Review: Star Vehicle

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the Internet

Star Vehicle (aka Bleading Lady)
Directed by Ryan Nicholson
Plotdigger Films; New Image Entertainment; Unearthed Films; MVD Visual
76 minutes, 2010 / 2021
www.plotdigger.com/movies/hanger-2009/
www.unearthedfilms.com
www.MVDVisual.com

Apparently, Unearthed Films – one of my fave labels at the moment for both its original content and reissues – has purchased the hardcore gore films of the late Vancouver director, Ryan Nicholson (d. 2019, way too young of natural causes). Nicholson’s love of the ‘80s slashers is evident here right from the start, be it the tone of the film, and even the synth score over the credits.

Dan Ellis

As with the recently released Hanger (reviewed HERE), this film also stars Dan Ellis, as Donald Q. Cardini, who stole every scene he was in during Hanger, and not just because of the prosthetic nose. One of the things the opening prologue scene made me think of is the multitude of videos available on YouTube about abusive Lyft and Uber passengers. For this film, Don is a driver for a movie company, shuttling cast and crew from accommodation to location, and back. His take on these privileged back seaters is certainly a fantasy of drivers, on occasion, I’m sure.

As grumpy as Donnie is, he is smitten by Reversa Red (Sindy Faraguna), “the Scream Queen,” who has an unknown stalker lurking about. He knows all about her life and career, and is super protective of her, even smashing a friend and fellow driver’s (Mike Li) face into a fence for suggesting he’d like to…well, you know. Don is egocentric and a buttinsky, needing to make his presence known, even if it means lipping off Luke (Nathan Durec), the newbie indie director of the film within the film (meta-film). I was wondering if she is a metaphorical or ideological stand-in for Debbie Rochon, the star of Ryan’s previous release.

Sindy Faraguna

He spends a lot of time on set, as we watch the director shooting his low-budget horror flick. This leads to some very dry humor that can be appreciated by the viewer, if they have been on a similar set, or not. The meta-film shooting of the horror epic are some of my favorite parts. Thing is, you can guess this is actually what it is really like on some sets, with some bad acting and minimal accommodations, including food.

There are some good action scenes (i.e., kills) throughout the first two acts as Don gets more and more deranged, reminding me of other nutty overly enthusiastic fanboy films, like The Fan (1981), The Fan (1996), or The King of Comedy (1982). Being an aspiring filmmaker with no direction or means, who is watching shoddy work, along with the presence of his idol, Don snaps, which affects Reversa, her co-star Sienna (cute Erindera Farga), the make-up person Jenny (Paige Farbacher), and Luke. Assisting Don on camera to film the debacle is the “Lodge Boy” (Nick Windebank). The latter becomes a willing accomplice to the mayhem.

Of course, things get increasingly erratic and especially bloody as these filmmakers get caught up in the vision of a maniac. I will not, of course, go into detail, and ruin the joy for the new viewer. Let’s just say, as this is a Ryan Nicholson release, that things are not all smooth sailing.

The thing is, most of the characters, with some exceptions (such as Luke), are actually likeable, and even with little to no backstory on any of them, it is easy to feel some sympathy for them, which of course makes the kills all that more engaging. There are a lot of prosthetic goodies from the meta-film, but the actions of Don feel more visceral, even if they too, in reality are compositions, like in Hanger, created magnificently by Michele Grady.

It is pretty easy to figure out who the stalker is, though, which is a nice ribbon-and-bow tied on the story that made a really nice soup with all the bits coming together. There are still plenty of surprises that pop up and can make the viewer go, “oh, I was not expecting that!” or admire how even some well-worn tropes are used (stalker) to an advantage.

Though I do not have the disk, some of the extras will include an archival full-length commentary with the director and lead actor Dan Ellis, “On the Set of Star Vehicle” presented by Left Coast TV, “Behind the Wheel of Bleading Lady,” a “Making Of” featurette, “Make-up Students + Acting Students,” Deleted Scenes and Alternative Opening, opening at Splatterfest at the Plaza Theatre, a photo gallery, and the trailer. The discs are available on Blu-Ray and DVD from Unearthed Films and MVD Entertainment at the links near the top. 

While I do not believe this is one of Nicholson’s strongest works that I have seen to date, it’s still heads over many others from either that period or even some that are being released now. I am sad that Nicholson died so early because he could have easily outshone some majors like Eli Roth, and many of his films have done just that; they just haven’t been recognized as such yet because of his passing. Unearthed re-releasing his catalog will hopefully shed more light on his fine work. Think of the early releases by Cronenberg and Peter Jackson; you know how some say, “His early works were amazing even though they were cheesy at times, but you could see the brilliance there”? Nicholson never got past that beginning point, so we will never know what kind of The Fly or Lord of the Rings opus he might have eventually given us. For now, thanks to Unearthed, we have the opportunity to enjoy what we have.

Review: Famine

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2020

Images from the Internet

Famine (aka Detention Night and Stupid Teens Must Die!)

Directed by Ryan Nicholson (d. 2019)

Gruesome Twosome Studios / New Image Entertainment / Unearthed Films / MVD Entertainment

77 minutes, 2011 / 2019

www.unearthedfilms.com

www.mvdb2b.com

Boy, I haven’t seen a good slasher comedy in… well, too long. If you have any doubts about this one, it’s original title is “Stupid Teens Must Die!” (as opposed to Kids Go to the Woods…Kids Get Dead, 2009; reviewed elsewhere in this blog, or another film called Stupid Teenagers Must Die, 2006; this one I have not yet seen). I’m not quite sure why it was briefly changed to Detention Night at some point as that is so not accurate to the story.

Christine Wallace, Michelle Sabiene

If you have any doubts that this Canadian release is a comedy, it takes place in the Sloppy Secondary School. And what exactly is a “Famine?” Many institutions, especially religious ones) have charities for the poor, where the students do not eat for a day, and much like marathons, they get donations if they last the whole time (or as we used to call it, Yom Kippur). This is supposed to help the students empathize with the poor by helping them understand what it is like to be hungry. Of course, odds are they will never really know starvation, and there is a difference. Anyway, I’m on a soapbox, so let’s get back to the film.

Five years after a tragic accident during a Famine – shown in a flashback, rather than a prologue, go figure! – the students at this high school are once again setting foot on a slippery slope, and are paying the price for it.

Christopher Lomas

Our central character (don’t quite know if I would call her or anyone else here a heroine/hero), is cute Jenny (Christine Wallace), who is runway model tall and thin, and throwin’ a lot of cleavage (thank you). She’s the one non-stereotypical character in that she’s obviously the sweet girl, but man he gets hyper-angry at the drop of a corn dog, and then is sweet again a second later. Definitely in need of some mood stabilizers. All the others who attend the school are either women dressed in high heels and ripped “Famine” tee shirts to expose – or give hints of – body parts, or men who are annoyingly macho without looking at all machismo (irony noted, mister director). For example, the main male lead, Nick (Christopher Lomas), looks a bit like a scrawny Matthew McConaughey, but with big and crooked teeth.

The Famine has been revived by sexy new volunteer teacher Miss Vickers (Michelle Sabiene), who looks about 5 years older than the actors playing the students. This is all under the supervision of the literal German Nazi principal (Glenn Hoffmann), riffing off Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove (etc., 1964) and others that I’m blanking on at the moment.

The Nailer

As the night wears on, someone is killing the participating students while wearing the oversized team mascot costume known as… wait for it… The Nailer. As you can tell, the humor in this comedy is quite broad, being closer to the outlandish style of National Lampoon’s Class Reunion (1982) than the homage-centric Scary Movie franchise (started in 2000). This film is definitely crass and brassy, and especially overly profane. An example of an insult is Jenny angrily throwing, “Why don’t you remove the dildo so all the stupid can run out?!” The F-word, the B-word and/or C-word are in nearly every sentence, and loses its shock value pretty fast.

Now, when it comes to the gore, well, that’s amazing. It looks good, it’s gooey as all get out, and over the top; the blood is way more than there would be in reality, which made me smile. In fact, we are introduced to lots of different bodily fluids, especially those from below the waist, making themselves known throughout. Everything is bigly and in excess here, with nearly all the people being overly sexualized, with men who have obviously never heard of MeToo and women in their clothing and movements (e.g., it seems like Jenny is always bending over, giving a downblouse shot for the camera).

The question is, of course, is this good cinema? the answer for me was mixed. I mean, as it was filmed in Canada, when Jenny very naturally says “aboot” in a sentence, well, that definitely made me laugh, even though unintentional. My biggest problem with it is it fights between being trying hard to be subtly amusing while at the same time being big and broad. Sometimes it works really well, others not as much. It’s going to be hit and miss, depending on your sense of humor style. If you liked the National Lampoon oeuvre, you may like this. If you’re interested in a higher level of it, such as Shaun of the Dead (2004), you may be more like me and find it a mixed bag. Perhaps you just need to be stoned to really enjoy it.

For me, the weakest point was the acting. And that is not to say these are bad actors, in any kind of way. What I’m saying is that rather than playing it straight and let the humor shine through in juxtaposition, which is the way I believe it should be to be most effective, they use what I call the John Lithgow sitcom acting style: Lithgow is an amazing actor, but I could barely watch him on Third Rock from the Sun (no matter how many Emmy’s he won for the role), where everything was too exaggerated.

The extras are a half-dozen trailers (including this one) – all of films I’ve now reviewed – chapters, and stills. For the latter, they are nearly all behind the scenes shots for 4:05 with a change every 3 seconds, and no soundtrack.

I am hoping you are not getting the impression this is a bad film, because it’s not. What I am trying to say is that it may depend on your sense of humor to determine how much you like it. I say watch it twice: one stoned and once… not. Make up your own opinion. Me, I’m straight-edge, and accept it for what it is.

Review: Collar

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2015
Images from the Internet

Collar

Written and directed by Ryan Nicholson
Unearthed Films / Plotdigger Films
77 minutes, 2014
www.unearthedfilms.com
www.mvdvisual.com

Especially since Hershell Gordon Lewis, there has been gross-out flicks meant to shock as much as entertain. This is a bit different than transgressive cinema, which is both political and “art,” but what I’m talking about is merely meant to make most viewers uncomfortable for the gotcha factor. For this subgenre of brutality, the godfather would have to be Day of the Woman aka I Spit on Your Grave (1978), though the more recent turn of the screw game changers are Saw (2004), Hostel (2005), and especially A Serbian Film (2010; reviewed HERE), the latter arguably being the one to top.

Lots of directors are testing these waters, such as Bill Zebub (though he does it often with comedic elements, which almost seem oxymoronic, e.g., Jesus Christ, Serial Rapist [2004]) and Dustin Wayde Mills (with fare such as Her Name Was Torment [2014]). This is also Ryan Nicholson’s realm, with films like as Collar.

This piece of work has been blasted by a number of viewers and reviewers, but I’m going to take a different approach of this, because as I have said in previous blogs, one does not look at a film like this in the same way one may look at a larger budgeted SFX-driven mainstream release, like, say, The Cabin in the Woods (2012) or Final Destination (2000). It is not fair to use the same judging scale for Sharknado (2013) as one does for Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992).

The story-line actually is not as simplistic as these kinds of things usually are, and many elements play out, such as the villain, Massive (Nick Principe) and his back story, the cop Dana (Aiden Dee) and her backstory that also plays into this one, the hooker Maria (Mihola Terzic) and her family and relationships, two scummy hipsters (as they are referred to in the film) who get their jollies playing people against each other and filming it, and other various denizens of the hard street life.

One of the problems with this many divergent stories and the lack of either text editing or budget (or both), is that there are certainly many holes, such as: what happened to the police car? Didn’t the two cops report where they were going? That’s just two. Still, I would like to foster this larger storyline thinking than just someone tied up in a place and being tortured, and that’s essentially it.

Nick Principe

Except for the two main leads, a lot of the acting is a bit wooden, or goofy, and at other times it’s the best that can be gotten from the script; in a case like Momona Komagata (as Rachel, the mondo grosso gravida girlfriend of Dana), you just know in a different film there would be more serious acting and less hamming.

The best performances here are by the two principals. Principe’s Massive is effectively terrifying. With a backstory of childhood abuse by a priest, he takes his mostly silent role and makes him one scary sumbitch. I wonder if his having slightly Arabic looks adds to the subliminal fright. Shaving his head with a piece of glass, or switching moods between blank-faced assaulter (or, as that great philosopher Bugs Bunny might have said, “a ment’l case") to utterly terrified little boy while remembering his past, Principe manages to get all that across barely saying a word. And the fact that after all his brutalizing he still manages to occasionally get a feeling of pity from the viewer shows that the chops are there.

Aidan Dee

As Dana, Dee is not just all plush lips, deep blue eyes and eyebrows that won’t quit, she makes her character vulnerable in so many ways, including being brave with extreme nudity and ultraviolence. If you can make it through her brutal treatment in the first five minutes of the film, which reminded me of a scene from Irreversible (2002), you should be able to handle the rest.

The third character is Maria, a secondary role that transforms over the length of the film. German-born Terzic plays her a bit like she’s stoned much of the time, and that could be the role. But there is room for growth there, it seems to me.

One of the biggest controversies about this film is about the many detailed rape scenes. Sometimes they may be called for in a story, such as with Two Women (1960, for which Sophia Loren won the Academy Award), the revenging I Spit on Your Grave, or its practical remake Demented! (1980; with Harry Reams, RIP). Then there are the gratuitous ones, such as in the otherwise excellent Street Trash (1987), for which I am strongly opposed; I became embroiled in a somewhat heated dialogue with its Associate Producer, Frank Farel, at a private screening over the scene). For this film, I can understand Nicholson is trying to make a point about Massive’s (and others’) brutality, but it goes beyond what is necessary, in my opinion.

I will say that what kind of annoyed me more was lingering shots over the bodies of the women’s victims as they are brutalized, focusing in on breasts while those parts did not have anything to do with the event happening. This is a bit too much real-life rape culture mentality. You want to focus on body parts during a gratuitous shower scene, fine, but during a violent act, it sends a different message. I also realize that the majority of the audience is teenage boys, but remember that teenage girls are starting to get interested in genre films, so why discourage/alienate a growing market?

One aspect I found strange was that the titular device is seen occasionally in the film, but isn’t used until at least the middle of the third act, but isn’t really a central part of the story and tends to be removed easily because no one’s hands are tied. It’s more symbolic than anything else.

Moving onward, I actually like the look of the film, and found that especially impressive. It felt as grimy as it looked, with nearly everyone looking realistically physically filthy, dark and dank. The editing is sharp and the lighting, albeit dark, is appropriate and gloomy. Let’s just say Vancouver is not going to be using this as a vacation marketing tool. I haven’t seen any of Nicholson’s films before, but was captivated by the possibilities that are showing through. I would like to see him have someone help with his scripting and text editing, and encourage him to forge ahead, perhaps with more men in sexual danger, to balance out the sheet.

The extras are a stills gallery, and just under 10 company trailers. I wish more would do this with trailers, as it seems to have fallen off the DVD creation board as more are moving to VoD, but that’s for another blog.

 

The trailer is HERE