Darla’s been turning in strong coverage every day, and we appreciate it greatly. Keep it up! And say hi to Petey The Dog for me!
Darla Hood back from more fun at Fantastic Fest. And while I wish that I were sitting in SIMON SAYS right now, I'm kinda glad the screening was packed by the time I reached it because I could use some serious rest!
I started today with an Irish horror movie called ISOLATION. Set in rural Ireland on a cattle farm, the rancher is being paid to allow a company to run genetic experiments on a few of his cows. He has no idea exactly what they're doing at first, but as things quickly go awry all is explained. The company has been augmenting embryos and implanting those into the cows in the hopes of creating more fertile stock. However, complications with a new calf lead to more
complications as it is discovered that the fresh calf appears to already be pregnant. Oh yes, it also appears to have dangerous fangs and is all too happy to use them.
This is a good old fashioned monster movie. Think THE THING meets "All Creatures Great and Small." It's a fun ride with plenty of scares and an interesting premise. I absolutely loved the star, John Lynch. He's gruff, gritty, and believable as the lone cattle farmer. The supporting cast is also wonderful. Even the farm as a character is amazing; they get so much use out of it. Watch for this film for a great monster movie.
I opted for a panel on the 1970s series "Gatchaman" next. A Houston based company is releasing the series with new American voice actors doing the dubbing. And since they are starting fresh, they are sticking to a more direct translation of the language while camping it up a bit to give it a wacky 70s feel. Apparently, when the series was first brought to America, there was quite a bit of censoring of the language and stories that this company is now able to remedy. We watched three episodes which were then discussed by the voice director/producer and several of the voice actors. It was interesting to hear about the changes that they are making and to hear about the process of dubbing an entire series anew. If you were into the series in the 70s, search out these DVDs because you won't be disappointed.
My last film of the day was THE LIVING AND THE DEAD. This is a pretty trippy film that's difficult to describe. I will say that it should not be marketed as a horror film. I thought it was much more in the style of a Greek tragedy than anything else. And I think that if it were marketed as such, it would work even better as a film. As it is, the film is definitely interesting and intriguing.
I felt that it suffered a bit from adding "too much" when it should have been played more straight and delicate. As a matter of fact, I think it would have been closer to a psychological horror had it been played quieter. Also if the actor who played James (the son of the family) had been given a specific mental illness to portray, he could have been more believable/likable to me. He occasionally suffers from over-acting in that "Rosie O'Donnell bus-riding-mentally-challenged" way that can be pretty irritating. The film also fades to black too many times at the end which leads to a feeling of multiple endings that it doesn't need. Again, here less is more.
Overall, I think this is a very interesting film. With a few editing changes, it could be an absolutely amazing film. I'd recommend seeing it because it requires you to think in the theater. Sure, there's time for mind-numbing entertainment, but sometimes it's good
to think!
Four days down, four more to go! And it's still a fabulous time!
