June winds down and, I think, this has probably been my biggest movie month so far, like maybe ever…
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Kind of a hodge-podge this last week of June…
Lastly, The Dark and the Wicked
(★★★½)
This was certainly creepy and kept my attention. Maybe even too creepy at times, but I have a hard time with “ghost/unseen forces” kinda movies.
As a creepy movie, I’d probably give it 4 stars, but the whole “the devil wants this one person’s soul and somehow can’t get it without killing other people first” story just doesn’t make any sense to me. I mean, why wait for one person to die to get their soul if you can easily kill a bunch of other people? Feels like a whole lot of supernatural work for a small payoff… Are some people’s souls just worth more effort? I don’t get it.
Oh and pro-tip: if you rush to the old homestead and yer mama says she doesn’t want you there… Maybe you should just leave.
Predator: Killer of Killers
(★★★)
This was interesting. As a general rule, I’m not too into animation (well, aside from Pixar and the old LOTR and Hobbit cartoons), and the story was pretty basic, but there was some nice animation here: I especially found the Samurai portion to look good and the final part was pretty exciting.
The Predator’s, though, looked not too good… Which was a bit distracting.
Heavy Trip
(★★★★)
Now this was great fun! Ridiculous, yes, but Metal and fun!
A group of small-town Finnish metalheads are just riffing around through their days, play cover songs and record their demo. When a chance meeting, awash with reindeer blood, with a metal festival promoter ignites their hopes, they (Impaled Rektum, that is) head off on a road-trip of errors to try for their big break!
A lot of fun, very funny, and with some quite charming characters, this Heavy Trip was also a very memorable and enjoyable one.
And, thinking of the newly released 28 Years later, I re-watched 28 Days Later, for like the 10th time or something…
28 Days Later
(★★★★)
Still a classic, all these 23 actual years later. Still one of the best zombie movies, even without any zombies. And even though I always knows what’s about to happen, it’s still suspenseful… And, sadly, it still has that lame ending tacked on…
But I don’t think I really have anything to add to my old review here: 28 Days Later 17 years ago
Sukkubus – den Teufel im Leib
(★★★½)
A quaint little folk horror film that I was unsure about but I ended up quite liking.
Three herdsmen are living with their herd of cows in the mountains of Switzerland. They’re a funny bunch, The “leader” is a stern and serious fellow who seems intent on everyone doing the correct thing and who says prayers loudly through some kind of a horn. Then the odd fellow is a very awkward seeing guy who is clearly obsessed with sex, or at least the idea of it (even to the extent of trying to molest the boy), and the aforementioned Boy, a young teen who seems more interested in daydreaming and giving his favorite cow more than her fair share of salt.
They seem to do little aside from milk cows and make (and then eat) cheese and they don’t seem to get along very well.
Then one day the boy finds a root that looks (well, kind of) like a face and brings it home. The middle guy decides that they can use it to make a lifesize doll of a woman… And one night, after too much drink, they go a bit too far with their doll. And suddenly, there’s more than just a doll around.
For the most part, it’s an intimate look at the life of old timey mountain herdsmen which is pretty interesting and has some fabulous scenery. The Sukkubus herself is played in an interesting fashion, which I think was good for this sort of being and not like I would have expected from the number of bold vampire movies I’ve seen.
Le Viol du Vampire
(★½)
This right off the bat has more of an artsy feel that the other Rollin’s I’ve watched (I mean, what?)… Black and white with 18th century styled fencers wearing masks… Oh, is that how it’s going to be?
Turns out that the narration is a “modern days” conversation about the legend of four vampire sisters who live nearby.
A lady leaves this talk and goes outside and just walks right to, and into, the house where the vampire sisters live. They begin to undress her (why? Well because it’s a Rollin film, of course) until a gentlemen intervenes.
But they then come and stay at the house? And the guy decides to mansplain their situation to them, though they clearly aren’t listening and it kind of becomes a back and forth between one of the interlopers who thinks that they aren’t vampires and is intent on proving it and others who are like “who cares?”. I agree with the latter.
Then it stays kind of annoying. One overly artsie and silly scene after another.
Then it seems to end and a more interesting movie starts from the remains and an intriguing character of the vampire queen shows up. But no, it’s a ruse. The second half is even more annoying than the first. So certainly the most annoying Rollin films I’ve seen, maybe not as boring as Night of the Hunted, but more annoying. The best thing about it is the poster art, which doesn’t seem to fit with the movie at all, sadly.
And now that I have completed watching the eight Rollin movies that I have, may as well make a list of my favorites of those:
1. The Shiver of the Vampires (★★★★½)
2. Fascination (★★★★)
3. The Demoniacs (★★★½)
4. Requiem for a Vampire (★★★)
5. Living Dead Girl (★★★)
6. The Nude Vampire (★★★)
7. The Night of the Hunted (★★½)
8. The Rape of the Vampire (★½)
Requiem for a Vampire
(★★★)
The second Rollin movie I’ve watched this week that features clown make up. Which is not a good thing, but I won’t ding is too much for that…
This is the tale of two free spirited gals. By free spirited I mean that they seem to wander around with not much or a plan (or even much dialogue) and aren’t concerned with legality or giving thought before shooting at something. Though since it starts out with them being pursued on an automotive gun chase, they must had had some kind of a plan at some point.
Anyway, this meandering about leads to some nice seems in a cemetery and they eventually find their way to a strange and morbid castle where every sign of a person seems to be a dead person, until they encounter a strange fanged woman playing the organ.
Turns out, there’s vampires about!
This was alright, not too exciting, the characters weren’t particularly interesting or fleshed out (the old vampire was certainly the best one), and the red-tinted scenes of the vampire’s minions mauling ladies in the dungeon seemed a bit excessive. But it’s worth a watch (to me anyway) for the visuals of the scenes in the cemetery and the nighttime ceremony.
Twister (1989)
(★★★½)
This is a fun little story about an eccentric, well-to-do, family in Kansas.
Harry Dean Stanton is a Soda Pop and Mini Golf magnate who lives with his adult children: Howdy (Crispin Glover) and Maureen (Suzy Amis).
I first discovered Crispin Glover in River’s Edge and loved him there and this was his next film and he was wonderfully eccentric and obnoxious in this as well, so it cemented him as a favorite. he is pretty great here, especially his outfits!
But it’s just a charming movie about them bickering throughout and weathering current events in their lives: Howdy’s “fiancee”, dad’s new love (who hosts an evangelical morning show for kids), Maureen’s estranged fellow who has returned to town to win her back…
Also featuring a cameo from William S Burroughs and a brief appearance from Tim Robbins, (this was made before Jacob’s Ladder, so he wasn’t on my radar yet). But it’s really just getting to watch Harry Dean Stanton and Crispin Glover be their eccentric kinda characters that is the main enjoyment.
Love Brides of the Blood Mummy
(★★)
Such an exciting title, and such an unexciting movie.
The story of a fellow who brings an ancient Egyptian back to life, only to have the Egyptian take control of the servant, have the servant lock the fellow who brought him to life into a cage, and then have the servant track down every woman he can find so that the “mummy” can remove the clothes of all of them and drink blood from their necks.
The story could have been interesting, but it wasn’t. All in all, the most interesting character was the hand. And one of the features where they showed different edits of some of the scenes that were made to satisfy censors in different countries.
The Demoniacs
★★★½
An eerie and atmospheric movie (no surprise I guess) that starts off with minimal dialogue, making it feel all the more atmospheric. The story of four immoral shipwreckers who attempt to kill two young ladies who survive a shipwreck, and have to pay the consequences as the ladies seek their revenge.
Once the wreckers hear that the ghosts of two ladies are haunting the town, they go out in search of them. These wreckers are vicious, even towards each other, insatiable, and determined to solve the situation of the ladies, or ghosts or what have you. But the ladies find odd allies out there and vengeance will be had!
While at times this had the looks of a cheap play (especially the scenes in the local drinking establishment, which is where a lot of the movie takes place), it has scenes of clown make-up, and the ladies don’t really have any character development, I actually found it more interesting than many of the Rollin films I’ve seen.
The Devil
(★★★)
Yet another in the “ghost of a woman seeks revenge” stories, similar to the previous day’s Seeding of a Ghost, but I liked this much better.
When I sit down for an Asian supernatural insanity movie, I want supernatural insanity throughout, not a lackluster drama with some scenes at the end, and this paid off! There were people getting gross body sores and puking up gunk and worms through this delightful thing!
Plus, the colors were bright and fun! Even all the green spots and streaks (due to, seemingly, the terrible condition of the film that this was made from) were bright and gave it an extra eerie air.
The Traveller /The Devil Incarnate
(★★★)
Well, I didn’t have a firm idea what to expect here, but it wasn’t this! I guess I assumed another witchcraft/witchhunter kind of thing, but, instead it’s a bit of a novelty.
Naschy is Leonardo, possibly the devil in human form, and he wanders all about the land, using his wiles to get people to trust him, and then boldly and terribly betraying them. Over and over… From farmers, to nun, to nobles, he just keeps traveling and betraying. I admit I’d prefer the title The Traveller over The Devil Incarnate, which is what is on my disk.
Not bad, just not that interesting.
Count Dracula’s Great Love
(★★★½)
Four charming ladies and a dude who won’t shut up telling them about everything (especially count Dracula) get stranded in Borgo Pass when their coach loses a wheel and then the Coachman gets killed by a horse.
So they head to the ruined sanitarium nearby where the door is answered by Naschy, Dr Marlow, who says that they can stay for days if needed. Turns out, Dracula wants to raise his daughter from the dead and needs some help…
Honestly, this was one of my favorite Dracula movies yet, and my favorite Naschy movie I’ve seen. However, the sheen wears off a bit for me in the last ten minutes due to odd changes in Dracula’s plans…
The Love Butcher
(★★★)
This was pretty fun, the second “sketchy gardener” movies I’ve watched lately (see: Lady Stay Dead).
Poor old Caleb. Unpopular, unattractive, super awkward personality. Sad because no lady would ever like him. But it’s made worse by his brother, the handsome and charming lothario, Lester. Lester seems to make it with everyone and considers himself to be an Adonis who is better than everyone else. A strange pair of guys to have to live together.
Caleb is out working all day, while Lester just seems to sit at home, and then when Cable gets home, Lester ridicules him for how lame he is and how no woman would ever like him. And then is and the Lester goes out and conquers!
But when Caleb’s gardening customers start turning up dead, suspicious start pointing his way. And Caleb starts getting pretty upset with Lester’s shenanigans…
Video Violence
(★★★)
Probably the most entertaining SOV movie I’ve seen. The story of a city slicker who moves to a little town to open a video rental store. Turns out that it is a good place for it because everyone seems to have a VCR, even though theirs no cable TV and the nearest video store is 15 miles away. What the heck are they doing with all those VCR’s? Side question, now that their is a rental store in town, why do the townsfolk only seem to rent slasher movies?
Once someone drops what seems to be a genuine snuff film in the video tape return, the fellow decides he needs to get to the bottom of it and goes to the police. But his weird story and vanishing evidence make it hard for him to prove what he’s saying, even as more snuff, and more threatening, movies start showing up…
The Devil’s Nightmare
(★★★½)
Starting off with a rather unpleasant scene in a castle wherein, due to fear of an ancient family curse on firstborn daughter’s, a nazi baron murders his newborn child with a dagger…
We then hop forward to the present where a road closure leads to a bus of unpleasant tourists being redirected to the same castle for the night by a very creepy fellow (Daniel Emilfork, in a very intriguing role). When they get there, the same old fellow who murdered the child in the beginning still is lord of the castle and lives there with his somewhat suspicious seeming staff. The high-point of whom would be the butler who, while showing them to their rooms, seems to have a tale of an unpleasant historical death to relate for each room.
Well, guess what? More deaths are to come! A mysterious lady arrives at the castle that evening, in an even more mysterious dress, and people start dropping off! Each in different fashions that reference the various sins that each may symbolize.
All in all, nicely atmospheric and engaging.
Deathgasm
(★★★★½)
This was great charming fun! When metalhead Brodie’s mom is sent to jail, he’s sent to live with his very Christian uncle in a backwater town…
All looks sucky for him until he meets Zakk in the metal section of the record store and they decide to start a band, Deathgasm!
They learn that Rikki Daggers, leader of the coolest metal band of all, Haxen Sword, is also living in the same town, so they break into Rikki’s house and try to steal his copy of the Haxen Sword record right out of his sleeping fingers!
Unexpectedly, this leads to them unleashing demons upon the town and tons of mayhem, head splitting , dual chainsaw violence, death by sex toy, dismemberment, and you end up with a half dozen people credited as “Blood Vomiters”. There’s also a romance story as well!
Plus, a pretty exciting soundtrack of metal and they make a music video that feels, and sounds, like those classic Immortal videos of old…
Chocolate Strawberry Vanilla
(★★★)
Warren is a lonely ice cream truck driver who spends his free time by obsessing over an actress in his favorite show. He seems to have a slow and lonely life, but, you know, he’s fine. Though he has to put up with the pimp across the street from where he parks his truck, and various fools and scoundrels who come to get ice cream.
Then, one fateful day, his dreamgirl comes to the truck for ice cream! Seemingly the show is shooting nearby so he gets the chance to hope she’ll come and visit him again!
He decides to get a video camera to film a dairy of his life, now that he “knows” her (and, well, thinks that she “likes” him). They strike up a little ice cream friendship, but all may not be as it seems. At the same time, things heat up with the hated pimp and drug dealer across the way.
All of this may turns out to be more than Warren can calmly bear…
This was a decent movie, but I wasn’t really into it. A bit too much of Warren just talking to himself…
Death Game
(★★★★)
Featuring a, maybe not really “star studded” cast, but a cast of old favorites. Especially, Seymour Cassel from many things (especially the royal tennenbaums) and Colleen Camp from, of course, Clue.
Seymour is a well-to-do fellow whose family is out of town on a rainy night when two woman ring his doorbell. Turns out that Donna and Jackson (Colleen Camp and Sondra Locke) are looking for a party and are lost and they’d like to come in and use his phone to call for a ride. A ride who, shockingly, never shows up.
The girls like to have a lot of fun, as they say, and they rightly admire his vintage McIntosh stereo setup (well, it probably wasn’t vintage in 1977). And all is fine until the ladies disappear on a trip to the bathroom and he finds them in the bathtub together. They try to get him to join in the fun, and he resists for a few moments, but they don’t take no for an answer when fun is involved! But how long will the fun stay fun?
Filled with groovy 70s music, nudity, fun, crazy talk, dress-up, a fishtank table (that find another purpose), unnerving behavior, psychological torment (it is called Death Game, after all), and more! It’s a pretty engaging and entertaining movie.
Pieces
(★★★½)
Pretty good slasher. A twisted kid ends up killing his mom and chopping off her head. Then, decades later, someone starts dismembering women at a college. Is it the boy, all grown up now? If so, or even if not, which of the potential suspects is it?
The police involve a student in the attempt to catch the killer, all while the dean of the college wants to keep it quite for the sake of the school. Not generally a good idea… Especially as the body count rises and most people are complete unaware that some caution is called for.
Seeding of a Ghost
(★★½)
The story of a woman who is having an affair which kinds of leads to her getting murdered. So her husband goes to black magic to get revenge on all of those involved.
I’ve been wanting to see this for 25 years, but it wasn’t that exciting. One of those where the last 20 minutes is pretty good, but is it worth sitting through the not particularly interesting first hour to get there? Probably not. But at least I can cross it off my list of “things I need to watch”.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(★★★★★)
Clearly, there is nothing for me to say about Holy Grail. It’s the original Holy Grail of cinema (except much easier to find than the cup). But my analysis of it is that it’s just one of the best things ever made. Period. About at the top of my list of all-time favorite movies for 40+ years running
But this time, I actually got to see it in a cinema (which I may have done once back in the 80’s, but I’m not certain). But just one of the best films ever. Wonderful in every possible way.
on the other hand…
Saw II
(★★)
I saw the original once, maybe 15-20 years ago, and thought it was pretty annoying. Extremely unlikely torture setups, a trivial story, obnoxious music, and even more obnoxious, unbearable even, fast close-up editing… Making it feel like shallow and far overly too long Nu-metal video. I don’t remember much else about it, but I ended up with the same feeling about Saw II. That said, I liked the Shawnee Smith character alright.