Movie review: V/H/S/94

12 Tuesday Oct 2021

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Continuing the found footage short features each directed by a different visionary, sewn together for the VHS movie franchise comes a further instalment entitled V/H/S/94. Much like its predecessors, the audience are presented with a collection of stories framed by an overarching narrative that takes us from one tale to the next.
Charged with encasing these stories is Jennifer Reader’s Holy Hell, a kind of purgatory set in a warehouse filled with various rooms containing television sets displaying static, and cultists who appear to have their eyes gouged out. It sets the tone of the film with a SWAT team going from room to room in search of answers to what took place in this world of anarchy.

From here we are taken to Storm Drain by Chloe Okuno, which follows news reporter Holly Marciano and her cameraman in pursuit of a story through the mysterious ‘ratman’ lurking in the sewers. Is he real or simply a fabricated story by the homeless community living in the depths of the tunnels. Already we start to see commonality with the prologue, with the pursuit of the unknown and the dangers that lurk within as the protagonists venture beyond their means. In this instance Holly stumbles into a story that will change her and perhaps the world forever.

The next story, The Empty Wake is potentially my favourite and with little wonder as it is helmed by Simon Barrett, who was involved in previous VHS instalments and some of the mumblegore feathers such as You’re Next and The Guest. It’s a simple but effective story with Halley assigned to oversee a wake at a funeral home, where the corpse may or may not actually be completely dead. To raise the tensions, a thunderstorm hits, plunging Hailey into darkness. Filled with humour and fear, a fine balancing act is played out effectively.

Another VHS contributor, Timo Tjahjanto delivers the next short feature with The Subject, which is also equally as efficacious. It’s a warped and twisted version of the Frankenstein-like subject of creating humanity but with the fusion of technology. This is thrust front and centre as we bear witness to a disembodied human head attached with robotic spider legs. The creator of this abomination is Dr James Suhendra, hellbent on carrying through his vision. When at first it appears he is successful with Subject 99, the gods have other plans, and humans are in turn subjected to their own destruction.

The last short, Terror directed by Ryan Prows is one that follows a militia, who are invested in ridding America of evil. Their extremist views them to enact torture on a man whose blood holds some curious symptoms where it can explode in sunlight. They begin to run tests, but fuelled by booze and absent-mindedness, the group bite off more than they can chew, and must then fend themselves against an evil they may not be able to contain.

The final scenes bring us back to the epilogue with Holy Hell, where the true masterminds behind the collection of macabre videotapes is revealed. 

The Diagnosis:

Each story that is presented is weighted in individualistic style, connected by a common theme. Some are admittedly delivered more effectively than others, but each are united with enough substance to ensnare the audience and to show humanity at its darkest hour.

  • Saul Muerte

V/H/S/94 is currently streaming on Shudder

Retrospective: Full Moon High (1981)

09 Saturday Oct 2021

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Director Larry Cohen was renowned for directing and producing exploitation movies such as The Stuff and It’s Alive, often with a satirical edge to grip the audience.
I was looking forward to watching Full Moon High coming in with high expectations, especially with the casting of both Alan and Adam Arkin in the mix but there were a few things that didn’t click into place for me. The movie is filled with that zany mad-cap humour that is typical of American filmmaking back in the day, but it feels strangely offbeat in this setting.

Adam Arkin plays teenager Tony, who is drifting aimlessly through life and disconnected which feels in large part due to his father, Colonel Walker, a man who is brash and ego-centric. When Tony is forced to accompany his father to Transylvania, he is left to his own devices, which unfortunately leads to him being bitten by a werewolf and gifted with the curse of an ever-lasting life. What he does with his life is the question though. Will he learn from his ways or be doomed to repeat the same mistakes all over again?

The cyclical theme is well in abundance here, as Tony returns to his old stomping grounds to reinvent himself, and finds that he wants to rekindle his school years.

Easier said when done, as he is doomed to get his lycanthrope on every full moon, and constantly trapped inside the body of a highly sexualised being.

That and the need to hide his identity from past friends and girlfriends is a constant issue for Tony.

The energy of Full Moon High doesn’t let up however it never feels like there are any downbeats in the movie to take a break from the relentless humour or attempt there at on display. If it wasn’t for the aforementioned Arkins, I may have been inclined to turn off, but they at least are engaging enough to bring you to the logical conclusion.

Maybe it’s just me and that Full Moon High simply isn’t my humour, but the struggle remained throughout the film and I have to mark this down as one I could have easily let pass me by and I would have been content to have let that happen.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Destiny (1921)

06 Wednesday Oct 2021

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My first experience of the German expressionist movement came from the classic films, Metropolis and M. It was a highly influential period of filmmaking that had a deep and lasting impact on the craft through various lighting techniques and camera techniques.

Released a century ago Destiny is a great example of Lang’s work. It is evidently inspired by an Indian folktale called Savitri and Satyavan and is essentially a story that questions where love can triumph and win over death? In this case, it focuses on a young couple who inadvertently pickup a “Death” who is posing as a hitchhiker, only to have the male partner taken from the female. Distraught, she pleads with Death for the return of her lover, and being the good sport that he is, Death acquiesces on the provision that she prevents one of the three candles (representations of life in balance) from being snuffed out.

The tale is told across three distinctive sections: The Story of the First Light; The Story of the Second Light; and The Story of the Third Light, all of which play out the female lovers’ attempts to save a life in the name of love. Unfortunately she fails on all three accounts.

Once again though, Death proves he’s not such a heartless bastard and give the female lover one last chance in what ends up being the most riveting and complex moments of the film. With the power to win back her lover, the young woman is conflicted about the actual charge of ending another’s life in order to do so. This age-old predicament sees the woman honing in on the elderly to see if they would be willing to end their lives in the name of love, and even at one point she contemplates murder when brough to drastic measures. When a fire breaks out in a local building, a baby becomes trapped, and in doing so becomes a potential soul that could be taken in exchange for love. But can the young woman bring about the end of such a young life for the sake of her own happiness?

It is these questions that elevates Destiny onto a higher critical plane, which is remarkably well received among its homegrown German audience. It would only be when accepted by the French film-going community, that it would become more accepted. It has since become earmarked as an early pioneer in film-making and embraced for its bold, stylised visuals. It is noted in particular for having a profound effect on both Luis Bunuel and Alfred Hitchcock respectively and evidence of this can be found in a number of their films.

It also further cements my own passion for Fritz Lang’s work and German Expressionism.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: Willy’s Wonderland (2021)

04 Monday Oct 2021

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Halfway through watching Willy’s Wonderland I started to feel like I’d walk this walk before with The Banana Splits Movie, which although it didn’t have the pull factor of Nicolas Cage did manage to capture the mayhem and obscurity of evil animatronics hunting down and killing victims in ruthless and bloody fashion.

On paper, Willy’s Wonderland sounds fantastic and in some cases appears to have resonated with some of its audience. The idea of Cage playing a socially silent recluse in the form of a janitor, who is wired to exact rage on these mechanical beings would be a filmmakers dream , but the inner turmoil that spills over into exaggerated mania and anarchy that we have borne witness to in previous outings such as Mandy or Color Out of Space are strangely absent here with Cage and Director Kevin Lewis choosing to play out a far more reserved figure in ‘The Janitor’ and as such, I personally found that I wasn’t able to connect with this character. It’s simply missing that humanitarianism, as if this detached persona is just as soulless as the eight animatronic characters that he goes head to head with in the abandoned entertainment center.

Before any of this unfolds however, we are first introduced to Cage’s janitor when his car breaks down in a rural town. With no cash to pay for it to be fixed, we’re presented with the old trope of paying off his dues through physical labour. In this case, to help clean up the afore-mentioned and titular entertainment diner. Unbeknownst to the Janitor however, Willy’s Wonderland is run by psychotic animatronics that are possessed by evil, satanic killers and the towns figureheads, Sheriff Lund (Beth Grant), Tex (Ric Reitz), and mechanic Jed (Chris Warner) have made a pact with to lure in town drifters as a sacrifice to curb the excessive killing sprees around town.

Joining Cage in attempting to put a final end to these macabre deeds is wayward teen Liv (Emily Tosta) and her friends, the latter of which serve as fodder for Willy and his serial killer robots to dispatch.

The Diagnosis:

There are too many tropes in the mix here from breaking down in a small town and possessed dolls/animatronics that there doesn’t feel like anything fresh or new on offer.

We could easily have had Cage as a Bruce Lee style of action flick in the vein of The Big Boss pitting him against a series of evil robotic killers, each with specialised skill of wielding death, and have him slowly work his way up to the ultimate killing machine in Willy. And with each level, have Cage slowly dial up the mania.
Instead though, we have a muddled and half-hearted attempt at having Cage flit from one scene to another with admittedly a sense of coolness but with nothing to emote from or to, ends up feeling listless.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Hands of the Ripper (1971)

03 Sunday Oct 2021

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While Twins of Evil ignited a certain visual style and direction as spearheaded by Hammer Horror film producer Michael Carreras, (who was also the son of the British production company’s founder, James) Hands of the Ripper, which was released as part of a double feature struggles a little under the weight of its premise.

It’s actually a pretty cool idea, presenting Angharad Rees as Anna, the daughter of the notorious Whitechapel murderer Jack The Ripper. As an infant, Anna witnesses her father’s brutal attack on her mother. Years later, we’re introduced to her again aiding a medium trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the paying customers. Unfortunately, it is also discovered that her trauma can be awakened by a flickering light followed by a kiss on her cheek, igniting a menacing steak that lies deep within and turning Anna inot a psychotic killer.

Hammer were fortunate to cast acting veteran Eric Porter in the role of John Pritchard, a doctor and psychiatrist who believes that he can cure her of her ailment, unaware of just how deep her psychological scars go. He also doesn’t anticipate how enraptured he would become with Anna, falling for her charms and in doing so, makes ill-judgement to cover up her misdeeds in the hope that he can steer her back on the path of sanity.

By the time the film’s climax comes around at the famous London landmark St. Paul’s Cathedral, we are destined for tragedy. Pritchard, already mortally wounded, rushes alongside his son Michael to rescue his son’s fiance, Laura (Jane Morrow) from the hands of evil.

It acts as a slow burn much like Director Peter Sasdy’s earlier feature Countess Dracula starring the brilliant Ingrid Pitt. Both films prove hard to connect with due to its pace, but are equally well composed and directed making them strong films as far as production is concerned, but ultimately prove hard to connect with and may turn some people off.

Of all the original features that Hammer produced though, Hands of the Ripper could easily be remade with a different lens today, if it were to immerse itself into the gothic time, place and setting. 

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Twins of Evil

03 Sunday Oct 2021

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This movie will always have a strong place in my heart, and quite possibly in my loins if you’ll forgive me for being so crude. 

It would have been late night on BBC 2 or Channel 4 when I first began to discover Hammer Horror films in my adolescent years and my earliest memories were of Mary and Madeleine Collinson decked in the yellow dresses or their negligee that would reveal so much to this impressionable mind.

The Collinson’s would go on to become the first twin playmates to stir the sense of male youth and this was the perfect recipe for young horror fans that Hammer Film productions were hoping to lure into their cinematic fold. It clearly worked on this writer and I became enraptured and was intrigued by the whole virtuosity vs temptress component that these twins of evil were to portray.

It helped that this film would also feature Peter Cushing, who for those who know me well understand that I had developed some kind of man-crush on the dignified English Gent, Cushing alongside Christopher Lee would become synonymous with Hammer films and even though Lee would be absent in this feature, Cushing more than holds his own as the Matthew Hopkins inspired witchfinder, Gustav Weil. This tyrant of a figure, Weil is hellbent on steering everyone to his purtiancial ways and ridding the world of sinners and those who practice in the dark arts. Struck by his passionate beliefs, Weil with his Brotherhood will drive out the women fallen to sin and burn them at the stake. His main prize though is towards Count Karnstein (Damien Thomas), a man who is drawn to the dark arts and enticed by one of his ancestors, Mircalla (Katya Wyeth).

Twins of Evil also rounds out the Karnstein Trilogy (The Vampire Lovers, Lust of a Vampire) that Hammer had focused on through Mircalla and finding inspiration from the Camilla story by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.
What I particularly liked about this feature beneath the thinly-veiled sexual exploitation, is a story that paints its characters in grey rather than black and white. As puritanical as Weil is in his mission, he is conflicted by his own dedication to his cause and that of the notion that his nieces could have fallen prey to evil temptation. It is his blinded view of the world that leads him to his own ruin.
The twins would be the symbolic pendulum between what is deemed good and evil, each representing the yin and yang in this equation. Count Karnstein is deeply entrenched in sin but also shows signs of uncertainty when tempted by Mircalla before ultimately being consumed by darkness. And the local school teacher, Anton (David Warbeck) would also display signs of weakness, who despite his pure values is tempted by Frieda’s wilder streak before realising that it is Maria’s innocence that needs protecting.

There is a nice conclusion to the piece too which sets up mistaken identity, before pitting the two actual twins of evil in The Count and Weil against one another. Twins of Evil, directed by John Hough would mark an important step in Michael Carreras trying to reinvent Hammer Horror for a new generation and arguably succeeds in this instance. It would set up the tone for the 70s and the last great hurrah for the British film company that brought Dracula and Frankenstein onto the screens again in the 50s. 

There are certainly some misses more than hits during this time, but I at least enjoy succumbing to the visuals and narrative that is embedded throughout this feature and it is one that I find that I am drawn to time and time again.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie Review: Werewolves Within (2021)

27 Monday Sep 2021

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Since its US release back in June, there has been a fair bit of buzz around Werewolves Within, enough at least to put it on the Surgeons of Horror radar and wait patiently for the release here in Australia. 

Josh Ruben, who directed the admittedly underwhelming Scare Me (at least from a horror perspective) gets to tap into his stronger, comedic roots here and use this genre to amplify the horror elements when they arise.

Helping to craft his vision is a number of comedic performers in Sam Richardson (Veep, Promising Young Woman), Milana Vayntrub, and Catherine Curtin (Orange Is The New Black, Stranger Things)

Based on the multiplayer VR game of the same name which casts players in a medieval town with the aim of figuring out which one of them is the werewolf, Werewolves Within shifts focus in Beaverfield, a remote American town. 

When forest ranger Finn Wheeler (Richardson) is assigned to Beaverfield following a reprimand, he soon finds something lurking in the woods when a local dog is killed, forcing the locals into a panic and holing up at the local inn. Wheeler must try and unite an already divided town against a common enemy if they are to survive the night.

The Diagnosis:

It’s understandable why Werewolves Within resonates so well with its audience.

The film is deliciously coated in a comedic resonance thanks in part to Mishna Wolff’s screenplay and the talent who lift the words off the page and give it life on screen.

Sam Richardson and Milana Vayntrub have great chemistry together and feed off each other’s energy, much to the delight of the audience.

While the horror elements are few and far between, leaving most of the angst between the human counterparts as they fend for their own sense of wellbeing, Josh Ruben knows enough about timing to draw you in, tantalise your senses, and gift you with an enjoyable film.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: Seance (2021)

27 Monday Sep 2021

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Affiliated more for his penmanship among the mumblegore movement, especially alongside Director Adam Wingard’s You’re Next, Simon Barrett has been slowly etching his way to his own turn behind the camera calling the shots.

His opportunity arises in Shudder’s latest Exclusive and Original feature Seance.

Barrett’s name alone gets me excited to see what he would produce when in charge of the lens and I’m happy to say that I wasn’t disappointed.

There are familiar elements at play here, with the kick-ass action sequences that come from the unexpected, plus the spiritual component that was drawn in Temple.     

That isn’t to say that Seance doesn’t carve its own narrative for the audience to be lured by.

The tale that is woven centers on a Girls Boarding school, Edevine Academy for Girls, following the mysterious death of one of the school girls when a prank goes wrong. But is there more to play beneath the disciplined exterior of the prestigious learning facility?

Newcomer Camille Meadows certainly suspects that this could be the case when confronted by a not-so warm welcome from some of the other girls and an even frostier reception from something or someone that haunts her room each night.

Have the girls stirred something from beyond when they practice a seance to get in touch with the girl who died? Is there something more untoward? Camille must navigate her new terrain and take on the role of sleuth, to uncover the truth and potentially face a haunting prospect that pushes her to the brink of the living world.

The Diagnosis:

Barrett generates a familiar plot but manages to weave it with a level of cool and panache that marks Seance with its own identity.

It helps that the actors on show are engaging and provide a little more than the two-dimensional tropes that we often expect on screen. Notably Suki Waterhouse’s (Assassination Nation) whose Camille shows levels of vulnerability and hardship throughout the film, coupled with the notion that nothing and no one are who or what they seem to be.
Plus Tobias Vethake’s score is truly captivating, ensnaring you into the celluloid world with ease, adding to the depth of the film.

Roll on Barrett’s next feature, a stepping stone into expanding the VHS franchise with V/H/S 94.

  • Saul Muerte

Seance is currently streaming on Shudder from Thursday, September 30th.

Movie Review: Death Drop Gorgeous

20 Monday Sep 2021

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There’s something delightful about watching the camp and extreme elements and personalities on display and with Death Drop Gorgeous  the ugly side of the beauty is brought to the fore and is quite rightly been described as an ode to the works of John Waters.

It’s not surprising that it became a festival favourite during its run, as despite its low budget hurdles and all that comes with that, DDG celebrates the dark and drips with bitchiness throughout. 

Written, Directed, and Starring Michael J. Ahern, Christopher Dalpe, and Brandon Perras, who manage to work together and produce an insipid view of the drag queen world despite the obvious flaws on show.

There is a mysterious, masked serial killer on the loose, who appears to be targeting young gay men and draining them of blood. A frustrated bartender, Dwayne (Wayne Gonsalves) and an aged drag queen are left to fight for survival in a corrupt world and try to find out who is threatening to bring their world to an end.

The Diagnosis: 

Death Drop Gorgeous is a wickedly, savage slasher flick with some half-decent kills.

It’s an enjoyable run despite its budget restrictions and it’s a helluva lot of fun all the same.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie Review: Martyrs Lane (2021)

20 Monday Sep 2021

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Martyrs Lane is a slow painful pull into a deep and psychological dive into grief, blame, and self-destruction immersed inside an insular family dynamic. 

We witness this story from the perspective of 10 year old girl, Leah (Kiera Thompson) at the family home, an old vicarage, who begins to unearth hidden secrets that her family members have tried to bury.

Slowly, Leah is provided with clues to point her (or lure her) in the direction of truth, but who is behind the mystery and what is the price of uncovering past haunts?

The pacing of this movie is deliberately drawn out to build up the tension of the tale which is to be commended, especially as the actors of the piece beautifully tap into the darkness. It does however serve as a detriment to our engagement, often suffering under the weight of its own caliginosity. There are listless moments throughout the film as we’re often left to languidly drift through the storyline unable to connect.

Ruth Platt’s third outing in the director’s chair proves that she’s no stranger to the craft and manages to steer her actors through a pot-boiler that wrangles every ounce of drama out of them. The children in particular deserve high praise, with some naturalistic performances that grind the drama into a sense of realism. 

The Diagnosis: 

A hard film to engage with and fall into some of the admittedly beautiful shots on display,

The performances are great and if you bide your time and indulge in the slow pacing, you will be rewarded with a fantastic tale.

But man, they make hard work of it.

  • Saul Muerte

Martyrs Lane is currently streaming on Shudder.