Primal (2010) Horror Monster

Primal (2010) - This is an Australian film about a group of 20 somethings on an excursion in the outback. One of the group, Dace the alpha male is an anthropology student who wants to write his thesis on a Cave painting that they are looking for. The early scenes are the typical getting there mild character developing scenes you would expect in this kind of film, but they add an early spoiler. There is the alpha male Dace (Wil Traval) Is his name real or is he advertising his willingness to go anywhere for a job?, free spirited horny blond Mel (Krew Boylan), her stoic boyfriend geek Chad (Lindsay Farris), funny guy Warren(Damien Freeleagus), Plain Jane, Kris (Rebekah Foord) and finalgirl Anja (Zoe Tuckwell-Smith). I am not giving away anything sharing she is the final girl as it is so obvious from the beginning. The research to find this place included a story about a group that found the painting 120 years earlier. It was a tragic story where death was the main result. Unfortunately they reveal one of the victims as a little girl with a mouth full of really sharp teeth. What do you think of early reveals? So we sort of know a piece of the story something turned the little girl into the "primal" girl we see. Does that add suspense or make you think you now know what is going to happen in the film?
As they search there is a shortcut through a cave that allows us to find a bit out about one of the characters and to set up something else. Anja is afraid to walk through the cave and has a panic attack before slamming into a wall in her rush to get back out, the blood she draws from hitting the wall has a very pointed affect on the cave and some water nearby. It seems it may have awakened something that was sleeping. The problem with most of the set up of this film is that it was so ham handed that you did not have to do any thinking about it. Its more a shout at the audience to notice this or notice that. It is not just this instance but repeatedly the cause and effect of the set up was just way too obvious. So Anja drives an extra half day or whatever to get around the mountain instead of going through, well most of their stuff was in the damn car anyway so what were they going to accomplish by going through the cave? Then because there is a car near camp there has to be a way to not have it be an escape route when the shit hits the fan. So there is a clumsy attempt to make that happen. I did get an Aussie term to use forever though, I will now call mosquitoes "mozzies". I really hope it is a real term.
After the camping character development scenes we finally get to the juice in this fruit. It takes a while but once the fun begins it is worth it. After a late night dip in the earlier discussed reactionary water, Mel gets sick and feverish and the group figures out how to handle the situation. Alpha male is all, well alpha male but his approach seems to be the correct one. They see because of earlier hints that the car is not functional so they take care of her and wait until morning. Unfortunately for the group overnight she is transformed into primal creature and we all get to see the better part of this film. It turns very quickly into a survival film. She is wild with a set of pearly whites to die from and ready to eat the raw flesh of her friends. Her superhuman resistance to pain and amazing new strength make her more than a match for her five friends. When we see her take out a deer and eat it we know just how primal she really is. The interesting part happens when she throws most of the carcass into the cave they all passed through and we the audience get to see it get quickly digested. So like the lead in suggested so bluntly there is a creature in the cave.
Now at this point the comparison to "The Ruins" must be made. In it a group of ruin seeking 20 somethings get more than they were looking for when they come across a plant monster in the ruins. Locals not wanting the dangerous plant from spreading out into the world trap them there as infected. They plant monster mimics cell phones and voices to capture its hiker prey. It is a really pretty hopeless and depressing film where a whole bunch of sitting around happens for 95% of the film. This film on the other had creates a similar situation with a variation that leads to action. Here Mel becomes the maneuverable arm of the monster in the cave. She can go around and get and bring back food for it. No slow vines in the leg while you sleep, instead there is a super strong mouth full of fangs coming for the cast. It is a cool idea but unfortunately the film mostly falls on old tropes to move the plot along.
1. They come up with a plan to capture Mel.
2. The boyfriend demise because he thinks he can reason with her.
3. The thing we need to deal with her is in the car.
4. I can't find it in the car and danger is closing in.
5. Kill me before I turn.
Its a shame because the post effected part of the movie is done well enough to keep you involved and caring. Each trope though makes you groan as it slides towards cliche. At the end you even get a false ending and a final battle that is decent but no more or less than what you expecting. Now that the film has been properly hammered in this review, it will get a recommend, why? because it is passable, not good per say but a fun ride if you can get by the same old expectation, the action is fresh and effective and compared to The Ruins, slow train to know where this is a wonderful amusement park ride to adventure. So some credit to director Josh Reed.
Rating (5.1) 5.0 and up are recommended, in the Zombiegrrlz system Rent It!

Beyond the Door (1977) Horror Cult

Beyond the Door (1974) - Director Ovidio Assonitis said that he came up with the idea for this film after seeing Rosemary's Baby and the Exorcist and those influences are prevalent throughout this film. Juliet Mills has been working in the industry since the early 1940's is the lead Jessica Barrett. She is a woman who when younger fell in love with an older man Dimitri (Richard Johnson) who was part of a satanic cult. She fled a cult ceremony and started a new life in California. We join her 10 years into her new life with husband Robert (Gabriele Lavia) and two children Gail (Barbara Fiorini) and Ken (David Colin Jr.) as the events of the movie are about to unfold. It is a tale of the Devil being reborn into the world, through his possession of Jessica and the families struggle to deal with the situation.
This movie has some strange trappings, it starts with a black screen voice over by the voice of the devil himself (Robert Booth) setting the world where this is possible "Some of you... skeptics will say, like the little girl in this picture, what you can't see can't exist. Well my friends you go on, think that as long as you can, because sooner or later, one way or another you will discover your mistake." then instead of going directly into the story we see younger Jessica fleeing from the cult and her boyfriend Dimitri allowing her to go. Needless to say the devil is not happy with him for this and voice over it so on the nose it leaves a spot. Still in the past we see Dimitri driving and the devil narration telling us how he will now have to pay by finding Jessica and making sure she gives birth. Which happens 10 years later but when his car is crashing off the cliff and the picture freezes with it in air we get the message that his soul will live to do the task a decade later. All of this is really a big song and dance to get to the main story. I am not so sure it is needed, the reasons beyond being a cult member, for Dimitri to follow the devil's wishes is unnecessary. Having him suspended in death to get him to do it equally unneeded. It was a lot for the audience to get when the Jessica story could have explained everything. Writer Assonitis, Antonio Troiso and Robert Barrett twist the reasons around what is basically the Omen and Exorcist possession making the viewer figure out stuff that does not really matter. Towards the climax of the movie more voice over is used to let us know that everything that happened was intended by the devil and that Dimitri's role in it was just a mean game the devil was playing with him or some such thing. It is one of those vioce overs where some good scene writing could have simplified everything, to this reviewer it seem lazy or added later when the film came out confusing.
Our main story sets up Jessica in her early thirties with two children and a husband who is a record producer. The children are strange and seem like they could be devil children too. Either that or the writers were making a social comment on the permissive child rearing trends of the 1970s. At one point the family is driving in the sweet convertible they own and Mom and Dad are flirting the kids in the back seat over hear and the ten year old girl says to her brother "Holy shit, Can you get a load of that crap. When they carry on like that, I swear to God kiddo, it makes me want to puke. I'll tell you something man; there are times when bringing up parents is a real pain. When Dad starts getting all sexy and with it, that's a real bad scene. Hey Remember that crazy nickname you gave him.What was it?" And the four year old brother responds "Asshole"
Now the parents look shocked but neither of them even scold the children. Jessica refers to the book that Gail reads and rereads "Love Story". but really WTF! I don't think there is that kind of language in that book. Still the family name is Barrett and the book "Love Story" characters have the same name. Oh and there is a quirk about the four year old also the boy drinks Campbell's Split Pea soup from a can, all the time, in what must be a product placement and ode to the Exorcist at the same time? Its really hard to tell what the writers and director were going for in these establishing scenes. Maybe they wanted to show the family dysfunction or maybe to lead us off in a direction with a red herring that one of the kids could already be the devil. It did not work and did not seem to make a difference in the story.
No sooner does Jessica tell Robert that she is pregnant and we move into her having a strange pregnancy that can only mean that she is carrying the evil child. She feels it is not a good pregnancy and she has Dimitri citing as he closes in on the family. The term of nine months does not seem to apply and their doctor George (Nino Segurini) is baffled calling it a biological absurdity, the baby is growing much quicker than normal. There is also an evil presence stalking her in her sleep that I think is a demon that later possesses her. I can't be sure but I think at the end there was a demon, Satan and Jessica all sharing the same body. It may be the devil only but I will have to recheck that. Then there is a scene where she notices Ken has a fever, and a bruise on his chest. She appears to be comforting him but when left alone in the room she kisses him and then kisses the sleeping child again but in what appears to be a passionate way. Maybe transferring spirits to him or stealing energy from him? Anyway she starts having mood swings and the guys, Robert and George start talking about whether she should be hospitalized. Jessica still holding on to some of her choice in the matter talks to George about abortion but then the demon inside has her being super protective in the next minute. She is certainly in for more of this. The spirit that has been stalking her is closing in. It is now hanging out with little Ken and rocking in the rocking chair. When sister Gail comes and joins him I think it pissed the spirit off and it created a wild ride for the kids, as toys came to life, dolls eyes flashed with light, there was a light show under the floor and the room started rocking. The poor terrified children screamed and screamed but napping Jessica is no where to be seen. When Gail manages to fight her way out of the room the rest of the house is quiet and she runs to her Mom. Mom is laying face down on the bed and when Gail shakes her... Well lets just say Jessica is a candidate for the Horror Digest blog's scary face club. Time for the kids to sleep over with George and his girl Barbara. (the lovely Elizabeth Turner)
The film quickly becomes The Exorcist style possession movie with Robert, Barbara and George being witness to the strange behavior. There is this really cool scene with Jessica and Barbara that was unsettling. Jessica is lying on the bed face up staring at the ceiling when one eye starts looking around the room and at Barbara. I think this part of the film is to show the possession taking hold. Like the devil or spirit did not yet have full control. It is not long before we get the full effects of bad skin, vomiting and strange body movements and levitation. George is convinced she should be moved to a hospital since they are using restraints on her. Somehow after following him around for a while Dimitri makes enough of an impression on Robert that he is allowed to join the party. Not right away of course but this is a guy trying to convince the devil that he should have more time. Now the devil was really clear with Dimitri, keep her at home and the child must be born. Dimitri gets his audience and eventually gets into the house too. The time comes when it is time to bring the child out but Dimitri says he must get to it before t"the Evil One" can carry it away into the darkness.
The Devil talks to Dimitri when it is time, he taunts him when he still needs his help. Jessica is in tough shape now. "Dimitri, now you are in this house, in this women, soon you will be in a newborn child." says the possessed Jessica. So he is the instrument of Satan, "Make her spit out this vile creature which will renew your life." Then the devil says he gave Dimitri illusions that he might live but he was never going to do it. "I have used you like everyone else for my amusement even this infant." So Dimitri dies and vanishes WTF!
George comes and find a sleeping normal Jessica in the bed, she is no longer pregnant. In the corner is an infant with no mouth. Is it stillborn, so what is going on? Well you get one final scene to learn that the devil child was already born and is four years old in the form of Ken. Overall this movie fails in a lot of levels, the voice over is all way too on the nose and it is used all over this film. The story is as we see all for not since the devil was already in Ken. The weird music from the early Deal with the devil, to the later music montage with Robert walking the street and being harassed by street musicians, just strange.
Rating (3.9) 5.0 and up are recommended, Skip it using the Zombiegrrlz rating system

Catching up from vacation...

So if you have not noticed the soresport has been on vacation and off playing discgolf. I played in the 2011 Am World Championships in Rochester NY and came in 56th in a field of 74 in the Adv. Mens division.
I have seen a few films the last couple weeks and will briefly talk about them below.

Captain America (2011) - Besides the early scenes in the film you would not even know this film was set in WWII. Early on you see news reels at a movie theater talking about the Nazi's and the war effort, the scene is used well to establish the main character. Then after you see fantasized view of NYC the film is basically a separate world. I guess you can not really market Nazi toys in today's society so instead we get a secret offshoot of them call Hydra. The main bad guy leader of Hydra, Red Skull and Captain America have similar origin stories, but very different results. Still the special formula served its purpose and the two end up in an epic montage of battles where the superior firepower of Hydra is no match for the multicultural troop following the guy with the shield. The ridiculousness of this one included:

• A B2 stealth looking bomber with eight propellers, this is a group with freaking laser guns here and they have a propeller plane.

• While I am at it what was with labeling each bomb with the name of an American city, really? On the nose much.

• A mysterious cube for hydra energy that if I remember correctly will come into play again when The Avengers movie comes out.

• Capt has a metabolism 4x that of normal folks but does not seem to need to eat 12x a day. He can't get drunk though which I suppose is a good thing the way he throws that shield around.

Overall the movie is a passable action movie with a decent enough origin story and ending so
Rating (5.2) 5.0 and up are recommended.

We Are The Night (2010) - The description of this film on comcast makes one think of sexy vampires seducing their man prey but boy is that NOT this movie. This foreign poorly dubbed to English film was a sad tale of a trio of female vampires who bring a fourth young woman into the group only to have some really negative consequences from the action. A grittier side of vampirism is explored where once the relationships among the women was young and exciting now it is old and tense. A reasonable film if a bit slow this one just barely misses a recommendation.
Rating (4.8) 5.0 and up are recommended.

[rec]2 (2009) - Rewatched this with my daughter now that I own a copy and I have to say I really enjoyed it the second time around. You can read my review on the side links of this site but boy as a 1-2 punch rec and rec2 are a great thing to happen to horror movies in a long time.

Cold Prey (2006) Horror Slasher

Cold Prey (2006) - This review is part of the Final Girl Film Club, and since there is a "final girl" who against stereotype is strong and competent, not a virgin and not the first to die, basically a final girl who is like Stacie Ponder it is appropriate to include this film in this series. Check out all her works at her Website Final Girl
***Lots of Spoilers*** ***No really I mean I break down the entire film so watch it before reading the review.***
Since this film is supposed to be a bit of a mystery slasher yet does a sort of poor job hiding its mystery it will be spoiled during this review. You have been warned. Is a solid small scale slasher film set in Norway where Five hikers looking for a shelter after one of them breaks a leg get more than they bargained for in the lodge they find.
The story and the identity of the killer were not a surprise. After the opening scenes it was pretty obvious who the killer was. What was interesting was the turn that reveals the trauma that created this killer. In the first scene a boy with a rather large birthmark around his eye is running from the lodge frantic to get away from someone. The birthmark makes him very distinctive and the simple fact that it exists tells the audience that this is someone to remember. He falls over a snow cliff and is stuck in the snow. The chaser who we never really see breaks snow from the cliff and buries the child as he desperately struggles to free himself. Okay already this description is a spoiler, but so obvious is this scene that know one could possibly not pick up on it. Inter cut with this during the credits are reports on the television of hikers disappearing and searches. This lets us know that a whole lot of people go missing in the area but it is attributed to the winter conditions.
It is 30 or so years later and the film introduces our modern day characters, Eirik (Tomas Alf Larsen), and his girlfriend Jannicke (Ingrid Bolso Berdal), Mikal (Endre Martin Midstigen) who is newly with girlfriend Ingunn (Viktoria Winge) and the fifth wheel is Morten Tobias (Rolf Kristian Larsen) who secretly pines for Jannicke but instead is the wise cracker of the group. Okay, not so secretly, but the two are not out in the open about their feelings either. They are driving on holiday to have a hike and ski adventure in Jotunheimen Norway. The small cast leads a US viewer to wonder how this could be a compelling slasher film. How high can the body count go with five people? They must introduce others later, right? Nope this is it, but surprisingly it is enough. Director and co writer Roar Uthaug creates a very tight tension filled little film. The isolation is built in as we watch the group climb the beautiful mountains of Norway, they reach the top and we see they are going to ski down into the bowl. Snowboarding they have a great day until Morten falls and breaks his leg. Again we get a nice change from the slasher formula when Jannicke takes control of the situation, she splints the leg and directs the group to find shelter. It is a relief that one of the guys whether competent or not, fails to step forward to try to be in control because of male role expectation in society.
When the group find the lodge they are so relieved and go about setting in to warm up and come up with a plan on how to get out of the mountains. It is a large place and if you were paying attention in the beginning of the film you know exactly where they are. They settle in and explore finding and starting the generator in the cellar, finding some alcohol to warm with and relieve Morten's pain. It is that point in the slasher film where the audience is being relaxed, getting to know characters and taking away the anticipation before quickly raising the tension again. Mikal and Ingunn head off to find a place to make out and enjoy each others company. They find a room and settle in for some nookie. As they make there way they find just enough disturbing things to set an edge for the audience. A burned out room, a bathroom which looks like it is either very dirty or in the past used as a slaughter house. A false scare prior to the real stuff just at the one third mark of the film. This is the setup, they all have drinks, find a journal for the lodge that has not been written in since the 70's. An image of the boy from the films start standing with his parents. The others mention the noise that Ingunn and Mikal were making in the cellar, "We weren't in the cellar."
Now anyone who has seen a horror slasher movie knows that having sex is the trope just before the killing starts and this film does not disappoint but again is very original in skewing the idea a bit. Ingunn is a virgin and stops Mikal from going too far. Down to her underwear she is enticing and he is good to go but she puts the breaks on and frustrates him. He doesn't know she is a virgin and is temporarily upset with the outcome of their foreplay calling her a cock tease he wanders back to the main room to drink his sexual frustrations away. Unlike traditional slasher trope in most cases this film does not have the bad kids who have sex be the first victims. That would be Jannicke and Eirik who have been together for quite a while and sleep together out near the fire. Instead the virginal Ingunn left alone in a more remote section of the lodge is destined to NOT be the Final Girl. The death scene is tightly executed and really tense. She is gone and the others won't notice for a while because it is bedtime, not until Mikal heads back to apologize the next morning, after he finds out the whole virgin thing from Jannicke. Eirik heads out into the snow to get the car and help. Jannicke clearly passes a keepsake to him so we will know if he made it out later or not if we see the little bangle. He find Ingunn dead outside but is whacked before he can do anything about it. Then there were three and nobody left has any idea anything is wrong. It is 50 minutes into the movie and about time for fireworks.
Jannicke and Makal are down in the cellar dealing with the generator while Morten is hobbling around upstairs wondering where everyone has got too. A lantern on in the back room of the cellar leads the duo to the fact that someone else is here. Noticing that some of the stuff from when the boy went missing they start to put the pieces together that the family in the photo had a horrible tragedy. They notice all the things that are around the place that do not fit with the idea that the lodge has been closed for 30 years. Who could have a collection of modern car keys in this abandon hut? People don't just leave their car keys behind. The two have a sense of urgency and the score of the film reflects it. It is strangely short lived as Jannicke heads off to smooth things over for Makal.  Makal heads up to find Morton at the same time. The blood on the floor of Ingunn's room sets the tension back up, there is a lot and it is in "a body has been dragged here" shape. Jannicke gets to the guys and brings them back to the room. They know something is very strange and this combined with the findings in the cellar and they know they have to go. Now the door opens and closes in the distance and they run to barricade themselves in a room. The plan is to wait for Eirik to bring help, but you know that won't last and Mikal eventually feels so guilty about leaving Ingunn alone that he leaves the room to go see if he can find her. This is a trope that is played out in an original way also where he has a really close call with the killer and then makes it back to the room. Now the killer knows where the three are hiding and although he could get in he stops short and puts the pressure on the survivors. Mikal abandons the other two leaving through the window but gets caught in a bear trap. It is a great scene where the two watch from the room window as Mikal gets killed across the way. Then the killer looks straight at them, this is so effective!
They know they have to get out but the feelings Jannicke has for Morton stop her from just leaving him. They do have to get a new hiding place and do. She is again in control as he collapses into a crying blob she is the one with the courage to create action. She searches around risking herself and finding skis, a shotgun and one shell and a sled. So of course the problem is executing an escape. They are going to try to lure the killer into a lockable room of the cellar and then make their escape. Things of course do not work out, but she sees the bangle she gave to Eirik and knows no help is on the way. Eirik is half dead on the floor and a bit delirious. He can't walk so is not going anywhere. The plan doesn't work as expect. Do they ever?
The final battle is a very good tense sequence in which our final girl does what is necessary to survive. Overall this film is surprisingly good. What are normally cliche in a slasher movie are wonderfully original in execution. When the final reveal comes you will not be shocked by who the killer is but the film makers knew this so instead there is a flashback to the inciting incident that made him a killer. It is a pretty decent turn.

Demons (1985) Horror Demons

Demons (1985) Lamberto Bava takes a script from Dario Argento and creates a classic gore fest demon movie that holds up through the years. Made in Germany by Italians with English speaking actors the story revolves around a group of theater goers who get more than they bargained for when they accepted the complimentary tickets. Cheryl (The beautiful Natasha Hovey) is scared at being alone in a train station thinks she is being stalked by a strange man with a metallic mask covering half his face. It is a nice tension building scene early in the film, with hyper intense music by Claudio Simonetti who created the out of this world music for Suspiria, as well as other Argento films, The Card Player and Mother of Tears. This film also features music by a variety of eighties bands and is a real treat. Cheryl panics and runs through the train station with this eighties techno blaring. The masked man follows catching her at the top of the escalator but instead of a quick and sudden death he hands her a ticket to a theater, the Metropol. Relieves she actually tracks the guy back down to get a second ticket so she and her friend Kathy (Paola Cozzo) can go together.

There is no title for the movie but skipping class they decide to go to the film anyway. Skipping class can only mean something bad is going to happen. Isn't this how it is in the movies? Do something bad and look out for the repercussions?
We meet some of the other players in the film, the couple who don't get along too well, the Blind man, Warner (Alex Serra) and his cheating wife Liz (Enrica Maria Scrivano), the Pimp with a plan, Tony (Bobby Rhodes) and his two prostitutes Carmen and Rosemary, the two college guys who will scoop on our girls George and Ken (Karl Zinny), Hannah and Tom the daters and the beautiful but creepy red headed ticket taker Ingrid (Nicoletta Elmi). Throughout the this movie her looks seem to lead that she knows something about what is going to happen but then nothing comes of it. Maybe Argento lost some scenes in the rewriting of the script that took away the bigger story which included this woman in a more sinister role. That is what you would think from he silent stares and suspicious behavior anyway. It is a real flaw with Demons is that there is potential for so much more in the story. Is the film being shown the culprit? When the chaos begins someone says it is the building that is doing it. This too is not explored in any significant way, which is a shame because what is a good movie could have been even better.
One of the prostitutes, I am assuming the profession since it is never stated. Rosemary (Geretta Geretta) is her name and she puts on the creepy demon mask in the lobby when they are coming in and as she removes it it cuts her. This is the closest to cause and effect the film gets. When the film begins in the theater it is a dark horror film. It plays out with a group of young adults finding the tomb of Nostradamus. There they defile the crypt and find a book and a mask that looks just like the one in the Metropol's lobby. One of the characters puts the mask on against the wishes of his friend and is warned that the wearer becomes a demon. "He will spread pestilence and evil" As the character removes the mask he is cut just like Rosemary was. This she finds really disturbing and at that moment realizes that the cut she has is bleeding again and heads to the bathroom to get cleaned up. As she walks out the film also talks about cuts that will not stop bleeding.
There is this stuff with Liz (Enrica Maria Scrivano) and a strange guy making out while Werner (Alex Serra) listens to the movie. It was like she planned for them to be here to meet the man. It is a bit out of place but a reason to focus on the audience and break up some of the plot points. So the film being played is interspersed with the audience behaviors in what is some pretty decent editing. When the film later starts to parallel the goings on in the theater it is a real movie making treat. Bava obviously knows what he is doing and the effects are startling and effective.
In the first of an increasingly amazing gross out effects shot of Demons, Rosemary in the bathroom looking at the cut on her face. It pulses and bubbles before bursting forth a green goo. The film now is sort of becoming the theater as the fiend in the movie becomes a demon as Rosemary also does in the bathroom. There are the screams in the film that mask her screams. The on screen film is quite gruesome with some pretty intense stabbing scenes. Carmen (Fabiola Toledo) heads to the bathroom to check on her friend but it is too late and demon Rosemary chases her after wounding her neck. Escaping by running in a panisc through the corridors of the theater, she ends up behind the screen of the movie. Unfortunately for her with all the screaming and stabbing happening in the film no one notices her real live screams. It is a great bit of editing here also. Werner notices Liz is gone and calls for her. She is getting it on with her man a little ways off and wants to head back but is not really pulling away. Werner is feeling around in the dark as demon Rosemary is making it up to the balcony where Liz her lover and Werner are seated. There is a stabbing through tent scene in the film while Carmen starts to turn into a demon herself behind the scream, again masking her distress in a wall of movie sound. Finally though she forces her way through the screen and everyone knows something is going on. They race to her aid as Rosemary gets the cheating couple strangling them with a rope. They see Carmen change in what is some excellent special effects as her fingernails are pushed out by claws, her teeth push out by fangs and she is quickly a demon.
Now the attacks come fast and furious and the music picks up to ad to the chaos, people are panicking and running for the doors as our hooker demons get a couple more people, but in an unexplained phenomena the doors are now blocked by walls. Maybe it is the theater that is doing it? It is important to note the gory attacks are getting better with eye gouges, skulls ripped off, broken fingers and more each more gruesome than the last.
As they blame the movie for the goings on they decide they have to stop the movie and break into the projection room. There is no one in the room though it is all automated. Tony, the pimp with a plan is not done giving orders though. He smashes all the machines and thus the movie is stopped. We now inexplicably shift from the theater to a bunch of coke heads in a stolen car who really only have one purpose, that is to let the demon plague out of the theater. It is annoying but it is what was decided in the script they end up running from the police and in the alley next to the theater, a door mysteriously open and they get in. At the end of the scene though a demon gets out too though. They don't even last very long once inside, they are demon meat before they know what hit them. It really takes away the incredible tension that was built in the Metropol and throws viewing for a loop. The pimp with a plan, Tony has the survivors breaking seats to block the entrance to the balcony and fights off a demon or two before he too is bitten. If they had just stayed there the whole time without cutting in the coke heads it would have been a lot better.
When fully trapped I mean barricaded in the balcony the remaining non-demons pound in the walls to try to get attention of the outside world. Although it fails to bring rescue they do find a hidden passage to a cellar where they freak out because they are still trapped. They panic a bit and the camera follows the room in an artistic scream fest. Only Hannah and Tom are alone together in the theater and are desperately seeking a door that does not seem to exists. Hey maybe if they crawl into the air conditioning vent? Maybe that will work as a means of escape? Back to the balcony and they know the barricades won't last forever but they wait it out. They hear gunshots from the cops dealing with the escaped demon in the alley, soon they are scrambling to get out through the very barricades they built. They are not thinking clearly tearing down the barricade that is keeping the demons out. All most of them can think is that the gunshots mean there is help out there and they have to get to it. Seeing a problem with this strategy George, Ken, Cheryl and Kathy head through the remaining barricade crawling under before the demons attack. Of course they are chased but make it out the other side. What is great about this film is it just keeps upping the gore ante and the attacks at this point are amazing particularly the finger biting. As they exit the crawl Kathy has fainted after a close call with a demon. She is out of it but as she wakes the guys and Cheryl realize she is possessed by a demon, not bitten but possessed. Oh and did I say it gets better, not only is she a gone but the creature literally crawls out of her back. At this point you could say that the film can't get better but it does. All the demons are on the hunt and only Cheryl and George are left, before they get out of the theater there is motorcycle slashing in the theater it is amazing and hilariously crazy but he is the motorcycle samerai and slays most all of the demons. Enough you say NO says Demons and a helicopter comes crashing through the roof. You will be like WTF but our remaining characters see a way out through that hole in the roof. It is just excellent the lengths this film goes to. Then on top of that there is more and we see what has been happening outside also. WOW! Oh and what were those posters on the walls of the lobby? Was that an AC/DC poster and a Four Flies on Grey Velvet, nice touches. So for all you horrorphiles out there if you have not seen this movie What are you waiting for? This flawed but ultimately brilliant film is waiting for your eyes to bleed in its glory.
Rating (8.2) 5.0 and up are recommended In the Zombiegrrlz system BUY IT!

Them! (1954) Horror Monster

Them! (1954) - The 195os fears of atomic holocaust created a rich and prolific monster movies. What were the after affect of the atom bomb and the continued testing in the desert of New Mexico. Them! is a well drawn film, it does not try to do more than it should, it is a monster movie that moves at a good pace and is pretty standard in its approach.
The film starts with the performance of the film, a young girl (Sandy Descher) is spotted walking in the desert and the local cops are sent to retrieve her. She walks staring into space broken doll gripped tightly in her arm, she does not react to the cops calling to her. She does it so well and later gets to finally react to the horrors she saw and is great. Sandy Descher continued acting, past this film in which she was 9 years old and up until she was 19 with most of her roles coming on television.
The cops, Troopers Sgt. Ben Peterson (James Whitmore) and Ed Blackburn (Chris Drake) check out a nearby camper to see if the girl could have come from there. When they arrive they find the thing in a shambles with the side pulled wide open. Trooper Blackburn searching the area finds sugar cubes on the ground in what is the most obvious musical queue in the world. They also hear the sound queue for the monsters too off in the distance. They don't know what is going on yet but they have a mystery and the audience through the sound queues is primed for the rest of the film. They set this all up to get us to react when we hear the sounds again and it is a great if obvious device of fifties monster movies.
The cops head over to the local desert general store and unfortunately find the owner dead and the side of his store ripped out. In more sound and visual foreshadowing we get the urgent music while they show a tub of sugar that has been turned over and is now infested with ants. They are definitely setting us up in classic film fashion. Ed is left there to investigate while Fred goes off, the sounds of the monsters starts right up. Ed no fool kills the lights so her can see better into the darkness, the wind is blowing and the sounds get louder. Ed steps outside to investigate and we hear his gunshots and then screams as he dies off camera. This is another great horror movie trope where you do not get to see the monster too early in the film, making the reveal so much better.
The cops bring in an FBI agent Robert Graham (James Arness) to help since the Ellinson's father from the trailer who is missing and whose shock little girl still has not talked, was an FBI officer on vacation. They also send the print they found off to Washington DC to be identified and very quickly a couple scientist join the group. Dr Harold Medford (Edmund Gwenn) an old doddering but brilliant scientist and his capable assistant and daughter Dr. Patricia 'Pat" Medford (Joan Weldon). She is a very common role for women in these kind of films, a scientist who is good at her job usually assisting a more famous man. She is competent and strong but also the target of the feelings of someone else in the film, usually the leading man. In this case it will be FBI agent Graham who has such a horrible line right after meeting her. As they walk away he says
"I should have had this suit pressed."
and Peterson respond "She's quite a doctor huh."
"Yeah, If she's the kind that takes care of sick people I think I'll get a fever real quick."
Peterson laughs and we can groan.
With our full cast they set about solving the case. The scientists have a theory but do not want to say too much before they are certain, this creates a nice antagonistic dynamic with the cops. They go and visit the young girl and bring her out of her shock with the smell of an acid produced by our still yet to be revealed creatures. She is great at the screaming THEM! THEM!
Now this film could have just stay in the desert and played this out but we get so much more. Dr Medford get all excited and is getting very close to knowing what is going on. He assures the cops that he will fill them in when he is sure but he has to be sure. He raises the stakes saying that if he is right it will be a national crisis. With the stakes raised we get the first reveal, and although less than impressive by today's standards it is still a wonderful monster. So they kill the one they see and we find that the colony could spread all over the world. This next section of the film is too get the Ants before they spread out of the desert. They come up with a plan and execute but when they are in the colony they find that they were too late. At least two queens have flown away from this nest and the world is at risk. The film shifts from the small desert town to Los Angeles as the military searches for the queens that have flown from the original nest.
A true monster movie this is a great example it is very enjoyable to watch. The military moving against the ants, the personal stories of trapped kids and the love interest between Pat Medford and Robert Graham, it all works to great a true classic.
Side note include that Edmund Gwenn was Santa Claus in Miracle on 34th St.. James Whitmore had an outstanding acting career noted in 151 films and TV shows. James Arness was most famous for his role of Marshall Matt Dillon in the long running TV show Gunsmoke, and there is even a cameo by Fess Parker who would later play TV's Daniel Boone
Rating (7.0) 5.0 and up are recommended, in the Zombiegrrlz system I would say rent it!

Ghosthouse (1988) Horror Ghost

Ghosthouse (1988) - A film that is not quite what you think, okay maybe it is but it is not half bad. The Ghosthouse in question in real life sits in the town of Scituate MA, it is the same house used for the bizarre "House by the Cemetery". Being set in Massachusetts there are some very recognizable locations in the film but lets start with the curse that begins it. In a good bit of writing the screenwriter keeps the secret of "why" a curse is formed in this house while leading the viewer in a particular direction holding back information. We do get the initial incident, a creepy music from a little girls clown doll. We hear the screech of a cat and the father searches for the sound. He is looking for his daughter Henrietta and finally enters the cellar and finds the killed cat. Henrietta is standing with scissors in one hand and the doll in the other. The father Sam Baker (Alain Smith) scolds her verbally assaulting her with religious rhetoric. Angered he tells her she must be punished and seals her in the cellar with no light. Is this girl a heartless killer? Upstairs in the kitchen the husband and wife worry about her. Then things get weird, the light bulb seem to start warping and expanding. Then it explodes, Sam starts cleaning it up, from behind him comes an ax. Has little Henrietta (Kristen Fougerousse) gotten out of the basement? Mom (Susan Muller) sees the mirror in her room warping as she stares it shatters outward and fills her face with glass. Screaming she does not even see the knife coming as it slashes her throat. Shift to a shot of the girl in the cellar. So she never got out, but what is happening here?

20 years later at Fanuil Hall Boston we watch Martha (Lara Wendel) move to a phone to call her boyfriend Paul (Greg Scott). It is a really out of place and meaningless scene but it introduces Martha and Paul. He is a ham radio operator and computer scientist and that night relays a story to her about a strange voice on his radio. We are lucky that it happens again that night while a recorder is handy. Paul insists he can figure out where the voice is from. It sounds like an emergency with the voice saying "Who are you? What do you want? For God's sake somebody help me. help. help.." Then he screams and we hear a second scream in a woman's voice. This mystery leads them to the house, the radio the message they recorded was in the attic. There is a bit of introducing characters here, Susan (Mary Sellers), Mark (Ron Houck), Jim (Martin Jay) and Tina (Kate Silver) are a group staying in a truck camper on the grounds of the house. They are on vacation the yard of the old creepy house just happens to be where they rented to stay? We also get to see the crazy grounds keeper name Valkos (Donald O'Brien) who scares Martha and then runs off into the woods. Jim is the owner of the radio and the voice in the recorded message but is clear that he did not send it. In fact he says he couldn't have because although he has the radio set up in the attic for better reception, he had yet to set up the antennae. While the guys are looking at things Martha hears that really creepy music and wanders to the cellar to find the source. The horror scene that follows is great and scary but no need to ruin it here with details. Needless to say when Martha screams everyone comes running. The group comes up with a plan to try to figure out the strange radio call and sure enough things are going to be bad. What they do is only important because it accomplishes getting the group split up. Susan, Martha and Paul are out away from the house couple miles listening to the radio while the others are back at the place. It sets it up so that in real time the recorded message can be played out. It is ghostly and we now know the original message was a premonition on tape. So with this development the idea of the supernatural events is cemented for the characters in the story. We as an audience already know the score and now just wonder why everyone keeps going back in the haunted fucking house. Both Tina (who is the scream on the recording) and Mark end up in the house during Jim's event. Valkos comes and I think it is his doberman who traps Mark upstairs while he tracks Tina down in the basement and tries to kill her with a butcher knife. She flees and is saved by Mark who got out an upper window, the crazy groundskeeper runs off and Mark pursues him only to be pitchforked in the barn. Luckily he also is saved by the returning Paul. WOW! Its not over though, Mark needs to go to the hospital and that means the group splitting yet again. This time the sedated Tina is being watched by Martha while the others take Mark to the hospital. Not to resist getting in trouble Martha just keeps going into that damn house. This time up to Henrietta's room. Searching through the toy chest she sees the creepy ass clown doll and is only saved from being choked out by it when Paul arrives back. This is some crazy shit but all needed to further the plot. You see when the police come the next day the story is about NOT believing a ghost story, but are believing the former mental patient turned grounds keeper is responsible for the shenanigans. The kids are all properly scolded and left to mourn while the cops clear out leaving the scene for the night. You would think that the cops would set a patrol car out there or something? Another night of trouble is in store as Martha and Paul race to find the resting place of the little girl and evil spirit doll. Back at the house the camper group is terrorized after the camper won't start. Each in turn are drawn back into the house and bad things follow. Without giving too much away let me say the gore factor increases as the camper group fights for survival in the Ghosthouse. Paul and Martha fight off Valkos while trying to destroy the corpse of the girl and doll. The Campers try to survive the ghostly terror of the house. We find out the origins of the curse and even get a freaky ending. Overall the acting is pretty poor in this with most of the crew having only this credit. I liked the writing and even with its many plot holes the film is a scary fun gory ride. Umberto Lenzi does a decent job directing with some great music by Piero Montari who appears to have worked mostly composing music for the porn industry. Writer Cinthia McGavin with Lenzi and dialog from Shiela Goldberg (although the dialog is the weakest part) should get some credit for telling a satisfying ghost story.
Rating (6.0) 5.0 and up are recommended in the Zombiegrrlz system I say Rent It!

YellowBrickRoad (2010) Horror Haunted Forest

YellowBrickRoad (2010) - In 1940 the entire population of Friar N.H. dressed in their Sunday best and walked off into the woods. They left behind their lives and apparently their sanity. Later the army finds the remains of the frozen and murdered town folk. There is no explanation to why this happened but it is a mystery that has haunted our main character Daryl Luger (Clark Freeman). He is an academic and author who has waited for classified documents to declassified so he could research the mystery. With his wife Erin (Cassidy Freeman) friend and psychiatrist Walter Myrick (Alex Draper) a team is formed to find the trail the residents of Friar took. There group includes two cartographers, Melissa (Anessa Ramsey) and Teddy Barnes (Michael Laurino), an intern Jill (Tara Giordano), equipment guy Cy (Sam Elmore) and local who works her way into the group Liv McCann (Laura Heisler). This group finds the now available secret coordinates of the trail head are not so accurate. As they stand in front of the Friar N.H. movie theater The Rialto (In real life in Lancaster N.H.) they wonder how it could be that the information is so wrong. Lucky for them Liv is working that day and says she can show them where the YellowBrickRoad is. In her best (ugh.) Yankee accent she says she can lead the way. So our group sets out to answer the question of what happened 70 years earlier. It is not easy to make a "walking in the woods" movie exciting but the new film makers Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton do a fairly good job. Using the device of Walter doing psychological tests they create a way not only of breaking up the monotony of people hiking but also a way to show the breakdown of characters mental states as the film progresses. They introduce the idea that equipment such compasses do not work so well on this trail. It is a nice way to create a sense of dread since we as the audience know that things are not going to go well. It also creates a real need for our brother and sister cartographers who become to be the only link back out of the woods. So when an antique hat is found by Teddy and his sister is creeped out by it, their conflicts around it really create a group tension as everyone wants them paying attention and doing their jobs well, not fighting over a hat. The second thing and really effective movie making technique is the use of sound in the film. Early on out on the trail a weird soft 1940s music starts playing in the air. Everyone notices it and soon it is can not be ignored. As the film progresses the music gets louder until it is a queue for the audience as well as a irritant for the characters. As the mental states of the characters fray the music signals and creates stress. It is a nicely done piece of film making. The slower development of the plot is a throw back to times past maybe the 1970s. If only there were animals in it attacking them and we would have Day of the Animals, with music as the cause instead of the lack of ozone. Sorry really didn't mean to belittle this film with a DOTA reference. This film is genuinely scary at times and fairly effective in building tension even though it is just a group walking in the woods. In interviews the writers said they were creating a story with the "music as a ghost, and what that might do to the psyche". They I think were successful in that. Strange coincidence that the actress Anessa Ramsey was also in The Signal, another film that uses sound in unique ways. The last third of the movie is a wild ride with shocking and frightening outcomes. Unfortunately the buildup fails to do the most important thing in storytelling, which is to give answers to the question the movie posed. In this case the movie is supposed to be answering the question of what happened to the people of Friar and why? Sure you can watch the story of our current characters and feel the question of "what" is answered; We see what happens to them. There are still holes though, if you take this answer. If the music is a ghost and the cause of the breakdown of mental well being, then it could not be the determining factor in the original tragedy. Did they hear music from 1900? Was the original event the cause of this film's craziness? Then that does not answer the question of the first event. There is a need in storytelling to at least connect the points of a story, well maybe not if you are David Lynch but most people have to at least answer the questions asked by the film. This film fails to do this. We never find out why the people of Friar N.H. went off into the woods. We don't know why some were murdered. We could guess that the woods were always haunted and causes crazy behavior but really? It does not really hold up. Although in the current group's experience we can know for a certainty what happened to them, but why is still a bit foggy. Then there is the final scene which may be an ode to some other film but, can't really say it made much sense. So overall it is a "still recommended" for this film, the mood and the filmmaking was good enough to hold attention. If a bit more time was spent getting the script to complete the story arch of the 1940 residents of Friar and the film would have been complete. The warning must be made though, if you are a person who yawns at slow building stories this may be a problem for you. ... Rating (5.2) 5.0 and up are recommended, In the Zombiegrrlz system, Go see it and support independent horror!

Rammbock (2010) Horror Zombie Infection

Rammbock (2010) - My daughter and I got to see this short, 60 minute feature at a midnight showing at the AMC Loews Boston Common 19 theaters. This opportunity to see a small film that otherwise we would never see was welcome. The coming attraction for YellowBrickRoad opening June 3rd also looked good. To make up for the short run time there was a funny intro film about what to do if a zombie is in the theater. I looked for a link to it but could not find it. It was not hilarious but certainly amusing.Rammbock : Berlin Undead was a good little film. At its heart is a love story involving Michael (Michael Fuith) and Gabi (Anna Graczyk). She had recently dumped him but he was still hoping things would work out. To further this agenda he brings his copy of her apartment keys over to her place in the guise of returning them. Still the infatuated he spends time practicing the lines he will say to win her heart back. Unfortunately for him when he arrives at the open apartment she is not there. In her place is a plumber and his assistant Harper (Theo Trebs) who are working on her pipes, literally not figuratively. Worse yet is just as Michael arrives, outside a fast spreading virus is turning people into fast zombies, think infection like in 28 Days Later. The plumber crack and all suddenly becomes infected and it is all Harper and Michael can do to fight him off and close themselves in Gabi's apartment. These early scenes are pretty much the same as we have seen in other movies, like the above mentioned 28 DL, Le Horde and the excellent [Rec] and [Rec] 2. Still the scene are not without peril and much like every other movie of this type there is a need for the characters to expose themselves to even more danger than you would think necessary. Harper assists even though he knows it is a bad idea. There was a good piece early section of the film where the remaining unturned people are safe for the moment in their apartments and come to the windows to talk to each other. The layout of the building created a nice closed courtyard, which unfortunately had an open gate at the start of the film so there are lots of infected down below. The space this creates for communication is excellent and if more was done with it the film could have been that much better. Say if from one window the attacks on other apartments could be viewed. It could have been really cool but was only used briefly here. We get to meet some of the other survivors, seeing that the big guy with tattoos has already been bitten. Expecting that something was going to happen with this massive man who will turn there is a real sense of anticipation built.
Even with information on the radio and TV telling everyone to stay in Michael can't. Knowing he dropped his phone on the stairs when struggling with the plumber he has to go for it. Harper is creating weapons and all Michael can do is think about calling Gabi, he actually gives Harper a hard time for using her forks in his weapon creation. Again it is a positive that this theme of the love you can't let go of plays through the film instead of being dropped. Still in the early stages of the film the more predictable stuff is happening so of course when Michael is getting his phone it rings, attracting the infected in droves. They manage to barricade themselves in the bedroom but the rest of the apartment is lost to them and the infected know they are there.
Not to give away too much more of the story, but lets say that the strange and endearing parts about Michael's love continue and when the two guys have to break through the wall to the apartment next store they end up separated. Harper from his place figures out how to ward off the infected while Michael has a anticipated reunion. He eventually see the way out of the city but there is still some work to be done and some side stories before the final attempt to get to safety. The second half of this is fairly original and a cool little take on the theme that recently has been thoroughly explored. There is a space in this end of civilization film where lots of small stories can be told. No doubt workers in Boston and Cambridge have thought out there escape routes in detail, think duck boats. Wherever you live if this type of film is for you then you have your own scenarios in your head. This film does a decent job telling one of those stories. Could more have been developed in this one? Yes for sure but even so it is a competent entry into the genre. So some credit to be given to the filmmakers Director Marvin Kren and writer Benjamin Hessler.
Rating (6.3) 5.0 and up are recommended, in the Zombiegrrlz system Go Out and See It!