there’s a structure to Hog’s atrocities. Each moment from previous victims is repeated with Bunny. There’s really nothing that says that Hog actually murders his victims. Also, Hog gives Bunny the chance to live with the last game, the age-old straws game. He gives no indication of deception here, instead he calls out to his buddy Jonas [Gregg Gilmore] who in the last long, almost tedious shot arrives in his pickup van and takes off with Bunny. The mystery of Jonas is wide open. Is he some kind of cleaner, taking care of Hog’s mess? An accomplice perhaps who takes the torture to a whole new level from where Hog left off. This scene open the door to a whole new devastating world, and from the flash forward moments, it’s fair to suspect that Jonas is the real killer, although the world and games he plays with Bunny are seemingly too dark for the audience to participate in.

This is why I constantly claim that movies like Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs, Simon Rumley’s Red White and Blue, Lucky McKee’s The Woman, Miguel Ángel Viva’s Kidnapped, Srdjan Spasojevic’s A Serbian Film, Eric Stanze’s Ratline, even something like Gareth Edwards Monsters are much more rewarding than the common closed book movies that we constantly watch. Perhaps movies of this specific kind loose the repeated viewings they deserve, as their key moments of suspense are bust. Although these movie do stand up to the tests of time, and do indeed deserve a second or third viewing, as you will discover more dimensions to the movie, and you will see more detail that has been hidden away from you the first time around. The possibility of Hog’s Bunny game only being the first in a circle of many isn’t quite the climax we are expecting. Of course anyone who watches cutting edge genre flicks knows that the nihilistic climax is a common one. But at the same time convention teaches us that villains are to be captured and punished, justice must be served. Be it the law, a chance rescue or Bunny herself we crave justice. Instead we get yet another layer of hell, and we wanted that too. We stuck with the movie as our morbid curiosity drove us to see how far Hog would go... How much will Bunny take? A certain part of us chooses to watch the sadistic games, which also discloses uncomfortable truths about us as an audience… why are we watching? In more than one metaphorical way we are Hog. We also want to know where will this lead us. Well, it takes us to a dark place and a climax where we neither see Bunny survive nor die. We see her vanish into the light of the horizon and what we presume is further degradation and torture. It poses disturbing and uncomfortable questions that we most certainly will be thinking about when the movie is ended.

Keep your inhaler close at hand, The Bunny Game will leave you gasping for breath…

The Living Coffin

2012-01-05T22:52:00.007Z

The Living Coffin.
Original Title: El Grito de la Muerte
Directed by: Fernando Méndez
Mexico, 1959
Western/horror, 72min.

Normally I would have written some dorky ingress about how I first was introduced to Mexican genre movies via Santo & Blue Demon and the Something Wild/Klub Super8 festival I went to with my wife over a decade ago, or the hundreds of thousands of characters I’ve written on current Spanish/Mexican movies… but I don't want to waste time with that...

Instead let’s just agree that Mexican Cinema is fucking grand, the now defunct Panik House, Casa Negra releases are required viewing and some damned fine examples of a time when Mexican Horror was at the top of it’s game.

A cowboy [Gaston Santos], part time sheriff, and also self proclaimed archaeology buff, arrives at the remote Hacienda de la Ciènega, with a strange statue that he’s been given. He asks inhabitant Maria Elena Garcia [María Duval] about the strange item and learns that it’s one of two statues her recently deceased Aunt Clotide [Carolina Barret] had made after her children died in the quicksand surrounding. Dõna Maria [Hortensia Santoveña] is mishandling the ranch due to her profound superstitions, and it’s on its last legs, much to everyone’s despair. With the rumour of the Weeping Woman who walks the casa at night, even the roughest bandit choses to sleep under the stars instead of spending the night in the house. Fast exposition set’s up the hauntings and the curse of the “weeping woman” is established – yes, it’s Clotide who mourns the death of her kids. A big knife is stuck in the face of the grandfather clock in the hallway. A knife that freezes the time of Clotide’s death hence prohibiting her from returning from the dead again. Maria Elena yanks it out and the terror begins. Ghosts rise from their tombs, rotten bandits shoot unfortunate ranch hands in the back, Gaston is chased into the swamp facing a certain death -only to be saved by his horse – more ghosts come back from the dead, and the truth is finally revealed… only those alive at the end will know what really is going on at the Hacienda de la Clènega.

The Living Coffin is very much a classic western with strong seasoning of Ghost story, But the main motor of the movie is the mystery of a secret plot to take over the mansion and exploit the land it lies on as it’s said to hold a vein of gold beneath it’s foundation. A good old western film trait - Greed. There’s nothing Greedy men won’t do, even if it concerns trickery, deceit and grave robbery.

Being a sucker for themes, iconography and reoccurring traits, these movies fit me like hand in glove. Only minutes into The Living Coffin Gaston asks about the strange statues that have brought him to the Hacienda. The statues are obviously referred to as Weeping Woman, a recurrent icon in Mexican genre film.

One of the most familiar Mexican “genre” themes is “La Llorona”, the curse of the crying woman. This dates back way back to Aztec times, and tells the legend of a woman drowning her two children so that she can be with her lover. When he doesn’t want her, she takes her own life. Her punishment becomes to walk the earth for the rest of time and remorsefully she cries for the loss of her children. Being a cautionary tale, the use of the legend in genre movies is somewhat self-explanatory and in The Living Coffin it’s dealt a nice twist through the subplot concerning the statues and the past relationship between Clotide and the village Doctor [Antonio Raxel], a characteristic semi drunk who has been hitting the bottle since Clotide passed away. The legend was first put on screen by Ramón Peón in the movie La Llorona back in 1933, and has been immortalised numerous amounts of times since then.

Good looking playboy matador Gaston Santos step into movies and especially Westerns is something of a natural step from the bullfighting arenas he’d been competing on as he used to fight in the style of Rejonador, the matador who rides a horse. So using his boyish charm, and his riding skills, he set course on a career in movies after Alameda Films signed him to star in a series of movies. Taking on a Rob Roy-ish kind of character in three movies directed by Rafael Baledón, with a comedic sidekick in the shape of Pedro de Aguillón (who performed the voice of Sylvester the Cat in the Spanish version of Looney Tunes). Even in later movies such as The Living Coffin, Augillón acts as a comedic sidekick to Gaston’s straight guy. Here we find Aguillón constantly yearning for sleep and being goofy in the fight sequences.

Mexican Westerns have always had an off niche where the genre is mixed perfectly with the forces of supernatural. In no other country was it as common as Mexico, and in no other place does it work as grand as it does there. I’ve seen other horror themed westerns, but none manage to bring the weird off kilter atmosphere of the Mexican flicks.

Several red herrings are laid about through the narrative, which keeps it intriguing. We obviously know that Gaston will solve the case and all will be revealed before the ending comes – and it certainly is a Scooby Doo one, but the journey there is worthwhile and it works swell with the overall tone of the film. It’s not full horror we’re dealing with but more horror light, familiar themes and the odd comedic element here and there, such as goofy sound effects. Aguillón’s character is focus for the comedy, Gaston the detective work and Maria Elena the ghost story.

Where I found the cinematography of Victor Herrera on The Black Pit of Dr. M to be visually stunning, The Living Coffin unfortunately doesn’t really live up to the previous one. It looks good enough, but the skilful use of shadows, contrasts and effective lighting seem to do nothing when the movie is shot in colour. This is odd as both movies where shot in the same year. Although something that does keep up standards is the script by Ramón Obón, and the effectively haunting soundtrack by Gustavo César Carrión. I wish that I could find some of his music available on CD. Mexico would be a grand venture for a future mixtape.

Don’t go to The Living Coffin expecting a horrific tale of ghost and superstitions in a western setting, you may get your hopes up to high. But if you want an entertaining and fun movie that really is easy to take in, demands nothing from it’s audience – only because it’s half a century old, and we are accustomed to the tricks it plays on the audience - then this is something you want to check out.

Gaston Santos in action!

Panic

2012-01-03T09:50:00.007Z

Panic
Original title/Aka: Bakterion
Directed by: Tonino Ricci
Italy/Spain, 1982
Horror, 90min

One of my oldest mates here in Stockholm gave me an advanced VCR player some six-seven years back, when he cleared out his warehouse of stuff he’d had in storage since the video racket died out some ten – fifteen years before that. A few weeks ago he found a big cardboard box of old Japanese video tape originals amongst his junk, and invited me to come look at the newly discovered treasure, which I obviously did. I borrowed a bunch of stuff I haven’t seen in ages, or missed the first time around, and again I find myself reflecting other the fact that these old horror flicks, despite how great they look re-mastered, in HD, great clean crisp sound, never really looked better and more enchanting than they did on shoddy video with blurry colours, buzzy sound and grainy images. I’m all for re-mastered re-issues filled to the brim with new interviews and nostalgic retrospect’s, but I can still feel that addiction to VHS like there’ never been S-Video, Laserdisc, VCD, DVD or Blu-ray. It’s an unexplainable kind of magic.

Through a freak accident at a chemical lab, Professor Adams [Roberto Ricci - son of director Tonini] becomes a contagious bloodthirsty monster. Adams colleague and assistant, Jane [Janet Ågren] and Captain Kirk [David Warbeck] are assigned to find out what happened to the professor – as it all starts out as a mystery venture, only the audience know of the monster. But pretty soon the monster is slaying young lovers, roaming the underground sewer system of Newton and spreading panic along his way.

Wasting no time at all, the movie opens with a suggestive shot of some very familiar footage of a place that could be none other than eighties UK. The suggestive footage presents the viewer with an awe of pending threat. Moments later following some shots of Janet Ågren posing with the science props and concluding that there experiment is going wrong, the lab rats are becoming insane and then the genesis of the movies antagonist – Professor Adams - is presented, well at least his boiling, melting blistering face is. The world they live in is established, the monster is presented, the table is set, now let’s rock.

An early attack is used to show the fury and destruction in the monsters wake, when two young lovers get it on inside a small car and get interrupted mid coitus as a disfigured being yanks the bloke out of the car, smashing him into the bonnet before chasing the semi nude chick into a warehouse corner and gutting her. Even the cops are disgusted with the remains when they find her tattered body later on.

If you want to see totally out-dated computer screens, spontaneous nudity punished by violent death, panic in the streets of England – well we never really see it, but they talk about it a lot - and David Warbeck magnificently sneering his way towards yet another pay check, then you will want to check Panic out.

Oh, and I forgot to tell you about a delicate picante minor subplot concerning a perhaps a tad too friendly and sleazy priest [Eugenio Benito] who initially awards the children of the quire with sweets and later is seen walking at night with a flock of them… hiding themselves from the monster they take to locking themselves in the Church… I love the subtle paradox of children hiding from one horror with a one possibly even larger than the monster. Also, you can’t go wrong using children in threatening situations, as it’s one of the most effective tricks in the world. Amusingly I hold a theory that the Spanish genre writers and directors are the filmmakers who predominately use children as a driving force, an emotional tool and a dramatic instrument in their movies. Almost every Spanish flick these past years concerns orphanages, unfortunate children, kiddie ghosts or something that poses threats to children in one way or another – just look at the movies of the Spanish new wave these past years and you’ll see what I’m talking about. So it’s entertaining to see that screenwriters Víctor Andrés Catena and Jaime Comas Gil where aware of that whilst penning this little oddity way back in the day.

Overall this movie get’s somewhat slayed in reviews, but I can only take this as being critique delivered by people who don’t really appreciate the fine art of European exploitation flicks shot on minuscule budget. Panic does have a pretty decent drive forth throughout, split up between three sub plots. The detective plot of Ågren and Warbeck searching for Adams, the horror plot of the Monster on the prowl and the political subplot of Sir Charles (i.e. Government) setting Plan Q in action – A plan that concerns the total destruction of the village of Newton. Several subplots come together rather early on, as we move into act two where Warbeck questions Sir Charles decision of setting Plan Q in action, is ordered to eliminate the contagion and also told that he’s allowed to use his gun. Warbeck never lets his audience down and once the threat is revealed, this movie get’s going. Exposition is over, now let the fun begin. Yeah so it may not be completely logic why the monster kills, or for what reason, certain questions are never answered and the script is kind of all over the place. But at the same time, I’m here for some cheap thrills, a non-intellectual stimuli and a good time with some cheap European trash cinema. Panic delivers by the bucket full up to the rather bland climax. Oh, the monster, Ågren and Warbeck arcs do culminate, but there’s more to follow that…

The grisly effects and fleshy monster makeup by Rino Carboni and Cataldo Galliano do what they are supposed to – for the time effective and no lesser that other effects at the time. The movie keeps Dr. Adams off screen for as long as possible as to build to that inevitable last minute reveal. See, it's not all wrong, there's a lot of stuff working in favor of Panic. Cinematographer Giovanni Bergamini – who also shot Lenzi’s Cannibal Ferox 1981 and several movies for Enzo G Castellari, Quel maledetto treno blindato (The Inglorious Bastards) 1978, amongst them, sets and composes shots in a way that never really sands out. Although take note of the way Fulci regular Vincenzo Tomassi edits the first gore sequences, it’s fascinating, but unfortunately never repeated again in the movie. This is unfortunately as this is a splendid way of getting the most out of a tension reliever! Finally one should say something of Marcello Giombini’s score, as it is pretty neat and get’s the job done, at times it’s catchy, works with the action on screen and does add to the eighties feel of the movie.

According to rumour – or video folklore if you like – the movie was actually shot in 1976 under the name Bakterion, but was deemed so terrible by the producers – kind of unjust if you ask me as there’s certainly worse shite been released that Panic – that it was shelved until the early eighties when hard core gore movies where in demand. Sounds bogus, but an interesting story as there’s a small chance the movie could have been innovative more than a knock off of a knock off, as the movie ends with a somewhat time typical “pending doom prophecy” text-plate to simmer in the audiences minds as they walk away from the movie, much like the ones seen in Bruno Mattei’s Virus (Hell of the Living Dead) 1980, Andrea Bianchi’s Le notti del terrore (Burial Ground : Nights of Terror) 1981 and Umberto Lenzi’s Incubo sulla città contaminate (Nightmare City) 1981 to name a few.

A fun note is that Production designer on the flick, Javier Fernández would later go on to be a highly acclaimed art director and receive Goya nominations for several of the movies he worked on during the mid-late nineties… such as Almodóvar's Kika 1994.

Director, Tonino Ricci – who worked second unit on movies for Mario Bava and both of Lucio Fulci’s White Fang flicks - had a pretty decent run going at the time, under the pseudonym Anthony Richmond, and churned out a fistful of entertaining low budget lookalikes of other successful genre flicks at the time. I can’t really say why this one still is something of a lost movie. It certainly doesn’t move slower than others still being hailed as epic works. The grand formula of Panic is Boy and girl get into some heavy petting, Monster turns up and slays them whilst Warbeck and Åberg look for Professor Adams… who we all know is the monster killing the horny kids and naked chicks. There’s a threat established early on that the small English village is going to be nuked and you don’t really need much more that that to keep a movie alive now do you?

The Masala Meathook Massacre - The Sound of Indian Horror

2012-01-01T11:43:00.005Z

New Decade, New Year, New Month, New Day... so let's get started with some new music.

[HERE IT IS!]

You might need this to put a smile on your face after one hell of a new years bash, you might need it to sooth your soul after a drink to many, you may need it to annoy the fuck out of those neighbors who kept partying way to long after midnight last night...

...or you can just stick it on and chill.

Easy on mates, here's to 2012.

The 20+1 2011 list!

2011-12-28T22:14:00.015Z

In my feeble mediocrity, it’s time to present you with a list of the movies I feel made some kind of difference, stood out amongst the static or just simply affected me in one way or another during the almost passed year The most of them where released in 2011, and I’m sure that some of them where already out in 2010, but I have them in here anyway as they became accessible to me in 2011. Fred started it all off at his temple of thrills Ninja Dixon, and Wildside Cinema is bursting at the seams with them right now... but I can’t restrain myself to just ten movies! That wouldn't be me. I needed to squeeze forth twenty instead. I need to over do it. I over do everything, I gave you nearly 9000 characters about why Serbian Film is so much more than "that" film, I spent almost 12000 characters to explain why the BBFC where wrong in their decision to ban Grotesque, I've written past 100 000 characters dedicated to explaining the themes and traits of the movies of Jean Rollin, I've spent hours making mixtapes of music from films I like... I over do it. But I'm like that with things I'm passionate about.

So, here it is, the 20+1 for 2011 list! Enjoy, don’t take the numerals as written in stone, I could push several titles up or down the scale at any given moment and watch out for flying superlatives. Oh and highlighted titles take you to the in depth reviews.

20. Rubber

This may be an strange place to start, with Quentin Dupieux’s surreal tale about a tire that possesses psychic powers, but I like when people are creative and flip tiresome genre conventions on their ass. Rubber did exactly this, and the scene when the friggin’ tire rolls up to the doorway and gawks at Roxanne Mesquida as she showers, is amongst one of the most peculiar and innovative scenes I’ve seen in ages. Not forgetting the constant breaking of the fourth wall, and that strange meta sub-plot taking place on the hillside above the town held captive by the psychic tire.

19. Dylan Dog : Dead of Night

Yeah, it might be somewhat pale when held up to Soavi’s classic adaptation of Sclavi’s alternative Dylan Dog character Francesco Dellamorte. Then again it shouldn’t be compared, as this is Dylan Dog, and seen as I’ve been reading Dylan Dog since the nineties so I consider myself to be a Sclavi connoisseur, and Kevin Munroe does the source material justice. Despite hating him in the comics, I miss Groucho, but never the less Dylan Dog was a movie I looked forward to a long time and in a fun, dumb way it lived up to what I wanted it to be. I somehow feel (or wish) that the interest this movie stirred up sparked Soavi’s plan to return to genre cinema with a new Dellamorte movie.

18. Insidious.

Despite climaxing on a conventional bogus ending, I really liked most of Insidious. It grabbed me by the balls, scared me on more than one occasion and really delivered the goods in a way that almost reminded me of the first time I saw Poltergeist. An old style ghost story, with some solid scares, and it got the job done... to bad it got lost up it's own ass along the way.

17. Cold Fish [Tsumetai nettaigyo]

Sion Sono. This guy just moves from darker to darker places. There’s an uncomfortable feeling brewing from the first frame of this movie as competing fish shop owners Nobuyuki Syamoto [Mitsuru Fukikoshi] and Yukio Murata [Denden] paths cross after Murata manages to get Syamoto’s daughter off the hook for shoplifting. Crippled by tradition and respect, Syamoto get’s drawn into a nightmare that there’s only one-way out from. And when he comes back, he’s kicking the shit so hard that everyone’s going to feel the wrath of the frustrated underdog. A stunning movie, with glorious moments of Japanese grotesqueness and a frustration that boils within every scene.

16. Underwater Love [Onna no kappa]

There’s a stupid soft spot inside me for wacky genre bending musicals… I think that all of us who watch horror movies have a soft spot for these movies, that’s why we love The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Phantom of the Paradise, The Happiness of the Katakuris and my guilty pleasure The Phantom of the Opera. Kappa, a spiteful Japanese water spirit is a reincarnation of a young man who get’s a second chance to go back to the human world and rescue the woman he always loved… and it get’s complicated. Comedic Pinku with some songs, some dances and a lot of heart sticks this one right into the list of genre benders with catchy tunes.

15. Attack the Block

I saw both Harry Brown and F., just days before watching this one, and with that in mind, it's easy to write off all hoodied kids who hang around the underpath as hoodlums. True, snot nosed kids aren’t snot nosed kids anymore. They pose a real threat that should be taken seriously, although Joe Cornish manages to make his lot somewhat sympathetic in this tale of space invaders in a British council flat. A surprising and fun movie that delivers some laughs, some shocks and nail-biting excitement, along with some awesome effects, great pop cultural referents and a brilliant Basement Jaxx soundtrack seasoned in John Carpenter sounds.

14. The Unliving [Återfödelsen]

Impressive short graduation film by Hugo Lilja tells the story of a few survivors after the zombie apocalypse. It’s more or less life as normal where the zombies have become part of it. Some work as exterminators with the intention of wiping them all off the face of the earth, some as researchers attempting to recycle them back into society, it’s just all in a days work but at polarizing sides of the spectrum. But one day the restrained living conditions come crashing down when a man finds his mother amongst the living dead. Effective, gripping and definitely a movie that gets my hopes up for Swedish genre again.

13. Trollhunter [Trolljegeren]

You can’t live in Scandinavia and not add Trollhunter on a best movies of the year list. PartBlair Witch, part Ghostbusters, part Scandinavian folk lore, this is a splendid combination and one of the funniest, most impressive and best movies to ever come out of Norway ever. And the Christian kid get’s eaten by a fucking heathen troll which proves the Vikings where right all along.

12. I Saw The Devil [Akmareul boatda]

Fuck that supernatural bullshit that was Tale of Two Sisters – I never really understood why everyone hyped that one of all the movies made at the time – and take a plunge off the deep end with Jee-woon Kim’s return to dark and haunting cynicism. Badass Serial killer vs. Good guy cop storyline done to death. But Kim has them flip roles over and over again taking them to hell and back, erasing conventional boundaries and creating one of the best narratives of this year. Byung-hun Lee and Min-sik Choi bring it all to the screen in this captivating monster of a movie. Just writing about it makes me want to watch it again.

11. We are what we are [Somos lo que hay]

Not to be confused with the elder Jorge Grau of Spain [Director of the masterpiece The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue], but a young director from Mexico who’s debut feature is a fascinating tale of a family in turmoil after the father drops dead in the middle of a shopping mall. Now an internal struggle for dominance arises and the one who brings home the bacon will be the new patriarch… oh, did I mention that they are all cannibals? Impressive drama, high tension, dark comedy at it’s harshest.

10. Kidnapped [Secuestrados]

Spanish home invasion flick Kidnapped is something of a technical masterpiece. From the way the camera flowingly moves thorough the narrative to the elaborate split screens that bring the separate feeds to shocking climaxes and the penetrating tension that the piece builds up is outstanding, this movie kicked me on my ass. Miguel Ángel Vivas twelve scenes manage to make up one hell of an impressive movie that blows the socks off a lot of other home invasion movies in the process.

9. Ratline / Stakeland

Ratline, an intelligent, surprising and powerful movie that has some impressive surprises and hides some devastating punches up its sleeve. Independent filmmaker Eric Stanze changed the way I'll watch independent genre movies this year– needless to say the bar has been raised, and every other independent filmmaker out there should be challenged by the storytelling in Ratline. A dilemma is presented here as I on one side want to scream out Give him a real big guns budget, but at the same time, low budget is where Stanze's heart and soul is, and in all honesty he doesn't need the machinery of the cooperate bullshit slowing him down.

Stakeland holds a utopian approach to its subject matter. The same nihilism found in the zombie genre is finally seeping into the vampire genre. Gone is the pansy lovey-dovey shtick of tweeny Twilight, and back is an almost Cormac McCarthy like gloom, stinking up the earth with an engaging tale of survival against the odds… It ‘s on the list split with Ratline as Eric Stanze worked second unit on it, and I’d like to accredit a lot of the compact atmosphere to his and Ryan Samul's splendid cinematography.

8. The Innkeepers

I totally fell in love with The House of the Devil some years back, and I always feared the movie that Ti West would follow it up with. The horror genre is filled of one hit wonders, I really didn’t want West to become one of them. Give the guy a cigar; The Innkeepers is a fantastic movie that establishes West as a serious player in the shocker racket. This is schoolbook use of sceptics and how they bring the audience into the world of horror… and I love movies that are open to interpretation.

7. Revenge: A Love Story [Fuk sau che chi sei]

Powerful, raw and violent as hell, but poetically gentle, delicate and fragile at the same time, Chin-up Wong’s tale of revenge is one hell of a trip into human darkness. Posing the age-old question “what would you do in the name of love” and using the dramatic motor of emotional recognition, this movie will tear your soul apart more than any other movie has done before. Perhaps the ultimate doing bad for doing good movie, but at the same time much more than just a straightforward chop fest. Writer Juno Mak – who also plays the leading character Kit – tells a story that will leave you sick to your stomached but also with tears in your eyes as horror, thriller and a love story all come together in perfection.

6. Super 8

Yes, a mainstreamer, and a fucking brilliant one too. J.J. Abrams movie simply swept me up off my feet and made me believe in the magic of mainstream movies all over again. Everything I grew up loving about Goonies, Ghostbusters, E.T., Gremlins and Romero’s zombies was contained in this gem. Those dopey kids deliver more insight on storytelling – yeah, that movie within the movie that instigates the entire plot –than a majority of genre filmmakers out there are in their movies. I loved every minute of it, and enjoyed it just as much – if not more – on the second viewing. A movie I can watch with my kids and lure them into the darkside of genre cinema.

5. Inbred

Ok, so if I hadn’t had ever met Fred and Joachim some years back, I’d probably never had gone to the Weekend of Horrors in Bottrop, Germany, and I’d most likely never had seen Alex Chandon’s Inbred... A brilliant and unpredictable “fish-out-of-water” story about a bunch of Londoners who go up North and get what they have coming. The instant you think you are ahead of the movie it flips it head over ass and goes a complete different direction. Superb acting, great locations, and special effects proving that old school with a dab of new tech are just the ticket! Porkscratchings never tasted so good and British violence hasn’t been this grim since Carter went north.

4. Julia’s Eyes [Los ojos de Julia] *

My personal favourite of the recent Spanish “produced by the Godfather of neoGoth, Guillermo Del Toro” flicks. Finally a movie where the real threat is death, adult antagonists taking on adult protagonists and not a single fucking kiddie ghost anywhere to be seen. Definitely a homage to the Giallo genre, a play on Peeping Tom and all things that go bump in the dark. A magnificent movie that shouldn’t be missed. Belén Ruben just goes to show that you don’t need thirtysomethings pretending to be teenagers to make a scary movie; you just need fantastic actress with charisma to bring the audience into a realm of engagement, suspense and fear.

3. The Woman *

Lucky McKee’s fascinating tale of a wild woman captured by a seemingly ordinary family… but slowly, the cracks in the façade start to show, and their dysfunctional reality is exposed just in time for the grand finale. Hell hath no fury like a scorned woman, and this one packs the most bittersweet punch of them all. Following the ponce screaming about violation and what not, during Sundance, I was prepared for a regular generic torture flick. Instead I got something completely different, a mighty tour de force that floored me completely the first time I watched it. I could watch that climax for the rest of time, and if I where a chick, I'd style myself after Pollyanna McIntosh on a daily basis.

2. Red State

I fucking love Kevin Smith. I love his movies and I even find some personal space for Jersey Girl. George Carlin is in it for christ sake and he gives a great performance. Cop Out wasn’t written by him, and just proves that he’s not a gun for hire, he needs to be in control of his stuff if he’s gonna pull it off. But then again that pay-check financed Red State, so back off. As Smith’s movies are something of an anti-thesis to the horror genre, I was terrified when he announced he was making a horror flick. I wont even tell you what I feared he’d come up with… I was wrong on all accounts. Kevin Smith delivered a brilliantly dark, provocative and satirical expose of life within a cult, and the people who want to stop them. From the horny teenagers looking for some ass to tap, to the cult members sacrificing sinners, to the mind fucking bureaucracy of the government, this is a haunting, intense and splendid movie. Smith knocked it out of the ballpark and Michael Parks deserves a goddamned academy award for his portrayal of sect leader Albin Cooper.

1. The Skin I Live In [Le piel que habito] *

Yes, this is easy the best genre piece of 2011, a gripping, seductive and spellbinding masterpiece. Filled to the brim with pulpy references, and impossible to pin down or even predict where it’s going to take you. I take pride in being one of the few Swedish reviewers who wrote about this movie knowing what the referents where all about, and not just what I read on the press release. Nay, yonder Franju, Franco, Clouzot or contemporary genre imagery referrals went wasted on me Pedro. I saw them and I understood them. Almodóvar is a genius and when he dabbles in the dark side of entertainment his most diabolical movies become masterpieces. I love it when an artist shows that horror is a real genre, and not just kids geeking around with corn syrup and food dye. Horror is art, Viva Almodóvar!

There you have it, and just for the record, all titles with an apostrophe are titles that I had either poster or dvd/bluray cover quotes on. Movies that neatly sum up this great and final year of writing about genre movies in print. It’s been a life long dream come true, which now ends with the cancellation of Cinema magazine… But I have other plans for you my pretties. All will be revealed in due time.

Young Dracula

2011-12-23T14:49:00.006Z

Young Dracula

Aka: Dracula in the Provinces

Original Title: Il cav. Costante Nicosia demoniac, ovvero: Dracula in Brianza

Directed By: Lucio Fulci

Italy, 1975

Comedy/Horror

I like to refer to it as the calm before the storm, the calm before second coming of Lucio Fulci. The movies he made after the impressive Gialli/thrillers, but before the magnificent grotesque movies that firmly placed him in horror mythos.

As you most likely know, Fulci started his career with comedies and dramas, so they are an important part in the fundament of what would come later on. With that I’m referring to the at times terrifyingly dark humour that is found in his films. Light dramas, saucy comedies, and fun fun fun is somewhat of a strange contradiction to the images and movies one associates The godfather of Gore with, but at the same time, if you weren’t making salty thrillers, westerns or horrors then it was the sexy comedy that the audiences in Italy wanted. Fulci was no stranger to making comedies; he even began his career as an assistant to the legendary Italian comedy director Steno, so comedies have an important place in his filmography. And before that second coming, Fulci directed some very interesting comedies that deserve to be rediscovered.

Young industrialist Costante Nicosia [Lando Buzzanca, who did a brilliant job as the politician with a bum-grabbing fetish in All'onorevole piacciono le donne (Nonostante le apparenze... e purché la nazione non lo sappia) (The Senator Likes Women) 1972, and his last leading role for Fulci] is the Toothpaste King. Despite being tremendously wealthy, the envy of town and married to beautiful wife, Mariú [Sylva Koscina], Costante is somewhat unhappy in his life as it is. His superstition has him convinced that he’s plagued with bad luck and watches carefully for all omens of evil forces. After insulting an old aunt at, a very gothic, dinner, Constanta takes off for a business trip to Romania.

In Romania, he goes to visit Count Dragulescu [John Steiner who’d starred in films for Fulci previously, and would go on to act in many classic genre pieces from here on] for a grand feast. After a series of comedic encounters and misunderstandings, Costante is binging champagne and making out with luscious women… only to wake up in the bed of Dragulescu. Upon his return to Italy, Costante is a changed man in more than one way. Convinced that night in the Romanian Count’s bed has turned him into a homosexual vampire, Constanta starts a transformative soul search that will take him on an unforgettable journey.

Getting into an Italian comedy from the seventies isn’t really as difficult as one would think. Fulci’s comedies are seldom straight forward slapstick routines, but more on the satirical side. Young Dracula goes for the jugular; the jokes sometimes racial, crude and chauvinistic, sometimes classic situation gags still do the job. Perhaps not as much tongue in cheek as something like The Senator Likes Women, Young Dracula has its moments where I almost feel as if Fulci is parodying the erotic comedy genre too. A specific scene where Costante confronts Mariú in the bath, should have been an obvious place for a saucy shot of nudity, instead Fulci uses it to present a gag about Costante‘s lust for blood. It’s also a vital scene for the shock ending that Fulci has prepared.

The main question is obviously does it work? Well yeah sure it works. It may not have the same natural appeal as the horror pieces do, but at the same time it’s a movie that mocks the genre and specifically the vampire niche. It does deliver quite a lot of laughs, there’s some nudity, and Buzzanca delivers a solid performance once again despite sporting a terrible Harry Reems moustache. I only mention that, as Christa Linder who’s to be seen in the movie would star against Reems the following year in his last adult film, Mac Ahlberg’s Bel Ami 1976. Young Dracula also features a tiny, but early appearance by very young Ilona Staller long before the days of being an Italian politician...

There’s no doubt about it, this is very much a Fulci movie. It’s riddled with typical Fulci surrealism. There’s a creepy atmosphere pre-dating David Lynch whilst an odd opera is held in a dining room at the hotel in Romania. A serious injury at the factory is shown in its gory glory. Costante has weird and frightening, but at the same time erotic nightmares. A slaughtered horses head is graphically on display, there’s an ungodly warlock [Ciccio Ingrassia] who holds an séance and one woman slits her wrist with a straight razor to feed Costante the blood of the proletariat. So yeah, this is Fulci-land indeed.

There’s a wonderful confusion to be found in Lando’s Costante character arc, on several occasions I find myself thinking of Robert Bierman’s Vampire’s Kiss 1988 and Margheritti/Morrissey’s Blood for Dracula 1974, the year before Young Dracula, which also is an alternative title to the Udo Kier, Joe Dallasandro vehicle. It’s a decent character arc that he has through the movie. After all he goes from superstitious, frustrated man to calm and relaxed, with a few bumps along the way.

Every approach to his wife, she’s got some excuse to avoid being intimate. This obviously results in a couple of skits and laughs in the early half of the flick when establishing Costante's sexual frustration of never being allowed to get cosy. Lines like “Don’t mess my make up, don’t tear my dress, don’t mess my hair… then you complain that a man picks up a hooker once in a while…” establish a clear image of this love sick man longing for some closeness. Although he’d probably never approach a whore, it’s still this yearning that makes him fall for the Vampires

erotic seduction later in Eastern Europe. Another important plot device presented in the first half is Costante's superstitious mind frame. He points out that he’s cursed with bad luck, freaks out when seeing a black cat cross the road, get’s hysterical when he accidently breaks a mirror in his wife’s room, and even tosses salt over the shoulder of the airplane pilots for good luck when he travels to Romania. Just like the sexual frustration, the superstitious side of Costante goes away with his transformation. Even the dog Gestapo that barks and snarls at him every time he arrives at his office block, runs and hides after Costante’s trip to Romania.

There’s a gay undercurrent to be found. At first Costante is avoidant of the male vampire in the castle despite several approaches, Costante backs away, almost repulsed. After almost fainting in the showers of his basketball team, he goes to a doctor pulling the old classic “ a friend of mine…” only to come up with the answer that he’s probably becoming a homosexual! When the doctor encourages Costante to go straight to his mistress to find out if a woman can still arouse him or if he actually was “deflowered” in Romania. But whilst chasing her across a field she trips and cuts her knee… Costante cant resist when being requested to sucking the bloody wound to save his mistress from blood poisoning, and in a metaphorical way, his vampire virginity is taken. Moments later she slaps him hard in the face because of the “love bites” on his neck. Despite the serious topic, Fulci quickly returns to the gags, after all this is a comedy.

The movie is high on production value and sees most of the familiar names that I associate with the really great Fulci movies. Frequent collaborator on early Fulci movies, editor Ornella Micheli is on-board, and does a wonderful job of it too. Sergio Salvati who shot almost all of the great classic Fulci movies brings a familiar look to the movie, and some scenes – even though being comedic – would easily fit into the horror canon.

The screenplay – written by amongst others Pupi Avati, Mario Amendola and Bruno Corbucci does what it should, there are some genuine laughs in there, and Fulci obviously brought his surreal grotesque to the table considering certain moments of the movie mentioned above.

But why is this a lost movie, still only available on shoddy bootlegs sourced from that even rarer Greek VHS? It’s odd, as Young Dracula easy could compete with the other comedies released so far. Perhaps the movie was forgotten by time, as Fulci himself never really appreciated the movie. A shame as it’s certainly got a lot going for it, and a restored version should be of interest for fans. Considering that I maniaci 1964, The Senator Likes Women 1972, La Pretora 1976, all received this treatment – not to mention those titles released in Italy - there’s no reason why Young Dracula shouldn’t. I’m keeping my fingers crossed because this one is an entertaining, and interesting movie considering that this is the Fulci comedies that plays closest to the sphere we all associate his name with - the horror genre.

Polish up on your Italian and enjoy, this would never have happened in the days of VHS.

The White Reindeer

2011-12-14T20:55:00.006Z

The White Reindeer
Original Title. Valkoinen peura
Directed by: Erik Blomberg
Finland, 1952
Horror, 74min

Say the words “Genre movie from Finland” and most people will think of Pete Riski’s Dark Floors 2008, Jalamari Helander’s Rare Exports 2010, or perhaps even Antti-Jussi Annila’s Sauna 2008 but they will probably not mention Erik Blomberg’s 1952 early shocker Valkoinen peura (The White Reindeer).

Blomberg was a Finnish documentary filmmaker with background in cinematography. After lensing several feature films and short documentaries – several of them award winning - Blomberg took the step up to directing. Obviously he perfected what he already knew, and co-directed documentary Porojen parissa (With the Reindeer) 1947, a movie which went on to win Blomberg a Jussi Award for best editing together with his co-director and co-editor Eino Mäkinen. Six documentaries later, he made his debut feature with The White Reindeer, a movie that he co-scripted with his wife, actress Mirjami Kuosmanen – who also won a Jussi Award for her performance in The White Reindeer.

His final movie, Noc poślubna (Wedding Night) 1959, a Finnish, Swedish, Polish co-production based on Émile Zola’s L’attaque du Moulin. Despite an international cast of amongst others Bergman muse Harriett Anderson and Ignacy Golowenski; the movie was a devastating failure. After screening in Poland and Finland, the critics thrashed the movie and Blomberg so profoundly that the movie never opened in Sweden, and Blomberg left movie industry. Looking back at his career, the obvious highlight is winning the international prize at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival with The White Reindeer, a movie I’m taking a closer look at today.

There’s no wasting time in The White Reindeer, as soon as the opening credits are finished, a singing voice comes in and delivers otherwise awkward exposition and more or less establishes the setting, the mythology, the genesis of the curse. Song ends and it’s all fun and games as the Lapps race sleds drawn by reindeers. Pirita [Mirjami Kuosmanen] stands out, as she’s the only woman competing in the race, and she certainly gives the men a run for their money. Although to keep gender roles at bay, Aslak [Kalervo Nissilä] ropes her in and gives her a snog – suggested inoffensively off screen, after all this is still the time of innocence.

Alsak asks Pirita’s father for her hand in marriage and all seems to be leading towards a happy conclusion for the young couple… but, and there’s always a but… shortly after their wedding night, Aslak has to take the herd off to roam, and leaves Pirita alone at home. Disappointed, Pirita wanders the snowy plains visiting the Shaman Tsalkku-Nilla [Arvo Lehesmaa] to ask for a love charm to be cast, helping her keep Aslak at home. But mid-chant the Shaman pulls back in fear and screams that Pirita is a witch, the spell goes wrong, she becomes cursed instead and the shaman tells her that she will kill/become the first living thing she encounters… which just happens to be a white reindeer.

Later that night in the light of the full moon, Pirita turns into a white reindeer, and such a reindeer is a prized trophy amongst the Lapps. Aslak’s mate, Niilo, sees it, chases after it and wrestles it to the ground. As he brings the animal into submission he hears a familiar laughter. The Reindeer has turned back into Pirita, and her lustful gaze seduces him completely. As he moves in for a kiss, we see how Prita sports fangs... The vampire has claimed it’s first of many victims…

That Blomberg would choose to set his first feature in Lapland, as this is where the majority of the documentaries that he’d worked on where set comes as no surprise. He undoubtedly knows his nature shots, which bring a lot of added production value to the movie. I find myself thinking of oddities like Gunnar Höglund's Kungsleden (My Love and I) 1964, Trier’s AntiChrist 2009 and André Øvredal’s Trolljegaren (Troll Hunter) 2010. Movies which all utilise a lot of nature and location shots to create mood. I have a friend who will remain unnamed, as I’m not sure how official his work on the movie was, but when he was requested to go through Trollhunter and tighten the movie up, it was under the strict order that he was not to trim any of the nature shots. They had to stay at any cost. Never underestimate the importance of your location and the impressions it brings with it.

Basically the movie is about greed, obsession and envy. Pirita challenges conventional gender roles, and is therefore punished. She’s punished for wanting more, not being content. For being aggressive, and not the common passive housewife. She captures the alpha male, but then grows weary of his long absence when he’s herding the reindeers. Again challenging gender roles, she takes action instead of being content. She makes that pact with the village shaman to become irresistible for any man, with the intention of luring Aslak back and keeping him there. A pact that goes wrong. It’s also a stern warning, as the desire for more – or perhaps even the at the time provocative “female lust” leads to a certain death. I can’t say that Blomberg intended this, but it’s definitely a way to interpret the movie and what happens in the narrative. After all this is a movie made before female sexuality took control of the Scandinavian cinema screens, and old values where still valid. The movie could also be seen as a metaphor for the fear of the threat from within. Within the family, within the community, with the individual.

A lot of the tension in The White Reindeer comes from the slow and steady build towards the inevitable hunt the Lapps all engage in. They know that there’s a cursed white reindeer roaming their snowy plains, they know that there’s a witch slaying the men of the village, they know that they have to put an end to the troubles, but they don’t know that Pirita is the vampire witch.

Being something of an old movie, the in-camera effect and editing bring a lot of the in all fairness, cosy, atmosphere to the piece. There’s a lot of old universal vibe here and it’s an enchanting movie that certainly impressed me. God knows, I’ve seen worse stuff that this. The White Reindeer managed to grab my attention and delivered an interesting story.

At times the movie manages to come in close to the feeling of the gothic flicks Italians such as Riccardo Freda, Mario Bava and Piero Regnoli would be making in a few years time and to some extent even certain Hammer movies. But this was all before that, it’s most likely that the old Universal and Weimar movies where the largest influence on the imagery and style. Suggestive lighting and cinematography by Blomberg make an ironic statement, as the most impressive moments of the movie all take place on a set – I would have expected the outdoors “documentary” footage to have looked better. In any way, there are moments in the later half of the movie that really stand out and deserve to be re-discovered, this is a lost gem worth seeking out if you want to see what the Finns where doing in the fifties.

Crazy Desires of a Murderer

2011-12-11T22:18:00.009Z

Crazy Desires of a Murderer

Original Title: I vizi morbosi di una governante

Directed by: Fillipo Walter Ratti

Italy, 1977

Giallo/Horror, 85min

Distributed by: Redemption Films, (Oop), ZDDVisualMedia

Giallo. I really love Giallo. I also love taking long periods of time where I don’t watch Gialli only to have them make such a larger impact on me when I return to the genre and get that “Oh shit, this is why I really love Gialli!” rush. I guess you could compare it to not smoking for a while, and then returning for that kick the first couple of drags gives you. I love movies that I can’t predict and the Giallo genre is filled with that kind of beautiful movies… not even ones I saw on video half a lifetime ago.

There’s something off kilter in the De Chablais castle. Young jet setter Ileana De Chablais [Isabelle Marchall, also seen in Sergio Pastore’s Sette Scialli Di Setta Gialla (The Crimes of the Cat) 1972 and Luciano Ercoli’s Troppo rischio per un uomo solo (The Magnificent Dare Devil) 1973] brings a bunch of shady types back to the castle for a weekend of party and fun. It’s obvious from the start that some of them have other intentions with the weekend, such as Pier Luigi [Roberto Zattini] who we see co-horting with mobsters he apparently owes money to. Bobby [Gaetano Russo – who’s only starred in some two dozen flicks, but still managed to score a parts in Stelvio Massi’s Cobra Nero (Black Cobra) 1984, Richard Donner’s fantasy classic Ladyhawke 1985, and Bruno Mattei’s second flick L’isola dei morti viventi (Island of the Living Dead) 2008] is a pusher who’s used his suave charm to exploit Ileana’s naiveté and smuggle drugs into the country through the antique vases she’s brought home for her father the Baron. Elsa [Patrizia Gorzi], refuses the invites of her husband Frank [Beppe Colombo – who only starred in a handful of movies but went on to become a successful producer on amongst other things Dario Argento’s La Stendhal Syndrome 1996] after he’s been intimate with Gretel [Adler Gray] and instead ends up bedding Pier Luigi instead… so you get the jest of things, they are not a very sympathetic bunch adding more reasons to suspect them all when the shit hits the fan, which it does so quite soon after the first night of sinful charades. White gloved hands wander the corridor, a knife is pulled forth… soon the knife is bedded into the soft silky stomach of Elsa, as she bleeds to death the killer shifts focus to her eyes. The knife that moments ago sliced trough her gut, sadistically slices out her eyes too!

From here on it’s all fun and games kids, we guess frantically which of the sinister characters can be the killer, and become acquainted with new characters such as inspector [Corrado Gaipa – who you will recognize from shitloads of flicks], family doctor Dr. Olsen, the horny housemaid Bertha [Annie Karole Edel], the house janitor Hans, and the obvious one, Ileana’s weird brother Leandro – who mysteriously enough has something hidden in a box on the shrine he has in his bloody workspace... Several flashbacks point to Leandro, as he’s been strange since he witnessed his mother in several compromising situations when he was a child. The mother – even though only seen in flashbacks and the large looming portrait that hangs in the castle - also acts as a motor for the narrative, as she was supposedly buried with an emerald worth 150 million lire… with the dodgy bunch of characters presented, and the possibility of walking away with a large amount of dosh in hand, the plot can start to unwind.

Surprise twists, unexpected events, background traumas, roofie spiced champagne, double-crossing partners, sultry ladies pouting their way towards fast riches, yes, it all here. The traits that separate the Giallo from the common thriller; there’s a character tampering with taxidermy, there’s saucy ladies and suave dudes who get their kit of if the opportunity is given, a glove bearing psycho wanders the hallways at night, a greed plot focusing on the jewels of the late Baroness, a funky soundtrack and lovely wide-angle shots of lightly dressed women running in poorly lit corridors.
There’s an oddity to be found in the opening attack, which establishes Ileana – one yet another of her trips, and the Baron, and a suggested threat. A pair of bloodied hands roam the corridor, whilst it’s owner stay safe in the off-screen space. The hands wander into the Baron, who gasps and the movie titles – rather crap ones, but at least accompanied by Piero Picconi’s decent score – kick in. A strange opening sequence as the rest of the movie will show that it was all merely one of may red herrings laid out to trick the audience. Picconi’s score in all respect, but there’s more than one scene where I find my mind rushing off to connect the, either blatant rip off, or similar tunes from other movies of the time.

Extreme close-ups on eyes. A trait familiar from the world of Lucio Fulci, who indeed was a master of cutting to reactive images of eyes to create emotions within the audience. Similar shots find their way into Crazy Desires of a Murderer, which is kind of fitting, as there’s a killer who removes eyeballs in the plot.

But despite a lot of common Gialli traits, Crazy Desires of a Murderer choses not to use the familiar one of the amateur detective. Instead we the audience are invited to figure out the mystery from the clues that are given. Well, being a later and lesser Gialli, there’s an obvious lack of vital ingredient that muddles the narrative. There’s nobody to root for, and none of the characters are that sympathetic. Now in almost any other genre this would be a major problem, but within the Gialli it works, especially as a lot of the charm is the who-done-it approach. As long as there’s some murder, some mystery, a cool score and some kinky romps, then I’ll stay with the movie and try to solve what’s going on.

The movie looks every bit the part, cinematographer Gino Santini, gives the movie a treatment that certainly mimics the look and style much like similar, movies of the time. The corridor and cellar scenes are perhaps not originally composed when it comes to the lighting, but the shadow play of figures lurking down in the cellar is splendid.

One area that I find to be lacking is the moments of sexual tension. Gialli needs a healthy dose of tantalizing or seriously perverse sexuality to keep it interesting. It goes with the territory, some movies more than others, but in Crazy Desires of a Murderer, the few moments of sexual activity almost feel forced into the movie and completely random. Even the soundtrack is sloppily pushed aside for something that sounds completely different to the otherwise rather groovy score. Oh, although there is a highly evocative scene concerning Elsa, Pier Luigi, and a candle, that really pushes the envelope of suggestive juxtaposition. Yes, it’s fair to assume that this DVD-R sourced from the old Redemption video release of the movie was a cut one, and most likely heavily exorcised version too as the writer of the script Ambrogio Molteni was on something of a high at the time with screenwriting credits on stuff like Bitto Albertini’s Emanuelle Nera, (Black Emanuelle) 1975 (and you know how that series took off from there on), Mario Gariazzo’s L’ossesa (The Sexorcist) 1974, Bruno Mattei’s Violenza in un carcere femminile (Violence in a Woman’s Prison) 1982 amongst others. Another curious fact concerning Molteni is that he’s commonly listed as the co-director with Jean Josipovici on Delitto allo spechio (Death on the Fourposter) 1964. Information is sparse on what he did to deserve the credit, as he’s only stated as “ American version directed by” on the rare print available. It’s odd, as he never directed another before or after that one. But back to Crazy Desires of a Murderer, the movie certainly works but there’s a feeling that something’s missing with those quick cuts, coitus interrupts and sloppily edited soundtracks, and you don’t have to look far to find a possible solution to that mystery.

Searching the net for information on the movie, I revisited Johan Melle’s excellent euro fever where he reveals that there was more to the movie and exposes images taken from the considerably much more explicit photo novella of the movie. You should check that out for the whole image of what this movie could have been like.

The title of the movie, Crazy Desires of a Murderer, is a decent title, and definitely tap’s into the mood of Gialli names of the period. In many way I’m glad that they decided on something other than a mere translation of the Italian title, as this would have been more of a spoiler perhaps leading the audience to expect a movie more erotically daring than the horror themed violent Gialli… which reminds me again of euro fever’s article and images. Johan will even tell you more about the movies history and reasons for being exorcised into the shape it’s available on bootlegs today. I think it’s time you paid a visit there now.

Try this for a mood reel...

Turtle Vision

2011-12-07T22:37:00.006Z

Turtle Vision

Original Title: Nusumidori Report: Insha!

Dir: Hisayasu Satō

Japan, 1991

Pinku, 62 min

Distributed by: ShinToho (VHS) Oop, (Japan Eiga)

Hisayasu Satō… why isn’t his name more known and out there? I find this to be a real mystery as his movies are powerful stuff, mixing Pinku, drama and thriller traits to create some really captivating stories. Sure, his movies are somewhat hard to find, but they are out there, and you can get a hold of them if you like your movies on the alternative side of the spectrum. Perhaps we need to rally and demand a Satō retrospective, screen his movies and get his name out to a wider audience... because they are missing out on something.

Turtle Vision, the name that Satō gave the fourth out of six movies he directed in 1991 really gives no insight into the movie’s plot in the way other titles have. Hence the studio, ShinToho renaming it Hidden Camera Report: Sleazy Pictures, before it finally seeped out to video under the new name High-School Girls Next Door: Selling themselves and Peeping… becoming more and more obscure with each step.

Turtle Vision concentrates round the traits I’ve previously pointed out define the cinema of Hisayasu Satō. The movie opens with a very classic Satō image; that of the television screen, alt viewfinder of a camera. On the blurry static image we see a man and woman being intimate – the image is almost distorted beyond recognition, as the camera zooms in on the projected images. A hard cut later we are watching a young woman being violated by three masked men. She looks right into the camera and cries out in pain. Within mere minutes, Satō has started up the movie, presented us with clues to the narrative of this film and established two traits that define his style of cinema. Voyeurism and a backstory, which uses sexual violation to motivate future actions.

Eiji [Kouichi Imaizumi] videotapes prostitutes and their clients. These tapes he later sells to a pornographer who edits and sells them on. Eiji is amongst his best suppliers, and his assignments are many. His latest mission is to shoot girls – prostitutes - dressed in traditional schoolgirl garb. One night whilst he’s filming just such a scenario, the schoolgirl [Miki Fukada] who gives an appearance of being somewhat distant, almost like hypnotized, pulls out a razor and slashes the customer across the eyes. Eiji becomes obsessed by the schoolgirl and her violent actions against the men who pay to be with her. It’s also here a classic Satō twist is presented, leading up to his characteristic triangular structure that features in most of his work, and the introduction of the character called Maki [Satō regular Kiyomi Ito], or as I call her “the hiding girl”. This is a complex character in a lesbian relationship with the Schoolgirl, and who never leaves her apartment but for the observation of the outside world through a telescope she has peeking out from behind the curtains. Eiji’s obsession leads him to take the Schoolgirl with him to see a scientist who through the use of a new technology called Video Therapy starts to dig into the reason behind the murders committed by the schoolgirl. Amusingly enough the technique is compared to that of videotape, which picks up static interference from large magnetic objects – such as all of us who used to meddle with VHS know, keep them away from the speakers… There’s a bond between the schoolgirl and Maki, which is much more profound than simple lovers. And as with most of Satō’s flicks of this period, the rush of insight that comes with this moment and its conclusion is pretty devastating. It also presents us with the genesis of Eiji, Maki and the Schoolgirls traits. Who they are, why they are the way they are and where they go from here, its strong stuff, and impressive in the way Satō movies are. There’s more to it than just getting smut up on screen.

It’s becoming fairly obvious that the movies Satō was making at this period in time – movies with scripts by Shirô Yumeno and like this one, Taketoshi Watari – are noticeably influenced by Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom 1960, Turtle Vision is undoubtedly Dali/Buñuel’s Un Chien Andalou 1929 and it's ocular assault similar to those found here, and quite possibly even by Hitchcock’s Psycho also from 1960, as that too uses something of a voyeurism approach to it’s subject matter. Voyeurism is an important part of Satō’s cinematic vision. Almost every movie of his uses the camera to observe the world and separate wrongdoers from taking responsibility for their actions. Much like Peeping Tom, the world of the observer comes crashing down when the camera is turned on them.

What constantly fascinates me with these movies is that there is a yearning and a tenderness that explodes when narrative and insight culminate. Despite having rather cynical and harsh characters, they often tend to transform into something much more vulnerable once the façade is torn down. This kind of makes these movies work for me, despite them becoming somewhat predictable. Although they do entertain, and they certainly do leave an impression.

Character arcs are interesting in these movies. There may not be too much character development taking place, but the journeys they make are captivating. Eiji who hides behind his camera becomes more humane when we learn why he’s hiding. Maki, who hides behind her curtains only observing the world through the protective filter of her telescope. It’s logic why she hides when you know why, and the reason for leaving her safe heaven is understandable when you know why she does it. The schoolgirl, well, I’m not sure there, but she manages to make love without killing her partner, which in some Pinku style way is kind of fitting, and when you think about it, it does make sense. She too has a journey from sleepwalking slave, to free individual during the course of the movie, so there’s some small development to be found in all characters when you look closely at it.

Finally, that title. Perhaps it's a metaphor for hiding one's head inside a protective shell, and only peeping out from therein that Satō is getting at with the original title... which kind of makes sense when you break the movie down like this.

Turtle Vision certainly is a fascinating piece of ocular tainted Pinku that comes highly recommended and definitely would be one the half dozen Satō movies I’d advocate be screened at that retrospective.

Make Them Cry Slowly - The Vocal Sounds of Italian Cinema

2011-11-27T19:57:00.004Z

Well, it's the first of advent, and how better to celebrate the countdown to Chrystmas than with the great lounge muzak sounds of Italian music.

It's time to Make Them Cry Slowly - The Vocal Sounds of Italian Cinema.

Enjoy.

Underwater Love

2011-11-24T20:48:00.007Z

Underwater Love.
Original title: Onna no kappa
Directed by: Shinji Imaoka
Japan/Germany, 2011
Drama/Comedy/Musical/Pinku, 87min

You can stop with the Hentai jokes as of now. From here on it’s all Kappa! The Japanese water spirit, renown for being malicious troublemakers, with a bag of tricks ranging from breaking wind, peeking up women’s skirts, pulling kids into the water, rape and drowning people. Keep a cucumber handy as they are addicted to the vegetable, and tossing it in its direction could be what gives you the extra minute to escape the claws of the Kappa.

You may have seen him before in woodprints of the Edo period, or as the lurky turtle monster in Kimiyoshi Yasuda’s and Yoshiyuki Kuroda’s Yokai movies of the late 60’s, possibly even in Takashi Mike’s Yôkai daisenô (The Great Yokai War) 2005 … but you have never seen him like this. Stop what you are doing and come meet Kappa… you won’t regret it.

Middle aged Asuka [Sawa Masaki – who starred in Barbet Schroder’s, to date, last movie, Inju, la bête dans l’ombre (Inju: The Beast in the Shadow) 2008 based on a Rampo Edogawa novel] works at a fish processing plant. She’s got a pretty straightforward life, and her imminent future seems to be clearly staked out for her. Pretty soon she’s going to marry Hajime [Mutsuo Yoshioka – star of several Imaoka Pinku's], who runs the factory she works at and is something of a jerk. One day whilst rescuing a fish that has miraculously survived into the plant, she encounters a Kappa at the nearby harbour. Although Kappa waves at her, she tries to ignore it, even though she’s delighted by the fact that she’s seen a real live Kappa. But Kappa want’s more than a wave, he wants to talk to Asuka, and has a very determined agenda. Confronting her as she’s about to leave, Kappa reveals that he used to be her school friend Tetsuya Aoki [Yoshirô Umezawa] who after dying in a drowning accident several years ago, was reborn as a kappa… Asuka takes him home and stores him in the washing machine, where he - staying true to legend – waters his bare scalp to keep from dehydrating. But it’s not an easy ride, and despite having a fun time with Kappa, Asuka’s moral dilemma lies in the fact that she’s engaged and planning her wedding to Hajima. Kappa is rejected, and like a love sick teenager – which Tetsuya indeed was before his untimely demise – he takes comfort on the arms of Reiko [Ai Narita] starts to show an interest in him, Asuka soon get’s jealous and realises what she’s about to miss out on. Finally one last subplot is put into play. Kappa – Tetsuya – being a spirit figure, knows that Asuka is going to die soon, and the reason for him returning to the human realm is that he want’s to save her.

Part fantasy, part comedy, part musical – with music and songs written by French/German pop duo Stereo Total, part Pinku… yes turtle boy get’s his mojo workin’ too, Underwater Love is one hell of a funny and weird movie. It never really get’s too explicit, too surreal or too far-fetched. Imaoka commonly brings a comedic tone to his movies, and Underwater Love is no exception. This is why the sudden breaking out in song – much like Takashi Miike’s Katakuri-ke no kôfuku (The Happiness of the Katakuris) 2001 – the dopey characters, and semi impressive special effects – courtesy of Taiga Ishino who’s worked with Yoshihiro Nishimura and the J-Gore gangsters on several of their flicks. But at the same time the almost naïve make-up and prosthetics of Kappa work for the movie

Shinji Imaoka has been a solid name on the later years Pinku scene. He recently, 2009, directed a remake of Junchirô Tanizaki’s short story Hakujitsumu (Day-Dream). A movie that previously was adapted and directed by Pinku legend Tetsuji Takechi twice. First in a Wizard of Oz-ish style where the wraparound was in Black and White with colour dream segments in 1964, and again in 1981 in a more graphic and daring take. If you do not know the story then let me just mention that it’s about a visit to the dentists that takes on epic proportions concerning bondage, vampirism and surreal dreams with a powerful triangular love story at the core. Definitely a movie worth seeking out if you like bizarre and kinky Japanese movies – they are certainly amongst my favourites in the Pinku genre.

But back to Imaoka, who is considered part of the “Seven Lucky Gods of Pink” circle, and like most of the people working in Japanese genre cinema spent several years working for one mentor. Imaoka’s mentor was the great Hisayasu Satō, which makes him an interesting name in my book. But where Satō holds a more voyeuristic and rough approach to the pink themes, Imaoka tends to take the themes lighter, coming at the genre with a more comedic angle where the sex scenes not necessarily are the main focus. He may have alienated a lot of Pinku viewers with his restrained approach, but he’s gained a lot of acclaim from critics and even won the Best Director Award at the Pink Grand Prix. One can see why critics would favour them, as Imaoka’s movies frequently have a serious emotional theme from which his movies build off. It’s not rare to find characters stuck in the rut of convenience and every day routine whilst yearning for something else that they at one point in time gave up on.

Which brings me to the main theme of Underwater Love. Because it’s no surprise to see how the characters interlock with each other when you know that it is a reoccurring Imaoka trait. Asuka may seem happy in her current state, but she isn’t… which we will understand as the movie plays out. Tetsuya – Kappa that is – comes to the human realm with a longing for Asuka. He’s been in love with her since he was a young man, but never proclaimed his love. In death, reborn as Kappa he has a second chance.

Let’s talk about character development, and mainly because I’m excited by the chance to talk about character development in a movie like this. Tetsuya, a shy young man in life, comes back and offer’s his reborn state as a sacrifice to save a woman (Asuka) who never responded to his silent love all those years ago. In his final moments of the movie, he even bargains with a god of death, and when he finally reaches climax – metaphorically and actually in the movie, his arc ends. Asuka is comfortable with her nine to five grind, jerky husband to be and doesn’t really make much noise. Although by the end of the movie, she will have entered deep into the sacred forest, inserted the magic anal pearl into her rectum, fought and defeated a god of death and engaged in necrophilia. A young man afraid to speak up and proclaim his love evolves into a strong personality staking his life to save his love. A woman so passive that’s she content with a lesser everything evolves into a strong warrior wrestling gods and fighting for something better. Impressive character arcs to say the least, and beyond the goofiness of the comedy, singing and Pinku, a fascinating tale of development as they progress from one side of the spectrum to the other.

Then there’s the issue of cinematography… If I throw movies like Wong-Kar Wei’s Days of Being Wild 1990, Ashes of Time 1994, Happy Together 1997, In the Mood for Love 2002, 2046 2004, Yimou Zhang’s Hero 2002, Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park 2007 – all of them award winners for the cinematography – at you, then back that up with titles like, John Favreau’s Made 2001, Pen-Ek Rantarauang‘s Last Life in the Universe 2003, the Fruit Chan/Chan-wook Park/Takashi Miike horror anthology Three… Extremes 2004, M. Night Shyamalan’s The Lady in the Water 2006, Jim Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control 2009 – all of them movies know and favoured for their stunning visual imagery, well then you wouldn’t even think of sticking a Japanese Pinku, comedy, love story in there would you. But you can. All of them where lensed by the magnificent Christopher Doyle - the praised Australian cinematographer who has brought some of the most beautiful movies to the big screen over the last three decades. If not for anything else, you need to see this movie for its cinematography

Shot in a mere five days – in no way unique for Pinku - the flaws of tight budget and stressed production schedule shows despite some fantastic cinematography. But a movie concerning a lovesick fantasy figure searching for a sacred anal pearl so that he can trick the god of death, doesn’t really need high production values, as that one line alone more or less motivates the reason why you need to watch Underwater Love.

This is an instant classic, a hilarious blast with a sensitive story at the core. It’s a movie that kicks those Ninja Turtles back into the sewer where they belong and leaves us with a new icon of fantastic cinema –Kappa! I officially challenge you to the Kappa dance, which will start as of now.

The Innkeepers

2011-11-21T16:37:00.009Z

The Innkeepers

Directed by: Ti West

USA, 2011

Horror, 102 min

I find that I quite enjoy the movies of Ti West, or at least I think I do. I have not seen all of them; I have not even seen half of them. I saw The House of the Devil 2009 and thought it was an awesome example of mimicking a style long gone, and done in a way that wasn’t exaggerated and stale, as many of the grindhouse pastiche movies have become… (Yeah, Hobo with a Shotgun 2010, was fun, but not much more. One-liners should come naturally, not forced out with each line of dialogue.) What West did with The House of the Devil was so skilfully perfected, that if someone had sold me it under the premise that it was a long lost late seventies, early eighties flick, I would have believed it.

Needless to say, I really enjoyed The House of the Devil, and hold it amongst the best of the last decade. Mood, atmosphere, visuals, approach, narrative and storytelling aspects, it’s my kind of movie. Which obviously means that I had a lot of anticipation brewing before catching The Innkeepers.

Claire [Sara Paxton, who I hated in the Last House on the Left 2009 remake, but totally believe here] and Luke [Pat Healy] are two twenty-something’s who are the keeping an eye on the Yankee Pedlar Inn as it slips into its last week in business. There’s only a few residing guests left in the building and even the owner, Rob, has taken off. Luke has an obsession with acclaimed hauntings that are supposed to have taken place at the Yankee Pedlar Inn and runs a webpage dedicated to the legend of Madeleine O’Malley. Clair in an approach that is almost as if she is humouring Luke, helps out to record ambience sounds in various rooms during her night shifts. A fun pastime until she actually records someone playing the piano in the entrance hall… a room she knows is empty.

Much like The House of the Devil, West smoothly approaches his topic with a method similar to that of a crocodile stalking blissfully unaware prey in the waterline. Instead of jumping in head over heels, he builds the tension slowly and merely hints at strange activities in jump scare moments or shorter scene climaxes. Just like The House of the Devil, when it’s time to peak with the culmination, it comes fast and without messing around. Tension has been built up, tweaked and teased for such a long time that the payoff is inevitable. Inevitable, terrifyingly effective and once again, leaving the audience with a bitter pill to swallow. Bitter in the best possible way that is, as the storytelling and the narrative does its job effectively. When that all clicks, you know you are in for a good time. And by then there's no backing out.

Getting there is an entertaining ride. Just as West approached the Satanic Cult in The House of the Devil, there’s several curveballs tossed and sharp turns laid out in the narrative of The Innkeepers too. The legend of Madeleine O’Malley is the main subplot, the ghost story that drives it forth. Luke really want’s to make contact with O’Malley, and even claims to have encountered here in the dark hallways of the hotel one night. Claire is more restrained and doesn’t really believe in it. Regular readers will go aha – the sceptic! - and you are absolutely right. Claire is the sceptic of the movie, as she doesn’t really believe, although through slow delicate transitions she moves into the world where hauntings are possible, and as we identify with her, we go right with her. Claire is a really empathetic character, shown through her gentle approach to things, even apologetic to rude residents, and her total geek vibe when her favourite actress Leanne Rease-Jones [Kelly McGillis] checks into the hotel and the time she spends listening to the love problems of the barista [Lena Dunham] next door – time Claire doesn’t really have, all build our empathy for her. The fact that she’s an asthmatic, tells ghost stories with a flashlight under her face, is really kind of dorky – watch how she reacts when she realizes that she’s in her underwear in the reception area – and somewhat of a slacker, all make her a much more likeable character for me, as she goes against stereotypes.

Oh, one more thing on bringing the audience into the unnatural world. There’s that excellent use of the Internet viral video, which Luke shows Claire early on in the movie. She watches the spartanly furnished room, through the web camera footage, waiting for a ghost to appear and when the feed cuts to a shock screaming face, Claire falls for it big time. This happens four minutes in and set’s a tone for the movie, which stays with me throughout. We understand that she and Luke play these kind of pranks on each other, although where Luke really does want to believe, Claire still only thinks it’s a laugh. Which is why when she straps on the equipment and starts recording ambience audio in the hotel at night, at Luke’s request to help him prove that there’s something else there but them, we start to empathise with her. And it’s through her – the sceptic – which we start to move into the world where a haunting could be possible. Again the viral video and the nightmare shock play into the hand of the sceptic. Not real, but tricks or imagination it gives us the same mind-set as Claire. When Claire starts to hear sounds on the recordings and see things in the dark, we too accept them as we now realize that this is no prank, or a dream. It’s really happening.

A second sceptic is used to manipulate the audience into believing, and that’s what the Leanne Rease-Jones character is for. She’s a healer who doesn’t believe in the ghost either, so when she starts acting weird and more or less orders Claire to get her stuff and get out of the Inn, you know that shit is going to happen.

There’s an everyday geeky kind of humour in the movie, which reflects the characters well. At times it’s almost as if Claire overacts on purpose to prove to the people she’s talking too that’s there’s a ghost in the hotel. Or possibly because there is supposed to be a playful attitude within the movie, even looking at the advance art - above - I can sense a tongue in cheek approach to the movie. Because that is one of the traits that I like with the flick. It’s playful, and joyful and doesn’t take it’s self all too serious. I like that in a genre movie and at time it helps sell me the movie a lot more than the regular tricks of the trade. This is also reflected in the soundtrack, which, in the first half at least, has something of a matineé-ish tone to it. Definitely not what I would have expected from a horror flick at least. Perhaps West want’s us to watch The Innkeepers as a fun, light-hearted film as this makes the flip at the back end so much more harsh, because the laughs will stick in your throat when the horror kicks in and scares that smile off your face.

Endings. Again, like The House of the Devil - which I'm constantly comparing to as it's such an awesome movie - The Innkeepers somewhat challenges its audience. Did it really happen? I know of people who read the ending of The House of the Devil as a possible “dream state/imaginary” space as to say that the movie never really happened… strange yes, and I do not really agree with it either, but at the same time, I definitely feel that The Innkeepers does pose similar questions. Did it really happen or was it in the state of fear and confusion that brought it all on? The last shot lingers on for an eternity before presenting the answer. And I also find that last scene to be part of the intelligent narrative that West uses in The Innkeepers. It's not to unlike the viral video that was seen earlier. He builds to a climax with the exact same tricks that the viral video does. And this is a motif that I find runs vibrantly though the movie. Is it real or all just a trick? During the last half hour, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see a scene where Claire wakes up and it all had been a dream. Now this doesn’t happen obviously, but in some strange way there’s a feeling that it could have happened in the last act.

Scares. Yeah, there’s a bunch of them and they get more advanced as the movie goes along. The first being that viral video within the first couple of minutes through the hilarious “I’m standing behind you and don’t want to scare you…” moment, to the atmospheric mood that seeps in when they start to explore the basement, the really effective in-camera tricks, to the straight out grotesque moments which the movie culminates with. Yeah, West does deliver the scares, the shocks and the uncomfortable moments once again… and you know what, the second viewing is more so as you start to add together things you picked up in the first viewing with events in the second.

It’s my humble opinion that this movie will find it’s own audience and will generate a certain cult following. It’s a well-told tale with characters – well mainly Claire - that are totally believable, empathetic. Despite some of the scares being somewhat artificial – and the ghost of O’Malley does look kind of generic – they still get the job done. The power of the story takes over and the magic of storytelling sweeps me into the dark and I find myself fumbling for the light switch. Nothing is as powerful as the suggestive less-is-more approach that makes this a fantastic trip to Scareville.

I like it and I definitely will return to Ti West’s The Innkeepers as I’m convinced there’s so much more to read and explore in that great little movie.

The Gorgon

2011-11-17T09:38:00.006Z

The Gorgon
Directed by: Terrence Fisher
UK, 1964
Horror/Mystery/Fantasy, 83min

I can’t really understand genre fans that don’t like Hammer films! How can you not like Hammer films? For years I’ve been fucking annoyed that watchers of genre cinema all seem to be so polarized, they either only want the gore, the violence, the nihilistic carnage, or even worse, the ones that draw a line with The Exorcist, Jaws and Alien and determine that everything beneath them is automatically unwatchable trash.

Well obviously these people are not really fans of genre cinema. Let's just say that they like a few quick scares, and keep Hollywood in business. Fans of genre cinema take it all in, and leave no rock unturned in their search for the next thrill. The audience above are joined by the fact that they completely ignore the fluff… whilst supposedly claiming to like genre cinema. Well, the fluff is really what makes it all worthwhile. It’s the stuff that keeps the really good from the really bad. It's within the realm of the fluff where the important movies really are found. Such as the Hammer films. Looking at them historically the Hammer movies where the first gore films. Yeah, screw Hershell Gordon Lewis, screw the Japanese Chanbara flicks, Terrence Fisher’s The Curse of Frankenstein 1957 is the first splatter flicks. When Peter Cushing’s Baron Frankenstein shoots Christopher Lee’s creature in the head with a shotgun and Lee holds his hand up to his face as the blood pours out of the concealed hole in his head, it was deliberate. When Lee’s eyes turn red and the blood seeps from the side of his mouth in The Horror of Dracula 1958, Fisher with makeup artists Phil Leakey and Sydney Pearson knew exactly what they where doing and knew that they where pushing the limits of things… and they created a complete new horror ingredient that people had never seen before, which in it’s own turn made Hammer Studios the minor success story that it was to become.

Terrence Fisher also helmed 1964’s The Gorgon based on a script by screenwriter/director John Gilling – who would later also direct some of the better later movies for Hammer, such as The Plague of the Zombies and The Reptile both 1966, and ended up directing the Paul Naschy penned La cruz del Diablo (Cross of the Devil) for Naschy in 1975.

Let’s set up The Gorgon – Something is luring in the dark of Castle Borski just outside of Vandorf. Seven unexplained murders in five years have Inspector Kanof [Second Doctor Who, Patrick Troughton] a frustrated man. When young woman, Sacha Cass [Toni Gilpin], goes missing and shortly after, her bohemian boyfriend, Bruno Heitz [Jeremy Longhurst], is found hung from a tree. It all looks like a closed case, and the town Judge rules it all as a murder followed by suicide. Nobody but Bruno’s father Professor Heitz objects and points out that Cass body was actually turned to stone… the town of Vandorf obviously want’s to keep something a secret, and he will not leave until he’s unveiled the mystery and cleared his son’s name. Doctor Namaroff [Peter Cushing] and his assistant Carla Hoffman [Barbara Shelley] run the village mental institute and all seems fine, until Professor Heitz second son, Paul [Richard Pasco] arrives with the same ambition to solve the curse of Vandorf. Carla and Paul take a liking to each other, and plan to take off as soon as Paul has figured out what goes on at Castle Borski, which obviously set’s up an interesting little triangle drama between Paul, Carla and Doctor Namaroff. Towards the final act, Paul’s mentor, Professor Karl Meister [Christopher Lee] also comes to the small village and together with Paul they aim to put an end to the rumors that, Magaera [Prudence Hyman, in one of her few onscreen credited parts in a Hammer flick] – one of two lesser know sisters to the legendary Medusa - resides in the woods of Vandorf.

It’s obvious that Gilling has a passion for detective stories – he wrote several crime/detective screenplays, and directed loads of super detective shows, like The Saint, The Champions and Department S. This is seen in the way he constructs the script to The Gorgon, as the movie primarily is a horror movie with an investigation plot. Gradually the audience know what is going on – the gorgon, and the subplots – and with a Hitchcock-ian structure, Gilling and Fisher lead us down a path that is more detective story than horror.

Red herrings are laid out for us to stumble on such as the Martha [Joyce Hemson] character who we blatantly are lead to believe is the Gorgon, and there’s very driven dialogue to make us pose further questions such as when Carla with panic in her voice says to Dr. Namaroff that “She has come back!” Everyone seems to have something to hide, facts they dare not proclaim, truths not yet spoken, which obviously propels the narrative forth.

Obviously the horror comes through the loan of a legendary icon, the Gorgon, Medusa or Mageara as she’s called here, and the heavy gothic vibe that seeps though the movie. Hammer movies are at their best when they ooze of EuroGoth created through the wonderful set design of Bernard Robinson, those great matte painting landscapes, and James Bernard’s magnificent scores – of which The Gorgon holds one of the darkest he composed for Hammer.

The motif of death is very dominant in The Gorgon and despite using a legendary tale we all know by heart – stare in her eyes, turn to stone – they put a spin on it, where characters don’t turn to stone in the flash of an eye as in the old Harryhausen flicks, but more of a sadistic torment as they slowly turn into stone statues. One character even writes a letter home, telling of the pain and despair he feels in that very moment. That’s kind of heavy, even for a Hammer movie. Also they bring a familiar spin to the story when it becomes apparent that the second night of the full moon is when the attacks occur, something we all know from Werewolf folklore.

Building tension and then gradually releasing it is what Hammer movies are all about. God knows they made their fair share of movies that did nothing but build only to present a semi-shocking reveal at the end. This is also true with The Gordon. The initial attack if you will shows us the exact path that Sasha Cass takes, the religious nook by the roadside, the full moon, and the looming structure of Castle Borski. These elements all become referents later on as Professor Heitz walks the same path, it’s not rocket science and we know he’s walking right into danger. Returning imagery, locations and motifs are all important tools for building anticipation as the next time we see them we are aware of the threat they pose.

Characters are kind of stiff and restrained throughout The Gorgon. There’s no real arcs with evolving characters here, and there’s nor really anyone to feel for to start with. Secrets are kept, science argues against fantasy and every one – especially Dr. Namaroff act as skeptics when it all comes around. So there’s a use of something called the contrast frame at work here, where even the men of science deny to acknowledge the Gorgon – which the audience by the way, knows exists – it becomes logic that we tend to empathize with Paul and Carla. They are after all the only characters to stand up for there beliefs, and even though we as an audience are miles ahead of them both, we tend to favor them.

Although one must not forget the many subplots that are irking their way in, of which the Paul – Carla one is the strongest. There’s also the whole protection racket that comes with Dr. Namaroff. It’s almost eerie the way Cushing sluggishly floats around, stopping here and there for a pose to show us that he’s lost in thought, because despite being the skeptic of the piece, he knows what’s going on… Or at least, has an idea, which is why he becomes a human shield for Carla. He won’t let anyone near her, and does his best to protect her. But he’s so overprotective of Carla that it becomes painfully obvious why she falls for Paul, as he offers her the freedom she looks for. Away from corridors of Dr. Namaroff’s institute, away from Vandorf. Ironically it’s merely a metaphorical freedom and her real freedom comes in a completely different form during the final moments of the movie courtesy of scarcely used Christopher Lee’s Prof. Karl Meister.

The Gorgon, is still one of those Hammer movies that sums up all that was great about Hammer horror, the atmosphere, the somewhat stiff stage performances of the cast, lurking death, gothic horror and, for the time period, acceptable special effects. Perhaps not as impressive as his work on The Horror of Dracula, you still have to give Sydney Pearson credit for the Medusa and her head of snakes. It get’s the job done, the turning to stone transformations, although primarily only make up, work and the final decapitation scene is still something of a classic Hammer moment. When it all comes around, the movie may be a tad on the slow side, but then again that’s what draws me into the world of Hammer. The slow meditative approach, the modest scares and the clean cut closure, which almost all Hammer movies end with. There’s never any lingering around for no reason at all in the world of Hammer. Kill the monster, cue the end credits, let’s all get up off the couch, and sod off to bed.

Ratline

2011-11-13T20:32:00.006Z

Ratline

Directed by: Eric Stanze

USA, 2011

Drama/Horror/Exploitation, 109min

Distributed by: Wicked Pixel Cinema

If you write that your movie is about Nazi Occultism on the cover art, I will watch it. I have an intense soft spot for Nazi’s and the paranormal – and why not, it’s so goddamned out there. I love the Third Reich’s fascination with the occult. I have done so since Spielberg and Lucas made a Saturday morning matinée about the krauts obsession with the supernatural. If you also happen to be an indie filmmaker, with some really interesting movies on your resume, then I will undoubtedly watch.

To set up the story of Ratline, it would be easiest to say that the movie is about the hunt for an old Nazi flag referred to as “Die Blutfahne”, a mythical swastika flag that went missing at the end of the Second World War. The only surviving member of the SS Paranormal Division is now seeking the flag with the intentions of completing the rituals that have been brewing for decades.

The main selling point of Ratline is obviously the Nazi connection, the promise of grotesque entertainment and spontaneous nudity along the way - as you will see from the trailer below. It’s all there, but Ratline serves up something much more than just an average exploitation flick. It shoves itself way beyond simple conventions and presents an intriguing and engaging story that delivers some severe shocks in it’s final act.

So, instead of going where convention predicts, Ratline tells the story of several characters and how their paths cross along the road of life. The initial set up creates a mood for the flick, as a bloodied, post-heist Crystal [Stanze regular Emily Haack, looking better than ever] burns her clothes and cleans up before hitting the road again – this woman is on the go. Cut to opening credits, which pass by rapidly as a metaphorical escape from the starting point, only to land in a Satanic Cult preparing their ritual. We stick with the youngsters for a while, and you would think you know who the leading characters are by now. But when the Satanic Cult, now on the roam for a human to sacrifice, fail to snare Crystal in their sinister trap, the focus shifts to a lone man peacefully driving his truck down the road. The kids lure him in, and moments later he’s tied up and ready to meet his maker as the kids tell him that he will be Satan’s sacrifice tonight.

A twist in the same form as the classic Psycho twist topples the world we have been introduced to. Where storytelling guru Robert McKee would shout out negation of the negation, Stanze and Christ thrust it full speed up that street. The entire opening set up with the teenagers performing a mock “this is what we think it’s supposed to be like” satanic ritual, and getting carried away to the extent of performing a human sacrifice becomes superbly ironic as they stare into the face of death in the shape of Frank Logan, [co-writer Jason Christ, also a frequent Stanze collaborator] a supernatural übermench who’s all the kids imagine themselves to be, amplified thrice.

For most of the first half of the movie, the ordinary world is established; characters present themselves and reveal their traits. Subplots are introduced, Penny Webb [Sarah Swofford] is presented, we gain insight into the backstory of Crystal, and the very real threat that she has pending over her life. It's a slow build, but it's necessary for where Stanze is going to take us.

But so far there are no characters that I really care about. They may interest me, but they primarily go about their business and where ever the day takes them. Their lives are woven together as their paths intersect and I find myself wondering where it’s all going to go… after all I do have some presumptions of the characters and what they may get up to. Somewhere just past midpoint – [59minutes] the first of many reveals is presented. First it’s the genesis of the Blood Flag, the item that Frank has been hunting through the movie, and the Nazi thread of the movie. It’s presented in a great - retro newsreel “found footage” complete with director cameo - way and does a great job of kick starting the second act. Now it all makes sense, we know of Frank’s identity, and this starts up a new wave of questions.

Then something unique happens. A moment that in its restrained shape proves that less is more, and a moment that definitely could have become something completely different. Instead it becomes a key moment of the movie. Penny and Crystal are drawn together by their desire for each other, but instead of using the moment to jump into gratuitous moment of nudity and sexploitation, Stanze has the two women merely connecting. An initial moment of intimacy that proves they have a desire for each other. From here they share a common foundation from which they can build a future together - a small sliver of light in Crystal’s darkness. They kiss, they embrace, and we can see the lust in their eyes. They have both yearned after this intimacy a long while and finally, as they find it, they have something worth fighting for. I call this an important moment as it establishes a value within the movie. Crystal who has been on the run for the major part of the movie – running from her past, running from her now and most likely to run from her future too – finds a reason to stop. There’s a possible love story there, which fills her character with value. I’ve said it in texts before; love is a strong tool in movies. We can all identify with the emotions a play; the emotional recognition is what creates the empathy for the characters. Crystal and Penny now have a value, never mind how dark and nihilistic we may be, we will want that moment of ecstasy to come. Their joy is our joy. The Crystal/Penny affair is used brilliantly, as it builds from here on out and culminates in the movies strongest and profoundest moments of disturbing darkness.

The slow build, which has lead up to the Frank backstory and the Crystal/Penny affair, culminates with a final rush of insight. We finally find out how these characters all come together, and in what way they all fit into the bigger picture. It’s an impressive move, which I should have seen coming, but I didn’t, for which I give all credit to Stanze (and Christ) as it caught me by complete surprise.

So I though that I’d be watching a cheap exploitation flick drenched with blood and gratuitous nudity, and the usual hardened unconditional approach that Stanze brings into his movies. But I ended up getting something completely different. Yeah, there’s nudity – fitting within the context, there’s some gore – at times fantastically gross and impressive, and that dark approach Stanze brings to his subjects is perfected with Ratline.

I’ve recently had the pleasure of watching through a retrospective of Stanze’s work due to the Eric Stanze Collection box being released by Njuta Films here in Sweden. (Ratline not included, but six other titles, which I reviewed in the November issue of Cinema – English version available on ipad - where I also pointed out that Stanze worked Second Unit on Jim Mickle’s impressive Stakeland.) There’s no doubt about it, Ratline is the Stanze-one-man-film crew’s most flawless work and it’s definitely a breaking point in his career. Indie movies usually just play though and that’s that, but Ratline really got under my skin, as some well played tricks pulled me in, set me up and unexpectedly shocked me.

Do NOT miss Ratline, as I have a feeling this is the one that makes the difference. It's the kind of movie that makes me love independent movies all over again, as it comes out of nowhere; punches hard and leaves an imprint that will last a long time. Skillful storytelling applied on genre, in the very best way.

The disc also features a behind the scenes documentary, and two commentary tracks, both featuring Stanze and both giving different insights into the movie and the filmmaking process. You should be listening to these kinds of things if you claim to be interested in making, or simply understanding movies. This is where you learn it for real, but watching stuff and listening to the people who made them.