The Mist

Ah, away for too long again as usual.

Finally got around to watching "The Mist," something I have been meaning to do for a very long time now.

Luckily plot-wise the concept is pretty simple. A group of people in a small town become trapped in a grocery store when a strange mist surrounds the town. As giant man-eating insects become apparent in the fog and the group dwindles due to failed excursions for help, suicide and eventually murder, a man (Thomas Jane) tries to protect his son from a religious nut (played perfectly by Marcia Gay Harden) who wants to make the kid a sacrifice to god.

The point of the movie of-course is not the bugs, though those certainly are creepy. In the great-tradition of horror as social commentary, "The Mist" shows us that humans can be far more frightening even than enormous monsters from the (as it turns out) the fourth dimension as it takes less than 2 days for the good locals to start calling for blood sacrifices like its the year 1020.

What will really stick with you about this movie is the ending. Oh man what an awful, horrible, wonderful, painful, "what-the-fuck," Stephen-King-obviously-made-this, ending. (Which I will not give away at the moment but be prepared.)

Mostly I spent the movie thanking god that it wasn't made by M. Night Shymalan because its like something he would make only not as pretentious and at least mildly entertaining. (sorry to the Night fans out there) Because you know is this had been his movie you would have never seen things in the fog, never even known for sure if they were there or not, and then at the end it would have turned out to be global warming or something....

Shutter Island

So, contrary to popular belief, we do get out, and Pineapple and I went to see Shutter Island a week or two ago. It left me altogether pleased, but in it's style, that of a classic detective style work, it did seem slightly cliched to me. Nonetheless, the couple of hours you'll spend watching it are worth the time, movie theater or rental.

DiCaprio is finally becoming a man, and it shows here. His stubbled face caused Pineapple to whisper to me in the theater, "Aw, he looks like an adult there for a second." All jokes aside, he delivers the old-school, 1950s-style US Marshall perfectly. From his gruff manner to his chain-smoking (Can you tell we smoke as well? We seem to mention it a lot.), he fits that persona about as well as an oversized trenchcoat fits a 1950s US Marshall. The plot develops from the "disappearance" of one of the patients at Shutter Island's mental institution. As it spirals down, DiCaprio progressively collapses into a mess.

He devolves, spiraling until we find him to eventually be something different than he thinks. The beauty here is that he (DiCaprio) manages to straddle that line which sits between a fanatic and a crazy, and the supporting cast pushes that question wonderfully. All in all, I definitely recommend this one. It harkens back to the films of older days, and its slightly cliched ending actually lends itself to the simplicity of an older drama from an older day. Try not to laugh at how young Leo STILL looks, though.

I give it: 4/5

-Zombie

The Body Snatcher

After watching the Val Lewton double feature I decided to do a little research and found that for the tiny budget (even for the time) it is even more amazing that Val and his crew at RKO could create these little gems of movies. Apparently Lewton was insistent on authenticity and the songs we hear are contemporary Scottish folk songs and the wardrobe as well (the actors do sadly have American or British accents however.) Small touches like the fact that in one scene, in order to see something in a dark basement, the doctor calls out for someone to bring a candle. In a less thoughtful movie the deserted basement would have a couple of lanterns already lighted, or the set would be brightly lighted with no visible lanterns at all. A small thing but one that really speaks to Lewton's style.

Based on Robert Louis Stevenson's story of the same name the plot is rooted in time and the dialogue literate
Henry Daniell plays the complex role of a doctor-- proud of his medical skills but driven insane by that pride. Boris Karloff plays his ex-associate and now grave robber Mr. Gray, who turns to murder when bodies become hard to come by.

More macabre but just a tasteful as "I Walked With a Zombie" "The Body Snatcher" does not devolve into the gorefest that it would today. When Gray decided to kill an young street singer, there is no torture, no slashing, no entrails spilled. The little girl walks alone down a deserted cobblestone street at night, singing a melancholy tune as she goes. The camera is held on her as she walks under a bridge and disappears in the darkness on the other side. Without any cuts, Karloff's horse and coach enter the frame, plodding slowly along in the girl's wake. The coach disappears into the same darkness under the bridge. We hear the girl's carol cut off at the end of a note with a slight squeak. End of shot. Fantastic. I have no problem with gore, lots of it in fact but it is always refreshing to watch something that is honestly frightening without it and it does make you wonder if today's film makers could pull it off.
The genuine honesty and horror of the young med student Donald and the complex, torn, and jaded nature of the Doctor make for great contrasts between the idealism of youth and the compromises we make later in life.

In the end, the doctor wins a hand to hand fight with the grave-robber turned murder but goes mad and gallops furiously through the rainy night along muddy roads to disinter a new body for himself. As he drives into the night, MacFarlane hears thinks he hears Gray calling to him and orders Fettes to stop the carriage and examine the body. When Fettes steps out of the carriage and shines a light on the face of the corpse, MacFarlane thinks he sees Gray. At that moment, the horses spook and run away, plunging the carriage and its occupants over a cliff. Running to the wreck, Fettes observes MacFarlane's dead body with the corpse of a woman lying beside him.

As in "I Walked with a Zombie" there is a sense of something steadily growing. Here that sense is one of corruption.

Inspired by the real life event of Burke and Hare who are referenced in the movie this is another shorty at 79 minutes total running time.

Look for the scene with Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff (created solely for the ability to bill the two actors in one movie).

1408

I realized after that last one that I spend way to much time on synopsis and not enough on review so for 1408 (the one non-classic horror movie from our last round) I'll just send you the link to the IMDB synopsis.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450385/synopsis

So first of all, I'm not sure why it took me this long to see this movie, I mean, Samuel L. Jackson is in it and its in the horror section, where have I been?!

Overall I really liked this movie, despite John Cusak's odd expressions (maybe its just me but doesn't that guy make some super weird faces?) Samuel L. was resplendent as the hotel manager in a snazzy suit and a stern glare and the best part of the movie is that there was no explanation. This is not a poltergeist, a spell, an angry spirit that hasn't moved one, this is as Sam puts it "an evil fucking room." No one says why 1408, of all the many rooms in this hotel is evil but it sure as hell is. As the room takes Cusak on a trip into insanity you can really feel the desperation growing in his character, Mike. Another movie that takes place almost entirely in one room, the difference is that here there is no demon song and dance to relieve the feeling of dread that creeps in as you realize that Mike literally cannot leave the room. He can't climb out the window except to jump to his death, he can't climb through the air shaft and her certainly cant just open the door. He can't call or email for help and the room even uses him to lure another victim to the room, his estranged wife. The phone is answered by a cheery female voice that tells him that he can check out whenever me may like (the accommodating room then provides several nooses, should Mike be ready to check out) but he may never leave. Tormenting Mike with images of his dead daughter the room makes a believer out of a skeptic in no time. Most cruelly the room even creates an alternate reality for Mike, where he has left the room and is being taken care of by his wife, only to snatch it all back and leave him in a pile of ashes clutching his dying-yet-again daughter.

I am commonly plagued by mental questions when watching movies of this sort such as, "if the hotel manager was really so sure this room would kill Mike and he was really so worried about it, why didn't he clear the floor and have police or someone standing near, have someone come in every hour on the hour, etc etc" however at the end it is suggested that the manager invited Mike to the room and intended for him to destroy it, as he does. It is unclear however whether a simple fire would really have any power to destroy such an "evil fucking room." Is the manager going to leave it burned out? How is this any different than just not letting people into it? Why did they bother cleaning it if no one was going to stay in it?

These questions dont really hinder the movie, they just bug me.

Based on a Stephen King short story of the same name this movie really retains the feel of his work in which you can't question why, you just have to believe and be scared.

Again, not horrific by modern standards, 1408 was more mentally frightening that outwardly scary or gory. I never jumped, I never screamed, I never covered by eyes but I did go to bed with a feeling of unease and too many thoughts in my head. It's kind of like the idea of a personal hell, the room knows how to get to you and thats a scary thought. You get the feeling that had someone walked in Mike would have been sitting perfectly still in the still perfectly arranged room and that everything that occurred in the movie was entirely in his head and the idea of something being able to control your mind that strongly is terrifying.

There are two endings to this one so check them both out. One happy and one sad, both are ok but neither really gave the movie the final umph it needed to really shine, I personally would have been fine with one that left you hanging, Mike blows up the room and a big cloud of smoke and flame is the last thing you see before the credits role.

I Walked With a Zombie

A recent foray into the classics section at our local video store turned up some interesting finds in the horror genre. 1970's horror is the oldest Zombie or I had ever really given a chance so we decided to go back, way back to the 1940s with "I Walked With a Zombie" and "The Body Snatcher" a Val Lewton horror double feature.

"I Walked With a Zombie" has, according to the back of the box, "the gothic romance of Jane Eyre reset in the West Indies...and the overriding terror of the living dead." I agree with the first part of that statement but "terror" it lacked. Even given the early date of the film it was decidedly un-scary.

The movie focuses on a young Canadian nurse (Betsy) who comes to the West Indies to care for Jessica, the wife of a plantation manager (Paul Holland). Jessica seems to be suffering from a kind of mental paralysis as a result of fever. When she falls in love with Paul, Betsy determines to cure Jessica even if she needs to use a voodoo ceremony, to give Paul what she thinks he wants. Gradually we find that things are not quite right in the family as it becomes apparent over the course of the movie that Paul and his half-brother Wesley had both been in love with Jessica and she had set them against one another. Wesley blames Paul for Jessica's odd state, Wesley drinks too much and their mother, Mrs. Rand, a missionary widow is pretending to practice voodoo in order to get the natives to boil their water and take medicine. A local minstrel sings a song about "shame and sorrow in the family" in front of Wesley in a rather funny scene.

A trip to the voodoo home fort does nothing for Jessica other than prove to the natives and us that she is in fact, dead (or at least bloodless) when she is stabbed in a ceremony and does not bleed.

This event stirs up both an official inquest into Jessica's condition by the local government and calls from the natives that Jessica be returned to them for "ritual testing."

Eventually Mom confesses that she was angry at Jessica for breaking up her family and one night while playing voodoo she went too far and actually believed in and felt the spirits and asked them to curse Jessica. The doctor tells her that this is impossible because Jessica was never dead, only very sick but he doesn't know that she was unconscious as one point. Wesley believes that Jessica is dead and as she is lured toward the fort by a dancing Sabreur with a voodoo doll (for purposes seemingly sinister but unknown to us) Wesley, in an attempt to free her from her state, open the gate and lets her shuffle off towards the beach. Then — perhaps prompted by the Sabreur, although this is never made clear — Wesley pulls an arrow from a statue and follows her. As the Sabreur stabs the doll with a pin, Wesley thrusts the arrow into Jessica. He then carries her into the sea as the bug-eyed native Zombie Carre-Four follows, staring blindly into the night.

Later, the natives discover the bodies of Jessica and Wesley floating in the surf and carry them back to the plantation

Though certainly not a traditional "zombie" movie in the sense of the flesh-eating, decaying corpses we all know and love, "I Walked with a Zombie" was first rate in other ways an is probably a more accurate idea of the Voodoo Zombie as someone who has had their mind-erased, unfeeling, unthinking and unresponsive except to commands.

Most importantly for me it is a beautiful film. Low-key acting, quick and smart dialogue, fantastic lighting and lovely costumes make for an atmospheric and erie movie that I would more rightly call mystery than horror. Poetic, spooky and suggestive, as the doctor says as one point "she makes a beautiful zombie."

The movie is often and rightfully praised for the mostly accurate, complex and un-stereotyped way in which the native are portrayed, a rarity even in later film making. The name of the native zombie Carre-Four means crossroads and is the name of a real voodoo loa or spirit.

Ambiguity is central to the film, as we are never entirely sure if the voodoo is real or only a strong power of suggestion. Personally I think it is the Sabreurs voodoo that lures Jessica and Wesley to their deaths but it is not obvious or certain.

Two final notes: look for the tongue-in-cheek warning that reads "The characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictional. Any similarity to actual persons, living, dead, orpossessed, is purely coincidental."

A song of the same name was written by The 13th Floor Elevators and covered by Athens natives REM, if you'd like to sing along the words are "I walked with a zombie, last night" repeat for 3:13!

Final Word: Don't let the silly name fool you this is a smart movie worth seeing especially at only 69 minutes.

Lo

Lo is a tricky one. It's budget was low, but for the entertainment it provided, the world is better for it. The film is smart, and fraught with every emotion from humor to a kind of dispelling sadness about out world. And it takes place entirely in one room.

The main character loses his girlfriend to a Nazi demon named Jeez, but not after clawing his eyes out. In our protagonist's attempts to get her back, he utilizes a mysterious, Necronomicon-esque book to summon the demon Lo and send him back into hell to find her. The smoker's cough rasp of Lo's voice (no, really, this demon chain-smokes throughout the film) lends itself to the down-to-earth (ironically enough) atmosphere of the film. From here, a sense of comedy takes over, with Jeez performing a song with a full band, high school prom style, and Lo bringing up two lost souls, who both agree to fuck the main character if he will remove them from their torment. And did I mention the ENTIRE movie takes place in one room? The protagonist spends the whole of the film, save the last 30 seconds, inside of a pentagram-inscribed circle to protect himself from Lo, who affectionately refers to him not by his real name, but by "Dinner".

Though low in budget, Lo manages to take a comedic approach to the occult (which always has a soft place in my heart), and turn tide at the end to demonstrate that even a demon can love. I would recommend any fan of the occult or magick watch this, but it can be fun for the masses at large as well, and its intelligence surpasses that of many Hollywood-budget movies. Check this one out, if you can find it.

I give it: 4/5

-Zombie

Review-"Phenomena" (Dario Argento)

So Zombie introduced me to the great Dario Argento with "Profondo Rosso" (1975) which I enjoyed but, honestly didn't get. The plot was so confounded and I had not yet become accustomed to the fact that with Argento, lets face it, plot is not the point. It took me a few movies ("Suspiria," "Do You Like Hitchcock") to get the tone of Argento and now I have found my personal favorite.

"Phenomena" (1985) is completely over the top and I love it. Set near a Swiss boarding school the film features a nubile (and frighteningly only 15-yeard old) Jennifer Connelly as Jennifer Corvino, the daughter of a famous actor.Unbeknownst to Jennifer someone is killing young girls near the school but when her French, chain-smoking roommate Sophie goes missing Jennifer becomes concerned. At some point in the film, with the help of the Scottish (yes, in Switzerland) entomologist Prof. John McGregor, (who conveniently is working with authorities on the disappearance of another girl who used to work with him) Jennifer realizes that she can communicate with insects (oh and she also sleepwalkes.) McGregor is confined to a wheelchair and has a pet monkey, Inga, that serves as a sort of nurse and butler... keep this monkey in mind my friends!

After many outrageous scenes, such as when Jennifer calls down a swarm of insects to scare her taunting school-mates or when she is led to the recently deserted house of the killer by a Sarcophagus Fly or gets imprisoned at school for being supposedly insane (or...the list goes on), Jennifer decides she has had enough and would like to go home.

A lady from the school, Frau Brückner, comes to get her, saying that it has all been arranged and Jennifer is to come with her until the morning when she will take her to the airport. We all know this is a bad idea but Jennifer goes none the less. This is the point at which the viewer begins to feel slightly like they are watching an episode of Scooby-Doo as it becomes obvious that the Frau, one of the first characters introduced in the movie is the killer. She tries to poison Jennifer who is too smart but does manage to kill the inspector who had come to her "rescue." At one point, Jennifer falls in a vat of bodies, maggots, and goop that was so revolting I literally gagged. The nearly final twist comes when the Frau's hideously disfigured son chases Jennifer from the house after she tried to console him (his back was turned of course) seemingly in an attempt to eat her.

The movie climaxes with Jennifer in a very "Camp Crystal Lake-ish" boat trying to beat back the cannibal-goblin boy into the water before she again calls on her insect friends who EAT HIS FACE, (yes, he gets even uglier) and leaving him to drown in the water. On the shore, an exhausted Jennifer is met by her fathers attorney who is promptly decapitated by a not-dead-yet Frau Bruckner with a piece of sheet metal! As Bruckner stands over Jennifer with the sheet metal at her throat the most exciting ending of cinematic history is about to occur...wait for it....THE MONKEY SAVES THE DAY! Yes, remember Inga? Well at some point in the story a distraught Inga (oh yea, I forgot to tell you McGregor dies too) finds a straight razor in a trashcan and just happens to hold onto it while searching for Jennifer and then finds her and slices the Frau repeatedly in the back! Yes, you are not hallucinating, and I am not lying guys. Insects, Jennifer Connelly and a monkey with a straight razor, all hail Dario Argento!

*P.S. I am 100% serious about this, I was so excited I got up and high-fived my television set.