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Reviews Page 4 / Reviews Page 5 |
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Botched Day of the Dead Die and Let Live Frog Song The Girl Next Door The Hammer |
The Last Winter The Machine Girl Mulberry Street Nature Morte The Rage Schizo |
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Batman: Gotham Knight (Warner Home Video, 2008) Screenwriters David Goyer, Josh Olson, Alan Burnett, et al. | |
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This is a six part anthology film that gives six different writers and six different anime directors a chance to put their stamp on the character of Batman. The stories are somewhat connected, and taken together they are meant to be a bridge between the live action films Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. The resulting animated feature looks great, but most of the stories it tells are less than gripping. The segments written by David S. Goyer and Alan Burnett are at least interesting, but due to time constraints never reach their full potential. Worth checking out for hardcore Batman fans and anime enthusiasts, but anyone else should probably skip it. 4 out of 10. (Bob Ignizio) |
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Botched (Warner Home Video, 2008) Directed by Kit Ryan | |
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Why can't more direct to video horror flicks be like this? Botched is a movie that doesn't try to exceed the reach of its meager budget. It makes good use of a few simple sets, populating its story with a handful of fun, interesting characters and keeping the viewer's interest with clever plot twists. Anchoring the film is a strong lead performance by Stephen Dorff as Ritchie, a professional thief who gets in over his head when a simple heist turns into a bloodbath. The whole thing has kind of an eighties horror comedy feel to it, although it's mixed with elements of the crime movie genre as well. By no means is Botched a great movie, but it delivers on the level of good bloody fun, and that's really all I ask out of a low budget flick like this. 7 out of 10. (Bob Ignizio) |
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Day of the Dead (First Look Pictures, 2007) Directed by Steve Miner | |
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Despite claims to the contrary on the DVD box, this does not really qualify as a remake of George Romero’s third zombie film. About the only thing other than the title retained by this Day are some character names and the idea of a semi friendly "intelligent" zombie, here named Bud instead of Bub. But all the plot elements are completely different. I didn’t try to compare this to its namesake, and it didn’t even bother me that the zombies were fast moving, but the poorly executed CGI wall and ceiling crawling zombies… well, you gotta’ draw the line somewhere. Although director Steve Miner isn’t exactly in the pantheon, he has delivered some solid fright flicks in the past, like Friday the 13th 2 and 3 and Lake Placid. But even a competent journeyman filmmaker like Miner can’t save Day of the Dead from the bad acting, bad dialog, and really bad CGI special effects on display here. |
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Mina Suvari’s lackluster performance shows that she deserves the downward spiral her career has been in since American Beauty, while Ving Rhames gives more of himself than this crapfest deserves in a supporting role. This is without a doubt one of the worst movies I’ve seen this year, and probably one of the worst I’ve seen in the past decade. Fuck this movie. (Bob Ignizio) | |
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Die and Let Live (Heretic Films, 2007) Directed by Justin Channel | |
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Sure there are plenty of backyard zombie comedies worse than Die and Let Live, but that still doesn’t mean you should watch it. I mean it’s competently put together considering the budget, and there’s one or two clever gags, but nothing about this really stands out, either. Maybe I just don’t get the humor, which seems aimed at twenty-something man-boys who still live with their parents, play video games all day, and wonder why they don’t have girlfriends. Then again, maybe it’s just not that funny. Benny (Josh Lively) and Scotty (Zane Crosby) are an example of the aforementioned man-boys. In hopes of impressing Stephanie (Sarah Bauer), a girl Benny has the hots for, the two decide to throw a party. Unfortunately, not only is Stephanie’s |
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ex boyfriend creating problems, but the living dead have chosen this night to rise from the grave. The usual sort of zombie comedy hi-jinks ensue, interspersed with flashbacks to Benny and Scotty’s lifelong bromance. The acting is pretty much on the good side of amateur. A little over the top and obvious, but nothing grating. The direction and cinematography are decent, and the special effects are phony looking in a good way. There’s some fun to be had here if you’re in a forgiving mood, but this is nothing you have to see. (Bob Ignizio) | |
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Frog Song (Salvation/Sacrament Films, 2005) Directed by Shinji Imaoka | |
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This is an odd but not unpleasant bit of Japanese erotica. As with many Japanese “pinku” cinema films, Frog Song puts as much emphasis on its story as it does on the sex scenes. Akemi (Konatsu) and Kyoko (Rinako Hirasawa) meet at a Manga cafe after Akemi has smacked her cheating boyfriend upside the head with a bottle. A tentative friendship springs up, but each girl has issues which makes this difficult. Kyoko is an aspiring artist who wants to write and draw a Manga of her own, but she lacks the confidence to submit her work. To make ends meet, she works as a prostitute. Akemi, on the other hand, is involved with a guy who constantly cheats on her. She leaves him and moves in with Kyoko, but eventually she goes back to her boyfriend.
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In a way, this is almost like an indie movie about female friendship, only with occasional softcore sex scenes. With a brief (65 minutes) run time and the requirement of getting in a certain amount of sex and nudity, the story can't help but suffer at times. But still, there's a lot more substance to Frog Song than you'd expect. The performances are believable and director Shinji Imaoka brings some genuine style to the proceedings. And it's also kind of interesting to me how the sex scenes come across as willfully unerotic. It's an interesting, if sometimes flawed film that I would recommend to those with a taste for the unusual. (Bob Ignizio) | |
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The Girl Next Door (Anchor Bay, 2007) Directed by Gregory Wilson | |
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Some horror movies set out to give the viewer a safe little scare. They're entertainment, intended to be a cathartic experience. But occasionally a horror movie comes along that is just plain mean and relentless and disturbing. The Girl Next Door belongs firmly in that second category. This is one of the grimmest films I've seen since Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.
The story is told as a flashback to David's (Daniel Manche) adolescence in the fifties. Meg (Blythe Auffarth) and her sister Susan (Madelline Taylor) move in next door to David after their parents die in an accident, taken in by their alcoholic Aunt Ruth (Blanche Baker, Molly Ringwald's sister in 16 Candles). Ruth's husband has split, leaving her alone with 3 boys and a pathological view of humankind, especially women. It doesn't take long before that pathology gets exercised on the girls, |
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with Meg taking the brunt of the abuse. Eventually Meg is tied up in the basement where she is tortured and sexually assaulted by Ruth, her sons, and even some of the neighborhood kids. Only David sees anything wrong in this, but he doesn't know what he can do to help. If you think the events in this movie could never happen, think again. This is based on a book by Jack Ketchum that was, in turn, inspired by a real crime that took place in Indianapolis in 1965. Ketchum has changed some facts of the case, but the most disturbing aspects are all too true. I'm sure there are some who would ask why anyone would want to subject themselves to a movie like this. For me, it's the quality of the acting, writing, and directing. It's not a fun movie, and it's not supposed to be a fun movie. It's meant to make you feel dirty and like you've been sucker punched by the time its over. To me that's just as valid a use of film as any, but your feelings may differ so be warned. (Bob Ignizio) | |
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The Hammer (Genius Productions, 2008) Directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld | |
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The Hammer is a movie about a washed up boxer getting a second chance, with elements of romantic comedy thrown in, to boot. Plus the story was conceived by, and the film stars, Adam Carolla. By all rights I should have hated this. Instead, The Hammer turned out to be a pleasant surprise. There's some genuinely funny stuff in this movie, and the love story is sweet and believable, with none of the usual wacky misunderstandings and stupidity that plague most Hollywood romantic comedies. And as much as I've hated Carolla in, well, almost everything else he's ever done, he does a great job in the lead here. That said, it's Oswaldo Castillo's understated performance as Carolla's best friend that elicits a lot of the best laughs. 7 ½ out of 10. (Bob Ignizio) |
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Killing Car (Salvation Films, 1993) Directed by Jean Rollin | |
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After spending much of the eighties directing porn under various pseudonyms, director Jean Rollin finally returned to his roots in surrealistic horror with Killing Car (aka La Femme Dangereuse). This is sort of Rollin’s take on Francois Truffaut’s The Bride Wore Black. The plot, such as it is, is that a mysterious Asian woman (Tiki Tsang) kills a bunch of people, leaving behind a toy car at the scene of each crime. Only as the film nears its conclusion does Rollin give the viewer any information with which to understand his protagonist’s motivation, but then plot and story have never been Rollin’s strong points. Where he excels here, as always, is in providing striking visuals, a dreamlike atmosphere, and a feeling of eroticism. Although not Rollin’s best work, for his fans this should be a welcome release. For those unfamiliar with Rollin, this isn’t too bad of an introduction. If you enjoy more visual filmmakers like Buneul or Greenaway, you may want to check this out as well, and then go back to Rollin’s earlier films like Shiver of the Vampires and Living Dead Girl for even more surreal fun. (Bob Ignizio) |
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The Last Winter (IFC, 2008) Directed by Larry Fessenden | |
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Director Larry Fessenden has made a name for himself in indie film circles with intelligent and subtle horror films like Habit and Wendigo. I admired those films, but neither one really blew me away. With The Last Winter, however, Fessenden has delivered on his promise. This is the sort of environmentalist horror film that M. Night Shyamalan wishes he could have made with The Happening. It's a bleak, completely believable film with top notch performances all around. The way Fessenden approaches the possibly supernatural elements of his story reminds me of Val Lewton films, and most specifically of a film by a Lewton disciple: Jacques Tourneur's Curse of the Demon. Of course the icy setting can't help but recall Carpenter's The Thing and Kubrick's The Shining as well. I don't think I'm ready to put this on the level of those films, but it's good enough to earn 8 out of 10. (Bob Ignizio) |
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The Machine Girl (Tokyo Shock, 2008) Directed by Noboru Iguchi | |
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I probably would have loved this if I had caught it anytime in my late teens or early twenties. The Machine Girl is a full on gore fest of ridiculous proportions, featuring every kind of bodily dismemberment you can imagine played for laughs. Supposedly the film is a reflection on modern Japanese society and the way in which bullying and youth violence have become more prominent, but taken out of its cultural context it's just another mindless gore comedy. I felt the same way after watching this that I usually feel after watching Joe D'Amato movies. The gore set pieces always sound more impressive on paper than they look on screen, and once you get past that there's nothing else of interest. If you're still at the right age where The Toxic Avenger seems like a comedy classic to you, maybe this is worth checking out. As for me, I give it 2 out of 10. (Bob Ignizio) |
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Mulberry Street (2007, Lion’s Gate) Directed by Jim Mickle | |
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As a horror fan you get used to disappointment, so when something like Mulberry Street comes along it’s a pleasant surprise. Mulberry Street revolves around the mostly middle age or older working class residents of a small apartment building on the titular street. Everyone has just found out that they’re being evicted via eminent domain to make way for a new upscale development. As if that weren’t bad enough, turns out there’s a nest of mutant rats in the neighborhood carrying a nasty bug that turns anyone they bite into cannibalistic rat monsters. With a concept that ridiculous you’d think horror/comedy would be the only way to go, but Director/co-writer Jim Mickle takes the material seriously.
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And what do you know, it actually works. Mickle takes kind of a leisurely pace at first, building the horror and suspense slowly and letting the audience get to know the characters before they get turned into mutant rat monster food. And it’s these characters, played by a strong cast of unknowns led by co-writer/star Nick Damici, which really sell the movie. Aside from the main plot there’s also some subtext dealing with Iraq and Hurricane Katrina, but you really have to be paying attention to catch it. For the most part this is just a good old fashioned drive-in style monster movie that reminds me of such diamonds in the rough as Piranha and Basket Case. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than 90% of what passes for horror films these days. (Bob Ignizio) | |
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Nature Morte (2006, Redemtion) Directed by Paul Burrows | |
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Here we go again. Nature Morte utilizes the time honored horror plot of the artist who must kill to create. Roger Corman used the plot to satirize the art world in his A Bucket of Blood while H. G. Lewis… well, H. G. Lewis just needed some semblance of a plot to hang the gore scene on in Color Me Blood Red. Nature Morte seems to be trying for something a little more serious, but for me it just doesn’t work. With a plot this generic, it’s really down to directorial style and/or good performances to carry the movie. Sadly, Nature Morte fails to deliver on either front. There’s ample flesh and blood on display but, despite the explicitness, neither much fear nor eroticism is generated. A lot of this is due to budgetary constraints, |
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but I only cut a movie so much slack for that. No matter what the budget, a movie has to affect me on some level. Nature Morte just bored me. (Bob Ignizio) | |
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The Rage (2007, Universal) Directed by Robert Kurtzman | |
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The Rage concerns a group of 5 attractive young people out in the woods getting high and having sex. Little do they know that mad genius Dr. Viktor Vasilienko (Andrew Divof) is conducting experiments on a virus that can turn human beings into homicidal killing machines. One of Vasilenko's experiments escapes and, after claiming a few victims, dies. Soon the disease is spreading through both humans and vultures, and our band of horny dope fiends are forced to fight for their lives. There are two things that make The Rage more enjoyable than your average mid budget direct to video genre film. First of all, the special effects are over the top in a really fun way. Murderous mutants, pulsating brains, cheap looking killer vultures, and gallons of blood abound, most of which is done without CGI. |
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Second, and perhaps most important, this movie has Andrew Divof. He's a great character actor who can chew the scenery with the best of them. If you're a true schlock fan you can't help but smile at him ranting and raving about how the corporate elite buried his cure for cancer, and now the only logical way to save humanity is by unleashing cannibalistic mutants on the world. On the downside, while the screenplay by Kurtzman and John Bisson has a good concept and some fun scenes, it's pretty weak on dialogue and none of the characters besides Divof's mad doctor are fleshed out enough to be interesting. Even Reggie Bannister of Phantasm fame is forgettable in his small role as "Uncle Ben". But The Rage does a great job at capturing the kind of spirit and fun companies like New World and Empire Pictures had in their output from the early eighties. I can't honestly tell you this is a "good" movie, but I have to say I had a fun time watching it. And really, isn’t that what it’s all about with a movie like this? (Bob Ignizio)
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Schizo (Salvation Films, 1976) Directed by Pete Walker | |
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I remember seeing the TV spots for this sleazy British thriller when I was a kid and really wanting to see this movie. Sadly, as if often the case with exploitation films, the movie doesn’t quite live up to the promise of the trailer. Director Pete Walker had honed his skills on sexploitation and horror films like ‘Die Screaming Marianne’ and ‘House of Whipcord’, and he clearly has a knack for this kind of material. He’s also got a solid cast and, by seventies exploitation movie standards, a decent budget to work with. Schizo is essentially a Hitchcockian suspense thriller with just enough blood, nudity, and psychological perversity to satisfy the grindhouse and drive-in crowds. An Italian director like Sergio Martino might have kicked things up a notch with more visual style and general insanity, but Walker seems somewhat reserved here, even compared to some of his own earlier work. But the main drawback is the pacing of the film. That may explain why it was originally cut by 10 minutes for its US theatrical release. I’m sure some of the more lingering gore shots were snipped as |
| well, but that wouldn’t have added up to more than a few seconds. But I’m just guessing, and since what we have here is the uncut 109 minute version that’s what I have to review. And on that basis, I can’t really recommend Schizo. It might be worth a rental if you’re a serious fan of seventies sleazy horror, but that’s about it. (Bob Ignizio) | |
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