All genres of suspense, terror, and horror will be reviewed by Richard Gary. His address to send preview copies supplied upon request to rbf55@msn.com.
How deep
is your emotional pain? Does it turn into something physical? While this theme
was used in David Cronenberg’s The Brood (1979),
here it takes a deeper, yet also bloody turn.
Adam Huss
In the
prologue, Misha
Barton has “Drew Barrymore” cameo, shared with the great Maria Olsen who steals
the scene, of course. After that we get introduced to the main characters, and
their issues. After a tragic loss, surgeon John (Adam Huss) has to not only
readjust to life with his wife, Chloe (Madeline Zima), but he now finds he is
in constant physical pain. Apparently, the only temporary cure for this agony
is to drink fresh blood. No, he’s not a vampire in the classic sense, and why
blood affects him this way is never really addressed, but it is taken on face
value. I’m okay with that, as it’s a genre film.
The other two main characters are John’s
boss at the hospital, Gail (Debra Wilson, of “MADtv”), and Herb (Grant Bowler),
who is in a similar situation as John but has nefarious ends in mind (not hard
to figure that out within one minute of his introduction).
Madeline Zima
There are two positions that the film posits:
first, will John reset his moral compass to obtain the fresh blood needed to
ease his pain. As his body shakes in agony, he becomes distant from Chloe, who
is also dealing with the same tragedy as John that started the whole blood
thing, but she feels like she’s doing it on her own. This second, human
emotional touch is different than most genre films, in that it lets the drama
be more inclusive to those around the main character, something you don’t see
very often.
There is some blood and squeamish knife
cuttings here and there, but generally, this is more a dramatic story of a man
and his family/friends struggling with some of the same issues in both direct
and indirect ways. Because of this the pacing is a bit slow, but the tension definitely
builds as the film rolls on.
One of the smart side-topics is the whole “Dexter”
vigilante motif, when discussing the sources of the elixir of life. I can see a
bunch of friends getting together after a viewing and having a “what would you
do?” conversation about actions taken by the characters, perhaps over a game of
Scruples.
Debra Wilson
The acting is top notch, with all the leads
turning in solid performances, though Bowler’s character is too easy to read
too early in the story, even if the means and motivations are not yet present.
I would be tempted call this more of a
thriller than horror, even with the blood drinking, as it’s easy to substitute
the cravings for blood to other addictions, especially in the medical field, and
there is some play with that in the story. Again, this is a smart move.
Despite the high angst level throughout,
there is a feeling of trying to balance a life or lives with a new normal. Taiwanese director Roxy Shih
shows compassion for her characters, though I found the ending a bit unrealistic
(no spoiler alerts). For only a second feature, she has done an admirable job.
Written and directed by Takashi
Hirose Unearthed Films / MVD Visual 67
minutes, 2018 www.facebook.com/brutalfilm www.unearthedfilms.com www.mvdvisual.com Unearthed
Films, it seems, is the (pall) bearer of brutality to the human flesh. It is
run by Stephen Biro, who bought out the rights to the original Japanese
underground Guinea Pig tapes and proceeded to not only then release them, but
to start his own torturous series, appropriately under the banner of American
Guinea Pig. And along the way, with those and other releases such as this one,
has made a name for himself and his company as purveyors of the odd, the
perverse, and the brutal. Which
brings us to this new film, fittingly titled Brutal, from the shores of, again, Japan. In the first chapter, we are
quickly introduced to Man (the single-named Butch), as he slashes and beats a
series of women who he keeps asking, “Do you understand?” Of course, they are
too scared for their lives, which end quickly and painfully.
Butch
Meanwhile,
across town, Woman (singer Ayano [Ôami]) is also stabbing her way through the
hearts and peni of men who try to pick her up on the street in the second
chapter. Her question is “Am I okay?” I’ll let that mull in for a moment.
The third
chapter is, of course, their meeting. Rather than it being cutesy like the violent
rom-com Psychos in Love (1987), a
different approach is taken. Will it end with them pairing? Or perhaps more
like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1989)?
Fear not for I will not give spoilers.
Just how
brutal is it? Well, I guess that depends on your violence barometer. It
certainly is more than most mainstream films, even ones dealing with malevolence,
but it is also not as much as some of the other Japanese films, such as Takashi
Miike’s Audition (1999) or the Guinea
Pig titles.
Japan can
be an odd country when it comes to ways of approaching the subject of the feminine,
including in cinema. For example, they obviously idolize the female form
(sometimes in very creepy ways, i.e., schoolgirls), and yet there is a certain
lack of respect as far as power dynamics goes. Intentional or not, that does
creep its way into this film, as well. For example, both Man and Woman are
strong, give in to their primal urges, and are killer with a blade (both
figuratively and literally). However, in the first chapter, we see Man
brutalize a number of women in detail, and ”lovingly” show how he cleans up
after. For the Woman’s chapter, we are given more of a montage of her work.
Sure the number of victims is larger, but it goes so fast that the personalization
is gone, making the women targets more vulnerable and the men quick though
painful kills in most cases.
Ayano
There is
no back story for these two serial killers, though there is a hint of
motivation by the end of this short work. But even that is a big question of
how they got into their situations that led to their anger. But the biggest issue
for me is the ending, which I believe I understood what is implied, but the how
is where I start scratching my head.
The film
itself is shot in a choppy manner with lots of video noise (not found footage
style, though) and a heavy guitar sound backing it up. The actual music, however,
is very rap based, which shows up in the extras as three music videos. The
other extras are a 1:06 “Behind the Scenes” which condenses all three weeks of
the shoot into essentially 22 seconds each, some Unearthed trailers, and
chapters. Considering the film is in Japanese, I am not considering the
captions as extras as much as necessities.
For a
first feature length release – albeit shorter than most - Hirose rises to the
occasion and brings what he promises, a film that is what its name claims. I’m
still trying to figure out, however, the meaning of the second couple in the
film who seem extraneous.
In a new
world of who can top whom with gross
violence and vivisections, sometimes someone has to step up and say, “Hey, here’s
some good entertainment that’s based on the story, rather than being gory.”
Thomas Smith has been that voice for a while now, thanks to his direction with
films like The Night Shift (2011).
One might call them PG-13, but more on that later.
Khristian Fulmer, Erin Liley
We are
introduced to Nick Moon (Khristian Fulmer), a hard-hitting PI (Paranormal
Investigator) modeled in the Sam Spade mode of the Noir detective stories. He’s
got a smirk a mile long, an odd hat, and can throw an incantation or two for
the viewers entertainment and his prey’s detriment. His assistant/Girl Friday
is empath Daisy O’Reilly (Erin Liley), who gets to see as much action as does
Nick – and rightfully so, as she’s an interesting character in her own right;
note that Liley co-wrote the film with hubby Smith.
Into their
squalid office comes vivacious femme
fatale Lilah Fontaine (Leah Christine Johnson), a rich man’s daughter who
hires Moon to find her missing dad. Of course, if you read mystery novels, you
know there’s more than meets the eye-candy with Lilah.
The world
our three main characters inhabit is a normalized mixture of human and demon,
though most of the time it’s easy to tell who is which (which is who?) by the
make-up. Some demons look like the blood suckers on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and
“Angel” television shows, others like aliens on early “Star Trek” episodes, but
most have some variation of horns. But mostly, they seem to like to hang out at
demon bars and drink.
Leah Christine Johnson
While
searching for Lilah’s dad, Moon and company get involved in the search for a mystical
power source for a knife of unimaginable power in the right/wrong hands. Of
course, every demon and religious order is trying to get a hold of it for
whatever means, be it to use it to evil ends or to nullify that from happening.
Naturally, all plots merge into a single point in the story.
Considering
the size of the body count, there is almost no blood, though there is some
violence in the fisticuffs and paranormal happenings (some involving portals!).
Now, I belong to a lot of horror groups on social media, and invariably someone
asks for a good starter horror film for someone in their youth (tweens or early
teens, I am going to assume). I’ve seen someone suggest films like The Exorcist, which is way too adult. I
would, however, recommend this one. There is a bit of occasional cussin’ here
and there, but nothing compared to many cable shows. And the violence is definitely
there – remember this is a genre film
– on a scale that is equivalent to shows like SVU. In fact, this would make a great cable program, or on the CW
channel, that I would watch. I’ve said this before about earlier Smith films,
and stand by that.
The visuals
as quite nice, without there being jump cuts. Brown tones seem to prevail, and
a bit of steam punk paraphernalia is certainly present in Moon’s arsenal. Fulmer
and Liley have been shown to have a nice platonic chemistry together in earlier
Smith films, and continue to do so here. There is a bit of ham that shows up in
the acting style here and there, but that is common in Noir films (e.g.,
Nicholson in 1974’s Chinatown).
What’s
also enjoyable is the level of a-wink-and-a-nod humor that runs throughout the
story. There are a lot of humorous lines of which Liley gets the bulk, but
there is also that moment when Fulmer turns to the camera and knowingly smirks
that’s bound to raise some smiles if you didn’t blink at that moment and miss
it. It is little things like that which help keep the pace. Other than a couple
of dialog heavy moments that may use some editing in my humble opinion, the
dialog and action balance each other nicely to keep the story flowing.
Who would
have thought of Mobile, Alabama, as a center of normalized demon inhabitation,
rather than religious fanatics attacking them in the name of Jeebus? An aspect
I like about Smith’s filmmaking is that we get to see quite a few back
alleyways of the city, but it never gives the impression of being a run-down
town, like Scorsese did with New York in 1974’s Taxi Driver.
While the
demons are not scary in the Evil Dead
or Italian horror kind of way, they are still interesting as villains, and the
make-up tends to be cartoonish rather than frightful, but not in any negative
way; rather it’s kinda cool. The make-up is appliance-based, but there are also
numerous digital effects as well.
To sum up
and paraphrase, for me a large part of what makes this film so much fun is that
it’s story based rather than the plot revolving around wounds. While viscera
are all well and good, it’s nice to follow a plot that is interesting in its
own self. And Fulmer and Liley certainly are up for the task of presenting us
that story.
A mash-up
– given the right manic proportions – can be a fun ride. For example, the
original Sharknado (2013) is a
mash-up of disaster films like Twister
(1996) and Jaws (1975). Well, now
classic b-film director (truly meant in the most admirable way ) Todd Sheets
has smashed-up the mash-up by combining Sharknado
with the recent clown mania that has culminated in the remake of IT (2018; as of this writing, IT Part II has not been released yet).
John O'Hara (top), Bobby Westrick, Sierra Stodden, Dilynn \"Fawn Harvey, Antwoine Steele
There are
actually many film tropes used throughout Clownado
that the aficionado of the genre are able to easily check off, but here is the
thing: Sheets takes those – okay, let’s use the term clichés – and turns them on their heads by de-cliché-ing them and
making them his own. Here is an example of what I mean: usually, when you get a
group thrown together it’s usually overaged teenagers, such as the jock, the
virgin, the whore, and the shy guy. Here, Sheets gives us the trucker, Hunter
Fidelis (Bobby Westrick), the innocent Rachel (Sierra Stodden), the stripper
with a good heart Bambi (Dilynn Fawn Harvey, a Sheets regular), and an
African-American Elvis Impersonator (Antwoine Steele, also part of Sheets’
ensemble), roaming through Dixie Country. Why are they together and on the run?
Well, that’s where the plot takes us.
Savanna
(Rachel Lagen) is trying to rob and escape the evil clutches of her abusive
husband, Big Ronnie (John O’Hara), who owns a run-down traveling circus. Of
course this idea goes bad (as the bon mot states, “Make a plan, God laughs”),
and she knows he is going to kill her. What else to do? Get the gypsy woman,
Autumn Moonspell (infamous amputee ex-porn star Jeanne Silver) to place a
curse. Through this action, Ronnie and his clown henchmen become demonized, able to use tornados to
travel after her and our quadrant of heroes, who are eventually joined by
tornado hunters Chris (Jeremy Todd) and Molly (Millie Milan, both also frequent
Sheets flyers).
Rachel Lagen
Taking
place all in one night, the story is one continuous chase and capture, filled
with lots of blood and gore and a very nice body count when all is added up. Not
only is the viscera not shied away from (i.e., off-camera), but it’s usually
shown in close-up. Note that the kills are mostly SFX by Buckets of Blood
Productions, which are not ”clinical” but are still rather quite juicy and
filled with internal organs. Of course, with the inclusion of tornados and some
of the splatter, there is a bit of digi-work added as well.
The acting
is way over the top, as it should be in this kind of spectacle, but it should
especially be noted about the performance of O’Hara, who plays Big Ronnie as a
cross somewhere between James Cagney in White
Heat (1949) and a shrill Margaret Hamilton in “I’ll get you my pretty!”
mode, with lots (and lots) of teeth gnashing. He steals just about every scene
he’s in.
The big
cameo is from Scream Queen extraordinaire, Linnea Quigley, who plays the really
nasty owner of the strip club that employs Bambi. In a geekizoid homage fashion,
she is Spider, the same character from Sorority
Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-a-Rama (1988).
One of the
things I really like about Sheets’ films is that he is not limited by a
particular body type. Not everyone is a model who is size 0, or plastic surgery’d
to the point where chests are practically immobile from overpacking. There is
also lots of upper female nudity and cleavage to keep some viewers happy. As
for the men, there are no Zac Efron wannabes who look like they fell out of a
boy band catalog. Rather, Sheets’ cast is filled with people who look like
those you might actually meet on line at the bank, eating at the table next to
yours, or fighting a gaggle of giggling killer clowns from cyclone space.
This is actually a beautifully shot film overall, and Sheets gets
some great angles and frame-work (especially when he combines the two), and the
story never drags. There are some questionable actions taken by the characters
to add time to the story, but these nasty clowns are entertaining as hell, and
the fodder characters are fun as well and keep the viewer interested. When any
main character is killed here, you may find yourself saying, “Oh, maaaaaan!” That’s
a sign of viewer commitment, which is a positive squarely on the shoulders of
the writer/director.
Right now,
Clownado is playing on the Film Fest
circuit; if you get the chance to check it out there, go for it. Distribution
on a power label is bound to follow, and you could add this to your Todd Sheets
collection. I will add it to mine.
These two reviews are together
because both were based on the literature of master writers who are as vibrant
today as they were in their own time around the turn of the 20 Century. Bram
Stoker’s Dracula is a must read, and HP
Lovecraft’s tales of the Old Ones and Cthulhu resonate today. However, these
films are based on lesser known works, which I believe make them compelling.
Are they loyal to the source work? Of course not, much like depictions Dracula and the films about the octopus-headed evil
god. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy, right?
Bram Stoker’s Shadowbuilder (aka Shadow Builder)
Directed by Jamie Dixon Applecreek Communications / Hammerhead
Productions / Imperial Entertainment / Moonstone
Entertainment / MVD Rewind Collection 101
minutes, 1998 / 2018 www.mvdvisual.com
“The Shadow Builder,” on which
this is kind-of-based, is from Under the
Sunset, Bram Stoker’s first collection of short stories (HERE) that was published in 1881. In the
original, the titular character could be envisioned as a sorrowful “Death”
(sans scythe), who comes for a family when it’s their time (yes, I’ve read it).
Like many tales of its period, where authors were paid by the number of words,
it’s filled with imagery and adjectives more than narrative story, e.g., “The lonely Man’s heart grows heavier and
heavier as he waits and watches, whilst the weary time passes and the countless
days and nights come and go.”
And then there is this film, in which nearly everything changes or is
given a more structured plotline than the original. A coven led by an evil
priest resurrects the Shadowbuilder [SB]
through a sacrifice and blood ritual. Rather than morose, it/he is an malevolent
being with no foreboding or sadness, but rather is a creature who is after a
young boy, Chris (Kevin Zegers) who is pure of heart and may become a Saint one
day (yes, you read that correctly).
Andrew Jackson
In some ways, the SB (Andrew Jackson) is a cross between a vampire and a
platonic incubus, in that as it passes through a victim, it sucks the energy
right out of the person, leaving what looks like a burned out husk, which
sometimes comes back to life (reminiscent of 1985’s Lifeforce, sans Mathilda May, but I digress…) for nefarious
reasons. Also, being more demon than Death
Proper, he is harmed by light, and must remain in the darkness.
On the side of light is a warrior priest, Father Vassey (Michael Rooker,
of Guardians of the Universe fame,
though for us genre fans, he will always be the titular mass murderer of 1989’s
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer),
Chris’ mom Jenny (Leslie Hope), and her boyfriend, Sherriff Sam (Shawn
Thompson). Also in a quirky extended cameo role is the great Tony Todd as a
nutzoid Rasta dude with an eyepatch named Covey who, of course, is an important
lynchpin to the storyline.
Michael Rooker
As time goes on, the influence of the Demon on the town (filmed in
Paris, Ontario) is one of violence and mayhem, and the folks go on rampages
with axes and stripping on crosses for the gratuitous nudity. There is some
nonsense of course, where the SB needs a certain amount of souls for a solar
eclipse to gain full power, and he’s one shy… like he couldn’t just go over to
anyone in the town who have gone nuts and just grabbed one, and the
opportunities are ripe with fodder. To me that’s the big hole in the plot.
I really liked the religious aspects of the film, which both assures and
questions religious fervour at the same time; whether God actually does
intervene or is a “stand-back” kinda guy. On one hand is mentioned “an eye for
an eye,” and then someone smarmily calls the end of the world “The Book of
Rationalization.” It is smart to swing both ways like that, even though it’s
pretty obvious they stand by God of Creation and certainly Jesus: while it does
get only a little bit heavy handed in that way, it does not interfere with the story,
so I’m okay with it, being the non-religious person that I am.
There’s lots of jump
scares that work, some nice blood effects, a
ton of digital effects that are reminiscent of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and a large body count that help
boost the payload of enjoyment.
The Blu-ray has many
extras, most of which are new for this re-release: The first one up is the
“Making of the Shadowbuilder” featurette (32:22), which presents the director,
writer Michael Stokes and its actors Jackson and Todd. There is also a
“Shadowbuilder: Visual Effects” featurette (13:26) and also a look at
“Shadowbuilder: Kevin Zegers” piece (5:00); it is pretty obvious they were all
recorded at the same time and then edited into different groups. Luckily, all
three are entertaining, especially the effects one as the director describes
how he helped create a digital layering technique that was used in a ton of
mainstream features, such as Terminator 2:
Judgment Day (1990).
Tony Todd
Then of course,
there’s the full-length audio commentary by the director, Jamie Dixon. This is
actually a nicely paced talk that reflects and rebounds off what the viewer is seeing
on the screen. Dixon doesn’t just ramble on about technical aspects, it’s
directly tied to the images present on the screen. This style is very informative
yet low pressure for the viewer.
Some other cool odds
and end extras include a reversible, two-sided cover artwork, the trailer for
the original release as well as other coming attractions, a poster folded into
the clamshell case, and some subtitles that didn’t really work well off my
Blu-ray player.
Like I said, some of the plotline is
questionable, and other than the barest of connection to the original short
story, but it’s a fun ride.
H.P. Lovecraft’s The Unnamable (aka The Unnamable)
The
original short story on which this film is very loosely based was first
published in Weird Tales in July 1925 (HERE).While
both take the longer route to get to a point or anywhere near a plot, Stoker’s
style was languid, while Lovecraft uses his writing editing the same way film
does, with sharpness and snippets to express excitement, such as this nameable
description of the unnameable: “It was
everywhere — a gelatin — a slime; a vapor; — yet it had shapes, a thousand
shapes of horror beyond all memory. There were eyes — and a blemish. It was the
pit — the maelstrom — the ultimate abomination. Carter, it was the unnameable!”
(Yes, I’ve read it, too.)
This is
director Jean-Paul Ouellette’s first film, and he takes the initial tale and uses
it as the starting point (after the obligatory prologue where we get some of the back story of Alyda Winthrop
(Katrin Alexandre), aka the named
Unnameable.
Mark Parra, Charles Klausmeyer, Mark Kinsey Stephenson
The focus
of the story is two intertwining groups of overaged Miskatonic University (if
it’s Lovecraft, it must be there; a guerilla-style UCLA stood in for the locale)
students, mostly freshmen/-women, in New England. These are people who will
wind up in the spooky house where the Unnamable lives. The first is the trio of
snooty and egocentric hyper-intelligent (a Sherlock Holmes meets Sheldon Cooper
type, though I supposed he’s symbolically an ersatz Lovecraft) Folklorist and
writer Carter (Mark Kinsey Stephenson), always-in-a-suit-and-tie Howard (Charles
King aka Charles Klausmeyer) and
obnoxious show-off Joel (Mark Parra, who is now a noted Martial Arts expert).
Laura Albert
The second
group is jocks Bruce (Eban Ham, who wears a sweater around his neck) and John (Blane
Wheatley), who are creepy in trying to seduce Tanya (Alexandra Durrell) and
Wendy (cult fave Laura Albert in her first film; she will become a top stunt
women in film, but those in the know may always think of her as Mrs. Van Houten
in 1989’s Dr. Caligari).
Of course,
as time rolls on, physical contact with the titular creature will be
inevitable, leading to some really nice bloodwork effects and a decent body
count. The creature also looks pretty good, and it takes quite a while before
one gets to see it in whole (other than a quick flash that you’ll need to hit
the pause button to catch.
The acting
is a bit on the wooden side, but it’s somewhat forgivable as for most of the
players, this is their first roles. As I stated near the top, it’s also the
director’s first feature, so there is the learning curve of getting good
performances from the cast. No, my big issue is something that is endemic in movies
of this period, and that is the walking around the house (in this case; in
others, it could be the woods) with a flashlight or candle for extended
periods. Yes, I have discussed this before in other reviews, but in this film, if
combined, it must take up a good third of the entire running time. Then there
is door being locked in a house full of windows. Furniture goes out windows,
breaking glass. This might be a good time to mention that there is a very dark,
subtle humor that runs throughout.
An
interesting aspect of the film that is totally dated is the whole subplot of jocks
trying to get laid at all means possible,
including trying to get the ladies drunk and forced embracing. Or, as is also
true here and oft the case in horror cinema, the hot girl is all, “Hello, I
just met you an hour ago: let’s fuck!” These two scenarios made my skin crawl
more than the beastie, honestly. And yet, I liked the film, as ridiculous and
full of holes as it may be, it is definitely a piece of its time.
Eban Ham
Among the extras are separate
interviews done in split screens by Jay Kay of the Horror Happens Radio podcast
with actors Charles Klausmeyer and Mark Kinsey Stephenson who are friends
beyond the film (78:13), Eben Ham (30:55), Laura Albert (46:16), Mark Parra (33:36),and
make-up artists R. Christopher Biggs and Camille Calvet (60:03); surprisingly
though, none with the director. Kay does a great job in hitting the fine points
of asking the right probing questions, and still manages to touch on the marketing
buzzwords of the product (i.e., this Blu-ray and its sequel).
A full audio
commentary with Albert, Ham, Klausmeyer, Stephenson, Biggs and Calvet in included. As you
might guess by the sheer number of people contributing to this aural annotation,
it’s kind of a mess with some information, and a lot of talking over each other, sadly. Stick to the Jay Kay interviews for real info.
To add to the extras, there’s a photo gallery and various trailers, including
for this film.
There is a
sequel by the same director, The
Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter (1992) that has two of the
same main male leads, which I have not seen yet. Time will tell.
Pumpkin Man: The Ultimate Edition (aka Night of the Pumpkin)
Written and directed by Bill Zebub Bill Zebub Productions / MVD Entertainment 90
minutes, 2010 / 2019 www.billzebub.com www.mvdb2b.com
It’s rare to find someone who is so
auteur that they end up creating a subgenre all their own. Director Bill
Zebub is one of them. I don’t know if he came into the indie biz out of
sarcasm/greed (as he describes in one of his earliest films, Assmonster), but his prolific output has
proven that he’s up for the task, if the viewer is up for whatever comes their
way.
Sure, that sounds like an insult, but that is not how it is meant, at
all. I have a lot of respect for Zebub and his empire of films with titles like
Jesus: The Total Douchebag, or Santa Claus: Serial Rapist. They tend to
be obnoxiously silly, shot with a devil-may-care attitude (such as the boom mic
and its shadow peeking out the top of the frame), and oft times head
scratch-worthy, but they will entertain for certain if you’re willing. I am.
There are some constants in Bill’s films, such as:
·Bill
himself being one of the main characters (though here he takes more of a second
billing – pun not intended – for the first time I’ve seen), and he will
probably wear a Viking hat at some point
·some scenes will be shot in the woods of New Jersey
·Christianity will be questioned
·the acting will vary all over the map; and
·there will
be a lot of nudity and blood.
Shoshana McCallum, Chelsea O'Toole, Pumpkin Dude, Kellyn Lindsay
This film was originally released in 2010 as Night of the Pumpkin, but is now getting a rerelease under a new
title and reediting, and lots of extras, which I will delve into later. We meet
a bunch of friends (and frenemies) who are meeting for a gathering (a fun
conversation ensues between whether it’s a party
or a get-together). The three main
leads are Jen (Shoshana McCallum), religious fanatic Elizabeth (Chelsea
O’Toole) and intellectual atheist Elyse (lovely Kellyn Lindsay). Oh, and Bill
(Zebub) is Jen’s annoying boyfriend. A mysterious Pumpkin Man that has vines that can move independently to
snare people has been showing up and killing. There is some talk of a legend,
but I’m still unclear about the origin of the creature. Nevertheless, it’s
pretty cool looking for a micro-budget film. It chases our crew (and additional
body count fodder) into each other’s houses and, as I indicated, the New Jersey
woods (perhaps related to the New Jersey Devil?). It’s obviously a guy in a
bulky costume, but I’ve seen a whole lot worse that cost a whole lot more. Zebub,
who created the mask, did a decent job of the Pumpkin Man that makes it easily identifiable
when compared to imitations (in the film, not real life… duh).
As with other four or five Zebub films I’ve seen, this is silly stuff
that ends up being bigger than itself, becoming something so over the top that
it becomes enjoyable. Yeah, he seems to be fixated on rapes and evil stuff like
that, even when it’s Jesus, Santa or a big invisible pumpkin in this case, and I’m
still not comfortable with it. At least in films like Ms. 45 (1981) and I Spit on
Your Grave/Day of the Woman (1978), there is some revenge and comeuppance.
Here it’s just for gratuitous viewing, and that drives me a bit nuts (I once
got into an argument with the screenwriter of Street Trash over the unnecessary rape scene when the film first
came out in 1987).
There are quite a few extras on the newly released Ultimate Edition, starting with a 49:27 minute “Blooper Reel,”
which is really more of a Behind the Shooting Scenes collection. It’s
interesting to see how Zebub sets up his shots. At 8:10 is “Cast Interview” where
Zebub questions mostly O’Toole and Lindsay on the beach during the last day of
shooting (for the opening credits).
From 2008 is the “Director and Slideshow” (22:44) which is really
interesting as Zebub fills in just about every plot hole including origins and
omissions. The first 8 minutes is the talking, and the rest is the slideshow
over death metal music. “Director (New Speech)” is 8:25 and Zebub discusses his
own disappointment of the initial release and what led up to the reediting the newest
“Ultimate” one. Again, a good monologue. The “Deleted Scenes” is short and
sweet at 3:53; this was understandably taken out, but there are a couple of
really funny lines in there worth viewing. The last are a batch of Zebub trailers:
definitely watch these.
Zebub is self-depreciating about his own films, but I like to think of
them as earnest, and the fun the cast
seems to be having emanates through the action onscreen, which translates into
fun. Again, if you’re one of those who expect blockbuster film-level budget
action, you are so lost here, but if you’re like me and can respect the work
and effort of the entire project, well, uncap a beer and prepare yourself to a
worthwhile experience in WTF World.
