Review: The Ladies of the House

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2017

Images from the Internet

The Ladies of the House       

Directed by John Stewart Wildman

Wildworks Productions / Soaring Flight Productions / Femmewerks Productions /

Gravitas Ventures / MVD Visual

93 minutes, 2014 / 2016

www.wildworksproductions.com

www.MVDVisual.com

I have wanted to see this film for a while now, so I’m glad for the opportunity. I have only been to a strip club once for a bachelor party, and it seemed like the only one who was more bored than me were the strippers. But this film is another kettle of fish, more because of what they do at home than on a stage.

In this story, three bros go to a club to celebrate a birthday. Two brothers, the birthday boy Kai (RJ Hanson) and Jacob (Gabriel Horn), who don’t really want to be there, and their macho moron pal Derek (Samrat Chakrabarti), the latter of whom refers to the trio as “Cowboys and Indian.” Yeah, the deep, sensitive type.

Michelle Sinclair

During the performance of one of the strippers, Ginger (Michelle Sinclair, aka real-life adult star Belladonna), Derek slaps her butt, and then pressures the brothers to follow her home, where she shares a house with three other dancers. His intention is to pay her for sex as a present to Kai. The banter between Derek and Ginger on the front steps is nothing short of cringe worthy, especially if you have any social or moral conscious. Yeah, this is a genre film, but it made me feel uncomfortable and squeamish, so the writers (husband-and-wife team Justina Walford and the director Wildman) successfully hit the mark with that one. It’s obviously meant to do just that, so when they get into the depths of the story, it’s not like the guys are innocent flies in a web (even the mentally challenged Kai has a bit of “Lennie Small” from Of Mice and Men in him). Ten minutes in, and I’m looking forward to the comeuppance, especially Derek’s.

Of course, things go awry, and when the other women come home, that’s when the second act begins and the picture kicks up into a much higher gear. These are certainly not women you want to trifle with, that is for certain, as the guys learn, one by one, becoming prisoners.

Brina Palencia

As time goes on this tragic start leads to a revenge-fuelled carnage. But I’m getting ahead of myself. It comes down to the three bros against three of the women, being the strange and childlike Crystal (the very cute Brina Palencia, who has sort of a Jill Banner vibe from 1967’s Spider Baby), the determined Getty (Melodie Sisk, rocking the look of the muscle-making woman in the “We Can Do It” poster), and the “matriarch” leader, Lin (Farah White). While mad, they are more cunning than reactionary. They have obviously dealt with men in such a fashion before, as they have a calm routine way of… dismantling.

With the film having a catch phrase like “They’re dying to have for your dinner,” well, it’s no surprise what the end result is supposed to be (won’t say one way or another what is the actual ending, so don’t worry). The cannibal women subgenre is not a new one, such as The Cannibal Girls (1973), the goofy-yet-fun The Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death (1989), and the even more recent Model Hunger (2016) and The Neon Demon (2016). There is also the stripper horror subgenre, with the likes of Zombie Strippers (2008) and Stripperland (2011), but this is something else. Despite there being a history – albeit small – in this subgenre, this is a pretty original storyline. That being said, there is a very nice gender-reversal nod to an iconic bit from the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974).

Melodie Sisk

One of the things I like about the film is that while it’s technically not a horror film, relying more on terror and suspense, it certainly does not shy away from a bit of violence and gristle here and there (well done by Oddtopsy SFX, led by indie effects maven Marcus Koch); when it does, because it is not the main focus, it comes out as a bit more shocking and welcomed, without wearing out its welcome.

                                       

The four female leads are spot on, with just the right amount of sexiness (minimal nudity) and cold-hearted determination. They are to be feared, but without losing their humanity; that is, even considering their dietary regimen before these tools enter their lives and abode. And then there’s Piglet (Frank Mosley).

Yet through the carnage and chopping and caging and slicing and hacking, somehow, on more than one level, this remains… a love story?! This shows some solid directing by an ex-actor of genre films himself (Wildman starred in the amazingly titled and even more gloriously goofy cult classic Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, in 1988). The lighting, the angles, and the gore, all look and feel glorious.

Farah White

The original ending to the film is included in the extras as an alternative deleted scene, but I have to say, the non-linearity (or, as the director might have said, lineerity) of the final product is much more subtle and effective, and fits in well with certain aspects of the film throughout.

There are some quite enjoyable extras, such as a few deleted scenes, which were right to be deleted as they would have changed the tone of the film (the finger one, especially), yet they were not like many of the deletes I have seen that were just a waste of time; rather it was an interesting choice and it helped me appreciate some aspects of the film because they were excised.

The other is a series of seven interview segments with members of the cast and crew – both singular and in groups – that lasts between three and 13 minutes a pop. Most of it was interesting. While it didn’t change anything in knowing more about the story, that’s okay, because it’s also nice to see the cast as themselves. I would have liked a bit more anecdotes about the filming, but again, they were enjoyable and had no trouble sitting through all of them.

This is hardly what one would necessarily call a date movie, depending of course on whom you are relating, but for the genre fan, it was an entertaining film (even with the uncomfortable ants-in-the-pants early scene described above). Considering it was the first feature directorial by Wildman, that is even more amazing. If you decide to do another film, my suggestion is keep the same lighting, cinematography and editing people, as they helped relate your vision so spot on. They did an amazing job.

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Review: Killer Waves

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2017

Images from the Internet

Killer Waves                   

Produced, directed and edited (among others) by James Balsamo

Acid Bath Productions

90 minutes, 2017

www.acidbathproductions.org

www.facebook.com/killerwavesmovie

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/KillerWaves

Most directors have a shtick. Some call it auteur, but when you’re dealing those who tend to dispense comedic horror, each has their own thing, be it gender politics, absurdity with a sharp wink towards its own genre, or relying on a body of knowledge about the history of horror, directors have their strong points. For James Balsamo, it’s – for lack of a better word – the pun. Hell, he even has a book out of this kind of word play (Total Pun-ishment, HERE).

Balsamo’s film are self-depreciating (he gets beaten up in just about every one, usually by some heavy metal musician doing a cameo); he is the trickster, the hustler, and the – okay – pun-isher. And that’s exactly why he has so many fans.

I love it when killers have a name. Sure Meyers, Kruger and Voorhees are great, but I like the ones with designations like Ghostface, The Subway Vigilante, or the Shropshire Strangler. For this film, we are dealing with the Unholy Diver, someone dressed in a full and antique-style deep-sea diving outfit, including a Robot Monster-like full mask. But instead of what should be seen through the helmet, there is a skull face.

This is a slasher crime comedy that is a culmination of the direction Balsamo has been driving towards in his previous releases, all in the fast lane, in that his work is consistently inconsistent. What I mean by that is there are some constants, and not all of them are written in stone (though many are). As Desi once said, “Let me ‘splain”: With the possibly arguable exception of one (I Spill Your Guts, 2012), all of his six features have been loony comedies, some more outrageous than others, but all of them somewhat over the top. That descriptor is, of course, not meant as an insult.

Also, there is a lot of gratuitous female nudity (usually upper body, but not always), blood and gore (including the red stuff always pouring from mouths), a large body count, body parts (or visceral matter) separating from the victim, the aforementioned puns, and the cameos. Balsamo goes to many, many genre conventions and gets either musicians (sometimes solo, sometimes the entire band) or genre cult idols (such as Joel M. Reed) to do brief stints in the film, usually on the street, in an alley, or a hallway. Hell, if he doesn’t have any idea what to do with them, they just riff and he puts them in somewhere; most of the time, they beat him up, or say nasty things about his character. Yes, that is another thing, Balsamo is nearly almost always the lead in his films which, again, I don’t really have a problem with that.

Each film has a growing number of actors who appear regularly, such as the wonderful Carmine Capobianco and Genoveva Rossi; hopefully Chloe Berman joins this list. Then there’s a guy named Frank Mullen who always amuses me, even when he looks like he’s reading cue cards while doing his scenes. His spiel is to go into an angry, curse-filled rant, and I always cheer when he does.

Then there are, again, the puns. Beyond the excruciating ones during the dialogue that make Freddy’s look like Shakespeare (okay, maybe Robert Frost…), even the character names are jokes, such as Katie Crest (get it, a film about waves…), Brian Blackwater, Billy Bermuda, Blue Crush Vicky, and so forth. There are some snarky names as well, such as there both being a Vicky and a Vicki (“I’m Vicki with an ‘I’” is how she introduces herself), and Jenny and a Jenni (“I’m Jenni with an ‘I’”, I kid you not).

The loose (very loose) story is centered around the Killer Waves Surf Contest. The Unholy Diver (I guessed wrong at who it was for a while) is murdering the surfers – and nearly anyone else who crosses his path – in part to make a surfboard make of human flesh; the end products is one of the goofiest things you’ll ever see…again, not an insult. There are any number of ways of dispatching the victims, from various blades to electric eels, and so forth.

If you are familiar with Balsamo’s earlier films, there are a few self-references to his work, such as a mention of an Acid Bath (his production company), and someone else wearing a torn version of a Cool as Hell tee. This could be a drinking game. I’m up to my fourth glass of Lemon Ginger Echinacea drink from Trader Joe’s. Yeah, I’m a wild spirit.

While this was being filmed, I know that Balsamo (and his brother) were in the process of moving from Long Island, NY, to California, and it’s pretty obvious to tell it was recorded on both coasts. I mean, there are shots on a beach or street with palm trees, mixed with scenes obviously on the streets of Manhattan; during a key cop investigation scene at a dock, the Park City ferry (going between Bridgeport and Port Jefferson, Long Island) passes behind them. Made me smile.

As for inconsistent, well, the story is more of a series of vignettes and bits rather than a cohesive narrative. The core remains the same, of the events surrounding the surfing contest, but each bit (and murder) is more hodgepodge scenes than a storyline. Much of the movie could be a series of short films ranging from a few seconds to a few minutes. Occasionally this can be confusing if not distracting, especially with the improvisational feel of the overall product, but somehow it manages to work. Everything that seems a bit wonky is part of its charm; I don’t really know how to explain it more than that.

If one were to see just this film, it might be a bit of a headscratcher, but in the overall Balsamo canon, if one is familiar with his style and work, it’s more of the inconsistent consistency charm that I was discussing before, just more so.

The puns are cool as hell, the blood and gore graphic, the cameos superb, the nudity is nice, and the acting is, well, as these are mostly non-professional actors or winging it off the cuff in some alleyway, it’s adequate if not over-the-top. It definitely works, and this is fun all the way through, but I honestly would like to see more focus on a cohesive storyline. That being said, while it is surface level that never digs too deep in thought or tone, it’s still bloody good amusement.

Review: After

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2017

Images from the Internet

After                                      

Directed by Ryan Smith

Seabourne Pictures / Quite Quick Productions / Magnetic Dreams /

M.O. Pictures / MVD Visual

90 minutes, 2012 / 2017

www.facebook.com/aftermovie

www.movisual.com

www.MVDVisual.com

When I first heard the title of this horror thriller, I was honestly a-feared that it might be one of those post-rapture Left Behind dreck kinds of things. Considering our society is being currently run and overrun by people who think the earth only 6000 years old and probably flat not only makes that a real possibility, but also, puh-leeeze. Thankfully, I was wrong, Amen.

The film starts off calmly enough, with two people sitting on a bus, being the only passengers. They only start to get to get introduced to each other (she’s really not into him), though they find out they live a few blocks from each other, when the bus crashes (off-camera).

When she awakes in her own bed, she heads off to work at the hospital and finds she’s the only one there in the entire building. Soon she realizes it’s not just there, but the entire town. She finds the dude, who is apparently in the same situation, so they go searching for answers together.

This may sound familiarly like the 1964 “The Twilight Zone” episode written by Earl Hammer Jr., “Stopover in a Quiet Town,” but that is where the similarity ends. Luckily, Jason Parish and director Ryan Smith’s story takes a different tack from that episode into something pretty unique, albeit familiar, as it does seem more like something Stephen King might take to write in about 800 pages.

While searching through their small town, secrets of their past will come to light, giving clues to how to possibly get out of the situation. They do figure out pretty quickly what is the outcome of the mystery, but not the how to beyond it. That’s what the plot is for, of course.

George (Steven Strait) is a film projectionist who draws comic books on the side, which he has done from his youth. Ana (Karolina Wydra, from “True Blood” and “House”; her look reminds me a bit of Andrea Marcovicci) is a nurse who dreams of being a fantasy writer. Well, first of all, that makes a strong combination if they pitch their tents together going forward. I know a writer who recently married a comic artist (Hey, JD and Kris!), and their co-work is phenomenal. But I digress…

As their bodies flash back to a time when they were children in the same town of Pearl, they watch themselves on the same day of consequential events, and try and figure out the clues. Meanwhile, the town is surrounded by a wall of smoke that starts to tighten its grasp, giving them just a few days to work it all out.

When they are in the present with the clouds looming, the film has a blue-hued, drab, colorless look to it. When they have moments in the past, viewing themselves, friends and relations (especially her aunt, played by character actor Sandra Lafferty, who you will probably recognize from The Hunger Games or the Johnny Cash bio-pic Walk the Line), the colors are bright. This reminds me a bit of the Richard Matheson 1988 novel, What Dreams May Come, where Purgatory is similarly gray.

Filmed in a few towns, all with two hours of Birmingham, it makes sense that this would be hellish. Okay, that’s kind of an inside joke as one of my best friends just moved to that state from Brooklyn; I really don’t have an opinion.

There is a strong fantasy element running throughout the picture, even beyond the mysterious flashbacks and literal encircling black cloud hanging over them. The two examples I’ll share is a magical wooden door just outside the evil cloud ring with a key that needs to be found, to a smoke monster that longs to kill the two that is on a chain that’s half a mile long before, they figure out how to get in the doorway.

                                                                                                                      

Let’s get a bit to the nitty gritty of it. The smoke monster, as it roams around the city hunting them, looks kinda cool but definitely has a digital effect to its movement. That being said, when shown in close-up, it’s great. There isn’t much blood throughout (i.e., less then you’d see in a typical television crime drama), but that’s okay because this is more story-oriented.

Being story-driven rather than effects-focused (not that there aren’t SFX, such as the cloud and monster) was a smart move. This brings the person-ability of the two characters more to the forefront, making us care about them. After (no pun intended) seeing so many films filled with blood and guts in graphic detail, it’s nice to see one that is more simplistic in its approach, relying more on what is happening than how it is happening, if that makes any sense.

Except for some trailers to other films (not this one), there are no extras, but I do have one question, and one complaint (what can I tell ya, I’m crotchety). First, the question: what happened to the bus driver after the accident, who is never seen nor mentioned later? It would have been cool if he was the smoke monster, but that’s never really put out there. The complaint is that the incidental music by Tyler Smith is just way too overwrought and emotional Lifetime Television sappy orchestration.

This film was a bit of a eye-opener to me. I didn’t know what to expect from the name or cover, but it certainly came as a pleasant and enjoyable surprise. And there is a bit after the credits, for those who watch those things, as I do.

Review: Bleed

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2017

Images from the Internet

Bleed                                     

Directed and edited by Tripp Rhame

Spitfire Studios / Gravitas Ventures / MVD Visual

82 minutes, 2016

www.MVDVisual.com

In an attempt to reach for some originality these days, some features try to combine a bunch of different subgenres together to create something new. Sometimes it fails to work in any of the classifications, let alone a new one. On the other hand, the rare one comes along that takes you by surprise by giving you something that catches your eye and raises an eyebrow.

Bleed definitely falls into that latter group. Director Tripp Rhame takes us on a shady side of rural Atlanta, including a mysterious Civil War-era house (with a round tower – I love those) and a burned down prison, which is actually a real place giving credence to the story and a bona fide creepy vibe, amid its trash and graffiti’d walls. This is especially true when the cast leaves the roofless upper floor, and goes down to the level of the relatively still intact cells.

Couple A

So, a couple (Sarah and Matt, aka Couple A) who are expecting a baby shortly, unknowingly move to a rural area in the south that has some The Wicker Man / Rosemary’s Baby / Grave Encounters vibe secret Satanistic-type sect happening. They are joined by her best friend and new beau (Bree and Dave, or Couple B), and her wayward brother and new (to Couple A) bohemian girlfriend (Eric and Skye: Couple C) for a weekend at the house. I have to say that this is one of the most beautiful cast overall I’ve seen in a while. Not only that, but each of the eight principles have a bubbling under career that is about to pop, and have made some noise in mainstream Hollywood and beyond.

Couple A is Chelsea Crisp (from “Fresh Off the Boat”) and Michael Steger (The Magnificent Seven remake), Couple B comprises Brittany Isibashi (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows) and Elimu Nelson (Love Don’t Cost a Thing), and Couple C is made of Lyndon Smith (“Parenthood”) and Riley Smith (“Frequency,” “True Blood,” “Nashville” and the “90210” remake). These are some heavy hitters. And if that wasn’t enough, the local scarred deputy is played by none other than David Yow, more commonly known as the lead singer of the punk band The Jesus Lizard.

As with most films about a group, even in their 30s, the males tend to be a bit on the tool side. One is a stoner who won’t listen when warned by his scared girlfriend, one keeps yelling “boo” and trying to scare his partner in the name of a joke after she asks him to stop, and the third is trying to control his partner through anger and guilt. I must add that on the level of most of the “asshole guys” genre paradigm goes, this one is relatively tame, but there were a few times when I said, out loud, “Really?!” at their behavior. The women are all relatively strong(er) characters – even with one being diagnosed as bi-polar – but part of their problem is that the guys just won’t heed their advice. To the Bro reading this, it’s true that part of the reason why the women in your life insist that they are right is because most of the time they are. If they say they need to leave, go with ‘em. Especially if you’re in this kind of situation… so, let’s continue on with the basic plot:

Rajinda Kala as the vengeful Kane

Learning that there is a prison somewhere in the vicinity that burned down with the inmates still inside in 1979, the men decide to check it out, bringing the women with them. There they run into spookies both of the deceased type and of the local yee-haw cult kind. While some of the horror is telegraphed so you see it coming, it still suffices to say that this is a genuinely creepy film, considering the amount of overused tropes that are employed, such as walking through creepy buildings with flashlights, which is wisely done in small doses at a time, and the torch is not the only light source, a pet peeve of mine (i.e., you can still see peripherally somewhat beyond the beam).

Have to say, the effects are top-notch and creepy as hell (with arguably one exception where the prosthetic didn’t adequately match the source person; not going to give away who), and my only real complaint is about the lighting, that it is a bit dark when we see the physical SFX, which makes it harder to appreciate the incredible handiwork it deserves (might want to back up a bit and use freeze-frame, as I did). There are both appliances and digital at work here, and it’s done quite well and worth the attention you should give it.

Couple C

As these are young but seasoned actors, it should come as no surprise that the method is superb. What’s nice about this kind of film is that the cast has experience, but are still not there yet in their careers where they are holding out for huge paychecks. Some have worked together before; plus, as we learn from the extras (more about that later), the three “couples” bonded and became good friends in the real world, and that camaraderie definitely shows in the final product. They are willing to take chances with their characters in security and trust with/in their fellow thespians.

Even with the few clichés and story parts that come as no surprise, again, this is a nice suspenseful piece that flew by, and has just the right amount of tension to keep you on your toes without becoming wearisome. It’s enjoyable throughout.

The extras are, essentially, a series of fun interviews lasting from five to ten minutes between the lead actors (sans one, though Yow is included to make up for it) and the director; however, there are two of Crisp, who is the lead.

What I find hard to believe is that this is director Rhame’s first feature. He’s been in the business for a while and has his own production company in Georgia. That learning experience shows in this final product. I’m certainly hoping that he continues creating films, and perhaps even gets some wider distribution, because if this is any indication, we have some great stories to watch ahead of us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2ZtMBCI2kQ