New York City Horror Film Festival:Day One: Bereavement

DB here-

Last night the New York City Horror Film Festival started in earnest (the previous night was an opening night party). I did not attend that screening since it was a school night. However, as promised Unseen Films was there. Covering the festival for this site is Robert Melville who's attended every festival and every screening since the NYCHFF started. Basically he's the expert as far as the festival is concerned and I'm going to let him tell you all about the sights and sounds of the craziness that is unfolding in the Tribeca Cinemas. And it is a nicely controlled rock and roll sort of madness.

I should add that I attended tonight's screening of Yellowbrickroad and it was a great deal of fun but I'm going to defer to the master and start off with his review of last nights films. I'm also going to let him talk about Yellowbrickroad and the film that followed it Vincent D'Onofrio's Don't Go In The Woods when he finally gets a minute to sit down and decompress from the weekend of films. I'm not going to rush up a review since Bob knows the festival inside and out, and as you'll see in a few seconds a damn fine writer, which makes him better suited at telling the stories from NYCHFF.

Lastly I want to take a moment out and say that the lovely Artemis, Robert's lovely and charming lady was there and that it was a pleasure to finally meet her in person.

So with out further adieu I'm going to hand you off to Robert and the first films from this years NYCHFF.


So, last night was Day 1 of the annual New York City Horror Film Fest. In it's 9th year running, this has become one of the premier horror film fest's in the entire country. Being someone, who has been attending since the very year back in 2002, I've watched this festival turn into a small gathering of filmmakers/fans, to the huge event that it is today. Kudos to all the people that have worked so hard, to get this festival off the ground. This is one of my fav. times of the year, so I wouldn't miss this for anything.

Now, I must say..thing's last night did not run as smoothly as I was hoping. The feature had a rather late start due to some theatre malfunctions. There was an issue on the theatre's part due to one of their reel's upstairs shitting the bed just before the program was about to start. This resulted in a rather long wait, that seemed to have lasted forever. Free popcorn and soda was provided by the cinema due to all the technical difficulties. So after a while of waiting, the program did eventually get started sometime after the 10 o'clock hour.


The four short films shown last night:


Inferno - This story involves a uneasy man, his bedridden wife/gf and a mysterious black case. A mysterious voice (who sound's like a knockoff version of Jigsaw from the Saw movies) calls the main actor, to tell him that this black case he has belongs to him, and if he wants to save his partner, he'll have to deliver this case to this unseen voiced character. Needless to say, he's unable to deliver the goods to 'jigsaw-voiced guy on the phone', so without giving away the ending..there were consequences to be had. This 20 min piece I thought was very well filmed, I liked the whole gritty look of the house where the man & woman were. However, I didn't get it. I looked over to my girlfriend, to see if she understood just what the hell happened, but neither of us had any idea. So, maybe there was some deep meaning to this film, but if there was..it flew over my head.

Written By - Two hotshot writers, lock them selves in a room for two whole days, with an evil clown doll. Vowing to come out, with a script that will knock Hollywood on it's ass. I happened to like this short. Maybe just a minute or two too long, but it had some good comedy to it, and I'm a sucker for anything involving a killer doll...oops, did I give that away.

Lazarus Taxon - In an almost post-apocalyptic type of setting, a man sets sail across the sea trying to find a cure to save his daughter's life. This film came from Spain, so the setting and just the way everything looked was very dark & stylish. On a visual level, I give this film an A. Story wise, although it was original, me personally..I just couldn't get into it. Overall, I'd give it a solid C+.

Stephen King's Flowers for Norma- Set in 1963 NY, a man walks the streets to meet the love of his life. Now, I'm a Stephen King fan, but I'll be honest I've never heard of this story. Now that I've seen the film, I might have to go and read it now. This was my fav. of the short films. Very well shot, you really got the impression that it was early '60's NY. Along with great special effects, this story had a 'Jacob's Ladder' sorta feel to it. And since that movie is awesome, this short get's my full praises.

And the feature of the evening:
Bereavement - A horrific account of a 6 y/o boy, abducted in his backyard and forced to witness the brutal crimes of a deranged madman.

A sequel to Stevan Mena's 2004 film Malevolence, this film really takes this franchise (there were talks of making this into a trilogy) into a new level. I had met Stevan way back when, in 2003 when Malevolence played at the NYCHFF. And not to jump off track, but if memory serves me correctly, I think their was an issue with his film back then. This guy can't catch a break. Anyway, Malevolence was very heavy on being in the same vein as a Halloween/Friday the 13th type of film. Bereavement is more just sadistic, in a Texas Chainsaw-Ed Gein sort of way. This is a brutal f'n movie, and I can say that I loved every second of it.

I've always enjoyed films that push limits, that don't hold back, that are not afraid to go to a place where it might shock and repulse you. Stevan Mena has made one hell of a dirty, violent film that might have you alittle on edge while watching it.

First World War (2003)

One of a small handful of great documentaries on the Great War (two of the others were reviewed over the last two days).

This series of ten episodes nicely explains the war simply and directly. It also manages to cover a variety of other subjects that most other documentaries and books on the subject don't, for example the fighting in the Italian mountains. In this series brief number of episodes it manages to explain what happened and why better than almost any documentary you're ever going to run across and it's better than most books I've read on the war as well.

I'm a student of the First World War and I find it hard to find good films on the subject. Most are dull affairs that rehash the same old facts and figures using a limited number of film clips. Here the filmmakers have broadened their net covering a wide variety of subjects, but also using footage of many of the locations shot today. The result is a series that makes the war very current and alive, no longer is it a far away and long ago war, but one that happened in places that still exist.

Its magical.

Its so good that I found that after the second episode I was rationing the episodes out since I didn't want the mere ten to run out too quickly. This is a must see not only for people wanting to know about the war but also wanting to know about how we got to today.

This has run on the History Channel and its related cable stations, however its available on DVD and that's how you'll want to go because this is something you'll want to see repeatedly. (and the bonus episode is also great)

Shanghai (2010)

In the wake of IFC.com picking it as one of the Oscar Bait films you’re not going to see this year, I’m going to take time out and talk about the film Shanghai, which stars John Cusack, Gong Li, Ken Watanabe and Chow Yun Fat. Why the film is not coming to a theater near you at least for the next couple of months is best explained in the article. I just wanted to say that you can find the film as an import DVD, as I did, and that it’s worth the effort to track down (though you’ll find it dubbed into Chinese).

The story is set in Shanghai on the eve of the US entry into the Second World War. Cusack is an American spy working under the cover of being a journalist. He arrives in the city to meet a friend (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and fellow spy, only to find him dead, and it's unclear as to what he was working on.

Wading into the city, which is a hotbed of international intrigue, he finds himself making the acquaintance of the lovely Li and her husband Yun Fat. The connection proves useful as Cusack is able to move within some circles, and to fall in love with Li. However the city is dangerous, and since it is under Japanese control Cusack soon runs up against Watanabe, the commanding officer of the Japanese. And need I say that he too has a thing for the lovely Li?.

This is a spectacular soap opera on an epic scale that no one, other than the Chinese, do anymore. It’s a throwback to the all-star pot boilers of the 1940’s and 1950’s. Think the opulence of the MGM films from the period, but with a gritty feel, and you’ll have an idea of what the film is like.

Before watching it I was certain I was going to zip through the DVD at speed. But the film started with this wonderful panorama of Shanghai in 1941, and coupled with the hard boiled narration of Cusack’s character, I was hooked. Even more hooked when the film shifted to the tough Japanese interrogation of Cusack. What exactly was going on? I didn’t know, but I wanted to find out.

Wonderfully acted by all concerned, this is a wonderful return of some old school acting. As much as the film looks like a film from the 1940’s, the acting style is as well. This is actor's acting. It's four of the best actors of the age tearing it up and taking no prisoners. Also, since the film is a throwback, the star power and the wattage of the actors is amped up, and the four leads shine not only through their ability, but through their personalities. There is no submersion of personality; this is instead actors being full bore MOVIE STARS. When they show up on screen you look at them and you can’t take your eyes off them.

If you love movies of old and can’t believe that they don’t make them like they used to, this movie is for you. It’s a blast from the past.

I don’t know why the Weinstein Organization is hesitant to release the film in the West; well that’s not true, I do. It’s ultimately that they are balking at the fact that most people don’t like films with Asians in the lead. It's sad but true, we in America simply won’t watch Asian films unless they are martial arts flicks or way out horror, and even then the audience for those is limited, since those two genres are looked down upon by many film goers. It's sad. It really is. If you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time you know that highlighting Asian films of note has been one of the driving forces behind it. How small is the audience for Asian films? The film Aftershock got a US release to 20 theaters in the US but only to cities with large Asian, particularly Chinese, populations- and that was considered a large release.

What amazes me is that the Weinsteins are hesitating on the film when they went through a great deal to get it made. The Chinese government even shut production down for a while because they didn’t like it, but it still got made. According to the article they are claiming that the film has post production issues, but as the film stands in the version I saw on a Chinese DVD it’s a damn fine movie. I want to see the film again and have only been hesitant to watch the DVD again simply because I think it's worth seeing on a big screen.

You should keep in mind that I have issues with the Weinsteins, who are notorious for buying up large swaths of films from Asia and then sitting on them for months or years before finally releasing them in edited, retitled, or altered forms long after the demand for the films have passed. They then turn around and say there is no market for the films, when their delaying of the releases has forced many people like myself to go into the local Chinatowns or on to the Internet to secure copies from places like Yes Asia, that puts no money in their pockets. Of course there is no market for their release when they are putting it out long after the audience is satisfied.

(In their defence they have gotten a little bit better at releasing films, but most films still wait a long time before they see any sort of US release.)…

And yes it is Oscar bait, if not just for the acting then definitely on every technical level that it would be eligible for…this film looks AMAZING.

Hopefully this will get a real release to theaters and won’t be dumped for a week before it shows up on US DVD; it's too good for that.

Shanghai is a great little Unseen Film. You do need to see it at some point. Sooner rather than later. If you can wait, see it on the big screen; if not, go to Chinatown or go to places like Yes Asia and find yourself a copy.

World War One (1964)

A seeming American answer to the BBC series The Great War is a very good look at what happened when the world first exploded into world war. This is a very concise explanation of what happened to bring the world into the fires of war and what happened once we were there.

For the most part this is an excellent documentary series on the war and it's filled with great images and wonderful bits about the war and the world during it. Robert Ryan is a very good narrator and he tells you what is what with the style of a good news reporter.

The problem with the series for me is that it runs out of steam in the final five or six episodes. The episodes themselves were fine but watching the series in what amounted to a single sitting I found that they really didn't hang together and seemed to be crammed with filler material. For example, I very much enjoyed the episode on the music of the war, but at the same time it seemed like an attempt to fill time. I also think the end of the war is handled weakly with the attitude of "well the war ended and things were different. Goodnight"

Still despite the flaws anyone interested in what happened in the First World War should make an effort to see the series.

NYC Horror Festival starts tonight

Five days of horror films starts tonight down at the Tribeca cinemas. As I've said a friend of Unseen Robert Melville will be attending and reporting back when he's able. I'll be attending two screenings Yellowbrickroad on Friday and Outcast on Saturday. This should be fun.

Wheel Of Time (2003)

This is the story of the Buddhist initiation ceremonies held in 2002 in India and Austria during which elaborate sand mandalas (the Wheel Of Time of the title) were created. In India we see how half a million pilgrims come from whatever means was at their disposal to see the Dalai Lama and be blessed, while in Austria a few thousand people attended the ceremonies.

Difficult to adequately explain fully, the film is partially a document of the events, and partially a meditation on them, and larger ideas. It is a film that beautifully shows how one religion can transcend place and time. It attempts to show us the length to which the pilgrims will go in order to travel down the path to enlightenment. Since this is a trip that is only really traveled deep inside oneself Werner Herzog keeps his camera ever moving over the landscape of the people who are trying to find nirvana. We are forever looking at the faces of those deep in prayer and meditation as if we might be able to find some clue as to what is going on deep with in each person's soul. It becomes a mediation on meditation.

For the most part this film works wonderfully. It manages to give some clue into the very nature of what the ceremonies are all about. We are also drawn into a contemplative and meditative state that seems akin to, or at least approximates, those of some of the pilgrims. While certainly not the real thing, it is enough to give one a feel for deep thought.

I do have one problem with the film, although it's a minor one. In the central section the film seems to wander about too much with some of the pilgrims. It's a personal thing but I was not as enthralled with the journey to the sacred mountain, and I did get a bit tired of prostrating monks. It's a minor thing, but it decreased my enjoyment of the film ever so slightly.

Still this is good film that is a must see for anyone who is interested in Buddhism or the varieties of religious experience. For those who want to see a slice of life that's not in their neighborhood, I also recommend it.

The Great War (1964)

Absolutely one of the finest pieces of television ever produced.

Frankly that is all you need to know. However, since I can't just leave it there, let me explain.

This is a staggering 26 part series on the First World War that lays out clearly how we got there and what happened to to the people in the middle of it.

Rarely have the horrors and costs of war been so beautifully explained. This is the place to start if you want to know anything about the war. Unfortunately it's so good that almost every other series on the war has paled in comparison. It's finely detailed but never overwhelming, and the sort of show that makes you regret that each episode is ending. You simply want to keep watching the series because it's so compelling. It's a series that everyone should see because it explains not only the world of 1914, but also the world today, and is a warning to all of us about what can happen when governments fail to really think.

Somewhere beyond recommended.

Sadly this is not readily available in the United States and I had to secure a copy from England. I really wish some one like PBS or the Discovery Channel Networks would pick this up and run it because this has been too long hidden from view.

(I should point out that this series inspired the equally classic The World At War, narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier, about the Second World War)

Blood And Oil: The Middle East In World War One (2006)

Blood And oil is a film I did not want to see. I have a friend who is very into the First World War and is on the lookout for new documentaries on the subject. She has a huge library of books but since she is not connected to the Internet she doesn’t have that many documentaries, except what I can find for her. I had found Blood And Oil ages ago but I couldn’t justify the price tag, even as a gift, for a film I knew nothing about; even more when you consider that I had been burned by several other films which promised much on the First World War and delivered almost nothing. I only picked this film up because I got it used for about five bucks.

I wish I had picked it up sooner.

This is a wonderfully informational documentary on the war in the Middle East that takes events to about 1923 and lays out how we are still dealing with the repercussions of that war today. Rarely have I seen any part of the First World War as clearly explained as is done in this film. Actually the joy of the film is that it not only explains what happens and why, but also why it matters today. If you want to know why we’re in Iraq or dealing with Iran you need to see this movie.

The story of the film begins in 1914 as the great powers (in this case the Ottoman Empire’s leaders in Turkey), decide to side with the Germans and make a grand grab for power and territory. How that all goes wrong is the story, with the details of the war in the Middle East showing us why the countries are set up the way they are.

I thought I was going to watch this half-assed and end up getting annoyed after half an hour. Instead I ended up watching it straight through to the end twice in a row.

Yeah, it’s that good.

It’s also completely off the radar.

Its on DVD but no one is paying any attention to it, so with a little luck you should be able to get a used copy cheaply. Trust me, if you like war stories or just want to know about what's going on today, you need to see this film.

Oxford Murders (2008)

I'm beginning a week of films connected to World War One. I'm cheating at the start since today's first film only has an opening scene set in the trenches. The scene has to do with Wittgenstein solving philosophical problems as bullets whiz around him, the rest of the film has nothing to do with it. Its a cheat but it does allow me to tell you about a really good mystery.

The film really concerns Elijah Wood as a transfer student at Oxford. He wants to meet and learn from a great professor played by John Hurt. The initial meeting doesn't go right and Wood decides to chuck it all go home. But fate has a other plans and soon this unlikely pair are thrown together when a series of murders begin to happen around Oxford with the killer leaving symbols behind...

I like this film. Its not the greatest thing since sliced bread but it is a great deal of fun. One of the things I like is that the great cast that is clearly having a good time. Watching Wood and Hurt play a de facto Holmes and Watson is a a blast.

The mystery, which delves into the world of philosophy and mathematics, is nicely twisty. While the films discussions of deep manners are great for stretching the gray cells they aren't really necessary to be followed for solving the murder. Where it ends up is nicely keeping with the films repeated discussions of the nature of reality.

Don't get me wrong, even with the deeper discussions of reality, this is a fluffy trifle. Its sort of a paperback mystery that you'd pick up on a long bus trip. Its the sort of thing you read, enjoy and then put aside as you see something else.

When you want a trifle, see this film. It will make you ponder the nature of reality, and keep you hoping with a the best thing of all, a really mysterious mystery.

I saw this on pay per view in connection with its recent US theatrical release. It should be on DVD soon and is worth a look see.

Metropolis Restored, NYC Horror Film Festival and other notes

At 8pm Eastern time tonight Turner Classic Movies is going to be running the restored version of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. It is going to be followed by a documentary on the restoration. I have not seen it yet (I was supposed to see it last week in NYC but the theater was unexpectedly closed.) but I am hoping to plop down in front of the TV tonight.

The New York City Horror Film Festival starts Wednesday with party and is then followed by four days of screenings. As it stands now I'm going Friday night to a film called Yellowbrickroad. I'm trying to work out other screenings. If you're worrying about limited coverage I've contacted a friend, Robert Melville, who is going to try to go to it all .He said he'll be sending us posts from the road. I don't know how much he'll be seeing since some of the screenings overlap, but we'll see.

IFC ran an interesting piece on the five Oscar bait films we won't be seeing this year and an explanation of why. I've been hard at work on a review for Shanghai and will have the piece up by the end of the week.

You should all keep an eye out for the film Soul Kitchen which is on pay per view and in theaters. The film is a very funny comedy about trying to get a restaurant with the titled name back on it's feet. Its a film from Germany and it got some of the best word out of Tribeca this year and it deserves it. I've seen most of it twice now, unfortunately each viewing on IFC in Theaters has ended with my getting called away. One day I'll get to see the whole film. I suggest you beat me to the punch and see it first.

As a close out to Halloween I present a look at real Stephen King film locations. Also a look at the Halloween at Creatures of Delight (see sidebar) that ran in Fangoria. (the scarecrow by the way was in my yard)

For those curious what the week will bring here at Unseen Films we're doing a week of films linked to the First World War in honor of Veterans Day or Remembrance Day. The first one is a murder mystery, a second, a documentary and the remaining three are TV series that presented the history of the war.

Planet of Vampires

Today we continue looking at films from the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s look at vampire films with a look at Mario Bava’s Planet of Vampires.

The film really isn’t about vampires. The film is actually more akin to Invasion of the Body Snatchers with the “vampire” of the title being invisible creatures who rise up and take over the bodies of the people on a pair of spaceships when they lands on a planet in order to investigate a mysterious signal

Mario Bava is a cinematographer who pushed the art into wonderfully unexpected ways. Some of them mirrored some of the garish pop art we often associate with the 1960's. He was also a director who tended to specialize in horror, gaillo and exploitative fare with varying degrees of success

Full disclosure: I’m not really a Bava fan. I do like the films that he turned out but at the same time I don’t quite see why some people rave about. I don’t know if its because his films just don’t hit me the right way or because what he was doing has been stolen by so many others. I know that his work in gaillo genre, where we follow an unknown killer, basically started the genre but it really took off when it was then taken over by others especially Dario Argento. However the genre, like much of Bava's directing doesn't float my boat.

On the opposite side of the spectrum of love/ like for Bava is Tim Lucas who runs Video Watchdog. Lucas wrote the definitive biography on Bava called All the Colors of the Dark. It’s a massive book on every aspect of Bava’s life and career. Its almost assuredly one of the greatest book ever written on film and would be required reading for every film lover except that the price tag of 250 dollars puts it outside the reach of anyone other than a true fan. (I don’t own the book for that very reason- though someone at the screening of Planet had it with them and was reading on the film before it started)

To me this is probably Bava’s greatest achievement as a director, I don’t know if its a classic, but it is probably my favorite.

Filmed on the cheap, I mean real cheap, Bava was forced to come up with ways of hiding what was a sound stage bound production. Using a clever set and costume design that allows for colorful swirling clouds in the shy, skin tight black jumpsuits, huge cavernous sets and clever use of plastic sheets, Bava creates a world that is more dream than real with the result that the film etches itself deep into your psyche. The film works on you from the inside out with flaws and limitations being pushed aside by a slowly creeping unease. There is something creepy about what happens despite it being occasionally silly.

The unease comes from the film's refusal to tell a complete story. The film screened at BAM was choppy, but even looking at the full film on DVD you notice holes. Things aren't explained (the ending results in a real WTF moment) and things jump ahead but mostly the film moves along fast enough you don't mind, the questions don't linger, but the fear does.

Its not a perfect film. Seeing the film on the big screen you see how limited the effects effects are. You see how plastic the ships are, you see the poor compositing and you see the cheap sets. Its kind of embarrassing, but it it isn't fatal.

Its a good film, not a great one and worth a look.(if you want a taste here's the trailer)

This is out on DVD.

Horror of Dracula (1958)

This weekend I'm doing a couple of films that screened at part of BAMcinématek Bela Lugosi’s Dead, Vampires Live Forever These are two of my favorite vampire films and it was a real treat to see both of them on the big screen for the first time. Today I'm looking at the first Hammer Dracula film, which made Christopher Lee a superstar. Tomorrow is the weird film Planet of Vampires, that was made on the cheap by a master cinematographer turned director Mario Bava.

I recently realized how easy it is to get to the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Rose Cinema. While they run current films in three of their theaters they have a fourth screen that runs nothing but oldies and off beat stuff. Earlier this year they ran King Kong, they just finished a run of Cary Grant films and now one of their rotating programs are vampire films. In all honesty they are one of the best reportory theaters in all of New York, running a close second to the Film Forum and depending upon the program Lincoln Center. If BAM has a flaw, which is the reason I put it second, is that while its easy to get to, its a destination. In other words for me, if I'm going to a show or movie, I'm going to that show and movie and not doing it in conjunction with other errands. Its a minor thing, but for me it makes choosing to see a movie at BAM have a ticket price that includes the whole train fare.

For me the chance to see one of the classic Hammer Horror films as it should be seen, a big screen was worth the added cost.

Some times you've seen a movie so many times you stop seeing it until something happens and you see it again for the first time. For me one of those moments of epiphany was seeing the Horror of Dracula on a big screen. Sure its a great film. Sure its a classic. But seeing it at BAM I was forced to sit and watch the film for the first time in years and I never realized just how good it was.

The plot of the film mostly follows the basic Bram Stoker story but at the same time it changes things around.

Jonathan Harker goes to see Dracula to act as his librarian. Once he arrives there a woman tries to get him to help her out of the castle. However she flees when Dracula shows up. Dracula shows Harker his room and we quickly learn that Harker is there on a false pretense, he's there to kill Dracula and rid the world of his evil. Unfortunately things go wrong and Harker is found out. Dracula turns him into a vampire and flees just as Dr Van Helsing arrives. Van Helsing kills his friend and then heads home. Back home Van Helsing tells Harker's fiance's family that Harker is dead. Upset that Van Helsing is not forth coming with details they send him home saying that they would tell Lucy when she is better. Of course it soon is revealed that Dracula is behind the "illness" and that Van Helsing will have to stop the vampire. The film quickly becomes a race to save the afflicted and stop Dracula.

There are several changes from the novel. The most important are the changing of Harker from a real estate agent to essentially a vampire hunter which then refocuses the final two thirds of the film on Peter Cushing's Van Helsing, the other change is that the story is reset on to the continent of Europe in such away that it allows for a climatic chase across country to stop Dracula before he can find a place of rest for the night.

The first change I think is good because it gives us a way in to the story. That change is Harker's mission. We know from the novel and the Lugosi film what it should be, but by changing that, we're suddenly hooked. Once Harker is made a victim it changes the rules and sets us adrift because we can no longer be certain as to what is going to happen.

The second change, setting the film wholly on the continent instead of Translyvania and England works really well. Granted the change was done for purely monetary reasons, but at the same time it sets up the mad dash than ends the film. It really is exciting.

Filmed in color in order to compete with black and white television the film still has a muted color scheme, which is used to great effect to counter point the bright red blood that we see through out the film. Indeed we know were no longer in Hollywood when the film opens and we see blood dripping onto Dracula's crypt. (Sadly Lugosi had been pushing for a color remake of Dracula before he died but his words fell on deaf ears)

The performances by Cushing, Michael Gough and the rest of the cast are spot on. They add the right level of gravity to the proceedings.

Christopher Lee, who had been making movies for more than a decade when he made this shot to super stardom with this role. Yes he's a great actor, but at the same time I think the way his Dracula is a sensual force, watch how he takes his female victims, is what made him the star. I know that isn't all his doing, the seduction scenes were written before hand, but at the same time he managed to pull it off making him a vampire who is sexy but who at the same time is rather ordinary. (I can't tell you how much I hate the recent trend of making vampires sexy not because they radiate sex rather because they cast hunky stud muffins in the role. Its a cheat and a laziness. Then again it does kind of set up the unintentional subtext of the truly beautiful being dead inside or are monsters, but that's just over reading.)

Is the film scary today? I don't think so. However it does have a great deal of tension. The whole sequence with the young girl is creepy, the race to save Mina is exciting, and Lee's Dracula is such that you really don't know what he's going to do or what he's capable of.

(An aside: Lee wouldn't play the role of Dracula again for several years because he didn't want to get type cast. It would be 8 years before he donned the cape and fangs again for a Hammer film for Dracula Prince of Darkness. Interestingly Lee hated that script so much that he refused to speak his lines and he played the role silent. Its actually one of the best of the Hammer series since Dracula is now very much a force of nature and something truly to be feared)

This film is one of the classics. If you can you really need to see this because it simply a really good little thriller. Its one of the films that launched the horror boom of the late 1950's and early 1960's. It also really made Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing stars in more places than just England.

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When I saw this film there were three guys in the mens room saying how they only see a movie once because that's all they deserve- except Bonnie and Clyde which they watched multiple times in a row because they didn't have to leave the theater. They had resisted seeing this film again but because the woman they were with wanted to see it they agreed to go see it again. They were kind of surprised that the film held up even though they thought it was kind of silly.

I know respected critic Pauline Kael felt the same way.

Personally don't know why you wouldn't want to see a good film again. To me seeing a film a second time often brings surpises and complexity that isn't apparent on the first viewing. Some times you need more than one viewing to know if it really is good.

Actually the best remark about multiple viewings was said by David Fincher at the director's Dialog at this years NYFF when he said you don't know if a movie is good or not until you know if it's being seen and reseen five years or more down the road.

Der Verlorene (1951)

Peter Lorre directs for the only time. Beautifully shot and acted this movie is a sad foot note to what might have been had Lorre been allowed to direct more films.

The story, told largely in flashback, concerns a man who kills his fiance when she is discovered to be selling off his research to the enemy. Unfortunately the repercussions of that act have an effect in the post war world where our hero is acting as a doctor in a refugee camp. The plot has Lorre, as a doctor in a refuge camp after the second world war, running into an old "friend". It quickly is revealed that there is more to the good doctor than meets the eye and in a flashback that takes up most of the film, we see what happened during the war years. From murder for survival to mass murder its a small jump.

Everything on a technical level is fantastic, with Lorre composing some starkly haunting shots, the shots in and around the camp that book ends the film. Here was a man who clearly learned how to put a film together from the masters like Lang and Hitchcock. He paints a wonderful portrait of the war and of its aftermath that is almost tactile. It could be argued that the film contains some of the most real moments of post war life in Germany ever captured on film.

The problem with the film is that while Lorre mastered the technique and mood of the film he didn't get a perfect handle on the story, with the result that the story spins out of control, in odd unexpected ways, and like our characters life, not all of them good. The problem is that the trip seems a bit unfocused with a couple of turns seeming to be forced (forgive me for not telling too much since the bumps are late in the film and I don't want to give away plot points).

Despite the bumps the film is definitely worth a look, if for no other reason then to see what Lorre could do in the directors chair, which on the basis of this film was something amazing. Seriously some of the sequences here will stay with you. For me some of the final scenes haunt my memory still.

Actually you should see this film because almost no one has. The film, made in the wake of Lorre's return to Germany. Shocked by what he saw he felt he had to make a movie to help jump start the film industry. Unfortunately like, other German films dealing with the recent past(ie. the war), this film died on the vine. There was no audience for it in Germany or elsewhere. The film fell into obscurity and became a footnote.

Track this film down.

Its one of the most haunting war films you'll ever see.

Rocket Attack USA (1961)

Barry Mahon panic inducing tale about the commie threat of nuclear destruction in the wake of sputnik. Mahon 's tale has a secret agent going into the Soviet Union to get the goods on the Soviet rocket program. It's a cautionary tale about what could happen if we aren't vigilant.

Barry Mahon was an exploitation director who specialized in films that would make a buck fast. He started by making films like Rocket Attack or Cuba Rebel Girls (Errol Flynn's last film). He then moved into nudie cuties and related films with titles like Art School for Nudists or The Diary of Knocker McCalla or Nudes on Tiger Reef when there was money to be had. As the softcore market began to dry up he moved on to kids films, turning out kids films Santa and the Three Bears, Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny or The Wonderful Land of Oz. He was a competent enough filmmaker that you noticed his name, though sometimes it was so you could avoid other films by him.

Rocket Attack is a typical Mahon film, topical, more than a bit exploitative. It's a mix of documentary footage with narration that informs the viewer of the facts and a story with actors that tell the dramatic story. It's pure Red Menace about how we just can't trust those commies and how all they want is to destroy us with animated rockets. I was amused by its very dated out look on things. Then again the view of THEM as an enemy is always floating around, it's just that the names have changed. It is in its own way an entertaining over cooked film that is mercifully short at 65 minutes.

I recommend it to those who want to do a Red Menace night in the home theater or those who want to see how things used to be.

7 out of 10 is purely on the so bad/misguided its good scale

Village of Shadows (2010)

This film world premiered at this years Lincoln Centers Scary Movies series on the Friday before Halloween. It was a a wonderful way to ease into the Halloween weekend since this is a very good little movie.

The plot of the film has a bunch of college aged adults heading to a small town in France where one of them has a family home. One car of friends passes the other it goes up and over a rise. When the passed car gets over the rise they find their friends car stopped in the middle of the road with the doors wide open and no sign of anyone. It also looks like they've been gone a while.

Heading into the town the group find it strangely quiet, and deserted.

What transpires from that point are more disappearances, a reappearances and revelations of a dark secret that has cursed the town for centuries. (The film begins with events in 1944 before jumping forward to now)

This atypical horror film, actually this is more a fairy tale rather than horror film, is wonderfully free of blood and guts and shock scares. I love that the film builds tension from mood, lighting and situation.

The director, Fouad Benhammou, said at the post screening Q&A he wanted to go in the other direction of most other French horror films, which he said are more concerned with blood and guts and effects. The choice was a risky one since I think most people associate the blood and gore with horror these days and choice not to use them confuses them. I think many people in the Walter Reade on Friday didn't care for the film since the lack of gore, and a bit of silliness made the film some something less (the films only flaw is some white make up in some flash back scenes). I know the reaction after the screening was subdued. I on the other hand was excited and had I not had to catch a LIRR train I would have loved to have stayed and talked with the director. (I was suppose to leave right at the end credits but his introduction to the film was so amusing I opted to catch a later train.)


You'll forgive me for being sparse on the details of what happens but the film is a sort of puzzle box. The story is a tad confused and disjointed for much of the first half. There are bumps through time which keep us off balance and build tension. To tell you more might tell you too much and unravel the puzzle box. I will tell you that the film is full of some wonderful riffs and references and homages that make it clear there is more going on then meets the eye (there is a really cool Lovecraft reference that brought chuckles of recognition). Trust me this is a very clever film that plays with your expectations and takes cliches and turns them on their heads.


While it's not a perfect film, it is perhaps a bit too self aware, I really do like it a great deal. I like that it isn't your normal shocker. I like that it is marvelously intelligent, but mostly I love that the film hangs with you after it's over. I love that several days after I saw the film I was still talking about it wanting to take the time to sit down and write it up.

Its a film that deserves to be seen and to thrive. I don't know what the release schedule is that's planned for this film but what ever it is you need to keep an eye out for this one.

Solomon Kane (2009)

This review was written in 2010 over two years before the US release in September 2012. I have not altered it or the discussion of it's then unavailability to US audiences.

According to one Conan or Robert E Howard website Solomon Kane may never get a US release. The film which did okay overseas is looked upon by US Distributors as a problem since similar (?) films have tanked in theaters. I have no idea what they are talking about since this film is so much better than most films that have come out in the last year.

I do know that last year when the film was making appearances at film festivals and conventions the film received mixed notices by those that saw it. I know some of the criticism was that the film wasn't the stories and that the film didn't have enough ghoulies and ghosties.

Personally I love the film a great deal and while it's not perfect, it is easily one of my most favorite films I've seen in 2010. (Addendum: Thomas Weisser who publishes Asian Cult Cinema sent an email around highlighting films he has for sale and he rated this as one of the best of the year)

The film is an origin story with the big twist being it doesn't stink. Too many films that are based on a well known literary character try to tell the origin of a character and as a result the film becomes unbalanced. One need only look at Remo Williams where the film is all origin and no story.

Here the story starts as Kane and his band of pirates fight their way into a city and into a castle with the hope of winning a great treasure. Unfortunately for Kane and his men its a doomed mission that ends with all his men pulled into Hell and Kane barely escaping a satanic reaper sent to take him below.

A year later Kane is in a monastery in England recuperating. However the head of the order tells him that his dreams are telling him that he must go since his path to salvation is to be found elsewhere.

One the road Kane is waylaid my brigands only to be rescued by a Puritan family. Kane's vow of nonviolence is tested and tossed aside by the arrival of an army of possessed men who are tearing up the country. Kane saves the mother but watches as the daughter is dragged off. Heartbroken Kane is told by the dying patriarch that if he rescues his daughter he will win his salvation. Kane then heads off, swords in hand, on a rescue mission that will connect him to his long forgotten past.

One of the grandest popcorn films of the year this is a big screen spectacle that knows exactly what it is, a popcorn film of the highest order. Great action sequences dovetail with some nice angsty soul searching. Kane is a tortured soul here but at the same time he doesn't let that stop him from kicking serious ass. I would love to pick out one fight scene as the best but I really can't, Kane just kicks serious butt and all of the fights are spectacular. (Though if you want an iconic one of Kane in hat and cape fighting you'll love the final fight)

There are monsters and witches and demons in just the right amount. Always on the periphery making sure that we are aware that these things really do exist. If the ghouls in the cellar look a bit rubbery, the witch, the sorcerer and the other demons that inhabit this England more than make up for it.

The cast lead by James Purefoy as Kane is perfect. Everyone gives their role a nice weight. Only Alice Kriege, as the matriarch of the doomed family that befriends Kane is wasted, not because she is bad, rather because there is little for her to do.

I was taken aback when I saw how good this film was. It was not what I was expecting. Sure I expected fights and monsters, but the lack of a distributor and the mixed viewer reviews made me seriously doubt it was going to be as much fun as it was. In all honesty had the price at Amazon UK not been as cheap as it was I would never have picked it up. The joy of happy accidents.

I love this film.

I love this film so much that I actually wanted to watch it repeatedly all day.

This is a film that needs to be seen. No its not the be all and end all of great movies but at the same time its a pure action adventure film where you can shut off and just get lost in another time and place for a while.

NOT currently out in the US, the film can be had from overseas as an import or better yet go to the side bar and order it from Asian Cult Cinema. If you can get your hands on this I recommend for pure popcorn fun.

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ADDENDUM
The film hits US theaters September 28,2012

Good Shepherd (2006)

The history of the CIA by way of one man who "was there". This is the story of Edward Wilson (based upon James Jesus Angelton) who joined the intelligence services prior to the second World War and was there at the start of the CIA. This story goes from Wilson's time in college until the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs. This is a long involved story and its easily one of the best films of 2006.

I won't try to go into details of the which begins at the Bay of Pigs and then flashes back through Wilson's life since there is simply too much material to explain it briefly. I will say the film is a brief lesson in semi recent history and its a kick in the head. Diretor Robert DeNiro has made a masterpiece that wonderfully balances the large historical picture and the small human one in a way that most more experienced directors (this was DeNiro's second directing job) fail to do.

I will say that enjoyment of the film will depend upon how one reacts to Matt Damon as Wilson. Damon is excellent in what is a tough role. Its a tough because Wilson is essentially a cypher, he barely says a word and when it does its usually to give orders or for some piece of business.Indeed when Wilson does open up or show emotion it usually costs him dearly. Wilson's cold icy demeanor is what makes him the perfect spy. Actually just being in the business costs him too much as we witness over the cost of the film.

I liked it, with the film drawing me in and wanting to see what happens next. Nit picker that I am the only real problem with the film is the lack of aging of Matt Damon which makes it difficult sometimes to know when we are in Wilson's life since he always looks the same.

Definitely worth a look, though I won't guarantee you'll be as rapturous as I am because of the cypher at the center of the film.

State of Play (2009)

A young woman is killed at a subway station. She is an aide to an up and coming senator (Ben Affleck). Former college roommate of the senator and reporter Russell Crowe stumbles upon the story which with the help of a young cub reporter is revealed to be a much bigger deal then was earlier suspected.

Very good political thriller about what seems to be a dying breed, a reporter with a real nose for news. Here we have Crowe diving in after a story and not letting it go even when there seems to be pressure to publish anything from above, even if its wrong or only part of the story. Its the current battle between getting a story NOW and getting the story right. On top of that its a damn fine mystery that isn't as completely clear as you may think it it is. I had heard from a friend that the film was good but too complicated and I feared that the compression of a 6 hour BBC miniseries was going to make the film impenetrable, or a mess, instead I found it easy to follow even if one wandered off to the bathroom.

This is a great little popcorn movie and I really enjoyed myself. Definitely worth a box of popcorn and a soda. Between this and the International its great that Hollywood is once again making good adult thrillers with some intelligence.

J'accuse! (1938)

This is the start of five days of films with a political bend.

I should warn you that there are spoilers ahead in my discussion of this film.

I saw a short American cut (75 minutes or so) of Abel Gance's anti war film. Made on the eve of the second world war this tells the story of an inventor who survives the trenches and vows never to let war engulf the world again. Twenty years on as the world marches toward war he is horrified to discover that the same people who fought in the last war and also vowed never again are marching us toward another war.

Abbreviated or not this is a kick in the head. Not so much a plea for peace as a long scream this is a film that some how transcends it's sometimes silliness to become a something that will rattle your soul.

Gance pulls no punches and tells it like it is. War sucks and the thought of ever waging it is insanity.The end of the film, where the war dead rise up is chilling. These are not people made up, these are the battle scared marching towards us in a disturbing in your face manner.

I really liked the film both intellectually and emotionally. Its not perfect but it is a kick in the head and the heart. (Gance's full version runs over two hours. I haven't seen that version of the film, I've read that it includes a several characters who counterpoint the main story. I haven't seen it so I can't compare but this short version really made me say Wow.)

This is currently available from Amazon on VHS and from Sinister Cinema on DVD

And one more movie we'll be writing up...

When I posted about up coming reviews I realized I left off one other movie that I'll be writing up, Monsters, which is limited release right now and is also on pay per view on cable.

Monsters is an amazing film about two people trying to cross Mexico and get back to the US which has quarantined the Mexican Border since there is a zone that has been contaminated with alien life forms. The film is the quest to get home. Its mostly talk with the aliens in the background, but ever present. Its that rare thing these days a science fiction film that is about people an ideas and not about the monsters and the action.

The film has haunted me since I saw it earlier in the week.

The film needs a longer review, and I'll be giving it that down the line. For now know that if you want to see a film that breaks the mold and is intelligent and thoughtful instead of empty and explosive see this film. Since it's in theaters and on pay per view I wanted to take a minute to mention it.

And if nothing else you'll want to see a film that looks like it cost millions instead of the 15 thousand dollars it allegedly did. It was also shot on consumer level equipment so there is hope that we all can actually make something wonderful.