Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2015
Images from the Internet
Scorpio Films Releasing / MVD Visuals
85 minutes, 2015
www.scorpiofilmsreleasing.com
www.facebook.com/fleshinferno
www.mvdvisual.com
In a co-lead
role, Rizzo performs really well holding her own, especially as the tension and
bodies build up. She does a masterful painful, almost banshee-level yelp, which
helps the story. She has the look of a leading actress (yes, I know the term
now is actor), beyond the genre. As
for Bagley, as I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, she also has a profound sense
to timing. You can both hate her character’s homophobia and emotional blindness
via a feel of superiority to others, and still care about what is happening to
her.
Images from the Internet
Flesh for the Inferno
Produced, directed and edited by Richard GriffinScorpio Films Releasing / MVD Visuals
85 minutes, 2015
www.scorpiofilmsreleasing.com
www.facebook.com/fleshinferno
www.mvdvisual.com
Director
Richard Griffin is a surfer. No, not the board on the water type (as far as I
know), but across genres. Nearly all his films are directed at a specific type
of “feel.” For example, he’s covered, in no particular order nor a complete
list, ‘70s Grindhouse (The Disco Exorcist,
2011), “Born Again” cinema (The Sins of
Dracula, 2014), thriller (Normal,
2013), Jesse Franco Eurotrash (Dr.
Frankenstein’s Wax Museum of the Hungry Dead, 2013) and Redneck (Creature from the Hillbilly Lagoon,
2005).
For his
latest outing, he’s veering into the Italian Giallo subgenre of the likes of Dario Argento, and Lucio Fulci (d.
1996). If those names mean nothing to you, well, (a) they are worth checking
out, and (b) it will not keep you from enjoying this film; you’ll only miss the
shadow of the reference which will not interfere with the story.
In the
obligatory prologue staged in 1999, we see a Catholic school led by a pedophilic
priest (Steve O’Broin, who does both smoldering and outrageous evil so well; I
would love to see him cast against type as a good-guy lead at some point). He
is confronted by three of the school’s nuns, who are The Cask of the Amontillado-ized, and in a state anger at being put
in this position while doing the Lord’s work, turn from their spiritual husband
to the Father of Lies (Aaron Andrade).
Hence we are
brought back to the present. The school had been abandoned and is getting ready
for a make-over. A rag-tag church group is assigned to clean the place up. I’m
assuming they are supposed to be high school teens, but… They are led by Mr.
Maupin (the eloquent and sophisticated – no, I’m serious – Michael Thurber; did
I miss it, or is he not wearing the ginormous ring he usually sports?). Some of
the mixed-gender group is anxious to do some good, and most are reluctant to be
there at all, mostly forced by unseen parents. Then there is Noah (Jamie
Dufault), the do-gooder who just happens to be there helping out and possible
love interest to another character, and the sullen and smoldering official watcher
(Sean Leser, who steals nearly every scene he’s in) – don’t call him the
caretaker – who is ordered there by the Church against his desire to keep an
eye on the kids.
 |
| Jamie Lyn Bagley |
Most of the
characters are more fodder than anything else, with the exception of two. First
there is Meredith (Jamie Lyn Bagley), who fiercely religious, self-righteous,
homophobic and hateful (I once worked with someone just like that, and Jamie
nails the attitude). Then there is the obvious heroine of the piece, the lovely
redheaded Kat (Anna Rizzo). All is going relatively well, until one of the kids releases the spirits of the three
nuns, Sister Millicent (Monica Saviolakis), Sister Luisa (Tiffany Lee Ferris),
and the petite Sister Irene (Samantha Acampora, who has an incredible sense of timing,
a very identifiably flinty voice…and lips that just don’t quit). Then literally
all hell breaks loose.
The writing
by Michael Varrati is crisp, with some underlying black and referential wit,
but mostly it’s straight ahead demonic horror. An example of the
finger-to-the-side-of-the-nose kind of humor I mean is when religious nut Meredith
is spouting off, and Noah sarcastically comments that she’s an “utter delight.”
This may be in reference to Jamie’s own uber-religious portrayal in The Sins of Dracula; note that Varrati
wrote both films, so I doubt this was coincidental.
Although
Griffin hasn’t written this film, his playing with religious tropes, especially
the thin line between not just good and evil, but heaven and hell, is a
relatively common theme, but one he has hardly exhausted. Also, the mixture of
straight and gay is another motif he often pursues, though more lightly touched
on here than usual. Speaking of which, where lust definitely plays a part in
this story, it is not explored as much as in, say, The Sins of Dracula or The
Disco Exorcist, but that is certainly made up for in the film’s style and Italiano-flavored flair.
 |
| Sean Leser |
I am pleased
that there is some new blood (pun intended) as far as acting talent present,
and I’m also happy to add that there are also some of what I call “the Griffin
Players,” those performers (both in front of the camera and behind the scenes, the
latter of whom I’ll get to in a bit) who appear regularly in his films. In no
particular order, Dufault plays one of his most natural roles, without some of
the theatre-based “tells” that he sometimes has employed, including body
language. He comes across as an extremely likeable “everyman.” Likewise,
Michael Thurber, who can overact to just
the right level when the role calls for it (e.g., the titular roles in both The Sins of Dracula and Frankenstein’s Wax Museum [etc.], and in
Future Justice [2014], where he plays
a wacked-out version of himself!), also comes across very natural and likeable;
it’s common for the Adult Supervisor role
to be portrayed as a dick in “Kids in Danger” films, but Thurber is
sympathetic, and in a bit of a Bugs Bunny-ish/Groundhog Day-ish (1993) amusing way in
one particular scene.
 |
| Anna Rizzo |
There are
also a couple of extended cameos worth talking about. One is by Rich Tretheway
as a police officer, and the other is Sarah Nicklin, one of the more
outstanding – well, I don’t know if the term Scream Queen is accurate or not, so I’m going to go with Genre Queen. She plays an extremely hot prostitute
in the tightest of hooker shorts, and is a very strong comedy relief to start.
In real life (i.e., Facebook), director Griffin often calls her his “muse,” and
it’s understandable. She always comes across as a smart woman who has a lot of
inner strength, and her characters tend to reflect that as well. I do have to
admit, though, that when I saw her name in the opening credits, I was wondering
if she was going to revive her role as Sister Wrath from Nun of That (2009).
As for the
three nuns in this story, well, they could only have been scarier if they had
rulers in their hands. The result of their actions throughout is a gorefest that
is exquisite, and occasionally cheesy (e.g., the person continually crashing
into a door, for example, really does like the effects from a ‘70s Italian film).
As for nudity, well, there is none (nun) of that, but there definitely is a
pretty hot-under-the-collar scene that is both rawr and ugh at the same
time.
At this
point, I also need to make a comment about the whole look of the film. Many of
Griffin’s films have a kind of auteur
look to them, with bright blues and reds splashed across scenes as metaphors
(red = hell, or evil anyway, for example). This is mostly from Griffin, but it’s
important to give a nod to Assistant Directors (and occasionally actor, though
not here) Nat Sylva and Mark Hutchinson, though more importantly to Griffin’s
visual right-hand person and cinematographer extraordinaire Jill Poisson, who
deserves a nod all her own.
Every time a
new Richard Griffin film is released, it’s always a thrill just to wonder what
genre he is tackling and honoring next. And I feel privileged to be able to
review such fine work by the director, the cast, and the crew. The more films
of Griffin’s I watch, the more I feel like this group are friends, even though
I’ve never met a lick of ‘em.
Oh, by the
way, you can see the reviews of most the Griffin films above by searching this
blog.
