Climax

Climax (2018)

Runtime: 97 excruciating minutes

Directed by: Gaspar Noe

Starring: Sofia Boutella & a bunch of randos

From: An absurd number of different companies

My first Gaspar Noe film... and my last!

I know everyone will be APPALLED by this admission, but the only reason why I even gave this movie a chance... late Monday night, there was discussion between several people in the comments of my review for Resident Evil (the new one), of all things. It concerned the need for likable protagonists-it's not always necessary, of course-and this movie was specifically mentioned. There are reasons why I avoid certain antagonistic European directors, but more on that later. Irreversible alone was good enough to avoid—at the same time, perhaps people would prefer I at least give directors a shot instead of blindly rejecting them... had I had known this was full of edgelord material (including moments of self-harm. There's a word of warning for those that would be triggered), no way this would have been streamed whatsoever.

I knew there was trouble right away... no, not at seeing A24's logo! Rather, it was realizing that they were showing what seemed to be the film's ending them started playing the END credits in reverse... only to stop then show what felt like an hour where we get intros to the numerous characters, which are modern dancers that I soon learned do preposterous modern dances. Then, it was seeing the modern pretentious trend of the movie presenting chapter titles on screen. Then, we hear pretentious prattle about random things, and I couldn't have cared any less! Oh, and we get the opening credits 45 minutes in; how rebellious... rolls eyes incredibly hard.

You can imagine my thrill at seeing a whole slew of characters you either couldn't possibly care about or were utterly detestable (some just loved saying the most vulgar comments concerning women & sex) even before they drink sangria spiked with drugs act once they are high on drugs, but not before a dance segment that felt like it was 5 hours long! Note that the kid I'll call “French Jonathan Lipnicki” is exempt from this criticism! I didn't give a damn how most of this was improv or the long takes or the camera placement/angles (most of which were “try hard” anyhow) when the movie is full of repugnant behavior.

Heck, a pregnant woman is kicked in the stomach then she HITS HERSELF in the stomach, and evidently-judging by a mutual's review-this is a Gaspar Noe director trademark! If I wasn't worried about people really hating me, I'd proclaim how much I despise Gaspar Noe as a human being given this film, Irreversible, and things I've heard about his work. I was reminded why there are good reasons why I've avoided such things as movies from directors that force their actors to act all monotone, or directors like Noe, von Trier, and Haneke. The virulently strong negative reaction I had to Climax is why I was right w/ my instincts concerning Noe as a massive edgelord.

Letterboxd members won't like that certain directors now most assuredly won't be given a chance (even if they've been recommended in the past or in the future) but honestly, my logic is... I hope my life will be a long one, but you never know. There's still way too many movies likely to be rated as “good” or better in my eyes that haven't been viewed yet; sometimes it feels like a real waste of time checking out aggravating cinema such as Climax. Perhaps it's better that I don't give some a chance rather than giving them a chance and some getting mad that my negative opinion is an outlier.

God Bless everyone who is a fan of Gaspar Noe; no shame there. He's just one of many 21st century directors & films whose popularity utterly eludes me. Hopefully it's a long while before I violently reject a movie like this; my rating would have been the lowest possible if not for.... some great songs on the soundtrack, no lie.

 

The Brain That Wouldn't Die

The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)

Runtime: 82 minutes

Directed by: Joseph Green

Starring: Jason Evers, Virginia Leith, Anthony La Penna, Adele Lamont, Bonnie Sharrie

From: AIP

I've known of Virginia Leath's disembodied head on the table for years; about time I finally saw The Brain That Wouldn't Die.

We open with a pair of doctors arguing with each other over a patient dying on the operating table. A few minutes later, we discover they are father & son! The son (Bill) is possessed w/ the desire to reanimate the dead & keeping body parts alive. Wouldn't you know it, he is in a convertible with his fiancee Jan and a lethal crash occurs... well, he saves Jan's decapitated head and revives it on a table. Jan is NOT happy with this arrangement and wishes for her brain to die, but Bill refuses. That is utterly horrifying.

Despite the multiple voices of reason, Bill's quest to find a new body won't be reasoned with. If the viewer didn't already loathe Bill, he not only visits “seedy joints”-one of which has an amazing painting on the wall of clothed dogs sitting upright on chairs drinking beer!-and constantly leers at young ladies to find the right bod, Bill also has a “failed experiment” literally locked in a room, portrayed by giant actor Eddie Carmel.

Of course the movie's outlandish, but in this ghoulish tale, it does comment on the autonomy of a woman-going against his love's desire to die-and other creepy plot points that unfortunately are still relevant in 2026. It's mostly competent in a B-movie fashion while attempting to explain how the mad doctor could medically succeed, while uttering dialogue sometimes more thoughtful than expected, while a jazzy score plays throughout.

Leith was quite sympathetic, and delivered a pretty good performance while we mostly only saw her cranium. The Brain That Wouldn't Die was bloodier, more graphic, and yes, sleazier than expected. Don't let its MST3K status make you automatically think the movie's utter tripe.

 

Horror in the High Desert 4: Majesty

Horror in the High Desert 4: Majesty (2025)

Runtime: 77 minutes

Directed by: Dutch Marich

Starring: Suziey Block, David Morales, Laurie Felix Bass, the voice of John Davis Walker

From: Luminol Entertainment

I still enjoy these movies. 4 is still like 2 and 3 in only presenting more lore and only minimally advancing an explanation as to the origin or further details on those weirdos are that are living in the rural desert of Northeastern Nevada... implied to be supernatural in nature.

There's even fewer characters than typical; Gal Roberts & Bill Salerno return but otherwise, it's just an older woman named Dolly (introduced in the last installment) who discusses the contents of a box. It's like the TARDIS in the amount of items it holds... it's all the records compiled by her late father Beau concerning the spooky events on the family's ranch, known as Majesty. This was from decades past, meaning notes on a typewriter, faux film footage-which didn't quite look the part-along w/ VHS footage, which was filmed on a SWEET RCA camcorder, so that did look the part.

The presentation is slicker, more polished than in the first three; this and and increased focus on the found footage are the only major differences... along w/ Beau not appearing on camera, just the footage from his POV. Otherwise, the scares are the same. It's the anticipation of seeing or hearing something in the dark... something subtle suddenly moving far away, a twig snapping, steps on gravel. With the VHS footage and its naturally blurry nature, that only increases the anticipation-the viewer is unsure if it's just the low-quality footage or something is moving.

Those that have seen & liked the first three should hopefully like it too—I did. Evidently, there will be a 5th and final installment in the Horror in the High Desert franchise, titled Mantis-no, not after the Guardians of the Galaxy character but rather it's the name of a mining company shown to be nefarious. Other reviewers have expressed concern that not all the plot points from the first four will be resolved before this story is wrapped. Understandable, but I'll be optimistic that creator Dutch Marich won't let everyone down.

No matter the outcome, these simple stories made on a low budget centered on people in isolated locations far from humanity discovering there's something mysterious but it's probably otherworldly... those scares are effective. From hearsay & what I've viewed with my own eyes, many found footage horror pictures aren't nearly as effective in delivering such scares. The format won't be for everyone—thankfully it is for me. No word on when the 5th installment will be released.

Exorcist II: The Heretic, Revisited

“It was horrible... utterly horrible. And fascinating.”

- Father Lamont (Richard Burton) describing a sight he saw, not describing Exorcist II: The Heretic... although it also fits!

I've reviewed this film before, and have now willingly seen it a few times in my life. While this should be Exhibit A in the dangers (right or wrong) of making a sequel to a beloved film that is far different from the original, it's always a movie that I found weird & fascinating, full of bizarre 70's touches. Locusts are a key plot point, them directly tied to evil. Psychiatrist Louise Fletcher has an institute full of glass walls that can be made opaque via lighting... a “synchronizer” that links two minds together via tones and flashing lights... Regan tap dances for a stage show... there's talk of humanity reaching a stage of collective consciousness in the future... Regan now has supernatural healing powers & seemingly cures Dana Plato of autism by making her speak...

It's all so wacky; no wonder audiences that made the first film a gigantic hit were all “WTF?” when this released in June of 1977. The numerous production problems for what was an expensive (for the time) production did not help-Boorman and several others falling seriously ill, constant script changes, etc.-were issues but a movie that wasn't as frightening as the first & was far more metaphysical, of course even back then many would want “more of the same” instead. Hiring a director who didn't even like the original movie and admitted he wasn't that concerned with satisfying the audience-again, no wonder.

The Heretic is now a difficult movie for me to rate; the story is an absolute mess and you shouldn't scrutinize it too hard. Yet, I've always been bemused by how strange it is. Father Lamont's trip to Ethiopia to talk to Kokumo-someone that survived possession by Pazuzu-was a serious subplot yet the advice sort of seemed, “That's it?” It's a shame the plot is so scattershot and doesn't coalesce (IMO) as some ingredients make sense... Father Lamont is someone else struggling w/ his faith-and knew Father Merrin-Regan still has the demon inside him, her caretaker Sharon (Kitty Winn) is damaged from the experience, etc.

Plenty of talent is in front and behind the camera. Morricone-delivering a rather bold score that naturally will be polarizing-Dick Smith, Albert J. Whitlock, and steadicam inventor Garrett Brown were all involved-those contributions were appreciated by me. In this day and age, all the practical sets and matte paintings created were cool. The Heretic isn't as enjoyable as Zardoz nor is it as good as Exorcist III by any regard... yet it is FAR better than a bizarre boondoggle like Megalopolis and is also FAR better than The Exorcist: Believer. Believer's “original” ideas is to have TWO young girls become possessed & presenting awful militant Christians.

I also haven't viewed the trailer for The Exorcist: Martyrs; evidently, it looks like the first season of True Detective... I haven't viewed a second of ANY True Detective show! Regardless, I hope Martyrs isn't bad. Many aren't like me in having such peculiar tastes (including enjoying many things 1970's) so you might not enjoy this wacky film that even I can admit is tremendously flawed. At least The Exorcist III is a sequel that has a strong reputation & despite its own production woes, many do like or love the second sequel.

Boorman and the Devil

Yes, this is the 2025 documentary concerning director John Boorman and the rather disastrous production of Exorcist II: The Heretic: 

Turner Classic Movies played this new documentary last night before screening Exorcist II: The Heretic. As someone who's always been amused by The Heretic and how it's an ambitious failure, learning more about its disastrous production was of great interest. Tomorrow, I'll post a new review of Exorcist II.

It's a standard documentary (which did feature some goofy, silly illustrations to present some moments. At least they weren't made by generative AI, as the end credits proudly proclaimed) where the opening minutes explain the career of director John Boorman before he agreed to direct the sequel to one of the best horror films in history. From there, the production woes were explained... multiple people became quite ill during production (including Boorman himself), the script constantly changed, and it was a complex production requiring many effects that they rushed to meet a hard deadline.

As it dared to be far different from the all-timer of an original, that was a reason the reviews of the time were virulently negative, although its quality was also a factor. Modern commentary is provided by the likes of Joe Dante, Mike Flanagan, & Karyn Kusama. At the conclusion, it was striking that they and the others they interviewed were divided on whether Exorcist II was “good” or not.

A huge asset is that they interviewed Boorman himself, along with a number of others involved w/ the productions, from crew to Linda Blair and Louise Fletcher before she passed away in 2022. This helped paint a picture of what went wrong, although it also should help people appreciate such aspects as the Moricone score, the production design, sets, and a slew of different effects. The film recreating Ethiopia on giant sets is impressive in of itself.

For the nerdy sort that enjoy making-of stories (even of movies seen as flawed or flat-out bad), Boorman and the Devil is a fascinating watch, one I'm glad was seen by me. Sure, we do on rare occasions still get bizarre films that are in wide release-look at Digger out now. Many of those aren't of interest to me or they turn out like Megalopolis... shudders. I've willingly viewed Exorcist II a few times in my life; its weirdness and 70's moments are a draw, but there's also the matte paintings of the legendary Albert J. Whitlock, the steadicam of its inventor Garrett Brown, William A. Fraker's cinematography & Dick Smith returning to provide its makeup effects.

This documentary not only spotlights how Boorman's career wasn't ruined due to the film flopping (thank goodness he had Excalibur), but also the disappointment that the cast & crew had that the movie still has an infamous reputation-many tried their best yet making a movie that's at least good will always be an arduous task.

She Killed in Ecstasy

She Killed in Ecstasy (Sie Toete in Ekstase) (1971)

Runtime: 80 minutes

Directed by: Jesus Franco

Starring: Soledad Miranda, Fred Williams, Paul Muller, Ewa Stromberg, Howard Vernon

From: A few different Spanish & German companies 

A movie I was happy to have finally seen; thanks, Eternal Family. It's been in my mind to do so for years—problem was, a streaming copy unedited w/ English subtitles was nigh impossible to track down, even in the Bowels of the Internet-I'm not someone who torrents, before anyone asks. Thankfully, the esoteric platform Eternal Family added it to their collection, making a viewing a reality.

Concerning Jesus Franco, I know he has many fans but out of the five films I've seen from him, the best were 60's horror early in his career: The Diabolical Dr. Z and The Awful Dr. Orloff weren't nonsense like A Virgin Among the Living Dead and Nightmares Come at Night were. Ecstasy wasn't the most logical picture either-including the dumbest police detective in cinematic history-and the ending made me guffaw in a bad way as it for certain contained the worst depiction of a certain event in cinematic history. It was also quite the decision to have a main plot thread centered on a doctor being banished from the profession because his experiments on bettering humanity and eradicating diseases centered on... human embryos. No comment on that. I will comment that for those who know Franco often used his male muse Howard Vernon in his films—yes he does have a role in Ecstasy.

This Dr. Johnson “unalived himself.” Thankfully for the viewer, his wife Soledad Miranda decides to kill the quartet of doctors who rejected her late husband in revenge, psychosis, and yes ecstasy. She was a highlight, and no, not for her beauty or her frequent full-frontal nudity. Rather, it was the performance-and how she was in anguish due to her husband's death-which was compelling. What a tragic death she had-only a month after the filming of Ecstasy concluded, she perished in a car wreck at only the age of 27.

On a lighter note, I really dug the score, even if at least on one occasion it seemed at odds w/ the action on the screen. Nevermind that, the music from Bruno Nicolai, Manfred Hubler & Sigi Schwab was quite entertaining, featuring more sitar than what I was expecting. The sunny scenery in Spain was also delightful. While the constant zoom-ins and zoom-outs were amusing, it was Miranda & the score which did plenty of heavy lifting, making me like the movie despite all the demerits. I also have to give Franco credit for some interesting shots/shot compositions.

I shouldn't write him off entirely—he made almost 200 films, after all, and he did more than horror. It might be a hoot to check out his “less popular” movies. As for She Killed in Ecstasy, despite not being as entranced by it as many have been these past 55 years, it's a relief to have finally tackled it after all these years.

I'm Dangerous Tonight

I'm Dangerous Tonight (1990)

Runtime: 88 minutes

Directed by: Tobe Hooper

Starring: Madchen Amick, Corey Parker, Daisy Hall, Dee Wallace, Anthony Perkins

From: Several different companies 

This is exactly what I expected of “An ancient red Aztec cloak ends up at a California university, Madchen Amick stumbles on it, turns it into a dress, and anyone touching the material becomes corrupt.”

For years I've known of this made for television movie (basic cable, but it's not premium cable like HBO; rather, it was the USA Network) yet it wasn't until last night that I finally figuratively put on the red dress and gave it a shot. Besides Amick, there's also Dee Wallace in a refreshingly atypical role, a subdued R. Lee Ermey as a police detective, Mrs. Howell from Gillian's Island (Natalie Schafer) and college professor Anthony Perkins. The assumption is that plenty have viewed this already due to the director: Tobe Hooper.

Yes, Tonight is a silly movie where multiple women don the dress and they all behave badly. This even has Cinderella themes; Amick's Amy has deceased parents so she lives with her aunt, her daughter, & her grandmother—the aunt & daughter treat Amy poorly. Of course, she also has a love interest. This world is in a tableau where the constraints of basic cable meant there's no language or gore, the most gruesome moments told rather than shown.

Some may take issue w/ that; me, those constraints aren't a big deal in this case when I had fun w/ seeing people behaving badly & Amy attempting to deal with the ramifications of possessing such a dress. The film always remains fun with its escalation & scenarios. Amick made Amy a likable character, plus she did look great in the red dress... this is not top-tier Hooper by any regards nor is it as good as Salem's Lot. That said, if your expectations are in check & you aren't immediately turned off by period slut-shaming dialogue, you might enjoy this silly motion picture as well.