Analog Nightmares.

Happy Friday the 13th everyone! To celebrate, I have a review of perhaps the most anticipated horror film of 2012, the new anthology V/H/S. I was very fortunate to get into the sold out show that was part of Toronto After Dark's summer screening series. The second part of a double-bill with Detention (review), the buzz around V/H/S was enough to pack The Bloor on a Wednesday night.

A group of petty criminals are hired to steal a particular VHS tape from an old house. Finding many when they arrive, they start playing them and discover the horrors within.

So yeah, V/H/S was a good time. It didn't knock my socks off, but I didn't dislike any of the segments, which is kind of a rarity when it comes to horror anthologies. The wraparound story by Adam Wingard  was functional, but I feel he could've done more with it. It started to fall apart toward the end, but it's forgivable because the meat of the project was the short films.

I liked the first short, “Amateur Night” by David Bruckner, quite a bit. This cautionary tale should be made required viewing at frat houses everywhere. The make up effects work was a big highlight and the story thankfully goes further than the jump scare spoiled in the trailer. Hannah Fierman (pictured below) is the standout here. Not since Angela Bettis in May have I seen a better portrayal of the “quiet & weird” type.

Glenn McQuaid's story “Tuesday the 17th” clearly the weakest of the bunch. This is a shame because I'm a huge supporter of his 2008 debut I Sell The Dead and was really looking forward to seeing something new from him. This slasher-in-the-woods yarn had a very intriguing concept, but it was unfortunately populated by the most grating characters of the entire project, so giving two shits about what happened to them was a little hard. Even the gore seemed a little empty in this one.

“Second Honeymoon” was the easiest to identify with its director. With its mix of dialogue and atmosphere, its style is fundamentally Ti West.  A lot of people I saw it with were not happy with how it ended, but that shouldn't be surprising, as finales have never been his strong suit. I didn't have a problem with it myself.

In fact, it was Joe Swanberg's bit that had an ending I wasn't fond of. As the trailer sets up, “The Sick Thing That Happened To Emily When She Was Young” begins as a solid creepfrest with two characters talking over Skype. Then, just when this “ghost” story hits its fever pitch, it goes for the gross out and pretty much negates all it had built.

And therein lies my only real beef with V/H/S. It lathers on the gore at almost every opportunity, which is fine - I love blood & guts as much as the next guy - but that is not how the hype machine had pitched this movie to me. It was billed as scary, and it rarely was. The aesthetic is very similar to that of the shower-inducing Poughkeepsie Tapes, but V/H/S never gets anywhere near as disturbing. It may not be a fair comparison because one is a feature and one is vignettes, but I just wanted to point out that it can be done.

Lastly, there's the segment from Radio Silence entitled “10/31/98”. Who would've thought that put up against all these indie horror darlings, this practically unknown filmmaker collective from L.A. would come up with the best short. The group of drunken buffoons in this short are not nearly as annoying as the ones in Bruckner's, and I had fun watching them goof off as they walked around this seemingly abandoned haunted house. This short featured some genuine freak-out moments with wonderfully implemented visual effects. This was the perfect short to end on because by this point, the movie was getting a little long in the tooth.

V/H/S is not the saviour of horror that some are hailing it as, but it's certainly entertaining. If producer Brad Miska & company were to cull together some more filmmakers to make a V/H/S 2, I would definitely be onboard, as this analog conceit fits the anthology medium very well.

Coverbox Memoriam.

After partaking in Final Girl's Film Club a few days ago, it got me thinking inward about things I haven't done here in a while.  I then realized it had been ages since I had done a Coverbox Wednesday. About two years to the day, in fact. Originally, the series was created to document the inventory of my old video store, but with that now squared away, I see no reason to not expand beyond those confines.

I was sad to hear of the recent passing of actor Ernest Borgnine.  He died in Los Angeles this past Monday at the age of 95. He was a prolific character actor, who seemed at home in any medium and lived through several eras of film and television. Here below, are the films for which I best remember him.

Maniac!

When I happened to look in on Final Girl last week, I was elated to see that she'd announced another Film Club selection. Not only that, but the film Stacie had chosen this time around was;

Maniac is of special importance to me because it is tied to one of my earliest video store memories. There I was, maybe eight or nine years old, standing with my father in the checkout line, when I looked up and saw this menacing poster tacked up above the doorway.

It took me a few seconds to realize that what he was carrying in his left hand wasn't a mop, but a woman's scalp! Of course, rather than be horrified, I had the same reaction I had to most things of a grisly nature at that age. Fascination.

However, it would be many years before I would finally get to watch Bill Lustig's sweat-streaked slasher. Shortly after that first encounter, Maniac just fell off the map, or at least within the proximity of my limited reach at the time. Before downloads, DVD or even big box rentals stores, you basically went to your local store and rented whatever they had. For whatever reason, there were a handful of titles that never made it to the suburbs. I was almost of age, when I finally saw The Evil Dead for the first time, for instance. Anyway, Maniac will always stick with me as having one of the most iconic coverboxes of the home video era. And what a bonus that, when I actually did get my hands on it, did not disappoint.

Joe Spinnell in Maniac

Despite being released in 1980, smack dab in the middle of the American slasher boom, I think it stands out for a few reasons. First, while most slashers concerned themselves with masked assailants, Maniac's Joe Spinnell put a human face on the killer. Apart from all the heavy breathing, moaning and inner-dialogues, Spinnell as Frank Zito is a fairly functional member of society. If you never saw the inside of his apartment, you'd think him a quiet and well mannered man. While I will say that love interest Anna (Caroline Munro) is perhaps one of the most trusting individuals I've ever seen in a horror flick, she had no immediate reason to run in the other direction either.

Caroline Munro & Joe Spinnell.

Secondly, Lustig doesn't confine his story to a summer camp or a small town, he gives his characters an entire city to toil around in. He, much like Larry Cohen, makes New York City an integral part of his movies. You can almost smell 42nd Street.

Then, there is the tone. This is not played tongue-in-cheek, as Maniac is gritty, sleazy and mean. Some of the cat-and-mouse sequences have real intensity, the most pitch perfect being the subway sequence. I'm sure those with a keen eye noticed that director Alex Aja – who coincidentally produced the upcoming Maniac remake – cribbed the bathroom scene for his own debut, High Tension.

Lastly, and perhaps most obviously, is the gore provided by Tom Savini. Some of the best work of his career, including blowing his own head off with a shotgun, is in this film. You will see Maniac featured prominently in any self-respecting gorehound's collection.

Cracker Jack. The snack four out of five serial killers prefer.

Many thanks to Final Girl for giving me the extra push to post this overdue love letter to Maniac.

DKTM 149

Good morning all.  I hope that everyone is finding someway to beat the heat out there.  Here's what I've got for you this week.

Fantastic Fonts.

The other day, I found this wonderful post by graphic designer/blogger Christian Annyas about movie poster fonts.  He stated, and rightly so, that horror film marketers these days all seem to use the same font - apparently one called Trajan - and no longer try to be creative with their logos.  I'm inclined to agree, as it echoes the song I've been singing about the difference between VHS and DVD packaging.  Anyway, in his post he lined up dozens of examples from the golden age of home video to illustrate his point.  Take these for example;

Some of the best ones where those that used graphics within their logo, like so.

To see Annyas' full post, click here.

Run For Your Lives.

I recently discovered there is a 5k race event coming to Toronto in September.  That is not unique, but there happens to be one extra element added.

Now, I had heard about these kinds of organized events popping up in the UK and the US, but now there is one in my neck of the woods.  I'm not going to pretend that I'm actually going to get off my ass and run it, but it's good to know that the business is expanding. For more info on the race, go here.

Speaking of real-life zombie scenario experiences I just heard about this Indiegogo campaign called Z World Detroit.

In theory, this sounds great, but in reality it seems like a logistical nightmare.  How do I put this delicately?  How are these organizers going to watch over two hundred acres?  I highly doubt that these areas are completely deserted and don't think they'd be tickled to relocate just because a few people want to play make believe.  I had this vision of Ol' Detroit from Robocop pop in my head when I saw the footage above.  Anyway, good on 'em.  I wish them luck in their endeavour.  For more info on the campaign, click here.

Just Two More Weeks.

The Fantasia Film Festival announced another block of genre titles that will soon be steamrolling through downtown Montreal.  Here below are a bunch of trailers of upcoming titles.  For the full press release via Twitch, click here.

The festival begins July 19th, and I'll be there for the first five days to catch all the action, so stay tuned.

Les Diaboliques (#16)

The next film I watched on the Time Out Best 100 Horror List, was the 1955 French film noir Les Diaboliques.

An evil headmaster’s wife and mistress conspire to kill him, but the plan goes awry when his body disappears.

My knowledge of films from the fourties & fifties is rather limited, so perhaps the best thing about the Time Out London list is that I’m ingesting a lot of these old silver screen classics.  The minimalist nature of these films is reacquainting me with the fundamentals of filmmaking.  That is not to say that similar minded films do not still exist today, but the type of storytelling utilized in this film is certainly no longer commonplace.

Les Diaboliques - or Diabolique as it known domestically - is a wonderfully crafted thriller.  I can understand why Alfred Hitchcock pursued the rights to this story – director Henri-Georges Clouzot apparently beat him out by mere hours – because it falls right into his oeuvre.  It is a film that is almost entirely dialogue driven and the three main characters are simplistic, yet wholly engaging.  Michel Delasalle (Paul Meurisse) is instantly unlikable and you immediately believe that the two women, who by all accounts should be bitter enemies, would conspire to off him. By herself, the frail and sheepish Christina (Véra Clouzot) would’ve never acted on her impulses, but combined with Nicole’s (Simone Signoret) cool and calculating nature, they become a deadly pair.

Véra Clouzot (left) & Simone Signoret in Diabolique.

In addition to the narrative, I thought the film was visually impressive, as well.  The use of shadow, especially in the last act was highly effective and that shot in the bathroom during the climax was one for the ages. 

I am sad that I spoiled the ending for myself by seeing the 1996 remake when it came out in theatres.  That was during the tail end of my obsession with Sharon Stone, so that’s all I have as an excuse.  I love the closing title card of Diabolique imploring the viewers to keep the ending to themselves

Translation: Don't be a dick and spoil the movie.

Now, as I said, I haven’t seen a lot of films from this era, but this one seemed very risqué.  Seeing Clouzot walk around in a very thin nightgown, coupled with themes of domestic abuse and implied statutory rape were not things I was expecting.  I am aware that the whole essence of film noir was a backlash toward the popular sugarcoated fare of the day, but I was still taken a little aback.

Diabolique is another check mark in the win column for the Time Out List.  What's next on the roster?  Well,  I do believe it will be Robert Wise’s 1963 flick The Haunting.

Starved For Help.

The second episode of The Walking Dead game FINALLY released last Friday and I devoured it like a, well… you know.

With Starved For Help, Telltale continues its compelling gaming experience, proving that the first episode was no fluke. The story remains engaging, the characters are all impeccably voiced and you feel that your actions really affect the outcome. I find myself continually impressed by the level of immersion here. There was always an underlying sense of dread, even while just walking around camp. I never knew when I would be called upon to make a split second decision that would have repercussions down the line. Perhaps most surprising though, is the relationship this game has built between your character (Lee) and Clementine, the young girl he met at the beginning of the game.

Lee (right) and Clementine.

There is a real bond between these two. I find that, more often than not, the decisions I make are based on her welfare, and not my own. It’s very strange that a video game could make me act this way, but maybe reading ninety-plus comics of Rick looking out for Carl have rubbed off on me. I think the moment this was hammered home was during one quiet moment where Lee is pushing Clementine on a swing, and this wonderful piece of music returned from the previous episode. It gave me chills, I'm not gonna lie.

Thanks to SgtCortez15 for uploading this!

The art-style is still great, and there was one particular sequence during the climax – one which I died a maddening amount of times before I figured out what I was actually supposed to do, or rather, not do – that looked fantastic.

The jerky transitions and clunky controls are still a problem, but I have learned to accept them. I guess the only other point of contention is how long we have to wait between episodes. Two months between chapters that can be completed in one sitting is excessive. Wouldn’t it have made more sense for Telltale to have the majority of the game done before releasing it out into the world? If I sound frustrated, it is only because I am really enjoying the product.

Oh well, here begins the long wait until episode three.

Summer After Dark.

The first of two Toronto After Dark's summer double bills kicked off last week. I'd already seen Juan of the Dead at TIFF last year, but was very much looking forward to Nicholas McCarthy's haunted house indie The Pact.

Annie (Caity Lotz) returns to her childhood home after her mother's death, only to find that it may be haunted.

I knew relatively nothing about this movie going in, and was pleasantly surprised. TAD continues its burgeoning reputation for programming solid indie genre flicks, as The Pact is just that. It is a mix of many influences, but never too overtly to feel like a copy. During the director's video intro before the film, he gushed about his love for the works of John Carpenter and Dario Argento and one can clearly see that within.

This film shifts several times, but is never jarring. The first act, focusing on the relationship between two sisters, reminding me a lot of Absentia, then drifted into a supernatural mystery using atmospheric scares mostly reserved for the J-horror set. Then, it one-eightied again, as the back half of the movie emulated that of a giallo. This delighted me as there are far too few directors that revel – and I mean revel, as in going beyond aesthetic and actually using the constuct – in this type of film anymore. I think what may have really elevated this film for me though, is the extra layer it adds during its climax. In true giallo fashion, the logic wanes, but in the context of the film I think it's extremely effective.

Caity Lotz in The Pact.

This film is also incredibly well shot, with great performances all around. Lotz's portrayal of Annie really keeps the viewer grounded during the more paranormal moments and it was good to see Caspar Van Dien wander in as a grizzled detective, as well.

If The Pact has a negative, it is the last two minutes of the film. It feels very tacked on, and clearly derived from the director feeling he had to close with some sort of “boo” ending. It was painfully unnecessary, and ends the picture on a down note. This doesn't however, ruin the film as a whole and McCarthy should be very proud of what he has created here.