A blog exploring the sexy, shocking, surreal, and silly side of horror films.

August 31, 2010

Screamwave #18: TORONTO AFTER DARK

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Another solo episode by Aaron as he delivers his report on the Toronto After Dark film festival, including reviews of two zombie films (Doghouse and Evil - In the Time of Heroes), Swiss sci-fi film Cargo, and the two insane Japanese films: RoboGeisha and Alien vs. Ninja.

Also, Aaron talks with Thea Munster of the Toronto Zombie Walk and interviews the writer, director, and animator of the short Junko's Shamisen: Sol Friedman.

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They Shall Pay With Rivers of Blood from Buck Anderson on Vimeo.

August 29, 2010

Screamwave Special #2: Festival of Fear 2009- MODERN LITERARY MONSTERS PANEL

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While Aaron and Chris are away at the 2010 Fan Expo and Festival of Fear, feast your ears on this panel from 2009 featuring writers Kelly Armstrong (Otherworld series), Kim Paffenroth (Gospel of the Living Dead, Dying to Live) and Max Brooks (World War Z, Zombie Survival Guide). A spirited and funny discussion about vampires, werewolves and zombies! Moderated by Monica S. Kuebler.

Recorded last year for The Zed Word zombie blog.

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August 26, 2010

Medium Raw: Night of the Wolf (2010)

 

Medium Raw: Night of the Wolf (2010) 

Director: Andrew Cymek

When people think of independent Canadian horror / thrillers, they tend to focus unfairly on the limitations of a low budget rather than the talent that often shines through. Medium Raw is the kind of film where the director's talents are clearly evident but the film may be hampered by its budget, casting, and production schedule. It is, all things considered, a fairly successful thriller with a strong comic book vibe. It also introduced me to one of my new favorite costumed killers: THE WOLF.

SYNOPSIS

In Parker's Asylum, the maniacs are loose and out for blood

The WOLF: an armored serial killer with deadly metal jaws
THE BULL: A maniac who kills at the sight of anything red.
MABEL: A raving cannibal looking for her next meal

In MEDIUM RAW: NIGHT OF THE WOLF, all are prisoners of Parker's Asylum until a power outage frees the inmates and traps innocent people inside. Among them are Johnny (Andrew Cymek) a cop looking for revenge on the Wolf for killing his sister, Jamie (Brigitte Kingsley), Johnny's ex-lover and a therapist in the extreme cases ward, and Dr. Parker (William B. Davis) the head of the institute. Johnny and Jamie must help protect those trapped inside of the asylum from being preyed upon by The Wolf (Craig Snoyer), who murders according to a twisted Red Riding Hood obsession, Mabel (Sandi Ross) an exuberant down-home cannibal, and the Bull played by the late Canadian wrestler Andrew Martin (aka. Test).

Rating: 3.5 / 5

IS IT SHOCKING

The Wolf is a fantastic and genuinely unnerving villain. With a menacing (if somewhat impracticable) costume, the Wolf cuts an impressive silhouette. There are several generally creepy scenes at the beginning of the film and later in the asylum where the Wolf is a real threat on par with any other costumed killer in the horror pantheon. His mask is like a bear trap ready to spring on your face, and he's decked out in metal plating and sharp claws. The costume, art, and set direction in this film needs to be applauded. The asylum and other creepy locales feel like immersive and claustrophobic environments were maniacs are waiting for you just around the corner. They never feel like cheaply constructed sets; they are the perfect places for the Wolf to hunt and play. 
The Wolf, out of costume, being trained to sit and stand like a good boy.
The Wolf, it also turns out, cannot speak because of an injury that Johnny inflicted on him during his arrest. That plot device, while odd at first, opens up a whole other dimension to the character  that, while I kind of saw it coming, was nevertheless entirely satisfying. The Wolf as a villain gets a big thumbs up from me.
Cannibal Mabel goes, "NOM NOM NOM!"
As much as I loved the Wolf, the real standout scares in this film come from the character of Mabel (Sandi Ross) as a gleeful domestic cannibal. When Mabel escapes, she tries to bond with her therapist Jamie (Brigitte Kingsley) by teaching her how to cook. Rather than playing Mabel as a menacing arch-villain, Sandi Ross plays Mabel as a very exuberant foodophile, except her meat of passion just happens to be human flesh. There are really great gore scenes dripping with black comedy as Mabel teaches Jamie how to correctly cut flanks of human flesh and properly cook a human rib cage. Her bond with Jamie also blends Mabel's love of food with a sexual undertone that culminates in a tasty scene that I don't want to spoil. 

When we screened Medium Raw in August at Horror in the Hammer's Fright Night Theatre, the crowd went nuts for Mabel. Sandi Ross's performance is flat-out worth the price of admission. You can hear how excited the audience was in our Q and A with the cast of Medium Raw on episode #16 of Screamwave the horror podcast.

Unfortunately, the acting of our two lead heroes is painfully wooden in comparison. While Brigitte Kingsley gave a good turn as Summer Vale in Dark Rising, her performance as Jamie misses the mark. She does not sell any of the romance or the danger she needs to, even during some convincing peril stunts. Writer/director Andrew Cymek plays Johnny, and he's not much better. Johnny's back-story and past relationship with Jamie is too angsty and moody for him to pull off seriously. It's not until the film begins to embrace its comic book tone and run with its black comedy that Cymek and Kingsley's characters start to come alive. This occurs, however, too close to the end of the film.

Watchin' X-Files with no lights on /
We're dans la maison /
I hope the Smoking Man's in this one
Thankfully, Cymek was able to land two other notable actors to bring some genre gravitas to Medium Raw. In the role of Dr. Parker, William B. Davis lands every line with a perfect mixture of menace, sincerity, and melodrama. Davis is best known to fans of X-Files as the Cigarette-Smoking Man, and he does not disappoint. Also popping up in a small cameo is
John Rhys-Davies, best known as Gimli the dwarf from Lord of the Rings and Sallah from the Indiana Jones films.

-----------------
While the acting can be rocky and too many times it hinders the dark tone that the film is going for, Medium Raw's gimmicky villains are a pleasure to watch. In particular, the Wolf and Mabel are worth seeing even if you don't care about the excellent sets and settings. Keep in mind that Medium Raw is not a big-budget Hollywood feature, it does have limitations. There are diamonds in the rough, though. Except for the acting and scripting in places, for your money Medium Raw is a satisfying independent  horror / thriller.

If you don't fall in love with The Wolf as a villain, and if you don't completely go nuts for Sandi Ross as Mabel, maybe you're the one who should be in the asylum.

Attending THE FESTIVAL OF FEAR at this year's FAN EXPO CANADA? Make sure to catch the CAST OF MEDIUM RAW Q and A at 5pm. I'll be there on hand with Horror in the Hammer. Come check out the cast talk about what it was like making this film.

Full Fan Expo schedule and details @fanexpocanada.com

And make sure to catch my daily coverage from Fan Expo over at THE ZED WORD zombie blog

RoboGeisha (2009)







RoboGeisha (2009) 

Director: Noboru Iguchi

How do you judge whether a movie like RoboGeisha is a good movie? I guess the question depends on how you answer a few key questions.
  • Do you want to see a geisha with a circular saw for a mouth?
  • Will your life feel more complete after witnessing a Japanese castle transform into a kaiju robot?
  • Does the idea of a woman with machine gun breasts and throwing stars shooting out of her ass make you excited? Even hot?
If you answered "yes," to even one of these questions, then like me you love a whimsical trip into the bizarre, and RoboGeisha will be something you need to check out.


SYNOPSIS


Yoshie and Kikue Kasuga are feuding sisters. Kikue is a promising geisha who constantly abuses and degrades her younger sister Yoshie until Yoshie's anger manifests in a beauty and physical power that catches the attention of a wealthy steel manufacturer. He seduces / abducts both Yoshie and Kikue, turning them into killer cyborg geishas as part of his personal geisha army. Eventually, Yoshie defects and becomes the avenging hero RoboGeisha.

Rating: 3.5/ 5 Geisha Saws








IS IT SILLY?

RoboGeisha fully embraces a low-budget, on-the-cheap, artificial aesthetic to deliver a live-action cartoon with production values that just barely surpass the level of a Power Rangers episode. The CGI is thin and cheap-looking, but this strikes me as a purposeful aesthetic choice to accentuate the ridiculous premise and outlandish visuals. For example, whenever people are shot with CGI lasers or bullets, no damage is caused to their shirts or bodies. It's all a quick and easy post-production effect. In fact, few of the digital effects have any material weight, but that didn't really bother me. There's nothing funny, for example, about a Geisha that transforms into a realistic tank. A Geisha that transforms into a silly CGI tank against an obvious green screen, however, really tickles me. There are some cartoon-inspired makeup effects (such as when a man has fried shrimp shoved in his eyes or when a guy's face is literally sucker punched), but RoboGeisha is rarely gory. Although the film has a thin plot, from start to finish it is a silly action film that strives for some cheeky humour but seems more preoccupied with deranged video game-inspired cartoon action.  The film would be almost surreal and shocking if not for the cartoon atmosphere RoboGeisha engenders.


Master Shredder, is that you?
---------

RoboGeisha worked for me as a disposable laugh and a solid work of entertainment, but I know many people who were frustrated by the film's complete silliness and lazy visual effects. It's really a film for fans of bizarro cult action pictures, so I appreciated it on that level. Beware the hype but also beware the trailers. This is the type of film where too much information will ruin the experience.

August 24, 2010

The Serpent and the Double Rainbow

An anthropologist goes to Haiti after hearing rumors about a drug used by black magic practitioners to conjure intense double rainbows that go all the way to the ground.

August 23, 2010

Screamwave #17: THE LAST EXORCISM

“The Bible is filled with demons”

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In this shorter pre-FanExpo episode, Aaron flies solo to give you his review of the new horror film THE LAST EXORCISM, produced by Eli Roth.

Throughout the show, you will also hear fantastic music by Defense Mechanism (defencemechanism.ca). Before the review, you'll hear the horror-movie inspired "What The Eff!" followed later in the show by "Dance Ex(tended) Machina."

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August 20, 2010

Screamwave #16: DARK RISING

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“BRING YOUR BATTLE AXE”

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Jenn returns to join Aaron and Kris for a discussion of the sexy horror-comedy Dark Rising (2007) starring Brigitte Kingsley and Landy Cannon.
 
We also have the recorded Q and A from Fright Night Theatre's screening of MEDIUM RAW: NIGHT OF THE WOLF, moderated by Aaron from the Screamwave horror podcast. Listen to Medium Raw actors Brigitte Kingsley, Landy Cannon, Sandi Ross, and Ron Sparks talk about the making of the film and address audience questions. (minor spoilers).

FANGS ON FILM: Barbara and Aaron talk about the vampires in 30 Days of Night (2007)

EARTH AND BEYOND: Parents find their baby, declared dead, alive in its casket. Also, information about the infamous Fox sisters who sparked a popularity in spiritualism before denouncing spiritualism as a sham.

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August 17, 2010

The Last Exorcism (2010) -- Not the film you expect!



The Last Exorcism (2010) 

Director: Daniel Stamm
Producer: Eli Roth

Don't believe the ads. The Last Exorcism is not the film you're expecting. I too scoffed at the PG13 rating (how scary could it be?). At the Toronto After Dark film festival, I went into The Last Exorcism half-expecting another tepid supernatural tale like A Haunting in Connecticut. Instead, we were delivered a tightly scripted, superbly acted, and atmospheric psychological thriller where the dread is subtle and the story walks the tightrope of the uncanny before plunging into frightening unforeseen territory.


SYNOPSIS

The film is presented as a documentary of exorcist Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian). A former priest and self-confessed showman, Marcus is an incredibly charming fraud, but a fraud with a cause -- to expose exorcism as a scam. As a young man, he followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a minister and performing exorcisms for the faithful, but he lost his faith and realized that exorcisms were nothing more than a psychosomatic service given to the mentally ill and delusional by playing on their expectations and beliefs in demons. There are no demons, he reasons. The Last Exorcism is the documentation of such a scam, in which he will show on camera how easily fraudulent exorcists can beguile the faithful. He travels to the Sweetzer farm in New Orleans where a father believes his sweet young daughter Nell (Ashley Bell) is possessed by a violent demon. Is she really possessed by evil, or are her bizarre night walks, raging outbursts, and grotesque bodily contortions the symptom of mental illness brought on by family abuse and medieval religious teachings of an overbearing father? Is it faith she needs to cure her or a psychiatrist? Marcus finds himself in a no-win situation as his lies complicate matters and the situation degrades into a harrowing night of bloodshed and secrets.

Rating: 4 / 5

IS IT SHOCKING

The Last Exorcism is a film about atmosphere. Filmed like a documentary, the film thrusts the audience into a number of carefully chosen POV sequences while also acting as a witness to Marcus's confessions. The audience bonds with the characters quickly. Because of the POV style, audiences enter the room with the characters, filling each scene with expectation and the fear of the unknown around every dark corner. There are some jump scares and one or two gory moments, but the truly shocking aspects of the film come from the moments when the mounting tension breaks and what you thought was real both is and is not real. Then the foreshadowed comes to pass in an entirely unexpected and horrifying way. 

Actress Ashley Bell, producer Eli Roth, and actor Patrick Fabian
Rather than offering a roller coaster of cheap thrills, The Last Exorcism burrows into your mind and simmers. It's a film I enjoyed in the theater but now, thinking back on it, enjoy even more for its subtleties and psychological manipulation.


Do not go in expecting a balls-to-the-wall display of supernatural phenomena. It's not that kind of movie. It's better than that and plays many of its cards close to the chest. Be prepared or psychological horror, and be prepared to think about what you're seeing on screen. That will make The Last Exorcism a rewarding experience and a good note of horror on which to cap the summer movie season.







August 9, 2010

Monstrous Nature: GRABOIDS

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An education film about the Graboids popularized by the Tremors films


Monstrous Wildlife from Frank Robnik on Vimeo.

Screamwave #15: DOLLS

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"THE KILLER DOLLS!"


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This is what you’ve been waiting for. Aaron and Kris tackle the horror fan-favorite: DOLLS (1987). We bandy about some trivia, discuss the film’s role as a dark fairy tale, and question whether the victims truly deserve their fates.

Then we debut a brand-new segment: The Scheiße House. In the Scheiße House we discuss movies widely held to be the shittiest of the shitty. First up in the toilet bowl, M. Night Shyamalan’s THE HAPPENING (2008).

In Earth and Beyond, we carry over the theme of deadly plants from THE HAPPENING to discuss some unusual real life plants and their unique defenses.

Finally, we address some listener voicemails and announce the WINNER of our Skump contest. Someone’s going to get a free DVD. Is it you?

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August 8, 2010

Link (1986)

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Link (1986) 
Director: Richard Franklin

When I was a young lad, the VHS cover for Link used to give me nightmares. In fact, anything dealing with a killer ape, monkey, or simian-like Sasquatch was enough to give me the heebies followed by a reoccurring sweat of the jeebies. Little did I know, however, that behind the snarling and eerily illuminated ape face on the VHS box there waited a tepid movie with so few scares it scarcely belongs in the horror genre.

SYNOPSIS

Jane Chase (Elisabeth Shue) his hired to be the personal assistant to Dr. Steven Phillip (Terence Stamp), a primate researcher. Dr. Phillip is conducting communication and IQ experiments with chimps at his isolated and rural estate in the UK. How isolated is it? On one side is a rocky cliff face falling steeply into the ocean. On the other side are miles of open fields apparently prowled by wild dogs. Jane comes to live with Dr. Phillip and meets his three test subjects: Imp, a mischievous chimpanzee; Voodoo, an older and more feral chimp; and Link, a former circus ape who dresses in human clothes and performs as butler around the house. Link's also very fond of matches as he was known in his circus days as the "Master of Fire". When Dr. Phillip decides to have Link euthanized, Dr. Phillip mysteriously disappears, and Link begins to exhibit some bizarrely intelligent, possessive, and violent tendencies that keep Jane isolated in the house and at Link's disposal. Soon, people and apes start to die by Link's hands, and Jane tries in vain to escape.

Rating: 2 / 5 Arsonist Orangutans





IS IT SILLY?

Apes can be scary. Despite how we dress them up and teach them cute tricks to comically mimic human behaviour, apes are capable of a sudden and primal ferocity. When coupled with their small frames yet immense physical power, even the playful chimpanzee can be a threatening force of violence. Unfortunately, Link fails to capture any sense of dread or terror. For one, the kills are all off screen except for one scene in which Link pushes someone down a well. There's very little blood, and when Link finally does goes apeshit near the end of the film, there's just no suspense. The whole thing plods along while Link -- who by the way is actually an Orangutan died brown and not a chimp as the film seems to imply -- runs around in tiny dress clothes banging on doors and windows. Yawn.


Terence Stamp (L) meets his stunt double (R) on the set of Link
In terms of outright silliness, the film's score is the major offender. In Link, the main theme is a horrible synthesis of synthetic jungle pop with circus music, and the rest of the score feels as bouncy and frolicsome as the theme from Gremlins. Whenever Link strolls onto the screen, even when he's hunting down Jane in the house, he's accompanied by a circus-like tune that makes you laugh rather than scared. It's a dull excuse for horror, and not over-the-top enough to be camp or a send up of other killer ape films.


Some apes, it seems, are classier than others.
IS IT SEXY?


If you're not aware, Monster Chiller Horror Theatre embraces a very broad definition of "sexy" that can be boiled down to a simple lowest-common-denominator: nudity. For fans of the female form, Link certainly gives as a worthwhile peek at a young Elisabeth Shue completely in the buff. Check out this hot action.
XXX FULL FRONTAL MONKEY
While disrobing to take a bath, Jane is visited by a very intense Link who forces himself into the bathroom. You know he's up to something lascivious because he's taken off his dress clothes. Jane, too, is completely nude and although the camera does not dwell on Elisabeth Shue's very beautiful body for long, we do get an eyeful of what made her a crush object for so many men in the 1980s. The sexiness of the scene is soiled, however, given that Link is ogling Jane intently, implying -- but never actualizing -- a disturbing theme of ape-on-woman sexual violence.

LINK IS A DIRTY BUG
--------------------------------

What does Link have to offer? A goofy soundtrack, some fleeting nudity, flat dialogue on the part of Shue, and apes running around being silly or growling. I could commend some of the camera work and crane shots, or I could point out the beautiful coastal UK setting, but none of that really matters in the end. Link isn't scary. Link isn't interesting. Link is a dud of a movie. But, let's not end this review on a flat note.

Link is in reality an orangutan, yes? He wants and likes fire, right? Well, so does another more exciting and interesting fictional ape that I know. Let's end this review, then, with a musical number from the Jungle Book's King Louie.





August 6, 2010

Summer School (1987) - Gore Scene. "I'm not ready for High School"

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The first time I ever saw horror fans represented in movies was in the comedy Summer School. Francis 'Chainsaw' Gremp (Dean Cameron) and Dave (Gary Riley) are two horror freaks that reside in a summer school class full of other assorted misfits and underachievers. When their teacher is suspended, however, they decided to play a gory prank on the substitute.





August 4, 2010

CREEP REEL: Tales from the Darkside (WNEV-TV 7Promo - 1985)

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The show looks pretty cheesy. Never had a chance to take in the series back in the day although I loved the movie.

Plus, I really hope that teen's death changed things for the better.

August 2, 2010

Screamwave #14: PULSE

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"My speedo covers my manpedo"


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After Aaron and Kris address some Horror in the Hammer business (Fright Night and FanExpo), it's full speed ahead to our discussion of the 2006 ghost movie PULSE. Ghosts in the Wi-Fi. Will it be any good?

Then, in Earth and Beyond, we talk about the Men in Black phenomenon (getting jiggy wit' it!), some odd and gruesome bug stories, and the craziness that is the Winchester Mystery House.

No feedback this episode, but don't forget to enter our "SKUMP" contest. 



CONTEST
Create the funniest, grossest, or sexiest definition and win a free horror DVD. On episode 13 of Screamwave, Aaron trips over his own tongue and utters the nonsense word "skump." The listener who submits the funniest definition will win a free DVD from Aaron's collection. Send in your funniest, grossest, most original, and sexiest definitions to screamwavepodcast@gmail.com. Contest ends August 5th, 2010
 
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[Some original music by Nathan Fleet]

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