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Man Bites Dog Review

Posted : 2 months ago on 23 June 2008 07:58 (A review of Man Bites Dog)

MAN BITES DOG is a cinema verite-style mockumentary satire of the highest calibre. Sudden bursts of disturbing violence and sadistic brutality mesh with bleakly humorous moments of dark satire - all shot in stark black and white photography. Made by Belgian filmmakers Remy Belvaux, Andre Bonzel, and Benoit Poelvoorde and released amid a storm of controversy as well as critical acclaim, MAN BITES DOG would go on to win the International Critics Prize at Cannes in 1992. It's basically about a documentary crew making a film about the day-to-day life of a serial killer named Ben (played by Benoit Poelvoorde). Beneath the surface, it's a satire on media violence and the struggles of making a film with no money. But unlike Oliver Stone's satire on media violence, NATURAL BORN KILLERS, where the message was always "in your face", MAN BITES DOG's satire is subtle and just below the surface. I think it works better this way. Because the film is seen solely through the eye of the documentary camera, this makes the viewer feel like they're a part of the camera crew; and in the scenes of violence, brutality and murder it puts the viewer into the role of co-conspirator along with the rest of the documentary crew. Michael Haneke's 1997 film FUNNY GAMES plays with the viewer in a similar way, except in that film you feel more like a voyeur rather than conspirator. There's a point in MAN BITES DOG where the serial killer Ben becomes more than just the subject of the documentary. In essence he becomes the producer as well when the documentary crew accepts money from him in order to finish the film. By this time the crew have ceased to be subjectively documenting Ben's actions and are now willing participants in his madness (as is the viewer). This brings to my mind the Italian mondo documentary films like AFRICA ADDIO, where the filmmakers were accused of staging certain atrocities for the benefit of the camera, rather than documenting natural events; which also brings to mind CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST with its cinema-verite film-within-a-film mocking the same Italian mondos. The ending of MAN BITES DOG is also remarkably similar to the way CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST ends. I also noticed a reference to A CLOCKWORK ORANGE during the disturbing home invasion/rape scene. Even with all these references, whether intentional or not, this is still an extremely original film which should be seen by all adventuresome viewers.

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Mediocre Thriller

Posted : 2 months ago on 23 June 2008 07:55 (A review of Untraceable)

This movie didn't really do much for me. It's a police procedurial suspense/thriller which tries to appeal to the SAW/HOSTEL crowd with a few somewhat gruesome torture/death scenes. Someone is abducting people and broadcasting there torture and death live over the internet by use of a webcam. The cast are capable, but there's no real stand-out performances. I guess it may be somewhat of a diversion for suspense/thriller fans, but I found it too tedious and derivative of the films it borrows from. Here's the ingredients for the film:
1 part SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
1 part SEVEN
1 part SAW
1 part HOSTEL
By the way, the whole premise for this movie was done before by Dario Argento in his 2004 giallo THE CARD PLAYER. I'm probably biased towars Argento, but I enjoyed his film much more

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"...In There Stepped A Stately Raven..."

Posted : 2 months, 1 week ago on 17 June 2008 06:11 (A review of The Raven)

Another fantastic Universal classic horror film starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, and based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Actually the title card reads "suggested by Edgar Allan Poe's immortal classic". It would be nearly impossible to make a feature-length film based solely on a poem of 108 lines. So what the filmmakers do is weave elements of Poe's poem into the story. For example, Bela Lugosi's death-obsessed character, Dr. Richard Vollin, is an admirer and collector of Poe's works. In addition to his Poe collection, Dr. Vollin has an extensive collection of torture devices in his hidden "dungeon", including the device from Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum" (which does get put to use in the movie). The scene which introduces Lugosi is cinematic gold: The huge shadow of a raven fills the screen as Lugosi's distinctive voice intones, "Suddenly there came a tapping/As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door...", and the camera slowly pulls out to reveal Lugosi seated in an antique high-back chair with the raven silouette looming on the wall above him, as he continues to recite the poem, "...open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter/In there stepped a stately raven." Beautiful scene. The story begins with Jean Thatcher (Irene Ware) crashing her car and suffering nerve damage to her brain. Her father Judge Thatcher (Samuel S. Hinds) and her fiance Dr. Jerry Halden (Lester Matthews) plead with imminent surgeon Dr. Richard Vollin (Lugosi) to save her life. Dr Vollin agrees and afterwards begins to fall in love with Jean. She also becomes somewhat infatuated with him. Her father Judge Thatcher sees this and all but threatens Dr. Vollin to put an end to his advances. This unrequited love aspect of the story resembles Poe's literary "lost love", Lenore. Boris Karloff's character, Edmond Bateman, is introduced about 16 minutes into the film. He's an escaped convict and murderer who comes to Dr. Vollin to alter his face, so he won't be recognized and so he won't be "ugly" anymore. However, true to his sinister and sadistic character, Dr. Vollin actually disfigures Bateman's face; and tells him he'll fix it only after Bateman helps him with his plan to possess Jean, even if it involves "torture and murder", as Lugosi nonchalantly states. There's another great scene here when Bateman wakes up from his surgery to discover that Dr. Vollin has actually disfigured his face rather than "fixed" it. He's in a hidden surgical room inside Dr. Vollin's house, surrounded by mirrors, which he destroys with a revolver as Dr. Vollin's cackling laughter mocks him from a window, safely above the room. Karloff is great and gets top billing as usual, but it's Lugosi that really shines in this movie (that is if you don't mind Lugosi's over-the-top style of performance which in some instances almost borders on self-parody). Karloff is basically relegated to playing Lugosi's henchman. They're really good together in this film, but I still think their best and most dynamic performance together was in THE BLACK CAT. However, as a whole, this film is very entertaining. For fans of classic horror, THE RAVEN is a must.

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"Say you love Satan!"

Posted : 2 months, 2 weeks ago on 11 June 2008 11:40 (A review of My Sweet Satan)

MY SWEET SATAN is an excellent 20 minute short film made in 1993 by Ohio-based independent filmmaker Jim Van Bebber. Van Bebber made his feature film debut in 1988 with the gritty urban action/exploitation movie DEADBEAT AT DAWN. My Sweet Satan is based on the true story of Ricky Kasso, also known as "The Acid King", who was a member of a satanic cult of metalheads known as the "Knights of the Black Circle". They apparently held one of their rituals on the site of the actual Amityville Horror house. In 1984 Kasso and one of his friends were arrested for the prolonged torture and murder of Gary Lauwers, who had stolen 10 bags of angel dust from Kasso while he was passed out at a party. Two days after his arrest Kasso commited suicide by hanging himself in his cell. In MY SWEET SATAN Van Bebber stars as Ricky Kasslin (I assume the name was modified due to legal issues); and like his anti-hero character Goose in DEADBEAT AT DAWN Van Bebber really has a commanding and charismatic screen presence. The film starts off with Kasslin hanging himself in his prison cell, then the story flashes back to the days leading up to his imprisonment. I like the scene near the beginning where an American flag mural on a wall fills the screen as Kasslin walks up and into frame like General Patton about to address his troops. Except Kasslin's "troops" are a group of outcast teens who hang out with him because he has great drugs and they have nothing else better to do. Kasslin and his pals spend their days out in the woods sacrificing animals to Satan, headbanging to metal, drinking, and smoking weed (while proclaiming, "We smoke this marijuana in your name Satan"). At a party one night Gary (Mike Moore) steals $96 out of Kasslin's pocket when he thought Kasslin was passed out. As a result, Kasslin and his best friend Jimmy (Terek Puckett) set Garry up by offering him free hits of acid and taking him into the woods where they brutally murder him as a sacrifice to Satan. Then the film leaps back to Kasslin hanging himself in his cell. I usually don't give away the conclusion of a film in my reviews, but this is a short film which is not about a twist ending or anything like that. You can tell where the film's headed right from the start; and it's told in a semi-documentary fashion where Kasslin's friends are narrating the events after-the-fact. This style of semi-documentary storytelling would be put to effective use in Van Bebber's excellent second feature film THE MANSON FAMILY (which I highly recommend). The Director of Photography on MY SWEET SATAN was Mike King who was also the DP on DEADBEAT AT DAWN. Both films were shot on 16mm, but where as DEADBEAT AT DAWN had a dirty gritty print due to the fact that they were going for a '70s grindhouse/exploitation look, MY SWEET SATAN has a clear clean print (which suits the straightforward semi-documentary aspect of the film). As far as the shock-factor, there's an actual (male) nipple piercing performed at one of the parties. Whether this is shocking to you or not depends on whether you find body piercing shocking. I have piercings and I've seen enough that it doesn't shock me in real life; but there's something about seeing it on film in extreme close-up that's still cringe-worthy. And the murder of Gary is brutal, disturbing, and gory all at the same time (so splatter fans take note). The chilling aspect of the murder will linger with you long after the film's over.

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Deadbeat at Dawn Review

Posted : 2 months, 3 weeks ago on 6 June 2008 07:27 (A review of Deadbeat at Dawn)

DEADBEAT AT DAWN is gritty ultra-low budget filmmaking at its finest; and it should be recognized along side other influential '80s exploitation classics like EVIL DEAD, BASKET CASE, and RE-ANIMATOR because it's just as important. It was released in 1988 and written, directed by and starring Dayton, Ohio's Jim Van Bebber. DEADBEAT AT DAWN melds together action, martial arts, crime drama, horror, graphic violence and splatter into a hugely entertaining tribute to '70s drive-in cinema. The story concerns Goose (Jim Van Bebber) as the leader of a street gang called The Ravens. He decides to quit the gang and make one last drug deal before settling down with his girlfriend Christy (Megan Murphy). Danny Carmodie (Paul Harper), leader of a rival gang called The Spiders, considers Goose "fair game" now that he's quit The Ravens. He sends two of his minions, Bone Crusher (Marc Pitman) and Stubby to kill him. While Goose is out making his drug deal, Bone Crusher and Stubby force their way into his ramshackle apartment and brutally beat his girlfriend to death. Goose comes home, discovers her bloody body and is of course grief stricken. He's not grief-stricken enough to report it however; instead he disposes of her body in the buildings trash-compactor?! He hides out with his Vietnam veteran, heroin addicted father for a while. There are a few grimy and depressing scenes with his paranoid, strung-out father before grief and despair finally get the best of him, and he decides suicide may be the answer. Before he can blow his brains out, Keith (Ric Walker) the new leader of The Ravens finds him, sobers him up, and brings him in on an armored car robbery that The Ravens and The Spiders are planning together. Goose goes along with it just long enough to exact bloody revenge on Danny and the rest of The Spiders. That's basically what the movie boils down to - a revenge thriller filled with some excellent '80s splatter effects - knife wounds, slow motion blood sqibs, decapitation, and a spectacular throat-ripping (done just as effectively as any Lucio Fulci throat-ripping). The gritty look of the film comes from the fact that it was shot on 16mm reversal film stock; and as such, it achieves that pseudo-documentary look of films like TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, DERANGED, MANIAC, and COMBAT SHOCK. The grittiness is also helped out by the film being shot in some of the seediest-looking locations in Dayton, Ohio. While most of the movie is lit with natural light or white light, there are some scenes lit with bright reds, yellows and greens that add a certain nuance to those scenes; and at certain points in the film there are these '60s style psychedelic kaleidoscope transitions between scenes that compliment the lighting scheme I just mentioned. All this adds to the richness and texture of the film in my opinion, and gives it that '60s and '70s drive-in movie look that Van Bebber was going for. The acting is as to be expected from an ultr-low budget film, but there are some stand-out performances. Jim Van Bebber as Goose has a great screen presence and is the quintessential anti-hero. Paul Harper as Danny (leader of The Spiders gang) handles his role well. But my favorite performance is by Marc Pitman as Bone Crusher (one twisted and sadistic mofo), especially the scene before they kill Goose's girlfriend. He's ranting and raving about about his nihilistic philosophy on life, and it includes such choice lines as, "Man that ain't nuthin' compared to the rush you can get when you're killin' somebody, man. When you're lookin' in their eyes and you're seein' all that life go right out of 'em. It's power." , "I hate people, man! I don't care. I don't give a sh*t. I don't give a sh*t about nuthin'. Man, all my life people have f*cked with me! I just f*ckin' hate people. And I don't care!....Awww! I'm the baddest mutherf*cker you ever seen, man!". Jim Van Bebber's name should be synonymous with Stuart Gordon, Frank Henenlotter and Sam Raimi; and it would be except that his output has unfortunately been minimal. After DEADBEAT AT DAWN (his first feature film) he made the short serial killer/cannibal film ROADKILL: THE LAST DAYS OF JOHN MARTIN in 1988, and another excellent short film called MY SWEET SATAN (based on real life killer Ricky Kasso) in 1993. He made another short film in 1994 called DOPER. He began his second feature film, CHARLIE'S FAMILY, in 1995, but due to lack of funding it remained unfinished until DVD distributor Blue Underground helped fund its completion in 2003; and it was finally released under the title THE MANSON FAMILY. Van Bebber has also directed music videos for the following artists: Skinny Puppy, Necrophagia, Pantera, and Superjoint Ritual. I would personally love to see him make the film CHUNK BLOWER, which he shot a 4 minute promo for back in 1990. It looks like a great film for slasher/splatter fans. Someone needs to give Van Bebber some funding. The man has talent.

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The Black Cat Review

Posted : 2 months, 3 weeks ago on 4 June 2008 10:04 (A review of The Black Cat)

Those looking for an accurate adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's short story should look elsewhere. About the only thing this film has in common with Poe's story is the fact that there is a black cat in the movie, and Lugosi's character is deathly afraid of black cats. If on the other hand you're looking for some great moments in classic horror, then you should definitely check out THE BLACK CAT. It stars both Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. I've seen a few films starring both horror legends together (THE RAVEN, THE INVISIBLE RAY, SON OF FRANKENSTEIN, and BLACK FRIDAY); but in my opinion THE BLACK CAT features the best performances of both actors together. They play so well off of each other in this film. The story concerns a young couple Peter (played by David Manners) and Joan (played by Jacqueline Wells) who are honeymooning in Hungary and traveling by way of the Orient Express. They share a train compartment with Dr. Vitus Werdegast (Bela Lugosi) is going back to his homeland to visit an "old friend", Hjalmar Poelzig (Boris Karloff). Dr Vitus relates a story to them of how he left his wife and daughter 18 years ago to go to war, and how he was captured and imprisoned for the last 15 years. Once they reach the train station, the three board a bus. In route to a hotel, the bus crashes and Joan is injured. Dr. Vitus decides to take them to Poelzig's estate which is within walking distance. The estate is a sprawling post-modern, futuristic (for the '30s anyway) fortress; which is later revealed to have been built by Poelzig on the ruins of the fort where Dr. Vitus was captured. It's an interesting setting and quite a departure from Universal's classic horror movies of the time, which were usually set in a gothic, cobweb-filled castle or mansion. There are some wonderful expressionist scenes throughout the movie using this "futuristic" house setting. It is revealed that Poelzig's (Karloff) traitorous actions were responsible for Dr. Vitus' (Lugosi) capture and imprisonment. After Vitus was imprisoned, Poelzig convinced Vitus' wife that he had died. Two years later she died of pneumonia (and Poelzig keeps her perfectly-preserved body in a concealed room in the house). Poelzig has married Vitus' daughter Karen (played by Lucille Lund), who he also keeps hidden in the house. Dr. Vitus has returned for revenge. Poelzig also happens to be a satanic high priest and is planning on sacrificing Joan in a ritual. Karloff as Poelzig is certainly sinister and is meant to be the "bad guy" of the movie. I really like the ambiguity of Lugosi's Dr. Vitus character. He seems almost as sinister as Karloff in some scenes, and you're not even sure if he's a "good guy" until near the end of the movie (and even then he manages to indulge in a little sadism in the conclusion).


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Love Object Review

Posted : 2 months, 3 weeks ago on 2 June 2008 10:38 (A review of Love Object)

I just watched this film again a couple days ago. I bought the DVD when it came out back in 2004, and I thought it was a very well done horror/thriller. What made me watch it again recently is because I just saw the movie LARS AND THE REAL GIRL. Both films have similar set-ups - a lonely introverted man buys a life-like sex doll for companionship. The introverts in both films are also attracted to a female co-worker. But this is where the similarity ends. LARS AND THE REAL GIRL is a decent, touching and lighthearted comedy/drama (and as such, it's not really my type of film). LOVE OBJECT on the other hand travels a much darker and more twisted path. The said introvert Kenneth (played by Desmond Harrington), becomes infatuated with female co-worker Lisa (played by Melissa Sagemiller). He orders a life-like sex doll from a website that lets you customize the doll. He of course endows it with all of Lisa's physical attributes. He also finds out personal information about Lisa (like what kind of music she likes, etc). When he finds out that she likes waltz, he goes so far as to buy a bondage harness from a sex shop so he can dance with the doll! If this sounds pretty creepy and disturbing don't worry - it gets even more twisted from here. I'm not going into the plot any further, because I don't like giving away too much. Those looking for gore won't find much here, and the sleaze-factor is held in check by the R-rating; but it's still an effective horror/thriller with some decent performances by all the actors involved. Speaking of the actors, Desmond Harrington will be familiar to horror fans as the male lead in the hillbilly splatter-fest WRONG TURN. There are also some great supporting roles, like Udo Kier as Kenneth's nosy apartment manager; and Rip Torn as Kenneth's boss. So if you've seen LARS AND THE REAL GIRL but thought that it could really benefit from some kink, sleaze, creepiness and dark humor then LOVE OBJECT is the movie for you.

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Review

Posted : 3 months ago on 28 May 2008 09:44 (A review of Inside)

Before I had heard anything about this French horror/thriller, I actually saw it sitting on the shelf of my local DVD outlet. I picked it up read the back and it seemed interesting; but it was released on the Dimension Extreme label here in the US, and their titles are pretty much hit or miss. I decided to wait. After having it recommended to me many times, I finally picked it up. I shouldn't have waited. Believe the hype! This movie delivers big time. If you're into splatter and gore (especially the realistic variety), then do not hesitate to get this movie. But it offers more than that. The story was very involving, the cinematography as well as the soundtrack was excellent, there was tension and suspense in some scenes, the actors performances ranged from adequate to excellent, and the ending didn't suck. The twist ending is nothing new to the horror/thriller genre, but ever since SAW was released outlandish twist endings have become de rigueur. And speaking of twist endings another French gore movie comes to mind - HIGH TENSION. I loved HIGH TENSION and I thought the ending was interesting, but it came so far out of leftfield that it became implausible and left lots of plot holes in the story. I'm thankful to say that INSIDE manages to avoid the outlandish twist ending cliché for the most part. A very astute viewer might be able to figure out where the ending is going, but I didn't see it coming; and when it did come it was believable enough. In closing, INSIDE is a very rewarding experience for jaded gorehounds (like myself) and for adventurous arthouse lovers (with strong stomachs).


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Requiem for a Franchise?

Posted : 3 months ago on 28 May 2008 05:11 (A review of AVP: Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem)

Requiem for a franchise? Probably not, seeing as how the ending of AVP-REQUIEM was set-up for another sequel (which is already in talks at 20th Century Fox). The best thing I can say about REQUIEM is that it's not quite as boring as the first one. There was at least a little more action in this sequel; but the movie was so darkly photographed that you couldn't really make out what was going on during the action sequences. There's hardly any character development either, so you don't care much about what happens to them. I don't usually mind this in a horror film, but if you're not going to have any real plot construction or character development then at least bring on the carnage and bloodshed. While it's true this movie has a little more gore than the first one, it's not nearly enough (considering the DVD is unrated). And most of the gore FX that are in the movie are ruined by the lighting (or lack of lighting). I'm a big fan of the Alien franchise and the Predator franchise, but so far I've been disappointed with both attempts at combining the two on film. For a much better combination of the franchises check out the Aliens vs. Predator series by Dark Horse Comics.

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"When the moon turns red, the dead shall rise!"

Posted : 3 months ago on 26 May 2008 07:16 (A review of Burial Ground)

*WARNING* - I probably give this movie way more credit (and star rating) than it deserves; but I can't help it, it's extremely nostalgic for me being that I saw it back in '86 (the year I became absolutely obsessed with horror after seeing Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD and Fulci's ZOMBIE for the first time). Made in Italy in 1980 by sleaze-master Andrea Bianchi, BURIAL GROUND is nothing more than an imitation of Lucio Fulci's ZOMBI 2 (aka ZOMBIE), which was released a year earlier. In fact BURIAL GROUND was originally released in some areas of Europe as ZOMBIE 3 to cash in on the international box office success of Fulci's ZOMBI 2; which itself was cashing in on the success of George Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD (released in Europe as ZOMBI). The scenario I just stated above is pretty much how the Italian exploitation film industry worked in the '80s. With the exception of the cannibal subgenre and the giallo film (which were distinctly Italian), most exploitation films made in Italy in the '80s were imitations of successful films from other countries. However, in my opinion the Italian "knock-offs" were often more entertaining and usually sleazier than the films they were imitating. Now on to the review. "When the moon turns red - the dead shall rise!". In the prologue an anthropologist, excavating a cave, is attacked and eaten by a zombie. Then the credits roll (over a suitably cheesy vocal soundtrack), and then the story follows a group of vacationers, staying at the anthropologist professor's mansion. Once these preliminaries are out of the way and all of the characters are introduced (don't expect much character development from this movie), the story settles into it's real function - to show as many disembowellings, gut-munchings, and assorted gore and gruesomeness as possible in 85 minutes. Most of the zombies in this movie are the usual Italian style oatmeal-faced, mummified corpses rather than the recently deceased. Thankfully the don't run. However, they're pretty handy with toolsl. As a potential victim is leaning out of a second story window, a zombie on the ground below throws a railroad spike which impales her hand to the side of the house; while another zombie raises a long scythe up to the window to decapitate her. Now that's efficiency. They also use axes and other assorted tools to chop down the doors of the mansion, where the remaining survivors are holed up. The "splinter-in-the-eye" scene from Fulci's ZOMBIE is imitated in this film as well; but instead of a huge splinter it's a jagged piece of broken glass! One of the zombified vacationers chows down on an incestuous kid who has run off because his mother slapped him after he tried to feel her up (here's the sleaze-factor I mentioned earlier). The mother finds the zombie eating her son, and bashes the zombies brains out on the side of a bathtub. The said kid comes back as a zombie later in the film, and the mother is so happy to see him that she changes her mind about the incest thing and bares her breast for him. Of course he takes a big chunk out of it (in one of the greatest splatter moments ever). By the way, the actor playing the kid was not really a kid at all but an adult actor named Peter Bark who was pretty small in stature and extrordinarily creepy looking. The zombified anthropologist professor shows up again and appears in one of the greatest zombie gut-munch scenes ever filmed. This movie has a genuine air of sleaziness to it as evidenced by the aforementioned scenes as well as a high level of splatter/gore. So in closing, if you're a fan of zombie cinema, splatter, and/or Italian horror and you haven't seen this film yet - what the hell are you waiting for! Go get it!

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