Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2014
Images from the Internet
The Killer 4 Pack
SGL Entertainment
358
minutes, 2014
www.SGLentertainment.com
www.mvdvisual.com
SGL
Entertainment is a relatively new releasing company that has purchased a few
dozen films, and is now releasing them. They also are starting their own
franchise called Jezebeth, the first
of which is included in this collection.
The Day of
the Dead
[aka El
dia los muertos]
Directed by Ricardo Islas
Alpha
Studios
106
minutes, 2007
www.thedayofthedeadmovie.com
Not to be
confused with the George Romero …of the
Dead franchise, the title here refers to the November 2nd Latino
holiday, where the dead walk the earth. This is certainly a good film to start
off this collection. It has a professional look, it has depth, and it has a
message. Actually, a number of them.
Venezuelan-born
director Ricardo Islas shot the film in Chicago and Joliet (about 45 miles
apart), focusing in on a gang of five (three males, two females) who get their
kicks by brutally killing homeless women. This isn’t a “wilding” kind of thing
where people are picked randomly, they are methodical, smart, and “take their
time,” as a coroner says. Also, most of them are white.
Their
newest sights are on an illegal Mexican woman, Ana (Rosa Isela Frausto), who is
desperate for work as a domestic, to get money to go home as she does not like
the big city. When they focus in on her, well, you know it will end badly.
Islas
takes his time with the story. We get to meet the characters, to get some degree
of history of Ana, so when things go wrong, we feel a degree of loss, unlike
most slashers where everyone is there merely to meet their end, and their
deaths are only considered collateral damage. Here, even as the death metal
blares and the perpetrators are reveling in their bloodlust, some pity is felt
for Ana. We also feel for the lead detective in the case who is going solo lobo,
the lovely Carla (Christina De Leon); she gets in a bit over her head.
The film
has a gritty urban feel, reminiscent of majors like The French Connection (1971) or Death
Wish (1974). Streets are dirty, alleys have stagnant water, and buildings
are brick blockhouses, giving us a Taxi
Driver (1976) tour. It feels like the ‘70s all over again. And each of the
three acts is almost their own genre. For example, the first is a bit like a
slasher film, the middle a detective story, and the final, well, let’s just say
it’s a revenge story. Each has elements that overlap the others, so the feel is
organic (unlike, say, Kill Bill: Vol. 1 [2003]
and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 [2004], which
are completely different genre styles).
The one
fault I could pick on is that someone breaks a pair of handcuffs on a piece of
stone. Not just the chain, the whole thing falls off at once. That would not
work with tungsten steel, the material ‘cuffs are made of these days. But hey,
if that’s it, we’re in good shape, y’knowhadimsayin’?
Not just a
crime drama, and not just a horror film, not just a revenge tale, Islas also
has some social commentary mixed in on both a blatant and subtle level. Filmed
during the incompetent GW Bush years, there is discussion of illegal
immigration and the effect on those immigrants (Bush’s “reuniting families”
speech is shown for the farce it is), white power and privilege, how uncommonly
high the assault and rape statistics for women are in the Latino community, and
the lack of city, state and federal funding to help through community centers.
But he doesn’t just go the easy and too common road of Evil = Whites, as two of the murderous group are women of color
(one is a bi-asthmatic), even though the three males are white and racist (yet the
white leader is in a relationship with the Asian woman).
One would
think with so much going on, both blatant and subtle, from violence to social
messages, this would be a mess or at least too preachy. In the hands of other
directors, this could be a strong possibility, but here, Islas handles it with
a level of mastery, despite the low-albeit-not-micro budget.
Jezebeth
Directed by Damien Dante
The Phoenix Group / Satania 666 Films
SGL Entertainment / R-Squared Films
80
minutes, 2008-2011
www.jezebeth.com
It’s an interesting
premise from the start: a young woman from a questionable past worships the
devil, invokes a demon possibly with the same name as her (though a male voice
is used), and becomes a Goth, death metal guitar wiz, sadist vampire.
This film
is the centerfold of this collection, as it is not only directed by the owner
of SGL Entertainment, but there is also a sequel with two more in the works
after that, a comic book, a record deal, etc. That’s some pretty big plans.
Quite
beautiful to look at, with a mix of black & white and color, intense
editing, weird angles, and loud music, in fact, much of it feels like a series
of death metal music videos, with some story in between. Song by bands like
Slam Bang, Grigori 3 and Supermercado feature heavily, along with others. There
are also some musicians playing themselves, such as drummer Gregg Potter – who
tours with the Buddy Rich Band even though he looks like he’s in the
Chesterfield Kings – and Wolf McKinney. Pin-up model Baby D. Frost makes an appearance
as herself as well.
Okay, I’m
digressing, so let’s get back to the film: Jezebeth lives in a house with a
group of women, most of who hate her and want her out, and one who is her S&M
slave. They all dress in black, have dark hair, and pale skin. Jezebeth, played
by the toothsome and attractive Bree Michaels, often wears full-face white
make-up and black lipstick. Did I mention Goth before? What holds these women
to this place is unclear, and how they make a living is unmentioned. It’s
hinted that they grew up together, but only a suggestion. It’s a mystery left
as such. It certainly can’t be a religious affiliation, though one is indicated
as being a devout Christian, because they curse like a motherfucker (yes,
including the Christian).
This truly
is Goth heaven (pun intended), touching on many of the principles of the
subculture, some mentioned above in the first paragraph of this review. There’s
lots of lace, black matt clothing, cemeteries, blood, death, demons, and
vampires. But suddenly, and gratuitously, there’s a long scene in a Chicago
strip club for absolutely no reason, as we watch five dancers do their thing
with a pole. Hunh? Is stripping Goth? That’s a new one for me.
As for
said vampires, there are two, and apparently they are unbothered by the
sunlight, not even needing sunglasses. Sure, this isn’t the first film to use
that premise, but I thought Goth was kind of 19th Century based (hence the
“Gothic”), when vampire fiction became popular. Musing aside, it’s an
observation, not a criticism.
As films
go, as a whole it’s a pretty picture. Sure the black and white is blue tinted
and probably should have been more effective as sepia, but it’s still has a
flair to it. As far as story and acting goes, it’s a mess. There is no
coherency, no character development (including Jezebeth), and no need for half
of the visuals (e.g., the lengthy clips of people standing around as music
plays).
Sure, one
may think, oh, maybe it will be explained in the next film, since this is a
pre-planned franchise. Well, considering Jezebeth is played by a different
actress in all three films listed, and the second one is a
Mexican-Western-Motorcycle glom called Jezebeth
2: Hour of the Gun (scheduled to be released this year; trailer HERE), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENIdXB05D_g I’m going
to doubt clarity is the focus as much as marketing.
I’m going
to guess that I’ll probably never receive another SGL release after this.
Carnage:
The Legend of Quiltface
[aka Carnage Road]
Story, produced and directed by Massimiliano
Cerchi
Rounds
Entertainment
70
minutes, 2000
www.roundsent.com
Starting
with the standard genre set-up to introduce us to our killer, a guy in a mask
and onesie with a machete, we meet a couple out in the desert near Las Vegas which
is obvious since the woman is wearing a t-shirt that says as much. She’s a
tough woman with tats, and while he plays horny, he also comes across as a bit,
well, fey. Nevertheless, as is par, they get it on (to porn-type music), so
they die in a nicely done scene, though the camera is purposefully albeit
unnecessarily shaky.
Shot on
video (pre-HD), this is honest in not trying to look like film; perhaps at the
time the technology had not caught up to that, or was not yet affordable as it
is now with MacPro. It does have a nice, clear look, though, and I’ll happily
give it that.
All the
classic kids-in-the-elements (woods, caves, or in this case, dessert) tropes
are here. The comic relief who gives the back story, the old guy (who can
sometimes also be the back story teller), the tall (albeit very thin in this
case) masked killer with the big knife who seems to be able to not be seen by
the protagonists when standing up in a clear field, usually with the shoulders
back, feet spread apart a bit, and the hand with the knife held out at a 40
degree angle. And where does it say that is it necessary for women to trip when
running away? Of course, my big question is, if you get the better of a killer
for a moment, why not pick up a rock and smash the fuckin’ guy’s head in,
rather than run away?
In this version,
rather than campers, we have four not-too-bright college students who are out
in the desert taking photos (film camera) for an extra credit class assignment.
All the shots they take, essentially, are of themselves smiling and posing next
to each other, like every other damn shot you see. If I was their prof, I would
fail them, whether they survive or not. Not even landscape or close-ups of
desert foliage – I mean, the desert is a beautiful place, and lord knows this
film could have been about 10 minutes shorter if some of the walking / running
through the dirt roads was trimmed – instead of them just standing together and
smiling. I was waiting for the modern, ever-present “v” sign.
How smart
is this group? They are to spend the day in the desert – dropped off in the
morning to be picked up in the evening – without taking any water, any
sunscreen (the women are in shorts), or any food. All they have is one camera
bag and the camera. Period. Shit, they deserve to die just to project the human
race from them reproducing.
So, there
is the lead, very pretty, super-blonde couple, Robert and Linda (Dean Paul and
Molanee Dawn). When she’s not whining, she seems nice. Cute, anyway. Dean Paul,
who has an assumption that he’s the “leader” of the group, is a sniveling,
domineering bully, and yes, whiny. Along for the ride are two classmates. One
is the whiny and kvetchingly spoiled Amy (Melissa Brown) who is vain and thick,
and would rather look in the mirror and whine than be there. And last is
super-nerd Mike (Sean Wing, who has gone on to have quite the relatively
successful career since this), who is presented more like Rainman than merely
geek (i.e., the pre-Big Bang Theory
stereotype).
Now that
I’m through being whiny myself, there are actually positive things to say about
this film. For one thing, it has some really good humor it in. No, I mean
purposeful laughs. For example, the character of The Driver, as played by Mack
Hail, is a hysterical scene-stealer from the moment he comes on to the screen
to the time he leaves. There are also quite a few throwaway lines that I had to
back up to make sure I heard right because they were so humorous.
For a film
that’s made with a single camera, it’s put together quite well. Yeah, there’s
the occasional sound galumphs here and there, but it also causes a change in
the theme of the action. Ever since Sergei Eisenstein, who during the silent
era said that editing = motion, there have been quick cuts; but with one
camera, it takes a bit more work to keep up some kind of pace with long, static
shots. Cerchi makes it work, thanks to the efforts of the editor, Ed Polonia,
of the infamous Polonia Brothers.
Quitface’s
mask appears a bit more like rubber than human leather, but it still looks
great when you finally get to see it close, made up of stitched faces. There is
minimal nudity and some blood, but emotions are actually a bit more realistic
than in most films. At the end, Paul, who sounds like a screeching weasel
through nearly the entire third act, is believably scared. When he’s hit on the
head, even though there is hardly any blood when the head actually bleeds like
a motherfucker in real life, he acts woozy, stumbles along, and looks
exhausted, rather than unrealistically shaking it off and carrying on. Kudos
for that.
Cerchi (and
the Polonius Brothers, for that matter) make micro-budget films, and even if
the stories can be a bit cliché, they retain a level of fun that still make it
worthwhile to sit on the couch with some buds and Buds, and have a hoot. But
make sure you listen to those throwaway jokes. They’re worth the attention.
Hellweek:
Grindhouse Edition
Directed by Eddie Lengyel
Fright Teck Pictures
102 minutes,
2009
Don’t let
this film get confused with the 1981 Linda Blair classic of bad cinema, Hell Night, even though the premises are
pretty similar: Pledge night at a frat, but rather than going to a haunted
house to roam around in the dark for most of the film, here it’s a frat party
that goes to a supposedly haunted abandoned warehouse (probably for clothing,
because there is a sign leaning against the wall for Perry Ellis). Evil things
wearing masks, as we learn early on, are afoot there.
The
central character, who from early on you hope is going to die a slow and glorious
death, is JJ (overacted by Rob Jaeger), president of the frat which I believe
is never named. Throughout the movie people repeatedly call him an asshole, and
he is. Thing is, if he isn’t in the scene, people are talking about him. I
mean, he’s blond, he calls people “nigga” and “faggot,” and he cheats on his
girlfriend Cara (the very comely Karen Fox) while she’s in the same house.
Wadda douche.
Despite a
couple of really nice, digital deaths early on, this film takes a really – no,
I mean really long time to get its
gore groove on after the initial metal-on-flesh. Some of the women go to a
psychic who warms them of cheating (yep, JJ) and peril. Then there’s a
stretched out party scene where we get to know a little about some of the characters that are fodder-to-be, and yet
we still are given no reason to care about them.
One thing
this filmmaker does that I genuinely find amusing is that he sometimes addresses
odd things people in the audience might say, such as one character stating, “We
just went down the stairs and now we’re going up?!”
While no
subsequent kill is as good as the first batch, our supernatural villains do not
want to be disturbed, and of course, nothing annoys supernatural villains more
than frat shenanigans. Actually, considering some of this batch, I don’t blame ‘em.
The film itself
has an interesting look, with pockmarks and discoloration like it was shot on
film and left underwater for a few days. Sometimes it looks great, sometimes it’s
a hindrance, but either way it’s a nice touch. Also there are scenes that are
kind of dark, or happen too fast (flash of seeing a disembodied head, for
example), but there is also come nicely done creative editing otherwise.
If the
film had lost the entire 20 minute frat party scene at the end of the first act,
it would have not been any loss. If the bickering between Cara and Hayley (the
equally cute Michelene Pancoe) was not such a repeated focal point, that would
have been okay, too. Cara had enough trouble dealing with JJ, so who needs the
extra angst?
In total,
it’s not a great film, but it definitely has its glorious moments.
Day of
Dead
Jezebeth
Quiltface
Hellweek
