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By Ben Bussey

The Driver is one of those tricky little movies which it’s almost impossible to speak of without relating it to innumerable other movies. The second directorial effort from Walter Hill, it belongs within his distinct filmography of modern action tales with subtly mythic overtones: The Warriors, Southern Comfort, Streets of Fire. As a stripped-down all-American car chase movie, it picks up the mantle laid down by Bullitt, Vanishing Point and The French Connection, and raised the bar for those that came in the 80s, many of which have cited it as influence. With its representation of the city by night – seedy, neon-lit, mostly silent when the air isn’t filled with roaring engines, screeching brakes and thundering gunshots – it points the way for the cops and robbers crime thrillers Michael Mann came to specialise in, not to mention the likes of William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in LA. And of course, as might be ascertained from the title alone, there are distinct echoes of it in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, both films centring on professional getaway drivers who speak as little as possible, stay cool in a crisis, and keep to a strict code of conduct – until those that interfere with their business push them out of that comfort zone. At which point – Mr Shit, may I introduce you to Mr Fan.

Almost deceptively simple plot-wise, with no character names used at any time, Hill’s film centres on the Driver of the title (Ryan O’Neal), who has become the obsession of the Detective (Bruce Dern). So great is the Detective’s desperation to bust this guy, he strongarms some unruly criminals into robbing a bank and hiring the Driver as their getaway – the plan being to catch him in the act. Of course, the Driver isn’t so easily played, and the criminals aren’t so easily controlled – but neither is the Detective so easily dissauded.

Again I can’t help but note the foreshadows of later Michael Mann films, notably Heat, and any number of John Woo movies you could mention, in The Driver’s sharp focus on the relationship between the cop and the criminal. While Dern’s detective is played as the shadier and less trustworthy of the two, this isn’t really a clear-cut good guys and bad guys tale. Dern’s character frequently uses sporting vernacular, openly referring to his hunt of the Driver as a ‘game’ – which might carry a certain irony, given the movie has subsequently inspired a video game – and as time goes on it seems that O’Neal’s character comes to feel similarly. Getting the job done one thing, but above all else each man wants to beat their opponent.

Yes, you guessed it, this is a very macho film. Happily, though, Walter Hill’s brand of machismo is that bit more sophisticated than that of most of the manly action flicks that followed in the decade ahead (though Hill did have his own low moments in the 80s, notably the cheesy Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle Red Heat). The quiet, low-key approach means that The Driver deftly avoids getting cartoonish. And though it may be thoroughly manly, it can’t be accused of sexism; Isabella Adjani and Ronee Blakely both play key, non-stereotypical roles which are vital to (pardon the pun) driving the narrative forward.

But, of course, the real meat in the sandwich here is the car chases. We might recall a story that made the news a few years back of a disgruntled customer trying to sue the studio behind Drive, because it didn’t have anywhere near as much car action as the marketing implied; well, I should hope the lawyers just slapped a copy of The Driver in the plaintiff’s hand and settled it that way. There is a lot of great, great car action in this movie, and it being 1978 it was all quite clearly done for real, with no blue screens in sight – indeed, it even appears to be O’Neal himself doing the driving at points, pulling off moves that certainly look potentially dangerous. I gather The Driver didn’t do too well on release, at least in part because Ryan O’Neal wasn’t taken seriously as a tough leading man, and who knows, maybe I’d feel similarly if I’d ever seen Love Story or What’s Up Doc – but I think he more than handles himself here, and it almost makes me sad he didn’t take on more roles like this.

Whether existing fans of The Driver will be completely won over by this Blu-ray edition may depend on how much they value extras; we just have a couple of trailers and a deleted opening sequence (which, frankly, was cut with good reason). Also, I’m no tech-head but the picture didn’t seem quite as clean and clear as you might hope for. Still, it’s a very entertaining movie that’s well worth seeing, and that’s always been the most important thing we want from any DVD or Blu-ray, isn’t it?

The Driver is released on Blu-Ray on 14th July, from StudioCanal.

Review by Ben Bussey

Perhaps the greatest challenge of being a horror reviewer is finding fresh and creative ways to say “this film is a piece of shit.” Not the cheeriest opening sentence ever, I know, but the sad reality is that the direct-to-DVD horror market is and always has been strewn with cowpats from the devil’s own satanic herd. Yes, I stole that line from Blackadder, because Varsity Blood left me stewing in a pool of apathy so deep that I can’t even be bothered to come up with colourful put-downs of my own (assuming that ‘stewing in a pool of apathy’ bit doesn’t count).

It’s rarely a good sign when, as you sit down to contemplate the film you watched most recently, you find your mind instead drifting to the last film you saw before that. However, my second-to-last film was Best Worst Movie, the documentary on the singular cult phenomenon of the legendarily awful Troll 2, which offers up some fascinating insights and arguments into what constitutes a ‘so bad it’s good’ movie. Troll 2 is truly a rare breed, given that while it is a terrible piece of filmmaking on pretty much every level, there’s so much about it that is quirky and unique that the viewer cannot help but remember it.

Varsity Blood is, in many respects, every bit as bad a film; it’s horribly shot, horribly written, horribly acted, with pathetic make-up effects. But whereas 25 years later people are still talking about Troll 2, I’d be astonished if anyone remembers Varsity Blood at all this time in six months – the reason being, there is absolutely nothing to make it stand apart. Obnoxious teenagers go through textbook high school drama; they all spend way too long talking before someone in a mask starts killing them, unimaginatively; climactic reveal of the killer is framed as a big surprise, except we don’t care who it is or why they’re doing it. The end. In other words, there is absolutely nothing in this film that hasn’t been done innumerable times, and better.

This film singularly fails in everything it sets out to do. Setting cheerleaders and jocks against a masked maniac, it’s clearly setting itself up to be a sexy, gory guilty pleasure movie, but then it fails to deliver on all those key guilty pleasure elements. For the most part the cast keep their clothes on; the trailer below shows pretty much the full extent of the sexploitation. As for the deaths, when they do occur (which isn’t nearly often enough, particularly in the first 45 minutes) there’s an uncanny tendency to cut away before the murder weapon actually makes contact, and in any case it’s so horrendously lit that you can’t see a damn thing anyway. Sometimes lack of budget and resources prompts creative decisions; in this case, they just tried to cut corners. Pitiful.

If the sex and gore (y’know, the things that people actually expect to see in these films) are underemphasised in some misguided belief that the audience is actually going to get invested in the characters – guess what, yet another epic fail. As pretty as these young folks are, they have the combined screen charisma of a Rich Tea biscuit, only with a fraction of the flavour. Not even a cameo from the esteemed Debbie Rochon does much to liven things; from the look of things they could afford her for maybe two days of filming, and you can practically hear her counting down the seconds in her head, much as you will likely find yourself doing should you choose not to heed my advice and voluntarily sit down to watch this shitfest. Need I say more?

Varsity Blood is out on Region 2 DVD on 11 August 2014, from Image Entertainment.

Review by Quin

In the fall of my first year of high school, my best friend and I decided to turn my backyard into a haunted house for Halloween. During September and October, we spent every day after school planning and building our own haunt. We had ropes and pulleys, we hung a maze of white bed sheets, we turned a small dirt area into a cemetery, and we had bowls of grapes and spaghetti noodles which were supposed to be eyeballs and guts (hee hee bowls of bowels). I know it all sounds pretty typical, but we put a ton of work into it and we did it all ourselves. It cost us practically nothing, because all of the supplies we used were things we had around the house. When Halloween night came, my friend got sick and was unable to go out. So, this left me on my own. Luckily, my parents were there to help out. My dad dressed up like a mad man, while I stayed out of sight and worked on the pulleys. The turn out was good, probably 30 or 40 people over the course of the evening. Generally we got less trick r’ treaters in previous years but I think word was spreading about it – it was definitely something different at the time and most people seemed to think it was worth checking out. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything, but I would never do it again. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the whole process taught me about hard work and getting a job done on literally a budget of zero. I also learned about disappointment, but not to wallow in it. Making the most of what is happening, even when it’s not what you expect, because if you see it through, chances are the disappointment will eventually be forgotten or not seem as important. These are the feelings that came rushing back to me when I saw Michael Stephenson’s documentary The American Scream.

Hunter S. Thompson may be most remembered for taking his readers on a savage journey to the heart of the American dream – The American Scream follows that same dream, but it’s savage in a much different way. Take out the drugs and the Vegas road trip, leave in the bats and clowns, and you have something that probably could have just as easily been titled Fear and Loathing in Fairhaven. Fairhaven, Massachusetts is where we find three different families following their American dream of turning their yards into an annual Halloween haunt for the neighborhood kids to enjoy.

When we are first introduced to them, it’s 30 days until Halloween. The Beriteau family is at their kitchen table, which is covered with Halloween junk. At one point the dad, Victor, says to his daughter, “Can you get the eyeballs upstairs?” The Beriteau’s certainly don’t look like the Addams Family; they are a normal looking family with an obsession for all things Halloween. Actually that’s only half true. Victor and one of his daughters are both really into it, but mom and the other daughter just seem to go along with it. However, they do all seem to appreciate that they are doing something together as a family. Sacrifices must be made though. No, not those kind of sacrifices. For instance, the house Victor and his wife purchased was picked specifically because it was in the right location and had the right layout for a Halloween haunt. His wife wanted two stories and two bathrooms, but she sacrificed those desires so her husband could fulfill his dream. She remarks sarcastically, “The kids can’t have a swing set, ’cause where will we put the cemetery?” Now before you pass judgement and call Victor an asshole, he really is genuinely grateful that his family puts up with him. The Beriteaus seem like an all around great group of people and I wish they lived on my block.

The Beriteau clan is definitely the focus of the documentary, but the two other families include an elderly guy and his son. For a living they dress up like pirate clowns and make balloon animals at parties and events, but like the Beriteaus, they spend more time getting their house ready for Halloween. Their relationship is quite touching; dad is diabetic and needs help with quite a bit, and the son is content with taking care of his dad. They bicker in a comical way, but their love for each other shows through. The son, who’s probably in his 30s, has one friend who comes around occasionally. She’s an attractive young lady who obviously likes him more than just a friend, but he’s either too wrapped up in his Halloween stuff to notice, or he’s too freaked out to admit it. Either way, it adds another human touch that everyone can relate to.

The film also profiles an older gentleman, who has a unique approach to setting up his haunts. He puts it best when he says in a thick Boston accent, “I’m not here to make it look real. It’s the thought.” He explains that he finds most of his supplies dumpster diving and spends very little money on his project. He does it because he enjoys it and he knows that the kids enjoy it. He’s even known as The Halloween Guy.

The common thread throughout all of the individual stories is that juggling family and your dream is difficult. But when people team up and work together, whether it’s a family or a community, the sky is the limit. Victor points out that Christmas and Thanksgiving are family holidays, but Halloween is for communities. All of the people involved in The American Scream feel like they have an obligation to their communities to come through every year with another haunt. There is a payoff for one family, as far as the American dream is concerned. Some viewers may be disappointed by the lack of a payoff in the way of a finished product. Don’t expect to go through the mazes and see everything that these people have spent so much time working on. There is a little of that, but not much. But that’s not the point. The American Scream is an emotional story about what it takes to make it, and how people find fulfillment. This movie left me smiling and with a lump in my throat – which is kind of nice, since so many of the movies we review around here are downers, either leaving you feeling depressed or grossed out. The American Scream is fun, uplifting and entertaining. Perhaps it will inspire more people to make home made haunts of their own.

Review by Ben Bussey

Lisa Johnson (Abigail Breslin) is a day away from turning 16. Naturally she’s a gloomy little thing with her Smiths posters, Siouxie and the Banshees T-shirt and dark eye make-up, at odds with the perpetual chirpiness of her parents and little brother, who seem to think nothing of being housebound all day due to the thick fog outside. Yet when Lisa grumbles about how nothing ever changes and every day’s the same, this isn’t entirely down to your usual adolescent angst routine. It’s literally true. Every morning she wakes up on the same day, and watches her family blindly follow the exact same routine, with seemingly no one but her remembering anything about the day before. Or, I dunno, the same day. Urgh, headache.

This all sounds a bit Groundhog Day, and it is, up to a point. Yet whilst Bill Murray remained alone in his perpetual return to the same twenty four hour period, Breslin comes to the realisation that there are others aware of her experience – people who may not be from quite the same level of reality that she finds herself stuck in. And so the struggle begins to uncover the truth, relay it to her blinkered family, and somehow defeat the malevolent being that is holding them prisoner.

What’s rather frustrating for me, having just gone to pains to write a spoiler-free synopsis that only alludes to the mysteries which abound in Haunter, is that the film’s publicity has no such qualms. The press release gives away basically everything, and I gather much of the coverage out there does likewise (although, happily, the trailer below skirts the line well enough), which rather robs Haunter of any real power; if you know the answer to the riddle going in, it all feels a bit pointless. Then again, this is always a risk with movies based around building an intense mystery, as it’s so easy for the resolution to leave the viewer feeling distinctly underwhelmed. That’s at least part of why M Night Shyamalan’s star sank so rapidly. It’s also why Haunter feels rather like a movie made about ten years too late; it’s very much in the spirit of the post-Sixth Sense understated supernatural chillers, but thanks to the anxious teen angle it’s also in tune with the post-Twilight ‘young adult’ thing we have nowadays. Imagine The Others rewritten as a Point Horror novel and you’re pretty close to the mark.

That said, it would be unfair to call Haunter a twist-based movie. Whereas Shyamalan’s films always hinged on a big “HA-HA! Didn’t see that coming, did you?” moment, director Vincenzo Natali and writer Brian King have delievered a story whose secrets unfold gradually in what feels like a more organic fashion, crediting the audience with enough intelligence to keep up. This is particularly laudable given the film is geared most pointedly toward a young teenage audience, who we see often see pandered to and patronised. Happily, a lot of the waffle that tends to bog down these kind of teen-oriented tales is left out: no love interests, no big Breakfast Club woe-is-me monologues. It’s a strong role for Breslin, who is on screen for pretty much the duration and does a good job keeping us invested in the action. The supporting cast is mostly pretty strong as well, Stephen McHattie proving particularly effective as the mysterious boogeyman behind it all.

Still, none of this means Haunter is necessarily the most compelling film of its sort. Inevitably given the Groundhog Day elements, repetition does set in pretty quickly – but beyond that, even with the riddle-me-this set-up, it all feels a bit been-there done-that. There’s a good reason movies of this sort seemed to die out somewhat by the mid-2000s: they were just getting a bit tedious, and even though Haunter is barely 90 minutes long I did find myself checking my watch throughout wondering when it was all going to wrap up.

Then again – I’m a thirtysomething male who’s been into horror movies most of his life. I’m really not the target audience for Haunter. For kids who are just developing a taste for the genre, this is as good a gateway movie as any, I’m sure. It doesn’t talk down to the young, nor does it tone itself down for their benefit – it’s not the harshest thing you’ll ever see, but it does still have some pretty intense sequences, though I’m not entirely sure it warrants a 15 certificate (not that it’s by any means the worst decision the BBFC have made of late). I’d definitely recommend it for the young, fledgling genre fan, then – but more seasoned horror aficionados are less likely to get much from it.

Haunter comes to UK DVD and Blu-ray on 14th July 2014, from Studiocanal.

Review by Stephanie Scaife

If you ever thought that the werewolf movie sub-genre was missing something, I’m pretty sure the first thing to come to mind wouldn’t be the addition of a “were-cicada” to the canon. However, that’s precisely what we get here in Philippe Mora’s The Beast Within. This bizarre film is scripted by genre stalwart Tom Holland (director of Child’s Play, Fright Night), who found his inspiration in the life-cycle of the cicada for this 80s cult classic that works more as a homage to schlocky 50s B-movies than is does as a contemporary to the likes of The Thing, which was released the same year. So, unless already a fan of this oddity don’t pick it up expecting something good per se, but instead as an incoherent but strangely watchable homage to I Was a Teenage Werewolf.

The Beast Within starts in the 1960s with newly married couple Eli (Ronny Cox) and Caroline (Bibi Besch) headed for their honeymoon, but while passing through Mississippi their car gets stuck in the mud leaving the young lovers stranded. When Eli goes to get help Caroline is attacked and raped by some sort of monster in the woods. Flash-forward 17 years and their teenage son Michael (Paul Clemens), who was conceived as a result of the rape, has been struck down with a mysterious illness. Fearing the disease may be genetic they return to the town Nioba, where the attack took place, to try and unearth any information about the man who assaulted Caroline. Without knowing where his parents have gone, Michael escapes from the hospital and instinctively travels to Nioba where he seemingly becomes possessed with a hostile presence before murdering a local named Edwin Curwin (Logan Ramsey).

Now, this is where things start to get really silly… as it transpires Michael has been possessed by Bill Connor, who as a result of his (inexplicable) mistreatment by the Curwin family turned into a hideous monster, the same monster who raped Michael’s mother. He has now precisely 17 years later taken control of his son and is slowly turning him into that same monster all over again. As bad luck would have it, Michael has fallen in love with Amanda Curwin but whenever they are together Bill takes over and Michael has to fight the urge to kill her; a bit of a bummer when you’re a lovesick teen just trying to get to second base. All joking aside though, it is all rather sad that Michael is this kinda sweet and dorky kid that meets a nice girl that likes him back but the two are never able to be together because of terrible things perpetrated by their relatives. I mean it must be bad enough to find out you’re the product of rape, let alone be taken over by a monster that wants to kill your girlfriend. Needless to say things don’t end too well for Michael.

When Holland was approached to write the screenplay he was told that the studio wanted to make a film with a transformation sequence; they didn’t care what just so long as there was a transformation of some sort. Hot off the back of An American Werewolf in London and The Howling (which had both been huge successes the previous year) combined with the innovation around the usage of air bags, hydraulics and latex in special monster effects it seemed like easy money could be made. The Beast Within was a huge flop upon release however, and it’s easy to see why because just by having a bonkers idea and some impressive special effects it doesn’t automatically guarantee a movie that people will want to go and see. In fact although fairly spectacularly ridiculous and excessive, the transformation isn’t all that compelling; it’s actually a frankly bizarre scene in which everyone stands around gawping whilst Michael undergoes a very lengthy transformation, only moving when he eventually starts to attack.

So what has all of this got to do with cicadas? To give you a quick natural history lesson they are a type of insect, benign to humans that feed on tree sap and make a distinctive chirping sound. What is unusual about them though is their lifecycle, which can last for up to 17 years and most of which is spent in the nymph stage submerged under the ground. When they rise to the surface, shed their skin, feed, mate and then die. This is essentially what happens to Michael, but within the construct of a traditional werewolf narrative where the transformation is a metaphor for puberty. The whole cicada thing is so ridiculous that it just doesn’t really work or pack much of an emotional punch.

As with all Arrow Video releases this comes with a host of special features, including two commentaries, a retrospective documentary, some deleted scenes and storyboards. Presented in 1080p High-Definition in the original 2.35:1 Panavision aspect ratio, the transfer is really great, breathing new life into the film. Detail is sharp and outstanding, with the textures bringing out all the crevices and sweat on the actors’ faces and colours are also exceptional, even the film’s darker scenes are so much clearer. Likewise, the DTS-HD Master Audio is solid making the sounds of the screeching cicadas really stand out! So overall a decent package for a mediocre film.

The Beast Within is available now on UK Blu-Ray from Arrow Video.

Review by Ben Bussey

I don’t know; kids these days. Bloody hooligans, the lot of ’em. Specially them what were born within minutes of one another during a solar eclipse, who grow to be evil incarnate with a lust to kill anyone who crosses them, but the smarts to get clean away with it. There, in a nutshell (and from a grumpy old Yorkshireman perspective) is Bloody Birthday, a first wave American slasher movie getting a more than welcome British Blu-ray release from 88 Films. I must confess it’s one that I hadn’t seen before now, nor did I know much about it, and I daresay this lack of familiarity made me appreciate it that much more. While it’s very, very clearly a product of the slasher era, it sports a premise that’s just unconventional enough and takes just enough unexpected directions to keep things fresh. And hey, it’s got killer kids – that’ll always be a bit of a novelty.

At a glance, the three little kids born under a bad sign would appear to have almost nothing in common outside of their birthday; one of them’s the beloved daughter of the town sherriff, all blonde pigtails, pink dimples, sugar and spice and so forth; another’s your classic bespectacled smart boy; the other’s a bowlcut little leaguer. However, when the grown ups aren’t looking it’s all a different story. If they’re not peeping at big sisters getting changed or sadistically tormenting their classmates, they’re sneaking out after hours to murder naughty teens getting it on in the local graveyard. But as the body count rises in the run-up to their tenth birthday, their on-off friend Timmy and his astrologically-inclined big sister begin to suspect that the troublesome trio aren’t quite as innocent as they seem.

Yep, this is one of those movies that invariably leaves you thinking, “only in the 80s.” Killer kids movies are of course a bit of a rarity, and more often than not when a horror movie ventures into that territory it’s aiming for something genuinely dark and disturbing: say Village of the Damned, Children of the Corn, The Children, or Who Can Kill A Child (preferably not its recent excerable remake Come Out and Play). Bloody Birthday, however, is an 80s slasher movie through and through, which means the emphasis is squarely on sensation, on prompting shits and giggles with a little titilation on the side. Is this a painfully inappropriate route to take when the film’s cast consists largely of pre-teens? Well, yes – and that’s what makes Bloody Birthday so much damn fun. The whole thing drips with sly black humour; no doubt the grown-ups behind the camera were revelling in how wrong it all was, whilst the kids in front of the camera were surely having the time of their lives playing Satan’s little helpers. We can but hope so, anyway. The bespectacled kid in particular seems to be having an absolute blast brandishing a .44 like Travis Bickle Jr.

This being but one of the slew of slashers made around the turn of the 80s, it probably shouldn’t come as a great surprise that Bloody Birthday is often breathtakingly derivative of Halloween. Several scenes look like they might very well have been shot literally on the same street as John Carpenter’s trail-blazer, and a number of scenes – notably the bookworm final girl walking side-by-side with her friend the sherriff’s daughter – are pretty much lifted verbatim. It’s also little surprise that the film is techinically pretty basic, with fairly bog standard cinematography and little in the way of great gore. But again, this being the early 80s, Bloody Birthday squeezes in plenty of the cheapest special effect of all – yes, tits – with a number of obviously gratuitous sex scenes and Julie Brown as the big sister with a curious proclivity for performing bedroom stripteases in front of her Ted Nugent and Eric Estrada posters.

All things considered, if you like your trashy 80s horror this is definitely one you want to see. All I will say against it is I found the conclusion just a little bit of a letdown, but I won’t say why so as to avoid giving too much away. Be warned, though: the trailer below has no such qualms and shows pretty much all the best bits, so watch with discretion…

Bloody Birthday is released to UK Blu-Ray on 23rd June 2014, from 88 Films.

Review by Tristan Bishop

Although it is actually a remake of a Thai film from 2006, 13 Sins is probably going to suffer from the effect of coming along right on the tail of Cheap Thrills. The films share a very similar conceit – men manipulated into committing increasingly outrageous/destructive acts for money. Whilst they are part of an older cycle of game-obsessed thrillers, such as David Fincher’s The Game (1997), or even 2004’s Saw, they share a certain sense of the current Zeitgeist: the era of global economic depression, of the 99% movement, and a fatalistic view of exploitation by the rich.

As with Cheap Thrills, we are introduced to an average Joe (this time called Elliot, and played by Mark Webber) who is short on cash, has a family to look after – this time an extended family of his pregnant, African-American wife (Rutina Wesley from True Blood), his racist, bad-tempered father, and his autistic brother (a convincing performance by Devon Graye) – and is just about to be fired from his job. Soon afterwards he gets a call from a stranger telling him he has been selected for a game. The person on the phone seems to know quite a lot about Elliot, right down to the fact that there is a fly in the car with him. The voice offers one thousand dollars if Elliot kills the fly. Of course, he accepts. The voice tells him this is the first of 13 tasks, the completion of each will result in the transfer into Elliot’s bank of an ever-increasing value.

Of course, as with Cheap Thrills the tasks get increasingly more outrageous and dangerous from there on in. But that’s really where the similarities stop. 13 Sins is actually a very different animal. Eschewing the drugged-up, claustrophobic, downright nasty degradation of last year’s festival darling, this is a friendlier prospect – a fairly mainstream (albeit dark) thriller with a thick vein of black humour and some unexpectedly excellent gore; one scene ranks among the best of its kind I’ve seen in recent years.

Technical aspects are of top quality throughout, in fact (director Daniel Stamm made 2010’s horror hit The Last Exorcism), and complemented with a cast of familiar faces including an underused Ron Perlman as a detective. Stamm keeps the film moving at a good pace too, building the tension slowly and throwing some nice curve balls into the story later on to keep things interesting. Unfortunately there are a few problems with the script. Whilst Elliot is a likeable and sympathetic enough character he occasionally makes decisions which stretch credibility a little too much, and you might found yourself jolted out of the plot at times whilst questioning its logic. There’s also a slightly dubious plot development regarding the autistic brother which some may find a little off-putting, but the film is charming enough in other ways, and makes up for these with its pace and dark humour. Overall it’s a very enjoyable Friday night movie and most certainly worth a viewing.

13 Sins is released to Region 2 DVD on 30th June 2014, from Entertainment One.

Review by Stephanie Scaife

Fresh off the back of the success of Oculus, Mike Flanagan’s Absentia is getting a Blu-ray release. This Kickstarter backed indie horror film did pretty well on the festival circuit a few years back and received very favourable reviews (from Ben and Kayley Viteo) here at Brutal as Hell, so I had very high expectations when it arrived despite being a little underwhelmed by Oculus.

Absentia is an admirable undertaking. A group of friends based in LA dreaming of working in the film industry decided to do something together, initially with the idea of doing some workshops, showreels and the like… but what developed was something far more interesting. Flanagan had made a few indie dramas and had intended this to be more of a calling card than anything else; after all it is well known that the easiest kind of film to get funding for is a horror film. However, with an inexperienced crew and largely non-professional actors he managed to create something fairly unique, if slightly flawed. But of course, slightly flawed is almost a compliment when it comes to straight-to-DVD horror movies, which are a dime a dozen these days and are mostly always entirely forgettable. Absentia is nothing if not memorable and that mustn’t be lost sight of, so although I had my issues with the film it’s still a remarkable achievement.

Tricia (Courtney Bell) is mourning the loss of her husband Daniel (Morgan Peter Brown) who went missing seven years earlier, but is now pregnant and moving on with her life and has decided to officially declare Daniel dead in absentia. Tricia’s sister Callie (Katie Parker), a recovered drug addict and now born again Christian, has come to town to help her get through this difficult time and perhaps mend a few bridges along the way. However, shortly after declaring her husband dead, he suddenly shows up on the doorstep, wearing exactly the same clothes he went missing in all those years ago and showing extensive signs of abuse. This of course is very perplexing for Detective Mallory (Dave Levine), who incidentally is the father of Tricia’s baby and the led the original missing person’s investigator on the case.

Daniel isn’t talking and he’s acting very strangely indeed. He claims to have been “underneath” for the last seven years, with little memory of what happened. After a bizarre run-in with another long-time missing person Walter Lambert (Doug Jones) and his son, Callie starts to believe that there is something far more supernatural at work here. An interesting premise if ever there was one, and key to the success of the film. Also, with the incredibly tight budget not a lot is given away in terms of exactly what took Daniel and the other missing persons, this again works to its credit and many big budget horror movies could really learn a lot from the less is more approach to filmmaking.

Now, what I liked about Absentia is the originality of the central idea and how it’s executed on such a limited budget. There is a making-of documentary on the Blu-ray that paints a very sympathetic picture as to how the film came about, how a group of friends worked together to make something and against the odds they succeeded. Where the film is let down however is by the acting, which at times is a little inconsistent and I found myself a little distracted by certain lines of dialogue that seemed unnatural. Also, fatally (and much like Oculus) it just isn’t very scary, despite a few well timed jump scares and the decent sound design. Absentia is an intriguing film, if a little slow at times, but ultimately its strengths outweigh its flaws and it is undeniably worth a watch.

I’m not entirely convinced that such a low-budget film benefits at all from being transferred on to Blu-ray, especially as it was shot using natural light for the main part; if anything watching a film like this in HD does it a disservice. However there are a few nice extras including informative commentaries and of course the aforementioned making-of, that shows just how much of a passion project this was for the filmmakers and actors involved. It’s fascinating to see how something that is little more than an idea and experiment becomes a full blown feature length film that not only gets a release but does surprisingly well in festivals and on DVD. It is proof that in this day and age found footage isn’t the only answer when tackling the indie horror film, and if anything it’s a master class in what can be achieved with little more than the force of will. Although I wasn’t entirely won over by Absentia, there is much to admire here and even though I’ve had issue with both this and Oculus I think that Flanagan is a talented and original filmmaker and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does next.

Absentia is released on Blu-ray from Second Sight on 7 July.

Review by Karolina Gruschka

Invasion of the Scream Queens is a feature length documentary about a few actresses from the VHS generation that made a career out of performing in low budget horror films. It features short informal interviews with Michelle Bauer, Martine Beswick, Janus Blythe, Veronica Carothers, Ruth Collins, Monique Gabrielle, Marya Gant, Katina Garner, Liz Kagan, Elizabeth Kaitan, Melissa Moore, Tammara Souza, Deborah Stern, Brinke Stevens and Mary Woronov. The girls talk at the camera individually or in pairs, explaining how they got into B-movies, who they have worked with and how that turned out to be, who they would like to work with and their future career goals, their attitude towards nudity and exploitation as well as share little anecdotes about their on-set experiences. Invasion of the Scream Queens also contains footage from the movies the above mentioned scream queens have played in.

To scream is to give a loud, high noise in response to experiencing the emotion of fear but also in excitement. Just like there is a fine line between the scream of pain and the scream of pleasure, horror filmmakers tend to make use of this relation to further challenge audience responses. Especially horror B-movies are well known for making blood and nudity the center of attention and point of sale. Even the press release for the re-release of Invasion of the Scream Queens plays on the exploitative nature of B-movies by proclaiming that “[a]ll the babes and the blood are on full display…” in the documentary. Women are often stereotyped as sexy, young, but dim-witted damsels in distress that get murdered violently as a result of their wrong decisions; they are simply being dismissed as ‘babes’ or ‘bimbos’. Scream queens are then actresses that perform this role well, memorably and have a frequent appearance in this type of movie.

However, the notion of ‘scream queen’ can also be employed synonymously to ‘the final girl’, a term coined by Carol Clover in the early 1990s, in response to the emergence of the contemporary slasher movie. At first sight being the sole survivor that prevails all acts of violence might seem like a more empowering role for female actresses, but unfortunatelly ‘the final girl’ also carries its fair share of negative connotations. According to Clover , the final girl usually is a virgin with a unisex name, since sexual availability is severely punished within slashers. In her final confrontation with the villain, the use of a phallic shaped weapon (machette, knife) then leads to her femininity being undermined even further. Invasion of the Scream Queens groups together the ‘sexy bimbo’, ‘final girl’ and also the female villain under the term of ‘scream queen’.

Despite its negative stigma, one should not underestimate the performers behind those roles. Yes, the girls in this documentary have a personal background that does not aid in bettering the stereotype: most are former beauty peagants or Playboy/Penthouse models and some of the girls would do whatever it takes to booster their career including nudity and accepting pretty much every film job offered. However, as Lloyd Kaufman puts it, there is more to being a scream queen “…than just crying and having ketchup thrown on you. You not only have to be attractive, but you also have to have a big brain.” Acting is an art of communicating a character’s emotions in a realistic manner and on demand to deceive the spectator into believing it to be true. The emotion of fear, in particular, is deeply intense and uncontrolled in nature and therefore very difficult to conjure up genuinely on the spot. What is more, aura is something that not every performer automatically has, but something that requires a lot of work. One has to agree that the ladies in Invasion of the Scream Queens have a special kind of presence or else they would have not remained in our memories and received the title of scream queen.

I really enjoyed watching this historical gem; the girls are genuine, narcissistic, eccentric, maybe a little mad and sure as hell captivating to watch. There is also a slight tragic element to Invasion of the Scream Queens, as we hear past voices of girls with big dreams and full of ambition to graduate into A-movies; yet, as often is the case with B-movie cast, one becomes easily stuck on this level of film production. But that said, they all are proud of their work, open-minded and seemed to have a lot of fun working on B-movies.

Invasion of the Scream Queens is a relic from an era where film production as well as consumption started to enter our personal sphere. This resulted in our present generation of horror film viewers that perceive themselves “… as fans of the genre, who intrinsically [understand] the textual and extra-textual meanings of the films and their making.” And considering that original and real scream queens are a rare occurrence in times of pastiche, this documentary becomes an interesting document from horror history for fans!

Originally published in 1992 on VHS, Wild Eye are re-releasing this documentary on DVD as a 20th anniversary special edition. The DVD will include special features such as a recent interview with the director Donald Farmer, further interviews from the original production that did not make it into the final cut and an excerpt from the out of print book ‘Invasion of the Scream Queens’ (presented by Linnea Quigley).

Wild Eye release Invasion of the Scream Queens to DVD on 17th June 2014.

Review by Quin

I recently watched a Q&A with filmmaker Werner Herzog where he pretty much says that if aliens from other planets exist, we’ll never see them here on Earth. The reason being, that these planets are so far away, it would take too long to get here, and if they traveled faster they would burn up in the process. While I tend to agree with what Herzog says, I also see the incredible flaws in his reasoning. He’s obviously looking at it with the the laws of physics in mind, but he’s disregarding other factors like interdimensional travel, more durable substances and the possibility that said aliens have been traveling for quite some time and maybe they’re already almost here. Is all of this likely? No, of course not. But if we don’t consider the possibility, then we don’t have a large percentage of really great science fiction movies.

As I said before, I am a skeptic when it comes to things like visitors from other planets. It seems to me that our fascination with extra-terrestrials says more about our own self importance and it seems pretty egotistical to suggest that other beings even know we are here, let alone care. The universe is vast, so it seems possible that we aren’t alone. If they are less technologically advanced, they’ll never get here. But if they’re smarter with more technology, they probably just don’t care about us. I know, I’m such a party pooper. Now let me tell you something I don’t care about at all – this movie – Alien Abduction.

There have been some great movies about alien invasions and abductions – Alien Abduction is not one of them. They certainly don’t make movies anymore like Communion or Fire In The Sky. As I’ve stated before, I don’t mind the “found footage” genre. I still see its potential and I keep waiting for the ones that get it right. Alien Abduction manages to make the mistakes of a typical unsuccessful “found footage” film all while boring the viewer and creating very little tension.

As is customary in all “found footage” films, the movie needs to begin with some kind of explanation via a block of text. Here we get several. Beginning with “The following is actual leaked footage from the US Airforce” – the whole thing reads like a wikipedia entry. It continues, “For centuries, people have been disappearing on and around Brown Mountain, North Carolina. Locals believe the disappearances are directly linked with sightings of the Brown Mountain Lights.” I’m sure the lameness of the title Alien Abduction has already crossed your mind. So many horror films lately have had such bad titles with no thought involved. But I would imagine the filmmakers thought better of calling it The Brown Mountain Lights, I guarantee there would be so many Shit Mountain jokes. The introductory text explaining what the movie is about continues… “In 1952 The US Airforce established Project Blue Book…” which was to figure out if UFOs were a threat and to scientifically analyze UFO related data.” All I could think about was that Blue Books were those essay books that we used in school, I think they were made by the same company that made Scantrons. In case you were wondering if the intro text was finished yet, it’s not. “October 2011: 27 people went missing after hundreds of eyewitnesses claim to have seen the lights. The camcorder of autistic 11 year old Riley Morris was recovered in a nearby field. Riley and his family went missing while camping on Brown Mountain.” And, of course… This. Is. That. Footage.

During the extensive footage, we are told that due to Riley’s Autism, he films everything he experiences, which makes it easier for him to cope. This is pretty clever, considering most of these kind of movies keep filming when most people would drop the camera and run.

The Morris Family are on Brown Mountain for a camping trip. We see them setting up the tent, rock climbing and discussing what to do if a bear attacks. Obviously they were prepared for the wrong kind of attack. That night, Riley’s camera picks up some lights in the sky that are in formation and then shoot out of frame super fast. The next day in the car, the GPS goes haywire, they lose cell phone service and then get lost. They realize something is terribly wrong when they come across a tunnel filled with abandoned cars. And so their adventure begins. It’s mostly exactly what you would expect. There’s running and screaming, they meet a backwoods hermit named Sean. Yes, his name is Sean – not Bubba or Jim Bob or something like that. The name of this guy is probably the one thing in the movie that’s completely unpredictable and surprising. After a brief confrontation, because Sean is a paranoid gun-toting conservative and conspiracy theorist, he lets the family take refuge in his Unabomber cabin. A brief discussion among the parents takes place that will amuse some and make others roll there eyes – one of the parents observes that the cabin looks right out of Deliverance, to which the other replies, “Minus the anal rape.” Um, drum roll? I guess. Or not. After hanging out for a bit, the family stays put while Sean goes outside to check things out and you know how that goes, right?

Alien Abduction is a little less than 90 minutes, so it does have that going for it. It also has a couple of genuinely creepy visuals – a road full of dead crows and the actual abduction when people are lifted into the air. Other than that, it’s boring, predictable and all of the stuff I already said about it. The acting is pretty bad too. And the kid who plays Riley looks a lot like a young Justin Bieber, and I’m pretty sure they only show him once. I would actually be interested to know how much of the camera work he actually did. If the main photographer on this film is 11, that would automatically make it way more of a curiosity piece, I think. But without knowing that, it’s pretty much just a below average found footage, alien abduction, people lost in the woods, man against nature, chase movie that should be forgotten. Instead, why not rent Fire in the Sky? That movie is over 20 years old now, so I’m sure there’s a whole generation who have never even heard of it. It’s actually based on a true story (allegedly) and it’s creepy as hell, even in a Deliverance in space kind of way. But avoid the shit mountain that is Alien Abduction.

Alien Abduction is available now in the US on VOD via IFC Midnight.