Would You Rather

"Would You Rather" (2012, David Guy Levy, Lambrick Foundation, LLC, Periscope Entertainment, Social Construct Films, Dreamher Productions, IFC Films) is a film about how far a group of desperate people can be pushed if they think it will end all of their problems.


Iris (Brittany Snow) looks after her sick younger brother (Logan Miller) but cannot pay for his expensive treatment. Her brother's doctor introduces her to a philanthropist called Shepard Lambrick (Jeffrey Combs) who offers to make Iris a deal; if she wins a game at his dinner party, he will pay for the treatment. After thinking about it, Iris agrees to attend the party.


Once at the party which takes place at Lambrick's manor home, Iris is introduced to the other guests; Lambrick's petulant son, Julian (Robin Lord Taylor), and fellow contestants; Travis (Charlie Hofheimer), Lucas (Enver Gjokaj), Linda (June Squibb), Peter (Robb Wells), Cal (Eddie Steeples), Amy (Sasha Grey) and Conway (John Heard). Before the game officially begins, Lambrick begins offering large sums of money to his guests to perform simple tasks that make them uncomfortable; a vegetarian eating a steak, a recovering alcoholic drinking scotch... Although the guests are outraged, the thought of all that money makes them stay and they decline to leave before the lockdown and the official game begins. Assuredly, the real game has higher prizes and even higher stakes...


I was pleasantly surprised by this film after I eventually gave in to Netflix's incessant advertising of it to me by seemingly adding it into every possible category on my homepage. It's silly, fun, fairly ridiculous, contains several familiar cast members including, of course, the wonderful Jeffrey Combs; a man who can chew scenery in the most entertaining way, and it actually boasts a fair few grim scenes.
The parlour game is equal parts cheesiness and darkness with just enough tongue-in-cheek dialogue to keep it from being bleak. While it's hardly a classic by any means and suffers from some pacing issues, I found it to be entertaining and not to spend too much time pondering over whether its core message or taking itself too seriously.

[Image: IFC Films, et al]

Hani

From Beyond

"From Beyond" (1986, Stuart Gordon, Empire Pictures) is a cult, sci-fi, body horror film based loosely on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft.

Dr. Pretorius (Ted Sorel) is a genius scientist with unusual fetishes who has developed a machine which allows people to see outside of the known reality by stimulating the sixth sense. Unfortunately, the machine's effects are addictive and, despite discovering that the other realm can access ours using the machine, Pretorius cannot allow himself to stop. His assistant, Dr. Tillinghast (Jeffrey Combs), is bitten by a creature from the other side and tries to stop the experiment, seeing it's destructive nature, but a larger creature comes through the void and kills Dr. Pretorius.

Dr. Tillinghast is locked up in an ward for the criminally insane, suspected of Pretorius' murder and no one will believe his outlandish story. No one, that is, until he meets determined blonde, Dr. McMichaels (Barbara Crampton) who, with her associate, Detective Bubba Brownlee (Ken Foree), take Tillinghast back to the house to repeat the experiment and prove his innocence and sanity.

A funny cult film which enjoys close links to "Re-Animator" in casting, direction, behind the scenes team and special effects. While dated, it still stands as a fun, gross B-movie and captures the Lovecraft vibe. There's some funny patter between characters ridiculous dominatrix outfits, questionable science, floating eel creatures, humorous decapitations.... there's a lot going on in this film.

I like a bit of dated special effects and I have to appreciate the Lovecraftian creativity of this film's effects: they are both very fun and very squidgy. Definitely my kind of film. "From Beyond" is also really watchable and has an easy to follow plot that doesn't veer too off story like some other B-movies. It's silly, humorous and ludicrous in equal measures. Sheer campy horror frolics not to be taken seriously.

[Image: Empire Pictures]

Hani

Cellar Dweller

"Cellar Dweller" (1988, John Carl Beuchler, Empire Pictures) is my kind of movie. B-movie, that is. Ah, 1988, a fabulous year: I was born and movies like this were being released!

In the '50s, a comic book (definitely not an EC Comic... no...) artist named Colin Childress (the fabulous Jeffrey Combs of "Re-Animator" fame) is brutally murdered when his iconic horror comic characters come to life in his basement studio thanks to his satanic demon A-Z book, and do what horror comic characters do best: violently assault everybody. Because that's not exactly an every day event, he is instead assumed to have committed suicide.

Fast forward 30 years to the '80s and his house is now being used as a retreat, studio and college for young aspiring artists. The college is run by Mrs Briggs (Lily Munster herself, Yvonne De Carlo), who takes an obvious dislike to our picture's heroine, Whitney (Debrah Farentino, then Debrah Mullowney). Whitney is an aspiring horror comic book artist herself with a great admiration for the work (and mysterious demise) of poor old Colin, and can't help herself as she makes all the trademark errors that he clearly had also. Poor Whitney doesn't realise the power of the pen until it is almost too late. But, by then has she gone too far to stop her creations from wreaking havoc?

A fun 80s B-movie that uses some very "Evil Dead" techniques in filming its stalking monster scenes and captures great imagination to work as a film with enough gore, body part munching, demon suits and nude showers thrown in to make it an ideal movie marathon candidate.

Whilst our artists are of a pretty questionable talent (seriously, someone should have told these kids that they were wasting their time and would be better looking for other forms of work!), the film is suitably hokey, funny and chalk-full of green zig zags (80s CGI).

The start credits do drag on for a good while though!

Definitely one for my B-movie vault!

[Image: Empire Pictures]



Hani 

Beyond Re-Animator

"Beyond Re-Animator" (2003, Filmax International, Lionsgate Entertainment, Castelao Producciones, Fantastic Factory, Brian Yuzna) is the third Re-Animator film.

We find Dr. Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) in prison using meagre scraps in order to continue his experiments on rats. A young new doctor, Howard Phillips (Jason Barry), joins as prison MD and reveals himself as interested in West's research for personal reasons. His personal reasons get a load more personal, however, when the pretty young journalist he's dating, Laura (Elsa Pataky), is killed and reanimated.

West's rat experiments have opened the door to him to allow him to control his reanimated creations further, but the results can be messy when he is reunited with his neon green concoction....

Soon the prison is overrun with violent reanimated zombies and under the control of the psychotic reanimated Warden (Simón Andreu). Oh, and there's also a vicious zombie rat cutting about with a severed human zombie penis....

Yes, this is a OTT, hilarious, gore-soaked splatter romp, just as its predecessors were. No complaints here. It's brilliant. Not a cerebral film, but wonderfully silly. Combs brings back West in all his glory.

 

 

[Image: Castelao Producciones]

Hani