SHOCKTOBER Movie Reviews!
Still keeping my promise to watch only horror movies this October, though I've admittedly cheated for a couple of tv shows (like Project Runway, and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic... don't judge me, yo).
Anyway, here's week 2!
Sleepaway Camp (1983)****
- Okay, so this week I didn't do so well as far as "rewatches" went. I'd seen Sleepaway Camp before, but Andy hadn't, and I was about due to watch it again. For me this is the classic camp horror flick with a twist ending. Seriously. I like it so much more than Friday the 13th, and yes, it's largely due to the last thirty seconds. But to be honest, the kids felt like kids. Not as believable as the kids in The Burning (which Andy liked more), but the developing relationship between Angela and Paul is legitimately sweet and (I think) compelling. They act like awkward 13-year-olds all right. Sure, the bullying is a bit of a stretch, but it generally is in this kind of film. I still love this movie. It felt just as powerful as the first time I'd seen it, and the bizarre scenes I didn't remember from when I was young (like the gay dad and his lover in a spinning bed, or the incredibly insane Aunt Martha) just added to the rewatch value. Four stars.
Return to Sleepaway Camp (2008)***
- So it turns out that Sleepaway Camp did get three sequels, none of which I'd seen. One of which was on Instant Play. This is the most recent sequel (obviously), and is directed by the original director, with the original actress who played Angela revising her role (along with several other actors from the original film). Surprisingly, it isn't dire. It's actually a funny, well-paced, campy film that very much keeps the spirit of the original, but set in the modern day. There are a grand total of 0 sympathetic characters, however (the kid being bullied in this one actually seems to deserve some of the torment, and the bullying goes much further here than it did in the original). I wouldn't say it was great, but I definitely enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next installment. I've also rented the two sequels that came before this one, to compare. Three stars!
The Last Exorcism (2010)***
- This could have been such a great film. It was a really fascinating concept, and I was drawn right in at first. I enjoyed the acting, the story, the "found footage/documentary" element... to be honest, it had me entirely right up to the trying-too-hard Scooby Doo ending. :( There were several ways this could have ended very strongly without going the route they went, and it was just a let down. It's kind of like they got tired towards the end of the film, but realized they'd have to end it somehow, and maybe someone had recently seen The Reaping. "Hey, guys, want to basically do this?" was met with "Eh, whatever." I could only give it three stars for disappointing me as much as it did. It started out a four star film, easily, with some aspirations toward five. Ah, well.
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)****
- I was in the mood to revisit Mr. Chaney because I'm reading this history of horror cinema book that Andy got me last Christmas (it takes me forever to read books). With all but a very few exceptions, silent films don't hold my attention very well, and Phantom of the Opera is not my favorite story in general, which is why this film only gets four stars from me even though it's one of the greats. It is well done, and now that I know significantly more about the makeup effects and the inspiration for the makeup, I like it even more than I used to. Definitely superior to the Weber version or any other movie version of the story I can think of (as much as I have an affinity for Argento's telling, with Julian Sands playing an incredibly hot Phantom who is inclined to stick rats down his leather pants... but that's a whole different thing).
Dead Space: Downfall (2008)***
- OMG a video game movie. Worse, a vidoe-game based anime. Those of you who've known me for years remember that I did go through an anime phase that lasted for longer than I care to admit. It involved me dressing up and going to conventions, and yes, I still own a significant number of (horror) animes on dvd. Actually, I still have an affinity for a lot of it, though I haven't watched it in some time. The fact is that you can do a lot more in animation cheaply than you can in live action film, so there is a lot more room for creativity, especially when it comes to genres like fantasy and horror. Sometimes, I forget that and convince myself that it's all tasteless crap, and it's probably good for me that every now and again I'm exposed to new anime that I cannot dismiss outright. Especially when it involves lots and lots of mutating bodies. This was a very fun sci-fi horror movie, and I enjoyed it. I have not played the game it's a prequel to, but now it's on my list of games I should probably play at some point. Three stars!
Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural (1973)**
- I make no secret of the fact that I find vampires to be dull as a general rule. There are, however, a handful of exceptions. Media featuring vampires that does not bore me to tears. Suitably interesting (or horrific) takes on the subject matter. Lemora is not one of those exceptions. It's steeped with this sort of singularly American stodginess that is only novel for the first few minutes, and quickly becomes tiresome. It runs about like molasses, which is pretty sad for a movie that is essentially about the corruption of innocence via lesbian vampire. In trying for a dreamlike atmosphere, it mostly just felt dreary and unbelievable to me. I had a very strong urge to skip scene. I did not, however, so I can safely say that I didn't just miss the interesting bits by wandering away. I did often wonder if the laughter of the vampire children (heard at several points of the film) was reused in some of the creepy-dolls-of-the-70's commercials you can find on youtube. If you want gothic pedophilic vampires, gothic lesbian vampires, and even gothic lesbian pedophilic vampires, there are better sources out there. In general, it's probably safe to beware movies where the director is also the scriptwriter and the leading man. Just sayin'.
The Horde (2009)***...*!
- Oh, French extreme horror trend, please never die! I might end up bumping this one up a star upon reflection, because it really was good. The movie starts with a cops vs. gangsters showdown which is actually entertaining in and of itself, but becomes even more tense when it's interrupted by zombocalypse. There was certainly a lack of sympathetic characters here, but that didn't stop you from caring about at least two of them (by my count), and the action was almost nonstop. There were some wonderful sequences in this film if you like bloody violence, and it stayed strong throughout. The palette was a little monochrome, and the relentless pacing does make it a little tiring to watch, but over all I can't really think of a bad thing to say about this film. If you want a mean little zombie flick, this is a good one. But, like every other "French Extreme" film I've seen, this one is pretty damn mean. It's at least 3.5 stars. Actually, yeah, I'm bumping it up to four. It aged well in my brain. And I did go back to watch one particular scene twice just because it was that bad ass.
Senseless (2008)***
- A man gets tortured in a room by some terrorists for reasons they feel are just and he doesn't. I am normally all for torture flicks, and I usually like it when the antagonists have some kind of convoluted reason for why they're torturing, and are deluded into believing they have the moral high ground. I also liked some of the acting in this, but ultimately it felt kind of dull. It's interesting enough, and some of the torture scenes are fairly intense, but then it'll go back to dragging. It was just very hard for me to care what was happening, and I kept migrating to other rooms of the house, keeping an ear on the dialogue in case something interesting happened. I suspect that it was just trying too hard to be smarter than it actually was, and for the budget I think it was competently done. While I'm not really sure I liked it per se, I do have to give it an extra star for effort. At least the premise is an interesting one.
Boot Camp (2007)**
- The plot summary is something like "rebel teens get sent to an island where they're at the mercy of a sadistic doctor and staff." For some reason, I thought this would mean medical experiments, so my disappointment in this film is probably not a great indicator of whether or not someone would find the film worth watching. There are no medical experiments. It's basically a horror flick based around the Stanford Prison experiment, which is kind of interesting but not when you're hoping for unnecessary surgery. The staff are abusive, but not really sadistic-seeming to me (dear lord, am I that desensitized?). There's about what you'd expect with this kind of scenario. Sexual abuse, verbal abuse, some physical abuse. Eventually things get out of hand. It's supposedly based on True Facts. I don't actually have a hard time believing that kids get abused (and even die) at rehabilitation camps. I just had a hard time caring about these kids, I think. I dozed through part of this film, full disclosure, but the parts I was awake for didn't make want to rewatch the scene (or scenes) I missed. Two stars.
A Bucket of Blood (1959)***
- This is a dumb but very entertaining Corman film. It doesn't try to be anything more than it is, and the silly story and goofy acting is all very intentional. A great source of late 50's satire and social commentary. I couldn't really find it in my heart to give it more than three stars, but it's towards the high end of three. Andy and I watched it together and both had a good time with it. I think if it were any longer, it might have grown tedious, but at just slightly over an hour it's great cheesy fun.
Maniac! (1980)***
- I started this suspecting that I'd seen it before, but unsure. It turns out I had! It's not a bad slasher flick, as slasher flicks go. Pretty basic story about a prostitute's son who becomes a serial killer. Competently done, with special effects by gore-master Tom Savini, the only part I really remembered about seeing it when I was younger were the mannequins, but some of the scenes are definitely memorable. Some of it comes across as slow (it's got that 70's pacing), and it's certainly no Henry, but it'd be of interest to fans of the slasher genre.
Masters of Horror: Pick Me Up (2005)****
- I had a friend in high school who looked a lot like Fairuza Balk. True story. I have no idea what happened to her, though. Anyway, I own the first season of Masters of Horror and there are very few installments that I don't at least sort of love. This was one of the campier episodes, by the same director who did The Stuff and It's Alive, among others. That will not surprise you. I had, of course, already seen this, but Andy hadn't, and I felt that was a damn shame. It has Michael Moriarty being crazy, and that alone would be enough incentive for anyone. Four stars.
Raw Meat (1972)***
- My watching this film had nothing to do with the fact that it is British and everything to do with the fact that it's by the same dude who did Poltergeist II (and Poltergeist III, but I won't judge him too harshly for that). Besides, there is such a thing as a decent British horror film, even if they are often directed by Americans and Italians. Raw Meat is also about cannibals, so bonus there. I actually liked this flick. I found the main cannibal fairly sympathetic, with his inability to say anything other than "Mind the door." It is paced like almost every other early 70's film (so it'd be slow by today's standards), but it's engaging enough that I didn't even once feel like wandering away from it. The gore was okay, but most of the actors seemed to be giving half-hearted performances. It's almost like they didn't believe in their own flimsy little cannibal flick or something. Weird. Anyway, I don't know if I'd really recommend this to anyone other than fellow cannibal movie fans, at which point I'd like to know if they - like me - felt like shaking the girl in captivity towards the end a little. I mean, sure this guy is obviously insane and infected with something, but he killed the rats for her! I might be weird in that I'd rather be raped than butchered, though. That could just be me.
Countess Dracula (1971)***
- My disinterest in vampires aside, I do have a soft spot for Elisabeth Bathory. Probably because she was a real person, and not a vampire, and also the first female serial killer on record. Countess Dracula is the Hammer version of the story, which certainly isn't the worst version I've seen. It stars Ingrid Pitt as the countess, and the she seems to legitimately get into the role. While I question the devotion and loyalty of her servants (seriously, she seems pretty odious even before she starts killing virgins), the same could be said about the real Bathory, I'm sure. It's a delightfully twisted little picture, with the expected amount of cheese and nudity for a Hammer horror flick. It made up for Dracula A.D. 1972.
Masters of Horror: Incident On and Off a Mountain Road (2005)****
- Another MoH that Andy hadn't seen, this one by the man who gave us the Phantasm series (Angus Scrimm is also in this, and is hilarious). While I certainly think there are stronger MoH episodes, this one isn't bad. It starts off with your standard girl in peril/evil slasher sort of premise, giving the girl a bit more edge than usual, as far as skills go. Not only can she construct a pit trap in under a couple of minutes, but it justifies her being able to do that. We have a lot of love in our hearts for this director, and I personally love how this wraps up.
Bloody Reunion (2006)***
- Korea has a lot of the same filming conventions as we do, culturally, and for the most part I tend to relate better to Korean films than I do other Asian horrors (though I have kind of a soft spot for Thai). This had a lot of potential, and I ended up not really sure how I felt about it. I enjoyed it, but I feel as though it could have been better. I think I might have to revisit it at a later time. Basically, it's a revenge plot revolving around a former grade school teacher who is now an invalid and her students. The kill gags were pretty well done, and I loved some of the premises here. And although I questioned some of the film throughout, I really didn't see the end coming, which is rare. I also felt for the characters, which is also rare. There was some genuine pathos in the blood, with a significant "wtf" factor, and that's hard to pull off in a genre that is so glutted with cliches.
Daughters of Darkness (1971)***
- I guess I had some kind of vampiress itch to scratch this week, what with Lemora and Countess Dracula. Whatever that craving was, Daughters of Darkness probably came closest to satisfying it. This is another Elisabeth Bathory story, only in this one is actually set in the 70's, and Bathory is specifically a vampire (and not just a crazed older woman who has discovered the magical property of virgin blood). In fact, she doesn't care if her targets are virgins at all, though she does seem to prefer the ladies. This film isn't sure whether it wants to be exploitation or art, but it walks the line adeptly enough. It certainly holds interest for the entire running time despite the pacing, and if it poses more questions than it answers... well, that's not always a bad thing.
Mark of the Devil (1970)***
- A German exploitation flick starring a young Udo Kier about witch-hunting. Is it flawed? Yes. Is it entertaining? Oh, yes. While not as strong as other exploitation films I could list, it's definitely powerful. The score is incredibly reminiscent of Cannibal Holocaust, to the point where I think the composer for the latter film borrowed a great deal, or possibly was just flat-out told "make it sound like Mark of the Devil." The plot is about what you'd expect. It turns out that men of the church would accuse innocents of being witches just to further their own ends (sexual perversion, sadism, financial gain). And then those innocents would get tortured and burned. Udo Kier plays the one truly decent man of God in the film, in that he does at least suffer some delusion that what they're doing is just at the beginning, and he becomes disillusioned of that the more he witnesses. He's just as powerless as the audience is to stop it, however. While I wouldn't rate it as high as some other classic exploitation films, I think I enjoyed it more than Witchfinder General. I may give it another star after some time, but for now it's at the very least a high 3.
Magic (1978)***
- Anthony Hopkins plays a young man breaking into show biz with a head full of dreams, a couple of card tricks, and a ventriloquist's dummy named Fats. I particularly enjoyed Ann-Margret as the love interest in this film, and Hopkins is believably insane. Also, who isn't creeped out by ventriloquist's dummies? A competent horror flick that's only real flaw was its pacing. You certainly couldn't ask for a better cast. A solid three stars. I wish I could give it more, but even Andy started to feel a little bored in spots, and he likes slow movies.
And that's all for this week. Next week will probably be a much sparser list, as I'm going on vacation for a handful of days and probably won't be allowed to just marathon trashy genre flicks, so I'll post again when I have a decent number.
Anyway, here's week 2!
Sleepaway Camp (1983)****
- Okay, so this week I didn't do so well as far as "rewatches" went. I'd seen Sleepaway Camp before, but Andy hadn't, and I was about due to watch it again. For me this is the classic camp horror flick with a twist ending. Seriously. I like it so much more than Friday the 13th, and yes, it's largely due to the last thirty seconds. But to be honest, the kids felt like kids. Not as believable as the kids in The Burning (which Andy liked more), but the developing relationship between Angela and Paul is legitimately sweet and (I think) compelling. They act like awkward 13-year-olds all right. Sure, the bullying is a bit of a stretch, but it generally is in this kind of film. I still love this movie. It felt just as powerful as the first time I'd seen it, and the bizarre scenes I didn't remember from when I was young (like the gay dad and his lover in a spinning bed, or the incredibly insane Aunt Martha) just added to the rewatch value. Four stars.
Return to Sleepaway Camp (2008)***
- So it turns out that Sleepaway Camp did get three sequels, none of which I'd seen. One of which was on Instant Play. This is the most recent sequel (obviously), and is directed by the original director, with the original actress who played Angela revising her role (along with several other actors from the original film). Surprisingly, it isn't dire. It's actually a funny, well-paced, campy film that very much keeps the spirit of the original, but set in the modern day. There are a grand total of 0 sympathetic characters, however (the kid being bullied in this one actually seems to deserve some of the torment, and the bullying goes much further here than it did in the original). I wouldn't say it was great, but I definitely enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next installment. I've also rented the two sequels that came before this one, to compare. Three stars!
The Last Exorcism (2010)***
- This could have been such a great film. It was a really fascinating concept, and I was drawn right in at first. I enjoyed the acting, the story, the "found footage/documentary" element... to be honest, it had me entirely right up to the trying-too-hard Scooby Doo ending. :( There were several ways this could have ended very strongly without going the route they went, and it was just a let down. It's kind of like they got tired towards the end of the film, but realized they'd have to end it somehow, and maybe someone had recently seen The Reaping. "Hey, guys, want to basically do this?" was met with "Eh, whatever." I could only give it three stars for disappointing me as much as it did. It started out a four star film, easily, with some aspirations toward five. Ah, well.
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)****
- I was in the mood to revisit Mr. Chaney because I'm reading this history of horror cinema book that Andy got me last Christmas (it takes me forever to read books). With all but a very few exceptions, silent films don't hold my attention very well, and Phantom of the Opera is not my favorite story in general, which is why this film only gets four stars from me even though it's one of the greats. It is well done, and now that I know significantly more about the makeup effects and the inspiration for the makeup, I like it even more than I used to. Definitely superior to the Weber version or any other movie version of the story I can think of (as much as I have an affinity for Argento's telling, with Julian Sands playing an incredibly hot Phantom who is inclined to stick rats down his leather pants... but that's a whole different thing).
Dead Space: Downfall (2008)***
- OMG a video game movie. Worse, a vidoe-game based anime. Those of you who've known me for years remember that I did go through an anime phase that lasted for longer than I care to admit. It involved me dressing up and going to conventions, and yes, I still own a significant number of (horror) animes on dvd. Actually, I still have an affinity for a lot of it, though I haven't watched it in some time. The fact is that you can do a lot more in animation cheaply than you can in live action film, so there is a lot more room for creativity, especially when it comes to genres like fantasy and horror. Sometimes, I forget that and convince myself that it's all tasteless crap, and it's probably good for me that every now and again I'm exposed to new anime that I cannot dismiss outright. Especially when it involves lots and lots of mutating bodies. This was a very fun sci-fi horror movie, and I enjoyed it. I have not played the game it's a prequel to, but now it's on my list of games I should probably play at some point. Three stars!
Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural (1973)**
- I make no secret of the fact that I find vampires to be dull as a general rule. There are, however, a handful of exceptions. Media featuring vampires that does not bore me to tears. Suitably interesting (or horrific) takes on the subject matter. Lemora is not one of those exceptions. It's steeped with this sort of singularly American stodginess that is only novel for the first few minutes, and quickly becomes tiresome. It runs about like molasses, which is pretty sad for a movie that is essentially about the corruption of innocence via lesbian vampire. In trying for a dreamlike atmosphere, it mostly just felt dreary and unbelievable to me. I had a very strong urge to skip scene. I did not, however, so I can safely say that I didn't just miss the interesting bits by wandering away. I did often wonder if the laughter of the vampire children (heard at several points of the film) was reused in some of the creepy-dolls-of-the-70's commercials you can find on youtube. If you want gothic pedophilic vampires, gothic lesbian vampires, and even gothic lesbian pedophilic vampires, there are better sources out there. In general, it's probably safe to beware movies where the director is also the scriptwriter and the leading man. Just sayin'.
The Horde (2009)***...*!
- Oh, French extreme horror trend, please never die! I might end up bumping this one up a star upon reflection, because it really was good. The movie starts with a cops vs. gangsters showdown which is actually entertaining in and of itself, but becomes even more tense when it's interrupted by zombocalypse. There was certainly a lack of sympathetic characters here, but that didn't stop you from caring about at least two of them (by my count), and the action was almost nonstop. There were some wonderful sequences in this film if you like bloody violence, and it stayed strong throughout. The palette was a little monochrome, and the relentless pacing does make it a little tiring to watch, but over all I can't really think of a bad thing to say about this film. If you want a mean little zombie flick, this is a good one. But, like every other "French Extreme" film I've seen, this one is pretty damn mean. It's at least 3.5 stars. Actually, yeah, I'm bumping it up to four. It aged well in my brain. And I did go back to watch one particular scene twice just because it was that bad ass.
Senseless (2008)***
- A man gets tortured in a room by some terrorists for reasons they feel are just and he doesn't. I am normally all for torture flicks, and I usually like it when the antagonists have some kind of convoluted reason for why they're torturing, and are deluded into believing they have the moral high ground. I also liked some of the acting in this, but ultimately it felt kind of dull. It's interesting enough, and some of the torture scenes are fairly intense, but then it'll go back to dragging. It was just very hard for me to care what was happening, and I kept migrating to other rooms of the house, keeping an ear on the dialogue in case something interesting happened. I suspect that it was just trying too hard to be smarter than it actually was, and for the budget I think it was competently done. While I'm not really sure I liked it per se, I do have to give it an extra star for effort. At least the premise is an interesting one.
Boot Camp (2007)**
- The plot summary is something like "rebel teens get sent to an island where they're at the mercy of a sadistic doctor and staff." For some reason, I thought this would mean medical experiments, so my disappointment in this film is probably not a great indicator of whether or not someone would find the film worth watching. There are no medical experiments. It's basically a horror flick based around the Stanford Prison experiment, which is kind of interesting but not when you're hoping for unnecessary surgery. The staff are abusive, but not really sadistic-seeming to me (dear lord, am I that desensitized?). There's about what you'd expect with this kind of scenario. Sexual abuse, verbal abuse, some physical abuse. Eventually things get out of hand. It's supposedly based on True Facts. I don't actually have a hard time believing that kids get abused (and even die) at rehabilitation camps. I just had a hard time caring about these kids, I think. I dozed through part of this film, full disclosure, but the parts I was awake for didn't make want to rewatch the scene (or scenes) I missed. Two stars.
A Bucket of Blood (1959)***
- This is a dumb but very entertaining Corman film. It doesn't try to be anything more than it is, and the silly story and goofy acting is all very intentional. A great source of late 50's satire and social commentary. I couldn't really find it in my heart to give it more than three stars, but it's towards the high end of three. Andy and I watched it together and both had a good time with it. I think if it were any longer, it might have grown tedious, but at just slightly over an hour it's great cheesy fun.
Maniac! (1980)***
- I started this suspecting that I'd seen it before, but unsure. It turns out I had! It's not a bad slasher flick, as slasher flicks go. Pretty basic story about a prostitute's son who becomes a serial killer. Competently done, with special effects by gore-master Tom Savini, the only part I really remembered about seeing it when I was younger were the mannequins, but some of the scenes are definitely memorable. Some of it comes across as slow (it's got that 70's pacing), and it's certainly no Henry, but it'd be of interest to fans of the slasher genre.
Masters of Horror: Pick Me Up (2005)****
- I had a friend in high school who looked a lot like Fairuza Balk. True story. I have no idea what happened to her, though. Anyway, I own the first season of Masters of Horror and there are very few installments that I don't at least sort of love. This was one of the campier episodes, by the same director who did The Stuff and It's Alive, among others. That will not surprise you. I had, of course, already seen this, but Andy hadn't, and I felt that was a damn shame. It has Michael Moriarty being crazy, and that alone would be enough incentive for anyone. Four stars.
Raw Meat (1972)***
- My watching this film had nothing to do with the fact that it is British and everything to do with the fact that it's by the same dude who did Poltergeist II (and Poltergeist III, but I won't judge him too harshly for that). Besides, there is such a thing as a decent British horror film, even if they are often directed by Americans and Italians. Raw Meat is also about cannibals, so bonus there. I actually liked this flick. I found the main cannibal fairly sympathetic, with his inability to say anything other than "Mind the door." It is paced like almost every other early 70's film (so it'd be slow by today's standards), but it's engaging enough that I didn't even once feel like wandering away from it. The gore was okay, but most of the actors seemed to be giving half-hearted performances. It's almost like they didn't believe in their own flimsy little cannibal flick or something. Weird. Anyway, I don't know if I'd really recommend this to anyone other than fellow cannibal movie fans, at which point I'd like to know if they - like me - felt like shaking the girl in captivity towards the end a little. I mean, sure this guy is obviously insane and infected with something, but he killed the rats for her! I might be weird in that I'd rather be raped than butchered, though. That could just be me.
Countess Dracula (1971)***
- My disinterest in vampires aside, I do have a soft spot for Elisabeth Bathory. Probably because she was a real person, and not a vampire, and also the first female serial killer on record. Countess Dracula is the Hammer version of the story, which certainly isn't the worst version I've seen. It stars Ingrid Pitt as the countess, and the she seems to legitimately get into the role. While I question the devotion and loyalty of her servants (seriously, she seems pretty odious even before she starts killing virgins), the same could be said about the real Bathory, I'm sure. It's a delightfully twisted little picture, with the expected amount of cheese and nudity for a Hammer horror flick. It made up for Dracula A.D. 1972.
Masters of Horror: Incident On and Off a Mountain Road (2005)****
- Another MoH that Andy hadn't seen, this one by the man who gave us the Phantasm series (Angus Scrimm is also in this, and is hilarious). While I certainly think there are stronger MoH episodes, this one isn't bad. It starts off with your standard girl in peril/evil slasher sort of premise, giving the girl a bit more edge than usual, as far as skills go. Not only can she construct a pit trap in under a couple of minutes, but it justifies her being able to do that. We have a lot of love in our hearts for this director, and I personally love how this wraps up.
Bloody Reunion (2006)***
- Korea has a lot of the same filming conventions as we do, culturally, and for the most part I tend to relate better to Korean films than I do other Asian horrors (though I have kind of a soft spot for Thai). This had a lot of potential, and I ended up not really sure how I felt about it. I enjoyed it, but I feel as though it could have been better. I think I might have to revisit it at a later time. Basically, it's a revenge plot revolving around a former grade school teacher who is now an invalid and her students. The kill gags were pretty well done, and I loved some of the premises here. And although I questioned some of the film throughout, I really didn't see the end coming, which is rare. I also felt for the characters, which is also rare. There was some genuine pathos in the blood, with a significant "wtf" factor, and that's hard to pull off in a genre that is so glutted with cliches.
Daughters of Darkness (1971)***
- I guess I had some kind of vampiress itch to scratch this week, what with Lemora and Countess Dracula. Whatever that craving was, Daughters of Darkness probably came closest to satisfying it. This is another Elisabeth Bathory story, only in this one is actually set in the 70's, and Bathory is specifically a vampire (and not just a crazed older woman who has discovered the magical property of virgin blood). In fact, she doesn't care if her targets are virgins at all, though she does seem to prefer the ladies. This film isn't sure whether it wants to be exploitation or art, but it walks the line adeptly enough. It certainly holds interest for the entire running time despite the pacing, and if it poses more questions than it answers... well, that's not always a bad thing.
Mark of the Devil (1970)***
- A German exploitation flick starring a young Udo Kier about witch-hunting. Is it flawed? Yes. Is it entertaining? Oh, yes. While not as strong as other exploitation films I could list, it's definitely powerful. The score is incredibly reminiscent of Cannibal Holocaust, to the point where I think the composer for the latter film borrowed a great deal, or possibly was just flat-out told "make it sound like Mark of the Devil." The plot is about what you'd expect. It turns out that men of the church would accuse innocents of being witches just to further their own ends (sexual perversion, sadism, financial gain). And then those innocents would get tortured and burned. Udo Kier plays the one truly decent man of God in the film, in that he does at least suffer some delusion that what they're doing is just at the beginning, and he becomes disillusioned of that the more he witnesses. He's just as powerless as the audience is to stop it, however. While I wouldn't rate it as high as some other classic exploitation films, I think I enjoyed it more than Witchfinder General. I may give it another star after some time, but for now it's at the very least a high 3.
Magic (1978)***
- Anthony Hopkins plays a young man breaking into show biz with a head full of dreams, a couple of card tricks, and a ventriloquist's dummy named Fats. I particularly enjoyed Ann-Margret as the love interest in this film, and Hopkins is believably insane. Also, who isn't creeped out by ventriloquist's dummies? A competent horror flick that's only real flaw was its pacing. You certainly couldn't ask for a better cast. A solid three stars. I wish I could give it more, but even Andy started to feel a little bored in spots, and he likes slow movies.
And that's all for this week. Next week will probably be a much sparser list, as I'm going on vacation for a handful of days and probably won't be allowed to just marathon trashy genre flicks, so I'll post again when I have a decent number.