Movie Review of Amityville II: The Possession (1982)

Amityville II: The Possession (1982) - One of the greatest hoaxes of the 20th century concerned a supposedly haunted house in a town called Amityville. The subject of first a book then a movie, it spurned on even more movies, each as much a work of fiction as the first. The one thing that was not a work of fiction was there was a mass murder of members of the DeFeo family at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville in 1974. This was referenced in the opening of the first movie and an element of the story. Amityville II: The Possession does a fictitious take on that mass murder by changing the family name, setting it in the 1980s and involving a possession ala The Exorcist.

The Montelli family has moved into the home they bought in Amityville. From the start there is an antagonistic relationship between the father and the eldest son, Sonny (like that's original). Sonny and his teenage sister, Dawn, also have an awkwardly flirty relationship. The father is loud and abusive toward his family while the mother walks a line between love and hate for him. If this weren't bad enough of a setting, a presence is in the house and begins communicating with Sonny via the headphones on his walkman style radio. Feeling the house has something evil lurking in it the mother asks a priest to come over and bless it, setting into motion events that will lead to the murder of the entire family by one of their own, and he's possessed.

The movie is essentially trying to merge several genres into a single movie, and not successfully. This initially starts off as a well directed haunted house story in the first half of the movie but then flounders and dies a deserving death in the second half that degrades into a bad made-for-TV movie before it finishes off trying to copy The Exorcist right down to the priest's self-sacrifice for the demon to take him instead of the 'innocent' boy.

I would go further into describing the movie, but what defines this film as the lowest of exploitation trash that it is, is from the start making a movie to profit off the murders of a family. They might have used the excuse that it was just based loosely on the tragedy, and loosely based in reality it was, but a movie going public is not going to see this as complete fiction when it is promoted as not only being based on a true story, but it clearly states in the advertising "this is their story". Even changing the family name and elements of what happened that night does not take away from the fact that this was just another gimmick to make a buck off of tragedy. To add to the sleaziness of what the producers of this movie did was unfounded accusations of incest and child abuse within the murdered family, and once again even with the names changed a movie going audience is going to think this reflects on the victims.

Despite excellent direction and scene structure in the early part of the film and really wonderful performances by Erika Katz and Brent Katz (real life siblings too), and being such young performers at that, I can't give this other than my lowest rating for simply being the exploitative trash it is.

I give it 1 Dagger

Simple Mind (2012): Simply Thrilling

Simple Mind (2012; Indie Short Subject) - The mind is a terrible thing. Hmm...seems like something is missing from that line. In reality the mind is a complex thing. Desires, disappointments, loves and losses, these are just some of the things which make up the fabric of our separate realities. And calling our everyday experience a reality is not simply concrete, as reality is a matter of perception, as real to one person as it is false to another. Simple is not the mind, but complex and twisted is the reality created, simply of mind.

In therapy, Bob deluges his therapist with stories of his sinister deeds. In this session though, it might not be the therapist who needs to learn about Bob... but Bob, himself.

Simple Mind is an indie short subject of just a little over 7 minutes starring Timothy J. Cox as Bob, a man in therapy with his therapist being played by Kristi McCarson. Cox brings out his sinister side in acting playing Bob, and to his credit in such a short film he explores many sides of the same character from wicked to tragic in a complex performance that elicits from the viewer feelings from disgust to sympathy. McCarson is an ideal sounding board for Cox's performance as hers is to maintain a degree of neutrality and subtly playing off of the main character's story he is telling. And I'll leave it at that without giving anything away.

Of course any film is made up of the necessary ingredients of its script and its production. In both cases these ingredients in this are excellent. Phil Newsom scripted and directed this with Paul Nameck doing the camera work. A lingering camera can be a dreaded thing in the wrong hands, but these are obviously the right hands as Newsom and Nameck  exercise a tendency to let the camera and focus wander, in a creative way which increases tension and pulls in the viewer. A particularly good use of music, with a soundtrack by Keith Campbell and additional music by Jeremy Gonzalez, drives the tension even further by injecting sinister strains into otherwise auspiciously melodic soundtrack.

The performances, direction, camera work, and music combine to create a taut thriller with a wicked twist that in only just over 7 minutes offers much more than its seemingly limited time would suggest.

I give it 5 Daggers

Availability

You can watch Simple Mind on YouTube.

Check out its IMDb page. 

Making Love (1982): Boldly Coming Out in the 80s

Making Love (1982) - 1982 was a banner year for Hollywood's coming out party, so to speak. No fewer than four films with prominent gay themes or subplots were released by the major studios including Making Love, Victor Victoria, Personal Best and Partners. Making Love was the only one in which the main plot was the coming out of a man, the main character of the story, and in 1982 suffered the consequences of an unaccepting public, and unaccepting film critics.

I watched Making Love at the theater upon its release in 1982. I went to see it because Kate Jackson was in it, having been a fan of Charlie's Angels as any teenage boy of the time would have been. I didn't read any reviews and was completely ignorant of what the movie was about. It was slowly sinking in this was not a love triangle between Kate Jackson's character and two guys.

When Michael Ontkean's and Harry Hamlin's first onscreen kiss happened, the theater erupted. Some guy several rows behind me shouted some now forgotten expletive as he launched his large soft drink at the screen, ice and cola splattering on the upper right -hand side of the screen and running down the length. The lights came on as probably one third of the audience left the theater; I guess in the few days the movie had played there they had gotten used to such reactions. At the time I laughed at the audience's reaction though I stayed and got to see a wonderful movie, even with the stain on the screen throughout.

Unfortunately, at the time, many film critics, though they may have stayed for the movie, just as much walked out with that one third of the audience in their minds. If you think that is an overstatement, just consider the national film critic consensus for the movie according to Rotten Tomatoes at just under one third approval rating as compared with the IMDb general audience rating of just over two thirds approval.

I can't say what the perspective of a reviewer with a homosexual viewpoint might be, but the clearly negative film critic, to be read as heterosexual, response strikes me as more boys club gay jokes than honest critique. Despite Rotten Tomatoes having a usually dependable cross-section of opinion from knowledgeable film critics, the 31% average score on their site for this film clearly, in my opinion only, shows a conservative stuck in the Reagan 80s bias of film critics, which as a movie reviewer is embarrassing. While the IMDb audience rating comes in at 68% showing a more progressive and socially conscious contemporary audience as contrasted with film critics.

In all fairness to Rotten Tomatoes and more contemporary film critics, there are only 16 critic reviews for the film on Rotten Tomatoes, with many written when this was released to the theater in 1982; and many of those lead to error pages as they are no longer valid links. Their average might be representative of a 1980s opinion and a conservative white opinion but it sure is not representative of more contemporary and progressive critical or public opinion. Perhaps Rotten Tomatoes might want to incorporate a better system when it comes to legacy films that doesn't rate them based on outdated viewpoints that are most definitely entrenched in their time.

Interestingly if this had been a story about a woman coming out and her lesbian lover, not only would that one third of the audience not walked out but I wouldn't be writing this commentary. If you think that is bunk, Personal Best was also released in 1982, and though the homosexual element of the story is secondary to the competition main story, it is a story about two women who develop a romantic relationship. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 77% approval rating. There are a few more recent reviews out of the 22 reviews as compared to Making Love, but still quite a few legacy reviews, and some of those legacy reviewers panned Making Love.

Making Love is the story of an all too idealistic marriage. Zach and Claire are a couple on the edge of 30 following their goals in life together. They have just bought a house, and though no children as they wanted to get their careers in order first, they have settled on a name for the child. They are best friends who seemingly have the idyllic marriage, except for one thing he has been trying to repress all these years; he's attracted to men. Enter Bart, a successful writer and all too seemingly the guy most any man would want to be; handsome, fit, well to do, and free spirited. However, Bart is gay, despite all those so-called 'man' qualities, and those qualities don't go unnoticed by Zach in a chance meeting. Eight years of marriage thinking he is living the life he's suppose to, now Zach is questioning his own inner mysteries as what he has been suppressing all these years he cannot hold back.

The storyline of the movie is chronological though told in flashback, introduced by the characters of Claire and Bart, then intermittently as Claire and Bart separately inject their feelings about the events which have transpired in the movie; using a narrator approach in these instances of breaking the fourth wall and speaking to the viewer to explain things that would have otherwise labored the dialogue of the film.

The story unfolds brilliantly. We are introduced to the characters of Zach and Claire out with a realtor looking at a home. It is the ideal home for them, though even with their successful careers it is a little out of their league. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, and to pack bagged lunches for economy, they take the home as it is one more perfect step in their marriage, their marriage as they always wanted it to be.

I don't know if it was just a happy coincidence in getting Michael Ontkean and Kate Jackson to play a couple. It strikes me as deliberate, having starred together previously in the TV series The Rookies they have a natural and fun chemistry together. This is ideal for painting them as the seemingly perfect and loving couple.

Hamlin and Ontkean work well together. The characters of Zach and Bart have an instant chemistry. Together they are at times whimsical, intriguing, and playful. As portrayed onscreen, and this is from a heterosexual viewpoint for context, it's easy to see the attraction of the two characters, and when they are together in the early stages they are as much fun as Zack and Claire.

These are important distinctions in the story, presenting Zach as someone following the imposed rules of a social dogma which frowns upon and even chastises what he feels naturally. His relationship with Claire is not presented so perfectly to be read as something he'd be stupid to give up so he should just go 'straight', it's presented as even in the most seemingly idyllic marriage he is just checking off the list as he's told to do and trapped, not being who he really is.

Making Love does not waste a line of dialogue or a scene. The structure of the narrative fits everything together seemlessly. Unlike one prominent critic's comment "This movie has some of the worst dialogue one can imagine.." it is intelligently written with dialogue that pulls the viewer into the story and defines the characters. This is not a script trying to be gay but was actually developed as a story idea by A. Scott Berg and the screenplay was written by Barry Sandler, both of whom are gay and the contrast in the characters of Zach and Bart takes a little from each of them, in Zach being relationship minded and Bart being a player. Zach and Bart are well fleshed out characters with intriguing conversations between them and come off as very human and very normal characters in contrast to the all too common stereotypes of gay characters Hollywood flooded movies with. You can read more on the writing of the script and the making of the movie in this excellent article.

Ultimately Making Love is a play set upon an idyllic stage of life against a backdrop of the all-American dream. It's not 'slice of life' but an allegory of 'life by the rules' and those very rules stigmatizing someone's inner self forcing them into a facade they try to believe is real, and certainly parts of it are, but being true to oneself is repressed by this very facade. Living by the rules not only victimizes the repressed by living within 'acceptable' social (to be read as theocratic) boundaries, but those who unknowingly become a part of the facade, and the dream.

I saw Making Love as I mentioned in 1982. I had not seen it again until I watched it for this review. For a movie I had not seen in 35 years much of it had stuck with me. That's quite a movie that has that kind of staying power.

I give it a full 5 Daggers


Availability

Making Love is available on DVD

To Be Alone (2017): A Haunting Chill in the Air

To Be Alone (2017; Indie Short Subject) - As a child, if we are lucky, it might be a pet. As we get older, it might be a parent. When we get settled in life, married or with a partner, change is even more drastic when letting go is letting go of your everything. When one understands that time seeing your mother staring out a window, not seeing you. A light in her eyes is missing, a stone cold expression on her face as she looks deep into somewhere, like looking for someone, who is never coming back. There is no set way for dealing with loss, for dealing with change so drastically ..what might we do not To Be Alone?

To Be Alone is the story of William, sensitively played by Timothy J. Cox in a haunting performance, who has suffered that very loss in his life, and letting go is played out in dramatic fashion in the cold chill of winter to match the cold chill of emptiness that has entered his life.

To Be Alone was scripted and directed by Matthew Mahler. Cox and Mahler have done work together before to good effect. What I have seen of Mahler so far he likes to write to allegory in his stories with a brevity of dialogue, if any, using instead a play of events and a setting of mood to tell his story. Timothy J. Cox is the perfect actor for this utilizing his talent in the silent performance with Mahler's story to create a haunting and chilling mood honed raw.

Mahler's direction reminds me of Kubrick. He delineates space in his framing and uses it to draw attention to his subject. His composition allows no distractions, unless he wants them to be there for the story. In previous work of his, working in a beautifully cluttered scene he was able to draw that clutter into the focus of his frame. A talented musician he has scored this himself using vibrant heartfelt beats to up the tension tightened further with claustrophobic framing, and somber melodies in a stark framing to draw in the chill of loneliness. He shows himself to be a master of creating mood without having a word uttered.

Timothy J. Cox is a master of the unspoken performance being able to use emotion and body language to great effect. I don't even know how conscious he is of his performance. When he enters a scene, it looks like Timothy J. Cox, but it's his character that has entered the scene, not him. And when he is able to do that without uttering a word, now that's masterful.

Oddly, when I started writing this review, even though I knew where I was going with the rating, and that has not changed, I was a little fuzzy about exactly the relevance of events in the story. As I wrote my intro, things sunk in. That sneaky Mahler played me with his allegory, and it works beautifully.

Mahler's writing and direction combined with his own score and a wonderfully timed backdrop of gospel blues by The Staple Singers, Cox's brilliant and heartbreaking performance, and the ambiance of the dead of winter put a haunting chill in the air.

I give it 5 Daggers

Availability

Watch To Be Alone on Vimeo.

Check out the IMDB page.

Mallas, MA (2013): Let's Investigate This

Mallas, MA (2013; Indie Short Subject) - You're traveling to do another con job, a con job not only of sight and sound but of ghosts. A journey into a superstitious town whose residents are that gullible. That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, Mallas, MA!

Brian and Maria are not just buddies, but con artist buddies. They have devised a plan, using Brian's latest invention, to con an entire town into believing they have a ghost problem and Brian and Maria are the cure. But things don't exactly go according to plan.

Nor will this review go according to plan, or more appropriately according to my usual review. The difference here is the film I am reviewing was made for a 48 Hour Film Project in which all the participants are given a genre, a character, a line and a prop which must be used in the film. They then have 48 hours to script and/or improvise a story, shoot the film, and edit & score it. That's quite a challenge. To me, as I've said before in other reviews that I will rate a film within its context, I need to take the challenge itself into consideration and how the film fares under those circumstances.


The parameters and requirements they were given at the 2013 48 Hour Film Project in Boston:

Genre: Buddy Film
Character: Brian or Bonnie Higgins, an Inventor
Prop: A net
Line of dialogue: "Believe me, it's worth it"


All of the ingredients are in the film. Timothy J. Cox takes on the role of the required character, and that would be playing "Brian" Higgins for you smart alecs asking which one he played. It is a buddy film with Maria Natapov playing Maria Synder, who is buddies with Brian Higgins, together they are con artists looking for a score using Brian's latest invention, also a required ingredient. The prop is only required to be in a scene and not required to be an action element, and of course it is in there. Cox's character gets the line "Believe me, it's worth it."

Before I had realized this was a 48 Hour Film Project entrant, 48 Hour Film Project being prominently displayed at the beginning was apparently not overly obvious enough for my sometimes dense self to get it, I was leaning toward a 3 on a rating. It just feels like it's missing something, kind of leaving you scratching your head at the end. On the upside it is fun. Timothy J. Cox and Maria Natapov share a good chemistry on screen and that makes it fun; and that's at the core of the success of a buddy film is the chemistry between the buddies. The plot of two con artists posing as ghost hunters is a fun one.

Then comes the realization this was done start to finish, all ingredients from writing to the final edit, in 48 hours. That changes the context of rating the film. What they have accomplished within that context is beyond expectations, for me. It's a talented cast at work under the direction of the enormously talented Sean Meehan. Cox and Meehan working together is an indication great things are going to happen, and in only 48 hours they have proven it.

I give it 4 Daggers

P.S. There is a scene in the end credits, so don't stop watching when the credits roll. And do keep your eyes open for their follow-up film Mallas, Aforethought; bwhahahaha, that's a joke, son.

Availability

Watch it on Vimeo.

Check out its IMDB page.

Over Coffee (2010): Down & Out in the Boss's Office

Over Coffee (2010; Indie Short Subject) - You know the type. Maybe you are the type. Just can't function without that morning cup of coffee. Oh, but it's not just any cup of coffee; it has to be just the right cup of coffee with half this, hold that, drizzle of this, and a fizzle fazzle wazzle of that. And if that sounds like you, there are some doctors at the 'nice' place who would like to talk to you...now just hold still while we put the pretty jacket with the sleeves in the back on for you.

 

Meet Andrew. No, on second thought, meet Carla, the apple dumpling fritter of Andrew's eye. If you saw Carla, you would understand Andrew's crush on her. Why, that Andrew would do just about anything for Carla, including making a run to the coffee shop for that special cup of coffee she forgot to get for her boss, Hamilton Rice, who will be expecting it when he walks through that door any moment. Of course making a coffee run should be a simple task anybody can do ...Right? ...Right??

This is a lighthearted comedy written and directed by the talented Sean Meehan. Right from the start we are greeted with a perspective shot and a very upbeat music track indicating somebody is going to be in something over his head, and of course entirely for our humorous benefit. Meehan's film makes me think of some of the early work of Paul Mazursky (Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice; Willie & Phil) in being free spirited with a caper aspect to it. And it's not a coincidence the title I gave to this review.

Bringing up the lead in this film is Erik Potempa as the infatuated Andrew, Jocelyn DeBoer as the more than fetching yet apple pie sweet Carla, Michael Oberholtzer as David whom I shall talk about more in a moment, and Timothy J. Cox as Hamilton Rice. Cox's entrance in this is hilariously over the top, exactly where it should be, and injects an immediate shot of caffeine into the energy of the film (get it...get it). I do want to give extra creds to Michael Oberholtzer for his portrayal of the office sleaze, David, portrayed so disgustingly well I just want to take a scalding hot shower with a bottle of pine cleaner.

I was leaning toward a mediocre rating on this as at times it does feel like it lingers a bit too long on some scenes. But it ups its energy and humor when Timothy J. Cox makes his grand entrance, and the ending of this is so Beatles, which I hope you don't figure out what I mean by that until you see it, that it is uplifting. Those two ingredients pushed my rating up.

I give it 4 Daggers

Availability

At only 15 minutes this is a can't miss and it is available free on YouTube.

Check out its IMDB page.

Cauliflower (2017): A Short Comedic Skit

You say tomato, I say tomahtoe. Don't know what it is? Then just fake it! One of our most shared flaws is trying not to appear to be ignorant of something while looking stupid in the process. Well I know where vegetables come from... they come from a store. Of course I know that; do I look stupid to you?

That was a rhetorical question ...and that was cold.

Three women are at a dinner party hosted by a friend. This friend is listing off the different delicacies being offered up tonight. One of these delicacies gets a rather unusual response. Do they not like it? Do they not know what it is?

In barely 2 minutes, Phoebe Torres has created an hilarious comedy skit. It relies solely on dropping a single punchline, but it's not the punchline that matters, rather the build up to the punchline, and that is where she succeeds so well with Cauliflower.

Now how do you rate something that is only 2 minutes? This brings up an interesting and necessary point that rating movies, shorts and skits is not comparing them to each other. It is rating it within its context and how well it succeeds at that. Cauliflower depends on a punchline for its big laugh, but it's setup is where it earns its stripes, or in this case Daggers. I about fell over from laughing when Phoebe Torres delivered the punchline. Additionally, I did not see it coming, which gets it an extra mark for not being formulaic.

I give it a full 5 Daggers. The setup and delivery are perfect, and the punchline will stay with you.

Availability

You can watch Cauliflower for free on YouTube.

Check out its IMDB page.

Gary from Accounting (2016): What Matters Most

Gary from Accounting (2016; Indie Short Subject) - When someone turns to the bottle for sustenance, and I don't mean mothers' milk, sometimes you have to sit down with them and point out the important things in life. Remind them of the people they are hurting. Point out the important things, beyond marriage, beyond family, sitting right in front of them.

Nathan has a drinking problem. He comes home late from work, not quite getting the difficulty he has caused in that special person's life. Waiting at home this time are his wife and sister in a specially planned intervention. For this planned event they have invited Gary, Nathan's very best .., Oops!

In only 5 short minutes Gary from Accounting succeeds in satirizing something we seem to hold dear in our lives, even more than family itself. Timothy J. Cox heads up this cast which includes Mark Grenier, Thea McCartan and Jake Lipman. As usual in what I have come to expect from him, in a matter of seconds Cox takes a role from edgy drama to comical without missing a beat.

Phoebe Torres scripted Gary from Accounting. She plugs in all the necessary ingredients into a one act play, and satirizes something that hits home for so many of us, but we have not looked at it in quite this way. Do yourself a favor and watch this comedy, and I'm going to do myself a favor and keep an eye out for more to come from Phoebe Torres.

I give it 4 Daggers

Availability

Watch it for free on YouTube.

Check out the IMDB page.

We Make Movies (2016): Behind the Indie Scene...Sorta

We have all seen them. Some of us have even been them at one point. That group of guys that hang together in a parent's garage or basement, seemingly never having girlfriends; really there's no seemingly to it, there just are no girlfriends for these guys. When these guys get together, which is usually about 20 hours out of any normal day to begin with, one of four things can happen: they can have a VHS movie watching session, they can break out the Dungeons & Dragons game, they can have an orgy (wait, wait, negate...oh gawd NO), or they can make a movie. For the love of humanity let's please focus on that last one.

A group of friends (5 guys and 1 girl) with apparently nothing better to do for the summer, you know like jobs, plan to make a movie over the summer to show at the Boehring Film Festival at the end of the summer. Led by Stevphen as director, who fancies himself to be a Stevphen..I mean Steven Spielberg in the making, this group rapidly fractures, fissures, or any other f-word you might like to use, apart at the seams, and of all things somebody wants to make a documentary of this!

Let's meet our intrepid filmmaker wannabes:

Stevphen (Matt Tory; also writer & director) - Lives with his mom, has never been laid; kissing doesn't count, and even if it did...has never been laid. Thinks that taking 'inspirations' (ahem) from blockbuster movies and throwing them into one script will make a successful movie; only the crickets in the background agree with him. Wants to appear to be a serious filmmaker if people would just stop interrupting him for trivial things like dinner.

Donny (Jordan Hopewell) - Has never been laid nor will he ever be laid. An accountant in the making, like I never saw that one coming, he is also Stevphen's best and most loyal friend. Just don't ever call Donny anybody's footstool; lawnchair, yes, but not footstool.

Garth (Jonathan Holmes) - Despite sharing his name with a Wayne's World character, has been laid and will be laid shortly. Has a singular trait not shared by any of the rest of the group; common sense. Also known as Gartholomew and Garthica despite his protests not to call him that.

Jessica (Anne Crockett) - The pretty girl who hangs with the group. Could easily hang with other pretty girls but then why would she want to as with this group she is showered with attention and the best gifts money can buy at a local yard sale.

Leonard (Zack Slort) - Pronounced Lee-on-ard. Too busy honing his craft by improvising scenes in public to get laid. Most likely considers Robert E. Howard to be a role model.

Curtis (Matt Silver) - Could get laid but would prefer to do it himself. Film school student and amazingly a thorn in Stevphen's side without even trying.

Kurtis (Josiah Finnamore) - Not actually a member of the group but a thief who has the shrewdness to con Stevphen by telling him he looks like a director, just before stealing his car. The fact that Stevphen is wearing a baseball cap that says director on it is completely oblivious to him.

I had a hard time figuring out where I would be going with this review. Watching a movie for review, you generally know by the end of the movie how you would rate it; at least I do. But how you arrived at that rating might be more difficult in some cases.

For me there are a few annoyances with the movie. At an 1 hr and 51 mins it does linger at times, and having spent too much time with these characters in the past I really don't want to spend that much time with them now. I do feel that a little too much of the story focuses on Stevphen's crush on Jessica and becomes redundant early in the movie. Additionally the jerkiness of the documentary style filmmaking is a bit trying on one's eyes and patience. That being said, there are more things that lean in the favor of this movie than the few annoyances I have mentioned.

Don't get the idea that the jerky camera movements of the documentary style is a sign of amateur filmmaking. It is not; these people know what they are doing. The script is well put together. It pulls together a lot of stuff that would be familiar territory to anybody who has had dreams of being a filmmaker, starting with their own amateur home videos, and then runs with it headlong, mocking it in almost every conceivable manner, and making fun of themselves as they go. There are a lot of laughs in this, at least there was for me, and of course at the expense of the characters involved.

I'll give them extra kudos for maintaining a consistent audio level. In one scene where the camera changed position frequently, there was not a single glitch in the audio track for the scene. The mockumentary camera movements and wide iris, though blinding at times, are on purpose. The look of this and laughs to be had in the script are not by accident, but purposefully and creatively staged to look raw.

I give it 3 1/2 Daggers

Availability

Get it in various formats via their website.

Check out the We Make Movies IMDB page.

Total Performance (2015): Breathtaking & Masterful

Total Performance (2015; Indie Short Subject) - From stage to screen actors put on masks for every performance. Allegory today, perhaps, but the expression comes from theatre of old from the actual use of masks to distinguish characters before an audience. Acting has evolved; actors no longer put on masks, they put on roles. The actor as artist no longer paints a face on a mask, they shape and create a role before our very eyes from a palette filled with shades of range and depth. But what happens when an actor puts on that mask and looks into a mirror, and they know that person looking back at them?

Cori is an actress working for a company with a unique service to offer; they hire out actors to people who want to rehearse real life situations that are uncomfortable. A boss may need to fire someone. A spouse may need to confront their significant other about infidelity. For these and other situations an actor provides the ideal verbal punching bag for someone to build up their confidence or as a form of catharsis. Cori is a good actress providing a good service to her clients, but the next role she has to play might hit hit a little too close to home.

Sean Meehan wrote and directed Total Performance, and hats off to him for a job well done. Great actors can perform great roles, but at the very core of that is having great roles to play, and Meehan delivers with an intelligent script, an obviously creative idea in the first place, and the direction to bring the audience into the story.

What moves this film, and the viewer, are two command caliber performances by Tory Berner and Steven Conroy. They work off of each other naturally. To Meehan's credit again he has used a date night for character development. It's brilliant as what better way to get to know two characters than experiencing them get to know each other. Berner and Conroy ace their roles; it's like the ideal situation, and this is an important foundation for the story and how it plays out.

From the most minor of roles, nothing is wasted. Timothy J. Cox has one scene in this film. Short it may be, but it provides a necessary element of seeing how Cori deals with it, and of course Cox, the master of the understated performance, in playing a boss needing to fire someone has my computer screen feeling his nerves without having to say anything. From opening with an angst filled husband having to confront infidelity, an in-house encounter scene filling the background, to a nervous expression, every moment has a purpose and every performance no matter how short is on key.

Meehan plays the ending of this shrewdly. I at first felt that it was ambiguous. Well, it's really not. It's understated for sure, but it will sink in, as soon as you remember to breathe. When a film can take your breath away...that's masterful.

I give it a full 5 Daggers. I'd give it more, but all I have is 5.

Availability

A really incredible film at just over 17 minutes and you can watch it on Vimeo.

Check out the film's IMDB page.

Here Lies Joe (2016): Indie Short Subject

Here Lies Joe (2016) - Perhaps the only day we might wonder such a thing is at someone's funeral. That thing would be what might be our epitaph. For most of us anyway, but is it a question others might ask themselves more regularly? Would not being able to give a satisfying answer to that very question give you a reason to find the answer, something to hold onto?

Opening with a disheveled looking man duct taping his car windows and running a vacuum hose from the car's tailpipe through the window, he sits in a moment of contemplation as he starts the car, glancing at a smiley face drawn on the passenger side window with Xed out eyes. Flashback to earlier that very day as this man, Joe, is in a suicide anonymous meeting where he meets a brash if not carefree young woman, another member of the group who seems out of place with the other members. Her name is Z, and appropriately named as she seems like the last thing Joe needs right now, or maybe he's the first thing they both need right now.

The subject of suicide is not an easy one to portray on screen. Certainly the artistic community is no stranger to the subject, but portraying it well is just not good business in cinema. You just can't say to someone "don't do it" and change their lives. Everyone of us are as complex as the other and all aspects of who we are run deep.

Here Lies Joe is in touch with this. The script is really quite creative in foreshadowing itself. A single line uttered earlier in the story, seemingly trivial at the time, actually comes to bear so creatively later in the film, and life changing at that. Human resolve is a durable thing, but there is so much bombarding it at any one point that a fragile balance can be swayed in either direction by the minutia of a single moment in time. That minutia is at the heart of this story of two people's conflicting personalities being their own way of reaching out, and a hand to hold onto might seem so innocuous to the rest of us, but so very concrete to someone who needs it.

It may seem strange to call tension beautiful, of course it's not but it can be beautifully portrayed and that is exactly what is done in the early scene of the suicide anonymous meeting which sets the tone and more importantly delineates the characters. Timothy J. Cox plays Bill, the moderator of the meeting and conveys the tension in the room through an ever so subtly reactionary performance he masters so well. A perversely beautiful and gripping performance by Mary Hronicek as a member of the group paints a portrait of depression Rembrandt only wished he had the skill to do, and the reason why I am using the picture of her and Cox rather than the poster.

The main characters of Joe and Z are portrayed by Dean Temple and Andi Morrow respectively. Dean brings an outward portrayal of amiable dissonance to the character of Joe, nodding and faking his way through uncomfortable social interactions, while an undercurrent of frustration and amusement vie for first place in his world. Andi is necessarily and successfully deceptive in the role of Z, seemingly carefree and disruptive, a sexy free spirit who could have the world at her feet, yet it is a shroud for the way she and she alone sees herself.

For a 23 minute short subject this may seem like a lot to say about it, but then there you have it. Here Lies Joe is a successful character driven story which creates the narrative via those characters. It's not a rich tapestry of characterization, which would be defeating, but elemental, providing just enough to move the story along and provide the viewer with a connection.

I give it a full 5 Daggers, both for being the wonderful film it is and giving me so much to talk about; now that's the definition of film.

Availability

You can find out more about the film and some great behind the scenes stuff and interviews on Sweven Films' Vimeo page here.

Check out the film's IMDB page.

What Jack Built (2015): Indie Short Subject

What Jack Built (2015) - Welcome to my stumbling block. Usually I do some kind of intro to my review of a film followed by a minimalist summary of the film meant to introduce the reader without spoiling it; a habit more reviewers should adopt of not spoiling films. What Jack Built is essentially a one-trick pony, or O. Henry type story if you will. The 11 plus minutes of the film is one continuous experience with a conclusion and the best way I can introduce it without giving away too much is to say: meet Jack...he builds something. Yeah, the title kind of says the same thing, huh?

Here's the setup: Take Timothy J. Cox, have no dialogue, and let him rummage through an artfully stocked workshop with a goal of building something that's going to keep the viewer in suspense for the duration of the 11 plus minutes of running time.

Now maybe to a novice or someone with a blockbuster movie only mentality this may not sound like much. Considering what I have been learning about Timothy J. Cox's acting ability through more of his films as I watch them, it is brilliant! In the first short I watched him in, I had remarked on how much Cox speaks to the audience on a non-verbal level beyond the script. Now put Cox in a film where that is his only form of communication, and of course he pulls it off wonderfully.

I had touched on the well stocked workshop in this and would like to give PROPS to John Heerlein for his amazing art direction (oh, stop the booing, it was too a funny pun...WAS). I can't say it would be my dream workshop because there's so much stuff I'm afraid I would be lost in it, but despite all the stuff lingering around it has order to it, deceptively, and is not just strewn here and there.

Matthew Mahler does the direction and cinematography keeping his composition tight. He does not stray from his central subject, Jack. This is obviously good as Timothy J. Cox's acting is what moves this along. Additionally Mahler provides the soundtrack, an upbeat synth soundtrack that raises the tempo and keeps with the tone of the story.

I have a few minor quibbles. The biggest of them is I'm not a fan of The Lady, or the Tiger? or alternatively Tarantino's briefcase. Though I have to a degree put that off on myself as some people do like a raw story they can decipher for themselves. The other quibble is on the aforementioned art direction I previously applauded. For someone with age on them, uh...like someone else I know..ahem, it's going to be easy to pick at the inconsistencies of some of the props in this story. Most people though won't even see it, or care, and so it very minor.

Overall it is a well done film providing an, I would think, ideal platform for Timothy J. Cox to entertain and have fun doing it. I did want just a little bit more out of it, but I'm more than satisfied with what I saw. It's only just over 11 minutes and well worth a watch.

I give it 4 Daggers.

Availability

You can watch it on Vimeo. What Jack Built on IMDB

Dirty Books (2016): Indie Short Subject

The days and remembrances of high school. Most of us have experienced those years, of social awkwardness and spending more time trying to get laid than trying to get straight A's. As a matter of fact, high school has been a popular theme in movies; about social awkwardness and trying to get laid. For many of us high school was also about being involved; whether that be with clubs, the school newspaper, or juggling our social circles. Not all high school movies are about social awkwardness and getting laid though. Along comes Dirty Books, a short subject which not not only tells a compelling story, but offers more satisfaction in a smart film of under 16 minutes than many, and I do mean MANY, films do in 90 minutes.

David, the editor of his high school's newspaper, is faced with an all too contemporary problem; his printed school newspaper is going to be phased out in favor of a school blog. In order to save his paper, David has to come up with a story that will get attention...even if he has to create that story himself.

There are several things which impressed me with this film, and I wish all too much contemporary filmmakers would take lessons from it. The direction and cinematography are excellent, as is the tight editing; there is not a dead moment or filler scene in this. Zachary Lapierre, the director, and Ian Everhart, the cinematographer, are obviously good judges of composition and perspective which are used to good effect in an excellently directed film, and why I chose to use the group shot of the cast for this review, over the poster, as it is a wonderful example of group composition.

I am finding out more and more what a good actor Timothy J. Cox is. I bring this up not only because he plays the school principal, Dr. Bradley, in this, but to also use him as a yardstick to rave about what a great job Noah Bailey does in the lead role of David. Cox is a seasoned actor, yet Bailey holds his own very well in scenes with the two of them together. I don't normally like to do comparisons, but Noah Bailey reminds me in some ways of Zach Braff, both having a self-assured confidence without being cocky. Keep your eyes on this young actor for great things to come in my opinion.

The cast as a whole is fantastic. The writing is natural and leaves no lingering dialogue. There are some subtexts to the story which I will not go into as it is only a 16 minute movie, and it would be more meaningful for you discover what they mean to you. I have an itch that the writers of this were fans of the show Scrubs, but I just can't scratch that itch and I'll leave it at that. Overall it is simply well done. Dirty Books is a high school comedy done smartly.

I give it a full 5 Daggers!

Availability

You can watch it for free on YouTube. Check out the IMDB listing here.

Zombie (1979): Very Much Digestible

Zombie (1979) - Lucio Fulci's zombie movie classic. Kind of killing the suspense of what I think of it, huh? Known variously as Zombi 2, Zombie Flesh Eaters and Gli Ultimi Zombi among various other titles worldwide. Following on the heels of Dawn of the Dead (1978), released as Zombi in Italy and other countries and hence why Zombie is also called Zombi 2 to appear related, Fulci defined the zombie movie and those who would follow in his tracks arguably more than Romero did with Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. Romero is obviously the granddaddy of the genre, but Fulci pumped his movie full of atmosphere, a feeling of apocalyptic doom in the air, deliberate pacing, and of course gut wrenching gore earning him the nickname the Maestro of Maggot Mayhem.

A mysterious, abandoned boat is adrift in New York Harbor. Events subsequently on that boat and the contents found on board set a reporter and a woman on a trip to an uncharted Caribbean island looking for her missing father, and into the grips of an unexplained epidemic causing the dead to rise from their graves.

The premise of Zombie is simple, and this premise would end up being copied for many movies to come. From the opening scene of voodoo drums beating in the background, a corpse tied up in a sheet used as a death shroud slowly rising as a man turns and fires a bullet into the head of the corpse, death is in the air as a tempo is set in place for the film to follow.

A constant presence of voodoo and superstition lingers throughout the film. From locals talking about the things they have heard to patients in a ramshackle mission hospital talking to their recently deceased while in a state of delirium, death lingers in the air. Flies abound, bodies wrapped in sheets are piled into a mass grave, all have been shot in the head. Despair is all around. This is not a redneck jaunt through a shopping center but a story of survival with an air thick with the apocalypse at hand.

Fulci successfully brings this story to the screen in a sickeningly beautiful presentation. The pacing is deliberate. There are no running zombies in this. The dead rise as though they are corpses; their movements punctuated by sounds as though rotting ropes are being twisted. The music is haunting, from voodoo drums to fully realized compositions. It is a masterpiece setting a standard not even equaled by Fulci.

I give it 5 Daggers.

Availability

DVD and Blu-ray

Video Trash: Pieces (1982)

What better marriage is there for a 1980s horror movie than a slasher flick and college coeds? Add to this mix another marriage, that of Christopher George and Linda Day George (as Linda Day) with early 80s horror movies. Now for good measure throw in a chainsaw, lots of blood, and of course those college girls have to get naked. This is not an instant recipe for success, misogyny yes, but the movie still needs to be entertaining to some degree.

Pieces begins with the all too common flashback sequence which pretty much defines where this movie is going. A young boy is harshly scolded by his mother after being caught putting together a jigsaw puzzle of a naked woman, and in return harshly hacks his momma to death with an axe. Some 40 years later (patient SOB he sure is) girls on a college campus are being dismembered with parts of their bodies gone missing. The police, an undercover female cop and a college student join forces to smoke out the madman, if they themselves don't get killed in the process.

Pieces is also the all too common 80s misogynistic trash. Being an 80s slasher flick alone is odds enough that it would be that, but then throw in girls getting naked then being cut up by a chainsaw wielding killer and it screams misogynistic trash. Interestingly it is also pretty well paced and does not bore, if you are the right audience for this movie.

From the very start of Pieces there is slicing and dicing. Unlike the tried and boring formula of many slasher flicks of the 80s, this does not waste time with stalking and superficial character development. There is no character development in this story, they are just characters on screen. The movie starts with a bloody killing and continues this spree. The pacing moves the movie along well while an underlying soundtrack that sounds more like it belongs in a zombie movie keeps the tempo.

As with this type of 80s trash you really don't have to worry with bad acting. Aside from Linda Day George's character and a secretary there are no female characters in this movie given any more importance than being chainsaw meat and there's not enough time for them to get in any bad acting. I stand corrected; there is Linda Day George's infamous "BASTAAARD!" scene which has gone down in movie history as an achievement of over-acting. Intelligent dialogue and a sensible plot are also something very much missing from this movie.

I give it 3 Daggers. For the right audience it offers plenty of blood, action and a decent amount of nudity from start to finish.

Availability

Blu-ray and DVD

10 Movies with Disembodied Heads

Fantastical cinema, horror and sci-fi, sometimes veers into very strange ground. I don't dare call the disembodied head (a head completely removed from the body) the strangest of those for the simple fact that if I took a hard look into other areas I would not only bet I could find an even stranger subject but many examples as well. For the purpose of this article I am sticking with a subject above the neck. I guess you could say this is taking the CAP off the subject.

I know, that was bad, but before I PART ways let me just say these 10 films only have the subject of a disembodied head in common. The nature of the disembodied head does vary. The majority of them deal with heads living without the benefit of a body, either through scientific or supernatural means. There is also a stone head, an embalmed head, and even shrunken heads; which just goes to prove you can get head in all shapes and sizes...oh that just sounded so wrong.


The Thing That Couldn't Die (1958) - Follows the natural events of digging a well to discover a box containing the head of a sorcerer, evil of course, who was beheaded some 400 years prior. Through the sorcerer's psychic powers people start killing each other. Never say to a sorcerer's head "I've had it up to here with you." Available on DVD

The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962) a.k.a. The Head That Wouldn't Die - A car crash results in a mad doctor's girlfriend being decapitated. What's a mad doctor to do but naturally keep her head alive in a pan while he searches for the perfect body for her. Talk about the hard way to get head from your girlfriend. Available on Blu-ray and DVD

They Saved Hitler's Brain (1963) a.k.a. The Madmen of Mandoras - When they said Hitler was the head of the Nazi Party, they really meant it. It seems those sneaky Nazis not only escaped to South America as everybody said they did, but they took Hitler's head with them; probably easier to get him through customs that way. The only thing standing in their way of resurrecting him is they didn't count on his brains being in his ass. Available on DVD

The Frozen Dead (1966) - Apparently taking a cue from the aforementioned They Saved Hitler's Brain in both plot and bad acting, this is the story of a scientist who keeps the heads of Nazi war criminals alive in order to find suitable bodies for them and resurrect the Third Reich. Goes to prove you just can't find a Nazi with a good head on their shoulders...maybe on someone else's shoulders. Available on DVD

The Thing with Two Heads (1972) - It seems Ray Milland lost his head, and as a result ended up doing this movie. Coincidentally the plot is about him losing his head and it being put on Rosey Grier's body, with Rosey's head still attached. They then proceed to disprove the old adage two heads are better than one. Available on Blu-ray and DVD

Zardoz (1974) - Okay, so it's really a floating stone head, which fits as you have to be pretty stoned to enjoy this movie anyway. Known primarily for grown men running around in red diapers. Available on DVD

Macabre (1980) a.k.a. Macabro - Co-written by Pupi Avati and directed by Lamberto Bava, Macabre tells the story of a woman traumatized by the death of her lover, and after getting out of a mental institution, dealing with her loss by keeping his head in the refrigerator and continuing a love affair with...it. Gives new meaning to the expression 'getting head'. Available on DVD

Re-Animator (1985) - Herbert West must have been a lonely child. His genius has allowed him to create a serum that re-animates the dead, but it also gives him this bad habit of playing with them, such as decapitating a college professor then re-animating his head and body seperately. The professor's head can still talk, and his body can still walk, though these two skills don't necessarily sync well. They always said that professor had a good head on his shoulders, but it's no longer there. Available on Blu-ray and DVD

Cemetery Man (1994) a.k.a. Dellamorte Dellamore - Being a caretaker of a cemetery can't be much fun, and even more so when in your cemetery the dead return to life and you have to kill them a second time. Thankfully you can depend on your dim-witted assistant who had a crush on a young lady decapitated in a motorcycle accident to take advantage of this and dig up her head to put in a gutted TV set to keep him company. Well, at least his TV still has EARS. Available on DVD

Shrunken Heads (1994) - Three teenagers are murdered, so a transplanted Haitian voodoo priest takes it upon himself to re-animate their heads so they can exact revenge. "You look...smaller" is not the line any teenage boy wants to hear. But they can fly and go splat. Available on DVD

Well now don't you go and get carried away about decapitating anybody watching all these movies. Just remember to keep your HEAD about you.

Robot Monster (1953): Malfunction Malfunction Malfunction

Robot Monster (1953) - The worst movie ever made? Well that's one of its reputations spread by those trying to make copy or sell a book, but those same people have obviously never seen a Ray Dennis Steckler movie if they proclaim Robot Monster to be the worst movie ever made. It is actually a very successful movie, but more on that later.

The evil Ro-Man has destroyed all life on Earth with his death ray, but somehow overlooked eight people, two of whom are pilots he kills in short order anyway and so this leaves only six survivors for the rest of the story. So consider the scenario: an alien invader with the technology and know-how to knock out the world's military forces and all human life on Earth, save for 6, is about to be outsmarted by the most idiotic bunch of people he couldn't have possibly in a million years missed.

Now as hokey and mindless as that plot may sound...it is exactly that.

Well how can that not be the worst movie ever made? Well, because it is so entertaining in its ineptitude. Some seasoned actors and some, well let's face it, bad actors speak dialogue so juvenile it must have been written by school children. Goofs abound throughout the movie including the camera being bumped and knocked off scene, a rocketship hurtling through space being bombarded with cosmic rays providing enough light to show that it's just a guy dressed in black holding a rocketship model, an evil alien who appears to be a gorilla wearing a space helmet carrying the heroine of the story off in his arms while she is seen in shots to be laughing and enjoying herself, oh the horrors.

Yes, Robot Monster is one messed up production that still somehow succeeds in being amazingly entertaining in its short running time of barely over an hour. Despite whatever the makers of this may have intended, and of one thing I'm pretty certain is it wasn't this, what they ended up with is one incredibly funny movie.

Despite Robot Monster's low budget of $16,000 it was shot in stereoscopic 3D using a two camera system, which very probably took up most of the budget. And with regard to the budget, the going story I have heard for years about the Ro-Man costume is that they did not have the budget for a proper spaceman suit so they hired an actor with his own gorilla suit and just added a space helmet to that. And an additional stunner is this was musically scored by Elmer Bernstein.

Robot Monster is simply not a well made movie. It could actually be used in a course on how not to make a movie. And yet it is very entertaining, it grossed one million dollars at the box office when it was released on a $16,000 budget, and it has burned a place in our collective consciousness of movie history to be remembered for ages. It may not be a good movie, but it was by far a very successful movie and remains a very entertaining movie for many.

I give it 2 1/2 Daggers for its entertainment value despite its many flaws, or perhaps because of them.

Availability

DVD

Rodan (1956): Kaiju Successfully Wings it

Rodan (1956) - Originally called Radon in Japan, no wonder this flying prehistoric giant creature has such a bad attitude, being named after a gas. This was the first color Kaiju movie released by Toho studios, the same studios that released Godzilla, and coincidentally the same actor who played Godzilla, wearing a suit of course, plays Rodan is this one. The English version uses several notable voice actors of the time for the dubbing, most notable of those was Key Luke and George Takei.

In a small mining village in Japan, nerves are frayed between miners leading to fights before descending into the mines. Flooding has been a problem as they dig deeper, but not as big of a problem as what they are about to uncover. It seems the underground chambers have been hermetically sealed by the earth for millions of years, preserving perfectly the eggs of a prehistoric Pteranodon, until the mining operation opened the chamber filling it with air and now a newly hatched giant flying reptile is terrorizing Asia.

Rodan is simply a fun movie. Probably my favorite among the Kaiju, Japanese giant monster movies, I have seen. It does not thrust Rodan onto the audience but builds up to the event presenting a mystery at first involving other smaller creatures. Rodan is still much of a mystery through a good bit of the first half as it flies at supersonic speeds and with its great wingspan producing hurricane force winds. This makes Rodan appear to be fearsome, and not to worry as Rodan will come into full force with fantastically fun battle scenes between the beast and the military.

Rodan is not without its problems. As the years have passed the Rodan costume now looks kind of silly. There is a lot of repetition of the same action sequences. Goofs such as, if you pay close attention, the background loop in one scene suddenly going in reverse. At times the miniatures used are so clearly the Tonka Toys they are. And often the dialogue is just so straight out of corny 50s sitcoms. Despite these flaws it is a fun movie, and even the flaws add some fun to it. It moves at a great pace and Rodan is one action-filled, butt-kicking mofo.

I give it 3 1/2 Daggers for being so much fun.

Availability

DVD

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): A Swingin' Time

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - When trouble arises our intrepid, gallant hero whips it out, I mean an actual whip, or pulls it out, I mean an actual revolver, and is one swinging guy... that just did not sound right.

A professor of archaeology and world adventurer, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) faces down danger constantly trying to secure the relics of our past for study and preservation in universities and museums, racing against those who would acquire such antiques for bounties, or for more sinister reasons. Taking place in the years before World War II, the Nazis are scouring the Earth in search of religious artifacts thought to have supernatural powers. One such artifact is the Ark of the Covenant as told in stories of the old testament and the torah. Indiana Jones is also on the trail of the Ark facing off against Nazis, would be assassins, and various other villains in a story straight out of the pulps.

The difference with this franchise spawning entry into pulp inspired adventure stories versus any movies which came before, is it is as vivid and exciting as anything a mind could dream up reading old issues of Doc Savage Magazine. A leather jacket and fedora clad, whip wielding adventurer with a gun strapped to his side lashes, shoots, rides, and fights his way out of predicaments only to find himself facing yet another predicament. His is an older world, one steeped in propeller airplanes, feisty dames, desert raiders, Nazis and occult lore. Telephones were things you used to tell an operator the number you wanted, probably a 3 or 5 digit number. A two-way radio would have weighed more than a microwave oven. And if you needed to contact someone for help, you were pretty much on your own.

Two successful movie directors teamed together to bring to life a story like it could have only been imagined before. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas brought the adventure of the 1930s pulps roaring full steam ahead into the 1980s. For better or worse Raiders of the Lost Ark spearheaded the 80s into the decade of the blockbuster.

I give it 5 Daggers. Even though I think Indy is a little meaner in this one, this is the movie which set the standard for others to follow, including itself.

Availability

DVD and Blu-ray

Iced (1988): Going Downhill Fast

Iced (1988) - This movie has two things going for it, both of which are Lisa Loring's breasts. You recall Lisa Loring played Wednesday Addams on the TV show The Addams Family in the 1960s. If you ever thought you would like to see Wednesday Addams naked, well you're just a pervert becasue she was a kid, but all grown up she can certainly get your ski lift working.

Away at a ski resort a group of friends are busy with food, feuding and fu... I mean making love. One of their party who apparently has a god complex about himself has had too much to drink and wants to fight just about everybody. He takes off at night to do some skiing and ends up getting himself killed. Four years later the remaining group of friends are invited to a ski weekend at a resort just opening, but something is amiss as someone is stalking and killing them.

Yadda, yadda, yadda, you've seen this plot before in so many slasher movies. Not only is this one late to the party having come out in 1988, it sinks to the bottom of the barrel from the start and doesn't surface for air once. From one of the most poorly edited openings it has been my displeasure to see in a slasher movie to the most inconsistent red herrings I do believe I have ever seen so disrespectfully dumped on an audience.

The identity of the killer in this is so overly obvious. How do the filmmakers try to overcome this? By filling the movie with red herrings to throw off the viewer. But the red herrings are so stupid. They actually succeed in having the killer in two places at once, and it's for no other reason to distract the audience from this movie having barely any plot. It is incompetent and insulting to a viewer's intelligence.

I give it 1 1/2 Daggers. And the only reason it gets and extra half Dagger is for Lisa Loring's hot tub scene. You can find it on YouTube.

Availability

VHS Only

The Presidio (1988): A Thriller Lacking Thrills

The Presidio (1988) - At an army base, the Presidio, an MP discovers a suspicious car parked outside a building on the base and signs of a break-in. While investigating the break-in she is shot dead by the intruders who then lead MPs and subsequently San Francisco police on a chase which results in two police officers being killed in a car crash. Police Inspector Jay Austin (Mark Harmon) is sent to the Presidio to investigate the crime. Austin used to be an MP at the Presidio and has a history with both the deceased and several of the officers on the base, including the provost marshal Lt. Colonel Caldwell (Sean Connery) who is also investigating the crime. Considering their past history, Austin and Caldwell do not get along well with each other, and Austin does not get along well with anybody at the base. Of course a growing relationship between Austin and Caldwell's daughter, Donna (Meg Ryan) does not help matters.

This is more of a mystery, or a police procedural, than a thriller. It is essentially two stories, a detective story and a romance, both of which are tepid at best. which is also my reaction to this movie. From a movie standpoint it hits its marks, so the story is there and it works. What is not there, to me, is tension. In many thrillers and mysteries there is a sense of danger, or essentially a threat to the investigator trying to solve the crime, but no such threat exists for our two frictional detectives (and I mean frictional) figuring out this case. Of course just as much time, or so it seems, is spent on the relationship developing, actually fully blown from the start, between Jay and Donna.

The Presidio lacks suspense and some elements of the story are head scratchers which most likely exist because they were on a list of things to include in a mystery movie regardless of whether they fit with the movie. The relationship between Jay and Donna is much the same as the mystery in that it springs to life suddenly. There really is no challenge or courage for the characters to face, and so it doesn't feel like much was accomplished in the end.

I give it 2 1/2 Daggers. It's a competent enough movie, but it is still lacking and I feel I wasted my time with it.

Availability

DVD and Blu-ray

Anderson Bench (2016): Blood Letting and Laughs

Anderson Bench (2016) - I'm guessing like many of us I didn't quite expect this movie to be what it is. When you think of blood splattered comedies, names like Herschell Gordon Lewis, David F. Friedman and Ted V. Mikels come to mind. Somehow I must have missed the boat in associating that guy from The Dukes of Hazzard, John Schneider. Well, it seems like a new name has been added to that list of producers/directors of twisted, blood splattered movies.

Anderson Bench (Jordan Salloum) is a down on his luck guy not too different from many of us who feel life has passed us by and left us spinning our wheels in the muck of our misery. His job of flipping burgers was probably not his goal in life, and married life for him is not any better. Then this young woman shows up out of nowhere and takes him on the ride of his life, a murderous ride that is.

That description would sound kind of like a horror movie, or certainly a more dramatic movie. But alas, it is a comedy, and a twisted one at that. From shootings to cutting people up into tiny little pieces, and a shredding machine thrown in for good measure, what takes place in this movie would be the envy of 60s and 70s exploitation directors. This takes a page from splatter movies of yesterday and updates it with the technology of today.

Anderson Bench has a visual and audio quality you would expect from top studios, even though this was made by an independent studio. Unlike most movies I have ever seen, the soundtrack plays throughout the movie. I found the use of an Italian western soundtrack through nearly one third of the movie to particularly enhance the scenes.

I don't claim to get this movie entirely. I don't know if that is the intention as I got the feeling the movie was presented as it is, and what you make of it from there is what you make of it. Don't get me wrong, the story is complete, it's just what you get out of it personally is more up to you.

As a comedy it is dark. This is not a teen comedy, or any other comedy you have likely seen. But, despite being dark it does have fun with it, and pumps energy and laughs into what could have easily been a sideshow splatter movie in lesser hands. As it is, Anderson Bench is thoroughly soaked in blood while having its tongue firmly planted in its cheek.

I give it 3 1/2 Daggers. It is entertaining and well made.

Availability

I had actually seen at least one review and several trailers for this movie on Twitter on many occasions. It is available as video on demand on Vimeo.