Review: Blood Pi (Blood π)

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020
Images from the Internet

 

Blood Pi (aka Blood π)
Directed by Jordan Pacheco
Lock It Down Productions
91 minutes, 2020
https://www.facebook.com/BLOOD-Pi-1475601389429732

College is a time for growth, for learning, and apparently for dying by a horrible method, if you follow the trend of a multitude of slasher films. For this dramedy, we are welcomed to River Falls University (RFU), which I am assuming is in New England, where this was shot… er… filmed.

RFU is also a school that likes its winning football team and especially its wild parties, where the overaged female students are all beautiful and the males are the beef. But I’m getting ahead of myself here. There is no surprise about who is the killer as we see the striking -yet-warped coed Amber (Anna Rizzo) take umbrage with her family in the prologue, which also gives a hint of sharp (pun intended) and gory humor in the first couple of minutes.

 

Anna Rizzo

As the film starts proper, we are introduced to shy lovely-but-made-to-look-frumpy-before-being-made-to-look-lovely Agnis (Sarah Nicklin) being bullied by the cool girl Omega Pi sorority squad. After a stressful turn of events with a teacher (not what you think), she is taken under the wing of the very same Amber, who gives her a make-over and some of her mom’s now-unneeded clothes, and especially her heart-shaped necklace.

Of course, Amber is a completely murderous sociopath who is obsessed with Agnis, so you know the friendship between the two at some point is going to turn on its head.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Of course, Agnis and Amber have a blow-out, leading to two altering actions: Amber goes further off the rail (man, Rizzo is good at playing “psycho” with both simmer, eyebrows and rage), and Agnis joins in with the same sorority mean girls who rename her Angie. It’s interesting that the psycho tells her to “change your hair, change your make-up, but be yourself,” and the hot shots want her to change to suit them. As nuts as Amber truly is, she’s actually the better friend than the sorority sisters. There’s an academic paper in there somewhere.

As for the Halloween party which starts Act 2, well, what better way to put some bodies on display (and there is a lot of that in this film), and in harms way of a psycho killer, qu’est-ce que c’est? Agnis, now dubbed Angie by the cool contingent, arrives at the party, as does Amber (Rizzo sure can rock a corset, as she showed previously in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in 2017). Angie hooks up with a Kavanaugh-ishly rapacious frat boy, Keith (Jamie Dufault, who ironically starred in a film called Murder University in 2012) which does not go well for both parties.

Sarah Nicklin

However, it’s a second bash (again, costumes and Halloween themed) that’s more like a black-light-lit rave. Despite Angie’s trying to leverage between the Pi gals and Amber, she’s having trouble seeing the truth from both sides, making her the weakest link for a while. One of the best and most graphic kills occurs at this point that you’re not going to want to miss. Let’s just say it’s reminiscent of Terrifier (2016).

Then there’s the – I kid you not – third shindig, starting the final act, where things really begin rockin’ and people start droppin’. And let the games – and the flowing of blood – begin! Damn, I’m giddy as a sbool boy (Monty Python reference, sorry). Amber learns of the Pi gals’ nefarious plans at Angie’s “pledging” to the sorority where the shit hits the fan and the body count significantly rises. There is one particular kill that is bound to make people squirm (did me), again in a Terrifier motif, but the previous party’s kill kind of balances it out, I guess.

The film touches a bit on some previous work, such as the obsession of Single White Female (1992) among many, and Mean Girls (2004). What’s nice is that this is a pretty meat and potatoes kind of picture, without trying to be too arty, and just give us what we genuinely want to see. There is also a strong influence of a plethora of 1980s releases where a ball becomes an abattoir.

A question I have, as there is no back stories on any of the characters, as is the nature of these kinds of genre blood-lettings, is that I wonder whether Amber was always a bad seed and had killed before, or was there a trigger that set her off on the path of rack and ruin. The other thing about these kinds of genre blood-lettings is that sometimes the backstories are irrelevant to the fun that’s on the screen at the moment, and we have a heap of that here.

 

Jamie Dufault

While there is no nudity, there is amble cleavage, some gore done with beautiful practical SFX by John Lauterbach, and lots of dead bodies scattered about. My only real objection to the film involves a “date rape” and the casual way the aftermath is handled. This left me feeling a bit uncomfortable.

 Shot beautifully in widescreen, this is straightforward and to the point – with some very sharp points – which is just what is both expected and desired. There is truly little fat on the story, which makes a good viewing. Plus, there is a cast to die for, full of actors for whom I am a huge fan, like Nicklin, Rizzo, Dufault, and as the wonderful comic relief, the effervescent Johnny Sederquist as a drug dealer. Also noteworthy is Lilith Asteroth (I’m guessing that’s not her birth name) of the death metal band Sorrowseed,  as one of the Pi sorority who is more than what she seems.

The film definitely pushes some envelopes, which can be seen as good or bad, but either way it’s bound to shock some and have others hiding their eyes behind their hands. Of course, true deep genre fans are bound to be drinkin’ and a hootin’.

Review: Occurrence at Mills Creek

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020
Images from the Internet

Occurrence at Mills Creek
Directed by Don Swanson
Spruce Films
84 minutes, 2020
www.sprucefilms.com   
www.facebook.com/occurrenceatmillscreek/
www.occurrenceatmillscreek.com/index.html

What is smart, in my opinion? Starting small and then expanding. Case in point: this film began as a short with the same title (reviewed HERE). After working out the kinks, it has now been expanded to a full-length feature. It’s kind of like writing a novel and setting up an outline first. With the same core cast who now comprehend the roles better than probably just sitting around a cast table read, they are starting with an understanding of their character’s motivations. The short could almost be seen as OJT (On-the-Job-Training).

 

Ava Psoras, Betsy Lynn George, Alexa Mechling

The backbone of the story, to start, is more or less an intense family psychological drama, told in the present and via flashbacks, where half of the family is dead within the first five minutes, with certainly more to follow. The focus is on college-age Clara (Ava Psoras), who is not having a good time. First her mom, Emily (Betsy Lynn George, Ava’s real-life mom, who has credits including 1996’s Petticoat Planet – one of the first DVDs I owned – and in Billy Idol’s infamous “Cradle ofLove” music video)  passes on, and then her 15 year-old sister Cassandra (Alexa Mechling) goes and drowns by the lake’s dock after an argument with Clara; meanwhile, her estranged and physically abusive lothario father, Victor (Joel Fishel), is coming around for the funerals and trying to get back into Clara’s life before... well, you’ll see.

In the prologue we see mom shipping off, and then pick up at Cassandra’s farewell. During the funeral scene, one of many in the film, as Clara and her father stand together while a line of well-wishers go by, I could honestly emphasize with Clara’s muted and disjointed reactions to the overwhelming stream of humanity to the point of almost boredom as I felt that exact same way in that position with the passing of my parents.

From the beginning, we are given slivers of scenes in non-chronological order for the first 20 minutes or so, covering most of the content and about the length of the original short, though it never loses its sense of moodiness. After about 20 minutes, the film settles down into a more narrative form, but in the shadows, there is always something off, with the spirits of mom and sis mostly silently popping in every once in a while to remind Clara that things are not quite right.

There are indications that make the viewer wonder how much is real and what proportion is within Clara’s noggin. Are these spirits she’s seeing really happening, in her mind, or visions/warnings/hints to the audience that only she can actually see?

Clara is not exactly likeable, full of built up anger and attitude, but her equally sullen, flat moods fit in with the tone of the film. She’s a rich, privileged woman in long fake eyelashes whose family helped build up the town of Mills Creek. But, of course, there is a deep and dark family secret that she will investigate and figure out, or possibly give in to it. That’s the viewers’ job, to explore it with her.

There are some hints of blood letting here and there throughout the film, but we don’t get to witness excess until the conclusion catches up with the story, making it stark and shocking, which works the better for the overall plotline. Much of the film has quite the languid pace, so when the action occurs, it’s all the more unexpected.

The entire film looks beautiful in widescreen. There is a bit of artiness that may get lost on some shock-mavens, but as I said, the film is mostly evenly paced, giving the viewer time to mull over the actions on the screen, and try to piece it all together. It definitely has the feel and tempo of many thoughtful Scandinavian films or television shows (though it was filmed in the Pittsburgh area), but I like that.

This is only the second feature for director Swanson, other than quite a number of shorts including documentaries and music videos (two for this film, which will certainly show up on the disc), though the only one I’ve seen is the abbreviated earlier version of this film. This release shows an enormous amount of talent and thoughtfulness. Plus getting Betsy Lynn George and also MaLinda Parker (aka Lynda Maroni), who appeared in the early George A. Romero films Season of the Witch (1972) and The Crazies (1973), both to come out of retirement to appear here, shows his talent to draw others to him. That’s a good sign of things to come, I would imagine.

 

Review: Mermaid Isle

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020
Images from the Internet

 

Mermaid Isle
Directed by Jason Mills
Mills Pictures Studios; World Wide Multi Media (WWMM);
Sector 5; MVD Entertainment
70 minutes, 2020
www.chipbakerfilms.com
www.mvdb2b.com

I know, I know. Even before starting the film, it looks like there is a chance it is going to be stupid as all get-out. But I have a bit of faith, considering how much I enjoyed one of director Jason Mills’ earlier film, The Changing of Ben Moore (2015; reviewed HERE), which is saying a lot considering that one is in the found footage subgenre. 

Evil mermaids seem to be a bit trendy relatively recently, with shows like “Siren,” Killer Mermaid (2014) and The Mermaid’s Curse (2019), but the kind, female tail flopper from Splash (1984) and The Little Mermaid (1989) are long gone as washed-out tropes. These mermaids, as in The Odyssey, are up to no good.

Okay, starting the film now.

The set-up is simple though painful: four friends head off to a deserted island for fun and recreation. Annoyingly needy and insecure Toby (Mark Reinhardt) is in love with cute Amy (Kristina Soroff) and wants to use this getaway to ask her to marry him, but she’s not “there” yet as they started dating recently. Along for the ride is Toby’s bland pal Roy (Samuel Buchanan), and Amy’s goth friend Shelly (Kiana Passmore, who is also part of the film crew). If I may digress here for a second, why are goth characters in these kinds of films sooooo annoyingly bleak, sarcastic and downers? So stereotypical. I can’t even imagine Amy or any of them putting up with Shelly’s shitty ‘tude.

When Shelly is bitten by something (in clear, exceedingly shallow water, I might add), that’s when the trouble begins. The fact that it is Shelly that starts of the contagion train is no great emotional loss for the audience because she is so unlikeable as a character.

 

As they find shelter in a house owned by an older woman whose family was killed by said Merms, this evolves partially into a cabin in the woods genre film mixed with the likes of Cabin Fever (2002). Just about halfway through, and no sign of a mermaid yet. So far, it’s closer to …28 Days Later (2002) with Shelly getting a bit nippy. No Sisters of Mercy to help this gothaholic.

This group is not the sharpest stick in the woods. Bad horror film decisions are made left and right. They know to stay out of the water, so what do they do? Walk through the water. When their friend is hurt, do they head for the boat? Of course not. No sign of a cell phone from these 20-somethings? Hmmmm. If this is supposed to take place pre-phone era, then I missed that cue.

Transformation from human to mermaid is rare in story, though here we only get to see the before and after. And to keep the title accurate, it seems only women get bit and change, with males just getting off’d. So, I guess there are no interest in Mermen? And as a side note, are they air breathers that can hold their breath for a long time, or do they grow gills and live mainly under the water, because some of the off-screen, unseen kills are not in the water per se, especially in the epilogue that doesn’t really go anywhere. And how is the old woman’s son able to live on the island safely when everyone else who goes there gets disappeared?

 

Extras are only trailers. There are chapter breaks, but none indicated on the menu. Also, you cannot go forwards or backwards; you have to click on the previous chapter and wait. I wanted to check something in the end credits early on, and could only zoom to the beginning of the credits, and then hop back to wherever the chapter break was and wait until it caught up. Not very user friendly.

The biggest problem for me, beyond the weak acting is that the story is only about 30 minutes long, with the rest being atmospheric shots of trees and rain, or the beautiful landscape. The film could use some serious rewriting and video editing, such as the long, silent walk through the woods at the beginning could easily have been halved, if not more. Be it the opening music montage or someone’s hand being dragged for minutes on end, for example, all of that could have been excised and this could have been a pretty damn decent short. As it is, it’s not that much longer than an hour as it is, taking off the credits. It takes nearly 9 minutes for any of the characters to actually speak.

Do we really need to spend all that time with Toby standing confused at a literal crossroads? As a 30-minute release, this could have been a real tight story, but it takes too much time dealing with exposition and scenery, and unnecessary and distracting “mood,” that the film self-implodes and self-deflates.

Review: Sebastian’s Unholy Flesh

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020
Images from the Internet

Sebastian’s Unholy Flesh
Directed by Dakota Ray
R.A. Productions
72 minutes, 2020
https://m.facebook.com/dakotarayfilmmaker/

In his seventh film, director/writer/editor Dakota Ray takes a leap forward and brings all that makes his signature stylings with him. He has a vision that is full of satanic overtones, indulging in absinthe, the darker side of Denver’s urban landscape, serial killing, and a purple haze… okay, a purple filter.

Without giving away much as this is in the first 30 seconds of the film, a cosmic shift has led to the death of Satan, and Sebastian (Dakota Ray), an evil extradimensional demonic being who has taken human form, means to fill the Dark Lord's place by getting his hands on a certain book that belonged to Beelzebub. With this he will gain Satan's powers and be able to destroy the world. And the quest for our end begins.

As with all quest sagas, there must be two sides, even if it is not good vs. evil, as in this case it is certainly evil (Sebastian as anti-protagonist) and a higher level of evil. Here, the latter is represented by two entities. The first, being human, is the White Spider (Fred Epstein), a serial killer that watches snuff films to get off, and who invokes the second demonic entity named Nezaah (Nick Benning) – the first born son of Satan – who is also after said tome, I am assuming for similar reasons. Nezaah uses the White Spider (WS) as his go-between to be rid of our boy Sebastian by cutting him into nine symbolic pieces. Will Nezaah and WS succeed in their malevolent deed and need for control?

With the exception of Nezaah, nearly all the dialogue is the internal thinking of the characters. This has always been a cornerstone of Ray’s filmmaking and it works for his oeuvre. When Nezaah actually orates, however, his words are simultaneously captioned on the screen in big letters, not as a scrawl on the bottom, for those who hate captioning; if you don’t want to read, you can still hear what he is saying pretty clearly through his growling vocals.

The big question of course is who will win this malignant battle to the death of, well, them and everything? Either way, it’s not looking good for the universe because both are out for a taste of destruction on our behalf. This is a nihilistic view, and yet, it feels like it matters in this dystopian pre-apocalypse. Is this perhaps a metaphor for the Trump regime’s plan to plummet us all to an early grave, be it through a pandemic or global change, or even geo-political shenanigans?

Speaking of pandemics, this was, of course, filmed during the height of the Summer of COVID, and it’s interesting to watch how Ray uses the cast in individual set pieces and splices them together to form a semi-coherent narrative (more on that later). The cast is actually quite small but work around each other in interesting ways to maintain cinematic social distancing.

There is very little subtly in this film when it comes to the acting. Sebastian is kind of cool and self-assured, with Ray’s trademark vocal growl almost snarling with smirking and hubristic glee. As for Epstein and Benning, they gear it up to, well, beyond 11 in their emoting, but we’re dealing with extreme characters, so it’s not so off-putting or even unexpected.

 

Ray has always relied heavily on the visual and tints to evoke moods, using urban landscapes, road kill, insects, and satanic and Christian imagery for atmosphere and ambience, or to push the story along; Satan is oft a secondary character in many of his releases, but since Satan is no more, he is absent (in the “flesh”) here. Using a purple tint throughout gives it an edgy, experimental feel that mostly works in making the imagery an almost dreamlike quality. The heavy fisted music also works exceedingly well for promoting the demonic and oppressive tone.

What is different in this film, however, is that imagery has moved up in importance and become parallel with the narrative, both of them in a dark, purple dance with each other. Ray has made it clear that he has become infatuated with the mildly psychedelic and green drink of absinthe, which may (I am assuming) be a strong influence on this heavier reliance on the visual.

Recently, I read someone positing that Ray’s works fit into the “transgressive” subgenre. That struck me as being quite accurate, especially with this release. I can easily see his work alongside of the likes of Richard Kern, Nick Zedd, and Beth and Scott B.; perhaps even a bit of Stan Brakhage in the sheer rawness of it all. Another reason this pairing may match is because transgressive cinema tends to be a bit poetic and esoteric, and arguably a bit poetically opaque at times, as this one tends to be due to it’s story arch and imagery, with each filmmaker having their own forte and style.

As a drinking game, take a sip of absinthe every time Nezaah says the word “Obtain.”

 

Review: Gay as the Sun – A Documentary

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020
Images from the Internet

 

Gay as the Sun – A Documentary
Directed by Richard Griffin
Scorpio Film Releasing / Nova Film Productions
32 minutes, 2020
www.scorpiofilmreleasing.com

The tagline for this film may sound familiar: “From the beginning of time to the end of the Universe… Is Billy.” This should not be confused with the infamous opening of Kurt Vonnegut’s brilliant novel, Slaughterhouse Five: “Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time.” But this is a comedy spoof, so why not?

The subtitle of the film is a bit of comedy, but this is also a sci-fi release in the form of a documentary, but it goes so much deeper than that. The tone it takes is in the form of those pseudo-documentaries they used to do about nudist colonies in the late 1950s and early ‘60s that was used as a framework that was acceptable (somewhat) to what had become of the Hays Office. Essentially, the documentary format was a legal way to show nude bodies without it being considered “smut.” Auteurs like Doris Wishman (d. 2002) and Hershell Gordon Lewis (in his pre-gore mode; d. 2016) were pioneers in this field, with most of their films coming out of southern Florida. This one is from Rhode Island.

We are presented with the first chapter through the introduction of Adam (Rick Irizarry) and Steve (Nolan Burke) in the Garden of Eden – that’s right – narrated with gentility over a very sanitized melody that actually sounds like it came from one of those early films. Hmm, I wonder who did their ink? Anyway, if you remember the Eden story, it was not clothing optional, it was sans mode. Oh, if you haven’t guessed by the title, this is going to be a wiener fest like nobody’s biz.

 

Sarah Reed

But three minutes in, the film takes a turn one might not expect, and I won’t give it away. In a brilliant move (with a tone of social commentary) we meet Eve (Sarah Reed), equally bare, before both are tempted by a drag queen snake (Ninny Nothin, aka Johnny Sederquist) to take that forbidden bite of the apple.

 Okay, I have to stop here for a sec. It’s 5 minutes into the film, and I have been laughing nearly non-stop, between the narration and the action on the screen. This is so well written and thought out, that I’m looking forward to hitting the play button again. This is irreverent as all get out, so if you’re bothered by Adam and Steve, you are going to love the conclusion of this chapter, which is essentially a history of body shaming (Wait, the Bible? Genesis? Chapter 1? Shaming? Yeah, that sounds about right).

 It’s in chapter 2, which is now narrated by the less somber sounding Terry Shea, where we meet our pal Billy (Graham Stokes). Poor Billy suffers from said self-body loathing, so as therapy, he goes to a nudist colony called, yep, “Gay as the Sun.” We get to follow a mostly silent Billy (perhaps a nod to Lewis’ 1961 infamous release, The Adventures of Lucky Pierre?), as the narrator “joins along.” Billy explores the camp and meets strange characters like a shirt bandit (Ronald Martin) who steals, well, it ain’t lupins, and Gay Dracula (a fun turn by Robert Kersey).

 

Graham Stokes

The film stops at times for interviews with some of the characters, such as the bandit and Billy’s nutball parents, often with a subtle sarcastic tone that, again, shows some really good writing by director Griffin and Robyn Guilford. One of my fave moments is when we meet a “Karen” named Karen (Erin Haas) – VP of the Eric Trump Fan Club – who angrily takes the whole film to task in a Monty Python’s Colonel splash. I was beside myself.

With the multitude of male nudity (and some female as well), and the profane tone, there may be some hesitation of some viewers, but if you’re an open spirit and love a really smartly written comedy with balls to the wall laughs, I recommend this, as I chortled all through it. Some of that came from the references, but even beyond if that’s not your thing, it’s a good hoot.

 

Gay Dracula

And how does this gay romp fit into the motif of this blog? It has a science fiction backbone to it that was also reminiscent of the old ‘50s sci-fi glut of low budget films. That’s good enough for me.

Will Billy find balance with his own skin? Perhaps find love? There is an abundance of choices at the camp, with lots of men with bodies exposed doing things that the old Wishman/Lewis employed to express nudity in action, such as montages of washing (stand-up showers, of course), sun bathing (front and back), volleyball, and hula-hoops. Maybe someday there will be a version that comes out in 3D called Gay as the Sun 3D – A DUCK!-umentary. I said what I said.

See the trailer and/or rent the film HERE