Review Category: Movie

Everyone knows the legend of the End Zone movies, right? Early ‘70s films that were influential to the slasher cycle that followed? So much so that Friday the 13th ripped the premise off completely. No? Well, the films have disappeared from screens and have been hard to find over the years, after all.

At a monster convention, the two actors who played Smash Mouth, the mutated villain of End Zone 2, have arrived to sign autographs (and blenders) but with a remake/sequel in the works, which one will make it to play the future Smash Mouth?

Presented as a straight documentary, Sophia Cacciola and Michael J. Epstein (Clickbait) have crafted a world in which you actually doubt whether End Zone is made up or not. The mythology built up around the film in question is fantastic (there’s even an IMDb page). A vast array of talking heads from the cult movie scene get involved, enthusing and getting in the spirit of things, which is lovely to see. A standout is a brilliantly straight-faced performance by Friday the 13th writer Victor Miller. Michael St. Michaels (The Greasy Strangler himself) and Bill Weeden (Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.) play the two embittered actors, the former with an over-inflated view of himself, the other is just happy to make a buck and forever spouting a catchphrase that wasn’t even in the movie.

Everybody involved clearly has a love for the real era of grindhouse cinema (the real type, not the ‘throw some digitised lines on it’ ones) and this is clear with End Zone 2 itself, which is presented how it ‘exists’, which is missing the last half hour (which canonically is the only section Weeden’s William Smash played a part in). Like many of the films of the time, it’s a talky, exposition-heavy production that focuses on the clichéd characters but delivers some hilarious shocks later on.

Writer/directors Sophia and Michael have previously deconstructed Euro-horror with their feature debut Blood of the Tribades and they do the same fabulously with both the documentary and movie part of this fun double bill. Like that Franco/Rollin tribute, End Zone 2 won’t be for everyone, but The Once and Future Smash provides universal entertainment in Spın̈al Tap fashion. TOUCHDOWN!

This single-location German comedy is packed full of gore… and faeces.

Frank (Thomas Niehaus), an architect who’d been arranging the demolition of an old site to make way for a new hotel, wakes dazed in an up-ended portable toilet, his arm impaled. As he tries to piece together what’s gone on, he hears his boss, Horst (Gedeon Burkhard, Inglorious Basterds) begin the countdown to the explosion that will invariably bury him in his poop-filled plastic tomb.

Frank’s predicament is something that we have all feared, those porta potties (as they’re referred to here) are often a nightmare even when they’re not on a demolition site. Things continue to get worse for the poor chap, any help that might be heading his way is curtailed. Neihaus is fantastic as Frank, his pain and frustration are plain to see, but writer/director Lukas Rinker keeps his situation humorous, even with the gory moments, which are guaranteed to be crowd-pleasers.

Imagine 127 Hours only dirtier, and you have an idea of Frank’s situation. Rinker’s feature debut is a delight, which blends zany visual gags in a Sam Raimi style while keeping the tension ramped up to a frustrating degree.

The latest film from Brea Grant (12-Hour Shift) is a takedown of the music industry and the patriarchal gatekeeping of the scene in general as well as presenting as a neo-American Gothic horror picture.

Jordan (Abby Quinn) and Leigh (Alexxis Lemire) are Torn Hearts, a country and western duo hoping to get their big break on a national tour supporting the current big thing. When they learn they have been passed over for another male band, they seek out their hero, Harper Dutch (Katey Sagal), who had huge success with her sister but became a recluse following her death. Reluctantly, Harper agrees to let the pair into her home but her behaviour becomes increasingly bizarre, leaving the youngsters worrying about their future.

Torn Hearts shows the dark side of country music (and is applicable to other genres) excellently, with Katey Sagal’s character bringing a Baby Jane vibe. She dominates the film as one would expect and her overly pink character is as mysterious as she is threatening. Sagal has a history in the music industry as she has been a backing singer for some successful acts (she added her voice to Gene Simmons’ solo album in 1978 when each member of KISS recorded separately, for example), so has no doubt got some experience to draw from. Although being the focus of attention, for the most part, she never does so at the expense of her co-stars Lemire and Quinn. They convey the nervous excitement of getting a shot to work with their idol perfectly.

Brea Grant’s direction makes the most of the luxurious house where the former star lives and don’t worry, she fills the screen with blood as the story progresses. The music industry is cut-throat, after all. This is a parable about the price of fame, working in a male-dominated industry, and not getting too close to your idols amongst other things. It’s a fun watch and delivers the goods (and some line-dance-worthy songs).

 

 

Rob Preciado’s film is another entry into the increasingly crowded videotape documentary world. It’s not a rehash of the same old stories, however, as while there are some familiar faces here such as artist Graham Humphreys and Severin co-owner David Gregory, the majority of talking heads seen here are new.

There’s a personal element to the commentary, too, with the talent involved recounting how they first came across movies on tape and with a varied age group interview, the results are not all video nasty-related. That very British phenomenon is covered, of course, but as it’s mainly an American point of view, Blockbuster and the mom-and-pop stores are generally entry-level.

Standout interviewees have to be actor Jordi Camacho, who professes his love of celebrity workout tapes and Josh Stifter (Greywood’s Plot), who vividly talks of the trips to the video store he’d have with his parents where he’d sneak a look at the horror titles.

With people interviewed from all over the world and clearly on no budget, the quality varies between soundbites, but to be honest, since Covid, we’ve become used to the technique of using Zoom or self-filmed footage for DVD extras, so it’s not as off-putting as it once would have been.

Cult of VHS might be superfluous as a historical document, but it’s entertaining enough for those of us that like to reminisce.

Time travel, the ravages of ageing, and electronic wangs all form part of the story in the latest off-the-wall film from Rubber director Quentin Dupieux.

Middle-aged couple Alain (Alain Chabat) and Marie (Léa Drucker) decide on their dream home when the estate agent shows them a unique selling point. In the basement is a hole, which you can climb down and find yourself in the same house – only 20 minutes in the future. When you return to the regular timeline you’re also two days younger. Marie starts to have an unhealthy obsession with the metaphysical marvel, much to Alain’s despair. Meanwhile, Alain’s boss happily reveals that he’s had an electronic knob installed in Japan, which you can control with your mobile phone.

Dupieux’s continues his streak of bizarre movies with this light-hearted but poignant tale that has a Charlie Kaufman quality. There are interesting points made about accepting the ageing process and the insane pursuit of eternal youth as Marie spends more and more time in the near-future side of the house in the hope of the modelling career she wanted when she was younger. More hilarious is Gégé (Benoît Magimel), the boss with the bionic dick. Far from being embarrassed, he gleefully brings it up (the topic, ahem) at a dinner party and is paranoid that the couple is not impressed.

The writer/director doesn’t labour his points but leaves no doubt about the harmful effects of the two characters’ obsessions. More concerned with the humanity of the situation than the science, he makes no attempt to rationalise the time-hopping phenomena and just provides an entertaining and thought-provoking 90 minutes.

 

Incredible But True is available to stream on Arrow and is released on Blu-ray on December 5th.

 

YouTuber ‘Amazing’ Andy (Will Madden) makes prank videos and accepts an invitation to spend the weekend with his former partner and school friend Bryce (director and co-writer Jeff Ryan). Bryce has become a Hollywood star and Andy is clearly jealous but treats his mate as a sell-out. Bringing some friends and his regular cameraman to make a ‘vlogumentary’ exposing Bryce, but bigger things are afoot when past nightmares return.

Using the obnoxious vlogger approach, Mean Spirited raises slightly above the usual found footage movie. The more aware you are of the presentation styles that the film incorporates, the higher your enjoyment. The brashness doesn’t particularly lend itself to a full-length feature for those who are not invested in that lifestyle and staging. As things progress and the story leans into a more demonic range, it gets much more interesting. The characters are more annoying than endearing, which doesn’t really give us much emotional attachment when they are in peril, which is a shame as when things kick off, it’s a lot more fun.

Making his feature debut, Scott Lyus’ Walking Against the Rain is a powerful, engrossing, very human drama set against within a devastated Earth filled with roaming monsters.

Blair (Sophia Eleni) and Tommy (Reece Douglas) are struggling to survive after a calamity took place. Eking out an existence by raiding deserted evacuation centres, they find each other miles apart via walkie-talkies. They make a deal to try to meet so they set off on a perilous journey, never knowing when they might come into contact with other, less friendly, people or even worse, the Forsaken (James Swanton), a mutant humanoid breed that is adapting quickly to the find their prey: humans.

Without any backstory, Lyus jumps straight into introducing us to his protagonists. Blair seems to be the more resourceful of the two, almost to the point that it’s not clear how Tommy has survived this far into the post-apocalyptic world we’re in. The conceit of connecting them with walkie-talkies (the batteries of which will die at any time) is an interesting one, although we don’t know how they both have them, being so far apart! Almost as terrifying as the Xenomorph-like creatures that can (and do) turn up at any time are the other surviving humans. They are either religious zealots or homicidal chancers, willing to kill for the slim chance of some food. There’s still hope, however, with the ever-watchable Johnny Vivash’s James, a widower who helps one of the characters when they get into a deadly position. We’d like to think there would be people like that come the end of days.

Neal Parson’s cinematography makes the most of the desolate northern scenery, and there are some really effective locations. Sophia Eleni and Reece Douglas are superb as the leads; utterly believable and able to project the right amount of grief at the situation they are in. Every human character has suffered loss, and it’s this emotion that powers the story more than fear, although there’s plenty of that with some well-handled shocks. Walking Against the Rain is a confident debut that deserves to be seen.