Horror

THE MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933)

February 23, 2021

(Blu-Ray) (A quick caveat: skip over any public domain copies of this film.)

THE MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM is notable for several reasons: Michael Curtiz (GONE WITH THE WIND) directed it; it features Fay Wray’s scream just a bit before she’d appear in KING KONG; it was one of the rare Warner Bros. horror films of the 30s (including DOCTOR X, which Curtiz also directed, and also starred Wray); it influenced a number of films (obviously it was remade into HOUSE OF WAX, but I speculate it also trickled down to DARKMAN); it was also the last Technicolor two-color process film, and it looks -gorgeous-.

What’s interesting about color and film is that, while we have THE JAZZ SINGER as (unfortunately) the bellringer for talkies, films have been projected in color practically since their inception, either through reel-tinting or even hand-tinting, or early Technicolor processes.* THE MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM’s use of the two-color Technicolor process** is an astounding marvel, leaning into the gauzy, muted nature of the development procedure, utilizing it to create a far more expressionistic film that it’d be without color. The closing scene in the basement is especially striking, not just because of the set design and acute angles, but the use of light and shadow and command of tint.

Again, there are a lot of reasons to watch this — it’s a fun popcorn film, Wray is fantastic in it, although she’s supporting character and not the lead, and Glenda Farrell makes a meal out of her screwball crime reporter character — but you’re doing yourself a disservice if you watch an older or public domain print. It was restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Film Foundation in 2019, then released commercially in 2020, and that’s what you want to see.***

“Images of wax that throbbed with human passion! Almost woman! What did they lack?!”

** For more on early Technicolor processes, which are all distinctly fascinating, check out: http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/oldcolor/technicolor3.htm

*** See https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/blogs/archive-blog/2020/04/21/mystery-wax-museum-restored-qa-scott-macqueen for more information on the restoration process. Also, here’s a before/after video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVrriovENz0

12 HOUR SHIFT (2020)

February 4, 2021

(Hulu/VOD) Brea Grant is one busy creative. Tracking 2020 film releases alone, she wrote and appeared in this year’s LUCKY, popped up in THE STYLIST (sadly, I’ve been unable able to watch either yet), had a prominent role in AFTER MIDNIGHT, and still found time to write and direct 12 HOUR SHIFT.

12 HOUR SHIFT is a taut dark comedy about Mandy (Angela Bettis, MAY), a junkie nurse trying to appease her organ trafficking cousin Regina (Chloe Farnworth, IN CIRCLES) who misplaced the kidney Mandy pilfered for her. It’s a nasty good time featuring absolutely deplorable behavior from everyone involved but, despite behaving very badly, the characters are uniquely fleshed out and feel surprisingly grounded. While you can tell Chloe Farnworth is having a lot of fun leaning into her character’s impulses, the film belongs to Angela Bettis with her gruff voice and stern stares.

It helps that 12 HOUR SHIFT is tightly constructed, the score seamlessly — and surprisingly — weaves through genres, Grant and cinematographer/composer Matt Glass (SQUIRREL and the upcoming GHOSTS OF THE OZARKS) make the most of the hospital space and ensure that every color pops, and they somehow managed to (briefly) wrangle Mick Foley.

It’s worth noting that Brea Grant -also- co-hosts the READING GLASSES podcast with Mallory O’Meara, who wrote the edifying biography about Milicent ‘Designer of The Gill Man’ Patrick: THE LADY FROM THE BLACK LAGOON!

SPONTANEOUS (2020)

January 25, 2021

(epix/Hulu/Paramount+/VOD) In a year of unnervingly prescient pandemic screenplays, this one stands out. Based on Aaron Starmer’s young adult novel, senior-year high school teens start spontaneously exploding and are quarantined while scientists race to find a cure.

Brian Duffield’s (writer of both UNDERWATER and JANE GOT A GUN) adaptation takes a number of notes from THE LEFTOVERS, such as uniforms similar to the ‘Guilty Remnants’ and referring to the ‘exploded’ as ‘departed’. They even leave the ‘act of departing’ in the visual gutter — you never witness it occur, you only witness the aftermath. It’s a nice touch by Duffield, and it leads to more than a few gleefully shocking moments.

While you will laugh while watching this — especially at the playful insults bandied about by acerbic smartass Mara (Katherine Longford, KNIVES OUT and LOVE, SIMON) with her best friend Hayley Law (RIVERDALE), boyfriend Dylan (Charlie Plummer, LEAN ON PETE), and ‘cool dad and mom (comedy mainstay Rob Huebel and COYOTE UGLY’s Piper Perabo) — it’s a much more downbeat and thoughtful, occasionally distressing, look at teens reckoning with their mortality on the cusp of beginning their adult lives. It’s not exactly the thigh-slapping dark rom-com the trailer pitches, which is a relief because the end result resonates far longer than a more flippant approach to the material would.

VIVARIUM (2019)

January 16, 2021

(Prime/VOD) A high-concept slow burn about a couple (Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg) who, in the process of looking for a house, find themselves trapped in an empty suburban development with no exit.

VIVARIUM recalls the hour-long episodes near the end of the first THE TWILIGHT ZONE run, the ones that still had a kernel of an interesting concept, but struggled to draw it out over the 50+ minutes allotted to them and, ultimately, left you feeling listless and frustrated, perhaps sighing loudly. Like those episodes, VIVARIUM has an intriguing concept, and there are a few interesting reveals peppered in, but watching Eisenberg and Poots — despite both injecting some much needed pathos into characters — try to crack the mystery of their situation while they waste away is a frustrating endeavor, especially as the film nears the end.

However! I still watched each and every one of those hour-long TWILIGHT ZONE episodes and never felt it was wasted time, and I feel similarly about VIVARIUM. Director Lorcan Finnegan and writer Garret Shanley — both of whom previously shared the same roles on WITHOUT NAME (2016) — make the film’s peculiarities feel fresh which, for a piece so focused on domestic roles and suburbia, is no small feat. Would I have preferred it to have focused on how three different sets of people would react when placed in this situation? Certainly, especially given the title of the movie, but this is the film we received, and it’s a film I’ll be chewing over for a while.

As usual, the trailer gives away too much, but here it is anyway:

GET DUKED! (2019)

January 11, 2021

(Prime) A light comedy/horror movie about four city boys (three hellion misfits, another a straight-up nerd) who have mostly unwillingly signed up to participate in The Duke of Edinbergh’s Award, an ‘outdoor adventure challenge in the Highlands’ set up in 1956 by the Duke of Edinbergh to help inspire young teens to ‘attain standards of achievement and endeavour in a wide variety of active interests’. (The film opens with a clearly faux-dated training video that — partially due to its use of fonts — feels like parody, but it is not, the Award is a very real thing: https://www.royal.uk/60-years-duke-edinburghs-award .)

Left without adult supervision, and only the barest of instructions, the boys dick around, smoke up (using part of the map they were given), and act generally obnoxious (except for the nerd, who is disheartened he’s not receiving the bonding adventure he’d hoped for). For the first third of the film, sitting through the scenes of infantile behavior is tedious, but the gears shift upon the introduction of a older stranger determined to kill youths, and he has his sights trained on them.

From there the adventure really begins, as the boys try to find ways to survive despite their incompetence and their willingness to leap first and look later. There’s a particularly rousing break about midway through that serves as a self-indulgent music video — this is the first feature effort from writer/director Ninian Doff, who has previously directed videos for acts like Run The Jewels and the Chemical Brothers — but the song and visuals ratchet up the fun, before culminating in a final act that tries to draw out a bit of political satire before immediately turning on its heel as if to tell the audience ‘fuck that, have a few more laughs.’

It helps that those playing the boys are able to come across as goofs instead of maniacs, and DUKED is fleshed out with great supporting talent like Eddie Izzard, Kate Dickie (THE VVITCH, PROMETHEUS, PREVENGE), Alice Lowe (SIGHTSEERS, PREVENGE), and Jonathan Aris (loads of British TV like HUMANS, SHERLOCK, etc.) Yes, it’s a slight film but, by the end, it had earned a bit of love.

ANYTHING FOR JACKSON (2020)

January 2, 2021

(AMC+/SHUDDER/VOD) ANYTHING FOR JACKSON is the rare character-forward horror film that also holds more than a few delightfully gory frights, almost to the point where it feels like it commentary on the horror community.

The premise is stock horror: grandparents Audrey (Sheila McCarthy, I’VE HEARD THE MERMAIDS SINGING) and Henry Walsh (the extremely distinctive Julian Richings, who has appeared in any genre show you’ve watched over the past decade) are grandparents who kidnap a pregnant woman to bring their grandchild back to life via black magic. However, the Walshes are more empathetic and human than most horror films would treat them, and the film takes its time peeling away the layers to detail the steps as to how the grandparents ended up making a deal with the devil.

ANYTHING FOR JACKSON was directed by Justin G. Dyck, and written by Dyck and Keith Cooper, both of whom have worked together on a number of conventional made-for-TV Christmas movies (A CHRISTMAS VILLAGE, CHRISTMAS WEDDING PLANNER), which I suspect helped them to shape this subversive horror piece, as it feels like they’re used to flexing within genre constraints in ways that will surprise you.

(I’d suggest skipping the trailer, as it spoils a few startling moments, plus it’s not exactly a finely honed teaser.)

EXTRA ORDINARY (2020)

December 30, 2020

(fubo/hoopla/kanopy/Showtime/VOD) EXTRA ORDINARY is an extremely charming and winsome Irish horror-comedy about a woman named Rose (comedian Maeve Higgins) who has been bestowed with paranormal talents, which include the ability to see ghosts. Unfortunately, those powers backfired on her, resulting in the death of her father, so she swore them off and instead became a driving instructor. Unfortunately, local man Martin Martin (Barry Ward, THE END OF THE F***ING WORD) and washed up musician Christian Winter (Will Forte, MACGRUBER, THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, clearly having fun playing a villain) will severely test that resolution.

EXTRA ORDINARY could coast along on the quality of its low-key goofs and gags and be a fun hangout horror rom-com, but the overarching story (penned by the directors Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman, with contributions from Higgins) jauntily moves along and escalates into one very fun but very odd climax. Literally.

It also features several finely produced video segments that recall GARTH MERENGHI’S DARKPLACE and LOOK AROUND YOU, fully rounding out the film into a terrifically satisfying film. Sadly, it was released in the US right before lockdown, but hopefully it’ll find an audience sooner rather than later.

TITO (2020)

December 21, 2020

(VOD) TITO is a scrappy and rough film that seems at odds with Amazon Prime’s library, but who am I to argue?

It’s a difficult film to describe, but: Tito is a person trying to live their own young life, fearful of much — as evidenced by the hunch on their back caused by endless peering and cowering as well as the orange ‘emergency’ whistle hanging around their neck — but still has appetites. Someone else enters their life, feeds them, latches onto them, and everything cascades from there.

Written and directed by Grace Glowicki, it’s an audacious character study that at times reminded me of TETSUO: THE IRON MAN, mostly because of its severe sound design and outsider character — not because there’s any aggressive cyborg action in it — but also because it’s a prolonged experimental look at a someone very damaged trying to cope with what’s been forced upon them.

In case I haven’t been clear: this is not a fun watch. That said, Glowicki’s execution perfectly nails what the film means to accomplish. (I didn’t realize it was Kickstarted until writing this post, but the Kickstarter pitch lays out exactly what Grace wanted to do with the film and, well, mission accomplished. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/449341300/tito-feature-film)

FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES (1987-1990)

November 23, 2020

(DVD) Before WAREHOUSE 13, there was FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES. This series — which has no Jason, no Camp Crystal Lake, absolutely nothing to do with the FRIDAY THE 13TH films whatsoever — has one of the earliest TV ‘cursed collection of objects’ storytelling engines I can think of.

The show’s conceit is easy enough: two cousins, Ryan (John D. LeMay) and Micki (pop musician and model Robey) inherit their uncle’s antique store and, after a brief interlude featuring Ryan acting far too lecherous towards his cousin, they start selling off every item in the store to anyone interested. Through a horrific incident, they quickly realize that each item was collected by their uncle for a reason: they’re all powerful artifacts that should be locked up. Thankfully, their uncle created a meticulous ledger, and now they get to go scouring to find all of the artifacts they shouldn’t have sold in the first place.

The first season features a litany of Canadian talent, including Sarah Polley in one of her first TV roles, classic character actor (and The Old Man from MILLENNIUM) R.G. Armstrong as the original antique store owner, the previously mentioned Robey, and more. They even snagged some top-shelf directors for the first season, including David Cronenberg (who clearly was given carte blanche to shoot whatever he wanted to, and of course he trotted out a shit-ton of cancerous tumors) and Atom Egoyan, both of whom inject a bit of auteurism into the traditionally staid field of 80s television.

The recognizable guest stars and directors ebb as the show grows older though, which is fine because it finds a comfortable groove over the first two seasons. Then, in the third season, John D. Le May exits the show via one of the strangest — and oddly affecting — character exits I’ve ever seen, only to be replaced by Steve Monarque as ‘Johnny Ventura’, who is exactly what you’d expect from someone with a name like ‘Johnny Ventura’. (John D. Le May would later go on to be a featured player in JASON GOES TO HELL, completing the circuit between the show and the film.)

FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES is a show that probably survived for three seasons based on faking out folks, luring them in with the promise of weekly Jason slaughters, but I fear it’s has been forgotten because of how many were burned by that very promise. While the show had few highs, it also had few lows — it’s solid comfort food and eminently re-watchable, which is more than I can say about the films.

MILLENNIUM (FOX, 1996-1999)

November 1, 2020

(DVD) Sadly, there’s no way to stream this show, no way to digitally purchase any eps, and the DVDs are definitely costly, but I can’t talk about undersung TV shows without discussing MILLENNIUM.

MILLENNIUM was Chris Carter’s second FOX show, launched midway through X-FILES’ run. The first season was a severely grimdark and mostly lackluster procedural about Frank Black (Lance Hendrickson, giving it his all), a gifted profiler hunting down serial killers, with a mostly untouched framing device about the killers being obsessed with the upcoming millennium. I do not recommend the first season.

The second season was handed off to X-FILES alums Glen Morgan & James Wong — yes, the folks behind FINAL DESTINATION — and they reframe the show into a battle of Christian sub-sects — the Owls versus the Roosters — and they ramp up the ‘gifts’ that have been bestowed upon Frank Black in that he can see devils and angels, then they double-down on his family guilt by adding Darrin McGavin as his father. The show culminates in a ‘burn the fucking world down’ finale that Morgan & Wong surely thought would result in the show being cancelled, because they were fucking pissed off at FOX’s notes and knew they would not be invited back.

Not one, but two episodes of the second season were written by legendary TV writer (and Glen Morgan’s brother) Darin Morgan, probably best known for his X-FILES ep -Jose Chung’s ‘From Outer Space’-. Darin brings Chung back in Morgan’s -second- most memorable MILLENNIUM episode: -Jose Chung’s ‘Doomsday Defense’-, which is a must-see, and entertaining enough as a stand-alone.

For my money, Darin Morgan’s most memorable episode is -Somehow Satan Got Behind Me-, and it’s something special: four devils — literal devils — gather in at a donut shop in the early morning hours to discuss their latest accomplishments in corrupting humanity. That’s it, that’s the episode. It’s surprisingly melancholy and hits hard, and it deserves more attention.

The other facet MILLENNIUM S2 excelled at was silence. So many MILLENNIUM S2 episodes went five or more minutes without anyone saying anything, and the pinacle of this is with their Halloween episode, -The Curse of Frank Black-, in which ‘modern day’ Frank Black maybe utters 100 words, tops (most of which boil down to an argument with his tech sidekick as to whether the killer in SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT is a spree killer or a serial killer). Instead, the score speaks for him.

What Glen Morgan & James Wong always excel at is infusing their scripts with the perfect song, usually via counterpointing or general sentimentality. Season two introduced so many classic artists and songs to my young mind: Terry Jack’s Seasons in the Sun (via -Goodbye Charlie-), the muzak of Love is Blue from Paul Mauriat (via -Room With No View-) and, most importantly, the goddamn entirety of Patti Smith’s Horses for a ten-minute scene in -The Time is Now Part 2-, which is paired with a no-budget experimental phantasmagoria that, as I watched it live in 1998 — imagine watching this on network TV in 1998 — dropped my jaw. I’ve still never seen anything quite like it on TV. (No spoilers concerning the link below — it’s mostly context-free.)

Morgan & Wong — predictably — were jettisoned after season two, and the third season rolled back their finale and, apart from the addition of Klea Scott as Frank’s new partner and a somewhat amusing Halloween episode, it limped along for 22 eps before being cancelled. There’s an epilogue episode in X-FILES’ seventh season (the fourth ep) but it’s perfunctory and lackluster.

Just stick with the second season and you’ll be fine.

(Shoutout to the hardcore MILLENNIUM site https://millennium-thisiswhoweare.net/. They’ve been doing great work for so many years.)