A dose of reality.

This week I haven't watched any movies, but I have a couple of documentaries to share with you.

The first one is The Seven Five, a documentary about some of the goings on at the 75th Precinct in New York back in the late 80's. This movie details exactly how the proverbial Slippery Slope works. How a little skimming turns into a massive crime spree with murders, drugs and massive corruption. 

The Seven Five was a fascinating documentary,and well worth the time to watch. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adZaHShRa3A&list=WL&index=16

 

Our second entry is The Shock Doctrine, a documentary based on a book by Naomi Klein, demonstrating how the economic principles of Milton Friedman has led to the dictatorships in Chile and Argentina, how the eponymous Shock Doctrine is used to stun the population and make the really rich ultra rich. I'm not educated enough to be able to critique it  100%, but everything it talks about did happen. I guess you need to make up your own mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL3XGZ5rreE

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!

Ouch, what a burn

Today we're doing things differently, we're talking about:

The Burning (1981)

But with SPOILERS!

The reason for the spoilers is simple, without them, all I can say about The Burning is “campers are stalked by a madman” which wouldn't be very satisfying. Besides, if you've ever watched a horror movie, especially a slasher, then you can predict 90%+ of The Burning.

The movie opens at Camp Blackfoot, where a group of older kids are planning their revenge against the cruel and sadistic camp caretaker, Cropsy. This goes wrong and Cropsy is severely, almost fatally burned. He is released from hospital five years later, kills a prostitute for some reason, and goes to Camp Stonewater to stalk and kill the kids there, even though they had nothing to do with his burns. We meet all the campers and their counselors, and see Cropsy lurking in the background. A big event, the overnight canoe trip is coming up and soon enough the kids are off and so is Cropsy and his trusty pruning shears. Cropsy kills some kids and we get to the finale.

If you get some Friday the 13^th vibes, it is apparently a coincidence. The Cropsy legend is a genuine campfire story told in real life. It was turned into a script before Friday the 13^th was shot, according to effects maestro Tom Savini who does the effects for The Burning. Miramax clearly wanted to turn Cropsy into a franchise, but the movie didn't sell well enough outside Japan, where it became a huge hit.

The Burning is a very mixed bag for me. The actors are overall very good and stars some famous names in their first movie roles like, Jason Alexander, Fisher Stevens and Holly Hunter. The effects are good, they are Savini effects after all, even though he was extremely rushed, and the cinematography is simple but decent.

The script is sadly weak and the dialogue is pretty awful. If you're feeling generous you can see it as “that's how teens talked back then” and maybe they did, but there are no good lines in The Burning.

Seeing as this movie was released in 1981, and it is one of the original slashers, we can forgive the fairly lackluster setup of “disfigured madman massacres teens” as it wasn't overused back then. What I'm having a hard time with is Cropsy's apparently supernatural ability to travel large distances instantly and to hide in plain sight. It is one of those things you're not supposed to think too much about, but they explain and show so much of Cropsy's backstory that you know exactly what he is, there is no mystery like in Halloween and Friday the 13^th. He is just a disfigured man with murder in his heart, yet he possesses borderline supernatural abilities.

So, do I recommend this movie? Depends really. Dedicated horror fans shouldn't miss The Burning as it is basically a classic, but others can probably find something better to watch. The Burning isn't a bad movie, but it really isn't that good either. It beats out many of the sequels in the more famous franchises but can't compete with their originals.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

Hellraiser

Lo and behold, I saw a movie from this decade! The topic for today is:

Hellraiser (2022).

This new adaptation of Clive Barker's original book is directed by David Bruckner with input from Barker himself.

The main character, Riley (Odessa A'zion) is a recovering drug addict who lives with her brother Matt (Brandon Flynn), his boyfriend Colin (Adam Faison) and their roommate Nora (Aoife Hinds). Riley has a hard time getting her act together, so when her sort of boyfriend Trevor (Drew Starkey) suggests a break in to get some quick cash, she's in. They break into a warehouse to find some, and I quote: “billionaire shit” and instead find the Puzzle Box. Things quickly get extremely nasty on several levels and they desperately try not only to survive, but to understand how and if surviving is even an option.

There are a total of eleven Hellraiser films, of which I have seen all but one. Most of them range from pretty bad to downright awful, so it was with a bit of trepidation that I sat down for this one. I was however very pleasantly surprised, Hellraiser 2022 is actually enjoyable!

First off, it is a gorgeous movie. The shots are lavish and the effects are sterling. The Cenobites, the creatures that are summoned when the Puzzle Box is opened, are almost completely redesigned, and in my opinion, the design is great. In the older movies starting with Hellraiser 1987, they are mutilated beings dressed in black robes with a fetish twist. Bruckner and Barker agreed that this look is not exactly shocking in the 2020's anymore, and to be fair they are correct.

In Hellraiser 2022, the Cenobites are basically naked, but “clothed” in their own partially flayed skin, and decorated with hooks, wires and pearl tipped needles. This has a creepy and disturbingly sexual effect. Nothing about them is alluring but you can't look away. Doug Bradley who played Pinhead, the head Cenobite, in eight movies had this to say about their redesign:

"I'm a bit blown away by this! The clever re-design of the make-up; the shimmer of the "pin heads"; the palette; whatever that keyhole/locket/tracheotomy thing is at the throat. It's simple, subtle, disturbing and sexy. Everything it should be. Peace and Pain, Doug."

The story is alright, with a couple of minor plot holes, but nothing too bad. It's not a blow your mind script, but can you really expect that? The actors are likewise good, but unfortunately the characters aren't. I found it hard to really care about them which does detract from the overall experience. Most of the characters are pretty one dimensional, if even that and Riley is too much of a screw-up for me to really care about.

The score is good, with some elements from the 1987 movie soundtrack incorporated, which gives a nice sense of a nod of respect to the original. There are likewise a couple of lines lifted from the original to do the same. Not quite easter eggs, but a fun thing non the less.

My biggest complaint about Hellraiser 2022 is the fundamental reasoning behind the Puzzle Box. In the second movie, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Pinhead says “It is not hands that summon us. It is desire”, meaning that even if you fool someone into opening the box for you, the Cenobites will take you with them to hell instead of your patsy. This is completely abandoned in the 2022 version. Anyone who as much as nicks themselves on a sharp corner of the box is fair game. I get it though as it adds the idea that no one is safe, but it kills the tempted into your own damnation angle.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes, to horror fans I do! I had a blast with Hellraiser 2022, so much so in fact that the two hour run time flew by. It is far from perfect, but definitely good enough that I'll watch a sequel if they make one. Hellraiser 2022 joins the original Hellraiser 1987 and its sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988) as the three best movies in the franchise. A couple of the others have elements that are good, but if you watch these three, you've seen the best of what Hellraiser has to offer.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

All the Colors of the Dark

We are back in Giallo territory with Sergio Martino's:

All the Colors of the Dark (1972).

Jane (Edwige Fenech) suffers from terrible nightmares stemming from both her mothers murder and from the fact that she miscarried when she and her lover, Richard (George Hilton), were in a car crash. Jane's sister, Barbara (Nieves Navarro) urges her to talk to the psychiatrist Barbara works for, Doctor Burton (George Rigaud), but Richard hates that idea and urges Jane to just rest and take vitamins he gives her. A recurring element in Jane's nightmares is the man with piercing blue eyes, since he is the one who stabs her mother to death in her dreams. Imagine Jane's terror when that man (Ivan Rassimov) starts stalking her in real life! Or is it real? Is she hallucinating? In one such panicked state, Jane meets her neighbor, Mary (Marina Malfatti) and they become friends. At one point, Mary confides that she got rid of her problems by joining a cult and performing a black mass. Desperate for help, Jane agrees to attend a black mass and that's when things get really crazy.

All the Colors of the Dark is not only an amazing title, but as solid a movie as any Giallo Martino has directed, but it struck me that it is more a Gothic thriller than a Giallo. A fusion of styles, if you will. The actors are good as ever, particularly Fenech who again demonstrates her ability to convey absolute terror with only her eyes.

The cinematography is good as usual, and Martino plays a lot with contrasts here. In one scene, Jane parks her small gray Mini Morris in front of an equally gray Jaguar and you are struck by how they are both gray cars with round headlights, but otherwise they couldn't be more different. Jane and Mary both compliment and contrast each other, and it all just works.

The story in All the Colors of the Dark is both its strength and weakness. It isn't the kind of story that you can really solve, so we don't need to worry about the movie cheating, but with Janes hallucinations and dreams, it is sometimes frustrating to know what is actually happening. I also wish that Jane could have one moment of power, but alas she spends her time screaming, running and falling down. Admittedly, Fenech does that as well as anyone, but it got a bit samey after a while.

While there are some minor plot holes in All the Colors of the Dark, they aren't that bad. Overall, everything is explained in the end, which again is a Martino staple.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes! Obviously Giallo fans should see All the Colors of the Dark if they haven't, but it could also serve as a “beginner” Giallo since a lot of the expected tropes are absent and replaced with more conventional Gothic themes instead. All in all, this is a solid if somewhat confusing thriller that kept me interested throughout.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!