BUNDY: A LEGACY OF EVIL -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted in 2009

Back in 1990, Corin Nemec starred in a "Ferris Bueller"-inspired TV series called "Parker Lewis Can't Lose." Later, he went against type to play the repellent Harold Lauder in the ABC miniseries "The Stand", based on Stephen King's book. Now, with BUNDY: A LEGACY OF EVIL (2008), Nemec seems intent on exorcising all traces of his nice-guy image by portraying one of the most cold-blooded serial killers of all time, Ted Bundy.

It's hard to say how successful he is at this because at times I couldn't tell if I was supposed to think his Ted Bundy was scary or funny. This is especially true of the scene in which Ted, after murdering a young woman in some isolated location, gets down on all fours and starts howling like a coyote. Sometimes he seems to be still playing perennial loser Harold Lauder, striking out romantically while trying to pass himself off as a normal, dynamic guy. Nemec's theatrical portrayal is occasionally interesting, but rarely convincing.

Some effort is made by writer-director Michael Feifer to show some of the possible reasons for Bundy's warped personality. He had a troubled childhood during which he thought his grandparents were his parents and his mother was his sister (his father's identity being the subject of some dubious speculation). He grew up reading violent horror comics. And he was devastated when his college sweetheart dumped him after she realized that the socially-stunted young man would never grow up. Immediately after this, however, we're shown a montage of brutal abduction-murders with the now totally bonkers Ted having suddenly morphed into a savage, bloodthirsty animal. None of it really comes together to show the evolution of Bundy from troubled youth to psycho.

I read Wikipedia's page on Ted Bundy and found that much of the film's story is fairly accurate, although we still don't get an idea of the sheer number of victims he managed to do away with. The murder sequences themselves are disturbing mainly because the actresses are so convincing--their screams and pleas for mercy are heartrending. Nemec does his best to convey the unhinged monstrousness required, yet his emoting seems overly calculated. He's at his best in the quieter scenes, such as the ones between Bundy and the warden (Kane Hodder) who's about to lead him to the electric chair in the film's bookending segments, or the gripping courtroom sequence in which Bundy serves as his own defense lawyer and makes a mockery of the proceedings.

Michael Feifer, who directed Hodder that same year in B.T.K. and has made a number of other fact-based serial killer films, gives this one the look of an above-average made-for-TV movie. Interestingly, he shoots the early 70s stuff in a way that makes it seem to actually have come from that era, right down to the film stock and cheesy soundtrack songs. This segment of the movie looks as though it could've come right out of a Joe Sarno flick. Artistically, that's the most noteworthy thing about BUNDY: A LEGACY OF EVIL--otherwise, it's capably done but relatively unremarkable.

Other details of Bundy's story are sketched in, including an impromptu jailbreak, a brush with political activism, a stint manning a suicide hotline (where the real Bundy would meet future true-crime author Ann Rule), and a reunion with his college flame Stephanie (the very cute Jen Nikolaisen) which, though fictionalized, results in one of the film's most effective moments. Bundy's infamous rampage through a girls' dormitory is documented in predictably bloody fashion. The final act, of course, consists of Bundy's execution in the electric chair. Feifer, I suspect, was trying for some of the impact of the last minutes of IN COLD BLOOD here. The results are much less effective, yet the sequence does come off pretty well.

How much of Bundy's behavior was simply a deliberate choice to do evil as opposed to the actions of someone incapable of controlling his warped impulses? In the film, a Ted Bundy still hoping for a reprieve puts much of the blame on pornography and other outside influences. Hodder's warden doesn't buy it: "You're not mental. You're not deranged. You're the most normal, intelligent man I've ever had on death row." I think Corin Nemec's performance would have been more effective if he'd played Bundy more like that instead of always trying to make it obvious to us that the guy's a total loon, because we already know that.

BUNDY: A LEGACY OF EVIL -- DVD Review by Porfle

GHOST CAT -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 7/30/09

This 2003 Canadian made-for-TV film was originally known as "Mrs. Ashboro's Cat" and has appeared as an Animal Planet original movie. Now, North American Motion Pictures is giving it a Sept. 22 DVD release as the somewhat more intriguingly-titled GHOST CAT, with special emphasis in the ads on Oscar-nominated Ellen Page (HARD CANDY, JUNO, X3) in an early starring role.

At first I thought this was going to be a zany combination of THAT DARN CAT and CASPER, but it's actually a pretty serious movie. Michael Ontkean ("Twin Peaks", "The Rookies") plays Wes Merritt, a recently-widowed writer moving to his deceased wife's New England hometown with his young daughter Natalie (Page). While house-hunting they meet a nice elderly woman named Mrs. Ashboro (Shirley Knight) whose weaselly banker nephew Boyd (Tom Barnett) is trying to get her to sell her house so he can replace the money he's been embezzeling before the bank examiners find out.

Mrs. Ashboro withdraws her savings from the bank with the intention of helping her friend Brenda (Lori Hallier, MY BLOODY VALENTINE, MONTE WALSH) who's being pressured to sell her animal shelter to a crooked land developer named Riker (Nigel Bennett). But soon after stashing the money in her house, Mrs. Ashboro dies suddenly and her loyal cat Margaret expires soon after out of grief. Wes and Natalie move into Mrs. Ashboro's now-vacated house and soon become involved in Brenda's struggle to keep her animal shelter as the increasingly ruthless Boyd and Riker join forces against her. Meanwhile, the good guys discover they have an unexpected ally--the ghost of Mrs. Ashboro's cat, Margaret.

Low-key and thoughtful, GHOST CAT has a subtle charm and warmth that sets it apart from the Disney Channel-type film you might expect. The characters, for the most part, behave in a realistic manner. This is especially true of Wes and Natalie, who still display a wistful melancholy after having lost wife and mother respectively, and Brenda, whose lifelong dream of operating her animal shelter is being wrested away from her. Tom Barnett's "Boyd" comes closest to stepping over the line as the stereotypical villain, but even he has an air of clumsy desperation not unlike that of William H. Macy's "Jerry Lundergaard" in FARGO, which keeps him believable.

I liked Lori Hallier as the "hardware widow" in 2003's MONTE WALSH and her down-to-earth performance here is very good. Ontkean does a nice job as the understanding single dad (who you just know is going to get romantic with Brenda sooner or later), and Ellen Page manages to portray a teenage girl without being flighty or precious or insufferable, which is no small feat. Of course, Shirley Knight is wonderful as Mrs. Ashboro and it's a shame her character disappears so soon. The rest of the cast is up to par, particularly Shawn Roberts as Natalie's budding love interest Kurt, whose troubled past makes him a suspect in some of the vandalism that takes place at the animal shelter.

I can't recall any scenes that are supposed to be out and out funny--in fact, the funniest thing about GHOST CAT is that it could've gotten along as a fairly serious drama without having a ghost cat in it at all. Not that I'd want that, since I'm a cat lover and Margaret is a very sweet and likable character. But she isn't really necessary to the plot at all and exists mainly to either lighten things up or to give the filmmakers an excuse to include some mildly spooky stuff like a seance, or a scene where Natalie is awakened in the middle of the night to find the piano playing itself.

In addition to that, Margaret's other functions are to wake people up when the barn's on fire or to lead them to the hidden stash of money, or to attack the bad guys when they're escaping in their car. And with all of that stuff going on, the last third of the movie manages to build a fair amount of suspense.

Direction by "Road to Avonlea" vet Don McBrearty is good; cinematography has that "Canadian made-for-TV" look. The DVD is 16 x 9 widescreen with 2.0 stereo audio. I watched a screener with no bonus features, but the official disc should include a stills gallery and closed captioning.

GHOST CAT is a fine choice for family viewing since the story is interesting, suspenseful, and heartfelt enough for adults, and since it has a ghost cat in it for the kids. Although they're liable to be disappointed that the movie isn't as kooky or as spooky as they might expect a movie called GHOST CAT to be.

GHOST CAT -- DVD Review by Porfle

THE SACKETTS -- Movie Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 11/26/09
 

 

There were other made-for-TV Westerns before it, but THE SACKETTS (1979) is the first big multi-part cowboy epic that I can think of. It came out a full ten years before the LONESOME DOVE series and, though it isn't nearly as good, it does lay the groundwork for this type of sweeping TV Western.

The story follows the adventures of the three Sackett brothers, Tell, Orrin, and Tyrell. Tell (Sam Elliott) is the loner of the bunch, and we're introduced to him as he is forced to flee his mining job after gunning down a crooked card dealer (James Gammon) who happens to be one of the dreaded Bigelow brothers.

Knowing that the other Bigelows will be after him for revenge, Tell disappears into the mountains, where he stumbles onto a rich vein of gold and starts his own one-man mining operation. When he totes a large bagful of the shiny stuff into the aptly-named town of Purgatorie to trade for cash, it doesn't take long for some of the less scrupulous denizens to try and surgically remove him from his new-found riches.

Meanwhile, his brothers Orrin (Tom Selleck) and Tyrell (Jeff Osterhage) have left their Tennessee homeplace to avoid a bloody feud between the Sacketts and another clan, and are headed West with a cattle drive. When they reach Abilene, Orrin falls for the golden-haired daughter of an ambitious politician named Pritts (John Vernon), who aims to drive all the Mexicans out of Sante Fe.

Tyrell, of course, falls in love with a lovely Mexican lass (Ana Alicia) whose father, Don Luis (Gilbert Roland), is the main stumbling block in Pritts' plans. When they all get together in Santa Fe, the situation soon turns deadly and guns start a-blazin'.

The script is a combination of two Louis L'Amour novels, "Sackett" and "The Daybreakers", and it isn't a very smooth blend, crosscutting between the two barely-related stories the way you might switch channels back-and-forth between two movies that are on at the same time.

The stories overlap only twice--once near the end of the first segment when the three Sacketts run into each other in Purgatorie, and again for the big finale as the Bigelow brothers finally catch up to Tell and he's reunited with Orrin and Tyrell to fight them off.

This awkward overlapping of the two stories bothered me the first time I watched THE SACKETTS, along with some jarring hand-held camerawork (no Steadicam here), an endlessly irritating and inept musical score by Jerrold Immel, and a strange performance by Mercedes McCambridge that makes Ma Sackett look like she's either perpetually tipsy or tetched in the head.

But further viewings have helped me to get over the various minus points and begin to appreciate all the good things about this movie. Despite its somewhat rough-hewn quality, THE SACKETTS is an engaging Western with lots of authentic atmosphere, good characters, and a terrific cast.

For starters, there's Sam Elliott and Tom Selleck, who I think are the two best Western actors of the past twenty or thirty years (with the exception of Clint Eastwood, of course), and Jeff Osterhage, a lesser-known actor who does a fine job here. Glenn Ford plays Tom Sunday, the ramrod of the cattle drive who later joins Orrin and Tyrell in their own cattle venture and eventually ends up as their enemy, and his intense, masterful performance (watch his face twitch in those close-ups!) is a joy to behold.

This can also be said for the great Ben Johnson as Cap Roundtree, who becomes Tell's gold-mining partner. Paul Koslo is a hoot as the blowhard would-be gunslinger Kid Newton. The Bigelow brothers are played by Jack Elam, Slim Pickens, Gene Evans, and James Gammon, and also appearing in the cast are the likes of L.Q. Jones, Ruth Roman, Pat Buttram, Shug Fisher, and Buck Taylor, in addition to the aforementioned John Vernon and Gilbert Roland. (Louis L'Amour himself does the opening narration.) If you're like me and you love great character actors as much as A-list stars, this is the kind of "all-star" cast that will put a smile on your face.

I can't give THE SACKETTS a super high score due to its various deficiencies, and the fact that it's not the polished effort that later TV Westerns like LONESOME DOVE would be, but it has enough going for it to get a solid three-and-a-half out of five spurs. The final shoot-out alone is worth waiting for--it's almost as much fun as the bullet-riddled free-for-all that ended OPEN RANGE. And that cast--awesome. There's one scene which features Sam Elliott, Tom Selleck, Glenn Ford, and Ben Johnson sitting around a campfire, and I thought "Damn...I wish I was sitting around that campfire, too."

 

THE SACKETTS -- Movie Review by Porfle

ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK -- Blu-ray/CD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 1/27/19

 

I'm not all that familiar with the Italian "Giallo" genre (save for some Dario Argento classics such as TENEBRE) which consists of warped, horror-tinged murder stories with lots of bloody violence and other lurid elements. 

So it's always nice to catch a really good one like the Italian/Spanish co-production ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK, aka "Tutti i colori del buio" (Severin Films, 1972) from Sergio Martino, the director who also gave us TORSO, SLAVE OF THE CANNIBAL GOD, and SCREAMERS.

This one is nowhere near as formally-shot and polished-looking as the usual Argento effort, but Martino has a loose, imaginative style that fits the "anything goes" nature of the material, as well as a talent for staging suspense scenes in interesting ways. 

Our heroine, Jane (cult star Edwige Fenech), has been plagued by horrible nightmares ever since the traumatic loss of her unborn baby following a car crash.  Her lover, Richard (George Hilton), is devoted but unable to help, especially since his job keeps him away for days at a time. 

Jane's sister Barbara (Susan Scott) advises her to visit Dr. Burton, the seemingly kindly psychiatrist she works for.  But Jane finds more solace with a new friend, Mary (Marina Malfatti), a mysterious woman who inducts her into a black magic cult filled with arcane rituals that take place in a creepy old castle in the country.

While the mentally and emotionally frazzled Jane may be a bit slow on the uptake, we can tell right away that being forced to drink fresh dog blood and then getting gang-banged by a bunch of stabby, whacked-out weirdos in a cult from which there is no escape probably isn't going to help her as much as a few quiet sessions with Dr. Burton.  Especially since one of the cult members is a creepy trench-coated stalker with neon blue eyes (Ivan Rassimov) who keeps following her everywhere and trying to kill her.

We're never quite sure if we're seeing something real or just one of Jane's waking nightmares, but this lively film keeps us on our toes by constantly alternating the talkier scenes with sudden bursts of action and sometimes shocking violence. 

Much of the suspense is effectively staged around the creaky, open elevator and winding staircase in Jane's shadowy apartment building, and there's a terrific sequence inside Dr. Burton's country estate where Jane discovers a grisly scene involving the elderly caretakers who've been charged with watching over her.

I noticed a few similarities here and there with ROSEMARY'S BABY, which had me suspecting Jane's lover Richard, her sister Barbara, her friend Mary, her shrink Dr. Burton--oh heck, practically everybody--of secretly being part of the cult and their sinister plans for Jane.  Director Martino does like to keep us guessing, all the way up to a nifty fake-out ending in which fantasy and reality clash with deadly results.

The 2-disc Blu-ray from Severin Films is widescreen 1080p full HD resolution with a new 4k scan from the original negative.  Audio is 2.0 English and Italian with English subtitles.  Bonus features include a very learned and thoughtful commentary with Kat Ellinger (author of "All the Colors of Sergio Martino"), interviews with Sergio Martino, screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi, actor George Hilton & horror expert Antonio Tentori, trailers, and the unrestored alternate US cut of the film entitled "They're Coming to Get You." Also included is a CD of the film's musical score by Bruno Nicolai.

With a fine cast (Edwige Fenech fans will be extra happy), great use of scenic London locations, and a scintillating story full of colorful characters and sinister goings-on, ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK is pure nerve-wracking fun all the way.




Special Features:
They’re Coming To Get You: Alternate US Cut (88 mins.)
Color My Nightmare: Interview with Director Sergio Martino
Last Of The Mohicans: Interview with Screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
Giallo is the Color: Interviews with Actor George Hilton & Italian Horror Expert Antonio Tentori
Audio Commentary with Kat Ellinger, Author of All The Colors of Sergio Martino
Trailers
BONUS Disc: CD Soundtrack 

ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK -- Blu-ray/CD Review by Porfle

CAM GIRL -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 4/1/19

The title and cover art make it look like the kind of softcore sex drama you might've seen on Cinemax After Dark in the 80s, but the Italian production CAM GIRL (Film Movement, 2014) is a sober and ultimately unsettling look at a homegrown internet sex business slowly going off the rails.

Alice (Antonia Liskova) is hoping for an entry-level position in an advertising firm, but when her bitchy boss steals a profitable idea from her before firing her, Alice needs a way to make money fast.

Her beautiful friend Ross (Alessia Piovan) seems to be doing pretty well working for an outfit called Sexy Cam, so Alice decides to start her own cam girl business that will be different from the rest in that it won't exploit the girls and will always treat them fairly and profitably. 

 

Joined by struggling waitress Gilda (Sveva Alviti) and aspiring basketball player Martina (Ilaria Capponi), they form a core group that goes into the business with just enough reckless idealism and naivete' to get in way over their heads and find their lives crashing down around them.

The pace is slow and deliberate as all the story threads weave together into a narrative tapestry that eventually becomes more and more involving.

Characters and performances are consistently believable, as is every step of the girls' progress in discovering all the legal and financial pitfalls of such an endeavor along with unforeseen emotional consequences regarding romantic and family relationships.

All is fun and games at first and an early montage looks like something out of a high-end sex romp as the team of four are joined by several girls defecting from other webcam outfits. 

Dramatic tension sets in when Alice gets a hard lesson in economics and personnel management, especially when the girls start demanding their money while proving unreliable and irresponsible.

As Alice's idealism turns sour, CAM GIRL ratchets up the tension in other ways. Not only does her semi-partner and advisor Giovanni (Marco Cocci) prove untrustworthy, but the very real threat posed by their more mentally and emotionally unbalanced customers grows more alarming every day.

Director and co-writer Mirca Viola (L'AMORE FA MALE) leads us on a realistic, no-frills journey into the dark side of the webcam sex biz that inevitably ends in misfortune for some and tragedy for others. 

Production values are solid, with direction and photography effectively conveying the oppressive atmosphere in which Alice and the girls have found themselves trapped. 

CAM GIRL doesn't indulge in exploitative sex or tricky plot twists, but resolves things in a satisfyingly realistic manner.  It's a sordid slice of life that's too curdled to appease the palate or go down easy. 


Buy DVD or Stream It From Film Movement


TECH SPECS:
Format: NTSC, Italian w/English subtitles
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Omnibus Entertainment (Distributed by Film Movement)
DVD Release Date: April 9, 2019
Run Time: 87 minutes
Bonus: None

CAM GIRL -- DVD Review by Porfle