Black Sunday

Black Sunday (La Maschera del Demonio) (1960)

Runtime: 87 minutes

Directed by: Mario Bava

Starring: Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Andrea Checchi, Ivo Garrani, Arturo Dominici

From: Galatea Film/Jolly Film

A very nice way to close out the Halloween season. I'll state right now that my plans for Halloween are to watch the eponymous film in the evening then right after midnight strikes, watch something else in an entirely different genre. In a few hours I'll post the list I did of all the appropriate films I saw since late August-as always, what an intoxicating mix it is. As there needed to be more Gothic horror included, this was a famous effort in that field somehow unseen by me until last night; it was a mistake happily corrected.

The vibes were laid on pretty thick here: the 19th century setting after the 17th century opening where a witch and her lover are burned at the stake, an uttered curse right before a spiked mask is nailed onto their faces, an accident results in those two resurrecting, the witch wishing to possess her descendant who of course looks just like her... then there's the setting of foggy woods, windy nights, a creepy castle, vaults, bats, cobwebs, skeletons... that is perfect for right around Halloween.

Black Sunday is simply a ghoulish delight; besides a story that thrilled there are plenty of memorable characters-everyone from cult favorite Barbara Steele as the witch/her descendant to a pair of doctors that attempt to eradicate this curse, to the men of science being helped out by a badass bearded priest. Even a little girl that witnesses some of the events left an impression. The marriage of a lovely score and intoxicating cinematography to the ghoulish story made the film one hell of an official debut for director Mario Bava... not to mention a pretty sweet movie to talk on the spookiest of days.

 

I Revisited The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

 ...and while I don't love the movie, it still is a good time--logical fallacies aside.

Return Of The Evil Dead

 Return of the Evil Dead (El Ataque de los Muertos Sin Ojos) (1973)

Runtime: 92 minutes

Directed by: Amando de Ossorio

Starring: Tony Kendall, Fernando Sancho, Esperanza Roy, Frank Brana, Loreta Tovar

From: Ancla Century Films

No matter if you call this Return of the Blind Dead, Return of the Evil Dead, Attack of the Blind Dead or something else, this was a pretty good time. 2 ½ years ago I saw the first in this tetralogy of Spanish horror films (Tombs of the Blind Dead), which had fascinating lore-furthermore, back in like '03 I saw the edited American versions of that and this, so it was nice to experience both in full. In fact, I’ll copy and paste part of the review for Tombs as it helps explain the backstory:

“The titular Blind Dead rise at night… they are Knights Templar from the Middle Ages who became evil and via “Egyptian black magic” become immortal. Here, some villagers burn them alive and blind them w/ torches. Like with the aliens in A Quiet Place, they hunt only by sound, so of course all their victims do plenty of screaming and otherwise make plenty of noise. Say what you will about aspects of the story, mood and atmosphere do carry the film. It is a chilling tale and the soundtrack plays a critical role in creating this feeling-it is just creepy. The undead knights never looked not frightening, but when they are on their undead horses (that's right) and are shown riding in slow motion... that will be something I won't forget in the future.”

Like in Tombs, there is romantic drama done to flesh out the story. This time the characters are in a Portuguese village who are celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Knights being defeated. Unlike someone who put this “goof” in that section of this movie’s IMDb page, I understand what “day for night” shooting is and how that was done often back in the day… a few scenes are like this but that doesn’t diminish the effectiveness of the movie. While it isn’t as atmospheric and moody (to paraphrase someone I follow here) there is more of everything: nudity, blood, violence, etc. After all, this begins with a woman having her top ripped off then her blood is lapped up AND her heart is eaten. Anyhow, the residents of the village attempt to fight back while trying to use the lore to their advantage, which is pretty neat.

It has the expected heroes & jerks, and even a “village idiot”. It’s all mixed together into a rather entertaining jam which thankfully was different enough from what else I’ve seen the past two months to make this worthwhile. BTW, I’ll admit this was a YouTube watch as it was in HD quality… albeit there’s more than one scene which are dubbed in different languages. One sounded like Spanish and the other definitely was German; it’s happened a few times before w/ me and it never ceases to amuse me.

Minnie The Moocher

I saw this famed 1932 cartoon, which I've helpfully linked: 

Or: Thank goodness I can always watch something short like a cartoon if I'm feeling not so hot one day. That was me a few nights ago... not for its entirety but for a bit my disposition was not great. As this cartoon is known in some circles solely due to its weirdness (in fact, long ago I once saw on another website a discussion of this which morphed into talk of the rotoscoping process used to create the images on screen) it is worthy of discussion.

In only 8 minutes, this Max Fleischer cartoon presents quite a plot, but even before that you briefly see live action footage of Cab Calloway and his band perform. After that, we see Betty Boop and her boyfriend Bimbo-a cartoon pup-run away because the former is upset over the way her parents treat her. Once the moon rises in the night sky, things become spooky so they hide in a cave. Big mistake... the expected spooky creatures are shown: ghosts, skeleton, a witch, goblins, etc. There's also a bipedal singing walrus, which is more peculiar than scary yet that is OK as it's Calloway seeing his hit song Minnie the Moocher, which should be familiar if you saw him do it almost half a century later in The Blues Brothers. The live action bit demonstrates that him in walrus form does the same gesticulating and movement as he performs. This has weird moments like that throughout.

Besides the wild story there is lovely animation, various gags and the presence of several jazz songs from the period. While this may be best after several “jazz cigarettes”, the music is a nice artifact from 90 years ago & overall it was an 8 minute blast.

Spirit Halloween: The Movie

Spirit Halloween: The Movie (2022)

Runtime: 87 minutes

Directed by: David Poag

Starring: A bunch of random kid actors, plus familiar faces Christopher Lloyd, Marla Gibbs, and… my bae Rachael Leigh Cook

From: A few companies I’ve never heard of before

The things I watch for fandom… indeed, the main reason why I watched this was that it features someone I stan, Rachael Leigh Cook. What a surprise earlier in the year when on Twitter a link to an article by Bloody Disgusting was posted and it just mentioned it “starred” Christopher Lloyd. I read that article and what a shock it was to me to see it also had one of my favorites. Then later, a trailer was released and the general reaction was as if it farted in church! Despite the rotten reception, of course I would still watch this. After all, I’ve said elsewhere that there should be more horror films for the younger crowd as a gateway to develop fandom for more adult fare a few years later. And I don’t mean the presumed dreck on the Disney Channel.

Incidentally, from another website I’ve come to understand that those not in North America probably don’t know what Spirit Halloween even is and are flabbergasted to hear that it’s a pop-up store which operates in abandoned buildings (such as old Toys “R” Us stores, furniture stores, drug stores, or what have you) and the entire concept of these stores being around each September & October has been a meme since even before they made this film. As people from all corners of the globe follow me on Letterboxd-which will never not be astounding-this needed to be addressed.

As for the movie itself… it’s a silly infomercial for the chain and is filled w/ the expected cliché drama yet at least I could laugh that the plot was “Christopher Lloyd is an evil SOB who is killed by a witch’s curse so the spot he died on currently is land occupied by a Spirit Halloween store… three middle schoolers decide to spend the night there as a dare… Lloyd’s spirit inhabits various animatronics in the store to terrorize the kids… oh, and for some reason below the store is a GIANT CAVE.” The WTF aspects at least amused me. You only see Lloyd in the opening scene although he voices the various items, including a giant teddy bear. Marla Gibbs of all people appears for a few scenes but much to my delight, Rachael’s role was larger than expected.

It's easy to nitpick this-for example, there’s a fart joke-yet at least for me, this was inoffensive and not as horrible as I was led to believe. It’s not something I’ll watch again but I’m sure this will be fine entertainment if you’re the same age as the lead characters. It was nice to see the expected holiday bric-a-brac throughout in what seemed like a charming town… in fact, it’s so nice that children still trick or treat without being accompanied by their parents. I’ll happily admit the average rating is perhaps generous on my part because of my personal tastes yet if you do happen to watch this w/ your family in the future, at least it’s only 73 minutes until the end credits.

Possession

Possession (1981)

Runtime: 124 minutes

Directed by: Andrzej Zulawski

Starring: Sam Neill, Isabelle Adjani, Margit Carstensen, Heinz Bennent, Johanna Hofer

From: Several companies from West Germany and France

I know someone who once saw this while high on cold medication; what an experience that must've been!

As the month winds down (and to be frank, starting in November I'll be happy to watch other genres again) and as always not everything I thought of watching at this time of year will come to fruition, it was finally time for me to watch this motion picture for discussion on Letterboxd. In addition, between this and Under the Silver Globe, I should check out more of director Andrzej Zulawski. He got into trouble more than once for his movies behind the Iron Curtain so having to move to France to work must have been heartbreaking for a variety of reasons. Then again, he DID get to have a much younger Sophie Marceau as a paramour for 16 years...

It is quite the ride for Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani; they are a couple in West Berlin whose marriage is experiencing a dissolution. He does espionage work so he's away and she starts having an affair. Sure, they have a son together so it's complicated but once Neill finds out, he doesn't take the news well... weird things happen and as it's mentioned in the opening credits, there is something known as The Creature, designed by Carlo Rambaldi. Possession is a VERY uncomfortable 2 hours (at least for me) as there's much in the way of intensity, yelling, arguing, & abusive behavior, then one person in the relationship becomes increasingly erratic. Then again, they aren't the only bizarre character the viewer gets to meet on this journey. BTW, the director apparently wrote the script while HE went through a divorce; it explains... well, not the WTF moments but why this is such a negative bitter movie you should never watch if you ever need to be cheered up.

This has plenty of subtext & metaphor which I won't even try to dive into; besides, quite a few here have written brilliant commentaries on what they think of the film's many messages. Instead I'll mention that for someone who has proclaimed more than a few times than weird abstract cinema isn't always for me, I'd be a fool to either deny the movie's attributes or the excellent job done by the director, the cinematographer (the camera often moves about frantically) or the composer. Some moments I'll never forget and the performances from the leads were tremendous; holy crap, that scene in the subway... unfortunately, that scene and others actually messed up Adjani pretty bad for several years but at least she recovered.

Ultimately, Possession is-to use an often said phrase by me-better seen than described. It isn't for everyone—besides the weirdness, oftentimes everything is cranked up to 11 but if you love the surreal then this is a must.

An Update

Throughout tomorrow night, I'll be posting THREE reviews; it will be two movies and a cartoon. After that I'll be caught up here.

Deadstream

Deadstream (2022)

Runtime: 87 minutes

Directed by: Joseph & Vanessa Winter

Starring: For the most part, it’s just Joseph Winter and Melanie Stone

From: A few different companies

FAR better than what I was expecting; for something that was mainly watched as it happened to start right after I turned on the Shudder app & went to the “It Came From Shudder” streaming channel. As plenty of mutuals saw it and mostly had positive takes, that piqued my interest. What surprised even me was how much I enjoyed what sounded like just another found footage film.

This follows an A-hole (or to use his terminology, “an A.H.”) YouTube “celebrity” who got banished from there for awhile-the exact specifics are revealed later-so on a comeback, this douche who loves doing risky challenges such as “provoke the police into a foot chase” decides this new challenge should be “spend a night in a haunted house.” He’s the stereotypical tool YouTuber who self-aggrandizes, is SO self-important, and is obsessed with his cult of personality. As the movie progresses, the message is clear: the audience is supposed to think that this “influencer” is utterly insufferable, a totally toxic person-as loathsome and phony as a Mr. Beast, PewDiePie, one of the Paul brothers or Shane Dawson. This coming so soon after the Try Guys controversy was fortuitous timing on the film’s part.

I knew little going in and I’ll try to be vague although some things will still be mentioned by myself. What I was expecting was a goofy and predictable “scary” found footage film filled w/ banality. Instead, not only was this far funnier, it was simply a lot of fun. I laughed often at both how dopey the lead character was and the situations he was in. Co-director Joseph Winter did a swell job as Shawn, although Melanie Stone was great in her role. YMMV but personally this was a pleasant surprise in that its tone is more like the Evil Dead sequels than anything else and it managed to make a lot out of what sounded like a simple premise. Admittedly, I wish I wouldn’t have suddenly wondered how a house in the middle of nowhere has such nice Wi-fi reception to allow for a livestream-many modern movies engage in even more egregious logical fallacies and in more frequency…

The husband and wife duo of Joseph & Vanessa Winter for certain impressed me here. By now I am well aware that many people like their segment in V/H/S 99 the most-it also features Melanie Stone-yet that would require me seeing the 5th entry in a franchise I promised to avoid for good as none of the first four I thought was even good enough to be rated as OK. At least I’ll happily watch their next project if it’s as original and endearing as Deadstream.

High Tension

High Tension (Haute Tension) (2003)

Runtime: 91 minutes

Directed by: Alexandre Aja

Starring: Cecile de France, Maiwenn, Philippe Nahon, Andrei Finti, Franck Khalfoun

From: EuropaCorp

Or: I’ve never liked those “New Wave French Horror” movies from the early 2000’s. Not all were seen by any means but this was ruined by a truly awful final 10 minutes before the credits, Frontier(s) was pretty loathsome all around and “simply unpleasant trash” is what I call both Martyrs & Inside. I know many will vehemently disagree-that’s fine, I’ll be happy watching motion pictures that don’t rely on gruesome gore or “transgressive moments” to shock and titillate.

As I’ve never addressed this on Letterboxd in any detail, that was the man impetus to finally give this a rewatch after all this time; I believe the first and only was in like ’05 or ’06. What I saw came from the bowels of the Internet: it was the original cut that most of the world got and in fact came out on disc in the United States, but the US edited out a bit to earn an R rating. For some reason that’s the version that’s available streaming, so to the seas I sailed…

The thing is, the first 77 minutes has its flaws for sure and some dumb moments, yet overall it has its share of merits. A pair of young women (Marie and Alexia) who aren’t always likable leave college so they can go to one of their parents’ house in the middle of the woods for the sake of studying. Suddenly a hulking brute shows up and he’s a brutal serial killer who does many abominable things. Marie tries to save her bestie and avoid the bad guy. The journey includes plenty of time outside the house and includes a trip to a gas station, ran by a future director of yet another massively overrated film-Franck Khalfoun.

Graphic gore isn’t an automatic turn-off for me so how plentiful it is plays no part in my rating. Of course, the gnarliest death is the most preposterous, made even worse once the twist is revealed. Honestly, those that watch this for the first time should press “stop” once it reaches 1:17:00 as that’s when the movie takes a nosedive. That twist is truly insulting; no matter how you spin it or try to rationalize what the audience had just seen, at least for me it was a giant middle finger. It ruins what I thought was a fine slasher due to the writers acting all smug and thinking they are OH so clever for subverting expectations… barf. If the dross that was the conclusion wasn’t bad enough, it has a message which whether intended or not is pretty gross—especially by 2022 standards. Some people on Letterboxd have in fact stated as such.

No hate on anyone who likes the movie overall; unfortunately there’s too much for me to dislike. I’ll just shrug my shoulders and at least note that the other two Aja films I’ve seen (Crawl and Piranha 3D) I enjoyed quite a bit more. I don’t know what I’d think of something like Mirrors or The 9th Life of Louis Drax…

The Strange And Deadly Occurrence

The Strange and Deadly Occurrence (1974)

Runtime: 73 minutes

Directed by: Jon Llewellyn Moxey

Starring: Robert Stack, Vera Miles, Margaret Willock, L.Q. Jones, Bill McKinney

From: Alpine Productions/Charles Fries Productions

I’m not sure why there’s a German Shepherd named ADOLF but otherwise I can’t really complain about this horror-mystery TV movie I first heard of last night. It’s a long story as to how I tripped over the film then viewed it via YouTube—considering my Internet alternated between “its normal blazin’ fast speed” and “tortoise slow”, if that trend continues for the next few days I’ll have to alter what is on my docket. At least this was an easy SD watch which was only 73 minutes in length and was directed by Tarantino favorite Jon Llewellyn Moxey-someone who did a lot of TV episodes along with motion pictures whether on the big screen or small. His City of the Living Dead is pretty rad and there are some others I’ve heard good things about.

Quite simply, it’s Robert Stack, his wife Vera Miles and teenage daughter moving from Los Angeles to a nice ranch out in the country. Weird events start happening and considering it includes bizarre moaning, POV shots, heavy breathing, pounding noises, and a mannequin seemingly moving around on its own, the supernatural is definitely hinted at although there are human red herrings. There are also gophers and a German Shepherd acquired for protection that for some reason is named Adolf. As this is a deal-breaker for some, the dog does die.

The script certainly could be nitpicked at times; be that as it may, I was still entertained. It has a nice cast-the other familiar faces include L.Q. Jones (who I just discovered passed away just a few months ago) & Bill McKinney-some disturbing dialogue that still fits the parameters of 70’s television, the 1970’s version of “a sick burn”, and it was just a very nice, loving family easy to root for. The inclusion of several genuinely scary scenes meant that awkward title aside, this effort made for NBC was a solid watch.

In Search Of Darkness: Part II

More of a good thing, which is a good thing. A few months ago I viewed the first In Search of Darkness, which was a 4 hour plus documentary where almost all of the big 80’s horror movies are discussed by various people involved w/ the genre, along with broader segments in between years. While only a few minutes were spent on each and they all deserve more coverage, most can be explored on your own and it was a nice love letter to that period of time.

The same holds true here, including a few motion pictures being brought up because they had someone from those movies present. This time, it’s mainly deeper cuts that are presented, quite a few of which I hadn’t seen before. In addition, some important talking heads appear for the first time-Tom Savini and Robert Englund. For those that like Italian horror, you will be delighted to know that this receives more coverage and several pictures that arguably should have been in Part I are mentioned here: Silent Night, Deadly Night, Cannibal Holocaust, Beetlejuice. 

Between each year are segments that include figures talking about themselves (Nancy Allen, Englund, Savini, etc.), acting in this genre, kids in horror, and even horror videogames. Even if you don’t learn much in the way of information new to you, it was still something that you should check out if you are a genre fan, the epic length be damned. Getting to hear dozens of voices alone was a treat… where else where will you get Chris Jericho, Clancy Brown, Tom Atkins, Barbara Crampton, Geretta Geretta, Jackie Kong, Bill Moseley, Linnea Quigley, Gedde Watanabe, AND Keith David?

The Leopard Man

The Leopard Man (1943)

Runtime: 66 minutes

Directed by: Jacques Tourneur

Starring: Dennis O’Keefe, Margo, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell, James Bell

From: RKO

A score filled more with castanets and its rhythms than probably any other film. Yesterday afternoon this was played on TCM; that was DVR’ed for viewing last night as besides the winning combo of producer Val Lewton & Jacques Tourneur, the 66 minute length was perfect for me.

The set-up is simple: during a nightclub act in a New Mexico town, a black leopard is introduced but basically due to pettiness, it is accidentally let loose and in the subsequent days, the leopard starts killing people… or does it? I heard it publicized elsewhere beforehand that a key plot point is the murderer possibly being someone on two legs, so I’ll mention it here also. After all, it is young women who are the victims…

As others have noted, it has the sort of shadowy atmosphere and dark moody cinematography you’d expect from Lewton/Tourneur, making it a chilling delight. All the death sequences are rather striking in how memorably they are presented. To echo another thought, the female characters in this movie are definitely more interesting than the male ones-even so, this was a fascinating watch due to all the castanets, the New Mexico setting allowing for both Native American & Hispanic flavor, and a genuinely interesting story ahead of its time—many have noted how it was a proto-giallo in several different ways. And yes, you do hear castanets quite frequently-one of the performers not only uses them on-stage, but also off it.

 

Troll 2!

Troll 2 (1990)

Runtime: 95 minutes

Directed by: Claudio Fragosso

Starring: A bunch of non-actors, my favorite being dentist George Hardy

From: Filmirage

A movie that I just realized was never reviewed here by me before. It was a realization made just a few days ago; I saw this back long before I joined Letterboxd almost a decade (!) ago-the same goes for both the Best Worst Movie documentary made about Troll 2 and the OG unrelated Troll film where for reasons unknown to me, a certain transphobic author “borrowed” the name HARRY POTTER for their set of novels. 

Even with the lowest possible rating, this is a case where the unintended humor helps mask how painfully bad this is. To think that this came from a madman director because his wife was rankled that some of their friends were vegetarians so in a spite-filled rage she wrote this with hubby. That's why this had the rather unique premise of goblins (that's right, no trolls to be seen) creating half-human/half-plant hybrids via a green liquid and you also have people dripping chlorophyll green. A lot of weirdness happened in Utah due to the minds of some apparently insane Italians.

Those that haven't experienced the “magic” of this motion picture, I'd dare not reveal too much of the most memorable moments. Instead, I'll be vague and note that the “plot” is a family in a city spending a month in the city of Nilbog... yes, the name is a clue. The young boy in the family talks to the spirit of his recently-deceased grandfather, who warns him of goblins. His older sister, meanwhile, has a boyfriend who'd rather hang out w/ his buddies in an RV, drinking Mountain Dew and watching TV than hanging out with just her-draw your own conclusions.

The highlights include food that is obviously covered w/ what looks like green mold yet people seem oblivious to that, questionable acting (after all, the dad of the family is played by a dentist who never thought he'd get such a large role for an amateur), bizarre dialogue that was due to the language barrier and director Claudio Fragosso being a dick who insisted on sticking to the script* & many weird issues concerning food-including an ear of corn-”You don't piss on hospitality!”, an OOT character named Creedence Leonore Gielgud, & no shortage of meme moments. Those not familiar with Troll 2 may think I was BS'ing them if the details of the most hilarious moments were recapped.

As agonizing as the movie can be, the insanity on display and such moments as the teenage daughter both lifting weights in 80's workout clothing & later dancing to 80's music on her boombox... how can I hate on a movie which provides such bellylaughs? Heck, the actress Laura Gemser even worked on the costumes. I do recommend Best Worst Movie to learn how something this infamous was made then found its audience.

* Then again, he seems like a dick in general. The actors did not seem to care for him on set and years afterward, was bitter instead of accepting that he made something atrocious which nevertheless has entertained many after its release.

The Mortuary Collection

The Mortuary Collection (2019)

Runtime: 111 long minutes

Directed by: Ryan Spindell

Starring: Clancy Brown, Caitlin Custer, Ema Horvath, Jacob Elordi, Barak Hardley, Sarah Hay

From: Trapdoor Pictures/Glass Eyes Pix

Where I carp about both the Shudder smart TV app & 21st century horror anthologies.

First, I wish the Shudder app would start working properly again on my Roku TV. For the past few days, only the three streaming channels could be accessed-the movies tab and my queue of films never actually load. I realize it’s a first world problem when everything works on the browser so I have to use it on the computer, but it’s the principle of that not functioning properly.

Secondly, I’ve watched all the V/H/S films and thought all of them were quite bad (the new one about to come out, that will be avoided for the rest of time), Southbound was trash and let’s not even get started on the totally puerile tone-deaf Chillerama. Maybe one day I’ll FINALLY see a second one I dig; all the rave reviews for The Mortuary Collection (which I had to watch on the computer; horrors!) made me think that it was possible this would not get a low rating.

Unfortunately, I have to do just that. It started off fine-enough: whimsical yet still dark music you’d almost expect in an early Tim Burton production, a kid riding his bike in a bucolic little seaside town during the ‘80’s-it was filmed in Astoria, Oregon… a town I best know from The Goonies-the sleepy little hamlet being named Raven’s End, Clancy Brown as a mortician—it all seemed promising, even if Brown’s character name “Montgomery Dark” was a sign of how unsubtle the movie was. Then a smug teen girl named Sam walks in, looking for a job… it all falls apart. I hated Sam and I don’t know if that was the intention right off the bat! He tells her various stories of past deaths, and… she makes meta comments on how she doesn’t like the stories?! Good Lord…

Then again, I didn’t like most of the stories either! If that wasn’t bad enough, things become too convoluted and it just gave me a headache with how preposterous it was, not to mention yawn-inducing. Where are the simple anthologies of the past from the likes of Amicus, which have basic setups and many of the stories are evil people being punished, but who cares if it’s “cliché” if it is entertaining in a macabre way? Presumably many will disagree yet I can’t lie to myself and proclaim that I like the modern stuff more than those basic anthologies that typically are ghoulishly a delight.

It looking quite good for a low budget and Brown’s presence wasn’t enough when there were such fundamental problems as its overall smug attitude, all the humor that was both bad & unnecessary, & me having no idea if one of the stories was just supposed to be set in the 60’s or not! They had “60’s music” and various visual cues yet the dialogue belies this often…. Believe it or not, one line of dialogue mentions “the 21st century” in a way to suggest it was current. Maybe I should just stop with these modern anthologies <shrugs shoulders>

 

The Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle (1978)

Runtime: 111 minutes

Directed by: Rene Cardona, Jr.

Starring: Hugo Stiglitz, John Huston, Andres Garcia, Gloria Guida, Claudine Auger

From: A few different Mexican companies

The Bermuda Triangle myth was just 70's poppycock based off of conjecture, half-truths and outright fibs... even then, I was entertained by this movie. The lore behind the triangle is natural for a horror movie between all the alleged disappearances, sinking planes/ships, weird events-some of which is referenced here. Earlier in the year I purchased The Cardona Collection (as in Rene, Jr.) from Vinegar Syndrome yet because I am me it's just now that I cracked into it. I was hoping for fun schlock and this it was, despite some slow stretches for an almost two hour movie. As it's Cardona, of course Hugo Stiglitz has a prominent role.

A ship is chartered so some people (including John Huston, the most famous name in the cast; another famous name is Claudine Auger) could photograph underwater ruins; the people on board number at least a dozen so in fact there is plenty of cannon fodder. I did not mind the movie taking its time slowly unfurling the spooky events that begin when a doll is found floating in the middle of the ocean and it's retrieved; the little girl on the vessel takes possession of it and of course she starts acting rather peculiar. The other oddball events include a scene involving birds, lights, the radios going out, an underwater earthquake, and sudden storms.

Drama was at least attempted and some scenes were nice in that they let things breathe so characters could interact with each other. That said, I was amused at the over the top moments, from the characters (the ship engineer, Hugo Stiglitz as the ship captain and a Black chef named Simon were my favorite) to some outrageous lines to a hilarious married couple that loathe each other so they unleash the most caustic barbs against each other in amazing scenes full of passive-aggressive behavior.

Many not sharing the enthusiasm I have for this daffy B-movie... I get it. The Bermuda Triangle just happened to entertain me. Heck, it even shares the pessimism emblematic of many 70's pictures. After all, there's some particularly bad dubbing, more underwater footage than what I was expecting, and a groovy Stelvio Cipriani score.

 

Halloween Ends

Halloween Ends (2022)

40% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 177 reviews)

Runtime: 111 minutes

Directed by: David Gordon Green

Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Matichak, Rohan Campbell, Will Patton, James Jude Courtney

From: Universal/Miramax/Blumhouse

A movie... I did not hate but did not love either?!

What a review this will be; plenty will be said without diving into any spoilers. Waiting a few days and not viewing it ASAP on Thursday night may have helped; by the time this was experienced last night I heard it was incredibly polarizing, similar to Blonde except that I've seen more high ratings for this than that. By the time the movie started rolling, my expectations were rock bottom due to all the negative reviews while only hearing some basic facts as to why so many were upset w/ this film. To clarify my opinions of the films in this timeline,
the OG Halloween is still a classic, Halloween '18 was fine even with some bad comedy and a really stupid plot point, & Halloween Kills was mostly a disaster in plot and execution with bad ideas all around and a pathetic ending.

The fact that I knew beforehand this would go in odd unexpected directions definitely helped; to its credit at least this hardly had any stupid “comedy” like the previous two did (although unintentional laughs came from seeing BAND GEEKS as bullies) and the general idea wasn't bad... I'm just unsure if it belonged here at this time. Perhaps if they had actually planned this as a trilogy that would have helped, or even done this movie in the middle of the trilogy and had something else as the finale. What characters were focused on and what really wasn't, that's the beef that most of the dissenters had-definitely understandable.

For the story they were telling, most of the people in Haddonfield had to be real A-holes; there may be plotholes spotted by me if I ever saw this trilogy in a marathon during one long night. The movie still has its problems even if I did not hate the overall product... there definitely are issues in the final act and I shouldn't have laughed a few times during that stretch yet it happened.

Yet despite some bizarre character motivations the movie was watchable for me, thankfully not as aggravating as Halloween Kills. That said, no hate on the franchise fans fuming mad over how this was how they concluded the Michael Myers character... at least in this timeline. Ultimately, me liking it more than Kills is why the rating is higher-even if Ends definitely could have been better.

I Watched A David Lynch Short

1969's The Alphabet, to be exact.

Normally I’m not into the avant-garde, but… due to my busy schedule yesterday and TCM Underground playing David Lynch’s early shorts in the wee hours of Friday night, I went to the Criterion Channel and watched this 4 minute shot from the late 60’s. It allowed me for a shorter than usual review.

In the past it’s been mentioned how my tastes typically don’t venture into the avant-garde as it is not appealing to my tastes-thankfully the Lynch movies I’ve seen have never been as abstract & Dadaist as this as I would not have liked it as much. That said, this combination of live action-w/ Lynch’s then-wife Peggy and the cries of his infant daughter Jennifer-& animation managed to create the dichotomy of a horrifying few minutes from something as innocent as the alphabet. It’s not only the imagery (sometimes sexual in nature) but also the bizarre aural experience that made this something I’ll never forget. As the germ of the idea for this came from a dream that his wife’s niece had, I can’t complain about how dream-like this was.

Carnival Of Sinners

Carnival of Sinners (La Main du Diable) (1943)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035017/

Runtime: 80 minutes

Directed by: Maurice Tourneur

Starring: Pierre Fresnay, Josseline Gael, Noel Roquevert, Guillaume de Sax, Palau

From: Continental Films

For a movie I hadn’t heard of before it played on TCM a few weeks ago, pretty good. This was a DVR watch last night and the plot description was the main reason why I gave it a shot. Turns out, the movie is also on the Criterion Channel but I saved some bandwidth there.

Said plot: Mostly told in flashback, the tale concerns a talisman which will bring a user much prosper & fortune, for the price of a penny. Of course it’s much more complicated than that and there’s a far greater price to be paid. Roland Brissot is a pretentious painter who isn’t all that good. One night, a chef offers him the talisman: a severed hand! He needs to sell it at a loss or he’ll “be damned… for all eternity.” Despite seeing a severed hand move around on command, Roland purchases it. He’s a jerk when he’s poor so imagine him successful. “The Devil to pay” is literally a phrase said, and he doesn’t have a good time. There is a supernatural character, their identity a subversion. 

It's a movie successful enough to make someone becoming left-handed creepy as hell, and the same for an ill-fated visit to a fortune teller. Naturally, Carnival is a Faustian tale so there are few surprises but the flavor of it was still tasty. The director was Maurice Tourneur-yes, Jacques’s father. Many of his films were from the silent era yet he worked until the late 40’s. Without providing details, during the scene that provides the backstory of the appendage, there are some nightmare-inducing masks. This isn’t blood-curdling horror, although the scenario is a nightmare and there are enough strange moments where I can say there are no regrets in this October viewing.

 

Dead Eyes Of London

Dead Eyes of London (Die Toten Augen Von London) (1961)

Runtime: 98 minutes

Directed by: Alfred Vohrer

Starring: Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Baal, Wolfgang Lukschy, Dieter Borsche, Eddi Arent

From: Rialto Film

Featuring blind people, a Tor Johnson type, Klaus Kinski, knitting, and someone named FLEABITE FRED

In the past I've seen only a few krimi films; for the first time I saw a classic entry in that subgenre for this time of year. This predecessor to the giallo films were based on stories by writer Edgar Wallace and were wildly popular in Germany. Many were set in England even though they were German-language productions. This was selected because one of the genres listed on IMDb was “horror.”

Another hallmark for krimi: plots that twist and turn more than a roller coaster at a Six Flags park. It starts off w/ a hulking blind brute (the guy I referred to as being reminiscent of Tor Johnson) kidnapping someone who can barely see due to the London fog; other kidnappings happen indoor after Not Tor knocks out the lights, which was a nice touch. What followed included insurance fraud, old men insured at a small company all dying under suspicious circumstances, a Home for the Blind, giant sugar cubes, Braille, & probable real life villain Klaus Kinski as a-get this-henchman to the villains.

It is an engrossing ride through a moody London that is represented by many shots of fog-choked streets late at night. It was a pulpy delight-in fact, one day I should track down some of those pulp novels if they are as much fun as a typical Krimi film. The direction was interesting at times-in a moment that you literally see popular accounts on YouTube do, a scene transition was done by moving a hat towards a camera as a fade to black, then pulling it back seconds later. There's also the immortal shot of... seeing someone brush their teeth and using mouthwash from the perspective of inside their mouth-weird flex, but OK.

 

Money Movers

Money Movers (1978)

Runtime: 93 minutes

Directed by: Bruce Beresford

Starring: Terence Donovan, Tony Bonner, Ed Deveraux, Candy Raymond, Bryan Brown

From: The South Australian Film Corporation/New South Wales Film Corporation

Last night, I discovered what a Chiko Roll was.

I’ll be real here: this was watched last night on YouTube as I saw it pop up in nice quality on a channel I’ve viewed movies on before. This may be the last non-horror picture I see the rest of October-there are many possible films I could view-but I did feel like a change of pace yesterday. Money Movers is an Ozploitation heist film I’ve heard of for years via websites, reviews from people I know online & podcasts.

Times have been tough for Darcy’s Security Services as of late; that armored car company has had to deal w/ a slew of robberies and they are trying to crack down. Of course there’s corruption (and not just at Darcy’s), some characters that seem wild to me-such as a former race car driver-but may just be a normal Aussie man, a breakneck pace, deaths, & Chiko Rolls. To be exact, that product was advertised on a sign during one scene-not having heard of it I had to pay a trip to Wikipedia to discover it is a fried tube containing beef, cabbage, barley, celery, onion, etc.

The movie opens with an armored car heist and it established right away that this wasn’t messing around; someone is blasted by a shotgun, the bloody damage on full display. A few minutes later, several characters are mowed down in a hail of bullets. Time is spent getting to know the various characters, including a crime boss. It’s a hard-hitting film which always captivated up to the big robbery at the counting house—the robbery itself then the aftermath is quite sublime. Those that dig the heist genre, this should definitely be tracked down; it should have everything that you want: the set-up, memorable characters, the planning of the scheme, the heist itself, things going catawampus.

The Exorcist III

The Exorcist III (1990)

Runtime: 110 minutes

Directed by: William Peter Blatty

Starring: George C. Scott, Ed Flanders, Brad Dourif, Nicol Williamson, Jason Miller

From: Morgan Creek

I once saw someone from this cast in a Best Buy; details at the very end.

Indeed, because last night I saw a movie from Fiona Dourif, it gave me the logical idea to revisit something featuring her father-it was finally the push needed to watch the third Exorcist picture for the first time in ages. I've reviewed the first two long ago—the original is a stone-cold classic which managed to terrify people to the point that some thought it actually held demonic power... while II was awful, although amazingly so. The third is more serious than II and is a rare case of a film being directed by the author of the novel it's based on. To clarify, what I saw was the theatrical cut and not the Director's Cut as presented on the Shout Factory Blu-ray released awhile back. Despite all the films I've watched around this time of year since 2013 and the other parts of the year, I am glad there are still famous works like this to discuss.

Two characters from the first return (Lt. Kinderman & Father Dyer), although portrayed by different actors. The former investigates some killings that are the modus operandi The Gemini Killer, someone executed 15 years ago... yeah, Blatty even admitted that he was inspired by The Zodiac Killer. In fact, there is a connection to Regan's exorcism, also 15 years ago. Admittedly, I don't love the movie like many do-it's over the top at times and the studio interference is rather noticeable at times-such as one character you barely get to know having a big impact on the climax of the movie... which of course is the biggest change made by reshoots.

Be that as it may, there is still enough where I say it was pretty good overall. It was quite intriguing how two actors were used for a particular scenario, the cast as a whole is solid-it's always nice having George C. Scott-the murders are incredibly gruesome even if they're more described than shown-honestly, much of this is more a police procedural than a balls to the wall horror picture-and solid direction helped make this a rather compelling journey despite its flaws. The presence of a legendary jump scare which concludes a masterful scene deserves kudos also. One day I should purchase the Blu-ray to see that alternate version (Legion, which was the name of the novel this movie is based on) and discover how much more I dig that. Two last points:

The person from the movie who I once saw in a Best Buy: sadly it wasn't Scott or Dourif; rather, it was basketball player turned coach Patrick Ewing, who cameos in a bizarre dream sequence. Now the coach at Georgetown University, he was at the time still an assistant coach for the Orlando Magic, explaining why he lived in the area. As he's very tall, no mistaking him for anyone else.

Speaking of dreams, last night I had one which involved something involving tasting something then later choking. I later woke up because... it felt like I was choking on something. If my body is falling apart or something supernatural is happening to me, I'll update at a later time! For now I'll somehow blame The Exorcist III for that.

Don't Look At The Demon

Don't Look at the Demon (2022)

Runtime: 93 minutes

Directed by: Brando Lee

Starring: Fiona Dourif, Harris Dickinson, Jordan Belfi, William Miller, Malin Crepin

From: Barnstorm Entertainment/Bliss Pictures

This is a theatrical (!) movie I went into completely blind except for seeing it had something to do with the country of Malaysia and it wasn't something subtitled or dubbed. Ever since I noticed this past Tuesday that something known as Don't Look at the Demon was playing at various locations starting this past Friday-mainly AMC-and ever since I've kept myself in the dark on what the hell it even was. That said, it was easy to do so as I saw exactly zero people say a peep about the movie. In fact, it was even a surprise to see that Fiona Dourif was the star, and was the only name I knew... although now I know that Harris Dickinson has been in some famous films the past several years.

In short, it was actually made in Malaysia but the majority of the cast was white. This isn't awful-a likely scenario that ran through my head beforehand-yet it still feels rather generic, many of the beats likely familiar to even casual horror fans. Get this: a paranormal TV show travels around the world to “investigate” cases and Fiona's character has psychic powers. In the country they visit a haunted house which actually was more than that; there is the stereotypical demon popping up along w/ long black-haired pale girls, although more interesting to me was the local lore used that help make this feel not as rote, by the numbers schlock. The actual cause of all this: rather gross-admittedly, except for a few moments this is not especially graphic. And I am not quite sure why you couldn't look at the demon...

The effects aren't always great and the same goes for the acting & some of the sound design. Thank heavens this wasn't a painful slog and was watchable despite not being as inspired as it could have been. Regrettably it's another 2022 film that would have been better off if they quit while they're ahead, stopping sooner than it did. The weirdness of this getting a halfway-decent theatrical release and its country of origin is its most interesting attributes-thankfully this was watched at an AMC so I could use the A-List app-but I will be at the cinema a few more times the rest of October to view work that is (hopefully) all better than this.

Edge Of The Axe

Edge of the Axe (Al Filo del Hacha) (1988)

Runtime: 91 minutes

Directed by: Jose Ramon Larrez

Starring: Barton Faulks, Christina Marie Lane, Page Moseley, Fred Holliday, Patty Shepherd

From: Calepas International/Jose Frade Proudiccoines Cinematograficas S.A.

The lead guy's girlfriend has a poster for The Color of Money in her bedroom; for some reason this made me chuckle-along with someone else having posters for both Max Headroom & Platoon-although it definitely was not the only time I guffawed. For example, one of the leads is named RICHARD SIMMONS-that is particularly great as Simmons was already famous by this point. I am certain this won't be the last flick I see in October connected to the Spanish film world-in the future I need to see more Jose Ramon Larrez films as I know he has some more highly regarded work from the 70's that won't be difficult to track down.

After a striking opening where a killer wearing an Eyes Without a Face-style mask kills a woman in a car wash with their titular axe (a unique setpiece) we see that our leads are a pair of young men who work as exterminators-one of them named Gerald is a computer nerd-and they romance women as that killer is roaming around offing various dames. This is despite Richard being married to an older woman... he proudly admits that marriage was for her money! This movie has some peculiar moments like that... a bawdy tune the leads made up about a girl, someone suggesting that a guy was gay-yeah, that didn't age so well-and of course the common trope appears of “the movie doesn't know how computers actually work.” As it's 1988, the phrase “bodacious tatas” is heard! For better and for worse, the European flavor of this is omnipresent despite many of the cast & crew's American origins.

It's yet another methodically-paced film for me this month—that was fine in this case as the general goofiness of the leads and the kills were at least brutal. During the film, there was a moment if I wondered whether or not the movie telegraphed something really important... it was instead a tease for one of several red herrings. Notwithstanding, there are some nits to be picked when it comes to Edge of the Axe-the acting, some of the plot machinations, the logic, etc. Nonetheless, I was still entertained; after all, most of this was shot in Northern California in a rural town so the woodsy milieu was quite charming to me. The music also was rad between the period country music and the period electronic score.

As long as you can tolerate both a dog death and a severed pig's head, the journey felt worth it after the concluding 10 minutes; it wasn't anticipated by me and I'll leave it at that. Director Larrez apparently thought this was his worst movie... in that case I'd be happy to watch the rest of his oeuvre as I thought this was fine overall.

Fright Night Part 2

Fright Night Part 2 (1988)

Runtime: 104 minutes

Directed by: Tommy Lee Wallace

Starring: William Ragsdale, Roddy McDowall, Traci Lind, Julie Carmen, Jon Gries

From: The Vista Organization

This featured more roller skating than what I was expecting…

Way back in early 2018 I reviewed the original Fright Night with the intention of soon thereafter seeing this movie, which for only a few days was available in HD widescreen on Prime. It vanished as soon as it appeared, which rather irked me. The reasons why it only barely got released theatrically then there’s in essence been no release past the VHS days... I've only heard an explanation for the former. As the story goes, the “barely got released” thing is due to the fact the person in charge of that was Jose Menendez… yes, the guy who was murdered alongside his wife by his sons Lyle and Erik in a case still famous today.

While Part 2 is most certainly uneven, has Charley Brewster as a WEENIE STAND (i.e. a rube who’s also a jerk; I’m using the film’s nomenclature here) and some dumb moments, it’s still fine so its treatment is unfortunate. If you’re wondering how I saw this, a YouTube upload has flown under the radar for months… I had to turn the sound up but the widescreen print is in acceptable quality & is assumed to be from a cable airing.

As just referenced, the story is not the movie’s strong suit; I groaned a few times yet there was enough where I can’t say this was bad. Three years after the events of the OG picture, Charley has completed therapy, being convinced Jerry Dandridge was just a serial killer and not a vampire. Guess who-or rather, what-shows up… it definitely messes w/ the pursual of strengthening the relationship with his cute blonde girlfriend. The fact that the villain is an alluring lady named Regine is also a problem for a person’s that a typical horny college student.

For all the movie’s faults, at least it has some strong moments, solid direction from veteran Tommy Lee Wallace, nice performances from the two returning leads along with Traci Lind as the girlfriend and Julie Carmen as The Big Bad, & there are some WTF moments-especially at a bowling alley-which provided the biggest laughs. Yeah, this isn’t as funny as the original either… there is no one quite like Evil Ed this time. Thankfully Brad Fiedel also returns, supplying a solid synth score.

After what happened almost five years ago, it was nice to finally close this loop last night.

Twice-Told Tales

Twice-Told Tales (1963)

Runtime: 120 minutes

Directed by: Sidney Salkow

Starring: Vincent Price, Sebastian Cabot, Brett Halsey, Beverly Garland, Richard Denning

From: United Artists

First off, I won’t be watching any films tonight; honestly, things have been exhausting as of late: stressing over the hurricane, bad things happening to people I know (things are fine now), unexpected stressors due to the incompetence of others… I need a night off but hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow. With that out of the way…

This Vincent Price anthology is one I apparently rate higher than many others, but that is OK. This likely won’t be the last anthology I see in October (or maybe even the last Price anthology) yet this is the only one based on two Nathaniel Hawthorne short stories and a truncated version of the novel The House of the Seven Gables. Apparently these are rather loose adaptations although I hadn’t read any of them before so it’s a moot point.

Price not only provides brief narration before and after each segment, he’s the star of each. The two short stories are Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment and Rappaccini’s Daughter. To break it on down:
Experiment takes place during a dark and stormy night; Price and Sebastian Cabot are two old men, the former having lost his bride right before the wedding almost four decades ago, and he never got over it. It’s a great bit of romanticism before the terror begins. Truth be told I went into the film almost completely blind; none of the three plots were known to me whatsoever so I won’t get too detailed in the review. Each segment was around 40 minutes long, meaning there was enough time to tell these twice-told tales.

Rappaccini’s Daughter is the plot which has the most F-ed up dynamics… what I mean is that one person’s behavior is pretty abhorrent if you dwell on it even a bit. RD’s set in Italy, featuring a poisonous plant, not to mention male behavior that by today’s standards would be notated as REALLY toxic. The House of the Seven Gables has a lot going on, all revolving around a house in Salem 150 years after the Salem Witch Trials. That has a bleeding portrait, curses, spirits, family feuds, other squabbles, etc.

All three stories had nice performances, colorful sets, plots that work with each presentation having only a few characters present, fine music, and tales that grabbed me/never let me go. The two hour runtime just flew by as I was invested in this macabre delight. In conclusion, it does actually make me want to read some of Hawthorne’s work, if only for comparison’s sake but also because presumably I would like the cut of his jib.