Review: "KONG: SKULL ISLAND" is a Monster Movie Paradise

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 14 of 2024 (No. 1958) by Leroy Douresseaux

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Running time: 118 minutes (1 hour, 58 minutes)

MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for brief strong language

DIRECTOR:  Jordan Vogt-Roberts

WRITERS:  Max Borenstein, Dan Gilroy, and Derek Connolly; from a story by John Gatins

PRODUCERS:  Jon Jashni, Mary Parent, Thomas Tull, and Alex Garcia

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Larry Fong (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Richard Pearson

COMPOSER:  Henry Jackman

Academy Award nominee

ADVENTURE/HISTORICAL/HORROR and MILITARY/SCI-FI

Starring:  Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, John C. Reilly, John Goodman, Corey Hawkins, John Ortiz, Tian Jing, Toby Kebbell, Jason Mitchell, Shea Whigham, Thomas Mann, Eugene Cordero, Marc Evan Jackson, Terry Notary, and Richard Jenkins

Kong: Skull Island is a 2017 monster movie, sci-fi military, and period, adventure film directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts.  It is a reboot of the King Kong film franchise and is also the second film in the “MonsterVerse” film series following 2014's Godzilla.  Set at the end of the Vietnam war, Kong: Skull Island focuses on a group of military personnel and civilian scientists who must fight to escape an uncharted island full of giant monsters that includes the island's king, the mighty Kong.

Kong: Skull Island introduces Bill Randa (John Goodman), the head of the U.S. government organization, “Monarch.”  It is 1973, and the U.S. is ending its mission in Vietnam.  Randa fears his time is running out to launch a mission to a recently discovered island that has long been shrouded in mystery and legend, “Skull Island.”

He convinces a U.S. senator to fund an expedition to the island, and subsequently recruits a U.S. Army unit commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) to accompany him.  Also on the mission are recent Monarch recruits, geologist Houston Brooks (Corey Hawkins) and biologist San Lin (Tian Jing).  Randa also hires James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston), a former British Special Air Service Captain, as a hunter-tracker for this expedition.  Mason Weaver (Brie Larson), an “anti-war” photographer, forces her way onto the expedition.

The expedition begins with thirteen U.S. army helicopters penetrating the fearsome storms that surround Skull Island.  Randa and Brooks told Packard that they wanted to map the island by dropping seismic explosives, and shortly after arriving on the island, Packard's men begin dropping the explosives, which does help to map the island.  The explosions also draw the attention of a giant ape, which promptly attacks the helicopters.  Soon, the expedition is divided into two groups of survivors.  One is led by Packard who wants revenge against the giant ape, and the other by Conrad who wants to reach a rendezvous point where they will be rescued.  The giant ape, however, is “Kong,” king of Skull Island, and he isn't the only deadly, giant monster on the island.

The “MonsterVerse” is an American multimedia franchise that includes movies; a streaming live-action television series (Apple TV+) and a streaming animated series (Netflix); books and comic books; and video games.  It is a shared fictional universe that includes the character, “Godzilla” and other characters owned and created by the Japanese entertainment company, Toho Co., Ltd.  The MonsterVerse is a reboot of Toho's Godzilla franchise.  It is also a reboot of the King Kong film franchise, which is based on the character, “King Kong,” that was created by actor and filmmaker, Merian C. Cooper (1893-1973).

The fifth film in the MonsterVerse series, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, is due to be released sometime in March, so I have decided to watch and review the previous four films:  2014's Godzilla, 2017's Kong: Skull Island (which is the subject of this review), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), and Godzilla vs. Kong (2021).  I have previously seen Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island, but only recently made attempts to review them.

Kong: Skull Island is proudly both a monster movie and a King Kong movie.  Like Peter Jackson's 2005 film, King Kong (Universal Pictures), Kong: Skull Island digs into its “lost world” pulp fiction and pre-Code horror movie roots.  Kong is as King Kong as any other cinematic version of the character, and the result is an exhilarating film that is fun to watch even after repeated viewings.  Most books about writing fiction and screenplays will emphasize that the characters should drive the narrative, but Kong: Skull Island's narrative is driven by its plot, by its other-worldly setting, and especially by its monstrous gods and god-like monsters.

There are quite a few interesting characters in the film.  Samuel L. Jackson makes the most of his Lt. Col. Packard, who is driven crazy by his insane mission to kill Kong as a salve for his bitterness about the end of the American misadventure in Vietnam.  John C. Reilly once again displays his tremendous character actor chops as the lost-in-time, U.S. Army Air Force Lt. Hank Marlow.  Tom Hiddleston is a good heroic lead as James Conrad in a film in which the human hero is not the film's most important character.  Brie Larson also shows off her acting skills by chopping out some space for his character, Mason Weaver.

However, the characters are just pawns in the film's plot, which involves surviving Skull Island's various monsters and advancing to the rendezvous point.  The setting of Kong: Skull Island is a lost world Eden that is part tropical paradise and part jungle horror, an environment in which the most beautiful place is the most dangerous.  The amazing things to see on this island are its deadly denizens, which includes gargantuan spiders, man-snatching carnivorous birds, and seemingly unstoppable lizards that are literally nothing more than perfectly designed death machines.  I would be remiss if I didn't mention the practically mute human natives of Skull Island with their dazzling array of face and body painting and eclectic costumes.

At the center of Kong: Skull Island is the film's most important character and element, Kong, himself.  He is a thing of beauty, the best special effect in a movie favored with enough impressive CGI to have earned itself an Oscar nomination for “Best Achievement in Visual Effects.”  Kong's introduction into the story, a breathtaking display of fight choreography pitting him against a squadron of military helicopters, is as good as the best fight scenes audiences will find in the top superhero movies.  Whatever glitches in the overall narrative and character development Kong: Skull Island has, Kong's introduction glosses over.  Kong is made king again in Kong: Skull Island, and that is why it is a damn shame that there is not a Kong: Skull Island 2.

[This film has an extra scene at the end of the credits.]

A-

7 of 10

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Sunday, March 17, 2024

NOTES:

2018 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” (Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza, and Michael Meinardus)

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Review: "MEG 2: THE TRENCH" is Truly Megilicious

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 13 of 2024 (No. 1957) by Leroy Douresseaux

Meg 2: The Trench (2023)

Running time:  116 minutes (1 hour, 56 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for action/violence, some bloody images, language and brief suggestive material

DIRECTOR:  Ben Wheatley

WRITERS:  Dean Georgaris and Jon Hoeber & Erich Hoeber; from a screen story by Dean Georgaris and Jon Hoeber & Erich Hoeber (based on the novel by Steve Alten)

PRODUCERS:  Belle Avery and Lorenzo di Bonaventura

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Haris Zambarloukos (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Jonathan Amos

COMPOSER:  Harry Gregson-Williams

SCI-FI/HORROR/ACTION

Starring:  Jason Statham, Jing Wu, Cliff Curtis, Sophia Cai, Page Kennedy, Sergio Peris Mencheta, Skyler Samuels, Melissanthi Mahut, Whoopie Van Raam, Kiran Sonia Sawar, Felix Mayr, Ivy Tsui, and Sienna Guillory

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SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

Meg 2: The Trench offers the same fun as the original film, The Meg (2018), but with all new monsters, villains, and action.

Jason Statham's Jonas Taylor does not dominate the new film as he did in the first, but Statham is still at his action-movie best.

I like Meg 2: The Trench enough that I want a third film... as soon as possible.

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Meg 2: The Trench is a 2023 science fiction, horror, and action film directed by Ben Wheatley and starring Jason Statham.  The movie is a direct sequel to the 2018 film, The Meg.  Meg 2: The Trench finds a research team fending off giant sharks and also the murderous criminals behind a malevolent mining operation in some of the greatest depths of “the Trench.”

Meg 2: The Trench opens several years after the events of the first film.  Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham), the diver who specializes in deep sea search and rescue, has been involved in fighting environmental crimes on the ocean.  He is also helping the underwater research facility, Mana One, in exploring a further deep part of the Mariana Trench where the Megalodon of the original film was discovered.

Following the death of Suyin Zhang (which is not show onscreen), Jonas has been raising her teenage daughter, now 14-year-old Meiying (Sophia Cai), alongside her uncle and Suyin's brother, Jiuming Zhang (Jing Wu).  Jiuming has acquired his father's company, X-Pletandum Technologies, alongside wealthy financier, Hillary Driscoll (Sienna Guillory).  Jiuming has also been studying an 80 ft (24 m) female Meg called Haiqi, who was discovered as a pup and trained by Jiuming, but who has been acting erratically of late.

Jonas returns to Mana One where he and the survivors of the first Meg disaster, Mac (Cliff Curtis), Mana One operations manager, and DJ (Page Kennedy), a Mana One engineer, join Jiuming's latest project.  He wants to explore more of the Mariana Trench, unaware that here are more Megs and also now human danger with which to contend.  Can Jonas save the day, again?

The first film, The Meg, is loosely based on Steve Alten's 1997 novel, Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror.  Meg 2: The Trench is based on Alten's 1999 novel, The Trench, one of six sequels to the original novel, with a seventh due in 2024 or 2025.  I have enjoyed the two films so much that I am considering reading, at least, some of the novels.

I gave The Meg a grade of “C+,” but in the years since I first saw it, I have come to love it.  It is one of my favorite films, and now I would give it a “B+.”  Meg 2: The Trench starts off slowly, but the film really kicks into gear when the story returns to Mana One, the central setting of the first film.  The Trench is not a retread, as most of the action set pieces are new.  There are a few references to the first film, but the writers of the original film return to offer new jump-scares, new monsters, and an added number of awful humans.

Meg 2: The Trench gives Jason Statham's Jonas Taylor the chance to show off his martial art fighting skills, which he did not do in the first film.  In fact, one of the other returning characters gets to kick some butt, and the sequel actually gives several characters their own set pieces so that they can shine.

Meg 2 isn't great cinema, but it is a great time at the movies.  It is upgraded, campy monster movie fun that will have you swept up, dear readers, if you are willing to be swept up.  I had a blast watching it, and I heartily recommend it to fans of the first film.  Meg 2: The Trench makes me hope we get to see more Megs and more Trench in a third film.

B+

7 out of 10

★★★½ out of 4 stars

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Review: Hysteria Aside, "MADAME WEB" is Quite Enjoyable

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 10 of 2024 (No. 1954) by Leroy Douresseaux

Madame Web (2024)

Running time:  117 minutes (1 hour, 57 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for violence/action and language

DIRECTOR:  S.J. Clarkson

WRITERS:  Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless and Claire Parker & S.J. Clarkson; from a story by Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless and Kerem Sanga (based on the Marvel Comics)

PRODUCER:  Lorenzo di Bonaventura

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Mauro Fiore (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Leigh Folsom Boyd

COMPOSER:  Johan Soderqvist

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/HORROR/ACTION

Starring:  Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, Celeste O'Connor, Tahar Rahim, Adam Scott, Emma Roberts, Kerry Bishé, Zosia Mamet, José María Yazpik, and Mike Epps

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SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

Madame Webb is not the worst film ever, and even with its corny and eye-rolling moments, it is a fast-moving action movie.

Madame Webb and the three young women she protects carry this film past its weirdness with their energy.

Madame Webb is for comic book movie fans looking for entertainment rather than culture war conflict.

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Madame Web is a 2024 superhero fantasy, horror, and action film directed by S.J. Clarkson.  The movie is based on the Marvel Comics character, Madame Webb/Cassandra Webb, that was created by writer Denny O'Neil and artist John Romita Jr. and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #210 (cover dated: November 1980).  This is also the fourth film in “Sony's Spider-Man Universe” (SSU) series.  Madame Web the movie focuses on a NYC paramedic who starts having visions of a shadowy figure hunting three young women.

Madame Web opens in 1973 in the jungles of Peru.  There, scientist Constance Webb (Kerry Bishe) searches for a rare spider deep in the Amazon.  At her side is her assistant, Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim), who has plans of his own.  They are also surrounded by legends and rumors of “Las Arañas,” a secret Peruvian tribe in which its members have spider powers.  In the end, discovery leads to betrayal, death, and birth.

Thirty years later, New York City, 2003, Constance's daughter, Cassandra “Cassie” Webb (Dakota Johnson) is a paramedic.  An accident causes Cassie to start having strange visions, which she comes to believe are clairvoyant.  These visions of the future feature three young women:  Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney), Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced), and Mattie Franklin (Celeste O'Connor) being hunted by a mysterious figure.  This man wears a costume; he has enhanced strength and speed; and he can crawl on walls and ceilings like a spider.  Forced to confront her past and her psychic abilities, Cassie must safeguard these three young women before this deadly adversary murders them.

Madame Web is fourth film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe following Venom (2018), Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), and Morbius (2022).  In my estimation, dear readers, Madame Webb is the second best of the quartet behind only the original Venom.

In fact, Madame Webb isn't the “worst film ever,” “absolutely horrible,” or any of the over-the-top things haters and trolls are saying on social media.  It isn't a great film, but Madame Web is quite entertaining.  However, I have ideas about why this new film is getting so much hate.  One reason is that there is a corner of social media that is dedicated to dissing films that are largely led by women characters.  We saw this in the vitriol and invective directed at the 2016 Ghostbusters film and Marvel Studios' recent target, The Marvels.  There are also some structural and narrative reasons that might irritate some viewers, and in order to talk about them, I will have to give you, dear readers, a...

SPOILERS WARNING:  Madame Web is a hybrid of superheroes, dark fantasy, horror, action, and mysticism.  On the superhero end, only the adversary trying to kill the three young women wears a costume.  Sometime in the future of Madame Web's timeline, Julia Cornwall, Anya Corazon, and Mattie Franklin will each be a version of the hero, Spider-Woman, but now they are not.  We only see them in their respective costumes in Cassie's visions of the future.  Still, in the main body of the story, each actress plays her respective character as if she takes her role seriously.  The trio is fun and rebellious, and their energy makes this film hop when it starts to drag.

On the action end, Madame Web has car chases and crashes and eye-crossing fights.  The film's mystical angle comes across as a bit hokey, especially when Cassie talks about her powers.  However, when Cassie's visions kick-in, they are trippy, confusing, and disorienting; they come and go in so many alternate versions with horror movie intensity.

Madame Web certainly could have been a better film had the main male characters had more development.  Screen time isn't the issue.  Adam Scott's Ben Parker, to whom you should pay attention, is more errand boy than friend, and the bad guy often comes across as a stock villain.

That said Madame Web is an entertaining film, and Dakota Johnson is good as Cassie Webb, considering neither her character nor this film in general has the benefit of a strong screenplay.  Madame Webb is a slightly above-average comic book movie, and it should entertain most fans of superhero movies... except those with culture war agendas.

6 of 10

B

★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, February 16, 2024

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Review: "BLACULA" Can't Stop, Won't Stop Rising from the Grave

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 47 of 2023 (No. 1936) by Leroy Douresseaux

Blacula (1972)

Running time: 93 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes)

MPAA – PG

DIRECTOR:  William Crain

WRITERS:  Joan Torres and Raymond Koenig

PRODUCER:  Joseph T. Naar

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  John M. Stevens (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Allan Jacobs

COMPOSER:  Gene Page

BLAXPLOITATION/HORROR/ROMANCE

Starring:  William Marshall, Vonetta McGee, Denise Nicholas, Thalmus Rasulala, Gordon Pinsent, Charles Macaulay, Emily Yancy, Lance Taylor, Sr., Ted Harris, Rick Metzler, Logan Field, Ketty Lester, Elisha Cook, Jr., Jitu Cumbuka, Eric Brotherson, and The Hues Corporation

Blacula is a 1972 American blaxploitation vampire horror and romance film directed by William Crain.  Originally released by American International Pictures, the film was a hit and inspired a wave of blaxploitation (black exploitation) films, including its own sequel, Scream Blacula Scream.  Blacula focuses on an 18th century African prince-turned-vampire who awakens to find himself in modern day Los Angeles.

Blacula opens in 1780, in Transylvania at Castle Dracula.  The African prince, Mamuwalde (William Marshall), has traveled there with his wife, Luva (Vonetta McGee), to seek the help of Count Dracula (Charles Macaulay) in suppressing the African slave trade.  Dracula refuses and after some insults and violence, he bites Mamuwalde and curses him to an immortal existence as the vampire, “Blacula.”  He imprisons Mamuwalde in a sealed coffin in a crypt hidden beneath the castle, where he also leaves Luva to die.

In 1972, Blacula emerges from his coffin and begins a reign of terror and death.  However, he is shocked to discover a young woman named Tina Williams (Vonetta McGee) who looks exactly like his long-lost Luva.  Initially hesitant, Tina warms to Blacula, who introduces himself as Mamuwalde.  In turn, Tina introduces him to her sister, Michelle Williams (Denise Nicholas), and her boyfriend, Dr. Gordon Thomas (Thalmus Rasulala).

A pathologist for the Los Angeles Police Department, Dr. Gordon has been investigating the deaths of people whom he suspects are victims of a vampire.  Teaming with LAPD's Lieutenant Jack Peters (Gordon Pinsent), Gordon must discover the force behind these deaths before its too late, even as Tina finds herself irresistibly drawn to Mamuwalde / Blacula.

I have seen Blacula several times, but I had previously not attempted to review it.  I have seen several “Black vampire films,” but I have previously only reviewed Spike Lee's Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014), although I have not seen the film it remakes, Ganja and Hess (1973).  Of course, I have reviewed all the films in New Line Cinema's Blade franchise that began with 1998's Blade.

When I discovered that Blacula was available on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) via Spectrum On-Demand, I decided to view it again with an eye towards writing a review.  I must say that I'd forgotten how good the music is, especially the funk score by conductor, composer, and record producer, Gene Page (1939-98), which was one of the first of its kind for a vampire film.  The songs:  three performed by the pop-soul trio, The Hues Corporation, and one by the short-lived L.A. soul group, The 21st Century Ltd., are quite nice.

Something I noticed for the first time is that Blacula depicts a world in which African-American professionals are equal to their white peers.  In fact, it isn't even a question that they are not.  For instance, Dr. Gordon Thomas is respected and his orders are followed without question.  The only time that his opinion is questioned involves the obvious – telling people that there is a vampire loose in Los Angeles and that he is murdering people.  Obviously, a blaxploitation film would feature a cast of black leads, but the film isn't really about them being “Black.”  Blacula, in a way, is a movie about humans fighting the forces of darkness; this time, the lead vampire killer is a black man.  Sometimes, I got the feeling that Blacula was almost nonchalant about the characters being African-American.

Of course, Blacula could not pass as an ordinary vampire film when the late, great stage, television, and film actor, William Marshall (1924-2003), played the title role.  Marshall doesn't play Mamuwalde as a victim, which he is (of Dracula); rather, he is a man (or creature) awakened to new circumstances, and as he did in his former life (based on assumptions), will live it to the fullest.  I like that Mamuwalde / Blacula is a man who gets what he wants.  Perhaps, that is what makes Mamuwalde so memorable to African-American audiences.  He isn't a tragic or misunderstood monster; he is a king.

I have believed for a long time that given the space and runtime, Blacula's screenwriters, Joan Torres and Raymond Koenig, with William Marshall adding his ideas, could have made a greater film.  Still, William Crain's deft directing and Allan Jacob's precision film editing allow Blacula to breeze past its shortcomings.  I love Blacula, obviously, and I can't wait to see it again.

B+

7 of 10

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Friday, October 20, 2023

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "THE MUMMY'S SHROUD" is a True Scary Movie

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 46 of 2023 (No. 1935) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Mummy's Shroud (1967)

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom

Running time: 90 minutes (1 hour, 30 minutes)

DIRECTOR:  John Gilling

WRITERS:  John Gilling; from a story by Anthony Hinds

PRODUCER:  Anthony Nelson Keys

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Arthur Grant (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Chris Barnes

COMPOSER: Don Banks

HORROR

Starring:  André Morell, John Phillips, David Buck, Elizabeth Sellars, Maggie Kimberly, Michael Ripper, Tim Barrett, Richard Warner, Roger Delgado, Catherine Lacey, and Dickie Owen

The Mummy's Shroud is a 1967 British horror film that was directed by John Gilling and was released by famed British film production company, Hammer Film Productions.  The film focuses on the members of an archaeological expedition who become victims of a curse after they discover and enter the tomb of ancient Egyptian child prince.

The Mummy's Shroud opens in 1920.  A team of archaeologists led by scientist, Sir Basil Walden (André Morell), discovers the lost tomb of a boy who was to be pharaoh, Kah-To-Bey, in Ancient Egypt.  His father, the Pharaoh, was betrayed and murdered in a palace coup, but Kah-To-Bey was saved when his father's manservant, Prem (Dickie Owen), spirited him away deep into the desert.

Stanley Preston (John Phillips), the wealthy businessman who is funding the expedition, arrives to join Walden and his team.  The expedition enters the tomb of Kah-To-Bey, although they are warned against doing that by Hasmid (Roger Delgado), who claims to be the tomb's guardian.  After the expedition returns to Cairo with the contents of the tomb, strange things begin to happen, and people begin to die.  Now, Preston's son, Paul Preston (David Buck), and Claire (Maggie Kimberly), another member of the expedition, may be the only people who can discover who or what is behind a series of brutal slayings.  And it will require them to find and decipher the sacred burial shroud of Kah-To-Bey.

I have been a fan of movies about the curse of Egyptian tombs since I first saw Hammer Film Productions' The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964), so I dove into my first viewing of The Mummy's Shroud, which the cable network, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), aired Monday morning, October 9, 2023.  Of course, I am a huge fan of actor Brendan Fraser's “The Mummy” trilogy.  The second film of that trilogy, 2001's The Mummy Returns, seems to borrow a few elements from The Mummy's Shroud.  Tom Cruise's 2017 film, The Mummy, also has a few elements similar to The Mummy's Shroud.

I really got a kick out of watching The Mummy's Shroud.  For one thing, it has a very handsome cast, and Maggie Kimberly as Claire and Elizabeth Sellars as Stanley Preston's wife, Barbara Preston, are gorgeous blondes.  They fascinated me, and I became more attracted to them with each screen appearance.  Both actresses also give good performances, as do the male actors.  The film's script gives the cast character types to play, but they are up to the task of injecting those types with personality.  No actor is really over-the-top, so much as they are engaged in their performance.

As for the film's horror elements, the mummy and the curse, well, they are quite gruesome.  I would describe The Mummy's Shroud as a genuine scary movie, and the murders don't feel like a body count so much as they seem like true revenge – the cost that the members of the expedition must pay for violating the curse of an Egyptian tomb.  I love Hammer Film Productions' horror movies, and I look forward to seeing them again.  I have seen The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb a few times, and I plan on shaking the dust off The Mummy's Shroud again.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Thursday, October 12, 2023

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Review: "THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF" is Crazy (Literally), Sexy, Cool

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 6 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux

Pacte des loups, Le (2001)

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  France; Language: French, German, Italian

The Brotherhood of the Wolf (2002) – USA title

Running time:  142 minutes (2 hours, and 22 minutes)

MPAA – R for strong violence, gore, and sexuality/nudity

DIRECTOR:  Christophe Gans

WRITERS:  Stephane Cabel and Christophe Gans

PRODUCERS:  Richard Grandpierre and Samuel Hadida

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Dan Laustsen

EDITORS:  Xavier Loutreuil, Sébastien Prangère, and David Wu

COMPOSER:  Joseph LoDuca

DRAMA/HISTORICAL AND HORROR/MYSTERY/THRILLER with elements of adventure

Starring:  Samuel Le Bihan, Vincent Cassel, Emilie Dequenne, Monica Bellucci, Jérémie Rénier, Mark Dacascos, Jean Yanne, Jean-Francois Stévenin, and Jacques Perrin

Le Pacte des loups is a 2001 French period film, action and horror movie directed by Christophe Gans.  The film was released in the United States in early 2002 by Universal Pictures under the title, The Brotherhood of the Wolf (the title by which I will refer to this film in this review).  The film's plot is loosely based on the legend of the “beast of Gévaudan” and a real-life series of killings that took place in France in the 18th century.  The Brotherhood of the Wolf focuses on a French knight and his Native American companion who are sent to investigate the mysterious slaughter of hundreds of people by an unknown creature in the county of Gévaudan.

At the beginning of The Brotherhood of the Wolf, Old Thomas d'Apcher (Jacques Perrin) recounts a fantastic fable/story of his youth.  It is France of 1765, and the King sends two envoys to the Gevaudan province (which no longer exists) to investigate a series of brutal murders of which the locals believe is committed by a mysterious beast.  The envoys are the Chevalier Gregoire de Fronsac (Samuel Le Bihan), a naturalist, and his companion, Mani (Mark Dacascos), a Mohawk Iroquois shaman of New France (Canada).  They arrive in Gevandan to find the provincials bigoted and superstitious, even in the midst of the death all around them.

Among the colorful cast of characters include a mysterious and powerful priest, Henri Sardis (Jean-Francois Stevenin), and a sly and dangerous one-armed hunter, Jean Francois de Morangias (Vincent Cassel).  The young Thomas d’Apcher (Jeremie Renier) becomes a hunting companion of Fronsac and Mani.  Two strong female characters compete for the attentions of the virile and intelligent Fronsac: Marianne de Morangias (Emilie Dequenne), Jean Francois’s beautiful younger sister, and the nubile and hypnotic courtesan Sylvia (Monica Bellucci).  As Fronsac and Mani pierce the veil of mystery and terror that covers the province, intrigue and deceit surround them, and the beast continues to kill.

Directed by Christophe Gans, The Brotherhood of the Wolf bends genres as easily as the film’s beast tears through its victims.  Horror, thriller, western, martial arts, and mystery, the film is filled with suspense, terror, romance, eroticism, and political intrigue.  It is at times intoxicating and mind bending and at other times, languid and thoughtful.  It is difficult to categorize, but the movie is largely fantasy and action, but different from most of the movies that both genres recall.

Fronsac is a man of reason who sees a human conspiracy behind the killings that is darker and more insidious than any beast of Hell.  Still, this man of science also understands the mystic worldview and belief system of his friend and blood brother, Mani.  Fronsac is enlightenment’s soldier against the backward and ignorant peasants and nobles of Gevaudan.  The provincials fear the ways of a city like Paris, and Sardis and Jean Francois resent the capital’s intrusion into their world.  They disdain the confidence and intelligence of the King’s envoys.  The beast is a physical manifestation of the provincials superstitions, isolationism, hatred, and evil that feeds upon the populace, and the creature resists the authority of the government.

The movie’s creature is a computer-generated image (CGI); at its best is fearsome.  At its worst, the creature, especially during some daylight scenes, is hokey.  However, Gans wisely holds revealing the beast in scenes that go by so quickly that we rarely get a good look at it.  Sometimes, just the unseen beast’s roars, growls, and footsteps are enough to set the heart racing.

Le Bihan as Fronsac is strong and strongly confident.  He is the romantic lead upon which the audience hitches its wagon.  When he and Mani arrive early in the movie, after the film’s opening murder, they appear in a driving rainstorm, masked minutemen with the presence of demigods.  Mani’s assault upon the villagers recalls fight scenes from The Matrix, but his are down to earth and more physical, more visceral; the threat of danger to him from the attackers is much greater.  Decascos is mostly very good on the screen as Mani, though a few bits of his screen time are a little flat.  When Gans unleashes him late in the movie, Decascos is a beautiful force a nature, a small storm in human guise tearing through his antagonists.

Vincent Cassel’s Jean Francois is the serpentine equal to Fronsac.  He dominates all of his screen time, except for his scenes with Fronsac, in which both must share the screen.  The movie nearly bursts from having to contain both their magnetic presences.  They alone are worth the price of admission, but the rest of the cast, both veterans and newcomers, make the most of their roles.

Although a little long, The Brotherhood of the Wolf is wonderful; a dark horse, it is one of the best films of the year 2001.  Gans and his screenwriting partner, Stephane Cabel, created a script that melds raw action with social intrigue, and the result is quite an accomplishment.  The Brotherhood of the Wolf is plainly good entertainment.  Not quite high art, it is eye candy that is very smart and very fun.

8 of 10

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Edited:  Wednesday, October 4, 2023

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Review: "GOTHIC" is a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Movie (Remembering Julian Sands)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 33 of 2023 (No. 1922) by Leroy Douresseaux

Gothic (1986)

Running time: 87 minutes (1 hour, 27 minutes)

MPAA – R

DIRECTOR:  Ken Russell

WRITERS:  Stephen Volk

PRODUCERS:  Penny Corke

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Mike Southon (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Michael Bradsell

COMPOSER: Thomas Dolby

DRAMA/HORROR/HISTORICAL

Starring:  Gabriel Byrne, Julian Sands, Natasha Richardson, Myriam Cyr, and Timothy Spall

Gothic is a 1986 British psychological horror film and historical drama directed by Ken Russell.  The film focuses on a group of five people whose activities on the night of June 16, 1816 invite something dark into the mansion where they are staying.

Gothic is a fictional account of the events that happened at the Villa Diodati on night of June 16, 1816.  To understand Gothic, there is the need for some historical reference.

English novelist, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (1797-1851); her future husband, the radical English romantic poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822); and their son, William (1816-19); accompanied Mary's stepsister, Claire Clairmont (1798-1879), to spend the summer of 1816 with the English romantic poet, Lord Byron (1788-1824).  They arrived in mid-May 1816, and by then, Mary was calling herself, “Mrs. Shelley,” although she was not yet married to Percy.  Byron was renting a mansion, the Villa Diodati, located near Lake Geneva, Switzerland.  The Shelleys rented a place nearby.  Byron's young physician, John William Polidori (1795-1821), also joined the gathering.

This summer of 1816 became legendary in literature.  On the night of June 16, 1816, Byron, Mary, Percy, Clairmont, and Polidori entertained themselves with German ghost stories from the Fantasmagoriana, a French anthology of such stories published in 1812.  This amusement led Byron to propose that they each write a ghost story.  Because of poor weather, the group famously spent three days together creating stories to tell each other.  Coming out of that contest were two completed landmark works of Gothic horror fiction.

The first is Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's 1818 novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, a landmark in Gothic fiction, Gothic horror, and science fiction.  The second is John Polidori's 1819 short story, “The Vampyre,” which is considered the first modern vampire story and also the beginning of the romantic vampire genre.  Polidori's short story is also based on Byron's contribution to the ghost story contest, a vampire horror story that he turned into prose, but which Byron did not complete.  It was first published in 1819 as “A Fragment,” but is now known as “Fragment of a Novel.”

The film Gothic opens in the summer of 1816.  Mary Godwin (Natasha Richardson); her future husband, Percy Shelley (Julian Sands); and her stepsister, Claire Clairmont (Myriam Cyr), arrive at Villa Diodati on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland.  They have been invited to spend some time there during the summer by the poet, Lord Byron (Gabriel Byrne), who also introduces them to his physician and friend, Dr. John Polidori (Timothy Spall). 

On June 16th, the group is forced to stay inside the mansion as a storm rages outside.  Mary, Percy, Claire, Byron, and Dr. Polidori amuse themselves by engaging in a game of hide-and-seek, and later read from Phantasmagoria, a book of German ghost stories Byron purchased.  Reading these stories inspires the five of them to hold a séance while gathered around a human skull, during which Claire has an apparent seizure.  Later, each member of the group begins to have strange and horrifying experiences, dreams, and hallucinations.  Percy believes the group collectively gave birth to something during the séance.  That something is a creature that not only manifests their worst fears, but also their worst behaviors.  And that creature could destroy them all.

The English actor Julian Sands went hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles in January of this year, 2023.  He was reported missing afterwards, and his remains were later found in the area he was visiting.  He is best remembered for his breakout role in the 1985 British film, A Room with a View, which was released in the U.S. in 1986.  Although I did see that film, the first film in which I saw Sands was Gothic.  It was also the first film I ever watched at the LSU Student Union Colonnade Theater, a movie theater on the campus of Louisiana State University.  [From what information I've gathered on the Internet, the theater no longer exists.]

The identification of Sands remains and the subsequent memorials of his life got me to thinking about Gothic, which I had not scene in its entirety since that first time I saw it.  I remember not being too crazy about it, but I have been feeling the need to acknowledge Sands' passing, as I was and still am a fan of his.

Also, I have seen a few of Gothic director Ken Russell's films, including the notorious The Devils (1971), which I also saw at the Colonnade.  However, the only one of his films that I have previously reviewed for the Negromancer blog is The Music Lovers, his 1971 biographical film about the 19th-century Russian composer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.  So re-watching Gothic is also a chance to acknowledge Ken Russell (1927-2011).

While Gabriel Byrne as Lord Byron and Sands as Percy Shelley get top billing in Gothic, the film's main focus of this ensemble is Mary Godwin/Shelley, played by the late actress, Natasha Richardson (1963-2009).  Gothic is indeed a psychological horror film because writer Stephen Volk's screenplay forces the character to confront their deepest fears and their most troubling desires.  Volk also lays bare the characters' relationships, especially the dynamics between Byron and Clair, Byron and Polidori, and Percy and Mary.  Volk seems to use Mary to center this, including her own tribulations

Mary has recently delivered a premature baby girl who died, a loss which haunted her (also based on real events).  The death of the child is a recurring motif in this film, usually via the sound of small child crying or in the images of vague, doll-like baby corpses.  Russell, who was known for being typically over-the-top, uses the raging storm, the characters' ingestion of hallucinogens, and their worst nightmares to create a grand vision of a house haunted by its occupants' craziness, selfishness, and psychological issues.  Russell and Volk put Mary Shelley either front-and-center or at least near the most bizarre confrontations (real and imagine) and hallucinations.

Gothic is more about impressions than reality, and to that end, the cast gives good performances.  Sands and Cyr are a little overdone at times, but it's clear this screenplay considers them the most troubled.  As the film progresses, I appreciate Gabriel Byrne's performance as Lord Byron.  I've been watching Byrne for decades over a career full of performances in which one is not like any other, but here, I really believe he is Lord Byron.  Natasha Richardson gives Mary Shelley such depth of character that I wish this film was longer so that Richardson could give us more of Mary.

Gothic has excellent production values.  The costumes are perfectly fitted to the character's personalities.  The lighting and sound bring the raging storm and the raging emotions and madness to life.  The art direction and set decoration offer sets that are straight out of a fairy tale dream, although it is mostly for a story that is nightmarish and melodramatic.  The hair and make-up sell the madness and troubles of these characters and is a perfect match the surrealistic mood.

And just as soon as it began, Gothic's long nightmare is over, and the light of day returns, but with a foreboding.  In real life, the three main male characters would all be dead within eight years of this summer known for being a pivotal time in the history of Gothic fiction.  When I first saw this film, I only kind of understood the importance of what it was fictionalizing.  Since then, I have become more fascinated with that place and moment in the summer of 1816, and I have become more enamored with this dreamlike film.  In a nod to nostalgia, the recent passing of Julian Sands has raised Gothic in my estimation.  It's time for me to buy a physical copy so that I can watch it any time I want without bothering with streaming.

6 of 10

B

★★★ out of 4 stars

Saturday, July 22, 2023

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Review: "KNOCK AT THE CABIN" is Not Worth the Ticket Price; Stream It

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 6 of 2023 (No. 1895) by Leroy Douresseaux

Knock at the Cabin (2023)

Running time:  100 minutes

MPA – R for violence and language

DIRECTOR:  M. Night Shyamalan

WRITERS:  M. Night Shyamalan, Steve Desmond, and Michael Sherman (based on the book, The Cabin at the End of the World, by Paul Tremblay)

PRODUCERS:  Marc Bienstock, Ashwin Rajan, and M. Night Shyamalan

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Jarin Blaschke (D.o.P.) and Lowell A. Meyer (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Noemi Katharina Preiswerk

COMPOSER:  Herdis Stefansdottir

FANTASY/THRILLER/HORROR

Starring:  Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Rupert Grint, Abby Quinn, Kristen Cui, and M. Night Shyamalan

Knock at the Cabin is a 2023 fantasy, thriller, and horror film from director M. Night Shyamalan.  The film is based on the 2018 novel, The Cabin at the End of the World, from author Paul Tremblay.  Knock at the Cabin focuses on a small family of three and the four armed strangers who take them hostage and demand that the three members sacrifice one of their own … in order to stop the end of the world.

Knock at the Cabin introduces Andrew (Ben Aldridge) and his husband, Eric (Jonathan Groff), and their adopted daughter, Wen (Kirsten Cui).  They are vacationing at a remote cabin in the woods, but during their first day at the cabin, terror strikes.  Four strangers break into the cabin and tie up Andrew and Eric.

The strangers identify themselves as Redmond (Rupert Grint), Adriane (Abby Quinn), Sabrina (Nikki Amuka-Bird), and Leonard (Dave Bautista), the apparent leader.  Leonard explains that the Apocalypse is coming.  The oceans will rise, a plague will descend, and the sky will fall to the earth like pieces of shattered glass; then, there will only be unending darkness.  These horrors can only be averted if this family of three kills one of their own as a sacrifice.

Leonard tells Andrew, Eric, and Wren that if they do not chose, they will survive the Apocalypse, but they will be doomed to be the last people alive on a dead world.  Andrew and Eric believe that these people are delusional, and Andrew believes that this situation is rooted in bigoted hate against their family.  But bad things are starting to happen … all around the world...

I saw Knock at the Cabin just last night (as of this writing) at a Thursday night preview.  When the credits started rolling, I started laughing, not loud enough to draw attention, but I found that I had a hard time not laughing.  In Shyamalan's filmography, I have a personal favorite, The Lady in the Water (2006), and two films I enjoyed quite a bit, After Earth (2013) and Old (2021).  There are two movies that I thought were really good, but had ridiculous endings that ruined the movies for me, Unbreakable (2000) and The Village (2004).

Knock at the Cabin reminds me of 2010's The Last Airbender.  Both are films that are good concepts and that begin with good ideas.  Ultimately, however, both have something missing, or maybe a lot missing.  For instance, in Knock at the Cabin, Andrew and Eric are well-developed characters, and the actors playing them give performances that convinced me Andrew and Eric were in love and were a committed couple.  However, the flashbacks about their lives are more vague than they are informative.  Also, I was quite put-off by the fact that the couple lied to adopt Wen.

For an apocalyptic movie, Shyamalan is stingy with the apocalyptic imagery.  The tsunami was a little impressive; the plague was underwhelming; and the plane crashes were impressive … mostly.  When Leonard warn Andrew and Eric that not making a choice means that a hundred thousand people will die, it does not feel like a real threat.  And honestly, when a disaster is shown onscreen, it does not look like something that will kill a hundred thousand.  I think Shyamalan wanted to play it cute with Leonard and his companions for the audience.  Maybe, they are deranged and delusional.  Maybe, the disasters are a coincidence.  It's when I thought that maybe the Apocalypse is real, but Leonard and company are too crazy to do their part correctly that I knew this film had story development issues.

As an end of the world scenario, Knock at the Cabin doesn't have real traction.  Yes, the actors give good performances, especially Dave Bautista as Leonard and Nikki Amuka-Bird as Sabrina.  However, all the actors are mouthing nonsensical dialogue for a narrative that can't quite escape being ludicrous.  I think that the actors are more convincing about Knock at the Cabin's story that Shyamalan and his co-screenwriters are.  If not for the cast, I would give this film a lower grade that the one I ultimately gave it – maybe much lower.

There are better films about a small group of people trapped in a remote cabin and fighting off supernatural doom, such as The Evil Dead (1981) and Cabin in the Woods (2011).  Shyamalan has a reputation for revealing a big twist at the end of his films.  In Knock at the Cabin, the big twist is that there is no big twist.  I didn't want there to be one, but now I believe that a big twist would have made Knock at the Cabin feel like more than a meaningless story and empty cinematic experience.

4 of 10

C

★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, February 3, 2023

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Review: Terrifying "SMILE" Will Knock That... Smile Off Your Face

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 76 of 2022 (No. 1888) by Leroy Douresseaux

Smile (2022)

Running time:  116 minutes (1 hour, 56 minutes)

MPA – R for strong violent content and grisly images, and language

WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Parker Finn

PRODUCERS:  Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Isaac Klausner, and Robert Salerno

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Charlie Sarroff

EDITOR: Elliot Greenberg

COMPOSER: Cristobal Tapia de Veer

HORROR

Starring:  Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner, Robin Weigert, Caitlin Stasey, Kal Penn, Rob Morgan, Gillian Zinser, Nick Arapoglou, Matthew Lamb, and Dora Kiss

Smile is a 2022 psychological horror film from writer-director Parker Finn, his debut feature film.  Finn based Smile on his 2020 horror short film, Laura Hasn't Slept.  Smile focuses on a psychiatrist who starts having terrifying experiences and witnessing a young woman's bizarre suicide.

Smile introduces Dr. Rose Carter (Sosie Bacon), a clinical psychiatrist.  While working at a psychiatric ward, Rose meets a new patient, a very frightened young woman named Laura Weaver (Caitlin Stasey).  Laura believes that she is cursed because days earlier, she witnessed her art history professor, Gabriel Munoz, die by suicide – using a hammer to bludgeon himself to death.  Now, Laura claims that an entity, which takes the form of smiling people, is haunting her and telling her that she is going to die.  Laura says that it is the same smile that she saw on Munoz's face before he killed himself.

After her encounter with Laura, Rose has a series of bizarre experiences, including one with a troubled patient in the psychiatric ward and another at her nephew's birthday party.  Is Rose's own traumatic past manifesting itself as an entity that vexes her mind and dreams?  Or is some entity haunting her to a gruesome death?

Smile is not the first film to use childhood trauma and the subsequent adult grief and guilt as devices to scare audiences.  [One is 2005's Boogeyman, which is not nearly as scary or as good as Smile.]  Parker Finn plays fast and loose with the genre and is rather tricky.  He makes Dr. Rose Cotter an unreliable narrator, one reason being that she should recognize her symptoms.  Rose has trouble distinguishing between delusions and reality.  Are her troubles a result of a job that exposes her to people with problems, or are her troubles really the result of a curse?  Finn's screenplay keeps us wondering about the truth and about the validity of the curse.

Sometime, the film is rather clear that Rose is cursed and that everything else is just to confuse … and scare the viewer.  And I was scared.  Smile is genuinely scary and, at times, terrifying, and Sosie Bacon gives a strong performance as Dr. Rose Cotter, a character that is obviously troubled and traumatized.

The one thing that keeps Smile from being great is the ending, not because of its variations, but because Finn practically telegraphs it halfway through the film.  Although I wouldn't say that Smile is a copy of the buzzed about horror film, It Follows (2014), but Smile follows... it.  I have no problem recommending Smile to viewers that want to be scared out of their wits by a horror movie, but don't want a high body count.  Smile is a really good horror movie – creepy but not slash-film violent.

7 of 10

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Friday, December 23, 2022

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Review: "PEARL" Horror Film is as Crazy as It Wants to Be

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 72 of 2022 (No. 1884) by Leroy Douresseaux

Pearl (2022)

Running time:  102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)

MPA – R for some strong violence, gore, strong sexual content and graphic nudity

DIRECTOR:  Ti West

WRITERS: Ti West and Mia Goth (based on characters created by Ti West)

PRODUCERS:  Jacob Jaffke, Harrison Kreiss, Kevin Turen, and Ti West

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Eliot Rockett (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Ti West

COMPOSERS:  Tyler Bates and Tim Williams

HORROR

Starring:  Mia Goth, David Corenswet, Tandi Wright, Matthew Sunderland, Emma Jenkins-Purro, Alistair Sewell, and Amelia Reid

Pearl is a 2022 horror film from director Ti West.  The film serves as a prequel to the 2022 horror film, X, and is also the second entry in the “X” film series.  The film focuses on a young woman who feels trapped on her family's isolated farm where she dreams of stardom and harbors a dark side.

Pearl opens in 1918.  In Europe, World War I rages on, and in the United States, the homefront is plagued by an influenza pandemic.  The story focuses on Pearl (Mia Goth), a young woman who lives on a Texas farm with her parents who are German immigrants.  Pearl's husband, Howard (Alistair Sewell), is serving in WWI.  Her domineering mother, Ruth (Tandi Wright), insists that Pearl always work, either tending to the animals or caring for her paralyzed father (Matthew Sunderland).

However, Pearl longs for a more glamorous life, and she visits the local cinema where she can watch silent films.  Pearl wishes she could be like one of the chorus girls she sees in her favorite films.  Pearl wants to be a star, but she also shows signs of being quite the disturbed individual:  killing farm animals, abusing her father, and thinking about killing people.

Pearl is certainly a horror movie, but the film is also a psychological drama and suspense and mystery thriller.  Writer-director Ti West and writer-star Mia Goth plumb the depths of Pearl's character, her conflicts, and her dreams.  Pearl is like other people, although she does not think so.  What makes her stand out is that he murderous impulses are not held in check and only get worse.

Pearl is also an edgy immigrant family drama that uses the clash between the old (the immigrant) parents and the new (Pearl the daughter) as a vehicle for Pearl's rage.  From the moment the story introduces Pearl's tiresome mother, Ruth, the family conflict devolves into a tawdry, yet alluring Gothic horror of the kind that recalls the work of the late novelist, V.C. Andrews (1923-86).  The demands of Pearl's parents, especially the bitter Ruth, with her ruthless tongue, push out the darker aspects of Pearl's identity and personality.

Pearl builds its suspense and mystery on a game of time and fate.  When will the repressed homicidal aspects of her personality, which Pearl seems to think of as her “true self,” come busting out?  Pearl's dreams might be pipe dreams, but in her performance, Mia Goth convinces her audience that Pearl really does want to perform for the people she believes could be her audience.  Pearl wants to be loved, but she believes that the real her cannot be loved, nor is true self worthy of love.

Pearl is complicated.  Horror films have long dealt with duality – killer and victim.  However, there is a strain of horror that deals with lead characters that are sometimes sympathetic.  They also turn out to have personality disorders that result in the compulsion to brutally kill people within their reach.  In the 1976 film, Carrie (based on Stephen King's 1974 of the same name), the title character seems to have her dark side forced out of her.  Pearl forces a light side of herself out into the world, but her homicidal nature does not need to be pushed out.  It does not need much coaxing to come out and play a game of death with unwary victims.

As a team, Ti West and Mia Goth deliver a truly unique cinematic work of horror and (yes) suspense in Pearl.  As Pearl the character, Goth is the pounding hell-spawned heart of this film, and it needs a strong heart.  Honestly, outside of Pearl the character, Pearl the film's plot, characters, and setting art surreal to the point of being too cute.

In the second half of the film, Goth has a delightful dance sequence that personifies to the depth of Pearl's character.  I can see why Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese says that Goth's performance here is Oscar worthy.  Mia Goth liberates horror of its needs for scream queens, masked killers, final girls, and supernatural theatrics.  Pearl shows that horror movies can be quite horrifying simply by imagining the ultimate heart of darkness in its prettiest maidens, smiling waifs, and perky sprites – you know, the kind of female that is usually the victim in scary movies.

8 of 10

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

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Review: "THE INVITATION" is the Movie Invite You Don't Want

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 70 of 2022 (No. 1882) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Invitation (2022)

Running time:  103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)

MPA –  PG-13 for terror, violent content, some strong language, sexual content and partial nudity

DIRECTOR:  Jessica M. Thompson

WRITER:  Blair Butler

PRODUCER:  Emile Gladstone

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Autumn Eakin (D.o.P.)  

EDITOR:  Tom Elkins

COMPOSER:  Dara Taylor

HORROR/MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring:  Nathalie Emmanuel, Thomas Doherty, Sean Pertwee, Hugh Skinner, Carol Ann Crawford, Alana Boden, Stephanie Corneliussen, and Courtney Taylor

The Invitation is a 2022 supernatural horror, mystery,and suspense thriller from director Jessica M. Thompson.  The film focuses on a young woman who is swept off her feet by the chance of meeting members of her long-lost family, who are mysterious and odd.

The Invitation opens in New York City and introduces struggling artist, Evelyn “Evie” Jackson (Nathalie Emmanuel), who is still dealing with the recent death of her mother.  She and her best friend, Grace (Courtney Taylor), make a living freelancing for a catering business.  Evie takes a DNA test from an online company called “UnlockYourPast” and discovers that she has relatives in England.  She meets one of those alleged distant English cousins, Oliver L. Alexander (Hugh Skinner) of London.  Oliver tells Evie that she is related to him via her great-grandmother, Emmaline, who created quite a scandal decades ago.  He also invites her to an upcoming family wedding in Whitney, Yorkshire, England.

Evie and Oliver eventually arrive at New Carfax Abbey where several connected families: the De Villes, the Billingtons, the Klopstocks, and the Alexanders, have gathered for the nuptials.  Evie meets many family members, including the alluring Walter De Ville (Thomas Doherty), who seems to be the focus of everyone's attention.  However, Evie does not meet the bride and groom.  Before long, Evie discovers that not only is New Carfax a strange place, but also that the gathered family members are both eccentric and full of mystery.  It is a mystery that Evie must solve before she falls prey to the four families' darkest secrets.

The Invitation is a vampire movie and not a very good one.  The main reason is the vampire characters.  The film is inspired by author Bram Stoker's 1987 Gothic novel, Dracula.  Film vampires can be alluring and attractive, and they can often be the audience's favorite characters, although they are monsters and are often film villains.  The Invitation's vampires are not alluring and are mostly caricatures of the British upper class or assorted versions of Euro-trash.

The Invitation is not a very good horror movie simply because it is not scary.  Bumps in the night, shifty shadows, random yelps and screams, etc. are more annoying than chilling.  Evie is way too careless and clueless.  I understand that there are plenty of people in the real world who are not wary, who don't understand that when things seem too good to be true, they usually are too good to be true.  In this movie, the extent of Evie's lack of common sense is simply too much; it's irritating.

Also, I don't think that it is a coincidence that Nathalie Emmanuel, the actress who plays Evie, really resembles American actress Meghan Markle.  You know Meghan, right?  She married into an old British family that has its share of conspiracies and family members who are snobs, crypto-racists, and monsters.

The last twenty minutes of The Invitation – before the credits – are actually quite good, but by then it is too late.  I get why the studio and filmmakers would try to hide the fact that this film involves vampires as deep into the running time as they could.  Vampire films generally under perform at the box office, even good ones, which The Invitation is not.  Honestly, the last few minutes of this film could be used as the starting point for an even better film.  I cannot recommend The Invitation, and I want to discourage you, dear readers, from watching it if you have to pay to do it.

3 of 10

C-

★½ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, November 16, 2022

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Review: "HELLRAISER III: Hell on Earth" Raises Fresh Hell

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 59 of 2022 (No. 1871) by Leroy Douresseaux

Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)
Running time:  93 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence and sexuality, and for language
DIRECTOR:  Anthony Hickox
WRITERS:  Peter Atkins; from a story by Peter Atkins and Tony Randel (based on the characters created by Clive Barker)
PRODUCER:  Lawrence Mortorff
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Gerry Lively (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  James D.R. Hickox and Christopher Cibelli (supervising film editor)
COMPOSER:  Randy Miller

HORROR/FANTASY

Starring:  Terry Farrell, Doug Bradley, Paula Marshall, Kevin Bernhardt, Ken Carpenter, Peter Atkins, Peter G. Boynton, and Ashley Laurence

Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth is a 1992 supernatural horror and dark fantasy film directed by Anthony Hickox.  The film is based on characters and concepts taken from the 1986 novella, “The Hellbound Heart,” which was written by Clive Barker, who is the executive producer of this film.  Hell on Earth is also the third film in the Hellraiser film franchise.  Hellraiser III focuses on a young reporter who finds herself taking on the most powerful of the Cenobites.

Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth opens in the wake of the incidents depicted in Hellbound: Hellraiser II.  The Cenobite (demon) called “Pinhead” (Doug Bradley) has been split into two entities:  his former human self, World War I British Army Captain Elliot Spencer (Doug Bradley) and the manifestation of Spencer's id that has taken on the form of Pinhead.

In modern day New York City, J.P. Monroe (Kevin Bernhardt) visits the “Pyramid Gallery,” a creepy art gallery where he buys an intricately carved pillar, “the Pillar of Souls,” which depicts writhing figures and distorted faces etched into its surface.  J.P. installs the pillar at his popular nightclub, “The Boiler Room.” What Monroe does not know is that Pinhead is one of the figures trapped in the pillar, along with one of those puzzle boxes used to summon the Cenobites.

Meanwhile, Joanne “Joey” Summerskill (Terry Farrell), an ambitious young television reporter, is struggling to get respect and attention at the station for which she works, Channel 8.  However, an incident at a local hospital brings her into contact with Terri (Paula Marshall), a young homeless woman who has had a relationship with J.P. Monroe.  As Joey delves deeper into the the hospital incident, she learns that Terri has a puzzle box in her possession.  Now, the box is diving into Joey's dreams.  Trapped in limbo, Elliot Spencer needs Joey's help, because he is depending on her to send Pinhead and his new Cenobites back to Hell.

Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth is a direct sequel to the second film in the series, Hellbound: Hellraiser II.  That surprised me, as I have only seen Hell on Earth once, and that was when it was first release to theaters – 30 years ago!  I remember not liking it, but now, I can honestly say that Hellraiser III is much better than Hellraiser II.

The third film was the first to be filmed in the United States (specifically North Carolina), and it is more action-oriented than the previous films, including the original, Hellraiser (1987).  Hell on Earth also emphasizes that the Cenobites are denizens of Hell and are demons.  Previously, the Cenobites' “home” was a dimension called “Labyrinth,” and they could be angels or demons – depending upon the point of view.  The third film also has something the first two films did not have – a thumbing soundtrack full of good rock and heavy metal music.

The film has some interesting characters, especially the human characters:  Joey, Terri, and J.P., but it really does not do much with them.  As Joey, Terry Farrell does her best with weak character material, and Kevin Bernhardt adds a jolt to the film as the arrogant womanizer, J.P.  Doug Bradley does his best work in his dual role as Pinhead and as Capt. Elliot Spencer.  If there were ever any doubt, Hellraiser III makes it clear that Pinhead is the true star of this franchise, although Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence), who makes a cameo here, is the film's “other star.”

To this day, Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth is the last film in the series that I have seen.  When I originally saw it, I did not care for it, and it finished the series for me.  Three decades later, I like it, and I really like the new Cenobites.  We are awaiting the debut of the franchise reboot, entitled Hellraiser, in early October 2022 on the streaming service, Hulu.  So, I feel comfortable recommending the heavy metal Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth for those interested in the original movies.

6 of 10
B
★★★ out of 4 stars

Monday, October 3, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: Gory "HELLBOUND: Hellraiser II" is More Weird Fantasy Than Horror

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 58 of 2022 (No. 1870) by Leroy Douresseaux

Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
Running time:  97 minutes (1 hour, 37 minutes)
Rated – R
DIRECTOR:  Tony Randel
WRITERS:  Peter Atkins; from a story by Clive Barker
PRODUCER:  Christopher Figg
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Robin Vidgeon (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Richard Marden
COMPOSER:  Christopher Young

HORROR/FANTASY

Starring:  Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Doug Bradley, Kenneth Cranham, Imogen Boorman, William Hope, Barbie Wilde, Nicholas Vince, Simon Bamford, Sean Chapman, and Oliver Smith

Hellbound: Hellraiser II is a 1988 British supernatural horror and dark fantasy film directed by Tony Randel.  The film is a direct sequel to the 1987 film, Hellraiser.  Like the first film, Hellbound is based on characters and concepts taken from the 1986 novella, “The Hellbound Heart,” which was written by Clive Barker, one of the people behind this film.  Hellbound is also the second film in the Hellraiser film franchise.  Hellbound finds the survivor of the first film, Kirsty, in a psychiatric hospital and dealing with a doctor who is obsessed with the sadomasochistic beings known as the “Cenobites” and the occult world from which they originate.

Hellbound: Hellraiser II opens shortly after the events of the first film.  Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence) has been admitted into the Channard Institute, a psychiatric hospital.  She is still dealing with the terrible events surrounding the death of her father, Larry Cotton.  When she is interviewed by Dr. Phillip Channard (Kenneth Cranham) and his assistant, Dr. Kyle MacRae (William Hope), she gives her account of the events at her father's home (as seen in the first film).  Kirsty is shocked to discover that the bloody mattress upon which her murderous and wicked stepmother, Julia Cotton (Clare Higgins), died is in police custody, and she begs Channard and MacRae to destroy it.

What Kirsty doesn't realize is that Dr. Channard is secretly obsessed with the puzzle boxes that bring forth the Cenobites and with their occult, demonic underworld.  Taking possession of the mattress, Channard discovers that Julia is still inside it, waiting for the blood of fresh victims that will revive her.  Channard's plot involves another patient at his institute, a girl named Tiffany (Imogen Boorman).  Seemingly mute, Tiffany demonstrates an aptitude for puzzles, and Channard wants her to solve one of the three puzzle boxes that have come into his possession.

Now, Kirsty must enter the labyrinth-like world of the Cenobites because she believes that is where she can save her father.  However, both she and Tiffany will have to survive the Cenobites, Julia and Channard's schemes, and “Leviathan the Lord of the Labyrinth.”

The original Hellraiser was indeed a supernatural horror film.  Hellbound: Hellraiser II is more dark fantasy than horror.  In fact, it reminds me of a number of weird and unusual 1980s sci-fi and/or fantasy films that took readers on strange journeys, from 1981's Heavy Metal and 1983's Krull to 1985's Legend and 1986's Labyrinth.

Hellbound has good production values – not as good as Hellraiser, however.  Christopher Young, who scored the first film, provides the musical score for Hellbound, but this time, the music is a bit noisier than in the first film.  The costumes are still good, but mostly repeats the aesthetic of Hellraiser.  The make-up seems more tacky, and in some cases, needlessly gory and excessively bloody.

The story is odd, but has some interesting elements.  Unfortunately, the film does not have much of a plot, and there really isn't a beginning, middle, and end.  It is as if Hellbound is a slice of something larger.  Hellbound is more about shocking visuals and gruesome images than it is about plot.  Other than introducing the Cenobites' labyrinth-like dimension and its lord, Leviathan, the film tells us nothing in the way of details about it or its inhabitants.

The characters are intriguing, but the writer and director treat them like nothing more than bodies to be abused, tortured, and killed.  Still, I find myself fascinated by Ashley Laurence's Kirsty and newcomer Imogen Boorman's Tiffany.  In this film, I decided that Clare Higgins' Julia was more fascinating than she was in the original, although she was good in that, also.

Hellbound dimmed my enthusiasm for this franchise, and I had little patience for the next film in the series, Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992).  Hellraiser wanted to tear your soul apart.  Hellbound: Hellraiser II only wants to cut your body to pieces … before the boredom sets in.

4 of 10
C
★★ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, September 27, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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