All genres of suspense, terror, and horror will be reviewed by Richard Gary. His address to send preview copies supplied upon request to rbf55@msn.com.
Blood Daughter Directed by Bryan Enk Third Lows Productions
112 minutes, 2022 www.facebook.com/bryan.enk
The director, Bryan
Enk, seemingly is obsessed with the Dracula legend by Bram Stoker. A few of his
previous films have this lineage, including two college productions: Dracula
(1992) and Dracula Returns (1993), which may appear in some form as
an extra on the disc, or should be, anyway. Note that some clips of those films
also appear in a flashback form as a few of the actors appear in the same roles
here. In more than one way this is a sequel to the sequel, but you do not have
to have seen the earlier ones to watch this, as it can also be a stand-alone
release.
Alexandria Johnson
Taking place in the
here and now, rather than the gothic period of the novel, we are instantly informed
that this is a beautifully arty work, with varying degrees of color (e.g., some
muted colors, some black and white, some sharp clarity). The dialogue has
nearly a modern Shakespearean tone of information and opaqueness, mirroring Stoker’s
1987 novel (e.g., “Let me be accurate in everything. For, though, you and I
have seen some strange things together. You may think that I then, Helsing, am
mad; that the many horrors and the so long strain on nerves has at the last
turned my brain.”). They even use the infamous “children of the night” line. I
was amused that someone states, “Something wicked this way comes,” as Enk also
directed a film version of MacBeth (2003). There are generous uses of
Shakespearean quotes thrown in for good measure, from Hamlet and Romeo
and Juliet, for example. There is also a nice nod to the Stoker-inspired
German 1922 film, Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (aka Nosferatu: Eine
Symphonie des Grauens), as well as Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s
Dracula (1992).
Johnson, Jeff Miller
The Blood Sisters is a
group of both women and men who, it is pretty easy to figure out right off, an
almost cult of vampires, under the tutelage of Rasputin-looking Sandor (Steve
Bishop; not to be confused with the singer, though they both share facial hair),
who works for the mysterious “Master” (Jeff Miller). Intent on joining the
group, located in what is known as The Tower, is Lili (Arielle Hope), both “auditioned”
and warned by June the Veil (Anna Stefanic). A focus of the opening is also introducing Inspector Claudius (Andy Hunsaker), who is searching for his daughter, Emilia (Emi Curia), who he fears has joined those in the Tower. .
Anna Stefanic, Bob Laine
Eventually, we meet
the central character, Abby (Alexandria Johnson, real-life daughter of Van
Helsing’s Chuck Johnson, who was playing the same part 30 years earlier in 1992
when she was born) and her almost split personality disorder consciousness
discussing her inner conflicts (“the false company she keeps”), all played by
Alexandria. By the blood around her mouth, it is evident what kind of creature is
the real Abby.
The film, shot before
Covid and just now released, is broken up into a series of set pieces, pieced together
like a jigsaw puzzle, sometimes introducing characters that are never, or
rarely seen again. This makes, again, some opaqueness to the story, keeping the
viewer off-guard for both what has happened, and what is to come. Even the editing
by Chris Martinez is as sharp as the dialogue, and often cuts dramatically. It
is a wonder to see. My one quibble, however, is that at nearly two hours, it is
a bit long to be hit with so much texture and deep diving dialogue (the film
was also written by Enk).
Emi Curia, Andy Hunsacker
My description, at
times, may seem heavy handed, but this was truly enjoyable to watch. It is also
a brave posit, to assume the audience has an intelligence, rather than a mindlessly
rabid fan of blood and gore. This is not a get drunk (well, perhaps high…I do
not imbibe in either) with a point-and-mock attitude. It is erudite and
intelligent, and yet quite playful at times, with moments of humor, and a
strong breaking the fourth wall, to the point of Alexandria playing herself for
a moment. Also, the camera becomes a character as a persona may turn and either
acknowledge or talk directly to the lens.
Johnson
The film is precious
more than pretentious: the reading of the lines is stilted by the language and
over-emoting, much as with hearing most versions of Shakespeare, or live
theater in general. Actually, this aids the dialogue, which may resound false
if it were presented straight. It is loyal to the ideal more than the idea
brought forth. Oh my god, now they have me doing it!
Filmmakers,
please note: usually, I do not review films (unless requested) that appear on
sites like Alter and Screamfest, because they have a known platform, which is
great, while I would rather focus on films with no sponsored online affiliations.
These films are not in ranked order, but rather alphabetically listed by first
letter.
Don’t Hide Directed by Dillon
Vibbart Ninja Brothers 12:30 minutes, 2022 www.dillonvibbart.com There is a lot to recommend about this short, even with its overt
Christian overtones. Chloe (Ashton Solecki) is in the middle of a crisis of
unknown origin, but enough to have a trio helping her with an intervention
(Caitlin Duffy, Omar Cook, Matt Kohler). Their purpose is to keep a demon (Terrence
Wentz) at bay, and to give Chloe the possible skills to face it. The demon
looks particularly cool in a The Evil Dead (1981) way, and what it
represents is pretty obvious from the beginning, yet this is very watchable.
Despite the drawbacks (religious overtones and easy to guess where it is going),
I just sighed at them and it still kept my attention until the very end. It is
smartly written generally, and looks well put together. Definitely a watcher. Full film HERE
Found Footage
Dracula
Directed by Hunter Farris Bueller Studios
25:24 minutes, 2022 It’s an interesting
thought. The director has stated that the original novel was a collection of
letters, newspaper articles, etc., and therefore was a presentation of
evidence, or a 19th Century found footage novel. So why not update the story
and make it a modern found footage (FF) tale? To give you an example, rather
than Jonathan Harker (Mitch Tyler) employing a horse and carriage to Castle
Dracula, instead he takes an Uber. This is threadbare to the original novel, of
course, considering the length and budget, but we have the main characters,
including Lucy Westenra (Brookelin Backus), Mina Murray (Yvonne Bass), Doctor
John Seward (director Farris) who runs the asylum, and Renfield (RJ Hall) as
his chief patient. Of course, the Count himself is never seen because he casts
no reflection and cannot be filmed. There is a lot of yelling in fear here, and
I found it quite amusing (though not funny, I am glad to say). This is as indie
as one can get, with a bunch of friends getting together and doing it on
TikTok. I’m quite proud of the troupe, actually: they took a premise, executed
it, and did a relatively decent job of it. The short is available in a
computer-able version and one that can be watched on the phone. I am hoping
that this leads to a full length attempt next. Or perhaps, an adaptation of
another classic, like maybe Found Footage Frankenstein. Full film HERE
Host Directed by Pat Baker Postmortem Films;
HarLau Productions 24:13 minutes, 2022 A young, yet struggling couple take some time off to a vacation house
that’s more of a mansion (the Stoneleigh Estate in Martinsville, VA), with
little around them. Annie (Josie Juliette Wert) is lonely and wants some
attention from Jeff (JD Starnes), a workaholic, who has trouble leaving his job
behind even with a sex scene (a longer short gives more time for stuff like
that). Meanwhile, she is seeing visions from the past of previous residents
from the 19th Century of an angry and brutal man, Jacob (Zach Ball) and his
abused wife, Sara (Bethany Paulsen). Sort of like the television show “Ghosts,”
but not a comedy; she can see them, though, but they don’t acknowledge her. Of
course, Jeff doubts what Annie sees in demeaning ways. He may not be as
physically brutal as Jacob, but he is verbally unsupportive and condescending. She
is trying, and he is, too, but at, like, 50 percent. There is a mix of surprises
and expectations in this lush tale, beautifully directed and shot. It’s long
enough to give some form of exposition of the two main characters’ personalities,
and yet short enough not to drag the story along. For a third short film by the
director and producer of seven, it is a solid piece of work. Full film HERE
The Room Upstairs Directed by Jacob
Arbittier Burnt Mill Road 4:27 minutes, 2020 Extremely prolific of late, this is one of Arbittier’s earlier films,
and it is simple and to the point. A mother and daughter are trapped in a house
with… well, the poster says it. It’s a bit of a nail biter, though it does not
go into detail about how their sitch came about. The music is really creepy and
effective at helping build the tension, and the ending is actually a surprise.
Simple, short and to the point, and excellent. Full film HERE
Run Directed by Alex Magaña ACMofficial 3:18 minutes, 2022? http://bit.ly/ACMofficial_Horror_Shorts As Marshall McLuhan once said (among others), first you use technology,
and then technology uses you (e.g., cell phones). For this film, it is FitnessTracker,
the fictional equivalent of a Fitbit, that helps organize an exercise plan.
However, thanks to a bug, it causes the uses to exercise to death. That is the
problem facing the main character (Michael Glauser), as the device on his wrist
takes control. And because of his relationship with his girlfriend (Esther Lane
Montes), being that he’s the toxic masculinity type, this makes this a really
sharp comedy that deals with both the human and tech. Wonder if this device is
made by Skynet? Oh, and check out one of the director’s earlier films, which is
one of my favorites, “Smiling Woman.” Full film HERE
Whitetail Directed by Josh
Minyard Sunhouse Entertainment 15:51 minutes, 2020 www.facebook.com/whitetailshort/?modal=admin_todo_tour This short is multi-award winning, and it is easy to see why. Beautiful
cinematography, well-paced, and well-packed with tension. The very end is a bit
obvious, but works incredibly. A young couple on the verge of engagement,
Robbie (Derek Evans) and Alex (Tara Parker) are on a hunting trip. It’s not
clear if this is for food, or pleasure (personally, I have no problem with the
former, uncomfortable with the latter). He goes off to a hunter’s blind in the
woods, and she to the spare and isolated cabin. But in a Most Dangerous Game,
things do not exactly go as planned. My question is the motive for the action,
which is: is it a comment on the first or the second reason for hunting? It
probably doesn’t matter, because it is the sheer tension of the actions that occur
in the story that make this watchable. One could call the ending ironic. Full film HERE
While zombie and body
horror films are flooding the market right now, it’s nice to see another
vampire flick pop up. And what better location than in West Central
Connecticut, about 30 miles west of Hartford? Connecticut has some of the
richest people in the Tri-State Area, so blood-sucking comes natural to the vicinity.
Well, once again, and early on, I digress…
Caroline Williams
In the late night,
just in time for her Midnight shift at a local radio station – and during a
hurricane – retiring disc jockey Amy Marlowe (Caroline Williams, who has a
history of horror films such as Rob Zombie’s Halloween II in 2009, 1986’s
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre II where she also played a DJ, and at least
three films I have reviewed on this blog, Hanukkah, Verotika, and Abolition)
has been bitten on the neck by a bat on her way to the studio. Oops! Perhaps another
good name for this could have been Undead Air, I suppose.
Her super-scuzzy boss,
Robert (William Youmans) who was once her lover when she first started at that
station thirty years before, has a new DJ and potential lover in Sienna (Nicole
Kang, who is now Mary Hamilton on the series “Batwoman), who is to “shadow” the
seasoned music spinner. Amy is not impressed, especially when Sienna chimes, “I
grew up listening to you!” An aging Amy is a core feature of the storyline.
Also in the building
is Amy’s multiple-pierced engineer, Aaron (Adam Weppler) and security, Ernie
(Nicholas Tucci, d. 2020), who seems to be the comic relief – and rabies takes
a week or more for symptoms to express themselves, not a couple of hours – but
let us move on.
Nicholas Tucci and Nicole Kang
Being the last show
before “retirement” from the studio to be replaced by the new, young thing (I
mean that as an expression, not a comment on Sienna as a woman), what does an
aging DJ have to lose as her anger explodes on-air, especially when
transforming into a biter (man, I love the wide mouth chestnut that, if
I remember correctly, started with Fright Night (1985).
As the vamp fever
makes its way through Amy’s body, the story gets more interesting as she starts
to hallucinate, along with doing something incredibly gross for the viewer
(i.e., me). That’s a good thing, of course, to keep the – er – flow going. As
time goes on, what is real and what is in Amy’s head becomes more and more
questionable, which leads to a super interesting third act that I did not see
coming, and is phenomenally imaginative.
This film is a fine
mixture of ‘80s style and modern sensibilities, with a focus on the beginning
and the end of careers in the arts. Some of it is quite accurate, but then
again, some of it obviously is not (unless you believe in vampires, of course).
The flick is
beautifully shot by Thomson Nguyen, with a lot of primary light coloring (red
and blue, especially) to depict mood and process. There is no question the
acting is actually quite fine considering the pedigree of the cast, and that’s
always a bonus. But let it be known, this is solidly Williams’ film.
What is also
nice is that the major cast is relatively small at about five, and the space is
very tight and almost claustrophobic (the lighting helps with that). The
station reminds me of the one with Wolfman Jack in American Graffiti
(1975), with the relatively remote location and small area to cover.
There is a
fine mix of SFX and CGI, with neither of them being overly dominant. The blood
flows well without being excessive, as this is more story based (hence the
occasionally longer than necessary dialogues in a couple of spots). However, the
sporadic moments of violence come quite unexpectedly, so there are nice jump
scares in that direction. And as I said before, there are a few skeevy scenes
that may make one wince or turn away.
As for the
specials on this Blu-ray, there are an abundant amount, starting with the full
audio commentary with the director, the co-writer Carson Bloomquist, and the
star, Caroline Williams, the latter of whom has some nice insights to the
meaning of the film and especially her character, Amy. Nicely, they never talk over
each other, and they tell the story of the filming, with ideas behind some of
the action and anecdotes (such as William’s role was first offered to Barbara
Crampton, who suggested Williams for the role). This is an ideal commentary,
with everything that keeps it interesting.
Zoom interviews at the
online Grimmfest 2020 Festival (29 minutes), with the cast and crew, is a bit
crowded, but still fun and informative for those who are interested about the
film on a deeper level, but with lots of good stories and humor. “CT Style Live,”
Connecticut’s feel-good program, has a light “Go Connecticut” interview with
the director and Williams (5 minutes) before the official release of the film. The
world premiere introduction welcoming and request for reviews on IMB by the
director is shown for The Popcorn Frights Film Festival (1 minute), from
Southeast United States. Others include two Ten to Midnight trailers (teaser
and regular), plus additional MVD coming attractions.
There was a glitch on my
disc, so I could not watch the following Behind the Scenes featurettes: “Take
One,” “ “Immortality,” “Love Stories,” “Memory Play,” and finally footage from the
TMTM at Grimmoire Academy Halloween Carnival.
The film itself is a
solid entry into the vampire genre, and the reliance on story more than gore –
even with the gross-out moments – makes this worth the watch.
Girt by Fear is a six-episode
Web series of connected short films from Australia. I first became aware of it
when one of the stories was included in a horror anthology called Dark
Whispers – Part 1, which collected the works of Aussie women directors. I
thought checking out the Web series might be a fun endeavor, especially since
all these have a warped sense of humor about them. All the episodes are free HERE.
Part 1:
Nightmare on Australia Street: 4:07; directed by Yiani Andrikids A man in his 20s
(Caspar Hardaker) is trying to invite his dicey friends to the Halloween party
to end all Halloween parties. He’s so into getting the invitation online, that
he completely ignores the advance of his girlfriend (Pearl Spring Voss).
Personally, I think she could do better. Anyway, the Internet goes out and he
tries something innovative, to the effect of… well, you’ll have to see. It’s a
really fun and quick short, and a great opening shot across the Web.
Part 2: It Came
from Outer Suburbia: 8:04; directed by David Ma Andy (George Zhao)
has been invited to a Halloween party (same as the first part). He’s obsessed
with space travel and dresses up like an Astronaut for the shindig. His parents
are afraid of him becoming “Australianized” and even possibly being – dare I
say it – gay. But there is a family secret that will be revealed that is quite
fun. The prosthetics are quite well done, though I question the “pink for girls
and blue for boys” motif. There are some definite underlying gender politics at
play here, which is amplified by it being an immigrant family known for
tradition.
Part 3: Only
Wankers Left Alive: 7:42; directed by Yiani Andrikids Flower (Steph Tsindos)
and Taylor (Michael McStay) are a couple on their way to an art gallery opening
and an act of performance art. They could be considered less hairy hipsters,
but they are definitely obnoxious and full of their own privilege. When they
come across some scraggy person spitting up blood, they just continue on their
way rather than trying to help. That type of self-involved people. It kind of
not hard to see where it’s going when they pick up a woman artist from Romania
(Sarah Jane Kelly) – you know, Transylvania – for a tryst and a bite. But
figuring that out at the half-way point only made me lick my lips for more. And
the end was both a surprise and worth the staying around for. I had a good
laugh at this one.
Part 4: Little
Share House of Horrors: 9:02; directed by Madeleine Purdy I was going to call
this a black comedy, but perhaps a better description might be “green humor.”
A young woman, Maeve (Georgia Wilde) gets ahold of a plant from a dicey shop
owner (scene stealer Colan Leach) and brings it home to the house she shares
with three others, two of whom are hopeless potheads (Travis Jeffrey and Thuso
Lekwape) getting stoked before the party. She believes in all things natural as
far as food goes, and they are into the natural stuff you smoke. The two doods
mock her and suffer the unintended consequences that’s a toss between what the
story is named for, and, say, Trolls 2 (1990), but with more credibility
and less camp.
Part 5: I Was
a Teenage Chogmog: 10:07; directed by Yiani Andrikids The bog Chogmog is
essentially a werewolf. Chas (Abe Mitchell) finds out about the creature from
an old and drunkard hunter type known as The Jolly Swagman (Tony Martin) in a
bar after Chas cheated his not-so-swift friends (including one with the worst
moustache I have seen since 2018’s She Kills) in a game of pool by
losing and then reneging on the bet. This is a film more about karma than
beasties, but they definitely Zenn Diagram together well. The prosthetics,
again, look top-notch, and there is a lesson to be learned by everyone here.
Part 6: It Terror
Australis: 13:29; directed by David Ma Stella (Freyja
Benjamin) has an obnoxious girlfriend (Jenna Sutch) who doesn’t hesitate to get
her fired for kissing her on the job…and what’s a little bit of shoplifting,
eh? Those cheeky lesbians. Like every other story in the series, this is just
before the arrival at the party. But for the final episode, we actually get to
see the shindig proper. There are themes and characters from each of the
previous tales, as people in the earlier bits are present. But as the title of
the tale tells, this is a party of terror. Will our intrepid young lovers
survive this night of danger? Seeing is, of course, in the pudding, i.e., you
really should watch the series.
All the stories are
about change of one kind or another, whether it’s wearing a costume or becoming
something. And that’s what Halloween is all about, amiright? This is a
really short and enjoyable series, which I completed in under and hour, and was
so worth the time. I am looking forward to a possible second season.
Versus (aka Down to Hell 2) Directed by Ryûhei
Kitamura Arrow Video;
WEVCO Produce Company; napalm FILMS; KSS; Suplex; MVD Entertainment 120 minutes, 2000
version 131 minutes,
2004 Ultimate edition www.arrowfilms.com www.facebook.com/ArrowVideo/ www.mvdb2b.com
To be clear, there are
actually three editions of this film on these discs, rather than two. The first
is the original 2000 cut at 120 minutes, then the Ultimate Versus, which
is the 130 minutes director’s cut from 2004, and last is VersusFF, which
is a 20 minute version, which I am assuming is for film festivals, given the
“FF” appendage. It does not, however, contain the 45-minute Down to Hell
(1997) which can be interpreted as the demo version of this film before the
real thing, though it is available on YouTube HERE. Still, this is gonna take a while to get
through this sumptuous package.
I am not gonna lie; I
watched the Ultimate cut from Disc 2 first, then for the shorter 2-hour
one, while I did see it, I paid more attention to the commentaries.
As the opening scrawl
tells us, there are 666 (of course) portals between our world and the “other
side,” and the 444th one is the “Forest of Resurrection” (shades of Pet Sematary)
in Japan, where the film takes place. I’m not sure what it is about Japan and
wooded areas, but there are at least two other stories about the mysterious arboreal
surroundings there, including The Sea of Trees and The Forest (both
released in 2016). This story is similar to Down to Hell, but it is quite
expanded and bloodier. The plot(s) also has a lot more depth to it.
Two escaped prisoners,
the star, Prisoner KSC2-303 (Tak Sakaguchi, who resembles a young Johnny Depp) and
the – er – non-star (Motonari Komiya) meet up with a car full of five yakuza
hitmen and a cute, kidnapped woman (Chieko Misaka) whose presence, naturally,
is more than it seems; her white dress never gets dirty, no matter how much
blood is sprayed or how often she is on the forest floor. No names for the characters
are given. Through a couple of double crossings and some killings, KSC2-303 (for
lack of a better name) and the woman escape into the spooky woods where the hit
men have buried dozens of their victims. Problem is, they are now zombies out
for revenge. Heck, they even have guns (though are terrible shots; the undead
need some practice).
The hit men are quite
colorful and give a nice flavor to the story rather than the typical Vincent
and Jules types, or any of a dozen hulking masses from mafia films. Here, they range
a bit on the hysterical side or are extremely stoic, giving a nice balance. Their
leader (Kenji Matsuda) is nuts and seems to act mostly with his eyes and mouth,
but he is so much fun to watch, strutting and subtly dressing like the Joker in
a green shirt and red tie; whether done on purpose or not, it works. The one I
liked the best is the most impassive (Kazuhito Ohba). Then there is the scared
and mentally unstable one (Minoru Matsumoto) and the bare-armed fighter (Yuichiro
Arai). Lest I forget, there is the one who is too quick on the draw (Ryosuke
Watabe).
Joining the mix are
two coppers from whom the prisoner escaped, the leader (Yukihito Tanikado,
doing his best “Twin Peaks” Dale Cooper) and the other with one hand (Shôichirô
Masumoto), thanks to the result of being handcuffed to KSC2-303. One of my
favorite lines is said by the cop leader who proudly brags that “I grew up at
Yellowstone National Park in Canada.” I am assuming this was an unintentional mistranslation
in the captions, but it amused me to no end.
There is a lot – and I
mean a lot – of action here, including fisticuffs, guns a-blazing and
samurai swords a-swishing. As much as the zombies are there for payback to the
hitmen, they will attack anyone. As a result of the fighting and violence, the
make-up special effects by Susumu Nakatani look great, in a Dead Alive (1992)
cartoony-way; it is easy to tell that this Peter Jackson’s film was an
influence as we get to look through holes in people, total dismemberments, and
there is blood sprayed everywhere (except, of course, on white-clad Misaka).
That the director studied film in Australia indicates that, as well.
Through it all, three
more assassins are added to the action (redhaired Takehiro Katayama, Hoshimi
Asai, and attractive gun-totin’ Ayumi Yoshihara), and to include at least two
more competent women to the cast. And this is all before the halfway point when
the film goes into a completely different and unexpected direction that is both
a WTF moment and a Hell yeah!” one, as we meet “the boss” of all the
hitmen (Hideo Sakaki), who you know from the start will lead to a final
showdown with the prisoner.
The film is insane –
in a good way – on so many different levels. While I would not dub this a
comedy, there are a lot of funny moments, often in a twisted way. Also, there
is a traditional fighting cinematic style that is occasionally used, but director
Kitamura also uses some wild editing, especially
near the end, that plays with the viewers’ expectations on the fights. With all
the wild angles, zooms, close-ups and zombies left and right, the action is
practically non-stop, and even at this length, went by pretty quickly. Even if
you don’t like captions, as this is obviously in Japanese, it won’t matter: the
actions speak louder than the words.
As always, Arrow Video
aims to please, so this Blu-ray is abounding with bonus materials. These appear
across the two discs.
The first extra I watched
on the second disc (there are only two here, most of the rest on the first
disc) was the audio commentary by Kitamura, and members of the cast and crew.
This is different that the one on the first disc, but I must say, watch it at
your own willingness to spend the time. There is about 20 minutes worth of
interesting info disbursed throughout, but most of it is utter nonsense about
their kids, kidding insults to each other, and is just plain blather. I watched
it in double time and read it faster that way (it is in Japanese, with
captions). For most of it I have no idea who said what as there was a large
group and they are not identified in the captions. The most interesting stuff
is comments on the new material. Speaking of which, the second 18-minute featurette,
“Sakigate! Otoko versus Juku,” about the new material shot four years later
than the original, with all the same actors regrouping. It’s a fun Making Of,
though it does not follow any narrative lines, but rather jumps around quite a
bit, which is fine. The action between Sakaguchi (who was the fight coordinator
for the reshoot) and Sakaki, which takes a large portion, is the most
interesting.
Back to the first
disc, I started with an audio commentary by Kitamura and producer Keishiro Shinei,
which is happily in English. While there is still a bit of whatever in
the conversation, this is focused on the film production, and is a lot more interesting.
In the yet-another commentary, this third one is the director, the lead actor,
and four of the crew (including, again, Shinei). Unlike for the Ultimate,
this one, which is in Japanese with captions, is quite a bit more informative
and my assumption is that they said most of what they needed to say, so by the
time the Ultimate one came around 4 years later, they had said their
piece. This one is also worth the listen, though it does get disjointed at
times; it’s like a film of the one for Versus Ultimate in that it is
about 80 percent decent and 20 percent fluff.
With “Body Slamming, Body Horror: Jasper Sharp on Ryûhei Kitamura” (16
min), the British expert of Japanese films frames the director in historical
context at the beginning of a new wave of Asian Extreme Cinema, such as those
by Takashi Miike. It’s a nice overview of Kitamura’s career. “First Contact: Versus Evolution” (10
min), a featurette exploring the film’s origins, is a bombastic telling with no
dialogue but Japanese title cards (and English subtitles) that just flashes images
in MTV editing style with no piece being more than 5 seconds over thunderous
music and language heavy in adjectives like “unprecedented.” Personally, I
found it a bit annoying. “Tak Sakaguchi’s One-Man Journey” (14 min), a mostly
self-shot featurette on the actor’s visit to the 2001 Japan Film Festival in
Hamburg. The first 10 minutes is just him leaving for the flight, his hotel room,
meeting his interpreter, food, and expressions of lonely feelings. When he
finally arrives at the fest, he signs autographs, looks cool in his Neo leather
jacket from the film, and destroys a screen. It was an okay watch, but I don’t
feel a need to see again.
“Team Versus” (1 min)
is a humorous look inside the napalm FILMS basement office; short and sweet. “Deep
in the Woods” (25 min) is a thoughtful featurette of interviews with Kitamura,
cast and crew, including Sakaguchi, Matsumoto, and Sakaki. “The Encounter” (13
min) is an interview with well-respected editor Shûichi Kakesu by Versus
producer Keishiro Shinei. While he discusses this film, he also talks about
different ways to approach editing, and the differences between action and
animation (he did 1995’s Ghost in the Shell).
Next up is a fun Deleted
Scenes (21 min) with audio commentary by Kitamura, cast and crew obviously done
when the main one was completed as it is the same group. As discussed above,
there is the Versus FF Version, a condensed, 20-minute recut of the film.
While the narrative is obviously in disarray, it’s pretty much a collection of
action scenes, mostly with Sakaguchi., and very little dialogue.
“Behind Versus,”
a two-part behind-the-scenes documentary exploring the film’s production, the first being “Birth
of a Dark Hero” (27 min) and the second “Versus the Legend” (46 min). Both
are very well made, one featuring a mix of interesting interviews, especially Sakaguchi
again, and filming some of the action; the other is more about the non-fighting
parts, like rehearsals, make-up, set-ups, steadi-cams, and the like, but
remains fascinating. These are well put-together Making Ofs.
There are two clips
from film festival screenings, one being the XXI Fantafestival in Genoa (2 min)
and the second is from various other fests where the film won awards (3 min).
Again, there is no dialogue, and each edit is less than 5 seconds, over blaring
music. This is more ego stroking than anything else, but considering the rightful
fanfare it got, who would be surprised. For “side stories,” which are
mini-movies featuring characters from Versus, there are “Nervous” (6.5
min) and “Nervous 2” (16 min), along with a featurette on the making of “Nervous
2” (1 min). The first one deals with the two police detectives and their
dislike of being called “officer” (is this a Japanese thing?). It’s confusing
because one detective has both hands while the other has the cuts on his face
from Versus. Either way, the image is a bit over-exposed, but I am
assuming that’s on purpose. For the second, directed by Yudai Yamaguchi, four
of the characters are in an asylum post-Versus, and can’t remember what
happened before, until… It’s quite humorous. The Making Of is a waste, don’t
bother.
There are five trailers,
each one quite different. I love coming attractions, but want to warn anyone
with epilepsy to avoid due to the flashing lights. Seriously. Also included are
5 different image galleries, including stills (both publicity and screen shots)
and posters. On the tactile side, there is a reversible sleeve for the box
featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Chris Malbon, and a glossy,
beautifully illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film
and a reprinted interview with Kitamura by Tom Mes, with notes on the making of
the film by Kitamura (this appears only in the first pressing of the Blu-ray).
Note that it took me three days to get through all the films and features. That's a nice package.
Kitamura would go on
to make 2004’s Godzilla: Final Wars, and most notably what has become an
underground classic, The Midnight Meat Train in 2008.
Dark Whispers:
Vol 1 Directed by Angie
Black; Jub Clerc; Lucy Gouldthorne; Katrina Irawati Graham; Janine Hewitt;
Briony Kidd; Isabel Peppard; Marion Pilowski; Madeleine Purdy; Megan Riakos;
Kaitlin Tinker Deadhouse
Films; Hemlock and Cedar Films; Gold Hawk; Stranger With My Face 100 minutes, 2021 https://www.darkwhispersanthology.com/ https://www.facebook.com/darkwhispersanthology/
Nice. This release not
only comprises short films made by women, but also exclusively from Australia.
Perhaps they should narrow it down further to Wednesday afternoon between 3 and
4 PM? I kid because I am impressed. There are 10 stories here, so let’s break
‘em down and see whuts whut.
The wraparound story,
“The Book of Dark Whispers,” is directed by Megan Riakos, who curated the
anthology. In it, a woman, Clara (Andrea Demetriades) finds her grandmothers
book with the title of this piece that has been passed down to her mum, and now
that mummy is no more, she is the owner. She then proceeds to read it, giving
us an opening and framework for the stories we will be seeing. These tales have
been gathered together for this anthology.
First up is Angie
Black’s “Birthday Girl” (2008). In this short tale, a sad woman (Sarah
Bollenberg) takes an elevator in a hospital, and is visited by a spirit. This
story is not scary, but rather is sad as you can feel for her. It’s beautifully
shot, with lots of close-ups of her face. It was very touching and beautiful.
Next up is “The Man
who Caught a Mermaid” (2014) by Kaitlin Tinker. What happens when a delusional
older man (Roy Barker) who collects classical LPs and is obsessed with fishing
– specifically to catch a mermaid – actually nabs one? Why, he chains her (Bilby
Conway) up in the garden shed, of course. She is both scary and, in a way,
beautiful (thanks to Sharp FX), and our anti-hero is fixated on her, in a male
gaze kind of way. Is he any better than someone who kidnaps women and puts then
in a secure place, even if she is half fish? And what happens when his lonely
wife (Verity Higgins) finds her? These are the questions answered in this fish
tail – I mean tale. The make-up is stupendous, and the filmmaking is spot on. This
one, with a really nice twist or two, kept me on the edge of my gills.
For a step in a
different direction, Isabel Peppard gives us “Gloomy Valentine” (2006) a
stop-motion animation tale. Without dialogue, we meet the sole character, a
humanoid-like doll with a porcelain face and a rag, sewn body. It is after a hard
break-up with another human-like character. Slowly, her pain starts to manifest
around her, threatening to swallow her up. The artwork is beautiful, and the
action is smooth, rather than jumpy, as can be with this kind of animation. The
backgrounds are worth paying attention to, as well, as the detail is nicely
handled and interesting to look at. I watched it twice, once for the character,
and then again for the “sets.”
Similarly, in the
wraparound, between each short piece, we see the stories slowly and
increasingly start to influence Clara’s world in small and then more tangible ways.
Like Talking Tina, this is a book that will not go away.
Briony Kidd’s “Watch
Me” (2016) deals with ego. An aging actress (Astrid Wells Cooper) likes
attention. Craves it. She says, “When people stop looking at me, I fail.” But
failing seems to be the least of her problems. It seems she needs to have
somebody looking at her at all times, such as her failing relationship with her
boyfriend (Tosh Greenslade) or a compromised assistant (Jazz Yap). What happens
when there are no eyes to admire her, to acknowledge her existence. That is the
premise of this story. It’s short and works well. Cooper does a good job at
both loving the limelight and fearing the alone.
From the Aboriginal side,
there is Jub Clerc’s tale of “Storytime” (2005). A tween girl, Cecelia (Verna
Lawson) is out hunting overnight with her grandparents, some other men, and a
group of kids around her age. Over the campfire, they hear the tale of a local
creature, the Gooynbooyn, who kidnaps kids. Being that this is a campfire tale
within a film about stories is an interesting idea in itself. When Celia and a “dare
you” boy named Jhi (Jhi Clarke) set out to find the creature, that’s when the
terror level rises a few notches. Beautifully shot among the gnarly mangrove
trees helps to put the viewer in a state of unease. Cryptid stories tend to be
fun, as is this one.
The big guns come out for
“The Ride” (2011), directed by Marion Pilowsky. Filmed in England, it co-stars the
well-known Aussie screen actor, Anthony LaPaglia, known for the many American shows
he’s been in, such as “Without a Trace” and “Murder One.” He plays a Brit
driver who picks up a university student (Ed Speelers; no small pataters
either, having been a regular on “Downton Abbey”) at a deserted crossroad in
the middle of farm country. The driver quickly proves himself to be a right
wing, sports crazy racist who asks uncomfortable questions, such as whether the
student has slept with “black girls.” Total Trumpite type. The action really
begins when he hits an Asian man walking on the side of the road. Report it to the
police? While the student freaks out, the driver calmly explains that it’s easier
just to bury the dude. Kind of a reverse The Hitcher (1986). After, when
he hooks up with his girlfriend (Emer Kenny, known to me as Bunty from the “Father
Brown” series) back in the city, is where the knot is tied in the story. You’ll
probably see it coming about 30 seconds before, but still worth the wait.
Another story in a
story is Katrina Irawati Graham’s “White Song” (2006), dealing with Indonesian infamous
ghost, Kuntil Anak. In Indonesian with noticeably clear subtitles, this time it
is the spirit that is telling the tale, of a young woman, Raesita. She is a
painter who is distraught at the death of her husband. She wishes her misery to
end and that is where the Kuntil Anak comes in, telling Raesita’s story as well
as her own terrible life in a patriarchal violent past. She is the only voice
heard as she narrates in poetic fashion, while the dreamy images float by the
screen in lovely sequences that seem lighter than air, despite the heavy topic.
The whole story is elegiac and trance-like.
Told in black and white
is Lucy Gouldthorpe’s “Grillz” (2015). Short and sweet, this is the story of
Milla (Melanie Irons), who I must say, I almost wish actually existed. She scours
the Internet dating scene and picks the scuzziest of men. And then, well, you’ll
have to see. When she chooses a dentist (Tosh Greenslade, once again), it is
for other reasons. What is a girl to do when she doesn’t like a mess? This is a
black comedic tale with a nod to the side of the nose as it explores not only
the Internet dating world and its precariousness – for both sexes – it also
shines a light on the kind of toxic masculinity that would have no problem emailing
dick pics. Very effective and fun to watch.
I was going to call
this a black comedy, but perhaps a better description of Madeleine Purdy’s
“Little Share House of Horrors” (2016) might be a “green comedy.” A young woman,
Maeve (Georgia Wilde) gets ahold of a plant from a dicey shop owner (Colan Leach)
and brings it home to the house she shares with three others, two of whom are
hopeless potheads (Travis Jeffrey and Thuso Lekwape). She believes in all things
natural as far as food goes, as they are into the natural stuff you smoke. The
two doods mock her and suffer the unintended consequences that’s a toss between
what the story is named for, and, say, Trolls 2 (1990), but with more
credibility and less camp. Original part of the “Girt By Fear” Web series, it’s
a fun tale of eco-power. And you can’t get cancer from this like windmills (snicker).
The final story is by Janine
Hewitt, titled “The Intruder” (2005), which is a fun ghost story, in the
classic gothic style, though taking place in the late 1960s or early 1970s (clothing
and a rotary dial are the indicators). Zoe (Asher Kendie) is in fear of a
stalker in her home, when she is visited by her friend, Angela (Bree
Desborough). With the electricity out and lightening flashing as the sole
light, it is a spooky situation that is also from the heart, as Angela asks Zoe
for forgiveness. The story is well told, shot, and acted, and the ending has a curious
back story. I actually wished this one was longer.
A lot of these stories
are centered around loss: of a child, a parent, of a loved one, and especially of
oneself, in various forms. Usually in a multi-storied anthology, there are a
couple of clinkers, but not here. Each one is both individualized (even with
the recurring theme I mentioned), in tone and style, and covers a wide gambit
of emotions. A really fine collection, and I can honestly say I am excitedly hoping
for a Volume 2.
