Jay's Movie of the Week #20: Films of Fury

 Reviewed for DVDSnapshot, and recommended to everyone, this "Kung Fu Movie Movie" is the most fun Friday Night Flick I've seen in quite a while.

Official Synopsis:

Films of Fury tells the story of the Kung Fu sub-culture from its ancient Peking Opera origins to its superhero-powered future. From Enter the Dragon to Kung Fu Panda and everything in between, Films of Fury features the genre's greatest on-screen warriors, and reveals the legend, the lore, and the loony of the Kung Fu film genre like it has never been seen before.

Our Take:

Films of Fury has the subtitle "The Kung Fu Movie Movie," and that's just the sort of irreverent fun this documentary is going for. With plenty of film clips and animated segments tying it all together, this is a breezy but comprehensive look at the history of Chop-Socky flicks. Kung Fu on film is about the gracefully executed choreography as much as the whoopin'.

Jay's Movie of the Week #18: The Museum of Wonders

This week we visit The Museum of Wonders on behalf of DVDSnapshot. The more time that passes, the more I'm convinced this is one for independent film fans. Perhaps perfect for a double-bill with The Last Circus?

 

Official Synopsis:

When the beautiful dancer Salome learns that the dwarf circus owner Marcel has just received an inheritance, she marries the lovesick, diminutive performer. All the while planning to steal his fortune and run off with her lover, strong man Sansone. When Marcel and fellow performers discover her evil plan, they band together to carry out a beautiful revenge.

In this theatre, The Museum of Wonders, frozen somewhere between reality and a dream, we find ourselves facing a mirror reflecting our souls, through the embodiment of our utmost fears. Perhaps we wouldn't stare in amazement if we thought for just one moment, that these masks... these characters, are simply us.

Our Take:

It's not by mistake that Domiziano Cristopharo opens The Museum of Wonders with a face in the moon clearly inspired by film pioneer Georges Méliès. It reminds the audience that with creativity and the sparest of cash, any filmmaker can stamp of personal vision upon a movie.

Essentially a retelling of Tod Browning's Freaks set among a side-show experimental theater company: Treacherous beauty wiles her way into the heart of a dwarf performer and, upon betraying him, faces the wrath of his true love and the extended family of oddities. There's still some lovingly photographed physical deformities (and the world's scrawniest strongman), but these sword-swallowers, bearded ladies, mimes and the rest make up a self-selected family of outsiders to which she doesn't really belong. Is it any wonder her transgressions must be punished?

Jay's Movie of the Week #11: Snow White: A Deadly Summer

David DeCoteau is doing something right... I just can't quite figure out what for all the wrong here. (Originally reviewed for DVDsnapshot.com)

Official Synopsis:

In this edgy tale of horror, a troubled teenage girl finds herself in a web of lies and deceit when her stepmother attempts to murder her by sending her to a discipline camp.

Our Take:

The ever-prolific David DeCoteau has made classic Eighties B-movies, lots of Full Moon features, and created the “Horror Guys in Underwear” genre (The Brotherhood and 1313 series). This genre of bad, bland horror films, light on gore and heavy on tease, is mostly notable for being unable to decide if the target audience is straight women or gay men, then failing to reach either. DeCoteau has evidently decided to take a break from being the only director surrounded by more hot young guys than Chi Chi LaRue and audition for the ABC Family Channel. (I can only assume as in Snow White: A Deadly Summer there's gender equity and everyone keeps their shirts on...)

The plot of with this teen-centric “horror” feels like a TV movie, but TV generally requires higher production values. Here, between a borrowed mansion and a camp for teens that resembles a neighborhood public park, DeCoteau makes the best of limited resources with a quickie take on the Snow White story. (Beating the upcoming big-budget ones to the punch?)

One A Week Reviews #50: The Last Circus

A true original, and the most fractured of fairy tales, reviewed for DVD Snapshot.

The Last Circus

Official Synopsis:

Javier, a Sad Clown, finds work in a circus where he befriends an outlandish cast of characters, including the brutish Happy Clown, Sergio, who humiliates Javier daily in the name of entertainment. It is here that he meets Natalia, a gorgeous acrobat and abused wife of Sergio. Javier falls deeply in love with Natalia and tries to rescue her from her cruel and violent husband, unleashing Sergio's jealousy. With neither man willing to back down, this twisted love triangle evolves into a ferocious battle between Sad Clown and Happy Clown, escalating to unbelievable heights in this shocking, irreverent and unforgettable film.

Our Take:

There's little more satisfying for moviegoers than a strong, meaty story told in a dazzling manner. Alex de la Iglesia's The Last Circus (Balada Triste de Trompeta) is some fantastically theatrical eye-candy that offers style and substance. Visually there's1973 fashions complemented with cutting-edge CGI and a modern horror aesthetic. It's coupled with politically-influenced social commentary you can imagine being current in the Seventies. Even those who can't stand subtitles should like this film.
(Seriously, keep reading...)

One A Week Reviews #48: Prince of Broadway

This is one I warmed up to. A kitchen sink drama of the first order that I reviewed for DVD Snapshot, this is a refreshing change of pace.

Prince of Broadway

Official Synopsis:

Prince of Broadway is the story of Lucky (Prince Adu) and Levon (Karren Karagulian), two men whose lives converge in the underbelly of New York's wholesale fashion district. Lucky, an illegal immigrant from Ghana, makes ends meet by soliciting shoppers on the street with knock-off brand merchandise. Levon, an Armenian-Lebanese immigrant, operates an illegal storefront with a concealed back room where counterfeit goods are showcased to interested shoppers. Lucky's world is suddenly turned upside down when a child is thrust into his life by a woman who insists the toddler is his son. While Lucky copes with his new domestic dilemma, Levon struggles to save a marriage that is falling apart. The seedy side of the wholesale district is revealed through a journey that continually confronts the interplay between what is fake and what is real.

Set in the shadow of the Flatiron building and soaked in the colorful bustle of Broadway, the film is as much a brutal drama as it is a tender comedy, revealing the lives of immigrants in America seeking ideals of family and love while creating their own knock-off of the American Dream.

Our Take:

A low-budget, slice-of-life relationship drama about two different New York City hustlers and the families they create, Prince of Broadway practically feels like a documentary. A collection of belligerent hustlers muddle through trying to get ahead, all the while arguing. There's even fighting in traffic. Feeling improvised and free-form, the film is centered in the claustrophobic back room of Levon's store and Lucky's dirty rented room. There's an oppressive hopelessness to the characters' homes and workplaces that, from the very start of this movie, might make you reconsider watching. It's hard to root for being “aspirational” here. Even Levon's relatively well-appointed (but tiny) apartment is depressing. (Perhaps it's because I'm not a New Yorker. I'm used to space and occasional quiet.)

One A Week Reviews #47: Aftershock

As Thanksgiving was just yesterday, I got to thinking about the family I'm so grateful to have. This film also made me think about them, and just how blessed a life I've lived. I can't recommend this fascinating family tragedy highly enough - originally reviewed for dvdsnapshot.com.

Aftershock

Official Synopsis:

Tangshan, 1976. Two seven-year-old twins are buried under the rubble of the deadliest earthquake of the 20^th century. The rescue team explains to their mother that freeing either child will almost certainly result in the death of the other. Forced to make the most difficult decision of her life, she finally chooses to save her son. Though left behind as dead, the little girl miraculously survives, unbeknownst to her brother and mother. Aftershock follows the family on their separate journeys over the course of the next 32, years as they build their lives forever shadowed by the traumatic experience of the earthquake and eventually face each other – and the decisions of the past.

The acclaimed epic that broke all box-office records in China, Aftershock features an all-star cast including Zhang Jingchu (Rush Hour 3) and Chen Daoming (Hero).

Our Take:

Reading the synopsis, one can jump to the conclusion that, as an epic, Aftershock could perhaps be a mass expression of communal grief. Reading up on the sheer death and damage toll the Tangshan earthquake took, one wonders how anyone who was alive to experience it could possibly ever completely recover. Officially, 240,000 people died and the entire city pretty much had to be rebuilt. According to Wikipedia (and, as always, take of that what you will), experts think two to three times that number may have died that day.

(How often did this film make me cry? Find out after the break...)

One A Week Reviews #46: Brand New Day

Sometimes it's nice to watch a movie with a happy songs, happy people, and happy endings. Reviewing this for DVD Snapshot was a pleasure, and I can't help but imagine this catching on with any kid who watches Grease or High School Musical.

 

 Brand New Day

Official Synopsis:

Oscar-Winner Geoffrey Rush “is awesome” (Ain't It Cool News) as a hilariously devout minister chasing a runaway seminary student named Willie across the land down under. As Willie tries to make it back to the girl of his dreams, he embarks on a glorious, uproarious road trip filled with music, magic, and foot-stomping fun. Based on a beloved Australian musical, Brand New Day is “one of the most delightful, heartfelt and crowd-pleasing musical comedies in years” (NYC Movie Guru).

Our Take:

Under it's original title Bran Nue Dae, this was one of the most successful Australian films ever, and it's easy to see why. Brand New Day is a light, colorful and crowd-pleasing musical that somehow brings the lives of 1969 Aboriginal, rural, and hippie Australians (all of whom I admittedly know nothing about) right into your living room.

“Boy Meets Girl” is the oldest story in the world, and it's only the details that differentiate the telling. In this case, it starts in fragments. Willie loves Rosie, but he's in seminary while she's falling from the choir to the honky-tonk (...and there is no way good girls sang about condoms in 1969). Willie runs away to find his drunkard Uncle Tadpole, meet some Aussie hippies and return to his Rosie, with glowering Father Benedictus chasing him like a cartoon villain.

31 Flavors of Horror #15: Vampire Circus (Also, One A Week Reviews #41)

 I liked Vampire Circus so much that, even though I wrote this review for DVD Snapshot back in April, I saved presenting it on my own site until October so it could be part of the 31 Flavors of Horror. I also thought it should be one of the titles doing double duty as a One A Week Review.


This Hammer Horror came in a Blu-Ray and DVD combo pack chock-full of goodies and it's definitely worth getting your hands on. A seriously fun, old-school movie watching experience.

31 Flavors of Horror #15:

Vampire Circus

Official Synopsis:

A little girl is brutally slain by a vampire in a tiny 10^th century Austrian village. Seeking revenge, the townspeople invade the foreboding castle of Count Mitterhaus and kill him for the crime. As the Count died, he curses the villagers and vows their children will all die so that he may someday return to life. Fifteen years later, as the village is ravaged by the plague, a traveling circus comes to town and distracts the villagers from their current hardships. Little do they know that their troubles are only beginning! The circus is actually a troupe of shape-shifting vampires and, as the local children start disappearing, they realize the prophecy of the long dead Count is coming true. Synapse Films is proud to present Vampire Circus, now available for the first time on home video in glorious 1080p high-definition and loaded with amazing extras you can really sink your teeth into!

Our Take:

The above synopsis accurately captures the prologue of Vampire Circus, but neglects to mention the dark sexuality implied in it. A mother feeding her own child to her vampire lover is just as deliciously wrong now as in 1971. When the aggressively lascivious circus folk roll in to the already plague-ridden Austrian berg where our tale is set, the line between staid old-guard values and Seventies permissiveness is clearly drawn. Will our staid Burgermeister be able to uphold the society's conventions against a circus featuring a writhing body-painted snake woman and dark-eyed panther boy? How can he when they can seduce every local lady in sight?

31 Flavors of Horror #12: Blue Sunshine

A deeply WTF, seventies time capsule reviewed for DVD Snapshot. This entry in the 31 Flavors of Horror is not the tastiest, but I definitely enjoyed it. You may find that a bald, 70's LSD-fueled maniac is YOUR Halloween costume of choice. I rewatched Jeff Lieberman's Squirm recently and, while it terrified me when I saw it on the USA Network as a kid, it didn't pack quite the same punch now. Still a lot of fun, though!

Blue Sunshine: For the "This is your hairline on drugs" campaign?

31 Flavors of Horror #12:
Blue Sunshine  

Official Synopsis:

The classic cult horror film, from acclaimed writer/director Jeff Lieberman, is a masterpiece of psychological suspense and terror.

At a party, someone goes insane and murders three women. Falsely accused of the brutal killings, Jerry (Red Shoe Diaries' Zalman King) is on the run. More bizarre killings continue with alarming frequency all over town. Trying to clear his name, Jerry discovers the shocking truth... people are losing their hair and turning into violent psychopaths and the connection may be a drug all the murderers took a decade before. Soon, if Jerry can't stop it, the horror will become uncontrollable... the horror caused by Blue Sunshine!

Our Take:

Jerry Zipkin has a problem. A nice guy, he sticks around at a party to try and find an upset friend and winds up the number one suspect in multiple murders after the real culprit winds up hit by a truck. It's a pretty stirring set up to Blue Sunshine, a story seemingly about LSD paranoia in a cocaine age.

31 Flavors of Horror #2: Shadow

 I've been saving this review for quite a while because I think it's a fresh take on the dreamy horror of Italian directors like Argento and Fulci, and the brutally abrupt tradition of bleak American horror directors like Tobe Hooper and Meir Zarchi... not to mention just crazy, insane Euro-horror goodness.If you haven't seen this one yet, and you're up for a bleak, "WTF" ride, I think you can't go wrong with Shadow. 

As a side-note, I actually discussed this film review, originally written for DVD Snapshot, in an interview, of all places.


Got the job, too...

31 Flavors of Horror #2:
Shadow

Official synopsis:

Director and co-writer Frederico Zampaglione's terrifying film recalls Sam Peckinpah's ferocious Straw Dogs and Tobe Hooper's horror classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, yet if feels as immediate as today's headlines. Jake Muxworthy plays a young soldier who embarks on a mountain-biking trip, walks into a cafe and meets the love of his life (Karina Testa). Unfortunately, he also meets a pair of violent hunters who make him their prey after he defends the young woman from their sleazy advances. But what appears at first to be a vicious cat-and-mouse game set in treacherous terrain turns into a full-blown nightmare when these adversaries become the captives of a mountain dweller who's depraved plans for them soon become all too apparent. Both a relentless horror film and a searing account of the brutal after-effects of war, Shadow is a scream-inducing descent into an abyss of unspeakable terror.

Our take:

The bad guys in Shadow are so obnoxious from the moment they show up that you might be tempted to tune out after the first scene. Between snotty bullying and impetuous murderous rage, they're cartoonishly evil backwoods rednecks with a European military spin, out to give someone a bad time.

David and Angeline meet the bullies, then “meet cute” biking in “The Pass of the Shadow,” a forest seemingly in Eastern Europe. He's evading memories of Iraq and surprised to hit it off with a beautiful French girl. They're quickly beset by murderous bullies (charmingly) named Fred and Buck. After the ensuing chase, it's almost over-kill when the second villain arrives, and they all become prey for someone even worse. From here Shadow stops reminding one of Deliverance and Straw Dogs and slides squarely into the Hostel land of “torture porn.”

31 Flavors of Horror #1: Hershell Gordon Lewis, The Godfather of Gore (One A Week Reviews #39)

I'm excited to start my 31 FLAVORS OF HORROR series of reviews to celebrate the favorite month of every horror movie fan and blogger, October. I'll be continuing my One A Week Reviews with each Saturday's post, but you can expect a different, tasty fright flick review every day of the month!


I'd like to also say a big "Thank You" to all the marvelous reviewers, bloggers, and podcasters who both inspire and encourage me. Many of you I get to see twice a year at HorrorHound Weekends, and I look forward to the next one!

So let's get started... and what better place to start than with a look at the very beginning of gore? It was a pleasure, and serendipitous timing, to receive a copy of this to review for  dvdsnapshot.com! This is a must-see, highly recommended documentary for any fan of genre cinema!



31 Flavors of Horror #1:

HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE

Official Synopsis:

Take an outrageous ride through the wild world of exploitation films with this often-hilarious documentary, Herschell Gordon Lewis, The Godfather of Gore!

Featuring interviews with cast, crew, and critics such as director John Waters, drive-in movie critic Joe Bob Briggs, and Herschell Gordon Lewis himself, The Godfather of Gore traces Lewis' start in the innocent bare-naked world of “Nudie Cuties” before he shocked the world with Blood Feast, the first-ever gore film! Lewis then continued to assault audiences with such audacious shockers as She-Devils on Wheels, Blast-Off Girls, Just for the Hell of It, Two Thousand Maniacs!, The Gruesome Twosome, The Gore Gore Girls, and the incredible Wizard of Gore!

Experience a decade of motion-picture madness – with tons of clips, rare outtakes, and testimony from the people who were there – as Herschell Gordon Lewis, The Godfather of Gore leaves you laughing and screaming at some of the most amazing movies to ever play American movie theaters!

Our Take:

Blood Feast is a terribly made movie. It's nonsensical, the actors aren't great, the effects are awful, and it's technically inept. However, it was the first gore film, and the stories behind it and it's makers are pretty fascinating. It's the anchor around which Hershell Gordon Lewis, The Godfather of Gore is built. Something Weird video's love letter of a documentary to H.G. Lewis, perhaps the king of B-movie cynicism and creativity – not to mention the father of direct response marketing. He created the gore film, and was one of the kings of biker films and “Nudie Cuties.” These nudist films seem especially like curios, as they mostly consist of nude people walking away from the camera. As a bad photographer who always misses the moment, I can relate.

One A Week Reviews #32: Norwegian Ninja

A fun flick reviewed for DVD Snapshot. Weirdly spoofy and retro, like a kind of Nordic Black Dynamite.

Official Synopsis:

A fictionalized account of the most notorious political scandal in Norwegian history, Norwegian Ninja is a deliciously tongue-in-cheek spoof of the Cold War spy movie, with added ninja action. Because, as everyone knows, every story can be made better with ninjas. Blending historical events with his own less-than-historical elements, writer-director Thomas Cappelen Mailing creates the Rushmore of ninja films, a film that wryly questions just how truthful the truth really is. And then sends a ninja to punch the truth in the face.

Our Take:

According to Wikipedia, Arne Treholt was a Norwegian politician and diplomat convicted of treason as a Soviet and Iraqi in “the most serious spy case in the modern history of Norway.” However, the revisionist satire Norwegian Ninja chooses to add another dimension – that he was also a member of the Ninja Force of the King of Norway.

Reclaimed as leader of a crack squad of “Ninjas” who seem more like a Nordic “A-Team,”I suppose this is a bit like an American recasting Alger Hiss as James Bond? If the film's political and satirical dimensions escape you (as they did with this viewer), one can still enjoy the sense of humor, witty eye of eighties detail, and some surprisingly effective CGI as these “GI Svens”of the “Ninjatroppen” defend the Norwegian way of life. The look, however, is frequently more seventies than eighties, but the verve of this film gives it a delightful uniqueness. One set-piece especially, involving an oil-rig, is so creative that any limitations of the computer effects are quickly forgiven.

One A Week Reviews #31: Breath

A beautiful Korean surprise reviewed for DVDsnapshot.com - and highly recommended.

A prisoner on death row and a woman who's drawn to his plight go through their own spring, summer, fall and winter of love in Breath, a typically quirky chamber drama by helmer Kim Ki-duk.

Nominated for the Golden Palm at Cannes, this emotional tour-de-force from the world-renowned Korean auteur will sweep you away with restrained passions painted in seasonal colours. Asian star Chen Chang (Red Cliff; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) leads an excellent cast that includes a Jung-Woo (The Chaser) and Park Ji-a (The Coast Guard).

Our Take:

It's easy to understand why Breath was nominated for the Palm d'Or at Cannes. Scenes in films are composed to direct the eye where the filmmaker wishes the viewer to look. Kim Ki-duk seems to thrive in oblique composition and scenes that almost engage in misdirection. The subject is frequently happening right outside the frame, off-center, or even the blurry foreground. With a spareness of both visuals and dialogue, this plain quiet movie adds up to be surprisingly rich.

Yeon is a frustrated wife and sculptor who's just discovered her husband is having an affair, and decides on a whim to visit Jang-jin. He's a death row inmate who'd tried to kill himself to avoid his pending execution. Breath is the kind of film that can make a character's affair perfectly clear from the beginning even if not actually confirmed until the half-way point (and that is not a spoiler).

One A Week Reviews #30: Exorcismus

A week late, but frankly, I'm a busy boy lately. A somewhat standard devil possession movie with a few nice twists in the telling - reviewed for DVDsnapshot!

Official Synopsis:

This dark tale of supernatural possession from director Manuel Carballo combines classic horror with riveting family drama. Fifteen-year-old Emma (Sophie Vavasseur, Resident Evil: Apocalypse) is going through the growing pains of teen life, believing her parents don't understand her and longing for the independence that's still a few years away. When Emma falls prey to a series of seizures that leave doctors and psychologists baffled, her parents summon a priest (Doug Bradley) to help the girl. But what lurks inside Emma is far more dangerous than they could have ever imagined. Exorcismus mounts to a pitch of horror from which you won't be able to turn away.

Our Take:

Also known as “The Possession of Emma Evans,” Exorcismus suffers from being being another one of the dozens and dozens of films to trod the same ground that The Exorcist carved out and defined. This film's approach to separating itself from the pack is to focus on the suburban banality of the nuclear family and constantly-moving, intrusive camerawork. That's not enough to distance it from the tropes of the pubescent girl thrashing in seizures, speaking in ominous voices, and generally expressing full Regan-itis.

The most disturbing part for many Exorcist audiences are the medical sequences, which are disposed of here in the opening credits, right down to the spinal tap. Since we can't separate it from the rest of the pack, let's look at what Exorcismus does right or wrong on it's own terms.

Emma Evans' awkward adolescence gets only moreso when she's stricken with unexplainable seizures and behavior issues- at least those beyond simple petulance. Before long, she's acting out under hypnosis (well, not exactly so much as the doctor drops dead), hallucinating cockroaches, and levitating. Coupled with her tendency to try and kill family members, has her turning to Uncle Chris, a priest suspended for his involvement in a teenager's fatal exorcism. Before long, he's got Emma strapped to a chair and all but spewing pea soup.

One A Week Reviews #29: In Her Skin

Reviewing In Her Skin for DVDsnapshot turned out to be a nice surprise. Simone North knocks the ball out of the park with a first film that, yeah, wobbles in a few places, but on the whole is a triumph!

Official Synopsis:

A desire for a new life turns a jealous obsession into a disturbing game of identity theft in this terrifying psychological thriller based on a true story. Homely loner Caroline (Ruth Bradley) longs to escape her tormented adolescence and finds a way by living vicariously through popular girl Rachel (Kate Bell), who seemingly has it all. But Caroline's longing to be someone else soon transforms her hope of breaking free of her own life into a twisted need to replace it with Rachel's. Sam Neill, Guy Pearce, and Miranda Otto all give flawless performances as the parents of the tow girls whose lives threaten to intertwine in a deadly way.

Our Take:

Dear Imdb.com,

Just because a film is inspired by true events does not mean you need to spoil the plot in your one sentence description on its page.

In lesser hands, this story of a young girl's murder and it's affect on her family and her killer could have been a ploddingly obvious Lifetime movie of the week told from the mother's point of view. Instead, In Her Skin is a stunning first feature from Australian television producer Simone North. With a stunning aesthetic, fine photography and a well-done score, this is the kind of deluxe production you're surprised to find flying under the theatrical radar. If anything, the viewpoint here is confident enough to be almost distracting in places, and the artistic touches don't always mesh with a story based on an actual murder.

Told in three segments and set in 1999, the story follows events from the point of view of Rachel's parents, then her killer, and then finally her own. Mike and Elizabeth Barber are the parents as played by Guy Pearce and Miranda Otto. The immediate kick-off into melodrama should be heavy handed, but these actors, especially Otto, tear into the material fiercely and finely. They engage the audience from the very beginning without carrying things over the top.

One A Week Reviews #28: The Wild Hunt

This week it's a surprisingly engaging drama reviewed for Dvdsnapshot about Live-Action Role Players that'll have you wondering who might be blurring fantasy and reality.

Official Synopsis:

When Erik's girlfriend leaves him for another man – a man entrenched in the world of live action role play – he has no choice but to pack up and follow her, plunging himself into a strange and disorienting world where people take their medieval costumes and rules of play deadly serious. As Erik stumbles through this world, rules are broken, jealousies inflamed, and the game turns frighteningly real. With The Wild Hunt director Alexandre Franchi accomplishes the near impossible, crafting a dark and twisting thriller set entirely in the world of LARPing. Shot on location in an actual Quebec village built specifically for live action role play, The Wild Hunt blurs the line between fantasy and reality.

Our Take:

To brutally paraphrase Chekov: “When you introduce a Mjolnir in the first act, you have to have someone use it in the third.”

It's almost a shame to watch The Wild Hunt knowing anything about it going in. What looks like a cheap, well-photographed middle ages or Viking tale kicks off engagingly enough with furs and fires, fists and facepaint. It's a bit ham-fisted but quickly reveals the actual premise: these knights and crusaders are a bunch of present-day dudes playing pretend on the weekend. Knowing that going in – and even seeing it in the trailer – doesn't prevent a barking laugh when two guys break character to start fighting over the rules.

When Lyn, the rather depressing-seeming girlfriend of our trustily milquetoast lead, Erik, takes off with a motley crew of dudes in a van to go play Camelot in the woods, he does not do the sensible thing and box her stuff up to set out on the curb. No, he decides to go follow her and navigate the “thine” and “thou” crew to get her attention. At his side to guide him is his brother Thor, who takes his LARPing a bit too seriously.

At first he just has to try navigating this crowd's maddening – irritating - devotion to their shared dramatics and attempt fitting in to go force his girlfriend into communicating. He then again screws up being sensible by not taking off when she picks her bully friends over dealing with him. Soon it stops mattering when someone unstable starts taking the game far too seriously.

One A Week Reviews #26: Savage County

Welcome to the halfway point - week 26, and a happy 4th of July to ya, if that's what you're into. I was gonna save this for my big 31 review October (yes, I work ahead to try and fit in with the cool kids) but, on this most American of weekends, I thought "why not feature that most American of horror tropes, the crazy backwoods family?"


Especially as it's time to call a moratorium on this crap. I'm crazy backwoods familied out. I'm not sure when MTV started producing horror films like My Super Psycho Sweet Sixteen and this, but I'm all for bringing it to the teens - even if the results are as reheated to the rest of us as this film is. (I haven't seen Sixteen to judge.) Reviewed for dvdsnapshot, and presented for your mind-bogglement as a break from time spent with your own probably-crazy, possibly backwoods family...

Official Synopsis:
Patrick and his friends should never have set foot on the Hardell family property. The stories are true, you see, and the Hardell's - Willard, Kasper, and Orry - are not friendly towards unwelcome guests. And so after a dare gone badly wrong, Patrick and his friends are on the run for their lives, the gruesome trio hot on their trail and out for blood. A slasher in the classic mould, David Harris' Savage County is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets Hostel - a bloody thrill ride of brutal kills and the desperate fight for survival.

Our Take:
Films today are edited for short attention spans, but Savage County takes it to the next level. It's not just that every sentence of dialogue has to be constructed of a minimum of three shots; this is the first film I've seen that'll cut away from actors mid-expression. (Perhaps overkill since they seem to have so few of 'em.) In many scenes it looks like the technique from old cheap movies, like those by Doris Wishman, of cutting away from the actors whenever they're delivering a line to cover for all the sound being dubbed in later. (Upon further consideration, I think this is actually the case.)

One A Week Reviews #25: I Saw The Devil

This weekend's review is running a little late but I Saw The Devil  is more than worth the wait. Originally reviewed for Dvdsnapshot, this was a real treat - one amazingly violent movie, but an incredible watch.
 

Official Synopsis:

I Saw the Devil is a shockingly violent and stunningly accomplished tale of murder and revenge. The embodiment of pure evil, Kyung-chul is a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. On a freezing, snowy night, his latest victim is the beautiful Juyeon, daughter of a retired plice chief and pregnant fiancee of elite special agent Soo-hyun. Obsessed with revenge, Soo-hyun is determined to track down the murderer, even if doing so means becoming a monster himself. And when he finds Kyung-chul, turning him in to the authorities is the last thing on his mind, as the lines between good and evil fall away in this diabolically twisted game of cat and mouse.

Our Take:

Your response to I Saw the Devil may hinge on your visceral response to the idea of “an eye for an eye.” Not your logical response but what your gut says. The driven and resourceful Kim Soo-hyun avenges the slaughter of his finacee by stalking the four likliest suspects for the crime. When he finds the culprit, he decides to toy with him. However, hunting the hunter goes awry with complications he could have never imagined. When in your hubris you let a killer free, what happens next rests on your shoulders.

Between an Achillies tendon moment, a home invasion, and a technically dazzling sequence in a taxi cab, I Saw the Devil takes ultra-violence up to a whole new level. The brutaltity of this movie is perhaps best emboided by the sheer number of head wounds people suffer. There's a great over-the-top plot complication that comes along with an hour to go you won't see coming, but its just one more in a constant series of shifting, satisfying twists. Director Jee-woon Kim adds humanity and allows the audience an empathy that makes the violence all the more effective. His two leads deliver performances so solid not even dubbing can lessen them, though, as always, the bad guy is the more dynamic of the two.

Impeccably made, with a measured pace that occasionally explodes in violence, I Saw the Devil is mesmerizing even when it makes you look away... and you WILL look away at least once. It also stirs you to squirm in your seat, wanting to throw punches along with the protagonist. This is a major crime thriller; a brilliant, savage must-watch.

One A Week Reviews #21: Mongolian Death Worm

This week I curled up on dvdsnapshot's behalf with a little DVD called Mongolian Death Worm. While I eschew the obvious  "dick jokes," I make no promises that this is a good movie...

Official Synopsis:

When an American oil company sets up an experimental drilling plant out the vast deserts of Mongolia, they awaken a nest of deadly creatures that have been dormant for centuries - the Mongolian Death Worms. Their only hope is treasure hunter Daniel Upton (Sean Patrick Flanery), who has spent his life searching for the legendary tomb of Genghis Khan, which is fabled to be protected by the Worms. Daniel must do whatever he can to kill these creatures, but stopping these monsters may mean destroying his life's work... forever!
 

Our Take:

I'm personally willing to cut any movie involving giant, squishy monsters that originally ran of Syfy a lot of slack on the grounds that you know what you're in for. All they need do is entertain. This creature feature co-opts the mythical Mongolian Death Worm for it‘s nefarious B-movie purposes. Reminiscent of the sand worms in Dune, the Death Worm is a cohort of the Chupacabra, Bigfoot, and Loch Ness Monster.

To paraphrase a personal hero, the estimable Joe Bob Briggs, "there's a lotta plot getting in the way of this story." We've got an oil company cutting corners and triggering worm attacks. There's a hot blonde (Victoria Pratt) with a dorky sidekick who's part of a Doctors Without Borders knock-off heading in to treat a Cholera outbreak (one that's connected to the worms). Also, Sean Patrick Flanery headlines as a treasure hunter, who's more slacker that Lara Croft or Indiana Jones would ever allow, out looking for gold in the Mongolian plains. It sure looks like it could be anywhere, and the tidy, slapdash village sets sure don't add any local color. And how many law enforcement officials dress drive big SUVs with "Police" marked all over the side in Mongolia? I doubt there was even authentic Mongolian Beef for lunch.

Anyhow, none of that's important. If anything, points for an imaginative script. The oil company is aggravating the worms protecting the treasure Flanery's hunting. The bad acting by all the Americans pretending to be in Mongolia aggravates them. The contrived, though somewhat original, story threads aggravate, too. Can you blame these Death Worms for wanting to eat everyone? No. They’re not given any choice in this matter.

Our special friends make short work of some oil company employees and drug runners, but can't seem to quite catch up with our fearless (yet oddly screechy) heroes as they try and find a way to stop 'em. This is a SyFy-to-DVD creature feature: Formulaic, visually uninspired, and filled with more empty calories than the buttery popcorn best enjoyed on your couch while you watch this some rainy night. If you like this genre, Mongolian Death Worm gains some points for trying, but is mostly uninspired. If your tastes are more discerning, steer clear.
 
Special Features:
 Mongolian Death Worm is presented widescreen with English 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby Digital audio options. There are English and Spanish subtitles. The only extras are some trailers.

Conclusion:
 
Does it really matter in the end what I have to say about this movie? If you're a fan of cheesy creature features you can't resist the siren song of a title like Mongolian Death Worm, so don't even try and pretend otherwise.
 
Overall Picture:
Movie: C- 
Extras: C

One A Week Reviews #14 Dark Fields

A surprise in an unassuming package this week. This review for dvdsnapshot dug into Dark Fields, a novel of a film worth checking out.

Official Synopsis:

When the drought-stricken farming community of Perseverance resorts to human sacrifice to bring healing rains to their land, a terrible curse is unleashed that haunts the bloodlines for generations. More than a century later, one of their descendants is struck by a horrible affliction and must commit an unspeakable act of murder to remove the curse once and for all.

Our Take:

Originally called The Rain, Dark Fields is auteur-stamped by Douglas Schulze and certainly a crack at an artistic statement. Three intertwined stories make the film up, set in the town of Perseverance in the 1880, 1950s, and the present make for a surprisingly accomplished, low-budget novel of a film.

In the 1880's David Carradine stars, in one of his final appearances, as a man who brings a curse on his home town. During an awful drought, a deal with a Shaman brings rain to save the people, but it carries a price that goes on to affect 1950s matriarch Dee Wallace, forced to hide her daughters and her drinking water from her husband. Thanks to what the curse does in your adulthood, her mother's love may not be able to save the sacrifice the curse requires. Collegian Cari in the Present Day is a shy thing, using college as a way to avoid Perseverance. Unfortunately she can't hide from the curse. She returns home to a ragged Richard Lynch,, who show her the way of the cure... and it's perverse care and feeding.

With sacrifices to a low budget and loose pacing, the overall feel of the film is "unrefined." It looks grim; all flat,cool lighting and grainy resolution. It's rarely high tech. If anything, some scenes towards the end are filtered down to the point of inscrutability. The three time periods have different looks, but it holds together nicely. They segments flow at a pace that allows the story to breathe more than drag. Things do start to feel too long towards the end.

While the CGI "dessication" was eye pleasing, the rest of the other effects come of as extremely professional. There's an inspired, not-flashy composite shot that's the most ambitious I've seen in a B-movie in quite some time, while other CGI is over the top. There's also some nice squirmy moments, though this is a film more about building unease than just jump scenes.

Thought and work went into this film, and the three stories play like variations on a theme. Added to that are some moments of genuine inspiration. It doesn't all make sense, but it feels like an original, reminiscent of Larry Fesenden and Don Coscarelli, and certainly the sign of a promising future.

Special Features:

Dark Fields is presented in 16:9 widescreen in Dolby English audio with English SDH subtitles. The DVD includes trailers, a behind the scenes featurette, deleted scene, animated storyboard and an audio commentary track with the director.

Conclusion:

Dark Fields walks a fine line between measured and slow. This trio of stories narrate a family curse filled with some old tropes, but still manage some inspired, if occasionally convoluted, moments. Original, it prefers growing creepiness to shocks, and does a good job of subtle disturbance. Doug Schulze put his name all over this, and with good reason. It's a calling card of a film, and worth a watch.

Overall Picture:

Show: B+
Extra Features: B+