What ELSE (other than KUNG FU) has everyone been watching?

[masterofoneinchpunch]

The Premature Burial (1962: Roger Corman) ***/****

Well I decided to watch another Roger Corman horror flick that I had not seen. I have been enjoying them and I have a whole bunch of them. So for the ninth pick of the month I picked a horror film from Corman that did not have Vincent Price in it.* This is actually the only Corman Poe adaptation that does not have Vincent Price.

I feel Milland (The Lost Weekend, Dial M for Murder) does a good performance as the suffering Guy Carrell. Many of the reviews of this film seem to take acceptance to the fact he is not Vincent Price instead of concentrating on his successes or faults of the character. He does not have the flamboyance as Price, but he, as Corman says in the extras, he has a romantic-lead quality that fits well for this role (though it would have been even more believable a decade earlier). After this Milland would star and direct AIP's Panic in the Year Zero! (which I own but need to watch).

Guy Carrell has a favorite Poe illness – catalepsy. Or at least he thinks he does. This fear consumes every waking hour of his life ever since he had viewed an unearthing of a coffin whose occupant was buried alive and the corpse’s countenance was of sheer terror and of broken fingers trying to claw his way out. He even has tried to push away his lover Emily Gault (Hazel Court, The Raven) who will not let his issues get in the way of their love.

Some of the burial of the character is reminiscent of Vampyr (1932). I would have to imagine it was an influence. The sets are extravagant and every year they seem to keep getting better and better for the Corman films. Carrell’s mausoleum which he built out of days of obsession is an excellent piece which is completely overboard, but fitting for the character.**

Since this, House of Usher (1960) and Pit and the Pendulum (1961) have similar themes I recommend that you do not watch these too close together (though it might be of interest to watch this after watching one Corman/Price collaboration). While I do not think as highly of this as those two, I still like this and fans of these “B” horror films will probably enjoy this. I have some issues with the plot during the last part of the film and one major part during the film (I think his main issue, which was solved with the creation of the tomb, could have also been solved if he had a lawyer/trusted love one put in a particular place for a period of time say a month before he could be buried).

This movie is on the expensive and OOP Midnite Movies Double Feature with The Masque of the Red Death (do not fret about this though; The Masque of the Red Death will be reissued November 22 of this year from Image (R1) with the film The Madhouse). It is also available on the Roger Corman Collection that has 8 films which is still available and cheaper than the Double Feature.

* Long story short: Corman would have had Vincent Price in the film if he could of, but he had an exclusive contract with American International. Corman had some issues with AIP and was going to do this next Poe film with Pathe. What is interesting about this is that Pathe was soon sold to AIP, but Corman still kept Ray Milland in the role (I have no idea if Corman could have gotten Milland out of the contract, I also doubt that Corman would have). Corman talks about this in the extras on the DVD.

** Safety Coffin link. The fear of premature burial has been around for a long time. While that article briefly mentions that it is in movie The First Great Train Robbery, it is earlier in Michael Crichton’s novel (he directed the film as well) where he goes into much more detail on this and some of the history of who created variations on this such as the Bateson's Belfry. This was created by George Bateson who made quite a bit of money by it, but was so consumed by fear of being buried alive he set himself on fire.

[AlbertV]

FAME (1980) - Great movie about a group of students at the School of Performing Arts in NYC. This spawned the popular 80's TV series and was remade by the director who will bring back MORTAL KOMBAT.

NORMA RAE (1979) - Pretty good movie starring Sally Field as a young mill worker who decides to start a union and overcomes all obstacles to make sure she and her fellow workers get what they need.

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON (2011) - I didn't think it was that bad. I loved the entire last hour, where it was just a war zone in Chicago.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011) - I loved it!!! Chris Evans fit the role IMO as Steve Rogers. The USO scenes killed me as he makes what I now officially call "The Evans Face" (the half-smirk). Hugo Weaving was the perfect Red Skull and the supporting cast was top-notch plus great action set in WWII.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Inner Senses (2002: Law Chi-leung: Hong Kong) ***/****

For the tenth pick of the month I thought a psychological ghost story would be a good pick. The Sixth Sense (1999) had been a hit worldwide and had certainly inspired a wave in Hong Kong of “I see dead people” related films from this to later the same year The Eye (and eventually several sequels) and the spoof My Left Eye Sees Ghosts (Johnnie To, Wai Ka-fai). While the similarities are there with The Sixth Sense, often some of these movies like this one and The Stir of Echoes (1999) have been unfairly stigmatized because they have come later.

Jim Law (Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing: Happy Together) is a workaholic psychiatrist who spends his free time either swimming or studying the piles of patient files and books in his home. He takes on a case as a favor for another doctor Wilson Chan (Waise Lee: The Big Heat). Chan’s relative Cheung Yan (Karena Lam: July Rhapsody) lives alone just recently moved into an apartment (somewhat reminiscent of Dark Water (2002)) and sees ghosts. Unfortunately the landlord lost his wife and child to a landslide and expects them back. So he constantly makes food for them and has their shoes ready as well. This is not good for an already fragile ego.

But Dr. Law is quite good at what he does. He is able to get to the psychological problems of Yan, though at first causing even more problems, and help her tame her demonic subconscious. She is cured and is able to get on with life. He has proved to her that there are no ghosts. However, just as she is able to get on with life he starts to see an apparition that begins haunting him.

I enjoyed this film quite a bit and really loved the ending. It is a psychological thriller film first and ghost story second. It is not overly scary, but effective for what it is trying to accomplish. Just as you think you are following a tired plot it brings a new look and feel to the ghost story and handles it with more intelligence than many of this genre. It is a film first about flawed individuals and how their lives parallel each other. I had a few issues with the score overdoing a string instrument at times of heightened excitement. I thought the main performances were good and that Law Chi-leung’s direction is solid (he would be nominated for Hong Kong Film Awards Best Director and would win Best New Director) if not superlative. I liked the fact that he did not overdo the CGI and what is used looks good.

There are disturbing real-life associations with the film that are unfortunate. This was the lead actor Leslie Cheung (Farewell my Concubine) last film before his suicide the following year. While there are strong parallels between the ending and his death, his passing would take place over a year after the filming of this movie. Cheung was becoming more depressed as time went on and was also choosing more difficult characters to portray, as opposed to his many earlier pretty-boy roles, like his psychiatrist here and his pushed-over-the-edge marksman in Double Tap (2000: Law Chi-leung). His gamble paid off with the critics as he was nominated as best actor for both the Golden Horse and Hong Kong Film Awards for his Dr. Law performance. It is doleful that the world lost an(other) excellent actor who had a brilliant career ahead and it would have been interesting to see how he handled aging with more mature roles.

I viewed this on the R0 Tai Seng release. It has Cantonese (the original language) and Mandarin dubs. It has a short 11 minute “Making Of” featurette, original trailer and some in depth filmographies. The picture looks good and the subtitles seem to be correctly translated.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Boris Karloff: The Gentle Monster (1995: Kevin Burns)

“My wife has good taste. She has seen very few of my movies.” – Boris Karloff (this is attributed to him, though I currently cannot find the source)

For some reason I had a hell of a time trying to find it in IMDB. So here is the link (only 12 votes yikes; I should be the 13th): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462165/combined For the 11th pick of the month I needed to watch at least one horror documentary. Being a huge Boris Karloff fan I knew which one I had to watch.

Arts and Entertainment’s (A&E) long running serious Biography (1987 - ) have done quite a few episodes so it is easy to find one on a favorite actor or director. With a running time of 45 minutes I knew it was not going to have enough information on Boris that I did not already know, but it was fun to watch and like all of these I learned a few tidbitss. As usual with this series it does a condensed version of his life starting from his difficult childhood as a William Henry Pratt, to his struggling days as a touring actor in Canada, his early days in the silent cinema and his successes and typecasting after Frankenstein (1931). He has done so many movies that if you are fan you are bound to notice many missing from this documentary. Good to see The Comedy of Terrors mentioned though.

One of the benefits of documentaries is to see new footage of stars saying nice things about the actor. Here we have Carol Burnett, Ron Chaney, Bela Lugosi Jr., Roddy McDowall, Robert Wise, Sara Karloff, Peter Bogdanovich (IMDB misses this one for the documentary; Peter directed Boris in Targets (1968) how many extras is this man in?) and several others. Everyone, of course, has nothing but nice things to say about him. I do wonder why he was married so many times (five or six; one they state they are not quite sure on).

One issue that is annoying because of the documentaries age is that the scenes of the films shown are from pretty bad copies (possibly public domain for the older movies). A later filmed documentary (literally in a few years) would have access to restored films and would look a lot more polished that what is shown here.

I do think fans of Boris would enjoy this as well as fans of the classic horror genre. I certainly liked it.

You can find this biography on two DVDs: Biography – Boris Karloff: The Gentle Monster from A&E or on the Heroes of Horror R1 Image release. Both are OOP, but if you can find either one pick it up. Though specifically if you can find the Heroes of Horror pick it up. It is an awesome biography set. Why are both OOP?

[AlbertV]

DUE DATE (2011) - I laughed my butt off with this movie from Todd Phillips. Robert Downey Jr. and Zack Galifinakis had great comic chemistry IMO.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Have fun with this one (if I can talk one person into watching this I'll be happy; though it would help if you like silent film):

The Phantom Carriage (1921: Victor Sjöström: Sweden) ****/****

For the 12th pick of the month I decided that I had to watch at least one Criterion release (I’m possibly going to try to fit in their House release as well that seems a fine fit for this month) and I have not seen a Swedish silent film this month (I have seen a German silent this month). This film has a great reputation and I have wanted to see this for several years. I am a big fan of 1920s cinema and I think it is one of the best decades of film. This film further helps than opinion.

The Phantom Carriage is like the Irish Cóiste Bodhar a coach which carries the dead spirits. Unlike the headless dullahan (the one in charge of the coach; he usually carried his head with him though) this Swedish tale discusses that the driver is chosen every year. The unlucky one is one who is the last to die before New Year’s Day. At least that was what was told to David Holm (Victor Sjöström). But he would soon believe it when a scuffle leaves him dead before the stroke of midnight. He is faced with an old friend who is the current Grim Reaper who is partially responsible for Holm’s downfall in society. He led him to alcohol, he became a leach on society, he went to jail, he led his brother into crime (though I did not agree that was responsible for his brother’s actions) and when he got out of jail his family had left him. This further led him to despair.

However, the unconditional love of one woman Edit (Astrid Holm), a Salvation Army worker, helps lead him to possible redemption. The scene with her sewing his clothes for him and then him tearing up all she did is quite heartbreaking. But she never gives the reaction he is looking for, she does not doubt. However, from the sewing of his soiled clothing he gave her tuberculosis.

While the special effects are quite good with an elaborate use of double-exposure, there are other elements that are just as impressive. The storyline which uses a vast amount of flashbacks is exquisite. The cinematography and sets are excellent. The acting is not overdone as with the stage influence of many films from this time.

This is a tale of redemption that has to have had a Charles Dicken’s Christmas Carol influence. There are too many parallels between that book and this story based on the novel Körkarlen by Selma Lagerlöf. But the film is unique enough with so many strengths that I am so glad I finally got to see it. If you are a fan of silent cinema then I think this will be a salient viewing.

The Criterion release is quite good with a solid transfer (not perfect though I would not expect to see that though) and they have been improving in their silent movie collection though still far behind what I think they should have. I am a little puzzled though not surprised by the overboard Ingmar Bergman love here. I am glad the have the two extras: The Bergman Connection (an audio visual essay from Peter Cowie) and Interview with Ingmar Bergman which is extracted from a 1981 documentary on Victor Sjöström by Gösta Werner. Seriously, they just used the Bergman interview. It feels like the main reason this film was added to the Criterion collection was because it was one of Bergman’s favorite films. There should have been an audio visual essay specifically on this film and/or we could have had the whole 1981 documentary. The insert essay titled “Phantom Forms” by Paul Mayersberg is decent, but does not go over the film as much as Sjöström’s career. I am looking forward to the audio commentary from Casper Tybjerg though I hope I do not hear Bergman mentioned more than five times.

The two scores that come with this are vastly different. The preferred score is the one done by Swedish composer Matti Bye performed and recorded in March 1998. It is a beautiful chamber orchestra ensemble that fits the film quite well. Then there is the alternate score composed in 2007 by KTL an experimental duo whose sound here resembles the inner thoughts of static. While I somewhat liked it late at night with very little sleep the more I listened to more irritated I got (especially the louder it played; this is one of the few scores that made me physically twitchy; I now have more appreciation for the Alloy Orchestra).

Notes: I am also surprised that this is not on Roger Ebert’s Great Movie list, though I will not be surprised if he adds this within the next three months. There is Cabiria but not this. But with the recent release I believe this film will get more recognition over the next couple of years.

[ShaOW!linDude]

BATMAN: YEAR ONE --- For those of you interested in animation, DC/Warner does it again! This is based of the Frank Miller story (which I've never read but always heard good things about). I enjoyed the story which focuses equally on Bruce Wayne starting out as the Batman and Lt. Jim Gordon coming to Gotham to find a corrupt police force. The story is narrated from both standpoints and has a nice noir-ish feel to it. The voice talent is great. The animation action is sweet! The only 2 beefs I had with it is that there isn't a proper villain for Batman to deal with and that it only clocks in at 1 hr. long.

There's also a 15 minute short: CATWOMAN. This was fantastic! It has some of the coolest animated action sequences I've seen in a while!

[masterofoneinchpunch]

The Fly (1958: Kurt Neumann) **½/****:

Every Halloween influenced month of viewings should include at least one man transformed into creature (or hybrid) flick. I have seen the Cronenberg remake a few times and I knew it was time to watch the original for the 13th pick of the month. Watching this also has the benefit of checking off another Vincent Price film. The Cronenberg's The Fly (let’s call him Brundlefly), like with John Carpenter’s The Thing is among the few sequels that I consider better than the original. The original film based on a short story by George Langelaan is not a bad film, it has some great moments, but I feel a bit letdown after watching this.

It does not help that I watched this after a great film like The Phantom Carriage though. That film had a much more complicated narrative than the overused basic flashback structure here. The normal type of we have an incident, let’s have a conversion that explains the incident and then the aftermath after we catch up to the present time. Now there is nothing inherently wrong with this, but since it is commonplace there have to be additional factors to make in interesting.

Being a Vincent Price fan I am probably a bit biased. Personally I felt Price was underused as François Delambre, though I am not sure how he would have done as the scientist here. The scientist (David Hedison) is an absent-minded professor type, very banal and that is fine until the incident. But for the most part I was not overall happy with the acting, though it is typical of many of these films from the 1950s or the direction from Kurt Neumann. The relationship between the couple was fine, though the love triangle was pretty much over before it began.

Where the film was most successful was certain moments like the unmasking of the fly which reminded me of The Phantom of the Opera (1925: Rupert Julian), the killing of the scientist (this is not a spoiler you know this at the beginning of the film) and the creepy ending which is quite effective. But there is no real suspense as you know everything is going to happen. So when efforts in the middle section are made to catch the fly you know what is going to happen. Almost everything is perfunctory after the first act.

I just felt ambivalent about this making it more difficult to come up with a review. I just do not feel that this is one of the greater horror films even though it has its following and is even in New York Times Best 1000 Movies Ever list.

Funny how things work though: after watching Chuck Norris in Good Guys Wear Black I have a better appreciation for The Fly and most movies.

[AlbertV]

SCRE4M - Not a bad installment of the Wes Craven series. Interesting how today's technology make a huge impact and lo and behold, the revelation of Ghostface was even a little shock for me.

HYENAS - Think werewolf movie except it is a pack of were-hyenas out to kill and eat. A hunter seeks revenge for the death of his family with the help of a local man people think is crazy. Not really scary as most of the deaths were off-screen, plus a fight between two hyenas was atrociously bad CGI.

THE HOWLING REBORN - Former teen stars from Degrassi and Ned's Declassified star as a new couple who learn that the guy will be turning into a werewolf. The duo must try to stop his bloodlust while evading a pack of werewolves led by someone close to future werewolf. Like HYENAS, not that scary, but a nice werewolf fight in the finale. (No CGI B.S., looks more old school animatronics and stuntmen in suits).

[masterofoneinchpunch]

The Masque of the Red Death (1964: Roger Corman) ***½/****:

The more I watch the Roger Corman Poe cycle of films, the more I feel that they are underrated. Maybe I just read the wrong critics or not enough critics (though to be fair Leonard Maltin is a fan of this film) because I also think Corman is an underrated director as well (The Intruder is my favorite film of his). This is among those films I wonder why I took so long to watch (as opposed to a film like The Phantom Carriage where I was waiting for a Criterion release). One of the advantages of concentrating on horror in October is that I get to see films I might have eschewed otherwise. For the 14th pick of this month I thought another Corman and Vincent Price film would fit the bill. And it sure did.

Corman went to England for this one to take advantage of their government subsidies (he states this on the interview on the DVD). Corman has always had budget sense. He can make a good looking film out of a small budget and he almost always makes a profit off of his films (especially the ones where he is a producer).

The film is a combination of two Poe stories: the titular one and Hop Frog which is used as a subplot with the dwarf and his love (actually played by a little girl which is a little creepy in a few scenes; her voice is dubbed). Vincent Price is Prospero a Lord of Flies worshiping prince who believes he can ward off the Red Death that has stricken the area. He is a sadistic man with charm who has allowed the local aristocracy to take protection in his castle. He has also taken a girl Francesca (Jane Asher) whose strong believe in God fascinates him. Will she be his undoing?

The Ingmar Bergman The Seventh Seal references are apparent, but still quite effective. The sets and colors are exquisite. The cinematography is quite good and done by future director Nicolas Roeg (Walkabout, The Man Who Fell to Earth). I always find it fascinating the connections you find with the more films you watch.

What I love about Vincent Price is that he gives his all with his performances. Occasionally you can tell when an actor does a horror role and seems to phone in a performance. You do not worry about this with the reliable Price. This is one of the main reasons he was asked to do horror roles over and over again. I have read some complaints of him being the same type of actor with his roles. Just watching him in the Poe cycle you can see so many variants of his acting style that I just cannot agree with that. In this film you get a very evil man though with a sense of humor (maybe because he uses humor in so many different situations that some reviewers think this is the markings of similar characters).

This movie is on the expensive and OOP Midnite Movies Double Feature with The Premature Burial. Do not fret about this though; The Masque of the Red Death will be reissued November 22 of this year from Image (R1) with the film The Madhouse. The extra on this is a great 18 minute interview with Roger Corman where he discusses the Poe cycle, the budget of this film, the Bergman influences and much more.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Constantine (2005: Francis Lawrence) ***/****

For the 16th pick of the month (I’m skipping the review of the 15th for now) I picked a film I had already seen, but have wanted to rewatch over the past few years. Constantine has all the elements fit for this time: demonic possession, Beelzebub, Satan himself, world domination, cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria. Some reviewers such as Roger Ebert were not kind to the film*, though this movie was a worldwide hit and has a decent IMDB average of 6.7. It did not make its money back stateside with a budget of near 100 million dollars and a gross off 76 million here so luckily it sold well elsewhere and if you add in DVD sales and rentals and the film did well, though not enough for a sequel. I liked the film the first time I saw it and I wondered if time would change that.

There is something about the mythology of the film I find fascinating, but I also enjoyed the plot. Constantine (Keanu Reeves) is a chain-smoking, hard drinking morose loner whose God-given ability to see demons (as well as seraphs) had previously driven him to commit suicide in his youth. This act marked him as a condemned man, but he is trying to make it up by rounding up rogue half-breed hellions who are overstepping their place in this realm. A police officer (Rachel Weisz: The Mummy, My Blueberry Nights), whose identical twin (yes the same actress, saves money that way) recently committed suicide, comes looking for Constantine to find answers on why. The relationship between these two is somewhat atypical in that they tease but do not have a romantic relationship. The script does a lot of little things like this right. It could have done some aspects better like maybe not having the professional sidekick of the time Shia LaBeouf.

I liked Keanu Reeves’s performance though it really is not much different than many of his other performances. He is a little more sardonic here with a bigger twist of asshole, but still Keanu (I like Keanu). It is interesting that he would end up in Hell again though like Nicolas Cage they get their share of these types of roles. They should team up for a film involving Hell, the end of humanity and at least one motorcycle.

Satan had an interesting characterization by Peter Stormare (Minority Report; already in Criterion for Armageddon). This leads to an interesting topic on who best played the Lord of Flies (I’m very partial to Angel Heart; cannot list the actor since it is a spoiler: D). But Peter’s bizarre performance was certainly unique.

The director Francis Lawrence sharpened his teeth on music videos before getting his first film gig here. This would help him handle the special effects here though he is still a little weak on directing humans. He would later direct the successful I Am Legend (where he had a little trouble directing CGI creatures) and this year he directed Water for Elephants which I have not seen. Though one cannot help wondering what Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy) would have done with the material.

Stay for the very end as this film has a little extra at the end of the credits. It is annoying when you leave a film during the credits only to find out later that you missed a little extra scene.

* Roger Ebert's Review If you read his review he spends most of his time stating the plot instead of objections to the film which seemed to amount to their being a Catholic Priest and not sure what else though I did spot another mistake in one of his reviews: “The angel Gabriel (Tilda Swinton) tells him, "You are going to die young because you've smoked 30 cigarettes a day since you were 13."” This was actually stated by the doctor. Ebert is correct that confession would have solved his problem of salvation a lot quicker unless I am missing a technicality.

Some reviewers were upset that the film did not follow the comic book Hellblazer exactly. I am not a comic book reader fanboy, so I came into the film cold and I also have the opinion that the movie has to operate in its own universe.

[jmungus]

Constantine (2005: Francis Lawrence) ***/****

I liked Keanu Reeves’s performance though it really is not much different than many of his other performances.

no surprise there

constantine has been on my rewatch list for some time now. watched it in the theater and didnt like it much. watched it on dvd like 2 years later and thought it was kinda okay after all.

now another 4, 5 years have passed and its about time to get a final opinion.

Though one cannot help wondering what Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy) would have done with the material.

yeah. one helluva dirty beast probably. i was wondering the same thing bout del toro regarding SPAWN. i want a spawn franchise by del toro word to the mutha.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

no surprise there

...yeah. one helluva dirty beast probably. i was wondering the same thing bout del toro regarding SPAWN. i want a spawn franchise by del toro word to the mutha.

Del Toro makes everything better . Him doing Spawn would be interesting, heck I would like to see what he could do with many non-horror remakes (possibly making them into a horror, yes Citizen Kane was a vampire -- kidding about this ).

[Takuma]

Live Night Visions Film Festival coverage

Fest info: Night Visions is a bi-annual film festival focusing on horror, fantasy and cult films. The Maximum Halloween event is four days, with three warm up days followed by the main night with 7 films (almost) non-stop. There's always two films screening at the same time, so you can choose which one to see.

Some of the films screened at the fest in the recent years include A Serbian Film (2010), Zombie 2 (1979), Which is Stronger: Karate or the Tiger (1976), Napoli Violenta (1976), Mutant Girls Squad (2010), Robotrix (1991), Pieces (1982), The Human Centipede (2008), Young Warriors (1983), Zombie Holocaust (1980), Cold Fish (2010) and Fist of Fear, Touch of Death (1980). In other words: more good films than you'll see anywhere else!

Day 1

Open the fest with Revenge - A Love Story - "the more refined choise" as stated by the fest president in comparison to The Thing (2011) that was playing on the other screen. Sora Aoi is pretty much adorable in the film - unbelievable achievement from an AV star. Strong film, too - extremely brutal and hard hitting, but has a clever structure. A bit like Dog Bite Dog but more brutal and with a real love story and without tramatic father relationship bullshit. The ending is poorish though - would benefit from deleting the last 10 min.

Inbred - UK goes hillbilly/redneck splatter, with German financing. This is essentially a comedy with plenty of good laughs, but much of the violence is so gross that it will disgust (in a good way) even gorehounds. A bit irritating characters and no masterpiece by any means, but ultimately on the positive side. Thick accent - I was lucky if I could understand half of the dialogue. The German producer, who was attending the screening, also stated he had to watch it with subtitles in France despite being fluent in English. I feel sorry for the people who will see it in the second screening on Sunday morning at 7 (preceded by 5 other films that night)... they ain't gonna understand a bloody thing in that state.

Yöjuttu: Merkitty. This is a cool, ultra rare Finnish made-for-TV horror film. Rather unintentionally funny but cool. This is the kind of stuff that you're proud to see on fests - it has never been screened in cinemas before, it has never been released on home video, and it has never been seen anywhere since its original (and only) 1984 TV screening. Director and two stars attending, discussing the film and another, less successful production that the director stated "if someone asks me tomorrow, I'll tell him I don't know what he's talking about"

Oh, and I saw Enzo G. Castellari in the corridor with two Nazi-girls. Bloody cool

[masterofoneinchpunch]

^ Quite cool Takuma, jealous of course.

possible small spoilers:

The Devil’s Advocate (1997: Taylor Hackford) **/****

For the 17th pick of the month I thought a lawyer/satanic film would be a great fit for the month. I thought I could also compare and contrast two different Keanu Reeves performances (I watched Constantine the night before). I did not have high expectations for this movie and even then I was disappointed. The plot is so basic and with its extended running time for its boilerplate story it goes on for far too long.

You have a small town undefeated attorney in Kevin Lomax (Keanu Reeves; is it my imagination or does his accent come and go) get lured and hired by a very large firm run by John Milton (Al Pacino; if you paid attention to the name of the film or the trailers then you know who he actually is) who’s hand is in so many different evil areas, well because there is money there and well he is the Devil. His mom thinks this is a bad idea and well his wife Mary Ann (Charlize Theron) is OK with it until… I think we know most of the arc of the story after this.

When a plot goes on cruise control you start thinking other things like what would happen if Reeves and Pacino switched roles (not saying this would have worked, but it would have been interesting) and Hackford sure is trying to get as much nude performances out of his actresses. Films I find mediocre are harder to write about because for the most part you feel the film is overall neither good nor overly bad. I notice some reviewers tend to digress when writing about films they find uninteresting. I wonder what I am going to watch next. I hope the NBA stops their stupid lockout.

I was going to comment on the problematic nature of having an undefeated lawyer (both as a DA and as a private criminal attorney which is impossible even if you cherry-pick your cases), but the film comments on this towards the end. It seems to be fairly intelligent in this area commenting on the importance of jury selection, how DAs get paid less than being private (though in truth most private attorneys tend to struggle especially when there is a glut of them in a town) though some of the histrionics in the court scenes are, as usual, a little much.

I seriously hated the ending with its hackneyed contrivance ending (hmmm hackneyed/Hackford). However the penultimate conclusion between John Milton and Kevin Lomax was the best scene in the film (with their first meeting being second with that wonderfully creepy waterfall terrace) with the wonderful statue background that appears to be alive while Pacino gets to ham it up and if the film had that gravitas earlier it would have been a much more satisfying experience. Pacino is at his best with scene-chewing dialogue because of his personality, but he has much more difficulty in not being bombastic at every single moment and overdoing his Cheshire Cat smile. There is no subtlety to his performance and there is no subtlety to this film.

There are just so many better films out there to be watched before this one. I know this film has its fans (don’t all films), but I really cannot imagine why. Satan has been portrayed better in many films, Keanu has been better, heck I liked Constantine better than this. I would rather watch Army of Darkness for the 38th time than watch this movie for the first time, but I guess that goes without saying.

[Takuma]

hah, thanks.

Day 2

Trick or Treat (1986). "His fans won't let him die. He won't let them live!" A totally cool heavy metal horror movie, with title and tagline that have almost nothing to do with the film! Rock star Sammi Curr (Tony Fields) dies in a fire, but returns from hell to help his high schooler fan take revenge against bullies - and everyone. Excellent semi-cheese coolness with great soundtrack and cameos from Ozzy Osbourne (moralist priest) and Gene Simmons (radio DJ). A real treat. The print was about to fall in pieces, though :thumbs:

Preceded by teaser trailer for King Kong Lives (1986). "He's back, and he's not happy!"

Prodondo rosso (1975). Now this is fuckin something - the shorter, far superior international version (titled The Hatchet Murders) on 35mm - reminds you why films are 10 times more impressive on huge cinema screen than at home! The shorter version deletes the dumb comedy and romance bits, improves pacing, and puts David Hemmings' real voice on the audio track. A very stylish and moody giallo with terrific Goblin soundtrack - thoroughly brilliant, even if it doesn't make full sense half of the time!

Preceded by video greeting by the Goblin for the Finnish audiences :thumbs:

- Trick or Treat trailer:

[Takuma]

Day 3

Hobo with a Shotgun (2011). Grindhouse trailer contest winner - the comeback of 1970's vigilante movies, except that the surface is far closer to the new wave Japanese splatter movement. Rutger Hauer is excellent as a shotgun Hobo - it's a character that sounds like a joke, but has unexpected care and sympathy put into it. The rest of the film (literally) contrasts: the over-charged visual appearance looks like an ass, and the extreme bloodletting is constantly one step away from pretentious. Yet its impossible not to feel great joy over the fact that such politically incorrect and free-from-studio-regulation trash films are being made (outside Japan as well). The uncompromising nature and the lack of CGI make it a heartwarming movie, even if not quite on par with it's Asian sisters or American ancestors.

1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982). Castellari goes post-apocalypse - The Warriors meets Escape from New York, with more motorcycles and bigger muscles! Mostly shot on location in Bronx, this is one cool-ass cheapo action film with some brilliant villain work by Vic Morrow, strong support from the ever-so-cool Fred Williamson, and an amusingly charisma-free leading performance by the bare-chested Mark Gregory. In technically sense it's nowhere near Castellari's greats (Keoma etc.) and most of the dialogue is downright ridiculous - but that's part of the fun. Old beaten up print with plenty of damage but good colors - serves the film just fine, and looks great on giant cinema screen!

And Enzo G. Castellari motherfucker! The festival guest of honor, a very nice guy who also recalls having made a sequel to The Bronx Warriors, but can no longer remember what the hell it was all about! Having Mr. Having Castellari sitting in the audience certainly boosted the (already through the roof) atmosphere in the theater.

Question: "Which one do you think is better, your or Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards?"

Castellari: "Mine, of course!"

8 (2011). A 36 min Finnish horror pic dealing with subconscious. Made with a 6000€ budget it actually looks perfectly solid (better than Hobo with a Shotgun or the new Japanese splatter films). Effective use of music aside, though, it's rather clumsy and predictable. It's obviously it's made by a film school student rather than self-educated cinema fan - there's certain artistic stiffness and formality that comes through and very commonly chains Finnish cinema, as opposed to fresh innovativeness.

Red State (2011). Kevin Smith Attacks! The made-to-be-controversial pic opens as a Smithian teen film, takes a turn to horror, and ultimately ends up a machine gun wielding satire on the post 9/11 America. Conservative Christian movements are the main target, but the US government also gets their fare share of the bite, and towards the end it wouldn't be completely off-the-wall to claim some of the bullets are aimed at Islam, too. An entertaining and semi-important movie regardless of one's political or religious stand (any such movement or politics ought to be critisized, as forbidding criticism would only destroy its credibility) - and frankly speaking far out enough not to be truly insulting to anyone. Smith's jokes do tends to run overtime, though - more than one scene drag, and the film loses some of its bite in the process.

Morituris (2011). American Psycho. Rape and revenge without revenge. Sergio Stivaletti. Zombie gladiators. WTFIGO? Italian horror film magazine editor-in-chief goes film director with a mini budget horror film. It's mean piece, but not as graphic as the recent torture and gorno films it has (slightly misleadingly) been compared to. The dialogue is awful, and there's technical screw ups, such as confusing editing in a few spots and too dark image - but there's something cool about the film. While clumsy and cheap, it's made by enthusiastic horror fans, features old school gore effects, and explains little enough to become even slightly atmospheric. It's a film for hard core horror fans who can appreciate what it is - others need not bother.

Screening attended by director Raffaele Picchio and producer Gianluigi Perrone - two young guys with so much enthusiasm that in the Q&A they were essentially interviewing each other and answering questions before anyone even asked them anything.

[AlbertV]

DUM MAARO DUM (2011) - Action thriller from India starring Abhishek Bachchan (DHOOM 1 & 2) as a corrupt cop who is assigned to stop all the drug dealing in Goa. There is also a young collegian who is forced into dealing drugs by his childhood friend and then his friend, a local musician, who is somehow coerced into the madness when he vouches his friend's innocence and falls for a local woman who is a drug addict. Exciting action for a Bollywood film and Bachchan truly is in top form. LETHAL WEAPON star Danny Glover was one of the film's executive producers.

THE WARD (2011) - John Carpenter's latest film revolving around a young woman, played by Amber Heard, in a mental institution. She and her fellow inmates are terrorized and are picked off one by one by the ghost of a former patient. A shocking twist is revealed at the end and even I was surprised by it. Carpenter did a good job in translating the Rasmussen Brothers' script fairly well.

THE BUTCHER, THE CHEF, AND THE SWORDSMAN (2010) - Wuersheng's connected anthology revolving around a blade made of the five greatest swords in the martial arts world. It starts with a porky butcher's love for a local hooker, then delves into the story of a mute chef who must use the blade to cook a delicious meal for a eunuch (there is a hilarious unexpected scene here that I had to keep rewinding because I was laughing so hard), and then the story of the swordsman who forced the blacksmith who created the iron to make the blade. Very interesting as it melded various genres all in one. There are only two action scenes, one a swordfight that was badly edited between the swordsman and his brother and an action scene reminiscent of SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD. Executive producer was Doug Liman (MR. & MRS. SMITH).

[Takuma]

Day 4 (the main event aka midnight marathon): Part 1 (20:00 – 04:45)

High Crime (1973). This is a gem – Enzo G. Castellari’s first poliziotteschi, and often considered one of the best Italian crime films ever made. Franco Nero is rather excellent as commissioner Belli trying to crack down a crime ring in a bad city. Inspired by true events, it’s quite a realistic film that goes into great detail in portraying the politics of crime and law enforcement. Castellari’s focus is on characters, despite some compulsory high quality car chases and shootouts. The use of music, editing and violence is often brilliant – especially in the unforgettable ending sequence! It’s a true shame there are no good quality dvd releases available anywhere in the world – another reason why seeing this on 35mm was an experience to be grateful of.

And the audience was grateful indeed – the screening was sold out to the last seat, with the entire audience giving standing ovations to Mr. Castellari after the film! Castellari was clearly moved by this – he said it was just like in Rome in 1973 when the film first opened to a grand success!

And I had my Japanese book signed by Mr. Castellari! It is now officially the coolest Japanese book on the planet!

3D Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy (2011). Here’s something that’s more of an event than a movie. The 3D upgrade of the 90’s Sex & Zen movies offers what it promises: silly comedy and plenty of beautiful (mainly Japanese) girls with three dimensional assets. Somewhat unexpectedly there’s also a load of sadism towards the end as the story takes a turn to a tragedy. This is one of the film’s flaws – such pseudo-roughness neither has the bite of true Category 3 roughies nor does is go well with the rest of the film. The first half an hour proves fun and even stylish-by-genre-standards erotica well suitable for both sexes. The film is, however, at last 30 minutes too long regardless of version (the various non-censored versions vary in length from under 2 hours to near 2½ hours!) Nevertheless, it a movie theater experience to remember – home video versions, especially in 2D, would hardly be worth anyone’s time.

Indeed, on a giant cinema screen (one of the biggest in Finland) in 3D this was somewhat a surreal experience. “May take a while until something like this hits the Finnish screens again” was the official word. Oh, and all viewers were given an empty plastic cup at the door when entering… (festival humor).

Rabies (2010). Israel’s first horror movie is a strange beast – not only does the whole storyline take place in broad daylight, it also features quite an unusual killer (best not spoiled forehand). It’s very much a writing/acting piece, despite some (thankfully non-CGI) gore. Director/screenwriter duo Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado do, however, stumble a bit with their own cleverness. The result is sometimes jarring, but mostly entertaining and even fresh entry to the slasher (?) genre.

The directors were to attend the festival, but had to cancel on the last moment due to pre-production of their next movie. They did send a video greeting, though.

Deadball (2011). A no holds barred upgrade of the 2003 film Battlefield Baseball, star Tak Sakaguchi and director Yudai Yamaguchi are back to play ball. With more blood, more Nazis, and one Klaus Nomi lookalike! The trashy comedy hits an initial homerun as it begins as an outrageous prison film set to John Carpenter esque score. Unfortunately the lengthy game portion is style free CGI splatter with few laughs – with practical effects it could’ve been insanely inventive, now it’s mainly anticlimactic. Lead star Tak Sakaguchi is the single best asset the messy film has– his performance as a silent, chain smoking, poncho wearing anti-hero shows the man in a whole new – would I even dare to say charismatic – light.

[DarthKato]

I am watching a Alfred Hitchcock marathon right now,but I have mostly been checking out all the horror flicks they have been showing for the last few days.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983: Jack Clayton) ***/****:

“By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes.” – MacBeth (IV.i.44-45)

“… the Lightning-rod man still dwells in the land; still travels in storm-time, and drives a brave trade with the fears of man.” The Lightning-Rod Man by Herman Melville (while the traveling salesman in this film reminds me of the character in the Melville short the allegorical undertones are completely different between the two)

When I was looking for a “kids” or Disney horror film to watch for this month I thought that this film which I had not seen since the 1980s would fit the bill. It was also recommended to me by an Internet friend. So for the 19th pick of the month I chose the movie based on the Ray Bradbury book, who also wrote the screenplay. This is a film that scarred (scared) many unsuspecting children who were expecting a Disney flavored “horror” film.

It had been so many years since I had seen this so this felt mostly like a new experience. Of course when you watch film years later you notice actors you did not know before and this film is cast quite well though I did not realize until doing research on this film that Pam Grier played the Dust Witch in quite a seductive role (she’s almost always seductive).

Late one night a carnival comes to town and sets itself up to the horror of Will Halloway and his friend. To me there is not that much creepier than a carnival at night, well except for the carnies during the daytime. It is led by Mr. Dark (Jonathan Pryce; playing evil incarnate with a beard). Mr. Dark offers temptation to the town, but analogous to W. W. Jacobs’s The Monkey’s Paw every wish comes with a price. But Will has seen that Mr. Dark is not natural and Mr. Dark needs to get rid of the two boys (does he think the town will believe those accusations from the boys?).

Will’s dad Charles (Jason Robards) has been a disappointment. His heart troubles and a past incident with his son trouble him. He seems a prime candidate for Mr. Dark. But there is something strong underneath his milquetoast exterior. His relationship with his son is a complex one and it helps the story of this movie. He is a good not great father, who cares for his son, but whose frailties help helm a humanistic character.

This is a well made, well directed film (Clayton’s last directed film was The Great Gatsby nine years before) that evokes a particular gothic dread in its atmosphere and set design (I would have to imagine that some of it would have been controversial if noticed). It is ultimately a tale of lost nostalgia, one that was lost before the arriving of the Carnival and more surprisingly a more mature film than one initially expects. It is also a tale of redemption. I find psychological horrors more effective than physical horror after years of watching violence upon the screen. While I would not say this is overly scary, I do not think I would allow children too young to watch this, though they are probably already jaded with the massive amount of video games played and movies watched.

The Tell-Tale Heart (1928: Charles Klein):

“True! – nervous – very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am…”

For the 18th pick I thought I would watch something obscure and short. This film is a expressionistic, hugely influenced by The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) and very much like the titular short-story by Edgar Allan Poe. It is so much like the story that it is a bit hard to do a review on this. I still prefer the short story and this neat but ultimately stagy rendition does not still the beating of my heart. In fact if you have not read the really short-story (three and a half pages in my book of Poe stories) then take the time to do that instead of tracking this down. Heck if you have not watched the original The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari then take the time to watch that as well.

This film can be found on the awesome set (and a bit expensive) Unseen Cinema: Early American Avant-Garde Film (1894-1941) and on the Avant-Garde 3: Experimental Cinema 1922-1954 - Deluxe Two-Disc Edition. I have Unseen and if you are into obscure avant-garde then that set is a must. However, for most it probably is not a priority.

[AlbertV]

STALIN (1992) - HBO film starring Robert Duvall as the Russian leader whose rise to power left a lot of casualties. He is seen as someone who doesn't take anything from nobody, not even the previous leader Lenin. He treats his family and friends as if they are totally inferior to him. What is more astounding aside from Duvall's performance is that the filmmakers actually did their research on Stalin with the help of the Russian government. The film runs at nearly 3 hours, but one you get into it, it is worth seeing IMO.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

STALIN (1992) - HBO film starring Robert Duvall as the Russian leader whose rise to power left a lot of casualties. ...

Stalin is arguably responsible for more deaths than any other human (some historians argue between Mao and him). This is man who changed his name to "Steel".

[Takuma]

Day 4 (the main event aka midnight marathon): Part 2 (04:45 - 10:30)

The Woman (2011). Mixed bag “Sundance shocker” by Lucky McKee. Middle class American family finds an animal-like “wild-woman” in the forest, capture her, and try to train her into a civilized human being. McKee plays with both feminism and misogyny, mixes horror and satire, and throws in small doses of as-graphic-as-MPAA-allows violence. It’s interesting and entertaining, but ultimately too flashy. Trying to turn an obvious exploitation premise into something intelligent, it the film comes out as a compromise. Too afraid of being labeled as trash it takes cover in self-indulgent cleverness that soon becomes more irritating than poignant.

Ator – The Fighting Eagle (1981). Hard core exploitation director Joe D’Amato took a lighter approach (and a new pseudonym) for a pg-rated Conan – The Barbarian cash-in. It’s an awfully scripted barbarian adventure with amusing dialogue, giant spider, and plenty of campy acting. Difficult to recommend to anyone except small children or fans of bad cinema, the pic does nevertheless have certain (mostly accidental) entertainment merits. For an early morning slot in a midnight film festival it makes passable offering – especially when seen from 35 mm film.

Lady Terminator (1988). Indonesian rip-off action exploitation madness! “First she mates, then she terminates”. The nonsensical storyline kicks off with a sneaky man beating a witch seductress at her own game in the 19th century, then jumps to modern day (1980’s), with a student girl somehow falling under a spell and turning into a lady terminator who is (apparently) after some jewelries worn by two women. The local police, who have unlimited ammunition (so does she) try to protect the innocent girls. What results is boobs, car chases, an unbelievable amount of fired bullets, and a storyline that is best summarized as wtfigo. Quality entertainment and a great closing movie for the night!

Strangely, the program finished on time, as opposed to being two hours late as usual (official statement: ”We’re sorry, we’re on schedule... we've messed up something”).

Enzo G. Castellari at The Bronx Warriors screening (click for larger pic)

The audience waiting for 3D Sex & Zen to start

Official announcement: "Now that we've all come here to watch porn it's very important we see everything uncensored... so, if your glasses would happen to run out of batteries, please come get news ones from the desk"

[DiP]

The Crow (1994)

Liked the mood of this one. It felt more close to something like the first Batman film but darker and creepier. Acting was class and the characters were memorable, especially Brandon Lee (RIP) and the villains. Action surprised me as well and was delivered for an mid 90s Hollywood film. It has that HK/US style to it though but it was handled really well here. Rating: 8/10

Psycho (1960)

Saw it with a completely new eyes and mind and it's still amazing. Story is simple yes but with A-class production, execution (camerawork, editing, music, composition) as well as acting things could last great forever. Ageless classic! Rating: 10/10