Saturday 31 March 2018

The Greasy Strangler

"The Greasy Strangler" (2016, Jim Hosking, Drafthouse Films, Rook Films, SpectreVision, Timpson Films, Filmrise) is a surreal dark comedy horror film about a killer who strangles victims to death while wearing nothing but a layer of grease... It's also a film about love, betrayal, weirdos, nakedness and disco... Kind of.

Big Ronnie (Michael St. Michaels) is a strange man who runs a disco walking tour with his son, Big Brayden (Sky Elobar). The tour offers little in the way of facts, disco or free refreshments; much to the chagrin of the customers. The father and son also live together, hang out a lot in their underwear and eat a lot of excessively greasy food; just the way that Big Ronnie likes it. Big Ronnie also enjoys moonlighting as a greased up murderer in the buff, washing himself off at the end of his escapades at a car wash run by his blind disco friend, Big Paul (Gil Gex).

Big Brayden meets Janet (Elizabeth De Razzo) on one of his father's walking tours, and the pair fall in weird love, much to the distaste of Big Ronnie. The perturbed Ronnie begins a campaign immediately to win Janet over from his son.

A very marmite movie that will either have you rolling your eyes and laughing or completely repulsed. Maybe both. The characters are outlandish and dirty and the dialogue is purposefully stilted. If you're up for watching some fully frontal nudity with a lot of swinging prosthesis' and a fair amount of cartoonish gore then this is the movie for you.

This is a film that will stay with you forever and have you wondering why you watched it for weeks, possibly years, to come. And yet, like me, the experience has probably taught you nothing and you will definitely watch more like it in the future.

[Image: Drafthouse Films, et al]
What a pair of bullshit artists!
Hani

Tuesday 13 March 2018

Mirrors 2

"Mirrors 2" (2010, Victor Garcia, Regency Enterprises, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) is the sequel to 2008's "Mirrors".

Max (Nick Stahl) is a man recovering from the loss of his fiancée as a result of a car accident.  In an attempt to get his life back on track, Max accepts a job at the Mayflower Department store which his father, Jack (William Katt), has refurbished using some of the original features of the previously derelict building. The opening for a security guard had recently come about due to a gruesome and mysterious "accident" left the previous guard unable to work anymore.

Upon taking the position, Max begins to see strange things moving in the mirrors of the building and beyond. As department store staff begin to succumb to disturbing ends, Max begins to piece together links to a larger mystery with the help of Elizabeth (Emmanuelle Vaugier), who's missing sister (Stephanie Honoré Sanchez) may be the key to the grim goings on.

A surprisingly good sequel to 2008's excellent jump fest. Although the second film doesn't enjoy quite as polished effects,  it enjoys some good character interaction and some effective gore. The mirror harbingers of each death are as disturbing as the original, although once or twice the actions were less effective due to cartoonish style of gore, however, the actual resultant character deaths are, in the main, realistic and gruesome.

A fun, if a little "by the numbers" plot which keeps a good pace and strong leads from Stahl and Vaugier.

[image: Regency Enterprises, et al] 

Hani

Wednesday 7 March 2018

Happy Death Day

"Happy Death Day" (2017, Christopher B. Landon, Blumhouse Productions, Universal Pictures) is a horror comedy homage to "Groundhog Day" following an entitled college girl.

Theresa "Tree" Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) is a student at an American college. She is a member of a Sorority, she parties hard and drinks too much and she's having an affair with one of her lecturers. Basically, she's a typical college movie-biatch. On her birthday, however, Tree wakes to find herself sleeping on the dorm bed of one of her male classmates, Carter (Israel Broussard) (hint, not a cool classmate). Enraged at her drunken shenanigans, she rudely makes her leave and goes about her day as planned. However, that night she meets a masked killer on her way to a party and dies.

But, that's not the end. Tree then awakes to relive her birthday again and again, trying to find out who her killer is before it becomes too late!

A fun film boasting some good old horror carnage, wit and humour and even a likeable protagonist who develops depth and emotional attachment through her journey.

All in all I'd say this film was as sleek as it was funny and, teamed up with "The Final Girls" and "Tucker and Dale vs Evil", we'd have ourselves a pretty damn good night.

[Image: Blumhouse Productions]
Hani


Tuesday 6 March 2018

Lord of Illusions

"Lord of Illusions" (1995, Clive Barker, Seraphim Films, United Artists) is a film based on one of Barker's short stories, "The Last Illusion" from the Books of Blood volume 6.

A cult led by a man called Nix (Daniel von Bargen), who possesses magical powers, sees a bloody battle in which a group of former cult members take Nix down with the help of a young girl whom the cult had been holding as a hostage.

Years later, Detective Harry D'Armour (Scott Bakula), becomes involved in investigating a string of murders involving the cult's victorious defectors; occultist and fortune teller, Quaid (Joseph Latimore), and popular stage magician, Swann (Kevin J. O'Connor). And what's this? He's enlisted by none other than Swann's wife, Dorothea (Famke Janssen), who turns out to be someone key from the earlier plot! But can D'Armour help solve the mystery of the murderous cult, or will he and Dorothea die trying?

In true Clive Barker style, there's some really nice practical effects in this film and a few sordid scenes and magical battles. While nowhere near the visual splendour of the first "Hellraiser" movie or "Nightbreed", "Lord of Illusions" still holds its own as a visually impressive film with a slow and wandering, but not dis-interesting plot.

[Image: United Artists, et al]
Hani