Review: The Breach

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

The Breach
Directed by Rodrigo Gudiño
Hanger 18 Media; Lightbulb Distribution;
Raven Banner Entertainment; Strike Media
93 minutes, 2022 / 2023
www.strike-media
https://lightbulbfilmdistribution.com/

This film is so Canadian, it should come with maple cookies (they are so good, eh). It takes place in the small town of Lone Crow, in Northern Ontario (filmed in lovely Parry Sound, Ontario).

Based on the novel by Nick Cutter and screenplay written by Cutter and Ian Weir, the main protagonist is the Chief of Police, John “Hawk” Hawkins (Allan Hawco, main character in the series “Republic of Doyle,” 2010-2014), who is one week from retirement (of course). Was his last name derived from the original version of the Canadian group, The Band, known as The Hawks?

Allan Hawco, Mary Antonini

Speaking of bands, the executive producer this film was Slash from Guns 'N Roses who also supervised the score. And there is more relative to the music world, but I will get to that later.

In a well-done pre-credit epilogue, much like a television show, it takes place on the same day as the post-credit film starts, rather than years before. This is actually refreshing for a film. In this way we are introduced to officer Connie Parks (underutilized Mary Antonini) and appropriately named coroner Jacob Redgrave (Wesley French). The coroner is there to check out the body of physics professor Cole Parsons (Adam Kenneth Wilson) that is found, but I will not give out the gruesome details, though we get to see it pretty up-close.

Emily Alatalo

This leads Hawk, Jacob, and guide/tracker/ex-girlfriend of Hawk and previously Jake (no tension there, right?) Meg Fullbright (Emily Alatalo) to head north into the bush to Links Creek on the Porcupine River to find out what happened to Parsons. This leads, naturally in these days of technology, to the overhead drone shot of the lone car on roads surrounded by forest or a boat on a narrow river, with a somber music soundtrack.

While the trio are off on their adventures, Parks (as in parks her butt in the station) holds down the fort, garnishing information on Zoom from a conspiracy-minded friend, Alex (Alex Lifeson; yes, the guitarist from Canadian musical juggernauts, Rush).

Wesley French

The house is abandoned and looks great for those of us who like deserted buildings that are on their last legs; they are fun to photograph. But there is something going on in this house: doors seem to close or unlock by themselves. The soundtrack does well to emphasize the eeriness and creepiness of the joint.

It gets even stranger with the appearance of Cole’s PTSD-affected wife, Linda Parsons (Natalie Brown), and another unexpected guest, as relationships unrealistically develop. And there is a spooky shadow on the wall… Parts of the upcoming plot points are easy to guess, though the steps to that are thankfully murky until they are revealed.

There is a bunch of films reflected in The Breach, such as From Beyond (1986), Bite (2016), Night of the Living Dead (1968), and especially The Fly (1986), one scene in particular. And yet, there is so much more. I have often theorized that when enough pre-used ideas are combined right, it creates something new-ish. In this case it also includes numerous genres, such as police procedural, body horror, sci-fi, cabin in the woods, and one that was unexpected. This has its foot in many different ones, keeping it coherent – not an easy task as previous attempts have shown – satisfying tick boxes in all of them successfully.

The relationships between certain characters are common to give it a “human” touch and possibly to make the characters more likeable, of course, but are completely superfluous to the actual story and burn up time and distract. Sort of like Hooper’s affair with Ellen Brody in Peter Benchley’s book, Jaws, which wisely never made it to the screen; it just did not matter to what was going on, narratively. This is my one gripe, so not bad at all.

Natalie Brown

I must say the film visually looks great, from the cinematography by award-winning Eric Oh, to the set designs. The blood and gore are fabulous, and the prosthetics and make-up effects by Daniel Baker and Chris Cooper are not the same old same old.

With the power of talent here, much from the world of television, it is no surprise that the acting is spot on. In the out-of-context department, it seems a lot of the cast has appeared, at some point on Canadian police procedural “Hudson and Rex” (a guilty pleasure of my own).

Alex Lifeson (on Zoom)

The director, Rodrigo Gudiño, is the founding editor and publisher of the Canadian horror fiction magazine Rue Morgue, and this may not be his first time behind the lens, but it is his first feature length release. An excellent start.

The Breach is available on Sky Store, Virgin Media, AppleTV, Google Play, and Amazon.

IMDB listing HERE

Review: The Sound of Summer

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

The Sound of Summer
Directed by Guy (aka Guy Pierce, Guy Fragments)
Sculpting Fragments; Unearthed Films; MVD Visual
75 minutes, 2022
www.unearthedvideo.com
https://mvdb2b.com/s/TheSoundOfSummer/UN-1150

In James Clavell’s 1975 opus, Shōgun, he posits, “The Japanese have six faces and three hearts.” Society is incredibly different in the present than in feudal times when the novel took place, and life has become more in sync with the West. But when viewing art cinema, even in the Asia extreme cinema category, this quote can become more than just a philosophy.

A lonely young woman (cute Kaori Hoshino) – whom I will refer to as Her, as no names are given for the characters – works in as a barista in a coffee shop during a sweltering summer in Japan (with English subtitles, though there is minimal dialogue). It is 102F/39C and it seems no one has air conditioning. It reminds me of that episode of “The Twilight Zone” called “The Midnight Sun” (1961), where the Earth is moving closer to the flaming orb. One can almost feel the heat radiating off the monitor.

Kaori Hoshino

Because it is summer, the large flying insects called cicadas (there is a variation of the species in the American Southeast) are in large numbers and if you do not know, they make a loud rubbing noise, usually through the night. That sound is the source of the film’s title. Unnervingly, this is keeping our heroine awake, along with the heat. Lack of sleep and high temperatures can have a negative effect on one’s mental health.

Into the coffee shop comes a sweaty middle-aged man with a mask, a net, and a couple of cases filled with cicadas. He begins coming in often, each time dressed identically, and with the same containers full of captured critters.

Shinya Hankawa

As the summer wears on and the heat is unrelenting, Her breaks out in itchy rashes and scratches herself bloody, and begins slipping from reality, believing that the “Cicada Man” (Shinya Hankawa) as he is called by her and her coworker (Kiyomi Kametani) is visiting her at night, and infecting her with cicada eggs.

Being released by Unearthed Films, it should come as no surprise this leads into body horror, as she scratches and starts to remove skin, with lots of blood and gore for those who are drawn to that. The practical effects are done by Susumu Nakatani, who does an amazing job at bringing out the squeamish body manipulations.

And what makes this arthouse fare? Well, part of it is the very, very slow burn that starts the story, and with the high temperatures, the term “burn” feels appropriate. Once the Cicada Man visits Her at night, or perhaps in her dreams, is when the red sauce begins to show and flow. All this is underscored (literally) by the soundtrack by synth composer Microchip Terror.

The story and look of this are quite plain and basic, without arty shots or dialogue, despite the wild and swirling camerawork in the third act, but it still retains a certain pace that elevates it to a higher plain. There is also a question of psychology feeding into this style: is Her infected with cicada eggs, or is it all in her mind, twisted by the continuous heat?

Keita Kusaka

In almost The Fly (1986)-like fashion, she picks at her body bit by bit, pulling out what she believes are hatchling cicadas. The doctor (Keita Kusaka) accuses her of delusions of parasitosis, where one is convinced that they are infested by parasites. Considering her physical condition, I do not understand why the doc does not have her committed, or at the very least to the Emergency Room. But that would be the end of the story, so it soldiers on.

The big reveal of the Cicada Man is intense, again reminiscent of The Fly, but the question remains of how much of it is reality, and to what level is it imagined. Either way, it looks amazing.

The extras on the Blu-ray start with the “Behind the Scenes” (45 min) that is a mixture of “how it was shot” and mucking around by the filmmakers and cast, but my favorite parts were the application of the SFX make-up. On “Tokyo Talkshow” (34 min) is the director Guy, cult genre director Shozin Fukui, and the two directors of the film LOUD, after the on-stream premiere of both The Sound of Summer and LOUD. Last is the Japanese Premiere (42 min), which introduces three members of the principle cast and director to the audience. I have found many times these kinds of pre- or post-screening interviews tend to have terrible audio. Here, however, it is nice and crisp, and there are easy-to-read subtitles, as they are mostly in Japanese. There is also a trailer for this and another Guy short.

The director, Guy, is actually a native of Britain who has been living in Japan for several years and is fluent in the language. In this being his first full-length feature, he brings the sensibilities of both to the project, giving it a slightly different touch than from either. Oh, I would still label this under “Asian Extreme” (yeah, there are people who do not like that term, though it is accurate), but the plain and simple structure is totally Western influenced. It helps that he was aided by his co-conspirator of the film, Dave Jackson who directed Cat Sick Blues (2016). 

Honestly, I do not necessarily have a fear of insects per se (though I am not fond of them on my body or floating around my head), this was a bit extreme on the effects of the insects, not of the creatures themselves. While a fun ride, once it kicks into gear, consider yourself forewarned if you suffer from entomophobia, sometimes known as insectophobia.

MDB listing HERE

Review: La Petite Mort 2: Nasty Tapes

 Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

La Petite Mort 2: Nasty Tapes (aka La Petite Mort II)
Directed by Marcel Walz;
Matador Film; Bogatzki-movie.com Movie Production;
Unearthed Films; MVD Visual
90 minutes, 2014 / 2023
www.facebook.com/la.petite.mort.2/
www.unearthedvideo.com
https://mvdb2b.com/s/LaPetiteMort2NastyTapes/UN-1149

This is the second chapter of this German transgressive cinema directed by goremaster Marcel Walz (who as since moved and started filming in Los Angeles). In the first installment, the yucky stuff was handled by Olaf Ittenbach, who is absent this time. Still, I have no doubt that will not slow down the ultraviolence. Again, the film is in German with English subtitles. But honestly, I get the feeling, the libretto is not going to matter as much as the visual. The gore effects this time are handled by The Gruesome Twosome, and Megan and Ryan (d. 2019) Nicholson. A cult SFX wizard, Ryan also directed the likes of the Gutterball franchise, Hanger (2009), and Star Vehicle (2010). 

In the first piece, LaPetite Mort, released in 2009 (though taking place in 1998), we are introduced to the Masion La Petite Mort in Frankfurt, where travelers are tortured for the deep web viewing pleasure, as well as an opportunity for rich people to fill their violent fantasies (a la the Hostel franchise), but online. Honestly, I would not be surprised if this actually happens, but as I have never been on the dark web and have no intentions of doing so, I will never know, nor do I want to see that.

Yvonne Wolke, Annika Strauss

The new owner of La Petite Mort is sexually amorphous Monsieur Matheo Maxime (Mika Metz; d. 2017), with his two hench – er – women, brunette Dominque (Annika Strauss), who returns from the first film, and blonde Monique (Yvonne Wölke). Both could have been in the video for the Divinyls’ song “Pleasure and Pain.” They are aided by others, such as the Sexy Nurses (Gabriela Wirbel and Nicole Neukirch), the well-named Eva Brown (Bea La Bea), and Matheo’s wife, Jade (Micaela Schäfer).

In the first film, we are introduced to some tourists who end up at the Jail Bar, and how they end up in Masion La Petite Morte, as well as the follow-up. Here, there is no context, just torture broken up into segments that have title cards such as “Sushi Time” with info on the victim, and how much someone is paying to have them eviscerated. As Ralph Kramden may say, “Pins and needles, needles and pins…” Victims are of both sexes, so there is that. There are also “between” segments with testimonials from happy customers who either paid for the chance to kill, or do the body work themselves. And all of it on camera.

Micalea Schafer, Mika Metz

Much of it is from the perspective of the Web cameras, so it is nearly found footage style, but there is also some “backstage” drama with Matheo and the women who work for him. Even this internal tension is caught on video, as the characters occasionally look directly at the camera and comment.

A sort of by-product of this style is that the person watching this is not just a viewer, but is a participant of the feed.

Gabriela Wirbel, Nicole Neukirch

Stylistically, it is actually shot beautifully, focusing on the faces (or parts thereof) in close-ups of most of the characters, in a darkish, reddish tone. Also, for some reason, there is some clips of Carnival of Souls (1962) and Night of the Living Dead (1968) shown on a monitor (the former also of facial close-ups).

Each set piece has a slightly different feel, such as one called “Gasrechnung” (“Gas Bill”) which has a definite World War II feel, with Eva Brown giving herself a Hitler moustache in blood. Most of this segment is in black and white as in a Leni Riefenstahl-style propaganda film. Interestingly, there is an added censor image over certain parts of the uniforms, which show Nazi iconography. German film: detailed torture permitted, but no symbols of the “fatherland.”

Like Tod Browning in films like Freaks (1932), some odd humans are thrown into the mix, such as The Twins (Barbara and Patrizia Zuchowski). There are also some cool cameos throughout from cult genre filmmakers and/or actors, such as Dustin Mills, Haley Madison, Uwe Bowl, Mike Mendez, Adam Ahlbrandt, and Ryan Nicholson (d. 2019).

Despite splashes (drips?) of laughter in a couple of moments, everyone seems to be unhappy, be it through body dysmorphia, boredom while inflicting pain out of repetition, and of course, the subjects of the sharp objects. This is a pretty joyless film, with minimal humor, though there are some dark moments of it scattered throughout.

The first extra on the Blu-ray is the “Making of La Petite Mort 2” (13 min), which is essentially extended scenes showing more detail of some of the tortures. Then there is an “Alternate Scene” (4 min) that is the “Gas Bill” part, without the edited-out images of the Iron Cross, the “SS” Schutzstaffel logo, and of course the swastika armband (wonder if they ever play Lech Kowalski’s 1980 documentary D.O.A. over there).

The ”Behind the Scenes Gallery” (3 min) is lots of nice shots of the make-up and the cast, and I quite enjoyed it. As for the “Advert” (30 sec), I have no idea what I was looking at. Last, there are a few company trailers, as well as two from this film, and the first La Petite Mort.

As I stated in my review of the first film, “The problem with stories like this, and this is my opinion, is the plot revolves around the action, rather than the action being a result of the story…sometimes it goes beyond what even I can tolerate. If this is your idea of fun, well, please, have at it.”

I realize that this film is a few years old now, but I have to say, the whole premise of strangers being tortured for the pleasure of the rich and/or on the Net for clicks/cash, is becoming a bit cliché, and is merely an excuse for some graphic body horror. Sure, I like a bit of ultraviolence, but my tastes run more to the cartoonish violence, even when explicit, than just someone being tied up and put through the wringer. Also, I like more of a narrative than a string of events. How can one feel anything about any character if there is nothing to bolster the why, other than greed.

 MDB listing HERE

Review: Woman of the Photographs

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

Woman of the Photographs (aka Shashin no onna; 写真の女)
Directed by Takeshi Kushida
Motion Picture Exchange; Pyramid Film; Epic Pictures; Dread; MVD Visual
89 minutes, 2020 / 2023
https://epic-pictures.com/film/woman-of-the-photographs
https://womanofthephoto.com/en/
www.MVDVisual.com

Body dysmorphia is a recent buzzword in the news thanks to the attacks on the Trans community. The term, however, is much older, and it has been often used to describe women and more recently men who are not pleased by their own bodies due to seeing, for example, the models in magazines, especially though it is idealistic as many of those images have been digitally enhanced. The desire to appear “picture perfect” is an unrealistic goal and can cause other maladies such as bulimia and anorexia.

In this Japanese release (both English and Spanish subtitles are available), Kai (Hideki Nagai) is a subdued, solitary, early-middle-aged photographer who tends to wear all white (I am guessing as a metaphor for a colorless life). When he is not out in nature snapping pics (he has a fixation with insects, and even has a preying mantis as a pet), he runs a photo shop where he uses his talent of digital manipulation to enhance either old or new photographs for his customers. There is almost no dialogue by Kai to emphasize his quiet life. A slow-burn film, indeed.

Hideki Nagai

Along the way, he meets Kyoko (Itsuki Otaki), an internet influencer/model/ballet dancer, who is aging out of the youthfulness that was her bread-n-buttah. She is lively and talkative, and he is aggressively silent and ignoring (yeah, kind of a dick). While their personalities are quite different, there is a common element of the need to control their own “image”: she to her fans and him by putting up walls of exclusion.

There are only two other characters in the film, the first being a funeral director, Saijo (Toshiaki Inomata), an older man who uses the retoucher’s skill for pictures of the deceased during the ceremonies, and has known Kai his whole life being a friend of his father and thereby being both a spokesperson for Kai to Kyoko, as well as a Greek Chorus for the viewer. The other is Hisako (Toki Koinuma), a woman customer obsessed with her looks, and keeps demanding Kai repeatedly retouch her photo into what she considers perfection.

Itsuki Otaki

At its core, this is a film about obsession: Kail obsesses about his insects, Kyoko keeps looking at old posts of her photographs (which occasionally includes well-done CGI animation), the female customer with changing her looks, and the old friend with his loneliness (despite claiming he is not).

Although an extremely small cast, I am guessing this was shot just before the COVID outbreak, since there is a scene in a public bath, and no one on the streets is wearing masks; also, the budget for this film is not enough to get the sidewalk shut down for filming.

I am not sure if this can be considered as “horror” or even a “thriller,” but it definitely falls into the “art” category. That being said, it certainly has its body horror moments involving an injury (I will not give it away), which is squeamish inducing (well, for me anyway).

I question the relationship between Kai and Kyoto as beyond temporary need and infatuation with what they can bring to the pairing; even though they become more themselves by giving to each other. Certainly, this is a snapshot (no pun intended) of their time as a couple, as it does not seem that it can sustain the pressure of day-to-day reality, and aging. But in an odd way, this is a very strange and off-beat romance, without Hallmark-ish cringe.

The extras start with interviews (16 min; Japanese with subtitles), including the director, Kushida, and the main actors, Nagai and Otaki, as well as make-up artist Yoshiro Nishimura. It is insightful as they discuss the motivations of the characters and the meaning of some obtuse moments. It is a good post-film watch.

This is followed by a short film, “Voice” (Koe; 10 min, trailer HERE), in which Kushida first worked with Nagai. It is without dialogue, of how a lonely factory worker (Nagai) responds and interacts with a shadow of a woman. It reminds me of the work of ground-breaking Canadian filmmaker Norman McLaren. It is a beautiful piece, and Nagai again acts more with his face and body to convey all the emotions needed. There is also a nice level of animation that is not cartoonish. Last, there are two trailers for this film and a few from Dread.

This is director Kushida’s first feature film, that he also wrote, after years of working in television. It shows enormous talent in form and look. He should have a long and storied career.

IMDB listing HERE

Review: Texas Chainsaw Mascara

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

Texas Chainsaw Mascara
Directed by Bill Zebub
Bill Zebub Productions; MVD Entertainment
73 minutes, 2022 / 2023
BillZebubproductions.com/
www.mvdvisuals.com

Man, it has been quite a while since I saw a film by Bill Zebub, an extremely prolific and profane filmmaker; the last release I reviewed of his was Pumpkin Man (the Ultimate Edition) in 2019. 

This clearly states on the cover, “This is not a parody!!!” Zebub is known for off-beat comedies, with films like Zombie Christ (2010), and Dickshark (2016); this film, however, is done as a horror drama.

Manic Panic multi-colored haired Danielle (Dani Bliss) and Andrew (Andrew L. Thomas) are vacationers a loooong way from home, somewhere in rural Texas (hence the film’s title), where they are out to find the house where Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) took place. However, their car gives up the…transmission? They are traveling with Mike (Cheyenne Mobbs) and Bill (Aaron Marquez). Luckily (or not), they run into arm-sleeve local Heather (cute Heather Beck), and Andrew immediately starts insulting her (e.g., her use of the word “cuss” rather than “curse”; yeah, he’s that petty). You may have noticed that many of the characters in this film use the same name as the actors portraying them.

Anthony L. Thomas, Heather Beck

Heather takes them home to her hovel, (except Bill, who stays with the car) where they meet wheelchair bound Zombie (director Bill Zebub) and Piggy (Marc Pearce), who wears the head of a, well, you know. There is also Susan (Maya Waters), married to Zombie, who seems to be in control. However, with Mike telling Andrew some locker room talk and Andrew being a real dick to Susan (e.g., demanding bottled water rather than tap, and having an anti-Christian tee shirt), the Yankees get taken by the Southerners (who have no discernable accent).

An interesting aspect of this family of cannibals is they are not over-the-top nutsy (despite the pig head), such as the Sawyers or even the Fireflys (this film is influenced by Texas Chain Saw Massacre and 2003’s House of 1000 Corpses in its general storyline).

There is also a bit of cultural philosophy thrown around, especially between Susan and the New York crew, with the differences between them in the way they look at their own lives. It is a driver of the film, but not swamped in it. But it does give a nice psychological edge to go along with the violence. It should be noted that Zebub comes from – if I remember correctly – New Jersey, if that means anything to ya. It could be noted that both sides of these groups are making assumptions about the other. Deadly ones. Both sides are assholes, yet they are also empathetic at the same time, which is nicely done.

Maya Waters

Now, let us discuss some sex and violence: Nearly all the extreme violence is done off-camera (low budget necessity), but the post-gore looks really good, especially in the third act, of course. As for body parts, nearly all the women show underwear at some point, but only one gets nekkid (I will not say which); women in underwear is a Zebub trope. Needless to say, not a single piece of clothing is removed from the males. Make of it as you wish.

Yeah, most of the acting is a bit wooden, but again, you know what you are getting, and in this case, it is a decent story and some bloodshed. That works for me.

As with most films, this could have been edited down a bit, such as the “Gethsemane” moment of Bill’s, where he accepts what he must do after cursing out the powers that be; it lasts a bit too long, seemingly long enough for a ballad song to play out on the soundtrack. It is a decent tune, but the point is made half way through it.

The extras on the Blu-ray may not number much, but they are huge. In no particular order there is the Painful Meow video (5 min) of a song called “The Bubble Voyage.” Uh, yeah. Basically it is Zebub rhythmically talking over off-key synth (played by him) with animation that includes a dog floating though the air via a gum bubble, while a man with a pumpkin head and various animals dance around. It is a bit over my head.

There is also a series of shorts called “Gaylord” (26 min). Yeah, I am clueless on this, too. It is a bunch of bits strung together about some feminine gay themes. It is more annoying than anything else, honestly. They focus on said “Gaylord” (Brian Gelitz, a seemingly straight guy cartoonishly “acting” gay) who plays stereotypical. These feel more like either a blooper reel or “extra scenes” thing from around the filming of Dirtbags, but it is not connected to anything. Oy. I kinda gave up at 18 minutes. Personally, I would have liked to have seen some Zebub trailers, instead.

The big extra is a 119 minute 2023 re-cut of a 90-minute feature, Dirtbags (2002). Zebub has a history of rejigging his earlier films, such as one of my favorites, Worst Horror Film Ever Made: The Remake (2008). This is, however, the first time I am getting to see Dirtbags in any variation:

Basically, Dirtbags is a meandering story about three – er – dirtbags. There are drug dealers Bill (Bill Zebub), who is going to college to study Nursing, and George (George “The Slayer” Stiso), and their buyer Scott (Scott Tergeist). Scott is a bit of a ne’er-do-well who lives with his hyper Christian dad (Parker Weller).

The whole point of the film, it seems, is to see how offensive they all can get. The film is highly racist (including a blackfaced “Ebonics” speaker with bulging fake eyes, putting down Black history, and even the use of the word). Meanwhile, Scott frequently zones out and fantasizes about near-naked women dancing around or usually tied up with the camera zooming around their “bits,” sometimes while he takes himself in hand. Scott also keeps asking his father ridiculous questions about his faith (I am an Agnostic and can ask better questions than If God creates, and Jesus was born, how could he be the Son of God?, for example}. Then there is a homophobic depiction of an effeminate gym boss (Tom Cartier) hitting on his employee Andy (Carl Williamson), and coming on to Gaylord (Brian Gelitz).

Sybelle Silverphoenix

Bill has the hots for George’s sister, Anne (Bronx-born Hungarian model and Sean Weathers’ muse Sybelle Silverphoenix). There is also a random cameo by Peter Steele (d. 2010), the bassist of Type O Negative, in obvious inserts into the film, not that I have a problem with that.

It is pretty obvious that a lot of the dialogue is ad libbed around a planned story which, again, I find fine. I did find myself double-speeding the film on the parts with no dialogue. My favorite scene, however, concerned a pizza delivery guy. It is also fun when the film employs the music from “The Little Rascals”/”Our Gang.”

Bill Zebub, Silverphoenix

There is also an attempt at philosophy with the helps of a Dream Goddess (Suzi Lorraine).

For me, the important thing about including Dirtbags is seeing how much Zebub has grown as a film maker from 2002 to 2022. It is like going back and reading something you wrote as a teen after you have been writing for a while. It is also noteworthy on how the style of music included in his films have changed. In the early years, a lot of it was death metal (see Zebub’s documentary, Extreme Metal Retardation), whereas now it has more of an off-kilter melodic tone.

It is the main feature, Texas Chainsaw Mascara, that is the real find here.

IMDB listing HERE

Review: Invitation Only

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

Invitation Only (aka Jue ming pai dui; 絕命派對)

Directed by Kevin Ko
Three Dots Entertainment Company; Unearthed Films; MVD Visual
95 minutes, 2009 / 2023
www.unearthedfilms.com
www.MVDVisual.com

Tell me if this sound familiar: a group of working class people get an opportunity to mingle with the rich, only to find they are there for nefarious and painful reasons.

In Taipei, Taiwan, limo driver Wade Chen (Ray Chang), after catching his obnoxious client/boss, CEO Yang (Jerry Chih-Wei Huang) in an indiscretion with a model, Dana (adult star Maria Ozawa) for whom he is infatuated, gets an invitation from Yang to an exclusive gathering of rich people “networking.” The other four invitees are Trumpish Legislator Lin (Joseph Ma), pianist Richard Kao (Ying-Hsuan Kao), Holly Ho (Vivi Ho), and cute banker Hitomi Liang (Julianne Chu).

Ray Chang

The party is run by an American with a soul patch (never a good indication in films like this), Warren (Kristian Brody) – did I mention that there are three languages in the film: Mandarin, English, and Min Nan – who comes across as a motivational speaker when he repeatedly says, “May your dreams become a reality.” But, of course, it is easy to guess he is not talking about careers, but vicious desires to hurt another human. We also learn why these five were chosen.

Wade makes a connection during the party with Hitomi, but while at a gambling session, Wade connects with his model infatuation. Personally, though Hitomi does not seem to mind it, I would have stuck with Hitomi, because that seems a bit more realistic than a magazine and billboard model. But at least it gives the film at least one shot at some nudity.

Julianne Chu

Once the party gets going, someone with a white mask and nice sharp knives (these would startle Crocodile Dundee) begin to make mince meat out of the quintet and others systematically at first, but then the means of death start to ramp up. It really is not hard to figure out who is behind the mask; pick one from Column A and one from Column B.,

Along with the increasing ultraviolence, there are also the tension filled moments between, which are almost as unnerving. Of course, this spearheads very effective jump scares. This leads to as much slasher film as body horror, as some are done away with quickly via sharp objects, while others…

Maria Ozawa

The setting is very industrial, like a warehouse, so there are lots of wide pull-down doors as in storage unit corridors, and rooms with tons of objects stowed away in haphazard ways as, say, a messy garage. These both give the feeling of emptiness, and claustrophobia, depending on where the action is taking place at any particular time.

The one aspect that all these stories is that the rich class torture average people in a social sense of privilege. That is why politicians have no desire to really help their constituents, because they feel they are above them. You think Trump cares about his voters beyond their voting numbers? His tax cuts for the rich answer that. And this is the mentality of nearly all these films, from “The Most Dangerous Game” types where people are hunted down like animals, or self-righteous reasons for torturing and killing for the likes of perceived vanity, or wanting to get ahead.

You can see this in films like the Hostel franchise or La Petite Mort (2009), as people pay money to enjoy seeing (or participating) in the torture of innocents. There is even a porn version of this concept where it is sex rather than mutilation, in Café Flesh (1982).

Extras are a bunch of trailers from Unearthed Films, including an English and a Spanish version of this film, a photo gallery, and especially a “Behind the Scenes” featurette (6 min). This is a mixture of interviews with the four leads separately, some “making of” shots and clips, and filled with humor and good natured happiness about making the film. The Blu-ray release is available in either Mandarin or dubbed into Spanish, with English subtitles (I chose the original Mandarin).

Will our protagonists escape? Will the antagonists get their way? Thing is about films like this, it could go either way. Whichever, this is quite the gorehound highway to an adrenaline rush. The gore is proficient and numerous. A perfect way to relax on a Saturday night.

IMDB listing HERE

Review: Amber Road

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

Amber Road
Directed by B. Luciano Barsuglia
Koa Aloha Media
87 minutes, 2022
www.facebook.com/amberroadmovie
https://koaalohamedia.com/amberroadmovie/
https://amberroadmovie.com

Amber Road, for the purposes of this film, is a Dark Web site where you can order drugs, food, and a host of other things that are technically illegal. But it also has an audience that it caters to who are interested in watching people being tortured and snuffed. Internet torture for hire has been a common theme lately, with the likes of La PetiteMort (2009) and Death Count (2022), among many. Like Hostel (2005), it is merely an excuse to push the envelope on body horror, or what others may call torture porn.

This release is a bit stylized, showing customers making requests (cameos by the likes of Tom Sizemore and Robert LaSardo, both of whom were in the similarly themed Death Count) on what will happen to the captives. And right off the bat, while the film introduces the protagonists (see second paragraph down), it is inter-mixed with scenes of torture, such as involving removal of fingers, which is nicely intercut with someone cutting a hedge using shears: the mundane and the malevolence.

 Rachel Riley

The first couple being tortured during this intro, Mary (Janet Wang) and James (William McNamara), are given a drug to paralyze them, but they can still feel the pain. My question is, why are they bound to a chair, and why do they have ball gags in their mouths if they are immobile (though they easily move their heads and facial expressions do not seem to be affected by the drug)? The perilous mistress of distress is Pauline (Rachel Riley), professionally a mortician we learn early on, who gets pleasure from her “work.”

And speaking of work, our main protagonist is police deputy Emma (Scream Queen Elissa Dowling), whose husband – also a copper – was murdered, is being helped by her brother, Deke (Jed Rowen); meanwhile the nasty Dark Web (sometimes here described as the Deep Web) group is working on the married couple. At the early stage, the two stories flash back and forth. You just know at some point in the storyline, the trains of Emma and Aber Road will meet. But I am still on Act 1.

Elissa Dowling

Eventually, we get to meet the police that are after the Webbers, led by Sherriff Taylor (Vernon Wells), who has nothing to do with Mayberry, or perhaps it is Opie grown up? Yes, there are lots of cameos throughout the film.

When the big reveal comes at the start of Act 3, it will either surprise the hell outta ya, or you will have seen it coming a mile away (I was somewhere between the two). My only issue is I think they gave away the gravy a bit too early in the telling.

The torture parts are actually spaced pretty far apart in the storyline, with lots of dialogue in-between. Do not get me wrong, what we see is gruesome, but I get the feeling some gorehounds are going to get a bit restless. Not only does the gore increase in the third act, but they find places to hurt that I have not seen before, which is – er – refreshing, in an imaginative way.

Jed Rowen

The acting here is great for a low-budgeter, but it is important to remember that most of the cast each has a long history in cinema, so that is hardly surprising. While Dowling is the de facto lead actor (i.e., not cameo), this is totally Riley’s film, as she has the most screen time, and her character is so germane to the violence that occurs.

The effects look good and gross, but I do wish there had been a bit more of it. Sure, it is effective and gooey as bits are snipped away, but there is long gaps between, even if the practical SFX works.

Throughout the film, they employ either a dark filter, or color correction in post-production, which gives the visuals a mostly bluish haze that seems unnecessary. Well, not to this extent, anyway. I understand the practical SFX may look better if it is harder to see, but it gets tiresome after a while, and is employed by too many films these days.

It feels like there is a lot of overlap with the films by Michael Su (who directed Death Count), and those put out by the Cinema Epoch/CineRidge Entertainment group. It is a mix of many of the same actors of the former and style of the latter, which combine to make a low-budget film that is interesting on many levels. It is good to see all these legends in the same film, though none interact together (again, one-day-work cameos), but most seem to be on Zoom, which makes sense in the story. More than a plot of sheer malevolence for the sake of malevolence, this is a tale of greed above all else, even more than, say, revenge.

For reasons I have stated above, this is a between-the-cracks film, in that it may be too mild for the gorehounds and to extreme for the average viewer. But the story works, and in my humble opinion, that is what makes it watchable.

IMBD listing HERE