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Surgeons of Horror

~ Dissecting horror films

Surgeons of Horror

Category Archives: retrospective

Retrospective: Scream 3 (2000)

24 Monday Jan 2022

Posted by surgeons of horror in retrospective, wes craven's the scream years

≈ 5 Comments

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courtney cox, David Arquette, Emily Mortimer, ghostface, jamie kennedy, Kevin Williamson, Lance Henriksen, liev schrieber, Neve Campbell, parker posey, scream, Wes Craven

Wes Craven: The Scream years part 4 – Scream 3 (2000)

There would have been a three year hiatus for Ghostface to reappear again on screens following the successful sequel. This time around Wes Craven returning as director without his writing collaborator Kevin Williamson, (those duties now fell to relative newcomer Ehren Kruger who had previously worked on Arlington Road) would thrust Sidney Prescott further down the rabbithole and dreamland to create his slasher trilogy. And what better place to set their playground in, than the place where ‘dreams are made’, Hollywood. It’s a great choice and plays nicely into the metaverse that was initially set up in the original and its sequel with the Hollywood version of the Woodsboro murders film series, Stab.

Once again the film hits hard by writing off a previous character, Cotton Weary (Liev Schrieber) still capitalising on his fifteen minutes of fame and about to cameo in the next feature in the Stab series before succumbing to the return of Ghostface’s killing frenzy.

Here we are introduced to a new character in Detective Kincaid (Patrick Dempsey) who calls on Gail Weathers (Courtney Cox) to aid him in his query into the murder and its possible relation to the previous murders. When Gail arrives on set, she discovers that Dewey (David Arquette) has been working on the film as an advisor and once again their on/off relationship sparks off. It’s not until another Stab 3 cast member is killed that they realise that a possible serial copycat killer is in their midst. Time to call on Sidney Prescott once more, who has become a recluse since we last saw her and helping abused women via a phone helpline, turning the instrument that fuelled her trauma into something good.

The charm of this movie is through the way Craven and Kruger play with the hollywood versions of the Scream characters and the way that their larger than life selves search for their own gain in the midst of the killings. It is inevitable that they will meet their maker at some point along the way. The casting of these characters is also on point, notably Parker Posey as the fictional Gail and Emily Mortimer as the fictional Sidney. A mention should also go to Lance Henriksen as the Director of the movie John Milton, who is always stoic in his performance.

Along with this was the return from the grave of fan favourite Randy Meeks, albeit by the genius of a home movie, from which he spits the lores of film trilogies to the survivors. Sorry to wax lyrical about Randy. What can I say? I guess for some reason, I identify with the guy 😛

Once more though, it is in the final act and the reveal that things get a little lost on me with the reveal of a characters’ plan that they were behind the whole thing from the very beginning. A little far-fetched, yes, but the fun is in the journey, the number of kills, Dewey getting brutally wiped out and left for dead again, and both Sidney and Gail kicking ass along the way.

The third instalment may not have been as well received compared with its predecessors, falling victim to the last instalment curse, but it still reaped its fair share at the box office, hinting that Ghostface wasn’t down and out yet. In fact, it would be a decade before the masked killer would rise again, bringing with him the director that launched his profile for what would be the last time for Craven.

  • Saul Muerte

Related Links:

Movie Review: Scream (2022)

10 Scream inspired movies

Retrospective: Vampire in Brooklyn

Retrospective: Scream (1996)

Retrospective: Scream 2 (1997)

Retrospective: Scream 2 (1997)

24 Monday Jan 2022

Posted by surgeons of horror in retrospective, wes craven's the scream years

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

courtney cox, David Arquette, ghostface, jamie kennedy, Kevin Williamson, liev schrieber, Neve Campbell, scream, Wes Craven

Wes Craven: The Scream years part 3 – Scream 2 (1997)

The original Scream released one year prior would prove to be a financial success, capturing $85 million at the Box Office, and prove to be a critical success for Wes Craven and Dimension Films so that it was inevitable that a follow up would be in the making.

Part of its lure in attaining Craven back into the director’s chair would be the offer of a three picture deal. Two of the pictures would be the proposed sequel and a possible third film of the Scream franchise (dependent on success, of course), but for Craven it would be the the movie sandwiched between the two slasher films, and a step away from the genre that was the dangling carrot. That film would turn out to be Music From The Heart, starring Meryl Streep.

Writer Kevin Williamson would also be enticed back into the fold for his penmanship with a lucrative seven figure deal, along with returning actors Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy, and Liev Schrieber in their respective roles. The former trio in this group would be given some decent chances to flesh out their characters with a strong continuous arc that would serve well throughout the entire franchise.
Supposedly the actors would only find out who the killer/s would be in the final two weeks of filming when they were provided the last 20 pages of the script.

Despite being so closely guarded though, the production team would have to suffer under the wake of the internet when the first 40 pages of the script were leaked online, albeit just the first draft. This would tighten security on set, and raise both intrigue and the profile of the movie ahead of its release. 

Part of the sequels’ appeal would be the meta-infused dialogue that was so prominent in its predecessor, none more so than the killer opening scene; set in a cinema screening and introduction to the film with a film moment called Stab, where we witness Heather Graham taking on the Drew Barrymore role from Scream. The audience are placed in the shoes of a Black American couple played by Omar Epps and Jada Pinkett. They are quick to point out the foils of ‘White Americans’ and their actions whilst being pursued by Ghostface, only to be subject to a horror trope of their own, where the non-white person rarely survives the movie, in this case they only last for the pre-credit sequence. Pinketts role is particularly harrowing as she is stabbed in front of a full auditorium, many of whom wear the infamous ghostface mask, hiding her killer in plain sight, and with it, the notion that…

 Everybody’s a suspect.

Forever banked in my memory though was the demise of the person who quoted that line, Randy Meeks. He was the horror film guru, and some of the fans favourite character, so his death was received with mixed opinions. What it did set out though, was a recurring theme for the franchise. That no one was safe, and just because you might know the rules, doesn’t mean that it would save you from meeting your maker by the film’s conclusion.

The other cool component was in giving Liev Schriieber a beefed up part as the wrongfully accused Cotton Weary from the original movie. Schrieber is a phenomenal actor and he shines here as a character wishing for his own 15 minutes of fame, stopping at nothing and in doing so, throwing him once more into the limelight as a potential suspect. Let’s not forget Jerry O’Connell too who plays Sidney Prescott’s love interest and also falls prey to suspect territory thanks to Sidney’s last boyfriend/killer scenario, Billy. Trust will always be an issue for our heroine.

If there is a let down here, it’s in the climax and ultimate reveal that proves to be something of a Scooby Doo moment and a half-baked attempt at revenge. This could also be a ramification for the fast turn around in getting this from page to screen.

Despite this, Scream 2 would bank over $172 million at the box office, more than double than the first film, and with it open the doors further to at the time a third and final instalment in the trilogy.

  • Saul Muerte

Related Links:

Movie Review: Scream (2022)

10 Scream inspired movies

Retrospective: Vampire in Brooklyn

Retrospective: Scream (1996)

Retrospective: Scream (1996)

15 Saturday Jan 2022

Posted by surgeons of horror in retrospective

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

courtney cox, David Arquette, dimension films, ghostface, henry winkler, jamie kennedy, Kevin Williamson, matthew lillard, Neve Campbell, rose mcgowan, scream, Skeet Ulrich, Wes Craven

Wes Craven: The Scream years part 2 – Scream (1996)

It’s hard to no where to begin with what is arguably the last significant changer for slasher films, such is the iconic status that Wes Craven’s Scream brought to the sub-genre. 
What is apparent is that the infamous director who had been the mastermind behind two previous horror franchises in The Hills Have Eyes and A Nightmare on Elm Street initially turned down the option to direct, having his eyes set on crafting a remake of The Haunting based on the Shirley Jackson novel.
History would tell a different story  with that movie falling into the hands of Jan De Bont, starring Liam Neeson and Lily Taylor.
Craven would actually turn Scream down for a second time before being enticed into the directors’ chair. That light bulb moment to pull him in came through the notion of a dark and violent beginning that hadn’t been done before.
It’s still to this day one of the most harrowing and surprising starts to a film, doubled up by that cameo from Drew Barrymore.

That reawakening of a stale genre combined  with my own deep immersion into horror as it fell into my late teens. The meta dialogue provided by Dawson Creek’s Kevin Williamson hooking the generation of the time with a delicate balance of D&Ms (deep and meaningfuls) with the lead characters and genuine scares infused with a whodunnit mystery. It was this latter element that Craven liked to play with on screen and in truth, despite being labelled as a horror director, his dalliance with the thriller component was where he played best.

It was also imperative to work with bright and upcoming talent to serve as the teen victims, who are strong enough to ground the movie in the own right, leading the charge was Neve Campbell (as this generations’ scream queen through the role of Sidney Prescott), who would go on to great success following the movie. Equally though her supporting cast of Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, and Jamie Kennedy more than bring their A-game.

That’s not to mention the other leads in David Arquette as deputy Dewey and bringing some star appeal with the success of Friends was Courtney Cox as the cold-hearted journalist, Gail Weathers. Part of the strength is that no one is painted as they first appear, adding to the intrigue and mystery on show.

It helps that the masked villain uses a cool guise in Ghostface, repeated on numerous occasions and parodied in the comical Scary Movie franchise, the name for which is borrowed from Scream’s working title.

The success though would speak volumes through the box office with $85 million in takings, marking Dimension Films with their first real win, opening the door for a sequel already being discussed 3 months after the films release.

Watching it back now, 25 years after it came out on the big screen, still triggers the nostalgia vibes, a significant indicator that it has resonance with its audience and with the recent Scream sequel hitting screens at the time of writing, will no doubt resurrect a whole new audience into the fold.

  • Saul Muerte

Related links:

Movie Review: Scream (2022)

10 Scream inspired movies

Retrospective: Vampire in Brooklyn

Retrospective: Vampire in Brooklyn

12 Wednesday Jan 2022

Posted by surgeons of horror in retrospective, wes craven's the scream years

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

angela bassett, eddie murphy, vampires, Wes Craven

Wes Craven: The Scream years part 1 – Vampire in Brooklyn

In my #gutreaction Letterbox’d review I remarked that Vampire in Brooklyn was the result of a Murphyfest disaster. While in part this is true, there is an element here of two artists striving to reinvent or find new aspects of themselves but are trapped by the fields that had elevated their careers in the first place. On one side we have the larger-than-life character that Eddie Murphy portrays on screen with his observational, raw and at times vulgar or cruel look at America, paved his career with his stand-up performances and Saturday Night Live sketches, along with some big hit movies throughout the 80s such as Beverly Hills Cop and Trading Places. Murphy had grown tired of the kind of roles that he was being offered and desired to get his teeth into a more serious role. Vampire in Brooklyn provided the chance for Murphy to showcase his more serious, dramatic chops with his vampire Maximillian with the promise of more of his usual stuff through a few supporting characters that he would deliver via the means of make up and in-your-face stereotypes.
On the other side is Director Wes Craven, who having recently played his last active contribution to the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, was still looking to shirk his horror genre persona and looking to tap into the more comical mainstream that Murphy’s presence offered. The trouble is that in their search for their alternate selves, both Murphy and Craven would be subject to producer and fan expectations that would muddy the waters of their pursuits and clash in an almost forgettable movie. Murphy would go on record blaming his hair extensions for the film’s failure but it’s clear that there is a barrier placed in the way that no matter how hard Craven would try to navigate around would be a constant obstacle to success.
Vampire in Brooklyn would begin life through the writing collaboration of Murphy, his brother Charlie, and Vernon Lynch and would initially walk a similar path to Bram Stoker’s Dracula with a unmanned boat docking (albeit comicially here) and revealing a huge wolf-like beast as its only surviving passenger. This creature would transform into Murphy’s Maximillian, a Caribbean vampire in search of a bride to continue his bloodline. 
One of the witnesses to Maximillian’s early misdeeds in the film which included ripping the heart out of previous Craven collaborator Mitch Pileggi’s hoodlum characters’ chest, is Julius Jones (Kadeem Hardison); a down-on-his-luck character that could be fashioned from Stoker’s Renfield character. 
Another actor who has worked with Craven before is Zakes Mokae (The Serpent and the Rainbow) who appears as a wisened soul who could very well be likened to the Van Helsing in this world, although with not as large a part. 
The rest is the piece is fairly loose in substance as Maximillian finds the bride he is searching for is none other than half-human, half-vampire Detective Rita Veder (Angela Bassett). Bassett, who had recently come to the fore with her portrayal of singer Tina Turner in What’s Love Got To Do With It, thankfully provides some much needed weight to the screenplay. Without her involvement, there really isn’t a lot on show. There are some cheap laughs to be had but the film lacks any originality and for Craven (who would be on the tipping point of creating a whole new wake in the horror genre, and the birth of yet another franchise in Scream),  would prove to be an example of how a greater budget and lack of creative control can lead to poor results.

– Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Night of the Cobra Woman

31 Friday Dec 2021

Posted by surgeons of horror in retrospective

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

marlene clark, night of the cobra woman

It may fall short in the screenplay department but unfortunately can’t rest on the laurels of acting prowess of it’s cast. The film feels like a dodgy soft porn film in places, especially with the soft focus presentation in the copy I watched it on.

There are moments of discomfort on display in the representation of women through the male gaze, and rapey content. With smarter writing the filmmakers could have leveraged this perspective using what is essentially a cool premised despite being dubbed as ‘silly’ by some critics.

Through mythology, snakes have often been viewed as mystical and deadly creatures that tie in with transformation, healing and immortality. This combined with the sexual ties to both birth and fertility.

Marlene Clark is simply devine as the troubled Lena, a woman who is bitten by a cobra in the Philippines and is given the unique ability of defying age and the ability to transform into a snake in order to take down young men. Clark would go on to define herself in black horror film history the following year in the magnifient Ganja and Hess.

Here though, her presence isn’t enough to lift the weak, predictable script. The subjectification of her character is handled poorly throughout and is unfortunately indicative of the time the film was made.

It’s a shame as the premise was a great one and Hammer productions film The Reptile starring Jacqueline Pearce springs to mind in handling the story element in a far more effective fashion and was released 6 years prior to NotCW. I would love to see this re-envisioned in a modern setting and placing more power in the hands of the snake priestess Lena.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Brute Man (1946)

22 Wednesday Dec 2021

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george bricker, jan wiley, jean yarbrough, john hamilton, rondo hatton, tom neal, Universal, Universal Horror

The Brute Man would mark Rondo Hatton’s final film credit having tragically passed away due to heart problems. Cast in a number of films due to his physical presence which would make him an ideal on screen villain, which started out as supporting roles for a few crime, mob-related features. By the 1940s, Hatton would see his star elevated to leading roles for movies such as The Pillow of Death and House of Horrors, the latter of which alongside this movie would see him as the iconic Creeper character. This character would be so embedded in Universal’s golden era that it would be homaged in the 1980s feature film, The Rocketeer played by Tiny Ron.

Here, Hatton’s Creeper is out for revenge for those he believes disfigured him, starting with Professor Cushman (John Hamilton). Among those whom he pursues is a couple, Clifford (Tom Neal) and Virginia (Jan Wiley), who form part of a love/hate quadrangle with the Creeper who shows a heart of gold when trying to help Helen (Jane Adams), a blind pianist. This last part of the shaped motif is a little nod to Frankenstein’s monster who also befriends the blind flutist in James Whale’s 1931 version.

Despite these attempts to pay homage to the past and create terror in the cinema again, writer George Bricker (a gun for hire to create Production companies, B-features) would struggle to strike fear in the hearts of the audience. Likewise, director Jean Yarbrough would find it hard to break the mold of the low budget horror features that he had been accustomed to. So paltry was the final product that audiences responded negatively to it, and the film is now more closely associated with being the target for grilling in Mystery Science Theater 3000.

It would be a significant turning point for Universal, who were starting to see the effects of their golden years ebbing away and losing the magic touch it once laid claim to in the field of horror. Throughout the 50s their journey would take them in a completely different direction, but that will  be for another series of articles.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Cat Creeps (1946)

22 Wednesday Dec 2021

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murder mystery, the cat creeps, Universal, Universal Horror

Billed as a horror whodunnit, The Cat Creeps was released at a time when the magic from classic genre themed movies that Universal built its name upon was beginning to wear off. Not to be confused with the 1930s feature bearing the same name, the feature would also struggle without any of the big name stars such as Bela Lugosi or Boris Karloff to carry the horror torch into another generation of scares. Forming part of a double feature alongside She-Wolf of London, The Cat Creeps would also herald the last of the horror features for the film production giant for the 1940s.

Retrospectively watching the movie today, you can sense the lack of sparkle in the films narrative, centred around a black cat that is suspected of being possessed by an elderly lady who was murdered possibly for inheritance. 

Character actor, Noah Beery Jr., does his best to fill the screen with presence and humour; an early indicator that serves the same comical tone that Abbott and Costello would bring to their movies through the late 40s and early 50s for Universal. The issue here though is that Beery Jr grates more than pleases in his role of Pidge “Flash” Laurie, forcing a disconnect from a modern audience. The film canters along with this black humour pace without much care to the end of the film slowly bumping off the usual suspects along the way until the real villain of the piece is revealed. 

If you like a half-decent murder mystery, there’s plenty on show, but the predictability is too great with an old formula being utilised to capitalise on former success. Unfortunately, there it lacks in appeal with nothing new to show, emphasising the stale end that the decade would bring for the company.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Undead (2003)

12 Sunday Dec 2021

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alien horror, Australian Horror, felicity mason, mungo mckay, The Spierig Brothers, umbrella entertainment, Undead, zombie, zombie apocalypse, zombie horror

Before the Spierig Brothers would take on what would be their second feature film as their writer, director, producer team with Daybreakers starring Ethan Hawke, and possibly their best movie to date. 

Before they would even attempt to expand the Saw franchise with Jigsaw and then to breathe further life into the Hammer Films productions with Winchester, they would craft their first feature, Undead; a schlocky, low budget, zombie / alien invasion feast set in remote Australia.
The movie has just been released by Umbrella Entertainment as a Blu-ray/Dvd edition for their Beyond Genres collection. Check out the extras at the foot of this article.

The movie itself is not exactly brain fodder, but I remember from its initial release back in 2003 that it was a lot of fun to watch and packed with that unusual blend of Aussie humour that always seems to lift the storyline. There are some iconic moments too, namely from Mungo Mckay’s character Marion, a doomsday prepper who has encountered a paranormal encounter before and has been subjected to being an outcast ever since. His performance channels somewhere between Ash Campbell for sheer resilience and his namesake, James Wayne, with a cowboy like approach to survival and armed with a triple shotgun among his many resources.

Interestingly though, Marion isn’t the hero of the movie, as our lead protagonist falls to meek Rene (Felicity Mason) who has been a downtrodden character most of her life and just wants to get the hell out of Kansas. When push comes to shove though, she soon shows her metal and comes out fighting.

To look at this movie and scorn the performances though which I have seen some people comment on is to miss the style that The Spierig Brothers were going for. Clearly, they wanted to experiment with some visual effects, something that the extras in this release shines a light on. Undead would be their showpiece and a playing field for them to experiment with what they could do through a feature narrative. The problem as always is budget, which there wasn’t a lot of. So knowing this, the filmmakers went with a ramped up melodramatic, pulp style 50’s invasion feel. One that, knowing this beforehand, takes the pressure of applying a highbrow response to and simply letting it flow and enjoying the ride.

The film is packed with a lot of set play, from zombies attacking, survival instincts, seedy characters, bullheaded police officers, aliens, infection and nods to the era that formed the base of these kind of movies, one that comes to mind are some of the earlier scenes in Village of the Damned. There are also elements of Night of the Living Dead at play here, all of which goes to show that The Spierig Brothers are lovers of their craft and with Undead shows a great introduction to the celluloid mainstream with a film that wears its heart on its sleeve. So while it may not be original or groundbreaking, Undead still offers enough to entertain and essential viewing for film lovers who are interested in following the journey of a couple of creatives in the rise.

  • Saul Muerte

Undead is released on Blu Ray and DVD by Umbrella Entertainment.

Details of the extras are listed as follows:

  • Original Soundtrack CD
  • Audio Commentary with Directors Peter and Michael Spierig and Cinematographer Andy Strahorn
  • On the set of the Undead
  • Attack of the Undead – Short Film
  • The Making of Undead
  • Homemade Dolly Video
  • Undead Camera and Make-up Tests
  • Stills Gallery
  • Theatrical Trailer

Retrospective: Possession (1981)

09 Thursday Dec 2021

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Andrzej Zulawski, beyond genres, body horror, isabelle adjani, sam neill, umbrella entertainment

Possession marks one of those unsung movies from the early 80s that oozed its way along the grapevine, causing the occasional ripple among viewers and critics alike across the years. Recently the film celebrated 40 years since its release and is now considered a cult classic among some. Ashamedly, it is a movie that passed me by and I only recently caught the film in time for its anniversary. In a way, it’s not too surprising that I missed out on its initial release as it was criminally shafted into the video nasties group that so many were subject to at the time and perhaps the reason why it has become something of a forgotten gem.

Recently to commemorate this feature, Umbrella Entertainment released a Blu-ray/Dvd edition as part of their Beyond Genres collection and it’s jam-packed with over 4 hours of extra footage which I’ll list at the foot of this article.

So, why does it deserve such recognition?

Possession is a visionary film, where every scene is a spectacle and eviscerates the human soul and exposes every ounce of humanity at its most controlling. All the characters strive for power and control and with every movement, vibrating, convulsing, and straining to reach resolution but bound to repeat the cycle of events all over again. This raw energy stems from Director Andrzej Zulawski who would draw from personal experience to write the screenplay, and the anger and vitriol is part of what we see evicted onto the screen. 

Fueling these emotions is an incredible leading cast in Isabelle Adjani in her dual role of Anna, a domestiecised and sexuallay repressed wife, and Helen, a teacher and picture of innocence and virtuosity. Sam Neill also stars as Mark, a spy with a mysterious connection with the political underbelly of Eastern Europe, and a man who is set in his time, expecting that his home life should remain in a certain state and not alter. Threatened by change and a loss of identity, Mark constantly is fighting to remain at the heart of all that surrounds him, tightening his grip, only to watch it slip further from his grasp. 

There are many levels that are at play here, which elevates the movie into highbrow territory, none more so than the depiction of a city under political unrest with the physical divide between Berlin’s East and West. The constant threat of destruction in a world hinged on uncertainty. There are a series of doppelgangers at play too with Adjani’s Anna/Helen characters and Neill’s two versions of Mark, where one version symbolises all that is wrong with humanity, and the other, all that seems right, a yin and yang of balance and imbalance. The viewer is placed at the epicentre of the carnage. As the characters fight for their ideological past, they rip apart their very surroundings destroying all that once was. The infamous scene in the underground passage where we bear witness to Adjani’s electrifying performance as Anna experiences a violent miscarriage, is one of the most brutal scenes that I’ve seen on screen. This scene alone is a dark and disturbing depiction of the core being ripped out due to the trauma and conflict that humanity subjects itself to. Infused with cutting edge creature effects that would fit perfectly in any Cronenberg feature, spearheaded by Italian special effects maestro Carlo Rambaldi (Alien, Deep Red).

By the films conclusion as the world seems to be setting itself right again, we’re left with a dubious outcome with Mark and Anna’s son Bob in the wake of turmoil, afraid of both his ‘parents’ and the sounds of war and destruction in the background, a sign that we are all doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over if we insist on our ridiculous pursuits of perfection; possessed by this ideal and obsessed with fulfilling our desires, unwilling to relinquish control.

For more thoughts and discussions on Possession check out the Surgeons of Horror podcast here:

  • Saul Muerte

Possession is released on Blu Ray and DVD by Umbrella Entertainment.

Details of the extras are listed as follows:

  • Audio commentary with Director Andrzej Żuławski
  • Audio commentary with Co-writer Frederic Tuten
  • The Other Side of the Wall: The Making of Possession
  • Interview with with Director Andrzej Żuławski
  • US Cut of Possession
  • Repossessed – Featurette on the US Cut of Possession
  • A Divided City – Location Featurette 
  • The Sounds of Possession – Interview with Composer Andrzej Żuławski
  • Our friend in the West – Interview with Producer Christian Ferry
  • Basha – Poster Analysis Featurette 
  • International Theatrical Trailer
  • US Theatrical Trailer

Retrospective: Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981)

19 Friday Nov 2021

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butcher baker nightmare maker, exploitation, jimmy mcnichol, slasher film, slasher films, slasher horror

Celebrating 40 years since it’s initial release comes this exploitation flick from Director William Asher, can now be considered something of a forgotten gem, with some marked commentary on homosexuality, the oedipus complex, and twisting our expectations of the slasher genre.

It’s a curious tale that plays to the extreme and borderline incestious protection of an estranged mother figure towards a nephew. It is this relationship that borders on the strains of inappropriate behaviour.

The story is focused on Billy (Jimmy McNichol), a basketballer with promise of a future career in the sport is held back by his Aunt Cheryl (Susan Tyrell) in order to contribute to maintaining the house; a guide for fuelling her sexual desires.

Things turn sour when Cheryl invites local repairman, Phil to fix their tv set, she ramps up her lustful needs by forcing herself upon him. When this is not  received in kind, Cheryl turns to rage, murdering Phil in cold blood. This is witnessed by Billy, so Cheryl tries to convince him that it was self defence as Phil was trying to tape her. 

The story doesn’t wash up however when it’s revealed that Phil is gay, leading chief detective, Joe Carlson to believe that their is a love triangle involved between Phil, Billy and the basketball coach, Tom. This throws Billy into suspicion as a possible suspect, which isn’t helped by Joe’s narrowmindedness.

In the reversal of damsel in distress horror tropes, Billy is on the receiving end of evil pursuit and his only ally at this stage appears to be his girlfriend Julia. This relationship itself puts Julia into the firing line from Cheryl’s jealousy and amps up the complexities of the interweaving narratives towards a bloodied and crazed conclusion.

There is a heck of a lot of social commentary on display here disguised as an exploitation horror flick, which is why the film probably deserves more attention and love that it received. Yes if alls into shlocky territory, but the entertainment and intellifence that is on display is well worth your time.

  • Saul Muerte

Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker is currently screening on Shudder.

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