Review: Fortress of Sin

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

Fortress of Sin
Directed by Paul Chomicki and Christian Voss
Ragged Sky Productions; Cinema626; The AKG Adjacent; Wild Eye Releasing; MVD Entertainment
73 minutes, 2022
www.facebook.com/groups/3174577106153279 
www.wildeyereleasing.com
www.mvdvisual.com

“They got guns

We got guns

All god’s chillren got guns…”

– The Marx Brothers, Duck Soup (1933) 

This film has been a back burner project of love for star, co-writer, and co-director Paul Chomicki for literally decades. With the help of his buddies Christian Voss and Long Island director Dave Campfield, his dream has become a reality.

Stories of fathers looking for daughter who have become involved with serious situations is not new, including Hardcore (1979) starring George C. Scott. But Chomicki updates it and adds in ritualistic elements to up the ante. While Chomicki is mainly known for off the wall comedies, such as the Caesar and Otto franchise, he sets down some serious roots here.

Paul Chomicki

In the prologue, Alyanna Blackwater (Katie Otten) escapes from a violent religious cult in Nevada (around Hay Spring) called the Church of Ascension (aka Ascend), run by spooky “Father” Lucien Reed (Avi K. Garg). Her disappearance is discussed over the radio newscasts throughout the first act. You know this will be expository information for what is to follow.

Meanwhile, Harry (Chomicki, with his thick Long Island accent) is down on his luck. He is an unemployed alcoholic who lives alone, and separated from his wife, Krista (Rae Hartwell). He is also estranged from his daughter, Robin (Jama Bourne), though the division between the two is not really examined here; she wants the connection, he does not. When she vanishes, leaving a cryptic message on Harry’s phone, he sets out to find her.

Katie Otten

Harry heads north towards a First Nations/American Indian reservation (Cheyenne), where he believes her to be held by the (white) cult, in a desolate part of the state (not surprising, as Aboriginals were screwed out of their lands and placed in places that tended to be nearly inhospitable, both in the US and Canada). But more about that later.

There is a large, mixed and overlapping bag of goodies here, from a religious cult (non-Satanic for once) to human traffickers, to scavengers, and each one more dangerous than the other. Add Harry searching for Robin and a revenge-fueled Alyanna, and you have violence, mayhem, and a bit of a time clock as Harry needs insulin, and soon. Also searching for Robin in a separate-but-equal storyline is Sherriff Ritter (co-director Christian Voss).

Christian Voss

The landscape is stark, and we see numerous (and beautiful) abandoned buildings and ruins among the windy plains to its desolate and disparate foothills. Voss’s cinematography brings the area to life, to symbolize a form of near death.

The social commentary is deep and widespread through the story. It explores the dangers of cults and how they prey on the lonely and scared/scarred, and how it is easy to fall victim. But more central to the story is the long history of the plains (and of Western Canada, as well) as far as the incredibly substantial number of Indigenous women who go missing every year. There is an organization dedicated to this occurrence called Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MIWW). It is of overwhelming numbers. Currently, I am watching a television program based on a series of novels by Louise Penny called “Three Pines,” which centers around this topic.

There are some decent gore effects, though it is happily limited, as this is more about the story than a splatterfest. Most of the body effects are SFX, while there is some CGI used sparingly, such as a rainstorm.

I have always known Chomicki as a comedy actor in slapstick films, so it is good to see him get serious. While his acting remains in a certain range, he shows that he can manage the drama as well as the goofiness, when needed. The rest of the cast also does well, including Dave Campfield, who literally phones it in (Zoom on a computer and by cell phones), in a role that’s key to the story, however.

While recognizing this is a life dream for Chomicki as lead actor (rather than co-lead), he has done himself proud. The film is a good B thriller with bit of violence and a social conscious. I like that.

Be sure to stick around after the credits. Perhaps a sequel, with Disney nurse Scott Aguilar? I am hoping.

IMDB listing HERE

Review: Disturbing Behavior

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

Disturbing Behavior
Directed by David Nutter
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; Hoyts Partnership; Beacon Communications; Behavioral Problems Productions; Village Roadshow Pictures; MVD Rewind Collection
84 minutes, 1998 / 2022
www.MGM.com
www.MVDvisual.com

Yeah, I know, with a $15 million budget, this is hardly indie filmmaking, especially with the relatively top-tier talent behind it. But it is a cool film that is now being released in High Definition (1080p), so here we go.

Controlling and adapting human behavior in cinema is usually done with aliens or demons possessing a body, such as in The Faculty (1998) and Fallen (1998). But there is also a genre of scientific experimentation to achieve the “perfect” person, be it Captain America (pick a film, any film), The Stepford Wives (1975) or even as recently as Get Out (2017).

Nick Stahl, Katie Holmes, James Marsden

In the Island town of Cradle Bay, WA (filmed on beautiful Bowen Island in British Columbia, a place I have vacationed). Things are going weird. Long-haired, pot-smoking, wild child Gavin (Nick Stahl) has witnessed a homicide by a member of the High School’s Blue Ribbon Club of another free-spirited woman; you can tell by the Devo tattoo on her ankle).

Into this mess, comes newcomer (there’s always a newcomer in high school dramas) and the film’s main protagonist, Steve (James Marsden, who was 25 when this film about high school was made, and looks every year of it) and his sister, Lindsay (a young Katherine Isabelle, who would go on to star the now horror touchstones, Ginger Snaps in 2000, and American Mary in 2012).

The Blue Ribbons

As with most schools, there are factions, like the nerds, the metal heads, and the stoners. When I went to high school, I was at the table of wimpy kids that nobody really bothered with because the factions in my Brooklyn school were more racially divided. But I digress… One of the groups is the aforementioned Blue Ribbon club, named because these were the “good” kids who all wear similar blue jackets. They look and act like jocks, but there is something creepy about them.

Into this pool comes Steve, a typical overage cinematic teenager with some parental issues, but not really a shit-stirrer, but not easily cow-towed, either. He’s not like, say, Richard (Tygh Runyan), who is a trouble maker and fights against authority (you know, sideburns, leather jacket, smokes and calls teachers “peckerhead” one day, and is a Blue Ribbon the next.

But there is definitely something off about the Blue Ribbons. Whenever they feel lust (remember high school?), their eye glows red and they become ultra-violent, because they are being “bad.” They are a tightly insulated group who react negatively and often violently to anyone who is not in their “club” (hence, Devo girl). Their clique is run by the obviously villainous school Edgar Caldicott (Bruce Greenwood).

Bruce Greenwood, Marsden

Thrown into all this mishigas, with the help of resident philosopher and loose cannon Gavin, Steve meets “town trash” Rachel (Katie Holmes looking her best, even with that weird crooked smile), who is Gavin’s friend. The three bond while Gavin understandably lusts after one of the Blue Ribbons, Lorna (Crystal Cass, in her only film role).

Perhaps it was the sign of the times, but I find it interesting that when the male Blue Ribbons get horny, they instantly act violent outwardly and damage anyone around them (as is seen in a supermarket melee, but when the females get turned on, the first reaction is to self-harm. I would really like to question the writer of this film about that.

Chad Donella, Marsden

Meanwhile, it’s up to Steve, Rachel, albino stoner/drug dealer and comic relief U.V. (Chad Donella, who has some of the best lines in the film) who is sort of a more mellow Spicoli, from 1982’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High), and coming out of left field with a cinematic device that can be predicted a long time on, custodian, Andy Newberry (Nick Stahl), to save the world… well, at least Cradle Bay High School from the likes of Dr. Caldicott and police officer Cox (Steve Railsback in an underused role). You know the showdown is coming in the third act as some of our top cast is up for being the new Blue Ribbons. While I am sure it will be exciting ( am nearing the end of Act 2, as I write this), the means that will change the battlefront power is already obvious.

Extra! Extra! That’s what this Blu-ray has!! The biggie is the full commentary by the director, David Nutter. Typical of most, Nutter (who also directed the “X-Files”) describes the process, what scenes mean, hiring and working with the actors, etc. He’s a bit monotone, but never flat as he keeps the focus to keep this worth watching.

Crystal Cass (center)

The Deleted Scenes part is actually quite extensive and worth the watch. They are not just clips, but some of the 11 are enlightening, especially the one with Steve’s mother, which explains an important motivating action later on. And most enjoyable was the last, which was the original ending of the film (both work). The viewer can choose to watch these as they are, or with a commentary by Director David Nutter. Along with audio options of English and French 2.0 Stereo and optional English and French subtitles, the rest of the digital end is the original theatrical trailer among other coming attractions. On the physical end is reversible cover artwork, collectible mini-poster, and limited-edition slipcover for the first pressing only.

Now do not get me wrong. This is a hell of a fun joy ride of a film, right through. It has aged a bit though, but still fits into the whole teenage paranoia scenario to a tee; however, it is an early example of a formula that has been used and reused many times since. As I said, the 3 Act is action packed albeit predictable, and I had a lot of fun with it. Hell, it has been 20 years since I first saw it, and I will probably see it again without that much of a time span.

There’s a really nice coda at the end that’s, again, obvious, but still made me smile. If this was to come out now, they would probably have put it after the credits.

IMDB listing HERE

Review: Ash and Bone

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

Ash and Bone
Directed by Harley Wallen
Auburn Moon Productions; Cama Productions; Painted Creek Productions; Deskpop Entertainment
97 minutes, 2022
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100058326256836

I am right in the mood for a snatch and hide rural serial killer(s) film, reminiscent of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), or The Collector (2009). The prologue, intermixed with the credits, gives us a sample of what is to come. They also delve into the home invasion subgenre.

Into this mess comes vacationing couple from Detroit, older Lucas (director Harley Wallen) – he wears a Rollings Stones Tour shirt from ’76 – and his younger, new wife, Sarah (Kaiti Wallen), and Lucas’s obnoxious and rebellious teen goth daughter, Cassie (Angelina Danielle Cama), for whom it is hard to like, really. We meet them, as is par for the course in these isolated homes subgenre, in the car ride to Lucas’s brother’s vacation house in Hadley Lake, MI (population under 300).

Angelina Danielle Cama, Mason Heidger, Jamie Bernadette

I am a bit confused early on, because in an act of rebellion, Cassie heads to the small town center, in which streets are long and built up, and goes into a crowded bar. This is more like a town of 1,000-2,500. I have relations in towns of about 300-400 people, and it is just a couple of streets long and is deserted at night. Even the hotel/bar run is scarce in denizens. But here, in a bar run by Louie (martial arts legend Mel Novak, aka Mi’lan Mrdjenovich), she meets the local couple Tucker (Mason Heidger) and Anna (Jamie Bernadette). They tell her about the town legend of a murder house, which Cassie insists they show her. Not a good move, of course.

Naturally, at Cassie’s hubris, they enter the Sawyer…I mean McKinley house through a window, and the second act starts with the shit hitting the pain. Getting in was easy. Getting out is another matter. From here on, it is chills and thrills that I will not go into detail. Speaking of which, the big question for me at this point is whether Tucker and Anna are in on it, or will they be fodder. When I do know further on, I will not say. Same with Sheriff Vincent (Shane Hagedorn).

Jimmy Doom

The man of the McKinley family is heavily tattooed, shirtless-and-overalls-wearin’ Clete (Jimmy Doom, vocalist of The Almighty Lumberjacks of Death, a punk band from Detroit). Then there is his equally insane sister, May (Erika Hoveland). Naturally, not only do they look like they should be below the Mason-Dixon line, but they are cannibals: what better way to hide the “evidence.” Yee-haw!

There is a bit of subtle social commentary on the ease of getting weaponry in rural areas. There is also a nod towards small town communities, so when Clete and May come searching, they know where to look as everybody knows nearly everybody. And if they are new, where it is likely to find them, even lone wolves, like the McKinleys. I understand the small-town mentality, such as if you see your worst enemy stuck in a blizzard, you give them a ride home, even if not a word is spoken of it again. But if I was in the position of Tucker and Anna, I would not have rode to the McKinley’s with Cassie. She would have been on her own. Perhaps it’s my Brooklyn upbringing, but screw that.

Erika Hoveland

Between flashbacks and the “present,” Cassie proves that she is not reliable, and consistently makes bad decisions that one can see as “rebellion,” but they are just inconsiderate and mean. I am really trying to see her as the protagonist, but for the first half of the film, she is an anti-hero, I guess. Not a nice person. But I am sure there will be a comeuppance that will either mellow her out to appreciate her life, or kill her. Again, I won’t say which way it goes.

It may be a small town, but there is a decent body count, as the film moves into body horror. Thing is, there are a couple of opportunities that were passed, where we see the end results without the process leading to it. Gorehounds are bound to feel slighted. But then, there is the third act. It’s usually the third act when all the tension of the first two explode into violence.

Speaking of which, I was actually surprised at how little the violence perpetrated was shown throughout. Most of it is just off camera, or we see the results of what happened in the past, as I have stated before. That’s not to say it is mild, no, but it is not very bloody. Though I have to say what SFX is shown looks good (e.g., the blood is the right color and consistency).

The acting is quite good, though Hoveland as May is the standout. Doom is also good as Clete, though his gravelly voice often sounds forced. As for the focus of this release, Cama, she does well, though she purses her lips way too often. Minor quibbles I know.

This is a welcome addition to the canon, and is okay for those who like the violence, and for those who are a bit squeamish, this film does well in having a foot in both camps. Like TCSM, more is implied than shown, but it is still powerful.

In the nothin’ to do with nothin’ department, since this was filmed near Detroit and Pontiac, MI, I am sorry they did not include Motor City’s own punk rockers, Choking Susan (who I saw play at CBGB), on the soundtrack. 

IMBD listing HERE

Review: My Apocalyptic Thanksgiving

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

My Apocalyptic Thanksgiving
Directed by Charles B. Unger
Soriano Pictures; Freestyle Digital Media
103 minutes, 2022
www.myapocalypticthanksgiving.com/.
www.facebook.com/MyApocalypticThanksgiving
www.freestyledigitalmedia.tv

Sure, it is almost a brand-new year, but it must be Thanksgiving somewhere in the world, eh? Or is it that it must be 5:00 somewhere…whatever.

Wait, a feel-good movie involving zombies? Sure, it has been done before, such as the rom-com Warm Bodies (2013), but it is a bit rare as a zombie subgenre. Here, it is kind of indirect, in that we meet Marcus (Joshua Warren Bush), a 23-year-old special needs adult male with the mind of a child (he plays with zombie action figures, rather than just collecting them) who is obsessed with a television show, “Apocalyptic Zombies” (think a brain-dead – pun intended – impersonation of “The Walking Dead”).

Marcus lives in a group home with other special needs adults, and when his best friend Doris (Willow Hale), and older woman, passes on, Marcus is lost as she was like a mother to him. This leads him to search out for his long, lost mom (he does not even know her name, other than “Momma”), with whom he wants to share Thanksgiving and watch the last episode of his favorite program together.

Intermixed with all this, we get to see clips of the television show, also about a family of teenager, Andrea (Callie Gilbert) and her homemaker mom, who has the survival skills of Geena Davis’s character in The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996). We get to see Andrea do a lot of running in high heels and braless.

Ray Chang, Joshua Warren Bush, Chris Wu, Grace Shen

The real adventure for Marcus begins when he gets a job at a Korean-run laundry, thanks to Kim (Chris Wu), whose dysfunctional family – dad Jung (Ray Chang) and mom Me Young (Grace Shen) – eventually accepts Marcus as one of theirs.

In competition for Marcus to be family is a Latino drug gang, who use Marcus as an informer, an easier way for him to get money to visit his mom in another town. Their influence is not as positive, obviously being a bad influence. The rising question is who will win Marcus’s soul, eventually, as he views his experiences as if there were zombies. Kim’s family is essential the angel and the gang the devil on the shoulders, each whispering in his ears. Sadly, due to his condition, it is hard for him to see the negative influence of the gang and sees it equal to the positive one of the Korean family. While the man who runs the group home, Frank (Walker Haynes), who is also Doris’s son, mentions that Jesus was a zombie (reminds me of “Futurama”), there is a subtle hint here and there of religiosity throughout the film, such as Marcus and crew praying often, or Marcus’s case worker, Nicole (Clera Foster), leaving with “Have a blessed day.” It is not wielded as a sledgehammer or comes across as preachy, but my non-Christian chakras made me squirm a bit.

Callie Gilbert

A bigger issue is as Marcus becomes more confident and belligerent thanks to the gang, he stops taking his anti-anxiety medications, and starts hallucinating zombies everywhere, becoming increasingly aggressive.

I occasionally found this a bit stressful to watch (but I did see the whole thing), because while watching a zombie film where someone gets a chunk bit out of them, or even their intestines ripped asunder, this is a “real” story about a sensitive man, even though it is fiction. It is why I was uncomfortable with Kramer vs Kramer (1979) while I laughed during Fulci’s The Beyond (1981).

Bush, Shen

There is some violence, but no nudity, but gang-girl Sophia (Carla Acosta) comes close in a floss bikini. However, here is a toothbrushing trigger warning (I can see a gory film, but watching toothbrushing disturbs me, for some reason). Gross.

The two central themes of the film are that special needs people deserve love, and what is the meaning of “family,” which makes for a perfect Thanksgiving-centered appreciation of those who care about us, and who we care about.

IMDB listing HERE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3A1DVU6EcE

Review: Human Lanterns

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

Human Lanterns (aka Ren pi deng long; Human Skin Lanterns)
Directed by Sun Chung
Shaw Brothers; Celestial Pictures; 88 Films; 88Asia Collection; MVD Entertainment
99 minutes, 1982 / 2022
www.MVDEntertainment.com

Back in the mid-1970s through the 1980s, if you were not there, it is hard to describe the effect and influence of the Shaw Brothers kung fu films, especially the ones taking place in some mystical time, long, long ago, when warriors with long hair could fly through the air, elderly people were the best fighters, and moustaches indicated evil.

Bruce Lee has survived the ages as far as legacy goes, but back then, it was the Shaw Brothers releases that were nearly omnipresent. There were theaters that dedicated themselves to showing them (such as one at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge), and a local New York station played their films every weekend at pre-set times.

But what I think helped popularize them were the sheer wackiness of the story mixed with a lot of martial arts action. Most were the equivalent of Roger Corman releases: you really needed to let go of any pretense towards art, and just enjoy the over acting and high drama for what it was: sheer entertainment. I have never seen this particular film before, so I am looking forward to it…

Tony Liu

The main theme of the story here, which is the complete and uncut version, is social jealousy in the feudal period of Phoenix Town. The main protagonist is wealthy warrior with classic Spock-like eyebrows, Lung Shu-Ai (Tony Liu), who is in rivalry with the local mustachioed Third Master T’an-Fu (Kuan Tai Chen). T’an provokes him by choosing Lung’s favorite prostitute, Yen Chu (Linda Chu) as his own concubine at a big feast, therefore causing Lung to lose face. To be fair, Lung is not a nice guy, who is consumed by competitiveness.

To retaliate, Lung decides to use the upcoming Lantern Festival contest (for best lantern, natch; remember the film’s title) by getting a skilled lantern maker, Chao Ch’un-Fang (Lieh Lo), who was Lung’s previous rival for Lung’s present wife, Lady Chin (Ni Tien), to create a masterpiece for him.

Then, again considering the title, there is a horror aspect to the story, represented by some dude in a mixed monkey/skull mask and costume who wants to destroy Lung. He kidnaps a woman and brings her to his underground lair, reminiscent of The Phantom of the Opera. There he very graphically does a Buffalo Bill/Leatherface on her. There is a reason the original name of the film was Human SKIN Lanterns. I don’t believe I’m giving anything away. I figured out almost instantly who was, as Lux Interior of the Cramps sang, “What’s behind the mask.” Actually, it’s given away pretty early, but I will not be the one to do it.

Kuan Tai Chen

Add an assassin into the mix to increase the action in the form of bearded Kuei Szu-Yi (Meng Lo, He does a lot of the fighting in the picture, which has its fair amount of martial arts, and yet less than usual for a Shaw Brothers release, though it certainly picks up by the third act. What is there, however, is imaginative, uses many different tools such as arm knives and fans, and there is a lot of wire work as they fly through the air with the greatest of ease. Meanwhile, the police, led by Sergeant P’an (Chien Sun), is trying to stop the jealousy-fueled violence and figure out why people are going missing.

Of course, the film is in Mandarin, with English subtitles. One thing that is not included in this package is the English dubbed version. Shaw Brothers films often used the same voice actors over and over, so they became easily recognizable by sound, if not by name. For me, it was one of the hallmarks of a Shaw Brothers release, but I can forgive them. I would have watched the film in the original Mandarin, and then again with the English dub, but that didn’t happen this time. Not a complaint, just an observation.

Lieh Lo and Hsiu-Chun Lin

Okay, let’s talk about some of the extraordinary Extras that are included with the new Blu-ray, both the physical and the digital. I’ll start with the latter. To begin, there is a full-length commentary by Kenneth Brorsson and Phil Gillion of the On Fire Network podcast. Both men are heavily accented (Swedish and British, respectively), and it was a bit of a strain to make out what they were saying, but it was worth the focus. At least until I gave up about halfway through.

Next is the featurette “A Shaw Story: An Interview with Susan Shaw” (14 min.), filmed in 2005. In this, the actor, who had a small role in the film, tells of her tumultuous career before Human Lanterns thanks to international politics, what it was like to work with the director and her opinion of the film, and her career after. She kept my attention. The next featurette is for one of the bigger stars of the film, “The Beauty and the Beasts: An Interview with Linda Chu” (14 min.). Chu talks about how she became involved with the Shaw Brothers films and her career there, and especially on her opinion about nudity. Again, it’s a good interview, but she does come off a bit vain here and there. Part of the charm, I guess. Both interviews are in Chinese with subtitles.

The last featurette is “Lau Wing: The Ambiguous Hero” (51 min.) And who is Lau Wing? That is the real name of this film’s star, Tony Liu. He goes into great detail about the art of acting, and his place in that, all while chewing gum. Of course, he discusses the film and the director, but he was working three films at the same time, and he admits his memory is hazy. It’s his relationship with actors and the studios that make this the most interesting. Lastly on the digital end is the Trailer, that the film is in HD (1080p), and the English subtitles have been retranslated.

On the physical side, there is a nice slipcover with new artwork by Robert O’Brien, a double-sided case cover with the original poster, a two-sided folded paper poster insert included with the clamshell, and lastly a lush, multi-page booklet with text and photos.

The trailer’s quality makes the viewer appreciate just how gorgeous this release looks now, with vibrant colors, incredible cinematography by An-Sung Tsao, and sharp editing. The sets by Ching-Shen Chen are shown in great and sharp detail. All of this brings up the value of the release that was most likely missing from the earlier VHS copies.

While the fighting throughout most of the film often feels like under-played and Kung fu-interruptus, the final battle royale certainly makes up for it. It is beautifully staged and includes everyone of importance that’s left alive at this point. It alone makes the rest of it worth the wait, but I should add that the whole story is pretty intense and enjoyable. My old pal, Mariah Aguier (2005), who was an infamous person on the New York punk scene in the 1970s and also a martial arts film aficionado, would have probably loved this (or already did). Now, so do I.

IMDB Listing HERE 

Review: Hell Hath No Fury

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

Hell Hath No Fury
Directed by Jesse V. Johnson
Well Go USA Entertainment
94 minutes, 2021
www.wellgousa.com/films/hell-hath-no-fury

Hell Hath No Fury’s premise is hardly new, but it is also not so common that it can be dismissed. A group of American soldiers, with the help of a local, go looking for lost money/gold. This is the essential plotline of the recent Army of the Dead (2021). I even remember Tarzan Triumphs (1943) where the titular Ape Man saves the native’s gold from the Nazis.

Nina Bergman

But we are where we are now; it’s World War II, and this film focuses on Marie (Danish/Russian/Gypsy actor/model/singer/boxer, Nina Bergman), who worked with the French Resistance against the Nazis (again with the Nazis) until the end of the French occupation. And like the character in Inglorious Basterds, is believed to be a collaborator due to her affair with German officer, Col. Von Bruckner (German martial artist Daniel Bernhardt).

With many flashbacks, the main crux of the story focuses on the Spring of 1945, after Marie is denounced as a collaborator for her affair, and her head has been sheared (which Bergman did for the role), a common way to signal that she has been deemed a traitor. The “present day” part has Marie and four US soldiers of questionable personal merit, led by Major Maitland (Australian Thai Kickboxer Louis Mandylor doing a splendid Southern US drawl), in an old graveyard looking for five bars of Nazi gold, made from teeth and rings (etc.) acquired in concentration camps from Jews. A little politicking can go a long way, and I am glad they did not try to ignore that. After all, again, Nazis (or as I like to call them, future Capitol insurrectionists; but I digress…).

There is very little past development for most of the characters, other than Marie and Von Bruckner. But even then, other than their relationship and some of Marie’s family history, everyone is kind of a blank slate, with their main characterization being greed for the gold. But on the good side, this lack of background is an aid in some of the action, because sometimes it is hard to tell who is the good guys and who is the bad guys (other than the Nazis, of course).

Daniel Bernhardt

While this is a story of the relationship of the major characters, from Mare and Von Bruckner, the four Allied soldiers – a surprisingly integrated group for its time – as well as a French Resistance Fighter, the tensions are not surprisingly high. How far will the greed take them? Will it be double-crosses like The Treasure of Serra Madre (1948) or the opening scene of The Dark Knight (2008)?

Marie is truly the most complex of all the characters, with both the most to win or lose and her willingness to do what it takes. Von Bruckner is also complex in that, yes, he’s a Nazi, but they also show a tender side in his relationship with Marie. Of the four Americans, Maitland is the most sympathetic as the leader, most of the others being of questionable character. The remaining French Resistance fighter is all over the map, seemingly changing sides at the drop of a hat for various motives. This all leads to a powder keg of emotions and allegiances that can, and often do, go in many directions.

While this is a pretty straightforward World War II flick as far as motivation goes, there is a bit of a supernatural element with the spirit of the brother of one of the characters coming to argue with him whether he is in a good situation or not. While this “ghost” is kind of superfluous, I am really glad he’s in there, keeping the live brother to be seen as more than just possible body count.

Speaking of body counts, despite there being a main cast of seven, the count is rather high with peripheral kills. Because it is 1945 and not in some multi-dimensional pseudo-science like with Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) or Wonder Woman (2017), the equipment for killing are conventional war weapons: military issued guns, knives, grenades, and dynamite. For a small budget film (it is listed as $5 million on IMDB, but I think that is questionable), a large amount of it must have gone into weapon effects and explosions. This is more along the classic, straight-forward war lines of The Dirty Dozen (1967), Von Ryan’s Express (1965), or The Great Escape (1963). There is no posturing like, say, the GI Joe franchise or anything by Michael Mann, but just to-the-gut action.

Louis Mandylor, Bergman, etc.

One thing that is abundantly clear, however, is that the cast is as solid as it gets. The acting is top notch throughout, with Mandylor and especially Bergman giving their all with total commitment to the roles. This could have easily have been another cheesy war film with unrealistic banter and kills but there is a lot of blood without being over the top glorification of violence. Yes, ferocity does have its place in the film proper, but this is as much a tense in-the-moment as a killing field.

Jesse V. Johnson, who also has worked on some A-line films as a Stunt Coordinator, proves he knows his stuff, and I look forward to more of his directing action.

 

Review: Funhouse

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

Funhouse
Directed by Jason William Lee
Ti Bonny Productions; Sandcastle Pictures; Invention Films;
Magnet Releasing/Magnolia Pictures
106 minutes, 2019 / 2021
http://www.magnetreleasing.com/funhouse/

Here is a bit of irony for ya: as much as I despise reality programming, especially shows like “Survivor” and “Fear Factor,” I so do tend to enjoy when films use it as fodder for a storyline. Media fascinates me, in a Marshal McLuhan/Neil Postman/Jacques Ellul sort of way. Mixing reality television with social media? Even more better.

Social critic Neil Postman famously posited that media such as television (and hence computers) is served best when it is mere entertainment and minimal on education. Entertainment as distraction is nothing new, as even the Roman Empire knew about “bread and circuses.” This Swedish/British Columbia, Canada-filmed release definitely leans in that direction. While the overarching premise is not novel in the horror genre, people fighting for their lives for the entertainment of others – recently in films about, say, Escape Rooms – the addition of Reality Programing gives it a nice twist.

Valter Skarsgård

A rich and sadistic man (think Jeffrey Epstein-type [alleged]) that tends to tilt his head to the side, Nero (Jerome Velinsky), who as no moral compass and is willing to pay people large sums to do dastardly things, puts together an online reality show titled “Furcus’ House of Fun” (aka “Funhouse”). He gathers a group of eight attractive mix-gendered (but no LGBQ) C-Level has-beens from around the world for what they think is a “Big Brother” or “Survivor” kind of show for a prize of USD$5 million, but it ends up the latter program is more literal than figurative.

The central character is Kasper (Valter Skarsgård), a Swedish man whose claim to fame is that he was married to a pop star who, like the others – a nice touch is that most of the actors are actually from the countries they represent – arrives in a house in an undisclosed location with no memory of how they got there (after they had signed the contract). They all have different colored shirts to make it easy to identify by the world-wide web audience. The rest include the likes of an Influencer, Mixed Martial Arts fighter, a model, and a one-hit wonder singer, for example.

At first, it is all fun and games as the contestants (someone uses the word “dysfunctional”) get to know each other, make out, sing karaoke, go into the hot tub, drink a lot of alcohol, and be served by people dressed in odd Panda masks (the animal is the logo of the program). There is even the old “confession booth” they all must enter and try to win the favor of the audience, who votes out whomever they choose every three days, though it gets progressively quicker. And this is where events get dicey. Of course, they are being filmed 24/7.

The first act of about 20 minutes, helps the film’s viewers to both get to understand the premise framework of the show, and also sets up some background to the characters. When you have eight of them, it is easy to just see them as fodder for the violence to come, but this way we can get to know and either like or dislike them. There are some friendships made and some rivalries (a memorable quote: “People like me…bitch.”). This will make it more emotional as shit hits the fan into the second act when the blood begins to flow in challenges that take on an elaborate, almost Saw franchise fashion. It also kind of reminds me of Cube (1997).

Again, as a student of media, I find it equally fascinating when the story focuses on the audience, the “Perez Hilton” kind of snarky webcasts making puns about deaths (e.g., “How can you take selfies without arms?”), and the CNN type of newscasts and interviews. As each kill naturally gets more gruesome, in some ways, like Dog Bites Man! (1992), it puts the film viewer as a participant in the action similar to the web show’s audience. Are we sitting there enjoying the painful killing of this octet, one by one? Most likely, yes. You know there are going to be those who sit in front of their large HD screens and pump fists screaming “yes!” while the other hand holds the beer (or popcorn).

Yes, I realize that this is not reality, but does it inoculate us to real violence? That is a question that has seriously been asked in modern cinema since at least the 1980s (remember the “Video Nasties” situation in England, and the PMRC in the States?). I have no opinion one way or another, as I enjoy these kinds of films, but I also like to look at the sociological aspects, as well.

The Head Panda gives a twisted but accurate description of what society considers entertainment, amusingly using the Kardashians as an example of decline. But, as I said above, it predates that. Just look how many copies of the Faces of Death VHS sold (or was rented), and is even discussed now on many genre chat boards. On those very chat boards, people often request suggestions for the bloodiest, goriest, and most disturbing releases. Yes, I agree that there is a difference between reality and cinema magic, but shows like those I mentioned above, like “Fear Factor,” “Survivor,” and even those like “The Bachelor,” “Hell’s Kitchen,” “The Housewives of (Wherever),” and that nasty recent Ellen DeGeneres’ “Ellen’s Games of Games, has helped make violence and social interactions into entertainment. While meta-commentary in the film is explicit, it is also not preachy and stays off the soapbox, unlike my annotation.

And speaking of cinematic magic, the SFX is damn fine here if that is your thing, as it is mine. Lots of violence, torture (not in a focused, body horror kind of way), and missing or separated body parts. The acting in the film, for the most part, is quite good, with the standouts being Cat (Amanda House, aka musician Mandy Mouse) and especially scene stealer Nevin (Dayleigh Nelson, playing a Brit, but is from British Columbia).

My complaints are minimal and twofold: first, it was a tad long though the pacing of the kills is nicely distributed once they start; second, I found the sex scene later on a bit unbelievable considering both the circumstances and the conversation that preceded it. But both of these were not enough to take away from the story, which had more than a couple of interesting twists and turns to keep up the attention and enjoyment level. As for the social observations, well in this case, it actually adds to the story rather than bogging it down. This is a competent and fun thrill ride by sophomore feature filmmaker Lee.