3 Dead Trick or Treaters (USA 2016: Dir Torin Langen) Director/producer/ writer/ cinematographer Langen
specialises in ‘weird’ short films, so what better vehicle for him than to pull
a number of them together as a ‘portmanteau’ movie? It’s a similar idea to his Late Night Double Feature released last year, although the angle here
is that the whole film (and each of the segments within it) is completely
without dialogue. It’s not silent though - there’s a music soundtrack, and the
characters in each of the stories grunt, sigh and make all the usual human
sounds - except speech. Admittedly this takes some getting used to. The framing
device around which to wrap the stories (two of them are from Langen’s back
catalogue of shorts – the rest were presumably made for the film) has a
paperboy stumbling on the graves of three murdered trick or treaters; hence the
rather awkward title.
Each of the headstones has a piece of paper attached
containing a short story, which leads us into the various Halloween based
story segments: ‘Fondue’ featuring a young couple who trick or treat at a
remote house and get more than they bargained for; ‘Malleus Maleficarum,’ where a sacrificial offering gets cold feet
about his fate; ‘Stash’ which has a trick or treating gang needing more than
candy to keep them going; and ‘Delivery’ where two cops are given a bung to
find another use for the body at a crime scene.
The films are pretty slight, opener ‘Fondue’ being the
weakest, but the film begins to pick up pace as successive segments get
stronger and the viewer adjusts to the dialogue free approach. So why no speech? It could just be a gimmick,
but as most of the characters in the stories are couples or partners, I think
Langen is also saying something about how people non verbally communicate.
Anyhow I quite liked 3 Dead Trick or Treaters. It’s a bold
attempt to do something different, and Langen wisely keeps the movie short –
about 75 minutes. My only comment would be that there’s not enough variety of
locations – drab and miserable though they are – so the segments end up looking
a bit indistinguishable. Nice job
though.
A group of hikers assemble at a trail point in the
Appalachian mountains (although actually filmed in Georgia), all set for a 90
mile 10 day hike. Unfortunately the trail leader Drake, who was to escort them,
has just been rumbled by his boss as he’s had some previous jail time, and is
fired. Drake protests and in the ensuing struggle accidentally kills the
boss. Drake then shuts up the office, complete with corpse, joins the hikers
and makes like nothing’s happened.
The hikers are the usual group of strangers thrown together
– city type Zoe (whose strange dreams presage what’s to come), Dan, a nerdy guy
who’s made a mint but lost his wife to another man, and brothers Cheese and
Brian. Led by an obviously unstable Drake on a trail that he seems to be making
up as he goes along, the group encounter a strange totem pole deep in the
woods. This is the catalyst for odd things to start happening, and before
they know it they’re being spied on by unknown, possibly alien eyes,
encountering dead bodies, and mistrusting each other.
The standout performance is Rae Olivier as resourceful Zoe, a character who makes the transition from ditz to heroine of the hour pretty convincingly, but all of the cast handle their roles well, with special mention for John Briddell as crazy ranger Drake.
Beacon Point director Eric Blue has taken the time in his
first full length feature to flesh out his characters well, although the events
don’t make a lot of sense – is it sci fi, is it horror, is it a psychological
thriller? It’s nevertheless a tense movie which uses its woodland locations to
great effect and doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Beyond the Grave aka Porto Dos Mortos (Brazil 2010/2015 Dir Davi de Oliviera Pinheiro) “No price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning
yourself.” Any movie that opens with a quote from Friedrich Nietzsche is
probably not aiming for the drive in crowd, and Brazilian director de
Oliveira Pinheiro – who also wrote and produced the film - certainly isn’t.
Quite who he’s aiming to please though is the question. And beware – if
you’re watching this one it’s best to arm yourself with a bit of plot
beforehand, as the action on screen isn’t going to help you any. So here goes.
There’s this taciturn officer called, er ‘Officer’ who’s on
the track of a Fallen type shape
shifting demon called 'The Dark Rider'. The only way that the audience knows that
someone’s been taken over is a general air of meanness and rheumy glowing red eyes.
Now the officer is tracking the demon across what I think is a post-apocalyptic
landscape – there’s a DJ on the radio taking about ‘the final days’ – and there
are also some particularly lethargic zombies hanging around too, although why
they are the way they are isn’t really explained, but they’re linked to the
demon. And that’s kind of it.
Beyond the Grave is best described as a Robert Rodriguez movie – say Once Upon a Time in Mexico – slowed right down to an almost
funereal pace but with all the gun toting and sweatiness intact, to which is added a bit of
laconic Lucio Fulci-style undead action. It’s bizarre, intense, pretty pointless, and very, very
slow. Narratively it’s baffling – characters die, then come back to life
(and not as zombies). After a while I sort of went with it and quite liked its
sense of existential gloom.
Beyond the Grave
(or to use its original Brazilian title Porto
dos Mortos) was touring the festival circuits as early as 2010, but as
Pinheiro funded 50% of the movie himself I guess he’s keen to recoup as much as
he can for as many years as possible, hence its re-release. I think the best summary I can make of
the movie is someone else’s – a ‘paranormal western.’
Deep in the Wood aka In fondo al bosco (Italy 2015: Dir Stefano Lodovichi) Despite the holiday setting and certain plot strands hinting
at supernatural elements operating within the story, this Italian movie is in truth a rather dark but entirely
secular thriller, atmospherically set in winter in a small village in the
Dolomites, concerning the disappearance and reappearance of a small boy.
Tommi is a 4 year old who one night, in the middle of the annual Krampus celebrations (a seasonal festival where locals dress up as the legendary 'Christmas Devil’), goes missing. Five years later he is found, barely alive and with little memory of his past. The 9 year old Tommi is returned to his (now estranged) parents Linda and Manuel, but his mother Linda remains unconvinced that the boy in her care really is her son. A clearly traumatised Tommi struggles to be re-integrated with his family, while at the same time the village’s popularly held belief that the boy had actually been murdered by his alcoholic father Manuel (unconvicted following a trial but still under the shadow of suspicion) is overturned. Who then was responsible for Tommi’s disappearance, if indeed the boy in question is Tommi?
Tommi is a 4 year old who one night, in the middle of the annual Krampus celebrations (a seasonal festival where locals dress up as the legendary 'Christmas Devil’), goes missing. Five years later he is found, barely alive and with little memory of his past. The 9 year old Tommi is returned to his (now estranged) parents Linda and Manuel, but his mother Linda remains unconvinced that the boy in her care really is her son. A clearly traumatised Tommi struggles to be re-integrated with his family, while at the same time the village’s popularly held belief that the boy had actually been murdered by his alcoholic father Manuel (unconvicted following a trial but still under the shadow of suspicion) is overturned. Who then was responsible for Tommi’s disappearance, if indeed the boy in question is Tommi?
Deep in the Wood
scores strongly on location and atmosphere. The claustrophobic wintry mountain
village setting is perfect for reflecting the insularity of the village folk,
all of who seem to live uneasily with each other. Teo Achille Caprio, as the 9 year old Tommi,
delivers a creepy performance recalling Swann Nambotin as Victor in the 2012
French TV series The Returned. While overall Deep in
the Wood has some gripping moments, unfortunately the story and eventual
explanation strains credibility almost from the start. Would a
mother, despite Linda’s obvious mental health issues, really not recognise her
own son after a five year gap? From this point on I found the soap opera-esque
plot machinations all rather convoluted. I also found it difficult to believe
that the level of secrecy which is essential to the plot would have been
sustainable in such a small community.
Perhaps more problematically, the film’s set up – the
Krampus costumes, Tommi’s eerie quietness and bouts of violence - strongly
suggest that the story behind the disappearance and re-appearance was to have a
much less prosaic explanation than the one eventually offered up – ingenious as it is, it comes across as a disappointment and reflects poorly on the whole movie.
The Dooms Chapel Horror (USA 2016: Dir John William Holt) A great although rather exploitation-style movie title for
what is quite a subtle film, although it can’t quite decide whether it wants to
be a character study or creature feature.
Kyle returns to his Kentucky home town after an 11 year
absence with girlfriend Mandy in tow. He left as a small boy, blamed for being
neglectful of his farm duties which resulted in the death of his brother Ryan
in a threshing accident. On returning he is still vilified by the locals who
clearly have very long memories.
The setting for the movie is rural – rotting cars, poorly maintained housing, and swathes
of long term unemployed men shooting
pool and looking mean; very similar to Debra Granik’s 2010 movie Winter’s Bone or indeed last year’s
Oscar hopeful Hell or High Water then. Kyle and Mandy bring their film making friend Tanner with
them to document Kyle’s search for the truth. For Kyle means to protest his
innocence and find out what really happened to Ryan, and hooks himself up with
a body camera to film his conversations with the locals. What he uncovers (a weird
cult and a strange beast in the woods) brings a change of pace from slow build
up to final reel explosion of violence.
The Dooms Chapel
Horror combines faux documentary footage and first person hand held filming
to create a mix of styles which help to build up the story. While it’s all
cleverly done, the creature elements jar somewhat, and there’s a generally
laconic air to the proceedings which makes it a bit of a tedious watch at
times. Hats (or should that be Stetsons) off to first time feature director
John William Holt for trying something that isn’t just a load of kids running
around in the woods, but ultimately this is an interesting movie rather than a
very good one.
LA Contagion aka Killer Party aka The Shower (USA 2014: Dir Alex Drummond) Wow, way to go through the naming wringer! Dating back from 2013, this comedy, about a baby shower party that turns into a fight for survival against a group of ‘infected’ neighbours, is equal parts US TV show Modern Family and The Crazies.
LA Contagion aka Killer Party aka The Shower (USA 2014: Dir Alex Drummond) Wow, way to go through the naming wringer! Dating back from 2013, this comedy, about a baby shower party that turns into a fight for survival against a group of ‘infected’ neighbours, is equal parts US TV show Modern Family and The Crazies.
The various couples at the party are introduced to us via
title cards, and some attempt is made to establish the characters, who are
mainly actors and writers in ‘the business’ (the hostess is a theatrical agent).
The standouts in this motley crew are waspish party organiser Joanne (Suzanne
Sena) and her put upon assistant Beth (Stephanie Tobey), a clown hired for the
party (Tony Rego, who’s much funnier after he becomes ‘infected’ – I think
that’s the point) and wannabe Republican candidate Zach (Paul Natonek), who
speaks entirely in political platitudes.
The ‘infected’ aren’t zombies as such (in fact it’s often
quite hard to tell them apart from the uninfected) and we don’t really know why
they have turned, but once the carnage begins, it’s clear that director Alex
Drummond has seen Shaun of the Dead more than once or twice. Not much happens from
this point on, and there’s a lot of talking. The assembled guests and their
kids gradually run out of food as they continue to hole up in the house and
battle the one or two ‘infected’ that make it over the threshold, necessitating
a foraging trip to a neighbour’s house to plunder their cupboards. The body
count is high and the gore is Pythonesque and ludicrous (an ‘infected’ little
girl is clearly laughing as she’s filmed eating entrails).
This isn’t a great film. It would have made a smart short feature but too little happens and there are simply too many cast members
with nothing to do, who just snark at each other. I like the suburban look of
the thing though and the clown character raises some chuckles due to his
ineptitude – I laughed when, after a night of action, the cast survey a garden
full of badly made balloon animals, and one character remarks drolly “the clown
was busy last night.”
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