Girl on the Third Floor

*Spoiler warning*

"Girl on the Third Floor" (2019, Travis Stevens, Queensbury Pictures) is a haunted house story.

Don (CM Punk) is attempting to renovate an old and dilapidated house for he, his wife, Liz (Trieste Kelly Dunn), and their impending new arrival. As Liz ties up their affairs in the city, Don takes their dog and moves in to the house with his tools and an endless supply of beer. But things in the house aren't quite... right. Strange substances and sweets keep appearing, Don constantly feels like he's being watched and a very flirty stranger called Sarah (Sarah Brooks) won't stay away. He's also receiving strange vibes from the local pastor, Sadie (Elissa Dowling) and seems to be extremely unpopular at the local watering hole/bowling alley.

When he's joined by his friend, Milo (Travis Delgado), things change up a gear and it becomes apparent that the house, or something within it, wants them all out. Or worse...

I'd heard good things about this film and went in open minded and keen for a good spookfest. I'd first say that the set up is overly long. The scenes are well shot, but there are a lot of scenes of Don doing various DIY-ing without anything spooky happening so when the spooky stuff comes along it felt a little long winded. On the other hand, we get a good feel for the kind of character Don is and his less than savoury past and nature. There are also several well done shots where the various old mirrors around the house reveal some creepy happenings which I found to be very effective.

Whenever I see a dog in a movie I know it's not going to be around for long, and spoiler or not, poor old puppy does not last the duration.

The reveal and finale were fun but felt like a completely different film to the first half and didn't meld particularly well. Overall, I enjoyed myself but the film is very slow burning and took its time getting any actual plot started.

[Image: Queensbury Pictures]

Hani

Rosemary's Baby

"Rosemary's Baby" (1968, Roman Polanski, Paramount Pictures) is a supernatural, psychological thriller about a woman who grows concerned that a cult has laid a claim on her unborn child.

I saw this film as a kid (my mum was always pretty cool about sharing her love of horror with me) and two things always stuck with me; that I really liked Mia Farrow's short hair and that making friends with neighbours can be a burden. Yep. Those were my big takeaways from this famous, award-winning Polanski film aged 10.

Guy (John Cassavetes) and Rosemary (Mia Farrow) Woodhouse find a spacious New York City apartment which has recently become available after the elderly tenant passed away. They move in and make it their own, much to the disappointment of their friend, Hutch (Maurice Evans), who has heard tales of murder and dark happenings in the building.

Rosemary makes friends with another young woman living with an elderly couple in the building but is shocked when she appears to have committed suicide soon after. The elderly couple, Minnie (Ruth Gordon) and Roman (Sidney Blackmer) Castevet soon become friends with the Woodhouses after the tragedy. Rosemary is initially keen to be friends but soon finds the Castevet's constant presence in their lives strange. Guy, on the other hand, seems to go from unwilling politeness to a full-on friendship with the couple. He also sees a sudden upturn in good fortune, landing a dream job.

Soon Rosemary and Guy discover that they are having a baby and they are elated. The Castevet's become very involved in the couple's lives and are extremely interested in the pregnancy. Rosemary begins to look very ill and suddenly crave raw meat which causes Hutch to go digging but before he can share his findings with her, he is struck seriously ill.

As her due date approaches, Rosemary becomes more and more convinced that something is wrong. Guy and the Castevets try to convince her that she is getting upset over nothing, but she comes across a message from Hutch which further confirms her worst fears and things spiral into madness from there on...

A truly great film that is both an excellent monument to its era and fashions and a commentary on paranoia and the dismissive way that people can be treated. Whilst slow-burning and fairly low on any gore, the film relies more on a sense of dread which builds around the couple's apparently happy home and lives. Mia Farrow rules the screen as the distraught and waif-like Rosemary. The audience truly feels for her plight which builds slowly before being dialled up to eleven at the film's climax. The film enjoys a fairly twisted ending with Rosemary caught with a very difficult decision. Dark and oddly charming this is definitely a classic worthy of adding to any movie lovers' list.

[Image: Paramount Pictures]

Hani

Basket Case 3: The Progeny

"Basket Case 3: The Progeny" (1991, Frank Henenlotter, Shapiro-Glickenhaus Entertainment, 20th Century Fox) is the third instalment in the Basket Case franchise. And the worst.


Following on from the events of the second film where Duane (Kevin Van Hentenryck) had tried, in a fit of madness, to sew his deformed, evil twin, Belial, back onto his torso, we find Duane locked up in a padded room at Granny Ruth's home for 'unique individuals'.


Granny Ruth (Annie Ross) is planning a trip for the whole group to visit her ex-husband's home so that Belial's girlfriend, Eve, can give birth to a litter of fleshy, evil lumps. Duane attempts to escape on several occasions, gets caught up with law, meets a girl called Opal (Tina Louise Hilbert) and generally fails at life, despite being able bodied and no longer telepathically controlled by his evil twin, who is giving him the silent treatment after his previous sewing escapades.


Henenlotter has made a few funny, weird films. The first being the original "Basket Case" (a bad movie night favourite) and of course not discounting the fabulously irreverent "Brain Damage" and the cheesy fun that is "Frankenhooker". However, if I'd thought "Basket Case 2" was pretty bad, I certainly wasn't prepared for the third one. An often dull and ridiculous film that can't even be saved by cartoonish gore. I found it frankly uncomfortable to watch. Imagine if the deformed creatures from "Spy Kids" ended up in a nursing home run by a crazy old bat and you have this film.


I have a pretty good threshold for bad B-movies, but this one wasn't even fun.

[Image: Shapiro-Glickenhaus Entertainment]

Hani

Eraserhead

"Eraserhead" (1977, David Lynch, American Film Institute, Libra Films International) is a surrealist, body horror film from the mind of David Lynch during his studies.

Henry Spencer (Jack Nance) lives in a run-down, industrial city in a small apartment. He has strange dreams about the Lady in the Radiator (Laurel Near) and the Man in the Planet (Jack Fisk). He is informed by the Beautiful Girl From Across the Hall (Judith Anna Roberts) that his girlfriend, Mary X (Charlotte Stewart), has invited him for dinner with her family. He goes to her strange little home and meets her strange parents; her overly familiar mother (Jeanne Bates) and talkative father (Allen Joseph). They don't get to eat any dinner because when they try to carve the 'bird', it begins to twitch and bleed. Mary's mother informs Henry that Mary has had a child and that it is his.

Soon, Henry and Mary are in his little apartment caring for their child; a swaddled, crying creature with an inhuman appearance. When the child won't quieten down, Mary goes back to her parents' leaving Henry alone.

After further strange dreams, Henry cuts open the child's swaddling to reveal its true form.

A strange film, it manages to be both grotesque and beautiful. The dreamlike quality of the styling and the black and white colouring create a strange and surreal dreamscape in which the film is set. Everything is slightly unfamiliar and odd. It's a real study in human strangeness and in the urban decay in which many of us surround ourselves. A strange, uncomfortable film, it is a classic within its own right and spawned much of the outlandish scenes present in films since.

[image: American Film Institute]

Hani

Proxy

"Proxy" (2013, Zach Parker) is a film about a young pregnant woman called Esther (Alexia Rasmussen) who is attacked outside of her doctor's office by a hooded assailant and loses her baby.

 

She begins attending support groups and encounters another grieving mother, Melanie (Alexa Havins), who could be as damaged as she is...

 

Actually the film is about so much more than that but that would be giving an awful lot away.

 

Definitely not a horror film, this chiller is a weird, artistic and violent piece which enjoys some gore, splatter and a shockingly brutal opening scene.

 

There's also a good change in direction, but on the whole the film is very slow to unfold. If you're prone to letting your mind wander you may be unable to sit through the whole slow burning mystery-ride.

 

However, if you go in with only a vague notion, you can certainly enjoy watching this odd and intense plot unfold.

 

 

Hani