Favorite Reality Manipulation Films

I did a re-watch of the film Resolution recently and really enjoyed it. I was giving it a mulling over and realized that I love films where this sometimes sad little reality of ours is turned on its ear and shaken a bit. The day to day horrors replaced by severe changes that no one expected. While I wouldn't want this to happen to me, I love the idea that there might be something more - something drastically different in the world.

Ghosts, paranormal happenings, UFOs....they all get me happy.

So, for this round of lists, I'm going with my favorite reality manipulation films. Films where things start off one way and get...strange.

(All synopsis texts are from IMDB)

Blood Punch - I love where this went
A young man is lured into a dangerous love triangle that begins to take a series of shocking and grisly supernatural turns.



Cabin in the Woods - Some fantastic writing and a fun idea
Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin, where they get more than they bargained for, discovering the truth behind the cabin in the woods.



Resolution - Pairs nicely with CABIN IN THE WOODS. Something strange is going on
A man imprisons his estranged junkie friend in an isolated cabin in the boonies San Diego to force him through a week of sobriety, but the events of that week are being mysteriously manipulated.



Berberian Sound Studio - A very Alice in Wonderland journey into madness
A sound engineer's work for an Italian horror studio becomes a terrifying case of life imitating art.


Coherence - Dude...just...whoa...
Strange things begin to happen when a group of friends gather for a dinner party on an evening when a comet is passing overhead.



Timecrimes - A fun offering from overseas. A great story
A man accidentally gets into a time machine and travels back in time nearly an hour. Finding himself will be the first of a series of disasters of unforeseeable consequences.



John Dies at the End - A really fun and imaginative ride!
A new street drug that sends its users across time and dimensions has one drawback: some people return no longer human. Can two college drop-outs save humanity from this silent, otherworldly invasion?



Time Lapse - Stick with it. It's a slow burn, but was worth the trip
Three friends discover a mysterious machine that takes pictures twenty-four hours into the future, and conspire to use it for personal gain, until disturbing and dangerous images begin to develop.



Identity - Just yes. 
Stranded at a desolate Nevada motel during a nasty rain-storm, ten strangers become acquainted with each other when they realize that they're being killed off one by one.




Plus One - Doppelgänger goodness
Three college friends hit the biggest party of the year, where a mysterious phenomenon disrupts the night, quickly descending into a chaos that challenges their friendships - and whether they can stay alive.

Triangle

Amazing WTF-ness!!!   I loved this one! 

Have others that should be on this list? Let me know! I'd love to see them. Maybe I missed one I've seen before.

Savageland

HOLY COW! I loved this film! 

SAVAGELAND is a riveting and completely engaging "mocumentary" about the lone survivor of a small town attack by unseen forces. He shot a roll of film with many disturbing shots of multiple attackers, but was still tried for the murders.

What really happened?



This film was a masterwork of both writing and acting. Like LAKE MUNGO, this film is presented in documentary style and interviews are held with the people involved in the investigation - both within legal realm and the news and reporting realms. The actors playing the parts sell it all without question and the writing is rock solid.

And the images that were caught on film are horrific and creepy as hell! heheheh  I love them!

 Bad acting and crap writing can kill a film like this in a heartbeat, but the writer/director team up of Phil Guidry, Simon Herbert, and David Whelan was pure perfection! Things were tight, believeable, and took a few turns that I was not expecting, but loved when I saw them.

No, there are no masked, ax swinging madmen in here or smashed in jump scares. This is a creepy tale that takes it's time telling a story and brings it all home with some nightmare fuel stills that are fantastic. A must watch for lovers of a good, creeptastic, dark story. 

Currently available on AMAZON PRIME. 

The Moose Head Over The Mantel

I got word that there was a chance to see and review this film and jumped at the chance. I had reviewed a previous production by these folks called THE BIG BAD and had enjoyed it, so I was excited to see their new offering. And - spoiler - I loved it.

The Moose Head Over The Mantel review comes with a main caveat: This isn't your standard horror film. It's not a simple watch that you half pay attention to while gulping down handfuls of popcorn. There are some complex goings on here that require thought. If you're wanting horror bashes like HATCHET or THE CONJURING, leave this one alone - you probably won't be happy.  

However, if you like fine acting and an excellent story presented in an absolutely interesting way, proceed!





Now, let's start with their awesome tagline:
One family. One hundred years. Countless victims. 
Love it. We have it all right there.

The Moose Head Over The Mantel tells the story of the Hoffhienze Family. A family with a past filled with tragic stories. As 1983's Lillian Hoffhienze-Bachman, her husband Jay, and their son move into the family home, the onionskin-like layers of family history unfold. We have six stories that go all the way back to 1881, all seen by the titular...moose head over the mantel.

I loved the concept. It's a fun and entertaining way to present things. While the gimmick of the moose head isn't 100% (We see several angles of the room, but I let it go after the first few minutes) the story is super solid and the use of the head as a central hub was very cool. People see the huge thing and all have questions about it. And, it seems to move as well. That combined with some very cool sound designs and music queues keep the flow and pace of all the stories super fluid and kinetic.

We jump around in time between 1983, 1966, 1945, 1922, 1904, and 1881 seeing how generations of Hoffhienze seem to be the center of horrors of various sorts - "a bloodline wrought with abuse, dysfunction and violence." As things move on, you see the patterns and understand that the family is doomed to be in this violent cycle.

All the stories are strong here, which can sometimes be an issue in multi-story line films. I've seen anthologies where you love one of the four stories and that's a sad thing, indeed. I found something special in each one of the tales and thought that the way they were presented was exceptional. It was like watching a fluid play that worked like a top notch time piece. The gears of the story spun along and you saw various time periods whirl before you, but I never felt lost or confused. I believe this is due to the strong writing style of Jessi Gotta who also played Lillian Hoffhienze-Bachma. She knows how to write characters you actually care about and are interested in. Combine that with and additional five, solid Directors that have a background in producing and performing live theater and you have gold.

Directors:
Rebecca Comtois     ...     (segment "1966") 
Bryan Enk     ...                (segment "1983") 
Jessi Gotta     ...                (segment "1945") 
Matthew Gray     ...          (segment "1904") 
Shannon K. Hall     ...      (segment "1922") 
Jane Rose     ...                 (segment "1881")





Now, this is a slow burn of a film. No MTV like cuts or music videos here. You need to think about it like we're setting in for an atmosphere filled,  gothic tale. Spooky tales told around the fireplace. Maybe a moose head peering down at you eerily in the firelight. :::grin::: Old tales of the past. Creepy tales spawned by real life stories. Yet another interesting layer the film. 

Statement:
The Hoffhienze family story is influenced and inspired by the notorious lives of H.H. Holmes, The Bender Family, Lizzie Borden, Carl Panzram and The Fox Sisters, as well as the Spiritualism movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the rise of psychiatric pharmacology in the 1970s and ‘80s.



I highly recommend  The Moose Head Over The Mantel. It's not just a film. It's an experience. An immersion into a series of spaces and time periods that adds a new and vibrant energy into a genre that can really use it!

TRAILER:

THE MOOSE HEAD OVER THE MANTEL | TRAILER from Inappropriate Films on Vimeo.

Grand Piano

Wow...wow...wow....GRAND PIANO was so intense!

Now, this is not straight horror. This is a Hitchcock-like...neo-giallo with flavors of Argento, Fulci, and Bava. It's going to be polarizing for sure. It has elements that some people will just not be willing to stand for - like it all taking place in pretty much one spot and having dialogue moving much of the plot forward. However, I loved every minute of it.

Elijah Wood plays Tom Selznick, a pianist returning to the stage after a disastrous performance five years earlier. Nervous to the point of distraction, he travels from the airport directly to the theater, changing into his tux in the limo and cutting it very close for his arrival time. His wife Emma (Kerry Bishé), a star in her own right, tries to guide him through the best she can while dealing with her own celebrity status and crowds within the theater. As he calms down enough to venture forward - trying to ignore the mean jokes and remarks behind the scenes at the theater, he's shocked to find that someone has left notes in his music pages...and that same someone has vicious plans for him.

I'll say no more. 

I was hooked on this film at the AMAZING credits (I was happy to see that they just weren't pretty visuals, too!) and as Wood rushes sadly through to the theater and we start to find out more and more about his backstory, I became more nervous and more anxious. I looked at this as a great thing because it showed that I actually cared about my lead character, not like one of these toss aways one tends to see in horror cinema. As the story went on, I became more and more concerned for Wood's safety.

The film itself is a total throwback to Argento in many ways from the camerawork to the color schemes, but it also had it's unique style and differences that made new and interesting, not just an homage. The Damien Chazelle's story was super solid, though it did have some very "giallo trope" aspects that were easily forgiven. Eugenio Mira's direction was kinetic and slick. I hope to see more from them - Grand Piano was made way back in 2013. His soundtrack for Nacho Vigalondo's Timecrimes (2007) was released by Mondo on a special limited edition vinyl.

As I said, I loved this film. It was a fun and interesting ride!   Thanks to Agent Tish for getting it on my radar! Currently on SHUDDER (U.S) at the time of this posting.

Cute Little Buggers

I was passed a CUTE LITTLE BUGGERS screener today and I gave it a watch at once. I had seen a teaser and few articles on it and then it dropped off my radar. When I saw the screener link roll in, I was super excited. Now, before I really get rolling, I'm going to address the elephants in the room.

• This is a low budget film. Relatively, of course. I just saw a short with the budget of $25, so....

• This does have some rather dodgy 3D in it. Some bits more wonky than others. I mean...we're dealing with CGI rabbits on a low budget. But, even though it may not be "A List", it was solid.

• Lastly, we have almost a full ADR dubbing situation. Some of it comes off as odd, but seeing as I'm a huge giallo fan, I was over that within 10 minutes.

But, none of that matters in the long run.

Tony Jopia, Garry Charles, Andy Davie, Kristofer Dayne, and the cast and crew of CUTE LITTLE BUGGERS have managed to do something highly entertaining and fun here. That means a lot to someone who was a teen horror lover in the 80s. Their press kit was saying that this is "Hot Fuzz meets Gremlins", but - while those ARE fun films, I'm going to give this film an even bigger complement. This totally reminds me of the fun I had watching the awesome Peter Jackson work of the 80s and 90s with films like MEET THE FEEBLES, BRAIN DEAD and BAD TASTE.  It's wacky, silly, funny, and a bloody good time.

The plot is throwback as well. Aliens are using our women to breed. And, what better tool to use as a hunter / gatherer for said women than...rabbits. The rabbits are altered to become fierce creatures of death that the aliens use to drag women back to their breeding chamber and to defend. When the towns folk find out what's happening, they have to fight back to save their women...and their world!

I had a blast watching this. It's just a lot of fun all around. While the budget might have been low on this, it had a ton of things going for it that elevated it immensely. At the base, of things the writing was lively and highly entertaining. The overall look and feel of the film was very professional and far better than many indy films I've seen. It was clear that the filmmakers knew what they were doing. The lighting and camerawork were grand.

The 3D in the film was ambitious and totally got the job done. The 3D and effects production teams were doing a lot of work here and it shows. I was watching the film and trying to think of just how long the effects production work took seeing all the shots that had some sort of 3D or post effects work done on them. I believe the aliens had post work done on their eyes and tongues, ALL the rabbits....so many rabbits...moving around and attacking. But, the thing that I found to be the most fun about this was the CG gore.

I'm not usually a computer gore fan. Blood sprays that used to be done with squibs back in the day were far more visceral and real than 75% of the CGI stuff we are seeing today. When used sparingly, computer generated gore and blood can be a big help. (see Greg Nicotero and Team's WALKING DEAD work)  What I loved about the use of computer aided nastiness here is the fact that they didn't dabble.



It's like they just said, "Ok...we have rabbits whose heads split open with tentacles attacking humans. Let's go big!" And big they go. Blood sprays, limbs are ripped from bodies, and deadly rabbits fly!

The characters were a hoot as well. Over the top caricatures of small town residents were in abundance from the slightly bumbling police officer, to the crazy old folks, to the wondrous Caroline Munro appearance as Mystic Mary. This really had a BRAIN DEAD feel for me because I love over the top characters being alive, energetic, and invested in films. You could tell that these folks were not just phoning it in. They were going above and beyond and they were having fun doing it.

 And, while I'm chatting this film up, I have to mention the women. :::swoon::: While they are not going to be seeing a passing grade on the Bechdel test, they are taking things back to the 80s here again with the amount of beautiful women finding various ways to "get their kit off" as they say.  It's comical in it's own right and really did remind me of 80s movies. Shirts were flying.



This film managed to entertain me, but it also did more than that. It provided some genuine laugh out loud moments that had me giggling and chuckling at all over the place. By the end of the film, I found myself being very surprised and just how much I was laughing and how I wasn't doing my usual indy film groan & eye-roll ® combination. A refreshing treat!

You're going to want to down this as soon as it comes out. Get some food and beverages, gather your friends round the TV, and prepare to have a silly good time!

 TRAILER

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.

A Blade in the Dark

A BLADE IN THE DARK (La casa con la scala nel buio) from 1983 kinda falls into the "so bad it's good" territory. It's really not a great film, but I had fun watching it and thought I'd give it a little shout out here. 

The plot is super simple. A music composer is put up in a villa to score a horror movie. The woman making the movie visits every once in a while as does the "wacky neighbor" and even more wacky girlfriend....and some other people that are lingering around. And, yup...people start to get bumped off one by one and the bodies are disappeared. 

For me, I pretty much knew exactly where this was going at the first kill. By the second, I had no doubt in my mind. Towards the end, I had my wife giggling as she half paid attention and I called out exactly what was going to happen right before it happened. 

 

It's ham fisted and basic, but it had a sort of charm to it. It's a competent film and looks very nice indeed, but the plodding, lumbering plot and set pieces are painful for the most part. There are some great gialli moments that are well worth the viddy. Some of the more tense moments are handled really well. It's just the jumbled, forced filler around these moments that tend to be hard to sit through. 

Lamberto Bava's direction was grand, but doesn't have the fun, kinetic qualities DEMONS and DEMONS 2 had. The writing of Dardano Sacchetti and Elisa Briganti  was really the real killer here. hehehe  Odd, too - I love HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY, ZOMBI, DEMONS, and THE BEYOND. Sadly, A Blade in the Dark leans more towards MANHATTAN BABY's drifting plot lines.

Worth taking a look if time allows.

It Follows

 

~CLICK TO PLAY TITLE THEME~

SPOILER FREE, as usual! :)


Director: David Robert Mitchell

Writer: David Robert Mitchell

Stars: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Olivia Luccardi


From IMDB
"A young woman is followed by an unknown supernatural force after getting involved in a sexual encounter."





I didn't even know THIS much when I fired this up last night. The trailer - curse it - made this film seem like another, run-of-the-mill slasher/monster/ghost film. Girls were screaming...running around. I'm not even sure I finished the trailer, honestly.

NOTE: DO NOT WATCH THE TRAILER!!!!   DON'T DO IT!    Just watch the film!!!!!

Like many other genre films, the production folks had to sell the story to potential audiences by giving away the milk for free, as it were. The trailer is riddled with many of the films key, cool scenes. I'm happy I stopped it - I would have been spoiled for much of the goodness.

The film is lovely. It sets up the danger right away - and it's brutal. So, when these other characters stumble into this horrific world, you know what's at stake and it's scary stuff. I loved the pace and tone of the film. It's sad, dim and dark. And above all, it's supremely creepy on many fronts.

The film is part of this current wave of story over effects films that have come out over the last few years. I love that. The story is strong, the writing is fantastic and the acting manages to really sell the situations at play. Mitchell's direction is grand and helps set many of the films most tense moments brilliantly.  The young actors in the film never come off flat and silly. They are all working and fun to watch.

I've seen many...many horror films. "Good, bad, I'm the one who'll watch."

:)

However, I believe this film brings a little something new to the genre. Again, the strong writing makes this very interesting. I wasn't able to pick out plot holes that would submarines the film. Nor was I second guessing elements before they popped up. I found that to be wondrously refreshing.

Is this...   ((http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/it_follows/))

"One of the best horror films in recent years."
"One of the most provocative horror films in recent history."
" A great work in atmosphere with solid emotional impact." 

Yeah. Yeah, it kinda is. :::grin:::  Like HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, the slow burn that rolls through this film keeps adding layers and layers of tension as you watch. And, the films fantastic "visual hook" ((Again...not giving it away...)) adds a fun, Hitchcock-like device into the mix that has you scanning every frame of the film with an eagle eye.

The film also had a bit of the Euro feel you get from the likes of Dario Argento or Mario Bava - I'm not quite sure how to explain it. A quiet you're afraid of. That thing in the dark you can't see, but know with all your heart is there...waiting. heh

IT FOLLOWS is grand. Watch it at once. Toss your Amazon rental money at it or the $39 for a theater ticket  :) and know that you're most likely going to walk away from the film nodding your head and saying, "Yeah...that's a pretty damn good film."