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Reviews
Diary of the Dead (2007)
George Romero's Diary Reveals Best Zombie Moments In Years!
Following 2005's release of Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead marks George A. Romero's immediate return to the subject of zombies. George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead tells the story of a group of young film students on location in the woods, filming their own horror film. This mix and matched group of twenty-somethings are accompanied by their disillusioned, alcoholic teacher with an understated flair for theatrics. While working on their film school thesis, consisting of a mummy chasing a buxom blond in a white dress, they become witness to a ghoulish outbreak. The young director, Jason, makes the immediate decision to film the events for posterity. He records the ensuing Armageddon as he slowly sinks into a whirlwind of obsession that precludes concerns for safety. This film is a daring re-imagining of Romero's own Night of the Living Dead and the initial zombie outbreak that results in the undead apocalypse of Romero's "Dead" series.
Unlike Cloverfield, this movie is not presented as "found footage", instead it is a finished student film that was uploaded to the Internet. Being that Diary of the Dead is what became of the student film-within-a-film "The Death of Death", this gives the director and editor in Romero free reign to be as pretentious as he likes. He deftly mixes the medium of the digital age by showing everything from Youtube clips to mini-camera footage to Myspace clips to newscasts ostensibly downloaded from the Internet for use in the film within the film. Romero has always been an economic editor with a knack for getting dynamic information across with as little cutting as possible and this multi-media Internet approach allows him to cover the spectrum of the digital medium. Romero, the director, has a painter's eye for compositions and can still set up a "boo!" scare with the best of them, however Diary of the Dead is not necessarily a scary film. It is an extremely horrifying film. The intercutting montages of the news and footage of zombie attacks create a terrifying tapestry of a world gone mad as well as eerily mirroring events in our world today. So much information comes to us in the brief clips and snippets culled from the Internet that it borders on information overload.
Romero paces the film perfectly. He speeds it up with moments of suspense with splashes of action or gore. When needing a break, Romero slows the film down with character moments involving Jason and Debra and their on-going debate about the propriety of recording these events. There are many ways to examine this film as I find myself wanting to see a subtext of criticism of the media for the desensitization of our society's attitudes towards violence. I'm not sure how to look at the film as yet, but I can see that my perception of it might shift drastically with subsequent viewings. There are also multiple ways to enjoy the film as pure entertainment as this film had some of the best zombie killings I've ever seen in a horror film. Some were implausible, and some were improbable, but there were some creative kills involving sharp objects and zombies and a few other things. There's something amazing that happens when a scythe and a zombie make like the four tongued red beaver. You have to see it to know what I'm talking about. The gore is fairly understated, but well used throughout. The most foreboding elements of the film are not the gore effects or even the death scenes, but the overall mood and atmosphere. There is a dark apocalyptic feeling that hangs over the film like a shadow. I find that the more I think about the juxtaposition of news, personal footage and the student film, that the more Diary of the Dead opens up for me. I'm always a sucker for films that lend themselves to interpretation and Diary of the Dead is no exception. It's easily the most innovative use of the medium since Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers.
The film takes itself deadly serious at times while at other moments planting it's rotting tongue squarely in cheek. There are some funny little character moments in the verbal exchanges between the film students. There are also some fall down, nearly slapstick level, humor at other moments. These moments approach the level of a wink into the camera to remind us that there is a certain level of fun to it all. Even though some might criticize the film for taking itself too seriously, Romero firmly acknowledges the stuffiness of the subject matter and reminds us that this is just a movie after all and so let's have fun with it.
Streebo rates George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead a 10 out of 10 screams on the Scream-o-meter. It is the first masterpiece of 2008.
30 Days of Night (2007)
30 Days of Night gives savage new blood to vampire genre!
First, here's a bit of backstory for you. As you know by now, Streebo is a long time reader of comic books and when the story of 30 Days of Night came out in 2003 (?) I was eager to read it. I was immediately impressed by the simplicity of the concept if not the execution. Ben Templesmith's dark and atmospheric art helped keep the book horrific and violent throughout. The story by Steve Niles was unchallenging, simple and brilliant all at the same time. I remember reading the book and thinking this was a cool enough graphic novel but it would make an amazing movie. Apparently Steve Niles originally wrote 30 Days of Night as a screenplay and shopped it around Hollywood for years. He never drew interest in the script so he converted the script into a graphic novel. The comic comes out and is a huge hit. The next thing you know Hollywood comes knocking on Steve Niles' door. Niles dusted off his script and Sam Raimi's Ghosthouse pictures gave him a one million dollar check for it. Now fast forward four years later. . .
30 Days of Night tells the story of the northernmost Alaskan town of Barrow as it prepares to face the seasonal event of 30 sunless days and nights. Over two thirds of the town's population packs up and leaves for the month as most people cannot handle the experience of living through 30 days without seeing the sun. Little do they know there is something much worse than simple darkness descending upon their town. 30 Days of night follows the story of town sheriff Eben as he struggles with a small band of locals that try to survive their 30 days trapped in a town overrun by vampires.
Strange events begin early as Eben discovers that almost ever cell phone in the town has been stolen and burned to a crisp. Next, every sled dog in the town is slaughtered. Then the phone lines go out and lastly the power to the town is cut. It's holy sh)*t time. There are no namby-pamby-love-me-long-time-I'm-immortal vampires in this film. These vampires are feral, nasty, and very hungry. The performances from the cast are strong all around. The vampires are kept in the dark for the most part making them extremely frightening when they burst forth to drag people though the streets and rend them limb from limb.
The cinematography is appropriately atmospheric and captures the bleak landscape in cold unforgiving detail. There is one moment depicting a bird's eye view of the town streets as the vampires toss townspeople about like bloody beads at Mardi Gras. The scene is truly horrific and breathtaking in it's savagery. The tension starts with a bang as the vampires swarm through the streets and never lets up as the survivors try to come to terms with what is happening. 30 Days of Night is a horror film in every sense of the term. It is cold, humorless and completely unrelenting. As I watched in stunned silence with the crowd I couldn't help but recall the nihilistic tone of John Carpenter's The Thing. That's high praise indeed coming from me and one I don't give lightly.
I don't want to talk the film up too much resulting in a letdown of expectations for some of you. If you're in the need for your theatrical horror film fix don't wait for Saw 4 30 Days of Night is waiting to rip your throat out. Go see it.
Streebo gives 30 Days of Night a 9 out of 10 on the Streebo Scream-O-Meter.
A Feast of Flesh (2007)
"I know a safe place you can go. Do you want me to take you there?"
I was fortunate enough to pick up an early work print version of Abattoir from Mike Watt and Amy Lynn Best at the Horrorfind last year. Since the version I saw was only a work-print I can't review the film in it's entirety as the work-print version lacks the musical score and sound effects. However - what was evident in the work-print was a love for the horror genre and an attention to craftsmanship that shines through the rough edges of a work in progress.
Abattoir tells the story of a group of friends that travel to the Bathory House for one night of "hot hooker sex". The friends find themselves sucked into a bloody mission to rescue one man's missing girlfriend from the vampire filled brothel. What they don't know is that they've started a chain of events that threatens to unravel a tenuous truce that exists between the Bathory House and the local group of mercenaries lead by the man called Sheridan.
Abattoir features strong performances from the entire cast lead by Steve Foland as the loquacious well-meaning friend - John. My personal favorite character was Sheridan the leader of the mercenary vampire hunters (played by Mike Watt). He appears on the screen with such presence that he immediately commands attention to himself. Although the two characters are worlds apart - Sheridan reminded me somewhat of James Woods' cool performance as Jack Crow in John Carpenter's The Vampires. I initially found myself wanting to see the entire film built around the Sheridan character.
Abattoir features sultry performances from Amy Lynn Best, Sofiya Smirnova, Gwendolyn, and Zoe Hunter. Horror stalwarts April Monique Burril and Jimmyo Burril of Chainsaw Sally fame make cameos as does the always hypnotic Debbie Rochon.
There are a few neat twists on the vampire mythos such as characters using symbols of their faith to ward off vampires which results in one character burning the face of a vampiress with a hundred dollar bill! We also see an interesting method of restoring humanity through the use of holy water injected into the veins of newly turned vampires. There also seems to be a subtext of the requirements of faith in a cold unforgiving world but perhaps I'm reading too much into this.
My only complaint about Abattoir is that I wasn't always sure who the story was about. We follow John and his friends for a bit but then the film jumps over to Sheridan's mercenaries and a good deal of time is also spent with the ladies of the Bathory house. In hindsight - I imagine the film is intended as an ensemble piece about "The Abattoir" of Bathory House itself and not so much about any given character in the film. The film tells us about the world and history of the Bathory House instead of simply settling in for a story of "us vs the vampires". There is a definite attempt to make the vampires sympathetic and the mercenaries are made to seem monstrous with their actions and intentions. It becomes difficult to sympathize completely with either group. Horror audiences have been trained to identify with one character and follow them through a film so at times I found myself lost without an anchor in the story however I think this is exactly what writer/director Mike Watt intended. I'm anxious to see the final cut and see how it stands up to repeated viewings.
I've read that Mike and Amy described Abattoir as their "blood 'n boobs" sell-out movie and that seems like a fair characterization. Abattoir is not just a simple blood and boobs extravaganza as it features tight direction from Watt, excellent characterizations from the entire cast as well as the required blood, boobs, and action sequences. Once Abattoir is locked in with it's final cut, music, and sound effects I can't imagine why it wouldn't be picked up for distribution. If you're sick of the vapid music video worlds of Underworld and the countless style-over-substance lesbian vampire flicks that crowd the shelves then pick up Abattoir for something with substance to it's style yet still packing plenty of bite.
Night of the Demon (1980)
Bigfoot loves blood, babes, and RAWR!!!
This film is the definition of "so bad it's good"! Night of the Demon boasts some of the most atrocious production values in the scenes with it's human characters - yet this somehow adds to the reality of the sequences featuring Bigfoot - enhancing it in an almost documentary cinema verite sort of way. If you don't ask for too much depth and pretentiousness from of your horror you could be very happy with what you find here! Unintentionally hilarious at times, gruesome at others, Night of the Demon even manages to be slightly chilling in some moments.Night of the Demon features all the things that make cheesy horror great: bad acting, slimy gore, gratuitous nudity, and BIGFOOT! Night of the Demon may mot be the greatest Bigfoot movie ever - but it is surely the most fun!
First Transmission (1982)
Filth or Film? Snuff or Style? You decide.
"All the most vile worms and decadent amoral creatures from the gutter were represented here tonight. These people are the wreckers of civilization."
--Genesis P. Orridge quoting Nicholas Fairburn.
"First Transmission" was filmed by "Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth" and is not a film with a narrative plot per se, but is in actuality a documentary of a brutal initiation ritual. The version of "First Transmission" that I watched is comprised of four segments including "Ritual Ov Psychick Youth", "The Dream Machine", "Thank You Dad", and "Individual Ov Power".
"First Transmission" was designed as an initiation ritual into the ways of Thee Temple of Psychick Youth. The "Ritual Ov Psychick Youth" segment was filmed in documentary style to capture the brutal ritual in unflinching although sometimes dimly light or poorly focused detail. The sheer verisimilitude of "Ritual Ov Psychick Youth" incited the "Satanic witch hunts" that resulted in the ousting of Genesis P.Orridge from England in the early nineties. The scenario plays out amid a cacophony of horns and rattles that rise and fall like a swarm of locusts and we watch as a young man, bound and naked, is kicked, whipped, dragged, and painted with offal over the next forty-odd minutes. The docu-style footage is broken up with montage shots of a woman undergoing scarification, quick flashes of pornography, and if this wasn't enough to shock the most seasoned and experienced viewers of filth, you get to see an enema as well. Not everything is shown clearly as there is an act of genitalia mutilation at the climax of the ritual which is mostly obscured.
Its easy to see how people could react much in the same way as Nicholas Fairburn. I myself felt thoroughly repulsed and sickened by the acts depicted in "Ritual Ov Psychick Youth". This is no doubt the exact reaction that Genesis P. Orridge had in mind for the viewers. Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth proclaims to be a cult that does not exist and seeks to help people fully actualize their own individuality through experiments designed to shock viewers and challenge their perceptions of social and sexual paradigms. This is not a film designed for the general public, but should be of interest to anyone interested in magickal rituals or sleaze hounds alike.
KatieBird *Certifiable Crazy Person (2005)
Katiebird creeps up behind you and hits hard where it counts!
****Minor spoilers contained***** KatieBird *Certifiable Crazy Person is the first entry into the horror genre by writer/director Justin Paul Ritter. Katiebird *Certifiable Crazy Person joins the story of the eponymous Katiebird Wilkins on the day of her father's wake as she recounts the story of her baptism into the life of a serial killer at the hands of her father to her psychiatrist who advises her under extreme duress - and bondage.
Some people have been confused by the style and pacing of Katiebird *Certifiable Crazy Person. The immediately obvious stylistic difference of K*CCP is its use of multi-panels throughout the film. For anyone unfamiliar with the term "mutli-panels", it is the simultaneous use of multiple image frames with sometimes varying subjects appearing on the screen at the same time. Imagine a comic book page on the screen with moving pictures and you'll get the idea. Now this may bother some viewers immediately and I myself have been somewhat annoyed with this approach in other films, but not here. I believe the use of multi-panels is justifiable within the context of the story. Whether or not this was writer/director Justin Paul Ritter's intent, I do believe that the mutli-panels help actualize the fractured thoughts and manic mindset of the schizo-affective mind as exhibited by Katiebird. This was a bold and daring decision and I'm sure more than a few viewers will be off put by this, but those that remain will be rewarded.
"I remember thinking that being a little girl was sometimes so hard. I wondered if life would have been easier as a little boy, but I wouldn't want to do that. Boys become men. And men
are scum."
-opening lines of Katiebird *Certifiable Crazy Person Katiebird *CCP is not your average "boo!" filled slasher flick. This film is a dark character study and psychological horror film that plays with the tension and terrors created by the skewed world view of the main character. It seems slightly reminiscent of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer and could almost serve as a female companion to create serial killer bookends for your horror DVD's shelf.
At the core of the film is a set of amazing performances from Helene Udy and Taylor M. Dooley as "Adult Katiebird" and "Teen Katiebird" respectively. Both women showed vulnerability and viciousness in their portrayal of Katiebird at the two times in her life. Udy imbued her Katiebird with subtleties and voraciousness that made her seem like sleek stalking panther beautiful to behold, yet dangerous to touch. Dooley's version of Katiebird balanced wide-eyed innocence with a girlish sinister glee. The film is really a character study and therein lies its strengths and weaknesses. The film draws us into the life and mind of this female serial killer yet there are times when the pacing drags a bit in the middle as we watch her develop - slowly. I found the character of Katiebird to be infinitely compelling and watchable even when the film sagged, but that offered us more time to contemplate her inner workings and to recoil in terror at the darkness found therein. There are a variety of themes at play in the film and according to writer/director Ritter, the foremost theme is that of the struggle for power and role reversal. We see this theme play out between Katiebird and everyone she encounters throughout the film as she grows throughout the film and asserts herself time and again. My favorite example of this theme is when Katiebird exhorts her victims to "bite me". When they refuse, she proceeds to convince them to do so by pulling their teeth out. Yeaach!!! I also enjoyed the dark incestuous symbolism of the passing of power from Katiebird's psychotic father to her by the literal passing of the phallic symbol of power the claw hammer.
The unsung star of the film was composer Daniel Iannantuono's score. It is nearly impossible to describe as it alternates between driving the film forward with guitar riffs to falling back to support the action with a bouncing bass solo. The music incorporates sometimes piercing and sometimes atmospheric guitar notes as well as sudden blasts of computer synth noises. At times it turns eerily reminiscent of the Suspiria score with it's use of garbled growls and sinister whispers that creep in at various times. The score even runs calm and beautiful like the film's star with gorgeous sounds of classical acoustic guitar. The score is as schizophrenic as the main character and just as beautiful and dangerous to behold. I hope it finds release one day as a CD.
My only complaint about the film is the sometimes lagging pacing. It is not filled with Hollywood style "boo!" jumps and cheap scares but gives us a deep dark look into the mind of a certifiable crazy person. It is a fascinating character study and fans of good character driven psychological horror such as Henry:POSK or May might enjoy this film. Perhaps 'enjoy' is not the right word to use as the film presents us with very little to enjoy, but it is worthy of contemplation as it chills and disturbs us.
Streebo gives Katiebird *Certifiable Crazy Person a 7 out of 10 screams on the Streebo Screamo-meter.
Check it out and decide for yourself.
Constantine (2005)
Constantine between comics and movies, heaven and hell....
We find ourselves at the gates of Hell for this one. And our guide is none other than Mr. "Woah..." himself...Keanu Reeves! This is the cinematic adaptation of the Hellblazer comic starring Alan Moore's enigmatic and esoteric oculist, John Constantine.
Conatantine is a breath of fresh air in an overly stale horror wave of the last month.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0360486/
John Constantine is an occult detective of sorts that spends his time confronting demons and devils in an attempt to maintain some karmic-like balance of good and evil on the prime material plane of Earth.
I have always liked the Constantine character because of his cloak of mystery and his apparent willingness to confront any Demonic power or Ancient Alien God without any apparent powers of his own. He seemed like a rough edged detective that was never afraid to confront beings that should have crushed his soul between their toes, but he always seemed to find a way to come out on top.
In case you're so dense (or my writing is too obtuse) that you haven't figured out that I'm a comic fan boy from way back , then I'll point it out for you. I'm a fan boy. And I loved this film.
Yes I had to forget that Constantine was supposed to be British and look like the rocker, Sting. Once I did that, I was able to sit back and enjoy Keanu's stone-faced interpretation of the mystical walker between worlds. I mean in you think about it, a rumpled tan trench coat would look awfully boring on screen.
I felt the film had the right blend of action and horror to make it a truly enjoyable experience. The CGI in the film is the best on screen in years and the storyline of a man caught between heaven and hell was completely engrossing.
I felt that if the film had focused more on subtlety and less on CGI in various places, that it could have been an absolute classic. As it is, the CGI is used properly and there is enough tension and dread to bring some horrific moments to the surface from time to time.
I thought the filmmakers did an excellent job of mixing all of the elements to make a truly enjoyable modern detective cum exorcist Gothic horror.
This was the first horror film since Saw that actually entertained me throughout the entire film and left me feeling that I got my money's worth.
FYI - The apotheosis of the Constantine character came in the Books of Magic by Neil Geiman. He is in a mystical club filled with every demonic power and evil archmage this side of the Abyss. Constantine is guarding young Tim Hunter, a teenager with the potential to become the greatest mystic the universe has ever seen. Every demonic Prince and their Legions of Cults are looking for Tim Hunter to rip his throat out. Just as every malevolent beast in the club turns and surrounds the hapless Tim Hunter we hear the flick of a lighter. The club turns as one and looks upon the trench coat wearing John Constantine as he lights a cigarette. Constantine looks calmly out into the gathered hordes and says;
Quote: "Nobody touches that boy.
That's right. The boy's mine. And in thirty seconds, me, and him, and the witch are going to walk out of here.
You know who I am. Or you ought to.
You know my reputation. Now...
Does anyone here really want to start something?"
The demons part like an unholy Red Sea and allow the trio of heroes to leave unscathed. And Constantine never does anything other than light a cigarette. Brilliant!
Anyway, I enjoyed the film and think you should take it under consideration. And if you enjoyed the film , go buy all of ALan Moore's issues of Swamp Thing (where Constantine first appeared) and The Books of Magic by Neil Geiman. The Hellblazer series is pretty decent with the best stories coming from writers Garth Ennis and Brian Azarrello.
overall grade: B+/A-.
OK, freaks, my sixty seconds are up. Let's all go run outside and howl at the moon.
Peace.