Review: Face of the Devil

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

Face of the Devil (aka La Cara del Diablo)
Directed by Frank Perez Garland
Star Films; La Soga Producciones; Jinga Films; Danse Macabre; MVD Visual
87 minutes, 2014 / 2021
www.facebook.com/caradeldiablo/ 
www.Jingafilms.com
www.MVDVisual.com

Usually, when a story claims to be “Inspired by true events,” you know it’s going to be either a slasher film or dealing with the supernatural, be it ghost or demon/devil. And since this film is from the Northern Peru city and jungle surroundings of Tarapoto (the characters travel the 600 miles from Lima), it is no surprise that it is leaning towards the latter. Peru is generally a religious country, and religion tends to lead to belief in the evil end of the supernatural spectrum, as well as the holy. As you may guess, the film is in Spanish, with English subtitles.

Vania Accinelli

In this version of a cabin in the woods, it’s a wooden, multi-room hotel in the middle of the jungle with no internet or phone service (natch). Actually, it looks like a cool vacation spot, even though there are no roads leading in or out (just walking trails), so I wonder how it is self-supported. But I digress… The only way to get there is by boat. On that small craft are seven attractive young friends who are undergrad age, including the main couple, virginal Lucero (Vania Accinelli, in her first role) and Gabriel (Sergio Gjurinovic), another couple, Mateo (Nicolás Galindo) and Fabiola (Maria Fernanda Valera), and three others friends, Paola (Carla Arriola), Camila (Alexa Centurion), and diminutive incel Pablo (Guillermo Castaneda), who has a thing for Paola. 

The creep factor starts early on with the odd and unsmiling “host” of the place (Ismael Contreras), as he passes out the keys to the giggling gaggle of youths. Needless to say, he fills the iconic role of the older man who warns the group to be careful, because no matter where you are in the world, if a bunch of young people onscreen get together to go somewhere secluded, there must be this character, be it the guy who runs the gas station, just walking along, or in this case, runs the hotel.

After some exploring and topless bathing by a beautiful waterfall, the group settle into a hot tub to tell the equivalent of scary campfire stories in order to bring up the main topic and threat of the film, the shape-shifting, whistling Tunche, or demonic spirit (thank you, Google).

Before you can say ceviche – okay, about 20 minutes in – a mysterious woman starts popping in and out just beyond the windows to start the second act, and the motor starts revving, slowly at first and building. There is also quite a bit of wind and rustling of foliage. It sounds weird, but it was a bit unsettling, as the director used it well: not over- nor underdoing it.

Despite following a few of the group-in-the-woods paradigms, one of the aspects I really liked about the film is that the kids in question are not slasher cliches. For example, there is no jock who mistreats women or his friends, no over sexualized woman who backstabs, no goths, no know-it-all intellectual who seems to prenatally be aware of everything about the supernatural, no prankster… you get the picture. One thing I will say, though, is that – and I can only go by the English translation captions – the word “moron” is used a lot. These are more genuine-feeling people, despite some natural bickering here and there, which is actually better because there is no one to root for to get killed (you know, that satisfaction when the jock invariably gets it, for example). They all have their own personalities, and come across as decent people, generally. This helps the kills be more emotional, which I believe makes for a better picture overall.

How does the Tunche arrive at this faraway location to pick off our crew one by one? Its origin becomes obvious, in part, pretty early on, thanks to some nice flashbacks, but the film does not lose any of its umph because of that

Despite the nice sized body count, there is actually very little blood for quite a while, and minimal gore. As for the physical end, there are some naked breasts and a male tush, and a theme of almost-sex, but this is watchable for both the horror hound and the novice (who is okay with the nudity).

The acting is better than usual, which is hardly surprising considering the work many of the cast has done, mostly in shorts and especially playing recurring characters on television series.

Although there are fewer living bodies by the third acts, there are still moments of tension, and a nicely done reveal, as it should be in a genre film. And as a movie in this category, it quite lives up to it. It is appropriately eerie, and manages to keep it up pretty consistently, when the group isn’t emersed in water somewhere. Through the love and squabbles, and lots of bikinis, it successfully pokes at you more with mood and tension than with jump scares. I found this enjoyable, even with the subtitles, which were easy to read, and did not pop in-and-out too fast, as is often the case. A worthy view.

Extras are a few really interesting trailers (including for this film), most of them in foreign languages with captions, as well as the standard stereo options and chapters.

 

Review: Navy SEALS v Demons

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2017

Images from the Internet

Navy SEALS v Demons

Directed by Jeffrey Reyes

AK Waters Productions / Echosworld Entertainment / MVD Visual

85 minutes, 2017

www.mvdvisual.com

I have to admit that I was completely intrigued by the title, before even becoming aware of Navy SEALS vs. Zombies (2015). They share producers, a member of the writing team and one actor (playing different roles), but they’re pretty independent of each other, it seems (though I could be wrong).

The title indicates that this could be really bad, or so bad it’s good. I’m hoping for at least the latter, quite honestly. A good action horror film was due to come over my threshold. I’ve seen a bit of both genres lately, but let’s see how it works combined. The disc is going in the Blu-ray player now.

Deep in the heart of the Texas Bible Belt, there is a small town in Jack County which is being overrun by five motorcycle-riding demons. They are intent on gaining the virgin blood of a dozen early teen girls (a social commentary on the sexual proclivity of older teens, even in the Religious South perhaps?) so they can enter a church and get…well, I’m not sure. I’ll explain later.

Mikel Vega

These nasty demons with putty on their face are easily killing males left and right via disembowelling, and taking the girls, because even shot guns don’t work against them. What’s a spy-in-the-sky government to do? Why use a cliché and find a down-in-his-booze-due-to-tragedy ex-Navy SEAL to clean up the matter, along with two of his buddies.

Of course he first says piss off because that’s the way these storylines work. The snobby Navy recruiter wants him to go down there because the demons are going after Mexicans, and locally no one cares: “Down there another dead illegal alien isn’t news.” Even the Navy doesn’t really give a damn, he claims, but they don’t want demon-kind to spread. Again, social commentary? Considering the director is Latino, this would make sense, and I applaud it.

The trio of ex-SEALS ride into town incognito as a motorcycle gang. Wait. Whaaa? Sure, that’s not going to attract any attention in a heavily armed, police-based zone. In a cool twist, instead of the old guy who works the gas station warning the teens to stay away, it’s a young guy at the gas bar waring the older guys to vamoose. I enjoyed that.

Before the guys meet the demons, of course there is the mandatory bar fight with the local Latino motorcycle gang, so they can become allies. After that…

Liana Mendoza

Well, enough with the plot, let me get to the zeitgeist. Overall, I had some issues with this film. For example, the female lead (Liana Mendoza) gets to do an uncomfortable and gratuitous strip scene at a bar. All things considered, it is the only thing close to nudity in the film, and it just doesn’t work. Mendoza is certainly attractive, but her comments before and the strip itself feels… unsexy. Again, this is no reflection of Mendoza; it’s the film’s presentation.

Part of the reason for this is the extremely cumbersome editing throughout. There are many jump cuts, inconsistencies of image (e.g., someone picks up a cigarette, and the next angle her arms are down)¸and too many sharp jumps between locations. Considering how dark the images often are (I significantly brightened up the screenshot pictures included), this makes coherency an issue.

The sound also tends to go in and out a bit, and some parts are hard to make out, hence my not being sure why the demons wanted to get into the church, and how that would “spread” the demons. Or perhaps they said it and I zoned out? That happened on my end a couple of times here and there.

A strong feature is the three main characters. Reyes is a sharpshooter who served in the Middle East, so he does have experience that certainly lends a bit of texture to the characters. The central and tragic boozy Seal is played by Mikal Vega, who was a military badass in real life, having 22 years of service in Special Operations. Oh, and he’s freakin’ huge, man. His is the only character that any back story. Even so, like most of the others in the film, he is still under-written.

And there lies the biggest issue of the film, namely the writing. For a large cast, there really isn’t that big a (on-screen) body count; also there are just a couple of fights and a vacuum of action. This is a problem for an action film. For example, nearly everyone rides motorcycles, but the only ones who wear helmets are…the demons?!

Another annoyance is that while our three heroes and the bikers battle the demons face on, the scene keeps cutting away to a team in some far off location watching what happens in Texas from a satellite. How they see inside the buildings is something I haven’t quite figured out, and honestly, those interjected parts just feels like padding that was added after the fact.

Lead Demon

We never really get a good look at the demons as the views are dark, and also distorted by digi tricks. What one does see is…okay. However, there are a couple of decent gore scenes, mostly gastrointestinal, but far between.

I have an issue with the final battle, which I’m not going to give away, but it all seemed too easy. And the finale was kind of telegraphed more than once during the last act of the story.

Lastly, it’s kind of odd that it’s Blu-ray, and yet an extra other than sound and chapters is nowhere to be seen. How demonic! Though truthfully, I don’t know if I could have sat through a commentary track and many other Behind the Scenes featurettes.

All that being said, I would actually like to see Reyes focus more on some straightforward action films that aren’t filled with clichés that have been done to death already. He seems capable, despite my whining. I think he just needs a better script, and an film splicer/editor with some eye for narrative. Go get ‘em Reyes, I’ll be waiting!

Review: Live-Evil

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2016
Images from the Internet

Live-Evil

Written and directed by Ari Kirchenbaum
Simian Tales
95 minutes, 2015

As if working as a cop in a small college town wasn’t bad enough. As if working as a cop in a small college town on Halloween wasn’t enough. As if working as a cop in a small college town on Halloween and two on the FBI’s most wanted drug dealers list were cuffed in the precinct wasn’t enough. As if… okay, I’ll shorten it… all this wasn’t bad enough, thanks to an ancient relic bought by a rich collector, something wicked this way has come. One of the officers refuses to name it in a running gag, just giving it the descriptor, “Evil.”

Charlene Amoia

Officer Hancock (Buffalo native Charlene Amoia, who gives off a kind of Gina Gershon vibe, was a semi-regular waitstaff character on How I Met Your Mother, among many other credits) gets called to rich dude’s mansion to find a bunch of bodies and a naked woman forming out of ash, eyes aglow, aka the previously said “evil.” Arresting her, aware that something is obviously afoot, Hancock puts her in a cell next to the snarky drug dealers.

These dealers could be a film unto themselves. Young, cocky and fearless, they remind me of long-haired versions of Pharma Dude (you know, the dick who raised the cost of the AIDS drug 5000% - I will not glorify him by printing his name). Referred to as simply Mr. Eleven (Ed Ricker) and Mr. Twelve (the mono-named Carter), they are amusing in tune with their situation and have a strong don’t-give-a-fuck attitude. Like other (non-police) characters, there is something off about them, which makes them interesting, even if not likeable. I spent the whole film waiting to see whether they get their comeuppance or not (I’m not telling).

Kind of running the show is Sherriff Pete (Vladimir Kulich, who looks a bit more Norge than Czech, so it makes sense that he played one in 1999’s The 13th Warrior, and The Viking television series). Pete’s a likeable enough guy, but not the sharpest stick in the woods (though heart’s in a good place); it’s actually Hancock who is usually dealing with the pragmatic reality of the moment. She’s been on the force over a decade and she should be running the show, in my opinion.

In an extended cameo role (as all indie films must now produce, it seems) is the Candyman (1992) himself, Tony Todd, as an imbibing pastor. Don’t get me wrong, it’s always good to see him, as he is a class act. Stealing the scenes, however, is a college dean (Tim Ross) who, for those who know academics well, delivers his comic relief lines with just the right amount of red tape and incredulity. He’s hysterical. Also grabbing attention is the tweaking Rosie (Raven Whisnant), in an extremely high-energy, physical performance given with glee.

Then add some risen undead (more on this in a bit), affected by the ash that’s floating around the town that looks like snow, whose intentions are not known for a while, with glowing eyes (which hint towards their… again, I won’t give it away, though I’m sorely tempted to discuss). Everyone keeps calling them zombies, to which Hancock vehemently differs. I understand what she is saying, but I humbly disagree with her for the following reason: in the post-Romero world, risen zombies are flesh eaters out to kill and eat the flesh of the living. If you go back pre-1967, however, zombies meant something different. They were raised from the dead to do a deed or obey a master, not independently and randomly slaughter (I once wrote a blog about it, HERE). So, in current Western culture she is correct, but in the original meaning of the term, she is not. But I’m digressingly nitpicking.

Tony Todd

Breaking the story up into seven chapters are witty title cards, such as “Evil Descending a Staircase,” “Chasing Pete’s Dragon,” and “Kamikaze, Rinse, Repeat.” I’m pointing this out to explain, in part, that this is actually quite a cleverly written work. This is only part of the care given to the thought of this film. Along with the meat and ‘taters shooting (and there is a lot of it) and blood’n’bones (ditto), there is also an ample use of digital effects, from the previously described eye glowing and nearly omnipresent ash floating around, then add in some gunshot wounds, people appearing out of thin air, and other assorted gizmos. But there is also some appliance SFX as well, such as the undead (most of whom look great, by the way), and the “Evil” masks (see the film’s poster, above).

When it comes to being arty, as I’ve said before in other reviews, there is a fine line between being artistic and being opaque, much like poetry or a certain level of fiction. Within that line the viewer gets to see a vision presented by the director that’s above and beyond, and yet the story doesn’t get lost in the adjusting (which is the problem I have with much of the over-produced music since the early ‘80s, but I digress…). Kirchenbaum takes that leap and lands on safe ground, giving this a unique feel, and yet keeps the watcher involved in the story. For example, most of the beginning of the film is in B&W, and then suddenly turns to color 53 minutes in, after the ringing of a ritual bell.

I must say, I enjoyed this immensely. It took me three-quarter through to figure out a key point, and it still kept my interest until after the credits (yes, there’s a bit at the end there). Kirchenbaum doesn’t always take the easy or obvious road here, even though one can see elements of so many other films, such as [REC] (2007), 30 Days of Night (2007; here it’s cops vs. Evil, not vampires), and any one of a million rising dead themes, albeit this time with automatic weapons. The risen dead masks remind me a bit of the aliens in They Live (1988), but again, perhaps I’m assuming too much, because I didn’t care about it as I was having too much fun with the story.  Speaking of which, while I certainly would not necessarily call this a comedy, man it has some funny moments.

From beginning to end, this was an enjoyable film to watch. It never lets up, it’s rarely predictable, and except for a couple of parts that could have used a bit of snipping (e.g., for story pacing, Sherriff Pete takes too long to convince Hancock to get into the police car, even though it’s probably more realistic), and a couple of arguably superfluous characters (the pair of apparently X-Files-inspired FBI agents), it kept me interested all the way through. It’s a good watch.