The Mark of Indifference.

Continuing on with some CanCon adorning my VHS shelves, we move onto the 1985 twin thriller Mark of Cain.

Long estranged identical twins Sean & Michael (both played by Robin Ward) are on a collision course reunion, when the latter escapes from an insane asylum.

Director Bruce Pittman is a Canadian institution. Most would know him for his well-liked film Prom Night II, but he actually has a storied history in the biz. Seeing his name of the coverbox is pretty much the reason I picked it up from whichever swap meet I acquired it. Seeing the Vestron and Brightstar logos come up after popping the tape in was also a good sign...

However, this... isn't the best. And it had nothing to do with the fact my tape was so washed out I could barely read the credits. I couldn't help feeling that this movie was basically Blood Rage, but with all the good parts taken out. And the fact the brothers were named Shawn & Michael, I kept expecting someone to get HBK'd. Seriously though, the characters say the name “Michael” more than The Lost Boys and Halloween put together.

Speaking of Halloween, Mark of Cain has one of the worst psychiatrists I've seen ever. Dr. Clifford (Antony Parr) possesses no skills, OBSERVATIONAL or otherwise, and serves no purpose to the plot whatsoever. Then, there's the neighbour Otto (August Schellenberg) who is apparently good friends with Sean, but always has a look on his face like someone shit in his poutine. No notes for Wendy Crewson, who plays the hapless wife, Dale. She is lovely.

 

Murder in Space 4 LIFE!

As a movie, it was fine enough to keep me awake, but it's a but thin. It's weird that the big plot point that would normally happen in the climax of a movie, happens half-way in. So we're left wondering, are we not supposed to know there was a switcheroo here? And the whole way it gets found out - even if it wasn't planted like Chekov's dominant hand - was like something you'd see in a Columbo rerun. Unfortunately, this means the third act is reallllly drawn out. On the bright side, Mark of Cain is hella short at barely eighty minutes so no harm done.

This is as exciting as it gets, folks. It's 5 minutes in.

But hey, maybe this is your bag. If you are looking for aggressive apple eating, countless scenes of people walking around dark hallways and lots of decidedly random religious imagery then Mark of Cain is for you. Otherwise, I would stick with Hello Mary Lou.

Final Girl turns 20!

It is absolutely crazy to me, but one of my favorites corners of the Web, the Final Girl blog, turns 20 today! 

Stacie Ponder and her blog were a huge inspiration to me and a large reason why I started pounding the keys myself here at The Horror Section. Her interactive posts like the Final Girl Film Club kept me active in the early days, breaking up all my gushing over VHS coverbox art. 

The best part? She didn't just let this huge milestone roll by unannounced, No! With Gaylords of Darkness sadly defunct and, possibly even more sadly, The Detective and the Log Lady Twin Peaks (re)watch podcast approaching its end, there was about to be a Briefcase Woman-sized hole in the pod-verse.

But have no fear, Final Girl After Dark is here!

Congrats Stacie!

In Canada, No One Can Hear You Scream.

Hey all! I'm back with another VHS. With Canada Day approaching, it was enough of a kick in the butt to do a few Canuxploitation posts leading up to one of my favourite holidays. This one is a title I've been meaning to crack into for some time now, Bill Fruet's 1987 creature feature, Blue Monkey.

The denizens of a hospital attempt to survive a viral outbreak caused by a giant insect. A doctor (Gwynyth Walsh), a cop (Steve Railsback) and an entomologist (Don Lake) must race against time before everyone is infected.

It was not a surprise to see the title card "INSECT" appear onscreen, as Blue Monkey always seemed like an odd title, even with my only cursory knowledge of the movie. The movie itself is amusing, but I have to admit a lot of the appeal comes from how Canadian it is. Forgive me for blathering on about the CanCon, but as a kid who grew up in the eighties, there are so many homegrown faces here. Joe Flaherty, John Vernon and pretty much the entire fucking cast of The War of the Worlds TV show. It was also not lost on me that Blue Monkey featured not only the Nabob Coffee guy (Michael J. Reynolds) but also the Contact C guy (Don Lake). I mean, this movie even had Sarah Polley in it for Christ sake.

Sarah Polley, already a veteran.

But I digress, after some setup and the introduction of what seems like a million characters, things do get going. Following the appearance of the hospital's "Laser Research" area, I was getting worried that we wouldn't get back to it, but thankfully Walsh & Railsback do eventually takes turns waving the laser gun around. It is delightfully awkward and the kind of stuff that makes my heart sing.

Lasers make everything better.

Let's be real though. Despite things getting set in motion by an exotic plant - and several B-plots involving boozy bitties, unsupervised sick kids, and a pregnant woman with her overzealous husband - it does become apparent by the third act that this is yet ANOTHER Alien clone. And that's fine, but Blue Monkey is just not as interesting as Fruet's genre-bending Killer Party or his bonkers psychic snake joint Spasms. Oh, I almost forgot the probable nod to The Thing, as well?

I am, of course, sympathetic to its budget restraints, but even I can't overlook the fact I was largely watching Pertwee Dr. Who level creature effects get waved around in front of the camera. I mean, they didn't even deliver on the bug I thought FOR SURE was going to rip itself out of the pregnant lady's vagina - ala Humanoids From The Deep. 

In closing, I will ask you this. Is there anything more Canadian than having inebriation be the cure to the virus? Save perhaps injecting poutine drenched with maple syrup directly into their veins?