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Reviews
The Hillside Strangler (2004)
A movie from the belly of the beast!
Hillside Strangler stands out as hands down one of the all time great true crime films. Chuck Parello plunges the viewer headfirst into the acid guts of sexual sadism, familial dysfunction, and spree killings.
The basic plot follows the rampage of Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, two cousins who committed some of the most perverted acts of torture and homicide recorded in the annals of American crime. What makes this film stand out so well is how mundane the circumstances provoking their spree happen to be. The murders are presented as a simple, reflexive response to a single act of humiliation.
Parello perfectly captures the tacky, sexually saturated milieu of the mid-1970's. The world in which these crimes occur is one of female objectification, sexual dysfunction, and brazen immorality. By spending some time charting the vapid nature of the cousin's lives - petty existences comprised of orgies, drugs, and non- stop cruising - the eventual segue into murder feels almost natural.
There are some extremely disturbing scenes of rape, humiliation, and murder. However, the story emphasizes psychological and environmental factors just enough that Hillside Strangler approaches the precipice of exploitation without teetering over. It's a delicate balancing act that pushes the film to a level of repulsion it would not have reached if treated as a garden-variety serial killer flick (see Mike Feifer's EXORABLE shot on HD garbage cheapies for an example of the worst case scenario of the latter).
For those who feel that this type of movie trivializes the real pain experienced by real victims, I'll point out that this film only scrapes the surface of Bianchi and Buono's evil. Parello re-stages the crimes to avoid some horrifying details (like, for example, the fact that close to half of their victims were teens - some as young as 12), and allow the audience to empathize with the killers enough to maintain interest.
Hillside is a gem of indie true crime.
Intruder (2008)
Amateur hour, but -
This movie's WAY too smart for its own good. The basic story involves a mentally disturbed young woman and her companion being terrorized by a brutal predator on Halloween Night. Plot-wise it's "been there, done that". Unlike the original – superior – Spiegel film from '89 (which this is not in any way a remake of), the director is clearly trying to put a good deal of depth into this film (next time, let's have a little less character development and more decapitations, ce va?)
To give credit where it's due, there's a solid amount of craft involved here. The director has a good visual style, and the performances are strong (unlike most low-budget slashers). There are some solid suspense scenes, and a decent amount of gore and nudity (more of the former than the latter). There's also a sex-murder scene that is one of the more stylish and effective I've seen in recent memory (and includes a shot you would only expect to see in a gore-porn film).
The film never really transcends its budget. The fx are mostly (reasonably effective) flash cuts, and a few of the shots don't match (particularly in the first act). The sound design stands out as quite strong, but some of the elements are tinny and distractingly under-recorded.
Still, Intruder will hold novelty if you're into atmospheric horror on a budget. The principals are talented people, and I get the impression that novice filmmaker Caiafa probably has a really good film in him (he comes across as intelligent in the informative DVD director's commentary). It moves at a gazelle's pace (the 85 min running time felt like a half hour), and has a few superb scenes. But as far as killer clown exploitation goes, I'll take my blood and guts without the side of drama, thank you very much!
- Saintthomas1985 (check out all my reviews!!!)
Paranormal Activity (2007)
Perfect
Paranormal Activity stands out as a motion picture virtually flawless in execution. Oren Peli's use of framing, spooky lighting, and intricate sound blend together so seamlessly that you never question that the events unfolding are in fact recorded history. Unlike Blair Witch, from which Paranormal lifts its approach, this film succeeds in creating the illusion of reality. The performances are 100% natural - there isn't a false note to be found in the film's running time, and Peli's use of basic horror conventions like the "haunted house", "demonic possession", as well as that really cool scene in thrillers where a character tells a story about the villain (in this case a demon) that absolutely chills you to the bone.
In short, if this film doesn't get under your skin then it's on too tight.
Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet (2009)
Beware of PLANTED REVIEWS!!!
An honest review. As far as gore is concerned, pretty much every gag is a shot of blood spattering the wall (or something else), followed by dummy work. Often, the most basic moments misfire. There's a "door flying off the hinges" gag that is so poorly done I watched it a few times in slow motion to see if I missed something.
The performances are pretty bad. Bill Moseley is stuck reciting dialogue that Bruce Lee couldn't jiu-jitsu into something resembling human speech, and Danielle Harris seems genuinely bored to be in the picture. And we spend way too much time with the (not particularly interesting) characters. The entire second act is a trite, bloodless party scene (save for a corny flashback).
Kind of garden variety if you ask me. If you like bad movies, you may find some novelty. But it's certainly not one of the better slashers.
- Saintthomas1985 (check out all my reviews!!!)
Deadlands: The Rising (2006)
A brief, fair review...
At a bare minimum, Gary Ugarak's film stands out as an example of innovation trumping limitation. It's brisk (a little over an hour), and the production deficiencies are more than obvious (note the different video quality from shot to shot during some of the large scale scenes). But the fundamental story of a zombie apocalypse is so nicely rendered that one can't help but smile. The performances aren't particularly natural, but the film doesn't waste a moment of screen time.
There's not a whole lot of original content, but Ugarak's execution makes up for it. Deadlands is a worthy addition to the genre of the undead.
Flamers need to lighten up and give credit where due.
Maniac (1980)
A Grand Guignol Masterpiece
Maniac is hands down the best Grindhouse potboiler ever produced. Even today, 29 years after its release, Joe Spinell's performance as the deranged Frank Zito stands out as the most effective, nausea inducing rendition of a serial killer in cinema history.
William Lustig's direction stands out as superb; his visual style perfectly complements the dark, seamy subject matter. By dwelling on the dark shadows and filthy corners of Zito's den of horrors, we slowly come to the realization that the isolated apartment - all but devoid of any reminder that a world exists beyond the blood spattered walls - symbolizes the flayed mind of Zito himself. Unlike most of today's horrors, not a single aspect was arbitrary - each enhanced the story in some way.
Note how the film begins on a beach, with Zito's pov as he closes in on the lovers resembling that of the shark in Jaws. Or the almost unbearable tension during the "stalking of Rita" scene, and how Jay Chattaway's drones reach into your guts and tug on your intestines. If Halloween was a masterpiece of framing, Maniac was a tour-de-force of the use of sound.
The set-pieces remain the most brutally nihilistic ever captured in an American release. The excesses of Saw and Hostel pale in comparison to the marriage of aesthetic and subject matter in Lustig's film. The site of an obese, sweaty, pockmarked Spinell scalping the corpse of a victim is almost as disturbing as what we might guess he does to the mannequins he nails the scalps to, when the camera is off.
Almost 30 years later, Maniac remains the gold standard for brutal, exploitation cinema.
Trick 'r Treat (2007)
Give me something good to eat..
Trick r treat is one of the most crisply executed horror films I've seen in recent years. The lush visual style complements the grandiose piece, which seamlessly interweaves stories about vampires, serial murderers, and the vengeful spirits of dead children, among other things. The director is clearly influenced by such contemporary classics as "Pulp Fiction", cleverly utilizing a fractured chronology that lays out tropes without paying them off too soon. This also permits various characters to pop in and out of each story, even after they've met their demise. I have only two complaints: the various moments of "misdirection" don't pay off quite as brilliantly as they should (with one REALLY COOL exception); and the film, for all it's grandeur, traverses so much terrain that it doesn't allow itself to completely satisfy audience expectations for any of the various subgenres it encompasses.
Halloween II (2009)
A bloody mess... but interesting nonetheless (vague spoilers)
I saw this at a midnight show on opening night. The crowd was really unforgiving. To be fair, the theatrical cut is a discombobulated mess. However, considering that Rob Zombie's original assembly was close to four hours, there is likely a decent director's version out there.
The first twenty minutes are some of the best stuff in any Halloween film. The way the director puts together the scene where Michael wakes up, for example. Note how the camera holds on the man in the front of the bus for close to a minute before the ambulance begins to shake. It's one of the creepiest moments I've seen in a slasher film.
The "dream sequence" that constitutes a good portion of the first act so cleverly re-stages certain aspects of the "original" second film that some of the people I saw it with thought Zombie's sequel was going to be a straight up remake of the 1981 film (I knew better).
I'm curious as to what kind of director's cut we'll get. Yes, the middle act was abrasive and one note, and yes, Brandon Trost's cinematography was way to dark (at the screening I caught, anyway), and I concede that the Loomis subplot seemed to be in a different movie. But much of the film – particularly the dream imagery – was intriguing and weird for a slasher story.
Considering that the next installment is being made by the team that did the "My Bloody Valentine" remake, we may soon lament Rob Zombie's eccentric approach to movies.