Blood for Irina

Blood for Irina

Directed by: Chris Alexander

Horror, Drama

USA, 2012

Distributed by: Autonomy Pictures

Franco, Rollin, Herzog, EuroHorror Fever Dream… you got my full attention right there with those key words. I only knew Chris Alexander as the guy who gave Fangoria the vital CPR the publication was in desperate need of. I also slightly know of our shared passion for EuroHorror and all it’s sub-niches. But I knew nothing of his filmmaking ambitions. Ambitions that finally have come to fruition with his debut feature set to be released by Autonomy Pictures in Spring 2013.

Blood for Irina… yeah, Blood for Irina. For some reason that made you think of Jess Franco films and possibly the female vampire Irina (as played by Lina Romay), didn’t it. Well that’s quite possibly the intent of the title… No wait, change that, that IS the intent of the title. Blood for Irina is a passionate homage to the seductive cinema of Jess Franco, Jean Rollin and several other European Art-house horror and sleaze auteurs. Yeah, Let’s talk about them as Auteurs, because if you hold a burning interest in film, you’d know that Auteur theory is all about the film reflecting the precise creative vision the director had intended. Sans Franco, Rollin, Margheritti etc, and perhaps it would be fair to jot down Chris Alexander’s name on that list too. For regardless if they succeeded or not, the intentions where all about creating that perfect image of what they had in mind, and if so, then Blood for Irina definitely is the film of an auteur.

It’s a bold movie to make for a man so strongly associated with above mentioned publication, as I’m sure this film will polarize it’s audiences, and quite frankly alienate a lot of Fango readers. It’s not the kind of movie one would have expected the chief editor of one of the biggest Horror magazines to have come up with.

This is the story of three individuals and the paths they walk, Irina [Shauna Henry] the vampire, who has come to an end of her time. The same blood she craves is the same blood that is destroying her. The prostitute [Carrie Gemmell] who walks the streets knowing that each abusive john may be her last and the motel manager [co-producer David Goodfellow] who holds dark secrets in his obsession for his longtime guest.

So many times I’ve read the tagline “in the vein of Franco, Rollin etc”, and come to find none of it anywhere in the actual movie. It’s an easy way to pigeonhole a film, but a lazy one. It takes more than a band of seductive fanged ladies in transparent nightgowns roaming abandoned château’s to reach the level of poetry I associate with those other guys.  As the final credit on the work print I saw fades out – a dedication to Franco muse Lina Romay – I start going over my notes to see if Alexander comes through on his premise, a “Eurohorror Fever Dream”.

He does and it’s easy to see that he knows his Eurohorror (of which Alexander is an acknowledged expert on) The movie definitely ties in with several of the traits I’ve come to familiarize as the traits specific for the work of Jess Franco, Jean Rollin and I can understand why the press release also mentions Werner Herzog.

Blood for Irina, connects through it’s gentle approach and absentminded visuals – although I have a few issues with the repetitive slow motion. The studies of decay, abandoned locations, and lack of interacting characters all evoke the style so familiar, at times perhaps a bit to hard and almost forcefully, but it does connect. But the motif that bonds the movie to the same emotions of Rollin and Franco, is found in the themes Alexander uses. Returning readers may be familiar with my studies of Rollin and Franco, where I talk about the themes, motifs and referents that they used in their movies. This is where Alexander taps into their hidden treasure. Instead of presenting a generic vampire film, the movie deals with the themes of being abandoned, solitude and the search for belonging, all in the same fashion as the directors whose work he’s paying homage to.

Eerie images, abandoned beach, tormented souls, long delicate shots, lingering on character faces, and a haunting soundtrack (Written and performed by Alexander) all conjure up the recognizable traits even if presented in a new, more contemporary setting. The power comes from the dreamlike state the characters of the movie are trapped in. Within the constellation of the three main characters, who are all in search of “something else”; Irina in search of closure, the prostitute in search of something better, the motel manager seeking to bond with his longtime tenant Irina.  Their search takes a meditative path as they slowly come together like driftwood on the abandoned beach that bookends the movie.

Keeping a distance from the characters is tricky way to approach a subject matter. We are accustomed to bags full of exposition telling us everything and more about the characters before the movie gets going. It’s all left out here, apart from slight backstory of Irina, but Alexander still manages to produce emotions for his characters in the small acts of kindness they do along the way. Irina comforts the hooker after a date turns sour, she also gives the hooker a second chance, which directly turns victim to predator. It’s an act of kindness that serves them both. It’s also an act that helps the audience for the first time empathize with Irina.

The narrative is sublime, subtle and tender. Alexander never overtly clarifies what we are watching. Instead the approach taken is a suggestive one, challenging the audience to place the pieces together. This is a film that demands attention from its audience. Sometimes the abundance of a destination is effective, as the rush of insight when all falls into place is much more efficient than characters moving on a predestined track. As said, the movie demands it’s audience to pay attention whilst laying out the pieces.

A scene that may seem random at first, becomes an important part when it falls into place later on generating a somewhat tender moment. This happens on several occasions in the film. As when the Motel Manager find’s a victim of Irina’s hidden away amongst the desolate beach houses. His acts are of affection; he’s protecting his object of desire. In the obscure intimacy of distance, the characters drift together through their search. It’s a meditative and dreamlike approach, which certainly mimics emotions and traits of several Rollin and Franco movies.

Blood for Irina is a passionate, dedicated fervor that walks the thin line between life, death, fantasy and reality when three fates are interwoven in an introspective state of mind. Not for everyone, but undoubtedly something fans of minimalistic genre films will appreciate. I’d say it’s a delightful appetizer for future projects to come from the mind of Chris Alexander.

Blood for Irina was shot on a minimal budget, over a five-day period in Alexander’s hometown of Toronto, and is set for a Spring 2013  release through Autonomy Pictures. For more information on the film, check out Blood for Irina's facebook page and Autonomy Pictures.

As the movie is still in post at the time of publication, I’ve chosen to use publicity shots to illustrate the article. Images may not represent the final tone and look of the completed movie.

Amityville Horror 3D

Amityville 3D

Directed by: Richard Fleischer

USA, 1983     

Horror, 105min

One of the few movies I’ve ever turned off because it got to me in all the right ways, is the original Amityville Horror from 1979. My wife and I tried to watch it way back when we started hanging out in the nineties, and we just couldn’t make it through. It was way to scary and it ended up being turned off and put back on the shelf. I’d seen the movie several times before along the years, I’d even read Jay Anson’s novel which still to this day has a fixed spot on my bookshelf amongst the other horror and pulp books. It’s still the movie my wife rates all others we watch against. So, when Amityville Horror 3D turned up in my mail the other night, a stiring urge to watch it grew inside me, as I recalled seeing the trailer, probably in the theatre I used to help out at when growing up, or on one of the many trailer tapes watched back in the advent of VCR. Anyway I recall it hitting all the right marks and freaking the hell out of me - I was thirteen and still had a lot of really cool shit to discover. And keep in mind that there once was a time when a single image from a movie could give you the chills, that goddamned Lutz house is an icon of fright if there ever was one...

Ghostbusting couple John Baxter [Tony Roberts] and Melanie [Candy Clark] expose a band of charlatan mediums working out of the old Lutz house. Whilst following up their story with some photographs in the basement, real estate agent Sanders [John Harkins] turns up and presents John a great "on the spot" bargain: buy the house for almost nothing. Being mid-divorce from Nancy [Tess Harper], John jumps at the opportunity, as do the set-up’s. Photographs show deaths to come, demonic faces, swarms of flies gag the uninvited, floorboards creak, holes in the basement groan, winds blow, stinks stink, and teenage daughters complain about things way out of their league, before whipping out the old ouija board.

When it all comes around, Amityville Horror 3D holds nothing against the original and it really is a truly generic movie that tries its hardest to be unique. Unfortunately it just can’t stay away from following in the footsteps of paths and tricks earlier treaded by Stuart Rosenberg and Damiano Damiani – not forgetting the very Omen II-ish elevator sequence, and an old Indian burial ground - in earlier films. Now perhaps this is due to the fact that parts one and two, are based upon “real events”, and this third installation, is all make-believe. Because producer Dino De Laurentiis was being sued buy the Lutz’s weren’t part of the second sequel, hence the make up story by William Wales, who seems to have never written anything else for films either before or since. But that doesn’t stop Meg Ryan, in her second role ever, and Lori Loughlin - who will be forever associated with her character Becky, John Stamos girlyfriend in the god-awful, never-ending, Olsen twin goo, Full House - as the Baxter's daughter Susan, referencing the earlier events and movies that took place in "that" house. 

Nevertheless Amityville Horror 3D, tries it’s best to be and entertaining little flick that get’s the job done. It builds up the tension – or at least tries, as we already know everything there is to know about the house and the “entity” living there. Just as I enjoy movies that poke my mind and make me look over my shoulder an extra time, I enjoy movies that demand nothing from me. I can just chill the heck out, be entertained and fall in and out of sleep if I wish, despite a really cool John Caglione Jr. burn victim effect around midpoint.

Taking a peek at the storytelling, it's pretty straight forward. It's never said, but one can guess that John and Melanie are an issue, hence the divorce between John and Nancy. Perhaps in an extended universe, they hook up again and make it work as the ordeal in the house brings them back together. But there's not much dimension to characters, and not really anyone that one empathizes with either. It's pretty flat and in several ways it plays as a rack-em-stack-em slasher. There’s also a splendid irony to the movie, as sceptic and hoax buster John, finally turns to his previous team of assistant hoax busters to prove that his house is indeed haunted. Cue demons and spooky lighting.

Originally shot in 3D, Amityville Horror 3D host several moments of that amusingly bizarre theatrically overacted scenes and moments to make the three-dimensional effects pop out. Stuff being held a tad too long, up front of the camera. Poses held a bit longer than necessary. Objects moving slightly slower than normally, you know, it's the goofy stuff that makes eighties “revival 3D” such a blast. Like the Friday the 13’th part III : 3D 1982 opening credits, where names and title stab out of the screen…it gets the job done and it’s all in good fun. Some really great moments are spittle towards the audience, iron pipes though a windshield a Frisbee, a stuffed swordfish and my favourites, a rotting corpses and demons jumping out of a hole in the basement.

 The Njutafilms release, out now, comes with an option of normal, or migraine inducing 3D viewing (glasses included) - which is something of a rarity for this title! Go get it, you know you like dorky eighties horror with special, special effects.

The Bride of Frank

The Bride of Frank

Directed by: Steve Ballot     

USA, 1996

Horror, Comedy, 89min

If you put “Too disturbing to watch… to compelling to turn away…” on your cover art, then you definitely have a lot to live up to. Most of them don't and quite often the tagline refers to one minor moment... So shoddy VHS graphics, a cheesy company animation, overdubbed dialouge and a full screen 4:3 image ratio of way creepy Frank [Frank Meyer in his only ever official role] luring a little girl into his tuck only to whack her over the head with a iron pipe moments later…only to… oh my god. Well, The Bride of Frank does dig right in there and I guess the tagline is telling the truth!

Frank is a right fucking knob, in truth, the word imbecile is not colourful enough. He’s a complete looser, who way too late in life finds his repulsive and vile life culminating in an explosion of profound anger, sexual desire and deep dark humour. He’s a down and out bum, who works with a bunch of blokes down in a paper plant warehouse, and one day they present him with a birthday cake in the shape of a pair of tits… that leads Frankie to wanting real tits.  But the road to boobs goes via phone sex, depravity, misogyny, and violence. Hey, when you see a bloke take a dump into the neck of a decapitated body, or gouge an exotic dancers eyeball out with his erection, you know it’s party time!

By the time the backstory of Frank’s behaviour is presented I wasn’t expecting it, as the movie had merely been a library of charged set pieces up till then. But when it does hit, I feel like I’m stoned and watching one of those William S.Burroughs experimental flicks. Needless to say, The Bride of Frank is a charmingly weird little movie that goes though some very interesting terrain, and just goes to prove that there is a right person out there for each and every one of us, even bums with dirty nails and mouldy feet.

At times I feel like I’m watching an trashy comedy in the vain of John Waters or Troma, at times it’s like I’m watching one of those haunting Maysles Brother’s documentaries, at times one of those bizarre New York cable shows, presented by an ensemble of amateurs, and at times it’s like watching a poor man’s Scorsese movie, but it sure as hell is captivating, and you will most likely snigger your way through this delightfully trashy pearl.

Frank is the Forrest Gump of trashy exploitation flicks and a must see, part cheap exploitation, part grim grindhouse, part shoot it arty ‘coz we know fuck all about making movies, part surreal black comedy: The Bride of Frank is a delightfully bizarre trip from the underground of the Big Apple, out 19th of September on DVD from the boys and girls at Njutafilms.

Oh, and it doesn’t say on the cover, but the artwork is by the great Silver Ferox Key Art!

Death Waltz

No, this isn't a plug in return for a discount, review copies, free LP's or a silly quote somewhere or any other crap like that. This site is way to unimportant for that kind of lark... and I'll leave that kind of tomfoolery for the posers who daily beg for free stuff so they comfort their ego's and tell the rest of us just how special they are.  This is actually something I feel genre fan's should be supporting, and be a part of. It's a great way to support real independence and get your hands on something that will be rarities one day.

Do NOT miss the releases from Death Waltz Recording Co.


Absolbloodylutely awesome stuff. Remastered, repackaged, posters, linear notes the works, and great music. A half dozen titles have been released so far: DONNIE DARKO, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, ZOMBIE2, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, PRINCE OF DARKNESS. Set for release in a few days and in the coming months; THE LIVING DEAD AT THE MANCHESTER MORGUE, HALLOWEEN II, HALLOWEEN 3: SEASON OF THE WITCH, THEY LIVE, THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL and there's plenty more where they came from as they just signed a deal with HAMMER too! First out of that bunch is my fave THE DEVIL RIDES OUT!

So go check them out, and pick up some amazing music that never sounded better. It's one of the best treats you can give yourself and worth every stinkin' penny.

Last Train to Nowhere - The Sound of Beauty and Despair

I've been promising a new mix-tape for some time... I stick by my word and here it is for your entertainment.

LAST TRAIN TO NOWHERE - The Sound of Beauty and Despair

I'll leave you with this, as I can't really say when I'll post again. There's one piece in the pipe to be released later on this month to coincide with the release of an Indie movie I've had the privilege to screen.

Thanks for showing interest.

Adios.
J.

Famine

Famine

Directed by: Ryan Nicholson.

Canada, 2011

Horror/Comedy, 77min

Distributed by: New Image Entertainment / PlotDigger Films.

Ever since I randomly checked out Live Feed a long time ago, I’ve been aware of Ryan Nicholson and his PlotDigger Films. I enjoyed parts of that flick, the ambition it had and the fact that it in several ways was better than Hostel, just as the sleeve promised. Swedish distributor, Dark Entertainment, released a bunch of Nicholson movies a year or two back, making both Nicholson and his old-school pastiches become a name to rely on after I covered these movies in the, believe it or not, only Swedish magazine that published articles on genre cinema. The horror game is all about offending and haunting your audience, and when you make movies like Torched; featuring drawn out blow torch torture, Gutterballs; with its extremely intense rape scene, Hanger; showing a violent wire coat hanger abortion in its complete horror and colostomy bag hole fucking – then you are definitely pushing the limit, provoking in all the right ways, and creating moments of insanity that draw the fans in like fungus to an athletes foot. Needless to say, Ryan Nicholson is one of the go to guys for violent trashy cutting edge cinema. So catching the chance to pre-watch Famine (out soon) - Nicholson’s latest foray into slasher cinema – I jumped at the opportunity.

Basic premise; a bunch of teenagers at Sloppy Secondary – Home of the Nailers – sign up for an extra credit benefiting 24 hour Famine helmed by new teacher Miss Vickers [Michelle Sabiene]. The character gallery is presented pretty fast – the geeky one, the dorky one, the classic ringleaders and their posse… Im hooked through the introduction of lead character Jenny [Christine Wallace], trying to adapt and sporting a new look. Without her glasses, she struts forth full of confidence, looking hot as hell only to be trashed once again by the group of antagonists she’ll soon be sharing the lockdown with. There's a vulnerability and desire to be part of something else in Jenny's character in this opening scene. But nothing ever changes in the education system, tormentors will torment, and you know me, I’m calling classic empathizing moment in the shape of underdog. Her bouts of Asperger, shouting, screaming and blurting out foul language make me like her even more. Oh, and that killer bod of course... So characters all lined up and ready to go, it’s time to establish the plot.

The vital Nicholson trait is presented through a backstory – interestingly warped by being told by a third-party who never was there. I call it a vital trait as I find the theme of vengeance in every Nicholson movie. His movies are all about vengeance, getting even, settling the score… and always by the most macabre ways possible. Back to Famine; classic turf; Five years ago goody two shoes teacher Balszack [Nathan Durec] confronts bully ringleader Nick [Christopher Lomas] who together with his band of foes, schema a fiendish plan where they trick geeky Kathy [Beth Cantor] that Balszack will award her extra credits for “certain favours”. Needless to say the encounter ends catastrophically and a splendid burn face effect that kicks ass.

Back to modern day, where Vickers, with her brooding interest in that disastrous Famine five years ago, locks the kids in “Tighter than a nun’s cunt!” Then the killings start… Oh my god, does Ryan Nicholson know how to off people in the most spectacular ways. Famine may stay pretty down to earth, but it has some fantastic special effects, and just seeing this flick, makes me want to change trades all together, pack a suitcase, and enrol on one of Nicholson’s special effect courses. Famine sports an awesome railroad nail to the head scene, and a throat slash that may be one of the most spectacular ever put on screen. It’s a great testament to Nicholson’s craft and undoubtedly what make his movies stand amongst the other independent slasher flicks. You can always rely on Nicholson to take it as far as possible, and Famine just keeps on rolling whilst the bodies pile up one after another.

I'm absorbed by the darkness of Nicholson’s characters, not only here, but in previous movies too. They may at a first glance appear to be generic slasher characters, but it’s not quite that simple. There’s always a deeper darkness to the most of Nicholson’s characters. There’s frequently something else there, and rarely a leading character with only one dimension. Keep it mind the next time you watch one of his flicks and you’ll see what I mean. Take Jenny in Famine as an example, who tries to conform as to be one of the “gang”, even more or less offering herself to creepy Nick. Instead of the common “last girl” character, there’s a depth to her unlike the generic formula. A dark depth that gives an interesting contrast compared to other stuff. Then there's the absurdness and eeriness of using non-horror items and putting them in a horror context, such as a bowling ball bag or a happy school mascot as the killer's mask. It's effective, strange and creepy as hell at the same time.

Famine hits’ all the right markers and delivers exactly what I want from a Nicholson flick. Goofy dialogue, hard rock soundtrack, great effects, hot chicks, creepy guys, random madness and great last act reveal. Ryan Nicholson certainly poses a challenge anyone looking to claim the title of Canadian enfant terrible. How the hell Fango missed him in the Canadian Filmmaker issue a while back is beyond me. I’ve got to mention the ironic posters all around the school, as I love the moment when the Famine flyers are posted right next to the Anorexia awareness posters. And fuck me if there’s not a mind-blowing rush of insight the second time you watch the movie. An insight that changes everything you just watched. Famine is a fine piece of trashy slasher cinema, loaded with blood, spunk and carnage, a definite must for fans of fast paced independent goodness with dark humour and lashings of carnage.