The Kindred (1987) @ CineFamily

Directed by: Stephen Carpenter & Jeffrey Obrow

Starring: Rod Steiger, Kim Hunter & David Allen Brooks

When I attend an art house revival cinema if there's one thing I desperately hope for above all else -- even more so than discovering a fantastic film -- it's that I'm about to have a one-of-a-kind movie experience. In my first visit to The CineFamily Theatre in Los Angeles to see the 80s horror gem The Kindred all the ingredients for such an experience were apparent immediately. A lively and talkative crowd. An exuberant pair of highly knowledgable programers. A cool screening room that felt more like a loungey basement replete with couches, theater seats with pillows for cushions and food n' drink stands between the armrests.

But then, we're informed that the night's screening would be plagued by technical difficulties in the form of a broken equipment, relegating our viewing to a single projector. Translation: we'd have to endure a five minute plus intermission after each reel concluded (or about every 20 minutes) so the projectionist could cue up the next one. Refusing to let this damper the event, the programmers turned this complication into that unique benefit that I'd craved upon arrival. After each reel, we would be treated to a short Q&A hosted by co-director Jeffrey Obrow, incorporating the cadre of crew members on-hand that included numerous visual effects artists, the co-writer and editor, the set nurse (?!) and even Obrow's sister (?!?). What resulted was something along the lines of live director's commentary albeit one with large gaps of silence. A very one-of-a-kind experience indeed. A few of the great bits this produced were:

- After receiving crappy direction, Rod Steiger ordered the entire crew to take a break so he could ask Obrow if he'd directed actors previously. Steiger reminded Obrow that he attended the Actor's Studio and then proceeded to teach Obrow a few things about providing actors with better motivation.

- Another recipient of bad direction, Kim Hunter stopped Obrow to similarly ask if he'd ever directed anything before this movie. She also reminded Obrow that she attended the Actor's Studio and tried to give him pointers on communication with actors.

- Obrow's sister stepped forward to recount the nightly dinners where her brother's anxiety would manifest routinely with a stressed-out statement like "I only have 27 days to turn a woman into a fish and I have no idea how I'm going to do it!" This same thing happened every night after, only difference being the countdown lessened by one day.

- One of the producers invested money in The Kindred based on a concept video/short film without ever reading the screenplay. Upon reading the script, this producer frantically called Obrow to say that they needed to find a real writer (i.e. - not Obrow, who also served as the writer) to fix the script. And thus, enter Joseph Stefano (Psycho, The Outer Limits).

- Obrow's father, who had no artistic background at all, read the script and offered a single note that greatly enlightened the writers and impacted the story. He suggested that one of the male characters should be changed to a female in order to create love triangle tensions for the main character and his love interest.

- And best of all, one of the F/X guys brought up The Kindred itself, one of the original puppets utilized during filming, to show off to the audience.

- Obrow also confirmed that Synapse would distribute the film on Blu-ray & DVD in 2012.

The Kindred concerns Dr. Amanda Hollins' (Kim Hunter) deathbed plea to her son, John (David Allen Brooks), to destroy all of her remaining lab notes that she didn't have time to dispose of before falling ill. She's worried that her work will fall into the wrong hands, like those of the diabolical Dr. Phillip Lloyd (Rod Steiger), a former colleague that does not have good intentions for Amanda or her research. In urging John, Amanda accidentally lets slip that John may have a brother named Anthony the no one else knew existed.

After arriving at his mother's secluded house, John soon discovers his illegitimate brother is actually real. Except, Anthony isn't really his brother, but rather a fish-like Lovecraftian beast created from John's cell tissue. Worse, John's monstrous sibling still stalks the premises and turns his anger toward John's companions, horrifically dispatching of them one-by-one. This leaves John with no other option than to kill this creature, but Dr. Lloyd locates them and will stop at nothing to preserve this monster to serve his own interests.

The Kindred was co-directed and co-written by Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter who double-teamed The Power and The Dorm That Dripped Blood prior to this film. If I were to pay compliment with a comparison, The Kindred feels like a poor man's Stuart Gordon film, which is a comparison I don't believe I've ever made in relation to other films and perhaps illuminates Carpenter and Obrow's weird nuance. With this in mind, the overriding characteristic is the sheer lunacy of the characters, effects and story. The filmmakers embrace a genuine B-movie quality, not manufacturing that through intentional campiness to conceal larger faults. This is a film that sees a pregnant watermelon give birth to a hideous monstrosity. The Kindred is like a mix tape of genre staples, utilizing elements from Re-Animator and It's Alive! as well as facets inspired by John Carpenter's The Thing, Alien and Dr. Moreau.

The incredible Rod Steiger leads the cast and honestly sets the tone in a lively performance. Steiger dances all over the fine line between devious and insane, making for a performance that's both playful and intense. In a fantasy world, I wouldn't have minded Steiger rocking a slight accent and changing his character to be Herbert West's mentor Dr. Hans Gruber in a quasi-spin off/prequel based on Re-Animator. That said, Steiger renders some curious line deliveries where it is difficult to tell if he's intentionally poking fun at the absurdity; it's as though Dr. Lloyd is daring others to acknowledge that he's going to kill them in typical scenes foreshadowing unavoidable deadly outcomes. But when it counts, Steiger always hits the correct notes, especially when dialing up his fervor, and he truly sells the final scene.

From the various Q&A segments, one great strength that I learned from Obrow's recollections is that he's a strong collaborator, constantly turning the reigns over to those with more expertise to shape the picture in certain areas. It is this approach that no doubt resulted in some of the best effects works I've seen in any horror film short The Thing. In an age of CG and watered-down visuals, it was refreshing to witness exquisite practical effects on display at this superb level.

Led by special makeup effects master Matthew W. Mungle, the crew does, in fact, quell Obrow's fears and gloriously pulls off stunning visual and makeup work in transforming a woman into a fish. At another juncture, Mungle's believable makeup forced many in our audience to cringe and look away when the creature's tentacle entered a woman's ear canal, bulged her through cheeks and face before exiting through a nostril. It came as little shock that Mungle would go on to win an Academy Award for his work on Bram Stoker's Dracula. The usage of the effects in the film are not only impressive, but they're well paced, starting small and steadily escalating through the duration until erupting by the film's conclusion.

Make or Break scene - Make all the way. I've gone back and forth between two scenes here, but I'll go with the final confrontation that sees Dr. Lloyd meet the monster over the fish woman transformation. It's a riveting confrontation that Steiger completely commits to and sells. There's also a cool effect where we see John's face revealed within the monster, which is something Obrow himself never realized until watching the film this latest time.

MVT - Matthew W. Mungle, easily. The Kindred is a lot fun without the masterful visual effects, but the effects are simply the best trait of the film and the driving force to searching this out.

Score - 7.5/10

Episode #145: Johnny Boogens

Welcome to another episode of the GGtMC, with possible audio issues causing us problems in the morning...the very early morning...

This week we have a Cinema de Bizarre show for you Gentle-minions, we cover Johnny Hamlet (1968) from director Enzo Castellari and The Boogens (1981) from director James Conway. We also cover some feedback and we get a report from Ben (aka dissolvedpet) on the Melbourne International Film Festival!!!

Direct download: Johnny_Boogens.mp3

Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com

Voicemails to 206-666-5207

Adios!!!

Who? (1973)

You may or may not have heard of Croatian music teacher, Frane Selak. A train on which he was a passenger derailed and pitched into a frigid river. Flying on a plane, a door blew off; He was sucked out of the plane and landed on a haystack. A bus he was aboard careened into a river. Two of his cars exploded in flames with him in them. He was hit by a bus. He jackknifed a car through a mountain road guardrail and landed on some tree branches. His car exploded hundreds of feet below. Then, in 2003, he won over one million dollars in a lottery. Mixed blessings, huh?

Whether you see Mr. Selak's luck as good or ill, it really can't compare to that of Dr. Lucas Martino (Joseph Bova) in Jack Gold's Who? (aka The Man With The Steel Mask). While in East Germany (this is before the power of Hasselhoff made the Berlin wall topple), Martino's car is run off the road and explodes. The East German doctors are able to save Martino by replacing most of his sensory organs with metal and robotics. They then release Martino back to the Americans, but before he can return as head of the Neptune Project, it must be established that this is, in fact, Martino. This is agent Sean Rogers' (Elliott Gould) task, and when he finds out that communist spymaster General Azarin (Trevor Howard) was involved in Martino's recovery, he becomes even more skeptical of Martino's identity. Now, Mr. Selak may have blown up a couple times and taken a few bad tumbles, but that's arguably better than being turned into a cyborg and having Elliott Gould on your ass.

Based on a 1958 novel by science fiction author Algis Budrys, Who? is set during the height of the Cold War. In 1973, the Vietnam War was at its apex, and though most Americans were hopeful for the success of "détente," many were still checking nightly for a "Red" under their bed. This innate distrust and anxiety over an imminent war with the USSR is what propels this movie forward on a narrative level. Rogers is the ultimate cynic, and even when everyone else is convinced of Martino's authenticity, he remains the sole holdout. Consequently, Gould plays Rogers with an icy aloofness, but you can see that he wants to trust Martino. Azarin's involvement, though, precludes this luxury.

On the technical end, the film is well-made, though the sets are spartan at best and utilitarian at worst. The few scenes of action are handled smoothly, if not particularly breathtakingly. The performances are all solid but not Oscar-worthy. It's unfortunate that the cyborg makeup is so poor. I kept thinking of Andy Kaufman in Heartbeeps with the puffy, Jô Shishido-esque cheeks. But this is a low budget film (produced by Barry Levinson, no less), and these are the constraints of that situation. Further, the film is not about being ostentatious and flashy. It wants to engage us on a more intellectual level, and it does so admirably.

The film is set up like a political thriller in the vein of The Manchurian Candidate or Three Days Of The Condor. However, aside from a couple of low-adrenaline action scenes (including an assassination attempt by thugs in a car bearing a very large red-and-white-checkered flag), the film is more melodrama than thriller. As a result, the audience becomes drawn in not by exhilaration but by the mystery of Martino. The viewer is teased into trying to outsmart the movie, to figure out if he is who he says he is before Rogers does, and it does a nice job of maintaining pace and interest in this way.

This bread trail, if you will, is laid down in the movie by the concept of the unreliable narrator. Whereas films like The Usual Suspects have deceitful onscreen characters, here it is the movie itself that is deceptive. The structure of the film bounces between the present situation, flashbacks to Martino's time behind the Iron Curtain, and flashbacks to Martino's memories themselves. Yet, the flashbacks, with only two noticeable exceptions, are not set off visually by the filmmakers. There are no dissolves, wipes, or wavy transitions. We are simply shown General Azarin and Dr. Korthu (Alexander Allerson) discussing Martino. We can't be absolutely certain that these are flashbacks, per se, because we have not established if Martino is Martino. Is the man in the bed Martino and the man sent back a mole? Is the man interrogated by Azarin Martino or a mole undergoing training? The film doesn't tip its hand in this regard until about the last quarter, but by then we've moved away from the Cold War angle of the film (though we're still intrigued by it). No, by this point, we've moved into the real theme of the film: identity.

It's been said that science fiction is the literature of change, and I suppose that statement can be interpreted socially or personally. The point is that the advancement of technology affects us as human beings, and good science fiction deals with these issues explicitly. Here, the same technology that saved Martino's life also makes him a suspect. Only Martino knows if he is Martino or not (or does he?), but without his face (and even in possession of Martino's right arm), he cannot be allowed to reclaim his life. This idea is very interestingly revealed in the scenes of Martino's personal memories. Gold employs POV camera techniques to be Martino's perspective as we watch events in his past. We are not allowed to look directly at Martino during these scenes. In fact, we never see what Martino looked like pre-accident at all. It raises the issue of what defines us as individuals. Certainly our outward appearance is unreliable and even events in our past can be retold by ones other than ourselves, but we know who we are at our core. Our individual viewpoints are unique. The quest for Martino's outside identity is ultimately the path by which Martino discovers who he is inside.

MVT: Joseph Bova does a great job with a difficult role. He is able to make us both believe in and distrust him, by turns, and portray a good deal of humanity under a lot of (bad) makeup. No small feat.

Make or Break: The "Make" is the scene when Martino goes to visit his former love, Edith (Kaym Tornborg). On the one hand, her reaction to Martino is supposed to supplant any misgivings we may have about his identity, but the actual content of the scene also gives us more reason to be suspicious. An elegantly complex scene.

SCORE: 7/10

DVD/Blu-Ray Picks Of The Week - 8/16/11

Samurai's Pick: THE KILLING (Region 1 Blu-Ray; Criterion)
Kubrick is my favorite film maker and this film is close to perfect in my opinion. Great performance from Sterling Hayden and possibly one of my favorite endings of all time. Don't even hesitate, just buy...seriously!!!

Links:
Amazon Blu-Ray and DVD
Blu-Ray.com Review
Criterion.com

They Call Him Chad's Pick: DEMOLITION MAN (Region 1 Blu-Ray; Warner Home Video)
Demolition Man always felt like a film a little ahead of its time. The mixture of serious hard-hitting action, satire, social commentary and self-referential narrative seemingly confused Sylvester Stallone fans back in the early 90s (not me, though -- I was a stupid kid and I just wanted to see Sly blow crap up and cuss. So, I was enthralled and couldn't spell "satirical" let alone figure it out), making the film something of a cult movie as it has gradually developed a stronger following over the years. The plot focuses on a cryogenically frozen cop, who was too reckless for his own good and received a sentence as a human popsicle, thawed out 36 years later in a much less dangerous, near pacifist-like future to apprehend an ultra-violent nemesis from his era that's escaped a similar icy hibernation to continue his killing spree.

It's odd that both Sly and Arnie tried to pull off similarly stylized films in the same year, though The Governator's Last Action Hero goes full blast in satirizing the genre and its star. As for Demolition Man, it works on all those aforementioned levels -- great action and genuinely humorous moments. The three sea shells is almost a classic bit by now, in terms of Stallone's career, at this point. This is the last great Sly film, for my money. He's bad ass, charismatic and witty as John Spartan. This is the niche that I hope The Rock could finally settle into one day. Wesley Snipes is just off-the-charts electric as Simon Phoenix. And to me, Sandra Bullock earned her Oscar for portraying officer Lenina Huxley in this film (unfortunately, they gave it to her like 15 years too late). She's honestly never been better nor more attractive. I'll say it, this is one of the great Stallone films. Check it out and maybe have yourself a Stallone double deuce with another classic Sly offering, Cobra, which is also out on Blu today (and that some here's bound to recommend)!

Links:
Amazon Blu-Ray
Blu-Ray.com Review

Large William's Pick: COBRA (Region 1 Blu-Ray; Warner Home Video)
In one of the more painstaking decisions I've made for this column, I've chosen trash over class this week by taking Stallone's Cobra over Kubrick's The Killing. The Killing is essential studio noir from Kubrick, but is an incredible noir that is absolutely worth your chingoleros. Cobra, well that's a pantheon GGtMC film if there ever was one. In fact, it's my favorite non Rocky Stallone film, hands down. Quintessential 80's action featuring a too cool for school hero with a pearl inlaid handgun, an amazing batmobile with his old Merc, the most imitated knife in the history of action cinema, and perhaps the greatest improvised Italian culinary dissection in the history of cinema. If you have the disease of never seeing Cobra, then this blu ray release is most definitely the cure...

Kisses(after I remove the match from my mouth),
William Cobretti

Links:
Amazon Blu-Ray
Blu-Ray.com Review

Episode #144: One Tough Manhunt

The GGtMC is back and on the internets for your listening pleasure!!!

This week the Gents dedicate an episode to our good friend, The Stone Cold Norwegian Beef Bjornar, and cover One Tough Bastard (1995) starring Brian Bosworth and Manhunt in the City (1975) starring Henry Silva and directed by Umberto Lenzi.

It's an episode made for GGtMC coverage and it was great to get some icons of our podcast back on the air.

Direct download: One_Tough_ManhuntRM.mp3

Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com

Voicemails to 206-666-5207

Adios!!!

The Aurora Monsters: The Model Craze That Gripped The World (2010)

I used to have a photo of one of my brothers from when he was a kid. Granted, this, in and of itself, is nothing to get excited over. In the image, my brother," Hans" (not his real name), is wearing a "Snidely Whiplash" mustache which was probably cut out of a loose piece of faux fur that was lying around (hey, it was the 70s). This is not the interesting part (it is, unfortunately, the funny part). No, what is most interesting is in the background. Standing majestically on a table behind "Hans" is a model of Jack Kirby's Devil Dinosaur, the cherry red co-protagonist (along with semi-primate, Moon Boy) of the comic book of the same name. I wanted that model. I still do. Of course, it wasn't until decades later that I discovered that what I thought was the coolest toy in the universe was actually a Tyrannosaurus Rex model from Aurora's "Prehistoric Scenes" line. Sadly, this photo has been lost to time, but I know deep down that it was really a Devil Dinosaur kit, just disguised as a T-Rex.

This is the overall feeling both informing and evoked by The Aurora Monsters (for brevity's sake, we'll skip the subtitle in this review), a documentary love letter to, specifically, Aurora's line of monster and horror-themed model kits first produced in the 60s. Sadly, there are no Devil Dinosaurs presented herein. Produced for The Witch's Dungeon (a museum dedicated to classic horror) by Dennis Vincent and Cortlandt Hull (the Dungeon's founder and great nephew of Werewolf of London's Henry Hull), the documentary is set up in segments of individual interviews bookended by short skits and introductions with legendary horror host Zacherley and puppet sidekick Gorgo the gargoyle as a framing device. While trying to cure Gorgo's sinus problems, the duo find some old Super 8 film reels and play the interviews therein. That's basically it.

Now, I like nostalgia. I think, in general at least, nostalgia is a good thing (hell, it's given Joe Franklin an entire career). It's only when your sense of nostalgia prevents you from moving forward that it becomes restrictive and harmful. If it weren't for nostalgia, I probably wouldn't watch and review half the movies I do. If it weren't for nostalgia, you probably wouldn't be reading this at all, I'd guess (unless you're one of the people I bribe to read it). And it is the sense of nostalgia as an inspirational factor that really drives this doc. The filmmakers are not so concerned with history (only about a half-hour is devoted to the people involved directly with Aurora at the time the line was introduced) as they are with the "monster kids" who were fans of the kits and how their future endeavors were stimulated by them. For Example, there's artist Daniel Horne who paints and sculpts classic horror characters. Actor Jeff Yagher sculpts garage kits that more closely resemble the James Bama box art than the Aurora originals did. And so on…

If the producers' point of view regarding the subject is under any doubt, their use of the "Cool Ghoul" as emcee eradicates it handily. Touted as one of the first (and certainly the most famous this side of Elvira) television horror hosts, Zacherley gives it his all in each of his segments. It is easy to see how the man has maintained so rarefied a career for over half a century. He delivers his lines, hits his marks, and most of all, sells the character and his situations. As cornball as it sounds, on some level you have to believe that a horror host is more than a collection of bad puns and crappy slapstick with a tinge of the horrific, and Zacherley accomplishes this with an exuberant ease (especially praiseworthy considering the man's almost 100-years-old). This was my first experience with Zacherley, and his mastery of the form is in full evidence. The effectiveness and need for this framing device is open to debate, but to me it's like chocolate and peanut butter, spaghetti and meatballs, Captain and Tennille, etcetera. Yes, it is incongruous and tangential to the subject matter, but it feels right. Monster kids build Aurora monster models and play with them while watching late night horror movies hosted by characters like Dr. Morgus, Uncle Ted (our own local talent), and Zacherley.

In documentary films, the idea of objectivity has been at the center of debate since the medium was invented (even before, probably). While some feel that the camera presents truth, others feel that its mere presence constructs truth. Personally, I fall in the latter category. Once there is a person behind the lens, no matter what the intent is (or says it isn't), some form of editorializing takes place. You can give ten people ten cameras, have them all film the same event (you can even stipulate the intent), and you will get ten different documents with ten different points of view. But that's a discussion for another day. Suffice it to say, The Aurora Monsters doesn't worry itself with ideas of objectivity at all. After all, the filmmakers aren't out to attain any lofty societal goals. They are all about spreading their affection for this short-lived and much-loved trend. Does that make this a "good" documentary or a "bad" one? Well, as a documentary, it won't have the Frederick Wiseman's and Errol Morris's of the world in fear for their jobs. But that's not really the point, is it? Mash notes don't have to be particularly well-written or be transcendent. They only need to be heartfelt. And this is.

I was astounded at how little of the film deals with the people who were personally involved with Aurora at the time of the line's inception. What's here, though, is fascinating, and listening to the three interviewees (James Bama, Andrew Yanchus, and Ray Meyers) is informative and entertaining. These interviews are interspersed with (what I'm sure are rarely seen) behind-the-scenes artwork and photos. Sadly, I wanted more of this history but didn't get it. Perhaps there are practical reasons behind this. Perhaps there's no one else from then still alive. Perhaps the historical aspect was only intended as a springboard into the monster kids' later exploits. Only the producers know for sure, but for something titled The Aurora Monsters, you'd think it would have a stronger emphasis on the eponymous objects.

Which brings me to structure, and this may be the films' biggest problem. It plays like this: Zacherley and Gorgo do a little sketch, Gorgo finds a reel of film, they roll the film, and we watch the interviews (ostensibly from the film reels), one at a time. The interwoven photos do some of the heavy lifting at fending off boredom (and they are thankfully shown with notations of who they portray), but the monotony of the formula gets old. Ultimately, it gives the proceedings the feel of a show on the Discovery channel (not that that's necessarily bad). I believe that, had they intercut between interviewees, they could have built and maintained a nice sense of momentum, even including Bama, Yanchus, and Meyers throughout the whole film instead of only at the start. They could have still had Zacherley in it, and it would have been a more unified whole. Still and all, if you were ever a monster kid (or ever wanted to be one), you can certainly do much worse than wasting a couple hours with The Aurora Monsters.

MVT: The James Bama interview. If you ever saw any of the man's artwork, you'd understand why this interview is such a treasure for his fans. Plus, he seems like a damn nice guy.

Make or Break: The Mad Geppetto segment is the "Make" for me. These guys take their love of classic monsters to a new level. This is the best example in the film of innovation over imitation (not that the others herein are just imitators). Great stuff.

Score: 6.5/10

Help Paracinema Magazine grow!

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DVD/Blu-Ray Picks Of The Week - 8/9/11

They Call Him Chad's Pick: SUPER (Region 1 Blu-Ray & DVD; IFC/MPI)
Rightly or wrongly, James Gunn has been labeled something of a cinematic imitator amongst genre fans with his feature film offerings to date. This began with his debut horror comedy feature, Slither, which drew natural and obvious Night of the Creeps comparisons due to the usage of similar slug-like aliens and zombiefied victims. For the record, I loved Slither and have long anticipated Gunn's sophomore effort. Well, Gunn's no budget superhero follow-up, Super, will do nothing to dispel notions of film thievery with a plot line evocative of Kick-Ass that encompasses a regular joe who transforms himself into a costumed avenger to fight real world crime (in Gunn's defense, Super was seemingly in development long before Kick-Ass was even created as a comic book series).

It would be a mistake to overlook Super purely out of Kick-Ass similarities as it is a high-charged, action-packed and hilarious picture. And for those that faulted Kick-Ass for deviating from the marketed "this is what would really happen" thesis, you might find Super more successful and satisfying by sticking to the real world consequences applied to the central characters. Further to this, it's great to see the principal cast play against type -- Rainn Wilson plays it straight and dreary as cook-turned-vigilante Crimson Bolt, Kevin Bacon taps into his inner-baddie and Ellen Page cuts loose as the bloodthirsty and maniacal sidekick. Michael Rooker even shelves his standard rugged and outspoken routine to play a quiet and subdued goon albeit in a minor role. Maybe this is the start of a no budget hero sub-genre to superhero films. Highly recommended.

Links:
Amazon Blu-Ray and DVD

Samurai's Pick: FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH (Region 1 Blu-Ray; Universal)
Arguably the "Citizen Kane" of 80s teen sex comedies...Fast Times has a great cast and it hits all of its notes perfectly. It seems dated now but at the time this film was an amazing break through and a film that shaped a young Sammy's life in wonderful ways....Whoa Hamilton!!!

Links:
Amazon Blu-Ray
Blu-Ray.com Review
High-Def Digest Review

Large William's Pick: CAMERAMAN: THE LIFE & WORK OF JACK CARDIFF (Region 1 Blu-Ray & DVD; Strand Releasing)
Jack Cardiff is one of the most respected cinematographers film has ever been blessed with. He worked with everyone from Powell/Pressburger to Lewis Teague. In saying that, this doco looks at the man, his work, the influence he's had and does so through speaking to Marty Scorsese and a myriad of others. Check it out gang!

Smooches,
William

Links:
Amazon Blu-Ray and DVD

Shark (1969)

Directed by Samuel Fuller. Starring Burt Reynolds, Arthur Kennedy, Barry Sullivan, and Silvia Pinal. Unrated.

Somewhere in Sudan, an American gun runner and con artist named Caine (Burt Reynolds) is stranded and looking for a way out of the port town he ended up in. Long story short, he eventually lands a job working out on a boat for a professor who specializes in marine biology, with hopes that he can steal the boat sooner than later and take it to who-knows-where. But when Caine is made aware of the fact that the professor is conspicuously searching for sunken treasure in shark infested waters, he uses intimidation to force himself into the situation, declaring himself a partner of the professor and insisting that he's entitled to half of whatever he finds. The professor's female assistant is thrown into the mix, double-crosses ensue, and at some point the characters find themselves underwater, face to face with man-eating sharks.

The behind the scenes stories of the film's troubled production are certainly much more interesting than the film itself. A stuntman was killed on camera by a shark, so the producers decided to exploit his death and capitalize on it by more or less promoting the tragedy as an attraction. Also, director Samuel Fuller lost the rights to the film, and the same producers decided to butcher Fuller's cut of the film in order to put more of a focus on the sharks and market it as some sort of "animal attack" movie rather than a thriller - even Fuller's original title of CAINE was nixed in favor of its current title. Fuller's subsequent requests to have his name removed from the film were denied. I'm not sure how Fuller's original version played out, but anyone who's seen the current cut of this film can probably attest to the fact that it's a fucking mess.

Hidden somewhere underneath the awful pacing, annoying score, etc., are a couple of memorable moments and lines of snappy dialogue, but for the most part there's not a whole lot to say about this movie. It's a sluggish film in which nothing really significant happens in the plot until over an hour in. In the time leading up to that, Burt Reynolds befriends a young cigar-smoking boy (Fuller's ode to himself?) who helps him con people, he has an affair with the professor's female assistant, there are a couple of really awkward-looking fight scenes, and we get some overlong underwater diving sequences. All of the characters are very bland, forgettable, and - especially in the case of Burt's character - unlikable.

Make or Break: For once I'm going with a "Break", and that would be the opening scene of the film, where a diver is attacked and killed by a shark. There are two noteworthy shark attack scenes in the film - one at the beginning and one towards the end - and I don't know which of these scenes, if any, contains footage of the stuntman being legitimately killed, but the reason why I'm going with this scene as a "Break" is because it does nothing to initially grab your attention, and it fails and setting any sort of pace whatsoever. Sure, there's a guy getting killed by a shark, and had the scene been filmed and edited well it would have been somewhat effective, but it's unfortunately not the case.

MVT: I have to give it to the shark attack scenes. Despite the unfortunate and tragic events that took place while filming these scenes, it's rare - especially in this day and age when filmmaking is a lot safer and less barbaric - to see something as dangerous as an actor or stuntman tussling with a live shark.

Score: 4.75/10

This is only the second Samuel Fuller movie I've seen; the first one (WHITE DOG) was given the Criterion treatment, and this one was released by Troma - opposite ends of the DVD distribution spectrum. Surprisingly, the Troma release of SHARK is actually pretty decent. Of course you get the overwhelming amount of shameless self-promotion on Troma's part, but there's also a section of bonus content dedicated to Sam Fuller, including an interesting interview with someone who talks about how and why filmmakers such as Fuller were blacklisted once upon a time, and Lloyd Kaufman's personal memories of meeting Fuller.

If you're a Fuller or Burt completist, keep this low on your list of priorities, Otherwise, skip it.

P.S. I originally intended on posting a review for Enzo Castellari's SHARK HUNTER, but was unable to give it a fair assessment due to unforeseen issues with the copy that was provided to me by Netflix. However, I did manage to watch over an hour of the film, and found what I saw of it to be quite amazing for a number of reasons, namely the amazing De Angelis brothers' disco score and Franco Nero's unbelievable blonde wig. Perhaps one day I'll have the opportunity to watch the entire film and review it, but until then Mike di Donato sends his regards.

Episode #143: Night Breathing

Welcome to this week's episode of the GGtMC programmed by Karl Brezdin, host of the Fist of the B-List blog and big time friend of the Gents!!!

This week we cover Breathing Fire (1991) starring Bolo Yeung and Jonathan Ke Quan and Night Warning (1983) starring Susan Tyrell and Bo Svenson.

We also cover a generous amount of feedback and make audible love to your ears!!!

Direct download: Night_BreathingRM.mp3

Emails to midnitecinema@gmail.com

Voicemails to 206-666-5207

Adios!!!

Black Moon Rising (1986)

Directed by: Harley Cokeliss

Written by: John Carpenter, William Gray & Desmond Nakano

Starring: Tommy Lee Jones & Linda Hamilton

Black Moon Rising delivers a premise we're all accustomed to in B-movie action cinema. Our very honorable government dislikes acquiring objects and information through unlawful means, but they have no issues hiring someone not on a covert alphabet soup agency payroll to do their dirty work. Enter professional thief Sam Quint (Tommy Lee Jones) to steal a highly valuable cassette tape that must contain awfully incriminating evidence against some big company. We know it is seriously incriminating because henchmen goons immediately pursue Quint with blaring automatic weapons to retrieve the tape. From what I gather, this cassette tape is a bootleg pre-release recording of Wham!'s pop masterpiece Music From The Edge of Heaven. I'd chase Tommy Lee Jones with an uzi, too, to keep that album off the black market circa 1986.

With these thugs hot on his trail, Quint manages to briefly escape for a pitstop at a gas station. Bad time for a bathroom break and to satiate that Baby Ruth craving, if you ask me. Nonetheless, Quint finds the perfect place to stash the sensitive cassette. He conceals it inside the hidden panel of a hi-tech prototype car, known as The Black Moon, en route to an exhibition. The car is hot crap because it runs on hydrogen and toplines at 300 mph. Unfortunately, a group of thieves led by female carjacker Nina (Linda Hamilton) heists the Black Moon for car theft ring overlord Mr. Ryland (Robert Vaughn) before Quint is able to get the cassette out. Further complicating matters is that the Black Moon is stored in the ruthless Mr. Ryland's skyscraper stronghold of stolen vehicles, which is something along the lines of a fortress to break into evidently. This leaves Quint with a 72 hours or else ultamatium from our secrective trustworthy government agency to get that tape back.

Black Moon Rising is probably most well known as written by John Carpenter and sold on spec shortly before his filmmaking career ascended. Supposedly the shooting script was heavily changed from Carpenter's original version that was turned in nearly a decade before the film went into production. If you examine Black Moon Rising closely, you can detect small Carpenter narrative threads woven into the story; the central plotline concerns an outlaw commissioned begrudgingly by the government to secure a much desired tape from a dangerous stronghold, reminiscent of Escape From New York. It should also be noted that the film features a strong lead female character not so uncommon to typical Carpenter pictures. Whatever revisions were made, the finished product is still a fun-filled affair. That is provided you can look past story quibbles like questioning Quint's strategy in hiding the tape in a moveable object such as a vehicle that can shatter land-speed records or, you know, in not duplicating the cassette tape.

The film generates the majority of its energy from the action scenes. While they're not exceptional, they are very well done with grittiness and served in abundance. Stylistically, the stripped down action reminds me of a 70s actioner, emphasizing car chases, gunplay and hand-to-hand fights. In particular, there's a nicely developed short fight exchange between Tommy Lee Jones and Lee Ving playing his old-time nemesis Marvin Ringer. Earlier in the film, there's also a simple though quite effective fight scene where Ryland's goon crew pummels Quint to a fairly brutal degree that concludes with a decent little surprise. And before the film wears out its welcome, the premise changes gears to more of a straight-ahead heist movie as Quint must work with the Black Moon creators on a tactical plan to enter Ryland's skyrise to get the prototype speedster back.

Director Harley Cokeliss isn't flashy in his approach, opting to basically stay out of the way and let the action on screen speak for itself without trying to punch it up with intensified editing or indulgent camera tricks. If not for the inclusion of the high powered roadster, Black Moon Rising would feel at home if tabbed as 70s action cinema, which is perhaps indicative of the length between the script's sale and actual production.

Tommy Lee Jones' steely grittiness and subtle coolness anchors the cast and picture. Not to belabor the point, but Jones' Quint feels like he came from the 70s and it's that tone that really permeates the whole and elevates it from falling into zany 80s trappings of the era. It is further intriguing to see a much younger Tommy Lee Jones headlining this style of movie. For me, I see him so much more as the older hardass superior character barking orders whereas here he gets to play the bad ass loner who refuses to take orders. Linda Hamilton turns in strong work as a car thief as well. She subverts the natural inclination to soften her performance by giving into the romantic relationship developed through Quint's character. Rather, she constantly maintains a toughness throughout that doesn't undermine her character nor the film itself. I will say that Bubba Smith nearly steals the show as our secret government agent when telling an innocent bar patron relieving himself harmlessly at the urinal to "put it away and get out" so he can have a private bathroom to conference with Quint.

If there's one glaring weakness, it is that the car of the titular title is not that cool. Black Moon looks like a useless dark wedge of plastic, something akin to a blown-up version of a cheap Matchbox racer. In fact, the car visually comes off as so diminutive that it feels like I could pack it around in one of those Hot Wheels grid-like carrying cases. Perhaps, my dislike for the car derives from the incongruence of a vehicle that screams bad 80s design hot rodding around in a picture giving off an intense 70s vibe. Why can't George Lucas put his digital re-wizardry to work on movies like this and replace Black Moon with a much cooler muscle car?

Make or Break scene - The most standout make scene is probably the car chase sequence that takes place during the film's finale in the skyrise. It isn't mind-blowing, but it does the build-up justice and caps off with a cool little shortcut between two high rises. Despite not finding the car all that cool, the action assists in defining Black Moon as a desirable mode of thievery transport.

MVT - The action. The film keeps offering a steady diet of action bursts, and that's what saves the film from questionable narrative directions and thin characters. Although, it is difficult to pinpoint one element that is predominantly more valuable than another as everyone and everything turns out solidly.

Score - 7/10

Horror High (1974)

When I was a kid, our local ABC affiliate was WNEP (still is), and every afternoon, they would show a movie on the program "Dialing for Dollars." The premise of the show is fairly self-explanatory. You watch the movie, and at some point , the host (I want to say it was Nolan Johannes at this point in time, but if it wasn't, both he and his family have my apologies) would call a random phone number picked from viewer submissions and give the lucky person a chance to win money. Now, I know some other areas had the same type of program, but ours had a twist: gerbil racing. Yes, poor Nolan had to stand in front of a glass-fronted box split horizontally into three sections (or "racetracks," if you will), each containing one gerbil. The lucky contestant would pick a gerbil, and with not much fanfare at all (I know, hard to believe), the three rodents would be released into their respective sections. The terrified animals would usually sit stock-still, hyperventilating, but sometimes one or two would actually make a break for the other side of the case, the first making it past the finish line being the winner. And there was much rejoicing.

So, what the hell do gerbil races on "Dialing for Dollars" have to do with Horror High? Well, it was on this program that I first encountered the film, only I saw it under the title (and if you ask me, a better title than its theatrical one) Twisted Brain. To make the film palatable for network television, much of the violence had to be cut, and the filmmakers shot about eight minutes or so of a dead-end subplot involving the main character's dad and some floozy he's visiting. It is some of the dullest shit you will ever see, and I mention it specially here, because in my youth, I distinctly remember the film (and my enjoyment of it) grinding to a halt with this section. Without it, and in its uncut state, the film, while nothing to do cartwheels over, is an enjoyable variation on an old theme.

Vernon Potts (Pat Cardi) is the brainy whipping boy of his high school. He harbors a crush on school beauty, Robin (Rosie Holotik), and she obviously feels the same about him but is dating jock Roger (Mike McHenry). The problem is everyone at the school, other than Robin, hates Vernon for some wafer-thin reason or another. The slovenly, slack-mouthed janitor, Mr. Griggs (Jeff Alexander), gets psychotic when Vernon shoos Griggs' cat out of the school laboratory. Gum-chomping Type "A", Coach McCall (John Niland), despises Vernon for never being on time for Phys Ed and being a weakling. Miss Grindstaff (Joy Hash) abhors Vernon, because he pays more attention to science than her English class. Meanwhile, Vernon conducts experiments on his guinea pig, Mr. Mumps (note: not a gerbil and not suitable for racing), in an effort to change humans physically (the actual applications of such a drug are never explored) like illicit drugs do mentally. Needless to say, our young scientist takes his own medicine and transforms in hairy and bloodthirsty ways, bent on revenge (shouldn't that make it mentally and physically?).

In case it's not evident in my shoddy synopsizing, Horror High is a take on Robert Louis Stevenson's classic horror tale The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Frankly, I'm surprised it took this long to make something along this line. In 1957, producer Herman Cohen hit on the notion of horror movies where teenagers were the monsters. His "trilogy" of I Was a Teenage… movies (yes, I know Blood Of Dracula breaks the title motif) mixed juvenile delinquent themes with horror themes and played to packed drive-ins across the U.S. (to carloads of teens who were probably too busy necking to pay attention). A similar trend hit the film industry during the 1970s. Films like Blacula and Blackenstein blended the blaxploitation and horror genres with varying results. Here, the film seems stuck between the two. It has the "Leave It to Beaver" values dominant in visual media of the 1950s/early 60s and the sanguinary violence of the late 60s onward that became a huge staple of exploitation cinema. The chemicals Vernon uses in his potion bubble and smoke in that bygone way all transmogrifying potions in black and white movies do. Director Larry N. Stouffer is also a big fan of employing severe Dutch angles whenever Vernon is about to strike. At one point, I actually felt my neck stiffen from keeping it at an angle, and I had several flashbacks to the 60s' "Batman" TV series. The violence, in contrast to the more overtly camp aspects, is more horrifying in its graphic depiction. Watching Vernon stomp a victim to pulp with a pair of cleats draws a pretty clear line between the cutesy and grisly facets of the film.

The act of transformation in and of itself takes on a different flavor due to the film's setting. Vernon changes from 98-pound weakling to super-alpha male, sure, but the change can also be seen here as a metaphor for puberty and burgeoning adolescent sexuality. The creature makeup, in fact, bears this reading out, as it consists of little more than patches of hair pasted on Cardi's face and hands along with thickened eyebrows. Add to that, Robin almost triggers the change in Vernon when she tries to get intimate with him. Here, Vernon has orgasmic spasms and suddenly needs to excuse himself. It's an interesting angle, and the film would have been stronger exploring it more deeply. But it is in there.

Out of all the actors in the film, the two who do the best work are Cardi and Austin Stoker as Lt. Bozeman. While Stoker does bring some slight amount of gravitas to the proceedings (the man does have a natural authoritative air, used later to good effect in John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13), Cardi has his hands full playing both wimp and wildman. The introduction of Stoker's character presents a "cat and mouse" angle that, like so much else in the film, is underdeveloped. What's noticeably smart is how Cardi plays Vernon's reactions to events. The best example is after a human skull is found in a drum of sulfuric acid (why schools stopped leaving large containers of acid in classrooms is a mystery) during a science exam. While the other students scream and gather around to gawk, Vernon quietly continues his experiment. It's a subtle touch, and the film benefits from it, but the filmmakers didn't exploit this angle to its fullest potential. Everyone else delivers solidly bad performances, most notably Rosie Holotik. Literally half her performance consists of rolling her eyes and acting bubbly. I thought she could easily have been one of Marcia Brady's friends who think that Greg is "just groovy." Not that it really matters much, because every character with the exceptions of Vernon, Robin, and Bozeman are written and played to be utterly detestable and therefore okay for Vernon to slaughter.

When I initially saw this movie, I couldn't make out most of it, because the print on "Dialing for Dollars" was so crappy. Having seen it clearly, with all the scenes intact and with what I must say is a great psychedelic rock score, I'm a bit more pleased with it on the whole. There are nuances struggling to get to the surface, but it's difficult to say if they come from the filmmakers or if they're inherent in Stevenson's original story. Perhaps it's a little of both. Is it a great horror movie? No. But it's not the worst, and it does have a bit more going on under the surface than some. The problem is it's just not quite enough. Horror High is a better than average horror movie, but it could have been a really good one.

MVT: I have to give it to the original score by Don Hulette on this one. It's catchy and funky and fuzzy, and it really sets a great tone for the movie.

Make or Break: The "Make" is the scene where the skull is discovered. Vernon's refined non-reaction says all you need to know about how he's decided to proceed from this point forward.

Score: 6.5/10

DVD/Blu-Ray Picks Of The Week - 8/2/11

Rupert Pupkin's Pick: JULIE DARLING (Region 1 DVD; Code Red)
This is a great little WTF movie I was first turned onto by Lars Nilsen from the Drafthouse. I know he programmed it for Weird Wednesday and also for a special screening as part of a triple feature at the New Beverly in Los Angeles(I think the other 2 films were POOR PRETTY EDDIE and PSYCHO FROM TEXAS). Very twisted but enjoyable film with Sybil Danning and a great lead performance by Isabelle Mejias. Also know as DAUGHTER OF DEATH. Don't come between her and her dad!

Links:
Amazon DVD
Diabolik DVD

Samurai's Pick: STAKE LAND (Region 1 Blu-Ray & DVD; Dark Sky/MPI)
This is a top 5 film so far this year for me, I ADORE it!! Outside of some flubs on the back end this film is very poetic and touching and makes vampires interesting instead of "sparkly" its just a great film and many places are selling this Blu cheap this week!!!

Large William's Pick: STAKE LAND (Region 1 Blu-Ray & DVD; Dark Sky/MPI)
Alright gang, I'm still basking in the moonshine-y, fundamentalist, downtrodden glow of one of the most straight-faced, best American Horror films I've seen in the past few years: Stakeland. While not without flaws(specifically near the back end of the film), it proves Mickle and Damici are 2 for 2 between this and Mulberry Street. TAKE NOTE young American genre filmmakers, you needn't be wink/nod/self-referential all the time. This film will harken to Cormac McCarthy's bleak vision of humanity at it's darkest hour, The Road, while still maintaining it's own vision. Between Mickle and West, off the top of my head, they're keeping American Horror's head above water. Stop lamenting for the good old glory days of U.S horror, and throw down your chingoleros on this one. Damici is like the subdued love child of William Smith and Josh Brolin(meaning he's one bad dude). The blu will look sublime for this one too; the locations they got for the film are a thing of decrepit beauty.

hugs and kisses,
William

p.s I know you're all tired of zombies and vampires, but TRUST this one delivers. Like Werner, I'll eat my shoe if you hate it..

Links:
Amazon Blu-Ray and DVD

They Call Him Chad's Pick: MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 XXI - MST3K VS. GAMERA (Region 1 DVD; Shout! Factory)
I'll admit upfront that I unabashedly love MST3K. Therefore, I could quite easily recommend every set that Shout! Factory releases at a thrice-a-year clip. However, this one is particularly fitting for the GGTMC crowd as every single episode contains the Scottie Pippen of kaiju, the one and only airborn turtle Gamera!!!!! For MST3K fans, this is a monumental release as it seemed that Toho would never make the rights available for any MST3K'd editions of these films (they apparently take their big monster movies very seriously). With this in mind, I wouldn't be surprised if this edition goes OOP sooner rather than later. And come on, how can you pass on that collector's tin?!

Links:
Amazon DVD

Aaron's Pick: CONAN THE BARBARIAN - International Cut (Region 1 Blu-Ray; Universal)
Honestly, the release I'm looking forward to the most this week is STAKE LAND, because A) I'm a huge horror fan and am always on the lookout for something "different" from the genre, and B) because of the high praises it's been receiving, but I thought I'd go with a pick this week of a movie that I've actually seen, so I'm going with the classic CONAN THE BARBARIAN on Blu-Ray. This week sees BARBARIAN getting the high-def treatment for the first time in the U.S. along with its sequel CONAN THE DESTROYER just in time to get everyone pumped for the remake. Need I say more? It's CONAN for crying out loud!

Links:
Amazon Blu-Ray
Blu-Ray.com Review
High-Def Digest Review and Specs