AMC+

SLINGS & ARROWS (2003-2006)

November 20, 2020

(Acorn/AMC+/Sundance Now/VOD) SLINGS & ARROWS is the story of a Shakespeare theatre troupe in a small Canadian town that’s a barely disguised facsimile of the Stratford Festival theatre troupe and — wait, no! Come back!

Yes, on paper it sounds like something you’d fall asleep to watching PBS on a Sunday afternoon, but the show is far more intriguing than that. Created by Mark McKinney (KIDS IN THE HALL — oh, do I have your attention now?), Susan Coyne (MOZART IN THE JUNGLE), and Bob Martin (MICHAEL: EVERY DAY), it’s really about actor-turned-theatre director Geoffrey Tennant (Paul Gross, best known for DUE SOUTH, but was also in the core seasons of TALES OF THE CITY), prone to mental breakdowns, finds himself haunted by the death of his mentor Oliver (Stephen Ouimette, who did voices on the previously mentioned DOG CITY!), who was hit and killed by a car after a very lackluster opening night of the festival’s latest production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Given that Geoffrey’s ramshackle arthouse theatre had just been closed and he was out of a job, he’s approached about taking over where Oliver left off: to helm the upcoming production of Hamlet. Geoffrey reluctantly agrees, mulling over radical changes to the production when Oliver appears in front of him, chiming in regarding his significant changes, driving Geoffrey closer to the brink of madness than he felt he already was.

(Yes, this mostly occurs in the first episode. It’s an intense show.)

Given that it was a TV show that often consisted of watching actors rehearse, or prep for rehearsal, you might think that the cinematography would be dull or perfunctory, but it’s always engrossing, and the camera rarely stays in place (except when it knows best to do so).

From the actors to the writers and directors, the entire show is a love letter to the messiness of theatre, both on the stage and off. It’s one of the most heartfelt and earnest dramas I’ve ever seen, and is chock full of complicated characters, and even features a litany of swans.

If you needed any more convincing, despite the fact that the show has barbs out for Stratford, my wife and I did trek up there some years ago — mostly because we were very enamored with SLINGS & ARROWS, but also the concept of the company — and we caught a brilliant production of MOTHER COURAGE, as well as a spectacle-laden KING LEAR with Colm Feore as Lear (who also appeared in SLINGS & ARROWS!) If Stratford still exists after the pandemic, I can’t recommend it enough, as it’s a perfectly relaxed vacation if you’re into theatre. I’m sure the swans will be waiting for you.

Season One Trailer:

If you’ve already watched SLINGS & ARROWS, the cast & crew just had a COVID reunion that ACORN has made available for free, which will almost assuredly make you want to re-watch the show:

THE HAUNTING (1962)

October 31, 2020

(AMC+/SHUDDER/VOD) If you’re reading this, there’s probably a 50/50 chance you’ve watched THE HAUNTING and, if so, it’s well-worth a re-watch! If you haven’t? Well, that’s what these electronic missives are for!

THE HAUNTING (1962, not to be confused with the 1999 version, which isn’t as bad as you may remember) is probably the closest to a definitive Shirley Jackson adaptation we’ll ever get, and not just because she was actively involved with the adaptation. While it excises and condenses the book, it never loses track of the complexities of Eleanor, the figurehead of the story, wanting to be wanted, but unaware as to how she can be needed.

It helps that THE HAUNTING is shot with a pitch-perfect eye. Director Robert Wise (a goddamn Hollywood legend as the award-winning editor of CITIZEN KANE and director/producer of WEST SIDE STORY, THE SOUND OF MUSIC) and cinematographer Davis Boulton used an experimental Panavision 30mm lens that lends an unmistakably unique look to the film; the occasional lens distortion helps to amplify certain scenes near the end of the film.

The lens, in tandem with the claustrophobic and detailed sets and the intense lighting gives the house a verve (while often framing all of the primary characters as entrapped or jailed) that required almost absolutely no ‘traditional’ haunting visual effects, relying instead on perfect sound design, and all of it dovetails with the intense internal monologuing from Eleanor.

THE HAUNTING is a perfect Halloween film, one that’ll make you think about your surroundings as you lumber off to bed, all while questioning your own place.

TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 (1986)

October 30, 2020

(AMC+/hoopla/Prime/VOD) TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 has a similar reputation to its original as HALLOWEEN 3 has to the first two HALLOWEENs: fans felt betrayed. Both films toy with their hallmark villains (in the case of HALLOWEEN 3, Michael is nowhere to be found), neither film tries to repeat their prior efforts, and both look and feel drastically different from what fans expected. While HALLOWEEN 3 has finally been embraced by horror fans, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 (TCM2) is still mostly ignored, which I believe is rather unfair.

TCM2 is unmistakably glossier and poppier — just take a listen to the soundtrack. And yes, it’s far broader than the original. In other words, far closer to the tone of similar 80s horror films, but there’s a reason for that.

Hooper and co-writer L.M. Kit Carson (co-writer of PARIS, TEXAS) are using TCM2 to actively undermine what Hooper created with TCM1, by putting a slapstick, circus-like veneer on the entire film. Texas, as a state, is reduced to a brightly colored carnival (Texas Battle Land, chock full of crass Alamo murals and poorly rendered re-enactments), the Sawyer family become a twisted Three Stooges, and Dennis Hopper is reduced to an short-sighted, idiotic buffoon, often over-compensating for his own weaknesses by taking up not one, but two chainsaws.

Is it puerile? Oh, most definitely — there’s even a scene where Leatherface (who quickly falls for our radio DJ heroine) ejaculates in his pants, then quickly becomes frustrated and tears up the radio station upon discovering this new sensation. New Sawyer family member Chop Top has a disgusting habit of picking the skin from around his skull wound with the hook of a clothes hanger and eating it.

Is it satire? I’m hard-pressed to say, but Hooper’s definitely undermining his original creation and having a lot of fun doing so. If they had replaced Leatherface and recast the Sawyer family and hadn’t sold it as a TCM sequel, I’m sure this film would be better regarded today. However, it’s questionable whether the film would have the same bite that Hooper intended if it weren’t billed as a Texas Chainsaw Massacre film, if it hadn’t pulled the rug out from fans’ feet.

THE MIST (2007)

October 29, 2020

(AMC+/fubo/VOD) I read a fair amount of King as a kid and, while I found much of it thrilling, I recall very little of it disturbing me (although the TV film adaptation of IT definitely kept me awake at night) except for one short story from his SKELETON CREW collection: THE MIST. I fully realize it wasn’t so much the story itself, but how the story let my imagination run wild with the fear of what’s unseen.

While Frank Durabont’s adaptation of THE MIST differs in many ways from the source material, it still reckons with the idea of ‘what’s the worst out there that we can’t see?’, taking it to the extreme with what you may feel is a controversial end. In-between the opening and that ending, you have your traditional small-town interpersonal conflicts and blow-ups, mostly structured within the space of a decently sized grocery store with overly spacious front windows.

It includes murderer’s row of fantastic performers, including Laurie Holden and Jeffery DeMunn (both pre-THE WALKING DEAD), Andre Braugher, and frickin’ Toby Jones, stylish shots and cracking sound and monster design, it’s one of those adaptations where everything coalesces into something special.

(By the way, there was a barely-promoted TV adaptation of THE MIST that aired on the now-defunct basic cable channel Spike in 2017. Unless you’re hardcore about comparing adaptations — like I am — you may want to skip it.)

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943)

October 28, 2020

(AMC+/VOD) A slight cheat, as it’s gothic romanticism disguised as supernatural horror, but the end result is just the same. Horror master Jacques Tourneur (CURSE OF THE DEMON, CAT PEOPLE) was tasked by master producer Val Lewton, to create a film to match the title ‘I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE’. Tourneur did, but leaned heavily on JANE EYRE and Haitian folklore to do so, resulting in the an early ‘elevated horror’* film.

As you might expect from a Haitian folklore zombie film from the 40s, there’s a fair amount of problematic othering going on here, although it’s not as severe as other films of its time, and it’s actively attempting to be progressive.

  • I hate that label, but it’s sufficient shorthand.

CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962)

October 26, 2020

(AMC+/Criterion/fubu/epix/HBO MAX/hoopla/kanopy/Paramount+/tubi/Vudu, anywhere really, although I watched The Directors Cut via my Criterion copy) One of the few films I discovered because of a video game — no, not CARNEVIL — I’d read about it influencing SILENT HILL.

CARNIVAL OF SOULS is a surprisingly singular vision from industrial film Herk Harvey, who only made this one film, but he made that swing count. A woman is the sole survivor of a three-person car crash, and goes about trying to move ahead in life, but can’t shake a gauzy hazy or the stare of a ghostly man.

It’s a surprisingly quiet film, despite the often oppressive organ soundtrack, and while it’s built upon a number of small moments, it culminates in an astounding final sequence. Art-house horror, full of tension and dread, well before such a thing widely existed.

One final note: I believe some song I’m quite familiar with sampled Mary’s meeting with a Dr. Samuels, as well as the exchange: “Now you quit licking your chops, she’s outta your class.” “You wanna bet?” If anyone knows who sampled them, let me know!

PONTYPOOL (2008)

October 22, 2020

(AMC+/VOD) Based on Tony Burgess’ PONTYPOOL CHANGES EVERYTHING, the film condenses and improves on the source material, turning it into more of a WAR OF THE WORLDS broadcast, becoming more of a stage/radioplay than film. This piece about a virus transmitted via speech wouldn’t work nearly as well without Stephen McHattie’s resonant voice -and- acerbically charismatic presence. That said, even without him, it’d still be an imaginatively brilliant and horrifying work. The mid-film obituaries hit hard. It’s a masterclass in wringing the most from a smart concept by selling a lot through showing very little.

A sequel has long been rumored — I assume it’d be based on CAESAREA, which I have yet to read — but by all indications it’d be significantly larger in scope, whereas PONTYPOOL (the film) works better because of its insular scope.

“Pontypool is under quarantine. Everyone has to stay inside at all times.” Frankly, I’m shocked they haven’t re-united the cast for a COVID-19 ZOOM play. I’d pay damn good money to hear that.

THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE (1982)

October 14, 2020

(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.

Please note: the following trailer is VERY NSFW.

BLISS (2019)

October 9, 2020

(AMC+/Shudder/VOD) There’s not a lot to BLISS — it’s a horror-fueled drug trip that comes at you like a car crash — but the best moments flash before your eyes right before you’re hit, and I’m not about to spoil ‘em.

Visually compelling (although rarely astounding), Dora Madison (who never quite got to shine on FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS) fuels the film, playing with crazed-but-grounded intensity, and George Wendt inserts himself into the film because he apparently loves horror and throws himself into his role.

TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID (2017)

October 2, 2020

(AMC+/SHUDDER/VOD) Fantastical horror from Issa López that conveys the fear of being an orphan trying to survive in extreme, but supremely realistic, times. Visually marvelous and features fantastic performances from all kids involved.