BEYOND THE DARKNESS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 7/29/17

 

I love to watch movies while I'm eating. Some movies, however, really--and I mean really--don't lend themselves to mealtime viewing.  Joe D'Amato's BEYOND THE DARKNESS, aka "Buio Omega" (1979, Severin Films) is one of them.  Hoo boy, is it ever.

Generally speaking, it's your basic Italian 70s-era Grand Guignol potboiler dripping with that old-country Goth flavor and a sort of lurid, rough-hewn visual flair characteristic of much of Italian cinema. 

But it's the particulars in this case that really drive the film into gut-punch territory.  When D'Amato (THE ALCOVE, EMMANUELLE AND THE WHITE SLAVE TRADE) wants to shock or gross us out, he delivers with some strong, graphic gore and cringe-inducing perversion that'll most likely set your nerves on edge and your stomach on "queasy."

It all starts when otherwise handsome and normal-looking young Frank (Kieran Canter, THE LONELY LADY) loses his beloved wife Anna (Cinzia Monreale, THE STENDHAL SYNDROME, THE BEYOND).  Unable to bear the loss, he steals her body from its grave and, using his skills as a taxidermist, preserves it in his basement laboratory so that he may, err..."consort" with her as before. 

In this he's helped by faithful family servant Iris (Franca Stoppi, THE OTHER HELL), who has an unhealthy relationship with Frank that's sexual, yet weirdly maternal.  Having Anna offed by a voodoo priestess was just step one in Iris' plot to become the mistress of the manor--and now, she has a vested interest in not only helping Frank preserve his dead wife's body (for the moment, anyway) but also in covering up the murders of young women that he just can't seem to resist having sex with in the bed next to Anna's corpse.

This latter activity is where BEYOND THE DARKNESS is indeed at its darkest, as D'Amato indulges in some classic body disposal that includes meat-cleaver dismemberment and then the old acid bath.  (Cremation comes later as well.)  Entrails, eyeballs, and all matter of offal are on the menu, especially when Frank gets a bit peckish during passion.  But even he has to hurl at the sight of Iris gobbling down a post-body-disposal platter of disgusting food in a scene that's the polar opposite of the erotic meal in TOM JONES.

Making these scenes even harder to stomach are several close shots that could pass as footage from an actual autopsy.  Indeed, they're often thought by fans to be just that, although D'Amato himself reveals that animal entrails and pig skins were used.

At any rate, the film continues along its morbidly merry way until a predictable plot twist sets up the very lively, very splattery finale.  A final heart-stopping shock right at the fadeout is particularly satisfying.  

(And speaking of hearts, we just know the director is pulling our legs when Frank, having removed Anna's heart while "processing" her, lovingly kisses and then lustily bites into it, causing the severed arteries to squirt blood.  Now that's some really dark humor, folks.)

Kieran Canter is a pretty one-note actor as Frank, but it's just the right note and he plays it with conviction.  Franca Stoppi, on the other hand, gives a bravura performance as a woman who's a monster, in the words of Ed Wood, to be both pitied and despised.  Also performing at their peak are The Goblins, who contribute their usual excellent musical score.

The Blu-ray from Severin Films features both English and Italian (with English subtitles) 2.0 soundtracks.  A generous Severin bonus menu includes a documentary-length interview with D'Amato that's augmented by comments from friends and coworkers and packed with film clips.  There are also interviews with Franca Stoppi and Cinzia Monreale, as well as a live Goblin performance from 2016 of the main title track, a "Locations Revisited" short, and the film's trailer.  Best of all, the first 2500 units will contain the entire Goblins soundtrack on its own CD disc. 

"Shock is an ideal way to involve the audience in the film," Joe D'Amato declares during his interview footage. "And cannibalism is definitely pretty shocking."  As is much of what he dishes out in BEYOND THE DARKNESS, for horror fans who like to gorge themselves on the grotesque.

Buy it from Severin Films

BEYOND THE DARKNESS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE -- DVD review by porfle

ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE (2006) is another throwback to the teen slasher flicks of the 80s, with its cast of horny highschoolers partying it up in a secluded location while an unknown stalker lessens their number "Ten Little Indians" style.  Sometimes that's a good thing, and sometimes it's not so good.  Here, we sorta waver between the two wondering which one will win out in the end.

Amber Heard (AND SOON THE DARKNESS, THE RIVER WHY, ExTERMINATORS,  MACHETE KILLS) fills the bill as Mandy, the quintessential gorgeous virgin whom every guy (and some girls) wants to "get with" first.  Sure enough, she's the main attraction when she accepts an invitation to spend a party weekend at the isolated ranch home of nerdy-but-horny classmate Red (Aaron Himelstein, excellent as a young Austin Powers in GOLDMEMBER). 

Also vying for Amber's attentions are macho Jake (Luke Grimes, TAKEN 2) and token black dude Bird (Edwin Hodge).  The other girls in the gang are prissy blonde Chloe (Whitney Able) and earthy brunette Marlin (Melissa Price), whose own petty jealousies and insecurities have them constantly at each other's throats.   And trying to keep these rambunctious youngsters from wrecking the place in the absence of Red's mom and dad is ranch caretaker Garth (Anson Mount, HICK), an older Marlboro Man-type who arouses the interest of the girls.

But first--nine months earlier, to be exact--there's an interesting pool-party prologue in which rich, popular Dylan (Adam Powell) is egged on by Mandy's jealous friend Emmett (Michael Welch, TWILIGHT series) to perform a drunken stunt to impress her and is horribly killed.  After such a promising start, it's a bit disconcerting when the story then settles right into the usual groove of sex-obsessed high school kids making plans for the big weekend bash where we don't have to be psychics to predict pretty much how things will go.

Sure enough, the rowdy road trip to Red's ranch (during which they steal several kegs of beer from a hapless roadside merchant) and the giddy build-up to party time upon their arrival at the scenic location lead right into the standard booze 'n' weed blowout.  Besides being one of the most boring teen parties ever filmed (making it, at times, sadly realistic) it's replete with the expected romantic and other interpersonal conflicts resulting in bruised feelings and resentment, which in turn leads to various people going off into the night alone to sulk before being stalked and killed by an unknown murderer.  Betcha didn't see any of that coming, huh?

Since this movie has no urban legend-spawn local brute with a unique killing tool, getting revenge on all teens for some unfortunate incident in his past, we're left to wonder who the hell is killing Mandy's friends and why.  Is it one of the teens themselves, carrying out some hidden agenda?  Another classmate,  perhaps?  Or is it the seemingly sane ranch hand, Garth?  Why am I asking you? 

At least we know it isn't  Mandy, since we see her elsewhere during each murder.  At any rate, the script does a bland job of building tension between kills since everyone just sits around getting bored, revealing hidden insecurities, or trying to talk Mandy into getting romantic with them until finally people start passing out.  Not exactly edge-of-your-seat stuff there. 

Anyway--not to reveal too much--the next day brings some welcome action and a few surprises which, while not earth-shakingly original, at least break up the monotony and get things percolating.  Director Jonathan Levine has a knack for moving the camera in interesting ways, using those wide-open spaces around Red's family ranch to good advantage and staging the action well. 

The emphasis is on Jacob Foreman's lean story rather than how graphic  the kills are, so, with some exceptions, there's a surprising lack of gore effects during the mainly conventional shootings and stabbings.  In fact,  while this film may fit snugly into the stalker-slasher genre,  it doesn't really qualify as a horror flick. 

The DVD from Anchor Bay is in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound.  Subtitles are in English and Spanish.  The sole extra is an informative and personable commentary track by director Levine.

Despite being a mostly unexceptional example of its genre,  ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE is a good-looking film which manages to avoid being terminally boring.  The somewhat rousing finale edges it into "worth seeing" territory, and I wasn't left at the fadeout feeling as though I'd wasted  my time.

ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE -- DVD review by porfle

FEAR PHARM -- Movie Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 5/27/20

 

"We're just a fun family corn maze," Hershel (John Littlefield, SLIPSTREAM) tells the four dubious teens who have just been promised that they'll win a substantial cash prize if they make it through said corn maze in less than two hours in the horror-thriller FEAR PHARM (2019).

Of course, he leaves out the part where he's a psychotic killer and so are his hulking Leatherface-clone sons and freaky blonde psycho-bitch daughter Gemma (Aimee Stolte), who will do their best to hunt down, terrorize, and finally kill all four of them for reasons that are the stuff of creepy local urban legend.

The four teens, all aspiring actors looking for that first big role, are the usual stuff of this kind of flick, including happy horndogger Brandon (Houston Stevenson), his cute blonde girlfriend Wendy (Emily Sweet), conceited but likable jerk Rustin (Chris Leary), and Rustin's more sensible sister Melanie (Tiana Tuttle).

What's nice is that they're a pleasant enough bunch and we don't start rooting for them all to die horribly from the moment they open their mouths.  This helps give the story genuine tension rather than simply being an excuse to rack up a body count.

It's also nice that the cast is pretty excellent as is the film's sharp-looking visual sense, including an abundance of sweeping drone-camera shots which prove that somewhere there actually is an honest-to-goodness corn maze stretching as far as the eye can see which serves as a stunning found location for director Dante Yore to do his stuff.

What he in fact does after all the careful build-up in the film's first act is to put us through a consistently suspenseful ordeal along with those four hapless teens who discover that not only is the corn maze pretty darn difficult to navigate, but it's also filled with (a) costumed actors portraying scary monsters, and (b) Hershel's bloodthirsty offspring who actually are scary monsters.

The result is a film with plenty of action, scares, and eventually a good amount of gore, especially when Gemma gets herself a captive and whips out her skinning knife.

As the violence intensifies and the teens' situation becomes heartrendingly dire, you might start getting sort of a TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE vibe with a bit of a Rob Zombie-ish feel as well.  The plot takes an interesting turn when we finally discover the twisted method to all the madness.

Despite its occasional lighthearted air and flashes of satire, FEAR PHARM is a rather potent dose of predicament horror whose story and production values transcend what appears to be a relatively low budget, and it succeeds in being good entertainment for fans of the genre.

FEAR PHARM -- Movie Review by Porfle

THE ATTIC EXPEDITIONS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 

 

Originally posted on 2/7/21

 

Yes, it's true--we actually exist. Who are we? We are Seth Green fans, and if you're one of us, then you're already in for a treat when you watch THE ATTIC EXPEDITIONS (Severin Films, 2001), because Seth Green (THE ITALIAN JOB, "Robot Chicken", UNHITCHED) plays a featured role as a crazy guy, and he's just as crazy as you'd want Seth Green to be.

Now that I've devoted the opening paragraph of this review to Seth Green, here's a rundown on this kooky, mind-bending, and totally absorbing little psychological horror story that's like a sumptuous combination of H.P. Lovecraft and "The Joe Schmo Show."
    
In a nutty nutshell: Trevor Blackburn (Andras Jones, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4) and his lovely lover Faith (Beth Bates) are taking part in a dark ritual that involves violent, bloody death and a strange supernatural book not unlike the one in THE EVIL DEAD. 

 

Things don't go as planned, and Trevor awakens from a four-year coma to find himself guilty of Faith's murder and confined to the "House of Love" with an assortment of other mentally warped crazies (including Seth Green as "Douglas") under the supervision of the oddly oddball Dr. Thalama (Wendy Robie, TWIN PEAKS).

Unfortunately, the whole project is operated, and electronically spied upon, by Dr. Ek, who is played by Jeffrey Combs (RE-ANIMATOR, DARK HOUSE) as only Jeffrey Combs could play him, meaning we already know from the start that Dr. Ek is either evil, insane, or (most likely) a delightfully manic combination of the two, and that he's definitely to no good.

 

Director Jeremy Kasten (THE DEAD ONES, THE THEATRE BIZARRE, THE WIZARD OF GORE remake) keeps us guessing what's real and what's in Trevor's possibly schizoid imagination (we keep seeing flashes of him having his brain operated upon in a rather medieval-looking manner).

Kasten also takes great delight in twisting reality into pretzels while leading us up one dark corridor and down the other in that creepy old house as Trevor himself wonders if his housemates are for real or just actors playing crazed characters (hence the "Joe Schmo Show" reference), with a bloody murder or two amongst the group adding to the fun.

Performances are fine--our Seth has never been better, Ted Raimi (SKINNER) gives his usual likable performance as a visiting doctor who becomes progressively aghast at Dr. Ek's methods, and Jeffrey Combs just inhabits a role like this like nobody else can. Alice Cooper pops up in an early cameo as (what else?) a crazy guy.

 

 

 

Production values are positively lush considering the meager budget, and the film always looks pleasingly atmospheric.  A good score helps as well, including a cool end credits song that takes the old standard "That Old Black Magic" and turns it into a grungey Goth dirge.

Trevor's housemates include nutty nympho Amy (Shannon Hart Cleary), who likes to seduce men and then accuse them of rape the next morning, and equally troubled Ronald (Jerry Hauck), who is in constant physical and verbal conflict with his own hand puppet.

Twists and turns abound in this fevered slog through the haunted thrill ride of Trevor's own warped imagination. Finding out whether he's really crazy or if it's all just a product of Dr. Ek's highly unethical medical "experiments" (or even something else altogether!) is just one of the pleasures I derived while taking part in THE ATTIC EXPEDITIONS.




Buy it from Severin Films



All-New Special Features:

    Cast & Crew 20 Year Pandemic Reunion & Story of Making THE ATTIC EXPEDITIONS, featuring Jeremy Kasten, Seth Green, Jeffrey Combs, Tim Heidecker and many more
    Alice Cooper & Jeffrey Combs Internet Reunion
    Horror Scholar Adam Rockoff Contextualizes THE ATTIC EXPEDITIONS

Disc Specs:

     Scanned in 2k from the original negative
    Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
    Audio: English 5.1 & 2.0
    Closed Captions: English
    Region 0/Free

THE ATTIC EXPEDITIONS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

THE BABY -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 6/12/11

 

If you remember "The ABC Movie of the Week" or have seen some of the low-key but weird thrillers that showed up on it during the 70s (BAD RONALD, DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK), you should recognize the dingy, suburban gothic style of THE BABY (1973).  Right down to the bland opening titles, mawkish musical score by Gerald Fried, and television-level production values, this looks like the typical made-for-TV chiller from that era. 

Surprising, then, that not only is this a theatrical film directed by Ted Post (MAGNUM FORCE, BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES), but it contains language, sexual situations, violence, and an overall air of perversion that would've had the TV censors working overtime with their scissors.

Ruth Roman does her patented "tough gal" act as swaggering single mom Mrs. Wadsworth, who, along with her grown daughters Germaine (Marianna Hill) and Alba (Suzanne Zenor), must care for her son Baby, a twenty-one-year-old with the mind of an infant.  Their new social worker, the recently-widowed Ann (Anjanette Comer, a familiar TV face at the time), expresses great interest in Baby, which raises the jealous Mrs. Wadsworth's suspicions.  When it appears as though Ann may be scheming to take Baby away from her, she and her deranged daughters take deadly action.



The plot of this languidly-paced tale unfolds slowly but is dotted with enough bizarre incidents to keep things interesting.  The first one occurs when a babysitter (Erin O'Reilly) is caught breastfeeding Baby and is soundly thrashed by Mrs. Wadsworth and the girls.  Just hearing Ruth Roman say lines like "Nothing happened?  With your damn tit in his mouth and nothing happened?" is weird enough.  Seeing the babysitter begin to change Baby's diaper as he's stretched out in his giant crib conjures up disturbing images of diaper service men in hazmat suits.

The attitudes of Baby's sisters toward their developmentally-challenged brother are also less than wholesome.  Flaky blonde Alba, bless her, takes after him with a cattle prod when he displays too much progress (such as saying "Ma-ma") in one of my favorite scenes.  "Baby doesn't walk!  Baby doesn't talk!" she shrieks between zaps.  The horny Germaine, meanwhile, has even more perverse uses for her "baby" brother.  Nothing's explicitly shown, but it's still enough to make you go "Yuck!"

But perhaps the most off-putting thing about THE BABY is David Manzy's insipid antics in the title role.  He reminds me of a porn actor who's been asked to perform beyond his range.  Whether Baby's sucking on a bottle, frolicking around on the floor, or bawling and making pouty faces in his crib (with real baby noises dubbed in as he mugs it up), I just want to throttle the goofy bastard. 

(On the other hand, though--how, exactly, would a better actor approach such a role?  It would be interesting to see somebody like Sean Penn strap on the giant diaper and go for an Oscar.)

One of the film's key sequences is a birthday party for Baby, during which Mrs. Wadsworth and the girls make their move against Ann.  This dreary, dreadfully unhip bash, with middle-aged losers in mod attire dancing to quacky "rock" music, is somebody's idea of what a wild party looked like in the 70s, and it's cheesier than a platter of movie-theater nachos.  The great Michael Pataki appears here to wincingly comic effect as a bushy-haired horndog.  With the film's furious finale, THE BABY at last serves up a helping of Grand Guignol horror as Roman and Comer huff and puff their way through a hokey but bloody clash that leads to a nice little head-scratching surprise ending.



Ted Post's no-frills direction gets the job done and his two leading ladies deliver the goods.  Anjanette Comer was never all that forceful as an actress, so she gives her character a suitably vulnerable quality.  Hollywood veteran Ruth Roman, on the other hand, is the epitome of the brassy broad and her hot-blooded histronics are the most fun part of the whole movie.  Marianna Hill (Fredo Corleone's wife in THE GODFATHER PART II) and Suzanne Zenor, who played the "Chrissy" role in the first pilot for "Three's Company", hold up their end of the film's oddball quotient.

The DVD from Severin Films, restored from the original film negative, is in 1.66:1 widescreen with Dolby Digital sound.  No subtitles.  Extras consist of telephone interviews with director Ted Post and star David Manzy, and a trailer.

Those seeking the balls-out bizarro shock-horror flick promised by the posters will be disappointed, since it comes off more as one of those early TV-movies with forbidden exploitation elements tacked on.  But this is what makes THE BABY such a strangely interesting little curio.  If you're in the mood for something unabashedly off-the-wall, then it should be worth your while to check it out.

THE BABY -- DVD Review by Porfle

HOUSE BY THE LAKE -- Movie Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 10/13/17

 

At first it sounded like yet another case of dopey teens being stalked and terrorized while partying in somebody's parents' lakehouse.  But HOUSE BY THE LAKE (2017), to my very pleasant surprise, turned out to be a serious, adult chiller that establishes a foreboding atmosphere and sustains the suspense almost all the way to the end.

Almost, that is, because this is one of those movies that's so good until the very end leaves me wondering how they could've gotten so much right and then--in football parlance--fumbled the ball on the one-yard line.

The set-up is beautifully simple--workaholic Karen (Anne Dudek, SHADOW PEOPLE, 10 ITEMS OR LESS) and failure-at-life Scott (James Callis, "Battlestar Galactica", MERLIN AND THE BOOK OF BEASTS) are a troubled couple hoping that a vacation "away from it all" in his parents' lavish lake house will not only help mend their relationship but also be good for their autistic daughter Emma (Amiah Miller), a painfully introverted girl who can barely stand to be touched.

A vivacious young nanny named Gwen (Natasha Bassett) shows up the next day and immediately hits it off with Emma, who communicates mostly through her crayon drawings.  They're so tight, in fact, that it stirs feelings of jealousy in control-freak Karen, who also fears that Scott is becoming attracted to the younger woman.

What really makes things start to get spooky, however, is the appearance of a creepy old codger (Michael Bowen, KILL BILL VOL.1, THE LOST, DEADGIRL) from out of nowhere who claims to live on the lake and shows what seems to be an unhealthy interest in Emma. 

Karen is greatly concerned, and is mortified when Scott tries to pass it off as nothing.  This, along with Karen's jealousy of Gwen, and Scott's ever-growing feelings of crippling inadequacy, only serves to drive the wedge even deeper between Karen and Scott.

The movie really hits its stride as a chiller with a series of spooky sleepwalking incidents involving Emma, who also begins to talk about her new friend "The Fish Man."  Amiah Miller is the rare scary-movie kid who can not only act but is able to affect a "scary face" without looking silly.

Emma's eventual disappearance causes her parents to take the "Fish Man" stories more seriously and will help drive HOUSE BY THE LAKE into bonafide thriller territory even as we're debating with ourselves over whether or not there's something supernatural at work. 

Director Adam Gierasch (AUTOPSY, NIGHT OF THE DEMONS), working with a clean, no-nonsense style and a fine cast, has a way of building and maintaining suspense along with a genuine sense of dread that keeps us on edge as we wait for the worst to happen.  This anticipation gives the film a compelling quality that teases and scintillates as it reaches its climax.

What actually does happen at the end is, for me, a case of being too literal and showing too much.  After such a subtle and skillful build-up, it's nothing less than jarring.  In my opinion, much more should've been left to the viewer's imagination in a closing sequence that could've been truly haunting but, instead, looks almost like something out of THE MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCAS.

I really wanted to give HOUSE BY THE LAKE a glowing review while I was watching it, and indeed had most of the darn thing typed up in my mind when those last few minutes happened.  Maybe an instant-replay would prove me wrong, but despite the rest of the game being a real nail-biter, that last play definitely looked like a fumble to me. 

HOUSE BY THE LAKE -- Movie Review by Porfle

INFERNUM -- Movie Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 8/14/19

 

After seeing so many big-budget horror flicks that depend on gore, flashy effects, and sudden loud noises to try and get scares, it's nice to see someone who can take a low budget and some real talent and make a movie that's genuinely old-school scary.

Which is what writer-director Dutch Marich (MISERABLE SINNERS, HUNTING, BLEED OUT) does with his new film, INFERNUM (Indican Pictures, 2019). Great locations, limited interiors, and pretty much no special effects combine with a capable cast and imaginative script (and yes, one or two well-earned jump scares) to fashion a tale that chills the blood in a way you don't see very often anymore.

In the opening, a little girl's parents leave their camping tent one night to investigate a roaring noise in the woods (later described as a "paranormal rift" through which one may hear the hellish sound of "wailing and gnashing of teeth") and disappear. 

Twenty-five years later, Camille (Suziey Block, DUDE BRO PARTY MASSACRE III, MEANING OF VIOLENCE) is still dealing with her terror and loss by interviewing people with similar experiences as part of an art-school graduation project.

When she misses an anniversary dinner with her boyfriend Hunter (Michael Barbuto, HUNTING, HAPPY CAMP, BLEED OUT), he loses it and goes off on how she embarrasses him with her "a loud noise ate my parents" obsession.

Hunter also chafes at how much time she spends with young James (Clinton Roper Elledge, RUSH), a gawky film student making a movie about Camille and helping with her project's audio-visuals.

This part of INFERNUM is fairly well-done, but it only becomes apparent later how director Marich is setting us up with this borderline-tiresome "lovers' spat" routine just so he can spring the scary on us later.

This comes when Camille and James hear of a mysterious loud noise in a forest in Nevada and drive there right away to investigate, although Camille insists on not getting too close. 

When the road to their destination is closed due to an avalanche, they must instead take an antique museum train that has been pressed into service to transport people to their homes. 

Hunter, it turns out, has followed them and ends up on the train, too.  The three of them are in the middle of an awkward situation in the caboose as we wait for the train to reach its destination so things can finally pick up. (Meanwhile, the night shots of the train traveling through the darkness are beautiful.)

INFERNUM goes from "okay" to "masterful" when they wake up from a brief nap to find that the train has stopped in the middle of a dark tunnel, with no one else aboard except for a woman named Rita (Sarah Schoofs, GUT, BLACK WAKE, THEATER OF TERROR) who has lost her husband.  The engineer, the conductor, and the other passengers are all gone. 

The acting gets better and more natural as the characters go from wandering hesitantly through this unknown situation into flailing about in sheer terror when all the lights go out and that familiar roaring noise starts rushing over the exterior of the train.

One really gets the feeling of being isolated and alone in a very dark, very spooky place, thanks to skillful staging and direction, with shots that are stark clashes of darkness and light conveying eerie, oppressive gloom. 

In fact, this film has more atmosphere and suspense than ten average horror flicks smashed together.  And as is so often the case, it's what we don't see but are forced to imagine that is the scariest.

Of course, not all filmmakers can pull off such a thing, but here our imaginations are working overtime to help conjure up whatever awful force is menacing the poor souls on that train as the fear factor continues to rise.

INFERNUM manages to evoke the immediacy of the best "found footage" films, with all the breathless suspense and creeping terror but without the awkward contrivances.  It would make a hell of an extended "Twilight Zone" episode.

INFERNUM -- Movie Review by Porfle

SCREAM 4 -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 9/25/11

 

I really don't remember all that much about the first three movies in the "SCREAM" franchise except that they were pretty fun and, at times, pretty scary.  Now that I've seen SCREAM 4 (2011), I think that it may be my favorite one in the entire series.  Of course, this may simply be due to the fact that it's the freshest in my mind at the moment, but it's still a whole lot of scary fun.

Wes Craven (LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, THE HILLS HAVE EYES) directs with his usual sure hand, and most of the surviving cast are back along with several key crewmembers, giving this new installment the feeling of a genuine homecoming.  Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott, the series' perennial "final girl", also returns home to the town of Woodsboro to promote a book she's written about her experiences, setting off a whole new series of bloody murders by the most recent psycho (or psychos) to don the Ghostface mask.

Things start off with a bang as a pretitles scare-a-thon teases us with a string of movie-within-a-movie fakeouts (complete with the usual surprise guest stars) before ending with an actual double-murder.  This gets Sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and his wife Gale Weathers-Riley (Courtney Cox) back into their old form as bumbling cop and abrasive newshound.  Sidney, meanwhile, is staying with relatives Kate Roberts (Mary McDonnell) and teenaged cousin Jill (Emma Roberts), who becomes Ghostface's new main target.
 

SCREAM creator Kevin Williamson's script deftly balances generous amounts of humor with several well-crafted suspense sequences that create sustained tension before erupting into panic, screaming, and death.  The fact that the killer could be anyone--Jill's stalkerish ex-boyfriend Trevor (Nico Tortorella), Dewey's smitten deputy Judy (a lovable Marley Shelton), or even the school's resident Cinema Club nerds Robbie and Charlie (Eric Knudsen, Rory Culkin)--keeps us guessing as sudden attack can come anytime or anywhere.  The fact that everyone in town is aware of what's going on, and practically know that they're in a horror movie, gives the whole thing a fun, edgy Halloween feeling.

The first SCREAM established the series' self-referential attitude (an influence still being felt in slasher-flick land) and this sequel continues that coy wink-wink stuff to the point of being aware of its own self-awareness.  Robbie and Charlie reintroduce "the rules" that dictate basic slasher film behavior during a Cinema Club meeting, but it turns out that they've changed with the times and are less rigid and predictable--hinting that anything can happen here as well.  Still, when Sidney's flaky press agent finds herself alone in a dark parking garage at night, and when two cops guarding Sidney's house start talking about how cops guarding houses in movies always get killed, we know exactly what's going to happen and the movie knows we know.

The two film geeks also make some funny-but-true comments about "shriekquels" and "scream-makes" while observing that "the unexpected is the new cliche'."  Horror film fans should appreciate all this while also noting the ton of references to classic genre titles throughout the movie.  Even Hayden Panettiere's petite good-girl character Kirby (one of the few who eluded my suspicion during the movie) reels off trivia about yesterday's splatter flicks like a true-blue gorehound.

Admittedly, the first half of SCREAM 4 was breezy and enjoyable but not all that noteworthy, and I found myself thinking it would be yet another case of a sequel too far.  Things begin to pick up, however, as the mystery deepens and Ghostface's attacks get more brazen and hair-raisingly suspenseful.  The final act is riveting, containing a pretty startling reveal and lots of action that kept me on the edge of my seat during both the first climax and the surprising epilogue. 

The DVD from Anchor Bay and Dimension Films is in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and subtitles in English and Spanish.  Extras include a ten-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, deleted and alternate scenes (including an alternate opening and extended ending), a gag reel, and a chummy commentary with Wes Craven, Hayden Panettiere, Emma Roberts, and (via telephone) Neve Campbell.

I thought the third film would be the last word in the series and was, in fact, stretching the premise a bit thin.  But SCREAM 4 is a solid, satisfying, entertaining new chapter, one of the best films of its kind I've seen in years.  Is it the saga's final capper, or will Craven and Williamson scream again?

SCREAM 4 -- DVD Review by Porfle

BLOODY BIRTHDAY -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 6/15/11

 

In the hallowed annals of "bad seed" flicks, BLOODY BIRTHDAY (1981) has to be one of the coolest.  Not really a slasher, nor even a horror movie, it's basically a giddy kill-fest made novel by the fact that the three maniacs on a murder spree are just celebrating their tenth birthdays.  It's kind of like GOODFELLAS with little kids, and they're more bloodthirsty than a boatload of Joe Pescis.

The movie starts out with one of those cool ideas that sets it apart from all the other similar cheapo horrors being ground out like sausage in the 80s.  Three babies are born at the same time on the same day, during a solar eclipse.  Somehow, a weird alignment of the planets causes each of them to be born without a conscience.  Ten years later, the urge to kill hits these cute little tykes and they start racking up a body count that would make Jason proud.

Low-budget filmmaker Ed Hunt (STARSHIP INVASIONS) does a modest but efficient job of bringing his screenplay to the screen, serving up some pretty decent thrills during the film's leisurely pace.  Lori Lethin (THE PREY) plays all-American girl Joyce, who's taking care of her little brother Timmy (K.C. Martel, THE AMITYVILLE HORROR, E.T.) while the 'rents are away.  Their house will be the scene of the film's frantic finale when our trio of homicidal cookie-grabbers descend upon them in a frenetic frenzy of rip-roarin' revenge.



Elizabeth Hoy (THE BLUES BROTHERS), who would've been perfect as the lead in THE BAD SEED, plays the role of cute little Debbie to the hilt.  This angelic-looking imp has drilled a hole in the wall of her closet and sells 25-cent peeks at her big sister Beverly (MTV's Julie Brown) as she dances around naked in her bedroom.  (Julie Brown fans will no doubt be willing to cough up a few quarters.)  But this is nothing compared to the shocking scene in which she stages the murder of her own dad, the town sheriff (Bert Kramer), with the help of her cohorts Curtis and Steven.

Steven (Andy Freeman) is a nutty little bugger, but the bespectacled Curtis (Scott Jacoby's half brother Billy of ROAD KILL and THE BEASTMASTER) is a smirking, kill-crazy loon who fits comfortably within the ranks of the screen's most trigger-happy thrill killers.

When he isn't locking Timmy in an abandoned refrigerator in the junkyard, he's prowling around with the dead sheriff's hand cannon looking for people to blow away.  This might include a playground enemy, a bossy school teacher, or the traditional teenage couple having highly gratuitous sex in the back of a van.




These kids are exhilaratingly evil without overplaying it and the murders are depicted in a matter-of-fact style that emphasizes their gleeful coldbloodedness.  Debbie, whom one might refer to as "The Jump-Rope Killer", even keeps a nostalgic scrapbook of her kills and gets mad when big sis discovers it and reports it to Mom.  (Big mistake!)  The boys, meanwhile, are so industrious that they manage to hotwire an old car at the junkyard and attempt to run down Joyce as she searches for her missing brother.

The cast ranges all the way from the sublime to the--well, not quite sublime.  Ed Hunt somehow managed not only to snag Susan Strasberg for the role of strict schoolteacher Miss Davis, but also screen veteran José Ferrer as the doctor who brings the three diabolical darlings into the world.  A young Joe Penny ("Jake and the Fatman") shows up in one scene, as does Cyril O'Reilly (the anti-Semitic redneck from PORKY'S) as Joyce's boyfriend. 

Familiar faces such as Ellen Geer, Michael Dudikoff, and Ward Costello can also be found here and there.  The "Worst Actor" award would have to go to the guy who plays the deputy.  I didn't catch his name, but you'll recognize him--he's the guy who can't act.  Listening to him step all over Lori Lethin's lines is a real treat.

The kids themselves are a ball to watch throughout BLOODY BIRTHDAY, whether squeezing out crocodile tears at the funerals of friends and family members they've just offed or simply reveling in their own playful wickedness while putting on an innocent front.


The triple-header backyard birthday party of the title finds them greedily ripping open their presents as guests tuck into gooey birthday cake that may or may not be laced with ant poison. When Joyce walks in on Curtis in the kitchen with a frosting squeezer in one hand and the poison bottle in the other, it gives Lori Lethin the chance to race into the backyard knocking cake out of people's hands and screaming the film's most deathless line: "DON'T EAT THAT CAKE!"

The DVD from Severin Films is in 1.66:1 widescreen with Dolby Digital sound.  No subtitles.  Extras consist of a cheerful interview with Lori Lethin ("Don't Eat That Cake!"), a lengthy audio interview with director Ed Hunt which should be of interest to aspiring low-budget filmmakers, the entertaining featurette "A Brief History of Slasher Films", and some Severin Films trailers. 

BLOODY BIRTHDAY may be lumped in with all the other gory slice-and-dice flicks of the 80s, but don't expect a lot of blood and body parts, or an unkillable killer in a mask.   Just settle back and enjoy the heartwarming antics of some cute little kids terrorizing their hometown and rapidly reducing its population.

BLOODY BIRTHDAY -- DVD Review by Porfle

NIGHTMARES -- DVD Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 6/16/11

 

Aussie soft-porn director John Lamond watches HALLOWEEN, decides to venture into slasher territory himself with NIGHTMARES, aka "Stage Fright" (1980), and comes up with one of the duller entries to the genre.

A little girl named Helen wakes up in the back seat of a car to find Mommy being "attacked" by an amorous boyfriend while driving, and in her panic she causes a crash.  Going through the windshield doesn't kill Mommy--Helen does, when she pulls her back into the car by her feet and drags her throat over some jagged glass.  Being blamed for her mother's death drives little Helen coo-coo, and she develops an urge to grab big shards of broken glass and lash out at people with them.  (This brief prologue, with Lamond's daughter Jennie as the young Helen, is probably the most interesting part of the film.)

Fast-forward through the formative years to an adult Helen (pretty Jenny Neumann), who suffers from chronic nightmares.  She auditions for a local theater group and wins a part in a play, where she meets fellow thespian and potential boyfriend Terry (Gary Sweet).  Things turn ugly when actors and stage crew start turning up dead after being stalked and slashed, mostly just after they've had sex.  Is Helen the killer?  Or is it someone less mind-bogglingly obvious?  Why am I asking you?



Just when we're expecting a murder mystery, director Lamond pulls a fast one on us by telegraphing the killer's identity in such obvious terms that you'd have to be about six months old not to get it right away.  Then he pretends that it's still a big mystery by using the standard POV shots of the stalker, complete with heavy breathing.  Since the killer doesn't wear a mask, the heavy breathing gives us the impression that she's really out of shape or something.  But she manages to chase people all over the dark, cavernous theater and constantly pop up in front of them, ventilating them with big shards of glass. 

The script throws in the old red herring of showing Helen walk into a room and then having her talk loudly in two different voices, but she isn't fooling anybody.  "Cathy won't let me have a boyfriend!" she complains to suitor Terry.  Yeah, right.  I don't know why Lamond didn't just go ahead and show Helen killing people, since this would've made the movie a lot more interesting.  Or, he could've at least made an effort to maintain some semblance of mystery.  (Everything you need to know about the plot, in fact, is right there in the film's spoiler-packed trailer.)

Anyway, along with the endless POV shots littered throughout the film, most of which literally go nowhere, we're treated to a few murder sequences in which naked couples caught in the act of makin' whoopee get chased around for awhile before being covered in fake blood.  One girl gets slashed on her boob and butt cheek, while her boyfriend receives the old groin gouge.  Strangely enough, though, these scenes manage to generate zero scares or suspense.

Since the show must go on, the play continues amidst the periodic carnage.  Most scenes take place either at night or inside the theater, so the film is very dark.  It's also filled with choppy editing, bad dubbing, and stilted acting.  Not necessarily a criticism, though, because that's just the kind of movie this is.  I no longer expect films like this to be good--I just expect them to be what they are, and if they can do that well, it's enough. 

Unfortunately, NIGHTMARES fails to meet even this low standard, and is mainly just incomprehensible and dull.  At times it manages to evoke a kind of low-level giallo vibe, but without the crucial element of style.  It's as though Dario Argento had decided to write and direct a film blindfolded and using only his left foot.



The cast is adequate, although we tend to agree when the play's egotistical director, George (Max Phipps, "Toady" of THE ROAD WARRIOR fame) disparages their acting abilities.  Co-writer John Michael Howson adds some interest as caustic theater critic Bennett Collingswood.  As Terry Besanko, Gary Sweet succeeds in making his character come across as the bland soap-opera actor he's meant to depict.  Nice-looking Jenny Neumann manages to portray Helen without falling out of a window or anything.  The score by Brian May (MAD MAX, THE ROAD WARRIOR) is even more bombastic and overheated than his usual stuff, with sawing cellos and blaring brass working overtime to keep us awake.

The DVD from Severin Films is in 2.35:1 widescreen with Dolby Digital sound.  No subtitles.  Extras consist of a commentary with director John Lamond and "Not Quite Hollywood" director Mark Hartley, a John Lamond trailer reel (mostly his softcore porn stuff), the featurette "A Brief History of Slasher Films", and trailers for this and other Severin releases.

NIGHTMARES is an okay time waster, but not something you should depend on for actual entertainment.  It's the sort of thing that was best seen on Cinemax after midnight back in the 80s, when you couldn't sleep and there was nothing else on TV. 

NIGHTMARES -- DVD Review by Porfle

HANNIBAL LECTER COLLECTION (Blu-Ray) -- Review by Porfle

(Blu-Ray comments by Ian Friedman. Originally posted on 10/11/09.)

 

With 20th-Century Fox And MGM Home Entertainment's release of the 3-disc boxed set HANNIBAL LECTER COLLECTION on Blu-Ray, it might be fun to look back on these three films and relive those wonderful memories of fava beans, skin lotion, bite marks, and brains. Mmm...brains.

Michael Mann started it all back in 1986 with MANHUNTER, the movie that introduced suave, sophisticated, and thoroughly evil Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Will Graham (William Petersen in an excellent performance) is a talented profiler who can get into the minds of the serial killers he's seeking out, but at the price of his own sanity. Retired after an attack by Lecter that almost killed him, Graham is lured back into the game when a maniac known as "The Tooth Fairy" starts murdering entire families. Graham visits Lecter in his cell for advice, and to see if the sight of his old adversary will reawaken his suppressed instincts.

A bonafide cult film, MANHUNTER's biggest fans will tell you that it's superior to THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, while its detractors dismiss it as day-glo 80s cheese on the order of "Miami Vice." I'm not sure which Lecter film is best but I find this one to be first-rate in every respect. Tom Noonan's "Tooth Fairy" is an imposing figure whose calm, deliberate actions and quiet demeanor make him even scarier. In a thoughtful, soulful performance, Petersen makes for a highly sympathetic hero who's appalled by the thoughts and feelings in which he must immerse himself in order to think like a killer. The rest of the cast--Dennis Farina, Kim Griest, Stephen Lang, Joan Allen--are fine as well.

The highlight of the film, of course, is Brian Cox as Lecter. Caged in a stark white cell and stripped of anything that might conceivably be used as a weapon, this version of the famous character is cold, calculating, always wary and observant of the slightest detail, yet dulled and weary of a confinement which prevents him from interacting with the world in his own unique way. In this environment, his pretensions of sanity and normalcy are irrelevant, so he's very blunt and straightforward with Graham. The effect is chilling, with Lecter coming off as a creature of great cunning and intellect but absolutely dead inside, and we dread the thought of this thing ever walking free again.

The only good thing about the 2002 remake, RED DRAGON, is that it manages to make MANHUNTER look even better in comparison. A key scene shared by both films offers a good comparison--Lecter is allowed the privacy of a phone call to his lawyer, but instead manages to call a literary agent and get Graham's home address from the secretary. Brian Cox turns the scene into one of the film's high points, coolly finessing himself an outside line with a foil gum wrapper and then feigning an unctuous joviality with the secretary until she comes through with the address. Once procured, Lecter drops the fascade, pops the gum into his mouth, and returns to his coldly unsettling self. Anthony Hopkins, in the remake, performs almost the exact same scene but is too intent on being creepy to make it fun. Several other scenes that are key emotional high points in MANHUNTER--the hidden fingerprint, the sleeping tiger, the videotape discovery, etc.--are either glossed over or botched in RED DRAGON, as are most of the main characterizations.

With 1991's THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, Anthony Hopkins burst onto the horror film scene with a Hannibal Lecter whose rich theatricality and giddy delight in his own unfathomable evil captured the imaginations of filmgoers, including many in the mainstream, like few such characters before or since. Approaching his dark, Gothic lair in the bowels of a castle-like hospital for the criminally insane where he lurks like some medieval gargoyle, we share the trepidation of the young FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) who has been sent to consult with Lecter regarding another serial killer on the loose (known as "Buffalo Bill" due to his penchant for skinning his victims).

Hopkins plays Lecter to the hilt, relishing each perverse aspect of the character just as Lecter enjoyed feasting upon the organs of those he killed--sometimes with "fava beans and a nice Chianti...fthfthfthfth!" His version of the silken-voiced psycho, unlike that of Cox, is a creation that would fit comfortably in any rogue's gallery of horror film icons. One of the pleasures of this film is watching him toy with the callow Starling (excellently portrayed by Foster) on a purely emotional and intellectual level in which she has no defense, then growing to admire her courage, convictions, and strength of will.

Also unlike the Lecter of MANHUNTER, we get to see this monster at his full power once he's broken free in a terrifying sequence that is beautifully-directed by Jonathan Demme. When Lecter's brilliant escape plan goes into motion, it's a thrill to watch Hopkins turn into one of the most cunning and terrifying killers the screen has ever known. Compared to his mad-dog antics, the film's wrap-up of the Buffalo Bill story is almost anti-climactic, although Demme does stage a nailbiting finale with Starling taking on the killer by herself in his pitch-dark cellar of death. Still, Bill delivers a line to one of his captives that has since become one of the most oft-heard quotes in recent film history: "It puts the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again." And his naked dance will become seared in your memory whether you like it or not.

With a level of excellence that garnered it Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, and Best Director, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS remains one of the finest and most popular horror films ever made.

Not so well-received, unfortunately, was the inevitable follow-up, HANNIBAL (2001). The unenviable task of trying to match the financial and artistic success of SILENCE fell to director Ridley Scott, whose ALIEN and BLADE RUNNER were already regarded as classics. Here, he is working not only with a lesser script but with a new leading lady, Julianne Moore, replacing the absent Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling. With the Lecter character now free and unrestrained, Anthony Hopkins has a field day developing him into an even more sinister, sardonic, self-satisfied, and almost supernatural force of evil who savors every sensual nuance of his heinous actions.

Moore does what she can with the Starling role as her character suffers a major setback and is unjustly suspended from duty. Lecter, returning from a sabbatical in Rome in which he was forced to disembowel a detective (Giancarlo Giannini) who was on his trail, takes an active interest in the life of the only person on earth for whom he has any affection. This puts them both at odds with a horribly-disfigured billionaire named Mason Verger (a fascinating Gary Oldman), a former victim of Lecter who has concocted a revenge scheme which involves man-eating pigs. Ray Liotta, in full slimeball mode, plays rival FBI agent Paul Krendler, whose ill treatment of Clarice will put him on Lecter's bad side in a big way.

Lacking the new-car smell and scintillating story of SILENCE, Ridley Scott compensates by turning HANNIBAL into an elegant yet balls-out horror epic loaded with shock value and gore. Scott pulls no punches with the graphic violence and boldly risks alienating audience members expecting more of the same but finding themselves in the middle of a big-budget H. G. Lewis flick. There must've been a few walkouts by fans of the previous film when the Italian detective's entrails splashed onto the pavement or the ravenous pigs started feasting on screaming humans in loving closeup.

But (warning--this paragraph contains spoilers) Scott saves the most memorably jaw-dropping image for the finale, as Lecter hosts a dinner party for Starling and Krendler in which the entree just happens to be Krendler's brain. Our gracious and urbane anti-hero deftly slices around the top of the drugged Krendler's skull and pops it off, then begins to feed him sizzling morsels of his own sauteed gray matter hot off the wok as Starling, along with most of the audience, gapes in mortal revulsion.

A final encounter between Lecter and Starling defines their relationship unequivocably and ends the movie on a suitably morbid note. While admittedly inferior to SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, I find HANNIBAL to be an outstanding horror film in its own right and above-average on every level. The Lecter character is taken farther than ever before and explored in lots of fun ways, yet still avoids the cartoonishness into which he finally sinks in RED DRAGON. For me, Ridley Scott's uncompromising foray into the horror genre is a success.

Aspect ratio for this 3-disc set is 2.35:1 for disc one and 1.85:1 for discs two and three. Audio is English 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio and French 5.1 Dolby Surround and Mono, dubbed and subtitled in English, French, and Spanish. No bonus features.

Picture quality is great, with vivid and properly balanced colors. There is no sign of any digital encoding errors. The detail is also excellent. One thing about SILENCE OF THE LAMBS--the detail displayed by the film is generally pretty good (as you can tell by the sharpness of the title credits), but the picture is a little soft and smeary. I can't be sure, but I seem to recall the film having a hazy look to begin with.

If you're already a fan of these films, the HANNIBAL LECTER COLLECTION is a good way to add them all to your Blu-Ray collection. And if you haven't seen them yet, then here's your big chance to get Hannibalized.

HANNIBAL LECTER COLLECTION (Blu-Ray) -- Review by Porfle