MAGGIE MAY - Etheria Film Festival on Shudder

Reviewing the amazing MAGGIE MAY from Director Mia Kate Russell starring Katrina Mathers and Lulu McClatchy!

The short film is part of the Etheria Film Festival and is currently up on SHUDDER.

Inner Demon

I caught INNER DEMON (2014) on Prime and thought that it warranted a mini-review.

This was a very watchable film, though I think it might suffer a bit due to the poster. Looking at it, I was thinking that this was a "demon tale" or something to do with possession, but it's really not. There's the other issue - Im not sure the film knows what it is, either. :::grin:::

From Amazon:
A teenage girl is abducted by a serial killer couple and manages to escape and find refuge in an isolated farmhouse, only to discover it is home to greater horrors and a malevolent spirit.


Yeeeeeeeeah....it has those elements in there. But, it leans way over to the serial killer couple stuff for what feels like 75% of the film. Now, it's done well and there are some good performances from the films leads, so even though I'm not a big fan of that sub-genre, it still held my interest and attention. However, I had the poster in my head and kept waiting for this demon thing which I found distracting. This happens - I get it. You have to sell the movie. And to be honest, if it leaned toward a serial killer poster, I probably would not have watched.




That being said, this "thriller, mystery, horror" (from Amazon's description) is well worth a viewing. Ursula Dabrowsky's writing and direction show really well in this. There are no wasted moves as we see things play out. There are interesting subsets of plot as well that had me questioning what it was I was seeing as well which made me sit up and pay attention in a good way. I'm looking forward to seeing more from Dabrowsky - she currently only has this film and another film called Family Demons (2009) to her credit.

Sarah Jeavons, Kerry Ann Reid, and Andreas Sobik are SUPER solid in the film, turning in emotional and sometimes brutal performances that really rang true. (You did a great job too, Todd Telford!) Interestingly enough, I can't seem to see the younger child actress in the IMDB listing She was grand as well and didn't fall into the painful child actor arena, thank goodness. The situations are riveting and had me chortling at the uncomfortable nature of them from time to time.

And, when things do ramp up, they do so in a fun way that payed off, so all was well when I rolled out of this. I didn't feel like time was wasted and had a great time with it once I got over my "but, where's the demon hand coming out of her mouth come in?" poster drama. hehehehe

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Well, in light of Mr. Tobe Hooper's passing, I decided to re-watch the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It has been ages since I've watched and I really wanted to see it now that I'm older....maybe wiser? And I actually found things I had not seen in my youth. It's a film with a lot going on. Much more than a non-existent "massacre".









With a budget of $300,000, he cranked this film out as fast as he could - often shooting seven days a week. The film's lead - Marilyn Burns - must have been mute by the end of the shoot with all the screaming she does here.

I'm not going to go over the basics in too much detail. I'm sure if you're reading this, you've seen the film already. You've had over 40 years to watch it, lazy bones. :)  In short....



College folks in a van head to their family home in Texas, they give a ride to the WRONG hitchhiker, they get involved with the wrong folks, and most of them are dispatched quickly and horribly.

The film has several iconic scenes that come up in almost every horror documentary you can see. heheheh  Some of them are chilling to this day. Hooper's direction is fantastic. Scenes are shot well with a ton of thought put into the framing and execution. You can see the vision behind the shots. They are worked out brilliantly with a lot of work put in to get them looking right.

This shot for instance.....

The character of Pam played by Teri McMinn is sitting on a rocker outside and stands when her boyfriend doesn't answer her from inside the house. (Yeah...this doesn't end well....)  She makes her way to the house and the camera follows, slipping under the rocker and gliding with her as she walks to the house. As she gets closer, the house looms up - bigger and bigger as it blocks out the blue sky. GREAT shot. 

There are other shots where the framing is spot on.  Sally (Marilyn Burns) runs for help and, as she waits for the person to get their car, she's blocked in on the far right of the screen with an open room behind her. This creates a TON of tension. I really thought someone was going to creep up behind her. But, no, just tension. Fun stuff.

The grinding, banging, discordant soundtrack helps build that tension as well. With the screaming madness of the Family, Burns' desperate screams, and the insane soundtrack, things are ramped up quickly and you get a feeling of nails on a chalkboard.

And overall, for a film called Texas Chainsaw Massacre, there's not a ton of death and violence in here, but what IS there is really, really awful and terrifying. Hammer blows, meat hooks, and the titular CHAINSAW come into play and the visceral, violent goings on are cringe worthy.

There's also an attention to detail that kinda blew me away. I mean...$300,000 in 70s cash is nothing to shake a stick at, but it's also not a TON of money. There is so much work done to the sets and little details in the characters that I noticed this round that it's a little mind-blowing. Even down to Leatherface's serrated teeth. It adds to the creep factor. There are some aspects that didn't do as well - like Grandpa's old age makeup, but it's still a sight to see.

I didn't really pick up on the supernatural elements until this viewing. They almost elude to the happenings happening due to the Hitchhiker's actions - the bloodletting and writing of a symbol on the van as it drives away. Did he bind the van folks to him through magical means? Did the items left of the porch drive the van folks to the horrific ends they met? Kinda interesting to think about.


There are a LOT of people that need to thank Mr. Hooper for their successes. At least giving him MAJOR props for ideas and styles. (You know who you are, horror filmmakers!) I think I'll be running through more of Tobe Hooper's work in the near future.  I just caught the film I'M DANGEROUS TONIGHT - a solid 1990's made for TV film, and his work is super solid and interesting. I think SALEM'S LOT will be next if I can track it down!

Thanks for reading! 

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.

Autopsy

Ok, Armando Crispino, what were you on when you and  Lucio Battistrada wrote AUTOPSY back in 1975?! hehehehehehe   This, too, is on my FAVE GIALLO FILMS LIST, but not for the same reasons THE FIFTH CORD and STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER are. This falls under the WTF?! catagory where you watch, giggle, and mutter What the F$%&?! under your breath while smiling.

Mimsy Farmer (Four Flies on Grey Velvet) plays Simona Sanna - a doctor whose a pro at autopsies. I think. Yeah...sure...let's go with that. :::grin:::  It's REALLY hot in Italy and, subsequently, a bunch of people are committing suicide. Because....I guess that's what you do in the heat. And....solar flares. Or not. Moving on. She's starting to see things. Like her cadavers getting up and making love. It happens. She has a boyfriend played by Ray Lovelock (The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue) who I've knighted "THE MOST PATIENT BOYFRIEND ON THE PLANET". He's constantly trying to make love to Simona only to have her stop midway due to some random flash of a dead person that sends her racing away screaming. He's a good spot about it and just tells her everything will be alright. (...then he plunges his goods into a bucket of ice water for the fifth time....)  Then there's a priest.....or is he.....with anger issues. A pervy groundskeeper....with anger issues. Even a DOG with anger issues. Basically, everyone including the dog seems like a complete loon.

So, is Simona crazy, or is someone trying to driver her mad? And....why? And....who?

Really, none of that mattered tome at all. I just loved watching everyone FREAK OUT in every scene! hehehehe  Simona and her visions of death. A priest beating the hell out of the groundskeeper. The groundskeeper perving on Simona...who subsequently yanks up her dress screaming, "YOU WANT AND ENCORE?!" and storming off. It's a good thing it's supposed to be hot - poor Mimsy seems like she's constantly having wardrobe malfunctions.

The film is BONKERS and the wondrous ending made me super happy. I think this would make a fantastic group watch as long as the folks involved had a wacky sense of humor. The performances and while plot twists and characters make this a really enjoyable watch.  I have Armando Crispino's other film THE DEAD ARE ALIVE on deck. I'm hoping for more silly madness! :)

Nasty bit of business

The Room at the Top of the Stairs

From IMDB:
"A young artist feels overshadowed by a charismatic and dangerous girl she's never met." (I removed the second line of description because I think it gives too much away) 

Another interesting SHUDDER short film offering THE ROOM AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS (2010)  had me staring, wondering, and interested. Write/Director Briony Kidd told an interesting story for sure. I'm just wondering if the nuanced tale and acting was a tad too subtle. Not sure a bigger push would have made this a better film or if it would have just taken it into a silly area that was too heavy handed. It's interesting to think through. I wonder if that came up in the scripting process.

The film is REALLY well shot and the acting is super solid. The 15 minutes is paced expertly and shows off Kidd's talents on both the writing and directing fronts is a very professional way. The story had me hooked and I was very interested in where it was going. And, best yet, when it got there, I wasn't disappointed. I loved that it wasn't heavy handed, now that I think about it. The subtlety was warranted and left me with a little smile playing on my lips. :)

The film's lead Fiannah de Rue is grand. She really owns the role and plays shy and curious without forcing things into over dramatic territory. I need to check out some of her other films for sure.

I hope Briony Kidd has a feature film brewing!

What Have You Done to Solange?

 

What Have You Done to Solange? (Italian: Cosa avete fatto a Solange?)

I finally caught this classic giallo a while back and enjoyed it. It's a strange one, but so are most gialli. 






If you're not aware of what giallo films are.....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giallo
"Giallo is a 20th-century Italian genre of literature and film, usually with mystery elements and often with slasher, supernatural horror or crime fiction elements. In Italy, the term simply denotes thrillers, typically of the crime fiction, mystery, and horror subgenres, regardless of the country of origin."

And this film has some classic elements for sure. Gloved killers. Women in distress. A LOT of violence. It's not for the weak of heart - that's for sure. Giallo films also tend to have a lot of violence against women and this is no different. Triggers for some for sure. But, sadly, that's a horror trope that's hard to avoid. 


We're dealing with a fun mystery here. There are murders happening and a teacher MAY be having sex with a student...and may be involved in the murders. At least, that's what the police suspect. As we twirl down this particular rabbit hole, we start learning that there may be something more going on at the school....and with the missing beauty... Solange. 


I loved the overall look of the film as well. It had a style to it that I found appealing. Very 1972, but somewhat slick as well. Massimo Dallamano directed the film - credited with such hits as A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS and FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, and also helped write it along with Bruno Di Geronimo.

Seeing THE EDITOR recently had me thinking about these old classics. It was a perfect send-up of films like SOLANGE. I loved the twists and turns SOLANGE had. It was a fun watch. 

At the time of this posting, you could find the film here:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x24k1ih_what-have-you-done-to-solange-1972-feature_shortfilms

Give it a watch and find out what they've done with Solange! :)

Last Shift

 LAST SHIFT was one of those NETFLIX suggestions I back burnered for some moment when I really wasn't going to be watching a lot of what was on - model making, file organization,  or something where some background noise was needed, but where I wasn't going to be doing a lot of looking at the screen. I tossed it on, but didn't have high hopes. Man, was I pleasantly surprised!

The film is like a lifeboat or bottle episode of something - one location with a very limited cast. The lion's share of the actor heavy lifting is done by the rather talented Juliana Harkavy who plays an officer assigned to hang out...alone...in the old precinct waiting for a hazmat crew to come in and take the last of the hazardous crime scene materials away before the place is shut down. All the other officers are at the new place blocks away, so she's there...alone...and waiting.




Then shit gets strange.

I'm not going to say much about this film - again, keeping things short and sweet. But....wow...this film has a lot of good stuff in it! It's a new fave for sure.

Anthony DiBlasi's (Dread) direction is super tight and there's nothing in here that's forced or yawn worthy. Once the ride starts, you're strapped in and you just need to hold on. DiBlasi does some fantastic tricks in here and there are many, "Wait....WHAT the HELL was THAT?!" moments to keep you're eyes open for.

The rest of the cast take their roles and really make them stick. They may not have a lot of screen time, but when they are on, Joshua Mikel, J. LaRose, Natalie Victoria, Sarah Sculco, Kathryn Kilger, Matt Doman and Mary Lankford really take things and run with them in a great way. 

If you dig creepy....ghosly....and hallucinogenic horror, give LAST SHIFT a go for sure! 

The Big Bad

I just caught an odd little film called THE BIG BAD and I enjoyed the hell out of it.  This genre film really makes an effort to be different and to bring that difference to the table in spades. It's a styled and crafted fairy tale for the time and it's well written and executed. I wish I had watched it around 2am or 4am like I did with THE STRANGE COLOR OF YOUR BODY'S TEARS.  That would have been perfect - this film has the same dream / nightmare quality to it.

Bryan Enk's Direction is fun. It has a little NIGHT GALLERY, 70s horror vibe to the whole of it. The camera is kinetic and wild as it takes in all of these strange sights and sounds. 

Jessi Gotta wrote the story and stars in the film, which is interesting. I think she does a grand job in the role. The writing is very "fairy tale" and it hits a few fun moments throughout the storytelling. It's wild stuff. A little rough around the edges at times - sure, but well worth the view. It's highly entertaining.


Now, mind you, this is a lower budget feature and I'm sure people can poke holes in it left and right, tossing stones around in their glass houses. hehe  However, I liked the newness and the craft of the tale. I found myself smiling and thinking how nice it was to see something different roll through. I wasn't even second guessing where it was going. I was just happy to be along for the ride...wherever we were going.

The plot is rather straight forward. A woman is "searching for the monster that destroyed her family" so she can get her revenge. She meets a wild cast of characters along the way and goes deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole as she gets closer and closer to the monster she's searching for. But, what a strange journey our Alice - Frankie Ducane (Jessi Gotta) - takes along the way.

It's currently streaming on NETFLIX as of the time of this posting - check it out when you're in the mood for something that leans towards the strange and dreamlike.

Jessi Gotta's 2013 film - THEY WILL OUTLIVE US ALL - needs to be watched now! I need to check it out. It looks like she produced a short in 2014, but has not done anything since. I hope she hasn't stopped writing. I dig her voice.

Berberian Sound Studio

Berberian Sound Studio
Director: Peter Strickland
Writer: Peter Strickland
Stars: Toby Jones, Antonio Mancino, Guido Adorni

Continuing the "I'm not sure you will like this film because it's so odd" theme I seem to be having at the moment, I thought about Berberian Sound Studio. This is definitely not a film for everyone, but I loved it.It's not a "horror horror" film, but it's disturbing on many levels.




Toby Jones plays a mild mannered folly artist sound editor type who goes to Italy to work on a horror film. There's much stabbing of mellows and women screaming in sound booths as they work on this horror film we never actually see. But, as he works on the film, the film starts working on him and he starts to drift into a world that is definitely not his own.

I love the fact that the films focus is on the sounds that go into a horror film. While we never see the actual film, we are giving the description of the horrific event we're working on the sound for, so the sound itself becomes like a audio switch for what we are supposed to be seeing in the film. It worked wondrously and gave me chills from time to time.

The fact that this strange world of the studio is where we spend most of our time allows for the dream-like (nightmare, really) aspects to really pop. He wanders about - an Englishman in an Italian landscape - trying to work like he does when he's dealing with his documentaries and sleepy films and it's just not the same world at all. When his grip on what's real starts to slip, things get to be very interesting indeed.

I loved the film. I thought it was interesting and odd and a lot of fun. Again, a relief from the endless sea of cinema verité, zombie, cgi paranormal ghost dreck out in the world right now. Version after version of a copy of a copy doing the same damn things we've seen time and time again. This film is...not that. Not that at all. The visual style is grand. Sights and sounds play together to show what goes into some of the folly work - creating visceral, audio support for the visuals on the screen. The visuals are kinetic and curious in many ways as we watch dials and hand movements and people moving about in a world full of deep shadows and dim lights.


Perfect for a late night viewing, too. That peak time around midnight where your mind starts getting a bit mushy. :)

The Taking of Deborah Logan

Wow.


Ok...in a nutshell. This film does what many...MANY others have tried to do in the past. There are many elements we've seen before.
Faux documentary style footage. Cameras mounted on walls that we see footage from. Hand held camera footage with people running about and shouting things. BUT....The Taking of Deborah Logan does it all a lot better than many of the films I've seen of late.

The factors? More real world applications of the above and a better execution. The acting backs it all up as well. So, we have many of the same elements with a feel that makes it seem far more realistic than some of the other docu-footage films I've sat through and been sad about once they are done.

Example? Towards the end of this film I stood up, moved towards the TV and  folded my arms in front of my chest staring intently at the images on the screen. Then at one point I said, "Wait....WHAAAAT?! Holy CRAP!" out loud at the TV.

At another point I said, "Oh....fuck YOU guys!" and laughed because the filmmakers TOTALLY got me with a jumper. And, at yet another point I physically backed away from my screen a few inches and groaned, "Oh man...that's messed up."

The film is friggin creepy. It has a fantastic "spine" to build off of story wise and it makes use of every once and inch of it. Simple setup - a documentary crew is on site to film Deborah Logan as she fights Alzheimer's with her daughter in the family home. When Deborah takes a quick and unexpected turn for the worse, things get interesting. Nuff said.

And the acting. Holy crap.

Jill Larson

Anne Ramsay

Jill Larson turns in a frigging wondrous performance as Deborah. Riveting. Anne Ramsay plays her daughter, Sarah, and she is equally grand. Very believable and super solid performances that I never scoffed at. The rest of the cast was fab as well, though I have to say they were overshadowed by the performances of Larson and Ramsay. You know what they didn't do? They didn't fail the film and that's huge. In some of these films, the acting of a few misplaced folks completely KILL the film - ripping the viewer away from their involvement in the story into a realm of tearing their acting apart and bemoaning their presence.  Everyone felt "real" here and that was huge. Great casting all around.

And....Adam Robitel. Bravo, man. REALLY nice work.  Really knocked it out of the park with this one. There's a great interview with him on THE INSIDERS, but you should listen to it after watching the film.  He's a smart guy that is bound to do, more grand things in the future.

"FINE! Don't mention ME by name. I did a good job, too. Michelle Ang. I'M Michelle Ang! :)

Ok ok ok...Michelle Ang was good as well. :)



Man...I really enjoyed this film. Is it for everyone? No. In this internet anonymous world we live in, I'm sure people will bash SOMETHING about this film. 

"There's too much TAAAAAAlking...."  Whaa...quiet. I'm trying to listen to actual plot and character driven story. Go play with your CGI ghosts and silly jump-scares somewhere else. :)

"They are just doing stuff like Paranormal Activity."   Whaa...so are thousands of others, but the difference is these guys are kicking arse at it like Oren Peli did with the original.

Like story?  Good acting? FRUCKING CREEEEEEEPY scenes and genuine WTF?! moments?

Check out The Taking of Deborah Logan at once!    

Currently available on NETFLIX, AMAZON and iTunes at the time of this posting.