Review: Brimstone Incorporated

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2022
Images from the Internet

Brimstone Incorporated
Directed by James L. Edwards; Brad Twigg
Buffalora Entertainment Group; Fuzzy Monkey Films; Panic Button Films
97 minutes; 2021
www.facebook.com/Brimstone-Incorporated-100935518481130

As I have often postulated on this blog, I am a fan of anthology films, especially ones that were put together by few directors, thereby giving a more consistent feel to the films. The one exception here is a story by Brad Twigg, but we’ll get to that when we get to that.

What is interesting to me is that not counting the wraparound, there are only three stories spread across the time span, which means there is more of an opportunity to build suspense. This is a rare way to present an anthology film, but it is quite effective. Each of the stories lasts about half an hour.

The set-up wraparound tale, “Tempter and Associates,” is the titular Brimstone Incorporated, which is a law firm  that serves as the gateway to Hell, so the “cases” involved is good vs. evil/natural vs. supernatural matters. They are, one might say, fulfilling the St. Peter role, for those going in the opposite direction. The receptionist/assistant, Lilith (Tharasa DiMeo), serves the same purpose as Cerebos, guarding the sanctuary, but the three-headed dog is much tamer. Each person is interviewed by Gregory Asmodeus (Drew Fortier) to see whether they are worthy to be in Hell or not. Gregory is appropriately smarmy, but also a hoot.

James L. Edwards

The opening story, “First Date,” concerns a man named Richard (director James L. Edwards) and his first date with Renee (Shianne Daye), two-weeks after they met on a dating site. This takes place in a busy diner (because isn’t that where you would bring all your first dates, rather than a restaurant?).Things unravel quickly as we learn the truth about just how psychotic is Renee. As a sidenote, when I worked in the World Trade Center in the mid-1980s, there was a co-worker who was hyper Christian, as Renee claims to be, who was one of the most vicious human beings I have ever met, because she was sure Jesus was on her side no matter what horrible way she treated anyone (she tried to get me fired on a number of occasions because I was a non-believer). She was quite attractive, and the longer I got to know her personality, the uglier she became to me. I digress, but this is true of Renee and her devotion to Jeebus. The story ends with not one, but two twists that I didn’t see coming. That’s nice.

Drew Fortier

The next tale, “Mama’s Boy,” sees the titular Justin Parker (Tim Hale) arriving at Gregory’s desk to defend his honor, or lack thereof. Justin seems like the shy type, but he’s actually quite a ladies man beyond his level, considering he’s a bit of a dullard. The reasons are explained by the end. Anyway, mommy dearest, Priscilla (Sasha Graham), is overly protective of her son, and will do anything – and I mean anything – to keep him “safe” in her eyes. This includes donning a mask and cape and going on deadly adventures. We see a large body count in this story, dealt with in many gruesome fashions (e.g., fun). For our edification, we meet his latest flame, Brittany (Kaylee Williams, who stood out in The Horrific Evil Monsters in 2021; reviewed HERE) whom he brings home to dinner with has darling matriarch. Will Brittany be up to the task and win over murderous mom? While there are some, again, nice twists and turns, it’s not quite to the O. Henry-esque level of the first story, but is significantly satisfying.

Shianne Daye

The last story is “Skunk Weed,” and is directed by Twigg (see I told you we would get there!). It concerns John Simmons (Tim Novotny), a salesman whose job it is to sell jingles written by his agoraphobic brother, Bennie (Rick Jermain). While we meet John in the “Tempter” wraparound, in the main story, the only person you see in the tale proper is Bennie, who isa bit of a slovenly guy in an Oscar Madison kind of way. John has sent him some “special” skunk weed; I’d be shocked if you didn’t know that was another name for pot. But this blend is different, giving Bennie odd and gory hallucinations, such as some cooking eggs turning into a bloody brain. This could easily have been one of those late ‘60s “Dragnet” kind of “Don’t use drugs, kids” propaganda, but the twist at the end explains all and is, again, unexpected. I thought they were going to twist it in a different way, which would have been a bit cliché, but they avoided using old motifs. 

Kaylee Williams

The acting is quite well done, especially considering the impressive volume of the cast overall. That being said, Fortier really does steal his scenes, seeming quite natural in the role (well, after all, he is the guitarist of bands like Bang Tango and Zen from Mars). The SFX make-up is quite the joy. Yeah, it tends to be a sloppy mess rather than “surgical,” but honestly, I like it like that.

I don’t know if this is going to be a franchise, but I would look forward to seeing more of these stories.

IMBD listing HERE 

Review: No Reason

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

No Reason
Directed by Olaf Ittenbach
IMAS Film Entertainment, Unearthed Films; MVD Entertainment
77 minutes, 2010 / 2021
www.unearthedfilms.com
www.mvdb2b.com    

Bavarian director Olaf Ittenbach is infamous for his gore films. His previous release, The Burning Moon (1992) was so over the top that it was banned for extreme violence (honestly, I have never seen it). No Reason was first released in 2010, and quickly became an out-of-print collectors’ item, often bootlegged. Actually, that says a lot for his reputation.

Der Anfang dieses Films ist ein Heimfilm, der auf Deutsch, aber nicht ubersetzt ist. Leider spreche ich kein deutsch. It certainly seems benign at this point at the beginning of the credits. But what one needs to keep in mind is that the film is being re-released by Stephen Biro’s infamous gore-gore group, Unearthed Films, so you just know this is just to lull the viewer in, and blood and uncomfortable body horror is to follow. Plus, films from Germany are known for their extreme cinema (think Nekromantik, for example).

Irene Holzfurtner

I guess this review is going to be shorter than usual, because the entire film has no translation in the version I viewed. There is some deep psychological and philosophical shit going down, and basically, I missed most of it. There are long stretches of dialog, sometimes shouted, between the main character, Jennifer (Irene Holzfurtner) and a mysterious person in a Lovecraftian Cuthulu-esque mask (though it is pretty easy to figure out, in the words of The Cramps, “What’sBehind the Mask”). 

We see a number of possibilities of Jennifer’s life, from the wholesome to the – err – not. Is she a loving mother and wife, or a drug-crazed bank robbing insaniac? As Queen said, “is this the real life, or is this just fantasy?” Or perhaps this is all a “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” motif?

While there is a lot of general violence scattered throughout, the centerpiece of the film and what will be discussed the most, is Jennifer’s trip through…hell? It’s sliced (pun intended) into four sections represented by primary colors. Each is slightly different, and to get from one to another, Jennifer must make some physical sacrifice.

While in each of these rooms, they represent different “sins,” such as sexual deviations/extreme S&M, or drug-related. Everything is excessive, from close-ups of genital mutilation, a whipping scene that is reminiscent of a part of Irreversible (2002), and yet another “Jesus wept” type SFX from Hellraiser (1987).

There is a lot of thematic playing with time, changing the order of events, sometimes showing events that seem to occur at the same time in another multiverse of Jennifer’s life. There is definitely some confusion on my end, but I honestly do not know because the film was unclear or that I just could not understand the literal language.

Speakers of the German language have a history of really complex philosophies, such as Kant, Heidegger, Schopenhauer, Hegel, Schlegel, and there’s nothin’ Nietzsche couldn’t teach ye ‘bout the raisin’ of the wrist… Even in English, the title of the film has at least a double meaning (as in “someone having no reason to do that” or “not making sense”). Both work, but show the possible intricacies of meanings. Much like Jennifer’s degradation in the story: is it her own, or was it thrust upon her?

Jennifer spends most of the time roaming around full-naked, and there is male frontal nudity, as well. As for the gore, well, it is hyper-realistic. After all, Ittenbach made his name as a practical SFX person, and he proves he is certainly in his element.

I have read a few reviews (hoping to get an inkling of the story that I may have missed), and many of them, even from hardcore horror fans, were uncomfortable with this level of violence and torture porn. In some instances, I agree with them. Please know that I am not trying to restrict Ittenbach’s art in any kind of way – more power to him – but I also believe the viewer needs to know what they are getting into.

Note that the trailer below does have English subtitles, as does the DVD/Blu-Ray release, but, again, not the version I saw. The full release also contains an interview with actor Timothy Balme, a Making Of featurette, a photo gallery, and some trailers. So, if you are anywhere near squeamish, you may want to pass on this coming attraction, but if not, this is an exquisite package for you.

Review: Beyond Hell

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

Beyond Hell
Directed by Alan Murray
Dark Spirit Films / Indican Pictures
89 minutes, 2019 / 2020
www.beyondhellfilm.com/
www.facebook.com/beyondhellfilm

“Just say no!” was Nancy Reagan’s rallying cry in the 1980s, but films where taking any drugs leads to mayhem, be it insanity, murder or turning the user into a zombie is hardly new. For example, there were a string of anti-marijuana releases in the 1930s and ‘40s (e.g., She Shoulda Said No [1949], The Devil’s Weed [1949], and the infamous Reefer Madness [1936]). That theme still runs occasionally with the likes of Dropping Evil (2008) and Bong of the Dead (2012).

This Canadian film takes that trope and makes some sinister changes: this derivation of the drug, changa (apparently a real thing; being straight-edged, I had to look it up on Wikipedia), takes the user to literal hell. But I am getting way ahead of myself here.

We open up for the prologue in the jungles of South America where apparently indigenous native people speak perfect English and talk like professional wrestling announcers (wait…what?). It is here that this film’s version of changa originates (though in reality it is generally considered to have come from Australia… thank you Wikipedia).

Kearsten Johansson

The main protagonist, Maryssa (cute, doe-eyed Kearsten Johansson) was the good girl all through high school. Now she’s in college and wants to learn about some… tacit knowledge (life experience). Her two friends (from high school, now also in college) are the bad girl, Brooke (Natalie Jane), and Heather (Dominque Smith), who is the go-between since Maryssa and Brooke are frenemies. One could picture Heather with the good angel – Maryssa – on one shoulder and the devil – Brooke – on the other.

On the testosterone side, there are buddies Tyson (Chris Kapeleris), who is Heather’s boyfriend, and Jake (the heavily inked Sebastian Deery). Jake is the object of Brooke’s lust, but he’s into Maryssa (sort of a Ginger and Mary Ann choice). The five head off to a party, stopping off at Seth’s (Sean Rey), a dealer’s abode, to pick up said changa. While there, they try out this new drug and get shitfaced, but Maryssa alone somehow manages to get transported to another dimension (supposedly hell, I am assuming from the film’s title), where she is linked to the multi-toothed demon Belial (Gavin R. Downes) who looks like a creature out of the cult film Equinox (1970). Then the slaughter begins, slowly but surely.

Sebastian Deery

Belial starts to kill off her friends, and because she is connected to him, she can witness all the murders though she’s not physically there. The demon’s goal is the trope that if he can gather enough souls, he can enter our world at will and bring his bad demon buddies with him, to enslave and torture humanity.

The film isn’t brilliant, but then again, it is also a lot of fun. The cheese level is high, as is the blood and gore (sometimes looking good, other times cheesy). This is solid independent fare that is both cliché at times, and yet smart in that it takes some old tropes and mixes them around a bit. Again, while it has been done before, part of the fun is watching Maryssa turn from shy, sheltered girl to warrior woman to try and fight the malevolent power.

This comment has nothing to do with nothing, really, but who throws up in the toilet without lifting the seat, no matter how out of it one is, even if one misses the toilet completely? Just sayin’.

Natalie Jane

This is the director’s first feature film, other than a short, and it shows great promise. There are definitely things one can point to, such as Belial’s make-up moving every time he talks, which is hard to make out at times thanks to the effects given to his voice to make it sound “demonic.” While it’s not a comedy, there are a few moments where one cannot help but chortle at the way certain lines are spoken, or on-screen actions. But despite that, overall, it was better than I expected (and I always hope for the best), and it certainly kept my interest (and not just for the numerous topless women).

The scenes in hell are visually a bit on the dark side, but this viewer was able to make out what was happening. The end result of the storyline is a bit convoluted, but it’s still pretty satisfying, and tying it in to what is happening in the world today is a nice, intriguing twist. It also might have been good, however, to explain a bit about the Mexican god Quetzalcoatl (I have been to its temple at Teotihuacan near Mexico City), who is actually a feathered serpent, though featured in human forms here.

There was also a nice mix of both practical SFX and digital effects. And speaking of Belial’s make-up, it actually looks pretty decent for its budget. In fact, most of the creatures/demons look good. The acting varies, as one would expect, but everyone seems to be on board, which is a good thing.

One aspect I really enjoyed in the film was the Interesting transition b-roll shots between scenes, usually sped up in the style of Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance (1982). It’s bright and colorful, and works well as separation of segues from one set piece to another.

Thanks to its film boards, Canada helps produce a lot of its independent releases, unlike in the United States (anyone from the ridiculous Right want to scream socialism?), so the industry is supported, whether the film is top notch, really bad (remember The Room?), or in this case, an enjoyable exercise in a genre that is always in demand. I’m grateful to the Toronto Film Industry Arts and Entertainment Foundation, and I’m hoping this is just a stepping stone for Alan Murray to send us more fare. This release certainly lends itself to a sequel, and I look forward to it.

The film is now available on Digital HD via Apple TV, Google Play, Prime Video, FandagnoNOW, and more, and will be on DVD in mid-January.

 

Review: DIS

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019
Images from the Internet

DIS

Written and directed by Adrian Corona
1922 Films / Unearthed Films / MVD Visual
61 minutes, 2017 / 2019
www.facebook.com/Disthemovie/
www.unearthedfilms.com
www.mvdvisual.com

Sometimes, ya just feel like watching a film of mindless murderous mayhem, which is all well and good, and other times you may want to dig deeper for something a bit thoughtful and arty. DIS falls into the latter category; it is dark and gloomy, with very little dialogue.

The basic premise is that there is a demonish creature called the Mandragora, who uses the seed of murders (be it semen or vaginal fluids) to feed a mandrake garden. The mandrake, mentioned in the Bible a couple of times, is also a plant used in classical witchcraft stories as it is a hallucinogen, though poisonous.

Into our story comes Ariel (Bill Oberst, Jr.) an ex-soldier who has a mysterious and not so kind past, who has run away to a forest (shot on a mountain top in Veracruz, Mexico). Along the way he stumbles into a deserted and graffiti-filled building (an old asylum in real life) that is merely a shell of its former self. Here he runs into two equally shadowy and masked figures, a bare-breasted woman and a man in a… I want to say tuxedo, with a red sash, possibly evoking a knife slash.

Soon, Ariel is captured and chained to a wall where he is fed some disgusting meat, and has both blood and semen drawn out to feed said garden. He is tortured along the way, though this is not actually a very gory film, despite the occasional signs of blood. Mostly it’s the uncomfortableness of the viewer to the situations, including scary looking needles and masturbation.

The surroundings are stark and dark, as is the mood, and the dialog is infrequent (the first spoken works are 20 minutes or so in, in a black-and-white flashback segment). Of course, Oberst is up for the task of pure pain and emotion, being one of the best character actors around; he’s generally a critic’s choice for actors, especially in the indie film game. He is the central figure in nearly every scene after the prologue.

Most of the color saturation has been sucked out of the picture, giving it a dull tone that is perfect for the mood. Even with characters on the screen, the feeling is one of loneliness and sorrow, giving the viewer hints of where this is all taking place (I surmised it out pretty fast), and to some extent why it is all happening to our protagonist.

There are some nice extras on the Blu-ray, such as an intense, 2-minute introduction by the director who stares right at the camera. The sound is a bit low, that but’s what volume control is for anyway, right? Included is the short film, “Portrait,” which unfortunately I could not get to play, be it a problem with my player or the disc. After that is a “Making Of,” consisting of three short behind the scenes of particular – err – scenes. Next is a Photo Gallery of 37 pictures, nearly all from, again, behind the scenes, which I always find more interesting than just screen shots of the film itself. Lastly is an interview with Oberst, seemingly shot by himself.

Creepy as all hell, but not scary in a jump scare kind of way, the film is more about the feeling of despair and inevitability for the characters. Oberst’s scream in one part is harrowing, for example. And as Oberst says in his interview segment in the extras, the scope is vague, whether it’s in his head or reality, and where it all is taking place. The picture is short, if not sweet, but it’s a beauty to watch.

 

Review: Death House

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019
Images from the Internet

Death House

Directed by B Harrison Smith
Entertainment Factory / Cleopatra Entertainment / Dark Coast / MVD Visual
87 minutes, 2018
www.cleopatra-entertainment.com
www.mvdvisual.com

This film is a who’s who of horror, and for that I have been anticipating seeing it. I’ve heard it’s gotten some questionable reviews from viewers, but of course, I’ll decide for myself as everything is subjective.



Barbara Crampton

Usually, I’ll talk about the cameos towards the end of a review, but to mix it up a bit, here are just some of the people involved: Adrienne Barbeau (Swamp Thing), Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes), Barbara Crampton (Re-animator and From Beyond), Sid Haig (Spider Baby), Kane Hodder (a five-time Jason Voorhees), Lloyd Kaufman (Troma Films), Camille Keaton (I Spit on Your Grave), Bill Mosley (House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Tony Todd (Candyman), Dee Wallace Stone (The Howling), Danny Trejo (Machete), Vernon Wells (Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior), Bill Oberst Jr., Sean Whalen, and supreme-o Scream Queens Debbie Rochon, Brinke Stevens¸ and Tiffany Shepis. It was also co-written by the late-great Gunnar Hansen (Leatherface in the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre; d. 2015). Now that’s a roll call. Going in, I get the feeling most of these appearances will be short and sweet, but still… I’m just sayin’…

And we’re good to go, so it’s time to hit the play button.



\Cortney Palm and Joe Novak

Agents Trina Boon (Cortney Palm) and Joe Novak (Cody Longo) are given a tour into a secret prison where only the most heinous and insane murderers are stored by the government. Employing a Dante reference, it goes down nine levels until it reaches the worst of the worst, and possibly supernatural beings associated with Hell itself.

After an incident, the place is in lockdown… well, actually it might be more accurate to say that it is unlockdown, as all the prisoners are let out to roam. The skels and the agents are working their way down to the lowest level for their own reasons. The results are gruesome at best, walking down long dark tunnels with flashlights at worst.

Based on Hansen’s screenplay, there is a fine mixture of social and religious commentary, and a philosophical bent, rather than merely relying on blood and gore – of which there is plenty. This both works for and against the story, as it tries to be too many things at the same time. The commentary and psychology patterns itself after A Clockwork Orange, though it comes across as preachy rather than informative. But no complaints here about the splatter SFX, which looks great.

This could have been a great retelling of TheWarriors (1979)  as the agents try the levels to get to their destination with killers waiting around every bend, or even be seen as a video game-style of gaining tiers, but rather it jumbles around and focuses more on dark hallways and flashlights, basically skipping most floors. One could argue that it might be seen as derivative to do the floor-by-floor bit, but there are so many references of other films (e.g., Rochon plays a chainsaw wielding Leatherlace, as opposed to Leatherface), I don’t believe it would have mattered.



Kane Hodder

As I suspected, most of the cast – and it is frickin’ huge – appears in cameo form, but some are extended, and others are main characters (e.g., Crampton, Wallace Stone, Hodder). Honestly, it’s fun picking them out of the crowd, but it also is kind of a waste of talent. Having people like Brinke and Tiffany just standing in the background of a group shot made me sad. During the director’s commentary, Smith self-importantly calls this a “time capsule” and wonders who will be interesting when these horror stars are gone. There will be new stars, as there always are, but again, while it’s good to see these familiar (and semi-recognizable) faces, there needs to be more interaction with the audience. If there is enough time to show this much wandering around the complex, interface is also possible.

 

There were times I had no idea what was going on, between the dark and the philosophical, and was looking forward to the Smith commentary track, which actually was quite useful in clearing up things a bit, even if it was just for no reason other than Smith positing that “Jason kept coming back to life, and it’s never explained how in the films” [paraphrased by me]. I didn’t really need him repeating so much dialog that was onscreen, but still it was very much worth the listen.

Along with the commentary, the extras include a swath of Cleopatra trailers and a slide show, and there are nine interviews with the cast and crew with all but two coming in at less than two minutes,

Am I sorry to have watched this? No, I don’t think that would be an accurate statement. There are things to like about the film, but honestly, considering the firepower of its cast and crew, there are definitely moments that dragged that could have been excised (e.g., those pesky long hallway scenes in the dark), and replaced with acting rather than standing in the background for some of those onscreen.

And for those who care, there is a sequel supposedly is in the works on the origin story for some of the characters, and I’m curious to see it, honestly.

 

 

Review: VooDoo

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019
Images from the Internet

VooDoo (Unrated Version)
Written and directed by Tom Costabile
HyperCube Films / Agenda Avenue Productions /
Wild Eye Releasing / MVD Entertainment
84 minutes, 2017 / 2018
http://voodoothemovie.com/
www.wildeyereleasing.com
www.mvdvisual.com

So how long does it take to overstay your welcome at someone else’s home? For this this film, we meet Dani (Samantha Stewart), and the answer is a single night. After the break-up of a relationship (he’s married; more on that later), she heads from New Orleans to visit her “cuz” Stacy (Ruth Reynolds) in LA. Stacy is staying at a house with the rest of her band, who are trying to “make it” (though we never hear their music). Interestingly, the house share is filmed in Billy Idol’s actual home, so there are lots of instruments and sound recording devices around. This was a nice touch.



Ruth Reynolds and Samantha Stewart

Dani is a bit of a ditz, and not exactly likeable, though not a horrendous human. For example, she ended the relationship with the married guy when confronted by his wife, a (wait for it) voodoo priestess who curses her (shades of Drag Me to Hell). However, on the being an ass side, she steps all over her cousin boundaries without a second thought, and films everything (oh, did I mention this is a found footage flick?). Thanks to her conscious actions, she also involves Stacy into her own curse. Of course I won’t go into detail about that, but it was a real shitty move to do to someone who is opening their place for you. Now mind you, Stacy isn’t exactly a shining light as a person either. But they do get to have a cameo with Ron Jeremy, so it can’t all be bad, right?

 

My next question is, what is it about found footage films where the first 20 minutes are just following the characters around and not really giving too much info about them? I mean, we do learn a bit about their personalities, and the set-up of why the curse is happening, but that could have been done in much less time. However, this is consistent with so many films these days, where the first 20 minutes are padded on to make it into feature length, or to fit in the cameos. I’m not pointing a finger at this film specifically, as it is almost endemic in both indies and mainstream releases (of course with blockbusters, the rule is reversed and the over-indulge to the point of drowning the audience with too much).

Now, interspersed between the 20-minute mark and the 20-minute-plus finale, there are some really fine moments of spookiness that come unexpectedly, and is quite the relief from the annoyance that is Dani’s personality. Again, I’m not saying she is a bad person, just grating. But does she deserve what she gets in the end? I’m not saying.

Where Drag Me to Hell ends with the main character being – err – dragged to Hell, but here we get the scenic route. Needless to say, the film truly picks up at the moment Dani gets there, delving into a cavalcade of blood, gore, demons, and certainly makes up for the drips and drabs of the first 40 minutes.

What confuses me (lots of questions, you see), is it continues with the found footage style even in Hell. Who is going to see it? Well, other than us, of course.

I really don’t want to give away the different levels of Hell, because each one makes a point in Christian dogma, and also the result of Christian (in this case Roman Catholic) “salvation” by priests. For the genre fan who likes “blood and gore and veins in mah teeth,” as Arlo Guthrie once postulated, this vision of the underworld will be mild after the likes of Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) or any of the Japanese or American Guinea Pig series. For the average film goer, used to mainstream cinema, this can be seen as quite extreme. Personally, I think many crime dramas they show on cable are more horrific, but that’s me.

The cast is quite attractive, and also accomplished, if one looks at some of the credits for the actors. While Ron Jeremy may be the most famous of the bunch (which makes me happy in an odd and twisted way), there is a lot of talent in this group. I guess I should say the two main leads of Stewart and Reynolds anyway, as they are the draw of both the focus of the camera and story. Everyone else is kind of peripheral, even the architect of evil here, the priestess Serafine L’Amour (Constance Strickland), who’s ironic name translates as “Angel of Love.”

It may sound like I’ve been a bit hard on this film, but note that it is the director’s first feature, and found footage (hopefully a dying breed at this point) is somewhat easier to work on the learning curve as technical precision can be fudged over a lot easier on a moving and somewhat spontaneous camera (even with storyboards and pre-blocking). I hope Christensen has learned from the experience and will continue to grow, as I see potential in here.

One recommendation I have to the viewer is check out the Trivia section for this film in IMBD. It is chock full of interesting goodies that may have you go back and revisit certain scenes, if’n yer so inclined. This is especially true as the only extras on the DVD are a cavalcade of Wild Eye Releasing trailers, including for this film.

 

Review: House of Purgatory

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019
Images from the Internet

House of Purgatory

Written and directed Tyler Christensen
Watching Eye Productions / Terror Films / MVD Entertainment
75 minutes, 2016 / 2018
www.mvdvisual.com 

As I’ve oft said, tangle up enough well-worn tropes and you may find yourself with something unusual. This one has a blast of ‘em, from structures that appear out of nowhere and are (of course) evil, to malevolent forces that know your secrets and fears, all based around a couple of couples of overaged actors playing high school teens on a road trip. This I get from the trailer, alone.

Halloween “haunted house” attractions are becoming increasingly popular. A truly haunted one is almost too good an opportunity to miss. Location? Unknown. That’s where the road trip comes in, of course. It sounds like a supernatural Talon Falls, but we shall see.

After a nice jump start, we are introduced to a group of high school (have to stop here to giggle) students who are partying on Halloween. Four of them decide to find the urban legend Halloween house that pays you back if you make it all the way through.



Brad Fry, Laura Coover, Anne Leighton, Aaron Galvin

The first couple is Amber (Laura Coover) and Ryan (Brad Fry). He’s the instigator and a bit of a macho dick who pressures everyone to keep on a-goin’. Amber comes from a religious family and we actually don’t learn too much about her, but more on that later.

The second couple is “nice guy” Nate (Aaron Galvin) and the unofficial star of this short feature, Anne Leighton. I guess she could be considered the level-headed one, but she’s in the same sitch as the rest of the kids [giggle].

When they do find the House of Purgatory, whether it’s the place of the urban legend or not is unclear, which is a wise choice on the part of the filmmakers, we learn that it is being run by a guy with a skull loosely painted on his face (Brian Krause, who in an extended cameo, is the biggest name in the cast, having been a “Whitelighter” on the television show “Charmed” for years) a la Captain Spaulding of Night of a 1000 Corpses (2003).



Brian Krause

The House also knows your deepest, darkest secrets; says that right on the entrance. However, we know little about this band of fodder for evil purposes, so while we learn their secrets eventually, fortunately we are given a miniscule portion of what their life is/was like, and what brought them to that moment at that point. What bothered me, though, is that in two cases, their “secret” is/was not a choice, but something that is/was put on them. No spoilers promise.

Which makes me wonder about the backers of this film. One could actually see it as a “Christian” fear theme sub-genre, with punishments that go beyond the deeds. In some cases, it seems like the parents are the ones who should be there, rather than these teens [giggle].

I’m also a bit annoyed at the throwing around of words like “gay (as in “that’s so gay”) and “retarded.” In the right context I don’t have a problem with the use of the words or not, but in this case it took me out of the moment, which is what you don’t want to do when watching a film, especially a genre one. For example, wondering if a particular character is gay because he’s nice is, well, whatever. But the “that’s so gay” is tiresome and passé.

Okay, so I’ve whined a bit upfront, but that’s not to say there aren’t some really fine touches throughout. For example, when our foursome finally do get into the Shed of Purgatory (you’ll see what I mean when you watch the film), there are different floors leading downward. Wisely, it starts slow and then continues to build tension as different floors are reached, escalating to a couple of perfectly pitched lulls in the bam! excitement level, letting the tension build again. No constant clobbering over the head, this is more like riding the waves. And yet, the angst remains in both the confusion of the characters and for us as everyone tries to figure out the characters’ next step (both figuratively and literally).

 

Note that there is practically no blood, but the sets look great and the cast is attractive.

A fun game when watching films like this is to “guess the references” to other genre films whose tropes are present. For example, there is one key element here from I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), and a bit from the Sarah Hyland horror (read that as you wish), Satanic (2016).

The film is short at 75 minutes, and it could have been beefed up just a little with some expository info about the background of the characters, rather than just at the point of the secret revelation. That being said, there are also other parts that could have been cut down a bit, such as much of the pumpkin carving scene.

The extras are sound choices, chapters, captions (for which I am always grateful), and three trailers (one non-genre, and one for this film).

This is what I call a serviceable story. What I mean by that is that it’s not rocket science, but it does its job of being entertaining. Sometimes that just what a viewer needs when dealing with characters that are teens [giggle].

 

Review: The Devil’s Carnival

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2018

Images from the Internet

The Devil’s Carnival

Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman

Cleopatra Records / Blah Shank Productions / Empire Film & Entertainment Group / Execution Style Entertainment / MVD Visual

56 minutes, 2012 / 2018

www.thedevilscarnival.com

www.cleopatrarecords.com 

www.mvdvisual.com

Don’t let this film’s short runtime fool ya, there is a lot to unpack in this Blu-ray and DVD twin package, including that it’s a horror musical, which I’ll be getting to, but let’s start with the plot proper.

There’s three interlocking tales based on greed/ego, blind trust (via lust is my interpretation) and grief/suicide, mixed with the telling of Aesop’s Fables. That’s the basic premise, but there is just so much going on at the same time. The carnival is the entranceway to hell, and each person coming through is tested to get to the next step, making sure not to break any of the “666 Rules” (a song reminiscent to a twisted version of “Seasons of Love” from Rent; yeah, I went there).

Shot on a set in the open California desert (i.e., outdoors) in the middle of winter (Jan), this plays out more like a garish – err – play than just a movie, though it’s obviously not just a filmed performance. It’s deeper than it looks at first glance. And in that glance there is garish red and green lights, harlequins, clowns, a little person, and a ticket master (as opposed to the actually evil Ticketmaster service) who reminds me of a twisted Fagin (Dayton Callie; he was a regular on both “Deadwood” and “Sons of Anarchy”).

Dayton Callie

One of the stories involves a man named John (Sean Patrick Flanery, who played Indiana Jones on the 1990s television version) who is fitfully depressed, thereby taking the step to end his life. Another is about a woman, Ms. Merrywood (Briana Evigan, the lead from 2008’s Step Up 2: The Streets), who is an unrepentant thief and narcissist, leading her to meet the cops with a weapon, sending her on her way south; the last is a married woman, Tamara (Jessica Lowndes, from the “90210” reboot, and a professional singer/songwriter) who is guilty of having really bad taste in men, such as her abusive husband, who takes matters into his own hands when she won’t obey. All three end up with tickets to the carnival and have to work their way through it. The problem they faced in life is also those they need to work on in the post-living.

Terrance Zdunich, by the writer of the film and its music and plays a very interesting looking Devil, does not take the obvious road when it comes to the songs. Yeah, “666 Rules” is kinda catchy, but most of the music is dense, off-beat and dissonant, and sometimes lyrically hard to make out; thankfully there are captions.

Jessica Lowndes

Everyone in the film seems to be having fun doing it, and there are some “names” in the cast, such as Alexa PenaVega (from the Spy Kid series), musician Emilie Autumn, and Bill Moseley (from House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects). The film is definitely dark in tone – though not overwhelmingly so – but that’s not surprising considering Darren Lynn Bousman also directed the likes of Saw II through Saw IV.

Not only are the songs odd, but so is the whole production, and again, that’s meant complimentary. For example, rather than filling out the film to the usual 90 minutes, Bousman kept it where it was supposed to be, even if it fell to under an hour. I wish more filmmakers could figure out that shorter may work better than a forcefully filled-out longer release.

This is a smart and brave film. It goes in a direction that one usually would imagine any piece of cinema with money behind it doing (this cost under $200K) but not only does it work, but it obviously was geared for the cult audience that followed Bousman and Zdunich with their earlier film, Repo: The Genetic Opera (2008). They took a live version of that show on the road, and it was quite successful with people dressing like the characters. They did the same with this film, with equal success. What it made me think of in style (though not spiritually the same) is the cult and extremely hard to find (but worth it) Dr. Caligari (1989).

                                                                                                                              

Alexa PenaVega

Being a Blu-ray and DVD combo, you just know there are going to be hours and hours of extras. For example there are three full commentaries. The first is with Bousman and Zdunich and is worth the listen to hear about the background behind not only the actual filming, but all the stuff that went on around it from creation and on. The second is with Evigan, Autumn, and a very loud Flanery. For this one, egos reign, so everyone talks at the same time and it’s hard to get much out of it, other than Flanery’s mind is in his pants. I couldn’t make it through this one, giving up pretty early on at 10 minutes. The third and final one is a Repo reunion, with Bousman, Zdunich, Paul Sorvino, Moseley, ohGr (aka Ogre; also a musician, who was in Skinny Puppy), and PenaVega. It’s a bit noisy and chaotic with that many people at once, usually a mistake in my opinion, because with the exception of Sorvino and PenaVega who have distinctive voices, it’s hard to tell who is talking, and again, lots of overlap.

The next extras section is the documentaries. First up is the 49:41 “The Devil Made Me Do It: The Making of The Devil’s Carnival.” It’s mostly interesting interviews with cast and crew, with some footage from the film and even more behind the scenes shots. While it could easily have been half the length, it still wasn’t boring, just that parts were redundant from the commentary.

Terrance Zdunich

Next is “A Devil of a Time: The Devil’s Carnival Road Tour” at 31:17, which explores two “tours” the film did around the US with members of the crew and cast going to each show and doing talks and signings of shirts, CDs and posters. Many of these members are interviewed and discussed being on the road. These tours were held in 2012, and helped pay for the next film in what is probably going to be a series (see the last paragraph below). And as a sidenote, it was great seeing a brief interview with Miss Hannah Jinx/Minx (konichi wa!), who has since retired from acting and her YouTube channel.

The last documentary is “The Devil’s in the Details: The Special Make-up and Prosthetic Effects of The Devil’s Carnival,” which lasts 13:45. This one focuses on Vincent Caustini, who handled the special make-up F/X.

Another group of extras is five different forms of trailers from the film, including two for the live show and an extended dance sequence with Emilie Autumn fluttering around what appears to be a dressing room.

                                                                     

There was a sequel in 2016, Alleluia! The Devi’s Carnival, which I have not yet seen, that picks up where this one left off, but with a more mainstream cast, such as Paul Sorvino again, Barry Bostwick, David Hasselhoff, and Jesus…I mean, Ted Neely. Most of the cast of this film also returned. If this did become a series, that would be cool as hell.