Midsommar

"Midsommar" (2019, Ari Aster, Square Peg, B-Reel Films) is a folk horror set in a cult in Sweden.


I really liked "Hereditary" so I was keen to see "Midsommar".


We meet the very tragic character of Dani (Florence Pugh) who is not having a great time at the moment. Despite their relationship coming to the verge of ending, she agrees to join her boyfriend, Christian (Jack Reynor), and his Cultural Anthropology student pals; Josh (William Jackson Harper) and Mark (Will Poullter); on a summer trip to Sweden to visit the Hårga Commune where their friend Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren) grew up and to experience the huge cultural Midsommar festival there.


When they arrive everything seems idyllic and otherworldly, but little do they know that all the flower petals in the world couldn't hide the grim undercurrent of the Commune's plans.


Working in a similar vein to 1973's "The Wicker Man", "Midsommar" delivers an upsetting vibe and some extremely effective and gruesome special effects. The group of Americans act as our eyes to the strange world of the Commune. The film does a great job of visualising the psychedelic effects of the drugs the students take and also of their building terror as they start to understand the situation.


For me, the plot felt distractingly slow and I did not particularly like any of the characters, which isn't always necessary, but would have possibly helped keep my interest more. The sound design is meant to be disturbing, but after a while the droning wails and group sobbing kind of ground me down a bit.



The special effects and grim details are really amazing and this alone kept me on board until the end, but I wouldn't necessarily be in a huge hurry to revisit. It also didn't deliver the same level of hollow, savage punch that "Hereditary" had upon initial viewing.


Definitely worth checking, however, as it's certainly a cinematic experience.

[Image: Square Peg, B-Reel Films, et al]

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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]

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The Endless

"The Endless" (2017, Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Snowfort Pictures, Love & Death Productions, Pfaff & Pfaff Productions, Well Go USA Entertainment) is a sci-fi thriller about two brothers who escape from a cult only to be tempted back years later. It is the sequel to 2012's "Resolution".


Justin (Justin Benson) and Aaron (Aaron Moorhead) receive a video cassette in the post and, after hunting for a way to play the damn thing, discover that it is from Camp Arcadia; a commune they were part of as kids/young adults.


It turns out the boys have completely different recollections of the their time at the Camp with Justin remembering a dangerous UFO death cult and Aaron only remembering a friendly group of hippies getting back to nature. The brothers decide to venture back to the camp to see how everyone is doing. Just for one day.


They reach the camp to warm welcomes but something is not quite right about the campers; they look exactly the same as they had a decade earlier... As the boys spend more time with their old comrades they start to notice other peculiarities about the camp and the surrounding area... Something is there and leaving might not be an option...


A fun and intriguing film that kept me engaged throughout. It starts off relatively slowly and the plot slowly drip feeds a sense of dread and uneasiness through excellent use of slightly 'wrong' things happening on screen. As the wrongness intensifies we are introduced to other characters outside of the cult (some of whom you might recognise if you've seen "Resolution") who are experiencing some grim and unsettling effects of the 'presence' surrounding the camp.


A bizarre story that is told in an effective and sober manner which further adds to the overall strangeness of the tale. With a lot of Lovecraft inspiration felt throughout, a hint that the plot might be a commentary about audiences as a whole, and rounded but not overdone characters; The Endless is a very enjoyable, thoughtful and robust piece of film. A somewhat sudden and ambiguous end leaves the viewer wondering if there's still more to come in a third film.

[Image: Snowfort Pictures, et al]

Hani

Society

"Society" (1989, Brian Yuzna, Wild Street Pictures) is a body horror film which was actually the directorial debut from Yuzna who brought us "Re-Animator" and "From Beyond" so... you know what you're in for.

Bill Whitney (Billy Warlock) is a teenager in Beverly Hills. He lives with his wealthy parents and sister, Jenny (Patrice Jennings). Despite his luxurious lifestyle, Bill feels alienated from his highfalutin family, and this is the main focus of his weekly meetings with his therapist, Dr. Cleveland (Ben Slack). Bill becomes obsessed with finding out what's going on when Jenny's ex-boyfriend, Blanchard (Tim Bartell), gives him a cassette tape which seems to implicate his family in a disturbing and murderous act. As Bill begins to delve deeper into the mystery of his family and the apparent elite cult that they are a part of, he begins to suspect that he may be more alone than he thought.... And that his enemies may have gruesome plans for him...

An entertaining and gooey horror comedy which builds to a fairly disturbing and equally funny climax. The effects (by Screaming Mad George (Joji Tani)) are surreal, perverse and delightfully gruesome and are, in all fairness, the true star of the film which is admittedly a little clunky in the plot department.

This is definitely a must-see for any body horror fan and will leave you chuckling and possibly also a little traumatised.

[Image: Wild Street Pictures]

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Leatherface

"Leatherface" (2017, Julien Maury, Alexandre Bustillo, Campbell Grobman Films, Mainline Pictures, Millennium Films, Lionsgate Films) is a prequel to the 1974 original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and the eighth film in the franchise. It is, however, admittedly only the third film in the franchise that I have personally watched. 

The film follows the character who will become Leatherface, Jed, giving some background on his upbringing and the traumatic events which lead him to become the chainsaw wielding, face-book collecting villain that we all know today.

The film has suffered some negative critical response which is largely undeserved in my view. It manages to exist within the same universe and setting as the 1974 original in a fairly believable way, despite being made more than 40 years later. The characters and action have a familiarity that ties it in to the franchise very well.

The Sawyer family are instantly recognisable as characters and are pitched at correct ages to tie in to the original film. Grandpa Sawyer particularly, in his more mobile 'youth', is a nice nod to the character's future. While the shock factor maintained within the original film is not reclaimed, "Leatherface" pays a strong homage to Hooper's original.

The identity of teenaged Jed is kept as a 'secret', although it's not exactly well hidden. However, he is joined by a host of other characters on, not a slasher style spree, but a Bonny and Clyde style kidnap roadtrip. This change of pace really appealed to me as it further explains the changes in Jed's mental situation from young man with some serious issues to young maniac intent on collecting faces. The film is not a purely Slasher film, managing to blend mental asylum, road trip, body horror and slasher genres into a gory adventure.

The death scenes are gruesome and intense with a bit of necrophilia also thrown in for added ick factor. This film certainly accomplished a few scenes which made me squirm.

An origin story for a much appreciated ('loved' seemed like the wrong word) horror icon that manages to create a worthy plot and character development, with strong performances from the cast. I'm not usually one for reboots, prequels and remakes, but for once this one played out as a refreshing change of pace, an homage to the original and not an attempt to kick start another wave of franchise additions or change the outcomes for the characters.

[Image: Lionsgate Films, et al]

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Satanic

"Satanic" (2016, Jeffrey G. Hunt, MarVista Entertainment) is a supernatural horror.


A group of college kids (Sarah Hyland, Steven Krueger, Justin Chon and Clara Mamet) take a detour on their spring break trip to Coachella to check out some Satanic Panic sites in LA. On the way, they make some dubious decisions, meet some creepy characters and accidentally find themselves involved in the mysterious and deadly workings of a cult of devil worshippers.


A fairly slow film that has some good points, but all in all did not contain enough gore or brains to make it anything ground-breaking.


The good: the film boasts a few seemingly practical effects. It also manages to give most of the main characters fairly equal screen time and not pick a particular favourite until nearer the end. The locations are all also very effective and create some nice scenes, and the film has a fun little twist that didn't come out of nowhere, but gave the end a nice kick.    


The bad: most of the action happens at the tail end of the film resulting in a fair bit of build up that loses steam a little over halfway before picking up again. Our group of protagonists are also fairly unlikeable losing some of my viewer sympathy. Liking the characters isn't always a 'must-have' in horror, but sometimes it's a plus.


Our protagonists are also a bit dim (again not uncommon in horror films) and make some terrible, terrible life choices which kind of lead them from bad situation to bad situation. Whilst, as plots go, this is fairly fool-proof, it did make the situation of the group of wannabe true-crime extraordinaires seem less tragic when things started to go wrong for them.


While not bringing anything new to the B-movie genre and suffering a little from the pacing, "Satanic" delivered a watchable piece suitable to a slow Netflix night.

[Image: MarVista Entertainment]

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Troll 2

"Troll 2" (1990, Claudio Fargasso, Filmirage) is an infamously bad film about a fairly strange 'average' family taking a holiday in a town that's not only boring; it's infested by goblins. Luckily the goblins are vegetarians... Also, noteworthy that this film is not a real sequel.

Joshua (Michael Stephenson) appears to be an everyday kid. If an everyday kid talks to the ghost of his deceased grandfather, that is. He lives with his mother and father; a misguided couple who don't seem to comprehend what a vacation is; and his teenaged sister.

The family head to the town of Nilbog (genius, right?) where they are creepily welcomed by the locals. But luckily for them, Grandpa Seth (Robert Ormsby), warns Joshua that the townsfolk are actually goblins in disguise and that, if the family eat the food offered to them, they will be turned into vegetation which the goblins will eat!

Can they avoid a fate worse than death? Can they escape the clutches of the world's most melodramatic witch/goblin (Deborah Reed)? Why can't the goblins just grow their own vegetables like everyone else?

A horror comedy so bad that it's perfectly watchable. The acting, with the ironic exception of young Joshua, is entertainingly stilted and the outlandish plot manages to be both mediocre and hilarious. The goblin costumes are also reminiscent of homemade Halloween costumes. A real trashy movie that every B-movie fan should see; even if it's just for a good laugh.

[Image: Filmirage]

Hani

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]

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The Invitation

"The Invitation" (2015, Karyn Kusama, Gamechanger Films, Lege Artis, XYZ Films, Drafthouse Films).

Will (Logan Marshall-Green) and his girlfriend, Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi), are on their way to Will's ex-wife, Eden (Tammy Blanchard)'s house for a dinner party with some old friends and Eden's new husband, David (Michiel Huisman). On the way there they accidentally run over a coyote and Will is forced to put the creature out of its misery.

Will and Eden split up after their son tragically died and Eden met David through her grief support group. Amongst other strange things at this dinner party, the old gang are joined by some of Eden and David's friends and David shows everyone a video from their grief support group where a young woman dies on screen....

Throughout the night Will begins to fear that there is something more sinister going on than just a strange dinner party, but is this fear founded in reality, or is he just feeling emotional seeing friends and Eden again and entering his old home since the death of his son...?

A slow, slow, slow burner that seems to relish in showing very little up until the end. I've seen a lot of positive things said about this film, but I don't fully share the enthusiasm. While others have remarked at an excellent build of tension, I found the plot slow and meandering. The acting is really good and the setting in the Hollywood hills is nice, too, but the film just felt too slow for me. Will's nagging feeling that something is wrong is plausible and real doubt in his instinct is well crafted by flashbacks and nice camera angles. The film is also very well shot. I just didn't feel that the quick, brutal payoff really made up for the pace of the build up.

I do appreciate the lack of usual horror tropes used in the film, however, which was a breath of freshness over some other recent horror efforts which have resulted in a lot of same-old, same-old.

[Image: Gamechanger films, et al]

Hani

Ghoulies

"Ghoulies" (1984, Luca Bercovici, Empire Pictures, Ghoulies Productions).

Jonathan Graves (Peter Liapis) moves into his family's mansion with his girlfriend, Rebecca (Lisa Pelikan). Jonathan finds his father, Malcolm (Michael Des Barres)'s dark magic equipment in the house and decides to play with the paraphernalia during one of his parties as a joke, but unwittingly raises some demonic creatures known as 'ghoulies'. The power then begins to go to his head and he begins to follow the path of his black-magically-charged father...

I love a good B-movie, but this one is not one of the so-bad-it's-good gems of the era. And yet, it's not quite bad enough for me to hate it.

The demon puppets are fun, but cheap. And the film is neither scary nor funny and a little too long winded. While the film's not quite the calibre of other B-movies of the period, it went on to have some good sequels which made more use of the ghoulie monsters and focused less on demon-raising, cloak wearing party animals.

One of the odder things about this film was that the characters constantly put on sunglasses inside and at night. Confused, I did some trivia searching to discover that the film was meant to go into 3D when the characters put on their sunglasses, but that the difficulty of doing this was too much and so the creators decided not to bother. Alas, the scenes had already been filmed so we're left with this oddness.

All in all, I've sat through worse and don't get all the hate online about this film, but even I can see it's genuinely not that great.

[Image: Empire Pictures, et al]

Hani

Dead Alive

"Dead Alive" aka "Braindead" (1992, Peter Jackson, Wingnut films, Avalon Studios Limited, The New Zealand Film Commission, Trimark Pictures, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment) is a slapstick horror comedy set in New Zealand. 

Lionel (Timothy Balme) lives with his overbearing, controlling mother, Vera (Elizabeth Moody). Vera is enraged when Lionel falls in love with the shopkeeper's daughter, Paquita María Sánchez (Diana Peñalver), and follows them on their date to the zoo. Whilst hiding, she is bitten by a rabid rat-monkey, whose bite begins to turn her into a rabid, rotting corpse. Lionel tries to hide his murderous zombie mother and carry on dating Paquita, but his mother escapes, causing all kinds of trouble around town and spreading her zombie virus, wherever she goes.

A fun, ridiculous film with zombie babies, guts, gore, lawnmowers and slapstick comedy. It stays firmly in the B-movie realm with cheesy lines, silly action and very fake blood flying everywhere. A genre favourite with deserved cult status.

[Image: WingNut 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]

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They Live

"They Live" (1988, John Carpenter, Alive Films, Larry Franco Productions, Universal Pictures) is a satirical alien movie.

Nada ('Rowdy' Roddy Piper) is a drifter looking for work. He finally lands a construction job in L.A. and becomes friends with fellow worker, Frank (Keith David). Nada is convinced that there is something very wrong with the modern world's balance of power and wealth, and he's proven correct when he finds a pair of sunglasses which allow him to see the shocking true faces and harsh reality of the world: we are not alone and we are not in control.

The world is a scary place full of subliminal, brain washing adverts and Nada is determined to do something about it. He and Frank set on a journey to make the world aware of their alien overlords and put an end to it.

A fun 80s film with a tongue-in-cheek message about society, some really iconic alien effects and a great, cheesy score. You've got to love Roddy Piper as our classic B-movie hero, spouting one liners and strutting about.

Whilst, yes, it remains firmly planted by its B-movie roots: cheesy acting, some slow scenes, less than perfect effects - "They Live" remains a fabulous cult movie which is both watchable and enjoyable.

I love it!

[image: Alive Films]

Hani

The Voices

"The Voices" (2014, Marjane Satrapi, 1984 Private Defence Contractors, Babelsberg Studio, Mandalay Vision, Vertigo Entertainment, Lions Gate Entertainment) is a Geman-American horror comedy.

This film has been getting a bad rap from some internet reviewers recently, and, in my view, undeservedly so. Although, when I last checked Rotten Tomatoes it was going good, basically cementing my view that this is a film for a certain type of horror fan. It's my opinion that the reason that so many 'real' reviewers are disliking this film is because they are not in the target audience. This is a gross out, horror comedy with some dark, dark not-so-subtle undertones that will appeal to fans of "Wasting Away", "The Evil Dead", "Fido" and the TV show "Dexter"... If you like your comedy funny and a little dumb but dark and you enjoy a bit of gore and insanity in your movies, then you should give this a try.

Jerry (Ryan Reynolds) is a cheerful guy working in a factory that manufactures bathtubs. He fancies a young, beautiful English lady called Fiona (Gemma Arterton) who works in accounts, is very socially awkward and believes the world to be a shiny, clean place where everyone is really nice to him.

He is also mentally ill, lives in a dirty and dilapidated closed bowling alley and believes that his pet cat (the evil Mr. Whiskers who wants Jerry to become a serial killer; voiced by Reynolds in the most awful attempt at a Scottish accent I have ever heard) and dog (The friendly yet simple Bosco, who is convinced that Jerry is a 'good boy'; also voiced by Reynolds) are talking to him.

Essentially, things start to go wrong for Jerry, who has not been taking his medication, when he is stood up on a date by Fiona... And that's when it all gets a lot darker.

Really nicely shot, this film makes an excellent use of colour to portray the perfect image of Jerry's view to the less than shiny reality. The true awfulness of what he is really doing is sharply contrasted with his sugar sweet insanity-tinged worldview, and we are made to truly feel for this character.

Reynolds portrays a character very unlike his usual roles, and brings depth to what could be a very two dimensional lead. His descent into real madness is oddly fascinating to watch and very different to that which he portrayed in "The Amityville Horror" remake.

The styling of the film manages to make the reality much more horrifying, and the surreal happenings are truly hilarious.

Whilst its quirky style and plot are likely not to keep everyone enthralled forever, I found this film really entertaining and found myself thinking about the darker undertones of it long after the shiny sing-song credits had rolled...

It also didn't help convince me that my ginger cat, Fraidy, isn't actually evil....

[Image: Mandalay Vision]

 

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