The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 416: Malignant, Chair Throws, and Gabriel
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Mark and Chris Kelly (of the Classic American Movies podcast) discuss the 2021 horror movie classic Malignant. Directed by James Wan, and starring Annabelle Wallis, George Young, Maddie Hasson and a guy named Gabriel, the movie is absolutely beautiful and needs to be watched. In this episode, they talk about chair throws, 4K televisions, and the filmography of James Wan. 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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MY CALL: Ah, the female-crafted genre parody that never was. This film actually has an interesting history behind it. Such a shame the movie itself never got to reflect that. Weak off-screen kills, lots of nudity—it’s one of those. MORE MOVIES LIKE Slumber Party Massacre: For more movies by filmmaking women in horror, consider Jennifer’s Body (2009), which was also written and directed by women… and with much more freedom and success!
So I told my girlfriend that I intended to watch and review Slumber Party Massacre this afternoon to which she responds: Slumber Party Massacre…? That sounds kind of… porny. Now she had never heard of this movie nor has she seen the very classy movie poster. The title was enough for her to instantly not take this movie seriously and assume it to be a way for teenagers to see boobs in the early 80s. So just how right was she? Well, she wasn’t wrong. Not two minutes into the movie and high schooler Trish (Michelle Michaels; Demon Rage, New Year’s Evil) is undressing to flash her delicates just before throwing away her old favorite stuffed animals and Barbie dolls along with her childhood innocence. So yeah, there’s that… and a lot of shower scene eye candy, out of place changing scenes, make-out scenes… all that.
The radio is blaring on about an escaped killer as Trish’s parents leave for the weekend. Trish is planning a slumber party with Valerie (Robin Stille; The Being, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama), Linda (Brinke Stevens; Xenophobia) and Diane (Gina Smika Hunter; The Sword and the Sorcerer). But before school is out for the day the killer is already making short work of some of the girls.
Our slasher has zero personality, story or mystique whatsoever. He’s just some regular-looking dude who wanders around in broad daylight in a jean jacket toting his not-at-all-phallic extra long power drill. He penetrates his female victims with his drill in haphazard, poorly shot attack and death scenes. We see way too much of our killer doing incredibly mundane things. It’s pretty boring.
Clearly not thinking much of typical horny, scantily-clad woman-slaying slasher tropes, female director Amy Holden Jones would move on to a moderately successful writing career (Indecent Proposal, Mystic Pizza, The Relic) after this lackluster parody-told-seriously movie was behind her. Originally it was intended and submitted as a parody. But I guess producers just weren’t ready for filmmaking women in horror with something to say. As a result, instead of a smart parody, we get a mediocre slasher. Moreover, this movie suffered big time in the budget department, as we see basically nothing happen on screen in terms of drill kills. So the death scenes suck. We should have gotten an early slasher parody. Instead we got a cheap breasty cash-grab with an impotent driller killer.
Despite practically nothing occurring on screen, some decent efforts are made to show after-the-fact drill wounds—the pizza delivery guy with the drilled eye sockets being my favorite. It doesn’t make up for the major shortcomings of this movie, but it makes moments more enjoyable. Only the final confrontation shows any gore worth seeing, and it’s too little too late to feel redeeming. So really, the only reason to recommend this movie is for the sake of its place in history (albeit not a shining moment) for filmmaking women in horror, and how a shallow greedy producer can spoil an otherwise great idea.
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Quick Thoughts – Grade – D – While Texas Chainsaw Massacre is more welcome than another TCM remake or reboot, it’s lack of identity and a laughable plot keep it from being anything other than a bloody slasher film. It will most certainly appeal to people looking for blood and guts, but it’s easily one of the worst entries of the TCM franchise. Sure, it looks good and the performances are fine, but the lack of personality, a villainous family dynamic, or any endearing quirks make it a missed opportunity.
The thing that unfairly plagues the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise is that no variation can ever match the low-budget and almost feral atmosphere created by Tobe Hooper’s 1974 classic. I realize that it’s not fair to compare a 2022 studio film to Tobe Hooper’s grindhouse classic, and I understand that many sequels, reboots, prequels and remakes don’t have the element of surprise like their trendsetting originals. However, this latest addition to the TCM franchise totally misunderstands what made the original, and to a certain extent, the 2003 remake successful. By keeping things simple, and dragging unwitting kids into a place worse than hell, the films succeed as pieces of exhausting horror that make you seek out warm sunshine or YouTube cat videos that take your mind off the brutality.
Before I Saw the Devil or Thirst were dragging me to dark places, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre might be the movie that has scarred me the most, and the dinner scene involving the horribly homicidal family has forever been burnt into my memory (also the stick moment, holy moly). Made on a $140,000 budget, the 1974 masterpiece also kept things basic as it focused on a group of kids being harassed and murdered by a chainsaw weilding maniac named Leatherface, who enjoys wearing human skin masks and hanging people on meathooks. The movie feels like a deranged masterpiece that put the cast and crew through lots of pain (and hot days), and holds up because it’s so dangerous and practically made. The reason I bring up the original is because the 2022 version makes the curious decision to bring back Sally (this time played by Olwen Fouéré), the survivor of the first film whom we last saw letting loose an all-timer scream as a truck drove her away from Leatherface.
Joining Sally are a crew of new characters who are moving to Harlow, a remote Texas town to start a utopia for wealthy influencers who don’t mind dropping thousands of dollars to renovate a dilapidated and almost abandoned town. While the script and several characters refer to the influencers gentrifying Harlow, the term doesn’t really work as these influencers aren’t taking over a poor urban-esque area and displacing a good chunk of residents. They are buying an almost extinct town in the middle of nowhere, and turning it into a “cult” like experience where influencers can isolate themselves, and pay more for deliveries as the town is so remote. While touring the town, Melody (Sarah Yorkin) and Dante (Jacob Latimore), two of the initial investors visit a dumpy orphanage that is still home to Virginia, an elderly woman who claims she still owns the property. After a wildly inappropriate argument, the woman dies of a heart attack and it turns out that she’s been harboring Leatherface (Mark Burnham) for close to 50 years. After killing several cops, and Dante’s girlfriend Ruth (Nell Hudson), Leatherface cuts off Virginia’s face, puts it on his face, and starts killing many people with a chainsaw that must’ve been crafted by magical elves, as it cuts through everything and never jams.
Leatherface’s rampage soon catches the attention of Sally, who after surviving the initial attack in the 1970s has been waiting to get her revenge on the skinmask-wearing maniac. To spoil the rest would wreck some of the fun, but just expect bus massacres, beheadings, foot chases and more beheadings. Nothing about the movie is exciting, original or tense, but if you are looking for blood and guts it’s not the worst option.
Final thoughts – It’s not fair to compare this movie to the original TCM, but, it’s a bit disappointing that it took an iconic character and removed anything that makes him scary. Don’t expect much.
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MY CALL: If you enjoyed the 2003 TCM reboot, then this should somewhat to your preference. Actually, with my expectations adjusted to simply expect a solid intense slasher movie instead of a TCM movie, I really enjoyed this movie. You just need to check your TCM expectations at the door and forget about them. MORE MOVIES LIKE Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Well obviously you should have already seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and the ultra-zany sequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986), though I was not a fan of Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990) or Leatherface (2017). Then there was the excellent (IMO) franchise reboot The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006), and perhaps even Texas Chainsaw 3-D (2013) just for completeness. From there I’d suggest seeing House of 1000 Corpses (2003).
Visiting and prospecting the town of the brutal massacre of 1973, city slickers Melody (Sarah Yarkin; Happy Death Day 2 U), Lila (Elsie Fisher; Castle Rock), Dante (Jacob Latimore, The Maze Runner) and Ruth (Nell Hudson; Outlander) set out with the dream of breathing life back into the ghost town of Harlow, Texas.
Their new creepy neighbor and former orphanage manager Mrs. Mc (Alice Krige; Silent Hill, Ghost Story) is unceremoniously ‘evicted’ from her home as soon as she meets them, and she has a plus-sized man-child of a tenant. There is no question about it: this is Leatherface (Mark Burnham) and the movie wants you to know it.
The violence opens early and timely with a truly intense arm-break that should make some all-time “Top 10” lists! Wow. Shocking, brutal, grotesque… everything I wanted in terms of raw violence. This sequel/rebootquel lacks the grimy, grainy, dusty, sun-scorched patina of its source material. But it does bring truly brutal intensity. Sure, Leatherface has been neutered of his intrigue when we see his all-too-human face and learn his overly simple story. But his menace remains in spades as he admires a victim’s peeled-off face in the sunlight and slips it neatly over his own.
There’s a lot of blood. And if you enjoyed the 2003 reboot, then this should be to your preference. I also find myself appreciating the uniquely disturbing skin mask. A great deal of care went into this Leatherface’s look, even if no such care went into his character’s overall presentation.
Like a generic brand Jamie Lee Curtis from Halloween (2018), Sally Hardesty (Olwen Fouéré; Mandy, Sea Fever, The Northman) seems to have been waiting and ready for the news to cue her vengeance 49 years after the slaughter of her road-tripping friends. The over-presentation of Leatherface and cliché ‘vengeance Hardesty’ do disservice to the TCM legacy. But the script in question handed to director David Blue Garcia (Tejano)—for all its overly basic flaws—was executed verywell, transmuting TCM into a more typical kind of mean mainstream slasher film whereas the original was anything but. Leatherface’s mask may be disturbing, but he has been stripped of his psychopathic mystique.
There’s some truly inspired and utterly grotesque wound work here. And OMG a horrendous leg break!!! There’s a skull-splintering head-smushing that was just plain chunky-gory fun, and what I’d best describe as a dismemberment party bus fiesta. The writing may have been left behind in the wake of too many sequels, reboots and timelines, but shock and awe are riding shotgun.
Maybe predictable and oh-so-overplayed, but I enjoyed the ending. It’s tough to end horror movies in satisfying ways. Actually, with my expectations adjusted to simply expect a solid intense slasher movie instead of a TCM movie, I really enjoyed this movie overall… yes, quite a bit.
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 415: NEON Movies, Titane, Spencer, Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Honeyland
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 Joe B. pick their favorite films released by NEON, and discuss why they love the company so much. They also talk about Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Revenge, Spencer, Honeyland, Wild Rose, Colossal, Titane, The Worst Person in the World and The Beach Bum. Enjoy!
Make sure to check out Ultimate Film Club on Instagram (@ultimatefilmclub) and YouTube. Also, send us a comment and let us know which NEON films you love the most.
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: This was a big mixed bag for me. The child actor, atmosphere, corpse gore effects and some aspects of the monster were truly outstanding. However, the overall impact of the monster, its story and the lackluster ending left much to be desired. Watch it. The film deserves an audience for its strengths. MORE MOVIES LIKE Antlers: Well, for another wendigo movie I’ll recommend The Last Winter (2006). Truth be told, The Ritual (2017) is the “non-Wendigo” Wendigo movie you really want.
Director Scott Cooper (Hostiles, Black Mass) strolls into the horror genre for the first time with a practiced hand employing dire, ominous atmosphere. Unfortunately how he handles a legendary and terrifying monster leaves much to be desired. Still, he has his moments.
Dealing with deep personal trauma of her own, schoolteacher Julia (Keri Russell; Dark Skies) sets aside her problems to try to help her student Lucas (Jeremy T. Thomas), an obviously troubled child from a very broken home. He is quiet, gaunt, joyless, and draws horrifying images at school. After something strange happened to his father, Lucas has had to tend to his father’s unusual needs.
I’m at a loss in my efforts to describe this film. We sort of know exactly what’s going on and where we’re going… without really understanding how we’re going to get there. The characters cope with loss, abuse, guilt, trauma and fear as we witness more people becoming woefully involved in a deadly situation including the local Sheriff (Jesse Plemons; Battleship), Julia’s brother who thinks she should mind her own business.
This monster movie really oscillates in ‘monster satisfaction’ for viewers. Normally, the monster is the best part of a creature feature, if not contrastingly poorly done and then the worst part. Our monster is cool in concept but weak in initial development… that is until a momentary hint of a transformation—although more sense of the transformation is made later. The monster attacks are graphic and visceral, but lack the “monster-ness” for which I had hoped. In many ways, The Ritual (2017), Pumpkinhead (1988) and The Color Out of Space (2019) thrived where this film failed to meet my monstrous hopes.
So what were this film’s strengths? The discovery of human remains in a couple scenes is awesomely grotesque! The revelation of the creature’s “face” was outstanding! And the performance by child actor Jeremy T. Thomas was astounding!
The final conflict with the monster, however, was meh. I found the finale, the ending and the closing twist to all be very unsatisfying. But this film was far from regrettable.
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 414: Beautiful Girls, High School Reunions, and Neil Diamond
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 Erik Hofmeyer discuss the 1996 film Beautiful Girls. Directed by Ted Demme, and starring Natalie Portman, Timothy Hutton, Matt Dillon and Mira Sorvino, the movie focuses on what happens when a jazz pianist comes home for his 10-year high school reunion. In this episode, they discuss 1996 cinema, Natalie Portman’s early roles, and why Scott Rosenberg wrote the movie. 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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John’s Horror Corner: Snatchers (2019), The Puppet Masters (1994) meets Inseminoid (1982) and Sex Education (2019-2021) in this pregnancy horror comedy.
MY CALL: Great characters and comedy writing, silly monsters and gore gags, weak horror action. Not surprising given this was Frankensteined together from a TV show. MORE MOVIES LIKE Snatchers: I’d recommend to unrelated shows—Sex Education (2019-2021) and Stan Against Evil (2016-2018).
Writers and directors Stephen Cedars and Benji Kleiman essentially cobbled together their first feature film from their television series of the same name. You could maybe tell that this was modified from TV material with a careful eye, but the editing transitions are seamless.
This movie makes light fun of teen gossip, mean girls, teen sex, and teen pregnancy. When there is a topic within reach for a cheeky or mildly gross joke, this movie takes it. I especially enjoyed the projectile vomit morning sickness, the ob/gyn bit leading up to the hilarious and gory birthing decapitation, and some of the most surprisingly endearing “butthole jokes” I’ve ever heard. Yes, I’m actively celebrating the butthole jokes. Take that as you will.
After a sex-obsessed teen loses her virginity and swiftly gives birth to a vicious alien arthropod, Sara’s (Mary Nepi) offspring takes control of a nurse and puppeteers her a la The Puppet Masters (1994).
Basking in its silliness, this is incredibly unserious. Despite the occasional brutal murder of someone at the hands of an alien, this is never more dire than the ever-silly Stan Against Evil (2016-2018). But also like Stan Against Evil, the budget is meager. The little alien monster is neat, but after seeing it for a few seconds, it’s no marvel of special effects. But we’re here more for the giggles. There’s a gross giant cocoon thing, an Aliens-like crusty encasement for human host, and a funny alien sex with tiny male.
Sara and her high school friends end up saving the day and I never really cared, sorry. I liked the first 30 minutes quite a lot (i.e., the character-building portion), but then this really slowed down hard for me. I was hoping for a teen-sex iteration of Grabbers (2012). What I got was a marginably better than regrettable way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
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John’s Horror Corner: V/H/S/94 (2021), more substance than style, this is a horror anthology for gorehounds.
MY CALL: I’m a major anthology fan and a picky critic. That said, this has nothing inspired or clever, but plenty of gory entertainment within its anthology segments.
MORE HORROR ANTHOLOGIES: Dead of Night (1945), Black Sabbath (1963), Tales from the Crypt (1972), The Vault of Horror (1973), The Uncanny (1977), Screams of a Winter Night (1979), Creepshow (1982), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), Stephen King’s Cat’s Eye (1985), Deadtime Stories (1986), Creepshow 2 (1987), From a Whisper to a Scream (1987; aka The Offspring), After Midnight (1989), Tales from the Crypt Season 1 (1989), Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990), Grimm Prairie Tales (1990), The Willies (1990), Two Evil Eyes (1990), Necronomicon: Book of the Dead (1993), Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996), Campfire Tales (1997), Dark Tales of Japan (2004), 3 Extremes (2004), Creepshow 3 (2006), Trick ‘r Treat (2007), Chillerama (2011), Little Deaths (2011), V/H/S (2012), The Theater Bizarre (2012), The ABCs of Death (2013), V/H/S 2 (2013), All Hallows’ Eve (2013), The Profane Exhibit (2013), The ABCs of Death 2 (2014), V/H/S Viral (2014), Southbound (2015), Tales of Halloween (2015), A Christmas Horror Story (2015), The ABCs of Death 2.5 (2016), Holidays (2016), Terrified (2017; aka Aterrados, a pseudo-anthology), Oats Studios, Vol. 1 (2017), Ghost Stories (2017), XX (2017), All the Creatures Were Stirring (2018), The Field Guide to Evil (2018), Shudder’s series Creepshow (2019-2021), Scare Package (2019), The Mortuary Collection (2019) and Xenophobia (2019).
After three V/H/S horror anthologies in as many years (2012-2014), a fourth installment has finally come about to grace anthology fans. In its wraparound story, a police SWAT team investigates an abandoned warehouse with dead bodies and videotapes depicting horrors. The stories in those tapes are as follows…
Chloe Okuno’s (Slut) Storm Drain explores an urban legend about a “rat man” in the sewers. Despite the humble budget, it conjures fond memories of Digging Up the Marrow (2014) as a reporter (Anna Hopkins; The Expanse) investigates what turns out to be an incredibly gross, disfigured creature. It culminates in a hilarious yet utterly gross projectile acid vomiting which melts a man’s face off in chunky splendor.
Directed and written by Simon Barrett (Séance, V/H/S 2 segment Tape 49), The Empty Wake tests the sanity of a woman (Kyal Legend) overseeing an evening wake in which the family never shows. Over the course of the evening, she is all but certain that the man inside the closed casket is actually alive! This segment takes it’s time and, like its predecessor, comes to a very exciting and gory finale that kinda’ smacks of The Re-Animator (1985).
The Veggie Masher, directed by Steven Kostanski (Psycho Goreman, The Void, Manborg), is just an awkward play on an informercial SlapChop product.
With The Subject, Timo Tjahjanto (May the Devil Take You, The Night Comes for Us) shows us a mad scientist obsessed with combining man and machine… against his subjects’ will. But oh how his subjects shine in the blood of their enemies as they slice soldiers in half and enter battle in FPS videogame POV. The violence is grisly, graphic and very creative! Likewise the robotic surgery victims are gloriously macabre.
The final segment Terror (Ryan Prows; Lowlife) is the weakest of the lot despite its strong ending. A righteous militia keeps a strange prisoner with an interesting secret. I guess it’s got its share of dark humor. But I just didn’t care for its flavor. Eventually brain matter spills out of a head like Chunky Soup. It starts out lame, but boy it really comes around! Gory, chaotic, and funny. I mean, if Rawhead Rex (1986) was infected by a Blade II (2002) vampire biting off faces on a low budget… that’s the monster we eventually see here!
Holy Hell (Jennifer Reeder; Knives and Skin) is our closing/opening/wraparound story in which a SWAT team converges on a warehouse discovering the eyeless bodies of some cult. It’s not very interesting and has nothing to do with its anthology tales.
We have sewer monsters, intestines being dumped to the ground from one’s abdomen, sliced off heads, monstrous vampires and war cyborgs. It’s a simple fun lot. Although I prefer my anthologies to have linked stories (e.g., The Mortuary Collection) or richer stories to tell with clever twists, themes or moral spins (e.g., Terrified, Holidays), this anthology still manages to deliver the goods in the form of raw gory payoffs. I wasn’t impressed by any of the storytelling or ideas, but graphic spilled guts goes a long way in finding my forgiveness and approval. So there’s that.
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John’s Horror Corner: Madman (1981), a satisfyingly brutal and mean slasher classic.
MY CALL: This is a pretty mean slasher with decent kills that we fully see on screen, above board gore, and a monstrously cool-looking psycho killer. Recommended for 80s slasher fans. MORE MOVIES LIKE Madman: For more “mean” early slashers there’s The Burning (1981), Friday the 13th (1980), Sleepaway Camp (1983), The Prowler (1981) and My Bloody Valentine (1981).
Ugly, mean and evil, Madman Marz differs somewhat from other more relatable early slashers of his era (e.g., Cropsy, Jason Voorhees, Angela) in that he was never wronged or misunderstood, nor does he have any moral grounds for vengeance. No… much more like the killers of Black Christmas (1974), Halloween (1978) or TCM (1974), he is inherently evil.
Marz borrows from many of his homicidal contemporaries. He murdered his family in their sleep a la The Amityville Horror (1979), he slashes up camp counselors as was the style at the time, he shares his name with a famous cannibal (The Hills Have Eyes), and like Candyman (1992), Bloody Mary or even The Bye Bye Man (2017), saying his name will seal your bloody fate. If you utter his name above a whisper in the woods, he will hear it and he will come for you.
The stuff of campfire tale folklore, Marz is the size of a sasquatch and grunts and growls like one, too. His hulking size, wild hair and mangled face likely inspired Victor Crowley (Hatchet) among others.
The first death scene caught me happily off guard. A sudden, unexpected and gory throat gashing with lots of lacerated flesh. The flappy flesh wounds are strong in this movie. There was also a noose/hanging death that was much more entertaining and developed than I would have expected. A couple decapitations and an ax to the chest follow, serving more as filler. The early two death scenes represent the most substantial shock value of the movie, which is slower (and thus, less shocking) than desired even in the final 30 minutes. But Marz comes though with a major finale claw gash to the face and a brutally impaled victim on a meat hook like in TCM (1974) make up for the dip in excitement as he mows though his victims (incl. Gaylen Ross; Creepshow, Dawn of the Dead).
Overall an entertaining lazy afternoon viewing. I wouldn’t necessarily suggest it is your Saturday night popcorn feature (maybe Thursday night), but I’d still strongly recommend it to fans of 80s slashers. I must say, I’m bummed that one-time writer/director Joe Giannone never produced any more horror after this. He definitely proved that he had a knack for it.
Movies, Films & Flix 