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DVD Review: Softcore Sci-Fi Silliness in ‘Erotibot’

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Erotibot (2011)
Distributor: Bounty Films
DVD Release Date (UK): 26th September 2011
Directed by: Naoyuki Tomomatsu
Starring: Yuuya Tokumoto, Mahiro Aine, Maria Ozawa, Asami
Review by: Ben Bussey

Sukekiyo (Yuuya Tokumoto) is not the greatest android in the world. The third robotic manservant of his household, he is neither as charming as Number 1, nor as physically powerful as Number 2, but he has one quality they lack: feelings. Specifically, he has feelings toward their mistress, the fabulously wealthy young heiress Tamayo (Mahiro Aine). To say Tamayo lives a sheltered life would be a severe understatement; she has never been beyond the confines of her mansion home, and lives alone with only these droids who have been programmed to serve her every need. Given that she is ‘of age’, these needs grow more varied as time goes on. But whilst a romance of sorts blossoms between nubile rich girl and bumbling robo-butler, unbeknownst to them they are under surveillance by a long-lost relative of Tamayo, a samurai sword-weilding badass bitch named Tsukiyo (Maria Ozawa). Wanting all the family fortune for herself, she and her minion Azami (played by – er – Asami) hatch the requisite nefarious plot. But have they reckoned without the strength of the love a third-rate malfunctioning robot has for his human charge?

Phew. I can’t quite believe I just spent around 200 words on a respectful synopsis of what is, obviously, an extremely silly and inconsequential film. But what can I say; whether it is in spite of its knowing stupidity or because of it, Erotibot rubbed me up the right way. And you can take that statement any way you like.

I’ve had a definite change of heart on the subject of the low-budget sci-fi/splatter/sexploitation films coming out of Japan recently. Reviewing RoboGeisha, I declared “all that shit has gotten old extremely quickly (…) that which is intended to appear wild and anarchic just feels stale, predictable and wince-inducing.” Just over a year later, not only do I feel most grammatically uncomfortable with the phrase “extremely quickly,” but also the exhaustion I expressed has all but reversed itself. Yes, these films are very silly indeed, but that is part of their charm, part of what makes them so very entertaining. Most significantly, this wave of Japanese cyber-splatter is something truly distinct and unique; these films comprise a body of work as individual as, say, Hammer Horror, the Italian zombie cycle, or the first wave of slashers. That combination of DV cinematography, excessive body horror and larger than life characterisations make films of this ilk unmistakable products of Japan in the early 21st century, and there is not a doubt in my mind that (assuming 2012 doesn’t result in the end of days) history will recognise these films as such.

That said, Erotibot might not necessarily be counted in quite the same class as its splatter-heavy predecessors (including some of writer/director Tomomatsu’s other work, like Vampire Girl Versus Frankenstein Girl). While the gore is suitably excessive when it arrives, it is limited to the final scenes, and as such Erotibot is unlikely to quench the bloodlust of diehard gorehounds. However, that’s clearly not the kind of lust this film is most interested in satiating.

Yes, the emphasis here is clearly more on flesh than blood. It’s apparent from the get-go that the leading ladies did not land the job on the strength of their acting ability; like Big Tits Zombie, the cast consists largely of AV stars, but whilst that film was far from the skinfest that the title suggested, Erotibot is pretty much soft porn. Still, in-keeping with the overall goofball tone the sex scenes are largely played for laughs, a particularly amusing sequence featuring an android in ‘deflowering mode.’ However, be prepared for that distinctly Japanese approach to sex scenes; i.e. the ladies squeaking in a childlike fashion, with somewhat creepy overtones of paedophilia and rape fantasy.

If you’re not yet converted to the cause of modern J-sploitation (as I understand the kids are now calling it), I rather doubt that Erotibot will be the one to win you over. But if you have a taste for oriental trash, you’re sure to lap this up. Disengage good taste mode and enjoy.

Be warned that the trailer below features mild spoilers, and boobs.

UK DVD Review: Low Rent Creature Feature ‘The Rig’

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The Rig (2010)
Distributor: Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment
DVD Release Date (UK): 8th August 2011
Directed by: Peter Atencio
Starring: Serah D’Laine, William Forsythe
Review by: Aaron Williams

Be honest with yourself for a second. If you’ve seen the poster to The Rig (below) then you should have some sort of idea of what to expect by now and if you don’t, then shame! Shame on you! If you do, then do you really need to read a review for said flick? Perhaps you’re thinking the same thing I was when I whacked this into my player – is this any fun?

The Rig is pretty damn simple to explain. We open on a ‘drill cam’ owned by Weyland Drilling (their logo appears on a wall later on and it’s exactly like the company of the same name in Alien) as they dig in the sea bed. We know this because there’s a walkie talkie voice over between an American and an American doing a seriously fucking piss poor job of sounding Scottish. Other than that this is just a shot of somebody filming a pipe under water. They seem to disturb a fish like beast that resembles the Creature from the Black Lagoon; fins, gills the whole works. The monster makes its way to the surface and boards an oil rig in the midst of a storm and proceeds to kill the roughnecks.

Now this easily could have been a fun 90 minutes of silly bargain bin horror. It wasn’t. There’s no build up, no apparent attempt to establish a sense of dread. For the better part of twenty minutes the film takes you through a long and ill conceived attempt at making the audience relate to the roughnecks. William Forsythe (lending what star power he has to proceedings) is the roughneck boss and over protective father to Serah Delaine’s Carey, who has a romantic relationship with one of his crew. So far so dull. Come to think of it this takes up a large chunk of the running time, almost turning this into a soap opera on an oil rig with the occasional monster glimpse popping up.

The monster is another matter. Wisely the film makers have chosen to keep their creature off screen for the most part. The said beastie really is just a man in a rubber fish man outfit, the film sped up a few frames to add ferocity to his sporadic attacks. I’m not joking, this monster is that bad, looking like it escaped from the fifties. Now you’re probably asking if there are at least any cool splatter scenes, some gore that would make this at least worth a rent? You’d think so wouldn’t you? Where there are some brutal kills (that would have benefited from darker lighting to hide the clearly fake blood colour) they are too few and over far too quick. I can only assume that the producers behind this are simply out to turn a quick buck and wanted to keep the rating as low as possible to get more asses on seats (or rather more DVD sales).

I think the biggest problem with this is it tries way to hard to be something other than a creature feature. We spend way too much time with, lets face it, uninteresting characters that have been poorly written with nothing to do but wander carelessly around an oil rig looking for a fish monster. The result is a film that doesn’t know where to go next, with a hugely unsatisfying pay off. In certain subgenres I think it pays to stay close to formula whilst adding your own twist to things. This is one of those films where you have to wonder if the director has even seen a horror film and if he has, how long ago was that?

UK DVD Review: Evil Rising (AKA Sauna)

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Evil Rising AKA Sauna (2008)
Distributor: Matchbox Films
DVD Release Date (UK): 25th July 2011
Directed by: Antti-Jussi Annila
Starring: Ville Virtanen, Tommi Eronen
Review by: Keri O’Shea

 It’s a rare treat to come across a film like Evil Rising (more on that damn title change anon): a project with unusual vision and high production values such as this comes around but seldom. This is definitely not your typical horror movie fare: Evil Rising has many elements in common with art house as well as horror. An ambitious, allegorical story with a thoughtfully-realised historical setting, it’s fair to say this Finnish film has moments of brilliance. It does, however, also have its moments of weakness.

 The year is 1595 and a lengthy conflict between Russia and Sweden has finally come to an end: two Swedish soldiers and brothers, Erik (Ville Virtanen) and Knut (Tommi Eronen) have been charged with travelling North alongside a group of Russians to assist with marking out new territorial borders between Finland and Russia. Erik, however, is finding it difficult to renounce the savagery of war – the only life he has ever known. The two men had been seeking shelter with a farmer and his young daughter and, before Erik and Knut set off on their mission, Erik butchers the man, claiming that he is a Russian conspirator. Knut, deeply affected both by his brother’s paranoid cruelty and by feelings of his own, locks the girl in a cellar ostensibly to ‘protect’ her. He makes his brother promise to free her before joining him…

 Strangely, of all the terrible things both men have seen and done throughout the preceding years, it is the incident at the farm which seems to have had the greatest impact – certainly on Knut, who begins to see the terrifying vision of the girl and hears her voice begging him to return.

 They press on towards their destination of Päiväkivi, making their way around a large area of supposedly-barren swampland, when they find an uncharted village. This place has no church, the villagers have no idea of what nationality they hold, and when they decide to stay there for a while this surreal place begins to take a toll on the men. As for the peculiar sauna building which lies just outside the village, old records state that this place was there even before the settlement: folk belief says it is a special place of ablution, something which promises important consequences for its visitors.

 It may have a post-war setting, but this is truly a psychological drama with enough deft, supernatural touches to render an already-arduous tale more disturbing. I said that I felt this was an allegorical film; well, conscience is the overarching theme here, with concealment, locking away (literally and figuratively) and the consequences of committing reprehensible deeds symbolised and dramatised in intriguing ways. Powerful characterisation holds this together: both lead actors are very good but Erik (Virtanen) comes across as authentically unhinged, the man with the myopic stare, seething with rage and instability. His only point of real humanity is his relationship with his younger brother. Knut, on the other hand, is humane, reasonable, not a true soldier but a scholar – he suffers internally for his brother’s behaviour, and also feels the effects of his own.

 The cinematography here is of a very high quality. Throughout, the stark setting is imbued with a sense of chill – cold, clear sunlight, obscuring fogs and freezing skies – and black darkness, used sparingly throughout, is very effective when it does appear. Aesthetically a striking piece of work, it’s a pleasure to see a historical setting done so well and so ambitiously.

 So far, so good: there is a great deal to cherish in Evil Rising and it deserves kudos for that. My issue with the film is that, after such an immense, sophisticated build-up – great character development, creeping revelations about the village and the sauna, well-placed clues to follow in the script – it didn’t quite get there, moving instead into partial glimpses of what eventually happened, with little explication. Even allowing for the fact that Evil Rising contains supernatural and art house elements, for around the first hour of the film the plot is reasonably linear and steadily builds in recognisable ways. It felt throughout as though it was driving at something substantial. Instead, that tension began to unravel towards the close, and I didn’t feel that the film’s conclusion completed the story satisfactorily or matched the tone or pace of the film which had come before. Some more grounded details, particularly building on the relationship between Erik and Knut (a sense of which disintegrates later on) would have made the whole film feel more balanced, providing a fuller sense of pay-off for all the high quality elements preceding a rather scanty ending.

 That said, fans of grandiose, artistic cinema should give this a go: it’s a beautiful, high quality film with much to recommend it. So, I have to wonder at the decision to change the title from Sauna to Evil Rising for the UK market, because this silly title does nothing to recommend it at all! Moving from a minimalist title (one which reflects the subtlety of the film and would also potentially throw it into the path of interested art house fans) to a brain-dead standard horror title (someone, somewhere believes that horror won’t sell to us British horror fans unless it has ‘zombie’, ‘dead’ or ‘evil’ in the title) potentially makes for people who might really like this putting it back, and people attracted to the daft title, therefore expecting any sort of generic ‘evil rising’, being very disappointed. A supreme misfire, and another misfire which reflects badly on whoever-it-is who takes it upon themselves to dumb down film titles for an audience they forever underestimate.

 Editor’s note: for another take on this film, read Marc’s review from the US release (where the title remains Sauna).

Blu-Ray Review: Scream of the Banshee

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Scream of the Banshee (2011)
Distributor: G2 Pictures/After Dark Originals
Blu-Ray/DVD Release Date (UK): 25th July 2011
DVD Release Date (US): July 26, 2011
Directed by: Steven C. Miller
Starring: Lauren Holly, Lance Henriksen, Todd Haberkorn
Review by: Stephanie Scaife

The words “SyFy original movie” may fill you with dread, and quite rightly so in the majority of cases, but here we have Scream of the Banshee, a collaboration between SyFy and After Dark Originals and surprisingly it wasn’t entirely the suckfest that I was anticipating. Although SyFy doesn’t exactly have a stellar track records when it comes to its original made-for-television movies, After Dark has occasionally come out with something of interest (I particularly liked Seconds Apart and Dread), so perhaps this partnership has forced SyFy to up its game, if only ever so slightly.

So, Scream of the Banshee starts off in ancient Ireland where we see our banshee being killed and decapitated. Fast forward to the present day and archaeology professor Isla Whelan (Lauren Holly) receives a mysterious box that contains an ancient gauntlet and a map, conveniently the map leads to a secret room within the university where she works and inside the room is an ancient box that rumbles and wheezes as if alive. Again, rather conveniently the aforementioned gauntlet is the key to opening the box and even though there is clearly something weird going on Isla and two of her students decide to open it straight away without any further investigation. What they discover is the decapitated head of the banshee, which quickly awakens and emits a deafening scream before exploding.

In a rather odd decision by the writers; once potential victims hear the scream of the banshee they become cursed and suffer hallucinations, however they cannot actually be physically killed by the monster until they themselves physically scream aloud, so we get a lot of somewhat confusing is-it-a-dream-or-is-it-reality scenes where the banshee tries to scare her victims into screaming with fear. This is neither an effective or convincing plot device and it comes across as hackneyed and lazy, not to mention the fact that it is more than a little ridiculous.

Anyhow, in amongst the banshee dream sequences we also have a rather melodramatic story arc surrounding Isla and her troubled relationship with her daughter Shayla. The scenes of mother and daughter arguing, crying and just generally complaining are incredibly tedious and make the already rather laboured plot and 90 minute running time feel infinitely stretched. These scenes along with a lot of this film does indeed feel like filler; there are only a few characters so by having them die in dream sequences then die again for real it is essentially a way to get more death for your dollar. I guess that shows a little ingenuity from our filmmakers at least.

Having said all that, there are some redeeming qualities to this film, believe it or not. First off, the acting isn’t all that bad. Sure, the dialogue is clunky at times but the actors do their best with what they are given and the presence, albeit brief, of Lance Henriksen is a welcome addition. Although, he is almost unrecognisable as the bloated, toupee wearing mad banshee specialist Professor Broderick Duncan, who also appears for some unknown reason to have a penchant for wearing different coloured nail polish on each finger, seemingly as a further indication of his wackiness.

Another plus has got to be the creature effects. Whilst the film still suffers from some decidedly dodgy CGI squirty blood the banshee herself looks pretty good, all haggard and toothsome. I should mention that one of the posters doing the rounds makes this look like some kind of Red Riding Hood porn parody; this is incredibly misleading as we only see the banshee as a monstrous hag throughout the film.

Although this is far from the worst horror film I’ve seen this year it’s also pretty far from being the best too, which is hardly a glowing recommendation, but in an industry where a lot of horror films are churned out purely on the assumption that the fans will literally watch anything, it’s nice to see something that tries to be a little different. I think the idea of a banshee horror films is actually fairly promising, but there is no real exploration here of the myths and folklore surrounding the origins of the creature and no explanation whatsoever of, well, really anything that happens.

UK DVD Review: Bane

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Bane (2009)
Distributor: Saefcracker Pictures
DVD Release Date (UK): 18th July 2011
Directed by: James Eaves
Starring: Sophia Dawnay, Tina Barnes, Lisa Devlin, Sylvia Robson
Review by: Ben Bussey

Picture the scene I am about to describe; it shouldn’t be too hard to do so, as it’s a scene that’s been played out a great deal in the past decade. Four young women awaken in a blank cage. Each of them is in a basic bunk, clad in basic fatigues and T-shirts (but with mysteriously bust-enhancing bras; guess that’s standard prison issue nowadays). Most dauntingly for them, and predictably for us, not one of them knows why they are there, or what is happening; they have all lost their memories, and wouldn’t even know their own names were they not written on their wristbands. Soon enough, men in masks and white coats emerge, seemingly doctors of some description, and it becomes apparent the women are subjects of an experiment of some sort; an experiment which – yes, you guessed it – somehow revolves around the endurance of mental and physical torture. Can they escape before it’s too late? And just what could such a heinous experiment seek to achieve…?

You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. I am seriously restraining myself from making this review one long spoiler fest, as the resolution of Bane is – to put it kindly – less than predictable. Suffice to say at this point, it has nothing to do with that big bloke who broke Batman’s back. Although if he were to show up at the climax, it would most likely seem more natural and plausible than the way James Eaves ends his story.

Let me put this to you: where did you stand on Martyrs? Pascal Laugier’s film was arguably one of the most polarizing entries in the recent torture cycle, with many (our own Marc Patterson and Britt Hayes among them) declaring it a masterpiece, whilst others (such as myself) remain less than convinced. I think it’s fair to say that where the film really split the audience was when it revealed the motivation behind the torture. I won’t launch into a debate on that subject here, but I will say this: if, like me, you had a hard time swallowing the Raison d’être of Martyrs, you will positively spray your beverage once Bane reveals what’s really going on. Seriously, it is an absolute howler, made all the more preposterous by the stony-faced seriousness with which the whole endeavour is handled.

Okay, okay, I’ll try to be nice for a paragraph or so… it is certainly commendable to see a microbudget horror film making efforts to subvert convention and expectation. Clearly a great deal of care and attention to detail has gone into the film, and subsequently Bane is without doubt aesthetically superior to many films made at this level, with effective music and cinematography. The cast, too, are giving every effort. The intent is clearly there to make a film that is powerful, moving and memorable, and the risks taken with the narrative are I suppose part of that.

But there’s a reason we call them risks; the reason being, if it doesn’t work you may well wind up looking very silly indeed. Eaves and co have certainly succeeded in making Bane memorable, but probably not for the reasons intended.

Yes, the writer/director is taking it seriously, the cast are taking it seriously, all and sundry are taking it seriously. There is not an ounce of intended levity in this film. And when you’ve got a narrative that hinges on a twist this ridiculous, you are setting yourself up for a major fall by taking such an approach. Michael Bay was serious when he had William Fichtner request to shake the hand of the daughter of the bravest man he ever met. Ed Wood was serious when he had the alien declare “your stupid minds, stupid, stupid!”

In case any of this is at all ambiguous – Bane is a terrible, terrible, terrible film. It’s so overlong, self-important, and (as I think we’ve established by now) so inherently silly that it winds up being the most laugh-out-loud bad horror film I’ve seen all year. Even so, it’s faintly heartbreaking at the same time as it is so clear that all involved were anxious to do a good job. Indeed, in the extras and behind the scenes footage, the director, cast and crew alike all come off as really nice people, which does make it hard to have to speak so harshly of their work. (Yes, believe it or not, we anonymous reviewers do have feelings too.) That it has taken over two years for the film to get a DVD release in its home country, and has been packaged with an utterly unwarranted caution label for its violent content (see the DVD cover above), leads me to suspect distributor Safecracker Pictures realises what a turkey they’ve got on their hands.

Still, all this considered, I can’t help but recommend Bane in a way. I can see it sitting alongside the likes of Troll 2 and Plan 9 From Outer Space as one of those so-bad-it’s-good classics. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t just a touch curious about seeing more of James Eaves’ filmography, just to see if it plumbs the same depths as this one. In short, if you’re looking for the next British horror masterpiece, look elsewhere; but if you want to indulge a passion for paracinema, you need look no further.

DVD Review: F.W. Murnau’s The Haunted Castle AKA Schloß Vogeloed

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The Haunted Castle AKA Schloß Vogeloed (1921)
Distributor: Eureka Video
DVD Release Date: 22nd August 2011
Directed by: F.W. Murnau
Starring: Olga Tschechowa, Arnold Korff, Lulu Kyser-Korff
Review by: Keri O’Shea

 An incredible ninety years old, The Haunted Castle predates what is arguably director and auteur F. W. Murnau’s best-known work, Nosferatu (1922) and also diverges from it in style in several ways. Originally adapted from a semi-successful Rudolf Stratz novel, it does have its share of feminine histrionics and a few great early horror sequences, but by and large it is a lot more sedate than Nosferatu or the also well-known Faust (1926). What we have here is an early ‘old dark house’ movie; it’s very watchable, but it’s perhaps more interesting for the glimpse it gives of film as a new medium.

As with all the ‘old dark house’ movies which appeared in its wake, The Haunted Castle sees a gathering of people who have secrets – secrets which will be revealed before the folk concerned can leave. Chez Vogeloed, a hunting party kept indoors by the bad weather are surprised by the arrival of one Count Oetsch; this isn’t just because no one invited him but because he was suspected, though not convicted, of the murder of his brother some years before. And guess who else is due at the castle? – The murdered brother’s widow, Baronness Safferstätt (The fantastically-overblown Olga Tschechowa) and her new husband. The Countess is understandably not all that keen to hang around once she finds out who’s there, but she agrees to stay when she finds out that a priest (and relative of her first husband) is coming from Rome especially to see her: she has one or two things she would like to speak to him about, after all. The rather put-upon Oetsch meanwhile professes to have learned powers of prophecy during his travels, and – as you might expect – he predicts trouble, in the form of ‘two gunshots’ which will occur while everyone is together. So, a nice relaxing weekend, all told…

 Would horror fans enjoy this? Well, they might, although The Haunted Castle is rather slower and not as quirkily engaging as other movies along similar lines – such as The Cat and the Canary (1927) with its more horror-attuned excess. This Masters of Cinema presentation certainly plays down any links between The Haunted Castle and the horror genre: in the accompanying booklet, there are two influential scholarly essays, one of which explicitly states that to identify The Haunted Castle with horror is a mistake. Compared to Nosferatu – also an adaptation of a novel, and one which got Murnau into hot water with the widow of author Bram Stoker – The Haunted Castle is much less ghastly, with hardly any of the Expressionist style sets used in the later film, and with the exception of Frau Tschechowa, the performances here are rather lower-key too. That’s not to say this is a naturalistic film but compared to some of Murnau’s best-known films, it’s positively staid. It’s just that film fans might find this more fascinating as a document in its own right than as a piece of entertainment – certainly as a piece of horror entertainment. This is high drama, but the horrible is kept to a minimum here.

 As a document, though, you get a glimpse of a relatively new artistic medium and how it is handled by an incredibly talented early director. So, for example, we have a film still divided into 5 acts as per a theatrical production, with actors closely choreographed and obviously unused to the concept of appearing on screen. We also have an array of interior/exterior shots and long and close shots which would put a lot of modern directors to shame. Here’s evidence of someone with distinct, ambitious ideas of what he wants to achieve with his cinema and, all thing considered, Murnau does an incredible job. This all comes across so clearly thanks to the staggeringly high quality of this version of the film, which must have been a real labour of love for the team responsible. With no fug of damage to intercede between us and it, this remaster appears crisp, vibrant and…very modern somehow, despite its great age. What we have here is a very proximate-feeling piece of history.

 The Haunted Castle doesn’t affect to be horror and has rather little in common with the famous vampire horror which followed on its heels, but it’s interesting in its own right in terms of what it does, rather than what it is: the excellent quality of this version alone makes it worth a look.

UK Blu-Ray Review: Brian De Palma’s ‘Obsession’

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Obsession (1976)
Distributor: Arrow Video
Blu-Ray release date: 11th July 2011
Directed by: Brian De Palma
Starring: Cliff Robertson, John Lithgow, Geneviève Bujold
Review by: Stephanie Scaife

Yet again we are treated to another fine Blu-Ray release from the ever expanding Arrow Video label. This time it is the turn of Brian De Palma’s Obsession, a lesser known film that sits comfortably within De Palma’s varied oeuvre, which ranges from the highs of Scarface to the lows of Mission to Mars. Ostensibly a reworking of Hitchcock’s Vertigo, Obsession is an overly melodramatic psycho-thriller that remains highly enjoyable and even a little surprising as it twists and turns to its completely bonkers conclusion.

The film starts in 1959 at the 10-year wedding anniversary of blissfully happy couple; Michael (Cliff Robertson) and Elizabeth Courtland (Geneviève Bujold). Disaster strikes however and on that same night Michael’s wife and young daughter are kidnapped and held to ransom for $500,000. A botched scheme cooked up by the police to foil the criminals ends in a car wreck and the bodies of Elizabeth and her daughter are never found. Fast-forward fifteen years and Michael is still blaming himself for accident and regularly visits the elaborate monument he has constructed in the honour of his beloved wife and daughter, endlessly obsessing over the events that happened all those years before. Michael’s long time business partner Robert LaSalle (John Lithgow, who gives a fine performance) convinces him to tag along on a trip to Florence, where he had originally met Elizabeth, hoping that by revisiting the city Michael may finally be able to find some peace and let sleeping dogs lie. Once in Italy Michael takes a trip to visit the church where he first laid eyes on Elizabeth and is shocked to encounter an restoration artist named Sandra (Geneviève Bujold, again) who is the spitting image his late wife. After a whirlwind romance the pair return to America intent on getting married, much to the dismay of Michael’s friends who think, unsurprisingly, that what he is doing is decidedly creepy.

Of course nothing is as it seems in this film and with one unexpected twist after another we are led to a scandalous finale, that admittedly I didn’t entirely see coming despite it being fairly derivative. So credit is due to De Palma who manages to keep the audience guessing all the way to the end. To give you an idea of what to expect try imagining if Dynasty and Don’t Look Now had a love child that grew up to be a massive Hitchcock fan – that’s pretty much Obsession.

Written by Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) but apparently toned down considerably by De Palma and the studio to remove the more controversial and salacious aspects of the story, interestingly Schrader’s original script is included as one of the bonus features on the disc, and if anything even with Schrader’s script subdued, Obsession remains a wholly ridiculous and hysterical film. Also contributing to the almost constant sense of frenzy is the score, composed by Bernard Herrmann, which although very good is about as subtle as a slap in the face. However, the excesses only aided in my enjoyment of this film, albeit it as a guilty pleasure.

Special features on the Blu-Ray include a brand new High Definition transfer of the film, reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork, a two sided fold out poster, an exclusive collector s booklet featuring an essay on the film by critic and author Brad Stevens, an interesting doc “Obsession Revisited” which includes interviews with director Brian De Palma, stars Cliff Robertson and Genevieve Bujold, early Brian De Palma short films Woton’s Wake (1962) and The Responsive Eye (1966) and more.

UK DVD Review: Strigoi

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Strigoi (2009)
Distributor: Eurkea Video/Bounty Films
DVD Release Date (UK): 22 August 2011
Directed by: Faye Jackson
Starring: Catalin Paraschiv, Constantin Barbulescu
Review by: Aaron Williams

Having been involved in film making myself, I know only all too well how much of a battle it is bringing your precious vision to the screen, especially when you lack the fundamental basics needed such as a budget. This is probably the reason why whenever I sit down to give one of these independent horror films a shot, I want to like them. How maddening it must be to pour everything you have into a production, maybe even mortgaging your mother’s house, just to have some stranger sat behind a keyboard critically rape your little opus. I like to think I’m way more forgiving than a lot of horror fans.

I approached Strigoi with a wide open mind and I’m sad to say this was one huge disappointment.

Nearly every recent vampire movie claims to have subverted the sub genre, promising us that if we spend the cash to see their movie, we’ll see something we’ve never seen before, only to let us down spectacularly. Now we have Strigoi. A vampire film set in a small Romanian village. Sounds promising, right? Wrong. Dead wrong. The vampire film has come full circle, returning to its homeland.

Vlad Cozma (Catalin Paraschiv) heads home from his studies in Italy, greeted by the strange sudden death of one of the villagers. Convinced something rotten is going on he begins to investigate, discovering disputes of land ownership with Constantin Tirescu (Constantin Barbulescu) and his wife. He confronts them and realises some horrifying truths, that will not only rock Vlad’s existence but those of the entire village too.

The Strigoi myth is an interesting superstition of the unmarried dead returning to life with magical abilites, able to change form at will and cursed with the thirst for human blood. I mean, if you’re trying to cook up a decent little horror tale from this, where can you go wrong?

The problem here is not only are all the old genre clichés gone, there are barely any signs of a vampire flick here at all. When you forget the film you’re watching is supposed to be a vampire film, you’re in trouble. Maybe this film shouldn’t have been called a vampire flick in the first place. Then again, how else are you supposed to market a film concerning Romanian superstitions of the undead returning to life with a thirst for blood?Perhaps the attention should have not been so set on the villagers but the Strigoi myth itself. The villagers lead pretty uneventful lives, the story seems almost starved of drama. This is pretty much a whodunit set in a backwards post communist Romanian village, seemingly convinced of it’s ‘kooky’ charm and understated humour.

There are pretty much zero scares and zero laughs, failing as both a horror and a comedy, leaving the majority of the film without a leg to stand on and me confused as to why it was awarded the Toronto After Dark festival best independent feature award. Did you actually watch the film guys?
I found myself wondering if this were just a overblown postcard from the Romanian tourist board.

It’s not very often I watch a horror film and end up this uninterested so early on in its running time. For me that’s the one sin all horror films should stay away from: boring their audiences. Just writing this review is a struggle as I found myself forgetting it way before the final credits roll. Strigoi’s pacing is so deathly dull I found it nearly impossible to focus and it will more than likely test the patience of even the most forgiving horror lover.

Strigoi is out on DVD on August 22 (and August 2nd in the US through Vicious Circle Films). If Romania or its folklore is your bag, give it a shot. If it’s anything remotely fun or scary, go do something else. Like watch paint dry.

UK DVD Review: Boris Karloff in ‘The Body Snatcher’

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The Body Snatcher (1945)
Distributor: Odeon Entertainment
DVD Release Date (UK): 11th July 2011
Directed by: Robert Wise
Starring: Boris Karloff, Henry Daniell, Russell Wade, Bela Lugosi
Review by: Ben Bussey

Here at Brutal As Hell, we do tend to focus largely on post-1970s horror. Indeed, I’d argue that contemporary horror fandom in general is most interested in that late 20th century era. Fair enough, as it’s the era that many of us were born into, and it’s also the era that saw the radical redefinition not only of our beloved genre but of filmmaking in general, where considerably less constraints apply. But as we need to remind ourselves from time to time, horror movies did exist before Romero and co, and a great many tremendous filmmakers worked within the confines of that more restrictive earlier period; and to an extent, those restrictions were made a virtue rather than an obstacle. And if we’re talking classic horror of the black and white era, few things sound more like a winning combination than producer Val Lewton, director Robert Wise, and stars Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. The Body Snatcher is by no means the best film that any of these men ever made, but even so it’s a very well crafted, gripping and atmospheric potboiler in its own right.

Adapted from a Robert Louis Stevenson short story, the action takes place in Edinburgh in the 1800s. The Burke and Hare murders are still fresh in the memory and cast a shadow over life in the city, particularly for the staff and students of the medical school. An ambitious but perhaps somewhat naive student named Donald Fettes (Russell Wade) finds himself awarded the accolade of serving as personal assistant to the renowned Dr MacFarlane (Henry Daniell). This position soon forces Fettes to confront an ugly truth about his chosen field; that while Burke and Hare may be dead and buried, their profession most definitely is not. Which brings us to the Body Snatcher of the title, a cabman named Gray (Karloff, naturally), who keeps MacFarlane in fresh corpses. Fettes can just about live with it when he thinks they’ve only been stolen from graves; but naturally that isn’t always the case. But as a complex power struggle plays out between the respectable physician and the lowly commoner, it’s not always clear who has the upper hand. After all, Gray knows where all the bodies are buried, both figuratively and literally.

It’s not the most unique or gripping plot, nor is the film stylistically anything too special. As a period piece, it doesn’t feel all that different from the old Universal classics, as opposed to the more distinct contemporary setting of Lewton’s more celebrated productions Cat People and I Walked With A Zombie. For director Robert Wise, it was only his fourth sitting in the big chair, and as such lacks the flair and confidence of his later work. But the key thing this film has that a lot of 21st century horror (particularly studio output) does not have is an emphasis on character, and great parts for great actors. Henry Daniell does brilliant work as the outwardly emotionless but inwardly tormented Dr MacFarlane, but unsurprisingly he is left totally in the shadow of Karloff. While his vague hint of a working class accent may seem a bit corny by modern standards, Karloff here is every inch the icon of understated menace that we know and love. Nor does it ever feel like he’s going by the numbers; this is one of the more mannered, sadistic performances I’ve seen from him, his grubby face consistently wreathed with a sinister leer, loaded with the promise of the horrible things he’s done, and the horrible things he may yet do.

One thing The Body Snatcher clearly isn’t, however, is another great Karloff/Lugosi collaboration. Ever since Ed Wood, it’s been hard to look at any of their collaborations without hearing Martin Landau roar, “Karloff does not deserve to smell my shit! That limey cocksucker can rot in hell!” On this evidence, it’s not hard to see why Lugosi might have wound up feeling that way. Karloff is in most scenes and has all the best lines, whilst Lugosi is lumbered with an utterly thankless role as MacFarlane’s handyman, popping up only a few times with very little of consequence to say or do (don’t believe the trailer below, which suggests Lugosi has a major role). That this wound up being their last collaboration makes it all the more bittersweet. Given that today we tend to hold both men on an equal pedestal, it’s pretty sad to see that Hollywood at the time did not treat them with equivilant respect. Even if Karloff was clearly the better actor; sorry Lugosi fans, it’s true. And Christopher Lee was a better Dracula, but that’s for another time.

This edition from Odeon Entertainment is a totally bare bones DVD: it’s Play Movie or Scene Access, and that’s all. But hey, for a film this old we shouldn’t anticipate all new director’s commentaries and cast and crew interviews. The key players are already dead, after all. No, The Body Snatcher is not on a par with Karloff’s Frankenstein, Lewton’s Cat People or Wise’s The Haunting, but even when they weren’t at the top of their game these guys were still far better than most. As such, this is well worth a look.

UK Blu-Ray Review: Tobe Hooper’s ‘The Funhouse’

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The Funhouse (1981)
Distributor: Arrow Video
Blu-Ray release date (UK): 18th July 2011
Directed by: Tobe Hooper
Starring: Elizabeth Berridge, Shawn Carson, Sylvia Miles
Review by: Stephanie Scaife

Tobe Hooper is an incredibly inconsistent filmmaker; when he is good he is very, very good (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Poltergeist) but when he is bad he is horrid (The Mangler, Mortuary etc.) So I entered into The Funhouse with some trepidation, only to find myself pleasantly surprised.

Released in 1981 during the heyday of the slasher film, The Funhouse could so easily have been a forgettable paint-by-numbers affair, but right from the very first scene Hooper plays with our expectations of the genre. In an opening scene that borrows heavily from Psycho and Halloween we see a beautiful young woman preyed upon by a knife wielding masked killer whilst she takes a shower. It is revealed to be a fake knife wielded by her younger brother Joey (Shawn Carson) as part of an elaborate practical joke. Traditionally the opening scene of a slasher film would end with a horrific murder and provide a set up for the rest of the film, but here it transpires to be the film’s main protagonist, Amy (Elizabeth Berridge). This initial unexpected twist is the first of many, meaning that even the most jaded horror connoisseur will find much to enjoy here.  

Amy is about to go on her first date with Buzz (Cooper Huckabee) along with her best friend Liz (Largo Woodruff) and Liz’s boyfriend, the irresponsible Richie (Miles Chapin). They decide to go to the carnival, against the wishes of Amy’s parents. Once at the carnival they smoke pot, eat cotton candy, ride on the Ferris wheel and visit the fortune teller, Madame Zena (Sylvia Miles). All of these scenes work very well in setting up the film, there is something deeply unsettling and uncanny about the whole concept of the carnival in general and it is used to optimum effect here. Particularly in and early scene where they go into the freak show which the barker enthusiastically tells us contains “all live exhibits” including genuinely deformed animals.

Richie decides that it would be fun if they were all to sneak into The Funhouse to spend the night. Meanwhile Joey has crept out of the family home and has pursued his sister to the carnival. Whilst inside the teens are quick to get down and dirty in The Funhouse, taking advantage of their dark and atmospheric surroundings. Soon they are disturbed by voices coming from below; they peer through the cracks in the floor to witness the ride attendant, who is dressed as Frankenstein’s monster, paying Madame Zena for sex. However, after climaxing prematurely and demanding his money back, which Zena refuses, he flies into a blind rage and murders her. Shocked by what they have witnessed the teens decide to call it a night and make a run for it.

 Unfortunately for our horny teens, the only way out of The Funhouse would take them right into the path of the crazed Frankenstein’s monster – whose father, the carnival manager, has now returned and discovered what his son has done. Angered that the monster has killed one of their own he begins to beat him, during the altercation Frankenstein’s mask is torn off to reveal that underneath he is hideously deformed. Echoing the mask that he wears; a monstrous creature through no fault of his own with emotions that he cannot understand who ultimately, is a tragic figure almost warranting sympathy from the viewer.  

It doesn’t take long before the teens are discovered and they enter into a fatal game of cat-and-mouse with the monster and his creepy carnie father. Although not outwardly as gory as you may expect there are some creative death scenes that optimise the funhouse location as well as some great creature effects from the always fantastic Rick Baker. There is something of the carnivalesque about the horror genre as a whole, but rarely is it so literally exemplified as it is in The Funhouse.

 Our preconceived notions of the slasher film are subverted and questioned throughout – where else can we see our Final Girl smoke pot, fuck on a first date and still reign supreme at the end of the movie?

 Being an Arrow Video release the film looks great on Blu-Ray and is jam packed with special features including three different audio commentaries, interviews, Tobe Hooper Q&A, numerous featurettes as well as reversible sleeves and a collector’s booklet written by Kim Newman. The Funhouse is a welcome addition to the ever expanding Arrow Video Collection and I highly recommend picking up a copy.

DVD Review: After Dark Originals present ‘The Task’

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The Task (2010)
Distributor: After Dark Originals
DVD/Blu-Ray Release Date (UK): 11th July 2011
Directed by: Alex Orwell
Starring: Texas Battle, Alexandra Staden, Adam Raynor, Marc Pickering
Review by: Ben Bussey

See the picture above? That’s Texas Battle, the man whose stage name makes Vin Diesel seem down to earth, best known to the likes of us for his role in Wrong Turn 2 in which he defied convention by being a black man in a slasher who survives. (Apparently he was in Final Destination 3 as well, but I’m damned if I can remember; all the films in that series just blur, don’t you find?) Anyway, the above photo is him in The Task, trapped in a metal coffin filled with human waste. So why, you might ask, did I feel it was appropriate to open this review with an image of a man up to his ears in shit? Hmmm…

First off, I suppose I should give you the basic synopsis. A bunch of young wannabes – a glamour girl, a swishy gay guy, an intellectual, a tough girl, her pretty boy brother, and, uh, Texas Battle – find themselves forcibly escorted to an abandoned prison. But what we are at first lead to believe is an abduction turns out to be the set-up to the reality TV show that all concerned had earlier auditioned for. The titular task is simple; this 21st century Breakfast Club must spend the night in the spooky old house of correction, performing various challenges. It’s all being captured on camera, and behind the scenes the crew are rubbing their hands at the surefire hit in the making. But – pull yourself up a chair – things might not be quite what they seem…

Now, as the venacular goes, let’s cut to the chase. The Task is painful. Really. Every frame of it aches with the clear desire to break the mould, subvert expectation and revitalise the genre, and every frame of it fails miserably. The cleverer it tries to be, the dumber it comes across, and every attempt at a new idea it throws out has been done before, many times in most instances. Reality TV horror? Come on. The presence of Texas Battle (I just can’t keep from repeating that glorious name) underlines the fact that Wrong Turn 2 was four years ago, and certainly wasn’t the only horror to use a reality show as its backdrop: My Little Eye, Halloween Resurrection, and later Dead Set… I’m sure there are more besides if I had the willpower to wrack my brains on the subject. I could go into more specifics regarding the films from which The Task borrows devices – not least the pathetic twist ending, which makes no sense, and is shortly followed by another twist that makes even less sense – but I’ll have the courtesy and clemency to leave such things for the viewer to discover. Heaven forbid I rid you the pure experience of disappointment.

The other big issue with The Task – the other thing it tries and fails to do – is its attempt to conceal its transatlantic origins. So far as I can gather it’s a US/UK co-production, shot in Bulgaria and (the all-American Texas Battle notwithstanding) cast largely with Brits, most of whom attempt American accents; emphasis on the word ‘attempt.’ Among them is Marc Pickering. He’s a young actor I’ve hitherto felt twangs of envy toward; he got to share his every scene with Johnny Depp in Sleepy Hollow, and was nearby when Helen Mirren popped them out in Calendar Girls. No such envious feelings here, as he gets bogged down with a truly pathetic stereotypical gay character replete with predictable innuendos; note his complaints that their directions in the prison (“go straight, take a left, go straight” etc) contain “too many straights,” and when the contestants are required to randomly select a chess piece to designate their role in the game he winds up with the white queen. Nor do the rest of the cast fare much better in the cliched characterisation/lazy writing department.

Creepy clown faces pop up in abundance, so if you’re a real coulrophobe (thank you Wikipedia) I suppose The Task might take a strain on your nerves. For the rest of us, the only strain will be on your patience. Unless you take a perverse pleasure in enduring mediocrity (which, it must be said, is something the After Dark brand is coming to be synonymous with), this is one to miss.

And just because I can’t end this review without typing it at least once more… Texas Battle. What an awesome rockin’ name. Too bad the film stinks.