Tag Archives: reviews

1960s Horror Retrospective: Black Sunday (1960)

06 Monday May 2024

Posted by in retrospective

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

The Birth of Baza

As I began my retrospectives of the 1960s horror era, part of my excitement centred on the Master of Italian Italian Horror and pioneer in the Giallo scene, film director Mario Bava. He led the way and inspired so many filmmakers with his visual style, particularly for his use of colour that would leave a lasting legacy on the genre. This all started in earnest with his solo directorial debut, the Gothic horror starring Barbara Steele, Black Sunday. That’s not to say he was a stranger to the celluloid art, having crafted a career since the late 30’s in many guises that would lead him to becoming a cinematographer to harness his voice and vision, come the release of Black Sunday.

Loosely based on the short story Viy by Nikolai Gogol, that was a passion project of Bava and one he had a close liking to having told the story numerous times to his own children before they went to bed. It’s little wonder that his own son Lamberto Bava would follow in his father’s footsteps and direct horror films. 

Black Sunday is a tale of vengeance and retribution and is most predominantly remembered for its shocking opening scene. Asa (Steele) and her paramour, Javutich are accused of sorcery and sentenced to death. Part of their sentence involved being placed in bronze masks with spikes on the inside and having them hammered in place over their face.

Two centuries later her preserved corpse is reanimated and in order to be fully resurrected, Asa must possess the body of her look-alike descendant Katia. Will she succeed? Can love prevail?

Also starring John Richardson before he was cast in Hammer’s She, and One Million Years BC, as the love interest. Black Sunday is held in high esteem because of some of its imagery, such as the afore-mentioned opener and maggots crawling out of an eye socket in another scene, but it’s also the decision to shoot in black and white, monochrome with a richness to it that both arcs back to the films of Universal that had initially paved the way for horror on screen, but also bridges the gap to the future and how the genre would be shaped. It would launch Barbara Steele’s career, especially in horror for classic films such as The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Horrible Dr Hichcock. For Bava, he would mould his movies over the following decade and cement his name in history. 

– Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Tunnel (2011)

19 Friday Apr 2024

Posted by in Movie review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 13 years since The Tunnel was released and broke new ground in the process. It’s been well documented how the creative team were seeking new ways to both fund and distribute their feature film. It was a bold enterprise that would be distributed through BitTorrent, exposing the film to millions for free, which some people in the industry found reprehensible. Furthermore, writer/producer partners Julian Harvey and Enzo Tedeschi would venture into enterprising means to seek funding by selling individual frames of the film for $1 before the cameras had even started rolling.

What is clear and fundamental to their success however was the passion, dedication, hard work and talent that was on display. All of which was the driving force for success as Tedeschi states, The Tunnel would provide him with the means to build his career upon. And while that declaration stands true, the fact that  each crew member was able to lean into their talents, whether it is Harvey and Tedeschi’s skills as not only storytellers but a deft hands in the editing room to spin a yarn with descent effect; or utilising a camera guy as one of their performers, Steve Davis, a talent in both areas; one he would leverage off a collective group of equally talented actors, Bel Delia; Andy Rodoreda; and Luke Arnold, each with their own unique take on their characters, and the collaboration of the troupe to support and strengthen one another lifts their performance off the screen. There’s also Julian and Enzo’s knack at keeping an eye on the bigger picture, combined with a focus on the finer details to work alongside Tedeschi plus keeping the film on track, especially when it started to escalate and gain traction fast.

It helps that The Tunnel also had a proficient director in Carlo Ledesma to provide the glue and unite all these elements together in order to make the film a reality.

What they established together was a defining moment, not just for Australian cinema but on a global scene too. They fought against the odds in what was deemed a controversial move at the time. The resistance was great, but they stood strong in their quest and produced a film that still stands strong today.

Yes, there have been advancements in technology in a relatively short space of time since its release, and in many ways the landscape remains the same, but the breakthrough The Tunnel created was a significant shift in filmmaking mentality and provided opportunity for other creatives to think outside of the box and seek alternative ways for their creativity to shine through.

– Saul Muerte

The Tunnel is currently streaming on Shudder and thankfully you can also get an insight into how the creative team pulled together and embarked on their intrepid journey with a fantastic behind the scenes documentary, The Tunnel: The Other Side of Darkness; also currently streaming on Shudder.

Movie Review: Late Night With The Devil (2024)

18 Thursday Apr 2024

Posted by in Movie review

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Australian sibling directors Cameron and Colin Cairnes have been meticulously crafting a distinctive voice from behind the lens and with their third outing, Late Night With The Devil they have tapped into the horror zeitgeist on a global scale. Their first feature, 100 Bloody Acres was a more straight up narrative, leaning heavily into macabre humour starring Angus Sampson and Damon Herriman as struggling brothers in the meat industry who add a secret ingredient into the mix with over-the-top comical results.

Upon closer scrutiny though, it would be their second feature, Scare Campaign that is more closely aligned with the direction that LNWTD would take, with a TV show venturing into the occult investigation that goes horribly wrong. Although it missed the mark to a degree in its execution, the Cairnes brothers have learnt from this previous outing and produced a creative and decisive tale with Late Night With The Devil. 

The premise pits David Dastmalchian in his first leading role, as late night talk show Night Owls host Jack Delroy. Delroy embarks on a last ditch attempt to pull back the ratings through a marketing stunt set on Halloween 1977, and books a psychic Christou (Fayssal Bazzi), a sceptic, and a parapsychologist (Laura Gordon) who claims that her surrogate daughter Lily is possessed by the devil. 

The look and feel of this feature is so sweetly on par, it is easy to drift into the era that it is set and be lured in by the spectacle; one of the many tricks that the Cairnes team perform well. The decade of choice is no mere accident either with America rife with violence and horror that has put society on the brink of sanity, exposed to the likes Son of Sam, David Berkowitz and Charles Manson, and with the breakdown of freedom, comes the exposure to occults and satanism, leaving everyone questioning to what end can humanity be exposed to? It is this playground that the directors’ choose to play in and through the medium of television, force this evil into the homes of every suburban household.

The Cairnes also have perfected their craft in storytelling, by slowly eeking out the threat of danger in their chosen format of late night television; each guest that is introduced is a snag on the tooth of the viewer, to pull them deeper into the world they have created, until the final act is revealed with the not so sweet Lily (Ingrid Torelli). The role of the critic, Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss) is a smart storytelling device too by constantly asking the questions that audiences will naturally come up with. How much of this is real? How much is performance? And how deeply can we keep probing for the truth before we get our cat-like curiosity scorched?

The breadcrumbs that are left along the way, adds to the weight of the journey, and the torment that is exposed by the film’s conclusion. The performances are solid and none more so than Dastmalchian, who’s character Jack is the character truly under scrutiny. How much has he had to sacrifice in order to keep up with the likes of fellow late night presenter Johnny Carson? Is there more to the history behind his wife’s mysterious and fatal illness? These questions can only be dealt with through the meticulous direction and the strength in Dastmalchian’s performance; oozing charm one minute before serving a backhand of depravity the next. We’re guided on a trail of human decline where the end is nowhere to be seen with ruin at every turn.

The Prognosis:

The American Dream is served up on a plate here and scorched beyond recognition. The Cairnes Brothers capitalise on their previous efforts to expose the frailty and deprivation through a stylised lens that is fresh, inviting and delightfully disturbing. 

This is an example of an idea executed so adeptly that every creative player involved brings their A-game to the fold and delivers.

While there are some subtle flaws, the fact that they hold fast to the look, feel and strong performances, allows them to flourish and produce a solid, entertaining feature.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie Review: Doctor Jekyll

02 Saturday Mar 2024

Posted by in Movie review

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

There have been numerous incarnations of Robert Louis Stevenson’s gothic tale, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde since the birth of the celluloid art, from John Barrymore’s 1920 silent era, through to Spencer Tracy; Boris Karloff; Jack Palance; John Malkovich; and (ahem) Russell Crowe. British Horror film production company Hammer Films have also had their fair share of presentations with mixed results.

The Four Faces of Dr. Jekyll

Now under the helm of British Theatre Producer, John Gore, and a second new wave for Hammer, they have once again decided to resurrect the story once more for a modern audience, dropping the monster moniker with the far simpler title, Doctor Jekyll. The notable absence of the alter ego, a deliberate ploy with the focus on the clinician but the presence of Mr. Hyde is always lurking in the background. 

In this version, we are presented with a descendant of Jekyll, a reclusive pharmaceutical magnate, Nina (Eddie Izzard), who is recovering from an injury. In steps ex-convict Rob (Scott Chambers) who is trying to turn his life around and finds possible redemption as an in-house carer for Nina. His meek, mild-mannered persona makes one question how Rob could have been brought to ruin in the first place, but then again, perceptions and false representations of character are at the forefront of Director Joe Stephenson’s and writer Dan Kelly-Mulhern’s creative vision. We are continually poised on the brink of something sinister as the slow-burn dramatic tension gets dialled up to its final conclusion.

The Prognosis:

Gore is clearly a lover of the old school Hammer Films and stylistically has employed Stephenson to infuse this visual with a new and bold approach to Gothic stories. 

Izzard does a fine job of playing the titular role with sometimes campy, sometimes macabre, but always grounded in realism. A balance that isn’t easy to take hold of, but Izzard is also a fan of this era, as evidenced in some of his early stand-up routines and must be in his element here. Likewise, Chambers has a tough act to deliver, playing it straight and holding back on Rob’s traumatic past, trying to bury the pain deep but always the threat of something far darker beneath the surface. 

Where the story falls flat is in its delivery, with a steady and slow pace that drifts into mediocrity and failing to ignite or lift the veil of intrigue until the climax. 

  • Saul Muerte