Review: Resurrection Corporation

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

Resurrection Corporation.
Directed by Alberto Genovese
1844 Entertainment; Loboarts Productions
77 minutes, 2021
www.facebook.com/resurrectioncorporation/
www.1844entertainment.com/resurrectioncorporation/

While this is a simply-animated cartoon, the look and feel of it may seem familiar: the graphics were based on the 1920 Wiene film, Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari, on the 100th anniversary of the original film’s release. While the story may differ, the feel of the German abstraction masterpiece is present. I recommend watching the trailer for Dr. Caligari (HERE) to catch you up beforehand, though it is not necessary for this release.

Note that there are two versions of this film, one in dubbed English, and the other in its original Italiano with Inglese subtitles. I watched (by choice) the latter, though I non capicse the language..

The artwork is very crude, which is appropriate for the German Expressionistic motif of the visuals (and story). The bending buildings, uneven windows, and twisted streets really do look like they came right out of the original Caligari. The movement of the characters is minimal, almost like shadow puppets, but the flat look is striking and extremely effective. This film also seems to take place in Germany around 1920, indicated by the horse-and-carriages and clothing. One would almost expect Sigmund Freud to show up at some point.

Bruta and Caligari

In an opening that could have been straight out of Universal’s Frankenstein (1931), our titular anti-hero, Caligari (voice of Antonio Amoruso), who is a mortician rather than a psychiatrist, has dug up a corpse with the help of his assistant, Bruta (Paola Masciadri), for an experiment to revive him back to life. Caligari looks like a younger version of his 1920 namesake, and Bruta, with her facial scars, is a bit reminiscent of Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).

Like the original, this film is broken up into chapters (as opposed to Acts) with title cards. The translation is a bit rough at times, as it does not capture all the spoken dialogue, such as missing a “please” here, a “yes” and “understand?” there. Nothing too over-the-top that I could catch with my extremely limited knowledge of Italian, and I was easily able to follow the story.

The problem facing the good Mortician is that the titular Resurrection Corporation, run by Potriantow (Alessandro Blanchi), has figured out a way to resurrect the dead and charge them for it, so the town is full of undead zombies (not the flesh-eating kind). This takes the business away from Caligari, who at one time was a powerful business person, but now a forgotten relic.

Naturally, he is angry about the corporation and the undead who are no longer needing his services. He is trying to find his own formula to bring the dead to life, and cash in on that, and naturally take business away from the corporation. It is a premise we see in real life, as Blockbuster wiped out the small video stores, or Amazon is killing, well, nearly everything. While the story is fantasy, its theme is alive and well in the real world.

Caligari and Bruta set out to find out how Potriantow obtained his knowledge through set pieces put into chapters, including a visit to a sex-obsessed mad scientist, Viktor Lazenbhy, who’s castle interior looks very much like the Count’s in the original Dracula (1929), or perhaps more accurately, Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922).

If it isn’t clear, despite the style and some of the characters, there really is not much that links the original story of Caligari and this Caligari. However, what that does do is give the opportunity for the plot to veer in weird and various directions, and that it does. Events keep occurring that makes the viewer (i.e., me) think, “Well, I wasn’t expecting that.” Of course, that is all the more betterer because there is a surprise around every chapter.

One of the enjoyable elements is the humor that is both subtle and prevalent throughout the film at the oddest moments, such as a turtle being faster than the bloodthirsty demon snail creatures out for revenge that are called upon by… well, I’m not going to give it away.

It is good to pay attention to the backgrounds. You may see a lot of momentary a-has, such as a poster on the wall of the likes of Edgar Allan Poe, or Cesare, from the original Dr. Caligari. There is even a showman character named Bob Wine (Erik Martini), whose real name is Robert Wiene, the actual name of the director of the original Caligari. The film has lots of delicious wink-wink moments like these.

The film is also filled with a surprising amount of full nudity (female), sex and gore. The latter is especially prevalent, as is expected from modern German shock cinema, which focuses strongly on body horror.

The film gives an impression that it may be open for a sequel, which I would endorse, but to be honest, this is the director’s third film, the last being Sick Sock Monsters from Outer Space (aka Dolcezza Extrema, released by Troma), from 2015, and his first was L’invasione degli astronzai, from 2009. That would mean that possibly his next one might not be until 2027. I am not holding my breath.

Meanwhile, this film is available on Amazon Prime Video in the United States and the U.K.

 

Review: To Your Last Death

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

To Your Last Death (aka Malevolent)
Directed by Jason Axinn
Coverage Ink Films
91 minutes, 2020
www.facebook.com/ToYourLastDeath 

 Animation sure has changed since I was a kinder, watching cartoons at 24 hand-drawn frames per second, like Bugs Bunny (my childhood hero, but I digress already…). In the late 1960s, it went down to a clunky 18 frames per second, with cartoons such as “Scooby Doo,” “The Jackson Five” or “The Nanny and the Professor.” Many of these cartoons looked alike due to it’s cel framework (the medium is the message, posited Marshall McLuhan). 

With computer animation, it opened up a whole new world to what was possible, Whether extreme detail or simple line drawings, the field burst open. That is where this film comes in. The animation here looks a bit like a cross between anime (e.g., Akira) and Britain’s 2000AD comic line (they do Judge Dredd). It is minimalist when it comes to movement, but that gives it more of a comic book look, which I really liked. Some of the backgrounds tend to be pretty amazingly detailed here. 

 The storyline is basic, but with some unusual twists that elevate it quite a bit. An evil billionaire arms manufacturer, Cyrus (voice of the Ray Wise), who is a cross between Donald Trump and Lex Luthor, calls his four estranged adult children in for a meeting.

There’s the hero of the story, Miriam (Dani Lennon) who has gone the charity route for peace in diametric philosophy from Cyrus and has had mental issues in the past, Ethan (Damien C. Hass), an aspiring musician into sexual asphyxiation, Kelsey (Florence Hartigan) that has a sad life of a trophy wife to Cyrus’s biggest rival, and Colin (Benjamin Sieman), a mini-version of Cyrus’s business ethics, but is rejected by dear ol’ dad because he’s gay. 

Perhaps inspired by the short story or films, “The Most Dangerous Game,” hired mercenaries – one voiced by Bill Moseley – turn this shindig into a battle royale in a life or death struggle. The implements used sometimes are reminiscent of the later Saw franchise, where the victim is asked to complete a horrendous task, or dum da-da-dummm. 

But there is a whole ‘nother layer added to the story. Some interplanetary gamblers are betting on who will live and who will die. Like the gods in Clash of the Titans (1981), they sit around a table and watch the goings on below. The busty being running the room is the Gamemaster (Morena Baccarin). She can manipulate time and influence the players. It’s kind of like a video game gone gore. 

 Yes, there is a lot of blood and gore in this one (and one bit of nudity), and even for animation, it looks pretty decent. Lots of cool weaponry are used, including an armored glove and a long sword. And don’t get me started with the elevator…

And to give a “Star Trek” opening-like voice over in a nicely done though over emoted cameo is none other than William Shatner, himself. He uses a similar tone as when he “sang” Elton John’s “Rocketman.” 

As for extras, their press release states, “Each Blu-ray purchase will come with a redemption code to over 4 hours of digital extras, including: an audio commentary with director Jason Axinn, a Zoom panel with Axinn, star Dani Lennon and others, an interview with star William Shatner, interviews and behind the scenes with stars Morena Baccarin, Ray Wise, Bill Moseley, Dani Lennon and Florence Hartigan, a behind the scenes reel, comic con panels, an animation demo with lead animator Mohammad Ali Sharifpour, unused artwork and animation, crowdfunding highlights, featurettes on the development of the film, and more.” As what I watched was a screener link, I cannot comment on these, but they sound interesting. 

 I quite liked this film, from the comic book-style animation to the quirkiness of the story, in which time is played with, including a few Groundhog Day repeating moments. The recurrence of history with different choices is a trope that has been used a bit recently, such as Inoperable (2017), but director Axinn makes it feel fresh by not just repeating, but mixing up the storyline (or as Miriam puts it, “They keep changing the goal posts”). 

Because of these time shifts, people are killed and/or they aren’t, or die multiple deaths. And all of them in different means of disposal. The unpredictability is part of what makes this even more intriguing. The whole gameplaying with these super-being gamblers was a nice touch, and luckily, they only interfere with the story on occasion, so it doesn’t break the tension. Of course, the Gamemaster pops in and out frequently throughout to work her malevolent magic, which enhances the story, because it is hard to really predict what’s going to happen next. 

 What I do know is going to possibly happen is that, given the ending, this can be a franchise and the gamblers face new murderous stories to play the game. I am so okay with that.