John’s Horror Corner: Smile (2022), a very well-made, pleasant surprise rich in creepiness and fun startling jumpiness.
MY CALL: Very well-made, very well-produced, very entertaining, very creepy movie. It wasn’t riveting or wowing. But it is a solid popcorn horror good for jumps, atmosphere, creep factor and gore. MORE MOVIES LIKE Smile: Lights Out (2016) is another highly satisfying, very jumpy and creepy, well-executed popcorn horror.
After witnessing the death of our first victim (Caitlin Stasey; All Cheerleaders Die) I am awash with awkward tension. A woman with an almost too big of a smile lacerates her face and throat, never breaking her intense smiling gaze while bleeding a river down her chest. Scenes like this are not rare in horror. But with the excellent performances of the entire cast, on-point editing and solid direction, the execution is what makes it so strong. And there’s a great strength of this horror film, it’s very well-produced and intuitively executed. Everything makes for an unnervingly creepy atmosphere, and I enjoy basking in it, awaiting my next startle.
After witnessing this suicide in the middle of an emergency psychiatric assessment, Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon; 13 Reasons Why) is haunted by exaggerated sinister smiles that gradually drive her insane. But as she clings to her remaining sanity, she must learn the reason and pattern behind the suicide she witnessed so that she can escape the same macabrely grinning fate. All the while her boss (Kal Penn; American Horror Story) and husband (Jessie T. Usher; The Boys) offer no aid or understanding of her unique malady, so she reluctantly accepts the help of her detective ex-boyfriend (Kyle Gallner; The Cleansing Hour, The Cleanse, Jennifer’s Body).
What unravels is a pattern of death much like The Ring (2002), One Missed Call (2008) or It Follows (2015). The polymorphism of our evil entity harkens of It Follows (2015), whereas its appearance is unmistakably similar to the demonic possessions in Truth or Dare (2018). And while nothing about this film feels unique, creative or especially different, it’s just made so well! And therein is what makes it feel fresh to the genre.
The visuals are effective. We enjoy one of the most mangled faces since that first victim in The Ring (2002), one of the most pendular neck swings since Terrified (2017), a gangly-limbed horror, an outstanding and gory face peeling scene, and a variety of other shocking imagery. The gore is just frequent enough, and the gaps therebetween are compensated by tactful, well-executed jump scares after slow builds in tension.
Writer and director Parker Finn’s first feature film is a creepy, jumpy success, whose greatest strength is execution. I was quite entertained by this very well-made, very well-produced, very creepy movie. It wasn’t riveting or wowing. But it is a solid popcorn horror good for jumps, atmosphere, creep factor and gore. More importantly, I can’t wait to see what Parker Finn does next!
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 464: Troll (2022), Monster Movies, and Large Rocks
You can download or stream the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker (or wherever you listen to podcasts…..we’re almost everywhere).
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Mark and Zanandi (@ZaNandi on Twitter) discuss the 2022 creature feature Troll. Directed by Roar Uthaug, and starring Ine Marie Wilmann, Mads Sjøgård Pettersen, Kim Falck, and a gigantic troll, the movie focuses on what happens when an ancient monster starts strolling across Norway. In this episode, they also talk about troll movies, likable monsters, and church bells. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions (we love random questions). We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker.
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John’s Horror Corner: The Hills Run Red (2009), a pleasant surprise of a grimy, gritty, gory slasher wrapped up in a movie within the movie.
MY CALL: The raunchiness and gory feistiness of Wrong Turn 3 (2009) meet the brutal, grimy Leatherface of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) in this unexpectedly pleasant surprise. The writing and acting may feel more than a bit unpracticed, but this movie still does an excellent job delivering the goods from story, pacing and over-the-top villainy to mean, gritty gore and wild twists.
Most likely inspired by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and aiming to take its grotesque themes to the next level, the opening scenes of this movie are successfully wincing in this bloody, flesh-snipping endeavor with graphic imagery of visceral self-mutilation.
After the release and subsequent ban of a sadistic slasher movie in 1982, no sign of any film prints nor cast members nor even the director Wilson Wyler Concannon (William Sadler; The Grudge, VFW, Ava’s Possessions, Tales from the Crypt) were ever found. Determined to find the long-lost original film, Tyler (Tad Hilgenbrink) sets out to make a documentary of his investigation as he visits each 1982 filming site. After recruiting the filmmaker’s daughter Alexa Concannon (Sophie Monk; Blood Feast), Tyler is joined by his girlfriend Serina (Janet Montgomery; Salem, Wrong Turn 3) and friend Lalo (Alex Wyndham; Yellowjackets) to pursue this project.
Visiting one site at a time, they interview locals and people who saw the movie back in 1982 as they trek deeper into the woods and farther from humanity. We also enjoy gory flashback recounts of the lost movie’s scenes as they arrive to locations of death scenes. The “tree scene” is grotesque and reminds me of the gory, booby trap feistiness to be found in Wrong Turn 2-3 (2007, 2009).
Something that took me aback is that this movie features a LOT of nudity. So much, in fact, that I was highly skeptical of the quality of the film to come. It’s not unlike when an adult filmmaker tries his hand at horror, but sticks to what he knows to an uncomfortable degree. However, much to my surprise, this movie needed no such thing. Yes, there’s a lot of completely gratuitous nudity; so much that it doesn’t make sense sometimes. Yet, this is a substantially entertaining horror film all on its own. It never needed these cheap tactics.
Director Dave Parker (Tales of Halloween, Puppet Master: Doktor Death) combines the raunchiness and gory feistiness of Wrong Turn 3 (2009) and the brutal, grimy Leatherface of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) in this really pleasant surprise of a movie! Among the gore, we see a meat hook-impaled victim ripped in half at the middle, a menagerie of elaborately mangled corpses, a vile and long torture scene, and various acts of brutal bloody violence.
The Babyface killer (Danko Jordanov; Wrong Turn 6) is a dark force of nature, with an incredibly creepy cracked mask. His hair and skin harken of Jason Voorhees whereas his mask, behavior and backstory smack more of Leatherface’s origin. When this hulk springs into action, he is fast, agile, skilled and shocking. Any gorehound ought to be quite pleased with this.
The writing and much of the acting is B-movie quality (but more by inexperience than just plain badness), and the story takes some wildly interesting turns. Truth be told, I wasn’t wowed with the twists within, but it didn’t matter. I was still very entertained by this movie overall, from the plot points and back story to the death scenes. The end is a fun, bloody, double-crossing free for all. Very fun watch for gorehounds and fans of the The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) (and sequels) and Wrong Turn 2-5 (2007-2012).
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 463: Scream 3, Parker Posey, and Trilogies
You can download or stream the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker (or wherever you listen to podcasts…..we’re almost everywhere).
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome.
Mark and Zanandi (@ZaNandi on Twitter) discuss the 2000 horror sequel Scream 3. Directed by Wes Craven, and starring Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette and the always great Parker Posey, the movie focuses on what happens when the Scream franchise goes to Hollywood. In this episode, they also talk about costume design, excessive screaming and the brilliance of Parker Posey. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions (we love random questions). We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker.
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MY CALL: Right up there with Fulci’s Zombie (1979), all three films in Lucio Fulci’s “Gates of Hell” trilogy (this being one of them) are delightfully gory affairs. A must-see for gorehounds who desire to cover their influential horror of the 80s.
This movie gets off to a gruesome start right away with a horribly mangled body and a stab “through” the back of the head (Daniela Doria; The Black Cat, City of the Living Dead, The New York Ripper) and out the mouth! Gorehounds will delight in this deliciously gross film.
Along with their young boy Bob (Giovanni Frezza; Manhattan Baby, Demons, A Blade in the Dark), Norman (Paolo Malco; The New York Ripper, Demons 3) and Lucy (Catriona MacColl; City of the Living Dead, The Beyond) rent a New England home at the edge of a cemetery. There for Norman’s academic research, it is readily apparent that Norman knows more about the house than he is letting on to his wife. He is there to continue the research of the late Dr. Peterson, who was researching a turn-of-the-century surgeon known for his questionable practices: Dr. Freudstein (Giovanni De Nava; Murder Rock).
We find suspicious warnings of the dangers ahead from a local little girl Mae (Silvia Collatina; Murder Rock, The Great Alligator) and their babysitter Ann (Ania Pieroni; Inferno, Tenebrae), who also secretively seems to be up to something in the old Freudstein house. And if that shouldn’t be enough to scare someone away, not only does the cemetery encroach the yard and driveway of the house, but Freudstein’s sarcophagus is in the floor of the house.
Of course, the more time spent in the house, the more weird and dire things develop. There is a comically insane, over-the-top scene involving a manic bat attack and the extremely bloody dispatching of the bat. Blood bubbles and spurts and sprays across the room and paints the floor. Fulci certainly had fun with this one. The plentiful corpses in this movie are so mangled and gross with chunky, scrappy wounds. As hokey as some of the stabbery may appear by today’s standards, I’m thrilled by how much of it is fully showcased on-screen. This movie also features one of the grossest, “most maggoty” stabs ever. And when we finally see him, Dr. Freudstein is a monstrosity.
This seems to be on the more coherent side of director Lucio Fulci’s (Demonia, City of the Living Dead, Zombie, The Beyond) filmography. But regardless of its comprehensibility (as some prefer the zany incomprehensible Italian horror fare more), this was a pleasant, fun, nostalgic rewatch for this horror fan.
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 462 – The Pulp Fiction and A Night at the Roxbury Soundtrack Draft
You can download or stream the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker (or wherever you listen to podcasts…..we’re almost everywhere).
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Mark and Nicholas Rehak (@TheRehak on Twitter) draft their favorite songs from the Pulp Fiction and A Night at the Roxbury soundtracks. In this episode, they also talk about 1990s dance hits, surf rock, and how Tarantino puts together his soundtracks. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions (we love random questions). We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 461 – Collateral, Tom Cruise, and Jamie Foxx
You can download or stream the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker (or wherever you listen to podcasts…..we’re almost everywhere).
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Mark and Phil discuss the 2004 action thriller Collateral. Directed by Michael Mann, and starring Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith and some coyotes, the movie focuses on what happens when a taxi driver is forced to drive a surly assassin around Los Angeles. In this episode, they also talk about car flips, non-running Tom Cruise, and Foxx’s Academy Award nominated performance. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions (we love random questions). We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker.
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Bones and All (2022) – Review
Quick Thoughts – Grade – B+ – Bones and All is an original experience that can best be described as a love story between two cannibals who go on a roadtrip through rural America. It’s a unique watch and it’s fun seeing director Luca Guadagnino explore the backroads of the United States. As always, Taylor Russell (watch Waves now) and Timothée Chalamet are excellent, and the supporting cast of Mark Rylance, Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloë Sevigny all create memorable characters who may or may not eat the bones of their victims.
Love is never easy in the films of Luca Guadagnino, between A Bigger Splash, Call Me By Your Name, and I Am Love, there’s always a certain amount of violence, lies, and remorse that goes along with romantic entanglements. Things are no different in Bones and All, as it’s about a cannibal named Maren (Taylor Russell) who meets a fellow cannibal named Lee (Timothée Chalamet) during her travels around the United States. The reason they meet on the road is because they’ve had to live on the periphery of society as their need for flesh doesn’t exactly make them great neighbors or coworkers. The cannibals in Bones and All scrape out an existence on the road that finds them stealing from grocery stores and picking up human “familiars” who keep them safe and fed. They behave exactly like humans do, but if they don’t eat flesh they become zombie-esque (it’s implied) monsters which puts the people they love in danger. Also, craving human flesh destroys their humanity as they are forced to either die, or commit to a life of murdering people for food. Basically, life is tough for the cannibals because they were born with a taste for people, and they need to eat.
An interesting wrinkle is that the cannibals can smell each other, which leads to Maren meeting Sully (Mark Rylance), a clearly deranged person-eater who keeps the hair of every person he eats. Sully claims that he can smell people who are dying and that’s how he picks his prey. After having lunch with him (AKA eating an elderly woman), Maren boards a bus to escape the maniac, and this leads her to a grocery store where she meets Lee. The two decide to travel together, and eventually they fall in love as they plan future meals, meet fellow cannibals, and enjoy the vast expanse of America. They work well as a duo, and are able to overcome the fact that cannibals don’t normally do well in groups because when they watch another cannibal eat, it acts like a mirror and they don’t like being reminded that they eat the organs of dead people.
I’d love to share more, but I don’t want to give away anything that could spoil your enjoyment of the film. Just know that it’s a patient movie that occasionally gets very bloody. As expected, Russell and Chalamet are solid and their chemistry is the reason why the movie works so well. They understand the roles, and are able to create likable characters who occasionally lure people into cornfields so they can eat them.
Final thoughts – Bones and All is an original experience that is worth a watch.
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Preman: Silent Fury (2022) – Review
Quick Thoughts – Grade – C+ – Preman: Silent Fury is a fun low-budget Indonesian action film that’s at its best when it focuses on familial relationships and face smashing. Director Randolph Zaini clearly pulls from Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, and The Boondock Saints, and this is when the film loses its way as it unnecessarily leans into stylish dialogue and action that don’t mesh well with the core story.
The best and worst thing about Preman: Silent Fury is that it defies expectations. On the surface, the story is about a deaf Indonesian preman (AKA a member of an Indonesian organized gang, encompassing street level criminals up through crime bosses) named Sandi (Khiva Iskak) fighting for his life as he struggles to protect his kid from a psychotic hitman/barber and a gang of criminals who want him dead. Much of the advertising revolves around Sandi’s usage of a monkey fist/slungshot (a type of knot that’s tied to the end of rope to give it weight), which bashes the skulls of dozens of opponents who attempt to kill Sandi and his son Pandu. Why is he being hunted? As a member of a group of preman, he runs afoul of his bosses when he refuses to kill a local sage Haji (Egy Fedly) who stands in the way of the redevelopment of his town. After a bloody skirmish, Sandi and Pandu go on the run, and find themselves being hunted by an eclectic hitman named Ramon, who runs a highbrow salon when he isn’t cutting people into bloody bits with his ultra-sharp scissors.
As I mentioned earlier, Preman: Silent Fury is at its best when it focuses on the father/son relationship, and when it lets Sandi unleash havoc on Indonesian stuntmen. There’s a fun fight between Sandi and Ramon inside a cramped home that features scissors being used in ways I never thought I’d see. It’s a creative brawl that puts Sandi on the defensive as Ramon’s scissors cut through his rope weapon, and forces him to endure a painful amount of cuts that hurt to watch.
Preman: Silent Fury loses its way when it leans into unexpected and stylish distractions that grind the film to a halt. Whether it’s a conversation straight out of a 1990’s Pulp Fiction-wannabe movie, or a brawl involving Sandi battling people in animal suits, these stylish moments don’t feel organic and instead make you think of other movies. The biggest offending moment is when Ramon goes full Willem Dafe (from The Boondock Saints), and recreates a murder scene in his head. These moments make the film more complicated and take away from an interesting story about a deaf Indonesian gangster hitting people with a deadly weapon.
In the end, director Randolph Zaini has created a unique and interesting action film that features inspired production design, several solid action scenes, and memorable characters. Also, the on-location shoot gives the film an authentic vibe that greatly aids it.
If this sounds interesting, make sure to watch the movie on Hi-Yah!, and then check out all the other fun films that the streaming service offers.
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Audible Featured the Movies, Films and Flix Podcast in Their “These Are the Best Film Podcasts to Listen to in 2022” List!
We have some great news! Audible recently featured us in their These Are the Best Film Podcasts to Listen to in 2022 list (alongside How Did This Get Made?, We Hates Movies, The Empire Film Podcast, You Must Remember This, and The Big Picture). Thank you to everyone who listens to the show and went out of their way to rate, review or subscribe. We have some very fun plans for 2023, and it will be fun to continue growing the show (and dedicating more episodes to Deep Blue Sea and Malignant). Thanks!
Movies, Films & Flix 