61 Days of Halloween

61 Days of Halloween- The Final

Posted on by bernardovillela

Most holidays worth their while encompass entire seasons, such as Christmas, for example. However, as you may have noticed there is a corporate push every year for us to think about the next holiday even sooner. While this has many negative side effects I figure I may as well embrace it.

Since Labor Day is really only good for college football and movie marathons cinematically it is as significant as Arbor Day, which means the next big day on the calendar is Halloween and we can start looking toward it starting now.

Daily I will be viewing films in the horror genre between now and then and sharing the wealth. Many, as is usually the case, will not be worth it so for every disappointment, I will try and suggest something worth while as well.

The Final

This is the kind of movie I like to talk about. Immediately upon tweeting my reaction I got two very disparate reactions from others who had also seen it. In either case, I could understand the reactions from both of my Twitter compatriots who expressed differing views on the film. Essentially, I only took the tweet discussion so far because I knew I’d have enough characters here, not there, to explain why I come out on the positive side of the film.

Starting off on the negative end: this film has a rocky start. However, it epitomizes why I am very hesitant to give up on a film. The film has serious, serious issues in establishing its characters. A lot of the early set-up, mainly of the bullies in tale, falls into the stereotype realm and does come off as either overly-blunt or tin-eared.

So while The Final very quickly squanders its opportunity to be truly great, it does build its characters and works towards a set-up that is highly effective. Thankfully for the film the running time is not long, and the first act mounts steadily towards the turn in events such that the cumulative effect, even if uneasily handled, is a desired one. The goal of the protagonists is not only easily identified, but understood and anticipated.

To finish this point on stereotypes: is it lazy writing? Yes, but I feel they do melt away to an extent as you see the characters react to an extremely stressful situation. Also, when there’s the anticipated role reversal there is good conflict and illustrations of just how far these characters are willing to go. There is also the point that is difficult to deal with in art, which is that these types exist for a reason. I’d even go so far as to postulate the possibility that the exaggeration of types was a conscious choice to make the audience more readily become immersed in an outlandish and hard to deal with situation.

The rendering of the situation alluded to in the synopses for the film is what makes it work. What clinches it as very enjoyable is the the interpretation of events thereof, and what elevates it to about the heights it can hope to achieve, considering some of its issues, is that fairly adept commentary and the mirrored frame. The performances of Marc Donato and Lindsay Seidel are the strongest and most compelling.

In the end, The Final overcomes its inconsistencies to be a fairly impressive situational horror piece with built-in commentary on many subjects, whether it be bullying or school violence, that’s not overly-augmented by the characters. It’s a film that builds identification of type such that there’s a connection to torturous scenes besides mere voyeurism.

It’s a film you’re likely to fall on either side of. If you look at the synopsis and can handle it; I’d recommend it.

61 Days of Halloween- Children of the Damned

Posted on by bernardovillela

Most holidays worth their while encompass entire seasons, such as Christmas, for example. However, as you may have noticed there is a corporate push every year for us to think about the next holiday even sooner. While this has many negative side effects I figure I may as well embrace it.

Since Labor Day is really only good for college football and movie marathons cinematically it is as significant as Arbor Day, which means the next big day on the calendar is Halloween and we can start looking toward it starting now.

Daily I will be viewing films in the horror genre between now and then and sharing the wealth. Many, as is usually the case, will not be worth it so for every disappointment, I will try and suggest something worth while as well.

Children of the Damned

One thing I must admit is that I will not slam on a sequel as a rule. One needs only look at some previous posts I did in this serious such as those on latter-day Halloween, Friday the 13th or Children of the Corn series to know that I at times will be taken aback by a later follow-up. I also do appreciate a thoroughly examined through-line, a sequel which either adds to the myth-building or tries against all odds to reconcile disparate elements that seemed hastily added in a prior installment.

What this sequel does is that it cuts straight for incident. However, there’s a lack of moral compass in this film as compared to the last one. While there is only a thematic tie to the original, since it is government agents devoid of attachments to these kids the impetus is eradication makes sense but is reached far too quickly.

That’s fine in a vacuum, since in this series we know that these children aren’t innocents. However, the issue then becomes extrapolating more information about their other-worldly abilities, which this film also fails to do. There are great scenes between David (Martin Stephens) and Gordon (George Sanders) prior where there is a prodding back and forth: Gordon is seeing how much the children know and the children are deciphering how much Gordon knows. In this film, the children hardly speak and for the most part are devoid of personality. The best part of them in this version is that they are more diverse. This film picks up on the notion that similar occurrences and births took place all over the world such that there is a British, Indian, Chinese, Nigerian and American child with the ability in this version.

I can grant that the IQ testing would reveal these children as gifted sooner, as random as the reasoning for the tests is, but the assumption of bad intentions is still fast. Even in making such a quick assumption this film has less incident and more running time than its antecedent.

Perhaps the most rewarding part of the experience is in the early-going you can see how films like these set the stage for things like The Omen to come about. However, as a standalone piece Children of the Damned falls woefully short.

61 Days of Halloween- Village of the Damned (1960)

Posted on by bernardovillela

Most holidays worth their while encompass entire seasons, such as Christmas, for example. However, as you may have noticed there is a corporate push every year for us to think about the next holiday even sooner. While this has many negative side effects I figure I may as well embrace it.

Since Labor Day is really only good for college football and movie marathons cinematically it is as significant as Arbor Day, which means the next big day on the calendar is Halloween and we can start looking toward it starting now.

Daily I will be viewing films in the horror genre between now and then and sharing the wealth. Many, as is usually the case, will not be worth it so for every disappointment, I will try and suggest something worth while as well.

Village of the Damned (1960)

The original Village of the Damned is an exercise in dealing with a lot of story with quick, precise strokes and keeping the pace moving. If one were to contrast it to its remake, what this film does it keeps a lot of the mystery about why these children are gifted and terrifying for as long as possible.

It examines aspects of mob mentality but addresses its central issue mostly with a few characters only. Its implications are far-reaching but it never gets bogged down or spreads itself too thin. Similar incidents elsewhere are alluded to in dialogue but not touched upon and the moralistic struggle, is rendered with the same tautness as the horrific concluding struggle is.

This film also excels in using the mind, mind-control and telepathy as its fear factors. The possibilities that it allows story-tellers are nearly endless and it set the stage for many other tales of the like to follow suit. The clandestine nature of the killings: the odd circumstances combined with the unproveable assumption of the children being responsible, are what give the film a lot of its drive.

The compromised nature and moralistic quagmire that the protagonist finds himself is aided not only by the fact that he is the man who knows the case of these mysterious simultaneous births, and supernaturally gifted children so well, but one of them is his own child.

George Sanders plays the lead and is perfectly sympathetic in this scenario. We see him as a man, husband, scientist and patriot; be challenged. He’s a man of reason, which allows for the situation and its ramifications to be debated intelligently and for his uncovering of the fact, those he does get to hit home harder and to make his battle that much more engaging.

The Village of the Damned does a lot with not much in terms of effects, techniques and outlandish production value. Its biggest boon is the successful and fully wrought implementation of its ideas in a brisk, efficient manner.

VHS Gems

Posted on by bernardovillela

Here’s another great list idea courtesy of @bobfreelander. Whenever contributing to a popular list I believe that once must always include their slant on it so you understand the selector’s criteria, perspective and so forth.

I do have a horror story of foolishly trusting a VHS-DVD dubber and then tossing the back-ups only to find the DVDs incompatible with any other players, save the one that broke from overuse; despite that VHS is not my favorite format. I’m fine with progress in that regard.

What I’m not fond of is losing access to titles and that’s what format changes have done. Granted, with streaming, DVD, Blu-Ray and movie on demand distribution we’re getting closer, eventually to having most of what is still extant available, completism is all that will satisfy me. Therefore, here are some of my top choices of films I saw on VHS but have not had an official region 1 DVD version (BTW, going multi-region will change your life, and blow your face off your head).

I did pick some titles to try and make them representative of a niche that is likely replete with missing titles and you may see some of these titles pop-up on another similar list soon.

Ghost Town (1988)

This is a film I actually heard of thanks to Rupert Pupkin Speaks. Then, as luck would have it, I found it on sale at the library where all VHS tapes that get donated cost $0.50. Quite a bargain. If you see enough Charles Band movies, and get a taste for them, you’ll find that as a director/producer he’s somewhat in the Roger Corman mold inasmuch as if you sift through enough of his refuse, there’s some good movies to be found, and this is one of them! Western-horror and ghost towns in general have always interested me, and while what’s delivered is not something quite like the box promises it is strong enough to withstand a late second act bout of sloth.

Song of the South (1946)

I’ll save my Song of the South rant for another post. In fact, this selection isn’t really about Song of the South but Disney in general. There are rumors abound that Disney will create its own streaming service. They’ve already put their toes in the water on an international line, and recently into an MOD line. Both of those are very small and release titles infrequently. It’s bad enough the animated classics get vaulted, but for certifiable Disney nuts like myself (and I’m more tame than most) Disney’s squatting on its titles is terribly bothersome and this is at the top of the list.

The Son of the Shark (1993) and Jacqout de Nantes (1991)

I combine these two selections to further illustrate a point, and that’s about foreign-language films in the US. Far too often when formats change, some new home video distributors emerge, others fall by the wayside; and to capitalize on new technology some older titles get overlooked. These two French films couldn’t be more different: the first is a hard, gritty, disturbing look look at juvenile deliquency the second is a delightful, charming warm-hearted portrait of Jacques Demy by his wife Agnes Varda. It is a film she made in memory of him, that features many clips of his films, as well as ho his childhood shaped them and his life.

These films have not made it to DVD or blu-ray in the US.

American Gothic (1988)

I have to be honest and confess that I really can’t recall that much about American Gothic, other than I can differentiate it from the excellent short-lived TV show of the same name. However, I do recall seeing it as a Blockbuster rental and enjoying it a great deal – it’d be perfect to revisit but I cannot.

The Cellar (1989)

The Cellar represents another interesting aspect of distribution inasmuch I first saw it on cable, I believe at some point during the DVD era, but it has not moved past VHS into further means of being viewed.

Blake of Scotland Yard (1937)


I needed an older film here but I also needed one representative of serials, which I do like but don’t get to see enough of. As for Blake of Scotland Yard it’s as good a choice as any. In fact, one of my first posts on this new blog was my consumer outrage at discovering that such a thing as a composite serial, or as I like to call it “Studio Sanctioned Nonsense,” exists. I’ve probably seen it three times through in one for or other and it should be in print.

So those are just 7 films that are on VHS alone as of this writing. If I sat down I could find many more I am sure, but these were the ones that came quickest to my mind and also highlight gaps in distribution patterns that hopefully get picked up.

61 Days of Halloween: The Final Destination

Posted on by bernardovillela

Most holidays worth their while encompass entire seasons, such as Christmas, for example. However, as you may have noticed there is a corporate push every year for us to think about the next holiday even sooner. While this has many negative side effects I figure I may as well embrace it.

Since Labor Day is really only good for college football and movie marathons cinematically it is as significant as Arbor Day, which means the next big day on the calendar is Halloween and we can start looking toward it starting now.

Daily I will be viewing films in the horror genre between now and then and sharing the wealth. Many, as is usually the case, will not be worth it so for every disappointment, I will try and suggest something worth while as well.

The Final Destination

This is a film that is well-intentioned and has enough going for it that it nearly crosses the threshold making it a good film but it ultimately misses the mark. This, the 4th installment of the series, brings in an entirely new cast. There are spoilers herein.

One crucial mistake the film makes is to have two extensive vision sequences one that we only know is a vision when it’s done, which makes you wonder if the second was added so it would clock in at 82 minutes.
One great thing that this film does was that it spent a minimum amount of time in doubting both the visions and the concept of death’s path. As patrons of horror films and fans of this series we will accept both these concepts at face value and we don’t need to spend too much time on it.

Its failings are few but serious. Across the board the acting is pretty poor. The only performances of note both belong to characters who died too early: Nick Zano, as the crude cynical friend was quite funny, and Mykelti Williamson, one of the most under-utilized and anonymous Oscar winners ever isn’t great but good enough to make you wonder where he’s been.

Despite there being a decent string of kills there are some that are repetitive (bus) and just ineffective like the final kill which degenerates to humor instead of inducing it as it goes into closing credits. Again this series is predicated on anticipation of death and multiple possibilities to achieve it – so the sudden shock and uninventive don’t fly.

Ultimately, what’s lost is the psychological strain from the original that Devon Sawa demonstrated so well. It’s like a slasher film with an invisible killer and gratuitous sex, cursing and cheesy dialogue.

Also, the NASCAR scenario while offering flame, gore and a decent chuckle here and there isn’t as identifiable or as frightful a scenario as they’ve created. Perhaps the sequel which will follow after its 2nd consecutive box-office triumph will get back to grassroots (It didn’t).

The second extended vision sequence leads to the protagonist saving the day but it’s only for the time being and then the death at the close is unintentionally comedic and an anticlimax.

It’s a film unlike the last in the series that had the potential to be good but squandered it.

5/10

61 Days of Halloween: The Sinful Dwarf

Posted on by bernardovillela

I happened upon The Sinful Dwarf one day while surfing Amazon.com. There they had a link to the hysterical interview between two viewers who were “scarred for life” by watching this film and the president of Severin Film, the distributor of the DVD. This interview, which is a bonus feature on the disc, is what made me want to see this film.

When I saw it available at Monster-Mania before its release date I had to have it, it was a no-brainer. I expected a film which was somewhere between the tongue-in-cheek comedy I expected and the genuinely disturbing experience advertised.

What it ended up being was overly-grindhouse. While the plot was disturbing all the intimate scenes both consensual and otherwise were way too long and the dwarf (Torben) while humorous and creepy was not the undoubted center of the evil plot. He and his mother were equals in a sinister plot involving kidnapping, drugging and a clandestine whorehouse.

The film does actually get disturbing at times and not funny. However, another girl could have been acquired and we could have found out how this deranged idea came about to help add to the creepiness. The dialogue is quite often terrible and at time undercuts the tension immediately after it gets established.

Both leads (Anne Sparrow and Tony Eads) were unquestionably terrible. There’s just no diplomatic way to put it. Clara Keller and Gerda Madsen as Lila and her friend who sit about sipping tea amidst this inanity help make up for Sparrow and Eads but never quite get there.

Ultimately, this film proves how important a disturbing stomach-turning plot is as it becomes a borderline bad film despite all its shortcomings. I can recommend it for fans of grindhouse and exploitation films but I personally give it a 4/10.

61 Days of Halloween: Vinyan

Posted on by bernardovillela

Most holidays worth their while encompass entire seasons, such as Christmas, for example. However, as you may have noticed there is a corporate push every year for us to think about the next holiday even sooner. While this has many negative side effects I figure I may as well embrace it.

Since Labor Day is really only good for college football and movie marathons cinematically it is as significant as Arbor Day, which means the next big day on the calendar is Halloween and we can start looking toward it starting now.

Daily I will be viewing films in the horror genre between now and then and sharing the wealth. Many, as is usually the case, will not be worth it so for every disappointment, I will try and suggest something worth while as well.

Vinyan

Vinyan was an unknown horror-drama film to me before picking it up at Best Buy one day. This film is an absolute success visually and there are myriad reasons why. Students of cinematography should watch this film because rarely if ever have I seen so many different techniques employed in a single film so naturally, and effectively. It was most certainly not what Hitchcock would’ve called “pictures of people talking” but rather “paintings in which people moved.”

A second, solid bonus is the performances of the two leads. Emmanuelle Béart especially is fantastic as usual and definitely gets to flex her muscle as she slowly loses her bearings over the stress of thinking she has seen her long lost son. Rufus Sewell’s performance is no less complicated. He is strong and must get angry, impatient, and sympathetic. He must also try to deal with the possibility that Béart is right, and try to be the grounded one, while he is just as stressed.

While the inciting incident, first act and first plot point are very strong the film does sort of lose a little bit of its momentum after the idea of the Vinyan is introduced. Aside from being onlookers they never assert themselves as a presence psychologically or physically and that is what ultimately leads to this film falling short of greatness that and the herky-jerky pace of act two.

The ending’s disturbing nature, and rightness in timing, doesn’t quite make up the squandered potential the film shows. The visual variety ultimately save it some examples are: a shot of foreground colored differently than the background, the red lighting in the rain, the use of an overhead shots, POV of a man being buried, shafts of sunlight through the trees, fog, fog and light through the trees; a silhouette and more. If only it had closed the deal narratively speaking and accompanied the visuals better.

7/10

61 Days of Halloween – Drag Me to Hell

Posted on by bernardovillela

Drag Me to Hell is director Sam Raimi’s latest offering and a film which some had expected and hoped to be his triumphant return to the horror genre. Pair that with this being the first major production by Ghost House Pictures who have been unearthing and presenting some gems on DVD and it had some things going for it that would make one think it was a “can’t miss” hit. Well, it did miss – by a lot.

The main issue this film has is that it tries to be too funny sometimes, so blatantly that the film becomes a parody of itself. In one scene the protagonist, Christine (Alison Lohman) is in the tool shed gathering things to hock at the pawn shop and has an encounter with Mrs. Ganush, the Gyspy who cursed her. The old woman shoves nearly half her arm down Alison’s throat. Alison only escapes because she cuts down an anvil that is hanging conveniently over the Gypsy woman’s head. Are you kidding me? When did this turn into a roadrunner cartoon? The Evil Dead, which is one of my all-time favorite horror movies, was tongue-in-cheek and wasn’t trying nearly as hard to amuse you as the sequels and this did.

Of course, the Gypsy curse is old hat in horror terms so nothing exciting there. What this film gave the inkling of was perhaps a vision of hell. Nope, sorry, none of that either. While it is gross on occasion, even that is inconsistent. Alison is at the Gypsy woman’s viewing and the corpse spills out spewing bile (or enbalming fluid) on her, CGI bile not the good, real stuff. There are just so many examples. I will not elaborate on the nosebleed all I will say is it was just too much.

Pacing and overall lack of surprise is an issue as well. There were two instances in the film where you knew that couldn’t be the end but things seemed neatly resolved so either some not-so-exciting twist would come along, or a long explanation scene with new rules about the Lamia would ensue.

The craft of acting generally suffers in the horror genre partially because people with chops don’t want to be involved with it or the parts are too superficial. The supporting cast overall holds their own but Alison Lohman in this film had to carry it and she let it down by being a mousy, annoying, air-headed and unsympathetic version of Jenna Fischer, and in a couple of scenes towards the end she did her worst Bruce Campbell impression.

There was not a moment in this film that was genuinely scary or funny. The only thing that kept it on its feet was a halfway decent concept, the sound mix and the occasional practical or special effect, but even that gets old after a while. Of course, the blame, if you don’t like it, should go towards the filmmakers but spare a thought for the MPAA. Their undue influence on the marketability of films is what helped create this avalanche of PG-13 horror. So we get watered-down, tween-friendly garbage and this is another piece to add to the scrap heap. It’s a colossal waste of time.

3/10

61 Days of Halloween: Cat in the Brain

Posted on by bernardovillela

Most holidays worth their while encompass entire seasons, such as Christmas, for example. However, as you may have noticed there is a corporate push every year for us to think about the next holiday even sooner. While this has many negative side effects I figure I may as well embrace it. Since Labor Day is really only good for college football and movie marathons cinematically it is as significant as Arbor Day, which means the next big day on the calendar is Halloween and we can start looking toward it starting now. Daily I will be viewing films in the horror genre between now and then and sharing the wealth. Many, as is usually the case, will not be worth it so for every disappointment, I will try and suggest something worth while as well.

Cat in the Brain

This review does pertain to the DVD edition of the film.

Lucio Fulci’s Cat in the Brain is a must-have for any fan of giallo or Italian horror in general. And for all those enthusiasts, I have no tolerance for Fulci vs. Argento arguments – you can’t have one without the other, and talks of rivalry between the two are greatly exaggerated. Also give this film a chance and don’t dismiss it merely because it is “late Fulci.” Lucio Fulci himself stars in this film, and like most directors he is not mistaken when placing himself in this role, as Fulci plays himself he creates an interesting little bit of simulacrum while also turning the typical giallo formula on its ear. The premise is simple… Fulci is getting paranoid having visions of gruesome murder scenes he has filmed both in his current film and in the past. The film cleverly uses clips from Fulci-directed films such as Touch of Death and The Ghosts of Sodom to be both Fulci’s delusions and the blueprint for the killer framing him. Fulci ultimately thinks he’s the culprit when tricked by his therapist while under hypnosis. This is where the twist occurs and the formula is turned upsidedown. Usually the killer’s identity is a mystery to the protagonist and the audience. Here the protagonist thinks he’s guilty and the audience knows who is at fault. And the twist at the end is quite effective, as the film blurs the line between memory and reality and film and reality throughout. The best thing about this film it is that it lives almost entirely in the head of the protagonist who is so stressed he is constantly delusional. That allows for probably more splatter-filled moments than any Fulci film ever made. Many Italian horror or giallo film’s titles are based on minor plot points or metaphors. This one is actually more fitting than many after an opening shot and a mention in dialogue later. For those unfamiliar with the genre this may be the best introduction to the way Italians like to do things and considering the “clip show” approach if you don’t like Fulci after this you never will. The DVD is loaded with bonus features and includes the original Italian audio track with subtitles which makes a huge difference in the quality of the film, as dubbing helps to ruin so many films. 7/10

61 Days of Halloween- House (1977)

Posted on by bernardovillela

House directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi is a film which makes one glad simply because of how inventive it is – even if it’s not great. Never have so many cinematic techniques been crammed into one small film: still montages, wipes, irises, superimposition, distortion, black and white; the list is seemingly endless. It not only uses them but uses them correctly, well and never without some justification.

The second technical thing of note to House was that as the film was about to start it became clear by the side masking sliding in that the film was shot in 4:3. This is an interesting and effective decision for a number of reasons. It’s interesting because with the advent of Cinemascope shooting full-frame quickly became passé but this decision is incredibly inspired as it gives you a myopic glimpse into a kinetic world that holds your gaze completely.

The tone of this film is an interesting one. While it is great that it does build up the protagonist, and we get to know her and her friends, the tone shifts radically many times which shift focus away from her character later on. In terms of differing tones, there is a very tender scene between the protagonist and her father, several slapstick portions reminiscent of silents, comedic portions in the open and Kung Fu; then as they arrive and stay at the aunt’s house it will stay mainly horror but blend all that came before in and more. While the tale is one of witchcraft and occasional gore, it’s never what you would call terrifying but always entertaining even if predictable in terms of its end result.

It’s ultimately a very fun movie to sit and watch, even if you’re not in to counting techniques. It is, however, better if you are not thrown by things which come out of left-field because almost everything does.

To watch this film you will also need a very high tolerance for bad pre-1980 effects work because there are times you can taste the green screen so much it’s nearly nauseating, but in a way it adds to the charm of the film because it never seems to take itself too seriously.

However, if you like great cinematography this film is definitely for you. The aforementioned conversation between the daughter and father alone is nearly worth the price of admission with the supernaturally saturated background and the shots through the glass. The camera work is always appropriate for the tone at current, as is the lighting.

Ultimately, the greatest treat was in being able to view a previously unseen film in the States on the big screen where it belongs. Any film disappearing from public knowledge or not being known is a sad thing and kudos to Janus for finding a genuine original and putting it on display for the world to see.

House which was originally released in Japan in 1977 slowly made the theatrical rounds here in the U.S. and is available from Criterion on home video.

8/10