Welcome to the darker side of AICN! Mark L. Miller aka Ambush Bug here with another AICN HORROR: ZOMBIES & SHARKS column. Ho ho HORROR! It’s the holidays here at AICN HORROR and that means both good and bad horror films under the Christmas Tree. So down some of that nog of egg and get to scrollin’ down this list of naughty and nice terrors to experience this holiday week!
But before the reviews, here’s a teaser for an upcoming holiday horror film, UGLY SWEATER PARTY which looks debaucherous as hell. While it might have missed this year’s holiday festivities, be sure to look out for UGLY SWEATER PARTY next year. Here’s the teaser!
On with the horror reviews!
(Click title to go directly to the feature)
Retro-review: BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974)
Retro-review: CHILD’S PLAY (1988)
Retro-review: HEAD OF THE FAMILY (1996)
SECRET SANTA (2015)
DEADLY INTENT (2016)
KRAMPUS UNLEASHED (2016)
BLACKBURN ASYLUM (2016)
SHELLEY (2016)
COUNTER CLOCKWISE (2016)
I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER (2016)
And finally… Justin McConnell & Serena Whitney’s DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?
Retro-review: New this week on BluRay from The Shout Factory!BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974)
aka STOP ME, SILENT NIGHT EVIL NIGHT, STRANGER IN THE HOUSEDirected by Bob Clark
Written by Roy Moore
Starring Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon, Marian Waldman, Andrea Martin, James Edmond, Doug McGrath, Art Hindle, Lynne Griffin, Michael Rapport, Leslie Carlson, Martha Gibson, John Rutter, Robert Warner, Pam Barney, Robert Hawkins, David Clement, Julian Reed as Billy, and Bob Clark, Nick Mancuso, & Ann Sweeny as the phone voices!
Retro-reviewed by Mark L. Miller aka Ambush Bug
BLACK CHRISTMAS is my very favorite Christmas horror movie and may very well be my favorite slasher movie as well. It isn’t a perfect horror film, but what it gets right, it gets really right.
While HALLOWEEN gets all the credit (and sometimes Bava for BAY OF BLOOD), BLACK CHRISTMAS is the true granddaddy of the slasher film. Years before Michael slipped on his Shatner mask, “Billy” was sneaking into a sorority house and making obscene calls to the gals downstairs. This “caller in the house” urban legend was around before the film was made, but few films have captured the sheer horror of it all as well as Bob Clark’s film did. Later, WHEN A STRANGER CALLS would strike fear into the hearts of babysitters everywhere, but while that film depicts the terrifying tale from the POV of the babysitter, not knowing the call is coming from inside the house, this film flips the script and places the viewer right into the action by letting them know that he is in the house right after the opening credits. Much like some of Hitchcock’s most famous horrors, BLACK CHRISTMAS is most effective when it plays with what you know versus what the others know in the house, adding a level of suspense that is almost unmatched with other films of its type.
I’ve watched BLACK CHRISTMAS almost every year since I discovered it late one night on cable many moons ago. Upon seeing this film the first time, what really struck me were two scenes in particular; the first obscene phone call scene and of course, the famous peeking eyeball through the doorway whispering to Jess (Olivia Hussey). There are many other scenes of terror to experience, but watching those scenes in a dark room in the middle of the night made parts of me shiver that I didn’t know could. The first scene masterfully puts you in the role of the girls experiencing the obscene phone call. The camera pans around to the faces of the ladies in the room and shows the fear this obscenity laden call causes them. This sets the stage of how invasive this terror really is and males who watch it are given a glimpse of how horrifying this type of verbal assault really can be like. This first encounter with “Billy” solidifies how crazy and dangerous this person really is and knowing that he has just slipped into the house through the attic window, we know how close these girls are to the creep.
This is one of many scenes that are shot with an eye more talented that one often finds helming a slasher film. The beautifully shot scene of Jess watching the carolers out front off the house interspersed with the violent death of Barb (Margot Kidder) is edited so well, I’d put it right up there with the PSYCHO shower scene in terms of shock and effectiveness. Other fantastic transitions such as the use of sound to segue into another scene are often used as well. When a body is found in the park, the mother opens her mouth to scream, but instead of a scream, it is replaced with the ringing of a telephone. The phone is often the source of terror here and the volume and pitch of the ring seems to intensify as the film goes on to a piercing level by the end of the film. All of these little details add up to making this one of the better thought out slashers you’ll ever see.
The fact that the killer is never revealed once again makes BLACK CHRISTMAS unique. Most of the time when the mask comes off, it’s one of the cast members who has been around the whole time. That isn’t really all that horrifying. Here we never see the whole face of “Billy” while adds to the mystique of it all. There are red herrings tossed about. Both boyfriends of the girls (Art Hindle and Kier Dullea) could be suspects as they often seem to be absent when the killings are taken place. Dullea’s Peter is particularly unhinged as he slams a music stand into the strings of his piano (a sound extremely similar to the moody piano clangs we hear all through the rest of the film). Hindle’s Chris is another one who could be the killer as he appears and disappears, seems to have a weirdly noble familiarity with Jess, and that giant fur coat he wears screams unhinged serial murderer. But alas, in the end, we never do get to see the face of the killer, making it all the more ominous.
Another reason Peter became a suspect is the subplot of abortion as Jess plans to abort the baby she has, despite Peter wanting her to keep it. This plot point is important as it offers the first clue that misleads the police to think Peter is the killer and also that the killer is in the house listening to the girls’ conversations when the caller repeats the creepy line “Just like having a wart removed.” – a line Peter says to Jess earlier. This also shows how Bob Clark flips the script even before the final girl template was created by having the virginal girl killed first and the one who had sex be the actual last lady.
But in actuality, it makes sense that “Billy” saves Jess for last after hearing she is pregnant. All you have to do is listen to the rantings in his phone calls closely and you’ll piece together a confession by the caller about a young boy (Billy) given the responsibility to watch his younger sister (Agnes), only to burn and drown the baby in the bathtub. “Billy” even calls the pregnant Jess “Agnes” throughout the film, suggesting that he is going to save the baby as he did many years ago (saving meaning killing in Billy’s twisted world). The multiple voices Billy hears and vocalizes indicate that this is an event which scarred him deeply and seems to be the root of his psychosis. All of this isn’t really explained to the viewer in a clunky exposition a la PSYCHO. Just as Bob Clark leaves out an unmasking at the end, he also leaves out “Billy’s” MO, so you have to piece it together through the bizarre phone calls in which Billy channels himself at a younger age, his sister Agnes, and his shocked parents who find him with the dead baby. Presenting his story in this way makes for a much more iconic and creepy way of getting to know your killer.
BLACK CHRISTMAS isn’t a perfect film by a long shot. It’s got some of the most annoyingly bad humor sprinkled throughout that you’re ever going to see. While humor often serves as a release in these films to deal with the buildup of tension, the scenes with the bumbling cops and the overuse of the house mother (Marian Waldman) and her constant quest to find her hidden booze in the house really does serve as a detriment to the film itself in the long run. I wish there was an edit of this film without those scenes in it as they really do piss in the punchbowl of a particularly fantastic blend of horror film.
Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder are fantastic here. Hussey is the perfectly flawed, but sincere lead. While I can’t say I understand her choice of sweaters (the one with the hands across her breasts surely would be the gold medal winner at any ugly sweater party), she really does make her character complex here as someone who doesn’t want to be tied down with a child at this point in her life, but still is sympathetic to Peter, who wants the child. Kidder is equally amazing as the acerbic Barb. Drunk for most of the film, there’s a wily wit and unpredictability to her that feels like she really might have been drunk for this film. The no fucks given way she shambles around the house, offending strangers and friends alike, is classic.
An amazing cast, unique killer, a classic urban legend, and some fantastic stylistic choices by Bob Clark make BLACK CHRISTMAS one of the more unique horror films you’ll ever see. BLACK CHRISTMAS does a fantastic job of juxtaposing some of the best holiday traditions like caroling, Christmas décor, and home for the holidays feelings with the feeling of sheer terror.
This Collector’s Set is something I will be visiting and revisiting every holiday. Not only do we get commentaries by Bob Clark, but this two disk set also includes commentaries by Kier Dullea and John Saxton. There’s also a super-odd commentary from Nick Mancuso playing Billy which gets a little annoying after a while, but still is a lot of fun. The disks also include interviews with Art Hindle, Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder, John Saxton, and Bob Clark, a featurette focusing on the legacy of BLACK CHRISTMAS, a behind the scenes documentary, and revisit to the classic film after 40 years with key interviews, and an alternative title sequence, and tons more gifts to offer making this the ultimate BLACK CHRISTMAS edition. No BLACK CHRISTMAS fan should be without this one.
Retro-review: New on BluRay from The Shout Factory!CHILD’S PLAY (1988)
aka BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED, BLOOD BROTHER, BLOOD BUDDY, CHUCKYDirected by Tom Holland
Written by Don Mancini, Tom Holland, John Lafia
Starring Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Alex Vincent, Dinah Manoff, Tommy Swerdlow, Jack Colvin, Neil Giuntoli, Juan Ramírez, Alan Wilder, Ray Oliver, Tyler Hard, Ted Liss, & Brad Dourif as Charles Lee Ray/Chucky!
Retro-reviewed by Mark L. Miller aka Ambush Bug
Having only covered the excellent CURSE OF CHUCKY here in this column, I hope I get a chance to check all of the CHILD’S PLAY movies soon, as it is an iconic franchise. CHILD’S PLAY is the one that introduced us to the pint sized ball of fury by the name of Charles Lee Ray (nicknamed Chucky) and like most first installments in a horror franchise, there is a lot of things they did right in creating one of horror’s most recognizable killers.
Strangler Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) is flees the police and ends up in a toy store. Shot and dying, with no one else to transfer his soul into, Charles grabs the closest doll (a Good Guy Doll patterned after the My Buddy dolls that were popular in the 80’s) and slides his evil soul into it. A single mother Karen (Catherine Hicks) desperate to please her son Andy (Alex Vincent), buys a hard to find Good Guy Doll from a guy on the street which he found after the toy store explosion. Sure enough, Andy’s new toy is possessed with the soul of Chucky and it’s not long before the little scamp is back to his murderous ways, framing Andy in the process.
Tapping into the popular trend of playmate dolls that talk and do lots of shit like Teddy Ruxpin, My Buddy, and the Cabbage Patch phenomenon, CHILD’S PLAY popped up at just the right time. Films like MAGIC and some choice TWILIGHT ZONE and NIGHT GALLERY episodes played around with the possessed doll idea, but Don Mancini and Tom Holland owned it with this film. The first half of the film is all about establishing Andy’s friendship with Chucky. The doll only slightly moving and responding in a singsong voice to Andy’s child-like banter. But the genius of this film comes from the masterful way Chucky emerges from this toy and has no qualms in framing Andy for his misdeeds. Holland and Mancini are extremely patient in revealing Chucky full on. Instead, they play with the idea that it might very well be Andy doing the murders and that he might just be hearing voices telling him to kill. While this idea is quickly squashed, I kind of wish they would have kept the mystery around for a while longer as it would have made for a more shocking reveal when Chucky does play his hand.
Of course, Chucky being the phenomenon he became, everyone now knows it’s the doll that did it. I’m sure these guys knew they had a killer on their hands as iconic as Freddy and Jason as they were making this. Chucky is unlike those other killers as, unlike Jason who is out for vengeance but most of the time is pretty emotionless and Freddy seems to take sadistic glee out of his murders, Chucky is simply overcome with rage. He literally has a little guy complex and wants to prove himself and punish to the world around him because of the situation he finds himself in. Because of this different slant on the killer motif, it made Chucky iconic. It helped to have a talent like Brad Dourif doing the voice. Only appearing in the opening moments, Dourif brings Chucky to life by giving him a conniving wit and a hair-trigger temper. Chucky is as iconic as he is mainly because of Dourif’s conviction to the character.
Also in Chucky’s corner is Kevin Yagher and his fantastic Chucky effects. This film does it all in trying to bring Chucky to life and these tricks are used over and over in the CHILD’S PLAY films. POV shots close to the ground create a surreal new slant on the killer point of view. Small actors in costume provide the background movement. But it’s the articulation of Chucky’s snarling face and his tiny little hands brandishing cutlery and tools that really bring the little bastard to life. All of this effects work is utterly convincing. The final showdown, as Chucky is charbroiled and dismembered one limb at a time is amazingly realized by Yagher and his crew. It is amazing the subtle movements achieved in this film, specifically one shot when Chucky has been beheaded and is shot—his body quivers and his hand reaches back for the curtain to help stand himself up. This scene looks so amazingly real and makes for a showdown climax that is both unique and terrifying.
Top drawer effects, a killer like no other, a creepy doll, and a patient hand from the director and writer are all the ingredients for an iconic film that started a phenomenon. While Jason and Freddy vie for top of the list, with Michael and Leatherface coming up just shy of it, Chucky definitely rounds out the top five in horror movie slashers and leads the pack in terms of attitude. CHILD’S PLAY has surprisingly little blood, but is full of scares and shocks. It’s a true modern horror classic.This BluRay is top shelf as well with all sorts of special features such as commentary tracks from Don Mancini, Tom Holland, Catherine Hicks, Alex Vincent, Kevin Yagher, producer David Kirschner, and an especially fun commentary from Brad Dourif as Chucky himself. The release also has a pair of featurettes on the effects with supervisor Howard Berger and Kevin Yagher, interviews with Berger, Mancini, Kirschner, screenwriter John Lafia, actors Chris Serandon, Brad Dourif, Catherine Hicks, and Alex Vincent, a vintage making of featurette, and tons more bells and whistles.
Retro-review: New this week on BluRay from Full Moon Entertainment!HEAD OF THE FAMILY (1996)
aka THE BRAINDirected by Charles Band (as Robert Talbot)
Written by Charles Band (as Robert Talbot, story), Neal Marshall Stevens (as Benjamin Carr, screenplay)
Starring Blake Adams, Jacqueline Lovell, Bob Schott, James Jones, Alexandria Quinn, Gordon Jennison Noice, J.W. Perra, Vicki Skinner, Robert J. Ferrelli, Bruce Adel, Gary Anello, Rob Roeser, Steven Novak
Retro-reviewed by Mark L. Miller aka Ambush Bug
One of Full Moon’s more odd little films, HEAD OF THE FAMILY has decent effects and a surreal flavor, which makes up for a lack of strong story and some rough stabs at acting.
Having an affair behind her thuggish husband, Loretta (Jacqueline Lovell) and Lance (Blake Adams) plan to do away with him and use the strange Stackpoole family; an eccentric clan of weirdoes who live in a mansion at the edge of town, to accomplish it. But dealing with the Stackpoole and their patriarch, Myron (J.W. Perra) –a monster with a freakishly large head and a tiny body. But dealing with this family of freaks turns out to be a very bad idea.
HEAD OF THE FAMILY is more cheesy and sleazy fun rather than anything worth shivering to. Taking a page from RE-ANIMATOR, Myron is basically a giant headed version of Dr. Hill who is a slave to his own libido as he lashes his giant tongue towards Loretta in a later scene. This is a fun character, as are his siblings who he keeps under mind control, but the problem is that Band has created some fun characters, but just doesn’t have anything interesting to do with them. The result is a film that is a visual treat, but not appetizing enough to satiate those looking for a full story. There is a beginning/middle/end, but the stakes are low and the payoff just isn’t there. It’s as if Band had the giant head makeup and whittled together a movie around it as an afterthought.
Still, this is a weird one. It’s got lots of boobs, some blood, and the giant head effects really are great. As a low fi creature feature, this one is fun, but HEAD OF THE FAMILY is far from one of Full Moon’s best.
New on DVD from Wild Eye Releasing and MVD Visual !SECRET SANTA (2016)
Directed by Mike McMurranWritten by Mike McMurran
Starring Annette Wozniak, Geoff Almond, Keegan Chambers, Brent Baird, Nicole Kawalez, Tony Nash, Matthew Chisholm, Mat Chism, Astrida Auza, Alexandra Simpson, Andre Becker, John Nicol, Brooke Zavitz
Find out more about this film on Facebook here
Reviewed by Mark L. Miller aka Ambush Bug
SECRET SANTA focuses on a group of college kids who are planning to throw a party during their Christmas break. Little do they know, a masked killer is sending his own weaponry to members of the group in wrapped presents only to kill them after they open their gifts.
Yeah, goofy concept but still it makes for some fun scenes as people react to the gifting of power tools and cutlery only to be killed with them minutes later. But while this isn’t the goriest of films or even the scariest, the writing of the characters is what makes the whole thing worth checking out. Filmmaker McMurran fills this movie with characters that at first glance may be your typical cast of soon to be dead people, but tosses convention on its ear after closer inspection. The typical innocent “final girl” is actually an online sex cam girl to pay her way through college. The seemingly noble boyfriend slept with another one of the girls and now regrets it. Each character seems to have their own story and it all just happens to converge at this party. And that’s the type of attention to character you don’t normally get in a slasher movie, specifically one of this scope and budget.
SECRET SANTA is a film you’re going to chuckle at more than quake and fear. The ending’s got a decent SCREAM-like twist that I didn’t see coming and I appreciate McMurran’s tendency to veer to the right when a left turn is expected. This Santa horror film won’t blow you out of the chimney, but for low budget slasher fare, it ain’t half bad.
New On Demand!DEADLY INTENT (2016)
Directed by Rebekah FortuneWritten by Diana Townsend
Starring Rebecca Reaney, Gus Barry, Lara Lemon, Peter Lloyd, Vic Stagliano
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here
Reviewed by Mark L. Miller aka Ambush Bug
The filmmakers behind DEADLY INTENT so, so much want this film to be THE BABADOOK, but while the acting isn’t bad, it simply forgot one crucial thing—it forgot to be scary.
When her husband returns from Afghanistan sullen, reclusive, and abusive, Bryony (Rebecca Reaney) doesn’t know how to handle it, especially because her young son James (Gus Barry) looks up to his father so much. But after he suffers a break and commits suicide, James believes he still can communicate with his father. Soon, though, Byrony realizes that something dark is haunting her home and the disturbances she thought were being done by her troubled son are actually James’ restless spirit.
I don’t mind this film basically having the same setup as THE BABADOOK. It was an amazing movie and I’m sure there are bound to be films wanting to ride on its coattails. But the problem with this film is that it simply wants to be like THE BABADOOK without any real knowledge of how to scare the viewer. Sure strange things happen, but they do so off camera and with little to no attention to atmosphere, shadow, and mood (something THE BABADOOK oozed with), it simply is a hysterical mother yelling at her sullen son for most of the film. The performances are fine if not much more than what I would expect from such a low budget film. Both Reaney and Barry do a great job as the troubled mother and son and the attention the story takes to develop the trials and tribulations a mother goes through after a loss of this kind are actually nicely done. But without the spectral payoff, this may as well have been a Lifetime movie about people suffering from loss. If that’s what this film wants to be, then that’s fine and dandy with me, but don’t try to wrap it in a Babadooky package and not expect the viewer to be disappointed.
I do take issue with the ending, which is a non-ending to be exact. After a big too doo in the bathtub with the mother screaming for her dead husband to let her son go, to see the shadow of the dead pop move across the room only suggests that there has been no resolution at all. This is common in horror movies, but in a movie where so little by way of horror occurs, to have the nerve to say that “the horror will continue” is almost insulting. DEADLY INTENT is finely acted and thoughtfully presented, but is toothless in terms of striking terror.
New on DVD and On Demand from Uncork’d Entertainment!KRAMPUS UNLEASHED (2016)
Directed by Robert ConwayWritten by Robert Conway
Starring Amelia Brantley, Bryson Holl, Caroline Lassetter, Taylor Buckley, Tim Sauer, Emily Lynne Aiken, Daniel Link, Tori Osborn, Michael Harrelson, Linda Cushma, Dujhan Brown, Juliet Rose Serrato, Kerry Keepers, William 'Bill' Connor, & Travis Amery as the Krampus!
Reviewed by Mark L. Miller aka Ambush Bug
While there is a Christmas theme to KRAMPUS UNLEASHED, it has much more in common with a Bigfoot film than anything else. But that’s not a particularly bad thing.
Panhandlers in the old west seek out ancient gold and find an obsidian stone with a warning about the Krampus on it instead. After they are quickly made into future Krampus squat, the stone is lost in a river for ages until a young boy finds it on a visit to his grandparents’ house for Christmas and unleashes the monster again.
This is another low budget attempt to cash in on the success of Mike Dougherty’s KRAMPUS from last year and borrows quite a few of the themes from that film including the torture of family gatherings, rival sections of the family, and other yuletide sneers. But while that film was drenched with Christmas atmosphere, this one accentuates the point of being a Bizzaro Christmas story by having it take place in sandy Arizona rather than a snow covered Midwestern town. The script, while not always performed well by the actors, is a somewhat clever one and some good one liners are dropped as one side of the family seems to be ultra-liberal while another is a little looser in the collar. This time though, it’s the ultra-liberals who are talking about not eating meat and carbon footprints that are made to look like the annoying side of the family, which I found to be kind of refreshing given that conservatism is often the butt of the jokes these days.
The Krampus itself looks great with a practical furry suit and lengthy horns jutting from its head. Here the beast is sort of just played as if it was Sasquatch though and it doesn’t seem to have magical powers of any kind other than the power to tear you to shreds with its bare hands. There are even a pair of Bigfoot hunters in this film which pushes the two monsters of myth closer to one another even more so. Sometimes the filmmaker doesn’t always capture the beast in a flattering light--some scenes simply show the beast walking briskly towards a person who is less than scary, especially since there is a great distance between the two and Krampus’ gait is rather casual. A tighter edit might make him scarier by having him simply pounce from the shadows rather than be seen advancing towards the person in peril. Still, the face of the beast, with it’s crooked eyes and dark hue makes for a pretty terrifying lead monster.
Less of the moralistic tale KRAMPUS was and definitely of a higher quality than the low fi CGI mess that was KRAMPUS: THE RECKONING, KRAMPUS UNLEASHED has an impressive monster and a clever script making it watchable time-wasting fare for those with a taste for low budget monster flicks.
New this week On Demand and iTunes from Raven Banner!BLACKBURN ASYLUM (2016)
Directed by Lauro ChartrandWritten by Nastasha Baron
Starring Sarah Lind, Zack Peladeau, Emilie Ullerup, Calum Worthy, Alexander Calvert, Joyce Robbins, Jacqueline Robbins, Maja Aro, Ken Kirzinger, Brad Loree, Mike Dopud, Brandi Alexander, Lochlyn Munro, Rebecca Husain, Eliya Rose Felix-Neuwirth, & the Soska Sisters as Posey & Poppy!
Find out more about this film here
Reviewed by Mark L. Miller aka Ambush Bug
While BLACKBURN ASYLUM is a good looking bag of devious little ideas, this film should be called STUPID DECISIONS: THE MOVIE.
A group of kids go on a road trip only to find themselves running out of gas and forced to take shelter in an old abandoned mill that used to be a mental asylum. After a horrible fire, the asylum burned to the ground, but the mental patients remained and still terrorize all who enter the mill.
It’s cliché that people in horror films make bad decisions, but this one takes the cake. The kids decide to split up and look for missing friends over and over again putting each of them in peril as usual in these films. A couple having an affair decides to make out with their friends including their significant others just around the corner and are shocked when they get caught. Someone thinks it’s a good idea to bring a newborn baby into an abandoned mill. Over and over, the group makes headslappingly bad decisions. I tell you, you’re going to knock yourself unconscious with this one. I understand the plot has to be advanced and we need to get these people alone in order to murderize them, but having them act so stupidly to do so only does a disservice to the film and insults the audience.
And it’s too bad the script isn’t smarter because this is a fun film full of really interesting stylistic choices and a lot of imagination in terms of the way things are shot. The flashbacks to the monsters roaming the asylum are quickly edited and done so with an acrobatic camera. The killers, while we don’t get to see them do much more than stalk and murder folks are fun and imaginative, though the burn scar masks they wear look more like Halloween masks and have zero articulation, giving them more of a funhouse horror feel than actual scares. I also loved the creepy Robbins twins, a pair of old witch-like twins serving as the pariah characters warning the kids not to go to the mill (of course, they still go to the mill—another bad decision) and providing some of the funnier moments of the film.
BLACKBURN ASYLUM is a good looking film. There’s a good amount of gore and there are ideas a plenty. It’s just too bad the kids are the dumbest kids ever to set foot in a horror film.
New this week on BluRay from IFC Midnight and The Shout Factory!SHELLEY (2016)
Directed by Ali AbbasiWritten by Ali Abbasi, Maren Louise Käehne
Starring Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Cosmina Stratan, Peter Christoffersen, Björn Andrésen, Marlon Kindberg Bach, Kenneth M. Christensen, Marianne Mortensen, Patricia Schumann
Reviewed by Mark L. Miller aka Ambush Bug
I don’t need to have everything explained to me in films. I rather like it when a film leaves some of the horror to my imagination, which often times is more horrifying than anything a filmmaker can put on screen. But SHELLEY kind of goes a little bit too far into the realm of vague making a rather frustrating film that never pays off in the end.
Elena (Cosmina Stratan) is a Romanian immigrant who answers an ad for a housekeeper for a couple living off the grid in the middle of the wilderness. The couple (Louise played by Ellen Dorrit Petersen and Kasper played by Peter Christoffersen) become close with Elena and ask her to be a surrogate mother for their child as the sickly Louise is unable to bear children. Hoping to use the money she receives to buy and apartment for her son who still lives in Romania, Elena agrees, but almost immediately becomes sick with side effects suggesting that the baby inside of Elena is evil.In ROSEMARY’S BABY, the cause of the horrors are the witches next door. In other demon baby flicks, there’s usually some kind of malevolent force that suggests where the evil has come from. This film has none of that. Kasper does not seem to be evil and seems to be fearful of the baby. Elena is a complete innocent, naïve to the horrors she is experiencing. Even Louise, who is characterized as sickly, but not evil, shows a caring and motherly side to her even to the point of risking her life to protect those in her family. Because there is no real “bad guy” in this film, it really makes this one a hard film to peg down. I guess the bad guy here is the baby, but because babies are seen as the ultimate in innocence, it’s really hard to believe that and this film poses no real answers, even in the end, to let us know why Elena has to endure all of this suffering and why so much calamity must befall this couple who seem to be pretty ok.
The film does have quite a few effective scenes that will make you wince. More than once, Elena lashes out against her body, hitting her own pregnant stomach and knowing that something evil is as work with this pregnancy. There are other scenes where the horror is merely suggested in dreams Elena has and the dense blackness that surrounds the home which has no electricity. This film captures the mood of horror very well and it makes the unresolved ending all the more frustrating as the lead up is so well done.SHELLY is an exercise in agonizing expectation as it feels as if it simply doesn’t have a final act where we are explained why we took the time to invest ourselves into these characters. Horrible things happen, but there is no comeuppance to sinners or even reward to them. This is just terrible things happening to random people who don’t really deserve it and while that can be said for many films, the lack of any kind of resolution makes the film feel all the more pointless. Somewhere, there is a final act laying around for SHELLEY that ends on a satisfying note. It’s just too bad that the final cut of the film lacks that last act.
New on DVD/BluRay from Artsploitation Films!COUNTER CLOCKWISE (2016)
Directed by George MoïseWritten by Michael Kopelow, Walter Moise, George Moïse
Starring Michael Kopelow, Devon Ogden, Kerry Knuppe, Bruno Amato, Robert Renderos, Kyle Rickard, Cleo Antonelli, Frank Simms, Brad Bishop, Chip Bolcik, Aaron Bowden, Caleb Brown, Alice Rietveld, Joy Rinaldi, Steven Synstelien, Alex Vaiangina
Reviewed by Mark L. Miller aka Ambush Bug
A one eyed dog, a big ginger dude (I can say this because, I too am a big ginger dude), and a teleporter/slash time machine make up a truly kooky little film called COUNTER CLOCKWISE.
Michael Kopelow plays Ethan, a big brain trying to figure out the kinks in his teleportation machine. But when he thinks he has mastered it, he decides to use his dog as a test subject as the first traveler and ends up sending him a few hours into the future instead. But before he can understand that, he tries the procedure on himself and ends up twisting and turning in an infinite loop filled with murder, hitmen who like to hug, deception, and guys who don’t like to wash their hands after pissing.
First and foremost, FUCK YOU, MR. MOVIE, FOR TESTING YOUR TELEPORTER OUT ON YOUR DOG!!! Did you not watch THE FLY II? The poor little one eyed dog is about as lovable as they come and sure Ethan and his lab partner are upset when they lose him, but still, you just don’t test on animals, especially man’s best friends!
Now that that tirade is over, I can calm down and tell you all that this is a clever and quirky little gem of a film. Done on a modest budget with no name stars and no big effects, COUNTER CLOCKWISE relies on telling a complex, but utterly followable story of a man lost in time trying to solve a mystery. Kopelow is not your typical leading man as he is a burly, balding, ginger with thick glasses, but dammit if he isn’t relatable and does a fantastic job of being the central hub with which this murder mystery rotates around. Following multiple time-lost versions of him self through the story and trying not to explode the continuum a la TIMECOP, Kopelow is convincing as he frantically tries to put everything together and fix this mess he’s gotten himself in and is believable and likable in doing so all the way through in a Louis CK meets Brian Posehn sort of way. This film is kind of like RUN LOLA RUN, except with a tall, balding, glasses wearing ginger taking the place of Franka Potente.
COUNTER CLOCKWISE is the type of ground level sci fi I can get behind. The time travel never gets so complex that it makes my brain scratch and there are enough moments of humanity that really allow you to connect with Ethan’s plight. Filled with odd characters such as a guy who is really excited about drinking from a water fountain and a hitman who is both overly affectionate and polite, but also a necrophile, this film never follows the path well traveled. Instead it tells a unique story of bent physics and bloody murder with a stiff-armed running ginger desperately trying to put his life back together. If you’re looking for something outside the norm, COUNTER CLOCKWISE is a low fi sci fi flick that fits the bill nicely.
New this week on BluRay from IFC Midnight and The Shout Factory!I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER (2016)
Directed by Billy O'BrienWritten by Christopher Hyde, Billy O'Brien, from the novel by Dan Wells
Starring Christopher Lloyd, Laura Fraser, Max Records, Karl Geary, Tony Papenfuss, Bruce Bohne, Matt Roy, William Todd-Jones, James Gaulke, Michael Paul Levin, Tim Russell, Dee Noah, Dane Stauffer, Elizabeth Belfiori, Christina Baldwin
Reviewed by Mark L. Miller aka Ambush Bug
Mixing deep psychological conflict with a supernatural entity is not an easy task, but I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER does so in a memorable and masterful sort of way.
Max Records plays John Wayne Cleaver, son of the local mortician April (BREAKING BAD’s Laura Fraser) and budding serial killer. At least, that’s what John thinks he is as he has all of the symptoms that lead to becoming a someone who murders others without remorse; bed-wetting, fire-setting, animal-torturing, and a morbid curiosity for gruesome and otherwise unsettling subject matter. John sees a counselor Dr. Neblin (Karl Geary) and the two have an open relationship where John talks about his feelings, or lack thereof. Being an outsider, though, has its benefits, as John sees things that others don’t and when people start dying in his small town at a rapid rate, John begins to suspect the kindly old man next door (Christopher Lloyd) of the wrong doings. But is the old guy a serial killer or something far worse? Hint: he’s far worse.What makes I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER such a compelling story is that as a straight up psychological thriller, this is a top notch story as it is fascinating to see the world through John’s eyes. Actor Records does a great job of emoting that cold, vacant but pained look of someone who is trying his hardest to not be what he, in his mind, is destined to be. Seeing John interact with bullies and his outcast friend in school is fascinating; a captivating scene occurs at the school dance when a bully approaches him and John turns the tables and scares thee shit out of him simply by telling him what he is thinking about at that particular moment. The family drama is never over the top, but simply states the facts as well as Fraser makes what could be a clichéd role as a single mom struggling to make ends meet and make things nice for her troubled son into something much more textured and nuanced. The first half of this film, though somewhat reminiscent of DEXTER-THE TEENAGE YEARS, really does captivate.
But the latter half, where we see that something rather bizarre is occurring in John’s world and it has to do with the old guy next door turning into some kind of slime creature and eating the hearts of people in the city. Using what he knows in his “training” to become a serial killer, John is able to counter Lloyd’s elderly monster character at every turn. This dangerous cat and mouse game is thrilling given what we have learned about John in the first half and compounded when the supernatural elements are introduced. Even the ending, which is simple and rather straight-forward, has a sort of sweetness to it, despite the fact that it involves a pile of bodies and a horrifying, black and slimy creature.I am fascinated by the way I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER unfolds. Filmed in a grainy, 70’s style manner, I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER has a wonderful handling of the intricacies and turmoil of being a flawed human being in ones teenage years. The film takes place at a moment where John could fall either way—serial killer or normal person, and handles that delicate balance gracefully and effectively. It’s a story that is unique as it also is able to juggle both emotional drama and supernatural danger with an even hand. There aren’t many films out there that are able to do this, but I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER, with it’s fantastic cast and simple, but nuanced story achieves it eloquently.
And finally…here is a premiere of an awesome new short, just in time for the holidays, called DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE. It’s directed by Justin McConnell & Serena Whitney and starring Caleigh Le Grand, Jorja Cadence, Adam Buller, Emmanuel-Whitney Alexander. This one is filled with cheery X-Mas horrors as a pair of gals get ready for a holiday party, no knowing a stalker is planning on showing up. This one’s got a fantastic script and is a cut above in terms of acting. Plus it turns surprisingly uber-violent towards the end. I think you guys are going to love this little present from Unstable Ground.
Check out DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE below and have yourselves a happy holiday folks!
See ya next week, folks!
Ambush Bug is Mark L. Miller, original @$$Hole/wordslinger/writer of wrongs/reviewer/interviewer/editor of AICN COMICS for over 15 years & AICN HORROR for 5. Follow Mark on the Twitters @Mark_L_Miller and on his new website collecting posts for AICN HORROR as well as all of the most recent updates on his various comic book projects on MLMillerWrites.com.
Look for our bi-weekly rambling about random horror films on Poptards and Ain’t It Cool on AICN HORROR’s CANNIBAL HORRORCAST Podcast every other Thursday!
Finally, if you are having an issue with the text overlapping the images, refresh your screen and that should fix it!
