Splatter High

GHOUL SCHOOL

Director: Timothy O'Rawe

Writer: Timothy O'Rawe

Starring: William Friedman, Scott Gordon, Joe Franklin

1990 | United States | Not Rated | 71 mins

★★½

In the world of low-budget filmmaking it really doesn't take much to make a horror film. All you need is a camera, some friends, a few buckets of blood and guts, and a basic idea. But talent? Pfffft, you can just throw that to the wind! Somehow a bad horror film doesn't always end up being bad. Especially when you have a bunch of friends over, and a couple of cold ones readily available, these train-wrecks end up being a whole lot of fun to behold. So grab your backpack and head back to Horror High with Ghoul School.

A couple of bumbling criminals break into the boiler room of a local high school and unexpectedly unleash a toxic chemical into the school's water supply. Soon the high school swim team are turned into undead ghouls after doing laps in the contaminated pool and start munching on the student population. Now it's up to Steve (William Friedman) and Jeff (Scott Gordon), a couple of horror movie loving nerds, as well as the members of a local heavy metal band to save the rest of the uneducated from the undead!

Not based off of the awesome old-school Nintendo game of the same name, Ghoul School is a low-budget schlock-fest filled with horrible dialogue, choppy editing, and a ridiculously nonsensical plot. If you're looking for entertaining camp you're in the right class. Featuring horribly incoherent and out of place cameos from both Joe Franklin and not very funny comedian Jackie the Joke Man, Ghoul School will have you scratching your head and laughing at its ineptness. Timothy O'Rawe has created a shot-on-16mm butt-number that features some hilarious gore gags (where when your limbs are torn off it's actually giant blood-filled condoms underneath your flesh, not veins and arteries like science would have you believe) and a ghoulish swim team that resemble dollar-store versions of the demons from Lamberto Bava's Demons.

Filled to the brim with horribly amateur acting, late-80's mullets, the worst 'air band' in history, and enough blood splattered gore, Ghoul School is just too bad to not have a good time while watching. Bad comedies are bad. Bad dramas are bad. But bad horror movies somehow always manage to entertain, no matter how deranged, loopy, or incompetent. At least most of the time... So Ghoul School deserves a diploma simply for that because it's that special kind of fun, even if it is just to hide the fact from the rest of the alumni that it really is doomed to never graduate Horror High.

All contents copyright 2010 Tyler Baptist

Deadly Premonition

THE PSYCHIC (aka SEVEN NOTES IN BLACK)

Director: Lucio Fulci

Writers: Lucio Fulci, Roberto Gianviti, Dardano Sacchetti

Starring: Jennifer O'Neill, Gabriele Ferzetti, Marc Porel

1977 | Italy | Not Rated | 97 mins

★★★

Lucio Fulci is probably best known to horror fans for his extremely gory exercises such as City of the Living Dead and The Beyond, but prior to unleashing the floodgates Fulci contributed four entries into the wonderfully stylized Italian thriller genre known as the giallo. From Perversion Story to Lizard in a Woman's Skin to Don't Torture a Duckling, all regarded as classics of the genre, Fulci's last giallo before going into a blood frenzy was The Psychic (aka Seven Notes in Black).

A clairvoyant woman, Virginia Ducci (Jennifer O'Neill), has a chilling vision where she witness a women being walled up and murdered. After she recognizes the room from her vision in her husband's (Gianni Garko) old home she uncovers a skeleton hidden behind a layer of brick in the wall. Now Virginia is determined to uncover the mystery of who the woman was and who exactly put her there, but the deeper the mystery unravels the further Virginia's life is put into danger.

The Psychic showcases a side of Fulci not commonly associated with the Italian maestro - a quiet and refined side - wherein the suspense is thoughtfully plotted and quietly executed, and bookends his giallo outings. Normally those familiar with the director's work commonly refer to his crazy, mostly incoherent, and insanely violent films like Zombi 2 (which are horror classics in their own right) as their main impressions of his filmography. But Fulci should also be regarded as a master of suspense. The Psychic features a great performance from Jennifer O'Neill and some great Hitchcockian twists and turns that keep the viewer guessing.

Slow building suspense and foreboding danger play the main tune in this Fucli thriller. Even with a few flaws The Psychic, while not quite as strong as the previous efforts, such as the masterful Perversion Story, is still none-the-less a worthy and methodical giallo. Fulci fans and giallo fans alike should discover this lost Fulci gem and place it firmly in their collections.

All contents copyright 2010 Tyler Baptist

Mind Games

THE FURY

Director: Brian De Palma

Writer: John Farris

Starring: Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Amy Irving

1978 | United States | R | 118 mins

★★½

Brian De Palma solidified himself as a household name after the success of Carrie. He'd tackled the horror genre previously, and noteworthy, with films such as Sisters and Phantom of the Paradise, but Carrie firmly placed his stamp as a filmmaker to watch. Following on the wave of Carrie's success De Palma decided to stick with the theme of psychokinetics with his next film The Fury written by John Farris and based upon his novel.

Peter Sandza (Kirk Douglas) is a wanted man on the run trying to locate his son Robin (Andrew Stevens) who's been kidnapped by a secret government agency because of his pyschokinetic powers. Desperate to find him, Peter stumbles across Gillian (Amy Irving), a girl with similar psychic abilities. The two team up to try to uncover Robin's whereabouts and stop Ben Childress (John Cassavetes) from forcing and turning Robin's powers against them.

Brian De Palma shifts his gears slightly with The Fury when compared with his previous entries into the horror genre. While the elements of horror remain, he's instead set it more to the background while bringing action and thriller elements forefront. Featuring a few action-set-pieces and a car chase The Fury attempts to get the adrenaline pumping rather then going for the jugular. Kirk Douglas unfortunately plays Peter Sandza quite ham-fisted and his attempts at humour feel wrongfully injected into the script which fall flat and detract from the story. John Farris' script also feels weak and drawn-out to where the film would have played better at a 90-minute runtime.

The Fury ultimately loses momentum after the opening sequence and neither De Palma's direction nor Farris' script can fully decide if they are making an action movie, a thriller, a horror film, or even a comedy in some cases. The acting is luke warm across the board even though it features heavy hitters like Douglas and John Cassavetes, but the characters just aren't engaging. But aside from being quite boring and tedious The Fury does have one positive: it features one the most explosive climaxes that predates the infamous exploding head in David Cronenberg's Scanners that will have you rewinding the ending just to see it again. But that aside, The Fury ends up being a lame followup to the pyschokinetic mastery of Carrie that De Palma hoped to cash in on, which is unfortunate because the premise and the people involved should have at least been hopeful.

All contents copyright 2010 Tyler Baptist

Last Villa on the Beach

MIDNIGHT BLUE

Director: Raimondo Del Balzo

Writers: Raimondo Del Balzo and Candido Simeone

Starring: Christiana Borghi, Antonio Cantafora, Monica Como

1979 | Italy | Not Rated | 83 mins

★★

When Last House on the Left broke down fences of decency and sexual horror in 1972 no one expected the Italians to turn out rip-off after rip-off of the rape-revenge genre. From Night Train Murders to Last House on the Beach to Terror Express this sleazy and violent genre flooded the European markets and satisfied those looking for ultra-sleazy exploitation. A few of these roughies have been lost to North American audiences and one of these ultra obscure imitations is Raimondo Del Balzo's Midnight Blue.

Three beautiful female athletes (led by Christiana Borghi) take a weekend off from training to vacation at a relative's villa complete with private beach. While relaxing, enjoying the water, and topless sunbathing the girls' weekend alone is interrupted by three escaped criminals on the run. Led by Pierre Luigi (Antonio Cantafora), the three criminals take the girls hostage and submit them to torture and rape before the girls get their bloody revenge.

Midnight Blue features all the components you'd expect from the genre; beautiful women, sleazy creeps, and a secluded location, but the film doesn't pack on the sleaze or violent impact that the other more notable entries exuded in spades. The terror of the hostage taking of the girls doesn't even happen until the 35-minute mark and prior to that it's just scenes of the ladies relaxing, some nudity, and a romp with the seemingly good guys. The criminals themselves are never threatening enough and the girls' terror is limited to a few very short scenes. Even master cinematic composer Stelvio Cipriani's score is uninspired and repetitive. However, there are a few amusing scenes involving the horrible English dubbing, including a hilarious trip to an outdoor market and two bumbling cops (pretty much a direct homage to Craven's Last House on the Left) who's dubbed voices sound like they were rejected extras from the Dukes of Hazzard set which definitely doesn't fit in with the Italian setting of the film. And you've also got to laugh as well when the demise of two of the perpetrators is via javelin!

But those few laughs aside, Midnight Blue is a rather boring and forgettable entry into the rape-revenge genre. A lost revenge classic it sure isn't so it's not too much of a pity we haven't seen an official release of this roughie yet. If Del Balzo had layered on more sleaze, violence, and true terror brought on by the escaped criminals to the unsuspecting female athletes it could have been an exploitation fan's dream, but as for what it is, Midnight Blue only belongs in the collections of genre completists.

All contents copyright 2010 Tyler Baptist

Dead Laughter

DEATH OF THE DEAD

Director: Gary King

Writer: Bo Buckley

Starring: Christina Rose, Jack Abele, William Lee

2010 | United States | Not Rated | 85 mins

★★★

Ever since the Zucker Brothers had us busting a gut with comedy spoofs like Airplane! the parody genre has come and gone in waves. But when combining the elements of slapstick with the horror genre these films seem to be of appeal to audiences either in the theatre market or the direct-to-video scene no matter how good or bad. Gary King was hired to direct an entry into this popular genre and decided it was time to keep with the camp but also have it still appeal to the "wine-tasting crowd" so-to-speak, even if it does feature 'nutchucks'.

Wanda (Christina Rose), your typical nerd, is training under the good karate Master Sensei (Jack Abele) to help fight the Evil Sensei (William Lee) from taking over the martial arts industry in town. But when a school bus accident and a vat of an experimental toxic chemical collide head-on the entire rival evil karate club are turned into karate-zombies! Now it's up to Wanda, with the help of her sex-toy loving Master Sensei's magic belt, to realize her potential and kick some undead ass!

Death of the Dead plays out like a mash-up between a Zucker Brothers comedy and a Troma film. Sight gags, one-liners, body humour, and karate-zombies go hand-in-hand and generate some actual belly laughs. While some of the gags fall short and end up too juvenile and sophomoric, Death of the Dead is still a rather fun time waster. Filled with lots of great camp, this low-budget comedy-horror actual boasts some great acting as well. Christina Rose is fantastic as Wanda and she kicks some awesome zombie ass. Gary King who's previous filmography is actually in the art house and dramatic vein brings some of that talent to what could have been a flaccid and unfunny flop and injects some interesting characters and heart into the film.

While the spoof genre may not appeal to everyone, Gary King has infused enough of his intelligence and talent from working in other genres to make this an above-average entry into parody cannon that has the potential to reach audiences outside its initial scope. King even manages to include a few one-liners from cult faves Troll 2 and The Room which will have those in the know giggling. Death of the Dead manages to have audiences laughing out loud while retaining a surprising amount of heart not commonly seen in the genre. Worth a look.

Fellow Reel to Reeler Skot Hamilton and I had the pleasure of interviewing both director Gary King and actress Christina Rose recently at the first annual Dark Bridges Film Festival. Listen to those interviews below:

Interview #1 (Before the Death of the Dead screening)

Interview #2 (After the Death of the Dead screening)

All contents copyright 2010 Tyler Baptist

Innocence in Blood

LET ME IN

Director: Matt Reeves

Writer: Matt Reeves

Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloë Grace Moritz, Elias Koteas

2010 | United States | R | 115 mins

★★★★

When a film of such stark power, horror, and beauty comes along like Let the Right One In it seems incomprehensible how mainstream audiences cannot embrace subtitles and ultimately rule that a remake is necessary. Normally a hack director is hired so that audiences with attention spans of goldfish can forgive any mistakes and blasphemies against the original when these remakes are pumped out to cash in. But Matt Reeves is not a hired gun, nor is he unfamiliar with the source material, and he actually cares about what cinematic audiences think and feel.

Los Alamos, New Mexico. 1983. Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee), an only child caught between the divorce of his parents, faces growing up on his own against the pressures of bullying and friendship. Spending time alone in the apartment courtyard, Owen meets Abby (Chloë Grace Moritz), a girl seeming to be around his age who moves in next door. The two forge a friendship that satisfies both their needs to feel accepted, but Abby hides a secret that only blood can quench.

Based upon John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel and screenplay for Let the Right One In, Matt Reeves faithfully adapts the story of belonging and growing up with minor changes to properly set the film in America. Taking place during the Reagan era, Reeves' adaption and attention to detail is astounding and the Cold War politics play a subtle key of tension to the backdrop and atmosphere of the film. These changes add a great depth to the film. A few scenes from the original are axed, such as the cat lady scene, but not without reason. The performances by both young actors are expertly realized and a strong anchor to the emotional impact the film presents. A few things this retelling has specifically over its 2008 predecessor is Greig Fraser's absolutely gorgeous cinematography and Michael Giacchino's beautifully haunting film score reminiscent of 70's gothic horror, both of these excel beyond expectations.

At the time of its announcement Let Me In was pointless and seemed like a blasphemy against the brilliant original, but now after witnessing Matt Reeves faithfully and sure-footedly spin his take on this tale of adolescence with a vampiric twist, the film is more as if another director had a shot at adapting John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel, rather then just a remake. While still not as wholly impressive as the Swedish masterpiece, Let Me In retains the emotional resonance and purity of horror without tarnishing the original. 

All contents copyright 2010 Tyler Baptist

Of Wife or Witch...

SEASON OF THE WITCH

Director: George A. Romero

Writer: George A. Romero

Starring: Jan White, Ray Laine, Ann Muffly

1972 | United States | R | 104 mins

★★★★

George A. Romero wasn't afraid to take artistic risks and explore different genres of filmmaking early in his career, even if they did ultimately still involve horror elements. After dabbling in bleak horror with Night of the Living Dead and comedy in There's Always Vanilla, Romero next decided to tackle dark drama. Season of the Witch (also known as Hungry Wives and Jack's Wife) was his third film and is a highly underrated exploration into the horrors of mid-life crisis through the eyes of middle-aged housewife.

Joan Mitchell's (Jan White) life is spiralling away from her. Her husband Jack (Bill Thunhurst) is constantly away from home on business and her teenage daughter Nikki (Joedda McClain) is rebellious and soon leaves home. Seeking solace through close friends, Joan is introduced to witchcraft as a means of exploring her own path via a local tarot reader and soon embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Haunted by nightmares of being alone and her fantasy of being loved, Joan uses her new-found calling as a witch to seduce a young man (Ray Laine) to fulfil her neglected desires.

Season of the Witch is a slow-burn exploration into the desire to be loved by those around you when those around you seem to ignore that you even exist. While working with an extremely low-budget and inexperienced actors, Romero still manages to flesh out enough social commentary and subtle nuances of lost hope into this story of self-loathing that multiple viewings are encouraged to truly appreciate the layers present. Using the theme of witchcraft to bridge Joan's self-discovery allows both alienation and empowerment to be reflected upon the viewer, and work as a connection into Joan's character and her struggle with her family's sudden disconnectivity.

Often overlooked by reviewers who consider it 'amateur' or 'boring', Season of the Witch is neither of these and is a rather haunting portrait into the confusing and dark world of mid-life crisis through the eyes of a woman. Low-budget production values and amateur acting still can't hinder the talent a young Romero had with creating contrasting characters and realistic situations that any family can experience, and the horrors of wanting and needing. Whether you're a horror fan, a Romero fan, or are just looking for interesting and challenging 'lost' cinema, don't pass up this forgotten gem.

All contents copyright 2010 Tyler Baptist