13 Assassins (2011) Action Samurai

13 Assassins (2011) - This is another historical Japanese sword story of the time period towards the end of the Shogun era. In the little lesson text in the screen we get the setup of the time period. As Feudal Japan enjoys peace, the Samurai era is waning. But this fragile calm is threatened by the growing power of Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira (Goro Inagaki), the Shogun's sadistic younger brother. Sir Doi (Mikijiro Hira) realizes Naritsugu will run the Shogunite if he gains higher political standing. As Naritsugu's evil deeds are quickly hushed up, Sir Doi must act.
In the first scene The Akashi clan house elder commit hari kari opening a position the young cruel Naritsugu could occupy thus setting himself up as the next Shogun. Sir Doi goes to Samurai (Shinza) Shinzaemon Shimada (Koji Yakusho) who he convinces with scenes and stories of the cruelty of Naritsugu. The first where in a rival clans elder's house rapes the daughter in law and then kills her and the Elder's son. He is so callas believing that because of who he is all are there to serve him in any way he wishes. Next Doi shows him a peasant woman who was punished by Naritsugu as a way to punish her peasant husband for a peasant uprising. She is disrobed and Shinza sees she has had her arms and legs cut off at the knees and elbows. They develop an idea to kill the young Lord before he can take political office.
At the same time the Samurai, (Hanbei) Hanbei Kitou(Masachika Ichimura) protecting the Lord is active too. He is loyal to his Akashi clan and takes his job seriously. He learns that Doi has visited Shinza and suspects a plot. There is an old personal animosity he feels towards Shinza. He was never quite able to rise as high as the other man or command the same respect. He will do everything possible to keep Naritsugu safe for his clan and his honor and to prove himself against his rival. There is something else going on here too. Hanbei is from the school that the purpose of the Samurai is to protect the structure of the ruling order. Even with a horrible leader he sees his duty to be about doing his superiors bidding no matter how bad that is. Shinza believes that the purpose of the ruling structure is to protect the people and that in a case of a truly bad leader the Samurai must protect the people from him. These two beliefs put the men on paths towards a confrontation only one can walk away from.
The spies that Hanbei sends to get information surround one of the young warriors who will be in the plan being designed by Doi and Shinza. It is a plan to take this guy and get the plans, luckily Ronin Sahara (Arata Furata) is nearby and intervenes. We get to see what a bad ass he his and can look forward to him dispatching more than these four thugs later. Shinza goes about collecting the men who will make up twelve of the 13 assassins, the last will be added later. Shinrouko (Takayuki Yamada) wants to redeem himself from his gambling debts. There are other stories about the various men but honestly I have a hard time after the film connecting the faces to the character names. Horrible I know but reading subtitles and taking notes at the same time is hard.
We gets scenes of them training in the dojo, practicing and learning to set explosives and in general taking there planning seriously. Hanbei makes a surprise visit in the midst of this and we get the meet of what I explained earlier as Hanbei confronts Shinza with the little he knows but lets him know, he does know something is going on. The different philosophies are espoused and the men part knowing they will meet again on the field of battle.
The plan is to attack and kill Naritsugu when he is traveling to his spring house. There are a couple of things the group needs. One is to get the Elder in Ochiai Provence to block the way so Naritsugu is force to go the other possible route to a village they will be waiting at. This will be accomplished because that elder is the father of the couple the Lord killed earlier in the film. He just has to have the will power to defy ta direct order from the ruling clan leader. Not positive this will happen but Shinza sends men ahead to try to convince him. The second thing is that the Mayor of the village they are going to attack in must be bought off. This is done by two of the men and a case load of gold.
Shinza and his remaining eight men travel towards the village and are confronted by paid thugs from Naritsugu. They fight hard and dispatch them but realize the entire trip could be like this. Hanbei has set up a situation where they could be worn out by the time they reach there destination. This leads them to leave the road and cut across over the mountains. Getting lost in the hills is a horrible end to this shortcut, but luckily they run into a mountain man named Koyata Saga (Yusuke Iseya) who joins them and leads them out and to their target village. I only had one pass on this film but is seemed to me that Saga was very obviously killed in the final battle. He had a spare through his throat if I remember correctly. Then when the battle is done he reappears unhurt and it made me wonder whether he was some deity who joined in for his own purposes. I could be wrong there is so much great stuff going on in the final twenty five minute battle.
They all get to the village where they will launch their attack and start to prepare it. The writers (Kaneo Ikegami and Daisuke Tengan) and director (Takashi Miike) do a great job in this section not showing you everything that is being done to prepare. Miike and Tengan also did one of my favorite films of all time, Audition which is a strange mix of weirdness and horror. So that when the battle starts later there are some great surprises for us as an audience. In fact this film is worth seeing just for this final sequence. Similar in idea to the Seven Samurai protecting the village from bandit but still not so concerned with leaving the village intact at the end. After all the goal is to kill Lord Naritsugu. As they work we they learn that the army of 70 and the Lord were successfully turned towards them. We the audience get to see it and I was smiling at it. Naritsugu is such a prick of a bad guy to see him fail was excellent.
All of this was for the final battle where all the preparation is put into use, but first we wait, the assassins wait, no troops come. When they do the 70 has been reinforced and is now 200 men. The battle will be epic and surprising and worth every penny I paid to watch this film. I am not going to spoil it here but when the final showdowns come it has been an excellent fulfilling ride. One give away I will give you is that the most frightening thing I never thought about but now can is flaming cows.
This was an excellent film, the cinematography by Nobuyasu Kita is both gritty and beautiful at the same time. The script is tight particularly for this genre which can be plot heavy. The direction is wonderful and scenes very well shot. The acting is subtle and powerful bringing import to the characters and letting us feel what is at stake as an audience. So lets rate this puppy remember I am a bit bias as I love these kind of stories.
Rating (8.5) 5.0 and up are recommended inthe Zombiegrrlz system Go see it!!

Stake Land (2010) Horror Vampire

Stake Land (2010) - Opening on a country road in Pennsylvania the voice over from our lead character Martin (Connor Paolo) sets the tone immediately. "But lets begin at the beginning, I was like every other kid. I had a family. I went to school. I didn't believe in the bogeyman, but then the world woke up to a nightmare." Kicking off how Martin's family was killed by a vampire and just how he ended up in this car driving with this man only known as Mister (Nick Damici). The scene is well done and really relays everything we are going to need to be part of this world. Dad is frantically working on hi car, trying to get it running. On the radio reports of attacks by creatures are spreading across the country. People are being told to hunker down. Mom is holding the baby and fretting about whether running is the right decision. When Martin chases the dog out in the rain you think he will see a creature but instead the attack happens back in the barn. His Mother screams and his return inside is to see his bloody Mom on the ground. Mister shows up and with Martin kill the vampire that killed his Mom and then fed on the baby. His bloody gurgling father is finished off by the stranger. Traumatic for sure for Martin. He is just a teenager and if Mister had not shown up hunting this monstrous creature his incompetence would have been his downfall. We learn that you have to kill those who have been bitten or they change. Why else kill the father in the aftermath. That the vamps are animal in nature, the monster vampire instead of the romanticized version.
Now we know what we are in for in the world where a vampire plague has spread and people are few and far between. It is a solid start for a film that really is a road survival movie at its core. Martin journeys from the scared teen to capable vampire fighter trained by the experienced hunter as they travel looking for a place where they can settle down. This place New Eden is in Canada since the vampires, cold blooded do not like the weather. It is a goal and while Mister and Martin move towards it the film captures the need for connection among humans as well as the growing up that young Martin must do.
There are some more interesting ideas also, of course the expected militant groups of survivor running there self protected communities like military camps. Surprisingly though there are also more liberal places in the world where the people struggling to survive realize that protection can come without an iron fist if people work together. It is something rarely seen in these kind of films and was welcomed. Then there is the antagonist group, the Brethren. They are a group of fanatical religious zealots that believe the vampires are doing God's work driving new followers into the cult and when God's will is done they the vamps will be taken away by God leaving the Brethren to inherit the earth. Martin and Mister save a nun, Sister (Kelly McGillis) who has been raped by a couple of these thugs. Mister kills them running afoul of the group since one of the thugs was Brethren leader Jebedia Loven's (Michael Cerveris) son. This group is captures the writer's feelings about this group perfectly when in Martin's voice we get "In desperate times, false Gods abound. People put their faith in the loudest preacher and hope they are right." When captured by this group, Mister's punishment is to have his hands bound and left for a group of vampires. Sister and Martin are to be kept as new sheep in the flock. What is great about this film is that all along all the new decisions Martin has to make are training and he becomes more complete and likely to survive. I skip scenes in this review of Mister attacking vampires so Martin can practice killing them, at first not so well. When Mister is left to the vamps Martin runs from the group, now brave enough to make such a bold decision. He makes it back to the car to find Mister who also found a way to survive. Making it back to a safe town they pick up Belle (Danielle Harris), a young pregnant singer they see in the gathering place. She joins the group and it is something I like about this movie, people in it need connection to each other. It really is human nature and Mister is a vampire hunter but also a human looking out for those who need looking out for. Soon a fourth joins there party, Willie (Sean Nelson) an ex marine who is primarily there to fill some of the back story of how the government and military eventually broke down as the plague spread.
These four travel through Brethren country together, up the back roads to the colder mountains of New York State. Here Mister gets some sweet revenge on Jebedia when they come across him manning a checkpoint. Of course this can't be the end for the main bad guy we are only two thirds the way through the movie. Leaving him cut for the vamps though is a nice payback at the time. Finally reaching the border the group can relax. When they have to leave their weapons with the people running the town I knew that something really bad was going to happen. When Belle and Martin dance at the towns party, and Mister joined in I thought "Oh Oh this is not going to end well." Then when they see Sister and the group is complete I knew the bad was just around the corner.
The attack is awesome and I will not get into it here but it was surprising and really a cool thing to do. Our group gets out of it and heads for the hills going high to the cold country. When the car dies they are on foot, an older Sister, a pregnant Belle and the three guys. They seem safe from vampires but it is taking its toll on them. Even as they grow closer struggling together they are getting weaker and Belle is quite pregnant. Martin in the ever present V.O. says "Away from people I stopped thinking about the past and my family, I've found a new one." Since that was a bright and positive sentiment something bad has to happen. They come down from the hills because it is also too cold for them. They camp in this large traffic jam of abandoned cars that had been heading to the now really close Canadian border.
After another very good tense attack scene we have our survivors hold up in an old bus. Mister senses something amiss but can not put his finger on it. When another member of the group vanishes we get the big turn in the story. It is nicely done and although veteran horror film fans could figure it out I bet a fair number of people out there won't. Building to a climax as the last three remaining in the group get so close to safety only to have to fight yet another battle. When the final group of three are hold up at roadside diner, after the climax we see the journey's end for Martin as he is a proven survivor and vampire killer. The happy ending is well done and expected.
What I liked about this film is that it never lost track of whose story it was. At its heart it was always about Mister and Martin and it held true to the relationship. Although the voice over always in the voice of Martin showed that he was the main character from the beginning. Still the story of Mister played a very complementary role inter connecting with Martin but never drowning his story out. It was well done. I do wish though that more character development was done with interactive scenes instead of using the V.O. so much. Way too much we are told about the connections of characters instead of them showing us the connections they are developing. Some of the characters are less developed and thus obviously expendable. Overall this is a wonderful entry into the genre, instead of big loud and super action filled it is quiet scary, a study of people. A bit on the predictable in what must happen, with some characters obvious feed for vampires but also some surprises. The music was a real mood setter and I am not always sure it is the mood I wanted in the movie, some really melancholy tunes more appropriate for a dreamy summer road movie than a survival one. I think that they were going for a haunted mood but I wanted a bit more tension. The vampire presentation was just excellent and monstrous, the feel of the vampire attacks was closer to the 28 Days Later feel but less frantic, so positives there. Writer/Director Jim Mickle does a nice job with what he has and he with co-writer Damici have created a worthy film for lovers of horror that I think general audience could also enjoy.
Rating (6.7) 5.0 and up are recommended, in the Zombiegrrlz system Go and see it!

Decoys (2004) Horror Sci-Fi Aliens

Decoys (2004) - Let me say right up front I kinda like this movie, there are things in it that are appealing and not just all the hot young women that fill the screen, although no harm there. It does some writing things well as far as foreshadowing and moving the plot through action. For all it does well though there are some really hap handed things that drag it into mediocrity. So lets get into it. Decoys starts on Halloween, kids are trick and treating, costumes and the such and we come in and follow a college age guy into his buddies house. It is too quiet, way too quiet. He creeps into the living room and it appears his friend is watching static on the television. He moves around the couch to see his dead friend. Here is something I like, because it is Halloween the dude is initial scared by the corpse but then thinks it is a prank. Only after he sees the second friend dead in the corner does he freak. It was a small nice touch. The scene does not play into the film until much later when the final turn refers back to it, but it is also a good establishing scene for the kind of death we are to see.

Two months later in the heart of winter the movie picks up on a college campus. A Hollywood style college campus where all the women are way too hot, we see the dorms and various hotties ending on an artist doing sculpture with a blow torch, I looked at my wife at this point and said "We are going to see that flame thrower again." as it was one of those obvious visuals to set up something later. Two guys head to the laundry room to do clothes, Luke (Corey Sevier), our lead and his roommate Roger (Elias Toufexis). Here we get a bit of character development, with Luke the more responsible freshman and Roger already into partying. There is also the open window in the dead of winter. The guys close it after commenting but here it is a smarter written foreshadowing since laundry rooms get hot it sort of makes sense that someone may have opened the window. You could think nothing of it even though it is winter, it plays into the plot and is not too obvious.

Luke is a lucky guy because after sharing a few brews with Roger he comes back to the laundry room and is joined by the lovely Lilly (Stephanie von Pfetten) and Constance (Kim Poirer) who flirt relentlessly and in a clunky piece of "I have to give Luke a reason to go to the girls room" thinking, Lilly OBVIOUSLY leaves her roll of quarters in the room before they leave. He heads up and finds the room oddly empty, super clean and the window open, it is freezing in there. I like the touch of letting the audience know there is something up with these chicks by leaving a Yanni cd on the night table. Something ain't right there! Luke does not have to wait long to find out either as the plot immediately picks up. He hears the girls coming and does not want to be caught smelling their nighties so he hides in the closet. He gets to see what at first he thinks is some hot lesbian loving but instead after they get mostly naked Constance sprays Lilly with liquid nitrogen. Shit and all the tentacles that spring from her stomach really seem to like it. So we now after not much time know that these two chicks are not right, and most likely aliens from outer space. So does our main character but since he was drinking he will naturally doubt what he saw. In fact most of us under the influence will rationalize the things we see so makes a bit of sense. SO when he is with his crew of Roger, Alex (Meghan Ory), and DJ Nathan, uh Gibby (Ennis Esmer) they are reluctant to believe him. There are some subtle hints in here about who is what but the director and cowriter Mathew Hastings (with Tom Berry) does a good job at misleading later so the ending can be a surprise to the audience. I have seen way to many of these kind of films to be fooled though to the final turn was not surprising.

Roger is a virgin looking to get laid and alien Constance is just the solution he needs. So the gang heads to the blondes sorority house for a party where he hopes to get lucky. Although after seeing the girls flirt luck does not seem to be a factor in it. Lilly makes another move on Luke, with some sweet kissing but something about the memory of seeing tentacles spring from her abdomen turns him off so she moves onto the college hockey star. I really liked that they got the hockey star Bobby (Marc Trottier) to read something at the mic and he could barely read. Very funny. When Luke ends up in a fight with him though he is totally overmatched and has to say No Mas! It is really all for the best because when Lilly and Bobby head out into the cold for some nookie she shoves those tentacles right down his throat, it could have been our boy Luke. At the same time Constance is aggressively attempting to get Roger into the same position but since they are in the bathroom of the sorority he does not want his first time to be so down and dirty. She is annoyed but lets him off the hook for now.

Oobvious set piece number three when the next day the roommates talk about Rogers heart medication. Okay so now we know there will be a heart failure for poor old Rog. Geeze! They are interrupted by a knock on the door and Amanda (former Baywatch babe Nicole Eggert) a cop is there to get Luke for questioning in the death of Hockey player Bobby. Now here is the biggest problem with the rest of the film. Amanda is a bit more than 10 years older than Luke and they have a history, she dumped him. Besides the fact that he must have been in high school at the time, the script does nothing with this information. It is like there used to be a storyline there but it was edited out leaving these traces that do nothing for the story. It almost seems like later they wanted to give Luke a choice between Amanda and Alex but because the Amanda part is so stunted it is never really a choice.

Then there is Detective Francis Kirk (Richard Burgi), who plays his part as dickhead cop like William Shatner plays Capt. Kirk in Star Trek, meaning way over the top. He is horrible and distracting because he is so bad. Maybe that is what he was going for but damn it did not work. It could be that Kirk was going to be a love interest with the other cop Amanda. At some point in the screenwriting it felt like maybe there was more there where Kirk's motivation included knowing that Luke once was involved with Amanda. What ever the reason he and the cops in general have really no purpose in the outcome of the movie.

The film becomes Luke and Alex trying to capture evidence of the aliens, the Detective suspecting he is the killer, Alex puppy dogging around after Luke wishing he would spend more time noticing her and trying to look out for his friend. Luke knows something is going on and the aliens are killing people but does not know the full story. We as the audience get the full story pretty quick through our boy Gibby and the alien Constance. She takes him out to a graveyard crypt. After making it Gibby is a Popsicle and Constance is disappointed. It is obvious that the alien woman don't want the dudes to freeze solid and so there is some sympathy for them. In this scene there is a from inside Gibby's mouth camera shot. You gotta love that

Luke puts the pieces together slower than you may like but in the end he realizes what is going on. These aliens are trying and failing to breed with man. On the I could do without side, I could do without the dreaded musical interlude, there were three of them in this movie, once when Luke is seducing Lilly on web cam to get evidence, once when a major character dies, and one at the end when Alex and Luke finally hook up. I hate them they only serve to piss me off.

I am not going to talk about how the alien invasion is stopped. When Luke gets his plan together to fight them, he goes off the rails. His acting fails him completely almost like he thought acting poorly would be a good thing. I don't know if he was going for laughs? Some of the dialog in the climax is really poor and he delivers those lines with gusto that is laughable. "Belt of Orion? How about belt of O frying!" Then there is the less than stellar special effects, we get some cgi reveals of the aliens true form that are not really very good. Oh the film has such potential why can't they execute?

In the end though with all the things I didn't like about this film, I enjoyed watching it. Maybe it is the girls are hot, or that the script does a good job selling them as not really evil. They are just trying to survive and they can have feelings too. (sob :( ) Decoys is an annoying little fun flick that could have been better but goes on my bad but I liked it list.

Rating (5.1) 5.0 and up are recommended, in the Zombiegrrlz system I would Rent it.

Scourge (2008) - Horror Demon

Scourge (2008) - In the 1800s in a small town the church and people dealt with a demon that entered into citizens through their belly buttons or some other orifice, like the thing they put in Neo in The Matrix. It then within hours used up there bodies and then moved to the next victim, when I say use up, basically the upset stomach that comes from the demon in your stomach becomes a violent stream of vomiting blood and then your death. So in the 1800s they learned how to capture this critter they called The Scourge and stored it in the floorboards of the community's church. Now in the present a fire at the church has released the creature and it is back out in the world.
Our main character Scott Miller (Nic Rhind) has just served a couple years in prison and is out and checking out his old stomping grounds including exgirlfriend Jesse (Robyn Ledoux). Now this movie seemed really familiar, with The Hidden (1987) first coming to mind, in that it is an alien hiding in humans but totally using them up. Recently there was the supermarket thriller Alien Raiders (2008), I am sure there are others I am forgetting, in this one though we will take the writer at his word and call the alien, a demon. Unfortunately for Scott his current girlfriend Lydia (Marina Pasqua) is screwing around with the newly infected firefighter Josh (Mensah Iruoje) so when the critter uses him up, she gets it. Scott looks like the angry boyfriend and possible murderer, as he follows Lydia around to confront her on her affair , but is a bit too late when she is finished with by the demon. She is transfering the critter to another guy and stupid Scott thinks she is so slutting herself out, she bleeds out and dies in his arms and instead of dealing with it and the police he runs out after having been seen by a couple girls who walk in. So starts the process of him trying to clear his name and at the same time figure out what the fuck is going on. He will need help and that is where an exgirlfriend can come in handy. They obviously still like each other but of course she is the niece of the local sheriff so probably not the smartest person for Scott to team up with.

What is wrong with this film? Well...

1. The filming is static, the camera is placed and the scene is shot and almost never does the focus change or the camera move. It is filmed like a TV show which does not help the need for it to be more action oriented. Looking at Cinematographer Corey Robson imdb entry I see that he has worked a lot in television and it really shows here. Director Jonas Quastel will also have to take some blame for not planning it any differently.

2. The acting is really flat and unappealing, besides veteran Russell Ferrier who plays Sheriff Durst the cast is sooooooo flat in their delivery of every line. It was so bad at one point that when the Skater Girl, Frankie Nash powered out her line, I was just happy some emotion was being expressed. Leads Ledoux and Rhind had no chemistry at all because neither could emit anything through their acting.
3. It does not help when the script by Quastel is so full of holes that the story doesn't at time make sense. So this critter gets out and people start dying but at first there is really no connection to Scott at all. You could not tell by how he reacted, sculking and hiding like he actually did something wrong. Then there are times when the creature in full view of people transfers from one body to the next but still the police are after Scott?
In the end this film failed to pull off the simplest of stories and the outcome you can guess by the little that I have relayed here. There is a minor personal plot point at the end between Sheriff Durst and Scott that is reasonable if too late, I like Ferrier in the role as he was spot on. Deputy Sam (Jason Harder)was also great as the nervous cop who never fired his gun. He kept it controlled enough not to become Barney Fife and really was a plus in a bleak pallet of actors.

Rating (3.1) 5.0 and up are recommended on the Zombiegrrlz scale I say Skip It!

Source Code (2011) - Action Thriller

Source Code (2011) - SPOILER ALERT!!! Through the magic of quantum mechanics scientists have made it possible for a personality (entity, soul, consciousness) to travel from the current time back in time to the body of another person's last eight minutes of life. Really that is the science fiction of this new film by the director Duncan Jones and writer Ben Ripley. In case you are not as into science fiction as I am, Jones made the wonderful and thoughtful Moon (2009) which asked a lot of good question about the meaning of life and what it means to be human. If you have not seen it you may want to find it. Ripley gets his first big gig in this script that has kicked around Hollywood for many years. What they create is a decent science fiction effort with the usual holes left by the time travel theme. You would be hard pressed to find a film involving time travel that has not been picked apart b y the fandom, it is just the nature of the beast and so with that in mind the rating of this film will only slightly reflect the issues around time travel. As the film begins we see sweeping vista as a commuter train rolls towards Chicago. The music in these opening credits is definitely thriller suspense in mood and as the credits end Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes on the train confused. He is greeted by the lovely Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan) is such a familiar way that he is totally freaked out. Colter is a soldier who has been flying sorties over Afghanistan not some commuter on the C train. WTF is going on! When he gets to the bathroom and see another mans face staring back at him in the mirror his mind is blown, but since right at this time the train also is blown, up that is, it does not get to sink in. He comes alert in the cockpit or some such place and is being spoken to by a firm by kindhearted officer Collen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) about his mission. Stevens is part of a secret military program, even though he does not remember volunteering that uses the "source code" and quantum equations to place his consciousness into the body of Sean Fentress (only seen in reflection Frederick De Grandpre) at a time eight minutes before Sean bit the big one in the train explosion. That train explosion happen earlier in the day of this film and the military is asking Stevens to try to figure out who the bomber was. They have information that he will strike again later in the day and wish to head off the second attack. So the good soldier begins his quest and through many "Groundhog Day" cycles attempts to track down the bomber while at the same time seeming to fall for the girl across from him on the train. At first there is a lot of adjustment and he does not yet know why he is looking for the bomber, a necessary plot device for the audience but a serious flaw in the script. If Stevens does not know that the bomber is going to attack again later in the day then he can go through several cycles of picking out suspects. Each time the train blows up and he is reset he has a bit more knowledge of those on the train. Problem with this is the awkward excuse making Goodwin has to make while prepping him for another cycle. If they just tell him that the bomber is going to strike again then he would know the bomber has to be someone who got off the train and can narrow his search.

After leading us through several cycles where he gets it wrong he eventually figures out who the killer is but has some failed attempts in getting the name. Then there is the whole thing that he wants to go back in and save the people in the train. Even though he was told that he really is not effecting the outcome of the events, that they are just shadows of a past that will come to pass anyway and nothing will change that. Still the unfocused and confused Colter wastes valuable time personalizing everyone around him instead of concisely seeking the bomber. Unlike Groundhog Day though he is not there enough cycles to learn the piano and memorize entire movements of everyone in the town. No he finds the bomb and gets the name of the bomber and then his mission is over.

Or is it? He begs Goodwin for one more go at it since nothing actually will change he wants the satisfaction of stopping the train bombing even if it is in this memory world. Against the wishes of her boss Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright) she allows the final time. During this time you can guess what happens. Yes that's right he saves the day captures the bad guy and gets the girl. Things are not so smooth back in the office as Goodwin has to physically lock herself in the room with the partial body of Stevens to keep the evil Dr. Rutledge from prematurely rebooting him. We get to see at this point the horrible real life condition of Stevens, pretty much he is a torso and a partially active brain. You can see why fellow soldier Goodwin wants to give Stevens his final wish. Just out of shear respect for the service he has performed. So she guards the room while his eight minutes runs.

Then the film give us the ending where we learn that since Stevens has stopped the bomber and gotten the girl that when the eight minutes are up in the memory world the train does not blow up. His personality is still in the teacher and he can spend the rest of his life with the beautiful Christina. Happily ever after. Except for the wonderfully dirty left overs for us in the audience. Stevens has created a new version of the universe, there is this tripe in Science Fiction writing where we pretend there is basically a new universe created every time a decision is made. An infinite number of universes existing all at once through space time allowing everything to be possible. It is a really horrible theory and an easy out for the science fiction writing like in this film to manipulate for a happy Stevens ending. In this case the consciousness of Steven is now in that universe where he saved the day and got to keep the bod of the teacher and now can start a life with the woman he now is getting to know. In this reality the teacher Sean Fentress is dead, not by being blown to bits but by being displaced by Stevens. I am sure when the glow wears off Stevens is going to see the myriad of problems he now has being in Fentresses body. Then the ending also shows up that the memory world was much more, as we learn not only did Stevens change things on the train, back in what supposedly is the real world he contacts Goodwin and we learn that he actually changed reality for her also. In her day the train never blew up and the entire movie from her perspective never happened. She knows about his body in the the tank and can guess that the program they are running has amazing implications for changing the course of human events. BUT it also means there are two versions of Stevens in this reality, one that is in Fentress's body and the torso in the tank. Just not a very clean ending.

Feelings about this film overall are pretty good. It was a fairly tight action thriller that kept the tension twisted up aenough to entertain. Although there are problems with some of the logic in the movie so be it. That is a common sciencefiction time travel issue and I can let it go. In fact I sort of like that it leaves the reality flawed, if everything was solve I may have been more critical. There are many films besides groundhog day that this takes ideas from, 12 Monkeys, Quantum Leap (the TV show) and Deja Vu to name a few. It is certainly most like the last of this list and even could be seen as remaking that idea.

Rating (6.2) 5.0 and up are recommended In the Zombiegrrlz system I would say rent it.

Red Riding Hood (2011) Horror Werewolf

Red Riding Hood (2011) - Taking on a classic tale is a difficult task. Everyone who knows the story comes in with preconceived ideas about the meaning of the tale. In the Grimm tale Little Red Riding Hood is a moral tale about following your Mother's directions, but not this new film by writer David Johnson which is about love, trust and family secrets. In this case Red Riding Hood is Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) a beautiful villager in a small wooded community. She is a pretty but tough girl and has a man in her life named Peter (Shiloh Fernandez). As children they were best friends and as twenty somethings playing teens they are in love. Unfortunately for Valerie her family has promised her hand in marriage to Henry (Max Irons). It would be a marriage that financially would benefit Valerie and why her Mother Suzette (Virginia Madsen) arranged it. Suzette does not want Valerie to end up like her, married to Drunkard Cesaire (Billy Burke who scratches out a living cutting wood. Finishing out the family is the Grandmother (Julie Christie) who live out in the woods away from the walled village and her soon to be dead sister. The town itself is set in a middle ages type setting without all the nasty dirt and disease of the actual time period.

For years the village has held a precarious appeasement relationship of a wolf that in the past has killed, by each month putting out a living sacrifice for it to eat they keep their children from going missing. This go horribly wrong when the sister is found dead in the strange haystack field. Strange not because of how she died, it was a wolf attack but because of the strange blue flowers that were all over the haystacks. It was distracting and I found myself thinking I would have to do some Googling to find out what appeared as a decoration. It turns out I could not find anything on blue flowers in haystacks and it appears to just be a set design choice. Like in my viewing of the film let me pull myself back into the story.

At its core the film is a "who done it", with the knowledge that there is the wolf, or in this case a werewolf, but we the audience having to guess which villager is the culprit. To spur the story along the village priest Father Auguste (Lukas Haas, who gets bonus points for having appeared in the cult sci-fi film Solarbabies) calls in a werewolf hunter named Soloman (Gary Oldman) to deal with the wolf. Soloman is a damaged soul who had the horror of finding out his wife was a werewolf and is a driven hunter because of the experience. When he arrives at the village with the cast iron elephant and introduces his distrust to everyone he gets the entire village on edge. What is that elephant?

The story lead by this madman works to drive the wolf out of hiding, and to put distrust into everyone. The werewolf could be anyone and director Catherine Hardwicke and writer Johnson creates a web of deception to lead the audience in the direction of various suspects. I say they lead us because through tricks of the script and basically failing to show the audience anything important to solving the mystery push us to thinking the werewolf could be anyone. Is it the boyfriend Henry? Maybe the grandmother? The blatant manipulation is very off putting in this film. In fact every time the film pushed a new suspect at me I figured I could eliminate that character from consideration, and felt a bit cheated that the filmmakers treated me so disrespectfully. Then because of the amazingly over the top plot manipulation the they had to create a scene that showed you all the things they purposefully kept from you. That way they could reveal the killer and show how they fooled you. Grrrrr!

The film is also so incredibly clean, the people, the village the forest are all wonderfully perfect sets, but I let that go because if you take it as a fantasy story you can have lovely sets. Overall I just came away feeling a bit cheated though because the realism was missing from the design. The best actress of the group Julie Christie was under utilized and instead the overacting Gary Oldman put forth as the main antagonist. The film to me. treated me as a stooge to be fooled and then pats itself on the back at how smartly it deceived me. So I don't think this is going to get a recommendation from this blog.

Rating (4.5) 5.0 and up are recommended, in the Zombiegrrlz system Skip It!

Ricco the Mean Machine (1973) Action Gangster

Ricco the Mean Machine (1973) - Ricco (Christopher Mitchum) has spent two years in prison and now he is out and looking for the guys who killed his father. The opening scene is the Father being ambushed, he is a crime family head and kills a lot of bad guys before he is finished off. We never see who does it but get a great gory effect of a bullet in the head. In fact it is a point made when Ricco is talking about his father that the killer made it so he could not have an open casket funeral. Even though the guy was sitting bleeding out the killer made the point of ruining his face. Through the opening credits we see Ricco walking on the highway until the cops come by and stop him. They give him a ride and talk to him about what he was in prison for. He is too cool for school though and only half answers. What a mystery man, the long blond locks the fir rimmed coat this guy is a tough John Denver, I wonder if he can sing.

His sister and her husband spend their days having sex instead of serving the many cars that come to the gas station they own. When Ricco arrives they are so excited that they literally tackle him and shower him with kisses. So ridiculous and very quickly we have the story connecting the first scene to the theme of the film. Ricco's Dad (Luis Induni) has been killed and Ricco is going to get to the bottom of who did it. Then in a flashback we see how Ricco's father tried to toughen up Ricco by having his factory guys fight with the son he thinks is weak. We get to see that Ricco can really handle himself, with some amazing karate chopping action Ricco turns quickly into the Mean Machine of the title. His Mom is a women confined to a wheelchair, who pushes her son as he pusher her along to get revenge for her husband's death. She lets him know the disrespect of the way they killed him, that it was a family disrespect. He says he will do it but that it has to be on his own terms. He is a free spirit of the seventies and not an old time Mafia thug. That really is the kicker in this film, it is a Mafia movie, with the "Godfather" soundtrack but the protagonist is a hippie kind of guy, but not the peace out hippie you would first think of, no he is a bad ass mother fucker with a karate chop and a cool exterior.

The new leader of the family business is Don Vito (Arthur Kennedy), so he must be the guy who offed his father. They are not too quick to show this but the idea has to be floating in your head early on. His old friend and counterfeiter Guiseppe Calogero and his niece Scilla (Barbara Bouchet) helps him getting his revenge. Scilla is a hot little number who scams guys with the counterfeit cash can get him into Don Vito's estate but wants to help in return. Complicating matters is that Ricco's old flame Rosa (Melisa Longo) is now controlled by Don Vito because he likes beautiful things and boy is she a pleasure to look at.

Since this is a revenge movie I think it is safe to say the title character gets satisfaction, But before that there has to be a squeezing of Don Vito that will get him out in the open. He steals the cash from his collections with an excellent striptease by Scilla. I really have to hand it to this film for having such incredibly beautiful women in their films. Barbara Bouchet is a Czechoslovakian lovely who continues to work in film to this day. She has 88 titles to her resume and get bonus points for appearing as Kelinda in the Star Trek episode "By any Other Name" in 1966. Malisa Longo who still looks good after all these years is an Italian actress who gets her bonus points for appearing in "The way of the Dragon" with the incredible Bruce Lee. After a string of exploitation films and a group of horror low budget flicks she seems to have stopped working by 1997.

Ricco ends up captured by one of Don Vito's friends and is going to be killed but right as he is about to pull the trigger Scilla shoots at him. She although stunning to look at misses but it is enough of a surprise for Ricco to get the drop on the guy. Saved by his new girl he can continue his plan to get Vito. Don Vito has a great way of doing away with problems or those who fail him. In his factory he has a vat of acid. When Vito finds Rosa fucking his best assassin Don Vito tosses him in the vat and then gives the order to end her life the same way. So sad as the music plays and he walks away, she is screaming in the background, "I want to Live, Vito! Please, I want to live."

Since this is a revenge movie you can guess the final bit of the film, but be warned Vito is a mean man and to get Ricco to come out in the open he pulls some cruel crimes. Overall this film has a lot going for it. The fighting is horrible so that really has to take points of, but the plot is a simple revenge flick with a bit more depth. Ricco is an antihero and also reluctant before finally being moved into the Mean Machine of the title. The film gets to make up some points by having Christopher Mitchum, the son of the excellent Robert Mitchum as the protagonist.

Rating (5.5) 5.0 and up are recommended. In the Zombiegrrlz rating system Netflix it!

The Wolf Man (1941) - Horror Monster

The Wolf Man (1941) - There is no doubt what this film is about from the first shot of the film. We open on a bookshelf and a volume is chosen and open to a page to reveal the following. "Lycanthropy (Werewolfism) A disease of the mind in which human beings imagine they are wolf men. According to an old legend which persist in certain localities, the victims actually assume the physical characteristics of the animal. There is a small village near TALBOT CASTLE which still claims to have had gruesome experiences with this supernatural creature. The sign of the werewolf is a five pointed star, a pentagram enclosed by a circle."

There is no doubt the story we are about to see, in this day and age we all know the basics but in revisiting this film I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the screenwriting and the fantastic heart felt performance by Lon Chaney Jr. in the title role.

Like many of the classic Universal horror films it is not a perfect film. There is an uncomfortable mix of American and British sensibilities and accents in the film, what was originally going to be about a telescope installer visiting the European Castle, was change at the studios request to be about Larry Talbot returning home from an education in the United States. For the most part though the script is well put together with some awkwardness. Screenwriter Curt Siodmak attempted to keep the script away from Hollywood executive by delivering it as late as possible; he said in an interview "That gave the front office no time to engage another writer, who could mess up my screenplay. Also Universal was stingy and didn't like to spend money for rewrites. That was the secret of getting a 'classic'. The writer's original screenplay reached the screen, unadulterated by 'improvements.' " (quoted from David J. Skal's great book The Monster Show). Still there is some clunkiness to the early part of the film.

Larry returns home to help his father John Talbot (Claude Rains), in what I think is a slightly miscast Claude Rains. The body types between Chaney and Rains is so different. Chaney the hulking giant and Rains the smaller sharper featured man. Larry Talbot presents some awkward dialog about being sorry he was not there when his brother was killed in a hunting accident but wouldn't he have come back for the services. True global travel was not what it is today and maybe everything would have been done prior to him reaching home. Still they bury the hatch and Larry helps Dad install his new telescope.
Larry can see into town with the telescope and spies the lovely Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers) in her room above her fathers antique shop. He makes his way down there and tries to be smooth in asking her on a date. She is too cool for school though and plays inviting while still spurning his advances. While this conversation takes place he buys a wolf headed walking stick. The Wolfs head and five pointed star gives her the opportunity to add to the lore in the film, telling him it the sign of the Werewolf and quoting the saying we get to hear several times in the film.
"Even a man who is pure of heart and says his prayers at night, May become a wolf when the wolf bane blooms and the autumn moon is bright."
He buys the walking stick and although she says unconvincing no to his offer to meet for a walk and visit to the gypsy camp to have her fortune read. He leave happy and returns at eight like he said he would. She is actually looking for him when eight arrives. She plays coy and before they start their walk she brings out her friend Jenny (Fay Helm) who will come along on the date. Gwen is excellent in these scene keeping the Larry Talbot character off balance even as he starts to feel confident around her. The interplay is quite cute. Shame poor Larry will later have to learn she is engaged to be married to Frank Andrews (Patric Knowles). Why did she allow this date anyway?
On the walk to the gypsy camp we get to see the wolf bane is indeed in bloom as Jenny picks some. At the camp she goes first and Bela (Bela Lugosi) in a minor role starts to tell her fortune but sees the circled 5 point star on her palm. "What do you see?" she pleads to his distress, but he sends her away, he is deeply distressed as he stands over the wolf bane she has dropped on the ground.

Now we are in the thick of the story as the fleeing Jenny is pursued through the fog by the werewolf. The wolf howls, she moves faster, then Larry and Gwen hear the screams of Jenny and race back towards her. Larry comes upon the wolf after it has ripped of Jenny's throat. He fights with is and is bitten before managing to beat it to death with his cane. The old gypsy woman Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya) and Gwen take the wounded Larry back to the castle.
Problem is when the authorities arrive on the crime scene they do not find the wolf carcass but instead find Bela beaten to death next to Jenny who indeed had her throat ripped out. They want to talk to Larry about this of course and go to the castle. There Larry explains what happened and they share the results questioning whether he could have been confused in the dark. Larry insists he saw what he saw and attempts to show them his wound on his chest though there is no wound, just a 5 pointed star scar. It is so sad the way Larry struggles with what is happening. He knows things can not be what everyone is saying but can't prove otherwise. There is a striking scene at the tomb of the deceased Bela where Larry in hiding listens to Maleva recite a poem for her dead son and then when she leave he breaks down in tears.
The authorities are watching him, he learns about the werewolf curse from Maleva and she gives him a pendant to protect him. He though fears for Gwen and gives the charm to her. The first night of transformation is coming it is interesting how little we the audience get to see. Spoiled with modern special effect, the simple cut shot to hairier and hairier legs is so quaint. He is impressive after his transformation with the full facial makeup of yak hair applied in layers.
The film really though is not about the makeup but about the man struggling with the horror of the beast inside. As Larry struggles and the authorities close in he tries to get people to understand it is not all in his head. He attempts to leave but before he can convince Gwen to come with him he sees the sign on her hand. It is inevitable that Larry will die as the werewolf and when it is done it is a truly sad tale of a man caught in an impossible situation. When he gives his own father his walking cane the final night we know what is to happen. It in this case doesn't take anything away from this wonderful classic monster tale. Lon Chaney Jr. is excellent and captures the struggle beautifully. I whole recommend this film for all.

Rating (8.2) 5.0 and up are recommended, in the Zombiegrrlz system BUY IT!

Cannibal Holocaust (1980) - Horror Cannibals

Cannibal Holocaust (1980) - Well that was not as half bad as it was billed. Cannibal Holocaust has been on my list as one of those infamous films so shocking that as a youth I was not allowed to see it. Then in adulthood never felt like a cannibal movie was something I wanted to see. In seeing it I have to say although there was some offensive scenes in it the film as a whole was not particularly shocking and fails to live up to its reputation. Mostly there are two things that make this film as shocking as it is. The first is the misogynistic abuse of women in the film, there are three scenes in particular that are horrible. One where a native man does a ceremonial rape (with sharpened branch) and killing of his adulterous wife. Then twice there are gang rapes and murder of women and some sort of abortion by natives which made no sense. All of these scenes are horrible and hard to sit through, and sickening to watch. The second gruesome set of scenes have to do with killing animals on camera, some south American rodent, a large turtle, a monkey and a piglet are all killed on screen. These scenes are not some sort of CGI but actual filmed killings. Really nasty stuff. All is to pull the viewer into a disgusted response to the film and all are effective for that purpose.

Then there is the two stories that these scenes take place. The film starts with scenes of the original four adventurers heading to the Amazon to get footage for a documentary about cannibal tribes, then we learn that they never came back and the film company hires Harold Monroe (Robert Kerman) an anthropologist to head down after them. So the first 40% of the film is Harold tracking the route of the younger group. When he finds their remains he manages to get the canisters of film they shot and heads back to NYC.

The film takes an interesting turn when he is back in the city. The documentary producers want him to review the film and help put together a documentary about it. He agrees but after viewing the film knows that the first group behaved totally unprofessionally in their interactions with the natives. He tries to convince the movie people that the film would not represent good documentary journalism because of the harsh violent behavior of the team. They argue that outrageous behavior will sell a ton of copies and that intellectual integrity should be balance with what sells. As this conversation continues we keep going back to the original footage of the group where they rape and more like conquistadors then anthropologists. When Harold seems to be losing the battle with the production company he brings the executives in for a screening of the most horrific footage.

The first group, Jack (Perry Pirkanen), Mark (Luca Barbareschi), and Alan (Carl Gabriel Yorke) terrorizes a native village burning raping and murdering. They shout their bravado to the camera about how superior they are. Then the final canister shows how the female of the group Faye Daniels (Francesca Ciardi) is gang raped and beaten tyo death with clubs and the men are mutilated and killed in turn by the vengeful villagers.

What is interesting to me that we have this film Cannibal Holocaust, that is famous for selling brutal images making an argument about how much is too much. Amazing how the thing that is discussed as going too far is indeed asking the question, it is so meta. Still I think the imagery was too much out of my own tastes for me to recommend it to anyone else. So let me answer the question how far is too far? This is.

Rating (4.1) 5.0 and up are recommended, in the Zombiegrrlz system I would say SKIP IT!

Blood and Roses (1960) Horror Vampire

Blood and Roses (1960) - This review is part of the Final Girl Film Club, Stacie Ponder's excellent site and work, including the feature film Ludlow are worth every minute of your time so go check her out.

I want to call this film a Gothic vampire story but it does and does not quite fit in that category. Certainly the feel of the film is just that but it is set in the 20th century. The Estate of Leopoldo De Karnstein (Mel Ferrer) and the atmosphere within the small circle of characters is almost Hammeresque. As the film starts we have a voice over from as we look out of the cockpit window of a plane taking off. The voice of Millarca talks about how things have changed in 500 years.

Then we are introducing characters at the Karnstein Estate, Leopoldo has a fireworks expert in to create a fireworks display for his celebration. He is engaged to Georgia Monteverdi (Elsa Martinelli) they are planning a big lead up to their wedding. It is determined that the display will take place up by the old castle on the grounds which leads to the story of the Vampire Millarca ( I hope I have that name right?) Leopoldo's cousin Carmilla tells us the story of Ludwig and Millarca, they were in love and when she was dying, too young and on the eve of their wedding; She told him their love would be eternal. In 1765 after a rash of mysterious deaths the peasants revolted fearing that there was a vampire in the Karnstein family and invaded the family plot at the old castle and staked all the bodies. Ludwig stole away with Millarca's body hiding it deep in the castle so it would not be staked. His love though was not as eternal as hers and three more times Ludwig would get engaged and each time on the eve of his wedding his bride to be died. When Carmilla finishes the story she show all the painting of Millarca, who could be her twin.

When the fireworks display causes some World War II munitions to explode in the castle the tomb of the vampire spirit is revealed and it calls to Carmilla to be her vessel. So here we are all set up for a repeat of the story we just heard. Leopoldo nad Georgia are to be married in just a few days and the vampire Millarca now in the body of Carmilla is set to get the descendant of Ludwig as her own. Playing into this is Carmilla's personal story that she has always loved Leopoldo since they were children. Writer/Director Roger Vadim plays the line of trying to make the audience think that the vampire aspects of the film may be concoctions of Carmilla's mind. That she just takes on the persona of the vampire in order to subconsciously sabotage the wedding. Still there are some vampire tropes we can look to to try to confirm if is is actually mental illness or a real spirit.

The chemistry and sexual tension between the two lead actresses in remarkable in this film. After a walk Georgia lays down in the sun under a tree and closes her eyes, Carmilla hovers over her intently staring and just as she seem she will move in for a kiss they are interrupted. Wow! At this point I need to note that both of these women are stunning. Elsa Martinelli and Annette Vadim shine as true beauties of cinema, each jaw dropping lovely. Elsa's perfect Italian face and incredible dark eyes are intoxicating. I found myself anticipating the next time the two would be onscreen together again as the scene ended.

The film moves on to show us changes in Carmilla, from animals being afraid of her to her ability to correct a historian on the Karnstein histories, to knowing a 100 year old dance are meant to confirm to the audience that she may be Millarca. We see her as the voice over tells us she must return to her tomb each night, walking through the forest to the castle. Then there is the whole needing blood to survive. Carmilla question young maid Lisa about where she lives and it is not long before we have a very tense hunt scene as Lisa tries to flee the possessed Camilla.

Camilla grows closer to Leopoldo also and he is a bit of a cad in that he does not immediately spurn her advances. This is a guy who is going to be married in a couple days and he is getting close to his cousin like no man should. He goes as far as offering to allow her along to his honeymoon in the Caribbean? WTF! Then after she has some kind of hallucinatory episode he actually ends up with her in bed her dress torn away from her breast, and kisses her passionately.

Lisa's body is found creating rumors among the locals that the vampire is back. Leopoldo is pulled away to talk to the police just as the summer rains come. A shift in the film signified by storms, love this technique. Camilla and Georgia have taken shelter in the greenhouse after being caught in the rain. The women talk and Georgia lets Camilla know that she knows Camilla is in love with Leopoldo, as she does she hands her a rose pricking her hand. When she sucks her finger she gets a spot of blood on her lip. Camilla sees this and moves in gently kissing her to get the blood. The voice over says "One drop is not enough I must have more, much more." as she moves towards neck. This scene is beautifully shot and just a pleasure to watch. As Camilla moves in a servant arrives and leads them to the house with an umbrella, we close the scene on the flower Camilla was holding, its color fades.

As the storm continues outside Leopoldo works it out so the wedding will be moved to Venice. He suspects Camilla and when he has Georgia's father announce the need to leave the castle Camilla actually breaks her glass against the table in her distress at the news. She realizes that her jig is up and is spurred to move more quickly. She visits the room of the sleeping Georgia and like a beast of prey circles the bed, as she closes in Georgia says in her dream "Millarca." then we enter a surreal dream sequence of limited color where voice over confirms that Camilla is dead and the spirit of Millarca possesses her body. The very creative scene ends with Millarca and Georgia spinning in a dance together, Georgia is bitten and screams. Returning us to the real world where there are actually bite marks on Georgia's neck .

Millarca heads to the castle to her tomb but does not know there is a crew preparing to deal with (explode) the remaining munitions there. When the explosion takes place Millarca is thrown off a cliff and lands on a fence post staked through the heart. The final scene is Georgia and Leopoldo on a plane to Venice. The voice over from Millarca lets us know the dream sequence allowed her to enter the body of Georgia and that she is finally to be reunited to her Karnstein, closing with the rose she is holding fading its color away.

This is a great retelling of the story from the novella Carmilla and is such a well executed film, the story is tight and the cinematography is excellent. This one was a joy to watch.

Rating (7.9) 5.0 and up are recommended in the Zombiegrrlz system I would say Buy It!

Satan's School For Girls (1973) - Horror Cult

Satan's School for Girls (1973) - This made for TV movie is more of a good name than a good film. The film opens with Martha Sayers (Terry Lumley) running for her life, driving a car through the hills of California. The music is heavy and suspenseful and she is obviously terrified. She makes her way to her sisters place but when she knocks on the door no one answers. Turning she is falsely scared when the caretaker is there with the key to the house. She just starts to feel a bit safer when she turns towards the camera, there is someone there and she recognizes whom ever it is. She screams! Her sister Elizabeth (Pamela Franklin) returns to the house and finds her sister hanged in the living room.
After the police rule it a suicide even though Elizabeth is sure that it can't be?, she enrolls in the same boarding school her sister attended to investigate what the conditions that could drive her sister to such an end. The school the Salem School for Girls has a headmistress (Jo Van Fleet) and aparently two professors, the psychology Prof. Delecroix (Lloyd Bochner) and Prof Clampett (Roy Thinnes) but I really don't know what class he was teaching. The rest of the cast are actresses playing students and include two "Charlie's Angels", Roberta (Kate Jackson) and Jody (Cheryl Ladd). They make fast friends of Elizabeth when she arrives.
I am not going to take a lot of time with this film, a good deal of the investigation Elizabeth does is useless and consists of her walking around the school when the power goes off. Eventually she and Roberta realize that the headmistress knew about a suicide before it actually happened. They need to talk to the cops but first for some reason they need to go back to the creepy dark cellar room they found earlier. When they arrive there the big turn happens and we learn Roberta is part of a cult. She and six other girls are going to sacrifice themselves so the devil can grow in power on the earth. The problem is that seventh girl they need, like Martha the next girl also chose not to die for the devil and had to be made to look like a suicide so she would not tell the authorities. The devil, and boy this is not a spoiler if you struggled this far through this film is Prof Clampett. He wants Elizabeth to be his seventh. Instead she burns down the school and leaves and he fades so we know you can't kill the Devil. Whatever....
This is such a television movie and so from the seventies. Bell bottoms and jeans up above the belly button, over use of music and the built in fade to blacks for commercials. Kate Jackson is a bit cardboard and story is crap. Our Lead doe eyed Pamela Franklin does her best but she has such a poorly written part that the extent of her acting is to walk around the school in the dark.
Rating (2.6) 5.0 and up are recommended