John’s Horror Corner: Isolation (2005), an Irish farmhouse horror about monster cow fetuses and a genetic experiment-gone-wrong.
MY CALL: This is a really great gore-slathered creature feature which, above all, is even written and directed and acted impressively as well. Strongly recommended to fans of gory creature features. MORE MOVIES LIKE Isolation: For more Irish horror movies check out Leprechaun Origins (2014), Leprechaun 2 (1994), Leprechaun (1993), Rawhead Rex (1986), Grabbers (2012), Cherry Tree (2015), Holidays (2016; St. Patrick’s Day segment), The Hallow (2015) and Hole in the Ground (2019). And for more remote mutating monster movies, go for Black Sheep (2006), Splinter (2008), Blood Glacier (2013), Harbinger Down (2015) and Life (2017).
I don’t know how many films have ever produced major scenes out of animal husbandry, but this movie begins with over 20 minutes dedicated to the rather graphic obstetric treatment (of a cow) and subsequent birth scene (of a calf). And dare I say, it was kind of intense watching our farmer (John Lynch; Black Death, Hardware) and veterinarian (Essie Davis; The Babadook) at work. There are liquid sloshing drippy sounds and birthing goop and an afterbirth-slick calf. The farmer actually gets his hand gorily mangled in the process (I won’t say how, you’ll have to watch). And right after all this, we roll into a moderately intense scene with the newborn calf and mother cow, and then a rather disgusting “post-partem” examination. This movie is off to a bold start! LOL
Reminiscent of a gore-slathered chestburster (Alien), slimy squirming mutant fetuses dissected from the mother cow’s body during an autopsy prove to be more viable than the veterinarian had estimated. Two nearby mobile-home squatters Jamie (Sean Harris; Deliver Us from Evil, Prometheus) and Mary (Ruth Negga; Preacher, World War Z) get pulled into the plot as early as the birth of the inordinately large calf, a product of large offspring syndrome, a genetic abnormality caused by a genetic experiment led by a shady scientist (Marcel Iures; The Cave) to produce beef and dairy more efficiently. And there’s the ‘farm macabre’ basis for your horror movie!
Conceptually, this wanders deep into the territory of The Thing (1982) with sociological fears of ‘the other’, infectious potential, the need to prevent its spread to civilization and gloppety-gook mutant gore. I was quite pleased with the creature effects and chunky blood’n’guts quality. We see the creature in numerous scenes and in different aspects and life stages as it scampers around the farm and matures a la Alien (1979).
Writer and director Billy O’Brien (The Hybrid, I Am Not a Serial Killer) delivers engaging pacing, decent photography and a solid cast. The writing is smooth and things stay interesting and tense throughout this dark and very messy, deliciously gross gorefest. Without a dull moment, this makes for an excellent popcorn fright night flick.
This movie is actually pretty good! Not only that, it’s quite credibly delivered (given its premise), which isn’t to be expected of a film with such abundant monster and gore scenes. Whether you enjoy jumpy creature features or gore-oozing flicks, this comes highly recommended!
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John’s Horror Corner: Blue Sunshine (1977), a weird drug-induced oddity of 70s cinema.
MY CALL: Don’t see this because it’s good—it’s not. But it is an intriguing horror oddity of the 70s and that alone makes it worth one viewing for completists. MORE MOVIES LIKE Blue Sunshine: For more drug-induced horror, try Bliss (2019) or Climax (2018). Although those movies feel like you’re on drugs whereas Blue Sunshine is just about the effects of the drugs.
IMDB—”A bizarre series of murders begins in Los Angeles, where people start going bald and then become homicidal maniacs. But could the blame rest on a particularly dangerous form of LSD called Blue Sunshine the murderers took ten years before?”
Perhaps a trend of the decade (e.g., Shivers, The Crazies), people are becoming psychotic for no apparent reason. They become edgy, aggressive and flat out murderous. Other than their overt behavior, the only symptom seems to be inexplicable hair loss resulting in advanced clumpy baldness. And once that hair comes off, the afflicted behave somewhere between Frankenstein’s monster and a 28 Days Later (2002) rage zombie.
The cause of this homicidal mania is traced back to a bad batch of LSD a bunch of classmates took at Stanford ten years ago. And, for some reason, after ten years it makes you go made like something out of The Happening (2008) or The Signal (2007). As manic as that sounds, this movie plays out far more like a mystery-thriller than horror.
This film also really drags. The content is intriguing, but the pacing is soporific. When the occasional “action” scene comes along, it’s not very exciting, suspenseful or scary; nor is there any gore beyond some blood pooling beside a dead body. Writer and director Jeff Lieberman (Squirm, Satan’s Little Helper, Just Before Dawn) needed to inject more urgency into this thing.
Overall this was a pretty boring but kinda’ neat oddity of the 70s. It falls in league with The Visitor (1979), another such oddity that I neither recommend nor rave over yet was glad I saw it for the simple sake of doing so.
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast #253: Vertical Limit, Long Jumps and Bill Paxton
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The MFF podcast is back, and this week we’re talking about the mountain climbing sorta-classic Vertical Limit. Released in 2000, and directed by Martin Campbell (Goldeneye, Casino Royale) this movie tells the tale of an insanely dangerous rescue mission on the K2 summit. It’s a fun film that features excellent location work, gigantic jumps, and a young Ben Mendelsohn. In this episode, we discuss mountain dew explosives, broken fingers and a very slimy Bill Paxton. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast make sure to send in some random listener questions so we can do our best to not answer them correctly. We thank you for listening and hope you enjoy the episode!
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean,or Spreaker.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
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John’s Horror Corner: The House on Sorority Row (1982), another forgettable “classic” slasher movie without one good on-screen death scene.
MY CALL: Another “classic” not worthy of the term. Crappy death scenes, nearly goreless, yet surprisingly impressive overall production value. Go figure. MORE MOVIES LIKE The House on Sorority Row: For more sorority horror, try Black Christmas (1974), The Initiation (1984), Black Christmas (2006) and Happy Death Day (2017). However, I’d skip the remake Sorority Row (2009).
Excited to move on to the next step in their lives, high society sorority girls Katherine (Kate McNeil; Monkey Shines), Morgan, Diane (Harley Jane Kozak; Arachnophobia), Vicki (Eileen Davidson; The Last Sharknado), Liz, Jeanie and Stevie are planning their graduation party. But when their crotchety House mother Slater won’t allow the celebration, the girls take matters into their own hands with a good old-fashioned sorority prank. Only, no surprise, the prank is taken way too far and goes horribly wrong… killing Slater!
But the party must go on, right? So the girls hide Slater’s body and go about their celebrations only to be picked off one by one by a killer. But wait! Who could the killer be?
I must come clean. I didn’t expect much from this movie—I expected exploitative 80s slasher garbage (like Unhinged). Yet much to my surprise, the score, editing and production value all greatly exceed my expectations. Just in the first five minutes it’s quite evident how much care went into the filmmaking. That said, for all the care that went into this, very little such care is attended to the death scenes. The kills are incredibly basic and, with little exception, largely off-screen… making for a big disappointment in the horror department. Dare I contest a ‘classic’, but the third act revelation isn’t as exciting as you’d hope either.
Writer/director Mark Rosman (Mutant, The Invader) does what he can to garner some cheap thrills (i.e., nudity, sex scene) and create a great horror movie framework. But he doesn’t seem to be trying all that hard to elicit scares. Sigh.
Despite noticeable efforts, this movie failed in the most important component: the horror. It’s perfectly watchable, but not something I’d recommend. Moreover, I wouldn’t recommend the reimagining/remake Sorority Row (2009), which is thankfully better in terms of jump-scares and kills, but by comparison to its source material “better” doesn’t really signify much.
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast #252: Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Blood Explosions and Fried Chicken
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker. (or wherever you listen to podcasts…..we’re almost everywhere)
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The MFF podcast is back, and this week we’re talking about the criminally underrated Dracula: Dead and Loving It. We love this Mel Brooks directed spoof, and think it deserves more recognition because it’s a loving and hilarious take on classics such as Dracula (1931), Nosferatu (1922), Dracula (1958), and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992). In this episode, we discuss fried chicken, blood explosions, shady shadows and hair wigs. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast make sure to send in some random listener questions so we can do our best to not answer them correctly. We thank you for listening and hope you enjoy the episode!
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean,or Spreaker.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
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Portrait of a Lady on Fire is an excellent film full of heartbreaking moments, beautiful vistas and wonderful performances. I know I’m using a lot of adjectives here, however, I can’t help but heap praise onto this film. Directed by Celine Sciamma (Girlhood, Water lilies) Portrait of a Lady on Fire tells the story of a painter named Marianne (Noemie Merlant) being commissioned to paint the wedding portrait of a woman named Heloise (Adele Haenel) on a remote island in 1770 France. What follows is a story about love, loss and art.
The cinematography by Claire Mathon (Atlantics – which also looks great) is wonderful, and I love how she framed each shot like a painting. After watching the movie, I dove into research to see how she achieved the look of the film because I loved how unique it looked. Mathon used the Red Monstro 7K with Leica Thalia lenses to create her own “18th century (AKA 2018th century) look, which I love because it avoids the traps of a flat-looking period piece that relies on predictable production design and excessive color grading to give it an old fashioned look. Here is what she had to say to IndieWire about the look:
“The choice of shooting format was discussed at a very early stage. Tests combining a 35mm/Leica Summilux and a Red Monstro/Leica Thalia gave an analogue reference for the grading of the digital images and made us choose the Red Monstro for the personification and presence that emerged from the first faces filmed. Even though Celine Sciamma’s film relates to the memory of a love story that took place in the 18th century, we did not want to highlight this dimension but, on the contrary, invent our own 18th century (our 2018th century)” with a contemporary echo.”
“The precision and very rich colors give a pictorial dimension to the film. The rendering of the skin tones was essential in my work on this film full of faces and portraits. Inspired in particular by Corot’s intimate portraits, I sought both softness and a slightly satiny, unrealistic rendering while remaining natural and very vibrant.”
To showcase the excellent cinematography, here are some GIFs to give you an idea of the look of Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
You should watch this movie on the biggest screen possible so you can be immersed in the story, look and vibe of the film. You will love it, and you won’t regret it!
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VFW: An Excellent Action-Thriller That Brings the Violent Goods
When I first heard about the Joe Begos (Bliss, Almost Human) directed VFW in 2019, I knew I had to watch it. I was sold on the idea of Stephen Lang (Avatar, Don’t Breathe), William Sadler (Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight), Fred Williamson (From Dusk Till Dawn), Martin Cove (The Karate Kid) and David Patrick Kelly (The Warriors) battling drug-addled “zombies” who storm their VFW to recover a backpack loaded with a drug called Hype. The movie didn’t disappoint, and I knew I loved it during the initial siege when various “Hypers” have their heads smooshed into oblivion (think a watermelon stuffed with lasagna and cherry syrup). VFW is a neon-drenched siege thriller that is refreshingly straight-forward and always entertaining.
The film takes place in a near-future that is overrun by drug addiction, poverty and violence. The drug “Hype” has turned users into “zombies” who are totally fine jumping off buildings (and exploding when they land) to get a fix. The drug trade is controlled by Boz (Travis Hammer), a leather-clad drug lord who is looking to keep up with the incredible demand (not a bad thing for a drug dealer). However, his latest shipment is stolen by a kid named Lizard (Sierra McCormick) and everything goes to a very bloody hell as he and his second-in-command Gutter (Dora Madison) send an army of “zombies” to recover the “face-liquefying” drugs inside a local VFW, which is filled with soldiers who are supposedly “good at dying.”
What follows is an excellent and refreshingly straight-forward siege thriller that features head-squishing violence, excellent cinematography by Mike Testin (the handheld camera work keeps you in the action), and a likable group of badass veterans beating people to death with baseball bats. Joe Begos follow up to Bliss (one of our favorite horror movies of 2019. Watch it on Shudder) is an excellent example of low-budget, big stakes film making that stretches it’s budget to the limit while never showing its limitations. It’s a legitimate throwback that looks grungy, feels grungy and is unapologetic about being grungy (this is a good thing). There is no gloss or shine, this is a dark and violent story of veterans engaging in one final war.
If you are looking for a straight-forward and ultra-violent siege thriller that has an excellent synth score, you will love VFW.
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John’s Horror Corner: Unhinged (2017), an equally lame remake of the forgettable 1982 exploitation slasher film.
MY CALL: Ooof. Every bit as regrettably bad as its 1982 predecessor. Terrible remake; terrible horror flick. Why even bother…? MORE MOVIES LIKE Unhinged: For more rural outings-gone-wrong, try The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), Frontiers (2007), The Damned (2013) and Tusk (2014). Also, maybe try the original Unhinged (1982), not that it’s any better than this weak remake.
On their way to a wedding, four friends find themselves stuck in woodsy rural England. So, low on gas and seeking help, Melissa (Kate Lister; Fox Trap, The Final Scream, Curse of the Scarecrow, Mandy the Doll, Suicide Club), Lisa (Lucy-Jane Quinlan; The Cutting Room, The Carrier, Cage, 60 Seconds to Die), Gina (Becca Hirani; Lucifer’s Night, Deadly Waters, House on Elm Lake, Mother Krampus, The Bad Nun) and Thalia (Lorena Andrea; Warrior Nun, House on Elm Lake) find a lonely old house occupied by Miss Perkins (Michelle Archer; Let’s Go Home, Curse of the Witch’s Doll, Mother Krampus).
Honoring the 1982 original is that the acting in this ranges from very bland to terrible. Did you happen to read the movie titles in parentheses in the previous paragraph? Whereas the 1982 original had an entirely inexperienced cast, this remake seems to have targeted only actresses with abundant experience… in B-movies, none of which I knew existed.
REMAKE/REIMAGINING SIDEBAR: For more horror remakes, I strongly favor the following: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), An American Werewolf in London (1981), The Thing (1982), The Fly (1986), The Mummy (1999), The Ring (2002), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), The Hills Have Eyes (2006), Friday the 13th (2009), Let Me In (2010), Evil Dead (2013), Carrie (2013), The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014), It (2017), Suspiria (2018) and Child’s Play (2019). Those to avoid include Body Snatchers (1993; the second remake), War of the Worlds (2005), The Invasion (2007; the third remake), Night of the Demons (2009), Sorority Row (2009), A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), Patrick: Evil Awakens (2013), Poltergeist (2015), Cabin Fever (2016) and The Mummy (2017). I’m on the fence about An American Werewolf in Paris (1997), The Grudge (2004), Halloween (2007), It’s Alive (2009), My Bloody Valentine (2009), Fright Night (2011), The Thing (2011; a prequel/remake), Maniac (2012) and Pet Sematary (2019), which range from bad to so-so (as remakes) but still are entertaining movies on their own.
Writer and director Dan Allen (Mummy Reborn) had only done short films leading to this remake, and he should have stuck to them. Attempts to make this remake “fresh and different” include stronger criminal themes, protagonist relationship drama, an odd wedding dress fixation, and deeper psychological parallels into Psycho (1960) with a sprig of the preternatural. None of it works. And the scare tactics employed in the final act fall into incomprehensibly stupid territory as I constantly wondered “but… why would the killer do any of this?”
Something especially odd about this remake is that we see a murder, then the screen says 35 years later—which is the disparity between the 1982 original and this 2017 remake—as if to suggest this was actually perhaps a sequel to the events of the original. We have also switched from a regal mansion (Unhinged 1982) to a somewhat weathered house (2017) in the woods.
The death scenes are totally phoned-in, with nothing interesting, scary, shocking or gory occurring on-screen. The final death was much bloodier, but still very weak. Even the torture scene was weak. That stupid mask the killer wore was a cheap and stupidly convenient tactic. A better filmmaker would have better utilized light, darkness, a thicker veil or a sneakier killer to keep their face obscured from victims.
The most satisfying scene, in terms of “gore”, was a scared girl vomiting. And the best part of the film were its final moments, which were actually pleasantly cheeky (i.e., dry cleaner scene). But those two scenes—at a combined 10-15 seconds of the film’s running time—were the best that was offered. I may have never before seen a remake with such low production value. Do yourself a favor and don’t watch this.
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MY CALL: An early slashersploitation movie that packs good ideas, but backs them with not one ounce of worthy execution. MORE MOVIES LIKE Unhinged: For more rural outings-gone-wrong, try The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Wrong Turn (2003), Frontiers (2007), The Damned (2013) and Tusk (2014). Also, maybe try the remake of Unhinged (2017), not that it’s any better than this original.
After crashing their car on a rural road in the woods, three college girls awaken in the wealthy Ms. Penrose’s remote home. Now house guests of the elderly Ms. Penrose and her daughter, the girls uncomfortably witness the psychological abuse imposed from elder mother to daughter. Their Bates-ian toxic relationship is palpable and the girls are stuck until their care can be recovered.
The atmosphere tends toward Black Christmas (1974) as a stalker skulks around, spying on the women, heavily panting in the darkness. The girls catch onto this fast but have little action to take—the mansion has no phones, they have no car, and they’re nowhere near the next town.
The pacing is slow, with only one death in first 60 minutes. The killer uses a scythe and garden sheers (and other stabbing implements) and the death scenes are quite bloody, but the killing action occurs off-screen. So the death scenes are nothing special, nor are they intense.
Leading a generally inexperienced cast, writer and director Don Gronquist (The Devil’s Keep) didn’t get much work after this film. But I’ll give him some credit. He tried… emulating the peeping Tom’s eye through the light of the door slit from Black Christmas (1974), the Leatherface-esque mouth-breathing, and the Psycho-inspired (1960) genderplay. The acting, however, is devastatingly wooden despite clear attempts to keep the dialogue thoughtful.
This film was banned in the United Kingdom, but one may struggle to discern the logic behind that—unless it was to spare us from the acting. Perhaps because this classy flick opens with a very revealing (and long) shower scene, and yet another equally long and graphic shower scene later. There’s almost never a “good” reason to include a shower scene. But these don’t even stage any stalking, peeping, suspenseful shots or death scenes. They’re just… there.
I often enjoy watching older and less popular horror. But this entry simply had nothing to offer. The kills weren’t fun or shocking, the twist was weakly delivered (although interesting in concept), and the movie never really had its own style or feel to it. Shame.
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The MFF podcast is back, and this episode we’re talking about the 1994 cult classic Street Fighter. If you are looking for one of the weirdest (and awesome) action films ever made, you’ve come to the right place. Directed by prolific writer Steven de Souza (Die Hard, Commando, Predator), Street Fighter is underrated film that features inspired production design, memorable monologues and stealth boats that are in no way stealthy. In this episode, we discuss street fights, self portraits and calling out the kicks you’re about to throw.
If you are a fan of the podcast make sure to send in some random listener questions so we can do our best to not answer them correctly. We thank you for listening and hope you enjoy the episode!
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean,or Spreaker.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
Movies, Films & Flix 