Wax Made In Italy

With this review, I got my goal in for this month. Now the real challenge starts. I really don't think I will get a review a day up, but I know I will get more than my usual ten posts. To finish off the month of September though, I watched a film that was written by two Italian horror greats, Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci. With some big names like that, it has to be a good horror movie, right? Lucio Fulci passed away before this project could be completed. Fulci was going to direct Wax Mask (1997), so Sergio Stivaletti, a former effects guy, stepped in to make his first film as a director. As we know all too well though, just because the people on the film know what there are doing, it doesn't always mean the end film will be good.

Wax Mask starts off in the year 1900, in Paris. We come in on a very bloody double murder. The police come in to start their investigation, and one of them hears something. When he looks under a bed, he discovers a child. Twelve years later, now in Rome, we catch up with Sonia (Romina Mondello). Sonia still has dreams about what she saw all those years ago, but she is trying to move on with her life. A new wax museum is about to open, so Sonia decides to try and get a job there making clothes for the wax figures. She meets Boris (Robert Hossein), the guy that makes the wax figures, and owns the museum. Right away, Boris is attracted to Sonia. I don't know if it was in a sexual way, but more of a you remind of me someone way. As she leaves, she runs into Andrea (Riccardo Serventi Longhi), a reporter who is there covering a story on a death at the museum, which we see before meeting the older Sonia actually. Andrea thinks something is going on in the museum, but Sonia doesn't really think so. That is until she sees a display that shows the murder of her father in perfect detail.

I had high hopes for Wax Mask when the film started. The DVD itself was a bit of a disappointment. I had to wait a few days to get it, because it came from New Jersey. There isn't a real menu to be found. It starts up in the chapter selection screen. The opening double murder scene though was a nice start to the film. There were some nice effects to be found there. Sadly, good effects were not always found throughout the film though. Most of the effects are good, but there are some that could really ruin a scene. These were mostly caused by the very cheap looking CGI effects. I didn't even understand why they had some of them. For example, fire all around, and people are trying to get out. They show a long shot of the hallway everyone is in, which shows CGI fire all around. I didn't get why they did that, when they had the set on fire anyway. I guess maybe they added the shot later, so they used CGI? No matter, it didn't look good at all.

The plot itself is much like The House Of Wax films. If you have watched those, you have basically watched Wax Mask as well. There are little twists that set this one apart, from the ones that came before it though. The machines that make people into wax figures gives the film a sort of science fiction feel to it. To top this off, there is even a Terminator tribute thrown in there. This was a bit of a jaw dropping moment for me, when I saw it. Not really in a good way mind you. All it did was help finish up a downward spiral that the film has started in. The actual ending of Wax Mask made no sense to me. I would watch it again to see if I missed anything, but I didn't like it well enough to do that. On the plus side of things, there were some very good looking women to be found here. And they aren't afraid of being topless either. Of course, I realize how sad that just sounded. I'm praising a film because of the nudity. Of well, I always said there is something in every film that I liked. I couldn't help but like the nudity this time, since there are some very beautiful women. One topless shot did actually manage to shock me though. A couple of kids are attacked, only one dies, and with the worst scream I have ever heard. The other was thought to be dead, but the doctors discover that she wasn't dead after all. We see her on a table with a sheet covering her. They pull the sheet back and we see her topless. This really surprised and shocked me since she doesn't look very old. The doctors were saying her age was either 12 or 13. I hope the actress was in fact much older than that, but still.

Over all, Wax Mask wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be. There are some nice effects to be found, be beware of the bad ones as well. The acting seemed to be ok, but the voice overs could have used some more work. Maybe worth a watch once, but it was just another disappointment to me being that is an Argento movie in a way.
2 out of 5 I thought I took a screen capture of the robot but I guess not, sorry

Spaghetti Vampires

My plans for the weekend ended in a misery, but I have two reviews with two days. I can do this! As everyone knows, a horror fans favorite month of the year is coming up. I have nothing special planned for this month, but I will do my damnedest to get as many reviews up as I can. Since I don't want to commit myself to saying I will do a review every day, I will at least give it a good try all the same. My Netflix stuff has been sitting around for close to, or longer than, a month now. So I decided to make them work for once. I will only be taking things out of my collection when Netflix falls behind on me. This will only be through the next month, after that I will switch back to alternating between Netflix and my own stuff. The film I watched today was Slaughter Of The Vampires. A 1962 film out of Italy, thus the silly title for the post. I probably should use the title of the film in my post titles, since it would make finding them through the archive easier for others, and myself. I like coming up with my own titles though. It lets what little creativity I have out.

Slaughter Of The Vampires starts off with a man (Dieter Eppler) and woman being chased by a mob. It is your classic mob, with farm tools and torches. It turns out that the man and woman are vampires, which sure explains why they are being hunted down. They manage to hide from the mob, but as they make a break for it, the woman falls down. The male vampire, being the nice evil guy that he is, leaves her there for the mob to kill, while he makes his escape. He makes it to a castle where Wolfgang (Walter Brandi) and Louise (Graziella Granata) are making their home. On their wedding night, the vampire awaken from his coffin, hidden (if you want to call it that) behind some wine barrels. He comes up to the party and sets his sight on Louise right away. He dances with her, which gets everyone talking of course, and puts her under his spell. When she nearly faints, she decided that it is time for her to retire. So much for the honeymoon! The vampire enters her room and puts the bite on her. Over the next few days, Louise begins to weaken, and becomes more sick. Wolfgang calls his good friend in, who happens to be a doctor as well. After observing Louise, he tells Wolfgang to take a trip to Vienna to find a Dr. Nietzche (Luigi Batzella). He believes that Nietzche is the only person that can now help Louise. After Wolfgand talks to Nietzche, Nietzche realizes they are dealing with vampires. It just so happens that Nietzche is also a vampire hunter, isn't it neat how it all falls into place? Are they too late to save Louise?

The first thing I noticed while watching Slaughter Of The Vampires, was how bad of a print they used for the transfer. There are a lot of crackles and even small skips. It isn't so bad as to make the film unwatchable, but it can get annoying at times. I was surprised to find the film in black and white, the sleeve says the film came out in 1970. If you caught the year back at the start of this review, you know this isn't true, which cleared things up for me. It was released in theaters here in the States in 1969 though, under the name Curse Of The Blood-Ghouls. So maybe that is where they get the 1970 date. I admit that I was a little disappointed by it being in black and white, but it is something I can live with. If it had the real release date on the sleeve, I probably wouldn't have cared at all.

Slaughter Of The Vampires has a rating of G. I didn't know this until after I watched it, but it sure explains a lot. Since I was watching a black and white film, I wasn't really expecting much as far as effects go. We do get to see a little bit of blood after a bite. What I was really disappointed in though, was the total lack of puncture marks on the neck after a bite. We have Louise covering her neck, right after she has been bitten by the vampire, because she doesn't want Wolfgang to see it. After he leaves though, we clearly see there was nothing to hide after all. How can I take a vampire movie seriously with not even a hickey? The acting seemed to be fine, but the voice over work was laughable at best. I thought that one character's voice would say the lines of a different character at times. Like they were reading their lines too fast and didn't notice they were supposed to stop. It didn't happen a lot, but it was something that I did notice.

Slaughter Of The Vampires is said to have been made in order to cash in on the gothic vampire craze that Hammer Studio's unleashed. It does have that feel to it, I will give it that. It has a running time of only 75 minutes, but it still feels like it drags in places. In the end, I didn't like this film. I just can't take it seriously when they can't even bother with bite marks. If you should want to watch this film, and you have Netflix, you can watch it over the net at Netflix. I don't know why they picked this film for their play now feature, but it is there. You might do that instead of getting the disc since all there is on it for extras is the trailer.
1 out of 5 I want my bite marks!

Being Blind Isn't All Bad

I was hoping to get two reviews done yesterday, but I only got the one done. I did manage to watch two films though. It was just so late after the second film that I decide I was just too tired to try and write up another review. If I wanted it to make any sense anyway, it was best to wait until today. This time I watched another Dario Argento film. This is the film that I kept putting off because of the long running time, which turns out, wasn't as long as the sleeve said. I will get into that more later in the review though. The Cat O'Nine Tails (1971) is a film that I had never heard of. That surprised me since I have watched a lot of Argento's films. I know I don't know all of his films, but I assumed I would have run across the name at some point.

The Cat O'Nine Tails starts us off with meeting a blind puzzle maker, Franco (Karl Malden), is walking home with his niece, Lori (Cinzia De Carolis). As they pass by a car, Franco hears the occupants talking. He stops to tie his shoe and asks Lori to describe to him what the men look like. She can only see one clearly. Later that night, a break in occurs at a building that does different kinds of drug research. The company believes that nothing was taken, but one man knows differently. He also knows he did the stealing. When this guy tries to blackmail the person though, he ends up under a train for his effort. A bunch of reporters are waiting on the train, and one of them just happens to capture the moment just before the guy gets hit by it. When Lori sees the picture in the newspaper, she realizes that this is the same guy that she saw in the car the night before. This gets Franco's interest up, as he was a reporter before going blind. He asks Lori who wrote the article, and she gives him the name Carlo Giordani (James Franciscus). Franco and Lori find Carlo, and Franco tells Carlo what he believes. Carlo decides to look into, starting with the picture, which he discovers does show a hand. Before they can get to the photographer though, he is also killed. Can they figure out who the killer is, and why he is killing people, before being targeted themselves?

I will be the first to admit that I haven't liked all of Argento's early works, but I was looking forward to this film, after not liking Tenebre all that much. I know they can't all be great films, but I can always hope they will be right? As I said above, I put off watching The Cat O'Nine Tails because of the run time. The Netflix sleeve listed it as an almost two hour film. When I watched it though, it ran a little over ninety minutes. Close to twenty minute difference there. I have gotten Netflix stuff before with the wrong run time, or the year, on it, so it only surprised me a little bit. After doing some reading though, I discovered that there are two versions of this film out there. A cut version, that runs just over ninety minutes, and an almost two hour version. I can only go by what I watch though, which was the heavily cut version.

The Cat O'Nine Tails turned out to be another giallo. I admit I was a little disappointed by this, but I always try and give every film a fair shot regardless. I liked the characters that Argento gave us. Franciscus and Malden both give good performances. Rada Rassimov is, more or less, the leading lady. She is the daughter of the owner of the company that gets robbed. Many people say it is dubbed over, but it sure looked like they were speaking English to me. The biggest disappointment for me was the effects. Outside of some blood shown from the guy getting run over by the train...nothing. From the sound of it, a lot of the effects were left on the cutting room floor with this version. I was reading about one death I didn't even remember happening in my version. It is a shame. Maybe if I come across the uncut version, I will give that one a try. I'm not sure if I will like it any better though.

Another thing I didn't like was the killer. Everytime Franco and Carlo start to get a lead as to who is doing the killing, the killer always gets to them first. I found that pretty annoying after a while. There was also a car chase that surprised me a little bit. I guess it was the last thing I was expecting to find. I didn't really get why it was there, and also felt it went on a little too long. IMDb had to say, in its trivia section, that The Cat O'Nine Tails is often a least favorite of Aregnto's films. I can see why after watching it. It isn't a very exciting plot, and to be honest, I could have cared less who the killer was going to turn out to be. Maybe my score will change if I ever watch the uncut version. For this one though, I suggest staying away from it.
1 out of 5 No nudity either, which I think is a first for an Argento film

At Winter's End

Since this weekend might be my last chance to get some movie reviews posted, so I can reach my at least ten posts a month goal, I figured I had better get busy. I have four to go, well three after this one, so hopefully I can get all four done this weekend. At least three, that is the plan anyway. A while back, on one of my trips to Best Buy, a film caught my eye that I decided to go ahead and pick up. That film happened to be The Last Winter (2006). I picked it up, gave it a look over, and put it back. In the end though, I decided I should give it a shot. If I stayed away from every movie I never heard of, I wouldn't be doing very many reviews. Wait, I haven't been doing many reviews have I? Well not all theories turn out to be true I guess.

The Last Winter takes place in the Artic region of north Alaska. Remember how a lot of land up there is protected? Remember also that there happens to be oil under all that land? KIC Corporation has managed to strike a deal, but only if a pair of environmentalists give the go ahead. As the film starts, we are introduced to Ed Pollack (Ron Perlman), the man in charge that is returning to the base. The only thing that he notices that is different is that one of his crew is sleeping with an environmentalist. Abby (Connie Britton) has struck up a romance with Hoffman (James LeGros), much to the dismay of Ed. Ed is upset with Abby, but he is mad with Hoffman. Hoffman has discovered that the temperature is starting to rise, which makes it unsafe to move the heavy drilling equipment. This is not what Ed is wanting to hear. Ed calls his boss, who in turn pulls Hoffman off the project. Meanwhile, Maxwell (Zach Gilford), one of the workers there, is slowly starting to lose his mind. Will they be able to figure out what is going on before it is too late for them all?

The Last Winter has a lot going for it. It has a fairly interesting story, with a subject that we see in the news all the time now, global warming. It has a group of people that are miles away from any other living person. The story manages to be very tense at times as well. Many people have compared it to the film The Thing, which I can understand. The major difference being, there is no alien in this film. Then again, maybe there should have been one. Not saying that The Last Winter is a bad film. Far from it actually. Director/writer Larry Fessenden gives us a story that is big on character development, but very slow in pace. We aren't told what is going on for a very long time. In fact, the story only hints at what is going on, and leaves us to decide if we want to accept that or figure out some other reason.

One of the reasons I decided to get The Last Winter, is because of Ron Perlman. He has been on a roll lately with his movies. Since this was a film only a couple of years old, I wanted to see him in a horror movie. I wasn't disappointed either. His character is a little hard to like though. It isn't that he is a bad guy really. He is just a company man who wants to get things done, so his company can profit from it. When someone on his team is in trouble though, he is right there trying to help. He may not always make the best choices, but at least he is trying. James LeGros shares the lead role with Perlman. LeGros also does a very good job with his role. I have never heard of him, but was pretty impressed with him here. The effects on the other hand, are a bit lacking. What we do get is a frozen body, with some missing eyes, and some bad burns. They were very good effects, but I guess I was just expecting a bit more.

If you hate slow paced films, stay far away from The Last Winter. It takes close to the hour mark before the first person is even killed. Still, the story managed to keep my interested despite this. If an open ending is something that you hate, you might consider skipping this one. I don't always mind an open ending, but I have to say I was a little disappointed by it this time around. Not because it left things open, but because it didn't hardly show anything. I know what they were trying to convey, I just wish they had done a better job doing it. If The Last Winter does manage to strike your interest, like it did mine, then I suggest giving it a try. There were enough things that I liked about this one to make it a good film to watch.
3 out of 5 I had no idea crows live in the Artic

Evil Nun

Sorry I didn't get another review up sooner. I had intended to do just that, but not everything goes as planned for me, actually it rarely does. I did manage to get a movie in though, so at least I got that far. I was going to watch a different movie, since it was next in line to be watched. Since it was a two hour movie, and it was getting late, I decided to move on to the next film instead. Anyway, I added a new feature to my blog, which I have kept quiet about until now. I just wanted to see if anyone would notice it first. It took a while, but someone did! Maybe it would have helped if I hadn't put it so low on my side bar. Thank you Mr. Jed for being my first follower. I had a feeling he would be the first person to notice it.

Yesterday I watched Killer Nun (1978). This is a film about Sister Gertrude (Anita Ekberg). Gertrude is an odd nun actually. Then again, maybe not. Not like I actually know any nuns. The story takes place somewhere in Europe, and is said to be based on a true story. As we find out in the extras, the only true part of the story is of a nun stealing. Gertrude is into a few things. First off, she is either recovering, or is fully recovered from brain surgery. She thinks she isn't fully recovered, but the doctor does. Because of the surgery though, Gertrude is now addicted to morphine. When she is using, or when she isn't (I was never able to figure out which), she gets some very wild mood swings. Things take place in a hospital or nursing home, again it was hard to tell which. Gertrude isn't really the bad person that she comes across as, truth be told. We are shown both sides of her personality. There are times she is care free, other times when she is very cruel. One woman finds this out when she puts her false teeth in a glass. Gertrude tries to ignore it, but then she starts to yell at the poor woman, and then takes the teeth. Gertrude then throws them onto the floor and proceeds to stomp on them until there isn't much left of them. Later that night, the poor woman has a heart attack and passes away. Gertrude starts to go through her belongings and finds a ring, which she pockets.

We then watch as she goes into town, changes clothes and pawns the ring. She goes to a bar and has a drink while checking out the men. She finds one to her liking, and shows him that she is interested. He ends up following her back to her room where they have sex up against the door. After they are finished, he leaves her there. Back at the hospital, Gertrude shoots up and the murders begin. This seems to upset Gertrude a lot. She starts to talk to her roommate, Sister Mathieu (Paola Morra). Mathieu confesses to Gertrude that she is in love with Gertrude. As the bodies start to pile up, who is doing the killing? Is Gertrude really going over the edge and killing people?

I admit I am new to the nunsploitation. I have watched very few movies from this sub genre. Killer Nun seems pretty mild to me, from what I have heard about nunsploitation anyway. The whole point is to see nuns doing something they aren't supposed to be doing. More than likely this happens in real life, I don't go in search for stories about nuns though, so I could be wrong. I'm sure it isn't normal to see the things that I described above, but I did feel it was pretty mild. We don't see her injecting morphine all that much. In fact, one scene is barely there because it got heavily cut. The sex scene doesn't show much either. Not that I really expected it to. I wasn't expecting them to show the act, but I was expecting to at least see Ekberg show off what she has. That doesn't happen at any point in the film, in case anyone was wondering. I don't need to see her naked, but I thought that was part of the whole point of nunsploitation, seeing something somewhat forbidden. Morra however, does get nude a lot. I know a lot of people link nunsploitation with two women having sex. Since they are around other women a lot, I guess people assume they have sex with each other as well. I hear the same in women's sports as well. It as always been funny to me that people assume that with women, but not guys. Anyway, there is that here, but again, it is very mild. Just when it is going to happen, it cuts away to another scene.

While Ekberg didn't get naked, even though she and Morra apparently sleep in the nude, she does a wonderful job with her role. The version I watched was dubbed, but you could still tell that Ekberg was giving it her all. She was really getting into the scenes. I have to give credit to the voice over work as well, it was also well done. Turns out that the reason why Ekberg is never shown naked was because director Giullio Berruti was in love with Ekberg (aww), and no longer thought of her as young. He didn't use those words, but that was what he was alluding to. Ekberg was in in her forties when the film was made. That may not be young, but it isn't old either. Ekberg still has it going on in Killer Nun. All the nudity is left to the younger Morra, who I understand was something like a Playboy model before this film. Some of these films get classified as a horror movie. Killer Nun sure did, with a title like that, how could it not? We do get to see some people killed off, but there isn't a lot there as far as effects go. By the way, the guy that did do the effects for this film, eventually went crazy and killed someone for real. Proof that horror movies are bad! Ok, not really.

I thought that Killer Nun was an alright film. It was nothing great, but it did entertain me for the most part. I really didn't care that it was a nunsploitation film. It isn't a sub genre that I will go out of my way for. If I happen to queue one up on Netflix again, I will watch it of course. Even though I liked Killer Nun, overall I was a bit disappointed with it. With all that I have always heard about this type of film, I felt that Killer Nun was just too mild in the end, and not all that much of a horror film really. If you do happen to like this kind of film, maybe I just added another film for you to watch then.
2 out of 5 Needles pushed into one's face sure wouldn't feel too good

Are They Really Lost Part Two

Since I have been really busy with college lately, I have managed to fall behind on my movie watching. For example, you may remember that I helped promote the release of Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008). For my help with that, I was sent the DVD of the film. How cool is that? I got a free copy of it! I have had it for...a month or so now. It got put on hold since I went to see a couple of films before college started up again, then once it did...well we all know what happened there. Since I have a slightly extended weekend this time around, I decided it was high time I got around to this movie, and maybe a few others as well. After all, I can't let my reputation as a review machine down now can I?

Lost Boys: The Tribe follows Chris (Tad Hilgenbrink) and Nicole (Autumn Reeser), who are brother and sister. After the death of their parents, and after Chris has been banned from pro surfing, they decide that a new start is in order. They move to Luna Bay, where their Aunt Jillian (Gabrielle Rose) lives. They were under the impression that they would get to live with her for free, but instead she gives them their own place and asks for rent. Ah family, we can always count on them. Since they will need rent money, Chris starts looking for a job. He goes to the local surfing shop, where he gets a lead on a job. He is told to go see Edgar Frog (Corey Feldman) about shaping surf boards. Chris goes over there but finds no one home, at least no one answers the door. Later that night, Chris runs into another surfing pro that has disappeared, Shane Powers (Angus Sutherland). Shane invites Chris to a party, which Chris doesn't really want to go to. Nicole wants to get out though and talks Chris into going. Well that and the fact that their aunt wants to watch the film The Goonies with them. While at the party, Shane gets Nicole alone with him and tricks her into drinking some of his blood, turning her into a half vampire. Can Chris, with Edgar's help, kill the head vampire before Nicole feeds?

Lost Boys: The Tribe will either disappoint fans of the original film, or get them to feel that while this isn't a great film, it isn't half bad either. This sequel ties itself to the original film by using Edgar Frog. Corey Feldman is the only returning member of the original cast to be found. Corey Haim does show up, but only after the credits have started to roll. Jamison Newlander, who played Edgar's brother, also shows up again, but only if you watch the alternate endings. For some fans, this was enough. For others, they felt there should have been more to tie in the original story. I fall somewhere in between. To me, Lost Boys: The Tribe felt more like a remake instead of a sequel. Since the basic story is the same, killing the head vampire before turning into a vampire also, with all new characters, more or less, it really had the feel of a remake. Edgar does drop hints about what has happened between these two films, but I don't think you will need to see the original film in order to know what is going on in this one. That is a good, and bad thing. It is good for people that have not watched Lost Boys, since they can jump in with no problem. It is bad for the fans of Lost Boys, who have waited twenty years for a sequel, only to have it tie into the original film in a very small way.

Lost Boys: The Tribe surprised me in a couple of ways. The acting was better than I had expected it to be, and the effects were bloodier than I figured they would be. Being a direct to video film, you never know what to expect when it comes to those two things. Tad Hingenbrink and Autumn Reese both do a wonderful job in their lead roles. Corey Feldman takes everything as serious as he did before. Angus Sutherland, the half younger brother of Kiefer, does an alright job of being one of the bad guys. Tom Savini makes a cameo appearance at the start of the film. His appearance also signals the first big effect of the film. There is a nice range of effects to be found. It was actually bloodier than I thought it was going to be. One of the things I liked so much in the first film, was the creative ways each vampire died. They did the same thing in this film, but not as well I didn't feel. I did find it kind of funny that the vampires liked to stab and cut each other open just to hear each other bitch about it.

For what the Lost Boys: The Tribe is, it isn't a bad film really. I kept me into the film, even if I did know how it would turn out. I think I would have liked it even more if it had been more about the first film. By this I mean that you can catch a hint of maybe what this sequel should have been in the alternate endings. There are two alternate endings with only slight differences between the two. In these endings, Coery Haim returns with a warning to Corey Feldman. A master vampire is on his way to do battle with Edgar. The way the story is set up falls into place with what could have possibly happened during the years between the two films. This would have been the sequel I would liked to have watched. It is always more fun when a sequel builds on events of the first, or even second or third film before it, than it is to just have a new story in its place with all new characters. That is just me though. If you still haven't watched this film, I hope this review will help you decide for sure.
3 out of 5 Should have left out the CGI effects at least

Murder Mystery

Getting back into classes can be hell sometimes. Heading into my, hopefully, final year, I knew that my classes would probably be the hardest I have had yet. They aren't proving to be hard yet, but they are keeping me busy right out of the gate. Because of this, I went a week without a new post. I missed yet another Final Girl Film Club selection, which I had intended to do since I own the film. I will try and keep up posting new reviews and other things, but I hope everyone understands if I have another lapse. As much as I love watching films, and writing up reviews for them, my grades come first after all. Before I got super busy, I managed to watch another Dairo Argento film, Tenebre (1982). I started my rant, in the previous post, over a week ago. I got that finished and then yesterday I managed to finish my part of a project that Cattleworks and myself have come up with. It has been slow, but I am catching up.

Tenebre is about Peter Neal (Anthony Franciosa), an author, traveling to Rome to help promote his newest book. Just before Peter gets to Rome, a murder occurs that is linked to this book. How you ask? Well for one, the murder happens as described in the book. Another clue is that pages from the book are stuffed into the woman's mouth before she is killed. The police show up at Peter's hotel room and begin to question him over the murder. They seem to hint that maybe they think he is the killer. But Peter points out that he was on a plane to Rome at the time, so that makes it rather hard for him to be elsewhere. As Peter is talking to the police, the phone rings. He starts talking and realizes that it is the killer. He keeps the guy busy, and they realize that the killer is calling from a phone just outside of the hotel. Of course he is gone by the time they get there. It wouldn't be a giallo if Peter didn't try and figure out who the killer is himself, so that is what he does. Is it really a deranged fan, as the caller said, or is it someone that Peter knows?

According to many people, Tenebre ranks high on lists for Dario Argento films. His style of filming is there, no way that you can't spot it. One scene struck me more than others. With his favorite soundtrack group playing, Goblin, he takes the camera in one long shot of the ground floor, where his actress was, to outside the building. He then goes up along the wall, and even the roof, before coming back in to another actress. This isn't a short sequence really, but I had to question it as it went on. Was it really needed? Sure it was neat, but after a while I was wondering why it was taking so long, and where he was going with the shot, instead of thinking about the film itself. It was a cool way to go from one actress to the next, but would have been better, in my opinion anyway, if it had been shorter. Speaking of the cast, I have to give Argento credit for getting some very beautiful actress's for this film. Lara Wendel, Ania Pieroni, Mirella D'Angelo, and whoever played the lesbian girlfriend. I have tried to figure out which actress played that part, but I haven't been able to confirm it. There is some nudity to be found, mainly from Eva Robin's. After doing some reading, I discovered that Eva is a transexual. Not that there is anything wrong with that. The rest of the nudity comes from the lesbian girlfriend, who oddly enough, loves to show off just one breast. John Saxon is sorely underused, as many of the actors are.

Like most giallo's before this one, I just couldn't get into it. I didn't really care who the killer might turn out to be, not that it really matter in this one anyway with the twist. The killings weren't bad, but they didn't grab me either. They started out simple enough, usually with a straight razor. Eventually they got more bloody as the murder weapon was changed to a hatchet. One death stands out above the rest with the arm being cut off in one mighty swing! That didn't impress me really, but the blood painting the white wall was interesting. The last death in the movie, I found it to be very stupid.

If you like giallos, I guess you should give this one a try, since it is highly rated by those that are into them. I still fail to see what makes them so great myself. I don't consider them horror movies. They are generally murder mysteries that have an added touch of gore effects to go with them. Not true for all of them, but I have noticed that they do have more gore effects than most for these types of films. Not a bad film really, just not my cup of tea.
2 out of 5 Might watch it again just for the beautiful women

Ranting About Movies

As you may, or may not know, CRwM is a member of The League of Tana Tea Drinkers. This is a group of bloggers that get together and talk about horror films. Their latest posts have been about the state of today's horror films. After reading some of it, I will eventually get around to the rest of it before I finish this, I decided to make my own post in response. I figure it would be easier than leaving a long comment. Some of the members at the League feel that today's horror films just don't stack up against the films of old. If there is a reason for this, you will find it in their post, which spans thirteen pages over two posts. I guess I feel the need to defend the horror films of today. The genre isn't perfect, but lately I have been feeling excited about films that are either out, or about to be.

"They aren't as scary as they used to be." - Maybe this is true. I have to ask though, is this because they just aren't making them like they used to, or is it because we, as horror fans, grow used to the scares, and therefor aren't as scared by them? I bet that the films people name off that actually scared them, I am talking about the hard core horror fans here, 90% of the films they name off are films from their youth. The ones that got us started, not all of them of course, are the ones that stick with us. I have noticed the same thing when it comes to music. No not music the scares us, but music in general. The music that people tend to listen to the most, is the music that got them listening to music in the first place. Some people grow with the music each year, but still enjoy the music of their youth. While others get stuck and only listen to certain music from their youth, and hate anything new. Same seems to go for movies as well. I still love the films that I grew up watching. I also love some of the films I watch now. They aren't as scary as they once were, but I still get excited by them.

"Today's films no longer leave things to our imaginations. (A.K.A. They are too gory.) - I sure don't have a problem with this, but some people do. To me, this complaint goes hand in hand with this one: "The horror films of today have a 'been there, seen that' feel to them." Actually, a lot of complaints go hand in hand with that one. For every Hostel, Saw, or Inside, there is a The Orphanage and The Blair Witch Project. For every person that loved The Blair Witch Project, I can point you to someone that hated it just as equally. And why did they hate it so much? Because it doesn't show a damn thing! I love being able to use my imagination, but not everyone feels the same though. As films are able to show more and more gore, and more graphically, people will want to use their imaginations less. At least I am assuming they are, since I have seen so many people say they hate films that show nothing. Same goes for the open ended plots. While I don't always mind those types of movies, some people hate them because it didn't hold their hand and give a straight forward ending.

I do feel that film makers have their minds wired backwards when it comes to gore. Horror fans want to see more, so film makers give more. I feel that film makers, I hate to group all films makers into a big clump though, feel that fans think of gore as scary. For arguments sake, lets say that some do. I feel though, and this is just my opinion from how I see films and my friends, that more gore doesn't entice fear, but gives a more of a "wow" or "eww" moment. Nothing wrong with that, but it isn't scary. At the same time, I think film makers are using gore effects in order to be more original. Films have been around for how long now? Books have been around even longer. I'm sure it is getting harder for people to go into a movie, and then walk out saying, "Now that was original!" Today's films are just variation of plots we have already seen before.

The fact is, horror movies change because the fan base changes. The fans of today are no longer content to sit through an hour of a movie where very little happens. Never mind the fact that we are getting to know the characters better, hopefully anyway. This really is too bad. Because of this, films like Wolf Creek, which I loved, tend to have a love it or hate it relationship with horror fans.

"There are to many remakes." - This one I sort of agree with. It seems like every time I turn around, there is a remake being announced. I know it is the safe bet to remake a film that made lots of money. It may not make as much money as the original, but hopefully it will still turn a profit. Personally, if they want to do a remake of a film, I say pick one that didn't do so well and improve on it. There are a lot of films out there that just missed the mark of being a good film, or ever a great film. Still, with films like The Hills Have Eyes and Dawn Of The Dead, I almost feel tempted to say bring them on. Of course for every good remake, there is one like The Fog.

So what can they do to improve today's horror films? I hate to answer with a question, but is it really broken? As I said earlier, I have been really excited by some recent films. I know not everyone will agree with me though. Like fellow blogger CRwM has pointed out over on his blog, a lot of people that complain about the films of today, compare them with their favorite films of yesterday. It is next to impossible for a new film to compare to films we choose as our favorites of all time. It will fail to do so every time. For those of you who think that all new films aren't good at all, I will say that is only partly true. There are a lot of films being made that are bad. I think if you look at any year though, you will see that there are only a few great films each year. I mean, if you take all the films made in a year's time, you will find that only some of those films have become classics. For every classic, a ton of bad films follow in their wake. If you don't like the films being made today, don't go see them. It has always been strange to me when people say they hated Hostel because of the gore, or whatever reason they come up with, but then turn around and say they hated Hostel 2 for the same reason. If you hated the original film, why go see the sequel? The chances are good that the sequel will be more of the same. Before you go on hating films, ask yourself, is it really the film or are you just being too hard on it? Now that you know how I feel, what say you?

Dancing With Zombies

The other film that I watched Saturday, was called Dance Of The Dead (2008). I wasn't sure that I wanted to see this film when I noticed the title of it. I guess because it doesn't sound very horrorish, you know? I could have gone to Joy Ride 2, but I was hungry so we skipped out on it. If I could feed off horror movies, I would. But I can't, so we went to get something to eat. My friend was really wanting to go to Dance Of The Dead though, so I relented and went. This time, we found a place up front. No subtitles this time, but at least I didn't have to look around people.

Dance Of The Dead starts off in a graveyard. The caretaker is walking around doing odd jobs when he hears something. He bends down to listen next to a headstone. A woman walks by, looking at him weirdly, and he says hi to her as she walks off. About then, a hand shoots up from the grave and grabs him by the throat. He manages to get away, but as the camera pans back, we see a nuclear power plant not too far off in the distance. From there we meet the people we will be following the rest of the way through the film. Jimmy (Jared Kusnitz) is your average smart ass high school student. His girlfriend, Lindsey (Greyson Chadwick), is about to dump him, because she feels he isn't taking their relationship seriously enough. Steven (Chandler Darby) is the president of the science club. He just so happens to have a crush on a cheerleader, Gwen (Carisa Capobianco), who of course pretty much ignores him. We also have Kyle (Justin Welborn), the local psycho bully. Nash (Blair Reford) heads up the local garage rock band. I can't leave out Coach Keel (Mark Oliver). Keel will remind people a lot of the hard to get along with gym teacher. All these people, and more, are all that stand between the prom and the living dead. We are so screwed.

Right from the opening, I could tell this wasn't going to be a straight horror film. It was obvious that it was going to be a mix of comedy and horror. But what kind of comedy? I'm not a fan of the Scary Movie films. I find the funny in places, but over all, I can do without them. With all the films coming out that are making fun of other films, I see it as a genre that is being over done at the moment. Thankfully Dance Of The Dead doesn't follow in those shoes. Instead, it is more of a Shaun Of The Dead type comedy. The cast of Dance Of The Dead is one that I knew no one. To my surprise, there was at least one "review" for this film before it was even made. This person said that he/she didn't think the film will be worth watching since all the actors are unknown. While I will go into a film like this with my guard up, so to speak, I know that just because I don't know the actors, doesn't mean it will be a bad film. Dance Of The Dead proves my point in a perfect way. The cast pulled things off perfectly.

What was so fun about this film is how it got everyone so involved in it. Not only were people laughing, but they were also cheering our band of heroes on. Once in a while, everyone would cheer because of something said. Mostly though, it was because of the actions of the characters, or because of an effect. I don't think I saw one effect that I didn't like. Of course they had to throw in the effect of one person being torn apart while surrounded by zombies. It wasn't as gory as I have seen it in some other films, but was still fun to see it. There are a few more gory effects, as well as funny ones too. Perhaps the best funny effect was the tearing off of a zombie arm and then shoving it down the zombie's throat. It was funny to see that, and watch the zombie walking around like that.

I have already pre-ordered the DVD, it will be released next month. Be sure to do the same. I just wish everyone could watch Dance Of The Dead in a theater though. I really think this film would be able to hit it off with people who are not normally fans of the horror genre. If you like horror films that have a good mix of comedy in them, this is one you can't miss. The great mix, along with a great cast and special effects, made Dance Of The Dead a real joy to watch. In a way, I am glad I will be able to watch it on DVD by myself, since it will give me a chance to catch the things I did miss from all the laughing that went on. I'm also sure I will catch things I didn't notice the first time around.
4 out of 5 Wishing my prom was as exciting

Wild Things In The Woods

Saturday I had the chance to watch a couple of films that are currently hitting the film circuits. I almost didn't go, but when I found out they were horror films, how could I say no then? Say what you will about the recent French films. As much as I like them, I have to say that Spain is also putting out some great horror movies as well. They may not challenge the French in the gore department, but they are well told stories. The first film I went to see was Eskalofrio (2008). That would be Shiver to you and me. I didn't know anything about this film when I walked into it. All I knew was from a poster sitting out front of the theater it was being shown in. Actually it was just a room with some chairs. It was a nice set up, but when you get tall people that feel the need to sit in the front rows, it becomes hard to see. More so when it happens to be subtitled. The poster you see to the left is a different one than what was outside the door yesterday. I'm actually glad I didn't pay much attention to the poster. After looking at it again when the film was over, I realized it gave the film away just enough to spoil it some.

Shiver starts with a dream. Santi (Junio Valverde) is trying to get home. Only problem is, it's during the day. He pulls the hood of his shirt up and makes a run for it. The sun proves too be to much for him though. He bursts into flames just as he reaches the door. We then see Santi wake up. I'm thinking we have a vampire story on our hands, but that was just creative writing to make us think just that. Instead, Santi suffers from some disease that makes his skin hyper sensitive to sunlight. Santi, and his doctors, talk Julia (Mar Sodupe), his mother, into moving to some place where the sun doesn't shine as much. Santi is currently going to school at night, and wants a more normal life. He only has one real friend, who he is willing to leave behind, to get that more normal life. His mother gives in, and they move to a mountain village. The sun still shines at this village, but it isn't nearly as bright. On the days that it is, Santi simply takes a little more precaution. Since he is the new kid, he gets picked on a lot. Being different doesn't help him any either. The one person that has taken a shine to him is Angela (Blanca Suárez). Not all is well in the village though. Sheep are turning up dead, and one of the boys at the school swears he saw something strange in the woods. The other boys make fun of him until Santi agrees to go into the woods with them. When the bully ends up dead though, all eyes turn to Santi.

When Shiver ran for a while, I still wasn't sure what to make of it. It wasn't a vampire story after all. Next thing I thought of was maybe it is a werewolf story. After all, there is something out there in the woods killing animals, and now humans as well. I'm not going to say what it ended up being, since figuring that out was half the fun for me. I know I have already eliminated two choices, but that is alright, there are still plenty to pick from. What is out in the woods is something I would never have guessed. Shiver is the type of film that takes itself seriously, but is also light hearted. More than once, I heard people laughing at the things that were being said. It also made me laugh at times, but since I couldn't always see the subtitles, I missed out on some things. I really enjoyed the characters in this film. Junio Valverde is great in the lead role. Not a lot of effects to be found, but there are a few good ones when they do show up.


Like any movie, Shiver does has its faults. The main problem is that it will sometimes leave plot points or characters hanging. Santi's disease is not used much as a plot point, even though they made sure we knew about it right from the start. Santi's best friend is left behind, but shows up late in the film again. Angela is sorely underused. Some have complained that the "monster" of this film was revealed too early. They do clue us in faster than most films do, but the story still held my interest. There is a bit of a mystery to solve once the "monster" is shown. That being said, Santi goes in search for answers and finds them too quickly. He didn't make the connection as quickly as I did though. Still, I wished at the time that they made it a little harder to figure things out.

I wouldn't call Shiver a comedy really. I laughed and so did others, but I still can't say that they were out to make a horror/comedy. Instead it is just one of those films that interjects some comedy at places, in order to lighten the mood just a little. Because of that, I really enjoyed this film. I haven't come across a lot of other review yet, which doesn't really surprise me. What I have found is mixed at best. About half of the reviews give it high marks, while the other half give it low marks. The light hearted mood, and the original (at least to me) "monster" that we get, plus a good story, made it a very fun watch for me. Not really all the scary, but when I enjoy a film a lot, I will forgive it for not giving me a shiver or two, no pun intended. I will be awaiting the release of the DVD, so I can catch what I missed as far as the subtitles. Even though I didn't always catch everything, and still enjoyed the hell out of it, tells me something. Catch it when you can!
4 out of 5 Girls make the best "monsters" as well