Ladies, Demons, and Blindfolds

Ladies, Demons, and Blindfolds

by Kristin Battestella

This trio of recent chillers features outdoor scares and forest frights as well as bedroom turmoil and sight unseen terrors for these tough damsels in demonic distress. Whew!

Bird Box – Foreboding radio reports, risky rapids, blindfolds, and children not allowed to talk belie the lovely rivers and still forests of this 2018 Netflix thriller directed by Susanne Bier (The Night Manager) starring Sandra Bullock (Practical Magic), Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story), Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight), John Malkovich (Shadow of the Vampire), and B.D. Wong (Awake). Nothingness point of views from behind the blindfold accent the backpacks, lead lines, titular pets, riverside boats, and rowing toward the dangers unknown. If you look you will die, and mom means business as fog and water perils add to the lack of sight unease. Five years before, our mom-to-be is arguing with her sister and painting art full of disconnected, lonely people. These women have realistic conversations with layered dialogue and familial quips, but the relatable doubts about motherhood and everyday big decisions degrade into mass crowds, suicide reports, sudden hysteria, and panic as something seen by some but not others results in slow motion car accidents, road rage, and shocking deaths. Unlikely strangers fearing demons or religious judgment and arming themselves are thrust together amid busy signals, screaming cell phone calls, no media, and no military help. Is this some new biological warfare making people see something that kills themselves? Birds sense the danger and faint growling, but cameras are to no avail and our family on the river will only remove their blindfolds when huddled under blankets as the story goes back and forth between their journey with static on the radio and our previously housebound survivors concerned with rationing and the pregnant women among them. It's tough to think about baby names when electricity, supplies, and shotgun shells won't last. No one was prepared for the apocalypse to happen that day. Do they let others inside their abode or listen to voices on the riverbank saying it is okay to take off the blindfolds? Desperate runs to the nearby supermarket for essentials such as canned goods, toilet paper, diapers, booze, and electronics use GSP only with windows blacked out, tape over the cameras, and proximity sensors to warn when something comes near. The slow burn suspense allows time for these disparate strangers to forge late friendships amid fears they are all going to die and debates about living versus surviving in these topsy-turvy circumstances. Some briefly consider staying in the supermarket – leaving others behind while they maintain all they need despite the escalating violence outside. Whiskey talking admits how bleak the situation is while others hope things may get better. However, five years later our mother is still rowing toward the unknown possibility of safety as the family dangers on the boat increase. Of course, a few people do some foolish things, and there may have been other options than taking the most dangerous course of action. The supposedly helpful birds are useful or forgotten as needed alongside somewhat obvious metaphors about the people being who's actually box-bound and resorting to new, heightened senses. Understandably, the tension escalates when outside influences are let in – one by one people are lost as suspicious newcomers knock and hopeful possibilities end with appropriately blunt gunfire and shootouts. Training to survive without sight becomes paramount while terror in the home, outdoor separations, and family sacrifices test the temptation to look. Thanks to the courage and horror drama here with frights real and fantastic, there's no need for any spoon fed twist, toppers, scary movie cliches, or bombastic in your face. The multi-layered studies and suspense are well-interwoven, progressing naturally as the isolated settings allow the performances and storytelling to carry the must see intensity.

Pyewacket – Daughter Nicole Munoz (Defiance) invokes the eponymous evil to kill mom Laurie Holden (The Walking Dead) in this 2017 Canadian parable featuring creaking forests, goth rebels, and can't take it back terrors. Our widowed mother is doing her best to keep it together and wants a fresh start, but moving is the worst thing for a teen with awkward crushes and an inseparable BFF. Relatable conversations on support versus instability, transferring schools, driving, and bad influences endear both ladies to the audience – even her friends insist parents are just as screwed up as teenagers are. Likewise the music is in the background rather than overwhelming viewers, a realistic rather than Hollywood choice as the camera follows this goth gang through the school hallways. We're the fifth member of the group and caught in the middle from the backseat as the vengeful spell casting looms. Pizza, a relatively small cabin, mom needing a weekend job, and say hey, a Latina lead, yes please – it's as if writer and director Adam MacDonald (Backcountry) had a list of horror cliches and insists on how not to incorporate them. Although it's not expressly said to be Halloween, fallen leaves, pumpkins, cawing crows, and owl motifs accent the occult primer, sage, chants, binding rituals, and blood bowls. Despite the careful preparation and craft materials, there's an underlying sense of a not listening teen doing something she shouldn't – especially when mom apologizes and the gals bond over memories of the deceased. Her friends think this is all just acting out for attention, but soon enough indeed our daughter regrets the ritual. Unfortunately, a locked door can't keep out Pyewacket. Ominous knocks and creepy attic access escalate to vehicular frights, and innocuous shots – shadows about the house, rustling in the woods – become suspect while we wait for the subtly disturbing entity. Overhead slow spins and gradual zooms build unease as friends disappear before the camera shakes with unreliable delirium thanks to unfinished rituals, unexplained appearances, and darkness. Is this evil trickery mounting or is a scared teen roaming in the disorienting woods? Are forgiveness and reverse spells enough to put everything right when this festering horror was summoned in spite of be careful what you wish for warnings? Visions of the dead, distorted vocal inflections, rattling doorknobs, and pleas to be let in provide terror as this freaky manifestation is revealed. Some may not like the quick finale, but knives, gasoline, fiery mistakes, and a bitter comeuppance create a creepy atmosphere that does what it is says on the tin. Those skinny pants, however, are not going to look good in a few years.

For a Drinking Game Maybe?

Mara – Sleep paralysis statistics and fears of demonic possession open this 2018 thriller starring Olga Kurylenko (Centurion) amid children's bedroom terrors and behind closed door screams. Ticking clocks and blue lighting set off the creepy drawings, mental evaluations, and witnesses recounting their sleep demon experience – weighed down on the mattress and unable to breath. Unfortunately, there are too many of those Horror Movie Cliches I'm Tired of Seeing contrivances interfering with what should be an interesting story. Character sympathies and our strong woman psychologist in a tough policeman's world jar against the forced scary elements, making the titular ominous as laughable as the overly dramatic slow motion, arias, and ripped teddy bear on the floor. At times this wants to be a standard procedural using jump drives, CCTV, crime scene notes, and tablet technology, but then our gal goes off to a mysterious address without notifying police and listens to sleep deprived crackpot theories to learn about the sleep demon rather than just, you know, Googling it. The detective is right to remind her she's out of bounds, for this psychologist is easily bothered by what seems like a routine case. After hearing sufferers admit this sleep demon sounds like crazy talk, we're not surprised when the trapped sleep and stilted breathing happens to her – there's never any doubt this is a monster not delusion or delirium thanks to early reveals and unnecessarily spooky compromising any innate suspense. From a divorcing couple and their child to prayer freaks, disturbed veterans, and our psychologist with a crazy mom past, everyone who sees Mara has other issues yet nobody wonders what's really causing their sleepless nights. Hypnotic ceiling fans, fiery deaths, and gasping paralysis build scares, but bemusing bloodshot eye markings and demon mythology deflate the terror. Mara doesn't kill you right away, but comes in four assault stages that can't happen if you only sleep in twenty minute shifts. Predictable encounters and dream jump shocks tread tires while our agitated sleepless victims are more annoying than believable. With today's technology no one sets up a camera for proof? The notion to involve more science and sleep monitoring comes too late, and the doctors blame The X-Files and pop culture for scaring people anyway. Weak paranoia and guilt metaphors provide no payoff to the psychologist's suicidal schizophrenic mother backstory, but Olga's look becomes increasingly frazzled – physically changing her appearance rather than addressing her turmoil. Car accidents and fighting to stay awake chases in the finale could have been the entire strung out focus, but time is wasted on the demon doing both in your face screams and taking its sweet, creaking time to inch toward the victim. When we finally get to the desperate cutting off of the eye lids, it's just gore and a thin idea run out of steam. Although this could have been much better and seems content to be repetitive and Elm Street derivative, it can be a mildly entertaining late night watch or bemusing drinking game if you aren't looking for something really scary or expect any real sense of dread.

Horror in July, Anyone?

Horror in July Fun!

By Kristin Battestella

Stay indoors in the air conditioning and let the witchy good mayhem, scary old schools, and assorted beasties put more chills up your spine!

Delectables

Burnt Offerings – For only $900, Karen Black (Five Easy Pieces, The Day of the Locust), Oliver Reed (Oliver!, Gladiator), and their aunt Bette Davis (Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, All About Eve) rent a spooky California mansion for the entire summer from kooky Burgess Meredith (Rocky, Grumpy Old Men) and his sister Eileen Heckart (Butterflies Are Free). You know this is too good to be true! Director Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows) takes his time with Robert Marasco’s source novel, developing the happy characters in the first half hour then building the mystery and haunted house disturbia towards the sinister changes to come. Although the 1976 design is quite dated- ascots, station wagons- the period flair is now cool and backwater scary style.  The Dunsmuir House filming location is so, so sweet, too- and oh, that chauffeur!  Yes, it’s merely PG and has obvious similarities to Phantasm, but there are still plenty of scares, innuendo, and twists to delight here. 

Don’t Look Now – Donald Sutherland (MASH) and Julie Christie (Doctor Zhivago) star as a grieving couple in this 1973 creepy based on a story by Daphne du Maurier (Rebecca) and directed by Nicholas Roeg (The Witches). Though it looks older than it is thanks to the fashions and hair, the grainy filming and jumping intercuts work the chills nicely in tandem with intimate and personal photography adding character depth and loss. There’s lots of symbolic water, red, and religion as well; but the visual layers and intelligence stand out amid the natural locations and seventies browns.   Those Venice locales are pure sweetness, too.   However, the lack of Italian subtitles and slow pacing in getting to the big finish might make a few things confusing to some.  Of course, the nudity is tame for today’s audiences, but the infamous sex scene may still be a little too spicy- as in ‘how many different Kama Sutra positions can we get in here’ spicy. Yet, the scene has purpose for the characters- not just the T-n-A of today’s horror.  In fact, modern pointless slice and dice can learn a thing or two from the complexity here.

In the Mouth Of Madness – John Carpenter’s (Halloween, The Thing) 1995 film about a horror writer in a disturbed small town boasts a fine cast including Sam Neill (The Tudors, Jurassic Park), Charlton Heston (Ben-Hur, Planet of the Apes), Jurgen Prochnow (Dune), John Glover (Smallville), and David Warner (The Omen). Yes, it’s easy to assume this is another foul things afoot in the sleepy hamlet ala Stephen King, but there’s much more psychology and mind versus reality here. The music is very dated heavy metal, the visual design looks more bad eighties than mid nineties, and things are slow and confusing to start.  But these twisted bizarrities are kind of the point.  What is fiction and what is real? Are dreams blending with reality or vice versa? The scares, gore, and performances are all juicy, and build nice and twistedly to the conclusion.

Split Decisions

Let Me In – There’s a lot this 2010 remake gets right- the abstract parental photography, disturbing performances, bully storytelling, and creepy mystery.  It’s focused scenes with Chloe Moretz (Kick Ass) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road) are genuine and well played.  However, director Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) should have stayed with this unique or what we don’t see youth examination instead of breaking away for over the top deaths and action.  Though my niece says the book is very different, this film version seems overlong and too mature for its audience.  Do 12 year olds really comprehend all this sex and blood? Yet, this is not for adults and seems too of its age.  Where did we get this juvenile horror trend and premature exposure to predators and prey? Cursing, killing, eighties sounds and styles- it all seems absurd for today’s pre-teen. This film is not a ‘vampire romance.’  The players seem advantageous, cruel, manipulative. Does Abby periodically make new 12-year-old friends so they grow old and remain indebted to her? Are we to feel sorry for an old vampire in a child body who likes little boys? Is this supposed to be about innocence and bullying or maturity and vampire souls? The unanswered questions and youth fluff over the adult substance undoes the good for me here.

Practical Magic – This 1998 chick fest ala Charmed or Sabrina the Teenage Witch starring Oscar winners Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) , Nicole Kidman (The Hours) , Dianne Wiest (Hannah and Her Sisters) and Emmy winner Stockard Channing (The West Wing) is a little hokey and uneven in its whimsy and darkness.  Is it a cute magic romance or a cautionary tale on the misuse of witchcraft? There’s plenty of stereotypical heavy love and light witchy ways, but director Griffin Dunne (The Accidental Husband) never gets as real or scary as I might have liked.  Viewers looking for such can also find some latent lesbian undertones, too. Which is it all supposed to be? Nevertheless, the fine performances and magical fun in several charming scenes keep this one a toe on the watchable side I think. Fans of the cast can enjoy and mystical ladies of all ages can have a night in here. The chicky soundtrack, however, has got to go! 

Session 9 – Director Brad Anderson (The Machinist) wonderfully executes this taut psychological thriller and smartly tells his 2001 tale in the gloriously eerie Danvers State Hospital for premium naturally spooky effects.  Both Peter Mullan (Red Riding) and David Caruso (CSI: Miami) are on form, keeping the viewer intelligently guessing as to all the mystery and paranoia right up to the end.  Unfortunately, everything falls apart for the finale. There are so many suspenseful and horrific possibilities, and any one of them was possible here. Yet none actually happens in this disappointing end.   For all the smarts and interesting strides made beforehand, Anderson and co-writer Stephen Gevedon (Oz) leave you scratching your head at the unexplained conclusion.  Claiming the deleted scenes on the DVD resolve everything doesn’t help, either. 

Skippers

Blood of the Vampire/The Hellfire Club – I know I often cite the charm and charisma of some of these hokey old B horror pictures, but some are just downright bad.  The double billed fun here- with old time drive in slides and concession commercials before, during, and after the features-was very nostalgic, even the highlight.  Blood of the Vampire’s formulaic Victorian Transylvania looks the part, but seriously bad make-up, stilted plotting, and ill acting can’t save the mad scientist hysteria here. With no featured, dynamic horror stars, it’s really tough to care about the would be mayhem turning hokey. Likewise, lovely outdoor locations, sweet costumes, and heady décor can’t carry The Hellfire Club.  An all too brief appearance by Peter Cushing and swift cavalier action with swords and horses can’t overcome the simple fact that there really isn’t any sex and fears here as the title suggests.  Actually, these two films have nothing in common and I have no idea why they were put together.

Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) – I confess, I didn’t make it halfway thru this remake of the 1984 Freddy Kruger classic from music video director Samuel Bayer (the guy who helmed ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ folks!).  The dream sequences and deaths are absolutely unimaginative; the supposedly special crutch here was the decision to make Jackie Earle Haley’s (Watchmen) uninspired Freddy an all out pedophile.  Horrible as it is to say, this was also not as disturbing as it should have been.  Yes, some of the sequels made Kruger a little too funny and tongue in cheek.  But he was kinky enough, nastily licking the chicks and zipping out dirty one liners. He’s the son of a hundred maniacs, if that doesn’t suggest something nefarious I don’t know what does.  New Nightmare blended the mix of real and refresh far more wonderfully, and I really, really hope this means these damn Michael Bay and Platinum Dunes remake folks are going to finally let these great horror franchises lie.

  

Speed

Speed Still A Good Action Yarn

By Kristin Battestella

So I’m up sick at 3 a.m. and what’s on the tele but Speed. No matter how many times you’ve seen this 1994 ‘Die Hard on a bus’ vehicle; Speed is still an entertaining, fast paced ride.

After thwarting Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper)’s bombing of an elevator, Detective Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves) becomes the point of Payne’s fixation. He blows up one bus and contacts Jack with a new set of rules: there’s a bomb on Santa Monica Bus 2525. If it goes below 50 miles per hour, the bomb goes off. Jack quickly boards the bus and pulls the passengers together-among them tourist Stephens (Alan Ruck) and license revokee Annie Porter (Sandra Bullock). Meanwhile, Jack’s bomb squad partner Harry (Jeff Daniels) and boss Mac (Joe Morton) work to find Payne before his 11 a.m. 3.7 million dollar deadline.

Though we’ve moved on with impressive action and dramatic effects, the simple mentality of the bomb on a bus action in Speed is still refreshing. Regular road high jinks are action enough: hard right turns at sixty miles per hour, pedestrians, obstacles of all shapes and sizes, and that intense jumping the gap in the freeway. Even running low on gas makes an appearance. All the clichés are here, and though they may seem a tad dated now due to imitations and repeat viewings; Speed’s crutches and challenges are still intense. Some of it is over the top yes. The final subway confrontation between Jack and Payne seems tacked on after the departure of our beloved Bus 2525, and director Jan de Bont (Twister, Lara Croft: The Cradle of Life) even uses the same speeding trick twice. Nevertheless, Speed is not the type of film we look to for storyline innovation. While watching again, I found myself smiling at some of the good old-fashioned fun and heroics. Fifteen years later and Speed is still a great ride.

Of course, Speed made box office gold on future Matrix star and Bill and Ted alum Keanu Reeves. Before this yarn, Reeves was little more than a surfer teeny bopper with ‘gems’ like Point Break and a woefully amiss performance in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. And if you look critically enough at his delivery, you can see he doesn’t really stretch his roots in Speed. Reeves does, however, look buff and do some dangerous looking, dynamite action. He smiles, has some good quotes, and gets the girl. In an action picture, what else is there? Truly, its Reeves and leading lady Sandra Bullock (Miss Congeniality, Crash) together that keep Speed charming. It’s a little forced at times, but Bullock milked every minute of this All American cutie charm. Along with Demolition Man, Speed put Bullock on Hollywood’s front burner almost overnight. Her nineties sheek style has not stood the test of time, but in such an outlandish situation, we can’t help but root for the poor girl driving the dang bus!

I love veteran talent Dennis Hopper (Easy Rider, Hoosiers, Blue Velvet, E-Ring… shall I go on?) but his Howard Payne madman is so bad it’s good. The creepy hand, the mind games, the rules, the quips-we believe Payne has the smarts over Jack because Dennis Hopper is, well Dennis Hopper. It doesn’t matter how cute the girls find Keanu, he can’t hold a candle to Dennis Hopper. But this is an action thriller, remember, so who’s going to win? Jack, of course. In Speed’s cat and mouse games, it’s the getting there that matters. We have to see this ride to the end.

We tease the stars because we love them, but Speed also boasts a fine and diverse supporting cast. Comedy gem Jeff Daniels (Arachnophobia, The Squid and The Whale, Dumb and Dumber) is a delight as sardonic but expert bomb defuser Detective Harry Temple. Though not the ideal cop mold and certainly not meant to be a hottie ala Keanu, Daniels nevertheless looks like a cranky cop nursing a bullet wound. There should be more of him and Joe Morton (Eureka, Terminator 2: Judgment Day) as Captain McMahon. Both add realism and flair to Reeves’ pure action.

Likewise, we’ve got some colorful characters stuck on board our said bus. Some are obvious and annoying, and its fun trying to spot who is sitting where and when. Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) is especially funny as a yuppie tourist unaccustomed to the L.A. mood. The script from Graham Yost (Boomtown) is complex in plot, but some of the double play dialogue is cookie cutter and clunky. Some of that might be delivery as well, but some of the cheesy phrases work. For quite some time during Speed’s height, quotes like “Pop quiz” and “What do you do?” mocked in one’s best Keanu Reeves imitation were the norm.

There is some innuendo and f bomb language, but Speed is a somewhat tame R and generally safe for teens. While it’s certainly understandable if folks are sick and tired of Speed, ‘whoa’ Keanu, and cutie Sandra Bullock; this big action flick has survived the test of time. Action aficionados and fans of the cast can enjoy Speed again and again. There is an inevitable and forgettable sequel, Speed 2: Cruise Control, but viewers should stick with the original lightning. The DVD and blu ray releases are quite affordable, and on demand options are available as well. If you’re film viewing party needs a movie to cheer or lovingly jeer, consider Speed with your bag of popcorn.