Vultural

Enys Men - 2022 - 6/10

Lone inhabitant of isolated island is disturbed by visions - memories - remnants.
Writer / director has not bothered to elaborate, so speculate freely.
Suffice to say, there IS a female resident, and there once WAS a community.
There were miners, who also manned the rescue boat.
Categorized as Horror, it is not. It hews much closer to Aickman, into strange, into fringe.
The chronology is deliberately jumbled; advise you to simply watch and let proceedings bloom.
Viewers seeking Horror tropes, stop! There are thousands of other titles available.
Audio-freaks, this cranked my subwoofer, big time!

Tidhar, Lavie - The Big Blind

Her expression impassive, Claire studies the others round the table.
After a late night of card playing, gambling for small stakes, she returns home quietly. Donates her winnings, creeps to her chamber, dons her habit.
Day job, Sister Claire, convent nun.
I had grabbed this from a recent stack, ignored the cover art, and thus this turn came as a surprise. I mean, a poker playing nun?
Midway through this short novel, I must confess how much I was enjoying it. I started replaying scenes and moments as if this were already a film adaptation. Like those rollicking Irish comedies between 1995 and 2005.
The book itself is an effective crowd pleaser, whether or not you know a call from a flop from a river.
Entertaining beach read – which I mean as a compliment.

The Saragasso Manuscript - 1965 - 7/10
AKA - Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie

During a lull in the Napoleonic War in Spain, an officer finds a thick book.
The manuscript details the adventures, perhaps madness, of his grandfather, decades earlier.
Beginning with a shortcut through borderland territory, where he meets two beautiful sisters.
Supposedly cousins to him, they say. Or are they ghosts? Or djinns? Or succubi?

Bravado and common sense ignored, he drinks, as any female who coaxes the tiny head could predict.
Meanwhile, he is hunted, captured by the Inquisition. Rescued by a Kabbalahist. Or gypsies!

Baffling film, brims with heady stories, odd alleyways, serendipitous coincidences.
Utterly engrossing, although the three plus hours length kept this on my shelf for a few years.
Even now, I think I missed a lot.
Multiple viewings are supposedly necessary to fully appreciate this film.
Early champions of this include Scorsese, Coppola, and of all people, Jerry Garcia.
World cinema, arthouse fans, probably a must.

Project Wolf Hunting - 2022 - 6/10
AKA - Neukdaesanyang // 늑대사냥

Prisoner transfer from Philippines is anything but routine.
First off, using a cargo freighter? Not vetting the staff? Grasping that one container could contain weapons?
This section borrows from Under Siege and amplifies violence to 11.

There is, however, a clandestine government agency involved.
Not to mention something down in the hold.
Proceedings go haywire! Live action version of slaughter game.
Creative imagination runs dry midway, action is set to excess, rerun, rerun, rerun.

Tunnel - 2021 - 5/10

The yawning opening beckons.
He takes a photo, prepares to leave, only to yield to curiosity.
Nice photography, uneasy concept of Möbius portal and rural horror.
Acting adequate, cop-out conclusion.

Mirror Images II - 1993 - 5/10

The occasional sequel that improves on the original, although this lacks the “star power” of the first.
Steamy starlet Shannon Whirry plays Carrie and Terri, twin sisters. Good girl, bad girl.
Contrary to the normal world, goody-two-shoes marries the money.
Not to worry, sleazy husband advises her to fool around, while he bounces trashy sis.
After awhile the story makes no sense, and the sensual rollicking grows repetitive.
Glossy production values elevate this above most soft-core fodder.
Wildly popular during the erotic thriller heyday of the 90’s.

Weatherer, Dan - Tainted Isle

Novel written as a series of journal entries from the late Victorian era to the “end of all that” and the onslaught of the Great War.
Young man, Solomon Whyte, is a budding supernatural investigator, although he categorizes his occupation as paranormal work.
“Paranormal” strikes me as a modernism, and is not the only one in this collection of pastiche adventures.
Duly noted, and yet the stories have their moments, especially the first clutch.
“The Dressmaker’s Mannequin” is a perfumed dream, vivid upon awakening, elusive soon after.
Unlike so many investigators, Whyte is fallible, faltering throughout the narrative. Mistakes, poor decisions, mistiming matters. Rather refreshing.
This is a nice collection, with haunting black and white illustrations scattered through the pages.
In addition, this seems suitable for young readers.

Dracula - 1979 - 6/10

The roots are Stoker, yet this is based on the 1924 play, re-adapted for a 70’s Broadway run.
(I distinctly recall a Broadway TV commercial featuring “A Chorus Line” and “Dracula”.)
The count here accents the charm, the courtliness, as well as the sensual enjoyment of the female body.
Think Dracula cast as Bob Guccione.
Kate Nelligan, who I never fancied one way or another, is a fetching dish as Lucy
She and Langella spark terrific chemistry, as does he and Laurence Olivier.
I recall enjoyed this at the theater, especially the cinematography and rich colors.
The current version has been desaturated (much like the Coppola).
Please, give viewers all three: bold color, desaturated, black and white.

Bonn: Alte Freunde, Neue Feinde - 2022 - 6/10

Elements for an excellent espionage thriller here.
Two government agencies contest in post-WWII Bonn.
One insists on bringing old Nazis to justice.
The other is concerned about Communism at their doorstep.
Spy-counterspy activities are a chess match of strategies.
Into the narrative, however, is Toni. Idealistic 20 year old.
A Nancy Drew heroine, able to open safes, unearth secrets, even find a hidden sector!
Her amateur / super sleuth powers trivialize a potentially superior series.

The Song Of Lunch - 2010 - 7/10

He gazes at her wrist, so elegant and deft, with conjecture and speculation.
Has it truly been ten years? Fifteen? So little has changed.
Well, she is married, with two children.
While he remains a has-been poet, after she had married that successful fraud.
Two old flames meet for lunch. Why, you wonder.
To rekindle? Or to reaffirm?
Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman in pocket drama, although the latter carries most of the soured load.
Adapted from a poem, the dance of language in this is magical.

Amber - 2021 - 7/10

Jamal opens the barbershop. One customer, full treatment.
Then he notices the client is on the newspaper headline.

Exceptionally taut thriller, wordless throughout.
Short suspenser barrels into survival and blood.
Perfect as a featurette before starting the main film.

Everyone Says I Love You - 1996 - 7/10

People forget that there actually were musicals between 2016 and the final curtain in the early ‘60’s.
Au contraire, grasshopper. The Woodster released this loving homage in the mid-90’s.
Plotwise, there are couples falling in love, arguing in love, and the running “I’m through with love”.
Musical numbers are Broadway standards. Most of the cast does their own singing, and they are game.
Production numbers range from simple to elaborate. Who expected to see singing ghosts?
Clearly not for all tastes. If you have a fondness for this genre, this movie is a romp.
And hooray for Captain Spaulding!

The Staircase - 2022 - 7/10

Michael and Kathleen, power couple, before she is found dead on the staircase.
Did she fall? Was she attacked? Was she murdered?
The first to find her, and suspect number one, is husband Michael.
Challenging mystery series shuffles chronology as much as the theories.
Mixing dead earnest point-of-view testimonies with deceptions and outright lies.
Few perfect couples are ever as ideal as they appear and this pair is a sticky pile.
Unbelievable cast include Colin Firth, Toni Collette, Juliette Binoche, Parker Posey …
Based on true events from North Carolina, though I would advise NOT researching first.

After Life - 2021 - 6/10

“Yesterday you passed away, I am very sorry for your loss.”
New guests are given three days to select one memory from their life to carry forth into the unknown.
One or two arrivals are young, their pool of choices limited.
Others worry about what they left behind. Their cat. Who will find it? Feed it?
This theatre adaptation lacks the humor of the original film, focusing on the “staff”, their dramas and conflicts.
Overall strong, although the squabbling seems forced and awkward.
For those self doubting their own worth, remember, “… no life is average.”

After Life - 1998 - 7/10
AKA - Wandafuru Raifu // ワンダフルライフ

Welcome to the afterlife. New arrivals are given one week.
They have one week – one week – to choose one memory to retain.
One memory from a lifetime, before they move on. To where? No one knows.
One moment, and all other memories are wiped clean.
As for the memory, the staff does their best to recreate that, and the recreation is what the deceased hold onto.
This has a documentary feel. Arrivals deal with their new situation, a temporary one.
Worse, the decision is agonizing at times.
Thought provoking, forcing viewers to wonder what event they might select.

Friedman, Stephen - The House At The Edge Of The Dark

Out walking in Prague, our narrator finds a phone on a bench.
Sound advice is to ignore the device and stroll on.
Instead, he picks it up, scrolls through images, even forwards one to himself.
That is of a house he has passed dozens of times. Why had the owner taken a photo of it? If they were so curious, maybe he should be.
And so, down the dark end of the street he walks.
A short curio, not lacking merit. I find Friedman has a wonderful pattern of sentencing that young writers would be wise to study.
The novelette itself resembles a trap, a snare, grim and effective.

Always Be My Maybe - 2019 - 7/10

Despite sporadic lulls, this is a sharp RomCom, throwback to classic, pre-Hallmark romances.
Next door neighbors, childhood best friends, Marcus and Sasha seemed destined for … until they weren’t.
Sasha is a jet-setting restaurateur and chef, Marcus is a blue collar HVAC tech.
After a sixteen year absence, she returns to San Francisco and bumps into, who else?
Mind you, she instantly recognizes a setup, as does he, and neither want to be hurt again.
Not enough San Francisco scenery to boast about, but the film is funny!
Barbed dialogue, great one-liners, weird situations – all almost undercut by the skoffy patches.
Romantics will enjoy and sigh with this. Cynics will note the money and social gap.

A Bloodthirsty Killer - 1965 - 6/10
AKA - Salinma // 살인마

Ghost story jumps off the rails immediately, yet remains compelling viewing throughout.
Entering an empty art gallery, a man finds a painting of his ex-wife, ten years dead.
Only the painting melts in his hands, and then he is hijacked into the country.
Next comes another painting, an encounter with an apparition, murder.
This is fifteen minutes in. Hold on, for the narrative now shifts into high gear!
Ghosts, revenge, adultery, furtive servants, disappearances.
A tremendous amount of plot in this Gothic Horror, including for you feline fanatics, lethal cats.

The Great Texas Dynamite Chase - 1975 - 6/10

Candy busts outta prison long enough to rob a bank and help Pa save his foreclosed, broke down, tumbleweed overrun homestead.
She soon teams up with the daydreaming Ellie-Jo, and the pair commence to robbing more banks.

Rolling through west Texas (Alpine, Del Rio), they acquire better clothes, trade in their rickety Chevy 210 for a Rolls, latch onto the stud Slim (Johnny Crawford).
Fair amount of nudity, lots of explosions, some gunplay. Template for beloved Andy and Drew Sidaris flicks.
Also – and I ain’t going out on no limb here – the inspiration for Thelma And Louise.
Excepting one was embraced by cinema connoisseurs, while Texas Dynamite Chase is straight up drive-in.

Black Sabbath: Master Of Reality Documentary - 2022 - The Tapes Archive

Absorbing end-to-end “fan” documentary on the making of “Master Of Reality”.
Background, historical timetables, comments by group members, the whole Satanic thing.
No lulls, rarely dull, excellent use of images (group, commercials, news footage, film clips),
Only quibble I had was the creator-writer-producer also does all the narrating.
Other voices would vary the listening experience and, in my opinion, make this better.
Still, this labor of love production is absolutely first rate!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6GTf6rOepQ

After the show -
^

My first Sabbath concert was when they were supporting the newly released “Master Of Reality”.
The next morning, I was chatting on campus with a female friend who had also attended.
“Did you notice the singer in the jumpsuit?” she said. “He had an erection the whole show!”
“Guys don’t really stare at another man’s crotch,” I said. “Why would you do that?”
“Because,” she shrugged. Then she started staring down at my pants.
After a minute, I started getting aroused. “Hey, stop that! I have to go to class.”
“That is how we do it,” she smiled. “And as for why … because – we – can.”
Thousands of female eyes gazing at Ozzy that show, resistance was futile.
^

Nothing To Hide - 2018 - 6/10
AKA - Le Jeu

Said it before, dinner parties – the worst.
On the night of a lunar eclipse, three couples and a spare meet up.
A comment about privacy, openness and secrets, leads to a game.
Everyone will leave their phones on the dinner table.
Any calls or texts will be answered, comments read out loud, pictures shown.
Oh yeah, these are middle-aged adults, not twenty year olds.
Who knew phones would be so busy? Callers would post images, express demands.
Uncomfortable laughs mix with squalid exposures.
γνῶθι σεαυτόν

Arthurs Gesetz - 2018 - 6/10

Wife Martha convinces Arthur to endure a work accident.
“Think of all the insurance money we will collect! Besides, you have another hand.”
Arthur is a fool. Stupid, perhaps. I mean, he didn’t notice the surveillance camera near the power saw?

Nevertheless, hope springs eternal! Arthur falls in love with a singing prostitute.
I kinda lost track of the death count in this black comedy.
They are numerous and they are fairly inventive.
Short series is laugh out loud funny, yet extremely mean-spirited.
Caveat emptor.

Engstrom, Elizabeth - Nightmare Flower

I should have liked this collection; I wanted to like this collection. But I couldn’t, for a number of reasons.
The stories, by and large, have a remote, cool tone, as if each narrator was disengaged. Consequently, I never felt sympathetic with characters, let alone their activities.

Two titles, “Nightwind” and “Rain”, pits characters against elemental weather, although I wondered, what was the point of each?

I won’t kick other tales, wasting your time and mine.

The last, longest, and finest, is the novella “Project Stone”. This seems more a conspiracy thriller than horror yarn. An anxiety ridden urbanite finds refuge in a gated desert enclave. Peace of mind comes with a price, of which she contentedly ignores. This feels like a very 90’s take, akin to an “X-Files” episode from that period.

Valencourt books are always affordable and worth a look, but, for me, this was wet powder.

Lone Wolf (Wolf Creek - Wolf Creek 2) - Maniac

Maniac combines Wolf Creek and Wolf Creek 2 into one blood drenched fantasy reel for Mick Taylor lovers. Mind you, a little of smiling Mick goes a long way.

Video - 1920 X 1080p AVC. Day scenes were vivid, nights equally so. I like how the two movies have been shuffled somewhat. The first half seems to have more cuts and editing, and moves quicker as a result. Much of the finale occurs in Mick’s “den,” a grisly bachelor pad, with more static camera work.

Audio - Dialogue (Mick’s nonsense, along with whimpering, pleading, groaning, etc …) is clean, though Mick’s Oz Outback accent can be a strain at times. No subs, although hardsubs given for German hikers. No unusual fadeouts, music cuts. New Isham music is effective.

Narrative - As noted, a little of this goes a long way. Most of the cuts are of the “meals” or victims, so must viewers will not develop much empathy for them. Not that you have much empathy with Mick, he’s still the spooky neighbor you try not to engage with.
To be blunt, the narrative is huntin’ - hurtin’ - killin’.

Enjoyment - Ohhhhhhhhhh, not so much. I liked both features, they seemed to breathe more. This edit is a remorseless grind. To be fair, Maniac retained the dread of both films, the trapped, doomed ambiance that worms into the viewer’s gut. Few of Maniac’s edits are happy rides. This nasty slice shredded humanity will surely please Maniac’s fans.

Alien Elements (AvP) - ThrowgnCpr

I must confess I have a fondness for AvP, and rewatch it frequently.
Early on, some odd business relocates AvP from the Pole to the pyramids.
It feels shoehorned in and is awkward.
Once our modern (future) team is inside “the pyramid,” the tempo charges ahead.
No idea who characters are, other than they act as quick meals for the xenomorth.
Despite sharp editing throughout, the story is a bit of a jumble sale.
Interesting ideas, but fairly incoherent. I wanted to like this.
Part of me wonders if this was a learning experience for the editor, as he certainly went on to craft on a higher level.
Worthwhile short, nevertheless. Especially for fledgling editors, seeing the baby steps of editors who are now leaders.