Review Category: VOD

CURSED FILMS

REVIEWED: SEASON 1 (ALL EPISODES) | WHERE TO WATCH: SHUDDER

As genre fans, we all enjoy the occasional salacious behind the scenes story of intrigue on movie sets, be it a falling out between actors or something much more attention-grabbing. This is where Shudder’s new series, Cursed Films, comes in. Focusing on five of the most infamous horror movies ever made, this short-run covers The Exorcist, The Omen, Poltergeist, The Crow, and Twilight Zone: The Movie, and delves into the sordid tales that we’ve all heard about. What is most interesting is that the episodes don’t gravitate around the urban legends surrounding the sets but, in fact, they try their best to debunk what we’ve heard.

Using talking heads from fields ranging from individuals involved in the films themselves to religious experts and practising black magicians, each episode gives us a recap of the ignoble events that have been the crux of numerous websites and books before going beyond the looking glass to reason why these things actually happened. A set fire on The Exorcist, leaving only the Regan bedroom set untouched, separate aeroplanes of the cast (main star Gregory Peck) and crew of The Omen being hit by lightning, the tragic deaths of Poltergeist stars Heather O’Rourke (who died from a misdiagnosis during the filming of the second sequel) and Dominique Dunne (who died after her boyfriend strangled her) had nothing to do with the production of the films, and, of course, the apparent curse of the Lee family as Brandon Lee was shot and killed on the set of The Crow are just a few subjects covered here.

For Twilight Zone: The Movie there is only one specific focus, the sad deaths of actor Vic Morrow and two children on the set due to an accident involving a helicopter. Richard Sawyer, who was the production designer on the film, recounts how this film was his big break and the end of his career at the same time. He tells us of how the events unfolded, and it is truly heartbreaking to see this man laid bare as he clearly still blames himself, even though the extra information we are given proves that there are others who are more accountable than him. One warning we offer you, the viewer, about this episode, is that you do actually see the footage from the set which includes the devastating moment the helicopter crashes into the three victims. The moment is jarring and seemingly at odds with what is shown elsewhere in the series. It comes across as almost sensationalistic, and the event would have been better served if the footage had cut just before the crash. Of all the episodes, this moment actually leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

What experts, including Kane Hodder giving the stuntman point of view, offer us are explanations that serve to provide a real-world grounding as to what actually happened – be it pure coincidence, bad luck, timing, or even pure negligence. In the Twilight Zone case specifically, director John Landis does not come across well, and it may be telling that the director allegedly did not respond to a request for comment by the creators of the show. There does appear to be more of a story behind the events on The Exorcist, with Linda Blair flatly refusing to discuss any further detail as to whether she actually had bodyguards after the release of the film in the US.

This may only be a one-off series, but it’s interesting to see the creators try and put a different spin on the rumours we’ve all heard and give us a fresh perspective on whether these films were actually cursed or not. Whether you decide to believe what you’re told here or prefer to hang on to the sensational history of these films is entirely up to you.

ROOTWOOD

ROOTWOOD / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: MARCEL WALZ / SCREENPLAY: MARIO VON CZAPIEWSKI / STARRING: TYLER GALLANT, ELISSA DOWLING, SARAH FRENCH / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Another trio of foolhardy youngsters take an ill-advised trip into the woods to uncover the truth behind an ancient curse, in California-set folk horror Rootwood. Hosts of the small-time podcast The Spooky Hour, William and Jessica, celebrate their big break when a Hollywood producer hires the pair to shoot a documentary on the mythology of ‘The Wooden Devil’.

The pair pack up their RV (motor home), pick up their airhead friend Erin (who has the hots for Will) and head out to begin their investigation. As the trio set up for their first night, it’s not difficult to tick off the list of films from which screenwriter Von Czapiewski has drawn inspiration. It’s a pretty derivative mash-up of the familiar, but it all supports what is a serviceable premise.

Stylistically, matters are complicated by the way that director Walz flips between different storytelling techniques. ‘Found footage’ and ‘point of view’ horror needs consistency if it is to draw in the viewer convincingly. But the way that Walz shifts the perspective between the ‘first-hand’ and the ‘observed’ feels careless and undermines narrative tension. Malibu Creek State Park provides a rugged, isolated setting, but its forests and valleys look stunning and sun-drenched on screen rather than foreboding. That juxtaposition between the beautiful and the threatening should underscore the mounting tension of a camping trip horror, but here the drone camera often just lingers on impressive scenery.

The night-time scenes of Rootwood are much more atmospheric and tense. As the characters make the requisite dumb decisions, the chase sequences through the pitch-black woods deliver the film’s most successful moments. Elissa Dowling puts in a spirited and committed performance as the increasingly terrified Jessica, whose plight is given extra impact by a surprisingly well-scored soundtrack.

Revelations tumble one after another in the finale, in a series of twists that are perhaps not quite so surprising as they are presented. But they do at least attempt to answer the film’s hanging questions.

Walz is an enthusiastic screen-horror aficionado. Rootwood is itself based on his 2012 German fright-flick Raw – The Curse of Grete Müller. The film-shoot-within-a-film dynamic of Rootwood allows him to include some knowing references to the filmmakers’ craft and the realities of no-budget movie making. But this is not a particularly notable example of the genre and at risk of finding itself rootless in the fertile but overcrowded field of horror VOD.

MURDER DEATH KOREATOWN

MURDER DEATH KOREATOWN / CERT: 15 / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

A murder in a neighbouring apartment leads our unseen and unnamed filmmaker to delve deep into a spiralling enigma, which he documents on video tape.

As the investigation begins, we – and the filmmaker – are not sure whether the young woman did kill her boyfriend. After discovering blood on the pavement outside, he starts to convince himself there’s something more sinister at work. Indeed, things he finds in the street – be it cryptic graffiti or rambling of a homeless man – convince him that the ‘Pastors’ have something to do with the mystery many think he has concocted himself.

Shaky cam found footage films are like Marmite for viewers, and this writer can’t claim to be a fan of them, but Murder Death Koreatown brings a unique edge to the format. The (very) unreliable narrator, like so many crackpot YouTube commentators, draws us into his theory of the Pastors. Like those who follow the conspiracy theorists, he becomes enveloped by it, seeing facts in the most innocuous things. The line between fact and fiction is effectively blurred (there are websites from 2017 that report the murder), and, like The Blair Witch Project, which effectively utilised the early Internet to stir excitement and build terror, there is no credit given to the filmmakers or actors. Although the majority of what we see on screen appears to be unrehearsed, it’s been put together far too well for the work of an obsessed amateur.

The true horror of the film doesn’t involve the murder or even the bizarre people seen on the street. What we’re presented with here is more than a simple found footage movie, it’s a convincing descent into paranoia and cognitive breakdown.

3:15 AM

3:15 AM / CERT: 18 / DIRECTORS: FABIEN DELAGE, NICOLAS DELAGE, DIVINE, FRÉDÉRIC GROS, SABRINA KERRAR, EVELYNE PHAN, DAVID TILLAULT / SCREENPLAY: FABIEN DELANGE, DEUF, EVELYNE PHAN, SABOU / STARRING: LOLA DUBUS, EVA CHOW, MARIE CHRISTINE PHAN / NICOLAS DELAGE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW UK VOD, US DVD

Oh great, another found footage film. One of the first elements that makes 3:15 am stand out, however, is it hails from France. It’s an anthology that manages to utilise the format well and is always engaging.

There are six stories told here, with one (Red Wood) forming an envelope for each of the sections, revealing more of its tale as the film goes along. It’s a standard lost-in-the-woods trope with a woman going more astray and coming across something incredibly strange – namely a naked lady with a goat’s head.

Like many portmanteau movies, some vignettes work better than others. The strongest here is arguably Ladies of the Night, in which a group of students try to complete a thesis on prostitution and get more than they bargained for when attempting to interview some of the street workers. If that’s the most satisfying, the final story, The Grove, is the most effective when it comes to chills. A couple go hiking in the wilds in the hope of finding Bigfoot but face a much more frightening situation.

As found footage-type films go, this is among the best. Using the anthology format means that we’ve no chance of getting bored. As we’ve come to expect with the style, the shaky camera becomes a tad monotonous to the point of annoying, and the filmmakers have strayed from the dogma by including some music to heighten the tension. Sticklers for realism will no doubt find this hard to swallow, but let’s face it, we all know the score by now, so there’s no harm in adding a little cinematic polish to the format. Being in French, you could say the conceit is blown by the presence of subtitles, and the marketing of 3:15 am has made a big deal of this being the first French found footage film. However, other than the frequent nudity, there’s little to differentiate the stories or settings from others of the ilk.

The final segment, The Grove, has some genuine moments of tension even though we never get a Bigfoot encounter, and it certainly makes effective use of the single-camera setup. The first story, The Woman in the Attic, contains one of the most awkward moments of exposition we’ve ever seen, but does manage to keep the interest and provide a few jolts.

Certainly one to check out if you’re into the subgenre, although fans of cryptozoology might feel a little short changed.

REBORN

DIRECTOR: JULIAN RICHARDS | SCREENPLAY: MICHAEL MAHIN | STARRING: BARBARA CRAMPTON, KAYLEIGH GILBERT, MICHAEL PARE, RAE DAWN CHONG, CHAZ BONO | RELEASE DATE: MAY 11TH

Even considering factors like minimum budget and atrocious casting, Reborn is a revelatory, even uplifting experience: if this bunch got to make a movie someone thought was worth distributing, surely anybody can!

A Hallmark family drama at heart, the ‘creative’ team borrows freely from Psycho and Carrie, down to that seminal jump scare. But they botch the execution so badly it becomes laughable. Just imagine hiring Chaz Bono to play a Norman Bates-type. The movie seems to spend its entire budget in the first five minutes: Chaz Bono is a creepy morgue attendant who likes to take photos of naked corpses. He’s interrupted mid-session by a crying baby believed a stillborn. Predictably, creepy Chaz takes the infant home (small mercies: it’s not A Serbian Film situation.) Cut to 16 years later. The baby is now a teenager (Gilbert), anxious to find her mom. Chaz Bono is not very forthcoming, so a confrontation ensues. In low-rent X-Men fashion, the girl discovers she can control electricity. This spell bad news for store-brand Norman Bates.

Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Lena (Crampton), a washed-up actress angling for a comeback, is told psychological trauma is keeping her from stardom. Her shrink identifies the cause as not having mourned the stillborn baby she had sixteen years ago. Wait a minute… Having grown up without role models or human interaction beyond a psycho and his ‘mother’, the girl doesn’t take rejection well and acts out every time a supporting character gets in her way.

Crampton singlehandedly turns Reborn into camp. The actress – who has been elevating genre films since the ’80s– takes her role seriously and provides the modicum of credibility every camp movie requires. Michael Paré as the only detective in Los Angeles (all murders are assigned to him) is presumably in on the joke. That, or he’s doing a bad impression of Nick Nolte.

The killings, often the saving grace of terrible horror films, are poorly staged to the point of hilarity. Two rely on fade-to-black and another hopes you are gullible enough to buy a young actress’ spastic movements as electrocution.

There’s little about Reborn worth your time. The only real mystery is how director Julian Richards convinced an iconic (if past his prime) filmmaker to make a cameo. The scene is so hokey, it doesn’t even reflect well on the famous auteur; which is typical of the whole movie – nothing works as it should.

WE SUMMON THE DARKNESS

DIRECTOR: MARC MEYERS | WRITER: ALAN TREZZA | STARRING: ALEXANDRA DADDARIO, KEEAN JOHNSON, LOGAN MILLER, MADDIE HASSON | RELEASE DATE: MAY 11TH

Travelling to a heavy metal concert in the country, three naïve young friends befriend a gang of fellow revellers and head out to an isolated mansion for the afterparty. Sex, drugs and rock n’ roll? Two out of three ain’t bad, but there’s no sex here: drugged up and knocked out, the chums awaken to find themselves the human sacrifice element of a satanic ritual. But is all as it seems? Kind of, but not really.

Director Marc Meyers’ retro slasher flick boasts reasonably high production values and an enjoyably manic performance from star Alexandra Daddario (better served here than she was by the horrendous Texas Chainsaw 3D). Last year’s Satanic Panic did the whole thing better, but We Summon the Darkness is a fun diversion; a cross between Red State and Knock Knock. Its big twist will be obvious to anyone who is even half paying attention, but that doesn’t make the film any less enjoyable.

We Summon the Darkness is well-directed and shot, with great performances from its young cast. It also has the bonus of one Johnny Knoxville, in a bit-part role as the local pastor. It’s packed with cliché and its pacing is sluggish around the midsection, but it’s devilishly fun – if a touch on the light side.

THE IRON MASK

DIRECTOR: OLEG STEPCHENKO | SCREENPLAY: OLEG STEPCHENKO, DMITRY PALTSEV, ALEKSEY PETRUKHIN | STARRING: JACKIE CHAN, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, RUTGER HAUER, CHARLES DANCE, JASON FLEMYNG, XINGTONG YAO | RELEASE DATE: APRIL 10TH

Cine-masochists and trash film fanatics may find much to love in co-writer/director Oleg Stepchenko’s The Iron Mask (TIM). Stepchenko hurls viewers eyes first through a frazzled CG laden, sick tinted spiral into ancient China. An accompanying, exposition stuffed narration bombards our noggin with context which, when combined with the visual assault, bamboozles from the outset. Yet, as The Iron Mask progresses it retains a car crash quality that makes it oddly captivating but for all the wrong reasons.

The dislodged plot (set in the 1700s) sees Jason Flemyng’s drippy cartographer/scientist Jonathan Green who, after being tasked to map Russia’s far east, gets embroiled in a plot involving a mystical royal cover-up/conspiracy while en route to China. Meanwhile, Jackie Chan’s wispy chinned “Master” is imprisoned in the Tower of London, along with the titular iron masked character/Russian Tsar who claims to be Charles the 1st. Both plot to escape with the help of Anna Churina’s Miss Dudley, but have to overcome a Schwarzenegger sized obstacle in the guise of Arnold’s rambunctious James Hook; donned in fresh out of panto fancy dress garb.

Stepchenko’s film is crammed with kung fu, mad barons, miffed wizards (a confederacy of which is split by a shape-shifting witch), an international quest for healing tea and a “dragon with massive eyebrows”. That said, The Iron Mask still miraculously manages to often be mind-numbingly dull; quasi-lobotomising viewers as though subjecting them to a defective hypnosis video. For the better part, it gets by on unintentional WTF moments, bizarre camaraderie, cleft characters, playful imagination and relentless ridiculousness (almost becoming inadvertently Pythonesque), but its shambolic cragginess could reduce audiences to drooling agog if left ungagged, or bleeding from the eyes, brain and soul out of boredom.

The first half is fun, in a Golan/Globus way, but there’s still a good third that’s unfathomably naff. With low expectations and lots of alcohol/hallucinogens, TIM could be a dazzling watch, but analytical sticklers (or anyone sober) may raise eyebrows then drop jaws and biros at its defunctness. For TIM is a colossally bungled, appallingly acted clout of sozzled fantasy nonsense that’s frowzy to the point of almost being abstract. It’s often propped up with vibrant bravado but has sets that seem on the cusp of toppling and digitally twitching creatures that looked banged out by accident in 5 minutes on a Spectrum during a GCSE graphics student’s lunch break. Despite all the aforementioned, TIM‘s greatest crime is rendering one fed up for a good forty minutes, which is a challenge given it’s so frequently vivacious, yet bafflingly crap.

VIOLET EVERGARDEN: ETERNITY AND THE AUTO MEMORY DOLL

DIRECTOR: HARUKA FUJITA, TAICHI ISHIDATE / SCREENPLAY: TAKAAKI SUZUKI, TATSUHIKO URAHATA / STARRING: YUI ISHIKAWA, MINAKO KOTOBUKI, AOI YUKI / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (NETFLIX)

Set after the events of the series, the Violet Evergarden spin-off film; Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll focuses on the titular Violet who, whilst still serving as a doll (who ghostwrites letters for those who cannot write), is recruited by a royal family to teach their heiress Isabella how to properly act as a noble lady. However, Isabella isn’t your typical royal and, whilst attending a school for well-groomed young woman, slowly becomes attached to Violet and reveals that she is grieving for someone who brings her happiness.

This film is the first work from the incredibly talented Kyoto Animation studio since the tragic events of arson that occurred last year – and it’s rather fitting as, as with the series, Violet Evergarden is truly about moving on after tragedy. Soon after the end of where we left Violet, she still seems to be having a wonderfully positive effect on people hence why she is recruited for this task. When she gets to the school, Isabella firstly takes a dislike to her, but soon sees past Violet’s blunt nature to discover that she is caring and committed to helping people, no matter what the task.

The first half of the story focuses purely on their relationship and how Violet successfully assists Isabella in graduating before her true story comes to light – that she dearly misses her little sister Taylor. That’s when the story skips ahead a few years and then switches focus to Taylor’s side of the story as she uses Violet to reconnect with her sister. As a story, it’s something we’ve seen before and doesn’t offer anything new on that front but what makes Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll stand tall is so much deeper.

From the offset, the animation is absolutely gorgeous – something we have come to expect from KyoAni and it never ceases to amaze us how much attention to detail and beautifully realised world and characters they are capable of creating. It simply is one of the most visually stunning anime films available. Another incredibly strong element is the focus on the characters relationships coupled with some wonderful chemistry brought to life by impeccable voice acting. Yui Ishikawa returns as Violet and her performance is just as strong as when we first fell in love with the character back in early 2018. Her portrayal expertly balances innocence and determination and, even after the events of the main show, still continues to evolve as a character even though this is arguably not her story, but that of Isabella and Taylor. Rounding off the breathtaking presentation of the film is the score – heartbreaking sublime, subtle when necessary and triumph at the perfect moments.

Although the story isn’t the strongest and would have arguably been better suited to two OVA’s or longer special episodes, Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll is a heartwarming continuation in the world of Violet and her job as an Auto Memory Doll – continuing to show that connections and relationships are what make us human and are very important, whether it be with letters or just being there for our loved ones. Gorgeous visuals, incredible performances and great chemistry between the characters – the film shows exactly how talented everyone at KyoAni is and serves as a great entry point for new fans as a few characters from the show appear in minor roles but the story doesn’t overly expect audiences to have seen the series beforehand allowing it to stand on its own if necessary.

KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF EIZOUKEN!

REVIEWED: SEASON 1 (ALL 12 EPISODES) / DIRECTOR: MASAAKI YUASA / PRODUCER: EUNYOUNG CHOI / STARRING: SAIRI ITO, MUTSUMI TAMURA, MISATO MATSUOKA, YUMIRI HANAMORI, KAZUHIKO INOUE / WHERE TO WATCH: CRUNCHYROLL

Anime – a wonderful medium that brings people from all walks of life together. Three High-School girls come together in a bid to realise their dream – to create anime. However, along the way, they encounter many obstacles but find a way to move forward by using the unbeatable creativity of their imagination and willpower in Masaaki Yuasa and Science SARU’s masterful adaptation of Sumito Ōwara’s manga, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

The story follows the adventures of Asakusa, an inspired girl who wants to create wonderfully realised anime worlds, Mizusaki, a girl who is forced into modelling and acting by her parents but really wants to become a character artist in anime, and Kanamori, a wheeling-dealing, money-savvy girl who sees huge business potential in her peer’s dreams (she is also Best Girl – and we won’t have anyone argue with us).

From the opening scene in the first episode and throughout the course of the twelve-episode series, you truly become invested in their journey, passion and imagination. In the first episode alone, Asakusa’s realisation that someone created the stunning animation that she is watching transports her to a world of innovation and creativity – and you as an audience member is whisked along for the ride with the character’s insight and vision brought to life in gorgeous dream-like worlds topped off with human-formed sound effects for that extra layer of inventiveness.

As the series progresses and the trio of talented aspiring animators’ journey encounters obstacles, we learn of their unrivalled passion and dedication to the project resulting in some of the most heart-warming and tear-inducing dramatic scenes that we have ever seen in this medium. The episodes that especially tap into each girls’ tragic, yet personality defining upbringing, seriously had us hooked and utterly invested. Top all of these wonderful things off with arguably the best anime opening song in living memory and you have a winning combination on your hands.

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! isn’t just your standard anime about girls wanting to make a show – it’s a love letter to this incredible form of entertainment and the trials and tribulations that not only amateurs face, but experienced individuals as well. It’s a journey – one that inspires, one that engages and one that shows off the true potential of this art form. Eizouken! is a triumph, a masterpiece – it’s funny, sad, heartwarming and beautiful – and is quintessential viewing for new and old anime fans alike. Absolute perfection.

BUTT BOY

DIRECTOR: TYLER CORNACK | SCREENPLAY: TYLER CORNACK, RYAN KOCH | STARRING: ANGELA JONES, TYLER RICE, TYLER CORNACK | RELEASE DATE: MAY 4TH

During a routine prostate exam, bored IT drone Chip (writer and director Tyler Cornack) discovers an unexpected kink that he never knew he had. Not that there’s anything wrong with shoving things up your butthole for kicks, but it kind of depends on what you’re forcing up there. When his wife refuses to play, Chip is forced to look elsewhere for stimulation.

Enter detective Russell Fox (Tyler Rice), who meets and befriends Chip at Alcoholics Anonymous. When Russell is called to investigate a missing child, he begins to suspect that there’s more to Chip’s addictions than meet the eye. You see where this is heading? Yeah, up Chip’s arse, along with the remote control, some missing children and a number of neighbourhood pets. And Russell is determined to get to the bottom of it.

Such body horror is rare outside of the extreme end of Japanese cinema, and so one must applaud the film’s co-writer, director and star for Butt Boy’s bravery. Cornack pulls a whole thriller from out of Chip’s bumhole – and a compelling one, at that. There’s a dry sense of humour to the writing, which otherwise plays the story straight – more film noir than exploitation horror. It looks and sounds great too; one of the sharpest, slickest low-budget genre movies in years. That dedication means the film’s one joke never gets old, and Butt Boy mostly sustains its conceit to the end. And what an end! This film does for sticking things up one’s jacksy what Psycho did for showers and dead mummies.

Like a surprisingly fun rectal exam, Butt Boy is an unexpected treat. Of wit and atmospherics, it has piles. From its bizarre conceit, it derives one of the oddest, most charming genre movies of the year. Not bad for a one-joke body horror flick about a serial killer stuffing live children up his ass.