The Parasite (1997) Horror Psychic

The Parasite (1997)  This small independent film has been sitting the Soresport collections for years and it was intended to be reviewed back to back with the Parasite (1982) was reviewed but we never got to it. So here is the deal with this film, it appears to be the story of how a psychic using her strong will can project that will into others making them do as she wishes. Not everyone find this amusing particularly the people she controls so the story is one of first showing that the power is real to the audience and to the characters surrounding the psychic; then showing how powerful that control can be through the plight of the victims. Finally we watch as those affected by this power fight back to try to regain control of their lives.
  The opening is after the first victim has had enough but before our main character and second victim is enthralled. We see victim 1, Charles Sadler (David W. Akin) as he attempts to write a suicide note. We see the struggle he is having internally as his hand quivers and stops writing. We don't know what his struggle is about yet so we only see him as emotionally unstable. When he reaches for a knife and slams it through his hand we begin to believe that control of that hand was lost and his pain brings it back under his control. In a low budget film like this there are some tricks that work to avoid costly special effects while giving the impression of them. In this early scene we see Charles raise the knife poised over his disagreeable hand. Cut to the grunt and the knife blade jutting out from the bottom of the table. Then to complete the illusion his bloody hand sitting on a pool of blood on the note.

  The promise of this opening is followed with the more mundane but necessary establishing of the main character and plot. We are introduced to Professor Richard Austin (David Gaffney), scenes of establishing him as a good professor with a promising research career ay the college, a loving fiancee to the beautiful Audrey (Marissa Hall). We meet his coworker  Professor John Wilson (Robert Taminga) who is a paranormal researcher because at one time frauds could actually get jobs researching the make believe. He introduces Richard to our antagonist Helena Voyich (Julia Matias) a psychic who is pushing the notion that through her strong will she can remotely control others. We are allowed to see her establish her powers on Audrey, using her powers of suggestion to have the young woman temporarily break off her engagement to Richard. Convinced Richard and Wilson embark on immediate experiments to prove the powers Voyich has expressed can be measured and documented. Richard so impressed agrees to be the subject of the experiments.

 Soon though he is getting warning from Charles while through a sequence we see cracks forming in his life. He is being controlled by the the psychic at the expense of his relationship, job performance and his own research. This section of the film takes too long with everything that was set up in the character building in the first third of the film being meticulously pulled apart in this third of the movie. Richard misses appointments, fails to file for his grants in time, begins to have dreams about his fiance that alienate him. Maybe this would have worked better if the acting was not so unconvincing. For many of the actors this was their only film credit and the less than stellar performances make the film less believable.

  Eventually we get to the discovery and climax third of the the film. Richard realizes that he is not only the subject of Wilson's research but that Voyich has put some controls on his that he find very unacceptable. This structurally works as the casting of the attractive Marissa Hall as Audrey nicely contrasts the plain looks of Matias as Voyich. Add to it the pernounce physical impairment of the psychic and the nature of the controls with the emotional confessions of Voyich and there is a real reason for the climax. This climax leads to a twist realization in the end of the film but unfortunately the second act drags a bit too much before you get to the more exciting third act. That with the unimpressive acting and it really pulls this film away from a recommendation here at Soresport Movies.

  There was one thing that stands out to ask the writer about the script. Considering the name of the film, Parasite and a couple visually queues I wondered if this film was originally meant to be more than just a film about an unstable psychic getting her way with men. Early at the party where she is introduced she is holding a strange box of some kind. Is there a physical parasite in that box? Then when Audrey is being mesmerized Yoyich puts her fingers near Audrey's ear and there seems to be a slight blue glow. Is this the introduction of an actual parasite. One has to wonder if the original story was more about some alien organism and was later rewritten. Attempting to find an email for the writer was challenging eventually Writer Patrick Roddy was found at his LinkedIn account (at least I think it was his). It will be an odd connection request where he is asked about his first film. Either way the film works for what it is, whether you take the psychic as a literal parasite using her powers to suck physical relationships from her male victims or is there had been some sort of alien parasite in the script at one time. Either way the plain acting and mundane script do not quite give the audience enough to want to see this again. So no recommendation on this film but still it gave me something to think and write about.

Oldboy (2003) - Thriller Revenge

Oldboy (2003) - This film has been on my "I need to watch it" list for quite a long time, having heard so many wonderful, fawning, excited and opinions of wonderment about this film that it seemed for sure when the viewing finally happened only disappointment could follow.  On IMDB this film has a 8.4 user rating so to say that it has an enthusiastic following is an understatement. So when I decided to pop it in last night I was a bit weary. I started watching the film and the English dubbing was on and it was so bad that changing to Korean with English subtitles was necessary just to begin watching. Once into the film I was amazed that this film is as good as people have been bragging about. It is an amazingly twisted story that not only is well set up and filmed but also has a dynamic that raises it above other films.
  Going in this film seems like one thing but by the end has transformed into something completely different. It has a unique structure where the viewer is set up to have a set of beliefs about the main character. Set up to be the unsympathetic character Dae-su Oh (Min-sik Choi) is a bit of a shitty person, a drunk and an absentee father. We meet him in a police station after being picked up for public intoxication abusive and his behavior does not immediately make him endearing. When he is bailed out by his friend No Joo-hwan (Dae-han Ji) he is an ass. While making a drunken phone call to his daughter, No Joo-hwan takes the receiver and when he turns around his drunk friend is missing. Next we get a series of scenes that make him the sympathetic character.
  Dae-su Oh has been abducted and he is next seen in a cell begging for his release. We through a sequence of scenes watch as he is kept captive for 15 years. Through cycles of grief in his captivity, to the insanity that comes with isolation to learning his wife has been murdered he is a lost soul without answers to why this is happening to him. A television his only eye into the world outside he loses his mind. His suicide attempts make you feel for his suffering, his physical training we think he only lives to get revenge on those who did this to him, his writing in his journal about all the people he wronged does nothing to get any answers to who but shows that he is a man who learns what a bad person he is. Escape is impossible and viewers have also the knowledge that his mind is also being manipulated through hypnosis. He is regularly gassed and cared for so he is alive but captive and trained to a schedule. The one thing he does that fight this control is trying to tunnel out of his cell through a hole in the wall behind his bed. When at last he removes one brick from the outer wall of his prison, enough to stick his hand out and feel rain for the first time in 15 years, the audience expectations are he is getting close to escape. He goes to sleep as the gas fills his room this time with a smile on his face. So when he wakes on a rooftop in a new suit with all his writing and personal items intact we are all on board with him being sympathetic character. We are also surprised since the buildup was all about him finally having a chance to escape so are expectations as viewers have to re-adjust.
  The story as it unfolds is Dae-su attempting to find out who it was that imprisoned him and why. We are into his story at this point and figure all that is to come is about his revenge for his incarceration. Writer Garon Tsuchiya does an excellent job at revealing the the details across the span of the film. One piece at a time small clues from his captivity are deciphered and he learns what he needs to know. Along the way we see him find love again with a much younger women, Mi-do (Hye-jeong Kang) a chef who surprisingly finds him attractive. When he finally finds out who and why and the villain (?) of the film is revealed Woo-jin Lee (Ji-tae Yu) we the audience realize that maybe we may have been cheering for the wrong person in this film. While leading us to feel that this is a film about Dae-su's vengeance we learn really this is a film about Woo-jin's revenge. The twists and turns in the final third of this film are mind boggling, after the first viewing you can see the foreshadowing in the early part of the film but on the virgin viewing it is a wonderful set of revelations. This dichotomy of characters and the cruel turns and surprising revelations make the first viewing of this film a singular wonder.
  The tatters of the end of this story are so sad, so profoundly disturbing that this viewer was left in awe at Dae-su's final decisions. Again becoming somewhat sympathetic because of the cruel event that have occurred he makes a decision which viewers can debate for hours after viewing this film.  It is not just that though, the decisions of Woo-jin after the loss of his beloved sister Lee Soo-ah are amazing. It is his vengeance against Dae-su that is the driving force of this film. It is he that was wronged and left empty that drive the events of the film. It is such a refreshing story in that in it we get established on one person as the victim of events but then realize that we don't know shit. Ultimately we can still sypathize with Dae-su but you have to love that the story challenges the viewer to understand that his is not guilt free. Refusing to spoil any of this film is important so that all of you go watch this film as it is highly recommended by this blog.

Snowpiercer (2013) Sci-Fi

Snowpiercer (2013) - From writer / director Joon-ho Bong who is known for The Host (2006) and Mother (2009); he is a writer and director who has proved to have chops.  Watching this film at the Brattle Theater in historic Harvard Square this viewer was involved but tepid in losing himself in the film. It could be the two teen boy sitting behind me who could not help but to comment each time something stretching the bounds of logic happened on screen. It could have been the way Joon-ho Bong keeps the audience off kilter by mixing violence with bits of humor. It could have been the inevitability of the story. It gives viewers an allegory attempting a big message of class struggle with violence and humor underwhelms in the end. Snowpiercer comes four years after his last film, so plenty of time has been spent getting this film together. The futuristic fantasy of the poor rising up to fight free of their allotted station in life seems a well worn track. Working for the first time with English speaking actors, and partnering with the Harvey Weinstein Company for US distribution this was a new experience for Joon-ho Bong and he has gone out of his way in interviews to say that the cut the American audiences are seeing is the one he wants them to see.
 Ed Harris) who created a track around the world in which it takes one year to complete a loop. Seen as crazy at the time of its building this self perpetuating, self contained ecosystem would end up being the last salvation for mankind. When the nations of the world attempt to cool the atmosphere with a revolutionary chemical. A way to fight global warming not through elimination of its causes but through new science, they accidentally freeze the planet. All life becomes extinct except for the travelers on the Snowpiercer. The wealthy who could afford the ticket live in luxury in the front of the train and the last refugees of the great freeze who fought their way onto the rear live in poverty. Bashing the audience over the head with the classes could be scene as overkill or is the director just creating the contrast needed to give the audience stakes?
In a future world there exists a train Snowpiercer, the vision of Wilford (
 Starring Chris Evan as Curtis, a reluctant revolutionary with a dark past who is mentored to leadership by Gilliam (John Hurt) too old to lead himself but not too old to move a younger man forward. Living at the rear of the train, the Snowpiercer, they are the lowest of the low. A caste who survive on protein bars (What are those bars made from?) and are subjugated to humiliations by the security forces. They are told all people have their lot in life and their lot is poverty in the last couple cars of this self contained ecosystem endlessly traversing the world. They are ruthlessly dealt with if they step out of line like when their children are taken never to be seen again. They are just the people who have to rise up and overthrow the order of things. Along the way though is an amazingly violent and trippy adventure through the train. Thinking about the setup as an allegory of how the wealthiest of the world want to secure their place by perpetually keeping the rest of us down seems the obvious idea. Controlling the security forces, the media, the food and water puts the poor in a place where they feel powerless to change things. It is the need for that change in the hearts of the characters on those last cars that drive the story. The cynical twist at the end was expected considering the structure of this film but it is the journey to the front of the train where the real value of this film lies.
  It seemed that there are nods to other films in this movie. It could be that the archetype of the story brings these thoughts, but the visual similarities and class absurdity seems like more than coincidence  The class struggle has been done before and there seems to be an amazing nod to one of this writers favorite film "Brazil". Not only is the wise man Gilliam named possibly for Terry Gilliam writer/director of that film but the comical portrayal of Tilda Swinton as Mason seems to be channeling the energy of Gilliam's work. As we traverse the train through violence and mayhem we are thrown for a loop as suddenly the dirty revolutionaries come face to face with the opulence of the upper classes. Particularly noteworthy is the scene in the school car where the children of the wealthy are indoctrinated into the cult of Wilford. From the lessons to the patriotic songs lead beautifully by Teacher (Alison Pill) to the hilarious propaganda video, to the sudden stupendous turn to violence, it all seeps with the influence of Brazil.
  The juxtaposition between the scenes of violent struggle and the lavish world of the upper classes is one of the strengths of the film. Designed to have the viewer easily side with the poor and Curtis with his desire to have his revolution reach the engine car, where all other attempts have failed. It does just that with brutal opposition all the way. Complicating the picture is the need for the key master, the man who designed many of the doors and locks, Namgoong Minsoo (Kang-ho Song). He has become a drug addict and can be bribed to get the revolutionaries into each car on their way to the front. He secretly has his own agenda for himself and his companion Yona (Ah-sung Ko) that is not revealed until the climax of the film. "The Matrix" feel at times is a bit overwhelming especially when they reach the engine room and we have the all too flat Ed Harris as Wilford talking things out with Curtis. Seems just like the scene where Neo meets the Architect and is cajoled to make a deal with the devil so to speak. Sometimes the best laid plans can go wrong because of the personal desires of just one of the players. Is it a good thing or should we expect such things.
  It is a singular mission that the poor have, too reach the engine room, to change the order of things. The influence and power of the ruling class first use force and then use bribery and if that does not work will again use force is a known technique through the history of class struggle. The end of this film like Ed Harris's performance is something that I could not understand completely. Flat and affect-less it is a disappointment after sharing the struggle that came before it. The final scenes are probably the most fantastical and meaningless of the entire film. A shame to have been barreling forward, full throttle on this ride only to have it come to the screeching halt it did. Having discussed the ending with others I could not come up with what would have been a better ending, simply because the plot sort of paints itself into a corner. The last image though was pretty ridiculous and off putting. I guess that this film is a recommend. There is something interesting and inventive on the journey this film takes the viewer on. It can't be a strong recommendation with that ending but still there is some value in the trip.

Rigor Mortis (2013) - Horror Supernatural

Rigor Mortis (2013) - aka "Geung si" - Hong Kong (original title) A perusing of the on demand in FIOS lead to the viewing of this fine and entertaining entry into the world of supernatural horror. Low expectations going into the viewing but the quality film making and cool if expected special effects made this film a pleasant experience.  We see a smoking man in the blood stained rubble and the soot covered lead and wonder how the hell we got to this point. This opening with the after affects of the third act we are lead from there back to the beginining. The color is bleached out of this film to enhance how the life has been bleached out of the people who live in the high rise tenement. This is public housing where residents are there because there because they are low on the economic ladder. They struggle to live and eat and find meaning in a hard life. Our lead character Chin, Siu-Ho (Siu-Ho, Chin) has come to this place to live. Once a successful movie actor his life has taken a turn down and he has come to this bleak place to die. More succinctly to hang himself. What follows is an adventure into the gap between life and death. An exercise in the struggle for a soul that has given up but still has a spark of goodness glimmering inside. In an early scene we seen our lead ready to die, he sees his former family, attractive wife, young son and we sense from the scenes of horror that they are no longer with him. He is grieving the loss and wants his life to end without them.

As much as the film is about Chin it is also about his new neighbors and about death and the need to let go of the past to move on from loss. As Chin, Siu-Ho hangs from the fan in his grimy apartment we see his life leaving him, but there is also a supernatural presence that is not him. It takes control of the dying man and only the intervention of neighbor Yau (Anthony Chan) not only casts out the spirit but saves the life of the actor. We are quickly introduced to the other residents, The unstable woman Yeung Feng (Kara Hui) who wanders the halls of the complex and has a history in Chin's apartment numbered 2442. She is crazy leading her albino child around and scavenging for food. Her story is a sad back story that explains the angry spirits in Chin's apartment. Yau the former vampire hunter and provider of rice for many of the residents of the building. He practices a magic of good and protects those he lives around. Countering him is the black magician Master Gau who always wanted to have more than just the good magic. Auntie Mui (Hee Ching Paw) kind old woman who reaches out to Chin after his suicide attempt. She and her husband the gruff Uncle Tung (Richard Ng) live a quiet life that will be changed forever through circumstances of the most unfortunate manner. There is also security guard the kind Uncle Yin (Hoi-Pang Lo). All the characters are well drawn and there is a personality to the group that lets us look into the life of this struggling community that tries to take care of itself.
  Gau with the promise to bring back the dead Tung to Auntie Mui starts a process theat he says will do what he says. Unfortunately his darker secret is that he secretly wants to make Tung into a Vampire. His penalty for doing such dark magic is apparent in the suffering he must endure, While this storyline goes on in the background we also learn the back story of apartment 2442. It is a sad tale of rape and murder that leaves the angry ghosts of two sisters seeking a way to enter the living and do harm. The scenes are graphic and just a bit gory. Spirits and magic are a part of this world and Chin learns the sad story. The first and second acts do a nice job of developing this world and there are several creepy scenes set to appropriate scary music to get the viewer involved and just a bit on edge. An American audience may struggle a bit with the early pacing but it is worth it to get to the third act.
  When the third act starts an shit hits the fan we get to follow Yau as he and Gau go head to head.  Like in the film Black Magic recently reviewed in this blog one is drawn to the darks side and the other has to counter him. It is actually a strength of this film that the sides are not black and white. The spirit world is present and there are both happy and sad spirits in it. Both Gau and Yau fight the evil ones at times together, but they do not agree and the methods to do that which leads ultimately to confrontation. They are both capable in their own way but black magic is about obtaining power and counter to white magic. We get to see Chin join on the side of good as the Vampire who was Tung is possessed by the spirits of the dead girls. There is some very cool and frightening scenes of fighting this spirit. This is more the hopping Chinese vampire, a living dead creature who will feed on the living but without the glamour of western vampires. The film is so very much worth watching to get to this third act. It is action packed and powerful with cool effects and surprising outcome. When all the story is told it, even with the twist ending that was not necessarily needed, it is a tale worth recommending. The Writers Lai-yin Leung and Philip Yung should be commended for the story and Director Juno Mak and Cinematographer Man-ching Ng have created a very cool look and feel for the film. So recommendations all around for this one.

Black Magic (1975) - Black Magic

Black Magic (1975) - Originally titled "Jiang tou" this Shaw brothers story of the consequences of the use of dark magic is a straight up tale for the most part. The Shaw brothers and their studio Shanghai were some of the largest producers of Martial arts films that made their way to Western audiences. Styling their studio like the old time studio, they signed some of the best talent in Asia to exclusive contracts and from 1925-85 produced over 1000 films. Noted by this writer for making one of my favorite martial arts film "Five Fingers of Death". Black Magic is the story of a practitioner of the dark arts who helps those who are willing to pay him with love potions and injury or death spells. His practice is successful since there is always someone looking to get a person to fall in love with them or seek vengeance of some kind. He is introduced through a scene calling for the death of a cheating husband and his mistress. The Magician Shan Jianmi (Feng Ku) needs primarily blood and hair from the victim and with his enchanter skull and some other ingredients can call upon the dark forces to make the spell happen. As we see him work we are also introduced to a good magician who seem stronger than Shan Jianmi and can stop him from succeeding. This dynamic will play an important role in the final confrontation of the film. We do see though that Shan Jianmi's magic is real and powerful in the opening scene.
The plot as it is involves a very wealthy woman Luo Yin (Ni Tien aka Tanny) who has her eyes on her construction architect Xu Nuo (Lung Ti), she is pushy and used to getting what she wants. Of course, he being engaged to Quming (Lily Li), Xu Nuo only spurns Luo Yin's advances which become ever more aggressive as she tries to create problems in his relationship. She is in turn sought by Lang Jiajie a shifty lout who brings our dark sorcerer Shan Jianmi into the picture. When Lang Jiajie (Lieh Lo) can not get anything but hostility from Luo Yin he seeks out Shan Jianmi for a love potion. The shiftless man does not have the money for the fee but figures once the wealthy widow falls in love with him he can use her money to pay. When the potion only last a day it is Luo Yin who has the upper hand. She then goes to the magician for a more potent potion to use on Xu Nuo.
 The story is mostly the repercussions of those actions. The pain and confusion of Quming and Xu Nuo's family as he first cancels the wedding and then takes up with Luo Yin. Through the middle section of the film it seems as if the family and his fiance can not pull him back from the power of the spell. With the help of a good magician there is an exciting and action filled third act where he is finally freed from the spell and the dark sorcerer is defeated.
  Although not the best film for special effects there are some that are noteworthy in the final scenes. A big drawback to the film is the strange soundtrack. Thrown presumably for western audiences it is a strange mix of horror tropes and sixties television movie tunes that strike all the wrong chords. When all is said and done this film though will get the nod from this blog. Nothing spectacular but just enough to keep the viewer engaged.

 

Unseen Evil (2001) Horror Protective Spirit

Unseen Evil (2001) - This a lower budget film about Native American burial site that has a spirit that seemed to be imprisoned by a tribe centuries ago. A place where the spirit possibly one of the four eagles that are Komeshtam'ho is incarcerated for some unknown reason. It is possible that the creature called Unseen is there to protect the riches buried in this cave. This part of the story was shown instead of explained and because of that it could be interpreted many ways. The whole setup may be a fiction, an finding much information about this supposed creation myth was all but impossible so the viewer should go along with the intro text of the film and take the scenes for what is presented. Opening after these scenes it is the 1990s and an expedition is setting out into the California hills to try to find that burial ground. What seems as straight up academic research quickly becomes a treasure hunt. Jenson has done the research necessary to find the site in the opening of the film. He is determine to find it but instead of study it to steal the gold and jewels of the site and retire to an island in the sun.He puts together a team which some of them know his plan while others do not.

  Our group consists of leader Dr Peter Jensen (Richard Hatch), Archaeologist Kate (Cindi Braun), Guide Dana (Cindy Pena) and two hired hands Mike (Frank Ruotolo) and Williams (Jere Jon). Very quickly into the hike to the site do the dynamics of the group change. Starting as a legitimate quest for knowledge signs seep into the behavior of the men that let the audience know that something is not right. Stopping at the rangers station Dana is friends with Ranger Chuck MacNeil (Tim Thomerson) and chats him up. What she does not know is that when he goes inside with Williams that things change. Wanting to keep things secret Williams knocks the Ranger out and cuffs him to a post. Now here you have a group with perfect cover, a couple of believable professionals in Dana and Kate but the men need to attack a Ranger creating a reason for the law to be involved. If they had just driven away their chances of pulling of the grave robbery would have been better. But with hot headed Willams in the group. there cover is immediately blown well at least for the viewers. Note that the one black character in the film is the hardest criminal of the bunch, hmmm..

  When resting on the hike and in the most awkward of set pieces Dana finds the gun that Jensen is carrying the gig is up and the women learn that this crew is not on the up and up. Its a bit too late though and at gunpoint and with hands tied the women are forced to participate. So the tension created when the viewers knew the expedition was a scam but the women in the group did not dissipates and is replaced by the tension of becoming prisoners. All of this will be trumped when they rob the burial ground and are attacked by the "Unseen".

  Survival film from that point on,  there is a bunch of this and that attempts to escape the creature. There is no mystery about anything after the creature makes its first kill of a group member. Seeking depth in the characters comes across hollow and the film is nothing particularly interesting. Will Jensen get away with his loot? Will the good characters survive? Will the creature get them all? Sure there are these questions as well as the ones that don't make sense like since this creature has been locked up in a cave for generations how is it that it knows to attack the groups van stranding them? The all too convenient return the treasure to the cave is the only way this one could have gone. Not particularly thought provoking or deep this simple story falls flat. Kate apparently can read hieroglyphs so well that all the exposition we need is given to us with ease. Then the ending and not the ending was too tiring to want to explain. No recommendation for this one from this blog. The choppy style and flat acting just dooms it. A one dimensional story with little subtext leaves the viewer just watching a series of some what connected scenes playing out a fantasy story but a story not really fleshed out.

Head Cheerleader, Dead Cheerleader (2000) Horror Slasher

Head Cheerleader, Dead Cheerleader (2000) - Hand it to writer, director, producer Jeff Miller for making this attempt at a 'who's the killer?' slasher film. Even though it was painfully obvious that he had very little money and although ultimately not making a good film he certainly made a small independent slasher with a script that worked hard to keep the viewer guessing. Working each scene to create or reenforce a red herring or a foreshadowing he creates for a viewer no less than a half dozen suspects before revealing the killer. Coming out four years after Scream (1996) this film tries to capture some of the structure of that film but ultimately fails for obvious reasons. You could say this seems derivative of that famous and more professional production, and you would be correct. Maybe that last comment was not very fair but if this film was made for the same budget it still may have been an inferior product. Although the writing is solid in that it is efficient and plotted fairly well it fails to develop character beyond what is needed for the 'who is killing cheerleaders?' question. The work put in to get the audience questioning just about every characters as they interact with the final girl really interferes with the erotetic narrative in that there are so many false questions being posed that ultimately the gems of truth pointing to the fluid narration is lost.
Heather (Tasha Biering) our main character gets the most back story Her Father was the  first male cheerleader of the high school. He is gone and her Mother away on business is an absentee parent. Poor Heather has had a series of failed relationships with boys from not only her school but from the rival Airfield high school. This gives us a whole lot of possible killers, her current boyfriend Danny (Dan Roach), the footballer her Mother freaked out about Chris (Andre B. Walker), rival QB Jimmy (Kirk Bair), they all have motivations that are shown in the setup scenes. Each comes across as creepy rude or possessive in their own way to get the audience guessing. Adding to the list of people who were pushed as possible murderers were Jezabel (Amber Coker) the girl Heather kept off the cheerleader squad. The touchy feely football coach Cranford (Bobby Cerutti) who secretly tapes the cheerleaders locker room. Drifter old guy Hatterman who supposedly killed in the past and even the fat old sheriff who manages to be creepy talking about Heathers Mother. Most of the second act in fact is to introduce each suspect and then have them do something or have somebody throw suspicion on them.
   Mixed in are the kills first of poor Trish the freshman cheerleader off screen who is only shown as a head in a bag. Then the money shot of cheer coach Riley (Debbie Rochon) who is axed after taking a hot tub and talking on what is now a really antiquated cell phone. After she shows her beautiful breasts she has one lopped off and dies in a bloody mess. Why is it every time a character shows her body does she have to die. Sexualizing the murder of women seems to be a traditional thing to do in slasher films but it is hard to rationalize. You rarely see men exposing there bodies before having their junk lopped off. A few red shirts are introduced just to be axed to death without a fight, again one of the girls removes her shirt which apparently is a signal that she needs to die. (I might add that the twist at the end of this film put a very different perspective on these scenes, but I am not sure if the messaging of it is any better.)
  If you were going to pinpoint the main failure of the film it has to be the lead. Heather never quite carries the sense of jeopardy she needs to. Whether it is the writing or the acting she just falls flat. Even when the character knows that danger is all around her she acts as if she is not sure she is in danger. Examples of this are: She is at home for the night. She lives out in the boondocks and there is no easy way to get help. When she starts getting creepier and creepier calls from the killer she is reluctant to call the police and even though she has knowledge that her classmates are being killed she fails to give any details to the police when she does call. She just asks for a car to check around her house.Later she is threatened even more menacingly and then gets a call from her Mother from out of town, instead of saying anything to her Mom she says everything is fine. Things at this point are definitely not fine. The killer just called pretending to have her cat and threatened to kill it. It just does not make any sense. On a side note another thing that does not make a lot of sense, the football team players getting together to kill birds and cats and string them to the goalposts as a act that will psyche them up for the big game. What is that?
  The third act is the revelation of who the killer really is and the struggle to see if Heather will survive the night. Although there are some decent practical effects the unknown until now protector is not foreshadowed and the exposition needed to explain the character was tedious. The similarity of the scenes to those in Scream are too close to be by accident. The energy of the bad guy matches the energetic performances of that earlier movie. After all the red herrings smacking the audience in the face, it was disappointing that the seeds of the killer story were not sown during the second act. Then everything has to be explained. It is all out of left field.
  As a reviewer it is useful to see a film like Head Cheerleader because it helps you see more clearly what went right in  the smash hit like Scream. There is a reasonable body count for a slasher movie somewhere around seven or eight, still though this film left something out that it needed to be more successful. On top of the illogical wreck the third act was is the tagged on ending. A trope used during the film where the gloved killer is writing the names of the victims on a list under one of the three headings Killed, Stalked  or Called and we flash to the end of this after all the killing of the final act is over and we are sure the killer has been dealt with. To then suggest that the killer is still out there is something every viewer will call bullshit on. When all is said and done you can appreciate that Jeff Miller can execute a project like this but it still can't be recommended by this blog. Everyone has their own tastes and sure this film will be acceptible to some but there is no recommendation coming here.

Cheerleader Camp (1988) Horror Comedy

Cheerleader Camp (1988) - Also called "Bloody Pom Poms" After watching the latest Lucky McKee film "All Cheerleaders Die" I decided to try another cheerleader based horror film. Cheerleader Camp is probably more notable for the people in it than its popularity. Featuring at least two former centerfolds Teri Weigel (Playboy April 1986) and Rebecca Ferratti (Okay maybe not a centerfold but in Playboy' Bathing Beauties) but not a T&A film at all. Director John Quinn says in the commentary that the story was inspired by a case in Northern California where a girl killed a classmate who made the cheerleading squad while she failed to. The film is also of note for starring former teen heart throb Leif Garrett a bit older and not so much a heartthrob at the time. On top of this is our lead the gorgeous Betsy Russell (of Avenging Angel fame, but still working in horror appearing in a couple of Saw movies) so we end up with a wonderful cast to look at. It is a slasher, mystery that unfortunately so transparent that the story loses effect. Really though it is part of the 1980s and the eighties had some wonderful low budget comedy / horror. I had hoped that this film would be a hidden gem, but unfortunately it wasn't. Right after the room mate pairing up was done at the Camp holding the cheerleader competition the film is too blatant in foreshadowing who the killer is leaving the viewer without a mystery and just watching the motions to get to the end.
   The first scene a dream sequence is filmed well with a dutch angle throwing the feeling into the slightly off.Shot at Bakerfield High it is designed to show the psychology of the main character Alison (Betsy Russell). From this scene we can sense there is quite a bit of pressure for the cheerleader. The story has a simple set up, five cheerleaders and a mascot drive out to a camp to participate in a cheerleader competition. When participants start showing up dead the characters need to figure out if the deaths are accidents or is there a killer among them.
  The team consisting of Alison, Pamela (Teri Weigel), Theresa (Rebecca Ferratti), Timmy (Travis McKenna) Brent (Leif Garrett), Bonnie (Lorie Griffin) and mascot Cory (Lucinda Dickey) arrive at the camp to find pushy coordinator Miss (Vickie Benson) already to assign rooms and enforce the rules. Very quickly the film is about the rivalry between the teams but in a strange way because they never really create a rivalry or develop the other teams. Instead the film uses focus on Betsy as a stressed or possibly murderous competitor. When the first competitor from another team is found dead by Betsy it looks like a suicide but there are some questions. The obvious red herring of the Betsy character and some of the interactions she has with teammates start to give away who the killer is. Its a bit of a shame because the film although low budget is trying to have some fun.
  There are some decent suspense at times like when Betsy gets trapped in the cooler with the dead body which sets up the next red Herring of someone in the camp crew possibly being the killer. We follow Betsy as she spies on Pop (George 'Buck' Flower) the camp handyman. While still they push the idea that Betsy may be a bit off her rocker. There is not tons happening early in the film it is a lot of buildup, setting up the rocky relationship between Brent and Betsy. Then showing several Betsy dream sequences and scenes to make us question her mental state we are being lead down can't be the one that is revealed later. First after a dream Betsy finds a dead rival cheerleader she saw in the dream. Then Betsy gets mad at Brent for giving time to Pamela and then has a dream about that. We have the kill scene of Pamela and everything is setting up that Betsy is the killer. Since though this is a horror movie the obvious path can't be the likely one so we can really dismiss Betsy as a suspect and think about who else would want to solve her "problems" for her. Who has shown enough empathy that maybe they are killing on her behalf?
   In the end although the film is cool it is really not great. Having figured out the twist way too early the viewer could be left not thrilled going through the less than complex third act to see the killer revealed. Seriously there were two kills going into the final act and because it is not action packed and exciting, it is instead people walking around the woods in the dark. There really is not going to be a recommendation for this film. The ending needed to be exciting and cohesive but it is neither;  it never really reaches the slasher variety scary. The big twist leaves you think "damn!" so much potential but never really leaving us satisfied. It is very close to being a recommendation but just not quite for me. I think older viewers of horror could tolerate the pacing but younger folks would be irritated at the slow stretches. Although rated R it is really a pretty tame film with a splash of gore, a flash of boob but compared to modern films really quite controlled. It also does not reach the action movies heights that would make the film worth recommending.
Odds and Ends
* The band playing at the camp is "Rigor Mortis Rigor Mortis", with Producer Jeff Prettyman's son Chris on drums.
* Each time we come into a dream we get this fade to a red background which was used in another film Daughters of Darkness (1971).
* The rap in the film may be nominated for worst attempt at rapping in film history.

All Cheerleaders Die (2013) Horror Witchcraft

All Cheerleaders Die (2013) - I've seen a lot of films from Lucky Mckee. In fact I am a bit of a fan. (I hate that word because trust me if he started turning out shit I would find other favorites to follow.) The first was the wonderfully imbalanced May (2002) with Angela Bettis that was made even better by the leads performance of the sad and horrifically damaged young woman May who can't seem to connect to the people around her. Roman (2006) which stars McKee as another person incapable of connecting in a healthy way, where an accidental death and a budding relationship with the lovely Kristen Bell drive the mind of the lead character to horrific places. The Woods (2006) was a cool supernatural mystery set at a boarding school in the 1960's. In 2011 he came out with The Woman (2011) a whole different kind of fucked up that has to be seen to be believed. So here we are with the new Lucky McKee film this time he shares both the writing and the directing chores with Chris Sivertson who did get some buzz around his 2008 film Wicked Lake unfortunately not as loved by some. All Cheerleaders Die seems to be a re-imaging of a project the two did together in 2001 of the same name. That is not a fact just conjecture on my part.
One thing you really don't have to worry about in a McKee film is that the screenwriting is poor. McKee has structure down. I'm reminded of this in the very beginning of the film. The dialog is not some throw away bullshit but instead a foreshadowing of what is to come. In it an off screen interviewer talks to a cheerleader about the dangers of the sport. In her 'so full of herself' way the cheerleader talks about the injury frequency and how you have to be in shape to be a cheerleader. The scene accomplishes two things at once, the already mentioned foreshadowing and a character development letting us know through actress delivery what kind of person the cheerleader is. All through the script of this film there are these well put together scenes that accomplish the goals of the plot while still developing or expressing the characters, As a viewer it may go a bit unnoticed but when this quality of writing is not there it stands out like a pimple on prom night.
  You see this again when after the horrible incident at the intro section of the film we see Lexi's car drive up to the school a couple days before senior year. In the car is Terry already introduced as Lexi's man. His character is display by the fact he is driving her car and is there with another cheerleader the lovely Tracy. The way he looks at her and the way she is so obviously with him show us what is going on and while still letting us know what has happened.
  When you get down to the heart of All Cheerleaders Die it is a story about Maddy Killian (Caitlin Stasey) a lesbian infatuated with her friend, head cheerleader Alexis (Felisha Cooper). Whether there was a relationship between the two other than friends is a question to think about.  It is not evident from the early footage and Alexis is student profile #4 in Maddy's film not number one. There is though a foreshadowing of another relationship in the early going of this film. When we see the drive Maddy has to promote her friend through a video project we get the impression that there is a desire on her side that is beyond wanting a good grade, when it comes to Lexi, as she is called in the film Maddy cares deeply. It may seem strange to note that Maddy is a lesbian but it certainly does play a part in this film. Whether taking the approach that there is a unrequited love between Maddy and Lexi and she is just jealous of her friend's attention for football hunk Terry (Tom Williamson) when the tragedy that starts the film happens we hear Maddy in her own words talking about a revenge that she feels has to happen. Also early on after Lexi leaves the picture Maddy is trying out for the squad herself and says "Did you know Alexis and I did gymnastics together in seventh grade? Then she went her way and I went mine." It is a subtle but useful line. Well without talking to the writers I can't prove any of this so on with the show. After Maddy makes the cheerleading team we get the some of the picture of what is going on. A faint about how she is upset that Terry is with Tracy so soon after Lexi's death. She lets the audience know that she plans on ruining the couple's senior year and getting on the squad was the first step in that plan.

A side note: There is a moment in the early filming of Lexi that is interesting in that there is a music slow motion cut as she walks into the school. Since at this moment the video maker Maddy is reviewing her footage you can assume that she created this scene even so it is very clever of the film maker to work in this stylistic approach through the guise of the student's film.
 More clever writing in a what could be seen as a scene to establish the relationship between Maddy and Leena (Sianoa Smit-McPhee) at the end of the scene where Leena is talking about the cat named Madeline she mentioned that the cat died, yeah the cat she is holding which is alive and well. So easy to overlook but so well placed. Even more subtle is when Leena casts her crystals after Maddy leave the four green crystals surrounding the purple one one, nicely done in that case.
  A good part of the film is centered around that plan and its affect on Terry. He is a wolf as the girls call him and is not one to let a high school girl come between him and what he wants. In fact as much as Maddy is the protagonist Terry is an equal if not larger antagonist.
  Another thing that this film does well is the dynamic between Terry and Maddy. We are focusing on her but really we could be focusing on him. When she is trying out for the squad he is there at football practice, he sees her and takes notice. When she uses Tracy's phone to text "Asshole" to him he is quietly watching the girls from Lexi's car nearby. He sees as Maddy seduces Tracy into kissing. While she is infiltrating his life to ruin it he is in the know of what is happening. When we finally learn the reason for their animosity we fully can appreciate their interactions.
 Too much appreciation for the script could give too much away so even though I could continue to dissect this film let me talk more about my feelings about how the whole picture works. The main players here are the cheerleaders, Maddy, Tracy (Brooke Butler), Martha (Reanin Johannink), mascot Hannah (Amanda Grace Cooper) and Maddy's former relationship Leena. When the escalation of Maddy's plan to piss off Terry get to be a crisis these five women find themselves in a supernatural state which is a giant turn in the film. Their condition dictates what happens next and moves towards the climax which again shifts into virgin territory. There is some really cool things to like hear, particularly the immersion in the world where after the magic happens it is then a given. There is no trying to explain it. Sure we see the consequences of how the girl need to operate in order to have strength but there is no tedious exposition about why its happening. They are in their condition and what follows the conditions rules are laid out in a couple quick scenes. I appreciate that.
  Now I must be getting old, my daughter Joy graduated college this year and I have to say she is a more mature complete woman than when she graduated high school. Having seen her then and now I can't completely buy the actors in this film as high school students. Many are in their twenties and it is just too hard for me to see them as high school aged. Suspension of disbelief is key here but I am just saying that everyone in this film are just too grown up. I understand it is necessary, certainly it makes the look of the characters much more appealing. I suppose in the hyper reality of the film it is necessary to have actors to reach the depths that these characters have to get to.
 The film was a bit PG-13 for my tastes and I can see that teenagers may love this movie if they get to see it. Although I appreciated the script, some of the style choices and surprises of the story. I did not like some of the boxes that the characters were put in. Jocks as assholes, with Terry leading the way as the predatory sociopath. Cheerleaders as superficial ditzes who have shared orgasms when one of them feeds or has sex. The exploitative clothes of the girls, who wears cheerleader outfits to school? Who is buried in it? So much of the structure is teen movie predictable it must be on purpose. Luckily this can all be taken as satire on these kinds of teen movies. If not satire then really it was a bit immature. Still I liked it and enjoyed the subtlety of the writing while watching the absurdity of the humor. Humor both in the story and in the use of music, with purposely sappy music at certain times. Has to be satire. It is a world after all without parents, authority figures or police and full of magic. The third act heads to a climax that I don't think anyone could predict. Although it tried to up the brutality quotient I think it was a bit inexplicable. I suppose love wins out over evil.  Overall I wish the film was a more harsh in its delivery but that's just an old guy who came into his own on Argento and Fulci talking. This film gets a recommendation from this blog, it has many strengths and a few possible drawbacks. I can imagine some people being harsh on this as a bit too bubble gum but I think if you read into it a bit more you will see there is more than meets the eye.

Godzilla (1954) Monster Movie

Godzilla (1954) -"Gojira" (original title) Ah the original, the one that started it all and 28 Japanese and a couple American movie later and it is still going strong. I grew up in Boston in the 70s and 80s and if you happened to want entertainment on a Saturday afternoon during those years, you could turn the dial on the black and white television (we used a pair of pliers since the plastic knob broke off in the first year of that set.) to channel 56 on the UHF band and watch Creature Double Feature. Each week this amazing show provided viewers with two horror / monster movies and as a poor kid it was my first exposure to the wonders of horror. We were a urban poor family in those days and going to the movies really consisted of going to the drive in a couple times a year. Creature Double Feature and Godzilla was a giant part of that education in horror movies and I have watched so many of the early films that everyone of them is like visiting an old friend. The original though tended to be rarely played so in celebration of the latest incarnation of Godzilla here in the States I thought it would be nice to visit the first film. It is a film I knew as a child and as a child my view of it was simple. A large monster comes from the sea and destroys a city. The people fight it with the weapons they have but they seem powerless against this force of nature. Never did I really know the meaning behind the film, for me it was an entertainment. As an adult though, seeing this with mature eyes I see the incredible message that this film is and in in awe.

  I am working off the Criterion Collection print and the quality is excellent. Godzilla particularly the early ones can be seen as a metaphor for the United States, a massive destructive power that seems to rage uncontrollably destroying all in its path. The original film features a atomic created monster and according to Wikipedia can be said to relate the fears of the Japanese people after the devastation inflicted upon them by the USA with the blast of the  atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of  Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Lets remember that this film first showed only nine years after those events. Even still the fact that the Japanese learned to love the lumbering beast is more fascinating than the metaphor. There is a story I saw in the interviews in this collection where lead actor Akira Takarada was excited to be chosen for this part. When he arrived at the set he introduced himself as the lead actor and expressed his pleasure to be working with his fellow actors. He was pulled told by director Irhiro Honda that he was not the lead but that Godzilla was. The Monster has continued to be the lead in some twenty some odd films and a beloved part of the Japanese culture. Not being an expert on the meaning behind the movie, let me stop here and refocus to the pleasure it is to see the Japanese version of this film. I probably saw the western version of the film Godzilla: King of Monsters more than the original, it has the Raymond Burr voice over and scenes to help it be accepted in the United States. Still I was surprised by how many scenes I recognized during my viewing of Godzilla and now with educated eyes the amazing power of many of those scenes.

  The first scene is of sailors on a fishing boat resting in the night playing music and games. The days work done they are unsuspecting victims of the radioactive monster sleeping below. Flashes of that radiation and then the sinking of the ship give the first signs of the danger ahead. The ship the Maru is lost and the survivors radiation burned. It is a direct reference to the Daigo Fukuryu Maru a fishing boat caught in the fallout of a United States nuclear test on the Bikini atoll in 1954. It was certainly current when the movie was made and it is no mistake that the two boats were similarly named and the flashes and radioactive exposure paralleled actual events.
  Later when Godzilla is attacking Tokyo there is a heart breaking scene where a widow has fled and is hiding with her kids in a doorway. As the monster closes in on their location she says to her children that they will all be with Daddy soon. A heart breaking hopeless scene that is very touching with the context of the history of the film. This scene is closely followed by scenes of the devastation left behind by the monster. A broken landscape of barely a standing structure that could be mistaken for newsreel footage of the aftermath of the h bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
  We switch to the human side of the aftereffects and visit a hospital where orphan children are being treated for radiation sickness. The audience knows this is the after effects of the nuclear world, one of pain and suffering and loss. It is pivotal to the personal story that is part of the film because it is the catalyst for the sister Emiko (Momoko Kochi) to reveal the secret weapon.
  When the attacks begin everyone is powerless to stop it. The main character Hideto Ogata (Akira Takarada) and his girlfriend Emiko do not have answers but are observers of the attack. Emiko's brother is a scientist who will eventually be the person with a solution but she has sworn to him not to reveal his experimental work. The oxygen destroyer and its existence is the one way the monster can be destroyed but the film takes the time to ask just because you have a weapon of great power, should you use it? Although it is ultimately used in the film the creator gives his own life so that the secret of the weapon dies with him. In the end Godzilla is a pretty amazing movie. It is so much more than I remembered as a kid and I am sure to do more research into this series. So while the big screen is filled with the remake 'full of sound and fury...' here we have a classic that more than holds its own. This film is very recommended by Soresport Movies.

Jug Face (2013) Horror Supernatural

Jug Face (2013) - Sometimes ideas for independent horror there is a crystal of an idea that has to be  cut and polished up to be a gem. When that happens the buzz is palpable in the horror community, with everyone seeing and reviewing, and others talking the movie up on their podcasts. When that happens even the smallest of film making companies might recoup the cost of their endeavor, hell they even might make some money for the next film. We love it when this happens, its what keeps the independent horror scene alive and vibrant. Unfortunately there is another side where that crystal pretty much stays what it was, its pretty and has its own value but there may never be a demand for it. This is the case with the film Jug Face, it has its solid structure and an idea worth exploring but it just never quite shines.
Soresport Movies may be in the minority when it comes to this film as there have been some glowing reviews on it after it came out last year. (looked after wrote this review so apparently saw this differently than many.) The film is a small budget affair and the gore a minimalist variety that get the point across without costing the film makers too much budget. Bloody water, sliced throat effects and some scattered body parts give the impression of horrible savage violence without actually having to show any. Cloudy eye contacts also make serve a purpose to cue the audience to what is happening. Advertized as a "character driven" story one has to wonder if the person who wrote that copy watched the film since the story arc of the main character is really small and centers around an inevitable decision to accept responsibility for her quite reasonable decisions. My daughter Joy joined me in the viewing as I have been trying to get her to watch horror in a way that would allow her to contribute to this blog. She watched but very quickly tuned out and played on her phone. Multitasking is a behavior her generation does but I was surprised at how quickly the tune out came. At the end of the film her first response was "That sucked." I tried to steer the conversation to what she liked or didn't. In the end the most I got out of her was:
1. You never see the monster and it is never explained what it is or why the people would make a deal with it.
2. The main character is not very likable, she fucked things up for everyone.
3. The special effects sucked.
  Now I agree with her to an extent but I also felt that there was some value to this film. The plotting structure is well done. It leaks the story of these people a bit at a time until at the third act you know what the full picture is. Some things did not make sense to me though, and maybe the second watching will clarify my questions. A pretty good cast Ada (Lauren Ashley Carter) as the main character, Sean Bridgers as Dawai the potter, Larry Fessenden as Ada father Sustin,   and Sean Young as her cruel mother.  First during the images accompanying the credits we see the story of this community, a group who has given up on the existing organized religion that was in place but now instead prays to a pit of muddy water. We see them sacrificing their minister to the pit and later images of community members bathing in the pool at the bottom of the pit. We learn later that in the past during a smallpox epidemic ( maybe the big one 1775 - 82?) the people figured out how to make a deal with an entity in the pool in exchange for a sacrifice every now and again the pit provides healing waters. Now this deal when you think of it as a solution in the 1700s seems reasonable and it truly did become the religion for these people. When a sacrifice is wanted by the pit it puts "the sculptor" into a trance and that person creates a jug with the face of the next victim. The community then gathers and sacrifices that person at the pit. Now though we see in the film that the people in those hills have trucks and cars and interact with the town nearby selling moonshine for cash. So although presented as isolated  the insular nature of the community does not cancel the fact that health care is readily available in the civilized world. So really the thing that keep the arrangement going with the pit is that it has become a sacred relationship. To me it seems that the arrangement of killing one of your own so others can be healed is stupid when you can drive in town to a hospital. Talk about death panels the pit is a one entity death panel.
  Second I question is around the choice to make the main character unlikable. Ada is the main character and the plot is driven by her decisions. I think as a way to define the hill people as isolated we see Ada and a young man playing in the woods and having sex. Then we learn they are brother and sister and the whole thing is fucking creepy. Not just that it perpetuates stereotypes about hillbillies but  come on really the film has to go there that early. Later when we see the size of the community you have to wonder if resorting to incest was really necessary or just a gimmick.  It all fits the plot though and like I said earlier the pieces of information are well structure so we learn more of the full story as the film progresses. Pregnant from her brother and promised to another man she finds the jug face of the next sacrifice and it is her. Her story arc is that she hides the jug face with horrible consequences for all. She must come to her decision to take responsibility before too many innocents are taken by the pit. Since escape  from this community is never presented as a achievable option we know what she will have to do, its just who will have to die before the guilt gets to her enough for her to act.
  Helping her along the way is a ghost who is trying to convince Ada to return her jug face. He is a shunned one, a soul that can't rest because it was taken from the pit and as punishment for not fulfilling a sacrifice. The device is to give expository dialog to fill in the mythology but I am not totally sure that it works since the "why" would it communicate question is never really explained.
It is not really a happy ending film and you really expect anything good to come out of it. Instead you can marvel at the hill freaks who believe stupid shit and suffer for it. I am not sure that I am ready to give this film a recommendation I am a bit on the fence. Written and directed by Chad Crawford Kinkle,  It is certainly well thought out and the idea of an alternative religious centered group is okay. I just think that there was no outside the community characters to bounce the sanity of the belief system off so it just comes off as an acceptable way of doing things for these characters, when lets be honest it is not. I wished there was more money for special effects there is a problem when you have a monster but never get to see it. I wish the vague agreement this group had with the was more clearly explored because honestly the reasons for killing loved ones did not seem very strong. So I will pass on recommending this film. Note I am in the minority if you look around the internet.