(Prime/tubi/VOD) Directed by beloved character actor Bob Balaban! Scored with mambo-verve by Angelo Badalamenti! Mary Beth Hurt channelling Mary Astor! Sandy Dennis! Dennis Quaid back when he used to give a shit!
Delightfully weird, but very relatable, suburban horror coming-of-age film where the pre-teen kids’ strange imaginations run wild as they suss out that adults are really just large, hungry, hedonistic animals. We need more Sheilas in stories.
If anyone knows anything about the featured home, I’d love to hear about it because I swear I recognize it. It feels like it was ripped straight from Tati’s MON UNCLE.
(tubi/VOD) An absolutely brutal ‘girls trip to the woods gone wrong’ tale written, directed, and staring mumblecore staple Katie Aselton. The uncomfortable dynamic between the friends is the heart of the film, but it’s also briskly paced and contains more than a few jarring surprises. The closing shot is pure cinema, haunting in a Haneke way, and has lingered in my mind for months.
(Plex/tubi) Extremely padded vampire seductress film, but the sexual politics make it far more interesting than most Corman fare, and visually it has more in common with giallo than most films his studio was churning out.
(peacock/Prime/tubi/VOD/Vudu) Apart from CANDYMAN and the short story it’s based on, and HELLRAISER, I’m not much of a Clive Barker fan, so NIGHTBREED is new to me. That said, if someone had told me that David Cronenberg was the goddamn villain of the film, I would have rectified that mistake years ago. (Instead I had to find that out from a recent DOUBLE THREAT podcast episode.)
While Cronenberg is marvelously sinister (and his mask is something special), what really strikes me about the film is that it has a distinct queer/club kid/Tod Browning FREAKS vibe to it, which I should have expected but did not. On top of that, the Nightbreed designs are strikingly unique, the script contains a surprising amount of humor, and Elfman’s score is absurdly lush. Much more delightful than I imagined. Perhaps I’m a Barker fan after all!
(Hulu) Again, kind of a cheat, as technically Hulu’s INTO THE DARK is a TV series where every episode is a feature-length film. Like MASTERS OF HORROR, there are more prestigious entries in the series (I’M JUST FUCKING WITH OUT, PURE, MY VALENTINE) but, this is the only ‘sequel’ so far in the series. The original POOKA was a decent ‘cursed item’ film (especially in reflecting our new gig economy hellscape), but with POOKA LIVES!, director Nacho Vigalondo (TIMECRIMES, COLOSSAL) really maximizes the satirical potential, without minimizing the emotional bits.
Oh, and I may have buried the lede in that it’s a murderer’s row of nerdy actors: Malcolm Barrett! Lyndie Greenwood! Rachael Bloom! Felicia Day! Jonah Ray!
I’m not sure if INTO THE DARK will get a third season, but I do hope they continue with POOKA’s adventures. It’s been a while since we’ve had an original franchise that’s made it to three ‘films’.
(kanopy/tubi/VOD) In-between MCCABE & MRS. MILLER and THE LONG GOODBYE, Robert Altman directed this British psychodrama oddity, loosely based on lead actress Susannah York’s children’s book IN SEARCH OF UNICORNS. I know we always think of Altman as a loosey-goosey director, reveling in overlapping dialogue and aural confusion but, after all, his comeback film was the mannered murder mystery GOSFORD PARK (and, holy moly, what a cast that film had).
This is Altman as European horror art film director, and IMAGES is a genre take on the likes of Bergman’s PERSONA. Altman still can’t resist a bit of messiness, as it’s still a bit difficult to suss out the how’s and why’s and when’s after the credits roll, but it’s a thrillingly performed bit of a mess, and York is perfect in her role(s).
(AMC+/hoopla/SHUDDER/tubi/VOD/Vudu)? I recently watched a short documentary about the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET franchise and one of the dudes in the doc — because of course they only talked to dudes — panned MASSACRE because the killer lacked character, and wow, way to miss the fucking point of the film.
MASSACRE was penned by Rita Mae Brown, a well-known feminist activist and writer, and Corman picked it up and gave it to Amy Holden Jones to direct, but only if she’d play it straight. It features wall-to-wall women, all more capable and unique than you’d normally see in a slasher film, and the film leans so heavily on the male gaze that it’s intentionally absurd, a sly way of gaining Corman’s approval while hoping others would recognize it as visually subversive.
As I’m sure anyone reading this is aware, sadly, the horror genre has leaned even harder into exploitation and male gaze — not to mention outright misogyny — since ’82, so what at that time was meant to be winking reads as standard fare.
As a slasher film, it holds up — the killer may not have the silhouette of Jason or Michael, but the drill is undeniably iconic, and the film utilizes the full frame in more Hitchcockian ways than you’d expect from an 80s Corman exploitation film.
It excels at satire, though. None of the boys are heroes, the girls spend their time reading PLAYGIRL and trying to figure out the score of a recent baseball game, often while eating pizza over a dead body.
Again, you might want to skip the trailer, as it gives everything away.
(HBO MAX/VOD) Proto-90s post-modern horror. I’d say SCREAM before Wes Craven’s SCREAM, but that infers that it’s a lesser film than SCREAM whereas I think it’s one of the smartest self-reflexive horror films ever made; it’s an author reckoning with the perils of creating a horror film franchise that spirals out of their control, while still being an absurdly entertaining, winking, surreal and horrifying film. Smartly shot and absolutely ruthlessly paced — every scene expertly blends into the next — it’s Wes Craven besting himself.
A brilliant film, even if you haven’t seen prior NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET films, but so much better if you have.
(hoopla/tubi/VOD) A thrillingly convoluted ‘twins tale’ thriller from the director of ROAD HOUSE (1989) that also happens to be a Ripper tale. Despite it taking place in the US, it never forgets the Ripper’s roots, of which the script is -very- smart about handling.
The film’s also a great reminder that anyone could smoke anywhere during the 80s. You’ll even see a huge Marlboro Man fixture during a chase scene.
(Plex/tubi/VOD/Vudu) I skipped THE WOMAN (2011) as I’m not a huge fan of Lucky McKee (although I intend to revisit MAY (2002) soon, and KINDRED SPIRITS (2019) is a quality ‘jealous woman’ film) but I really don’t care for Jack Ketchum. That said, DARLIN’, a sequel to THE WOMAN, is written and directed by Pollyanna McIntosh who played the title role, and reprises it here.
I’m sure I’m missing out on some lore but, despite the cannibalism, the blood and the grime and the stink, DARLIN’ is more of a character study of a -wild child- , complete with an astounding array of idiosyncratic players, some sympathetic and some despicable. It’s sharply shot, features some very sly dialogue but, most importantly, is concerned with calling out exploitative men.
I’d love to see more writers/directors hand over their characters to the people that gave them life, because this was far better than I ever expected.
