Who Saw Her Die?

 
Who Saw Her Die? (Chi l'ha vista morire?)  is a very sad little mystery. Very sad, indeed.

From IMDB:
A young girl is brutally murdered somewhere in France. Sometime later, the same thing happens to the daughter of a well-known sculptor. This time the parents (the sculptor and his wife) start investigating, and soon find they are in way over their head. Meanwhile, the body-count keeps rising as the killer now starts butchering all those who find out too much...

Who Saw Her Die? is a dark giallo with some fantastic twists and turns.  Aldo Lado's Direction is fantastic - dynamic and artful and when it's paired with a solid story and some fine acting, it creates a film that whips along at a grand pace and keeps you guessing till the very end. There are some shots in the film that are rather haunting. Yes, there are some Wait - WHAT?! moments, but no more than most gialli. :::grin::

George Lazenby (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) is Franco Serpieri, the well-known sculptor. While it's odd to hear an American accent instead of The Queen's English, he turns in a grand performance as the Father turned Investigator in the twisty little murder mystery. The striking Anita Strindberg (Your Vice is a Locked Room) plays his wife and also nails the "grieving Mother" role extremely well. She's on the edge as her husband plunges them both further and further into the investigation of their daughter's murder. We see them pull further and further apart and it adds to the overall heartbreak.

And...we have more slightly creepy child Nicoletta Elmi as Franco's slain daughter. :::shiver:::  :)

Characters swoop in and out of the story as we try and figure out who might have been involved in not only this latest murder, but the murder we see earlier.  People hint at shady goings on on one side while another group tries to distance themselves from the matter which adds to the WHO DONE IT? feel.  And when the film ends, all the pieces fit into place expertly.



As gialli go, this film is very high on my BEST OF list and is well worth a viddy! Check it!

XX

>> AS SPOILER FREE AS I CAN BE <<

 

I was finally able to sit down and watch XX - the film shouted about A LOT before it came out.
"LOOK! A film with nothing but FEMALE DIRECTORS!"

I TOTALLY get it, but it made me sad to think we live in a world where we need to do this sort of thing. A world where it's not just DIRECTORS WHO ARE GOOD. I think it's a sad state of affairs, to be honest. It's another sign that humans are still fighting ridiculous battles that really should have left us ages ago.

Know what's NOT ridiculous however? This film. XX was a fun and entertaining watch that I really enjoyed. 

This anthology had five main stories directed by five different directors:

Roxanne Benjamin ... (segment "Don't Fall") (screen writer / Director)

a writer and Director on SOUTHBOUND and a Producer on the VHS series. 

Karyn Kusama ... (segment "Her Only Living Son") (screen writer / Director)

Director of Aeon Flux, Jennifer's Body, and a few episodes of Man in the High Castle

St. Vincent ... (segment "The Birthday Cake") (as Annie Clark) (screen writer / Director)

relatively new to the game, really. Mostly known for her St Vincent music work

Jovanka Vuckovic ... (segment "The Box") (screen writer / Director)

writer and Director of several shorts and former Big Wig and writer over at FANGORIA magazine.

The film went with a somewhat chilling little Brother's Quay-like stop action creepfest as it's wrapper instead of having another story wrap the whole of it. This really worked for me. It was fun to see the little strange narratives play out in between the stories.

The stories themselves were solid overall, though I think only on of the segments was classic "HORROR" while the others were more...disturbing than anything else. Again, well done and engaging - they all really held my interest.

Maybe this was the "female" feel of the story writing and direction? I'm not sure. All but one of the segments was very "female-centric" as far as the main character and their journey. Well...all of them had that, really. It's just that one of the destinations was...more feral than the others. :::grin:::

I don't even want to go into story lines for this spoiler free review. That would ruin some of the stories for sure. I'm just going to say that I loved something about every story and that the acting was strong in every one as well. 

I was happily surprised to see Melanie Lynskey in here. Fantastic and interesting as usual.

I also enjoyed seeing Angela Trimbur. I saw her DANCE LIKE NOBODY'S WATCHING segment and I have to say that I have a little crush on her. :::sigh:::  :)

I think your best bet for watching this film is going into it expecting something more along the lines of "chilling" rather than "horrifying" for the most part. The stories are strong, the acting is grand, and the direction is interesting in every case. I wish i purchased the VOD version as soon as it was available instead of waiting so long. I would not have been disappointed.

Currently available on NETFLIX.

Excision

Dear lord.

I watched EXCISION recently and, when it ended, I just stared at the screen with my jaw slack muttering, "Damn...that was dark...."  It's a very interesting and disturbing film.

AnnaLynne McCordplays Pauline - a REALLY disturbed teen with a blood fetish, really. Blood and internal body exploration. She has hyper-stylized sexual fantasies involving cutting people open and playing with their insides. She seems fine, right? :)

 Her sister as lung disease and her mother - amazing Tracy Lords performance - spends her time cooing over the sickly sister, bitching out the husband and getting all over Pauline's case on the daily .

The film has this strange mix of horror and comedy that works really well. AnnaLynne McCord transforms from her real life persona (she's usually a hot bombshell type) into this mess that is Pauline with her slouchy, slightly cave woman-like performance. It's really wild. Someone equated the film to a bloodier MAY and I agree completely. That would make a fantastic double feature if you could stay happy and together through the pairing.




The film is riddled with dark spots where you just KNOW this girl is really sick and needs help she is clearly not getting from home nor the Priest her mother is sending her to for guidance. (Played by John Waters!) You're laughing and wincing through the film, but always thinking things are relatively light, but knowing that there is a dark, dark ending planned for these folks. It's looming and you can tell. When you reach the end, it's as if you've been riding this fun roller coaster and you've just shot up the last hill and 70 mph...only to see that the tracks are no longer there and you're sailing through the air.

Whoa....what a messed up little film this was. It stuck with me for days afterwards. I kept saying, "Man...that film really messed me up."

Check it out of you like this sort of nightmare. :)

Fury (1978)

Have you seen THE FURY from 1978?

I remember watching back in the day. It was on SHOWTIME or some such and I had to see it. I looked cool and, I must admit, I thought Amy Irving was gorgeous. :)  De Palma?  ::shrug:::  Director? And I saw Kirk Douglas in all my Mom's old bible movies, right?  But....Amy....she was CUTE.

:)


Two years after CARRIE, we have another mind control, telekinesis story with X-FILES undertones. Amy and Andrew Stevens have mind powers. They can make things happen. And certain people want that kind of power on their side. Douglas plays the Father of the boy (Stevens) and John Cassavetes plays another seeking these mind power folks out.

All in all, it's grand, 70s horror fair - biting CARRIE's style here and there, but...you know...it's friggin De Palma. CARRIE was his, too. :)    It's a fun flick if you can find it. NETFLIX has the disks.

Funny - I wonder when they'll remake this one. Might be cool to see, actually.

Remakes: The Thing

Whew, THE THING. THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD.  Both films shaped my love of horror films for different reasons and both were equally amazing and powerful works in my mind.

THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD - 1951
Howard Hawks really brought the  John W. Campbell short story "Who goes there?" to life with his Direction. There are Howard Hawks moments throughout the film and it's SO WONDERFULLY 50s. (( I ALWAYS mess this up.  Christian Nyby was also a Director on this film, but I always leave him out. Sorry Chris. :)   ))
Quick dialog and some grand play with the camera and character interactions makes this one of the biggies from my childhood. Mom would make a huge bowl of popcorn and we'd sit and watch the afternoon movie back in the ye old 1970-somethings and we'd never miss THE THING when it was on.

You know the story. A team of scientists in a remote, arctic outpost pair up with the Air Force to investigate a U.F.O. crash site. They discover an alien occupant and bring it back to the base to check out. Said occupant thaws and mayhem ensues as the small outpost wages war against the alien to save the planet from being taken over.

There are little things in here that make me smile time and time again. Conversations are like machine gun fire - rattling off quickly and smoothly with some cute, 1950s moments that are just awesome. Some good writing there. Then there are things like doors opening and closing. Watch the film again. You'll see doors opening and closing, people going in and out and people talking about doors throughout. But why? Oh...you'll find out! HA! And the James Arness monster makeup is grand.

The story goes that test makeup was done on a stand-in offsite before shooting started. Jack Pierce did the makeup, I believe. When the effects artist got the perfect THING, he tossed the stand-in into the car to drive him over to the studio to show the execs. On the way over, a women in another car looked over and started SCREAMING at the top of her lungs in her vehicle. The makeup artist knew this was the one after that.

I just love this film.






THE THING - 1982
Now, I went a long while wanting to kill every remake with fire. They could never make me happy.
But....wow. Walking into the theater, sitting down and having this film unfold before me like it did - even with pages and pages of FANGORIA magazine pre-press committed to memory - just completely blew our minds.

Here you have two people (my Mother and I) who not only loved the original, but had all these huge,  emotional ties to it as well. The film had to be amazing to make us come anywhere close to liking it as much as the original film. We sat there at the opening copter scene and were interested. This was different and we were ok with it and wondered where it would lead.

Turns out it lead to some of the most impressive effects work we'd seen and we'd seen a lot being genre film lovers for years and years. Rob Bottin took things up to screaming standards with his practical effects work and blew us away. It was fantastic.

The script was grand as well, taking the original storyline and adding some super details and game changing plot points into the mix that made this an update well worth sparing from the flames of hatred. They basically kept the whole of the story and added this mystery element of who was good and who was bad in that ramped the game up to new and fantastic heights.


And Carpenter was SPOT ON POINT with all his work on the film with a cast that took everything and played it real and deadly serious. That's why this remake stands out among many as a work that can not only stand on it's own, but one that people really can't see being without in the horror community.



And, this is what I really want out of a remake. I really don't mind them anymore, but...make an effort. That's all I ask. Try something interesting. Update the sucker with something cool and new. Maybe do some writing. :)

I suppose I should take a look at the 2011 THE THING (...that we couLd not come up with a better name for)  but, I don't really wanna. :)

I'll be looking at some other remakes that do just that. And...some that don't, but give it a shot.

Our recent MANIAC compare and contrast takes a look at the remake.   Take a look if you have not already.

VERSUS: Maniac

It's the return of VERSUS!  
 

I did a MANIAC double feature Saturday and Sunday and while I may have been disturbed by the content, I wasn't disappointed in either film.  Both Maniac features were great, genre fair.

I had seen most of the original Maniac ages ago, so I started with the remake so I wouldn't be directly comparing it to the original while watching. I was happy that I took this route - it seemed like the way to go for sure.

The plot of both films is simple. An abused child grows up to be a very mentally disturbed man who slays women to deal with the damage incurred from his toxic mother as a boy . Short, not so sweet and to the point. A point usually found at the tip of a knife blade.

Frank Khalfoun (High Tension) did a marvelous job with the retelling of this little terror tale in the 2012 version. Alexandre Aja and Grégory Levasseur also did a great job updating Joe Spinell's original script. This was key to the whole thing coming together. And the main gimmick of having the film be in first person unless we're seeing a reflection is an amazing feat. It never came off as forced or contrived, which I was sure I was going to be finger wagging about at some point. The execution was spot on. And the one time we drift away from the first person shot really makes sense from the story perspective.



Elijah Wood is no mere Hobbit in this, either. He's really...crazy looking. In that creepy, "tears the wings off of flies" way, too. He's a menacing force that knocks it out of the park. It's a role that many would most likely run from, honestly. Who wants to be "that guy"- the vicious, serials killer of women.






And, that's something that almost had me switching the film off. I knew what the content was and I was familiar with the story, but the violence and visuals associated with the acts are hard to take at times. I'm getting older, I think, and I'm losing my desire to see things like this. I'm leaning more towards unreal ghosty flicks and creatures instead of these real world monstrous humans. However, there was something to the film that transcended the violence for me and I was able to hang in there. I guess it was the strong storyline and fantastic acting. Still, this was not one for the weak of heart. There is some really brutal stuff in here. I'm just not feeling the violence these days....but...you know...I still watch these films. I'll just file that under habit. Or, a bi-polar nature. Not sure. :)


Now the original 1980 version is no cake walk either. It's angry and grungy and gritty with that same violence factor, but it's watchable for other reasons. Joe Spinell's performance as Frank Zito is pitch perfect. While Wood is somewhat charming and "cute", Spinell is just large and chubby and sweaty. He's the unwashed, greasy haired guy you see waiting for a slice on the street or sitting in the subway across from you. The guy you just don't want to be around.



The film has the grindhouse grit of the time and it's a fantastic time capsule for the era. William Lustig's direction is of the era as well and it's a lot of fun to watch. This has to be his top rated film. And Tom

Savini's effects work was top of the line at this point as well. Some of the effects work in Maniac is amazing. (The shotgun scene - whew)

 

Both films hold their own for various reasons and both should be watched and enjoyed (...as much as one can enjoy them...:::grin:::) on their own merits. While the films are the same overall as far as the story goes, they are also very different and I think this makes a strong case for remakes of classic genre films. There were updates made and very interesting takes and changes on the original film. Nothing super major, but the small changes were enjoyable and interesting. The 30 years between the films really helps here as well. When you have 30 or more years between films, there is a lot that can be updated and altered in a very positive way. Again, we are not seeing a remake made of a film made in the same year ::::cough:::  REC  :::cough::::   We have space to play with a major update with a new tone.

I'd still love to see some of my old favorites done in this same, big budget update way. NIGHT OF THE DEMON, THE NIGHT WALKER, and THEM! redone like THE THING? Sign me up! But, it would have to be done well and with some seriousness. That might make the likes of THEM! difficult because you need 50s black and white charm to sell giant ants attacking people. 

This is no NIGHT OF THE DEMONS situation here where the original is clearly the way to go IMHO. Both Maniac versions are well worth checking out. So, I'm calling this a tie.

A Bay of Blood

Mario Bava is so damn good. I love his classic, giallo style. A BAY OF BLOOD aka TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE is a giallo lover's dream. It has all the classic elements.

The plot is super basic. There is a property by the bay owned by a wheelchair bound older woman. She's not selling, but many folks want the property. And...the the killing begin. Neighbors, traveling hippy types and more fall prey to greed and villainy. It seems like everyone has a hidden agenda.

The film is well shot and has that Bava feel. Glamor, lighting and kinetic camera work keep the film moving along even though there isn't much in the way of plot when you really dissect it. Some of the shots are fantastic. The lighting in Bava's movies always gets me.

I love the beauties in his films as well. Classic 70s lovelies. Brigitte Skay (in all her curvy glory :::sigh:::) , Anna Maria Rosati and Claudine Auger to name a few.



And, if you're a horror lover, you might want to add this to your list because many of Bava's deaths in Bay of Blood were stollen...borrowed?....later by other films. There are two that appear in FRIDAY THE 13th films in this alone.  And the film just runs off the rails on the death scale towards the end. And the phrase "Trust No One" is top of mind in this for sure.






Well worth a viddy! The Bay is certainly bloody.

The Possession

Again, if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all came to mind first. I'll be honest, I scrubbed through this film after the first...10 minutes or so, I think. This little "BASED ON A TRUE STORY" nugget...wasn't for me. Maybe other folks will LOVE it. Especially in the wake of the popular films of the day like THE CONJURING and INSIDIOUS 2. People would eat this film up with a spoon, though seeing as it got 45 out of 100 on Metacritic I'm not the only person who wasn't into it 100%.



That being said, we have another Jewish lore based haunting here along the lines of THE UNBORN. More divorced family drama, which always plays well for this divorced male. :::grin:::  Dad struggling to work things out with the wife and daughters. Insert drama here.

Cut to showing how evil this box thing is. See? Look what it can do. It's EVIL, that box!

Cut to, "Dad, can I buy this box?" at a garage sale.

Cut to bad things happening.

Cut to resolution.

Cut to BIG FINISH.

Like I said, this movie was NOT for me. I scrubbed through and started to call out what was going to happen seconds before it did. I made myself laugh out loud when I called out the films ending shot for shot. It was actually rather humorous.

BUT, if you like ghosties and the paranormal with kids in peril and a Father fighting for them and you have not seen hundreds of ghost films,  you might like this. It delivers what it said it was going to deliver. There is evil, scary things, jump scares...a great popcorn movie.

If I had more time the night I had it on, I might have just left it running in the background, looking up when scary music played so I could take in the 3D effect and scare. But, I had movies to cram into one eve and taking time for this wasn't in my plan. I'll end up tossing it on one hobby night, I'm sure.

If you liked it, let me know.

The Pact

THE HORROR SHOW needs to go back to "short, sweet and to the sharp and scary point" with these reviews. That way we can get more reviews in. Of course, that means watching more movies...hmmm...



So, THE PACT almost didn't get watched, honestly. I saw the image for it on Netflix and it looked like it was going to be some cheesy, ghostly toss away. However, the folks over at the Horror Etc Podcast mentioned it on a podcast and I gave it a shot, thankfully.





The Pact ticks all the boxes. It's a fun mystery wrapped in dread and despair in such a fantastic way. And the topper - ghosts helping the main character solve the mystery. Perfect storm for me - I love these films. The story meanders a bit, taking it's time to let things unfold. It worked on a creepy level as well, playing up the bumps in the night without a dependance on special effects or faux-tech visuals. No night vision. No recordings of creepy voices. But, there are some cool visuals and interesting tricks here and there and move things along nicely.

The film has a tight story with an independent feel to it - it works really well. Nicholas McCarthy's Direction is solid and screen writing is grand. It's his first feature film and I can't wait to see more from him.

Caity Lotz knocks it out of the park. She's such a beauty and she plays along the line of scared and wanting to run and driven to find out the truth very well. ( You may remember her from her small role in MAD MEN. ) In some of thee films, this is a fail point. I find myself saying, "Why don't you just...walk away from there?" It breaks the film entirely. This has none of that - it works perfectly.

Now, the film is a little rough around the edges at points, but I think the overall take away is well worth a viewing. Especially late in the eve...in the dark...alone. 

Love mystery? Love ghosts? You need to take a look at The Pact and let me know what you think.