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

FIVE CORNERS -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 2/13/11

One of those nostalgic reveries about living in the Bronx in the early 60s, FIVE CORNERS (1984) is worth watching because the parts that work are pretty good and the parts that don't are oddly interesting.

Like THE WANDERERS, it uses a Bob Dylan song ("The Times They Are A-Changin'", naturally) as shorthand to let us know that an old era is giving way to a new one.  This is also represented by Harry (Tim Robbins), a formerly violent youth converted to peace by the words of Martin Luther King.  Harry plans to become a civil rights worker in Mississippi, but meanwhile he has a more pressing concern--protecting his friend Linda (Jodie Foster) from the man who once tried to rape her (John Turturro as "Heinz") and has just been released from prison.

Robbins gives a restrained performance, Foster is fine as usual, but Turturro is the one to watch.  Striding angrily into the frame as he makes his entrance, he's all repressed hostility and googly-eyed paranoia and we're not sure what he's capable of.  Heinz nurtures the delusion of hooking up with a decidedly reluctant Linda and proves his love by stealing two penguins from the zoo as a gift.  Her refusal sets him off and from that point on his violent, unpredictable actions fuel the story.

What doesn't really work is that the more hardcore stuff is filtered through the same fondly nostalgic haze as the rest of the subplots, as realistic characters rub shoulders with comedic Noo Yawk caricatures.  Todd Graff (better known as "Hippy" in THE ABYSS) plays Linda's excitable boyfriend, Jamie, as though he's projecting for the back rows.  Two flatfoot police detectives enlisted by Harry to help track down a missing Linda also seem a tad too jokey to be involved in such serious business. 

In addition to Harry's uncomfortable meeting with a hostile black activist (Eriq La Salle of "ER") and a couple of nice scenes with his mother, who worries that she'll lose him as she did her "hero cop" husband, the scenes between Heinz and his cheerfully insane mother (Rose Gregorio) are a real highlight.  She's quite a character, and Heinz struggles to break through her blithely oblivious fascade until he's driven to commit one of the most startling acts in the film.

And then, there's the totally unrelated subplot which seems as though it were excised from a more lighthearted film and shoehorned into this one.  Melanie (Elizabeth Berridge, THE FUNHOUSE) and Brita (Cathryn de Prume) are a couple of ditzy "fast" girls, high on pills and sniffing glue, who hook up with two dopey horndoggers for a day of cheap thrills while Melanie's boyfriend scours the neighborhood for her.  Whenever this storyline pops up it's like switching channels between the movie and a weird episode of "Laverne and Shirley."

Direction by Tony Bill is okay but the editing never quite blends these disparate elements smoothly.  Strange that this period film about the 60s should look so much like an 80s flick, which gives it an oddly interesting visual quality.  (Unless I'm mistaken, the same bar where Frankie Five Angels almost gets whacked in GODFATHER PART II shows up here.)  Also of interest is the score, which, aside from a couple of really nice cues, is pretty awful--thus giving us a chance to observe the great James Newton Howard still finding his way as a film composer in this early effort.

The DVD from Image Entertainment is in 1.78:1 widescreen with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound and English subtitles.  The sole bonus feature consists of about half-an-hour of trailers for this and other Handmade Films releases. 

Turturro's character carries FIVE CORNERS and keeps us involved as the rest of the film's patchwork elements exude their own modestly peculiar charms.  Elizabeth Berridge is a delight as Melanie--I'd like to see the rest of the movie she was plucked from.  I won't even go into the part where there seem to be Eskimos in the Bronx, shooting people with arrows.

FIVE CORNERS -- DVD Review by Porfle

Batman Reveals His Secret Identity To Gordon: My Improved Edit ("The Dark Knight Rises", 2012) (video)

 

I always thought Commissioner Gordon's flashback and realization...

...should come while he's still face-to-face with Batman.

So I edited it that way just for fun.

Video by Porfle Popnecker. I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

Batman Reveals His Secret Identity To Gordon: My Improved Edit ("The Dark Knight Rises", 2012) (video)

CHILDREN OF THE CORN -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 10/8/09

I've heard the original 1984 version of this movie described as a "classic", but the only things I remember from when I saw it back in the 80s are Linda Hamilton (lookin' good) and Courtney Gains (lookin', unfortunately, like Courtney Gains). And also the fact that, for me, it seems to have been pretty unmemorable. How, then, would I react to a made-for-TV remake of this Stephen King story? Why am I asking you?

Having just watched it, I can now state unequivocally that the 2009 TV-remake of CHILDREN OF THE CORN is...okay. Looking very much like a TV-movie with extra gore and nudity added for the DVD, it begins in 1975 with Burt Stanton (David Anders) and his wife Vicki (Kandyse McClure) driving through Nebraska farm country and trying to find their way out of it. These people hate each other and are constantly arguing, which distracts Burt long enough for him to accidentally run over a little kid who darts out from the tall corn. Shocked and horrified, they discover that the boy's throat has been cut.

Burt decides to take the body to the nearest town and report the incident, but the small village of Gatlin seems deserted. Suddenly, Burt and Vicki are surrounded and attacked by hordes of creepy children who are devoted members of a religious cult led by the diminutive Isaac (Preston Bailey), whom they believe is in direct contact with the wrathful God of the Old Testament. Isaac preaches that all adults over the age of 19 are sinful and must be killed, which is why there aren't any grownups around. Burt and Vicki, naturally, become the next targets of this twisted cult and potential sacrifices to their unusually corn-centric God.

Probably the most noticeable thing about this movie at first is that Kandyse McClure's "Vicki" is one of the most insufferable characters in film history. Crabby, vindictive, self-centered, whiny, verbally sadistic (she berates Burt for being a Viet Nam vet), incessantly bitchy--and these are her good qualities--Vicki is automatically the character we most want to see die horribly.

Others, including perfidious pipsqueak Isaac and his older punk toady Malachai, will join her on that list, along with just about every other brat in the movie, but Vicki tops them all. McClure, who played Sue Snell in another Stephen King TV-remake (the much-superior CARRIE), must be credited for making this character every bit as hateworthy as written.

David Anders' "Burt" thus becomes the only person that we can root for, and the movie is at its best when the former Marine is kicking some serious little-kid butt. His wartime experience comes back to haunt him as he's being chased through the cornfields and has flashbacks in which he imagines himself eluding the Viet Cong, making the protracted chase sequence more interesting. Anders, who I found impressive in the nifty 2006 supernatural flick LEFT IN DARKNESS, does a good job as Burt and gives us just about the only reason we have to care about anything that happens in this movie.

Preston Bailey, who plays Rita's son Cody on "Dexter", tries to be forceful and imposing as cult leader "Isaac" but still looks like he belongs in a Sugar Pops commercial. The kid does manage to spout a heck of a lot of unwieldy dialogue, though, laden with Old Testament-style threats and pronouncements, so you've got to hand it to him. A homicidal fire-and-brimstone wackjob isn't the kind of character that nine-year-old actors are usually asked to portray.

The direction by Donald P. Borchers, who co-produced the original film, is competent but unexceptional. Borchers also wrote the teleplay (inspired by the unused screenplay by King for the first version), which contains some groan-worthy lines such as "Put that in your God and smoke it!" and a whole lot of faux-Biblical blather.

On the sex-and-violence front, some grievous-looking wounds are among the nice gore effects--a broken arm with protruding bone, a spurting throat gash or two, a couple of horribly mutilated victims--and there's a surprising sex scene which takes place on the altar of Isaac's church when he announces that it's time for "fertilization." The score by Jonathan Elias, who also did the music for the original version, is noisy and overbearing. Even the edits make noise.

The DVD from Anchor Bay is 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Surround 5.1 and English subtitles for the hearing-impaired. The bonus feature is an in-depth, entertaining 45-minute documentary, "Rough Cuts: Remaking 'Children of the Corn'", which is broken into four chapters--"New Directions", "Cast of the Corn", "To Live and Die in Gatlin", and "Fly on the Wall." Included are lots of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the cast and filmmakers.

Borchers states that he'd love to hear Stephen King's opinion of the new film, in which the author chose not to participate, since it sticks much closer to his original vision. I've definitely seen worse films that enjoyed King's direct involvement. CHILDREN OF THE CORN redux isn't all that bad for a low-budget TV-movie, although I doubt if very many people will still be talking about it fifteen years from now.

 

CHILDREN OF THE CORN -- DVD Review by Porfle