Unfriendly
Family Frights!
By
Kristin Battestella
Put
the kiddies to bed for these old school sociological scares, freaky
families, and creepy couples of decades yore.
Brain Twisters – A shattered
walkman, neon, bad techno graphics, giant microphones, and lots of
old time televisions add nostalgia to this 1991 sci-fi scary. Did I
mention the bad denim, pink, phones with cords, and phone booths? The
dated design is certainly noticeable but feels more bemusing than
unwatchable. The opening fifteen minutes have a nice underlying
ominous – we know something spooky is going to happen to these
coeds thanks to the bevy of dorky dudes, a creeper professor keeping
a student’s brain on ice, and you know, nasty corporations doing
brain experimentations. The eerie bathroom scenes are fun, but the
female characters are cliché and distinguished only by their
stereotypes: the smart virgin, the dark haired slut, and the chubby
best friend. This low grade, late night Cinemax feeling increases
thanks to some hokey and a seriously testosterone trying wooden
detective. The flashing lights triggering brain aversions are also
lame; movies today have a lot more dizzy inducing strobe than a
blinking pinball machine! While it’s nice that you can see what’s
happening without any in your face special effects, the
straightforward filmmaking was probably a by budget necessity, so the
lack of camera bells and whistles or flashy editing feels like things
are taking too long to escalate. Nobody really figures out what’s
going on, and this nothing spectacular but not a disaster style could
have been punched up a lot more. This is better than I expected it to
be and remains entertaining, but the premise and ultimate statement
are a bit dumb. If there’s supposed to be some kind of message
about the static on the TV brainwashing the next generation, that
ship done sailed!
Crucible of Horror – Alfred he is not! Michael Gough is deliciously
wicked in this 1970 familial twisty brimming with mirrors, then
upscale décor, country cottages, a spooky attic, and a suspicious
stiff upper lip gentility. This dad's sexist ideals are so
sadistically strict that he feels up his 16 year old daughter's
bicycle seat – no, this dinner table isn't going to be awkward! Old
phones and out of order receivers add to the deceiving protocol, lack
of privacy, and oh so polite manner. Pour us a drink and kindly don't
interrupt while we try to kill you, jolly good. Guilty hands are
constantly rewashed, intercut secrets up the suspicion, and whether
it is shown or implied, the disturbing violence somehow keeps us
guessing who is in the right and doing what to whom. Classical music
keeps the murderous plotting, well, classy amid the well edited
escalation and bumbling crime. How many times has this caper been
foiled? Our thieving, traumatized teen sucks her thumb, and wife
Yvonne Mitchell (Nineteen Eighty-Four) is both dead behind the
eyes yet surprisingly lucid. The volume, unfortunately, seems very
low here, and some scenes veer too far toward nonsensical psychedelic
dreams. Not a lot happens to start either, but the creepy 90 minutes
is allowed to simmer and build discomfort – not to mention how
misogynistic brother Sam Gough (Shelley) and sister in need of
discipline Sharon Gurney (Women in Love) are real life husband
and wife! Despite some predictable twists, we don't quite blame
anyone for taking matters into their own hands, and the retribution,
fishy neighbors, and body afoot make for plenty of who did what to
whom and how suspense.
The Evictors – This 1979
AIP spooky opens with a neat 1928 sepia flashback complete with cool
coops, a rural siege, and tommy gun shootouts before moving to
Louisiana 1942 for more pretty country, fedoras, candlestick phones,
and operators at the other end! Jessica Harper (Suspiria)
unknowingly settles into that prior deadly house, and it's a familiar
premise with red herrings, lusty realtor Vic Morrow (Combat!),
and an old lady busybody recounting a 1939 killer flashback. There's
also an expendable mystical negro stereotype sharing a 1934
flashback, and the expected horrors may build too slowly for
audiences wanting shocks a minute. I'm not sure if I like the
separate flashback actions or not, for they take away from the
present mystery a bit too much. However, seeing how the murderous
actions went down rather than just telling it in a typical research
montage is different and allows for additional scares amid the more
commonplace damsel in creepy house horrors. Fortunately, the flat
picture fits the seventies meats forties revisit, and the cast
matches the wartime look and colloquialisms. This was an idyllic time
with unlocked doors, friendly neighbors, a lone woman walking in red
pumps to the country store – and carrying back the groceries! The
sentimental introductions, picnics, and king of the castle era
creates a quaint safety before suspicious notes in the mailbox, eerie
ticking clocks, creaking floorboards, and simmering thunderstorms.
The behind closed doors screams, cut away violence, and killer camera
perspectives add to the predatory suggestions – even if the finale
gets somewhat humorous. Wise viewers may see the same old same old
gun twists coming and the ending is a bit confusing. However, there
are enough surprises and period flair accenting this puzzler. So why
aren't more horror movies set in these eras?
Nomads
– Although the eerie editing, slow motion, and stilted camerawork
carries a dated movie of the week feeling, the black and white
photographs, darkroom splicing, frizzy perms, and limp ladies bow
ties ironically accent this atmospheric 1986 supernatural thriller.
Los Angeles hospitals, violent patients, grimy vandals, and French
flavor set off the bad dreams and strung out ER as the memories
between fair doctor Lesley-Ann Downe (North
and South) and
bearded anthropologist
husband Pierce Brosnan (GoldenEye)
blur. The wrong reflections are in the mirror, and the intercutting
between our avatar and the retraced action is well paced and mature
but no less bizarre. While I can do without the music montages and
oooo badass silent but supposedly sinister punks, the gender
reversals, possessions, titular pursuits, and cryptic history remain
intriguing. Granted, the unique Inuit myths aren't made completely
clear and these desert spirits gone wild aren't as menacing as they
should be. However, the viewer knows there's something suspicious
amid the concrete jungle threats, spooky nuns, and abandoned creepy.
Where some tribes fear the camera capturing one's soul, these evil
spirits don't appear in the developed frame. It's freaky and
foreboding considering how many more gangs and urban nomads there
must be today. How often do we pass by rowdy, stray, or seemingly
innocuous people without really noticing them? Whether they are
supernatural or desperate, maybe it's better if we don't catch their
eye and loose our soul. Head down and keep moving! It might be
interesting to see this notion revisited, as once you get over some
of the eighties silly and wild, over the top finale, this 90 minutes
makes for a scary sociological study.
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