tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54612957394773374292024-03-18T21:16:47.195-04:00CINE-MISCREANT!!!A never-ending chronicle of one man's shameless descent into multi-genre cinematic addiction, straight from the pop culture-warped mind behind <a href="http://buncheness.blogspot.com/"> THE VAULT OF BUNCHENESS! </a>
© All original text copyright Steve Bunche, 2008-2023.Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.comBlogger768125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-43528391154351721932024-01-19T17:51:00.004-05:002024-01-19T18:13:32.144-05:00IMITATION OF LIFE (1959) AT THE FILM FORUM <p><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="color: red;">From 2015 on THE VAULT OF BUNCHENESS.</span></i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0arfpKWT2vKEY_unlFAqssbn8vCmjuG0PoimQKHC13UbAjQ3wgBnnMdgIOW-Wod6VLjc0CJmrNAFW8G4fvb72BZCF-QtJKwmMKiUM6AYbO2ehPjvGOxN15_f7hkUSjaedmR67j6-ROPHh/s1600/IMITATION.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0arfpKWT2vKEY_unlFAqssbn8vCmjuG0PoimQKHC13UbAjQ3wgBnnMdgIOW-Wod6VLjc0CJmrNAFW8G4fvb72BZCF-QtJKwmMKiUM6AYbO2ehPjvGOxN15_f7hkUSjaedmR67j6-ROPHh/s1600/IMITATION.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>Lobby card from the film's original release, featuring Susan Kohner as the troubled Sarah Jane Johnson.</i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">Just
got back from the Film Forum's screening of IMITATION OF LIFE (1959), a
film that has fascinated me since I first encountered it in the great
Esther Newton's infamous "American Society On Film" class during my SUNY
at Purchase college days. It's a re-imagining of a 1934 chick
flick/"weepie" about two mothers, one black and one white, and their
daughters, who all come together under one roof as a blended family and
contend with issues of class, race, and family dysfunction, and the 1959
version is one of the all-time classic examples of a textbook
emotionally-manipulative Hollywood soaper. Its examination of how
American society of its era made true equality/harmony between blacks
and whites in general unlikely at best and hauls out the longstanding tropes
of the martyred, saintly older black woman who's the emotional backbone
and real strength of the family (to both black and white factions), and
the so-called tragic mulatto whose case of self-loathing is invariably
more compelling than the upper-class travails of the white protagonists.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX_JjwUzUojpMAFGH3SIeTxYAhhtwonSrPfAdgZhXJXqf7_n056Hh6Vf8RZkWUkWV9iD5AumkrV_2VbBiAWZQXAAXnTto-41jsnSxpl-OdOu3IZDSOpPDkMiGWqMQrPbltaBBim4DNRqp2/s1600/picture-71.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX_JjwUzUojpMAFGH3SIeTxYAhhtwonSrPfAdgZhXJXqf7_n056Hh6Vf8RZkWUkWV9iD5AumkrV_2VbBiAWZQXAAXnTto-41jsnSxpl-OdOu3IZDSOpPDkMiGWqMQrPbltaBBim4DNRqp2/s1600/picture-71.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><i>Sarah Jane (Susan Kohner), surrounded by white masks. Subtle it is not...</i></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">I
won't spoil the plot's details but the 1959 IMITATION OF LIFE's
portrait of Sarah Jane (Susan Kohner), the angry, self-loathing
light-skinned daughter of a black father who's described as "almost
white," is far more compelling than the rote rags-to-riches showbiz rise
of its white main character (Lana Turner) and how her success leads her
to unintentionally neglect her blossoming 16-year-old (Sandra Dee). The
actress's storyline is not bad by any means, but it was something that
was already seen numerous times prior to the film's release, however
it's essential to the overall narrative by providing the perfect
background against which to contrast the entwined lives of Sarah Jane
and her mother (Juanita Moore) who works as the actress's live-in maid
and bosom companion whose support and caring for the actress's daughter
frees the actress to pursue stage gigs. Sarah Jane's rejection of her
dusky heritage and her shattering desire to pass for white from an early
age form the true emotional core of the story and Susan Kohner's
Oscar-nominated performance renders the character's arc as nothing less
than painful and heartbreaking. In short, if you have not seen this
film, seek it out for Kohner's arc.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh22iYBAB9nHY_QpMn3by-WbsjoauA3pnuJq62oZnNG4qBNt6N_Kd0BtWVtOa55Zy8cKsmsA9sMqbpTw3GSD1kPfCBc3z13126jE6YEOmoP2AZOwlk2xIze9K2kYT0JpGMCurPPyVAtHdB/s1600/IMG_0403.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh22iYBAB9nHY_QpMn3by-WbsjoauA3pnuJq62oZnNG4qBNt6N_Kd0BtWVtOa55Zy8cKsmsA9sMqbpTw3GSD1kPfCBc3z13126jE6YEOmoP2AZOwlk2xIze9K2kYT0JpGMCurPPyVAtHdB/s1600/IMG_0403.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">Which
brings me to last night's Screening at the Film Forum, where I met the
one and only Susan Kohner. Kohner's spectacular portrayal of the deeply
troubled, self-loathing Sarah Jane Johnson struck a very strong chord
with my mother's side of the family, especially with a certain aunt who
basically was the character in real life. (Though Sarah Jane never ran
into the same kinds of issues with the law that the aunt in question
did, but the less said of that the better...) Following the film, Kohner
sat for an interview with a film professor — whose
questions/expoundings were of little or no weight and who clearly missed
the entire point of the movie he was allegedly such an authority upon;
that assessment was shared by a friend of mine who was also in
attendance and is a highly-knowledgeable film scholar and director of
films herself — and later answered questions from members of the
audience. Since the opportunity was afforded, I took the mic and told
Kohner of how much her character and performance meant to my family and
especially my aunt. Following that, she was also kind enough to pose for
a shot with her that I will send to the interested parties in my
family, especially the aforementioned aunt.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-v1w4oyPYnXUK8CbKE5XQC4AGFMgDlh64qXBH2c0p7Csfy_pSUuqhh-lozbVb7Cc1AOpOlWpttrgsEmpxw1uhaTiCk2aSzs8bnJ_jwc1V4SbYJ8EgBUtXaaBQnwSl5eCuLrDUrp4l7EvP/s1600/IMG_0402.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-v1w4oyPYnXUK8CbKE5XQC4AGFMgDlh64qXBH2c0p7Csfy_pSUuqhh-lozbVb7Cc1AOpOlWpttrgsEmpxw1uhaTiCk2aSzs8bnJ_jwc1V4SbYJ8EgBUtXaaBQnwSl5eCuLrDUrp4l7EvP/s1600/IMG_0402.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i> Yer Bunche, with the one and only Susan Kohner.</i></div>
Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-66843700669676373252023-12-29T04:36:00.004-05:002023-12-29T04:36:53.309-05:00NOT TONIGHT, I'M ON MY PYRAMID<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirnagkSCs5p24Vm7EXG_rAmoDkkA2AJvC22Q_JsRTcSuS7uMAqHm8tjqq5dFzDnlsZppjn8h3oJu_OdE18q_SL5ZsweoIvgOJzUPhf_WvuwmP-kwBt5uR7BBlBXW9fGfO_z5_cuaOqIV1YY73QRx-whfPiigcZ1M_KCY-_dnMkKHF_wfaunqsyBWkNC9Y/s900/0cleo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="900" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirnagkSCs5p24Vm7EXG_rAmoDkkA2AJvC22Q_JsRTcSuS7uMAqHm8tjqq5dFzDnlsZppjn8h3oJu_OdE18q_SL5ZsweoIvgOJzUPhf_WvuwmP-kwBt5uR7BBlBXW9fGfO_z5_cuaOqIV1YY73QRx-whfPiigcZ1M_KCY-_dnMkKHF_wfaunqsyBWkNC9Y/w640-h428/0cleo.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once again I cannot sleep, a state brought about by general anxiety over my mother and the endlessness of kidney failure/dialysis and by the fact that insomnia is just one of the many possible side-effects of the illness. I tried using Melatonin tonight but it did not work, so I lay awake staring at the ceiling, alone in my head with my thoughts. I finally gave up trying to sleep and instead sought a long, boring movie to hopefully lull me to sleep. I chose CLEOPATRA (1963), the legendary ultra-expensive Liz Taylor epic whose box office failure nearly bankrupted 20th Century Fox. </span></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">I saw CLEOPATRA in bits and pieces during my adolescence, when it used to run divided into parts over five days on The 4:30 Movie in the '70's, but I had never watched it from start to finish, and without commercials. Seeing it while under the thumb of insomnia as I have several hours to go until I must get out of bed, dress, and await pickup for dialysis affords me a new and interesting perspective on it. Yes, it's ridiculously bloated at over four hours, but it's not as dull nor as camp as its infamy suggests or as I remembered it being. It's lavish to the point where the budget practically pours off of the screen, and that extravagance makes it a festival of eye candy. Sure, the dialogue is often stilted, but that was, and frankly still is, par for the course with Hollywood historical epics, and at least it has a huge cast of top-shelf actors to deliver it. </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">With that taken into consideration, I don't buy Liz Taylor as the very Ptolemaic Cleopatra from a visual standpoint (translation: she does not work as an inbred ethnic Greek; way too white), but she wears the gorgeous costumes quite fetchingly and delivers the queen's unflappable arrogance as easy as breathing. (Perhaps expressing more than a little of her own personality.) </span></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anyway, I do not find CLEOPATRA to be anywhere near as bad as contemporary reviews and most opinions of it popularly espouse. It's simply the last huge Hollywood epic of the classic era, bigger than most, but also no worse than many. If you ask me, its only real crime was being an exorbitant flop, and critics and the audience always love to dog pile on a loser when it's down. For me the bottom line is that it's saving my sanity during my latest bout of inability to sleep, and for that I am most grateful to it. </span></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">That said, it's back to ancient times with Liz and Dick...</span></span></div>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-8748876553852962892023-12-01T23:25:00.002-05:002023-12-01T23:25:30.014-05:00GODZILLA MINUS ONE (2023)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9J8dk2JAnkUg0ebSIvz4IczW1NZ5_sNdcJbdGgvzUrfMMFthJ6XH8rhMOvaQQjPfgeVFUtALZHdYW_ACikTurFtC7mzg3Qj9AFvGGaG88sKtdlkej_DyoccmL5PFeFz9DxPlvUFA0y_gqauXT-nSCL0SBObqSh5zwJ7nRy57bZryC3LhGW3dYbqvYYA/s750/godzilla_202310%20copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="750" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9J8dk2JAnkUg0ebSIvz4IczW1NZ5_sNdcJbdGgvzUrfMMFthJ6XH8rhMOvaQQjPfgeVFUtALZHdYW_ACikTurFtC7mzg3Qj9AFvGGaG88sKtdlkej_DyoccmL5PFeFz9DxPlvUFA0y_gqauXT-nSCL0SBObqSh5zwJ7nRy57bZryC3LhGW3dYbqvYYA/w640-h360/godzilla_202310%20copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>"We're gonna need a bigger boat..."</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="" dir="auto"><div class="x1iorvi4 x1pi30zi x1l90r2v x1swvt13" data-ad-comet-preview="message" data-ad-preview="message" id=":r3s9:"><div class="x78zum5 xdt5ytf xz62fqu x16ldp7u"><div class="xu06os2 x1ok221b"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u x1yc453h" dir="auto"><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs x126k92a"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">I've been on the go since waking this morning for dialysis, but I had to pop in briefly state that I thoroughly enjoyed GODZILLA MINUS ONE. I'm too wiped-out to write about it at length, but let it suffice to say that it's definitely one of the Top 3 that the franchise has to offer. </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">It's the best of Godzilla films aimed at grownups, right alongside the somber 1954 original, as it's basically a drama about the last days of WWII and their aftermath for the Japanese, focusing on <span><a tabindex="-1"></a></span>a deserter kamikaze pilot who encounters the pre-irradiated Godzilla and subsequently plunges into an ongoing state of PTSD and survivor's guilt. Returning to his bombed-out home, an orphaned girl with an orphaned infant (not her child) fallin with the pilot and the three form a makeshift family that does its best to survive. We follow them for two years and become quite invested in them, but then Godzilla, now mutated and rendered titanic by atomic radiation, returns...</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">It's all as serious as a heart attack and bears no trace of the signature goofiness of many of the series' entries. It's genuinely scary in parts, quite suspenseful, visually spectacular,and it featrures a Godzilla that's as mean and nasty as we have ever seen him. Here he's a complete and utter bastard, an implacable living holocaust that's just plain unstoppable. While entertaining as hell, there's no "fun" about any of the proceedings, as Godzilla's path of destruction is treated as the outright horror that it would be, were it to actually happen. The sequence where Godzilla razes Ginza is worth the price of admission, and it will have you on the edge of your seat.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">If it's playing anywhere near you, do <i>not </i>miss this one on the big screen. HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo8NBG1Ii33ennNvXNDqpiQnk3jABN99Off7EQvMQaHbTtzXX2cxn5beOC9XoCi2DWJ9GhBQRecPfv8y3i2cD2vuSO1wImfAU-jCeUhekKEQ7zmG27n8DbfKZTAWtMJxm5pctdP5ZxPAURHMYVnampDAsWqsbDWLQ3fzjrRAetzPPAmOgSUA9BwDC3jhY/s906/flyer_1.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="906" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo8NBG1Ii33ennNvXNDqpiQnk3jABN99Off7EQvMQaHbTtzXX2cxn5beOC9XoCi2DWJ9GhBQRecPfv8y3i2cD2vuSO1wImfAU-jCeUhekKEQ7zmG27n8DbfKZTAWtMJxm5pctdP5ZxPAURHMYVnampDAsWqsbDWLQ3fzjrRAetzPPAmOgSUA9BwDC3jhY/w452-h640/flyer_1.webp" width="452" /></a></div><br /> </div></div></span></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> Poster for the Japanese theatrical release.<br /></i></div></div>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-77050602520665526902023-10-31T00:00:00.314-04:002023-10-31T00:00:00.142-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 - DAY 31: SUSPIRIA (2018)<div><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSsdVjvw_4tuSnai-nWvZFqNhXouwecfpTuZrJC6js86sqrS5TCcVmlnrSsd-l1XczNUDVDr7Z3XyfkdRIAWhZgwd5k0W5KFL7nuMtpSd8hZLOUanC2HciaQJkFXdt1IdBpSssd_AW1QsMBIg_rhZeEUoDT-BibgHGU6syLoDepWskqSYlXS5vSEIRG2o/s1920/1920x1280_cmsv2_1e786b83-4873-5b83-8cd4-440260ba313d-7801822.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1920" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSsdVjvw_4tuSnai-nWvZFqNhXouwecfpTuZrJC6js86sqrS5TCcVmlnrSsd-l1XczNUDVDr7Z3XyfkdRIAWhZgwd5k0W5KFL7nuMtpSd8hZLOUanC2HciaQJkFXdt1IdBpSssd_AW1QsMBIg_rhZeEUoDT-BibgHGU6syLoDepWskqSYlXS5vSEIRG2o/w640-h426/1920x1280_cmsv2_1e786b83-4873-5b83-8cd4-440260ba313d-7801822.webp" width="640" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Slaves to the rhythm.</i><br /></div><div><p></p><p>Virginal American Mennonite Susie Bannion (Dakota Johnson) goes to West Berlin to study at the all-female Markos Dance Academy during the infamous "German Autumn" of 1977. (Look it up.) Upon arrival she finds the school in a state of turmoil due to student Patricia Hingle (Chloe Grace Moretz) vanishing after telling her psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor Dr. Josef Klemperer (Tilda Swinton in very convincing old man makeup), that the school is actually a coven for witches. Before she disappears, Patricia gives the psychiatrist her journals, which contain detailed information on the goings-on within the school/coven, including notes on the Three Mothers — Mater Tenebrarum, Mater Lachrymarum, and Mater Suspiriorum — three pre-Christian witches of immense power. When Patricia goes missing, the aged psychiatrist begins to investigate.</p><p>While settling in at the dance academy, Susie is immediately tasked with learning the choreography to a complex multi-person dance that the rest of the students have been rehearsing, and she proves so good that she is given the lead. But just before Susie's leap into the spotlight, Olga (Elena Fokina), a student, who was close with the missing Patricia, has a meltdown and curses out Madame Blanc (Tilda Swinton again) and bolts to her room, where she prepares to leave the school. Madame Blanc carries on nonetheless, directing Susie to try the dance, and as Susie performs various severe movements, an isolated Olga is thrown bodily around an empty and mirrored studio room with each abrupt gesture by Susie, her body becoming more and more impossibly distorted and broken as the performance goes on. </p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCLgZEE4JG7EEj1lJoWfzoj9y3fpGLqGm4sCgabCIkwipJJp0POSiR1wLQO9iCDnTFgsCZjzaOOPRK1KgQBLkiZbPWbbMi24vtKaNWY77guv6_L7PDCJiuidIGXlt8ZFNdedapYnn-d8eA8tuFW8IAKdBgxgAKXTSu82SehxMjnQQZOvCvptXZLsdX0yA/s1920/OLGA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1920" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCLgZEE4JG7EEj1lJoWfzoj9y3fpGLqGm4sCgabCIkwipJJp0POSiR1wLQO9iCDnTFgsCZjzaOOPRK1KgQBLkiZbPWbbMi24vtKaNWY77guv6_L7PDCJiuidIGXlt8ZFNdedapYnn-d8eA8tuFW8IAKdBgxgAKXTSu82SehxMjnQQZOvCvptXZLsdX0yA/w640-h346/OLGA.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><i>The horrific fate of Olga.</i> <p></p><p style="text-align: left;">When Susie is done, several of the school's matron's go to the still-breathing Olga, skewer her with handheld meathooks, and spirit her body away.</p><p style="text-align: left;">From there, as rehearsals intensify for an upcoming live performance of Madame Blanc's piece, entitled <i>Volk</i>, Susie becomes drawn into the coven and more of what's going on with the coven, its members, and their purpose is slowly revealed, with Susie right in the center of it all, and Dr. Klemperer getting more than he bargained for as he uncovers the dark truth. I would love to tell you more, but the rest of the film's surprises are best gone into cold...<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">Legendary director Dario Argento's 1977 SUSPIRIA is hailed by the majority of horror fanatics as one of the scariest pictures ever made and a landmark in Italian horror, but I have to go against the herd and proclaim it a load of overrated bollocks. It admittedly looks great and is quite eerie, I won't fault it for either of those aspects, but the film is a textbook example of style over narrative substance. The conceit of a German dance academy being a front for a coven is little more than a framework upon which Argento could hang assorted violent/gory set pieces, or an excuse for creative set design and lighting, as there really isn't a story to speak of. The 2018 version is another matter altogether, as director Luca Guadagnino takes the basic elements of Argento's vision and weaves them into a well-fleshed-out examination of several themes, including motherhood, death, loss, the dynamics between females, embracing female sexuality, the abuse of power, and Germany's awareness of its culpability for the Holocaust. Over the course of its lugubriously-paced 2.5 hour run time, we get to know and understand the characters and how real world events are reflected in the coven, and we learn what's up right along with them. </p><p style="text-align: left;">In this era of endless remakes that seek to cash in on name recognition while rendering what was once adult content into a soft, safe, and sanitized PG-13 confection, it's nice to see a remake that has the balls to take chances and treat the audience like grownups. The script approaches its particulars with the assumption that the viewer has had a good deal of life experience, as well a working knowledge of late-20th century world events (much of the current events cited in the story is not explained in full detail), and the lengthy run time allows everything room to breathe. And the embracing of the R-rating allows for multi-person nudity that makes perfect sense for the events depicted and is never gratuitous, and the story's gory and violent visuals are let loose with abandon and skillful realization.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I could go on and on but I'll just leave with a recommendation that when sitting down to watch SUSPIRIA 2018, it's a good idea to have had a nap beforehand, as its slow and quiet pace can act as a soporific. I suffer with insomnia, so I came to it quite tired and ended up nodding off a few times, which necessitated backing up to where I left off and starting again. The film is in no way boring, but it's easy to crash on if you're just plain exhausted.<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">And with that... <b> </b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!</span></b></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgEtcNgCXIOZEpw5tNAL-pA8V_qnaD04XlytOoxYO9N9IYficDSaiWwvtFg9YPDwFdz87x-mbTBC0MUj-U7YGlAwoGkVmigbrg4AKd2BFhSR8ZurtpMbesRlyrsl6NPk4oAeFODe46O9v_2mqzRK0OD4LZ_19SymdqHDw0grcLtO5GG4TQXYRFyJ17xyg/s2897/lf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2897" data-original-width="1953" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgEtcNgCXIOZEpw5tNAL-pA8V_qnaD04XlytOoxYO9N9IYficDSaiWwvtFg9YPDwFdz87x-mbTBC0MUj-U7YGlAwoGkVmigbrg4AKd2BFhSR8ZurtpMbesRlyrsl6NPk4oAeFODe46O9v_2mqzRK0OD4LZ_19SymdqHDw0grcLtO5GG4TQXYRFyJ17xyg/w432-h640/lf.jpg" width="432" /></a><br /><i>Poster from the theatrical release.</i><br /></p></div>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-47595086407198471002023-10-30T00:00:00.215-04:002023-10-30T05:38:22.406-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 - Day 30: John Carpenter's VAMPIRES (1998)<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTl8tigT0rMgp_ZJ3HcY2OjhyphenhyphenEOkojeEhRSXy-EP1IH7eEkipX_mmNsJxPts2Q2bEf3yKgc3BmckxWApc_NclK23iQIFrw5_nA5Yopf5ed-jvGqCGa2aosHt4DPR2TC8ZujcZJDtWXVlj7b77VqV-AEeY1HvyIf2TDlxEhiiuuVrp7Ig4p-IVY9ZZ8scI/s3000/Vampires_1998_2%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1985" data-original-width="3000" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTl8tigT0rMgp_ZJ3HcY2OjhyphenhyphenEOkojeEhRSXy-EP1IH7eEkipX_mmNsJxPts2Q2bEf3yKgc3BmckxWApc_NclK23iQIFrw5_nA5Yopf5ed-jvGqCGa2aosHt4DPR2TC8ZujcZJDtWXVlj7b77VqV-AEeY1HvyIf2TDlxEhiiuuVrp7Ig4p-IVY9ZZ8scI/w640-h424/Vampires_1998_2%20copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>In New Mexico a team of hardened Vatican-sponsored vampire hunters led by Jack Crow (James Woods) routs a nest of undead suckfaces, destroying nine of them with extreme prejudice. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8pmVbY332FgRb4Y0ZxmsJ0AIo6p8wtnWjqTrpMB8i4Pm7beou6PAh-3z08UZ3CFvxH0PUhuY5FFNy1mDDkaW9LKW1UVkSFiXgixWfqSxlOi3YWYILEGthP9ip9qBG46C7Gd53sDVmEei_gONN0VOdE6v-yAfT2FaS9tq5fWqVudiE1rjc4HdAGBHeFyM/s640/Vampires-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="640" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8pmVbY332FgRb4Y0ZxmsJ0AIo6p8wtnWjqTrpMB8i4Pm7beou6PAh-3z08UZ3CFvxH0PUhuY5FFNy1mDDkaW9LKW1UVkSFiXgixWfqSxlOi3YWYILEGthP9ip9qBG46C7Gd53sDVmEei_gONN0VOdE6v-yAfT2FaS9tq5fWqVudiE1rjc4HdAGBHeFyM/w640-h268/Vampires-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><i>The team of Church-appointed vampire slayers receives a blessing before getting down to the business of wiping out undead suckfaces.</i></p><p>Not a bad day's work, but where is the master vampire? Seemingly nowhere to be found. But no big deal. The team celebrates their victory at a sleazy motel, surrounding themselves with whores and getting hammered. Too bad they didn't do a more thorough search of the acreage where the house serving as the vampires' nest was, because they they would have noticed the blatantly fresh grave only a couple hundred yards from the residence. </p><p>At sundown the master vampire, Valek (Thomas Ian Griffith), claws his way out from the soil, and track the hunters to their place of revelry. In short order the master suckface mercilessly and gorily slays all but Crow, whom he calls out by name, and Crow and his righthand man, Montoya (Daniel Baldwin) barely manage to escape, dragging a bitten prostitute with them. Despite Montoya's protests, Crow knows that prostitute Katrina (Sheryl Lee) has 48 hours before she fully transitions to being a vampire, but as she chcnages she will become connected to the master, hearing what he hears and seeing what he sees, so the hunters can track the master through Katrina. And there's also the question of how the master knew Crow's name. Crow realizes that the hit on the vampires' nest was a setup because the master knew not to be present, so who marked the team for a massacre? After returning to the motel to stake, behead, and bury the dead and burn the place to the ground, and, with a young priest in tow (Tim Guinee), the proper hunt for Valek is on. But exactly who is this Valek, why is he so powerful, and what is he after?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_oOyHaxPTqJLLFrfhuvkM14Uz1vD0_ExBQ54__v3ovEhZb6eDbABilUCtoh5Fn_cUdd_NhFh-DClAPQZBCe8b1EI3UebPrIEvg1FgUo3dD2NNovOGezib9JJawFeeA-XG9vZqnjVrtcDOsXAig7xL00B7YSguMXjv7uRBbzN6mrR9lNLcMsaEm4KJzEo/s1308/01.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1308" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_oOyHaxPTqJLLFrfhuvkM14Uz1vD0_ExBQ54__v3ovEhZb6eDbABilUCtoh5Fn_cUdd_NhFh-DClAPQZBCe8b1EI3UebPrIEvg1FgUo3dD2NNovOGezib9JJawFeeA-XG9vZqnjVrtcDOsXAig7xL00B7YSguMXjv7uRBbzN6mrR9lNLcMsaEm4KJzEo/w640-h352/01.webp" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Makin' with some stakin'.</i><br /></div><div><p style="text-align: left;">Yer Bunche has been a John Carpenter fan since seeing the network television debut of HALLOWEEN back in 1979, and I have seen all of his films over the 44 years since. His films often bear a signature look, feel, and sound and, good or bad, they tend to entertain me with an experience akin to reading a comic book, but some comics books are masterpieces, others are just okay, and what remains are wastes of trees. VAMPIRES, though quite entertaining, a very much a flawed work that feels like Carpenter's heart just wasn't fully in it. The script is about 2/3 polished, but it falls apart significantly during the final act. The ending is one of carpenter's weakest, and by the start of the final reel I found myself checking my watch.</p><p>I first saw VAMPIRES when it came out, but that was during a period I consider my "lost years," when I went through life engaging in excessive drinking and weed-smoking, so I saw a lot of movies in states so wasted that I barely remember the details of a lot of those flicks. This was one I remember finding middling at best, so I hoped that in seeing it again I would experience a work whose merits I had mostly erased with my own drunken disconnect. But no, my initial impression was spot on, and what I got was pretty much a mid-level actioner that was like what I would have come up with in my backyard at age seven while enacting a story with my Adventure Team G.I. Joes and their mobile support vehicle, only with vampires. (Though I did not have any dolls that would have made for decent vampires. I did, however, have a Mego Supergirl that served as an all-purpose female character, so she would have been a good fit as Katrina.) The film doesn't bear the signature Carpenter look or feel, nor is the score as pronouncedly loaded with Carpenter's composition flavor. Among the roster of the director's works, VAMPIRES, while an okay way to pass just over ninety minutes, is a lesser work, and you miss little if you give it a miss. There are many much better vampire films to be seen, so go for something like Hammer's KISS OF THE VAMPIRE or TWINS OF EVIL.<br /></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbonH-rJzIfMGnaHtDHwsarVmxUHIfXaAWV1WYsq7K9dqbaGyGX74kwl1zwr2HeHlea3Jq14KaMLN5366YAYpVPoGqnzyLxXEW8Fdgm0DoLwqoL_BLrejOAMnDTQxqYVFjNcfflfG2bAsxnYHHDv-rfOOChbezWpIkcqgaK2fzYEd9q2GWBcaSaXBweqU/s500/0VAMPS.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="337" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbonH-rJzIfMGnaHtDHwsarVmxUHIfXaAWV1WYsq7K9dqbaGyGX74kwl1zwr2HeHlea3Jq14KaMLN5366YAYpVPoGqnzyLxXEW8Fdgm0DoLwqoL_BLrejOAMnDTQxqYVFjNcfflfG2bAsxnYHHDv-rfOOChbezWpIkcqgaK2fzYEd9q2GWBcaSaXBweqU/w432-h640/0VAMPS.jpg" width="432" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Poster for the theatrical release.</i><br /></div>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-59137615452914544342023-10-29T00:00:00.207-04:002023-10-29T00:00:00.148-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 - Day 29: THE BABADOOK (2014)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCvP2EQZ6Q52T2jVAsR5gVz6-189S2EZm6GVzrujQzUKPjL_Za8mHvmaf6YQwJMX9Riv_Munwlh1L5uRYgP2KobCPM0yV9_ZBbXoMzoBsP057PZrOOCfxM_QPabJvDZZrAUr6jApXg6Hm_6LGYdqlGBbxNK1W5n22vNMMQ35Ks4uHWv4KC0mDjn1MZgvI/s620/The-Badadook-010.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="620" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCvP2EQZ6Q52T2jVAsR5gVz6-189S2EZm6GVzrujQzUKPjL_Za8mHvmaf6YQwJMX9Riv_Munwlh1L5uRYgP2KobCPM0yV9_ZBbXoMzoBsP057PZrOOCfxM_QPabJvDZZrAUr6jApXg6Hm_6LGYdqlGBbxNK1W5n22vNMMQ35Ks4uHWv4KC0mDjn1MZgvI/w640-h384/The-Badadook-010.webp" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>If it's in a word, or it's in a look... You can't get rid of the Babadook.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">Amelia Vanek (Essie Davis), a single mother in suburban Australia, struggles with raising her six-year-old son, Samuel (Noah Wiseman). The boy's father was killed in a car accident while driving in-labor Amelia to the hospital, so Amelia has held onto and not processed her grief over the entirety of her son's life. The boy is raised knowing that his father was killed on the day he was born, but all mention of the father is swiftly shut down by his mother. The pair pretty much live isolated within their house, with their most frequent social interactions being with Mrs. Roach (Barbara West), the kindly old lady next door, so their world is quite insular and sad. Samuel is an intelligent, creative kid who is learning elementary stage magic and build functioning weapons for home defense, but his behavior has become increasingly erratic and aggressive, some of which may have to do with him being on the spectrum, which leads to his mother withdrawing him from school. Caring for her difficult son while also juggling her job as a caretaker at a home for the elderly has left Amelia a wrung-out mess, both at work and at home. She has not slept for weeks, and catering to her son's constant needs wears her down to the point of her beginning to weary of motherhood. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">Part of their nightly ritual is Amelia reading the restless child a story to lull him to sleep at bedtime. One night, Samuel selects a book from the shelf that neither has seen before, a book entitled "Mr. Babadook," about a dark and scary monster that announces its presence by screaming "BA BA BA DOOK DOOK DOOK" and then terrorizing its victims. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTT5_Ha-_45qKCpFUz4mDw3Nd9a5_fkG0nl9cK15fQzi_eQwTYxfH2eRo9Ld8mXwfj60YPwSst3FPP17l-To7R38lmL31ESmd8cfDr47mdPlw1TzjooRlCP2kzPmi0wjL8YI0UayoZwLT-Nldr2_HVxuHDPoxUxUT7BB95aBMvaopWvadZIfSHL6oheds/s2048/23BABADOOK2-superJumbo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTT5_Ha-_45qKCpFUz4mDw3Nd9a5_fkG0nl9cK15fQzi_eQwTYxfH2eRo9Ld8mXwfj60YPwSst3FPP17l-To7R38lmL31ESmd8cfDr47mdPlw1TzjooRlCP2kzPmi0wjL8YI0UayoZwLT-Nldr2_HVxuHDPoxUxUT7BB95aBMvaopWvadZIfSHL6oheds/w640-h426/23BABADOOK2-superJumbo.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;">The book spooks the shit out of Samuel, who already had fears of monsters lurking beneath the bed and in his closet, but once the book is read, he begins to see the Babadook and yells at it to go away. Of course Amelia thinks it's just another element of her son's issues, but when scary and dangerous things begin to happen, Amelia and Samuel are confronted with the Babadook. But even with all of the experienced evidence, is the creature real, and if so, what is its motivation? Or is Amelia, whose patience and nerves are beyond frayed, simply going mad?</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j">It's nice to know that studios can still make intelligent horror films for grownups (though it should come as no surprise that a film of this nature was not made in the United States.) </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">I steered clear of THE BABADOOK for years, because I often disagree with the opinions of those who gush over modern horror efforts seemingly indiscriminately, and also because it involved a kid, which is often a formula for trite and toothless scare-free shudders. That said, I'm not gonna lie when I tell you it's really heavy stuff.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG4wwiqjgmSO9COUcLmwg9mO68k3q2a1WnthLK6yMIC8vD3TMw1pEznekECtPVBADL0ceNrHU9dhU65rHi4ZzLHsO_p9kImkjDlmll5G67oXFJ4fdQoOVpw9QvtHoaJfBOht7RFFHqKEmvOkjTw_pdH8wB8l5bGnKHO-vFeZYgAUpo6Ze7l03-M27Pb0Y/s1280/amelia-babadook-hp.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG4wwiqjgmSO9COUcLmwg9mO68k3q2a1WnthLK6yMIC8vD3TMw1pEznekECtPVBADL0ceNrHU9dhU65rHi4ZzLHsO_p9kImkjDlmll5G67oXFJ4fdQoOVpw9QvtHoaJfBOht7RFFHqKEmvOkjTw_pdH8wB8l5bGnKHO-vFeZYgAUpo6Ze7l03-M27Pb0Y/w640-h360/amelia-babadook-hp.webp" width="640" /></a></span></div><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>When a harried mother can take no more.</i> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">As the only child of single mother whose nerves and patience were on a hair trigger, writer/director Jennifer Kent's examination of her story's two leads hit me like a sledgehammer to the guts. </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j">It's an intense, very emotional slow burn that perfectly communicates the fear of madness, from the POV of both mother and child, while making us care for the main characters. There are no cheap jump scares or gore, but what it brings instead is a mounting sense of tension and dread that held me riveted. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j">During
some of the mother's freakouts, I was transported right back to the
fear I felt of my own mother during her manic, angry episodes. </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j">Essie Davis's performance as Amelia is utterly believable and natural, especially when losing control, and six-year-old Noah Wiseman gives the best performance by a child actor that I've seen in decades. At no point does he play Samuel as preternaturally precocious or cloying, instead enacting a confused and fragile child that we have all encountered at some point. Or a confused and fragile child that we ourselves were.<br /></span></span></span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j"> In short, THE BABADOOK is an excellent film that I recommend to all who seek dark material that has more to offer than some dumb-as-dirt slasher movie or cookie cutter possession flick, but I will not be revisiting it. Sometimes art just hits too close to home.</span></span></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black;"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j"><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j"></span></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHfP7xKcomPJnFtO8xTJaMOvmXXbjXzyFZDgG9h-P30CcnodXOg7Tn4fFTP6BgO_DBWkaNJ4ST19OBMsg7aph5jcgU_h9wA5rRamJW6KcOeoZP3eqpJwPtDUaKRFtq1TOBPzhiiUr6joNGC_V7kWHuB1ytNJ0q7-ffO0RNURK3h1BfCmnXUbib04AcRoY/s1473/MV5BMTk0NzMzODc2NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwOTYzNTM1MzE@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1473" data-original-width="1000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHfP7xKcomPJnFtO8xTJaMOvmXXbjXzyFZDgG9h-P30CcnodXOg7Tn4fFTP6BgO_DBWkaNJ4ST19OBMsg7aph5jcgU_h9wA5rRamJW6KcOeoZP3eqpJwPtDUaKRFtq1TOBPzhiiUr6joNGC_V7kWHuB1ytNJ0q7-ffO0RNURK3h1BfCmnXUbib04AcRoY/w434-h640/MV5BMTk0NzMzODc2NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwOTYzNTM1MzE@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg" width="434" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><span class="x4k7w5x x1h91t0o x1h9r5lt x1jfb8zj xv2umb2 x1beo9mf xaigb6o x12ejxvf x3igimt xarpa2k xedcshv x1lytzrv x1t2pt76 x7ja8zs x1qrby5j"><i>Poster for the theatrical release.<br /></i></span></span><p></p>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-88096808021387138342023-10-28T00:00:00.205-04:002023-10-28T00:03:05.685-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 - Day 28: KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER "The Trevi Collection" (1975)<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZyRzTuF0AE8O2mkMn7mvgTPBNmw1syJM35qhSE6ZXQrkhGAH1zwF6_PWXlezdDsdJzRU15fip4FZnm_w6vbPi6r4X60a5yMJ1k0mla0oplbzpuaTJ2ttmPnXtvb64Yi9MUPLMnQ0tsefeJi3Uz2WWjVyL-mnetfSABBITVnDFezBEl81TgpoNVpLG4A/s633/screen-capture.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="633" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZyRzTuF0AE8O2mkMn7mvgTPBNmw1syJM35qhSE6ZXQrkhGAH1zwF6_PWXlezdDsdJzRU15fip4FZnm_w6vbPi6r4X60a5yMJ1k0mla0oplbzpuaTJ2ttmPnXtvb64Yi9MUPLMnQ0tsefeJi3Uz2WWjVyL-mnetfSABBITVnDFezBEl81TgpoNVpLG4A/w640-h482/screen-capture.png" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i>"Webster's definition of a coven is concise, terse, without the usual disclaimers or qualifications. It states simply that 'a coven is a band or assembly of witches.'"</i></p><p>While covering a garment union extortion racket, a string of suspicious maimings and deaths surrounding Trevi haute couture fashion collection for 1975 leads Independent News Service reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) down an investigative trail to direct confrontation with black witchcraft. As Kolchak, no stranger to sniffing out the supernatural, does the research, properly arms himself against old school maledictions, and gets closer to his target, the witch that he's after marks him as their next victim. But the question at the root of all of this is who's responsible, and what is their motivation?</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibhuVZvCsQ1Zlmwo7DleNYXocHMRHCJDDHLGBWM36EC0WGO4EpWtT7W6uMliXgCz5s_0G_J7ovtFzz6PFu-vWloy31e4rnPqaXf_lB-GgZ3ul9a597U9EeQBOXaWvZajww_VJ_bv31tHrp3o52144KWhelj3euXs6K4kJjbN_uhg_miXEFhAuQwjq0yNE/s629/Kolchak_1x14_003.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="629" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibhuVZvCsQ1Zlmwo7DleNYXocHMRHCJDDHLGBWM36EC0WGO4EpWtT7W6uMliXgCz5s_0G_J7ovtFzz6PFu-vWloy31e4rnPqaXf_lB-GgZ3ul9a597U9EeQBOXaWvZajww_VJ_bv31tHrp3o52144KWhelj3euXs6K4kJjbN_uhg_miXEFhAuQwjq0yNE/w640-h442/Kolchak_1x14_003.webp" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The first thread in a diabolical web.</i> </div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">As mentioned in previous years of 31 DAYS OF HORROR, KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER is part of the bedrock that turned me into a "monster kid" at a tender age. Though already addicted to horror movies, it was a delight to receive a weekly network teevee show that brought nine-year-old me stories of an ordinary man who found himself contending with the weird, the arcane, and the unnatural, and you can bet your ass that I never missed an episode while watching from the relative safety beneath our family room's coffee table.</p><p>I was drawn to Kolchak by virtue of his very ordinariness, coupled with his willingness to accept the impossible when directly faced with its complete and utter lethal reality. He was a Van Helsing for the late 20th century, an unlikely warrior against darkness whose vocation as a journalist gave him the patience, tenacity, and tools to do the work of figuring out the old ways to put a foot straight up the ass of the diabolical, and he never let his understandable terror spur him to flee. He always got the job done, often at great personal risk, and because of that he was my shabby hero.</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8QpPr5myoG1kOnyDBIY-A149_PAsVB6BuRvB_x7xSnFcyWQJfRTcENv8ehyQuyfH4r-MZRWuXHRM0WgTIYcCKU8SUFm8OWBjepqE9zczUTme-N1kG0DuzXkSikAppE8-X8thEoDbNqCGf5jj6ArUu0y_RXjXi3CQp5ss4Pn8nnO4aTe1wPBDCMcs2-F8/s2791/Screenshot%202023-10-24%20at%208.47.35%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2208" data-original-width="2791" height="506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8QpPr5myoG1kOnyDBIY-A149_PAsVB6BuRvB_x7xSnFcyWQJfRTcENv8ehyQuyfH4r-MZRWuXHRM0WgTIYcCKU8SUFm8OWBjepqE9zczUTme-N1kG0DuzXkSikAppE8-X8thEoDbNqCGf5jj6ArUu0y_RXjXi3CQp5ss4Pn8nnO4aTe1wPBDCMcs2-F8/w640-h506/Screenshot%202023-10-24%20at%208.47.35%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Kolchak seeks answers from a coven. </i><br /></div><div><p></p><p>I chose to spotlight "The Trevi Collection" because this year's roster of items needed a dose of Kolchak, as well as a bit more witchery, but also because in this era of endless reboots, reimaginings, and remakes, Kolchak is ripe for an update, provided the right cast, scripts, and directors were in place. "The Trevi Collection" would be a fun place to start, as witches on the left-hand path are among the most human of all supernatural menaces, so they are not as easily identifiable as, say, a stitched-together abomination like Frankenstein's creature, or a full-on werewolf, or even a triffid. They are the evil that lurks hidden among us, and once they strike, it's usually horrific and too late. Their unholy endeavors can take on a myriad of dire forms, so the story potential is limitless, constrained only by the imagination of the writer and by what the censors will allow. And since witches usually bear the aspect of an ordinary person, there's little or no need for expensive prosthetics or CGI for their appearance, and studios love being able to turn out a work that won't bankrupt them. Especially if there's likely a colossal box office return on a relatively low budget. In this case, picture Kolchak in an R-rated version of this story, complete with all the tropes of classic black magic narratives. Bloody sacrifices, nudity, and general disturbing weirdness and actions that would never fly on TV or with a PG-13 rating. Now, <i>that</i> I want to see, but unless that quality reboot happens, I will just have to be satisfied with the legacy of a weekly spookshow that's just a year shy of being a half-century old.<br /></p><p>Bottom line: If you have never availed yourself to KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER, you owe it to yourself to check it out. In many ways there would never have been THE X-FILES if not for this series that predated it by two decades. There's good reason for KOLCHAK to be remembered and revered today, so stock up on crucifixes, holy water, and garlic (among other items) and join one fleabag reporter's ongoing battle against that which should not be.</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1pGHkllRaekQw2b30il156TOfXQQJ2sFl7nBwUIKALiV0jU4GM3DSlyL5xLDZH4IR6RvvVbKiGEAdgKvegS-gZHU5w1DAmdH6WmPYnazVSibGJmYFg7rvHYF66RkPOh5l1unWqxyBz7ATMmwVN83hSgDw-3-2BjsHvcDN7IIuN7rd7vGvWKenfHZU8A/s1600/aa4cb2df418dbc55bbeb3911b2de19ec113a571aa656b2cf2f5c905df636cd22._RI_TTW_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1pGHkllRaekQw2b30il156TOfXQQJ2sFl7nBwUIKALiV0jU4GM3DSlyL5xLDZH4IR6RvvVbKiGEAdgKvegS-gZHU5w1DAmdH6WmPYnazVSibGJmYFg7rvHYF66RkPOh5l1unWqxyBz7ATMmwVN83hSgDw-3-2BjsHvcDN7IIuN7rd7vGvWKenfHZU8A/w640-h480/aa4cb2df418dbc55bbeb3911b2de19ec113a571aa656b2cf2f5c905df636cd22._RI_TTW_.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Carl Kolchak: un-deterrable reporter and ass-kicker of the fantastic.</i><br /></div></div><div><p></p></div>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-14242223486779572412023-10-27T00:00:00.081-04:002023-10-27T00:00:00.136-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 -Day 27: INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL-_UQgMGmBxBPMNrHgRNNoxzrPCduYIx_oQRKoMt4JIn7hf_oHQOR7ZfNkkmdcEBFnfhbklYjZPHenbuoHVILRFeOVMjr9S7zSVfVxRDrPppCh_uxpYBCPgcrjnxyd5ewC4pqhn8CW76aGQOhw5d7xWyz1i82iOhB16zgR7tBvQgjs2vuZ_5V6MHh-i8/s1132/d6d25d_73a12f71080349d2912106b602012557~mv2.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="1132" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL-_UQgMGmBxBPMNrHgRNNoxzrPCduYIx_oQRKoMt4JIn7hf_oHQOR7ZfNkkmdcEBFnfhbklYjZPHenbuoHVILRFeOVMjr9S7zSVfVxRDrPppCh_uxpYBCPgcrjnxyd5ewC4pqhn8CW76aGQOhw5d7xWyz1i82iOhB16zgR7tBvQgjs2vuZ_5V6MHh-i8/w640-h360/d6d25d_73a12f71080349d2912106b602012557~mv2.webp" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Fleeing a dead world. Next stop: Earth</i>.<br /></div><div><p>This is going to be a quick one.</p><p>This disco era remake of the 1956 masterpiece of paranoia updates the story beautifully, as we are taken along for the ride when a group of San Francisco residents try to navigate through a subtle incursion from outer space. Having abandoned their dead world, alien plants land on our world and reproduce by large seed pods that grow next to humans while we sleep. The original human is duplicated and replaced by an identical plant doppelganger that can only be differentiated from the original by its complete lack of emotion. The invasion of replacements is quiet, but it swiftly escalates and those who are not part of the extraterrestrial collective must flee or be subsumed. If unchecked, the encroachment of the plants will spell the end of humanity, but how to fight an invader that wears the faces and bodies of friends, loved ones, authority figures, and whomever else? And who would believe so fantastical a tale if one was able to get the word out?<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60xDVjTgA3-TMieuBuCWtGktyLDK6c7MRbGO058dJXRWPceHgz9WuKdH7OeOXnLH1oRCSaOp87uml9OIFpXUt_tPcjEUvF8YGtE47O7PVW71a4Mhok9hJsTJSIyX3GdBFC4kSuG8JErv5uzEcK4zcGxGmoxFCulMpeG3OqKk5vsmvO-Okocln88x84RE/s700/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-1978-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="401" data-original-width="700" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh60xDVjTgA3-TMieuBuCWtGktyLDK6c7MRbGO058dJXRWPceHgz9WuKdH7OeOXnLH1oRCSaOp87uml9OIFpXUt_tPcjEUvF8YGtE47O7PVW71a4Mhok9hJsTJSIyX3GdBFC4kSuG8JErv5uzEcK4zcGxGmoxFCulMpeG3OqKk5vsmvO-Okocln88x84RE/w640-h366/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-1978-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>A replacement germinates.</i><br /></div></div><div><p style="text-align: left;">This quality remake employs the same basic setup as the classic original (only minus the Cold War allegory) and it's every bit as effective, thanks to a solid script, tense direction, and a game cast led by Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright, and Leonard Nimoy. Much like the original, the frisson here is the familiar being twisted into something distant from itself, the loss of individual humanity, and the horror of implacable uniformity. </p><p>That's all I will say, because if you have not yet seen it for yourself, there are plenty of surprises that must be experienced cold. Especially one that shocked the shit out of those of us who saw it during first run while we were in junior high school. (If you've seen the film, you know <i>exactly </i>which bit I'm on about.) See the 1956 original, as it still wields considerable power, and also for the sake of comparison, but this version is strong meat that can stand on its own.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpTtpVbJavuoEKm7_cxioUxpxPDl6DiupP3sm7Jp_C3fddf_-8_CiBvZ_qeEHW8iSTn6HnZl7er6Q5c0Jle2EwbLfAgpx6F0QaufSomIMaDJDEMd1aBQUUhoMTdKpQq9WsBeGUY0jdz_c8GTYFRkS5waeghoF4YBV9c7934PRjo45Ix3Y98cuhddAU_58/s391/Invasion_of_the_body_snatchers_movie_poster_1978.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="258" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpTtpVbJavuoEKm7_cxioUxpxPDl6DiupP3sm7Jp_C3fddf_-8_CiBvZ_qeEHW8iSTn6HnZl7er6Q5c0Jle2EwbLfAgpx6F0QaufSomIMaDJDEMd1aBQUUhoMTdKpQq9WsBeGUY0jdz_c8GTYFRkS5waeghoF4YBV9c7934PRjo45Ix3Y98cuhddAU_58/w422-h640/Invasion_of_the_body_snatchers_movie_poster_1978.jpg" width="422" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Poster for the U.S. theatrical release.</i><br /></div></div>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-16843212316287537272023-10-26T00:00:00.158-04:002023-10-26T00:38:33.277-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 - Day 26: NIGHT OF THE DEMON (1980)<div class="separator" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAMByGhoqoDyJwBS3e28_Y94ZLLV-DusAiQtYI_UC6PAb-2FdSUAckoou9Usz5qPTXGvH7KKvucn6HauQNRpOBz6L5TZAJYWe7yOH0Q__8M9OrS_maHWo8B3q1IlrBSYIb1Q0xTq-Wx1q6ljw9g5_fyVXlB76QspnRXpSOYGB6P7OrSaZk3YlPoxhYNQ8/s2016/Bigfoot-2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAMByGhoqoDyJwBS3e28_Y94ZLLV-DusAiQtYI_UC6PAb-2FdSUAckoou9Usz5qPTXGvH7KKvucn6HauQNRpOBz6L5TZAJYWe7yOH0Q__8M9OrS_maHWo8B3q1IlrBSYIb1Q0xTq-Wx1q6ljw9g5_fyVXlB76QspnRXpSOYGB6P7OrSaZk3YlPoxhYNQ8/w640-h480/Bigfoot-2.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Bigfoot: HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS this ain't.</i></p><p style="text-align: left;">An anthropology professor leads an expedition of a handful of students into the backwoods of California, where they seek to prove the existence of Bigfoot and determine whether or not the legendary cryptid is responsible for the murder of an assortment of victims. The search reveals a community of hillbillies that worship the Sasquatch, with a clearly unstable woman as the focus of a Bigfoot-related sex ritual, and stories of dire incidents involving the beast being recounted in flashback. The expedition is stalked and killed by the monster, and the unstable woman's history with the creature is made plain. She was raped by Bigfoot when she was fifteen, a violation witnessed by her religious fanatic father (who stood by and did nothing), and her father is convinced that his daughter is evil. Bigfoot's sexual assault was meant to impregnate the girl as a means to perpetuate his species (he's apparently the last of his kind), and when she agonizingly gives birth, her father kills the baby. Now totally around the bend, the girl burns her father alive in the family's barn. Anyway, while trapped in the girl's cabin, the expedition is stalked and killed by the beast, with only the professor surviving the massacre. Upon telling his story to the authorities and mental health professionals (the events leading up to his hospitalization are told as a feature-length flashback), the professor is declared criminally insane. THE END.</p><p style="text-align: left;">NIGHT OF THE DEMON — not to be confused with other similarly-titled films — arrived at the start of the 1980's slasher movie boom, and the narrative is pretty much a backwoods-set slasher with a Sasquatch as the killer. It stars no one anybody's ever heard of, features overlong takes and bad editing, and is an exercise in padding and utter boredom. Other than some memorably shocking set pieces, the film's sole distinction is that it was one of the films cited on Britain's infamous "video nasties" roster in the 1980's and banned as a result. I had never heard of this film until recently, and I totally understand why. It's cheap-looking, features no scares or suspense, and even its ban-worthy gory and violent excesses are about on par with gore effects one would see at a junior high school's cheapjack annual haunted house.</p><p style="text-align: left;">The film's two standout moments showcase a motorcyclist pulling over for a roadside piss, only to have Bigfoot's hairy hand grab the biker's penis from out of a nearby bush and rip it off, thus leading the poor bastard to bleed out,<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmrEWL855BXKO0WdD6bZrNjxPemAMaEdoZHaiBz-lmlNtjE6FcAHcWt09hYi2RrRpGbrnLMzJfSJuhmiDNNyj8ZxV3ZqXDRrashrWIeffjX_LzHnzghge90aTISmLdl0kn2Z0Upc5szq_2Xvhqf-gnK0GlPDC5g0ZrLl4WqH4TGfoPz62DZh_r9fE-_tE/s720/Penis.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="720" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmrEWL855BXKO0WdD6bZrNjxPemAMaEdoZHaiBz-lmlNtjE6FcAHcWt09hYi2RrRpGbrnLMzJfSJuhmiDNNyj8ZxV3ZqXDRrashrWIeffjX_LzHnzghge90aTISmLdl0kn2Z0Upc5szq_2Xvhqf-gnK0GlPDC5g0ZrLl4WqH4TGfoPz62DZh_r9fE-_tE/w640-h476/Penis.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>and the flashback of Bigfoot raping that girl in her front yard while her shotgun-wielding dad observes in disgusted horror.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8u0muGWqwHaFqQ2QoV2M29ilqxHebQgk3WjUEUMcnA-YVxvlgWk17xJQNAXjK3SijSOvd9P6-bM_zTQ17SUDDif5BHeGwfWIyNexTYRElEPpICGnslt2a-GO9X3S8j3V6AchThb6DNd5s7-SmMYvSWQ6aGqhVkuGFK4bF3oCZa1Ts0KzQvGlfTDBi3k/s3378/Screenshot%202023-10-23%20at%203.22.56%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1788" data-original-width="3378" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8u0muGWqwHaFqQ2QoV2M29ilqxHebQgk3WjUEUMcnA-YVxvlgWk17xJQNAXjK3SijSOvd9P6-bM_zTQ17SUDDif5BHeGwfWIyNexTYRElEPpICGnslt2a-GO9X3S8j3V6AchThb6DNd5s7-SmMYvSWQ6aGqhVkuGFK4bF3oCZa1Ts0KzQvGlfTDBi3k/w640-h338/Screenshot%202023-10-23%20at%203.22.56%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i>A rare example of what's often implied in monster movies being made quite explicit.</i></p><p>NIGHT OF THE DEMON was an amateurish waste of my time and Amazon rental money, and I am actually angry that I saw it. It's not so-bad-it-s-good. It's just a soul-sucking piece of anti-entertainment that is best avoided.<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><br />Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-75128709616498552082023-10-25T00:00:00.241-04:002023-10-25T00:00:00.153-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 - Day 25: THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964)<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUhSNm5HQD_phZjI3tNkk7x-TFhztwifTWFfj-sZ_Prr58mk1lvrH6c5Qn9buF0Yk32jr-v1t9tTcAbs-QceTaWYCHZisR3JKSbBl3vM8LuBWsz8YxsiOk3vY-G5tIQVphoTT30-Z4cUZmBFSVSbfZDo7U33RxfS5OS1JQlm63Lx6aJ0L21bv7PDKaOvY/s1020/iu-16-1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="546" data-original-width="1020" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUhSNm5HQD_phZjI3tNkk7x-TFhztwifTWFfj-sZ_Prr58mk1lvrH6c5Qn9buF0Yk32jr-v1t9tTcAbs-QceTaWYCHZisR3JKSbBl3vM8LuBWsz8YxsiOk3vY-G5tIQVphoTT30-Z4cUZmBFSVSbfZDo7U33RxfS5OS1JQlm63Lx6aJ0L21bv7PDKaOvY/w640-h342/iu-16-1.png" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i>"Can you look around this world and believe in the goodness of a god who
rules it? Famine, Pestilence, War, Disease and Death! They rule this
world." — Prospero</i> <br /></p><p>In medieval Italy, Satan-worshiping prince Prospero (Vincent Price) rules over a village with an iron hand, making the lives of his subjects a cruel misery. While on her way back to the village after collecting kindling, an old woman encounters a mysterious hooded figure clad from head to toe in crimson, and he gives her a white rose that he turns red. The figure tasks the woman with presenting the flower to Prospero and alerting the cruel ruler that the time of the people's deliverance is at hand.</p><p>Prospero arrives in the village to announce a feast and masquerade in honor of the end of the peasants' harvest season, a bounty from which Prospero benefits while the townspeople starve. Rulers from nearby kingdoms will be in attendance and the members of the court will find sport in throwing table scraps to the peasants as if they were dogs. But while the rest of the town resigns itself to bear the ongoing degradation, a young man, Gino, and village elder Ludivico speak out against Prospero, and the prince immediately orders the pair to be garroted. But as the royal stranglers set to work, Francesca, the elder's daughter, begs for mercy. Prospero offers to let one of the men live, but the girl must choose who is to survive — her father, or Gino, with whom she is in love. But before that dreadful choice can be made, screaming is heard from within a nearby hut, and when the prince interrupts his cruel game to investigate, he finds the old woman, who promptly dies, her face mottled with red blotches. Her demise indicates that a dreaded plague, the Red Death, has come to the area, so, having determined that his three victims have not had contact with the old woman, Prospero has the trio taken to his castle to further his entertainment, and orders his soldiers to burn the plague-besmirched village to the ground.</p><p>Upon arrival at Prospero's castle, Gino and Ludivico are imprisoned and trained in armed combat to serve as amusement for guests at the upcoming celebration, while Francesca is forcibly stripped and bathed. Striding in to observe the modest peasant in the bath, Propero notes that she wears a cross. When asked if the crucifix is mere decoration or if she is a true Christian believer, Francesca answers "yes" and is told to take it off immediately and never wear it in the castle again, at which the terrified girl hands him the cross. Prospero then takes his leave, but not before ordering his Juliana, his concubine, to dress Francesca in finery from the Juliana's own wardrobe and that she instruct Francesca in the ways of the court. Francesca agrees to cooperate, but if anything happens to her father or her lover, she will die...and so will Prospero. But Prospero aims to corrupt Francesca and usher her into his diabolical faith, with the masquerade ball designed as an orgiastic offering of souls to his dark master. But what of the mysterious hooded figure in red?<br /></p><p>This seventh of producer/director Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe adaptations is a mashup of the titular short story and "Hop Toad," but I did not outline that second thread because it's best experienced with no foreknowledge. All one needs to know is that the film is a lush, colorful effort that affords Vincent Price one of his best opportunities to play unabashedly evil. His Prospero is a cruel and vile despot to whom the lives of his subjects are worth less than dog droppings on the street. He degrades all who cross his path, even his concubine, and he simply revels in the pain and humiliation he causes, so when he inevitably gets what coming to him, it's immensely satisfying.</p><p>For my money, this is the best of Corman's Poe wave, and it's a leisurely-paced effort that's not all that scary or gory, but it has the look and atmosphere of one of Mario Bava's films of the period. If you ever wondered why Vincent Price, a hammy actor if ever there was one, is a horror icon, THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH will provide you with a solid answer. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhKPrgMjwq3rvUr_lilX3vIaR0-NMrbPgVG3q00CSu8nrkPbuzdgwrN0YTHf2QhF6jjxloIQviXNLe0qXkErV5xI8UGJ7kzY5QMftENsF1X23SJ8WtTvU-8Xe26OUg39ltpmYDgr7NMs3_3LMcZtE9FDXs-DbX8Q2XX5vByVZpA4qnUmbQhCCjItehlEc/s397/MasqueOfTheRedDeath(1964film).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="250" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhKPrgMjwq3rvUr_lilX3vIaR0-NMrbPgVG3q00CSu8nrkPbuzdgwrN0YTHf2QhF6jjxloIQviXNLe0qXkErV5xI8UGJ7kzY5QMftENsF1X23SJ8WtTvU-8Xe26OUg39ltpmYDgr7NMs3_3LMcZtE9FDXs-DbX8Q2XX5vByVZpA4qnUmbQhCCjItehlEc/w404-h640/MasqueOfTheRedDeath(1964film).jpg" width="404" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Poster for the theatrical release.</i><br /></p>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-21746960816104001392023-10-24T00:00:00.223-04:002023-10-24T23:46:30.246-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 -Day 24: THE GREEN INFERNO (2013)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHFUhXMI27dY5Of55lG964Kg8gzHMw5SjaGFUzgcTU5uG-bRiiHWIC_3BBakvFj_-aFak9_62QFoYyGOIAr0tRoDrnph8EGMePEE9ZIHP_4lCUV1MOvZJAS8mHra5IdC5OPuaj0vGWgFjX3h3pYgsYuimhtquGwgV4XtyV5LjqrW3W9x8bTi55WJkfS0w/s906/luUETazMEx4CP476VPP6OV5ZHGLvJfJZER2D7PNQGVQ.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="906" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHFUhXMI27dY5Of55lG964Kg8gzHMw5SjaGFUzgcTU5uG-bRiiHWIC_3BBakvFj_-aFak9_62QFoYyGOIAr0tRoDrnph8EGMePEE9ZIHP_4lCUV1MOvZJAS8mHra5IdC5OPuaj0vGWgFjX3h3pYgsYuimhtquGwgV4XtyV5LjqrW3W9x8bTi55WJkfS0w/w640-h366/luUETazMEx4CP476VPP6OV5ZHGLvJfJZER2D7PNQGVQ.webp" width="640" /></a></div> <i> "I smell him. Oh, my god...I smell my friend being cooked..."</i><br /><p></p><p>College freshman Justine (Lorenza Izzo), daughter of a United Nations attorney, joins a campus activism group led by the charismatic and intense Alejandro (Ariel Levy). Alejandro plans a journey deep into the Amazon rainforest, where he and his group seek to bring international attention to a corporation's illegal deforestation efforts and pillaging of natural gas that will also wipe out a local tribe of indigenous people. Justine and Alejandro's followers travel to the Amazon and make their stand against the corporation's clear-cutters and armed mercenaries, using their cell phones to broadcast the incident to the world, but as they make their way home via a small prop plane, things go awry, resulting in a crash that kills several of the activists. Justine, Alejandro, and the remaining activists manage to crawl from the wreckage, but they are immediately captured by the indigenous tribesmen, who think they are members of the faction that is destroying their habitat. The tribe are skilled hunters who have co-existed with the dangers of the jungle since time immemorial, while Justine and the crash survivors are pampered westerners with no clue of exactly where they are, no way to communicate with their captors, and no hope of escape, as they are guarded 24/7 by tribesmen with sedative blow darts. Unfortunately for Justine and the survivors, the tribe are also cannibal headhunters, and Justine and crew make for a bountiful feast...</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwQ8-bA6Q4XNI-Y26OvVhAN2rFaeQo0gIwYedXPBv_Y01N3k36QQYNSgEtwl-H0Zk1e5DT_82TWe-k6lE1P7AmFbOW5iOd5-ckFIWro0qeqQMbChRxjCwlG9cDQRXeFp-5kWL4eqf6D1kWH1pTwZPFnA6pby266yxTKsibjIRybg4RuWcpVeHir7aJaOk/s1280/green-inferno-pic-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="1280" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwQ8-bA6Q4XNI-Y26OvVhAN2rFaeQo0gIwYedXPBv_Y01N3k36QQYNSgEtwl-H0Zk1e5DT_82TWe-k6lE1P7AmFbOW5iOd5-ckFIWro0qeqQMbChRxjCwlG9cDQRXeFp-5kWL4eqf6D1kWH1pTwZPFnA6pby266yxTKsibjIRybg4RuWcpVeHir7aJaOk/w640-h266/green-inferno-pic-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>"Come and get it!!!"</i> </div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">Basically a love letter to the Italian cannibal sub-genre — one of the sleaziest, grubbiest, most negative and exploitative corners of horror cinema — Eli Roth's THE GREEN INFERNO is perhaps the first iteration of the form to be realized with actual craft and not just an exploitative desire to slather the screen with plotless gore and sadism. I've seen several entries in this singularly unsavory category, and this is far and away the most competent and professional-looking of the dubious breed, unlike the garden variety Italo gut-munchers that look and feel like a snuff film. Roth has crafted a harrowing survival narrative that allows us to get to know the characters to a decent degree before the mayhem starts, and once the gruesome ball gets rolling, it's a bleak and nasty affair for the hapless prisoners. Live dismemberment, dysentery-fueled diarrhea within a confined space, torture with hungry ants, inspection of the female prisoner's hymens with a sharp probe, and even the threat of female genital mutilation are all on the table, and Roth manages to bring us all of that within the constraints of an R-rating and done more tastefully than one might expect. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixPNRYv1W2og3SB1xFQbXmz11PZiZUcaotXcKb74InTC_M9o91-LEl0XVYXBUMwkvhJSmB9mXanj06Cz-Rspl8p36zibzA2TwABVw18QNQje9w6qch7JEACwVC5Hlyix9FwAsLDS4-i8-pitam2A5bEmAO5jZgYDdHoxwB5oXhQ8Y87-VPDrNeA1SGroM/s500/greeninferno1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="207" data-original-width="500" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixPNRYv1W2og3SB1xFQbXmz11PZiZUcaotXcKb74InTC_M9o91-LEl0XVYXBUMwkvhJSmB9mXanj06Cz-Rspl8p36zibzA2TwABVw18QNQje9w6qch7JEACwVC5Hlyix9FwAsLDS4-i8-pitam2A5bEmAO5jZgYDdHoxwB5oXhQ8Y87-VPDrNeA1SGroM/w640-h264/greeninferno1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>When one woman's waking nightmare goes from incredibly bad to immeasurably worse...</i><br /></div><div><p style="text-align: left;">Yes, it's bloody and unabashedly gory as hell, but it's all presented in a matter-of-fact manner, as if it's all just another day in the existence of the cannibal tribe (which it is, but only with a sudden windfall of fresh meat).</p><p>To say more would ruin the surprises, so if you have the stomach for this sort of thing, I heartily recommend that you check it out. Unlike the Italian sleaze-fests that it drew inspiration from, THE GREEN INFERNO is actually a very good film, albeit a particularly nasty one. I don't think it's anything that someone who watched the more excessive episodes of GAME OF THRONES couldn't handle, but I get it if you opt to steer clear. Cannibalism is ugly business and there are few ways to depict such without going there, but those who brave this film are likely of stern enough stuff to be able to handle its charnel house shocks, and if they do they may just be surprised at how much they enjoy the proceedings. Like I said, I am no stranger to gory cannibal films, but I cannot say that I actually enjoyed any of the classic examples thereof. I appreciate them for their audacity and merry willingness to be as nauseating as possible, but I do not find them to be fun cinematic entertainment. THE GREEN INFERNO, I am glad to say, is the first such film that I have genuinely enjoyed, so make of that what you will.</p><p>Oh, and stick around once the end credits roll...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdPOCl1oedSiFAWHTPMXQrgf2TYPf1kLXrCayDTyVKXs4HX8QrnpRXqVNU6F8qlw9yg4HkIs9mEFBhB7Th93QCCbwzbjy2nQQ0o5VnPg2iwWpzxyjfX9h11HYy8HoyV1Ka2sKfTbgFEIHq-CziMQ5feVjUJ94Uc6znepAAmbGvI8fOl5eaYPrABpv4DY0/s1838/the-green-inferno-movie-poster.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1838" data-original-width="1240" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdPOCl1oedSiFAWHTPMXQrgf2TYPf1kLXrCayDTyVKXs4HX8QrnpRXqVNU6F8qlw9yg4HkIs9mEFBhB7Th93QCCbwzbjy2nQQ0o5VnPg2iwWpzxyjfX9h11HYy8HoyV1Ka2sKfTbgFEIHq-CziMQ5feVjUJ94Uc6znepAAmbGvI8fOl5eaYPrABpv4DY0/w432-h640/the-green-inferno-movie-poster.webp" width="432" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Poster for the theatrical release.</i><br /></div></div>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-31192929085894954612023-10-23T00:00:00.455-04:002023-10-23T00:00:00.141-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 -Day 23: SHIVERS (1975)<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGo1YLi4xx9BilL04ldEPy6CWHhrn6SKmGZZV-o8uQnVmw6eM7z2no7ib-GvpHjQSbCgOk9kLd0sLCBr0WPW4bbYSAoePoll94_OhkdQygaCiH_tQBNvnhy-3zqcB2kNSnidjJwqC9drNN6qYw4GaKn9ByJCZUxjkg7_3xAvNvOWvFsuBmBkXsUtR6C1o/s1008/cronenberg-15-shivers.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="1008" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGo1YLi4xx9BilL04ldEPy6CWHhrn6SKmGZZV-o8uQnVmw6eM7z2no7ib-GvpHjQSbCgOk9kLd0sLCBr0WPW4bbYSAoePoll94_OhkdQygaCiH_tQBNvnhy-3zqcB2kNSnidjJwqC9drNN6qYw4GaKn9ByJCZUxjkg7_3xAvNvOWvFsuBmBkXsUtR6C1o/w640-h366/cronenberg-15-shivers.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;"><i>"I had a very disturbing dream last night. In this dream I found
myself making love to a strange man. Only I'm having trouble you see,
because he's old... and dying... and he smells bad, and I find him
repulsive. But then he tells me that everything is erotic, that
everything is sexual. You know what I mean? He tells me that even old
flesh is erotic flesh. That disease is the love of two alien kinds of
creatures for each other. That even dying is an act of eroticism. That
talking is sexual. That breathing is sexual. That even to physically
exist is sexual. And I believe him, and we make love beautifully."</i> </p><p>The Starliner, a luxury apartment complex on an island near Montreal, is overrun by caustic parasites that amplify the host's sexual desires, thus leading to the creatures spreading via any available human orifice. Transmitted through intimate contact and at other times getting around independent of a host and attacking at random, the phallic slug-like creatures reproduce rapidly. The creation of a doctor at a local research facility with the intent that they be medically useful as, once implanted, they
search out failing organs, dissolve them, and replace them with full
function. But the apparently insane doctor also intended them as "a combination of aphrodisiac and venereal disease that will hopefully turn the world into one beautiful, mindless orgy." So
when he implanted a 19-year-old female student with some parasites (a girl with whom he he'd been having an affair since she was a minor), she went all
horny and got down to business with a number of the complex's male
residents, and then it was off to the races for the nasty little
wigglies. Literally overnight, the situation escalates to a proliferation akin to
a George Romero-style proportions, with the infected behaving like
swarming zombies, only this time around the zombies are sentient and
will sexually assault you, resulting in a mindless, writhing euphoric dog pile of orgiastic couplings. </p><p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglEuHO4hw0iu_X4_QAPfo5-JaIPYKRPzz7SBAL4g87HqsdquCw_5At9xTtXiISRXQnqlj6w5R4CBfkMOJAIkh50yRUZDiLU2i0BuBEKvOSH1cf-lsvgrgxU2utbr1MB-p7C3vguGoLDEpzx6wv6ExGyAP3mp-efrIuavfUXPevyXG3k1-7tQ4nrJ1QUtA/s1823/Shivers-Still3.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1019" data-original-width="1823" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglEuHO4hw0iu_X4_QAPfo5-JaIPYKRPzz7SBAL4g87HqsdquCw_5At9xTtXiISRXQnqlj6w5R4CBfkMOJAIkh50yRUZDiLU2i0BuBEKvOSH1cf-lsvgrgxU2utbr1MB-p7C3vguGoLDEpzx6wv6ExGyAP3mp-efrIuavfUXPevyXG3k1-7tQ4nrJ1QUtA/w640-h358/Shivers-Still3.png" width="640" /></a><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>A self-contained horny apocalypse. </i><br /></p><p>Young or old, regardless of sexual orientation and even direct familial connection, no one is exempt from this horrific invasion, so how does one keep up with them, much less stop them altogether? The complex's on-premises all-purpose physician, Dr Roger St. Luc (Paul Hampton), investigates and attempts to navigate through this hell of the horny but it soon becomes apparent that there is no escape...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWYTg7SYJDsEEsYIN-K3FPL3gO-GLkA7EkfI9AYKHqVsEIBCdIn7mdg7mBmrAKr6LoBoYT73bCpNZAJz9_hnEPXuOrdxD9h3SSHjM6JHUHQ1WRqm0tFREey1DcLacds-gDJXthslCETCGZW_L4LZOUudn2xkROVOzA9xUuB0-pjAO1XjL-LRwkjIiJO00/s1008/cronenberg-11-shivers.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="1008" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWYTg7SYJDsEEsYIN-K3FPL3gO-GLkA7EkfI9AYKHqVsEIBCdIn7mdg7mBmrAKr6LoBoYT73bCpNZAJz9_hnEPXuOrdxD9h3SSHjM6JHUHQ1WRqm0tFREey1DcLacds-gDJXthslCETCGZW_L4LZOUudn2xkROVOzA9xUuB0-pjAO1XjL-LRwkjIiJO00/w640-h366/cronenberg-11-shivers.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><i>A couple who who just moved in goes to the building complex manager's office to complain about the sounds of what they think is the other tenants having an out of control party, only to enter the office and immediately get violated by six of the sexed-up parasitically-infected. </i><br /><p style="text-align: left;">SHIVERS, released in the U.S. as THEY CAME FROM WITHIN, is the debut theatrical feature by Canadian master of "body horror" David Cronenberg, and his clinical approach to to body gone wrong is apparent from the word "go. The parasites are an obvious metaphor for STDs in the post-hippie era, and perhaps even a snarky commentary on the ludicrous setups in '70's porn where people just walk into a room and start fucking with barely so much as a "How do you do?" Everybody in this movie gets jumped and infected, and I do mean <i>everybody</i>, including children, with the most disturbing example of this being an infected father/daughter pair who attempt to entice Dr. St. Luc into joining them for a threesome. (I let out a loud "Eurgh" at that one.)<br /></p><p>But while the parasites invade and proliferate through sexual assault, the end result is indeed their creator's intended utopia of a mindless orgy in which all are embraced and apparently happy (if quite crazed). One of the threads in this prurient tapestry is that of Janine Tudor (Susan Petrie), wife of Nick (Alan Migicovsky). Unbeknownst to Janine, Nick has been cheating on her with 19-year-old parasite Patient Zero and is infected with the wigglies, so he has grown distant from his wife. Janine worries for him because she thinks his illness might be cancer or something equally dire, but once the parasites gain full control over Nick, he attempts to rape Janine by way of spreading the parasites. Understandably terrified, Janine flees their apartment and makes her way to the flat of her best friend, Betts (horror and exploitation film legend Barbara Steele). They are seen interacting a couple of times earlier in the film, and it is made clear that Betts is single and independent, and there are hints of potential for something more than simple friendship intimacy between the two women. What the audience is aware of but Janine is not is that earlier that evening, Betts was vaginally invaded by a parasite while she enjoyed a hot bath and a glass of wine, so Janine is seeking comfort and support from one of the infected. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLI3x-qEosEVU2bmu85UeomiWSHblpORoV8XxTxi26beHhGkv-ijpbeACsdF-_ENZatJQqEzJ0zcCKetj_jyvIm00Mvty2If2G3fQy4PlRgQtK1tUNfJ93Kd0PQlsanxK3zNygKWJlaCw6dRb5Rgsbm87WxZfn9dcHKZD-f17uAz9OJQ9zAIe4aU8lm6I/s1280/image-w1280.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLI3x-qEosEVU2bmu85UeomiWSHblpORoV8XxTxi26beHhGkv-ijpbeACsdF-_ENZatJQqEzJ0zcCKetj_jyvIm00Mvty2If2G3fQy4PlRgQtK1tUNfJ93Kd0PQlsanxK3zNygKWJlaCw6dRb5Rgsbm87WxZfn9dcHKZD-f17uAz9OJQ9zAIe4aU8lm6I/w640-h360/image-w1280.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><i>Horror and exploitation film legend Barbara Steele as the unfortunate Betts, receiving an bathtime unwanted visitor up the cooter. </i></p><p>But unlike the ravening rapists infesting the rest of the Starliner complex, Betts is kind to Janine, and offers tender seduction in lieu of violent assault. The neglected and mistreated Janine responds, thus unwittingly and painlessly joining the ranks of the infected. There is no violence in the women's coupling, and if not for the parasitic element, it would be beautiful. </p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihXMsaJKmcpN0qRCcrHN51zPrytNHJhqSg-FgelJur5jTMWgDL-cEXShJ2cr-5G85KG4FXVQ2QB7qvuYlwWxDbv-hiTspyKV2-PhV7GOQcCwYsVg39QrLifN9wkl_JojrzwtE0ZkXUBcF2ssMw0ysjKSM3gNcsIVxmDg1bf76iSOFJKh9P6YFcwZqz0gA/s3022/Screenshot%202023-10-20%20at%204.07.45%E2%80%AFAM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1694" data-original-width="3022" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihXMsaJKmcpN0qRCcrHN51zPrytNHJhqSg-FgelJur5jTMWgDL-cEXShJ2cr-5G85KG4FXVQ2QB7qvuYlwWxDbv-hiTspyKV2-PhV7GOQcCwYsVg39QrLifN9wkl_JojrzwtE0ZkXUBcF2ssMw0ysjKSM3gNcsIVxmDg1bf76iSOFJKh9P6YFcwZqz0gA/w640-h358/Screenshot%202023-10-20%20at%204.07.45%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="640" /></a></div><i>A dark romantic interlude: sapphic desire is given free rein with the help of a parasite. </i><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">As the entire complex swiftly falls to the parasites, there is a twisted joy evident in all involved, so even though the creatures spread via sexual assault, the victims shortly come to exist in a state of what appears to be joyfully mindless sexual insatiability, a thronging hive mind of febrile pussy and cock, if you will, so is the end result really all that bad? Cronenberg does not answer that question and instead opts to leave things open-ended, but for all intents and purposes the events ignited at the Starliner could mean the end of the world as we knew it. It's like INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS or a zombie apocalypse narrative where the individual is subsumed into a faceless, mindless horde, only this time everybody gets laid. </p><p style="text-align: left;">SHIVERS presents a majorly fucked-up scenario when one stops to examine its ramifications, and I very much doubt a film like this could be gotten away with today without seriously toning down the concept and content. It's quite hellish, and the fact that something so very physical/carnal and utterly bleak is what Cronenberg brought us in his initial effort serves as a harbinger of a fascinating and intellectually challenging filmography marked with uncomfortable explorations of the body and its potential to lapse into that which is grossly un-human. Not perfect and in places clearly the work of a filmmaker who was learning his craft by the seat of his pants, SHIVERS is nonetheless compelling stuff right out of the gate. </p><p style="text-align: left;">I've been a Cronenberg junkie since seeing SCANNERS (1981) during its original release when I was sixteen, but I somehow missed seeing this first film from the director until watching it for this year's round of essay. Finally discovering it at age 58 was a real treat, and I strongly recommend it. One of my favorites from this year's screenings, and now one of my favorite works from Cronenberg.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKVOCe5lbxEfkYNJxPkR7SrSdXCEzb5rDVfWCUs1YLrp31qQlzhzPMIPQMWX6_lFW1f3Cc4dJtDe70pDobI564Ggc4TymF05Tlabsh0EQIQihN03fad4-lB9AULJ9QoBwhSBQ941n-hwG1DJ4KJOAH3SbhnE3exrC4GrFhbGKs5obFyEwpc2ut4gd2FdU/s1534/Screenshot%202023-10-20%20at%204.04.31%E2%80%AFAM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1534" data-original-width="1020" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKVOCe5lbxEfkYNJxPkR7SrSdXCEzb5rDVfWCUs1YLrp31qQlzhzPMIPQMWX6_lFW1f3Cc4dJtDe70pDobI564Ggc4TymF05Tlabsh0EQIQihN03fad4-lB9AULJ9QoBwhSBQ941n-hwG1DJ4KJOAH3SbhnE3exrC4GrFhbGKs5obFyEwpc2ut4gd2FdU/w426-h640/Screenshot%202023-10-20%20at%204.04.31%E2%80%AFAM.png" width="426" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Poster for the Canadian release.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp3iIF91fR85V3cTmYjJ-LP5lHEZhHBtdFORo1PPIFOL-a_OQ7sD3c773idUL4dwah4htqGs0wkNgAL7KuG7oWHy91IPtYr4jQOVu2xTsVsjZbeYcMqPsonSxa81_Tc6KUB9PryoUdDr2z_TH2uVMbct354nHNqwty8OB_LZNvOHZ9jRahs1YhAn5YYXk/s640/shivers-770499l-0x640-h-667a8ded.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="415" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp3iIF91fR85V3cTmYjJ-LP5lHEZhHBtdFORo1PPIFOL-a_OQ7sD3c773idUL4dwah4htqGs0wkNgAL7KuG7oWHy91IPtYr4jQOVu2xTsVsjZbeYcMqPsonSxa81_Tc6KUB9PryoUdDr2z_TH2uVMbct354nHNqwty8OB_LZNvOHZ9jRahs1YhAn5YYXk/w416-h640/shivers-770499l-0x640-h-667a8ded.jpg" width="416" /></a></div><br />Poster for the U.S. release.</i><br /></div>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-49554217652954966722023-10-22T00:00:00.210-04:002023-10-22T00:00:00.140-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 -Day 22: LADY FRANKENSTEIN (1971)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCZxCS7daHyxaK1DFbqqytowJjlu1_upgVg_HpF8tn1WOlM4VlOoEsjtT5J8C0AqJEB6j21_2gg7NmAiLz2kvLtgdqxn4CmC92OZaj75lLKwFrCux-kBFy9lSDkW_NsGPHJlAqR611zC9JQmtLXz2Bu7VfbrvlLlDmOFUyyjFSN1ZShNfvjhmODT8dBpg/s2292/Screenshot%202023-10-18%20at%205.53.08%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="2292" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCZxCS7daHyxaK1DFbqqytowJjlu1_upgVg_HpF8tn1WOlM4VlOoEsjtT5J8C0AqJEB6j21_2gg7NmAiLz2kvLtgdqxn4CmC92OZaj75lLKwFrCux-kBFy9lSDkW_NsGPHJlAqR611zC9JQmtLXz2Bu7VfbrvlLlDmOFUyyjFSN1ZShNfvjhmODT8dBpg/w640-h358/Screenshot%202023-10-18%20at%205.53.08%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>More laboratory shenanigans, this time from Italy.</i></p><p style="text-align: left;">Dr. Frankenstein (Joseph Cotton) is up to his old tricks again, and the creature he's assembled over three years finally nears completion. Though facial burns and a dislodged eyeball render the creature hideous, the real problem is that its brain is defective, but Frankenstein is simply to gung ho to care. As this is going on, his daughter Tania (Rosalba Neri) returns from medical college with a degree in surgery and immediately twigs to what her dad is up to. The doctor does not want her getting involved, in case something goes wrong and the authorities become involved, but Tania will not be denied, and her enthusiasm is supported by Frankenstein's assistant, Dr. Marshall (Paul Muller). While continuing to hold his daughter at bay, Frankenstein completes the creature (Ricardo Pizzuti), which kills Frankenstein and immediately begins rampaging around the countryside. </p><p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmyBAVtvjyUtjDC6FduKCSefK7cFZMgp29_riSZlwhY1tYv9dmgO9NONG7MzrtLOZO10bzfYC79SeIC2Ac99YNu-6r-dOXzkq6I3V7AfCM7pp1WAJoLK5tbpp9jfhFrgfUKpmJqBOQ9rH4OHAxL476mbY_zwDbWv0fQDN5Uo9U1o9A4KLZgV63ZWSnIs/s2314/Screenshot%202023-10-18%20at%205.52.35%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1288" data-original-width="2314" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmyBAVtvjyUtjDC6FduKCSefK7cFZMgp29_riSZlwhY1tYv9dmgO9NONG7MzrtLOZO10bzfYC79SeIC2Ac99YNu-6r-dOXzkq6I3V7AfCM7pp1WAJoLK5tbpp9jfhFrgfUKpmJqBOQ9rH4OHAxL476mbY_zwDbWv0fQDN5Uo9U1o9A4KLZgV63ZWSnIs/w640-h356/Screenshot%202023-10-18%20at%205.52.35%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="640" /></a> <br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Will this dumb motherfucker never learn?</i></p><p style="text-align: left;">As the monster's body count grows, Tania seizes the opportunity and convinces Marshall that the only thing that can stop the creature is another man-made affront to nature, and she proposes transplanting Marshall's brain into the younger, handsome, and fit body of mentally disabled Thomas (Mariano Mase), her late father's servant. Marshall stuck around with Frankenstein for years in hope that Tania would someday return, as he has carried a torch for her for ages, so he agrees to her plan with the understanding that she will love him back once he's in Thomas's body. But as the monster keeps on killing, matters are complicated for Tania as the avaricious graverobber who supplied her father with corpses makes it clear that he wants to slip her a length in exchange for his services, a detective investigates the monster's killing spree and comes to suspect Tania knows more than she's letting on, Thomas's sister shows up just as he's been missing for days (he was seduced by Tania, then murdered by Marshall while Tania straddles poor Thomas and achieves orgasm as the simple man expires), and the villagers, fed up with the monster killing everybody, soon storm the castle with torches and an aim to end the monster and Lady Frankenstein once and for all. Once Marshall has inhabited Thomas's body, the need for a monster to fight a monster is completely forgotten, though we do get a rather feeble set-to between the pair, during which Lady Frankenstein shoves a knife through the monster's back, killing him. As the castle burns, the inspector and Thomas's sister burst into the lab, where the see the monster dead on the floor, while Tania and Marshall/Thomas inexplicably have sex amid the flames. Then, for no apparent reason, Marshall/Thomas strangles Tania and the film abruptly ends.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3HVaVtiN4PILygEVBxf4RhMBXUJwJtMO6L4vENBGdsjTX7OdzKUMLFEa_ZzQ6g40yaulYB8wfpB4BAezDd-46uCMsbK6By8WOYVHIjClFf5K5u3Wtt38tx8YX2HUNr3CjNg0lG3PPwruXbMpAJZKMUWwRRSwumj3pSWFJHuZYFHlo9P0C5EIxOySIxfE/s2214/Screenshot%202023-10-18%20at%205.52.00%E2%80%AFPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1238" data-original-width="2214" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3HVaVtiN4PILygEVBxf4RhMBXUJwJtMO6L4vENBGdsjTX7OdzKUMLFEa_ZzQ6g40yaulYB8wfpB4BAezDd-46uCMsbK6By8WOYVHIjClFf5K5u3Wtt38tx8YX2HUNr3CjNg0lG3PPwruXbMpAJZKMUWwRRSwumj3pSWFJHuZYFHlo9P0C5EIxOySIxfE/w640-h358/Screenshot%202023-10-18%20at%205.52.00%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="640" /></a></div><p><i>Karloff only got a little girl to chuck into the river. This putz gets a full-grown nekkid lady. Ah, the joys of European cinema...</i></p><p>Basically what would happen if Italy attempted to ape the look and tropes of Hammer's Frankenstein series, only minus the resources and a compelling story while skimping on the blood but upping the gratuitous nudity, LADY FRANKENSTEIN is nothing but a pedestrian rehashing of nearly every Frankenstein movie trope one can think of, with the promise of titillation constantly looming. It's rather dull when there's no tits or killing going on, and the monster is just a mindless brute, so there's nothing there to care about or sympathize with. There is, however, a memorable and unintentionally funny scene where the monster, rampaging around the hills in broad daylight, encounters a pair of lovers in the act, right next t a river. The monster attacks and while the man flees, the monster picks up the nude woman and dumps her into the water, where she just up and dies. At least in the 1931 classic version of FRANKENSTEIN with Boris Karloff, the monster fatally chucking a little girl into the drink is set up by the child and the monster innocently playing a game where they toss flowers into the water to watch them float. Karloff's monster throws the little girl into the water, not understanding why the child ends up drowning. It's tragic as fuck and bears hefty emotional weight, both in sadness for the little girl, but also for the uncomprehending monster. This Italian take on the scenario cares for nothing but fueling the sex and violence quota, making sure we get to ogle the woman's naked body for all it's worth. (Though no bushola, unfortunately.)</p><p>When all is said and done, you've seen this movie before, countless times and done much, much better, so I can't even recommend this for Frankenstein completists. it's just a rote, disappointing Hammer knockoff that's directed by Mel Welles, the actor who played the owner of the florist's shop in the original 1960 Roger Corman no-budget classic, THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. If you must waste your time on a bad Frankenstein movie, at least make it <a href="https://cinemiscreant.blogspot.com/2013/10/31-days-of-horror-2013-day-30.html"> FRANKENSTEIN ISLAND</a>. That movie has the common decency to be entertainingly stupid as well as cheap and awful.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFq2Ync4zG4TB3yNGUvESh8KvnL3dDFYb9E0qXSKAXHyaLatC0d_HFtmobLfgEMCNJecWy6yX91miYChFbSrWJYYi3dTrE1vWrinGHzL5oPr8uVvlyO8fyfD5WQcs3WNjPNjLfJBVHtEXsOlOX4NbBjHRgpSUA_56_yLiGDjuSIwlO-Sy58Cvqkcq7k8/s1684/Screenshot%202023-10-18%20at%205.51.12%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1684" data-original-width="1242" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFq2Ync4zG4TB3yNGUvESh8KvnL3dDFYb9E0qXSKAXHyaLatC0d_HFtmobLfgEMCNJecWy6yX91miYChFbSrWJYYi3dTrE1vWrinGHzL5oPr8uVvlyO8fyfD5WQcs3WNjPNjLfJBVHtEXsOlOX4NbBjHRgpSUA_56_yLiGDjuSIwlO-Sy58Cvqkcq7k8/w472-h640/Screenshot%202023-10-18%20at%205.51.12%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="472" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Poster for the Italian release.</i><br /></div>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-24498765896533396012023-10-21T00:00:00.200-04:002023-10-21T00:00:00.136-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 -Day 21: THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD (1971)<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVwWblmGmWxP6H2k97eW5rKvpRXnrMS5LKi0XeKfIbpfQ2eLQ8AQ33eYEWPc9S2oSHnC5U_k928TLMD7f7brB-N0FebhxsLjQrZqjkjf9thpyZPMPqVDQ5Q6pXLS8mnJEWyHoHqNSg1GpH2oPPv8VT_sa0_zePvVMGR3PtXZfX3CGLF5BI8EVBXGeFBRM/s852/5ae2fe_2260f8a96c0a43c586adc233ee49d1c5~mv2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="852" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVwWblmGmWxP6H2k97eW5rKvpRXnrMS5LKi0XeKfIbpfQ2eLQ8AQ33eYEWPc9S2oSHnC5U_k928TLMD7f7brB-N0FebhxsLjQrZqjkjf9thpyZPMPqVDQ5Q6pXLS8mnJEWyHoHqNSg1GpH2oPPv8VT_sa0_zePvVMGR3PtXZfX3CGLF5BI8EVBXGeFBRM/w640-h416/5ae2fe_2260f8a96c0a43c586adc233ee49d1c5~mv2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <p></p><p style="text-align: left;">An inspector from Scotland Yard investigates the disappearance of a film star, and the trail leads him to the man's last known residence, a remote house somewhere in the English countryside. While seeking information at the local police station, the inspector is told four stories involving the home's former residents.</p><p><b>"Method for Murder"</b> </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7OpWn7ttP6AkOwtZhpOQsLkbWShg2n8OfWzJ4cDEo14eGN1GhYYQ4lgf0roTeZ0G0kzYbR6neGBf0rZ7mAn8jk-vMOO7e5ZiBR4U6B18YrgPDfo8dHFh8sxHk7dO0FWmSekhsVBckx_yLVwBCnqEqzsNmS0Ypgb9hBThhyphenhyphenS3yU2wYHtYWyjrU14-Uoos/s1300/housedrippedbloodbkgd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="1300" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7OpWn7ttP6AkOwtZhpOQsLkbWShg2n8OfWzJ4cDEo14eGN1GhYYQ4lgf0roTeZ0G0kzYbR6neGBf0rZ7mAn8jk-vMOO7e5ZiBR4U6B18YrgPDfo8dHFh8sxHk7dO0FWmSekhsVBckx_yLVwBCnqEqzsNmS0Ypgb9hBThhyphenhyphenS3yU2wYHtYWyjrU14-Uoos/w640-h360/housedrippedbloodbkgd.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /></p><p>A horror novelist (Denholm Elliot) and his wife move into the house, where the author hopes to find inspiration for his latest work. He begins writing about a strangler named Dominic, and in no time he begins to see his creation as a flesh-and-blood man who lurks around the house and its grounds. Fearing that he is losing his mind and having no memory of a strangulation attack against his wife that she swears he committed, the writer seeks help from a psychiatrist, only for Dominic to arrive and throttle the therapist to death. And then it gets weird...</p><p><b>"Waxworks"</b> </p><p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4KirJLFnGLSPvTJJIEK6A0922EBLNxYTI3nRTrsCee55EO13KnuUZzzjxwuO8ALJohwUjFaNS9WhHHHvtRapTSHZnpPnlVcQliuzRxkV5nRklFDaF5JQ_s32YHaE4MJs1LUYZbP27PxmTC7dL7XkLkzXxXgSW5o7075rBsi50OxbGYdauufmuPcoIEto/s3018/Screenshot%202023-10-17%20at%204.26.22%E2%80%AFPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1634" data-original-width="3018" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4KirJLFnGLSPvTJJIEK6A0922EBLNxYTI3nRTrsCee55EO13KnuUZzzjxwuO8ALJohwUjFaNS9WhHHHvtRapTSHZnpPnlVcQliuzRxkV5nRklFDaF5JQ_s32YHaE4MJs1LUYZbP27PxmTC7dL7XkLkzXxXgSW5o7075rBsi50OxbGYdauufmuPcoIEto/w640-h346/Screenshot%202023-10-17%20at%204.26.22%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="640" /></a><br /></p><p>A lonely retired stockbroker (Peter Cushing) moves into the house, and it is clear that he pines for a lost love, the rivalry for whom led to a years-long falling out with his best friend. While exploring the nearby town, he encounters a wax museum that includes a figure of Salome bearing John the baptist's head on a platter, a figure that mesmerizes him because it's the spitting image of his lost love. Disturbed, he returns home, and his former friend unexpectedly drops in. The pair reconcile, and while the broker shows his old friend around the town, the friend notes the wax museum and wants to check it out, despite the stockbroker's obvious reluctance. Upon seeing the wax figure of Salome, the friend is transfixed and soon becomes obsessed by its visage. And then it gets weird...</p><p><b>"Sweets to the Sweet"</b> </p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgslXrZ76R2FwyZDnu3PzqN8qHiVCssiUt-P6jyYCGnq9y4EC6c-QcwHul5C4OaY7KzcpoI-YqA1Hz4yK1F7RpPiKQf5g5annau-nTJCHEyAhp2JJd8f6RN9cVr-IOGL0q1Dv_QRnRD-inr4eq0aNQ_FRESPNMr3A30cXxyQb_82RJIZEA3QBMEMYSy5O8/s480/4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="480" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgslXrZ76R2FwyZDnu3PzqN8qHiVCssiUt-P6jyYCGnq9y4EC6c-QcwHul5C4OaY7KzcpoI-YqA1Hz4yK1F7RpPiKQf5g5annau-nTJCHEyAhp2JJd8f6RN9cVr-IOGL0q1Dv_QRnRD-inr4eq0aNQ_FRESPNMr3A30cXxyQb_82RJIZEA3QBMEMYSy5O8/w640-h348/4.png" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">A widower (Christopher Lee) and his young daughter move into the house. The girl has a terrible fear of fire, and her father does not allow her to own any toys or associate with other children. A nanny is hired and she begins to bond with the sheltered child, but she cannot help but question why the girl's father so strictly treats his daughter as he does. And then it gets weird...</p><p><b>"The Cloak"</b> </p><p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicFCG6lLVBctiqEgW0WAtsAfoXMKUdvDcFS7C4k_lruHhOCw4HoVK-U6L6_8MxAXEjQqZKb1nxnFwO7_0w_H5ywR_O4ucF-KNrfNDr98XZjNzuMih_pLB5k1_p6OYNw0pv-ld0TI2AD_-fQoNBnXRGxYkaERCkapjQuSjnGbB-1FVoxzYLOKTD_WjS4gc/s1600/House%20that%20dripped%20blood.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="861" data-original-width="1600" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicFCG6lLVBctiqEgW0WAtsAfoXMKUdvDcFS7C4k_lruHhOCw4HoVK-U6L6_8MxAXEjQqZKb1nxnFwO7_0w_H5ywR_O4ucF-KNrfNDr98XZjNzuMih_pLB5k1_p6OYNw0pv-ld0TI2AD_-fQoNBnXRGxYkaERCkapjQuSjnGbB-1FVoxzYLOKTD_WjS4gc/w640-h344/House%20that%20dripped%20blood.JPG" width="640" /></a><br /></p><p>A hammy actor (Jon Pertwee) known for playing vampires and possessing a fascination with the lore of monsters moves into the house, hoping its gothic authenticity will further inspire his craft. While filming the cheesy low-budget "Curse of the Blood Suckers," the actor is appalled by how cheap the production is, so he balks at the costumes and opt to obtain a proper cape himself, one that he feels suits the role with more dignity. In his dressing room, he finds an anonymous note with the address of a shop that can provide him with what he needs. He obtains a sumptuous Dracula-style cloak, and when he dons it just before shooting resumes, he notes he does not cast a reflection in the mirror. And then it gets weird...<br /></p><p>THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD is one of several portmanteau horror films from Amicus studios, and it serves a fun entry-level anthology for younger viewers. There are superior anthologies, but this one is worth a watch. It's creepy but not actually scary or gory, and the cast is superb. I neglected to mention the always welcome presence of the eternally stunning Ingrid Pitt in "The Cloak," but that's best left for you to see for yourself. If I had to break it down, the last two stories are the strongest, with "Sweets to the Sweet" being a bit of a slow burn, while "The Cloak" is clearly meant as a comedy.</p><p>And did I mention Ingrid Pitt? YUM!</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXbfFS_jp5uo_I26dyapwwE_0-fihdPkgJ4ZzHSFiqh-nCk1tykt6O9kMxeR_oxgA65YH40-MIe_gi0JQDauYN-c7f92PTSjFcd_mnNAQsCkSEL9g-ld-rVH74PfQcfOilBKCaEEyy-7-HDJ6cNnwYr-57sQWvZsH_TNMDmDKHt6UXgFrg9claJ8jXdRY/s500/40780047840_3fe3550568.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="500" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXbfFS_jp5uo_I26dyapwwE_0-fihdPkgJ4ZzHSFiqh-nCk1tykt6O9kMxeR_oxgA65YH40-MIe_gi0JQDauYN-c7f92PTSjFcd_mnNAQsCkSEL9g-ld-rVH74PfQcfOilBKCaEEyy-7-HDJ6cNnwYr-57sQWvZsH_TNMDmDKHt6UXgFrg9claJ8jXdRY/w640-h464/40780047840_3fe3550568.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><i>Ingrid Pitt. Oh, the thoughts I've had about her since I was old enough to know what's up...</i><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHCPYS0-KxLWI3kOApVTFti1Z_J-7o5BOUWO9cthKuqlD6hiA2fTCiZdNwEVGpPiQx3qpeylTfrt-MBZyxg1d13MWnk-P3W_Citac6rOW4AC_xWtKSk4RIb3-J2L8erreJNkbC_yVykW9Y-JG1V9dkYmDiwBHHFjtSKbI1DwDeF_1XhRfM1pWFhqBHzKo/s2939/MV5BNDA0YTEyMDUtNzNiNi00OWIwLThlMWItZTNjZGRjZWZkOTk1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2939" data-original-width="1923" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHCPYS0-KxLWI3kOApVTFti1Z_J-7o5BOUWO9cthKuqlD6hiA2fTCiZdNwEVGpPiQx3qpeylTfrt-MBZyxg1d13MWnk-P3W_Citac6rOW4AC_xWtKSk4RIb3-J2L8erreJNkbC_yVykW9Y-JG1V9dkYmDiwBHHFjtSKbI1DwDeF_1XhRfM1pWFhqBHzKo/w418-h640/MV5BNDA0YTEyMDUtNzNiNi00OWIwLThlMWItZTNjZGRjZWZkOTk1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_.jpg" width="418" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Poster for the U.S. theatrical release.</i><br /></div>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-83174526944450094842023-10-20T00:00:00.001-04:002024-02-09T21:03:39.248-05:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 - Day 20: BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB (1971)<div><p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSt9C7HzeajVa-RuINV1XAsjGUVe8B6VYfkZyxwUG7mwxnL-mzYLdQq9WbtCbcDgMR34o3xEfFfiZqvk9YPbcnomyQeacajjgo2LHgPXgMJJst2Cv2S3yJjNZPxjFA_dr_AcT4dYk0lCJNXebic4UNc8GE8X7m7CDMEYJuhEeRg_0Il0-Ynw8QB9bOyP4/s1024/blood%20from%20the%20mummys%20tomb%2003.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="1024" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSt9C7HzeajVa-RuINV1XAsjGUVe8B6VYfkZyxwUG7mwxnL-mzYLdQq9WbtCbcDgMR34o3xEfFfiZqvk9YPbcnomyQeacajjgo2LHgPXgMJJst2Cv2S3yJjNZPxjFA_dr_AcT4dYk0lCJNXebic4UNc8GE8X7m7CDMEYJuhEeRg_0Il0-Ynw8QB9bOyP4/w640-h386/blood%20from%20the%20mummys%20tomb%2003.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i> Queen Tera sleeps...for now.</i><br /></p><p>In ancient Egypt, evil queen Tera (Valerie Leon), who's a witch or a sorceress or something, is executed, perfectly preserved without the usual mummy's wrappings, and sealed in a tomb for eternity. That is, until a British expedition unearth her grave and the archaeologists abscond with sacred artifacts. Margaret (Valerie Leon in a dual role) is the daughter of the expedition's leader, and she is a dead ringer for the evil queen. When her father gifts her a ring taken from the severed right hand of Tera, the spirit of the queen begins to take over Margaret's mind with an aim to resurrect, and to fully manifest in the 20th century the queen must retrieve her pilfered artifacts and kill those who had held them. If the queen resurrects, apparently all manner of evil will be unleashed upon the world, but can anyone stop her?</p><p>By the dawn of the 1970's, Hammer, the once-groundbreaking British studio, saw its flame fade as its flavor of gothic horror spiced with bright red "Kensington gore" and voluptuous actresses began to be superseded by more explicit efforts from upstart studios that took advantage of the more permissive era. Hammer's charms now looked quaint, and though they still had a handful of solid works left in them before their looming demise, they issued more lumps of coal than gems. One such dud is this lifeless catalog of every mummy movie trope we've seen a million times since Universal's THE MUMMY back in 1932. The story is rote to the point of inducing torpor, the blood and gore is at a bare minimum, there's not rampaging gauze-wrapped mummy out murdering people, and there are no scares to be had. It's simply a product to fill time on a double-bill, and its sole saving grace is star Valerie Leon, who is ravishing and kindly allows us a brief glimpse of her ample backside. </p><p>BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB was a real slog for me to get through, as I found myself checking how much run time was left, and nearly falling asleep on it at four points during the narrative. Even if you consider yourself a Hammer loyalist/completist, I cannot in good faith recommend this one. Good mummy movies are as rare as tits on a trout, and this film can be left to the legion of sub-par mummy offerings that are best relegated to obscurity.</p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1cxNHK1XEQ-MRtQBuiEribqAmHA9NANqWbA3T2zUKZie2zc56CQfE1Kfddcp3Cbh2p3MnKitXVM7c4ov0wcSrsXm2AG42TiL7FkhAycHgqgPQkjne5wdZIkJN_L9U_EW04wVEWNktxyiW2RkCZz9LDslAyXNDoEPRoKoBWzFmrRhV-Pju9dTTeGA6q-c/s2949/lf.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2949" data-original-width="2011" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1cxNHK1XEQ-MRtQBuiEribqAmHA9NANqWbA3T2zUKZie2zc56CQfE1Kfddcp3Cbh2p3MnKitXVM7c4ov0wcSrsXm2AG42TiL7FkhAycHgqgPQkjne5wdZIkJN_L9U_EW04wVEWNktxyiW2RkCZz9LDslAyXNDoEPRoKoBWzFmrRhV-Pju9dTTeGA6q-c/w436-h640/lf.jpg" width="436" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Poster for the U.S. theatrical release.</i><br /></div>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-86654898947479921492023-10-19T00:00:00.070-04:002023-10-19T00:00:00.138-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 - Day 19: DARLIN' (2019)<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK6JSikdkO-wn8SB8VSjLshpegL6zDTfRjPTjNVKr5BeYGzYeNq-zWF-k51FBrvLYq4BxMbQ9NliGngnXnd6ziq8UUZ7HkSh7XyQ1P62VWmrUh5Kr21nbqOGMMJYGXFMjI4fI3qBbJi0TjHCqmq6DvDVWamQL74fNM4Lwz-EEF051P5JSUhX1IeCtQp4o/s1280/darlincommunionfb-1280x720.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK6JSikdkO-wn8SB8VSjLshpegL6zDTfRjPTjNVKr5BeYGzYeNq-zWF-k51FBrvLYq4BxMbQ9NliGngnXnd6ziq8UUZ7HkSh7XyQ1P62VWmrUh5Kr21nbqOGMMJYGXFMjI4fI3qBbJi0TjHCqmq6DvDVWamQL74fNM4Lwz-EEF051P5JSUhX1IeCtQp4o/w640-h360/darlincommunionfb-1280x720.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Open wide for Jesus...</i><br /></div><div><p></p><p>Young Darlin' Cleek (Lauryn Canny), last seen being led into the woods at perhaps age six by the feral cannibal woman from OFFSPRING (20o9) and THE WOMAN (2011), is now around fifteen years old and utterly animalistic. Her adoptive mother (Pollyanna McIntosh) leads her out of the wilderness and drops her off at a hospital, where Darlin' is befriended by a kindly gay nurse (Cooper Andrews) who looks after her. While the nameless feral woman observes Darlin's progress from concealment, it is determined that Darlin's needs would best be served by placing her in St. Philomena's, a Catholic boarding school for girls, where the facility's Bishop (Bryan Batt) seeks to publicize his intention of civilizing the wild girl, thus casting the school in a good light and ensuring its ongoing operations. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIfo9nQKVxL_FAWvVAS8B09lmtwXB9h0Cyd6snqnpsTnfvR73-ytgHXi1V-lv1aykPEArjEhtHbmprkAruRw2jcRk99RCNtjhyrCvFS_LTQMQqY8bAUvyyTw0_oWyuNUXwgRYtTmIYGyLhNPg3On5p3_P1e1IY0bFhhTfpesxqWQxBq9AJl19A1XG6FnQ/s550/Darlin-2019-movie-Pollyanna-McIntosh-4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="236" data-original-width="550" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIfo9nQKVxL_FAWvVAS8B09lmtwXB9h0Cyd6snqnpsTnfvR73-ytgHXi1V-lv1aykPEArjEhtHbmprkAruRw2jcRk99RCNtjhyrCvFS_LTQMQqY8bAUvyyTw0_oWyuNUXwgRYtTmIYGyLhNPg3On5p3_P1e1IY0bFhhTfpesxqWQxBq9AJl19A1XG6FnQ/w640-h274/Darlin-2019-movie-Pollyanna-McIntosh-4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The Bishop: not the guy you want in charge of an isolated school for girls.</i><br /></div></div><div><p></p><p>Over several months at the school, Darlin' is slowly reeducated on how to be human, learning to talk and read thanks to steady biblical instruction from the nuns, and she expresses her desire to rid herself of the Devil because, as she puts it, if she doesn't get rid of him, the Devil will come out of her body of his own accord and she will die in the process. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj47-kl6Th_L_kfh_sT9MUIiptFLRRTLm4VQ-LGfWdusjHu1ZDcOIj54b3PHmxGTK_5r8HtzFs-ksTB5cNuJZARQMR-yrHESD9DCFIpysT2R3nI3JtFQTc5hLcTxN6LQqA57syCtoHD9iN-42c-vRiS7coffDCaOLNu5NJvTlYeSEJulWl8O4xy1b3YfQE/s1280/Darlin-Lauryn-Canny.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="1280" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj47-kl6Th_L_kfh_sT9MUIiptFLRRTLm4VQ-LGfWdusjHu1ZDcOIj54b3PHmxGTK_5r8HtzFs-ksTB5cNuJZARQMR-yrHESD9DCFIpysT2R3nI3JtFQTc5hLcTxN6LQqA57syCtoHD9iN-42c-vRiS7coffDCaOLNu5NJvTlYeSEJulWl8O4xy1b3YfQE/w640-h314/Darlin-Lauryn-Canny.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <i>Darlin': re-civilized but still spooky.</i><br /><p></p><p>Over the months of her readjustment, Darlin's fear of the Devil leads her to absorb Catholicism and blindly trust the Bishop, but it is made quite clear that the girls of the school all fear the Bishop, especially when sent to see him behind the locked door of his office. While all of this is going on, Darlin's feral mother searches for Darlin', which is chronicled in her own mini-narrative wherein she kills and feasts upon a number victims. There are mysterious flashbacks that slowly piece together the events leading to Darlin' being dropped off at the hospital, answers to what became of Peggy ((Darlin's pregnant older
sister from the previous film)), vile revelations about the Bishop, and Darlin's very memorable first communion as the narrative works its way to its climax.</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQkcIZdY3I-zgGKlZwIZt90yFLAkqzk2PPgb0Dnl24EIWPNsG54oI1ngs3Gm4KYPWRTnBD6IeNrLpwCDPM0UPSvkBCNOn8-xHwbecsa9UXjpeES-6w08hRXD6HZeJ2lLGq2OgkZacyYmmbX0shc6kuuxUh3dKBmizVohKOmDg7L02WXg6SnnZopEY7BZA/s550/Darlin-2019-movie-Pollyanna-McIntosh-5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="550" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQkcIZdY3I-zgGKlZwIZt90yFLAkqzk2PPgb0Dnl24EIWPNsG54oI1ngs3Gm4KYPWRTnBD6IeNrLpwCDPM0UPSvkBCNOn8-xHwbecsa9UXjpeES-6w08hRXD6HZeJ2lLGq2OgkZacyYmmbX0shc6kuuxUh3dKBmizVohKOmDg7L02WXg6SnnZopEY7BZA/w640-h252/Darlin-2019-movie-Pollyanna-McIntosh-5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>A first communion that none present will ever forget.</i><br /></div></div><div><p></p><p>When I chose the films I would watch for this year's round of horror movie essays, I knew that THE WOMAN was the sequel to OFFSPRING, so I watched the two in sequence. What I did not know was DARLIN' existed and what we have is a feral cannibal trilogy. But while the first two entries are both very strong and satisfying shockers, DARLIN' is the slowest of slow-burn social commentaries with only occasional lapses into conventional horror. Written and directed by Pollyanna McIntosh, who portrayed the names feral woman in all three installments, the film is another indictment of the patriarchy, this time in the form of the Catholic church and its exploitation and abuse of the children in its care. It's not the first time that the horror genre has addressed the issues of the Church, nor is it in any way subtle about what its writer-director has to say on the subject.</p><p>Those expecting a more visceral experience along the lines of the first two films will likely be disappointed, as the real thrust of the horrors depicted is all Church-related, with only occasional forays back to the trilogy's gory cannibal elements, though those are toned down from the previous films by a considerable degree. In fact I would say that the script does a better job of taming the cannibal antics than the the Bishop does. DARLIN' is slow-moving and unsettling, which is wholly appropriate for a story about a girl trapped and getting "reeducated" in what amounts to one perverted authority figure's personal cookie jar of underage pussy, but overall I found it to be an unnecessary and largely un-engrossing sequel, despite its crafter's well-intentioned social commentary. I know a lot of you out there are completists when it comes to trilogies, but take my advice and give this one a miss.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDb4Z6FlJ43zj6MV9bTib0BwPz4c28Xvv_p3FXG4p7TA99a2QCcplRA0iQLAklU6NrKU3GJ86x64Re-iZzG8YYL4GZsrwg7Shp6m-PetCv3Mnc2G2PWMTesXgIDbes_5KJCMuTl7svxCHfFd9UGyAq8lgR8nqv-0eIGpZ7Ec5co_AvrG4EWzWp_ZOLG4A/s2880/MV5BYjE4Mjg4MGQtNzhiMS00MTJlLTliMjEtNjM1NDZhM2YxMGI0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTk4NzMzOTM@._V1_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2880" data-original-width="1944" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDb4Z6FlJ43zj6MV9bTib0BwPz4c28Xvv_p3FXG4p7TA99a2QCcplRA0iQLAklU6NrKU3GJ86x64Re-iZzG8YYL4GZsrwg7Shp6m-PetCv3Mnc2G2PWMTesXgIDbes_5KJCMuTl7svxCHfFd9UGyAq8lgR8nqv-0eIGpZ7Ec5co_AvrG4EWzWp_ZOLG4A/w432-h640/MV5BYjE4Mjg4MGQtNzhiMS00MTJlLTliMjEtNjM1NDZhM2YxMGI0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTk4NzMzOTM@._V1_.jpg" width="432" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Promotional image for the film.</i><br /></div></div>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-24319416786219702302023-10-18T00:00:00.113-04:002023-10-18T00:00:00.153-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 -Day 18: THE THING (2011)<p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD91hXGej1IfKujXGjIcfKcg69nNbIrHcT6EXop-B_KYwqmCcBRqHnGDIocMfpdaWF5BeMM8HK2jGe_W5jXevA8TaXGybSTeRAuTAMjBStgJ03RwWKTxkgfIyxT-XO3rpmF17zU6td3Ob8hnLw4vIs2uMogN_0fL_8JxgBXj0I9y-sGZCw30BI5h9D9Cw/s730/thing6.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="730" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD91hXGej1IfKujXGjIcfKcg69nNbIrHcT6EXop-B_KYwqmCcBRqHnGDIocMfpdaWF5BeMM8HK2jGe_W5jXevA8TaXGybSTeRAuTAMjBStgJ03RwWKTxkgfIyxT-XO3rpmF17zU6td3Ob8hnLw4vIs2uMogN_0fL_8JxgBXj0I9y-sGZCw30BI5h9D9Cw/w640-h344/thing6.webp" width="640" /></a><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Who goes there? </i><br /></p><p>Antarctica, 1982: The crew of a research station unearths a flying saucer that has lain frozen in the permafrost for an estimated 100,000 years, and along with that discovery they find an extraterrestrial life form encased in solid ice. The alien is taken back to the base, it thaws, reveals itself to be a murderous shapeshifting monstrosity that duplicates the crew and thus creates a web if paranoia and death, all leading to a bleak conclusion. </p><p>If that all sounds familiar, that's because it's the plot basics for John Carpenter's now-classic 1982 version of THE THING, and this late-to-the-game prequel is basically the same movie, only minus director John Carpenter's signature touches and telling the story of the Norwegian station that encounters the malevolent shapeshifter before the hapless Americans of the 1982 iteration. Much like many a modern remake — billed as a prequel or not, this really is little more than a beat for beat a remake — the 2011 film brings nothing to the table other than name recognition, as it goes through all the same motions that we have seen before, only bereft of anything even resembling the nail-biting suspense and paranoia of Carpenter's. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWMhKZtgQTJgIWD3Z7Op7ZaF1lace2Sj0siOv7DFlOwR6JqMKAycZ98FY_zVjgtYHvNIU7x1AgJiAIFGUBP1-c5JdvBwDG7GWrHRH1ioBjfzFjJtzPBFXEdtJsroXHQRWzK6JQI8UiqmS9xFGNyuIVYV8Uo1K5vE5UsiltnmvgOXuARMPBtsqSZjSfM4U/s1280/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWMhKZtgQTJgIWD3Z7Op7ZaF1lace2Sj0siOv7DFlOwR6JqMKAycZ98FY_zVjgtYHvNIU7x1AgJiAIFGUBP1-c5JdvBwDG7GWrHRH1ioBjfzFjJtzPBFXEdtJsroXHQRWzK6JQI8UiqmS9xFGNyuIVYV8Uo1K5vE5UsiltnmvgOXuARMPBtsqSZjSfM4U/w640-h360/maxresdefault.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Body horror with no real visceral impact, just alleged dazzle.</i><br /></div><div><p></p><p>We don't really care about any of the characters, the feel of the proceedings come of like a knockoff made as a tepid TV movie of the week, and, worst of all, some asshat executive thought it would be a good idea to scrap the already completed practical effects and swap them out for CGI. Let me just say that while what's on display here is not bad, per se, these effects cannot hold a candle to practical effects where the prop creations have actual fleshy mass. It's the kind of thing that digital effects wizardry, amazing though it can be, just is not yet able to replicate. What's seen here looks and feels like something out of a high-end videogame</p><p>I put off seeing this film for twelve years, largely because what it depicts was outlined in the 1982 film, so we already know what happens before going in, therefore no mystery or suspense, and the '82 version's practical effects are the stuff of legend, now considered to be some of the best ever achieved, so why bother attempting it again with digital effects? The whole thing looked like a shameless cash grab to me, and now that I have seen it I believe my initial prejudicial impression was not wrong. It is by no means terrible and there are worse ways to pass an hour and forty-three minutes, but why bother when we still have Carpenter's landmark iteration to enjoy and thrill at? Stick with Carpenter's, as I would only recommend this one for those who care little for genuine suspense but live for flashy CGI gewgaws.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRmFUzVNF3N7YZsPGfGMjzyB7NiNQYuG5jTe_rfXhTc8d3El6OwTyF6dV9fJ4hi_hsNn4H2L3MN6ey_ogai7FHgiqavKCuFHplttqDzdbIB-SD8avFBaGLCYMhHKxAtP4TVgjGnyjWjvOhljeZ2KA-Lv9DUNaEx1TpN5MIgR4NQZA6CqlkKfP9D0k_LC0/s650/The+Thing+2011+UK+Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="650" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRmFUzVNF3N7YZsPGfGMjzyB7NiNQYuG5jTe_rfXhTc8d3El6OwTyF6dV9fJ4hi_hsNn4H2L3MN6ey_ogai7FHgiqavKCuFHplttqDzdbIB-SD8avFBaGLCYMhHKxAtP4TVgjGnyjWjvOhljeZ2KA-Lv9DUNaEx1TpN5MIgR4NQZA6CqlkKfP9D0k_LC0/w640-h480/The+Thing+2011+UK+Poster.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Poster from the UK theatrical release.</i><br /></div></div>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-25767504483233139782023-10-17T00:00:00.179-04:002023-10-17T00:00:00.138-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 -Day 17: THE WOMAN (2011)<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO1vNgRzMt5V8SEK_jKsy5RDo9v2vXVylsqA6vjqNPhTQcf2nqH6b0R4NIuFbWa_eakXaFJe2bKhZH779wsG5MIMeYDAlAcp5YNwmjFnjqqwCztf-9JOgsmqK44d9WVtcAphN3mp5EbxlFSaAbbeUD5EcH9tVtE2sA0nlsskLINfeh-hAYYqPVqJ9qlR8/s938/3.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="938" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO1vNgRzMt5V8SEK_jKsy5RDo9v2vXVylsqA6vjqNPhTQcf2nqH6b0R4NIuFbWa_eakXaFJe2bKhZH779wsG5MIMeYDAlAcp5YNwmjFnjqqwCztf-9JOgsmqK44d9WVtcAphN3mp5EbxlFSaAbbeUD5EcH9tVtE2sA0nlsskLINfeh-hAYYqPVqJ9qlR8/w640-h360/3.png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Meet the Cleeks, the face of ordinary horror right next door.</i> </div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">Somewhere on the East Coast of the United States live the Cleeks, an upper middle class family comprised of estate lawyer Chris (Sean Bridgers), wife Belle (Angela Bettis), eldest daughter Peggy (Lauren Ashley Clark), adolescent Brian (Zach Rand), and their youngest, Darlin' (Shyla Molhusen), the very picture of the model American family unit. But upon close examination, the family's existence is strictly regimented by seemingly chill control-freak Chris, who insists on utter perfection and unquestioned obedience from his household's members, and the house is more of a prison than home. All family members are clearly under the soft-voiced but iron-fisted rule of the father (though Darlin' gets away with more by virtue of her tender age), and a silent, tense air of fear makes up much of the daily atmosphere. Belle exhibits all the signs of the timid on-edge wife who has been cowed into submission and does not step out of "her place" lest she meet with correction, Brain is at that difficult age when roiling testosterone cannot reconcile itself with simple morality, and Peggy has become sullen and withdrawn, keeps her hair boyishly short, leaves her school classes for frequent trips to the ladies' room and lately sports a wardrobe of baggy, concealing clothes.</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibso43LoL2Dn2k6H0kQNMNfY6JE_BR5RSq-u1Bw2age6yiK6bOh6qi5VF_4vhI35xgdWtLE7p8sbeMXEL2m6z3etOxZxl06h7xZngLkXBtzAnSCbmL5YWAmeLSv8HNcLHqTV_9RvDqsyQOamxEXjC7ZqzDMB1Gly6caxt0B79eDtzPNJOciPz8-TZrqjE/s524/h280_38380537.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="524" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibso43LoL2Dn2k6H0kQNMNfY6JE_BR5RSq-u1Bw2age6yiK6bOh6qi5VF_4vhI35xgdWtLE7p8sbeMXEL2m6z3etOxZxl06h7xZngLkXBtzAnSCbmL5YWAmeLSv8HNcLHqTV_9RvDqsyQOamxEXjC7ZqzDMB1Gly6caxt0B79eDtzPNJOciPz8-TZrqjE/w640-h342/h280_38380537.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The catalyst for an examination of warped family dysfunction. </i></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">While out hunting one afternoon, Chris encounters a feral woman (Pollyanna McIntosh) living deep in the woods, and it is with this discovery that we begin to see just how severe his need to dominate everything is. Chris returns home, prepares the house's storage shed as a dungeon, and then returns to where he saw the feral woman. He captures her with a net, takes her back home, and shackles her in his shed. More animal than human, the woman comes to and is not having any of it, biting off Chris's ring finger when he attempts to show her who's boss. But that does not daunt Chris, who brings the family into the shed to introduce them to her as the new family project. The stated aim is to civilize her, no matter how long it takes, and while this process goes on, we learn more and more about the Cleeks and their very, <i>very </i>fucked-up world.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Picking up right where 2009's OFFSPRING left off, THE WOMAN opens with the titular character having survived the well-deserved massacre of the feral cannibal clan that she led, only to end up in the clutches of a "civilized" man and his family. Chris treats the unnamed woman like one of the dogs he keeps in another shed, not thinking of her as human at all but rather as a thing to exercise his masculine power over. He's a misogynist of a particularly casual and nasty stripe, and his son is learning from daddy's example. There's domestic abuse, torture, maulings, and sexual assault, and it all builds to a satisfying (if disturbing) <span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc">denouement. I would go into more detail, but I have already said too much. If you enjoyed OFFSPRING, give this quality sequel a watch as soon as possible. It's the rare sequel that's not only as good as the first film, but also has the balls to go in a completely different direction from the initial installment instead of spoon-feeding the audience more of the same. Add to the roster for your next feminist film festival. (Yes, I'm serious.) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. </span></span><span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc">Oh, and stick around after the end credits...</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3DS1dK0cIo_lvPla0swFmbYpZ_mI7nY_200aNgdB9BQuM8I-XswOQIUdTljImRy_rTMnULe5304HQi39QmK20dw1h-7_ED6tg3fmJyyR5knE-bY_Kdm8nXfAVBpn9e_N0rACD9mI5jbmc82dCqH1wuF0sWJm-e9sWUAETs5-FVbm7qH0SHIxKMqB8oo/s2000/MV5BMmM3ZmFmNDctMDEwZS00ODhlLWE0OWQtZTljMGNiZjg2ZTFiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1400" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3DS1dK0cIo_lvPla0swFmbYpZ_mI7nY_200aNgdB9BQuM8I-XswOQIUdTljImRy_rTMnULe5304HQi39QmK20dw1h-7_ED6tg3fmJyyR5knE-bY_Kdm8nXfAVBpn9e_N0rACD9mI5jbmc82dCqH1wuF0sWJm-e9sWUAETs5-FVbm7qH0SHIxKMqB8oo/w448-h640/MV5BMmM3ZmFmNDctMDEwZS00ODhlLWE0OWQtZTljMGNiZjg2ZTFiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_.jpg" width="448" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Poster for the theatrical release.</i><br /></div>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-82563791390086908932023-10-16T00:00:00.403-04:002023-10-16T00:14:19.174-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 - Day 16: MACISTE IN HELL (1962)<div><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhulHzm9LxVer6Rsni2a_lmVBSPTCJ-bOizmk_6S6070bsY6LzbgJ-vFxSY8sLqsgyAQw88OMLZZsKFJU6wK1GZSxKLlvJk_FD5MgTGvigPI6qv4gL5ffeoYz2Uhkq85klzmUhGm95-z18CntjG1QYapJsL57KhRcWsUyyNIqdar9yAfxHWo9PM3p5gD_o/s1033/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-26%20at%204.24.30%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="1033" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhulHzm9LxVer6Rsni2a_lmVBSPTCJ-bOizmk_6S6070bsY6LzbgJ-vFxSY8sLqsgyAQw88OMLZZsKFJU6wK1GZSxKLlvJk_FD5MgTGvigPI6qv4gL5ffeoYz2Uhkq85klzmUhGm95-z18CntjG1QYapJsL57KhRcWsUyyNIqdar9yAfxHWo9PM3p5gD_o/w640-h276/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-26%20at%204.24.30%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>A witch-burning opens a slew of weirdness. </i></span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Loch Laird, Scotland, 1550: </b> Witch Martha Gaunt is sentenced by the cruel Judge Paris </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;">(Andrea
Bosić) to be </span><span style="font-size: small;">burned at the stake because she would not grant her favors to the magistrate when she was young and pretty. Now that she is an aged hag, Gaunt is an easy target for Paris to avenge his rejection upon, but as the flames lick higher, the witch calls out the judge's vindictiveness and places an eternal curse upon Loch Laird. </span></p><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">A hundred years later, the village remains under the curse, and many of its young women languish in the local dungeon as they await trial for witchery. Yes, the town is in the throes of full-blown Salem-style witch paranoia, engendered by Gaunt's curse, and many innocent women and girls have been unjustly put to death. It is at this point that a newlywed bride (Vira Silenti), whose name just so happens to be Martha Gaunt, is honeymooning at a nearby castle with her groom, the locals get it into their heads that she is the original witch now returned, so in no time the rabble whips themselves into a frenzy, grab torches, and storm the castle, beating the husband unconscious and dragging the innocent Gaunt off to be unceremoniously hanged. However, the law does exist and the accused must receive what amounts to the era's idea of a fair trial by the local magistrates. The spirit of the witch can be heard cackling at this situation, and when Gaunt must touch the Bible as proof of her innocence, the vengeful sorceress causes the Good Book to burst into flames, thus ensuring Gaunt's demise. </span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLpnFgFy55H_xlryMMbLyEaB_M99P6lX9mRu348Aosqpz5B6eVFlWW91qymPQqyLOgU6W9p_wRH-3co4gxfo2cUp237s_q-zrTbEGqNC3JbzKkxfSzj7aGE19A2vMjlRkWqBbZwrp49LOn74t7fJ8SMXf3PNl2zpL4y2Hp_9c2qteVkoLU_4383q9STfQ/s640/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-26%20at%204.27.56%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="274" data-original-width="640" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLpnFgFy55H_xlryMMbLyEaB_M99P6lX9mRu348Aosqpz5B6eVFlWW91qymPQqyLOgU6W9p_wRH-3co4gxfo2cUp237s_q-zrTbEGqNC3JbzKkxfSzj7aGE19A2vMjlRkWqBbZwrp49LOn74t7fJ8SMXf3PNl2zpL4y2Hp_9c2qteVkoLU_4383q9STfQ/w640-h274/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-26%20at%204.27.56%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>You, milady, are screwed.</i></span><br /></div></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">But just as the townsfolk are about to string the poor girl up, who should arrive from out of nowhere but Maciste (Kirk Morris, nee </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;">Adriano Bellini, 1961's Mr. Italia), the hunky, shirtless beefcake hero who wears nothing but a short peplum skirt and boots. </span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSyNJ7SICglFs0h2nRRNQ-IqXvGj6ZXJfEO3teugToA-uoYZvykwhMBaSn2Nw0MsP2VF4I_A-yjDKZ3jjmiilB7dkK53hU5zQrhjYe6zG2jocq6dwBPBCqpdYcngvN7obzPdRTGI-3cuRkVI4OZmdaCn4WX2TIL3vfUB75y5F2riuyvUtPXQaiWgpmpmA/s639/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-26%20at%204.29.38%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="274" data-original-width="639" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSyNJ7SICglFs0h2nRRNQ-IqXvGj6ZXJfEO3teugToA-uoYZvykwhMBaSn2Nw0MsP2VF4I_A-yjDKZ3jjmiilB7dkK53hU5zQrhjYe6zG2jocq6dwBPBCqpdYcngvN7obzPdRTGI-3cuRkVI4OZmdaCn4WX2TIL3vfUB75y5F2riuyvUtPXQaiWgpmpmA/w640-h274/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-26%20at%204.29.38%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><i> All-purpose superhero and bronzer spokesman Maciste (Kirk Morris).<br /></i></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;">Looking like he hails from either biblical times or ancient Greece, Maciste (pronounced "mah-kee-stay") is the world's strongest man and is apparently able to travel anywhere to help the oppressed and those in need, regardless of the obstacles of geographical location and era in history. </span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;">Upon rescuing Gaunt from the lynch mob, Maciste is informed of the curse that has blighted the village for the past century, so he steels himself to venture into the depths of Hell itself to persuade the witch to rescind her malediction. Maciste uproots the tree where the witch was burned and from which her curse emanates, thus exposing the entrance to the underworld, and off goes our buff champion on a daunting quest that brings him through the writhing souls of the eternally damned and pits him against a lion, a vulture, a giant snake, showers of molten rock, tons of falling (styrofoam) boulders, and even the biblical Goliath, while the spirits of the witch and the also-damned Judge Paris lurk in the shadows, plotting to thwart Maciste's mission. Meanwhile, the innocent bride's date with the stake looms nearer with each passing hour...</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgweF63JehsM_m8ds2w6U-SV1cG-m6N10cb9pjBFTU0wWYg4HyN3RLHAYVj1FkzKQyrv1GkPattDyD8N5uwCHgTKbeD0_inzVIT0HOzSvGLfPrtHRx1p3Sm_rWA8KAW2C54oTq1EVe3Xod9BzIPRZBYRGUYllZwhya2Cb6XXHfLZLePyRRn0pooxYaxOJ0/s638/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-26%20at%204.46.30%20PM-1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="638" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgweF63JehsM_m8ds2w6U-SV1cG-m6N10cb9pjBFTU0wWYg4HyN3RLHAYVj1FkzKQyrv1GkPattDyD8N5uwCHgTKbeD0_inzVIT0HOzSvGLfPrtHRx1p3Sm_rWA8KAW2C54oTq1EVe3Xod9BzIPRZBYRGUYllZwhya2Cb6XXHfLZLePyRRn0pooxYaxOJ0/w640-h280/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-26%20at%204.46.30%20PM-1.png" width="640" /></a></div><i>Maciste contends with a snake.<br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;"><br /></span></i></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.847); font-family: -apple-system-font; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">MACISTE IN HELL, released in the U.S. as THE WITCH'S CURSE, was the third of star Kirk Morris's six Maciste outings, and it<span style="font-family: times;">'s </span></span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: small;"><span>a weird gene-splicing of "folk horror" with the 1960's glut of Italian peplum/muscleman flicks (aka "tits & togas" movies). </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">As many of you already know, there was an avalanche of cheap Italian-made mythic muscleman flicks released between the late 1950's through the mid-late 1960's, more often than not featuring a hero who is renamed Hercules for the international dub, and that wave was the perfect time to bring back all-purpose superhero Maciste from the realm of cinematic limbo. First appearing in the 1914 silent film CABIRIA, superman Maciste was originally depicted as a north African slave, though played by an actor in blackface, but the character proved popular and was granted a long-running series of movies in which he was reimagined as a white guy. There were 27 (!!!) Maciste flicks during the silent era, and 25 more once the musclemen boom kicked off three decades later. Several actors portrayed the character and there was little or no continuity between his adventures. All one needed to know was that Maciste was the strongest man in the world and that his role in the universe was to appear anywhere and anywhen, with zero explanation, to be the champion of those in need. He has no personality to speak of and all that matters are his righteous feats of strength and courage against cruel warlords, witches, sorcerers, and an endless assortment of monsters. </span></div><p><span style="font-size: small;">When the film opens, it looks and feels like a color knockoff of Mario Bava's landmark 1960 witchcraft shocker, THE MASK OF SATAN (better known as BLACK SUNDAY) crossed with the aesthetics of any given Hammer gothic, but then nearly naked Maciste arrives on horseback to save the day and the case of tonal whiplash is staggering. The sight of this Hercules movie escapee thrust into the environment of witch hunt fever in 17th century Scotland is ludicrous, to say the very least, as he is attired like Tarzan while interacting with characters who look like puritans and rustic rabble straight out of central casting. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNgPM_ESRYAv4aSpbqiZo1MqzMQlcx7-QwPF7vB0yBy6JrS8EyGcfOC3WpRGxElom0rWdWWpay08L-uMzIsfoKzZ7yTuWqMIXoHkbRSMKEUJnlqyz9r_2sGNV-L0hTKD7ZxurJ8IZ3b9e0QP2RxkxClZpVK9f5boBf5hHtXku3tEsPXvjUxkyZ2nwFVo0/s640/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-26%20at%204.51.39%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="640" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNgPM_ESRYAv4aSpbqiZo1MqzMQlcx7-QwPF7vB0yBy6JrS8EyGcfOC3WpRGxElom0rWdWWpay08L-uMzIsfoKzZ7yTuWqMIXoHkbRSMKEUJnlqyz9r_2sGNV-L0hTKD7ZxurJ8IZ3b9e0QP2RxkxClZpVK9f5boBf5hHtXku3tEsPXvjUxkyZ2nwFVo0/w640-h278/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-26%20at%204.51.39%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> <i>The unintentionally hilarious visual incongruity of Maciste in 17th cnetury Scotland.</i></span><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">The disconnect only becomes more pronounced when Maciste enters Hell and randomly encounters Greek mythological figures in the forms of Sisyphus (the guy who's damned to futilely push a huge boulder uphill for eternity) and Prometheus, who is of course enduring having his regenerating liver devoured every day by an eagle. All of this results in a mildly diverting head-on collision of disparate genres that do not necessarily go together like peanut butter and chocolate. It's worth seeing for witchcraft and peplum completists simply because it's so damned odd, but everyone else is likely to be left in a state of utter confusion.<br /></span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj77i1a6vlnSnjl-gBAZK-ka2rnSVgaZFuiaDwxSN_jmKql9FgFfa8fIA9MzfnrycrM_BWqyUlD1KejVujGO2uV_AO-uHWR98hiMUSDP_zP0Alg3_AwfY4gH2KhDz-eLRPx50abFfKrK6fH_U3kIhDFt8XwYwRRBmjDZWVWKid_1bT6ZpIWeO9J3-beN2E/s885/MV5BMzI5NTAwM2QtY2JkMS00ZWM0LTk0MjItMWIyY2JlOGQ4ZjIzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQ2MjQyNDc@._V1_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="885" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj77i1a6vlnSnjl-gBAZK-ka2rnSVgaZFuiaDwxSN_jmKql9FgFfa8fIA9MzfnrycrM_BWqyUlD1KejVujGO2uV_AO-uHWR98hiMUSDP_zP0Alg3_AwfY4gH2KhDz-eLRPx50abFfKrK6fH_U3kIhDFt8XwYwRRBmjDZWVWKid_1bT6ZpIWeO9J3-beN2E/w434-h640/MV5BMzI5NTAwM2QtY2JkMS00ZWM0LTk0MjItMWIyY2JlOGQ4ZjIzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQ2MjQyNDc@._V1_.jpg" width="434" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Poster for the Italian release.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBk-jHornwuktRBZRfieU3QQJCqEBc4o-oP-SiSbl12fiQaQh8lhOv1KQrLWhRdIGWI0aeMqmt4Vk0sqXiJE1vwFxNYWa8rz_rEo-Oj1zh8x5hyAuk0RiKhxuOTUk5-aiQHJRWCiqnKO5aaxekxsw0U76VLaD3mboeCU58hL8-QWfeeRwtfg9xTuVVjU/s1000/5116-qgNzlL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="654" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBk-jHornwuktRBZRfieU3QQJCqEBc4o-oP-SiSbl12fiQaQh8lhOv1KQrLWhRdIGWI0aeMqmt4Vk0sqXiJE1vwFxNYWa8rz_rEo-Oj1zh8x5hyAuk0RiKhxuOTUk5-aiQHJRWCiqnKO5aaxekxsw0U76VLaD3mboeCU58hL8-QWfeeRwtfg9xTuVVjU/w418-h640/5116-qgNzlL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="418" /></a></div><i>Poster for the U.S. release<br /></i></div>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-77880157252278611212023-10-15T00:00:00.011-04:002023-10-15T00:05:12.932-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 -Day 15: OFFSPRING (2009)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGeMudZCiwpiTfF9RL6GWv8swOuJ7wITi6neZsSPJs08Omwtxkr1xcGzu6PkRLcegg2hDrXLwBOC0Eoauz9li-gxFsNsF2YqR5ry6IyJHZDAaX3KUis7O92Xj_Na1YNho6Ch5S7P8i1mGbWD8tFwlzYSUqDX15QAM7xXbKGmBXhyphenhyphen6xtT2zj5EDP27i-SA/s576/79thbroadway_offspring_movie_6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="236" data-original-width="576" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGeMudZCiwpiTfF9RL6GWv8swOuJ7wITi6neZsSPJs08Omwtxkr1xcGzu6PkRLcegg2hDrXLwBOC0Eoauz9li-gxFsNsF2YqR5ry6IyJHZDAaX3KUis7O92Xj_Na1YNho6Ch5S7P8i1mGbWD8tFwlzYSUqDX15QAM7xXbKGmBXhyphenhyphen6xtT2zj5EDP27i-SA/w640-h262/79thbroadway_offspring_movie_6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>When unexpected guests drop in for dinner.</i></p><p style="text-align: left;">In the isolated shore side community of Dead River, Maine, an innocent family's cozy world is shattered when they are targeted by a nomadic clan of feral cannibals who invade their house and immediately get down to killing and butchering. The family's husband is attacked and hauled onto the kitchen table, where he is unceremoniously disemboweled alive. The wife, who was nursing a babe in arms, is brutalized but spared for more sinister purposes, which allows her best friend to scoop up the baby and the young son and flee out of a second-story window. From there it's a harrowing fight for survival against a ravenous horde who, though primitive, are very, <i>very</i> skilled at what they do.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Operating in similar territory to THE HILLS HAVE EYES (original and remake) and evoking the legend of Scotland's 16th century Sawney Bean and his 45-person band of cannibal raiders, OFFSPRING thrusts the audience into the flesh-eating terror almost from the get-go, and once the madness starts it does not let up. It's revealed early on that the cannibals are a family that's been marauding up and down the the Eastern Seaboard since the mid-1800's, hiding out in forests and caves, butchering and eating unsuspecting people, and stealing women and babies to increase their numbers. They exist at a level akin to cavemen and they communicate in grunts and unintelligible spurts of warped English that we can only understand thanks to kindly-provided subtitles. The clan is led by a nameless woman (Pollyanna McIntosh) who shows zero mercy, and the rest of her crew follow her example with gusto, which is extra-disturbing when one considers that most of the cannibals are children ranging from approximately eight years old to sixteen or so. They are all stone-cold heartless killers, more animal than human, and murder for them is a reflexive as breathing.</p><p style="text-align: left;">When going into this movie cold, I did not expect it to be as vicious, violent, and gory as it is, and all of that, coupled with a relentless intensity, added up to one hell of a horrifying ride that I thoroughly enjoyed. Some may say they found it impossible to care about the innocent victims because they receive a minimum of script attention that would flesh them out into more three-dimensional people, but I disagree. The abrupt ignition of the mayhem is like being there for it, totally unprepared for the utter savagery in what should be the safety of the nuclear homestead, so full back stories on the characters are unnecessary. All we need to know is that the wife's friend is fleeing her abusive alcoholic husband with her son in tow, and that said asshole husband is heading up to Maine from Connecticut "just to talk." (Needless to say, he gets caught up in the mishegoss.)<br /></p><p>So, yeah, I really dug OFFSPRING, and I heartily recommend it to those who can take its up-close-and-personal carnage and cruelty.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjROwy-zPp9AJV5Hm7GNhFWlABTdU0ZZY7wWIsW_V-qAbCl-QvWuEhkNtOQ0a1WEy-oxnNzcCkXQ6U8ZAaw-ARirKE2jVFh0S5BOC27IkkBmliLQwld_XIu1S947Hf2rQEq90agR19Sxn8VpsIgbgJFNx2Uvz_O_KzN9CrORhcCz01Q65H8iPS8mAEraY4/s3000/MV5BMjA1OTk3MTM5M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTczMjIwMg@@._V1_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="2025" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjROwy-zPp9AJV5Hm7GNhFWlABTdU0ZZY7wWIsW_V-qAbCl-QvWuEhkNtOQ0a1WEy-oxnNzcCkXQ6U8ZAaw-ARirKE2jVFh0S5BOC27IkkBmliLQwld_XIu1S947Hf2rQEq90agR19Sxn8VpsIgbgJFNx2Uvz_O_KzN9CrORhcCz01Q65H8iPS8mAEraY4/w432-h640/MV5BMjA1OTk3MTM5M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTczMjIwMg@@._V1_.jpg" width="432" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Promotional image.</i><br /></p>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-12794864150902954472023-10-14T00:00:00.171-04:002023-10-14T00:00:00.134-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 - Day 14: THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE (1943)<p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifstan2w1T4l3RfUBoaO5m93L_FuoFAVfyrerz1-CxWx_lAnib-N0oJqU2X8nr1iSbOMlPnBMOjDaYtR43dshBIm2LPD-k8XIUkOcmFAy7km_M2ZUkFKX5GL7SR6LIqLeW8UF37E4CSIba6zDtv1XnyKG7jCbKO4LZ2seis1NVrUEXiHe40frsd_vz8FA/s530/Return-of-the-Vampire-The_03-main.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="530" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifstan2w1T4l3RfUBoaO5m93L_FuoFAVfyrerz1-CxWx_lAnib-N0oJqU2X8nr1iSbOMlPnBMOjDaYtR43dshBIm2LPD-k8XIUkOcmFAy7km_M2ZUkFKX5GL7SR6LIqLeW8UF37E4CSIba6zDtv1XnyKG7jCbKO4LZ2seis1NVrUEXiHe40frsd_vz8FA/w640-h422/Return-of-the-Vampire-The_03-main.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Ol' Bela is back!</i></p><p style="text-align: left;">Near the close of World War I, vampire Armand Tesla (Bela Lugosi), meets his end when staked through the heart by two members of Britain's upper crust, Professor Walter Saunders (Gilbert Emery) and brilliant scientist Lady Jane Ainsley (Frieda Inescort). As the undead suckface falls, Andreas (Matt Willis), his werewolf slave, is freed from the curse of lycanthropy and starts anew as lab assistant to Lady Jane. The narrative then skips ahead by twenty-four years and we find ourselves in England during the Nazi blitz in World War II. German bombs decimate the crypt where Tesla lays, and two unsuspecting gravediggers remove the stake from the vampire's heart, believing the corpse to be unusually well-preserved, though apparently transfixed with shrapnel from the bombing. In no time Tesla is at it again, restoring Andreas to his prior state of mind-controlled werewolfery and seeking victim to feed upon. He sets his sights on avenging himself against Lady Jane by putting the bite on her son and on the son's fiancee, but Lady Jane is absolutely not your typical B-movie damsel in distress. She knows vampirism is real, ans she knows how to take care of business, so no pussyfooting around for her...</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgASyOoCMijhS-KHekHxYgDzqDUAn2jpM44eupX68EIO5GzXmv4GLnlh4Qy0BCI_jLEkpDY-VEIBTJBIAn5a9bWZY0FX2zpmsRJbvAxjHsY_l7eN_V3VYJ7WZPEhvNG7-xlMoKsZ6eGbfQsjwRP4VguuX8rf0DmzGx0sBrnPPqB4B-Ouwz92eMbeN5N3H4/s300/th9IVO7AJL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="300" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgASyOoCMijhS-KHekHxYgDzqDUAn2jpM44eupX68EIO5GzXmv4GLnlh4Qy0BCI_jLEkpDY-VEIBTJBIAn5a9bWZY0FX2zpmsRJbvAxjHsY_l7eN_V3VYJ7WZPEhvNG7-xlMoKsZ6eGbfQsjwRP4VguuX8rf0DmzGx0sBrnPPqB4B-Ouwz92eMbeN5N3H4/w640-h480/th9IVO7AJL.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><i>Just a quick ditty before kicking some vampire ass.</i> <p></p><p style="text-align: left;">This Paramount effort came out during the heyday of the Universal monster cycle, and for all intents and purposes it looks and feels like a lesser entry from that run. Though not as smooth and eerie as the character that made him famous, Bela Lugosi's Armand Tesla is pretty much Count Dracula in all ways except for the name, so you'd be forgiven for mistaking this as a proper sequel to 1931's DRACULA. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Tesla's slave, Andreas, is an unusual take on the werewolf. When in wolf form, Andreas wears a suit, is perfectly lucid, and speaks articulately. He's no ravening moors-stalking engine of carnivorous savagery, and instead comes off as just another flunky, only very toothy and extra-hirsute.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMCKBF5kjsZwvy6_txCahps6Q8n0Bz6hweYX2F0VC40px5nRXSJE-WTAkD-ZC76J2IEWVEKmlqHqr0QKskUunOPxK3WIbIRd0Ee0vln4GOOsB1n2mumFmzARfOyt7S8XxU3Xrb2-BIAJ0nUnrXNXo_8moeMY8vzZKtrlrh1rnsW34jFxSMgHShU7owXD8/s1478/00002.mpls_snapshot_00.01.40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1079" data-original-width="1478" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMCKBF5kjsZwvy6_txCahps6Q8n0Bz6hweYX2F0VC40px5nRXSJE-WTAkD-ZC76J2IEWVEKmlqHqr0QKskUunOPxK3WIbIRd0Ee0vln4GOOsB1n2mumFmzARfOyt7S8XxU3Xrb2-BIAJ0nUnrXNXo_8moeMY8vzZKtrlrh1rnsW34jFxSMgHShU7owXD8/w640-h468/00002.mpls_snapshot_00.01.40.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Andres: werewolf or old-timey western prospector?</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> </i></div><div style="text-align: left;">Basically a Universal clone, only minus Universal-level atmosphere, THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE is an okay way to kill just over an hour, and it's a good entry-level classic era monster flick for the kiddies.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVmjqZnptjaD3a1oDUMHQzDZfQS9ZcX8TfAIDSZx96yp9kyCrmIssiuhIwk6cv_bZWDAKHDWTxap_h97OukdInqCplrHDGiIfSR2a0FYY4vrvVR4_pXL9Bfx9Bsg6GA8SABL_KTchEtYpQFpGPu_LLn5kwzHf-bviowJyBBNN5ZbCSFKkJqb2xpRx0L-o/s1764/Screenshot%202023-10-10%20at%207.40.43%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1764" data-original-width="1146" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVmjqZnptjaD3a1oDUMHQzDZfQS9ZcX8TfAIDSZx96yp9kyCrmIssiuhIwk6cv_bZWDAKHDWTxap_h97OukdInqCplrHDGiIfSR2a0FYY4vrvVR4_pXL9Bfx9Bsg6GA8SABL_KTchEtYpQFpGPu_LLn5kwzHf-bviowJyBBNN5ZbCSFKkJqb2xpRx0L-o/w416-h640/Screenshot%202023-10-10%20at%207.40.43%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="416" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Poster from the theatrical release.</i><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-9344354984813574012023-10-13T00:00:00.019-04:002023-10-13T00:00:00.152-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 - Day 13: RED RIDING HOOD (2011)<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7iLJLU9tkQ6OojnQ9CzO-qsttiGhyphenhyphen-72icMVamyAIf1y6qAIme54xCfYKi_mPMXIRBVFrm1YRfg3SvhvOjFBC29iwpZieXm_vsQ6ZeFGM6_9FQBxAEIV5RXNGFJrEmaZbM2Dsx8LTUpht8B0FHE0Z7YZ-4v_1Ht_v9B2H25dhaaCm8-kbCkAoKc5a2yQ/s1300/1hPMsHO2KMBCtVLevPdXtN1ohrA.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="1300" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7iLJLU9tkQ6OojnQ9CzO-qsttiGhyphenhyphen-72icMVamyAIf1y6qAIme54xCfYKi_mPMXIRBVFrm1YRfg3SvhvOjFBC29iwpZieXm_vsQ6ZeFGM6_9FQBxAEIV5RXNGFJrEmaZbM2Dsx8LTUpht8B0FHE0Z7YZ-4v_1Ht_v9B2H25dhaaCm8-kbCkAoKc5a2yQ/w640-h360/1hPMsHO2KMBCtVLevPdXtN1ohrA.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The very definition of "pretty but empty."</i><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div><font color="#000000" size="3"><font><font face="arial,sans-serif">Here's a short one.</font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000" size="3"><font><font face="arial,sans-serif"> </font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000" size="3"><font><font face="arial,sans-serif">Despite my love of all things werewolf, it's an undeniable fact that genuinely good movies featuring said creatures are few and far between. <font>2011's RED RIDING HOOD</font> is a pretty-looking trifle that sells itself as an allegedly "dark" version of the familiar fairytale, but all we get is yet another PG-13-rated bloodless, horror-less post-TWILIGHT<i> </i>tamponathon that doesn't seem to know for whom it was made to appeal to. The generically beautiful characters are all bland and of no interest whatsoever, and the werewolf looks like a bad CGI rod puppet. About the only interesting thing in the film is a miscast Gary Oldman, who is obviously fully aware of what a turd he's stuck in, so he has fun with it and shamelessly overacts as witch hunter Father Solomon, providing the film with its only moments of life. </font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000" size="3"><font><font face="arial,sans-serif"> </font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000" size="3"><font><font face="arial,sans-serif">Presumably aimed at the tweener girl audience that made hits of of TITANIC and the TWILIGHT adaptations, this mess was directed by the helmer of the first <font>TWILIGHT</font> film, and while it's better than that affront to all that is right in the known universe, <font style="font-style: italic;">Red Riding Hood</font> is best avoided altogether. Girls deserve far better than this.</font></font></font></div><div><font color="#000000" size="3"><font><font face="arial,sans-serif"><br /></font></font></font></div><div style="text-align: center;"><font color="#000000" size="3"><font><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN2sL4P1QHSZyW7vGzp1Ti_cRjptBb7_j1GGFCAsd6X4EXzpVDJ8To9XUop1dcpAef50FDBxnNc89nV34n09Rt0Yk5q0AF5CLgpIYFs34COTRpWUvHBfoxIPNVT1zTmzYunV9zPRSFSkdpK_qFeGfK7L954ocsvStrCltuZ_qr8IztP7wAl7ndAE8SDKo/s1444/MV5BMTc4NjYyMzQ5MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjE5Mjc3NA@@._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1444" data-original-width="978" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN2sL4P1QHSZyW7vGzp1Ti_cRjptBb7_j1GGFCAsd6X4EXzpVDJ8To9XUop1dcpAef50FDBxnNc89nV34n09Rt0Yk5q0AF5CLgpIYFs34COTRpWUvHBfoxIPNVT1zTmzYunV9zPRSFSkdpK_qFeGfK7L954ocsvStrCltuZ_qr8IztP7wAl7ndAE8SDKo/w434-h640/MV5BMTc4NjYyMzQ5MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjE5Mjc3NA@@._V1_.jpg" width="434" /></a></div><br /><font face="arial,sans-serif"><i>Promo poster for the theatrical release.<br /></i></font></font></font></div></div>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-29190318338136833152023-10-12T00:00:00.064-04:002023-10-12T00:00:00.739-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 - Day 12: THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU (1996)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeC7cqC3L2tlZcBStcv6yINnVmKd0HaAbDiGTQaknZJljDJVFgV7hkXCrl9MHErqr0OooqJmB8J4zBX80OV9qJtyfX7hUgATWy7nm7rLmbjzr6y4Ovrj4VZClga9mP9L5Pfwa6m4DZcu668vHSZi7sdNYD0KXR1SjDyNG6V8cH9nk9zGHINU4rx4ATXyM/s750/Island+of+Dr.+Moreau+Pic+02A.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="750" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeC7cqC3L2tlZcBStcv6yINnVmKd0HaAbDiGTQaknZJljDJVFgV7hkXCrl9MHErqr0OooqJmB8J4zBX80OV9qJtyfX7hUgATWy7nm7rLmbjzr6y4Ovrj4VZClga9mP9L5Pfwa6m4DZcu668vHSZi7sdNYD0KXR1SjDyNG6V8cH9nk9zGHINU4rx4ATXyM/w640-h340/Island+of+Dr.+Moreau+Pic+02A.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Surprisingly NOT an outdoor Gwar concert.</i><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<div><div style="caret-color: rgb(28, 30, 33); color: #1c1e21; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Though
slagged off by critics upon initial release (and by me at the time, if
I'm being honest), the 1996 version of THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU is today
mostly remembered as the movie where a late-career Marlon Brando
finally went full-tilt pants-crapping insane, but I urge audiences to
give it a second chance. I've seen the film several times since its
original release and I have to admit that I've come to love it for a
number of reasons. </span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(28, 30, 33); color: #1c1e21; margin-bottom: 6px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmQ1hrVzZGfVczXM1s1T_LUufG2tPmBKc7SgCYcYMSOnh8qTpok9kJKkZs2sM_XQxdB71BuM9LKD9wF9HXZOP3ZgTR6xb1hdOriRal0OMKP5C8H6Dd29mo6BxvpuwTmcgHDVGnzLE_nq0YCYdaFLrae1R0yqa4GWC1oD8EiKD4GjWxvC5_8tT2cBo2G1A/s610/island-of-dr-moreau_610.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="610" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmQ1hrVzZGfVczXM1s1T_LUufG2tPmBKc7SgCYcYMSOnh8qTpok9kJKkZs2sM_XQxdB71BuM9LKD9wF9HXZOP3ZgTR6xb1hdOriRal0OMKP5C8H6Dd29mo6BxvpuwTmcgHDVGnzLE_nq0YCYdaFLrae1R0yqa4GWC1oD8EiKD4GjWxvC5_8tT2cBo2G1A/w640-h480/island-of-dr-moreau_610.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><i>Big pimpin' with Marlon Brando (and friend).</i><br /> </span></div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(28, 30, 33); color: #1c1e21; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Few films capture complete and utter <span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">madness
in the way that this one does, as the audience identification character
(David Thewliss) is dragged headlong and unknowing into a remote island
kingdom ruled over by the completely mad Dr. Moreau (Brando). The
not-so-good doctor is a scientist whose unethical and immoral
experiments on animals transform them into sentient, speaking horrors
that simply should not be, while fashioning himself into more or less
their living god and laying down unbreakable "laws" intended to curb his
creations' irrepressible animal natures. The lush island environment is
rendered dark and foreboding as the scientist has crafted an almost
Bruegel-meets-Bosch land of strange, misshapen creatures whom he and his
veterinarian assistant (an extra-loony Val Kilmer) keep happy and
tripping balls out of their minds on injected cocktails of sedatives and
hallucinogens, and other than the welcome presence of Fairuza Balk as
the doctor's most flawless creation, the place comes off like we the
audience were likewise dosed off our tits. Val Kilmer is a singular
standout in a role whose understated yet wholly over-the-top performance
is a masterwork of weird flamboyance — which is REALLY saying something
when paired against the balls-out-crazy Brando as Moreau — and he
utterly steals the movie as the veterinary assistant/"candy man" for the
humanimals. And don't get me started on eerie-eyed Fairuza Balk as
Moreau's daughter Aissa, a sexy woman who is by far the most successful
of Moreau's chimeras, this one being a splicing of human and big jungle
cat.<br /></span></span></div>
<div class="text_exposed_show" style="caret-color: rgb(28, 30, 33); color: #1c1e21; display: inline;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyway,
I was reminded of all of this while recently puttering around my studio
with the film running as background, and it was a lot of fun seeing it
again. Though my pick for the definitive version of this H.G. Wells
story goes to the superlative and downright fucked-up ISLAND OF LOST
SOULS (1932), the 1996 version is a worthy modern take that is deserving
of a fair reassessment well after the fact. Just be sure to have
indulged in copious amounts of alcohol and/or cannabis products before
you dive in.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 6px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 6px; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOh4SFMbOx4xGsPZTbDbHGkjVCrxZfrdVfUWfpIhgrya5VyQsSsnWYOs1bpsyU7xQLr5DotumN47QPllADaL6aDS-Eg0nLh_YQKEcZTjw-VT_Wtc_Z8svJDXo9vLDo_pbtCMHaE6va5nF8mNjXceUB9G6YmqYLpGaWTLrLRjh1zQKsCvt42KqtJKXRsNQ/s1441/MV5BYjQxNmM5ODItMGM3Yi00N2VlLTkwNTEtNDZkNzUyYzA3MmIxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1441" data-original-width="930" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOh4SFMbOx4xGsPZTbDbHGkjVCrxZfrdVfUWfpIhgrya5VyQsSsnWYOs1bpsyU7xQLr5DotumN47QPllADaL6aDS-Eg0nLh_YQKEcZTjw-VT_Wtc_Z8svJDXo9vLDo_pbtCMHaE6va5nF8mNjXceUB9G6YmqYLpGaWTLrLRjh1zQKsCvt42KqtJKXRsNQ/w414-h640/MV5BYjQxNmM5ODItMGM3Yi00N2VlLTkwNTEtNDZkNzUyYzA3MmIxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_.jpg" width="414" /></a></div><i><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Poster from the theatrical release.<br /></span></i></div>
</div>
</div></div><p></p>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-84773625745779171472023-10-12T00:00:00.062-04:002023-10-12T00:00:00.741-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 - Day 12: THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU (1996)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeC7cqC3L2tlZcBStcv6yINnVmKd0HaAbDiGTQaknZJljDJVFgV7hkXCrl9MHErqr0OooqJmB8J4zBX80OV9qJtyfX7hUgATWy7nm7rLmbjzr6y4Ovrj4VZClga9mP9L5Pfwa6m4DZcu668vHSZi7sdNYD0KXR1SjDyNG6V8cH9nk9zGHINU4rx4ATXyM/s750/Island+of+Dr.+Moreau+Pic+02A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="750" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeC7cqC3L2tlZcBStcv6yINnVmKd0HaAbDiGTQaknZJljDJVFgV7hkXCrl9MHErqr0OooqJmB8J4zBX80OV9qJtyfX7hUgATWy7nm7rLmbjzr6y4Ovrj4VZClga9mP9L5Pfwa6m4DZcu668vHSZi7sdNYD0KXR1SjDyNG6V8cH9nk9zGHINU4rx4ATXyM/w640-h340/Island+of+Dr.+Moreau+Pic+02A.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Surprisingly NOT an outdoor Gwar concert.</i><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<div><div style="caret-color: rgb(28, 30, 33); color: #1c1e21; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Though slagged off by critics upon initial release (and by me at the time, if I'm being honest), the 1996 version of THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU is today mostly remembered as the movie where a late-career Marlon Brando finally went full-tilt pants-crapping insane, but I urge audiences to give it a second chance. I've seen the film several times since its original release and I have to admit that I've come to love it for a number of reasons. </span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(28, 30, 33); color: #1c1e21; margin-bottom: 6px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmQ1hrVzZGfVczXM1s1T_LUufG2tPmBKc7SgCYcYMSOnh8qTpok9kJKkZs2sM_XQxdB71BuM9LKD9wF9HXZOP3ZgTR6xb1hdOriRal0OMKP5C8H6Dd29mo6BxvpuwTmcgHDVGnzLE_nq0YCYdaFLrae1R0yqa4GWC1oD8EiKD4GjWxvC5_8tT2cBo2G1A/s610/island-of-dr-moreau_610.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="610" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmQ1hrVzZGfVczXM1s1T_LUufG2tPmBKc7SgCYcYMSOnh8qTpok9kJKkZs2sM_XQxdB71BuM9LKD9wF9HXZOP3ZgTR6xb1hdOriRal0OMKP5C8H6Dd29mo6BxvpuwTmcgHDVGnzLE_nq0YCYdaFLrae1R0yqa4GWC1oD8EiKD4GjWxvC5_8tT2cBo2G1A/w640-h480/island-of-dr-moreau_610.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><i>Big pimpin' with Marlon Brando (and friend).</i><br /> </span></div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(28, 30, 33); color: #1c1e21; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Few films capture complete and utter <span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">madness in the way that this one does, as the audience identification character (David Thewliss) is dragged headlong and unknowing into a remote island kingdom ruled over by the completely mad Dr. Moreau (Brando). The not-so-good doctor is a scientist whose unethical and immoral experiments on animals transform them into sentient, speaking horrors that simply should not be, while fashioning himself into more or less their living god and laying down unbreakable "laws" intended to curb his creations' irrepressible animal natures. The lush island environment is rendered dark and foreboding as the scientist has crafted an almost Bruegel-meets-Bosch land of strange, misshapen creatures whom he and his veterinarian assistant (an extra-loony Val Kilmer) keep happy and tripping balls out of their minds on injected cocktails of sedatives and hallucinogens, and other than the welcome presence of Fairuza Balk as the doctor's most flawless creation, the place comes off like we the audience were likewise dosed off our tits. Val Kilmer is a singular standout in a role whose understated yet wholly over-the-top performance is a masterwork of weird flamboyance — which is REALLY saying something when paired against the balls-out-crazy Brando as Moreau — and he utterly steals the movie as the veterinary assistant/"candy man" for the humanimals. And don't get me started on eerie-eyed Fairuza Balk as Moreau's daughter Aissa, a sexy woman who is by far the most successful of Moreau's chimeras, this one being a splicing of human and big jungle cat.<br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyway, I was reminded of all of this while recently puttering around my studio with the film running as background, and it was a lot of fun seeing it again. Though my pick for the definitive version of this H.G. Wells story goes to the superlative and downright fucked-up ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (1932), the 1996 version is a worthy modern take that is deserving of a fair reassessment well after the fact. Just be sure to have indulged in copious amounts of alcohol and/or cannabis products before you dive in.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 6px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 6px; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOh4SFMbOx4xGsPZTbDbHGkjVCrxZfrdVfUWfpIhgrya5VyQsSsnWYOs1bpsyU7xQLr5DotumN47QPllADaL6aDS-Eg0nLh_YQKEcZTjw-VT_Wtc_Z8svJDXo9vLDo_pbtCMHaE6va5nF8mNjXceUB9G6YmqYLpGaWTLrLRjh1zQKsCvt42KqtJKXRsNQ/s1441/MV5BYjQxNmM5ODItMGM3Yi00N2VlLTkwNTEtNDZkNzUyYzA3MmIxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1441" data-original-width="930" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOh4SFMbOx4xGsPZTbDbHGkjVCrxZfrdVfUWfpIhgrya5VyQsSsnWYOs1bpsyU7xQLr5DotumN47QPllADaL6aDS-Eg0nLh_YQKEcZTjw-VT_Wtc_Z8svJDXo9vLDo_pbtCMHaE6va5nF8mNjXceUB9G6YmqYLpGaWTLrLRjh1zQKsCvt42KqtJKXRsNQ/w414-h640/MV5BYjQxNmM5ODItMGM3Yi00N2VlLTkwNTEtNDZkNzUyYzA3MmIxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_.jpg" width="414" /></a></div><i><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Poster from the theatrical release.<br /></span></i></div>
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</div></div>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461295739477337429.post-67626001048406030592023-10-11T00:00:00.172-04:002023-10-11T00:00:00.142-04:0031 DAYS OF HORROR 2023 - Day 11: HALLOWEEN II (1981)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif_UaVxqDKrWBj3x2S3fDxspWJ4deobwzYUfO2YPQK7uGOtiu8OSLoMAcCrAlZcD4T3aABswOxMfK7JhL7vygqB33_LbXEPYD6igPfu4-juZCklQ7G6iD6mk26ysne1F70cnNazASNtyZ4XYi6H3l5HQgozV8_KemRRy6oNpuM6OacQeG4usqHmwR8XmI/s755/91a09b40829f2190c9b8cdfd75a74b43b0a7938b_hq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="331" data-original-width="755" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif_UaVxqDKrWBj3x2S3fDxspWJ4deobwzYUfO2YPQK7uGOtiu8OSLoMAcCrAlZcD4T3aABswOxMfK7JhL7vygqB33_LbXEPYD6igPfu4-juZCklQ7G6iD6mk26ysne1F70cnNazASNtyZ4XYi6H3l5HQgozV8_KemRRy6oNpuM6OacQeG4usqHmwR8XmI/w640-h280/91a09b40829f2190c9b8cdfd75a74b43b0a7938b_hq.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>"The night HE came home" continues.</i><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">Perhaps the most inevitable release during the avalanche of slasher flicks in the 1980's, thanks to its 1978 predecessor being an unexpected box office smash that birthed a slew of imitators, chief among which was the gory mega-hit FRIDAY THE 13th (1980), HALLOWEEN II was hotly anticipated by the newfound legions of young gorehounds who wanted to see seemingly superhuman murder machine Michael Myers return to once more wreak havoc upon the silver screen. Picking up right where the first film left off, we find traumatized survivor Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) receiving attention at the local hospital as the unstoppable hulk that is Michael (Dick Warlock) continues his seemingly random pursuit of her. As Laurie fights to stay one step ahead of the Shatner-masked juggernaut who rampages through the halls oif the hospital facility, Inspector Loomis (Donald Pleaseance) seeks to put a stop to his murderous former patient once and for all.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Landing in the midst of charnel house cheapies dominating the box office without creative genius John Carpenter at the helm (though he did co-write), HALLOWEEN II is a serviceable sequel that, lacking Carpenter's flair for suspense and clever camerawork, gave the audience what the studio thought the audience wanted, namely an abundance of graphic gore. The original film was famously terrifying without being gory at all, but that goes to show what one can accomplish with creativity and a meager budget. Aping the gruesome body counts of other entries in the early first wave of '80's slashers, the film provides some nasty shocks, but the tone and flavor of the proceedings just cannot touch the magic that was the original, and at the time the film was widely derided as a rote disappointment. But over the past couple of decades, the film has undergone something of a reappraisal and is now seen as a pretty good continuation of Carpenter's classic, as well as what was obviously intended to be a finite conclusion to the story. Unfortunately, the greedy studio and the sequel-hungry audience kept the franchise going with 12 more sequels and remakes featuring Michael Myers and (sometimes) Laurie Strode, nearly always to diminishing returns, so HALLOWEEN II kind of automatically takes on a greater luster when stacked up against the majority of what followed from the franchise. </p><p style="text-align: left;">If watched back-to-back with the original, HALLOWEEN II gives us a (rather contrived) motivation for Michael's obsession with Laurie, and it concludes with a satisfyingly apocalyptic conflagration that in any sane universe would have been it for both Michael Myers and Inspector Loomis, so you'd be okay if you didn't bother to proceed any further in the cinema of Myers. The sequels range from slightly better than average all the way down to rock-bottom awful, with the unrelated HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH being a gem that was reviled for decades due to it not being more the familiar comfort food that the audience demanded. If you must see another film with the HALLOWEEN label, turst me and check out SEASON OF THE WITCH.<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_sScaZUZg0SbHFK2qMpkw2sK1HOhX3y7vfPqnXkSgceZf4ED9yNQleOzUpx4uBVFlnIIVSpPnt9JLU6Vt83TOTN_XBkLOq_rukSjOJRfXJq1bdEuxj7L8C_ThiFTL3VkRELnVnHoFO_bZ8xOXbmbtavf-BrbnmxvLs9Pzpfbs3oeqgck2QBYYWdltSs/s1000/71RYe8QmS5L._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="641" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_sScaZUZg0SbHFK2qMpkw2sK1HOhX3y7vfPqnXkSgceZf4ED9yNQleOzUpx4uBVFlnIIVSpPnt9JLU6Vt83TOTN_XBkLOq_rukSjOJRfXJq1bdEuxj7L8C_ThiFTL3VkRELnVnHoFO_bZ8xOXbmbtavf-BrbnmxvLs9Pzpfbs3oeqgck2QBYYWdltSs/w410-h640/71RYe8QmS5L._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="410" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Poster from the theatrical release</i><br /></p>Bunche (pop culture ronin)http://www.blogger.com/profile/11831085937894725459noreply@blogger.com0