Pro-Life

 

Post In the Mouth of Madness this is my favorite thing Carpenter has done. I do like how he brings horror to a polarizing sociopolitical issue. Like They Live what happens in this movie only seems more plausible and relevant now given what happened recently with the Supreme Court's ruling on abortion. This movie takes Carpenter back to his roots with Assault on Precinct 13 happening outside of the hospital and Rosemary's Baby happening inside the hospital. There are some great gore and makeup effects by Nicotero and Burger. The only negative I have against this movie is that I almost feel I have to discuss this movie through the prism of my political beliefs. Because Abortion is such a polarizing issue I feel like whether people like or don't like the movie could be determined by what their views are and if they think this movie is too extreme on the right wing side of things. 

Synopsis: Pro-Life" is the fifth episode of the second season of the American anthology television series Masters of Horror. Directed by John Carpenter, the episode stars Caitlin Wachs as a pregnant girl who seeks to abort an unborn demon within her, while her gun-toting father tries to prevent her from doing so.

I really liked all of the makeup effects in this movie. I enjoyed all the bloody gunshot wounds including some awesome headshots and blood coming out of the throat. The demon creature you finally see at the end, played by Derek Mears looks awesome. I enjoyed the look of the creature moving underneath the woman's stomach. The little quadrupedal baby at the end reminded me of the Norris creature in The Thing. In their own way both this and Cigarette Burns are Carpenter's greatest hits type of movies because of callbacks and similarities in plot to his previous works. 

While the political side of this movie could be extreme to some I think it is still plausible. I could certainly some religious extremist who owns guns breaking into an abortion clinic. I think what Carpenter and the writers try to highlight though is that your interpretation of such things could be extreme. Ron Perlman's character hears someone telling him to save the baby yet it is found out at the end it was the demon and not God or some other higher power. His daughter was raped by a demon yet he still wants to save the baby. There are people who believe in such things, that a baby should live no matter how it was conceived. His daughter is 15 so he can legally make the decision, though he can't because the clinic has a restraining order against him. Yet should a parent really be the one making that choice? Those are all interesting issues this movie could inspire debate about. I do know most states apparently have some exceptions to their illegality of abortion but I don't know what those exceptions are. I think the movie is trying to say that the way people interpret the abortion issue could be wrong or too extreme. At the same time he tries to show how life is still valued in such a place as an abortion clinic.

The scene where the dickhead Father of that other family in the hospital goes to slap his daughter is an interesting. The one nurse stops him, and says how dare you raise your hand to your daughter, she is still pregnant. Yet the daughter is there for an abortion. At the same time he could be highlighting the hypocrisy in religion. Ron Perlman spends most of the movie killing people which is forbidden by religion and doing it to save his daughter from an abortion doesn't justify that. I did like the scene where Perlman gives the head doctor a symbolic abortion through castration which is just disgusting and violent but still memorable. 

I liked most of the cast and performances in this. I enjoyed seeing Emmanuelle Vaugier playing one of the nurses. Perlman was great. I liked how just like Rosemary's Baby there is something supernatural feeling and not quite right about the pregnancy as the main character is going through a rapid pregnancy cycle in way shorter amount of time than normal. While this movie lacked the same Carpenter style that was on display more in Cigarette Burns it does feature a great piano score from his son. Some of the acting undoes this from being even better. The Father, and that other family in general was not good. There is some not so great mid 2000s CGI as well. Apart from that though I was really satisfied with this and what it had to say while still being entertaining. 

Rating: 9/10 

The Strangers: Prey At Night

 

There aren't many slasher movies made in the twenty-first century that are devoid of the meta and satirical influences ushered in by the post-Scream slasher era. This feels like a throwback to 80s slashers both in the scaled down story and style. The zooms, pull back shots, long wide shots, and wide establishing shots feel very John Carpenter. The same for the scaled down story being set primarily in a trailer park. The disassembling of the nuclear family versus random killers in masks gives the story a real feel. The family starts disconnected, but not necessarily apart and the grow together more because of this experience. Save for a couple of bad character decisions, which were only made more noticeable because I cared for them, there was nothing that took me out of the movie. The great cinematography and music only bolster an all ready intense thrill ride. 

The opening shows three masked killers killing a couple in a trailer park. There is something memorable and creepy about one of them laying in bed next to the husband while the wife has been killed. Next, the movie starts with a disconnected family getting ready to leave to go their Aunt and Uncles trailer park, I enjoyed the interactions between these characters. The daughter Kinsey, (Bailee Madison), is clearly estranged as her parents are sending her to boarding school after this vacation. There are some interesting interactions early on. The daughter seems frustrated and thinks they are only sending her to boarding school because they can't control her. Luke (Lewis Pullman) is the athlete in the family and him and his sister bicker. Once they get to the trailer park Luke and Kinsey take a walk leaving the parents time alone. The parents don't seem to have the same relationship either as they talk about having more time alone once she leaves. They complain about the kids using their phones too much. This seems like a slightly exaggerated version of a modern family. I actually think there are families this disconnected in real life, especially with teenaged kids and the parents may not always know what to do with them. 

While walking through the trailer park Luke and Kinsey find an open trailer where they discover their dead Aunt and Uncle. They run back to the house and Mike, (Martin Donovan) and Luke go to investigate. At the same time in a real, "Have you checked the children," moment, a woman knocks on their trailer door twice and asks, "Is Tamara home?" After both the mother and Kinsey leave for a moment they go back and discover their phones smashed. While Cindy (Christina Hendricks) tries to call for help, Dollface appears behind them and they barricade themselves in the bathroom. There are two things I really like about this. One, I like how the characters are separated but know there are killers around early on in the movie, but they are so separate they cannot all help each other. It inverts the normal slasher trope of people not knowing what is going on until the end of the movie. Two, no cellphones cuts them off from communication but by breaking them it prevents the stupid trope of no service. It renders both sides equal in terms of technological advantage. What is scary about this section in the movie is how the characters aren't expecting anything to happen, wandering around freely and danger hits them in the face. 

Spoiler Section

The scene between Kinsey and Cindy is truly heartbreaking. Kinsey sees her mother die a brutal death as she is stabbed and slashed. I do like how the intensity ramps up as Dollface continues to break down the door. What I didn't like about this scene and it was the start of some interesting character decisions in this movie, was Kinsey waiting way to long before she leaves. I was screaming leave so your mother doesn't have to worry about you so she can turn around and try to fight the killer. At the same time I know I was only thinking that way because I cared about the characters, and lets be real Christina Hendricks is the definition of a MILF if I ever saw one so I just automatically like having her in the movie more. The whole thing did seem very human though. Kinsey is a young girl terrified in that moment of losing her Mom and doesn't realize she is helpless. 

Meanwhile Luke and Mike get the Aunt and Uncle's gun. They try to drive away but end up crashing. Once Luke leaves with the gun, the man in the mask comes in and puts on the radio while Mike is helpless and begging as he is pinned to the seat by a block of wood through his stomach. The killer stabs him in the neck and I enjoy how the blood doesn't spray, it shoots downward which is really cool. Another disturbing moment of a character helpless to save their loved one. At this point it goes with the normal slasher trope of the more capable ones being dead or gone so the younger ones are more vulnerable. 

There is a scene in the middle where Kinsey is trapped in a tube at a playground. I do like how the camera switches perspectives from her left to her right at different angles. A lot of people do not seem to like the jump scare right here but I actually do because it's different. It's not as much about creating a loud sound to scare, more so than the use of Pin-up Girl's face mask coming out of the dark. 

Eventually Luke and Kinsey reunite in a trailer and here is dumb character choice two: Luke not shooting Dollface right away. Yet just a little while later he's okay with stabbing Pin-up Girl later. You could argue again that these are human moments by characters who are younger and have different emotions but still you have to fight the killers with the same morals they do if you want to win. Kinsey hides under a porch while Luke goes to get help. This leads to the best sequence in the movie as Luke is attacked by Pin-up Girl in the pool area and stabs her. This set design features some great neon colors. Luke is then attacked by the man in the mask and they fight over the knife in the water leading to Luke being stabbed. I love the look of the blood in the water. All this happens while "Total Eclipse of the Heart," plays in the background. 

Kinsey eventually finds Luke and a deputy shows up after Luke had managed to call 911. Dollface shows up and cuts the deputy's throat which is an awesome bloody kill. Kinsey gets to the Deputy's shotgun and kills Dollface. The man in the mask shows up for one final chase scene. Kinsey uses her lighter to blow up the truck. The man in the mask survives the explosion. Another family shows up to the trailer park and Kinsey gets in the truck while the man in the mask follows. A cool tribute to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Luke is alive in the hospital with Kinsey as she hears a knock a the door. 

I really liked this movie save for those dumb character decisions. The kills were bloody and they looked real. I liked the scaled down setting. I enjoyed the neon colors and the camerawork. Great use of the soundtrack as well. 

Rating: 8/10 If those character decisions were different I think I would've liked this more but you also would've had a shorter movie.  The point of the movie seems to be that the family has more to lose and different morals from the Strangers which separates them and causes more harm to the family. 

Trivia: Both "Total Eclipse of the Heart," and "Making Love out of Nothing At All," were songs written and produced by Jim Steinman. They were both number one and two on the Billboard top 100 chart at a point in 1983. The second song plays during the chase scene between Kinsey and the Man in the Mask at the end. I'm not sure if this was coincidental or not. This info was not hard to find but it could've been. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91-Z20uttEk

Nope

 

The thing I appreciated most about this was Jordan Peele making something different and fun. Minimal on his race and class allegories making a movie more about sensationalism, fame, legacy, and the clashing of old versus new technology and how each has a place. The alien in this film is also one of the most interesting and unique. Leave it to Jordan Peele to make an alien that looks the way it does in this film scary. The movie benefits from a fun performance by Keke Palmer, Daniel Kaluuya's always alluring eyes, and Michael Wincott's voice. Another thing is the great genre mashups. You've got carnival horror, alien horror, and horror western all in this movie with some ideas and images that reminded me of a blend of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Poltergeist with Peele's sensibilities.

Synopsis: Two siblings who run a California horse ranch discover something wonderful and sinister in the skies above, while the owner of an adjacent theme park tries to profit from the mysterious, otherworldly phenomenon.

Right off the bat, even though we don't know this is coming the alien yet there is something different. This alien dumps off pieces of things that it eats if it doesn't like them. Any inorganic matter basically. This makes it so pieces of a plane or something like that, fatally hit Otis Haywood (Keith David). The Haywoods run a ranch and train horses that have been used in Hollywood, and through a bit of history altering their jockey was on the first ever motion picture of the riding horse. Otis Jr. called OJ (Daniel Kaluyya) inherits the ranch. Six months later OJ has to start selling the horses to Jupe (Steven Yeun), a former child television star who now runs a western themed attraction park near the Haywood ranch. Jupe was previously on a show starring an ape and the ape went apeshit, pun completely intended and killed a few people on the set before being shot. Meanwhile the UFO alien is seen around the Haywood home and they eventually get help from a local electrician, Angel to install cameras and try to get footage of the alien. OJ seems to be in just less for the fame than his sister Em (Keke Palmer). They eventually get help from famed cinematographer Antlers Holst (Michael Wincott) to film the alien.

The first ever motion picture filmed by Eadweard Muybridge was this jockey and running horse and it has a huge part in the film and the legacy of the Haywood family of characters

Spoiler Alert 

I really like how Peele keeps up his track record of unforgettable moments and images, and answering some questions but not others. You never find out anything else about the aliens or what they look like besides what they like to consume, what their weakness, and the appearance of the UFO. The uncanny look of the kids in the masks in that one scene in the stable was nightmarish and just something I won't be able to forget. I loved the moment where the horse goes though OJ's windshield. Thought that was a really good scare. Kaluuya's eyes are great there. I also really enjoy the moment where he first turns away and the UFO doesn't see him. That falls into the movie's sensationalist theme in a really fundamental way as there are things we shouldn't want to see human beings but we can't help ourselves. Just like how he made "I got Five on It" memorable, he does the same with Corey Hart's "I Wear my Sunglasses at Night," here. 

As I said before the movie has a sensationalist theme and how people always crave fame and some seek a legacy. Jupe makes the same mistake that actually happened to him as a kid. He never learned that maybe some animals aren't worth messing around with. The show he was on tried to make sensation out of an ape on a TV show and it didn't work and cost lives. Now he's feeding an alien horses to make money for his park. He gets killed for it. Holst can't help but look at the alien. He wants that perfect camera shot and is killed for it. OJ and Em both want different things. OJ wants to keep the legacy of the ranch while Em wants fame. By the end not only do they have the ranch but they come full circle. Not only has their family been the first one's in a motion picture. Now they are the first to have seen an alien with proof, using pictures and possibly a motion picture. 

How did they get that picture though? This movie feels quite meta in how it deals with that. Holst uses film and a hand cranked camera while they were previously trying to capture it on digital cameras. Peele's point is that film will be around forever, while digital can make things easier you may always need film to get that perfect shot. Yes pun intended there as well. At the end of the movie Em uses the camera within the wishing well to get pictures of the UFO and the giant helium inflatable used to destroy it. These pictures could probably be spliced into a motion picture, hence taking the legacy of the Haywood family full circle. Calling in an expert to get what they want to film a hostile thing around where they live reminded me of Poltergeist. The spectacle that is the giant UFO reminded me of Close Encounters. 

While I did say this doesn't have the race relation themes that some of Peele's other movies have he does make this movie diverse as always. It is odd to have African-Americans and Asian-Americans and a in very western desert location which I'm sure is something he was thinking about. The movie was a little long. I think things could've been sped up a bit. I love the locations as well. 

Rating: 8/10

Trivia: Em's introduction, the family history and ranch safety video took 14 takes to shoot. Each take was different. I wonder if that will be on the deleted scenes on the release. I'm curious to see it. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In8fuzj3gck

Gambling City

 

Luc Merenda is a better actor when it comes to playing corrupt cops and antiheroes. In Gambling City he plays a card playing con artist with the ability to fight like only he can. Sergio Martino does a great job balancing the storylines between the forbidden romance between Luc Merenda's character and the mob boss's daughter played by Dayle Haddon and the con artist action. There are a number of themes going on here. The separation between creating a family and being a criminal, and the failed relationship between father and son. It leads to a truly devastating ending and one of the few in Eurocrime films that actually moved me. 

Synopsis: Luca Altieri is a gambler. He likes cards and he is a master in playing poker. He is a cardsharper too. He begins working for "The President", who has many gambling houses and everything seems to go well until Luca falls for Maria Luisa. Unfortunately for them, she is the girl of Corrado, the son of "The President"...

The film starts with Luca (Merenda) entering into a high stakes poker game in Milan. He fleeces his fellow players by pretending to be a poker beginner and once they've gone all in beats them all. There is an interesting element of classism here as well as Luca has on some less than prestige clothing and looks like a loser as part of his con. He later has this sleeve contraption where he feeds himself a certain card and I’m not sure if he’s using that here or not.  He gets into the elevator and meets the President (Enrico Maria Salerno) and starts working for him. He eventually saves a woman named Maria Luisa (Dayle Haddon) from her "bodyguard" and the two start a relationship. Unfortunately she is the girlfriend of the President's son Corrado, one of those eager to prove himself types in his father's shadow. When Luca leaves Corrado and the bodyguard show up and as a proof of his power he has the bodyguard start to rape her then orders him to relent. 

There are some great scenes of Luc Merenda using his athleticism early on. For example one of the men he swindles at the card table comes after him with a few other guys and he beats them all up. As usual something about Merenda's ability to both punch and kick convincingly makes him great on screen. Later there is a moment where he is being held but uses both of his feet to kick two men in the face. 

Luca later gets into some trouble because of his relationship with Maria Luisa and gets his hands smashed by Corrado and his goons. This may have influenced Robert Rodriguez for the "Long Night" segment in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. The similarities between the two characters and their fates are there. He later shows up to play cards against Corrado and beats him. The President gives Maria some money and makes her promise to tell Luca never to gamble again and move to Nice to stay out of trouble. There is a real Commodus-Marcus Aurelius situation from Gladiator and Corrado kills his father. He, however doesn't have the mob connections his father had leading to some great shootouts where his men kill other mob members.

Luca struggles to live a normal life and starts gambling again. This shows the power of greed and gambling addiction. Maria wants him to give up gambling and he agrees to, but not until after one final scam where he teams up with one of the guys he scammed at the beginning. This guy is revealed to be working for Corrado. Luca loses the card game on purpose and then gets into a chase with Corrado's men. A great chase as well. 

Spoiler Section

Maria is shot and killed during the chase. She had revealed earlier that she was pregnant. In a really sad ending Luca is shown going to the beach and seeing a family and reflecting on what he could have had. There is a moral here as well. Luca got back into gambling when he had enough money to live a modest life but wanted more and wanting to tie up the loose ends. You could argue though he never would have been spotted by Corrado or anyone else he would've scammed if he had stayed out of trouble. I never would gamble again if I had Dayle Haddon and her blue eyes to keep me company but everyone is different and greed is powerful. I like all the different aspects of this story and it has the feel of a Shakespearian tragedy with the star crossed love and the sad ending. The Nice, Italy locations are beautiful in the second half as well. I like Milan and Rome locations but I always like Italian movies that take the audience somewhere they don't see often as Italian architecture is always nice to look at. Unfortunately as well this movie is difficult to find and I hope someone releases it again someday. This has Code Red or an Arrow triple feature set written all over it. The NoShame DVD is out of print. I found it on a free video site that may or may not be legal. It's one of the first results on Google if you type Gambling City in on the video search. 

English dubbing cast: 

• Frank Von Kuegelen dubs Luc Merenda as Luca, this is one of the best dubbing/actor combo’s in these movies as his voice captures Merenda’ dramatic acting well
• Carolyn De Fonseca dubs Dayle Haddon as Maria 
• Robert Spafford dubs Enrico Maria Salerno as the President 
• Edward Mannix dubs the security guard as the poker casino 

Rating: 9/10

Trivia: Luc Merenda said this was one of his favorite things to be in because the story was lovely and different and his character had more depth. I would agree.

The Violent Professionals

 

Sergio Martino's Eurocrime movies are much more on the side of fun popcorn style entertainment than Castellari's more sociopolitical and Umberto Lenzi's more vigilante and exploitative Eurocrime movies. Those guys let their freak flag fly more while Martino was more content with making crime movies that worked well from a dramatic perspective. At the same time his action isn't as well filmed as Castellari's or Lenzi's. The best parts of this film are the scenes where Luc Merenda's cop character is undercover as he doesn't quite have the same believable aggression as a Maurizio Merli. Where Merenda is competent is his suave cockiness and athleticism during fights, something he shows off better in Gambling City. 

Synopsis: With or without help from law enforcement officers, a lone individual decides to crack down on a crime syndicate.

The beginning of this film does have the a similar violent streak to some of Lenzi and Castellari's movies as Antonio Casale leads two other prisoners to escape from a train. This features a scene of him excusing himself to the bathroom and asks the guard to look away as he takes out a knife he had hidden somewhere and kills him. They proceed to kill several other guards with Beretta submachine guns. One of the prisoners is called and Casale and the other one hijack a car with a father and a little girl. These movies, especially those of the directors I just mentioned are more comfortable with killing children in these movies as a form of exploitation. Martino does it here, though the child's death isn't shown. Giorgio (Merenda) flanks around the two prisoners in the woods while they negotiate with police and kills them when they start to raise their weapons. We learn in the movie he previously had made a mistake at some point letting suspects raise their weapons too quickly so he is much more quick to pull the trigger now. 

His boss played by the always effective Silvano Tranquili (Black Belly of the Tarantula) reprimands him for killing the criminals. Again a form of exploitation making us go against the law as an audience because of what the criminals did. This sequence features scenes of Giorgio slamming the law and not letting cops do their job as most of these movies. While Michael Forest is the right english dubbed voice for this role, Merenda isn't. He's better as antihero or a mysterious character than a tough cop. He's better with the dramatic scenes as well. That is why the middle of this film where he is undercover as a petty criminal and a getaway driver is better to me. His boss, who was investigating a crime syndicate is eventually assassinated in broad daylight, prompting him to go undercover. 

These sequences are very good, though story wise I'm not sure how they all connect. Is the fisherman he meets with some kind of informant or someone turned an informant? Does the prostitute he meets and pimp he beats up have a big connection to the syndicate. Either way I do enjoy the scenes of him picking up a prostitute and beating up her pimp. Merenda shows some of his fighting athleticism in those scenes. I enjoy the scene of him meeting the mob boss, Barzini himself Richard Conte. In that sequence he beats up a bunch of people at a pool hall. At the same time he meets a doomed hippie drug addict played by Martine Brochard. She is eventually going to inform on the syndicate but this killed. In the film's best car chase Giorgio acts as the getaway driver and one of the robbers kills a cop. Giorgio does a fun thing and drives them straight to the police station. The surviving robber will not inform on Padulo (Conte). 

In a very Castellari like move, Giorgio learns that the commissioner (Bay of Blood's own Chris Avram) has been protecting Padulo and was behind the assassination of his boss. They have a car chase to the end and the commissioner is killed in a crash. The parts after his cover is blown aren't as great. The last car chase isn't as good as the robbery chase. There aren't too many memorable scenes but the opening and middle are great entertainment. The Guido and Maurizio De Angelis score makes great use of piano and woodwind for a great theme. While this isn't the best Eurocrime movie, and certainly not Martino's best it is fun at times and well paced. I love the line dubbed by Michael Forest when Giorgio threatens Padulo. "I'll bust you up so bad, you'll wish mirrors weren't invented." 

English Dubbing Cast:

• Michael Forest dubs Luc Merenda as Giorgio

Rating: 7.5/10

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH83XMhvC_s

The Witch (2015)

I don't think I've seen any other movie that immerses you into the ambience of the setting and the geography better. The costumes aren't costumes they are clothing. The woods aren't sets they are a location. I think those distinctions are important. Instead of a more theatrical looking Hammer horror movie that some period horror movies have, this has the feel of an Agalloch album brought to life. There are many different images and sequences that are still in my mind. I have a lot of questions as well. I still am not sure if the witch is real in this movie and if it is who it is. There are supernatural things in this movie that I don't completely get. This movie establishes itself right away through as a movie that has supernatural elements that just can't be real. What is real though is the grounded thematic elements you can find within. The close family that tears itself apart because of a combination of religious doubt and and superstition, and developing sexuality and the temptation that comes with it. 

Right away there are two things I want to talk about. The look of the woods and the way Robert Eggers does these quick five second zooms into the woods with both green and gray lighting taking center stage. There is an atmosphere here and sense that something will always be missing. You're never going to see everything in any given shot. That permeates throughout the whole film. When Samuel is taken it is literally impossible for someone else to have come in a taken him without being seen or heard in that amount of time. The first time one of those sequences starts. Robert Eggers has these sequences in movies that I can't explain. The first sequence with Samuel and the witch is reminiscent of the sequence between Willem Dafoe, Ethan Hawke, and Oscar Novak in The Northman. There is so much supernatural and mystic imagery that you just submit to it rather than think about what it means. The music, specifically the not traditional string instruments help add to the ambience. The language from that time is like something out of Shakespeare which I like. 

Religion can be interpreted in any way. To me however there are right and wrong ways to interpret such things. During this time religion seemed to be interpreted more negatively and used to spread more negative ideals. There was no black and white. If you didn't follow the same God you were seen as an enemy. If you were accused of being a witch there was not defense for it because someone could find any reason to justify how you could be one. Now there is a supernatural element to this movie so the accusations of witchcraft among this family are actually somewhat well founded. Whether Thomasin is the witch or not doesn't really matter. Because of the family's religious beliefs and William's (Ralph Ineson) control everyone is subject to his interpretation. There is a great scene early on between him and Caleb. Caleb asks about Samuel's fate in the afterlife and because William always says children are born of sin Caleb believes Samuel is in hell. William talks about how it is not for them to interpret. Yet I think everyone should have their own beliefs of such things.

Caleb is seen staring at his sister and is later seduced by the witch in the woods. Thomasin is later locked in a barn with her sisters and we see the witch, but not in the same shot with her. Is it possible she is the witch because we never see them together. Is that story she tells her sister's about becoming the witch who took Samuel true? I'm not sure but there are several things I do know by the end of this movie. The family is torn apart by both supernatural forces and their interpretations of such things. Katherine does not even see Thomasin as a daughter by the end of the story and fully sees her as a witch and a seducer. Yet we saw how William died and how he was killed by the goat that the two younger siblings, Mercy and Jonas had apparently been talking to. Their new song about the goat is more memorable than their own prayer! One image I will never forget is seeing the witch in the corner of the room. It doesn't even look real at first. I remember a time where I woke up in college and threw something at the mirror in my dorm room because for a brief second I aw whatever I saw in my nightmare. Seeing the witch at that point reminds me of that. 

Religion back then was interpreted in a more pessimistic and negative way. Thomasin is looking for something closer to reward, purpose, and fulfillment which is what religion is supposed to be. If it was back then that witchcraft gave you that I can't say I blame her for submitting to it at the end. Her stripping and joining the sabbath represents her getting away from such a world of negativity and embracing the stirrings of sexuality and her want just to want things that are separate from her current beliefs. I can't wait to watch this again at some point and see what other images I remember and different interpretations I have. Anya Taylor-Joy is a mesmerizing screen presence as always. 

Rating: 9.5/10

Trivia: In the scene where Caleb dies Harvery Scrimshaw was actually directed a lot more by Ralph Ineson than Robert Eggers as Eggers has no children. Ineson has children and works as an acting instructor for children. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQXmlf3Sefg

 

Visitor Q

 

I can't think of any movie that starts with a 10 minute long father-daughter sex scene and only gets more taboo and reprehensible. Takashi Miike as only he can takes what could be a feel good family drama premise and perverts it completely. There have been many stories made about an outsider coming into a dysfunctional family and making them happy and "normal" again. Here that is done through rape, drugs, necrophilia, lactation fetishes, and murder. If that doesn't bring a family together I don't know what does. There are other interesting things Miike is trying to say throughout this movie with how it is shot documentary style and and how the parents in this family have to become more dominant and not pushovers to bring the family back together. 

Synopsis: A troubled and perverted family find their lives intruded by a mysterious stranger who seems to help find a balance in their disturbing natures.

During the film's opening incest sex scene it is shot from the side and a mid angle with no zoom really. That is the first shot of the movie that echoes what you see throughout which is the look of a webcam. This film is shot in that way I think Miike is doing two things with that. The first making the exaggerated nature of this movie more serious. When this is shot documentary style it makes the family drama throughout seem more real in spite of how silly and ridiculous parts of this movie are. Later scenes are shown to have been filmed on the camera such as the father being a victim of rape and him later filming his son being bullied. I think Miike is showing how around that time, and certainly now we film everything trying to savor certain moments when you should be enjoying what you are doing. Because these moments are such heinous acts it almost pulls you into them. The movie is trying to make you feel guilty as a bystander as well. How many times have we seen people filming others getting beaten up or something like that? I think Miike was aware of things like reality TV becoming popular around this time, or maybe even internet porn fueling different taboo fetishes people have in case of the opening scene.  only feels more relevant now. 

Adding to the exaggeratory nature of this film is the darkly comedic tone at times. Ridiculous things happen and people treat it as a joke. There is also some farcical stuff going on throughout this movie. The son for example had been abusing the Mom, she becomes a prostitute and reverses that abuse onto a man who wants to be beaten with a belt. This leads to her finding out she likes and can lactate. This is fundamental to motherhood. Suddenly that one night she is much more happy and confident. When the son throws the dinner she made at her face she throws a knife back at him. This is actually the biggest change in this movie is the mother becoming a much tougher matriarch figure instead of the victim and that is where a functional family starts. Everyone in this family is a victim or aggressor of some kind. The father was raped by men. He later rapes a woman. The son abuses his mother, he is bullied by his classmates. It takes the mother and the father finding their inner paternal and maternal side to bring the family back together again, with help from the visitor. 

I can't say enough about the craziness of that necrophilia scene. It basically encompasses everything about the movie. You all ready have the taboo part down doing necrophilia. It is funny though because of the comedic side to it. The father while inside the corpse says something like, "I didn't know I could get a corpse wet, that is a secret in life." He then pulls his penis out of the woman and there is feces all over him and he says "It's shit." So not only is that a gross out part but I think Miike is trying to say life can suck sometimes and don't take this too seriously, but a foundational family can lead to a happier life and you have to find that foundation. Too add to ridiculousness of that scene, because of rigor mortis the Father's penis gets stuck inside the dead woman and his wife gives him drugs to shrink it and get it out. Another disgusting but funny scene. 

The film ends with the final culmination to the family changing their ways and that is the mother and father brutally killing the son's bullies with saws and knives. The prostituting daughter is hit by the visitor with a rock, dissuading her from doing that anymore, because she got hurt. That scene is full circle as the father was hit by the stranger with a rock just past the beginning of the film.  She comes home and joins the father as they suck on the mother's breasts. Now again, that sounds disgusting but it goes back to the point of the matriarch being the foundation for a stable family. Miike was trying to contrast the family coming together with the ridiculous and shocking acts needed to do it, these same acts both intrigue and repulse as an audience. The movie never makes you feel comfortable with this family or what they are doing, but perhaps that is the point. In a world full of different temptations and different ways to connect families are more apart than ever, but yet still together and still linked. I can't think of many movies that show that in such a fascinating, quirky way. 

Rating: 10/10 

Trivia: The film was shot in seven days. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRc6dN7s1w4

Uncle Sam (1996)

 

I like how Bill Lustig always puts social commentary into his films. In this case deification of the military or the people in it. At the same time some people will seek jobs with authority to cover up traits of their own that are put to better use in such a field. In this case a soldier who was a possessive domestic abuser and kills to take out his own urges. I think Bill Lustig didn't know the kind of film he wanted to make with this and at times it seems like he's going for suspense over gore. This movie takes a little too long to get going. The kills are better once the movie gets going in the second half and then the practical and makeup effects are better. The killer has an interesting if not prominent motivation. He seems to kill anyone that disrespects the American military or flag. If he were around now I guess half of the professional athletes would be his target. Unfortunately some of the themes in this movie are a little surface level and it is disappointing that the thematic elements are exposition in dialogue with one of the worst and most annoying child acting performances ever by Christopher Ogden. 

The movie starts with military officials lead by a mustached William Smith investigating a downed helicopter. Sam Harper, thought dead, springs to life and kills the Major and the Sergeant by shooting them both with a handgun, saying "Don't be afraid, it's inly friendly fire." The film then transitions to the Baker family. Sam's body is given to his wife Louise. Louise lives with Sam's wife Sally and her patriotic son, Jody. 

Some of themes start early on in the movie. Jody is overly patriotic. He calls his teacher a coward when his teacher talks about protesting the Vietnam war. He is seen going through Sam's medals and saying anyone who disrespects the country is bad. He has a conversation with Sergeant Jed Crowley (Isaac Hayes) about wanting to be in the military and being a hero. Jed doesn't want him to have those ideas and makes points about how heroes in war are really people who are just lucky they don't get killed. He also talks about not knowing what they are fighting for anymore after all the wars America has been though. While this is interesting this is the only part of the movie this is talked about. Again Jody seems to deify the military and his Uncle and his perspectives. As we learn later his Uncle is not the person to look up to. A connection could be made with nature versus nurture as this type of thing is how so many people have incorrect views on things and it was impressed on them as a child. Unfortunately Christopher Ogden is so annoying in this role you just want to punch him. 

Meanwhile Bo Hopkins shows up as a sleazy telegram soldier who brings back Sam's body and tries to get with Louise. Meanwhile two delinquents have burned an American flag and vandalized Sam's tombstone. This disrespect for the American Flag and someone in the military seems to activate him and he comes to life. He kills Bo Hopkins offscreen. He kills a sleazy guy wearing Uncle Sam stilts and takes his costume. There is a nice suspenseful scene here in the woods but there isn't any payoff as the kill cuts before you see him poke the eyes out. The same with the other delinquent getting killed by hanging on the flagpole. The other one is just buried alive. The third delinquent is killed later at a sack relay race during the 4th of July celebration. I have to say this scene is well done. The guy keeps seeing Sam around every bush where he quickly disappears. This third delinquent had all ready insulted the national anthem by singing it in a falsetto type metal voice which is quite amusing. This leads to a great beheading with a meat cleaver.

Both Sally and Louise's boyfriends are killed by Sam, as is Jody's teacher. The teacher gets a nice hatchet through the head kill though it is fairly tame. Louise's boyfriend, the Deputy gets the best kill in the movie as he tries to save a visiting Senator from getting blown up by fireworks. He gets blown back by the explosion and lands on a flagpole that impales him. During this time there are other pointless subplots. Jody's blind friend who had been injured and blinded by fireworks shows up and he has some psychic link with Sam for whatever reason. His mother is played by PJ Soles! Robert Forster also showed up as the Senator. Maniac Cop III had similar problems where random roles wer played by big actors that had no part in the story. Around this time Louise and Sally tell Jody about about how Sam was possessive and abusive towards them. Jed runs into Sam with his Uncle Sam mask on and I gotta say I do like the practical makeup, especially the yellow eyes. This leads to a final confrontation where Jed uses the cannon to blowup Sam in the house. Similar to the Maniac Cop gunshots do nothing to Sam. This is basically Maniac Cop 4 switched to undead military person except the military soldier was all ready a bad guy and Matt Cordell was a good cop. 

This movie is a mess. The themes are interesting but only surface level. I do like it when Jed says "You didn't kill for your country, you killed for yourself," which is what the main theme of the movie and what Sam's character is about. There are some great actors only in small parts. A couple of the kills are suspenseful and have a good payoff but some also have great suspense and staging but no payoff. I still have some fun watching it though. The second half is much better than the first. This was made the same year Scream was released and it feels like an 80s exploitation movie made in the 90s and it doesn't have the right look or feel maybe because of that. It is one the last 80s feeling slashers though and is one of the death knells of what the slasher was. I like the gimmick and the look of the killer. Another problem with this movie is some of the core character casting. Both the actors who play Louise and Sally look the exact same. Christopher Ogden is unpleasant to deal with. The actors around them though are quite good. Timothy Bottoms is great as the teacher. 

Rating: 5.5/10

Trivia: The film was dedicated to "Lucio," meaning Lucio Fulci. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMzw8N53wc0

• SLASHER MOVIE ANATOMY:
• Prior Evil: Killer was "killed" by friendly fire by the military. He comes back alive when he senses that people are disrespecting American traditions and emblems like the American flag or mocking the national anthem.
• Body Count: 12
• Whodunit: No. Similar to Maniac Cop though we find out more about him as the movie goes along
• Mask or outfit: Uncle Sam outfit and mask
• Locale: Small town celebrating Independence Day
• Best Kill: The flagpole impalement
• Gimmick: Killing anyone who disrespects America to him 

INSTRUMENTS OF DEATH

• Colt M1911 Handgun
• Flagpole Strings
• Flagpole
• Fireworks
• Grill
• Hatchet
• Meat Cleaver

SLASHER MOVIE TAXONOMY

• Kingdom: Movie
• Phylum: Horror
• Class: Slasher
• Order: Exploitation and supernatural
• Family: Upper body nudity one one woman
• Genus: Realistic in some ways but not in how a person comes back to live. One zombie but everything else is realistic.
• Species: Somewhat dark comedy but still serious.

Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key

 

I've said before that I like Sergio Martino's gialli because they are all different. This has the psychological horror and mystery of All the Colors of the Dark and the somewhat supernatural feel and gothic look of that movie as well. The difference is in the location and themes. This deals with the burnout of going from being a famous person to a has been and how that negatively influence someone into alcoholism and domestic violence. The film also has a strong Edgar Allen Poe influence as well with similarities to the Black Cat and the Tell Tale Heart and the psychology of guilt. The kills in this are about as brutal as those in Martino's more violent films. This is also almost as erotic, but a little bit more intimate than Torso as Edwige Fenech spends most of this movie getting around to having sex with anything that seems to move. The characters that Fenech, Anita Strindberg, and Luigi Pistilli play in this movie are also much different from any others they played in other gialli. Strindberg in particular plays a character with so many dimensions it might be the best performance by a woman in a giallo movie. 

Synopsis: Failed writer and alcoholic Oliviero (Luigi Pistilli) takes out his frustrations on his wife Irina (Anita Strindbeg). Irina is terrified that Oliviero is planning to kill her. She confides this in his niece Floriana (Edwige Fenech) who has come to visit. A killer dressed in black is killing people Oliviero and Irina know in the village where they live. 

The film starts with Oliviero hosting an orgy for some local hippies. In this sequence he takes every opportunity to belittle and make fun of his wife. It should be noted that one of the stripping hippies dancing is a very young Dalila De Lazzaro. Soon the African-American housekeeper whom Oliviero was having an affair turns up dead. The same thing happens to another woman he was having an affair with. Oliviero is the primary suspect. Floriana shows up by train. A woman who showed up around the time Floriana did is also killed but her Aunt catches the murderer and kills him. Meanwhile Irina is frustrated and tormented by Oliviero's black cat, the last living vestige of Oliviero's mother. She eventually stabs one of the cat's eyes out. Irina and Floriana start an affair. She plays games with both Oliviero and Irina as she starts to blackmail either one of them for control of the inheritance should one of them kill one another. 

There are a lot of things I love about this movie. The village setting while still very lavish is much more gothic than something out of Torso. Not quite as cavernous as something from All the Colors of the Dark. Something quite gothic and reminding of Hitchcock's Rebecca is the painting of Oliviero's mother and the. dress of hers from that picture that Oliviero likes. His maid and Irina at different times have the dress on and this puts him in a sort of trance. The black cat stuff and how Irina is haunted by it is very much like Edgar Allan Poe. The short story of the black cat is present in this film just as a subplot. The main plot is actually similar to an Umberto Lenzi giallo with three people contending with trysts and blackmail. The difference being that there is a slasher subplot that is much more interesting and exciting than those more noir elements. The kills in this, mostly done with razor blades and knives are quite bloody. They don't disappoint. The one murder set piece involving the maid is quite great with atmosphere as a thunderstorm is raging when that kill happens. This movie and Torso were both no stranger to political incorrectness with the dialogue about a black woman in giallo movie. This also has more close ups on people's eyes than some other Martino films and of course they look great. 

Spoiler Section

I've always liked that the three main roles in this are different for the actors and much more fleshed out characters than most giallo movies. Edwige's character with her short hair and sassiness is much more different than other characters she's played and its a turn to a femme fatale for her. Strindberg goes through so many dimensions throughout, starting as a supposedly helpless victim, to someone who can fight back to a full on femme fatale murderer on her own. The lesbian sex scene between her and Fenech is actually less exploitative and more sensual than the scenes between Fenech and Pistilli as well as her and Riccardo Salvino. I actually enjoy the relationship between her and Riccardo Salvino's Dario character. The moment where she goes to his motocross race and his bike breaks down is actually a great use of comedy to bring some levity into this movie. 

I don't love the short hair look for Edwige in this movie but its her so she can never look bad

Throughout the second half I love how the tension reaches a point where Oliviero and Irina just start talking about killing each other right in front of one another, or talk to Floriana about it when one of the others can hear everything they are saying. Giallo movies always have a twist that one ups the first twist or reveal in the movie. In this we get several. I like how Martino always has little details that come back later. For example, how when Oliviero and Fausta talk about a sexcapade later that night and her boss, Bartello can hear them. Bartello turns out to be murderer of the prostitute and supposedly the murderer of the maid. Ivan Rassimov shows up randomly at one point to give the dress back to Irina. You never know why he shows up randomly until later when it is revealed him and Irina have been killing people the whole time. While him knowing exactly where to dump the oil slick on the road so that Dario and Floriana crash later is a bit of strech, at least Irina had heard them talking about going away. That whole scene at the end reminded me of the chase sequence in Hitchcock's Family Plot. While the scene of Irina killing the cat is somewhat unintentionally hilarious, it leads to a great reveal at the end. That also has a supernatural feel as it is hard to know if that cat is really alive or what is really happening at the end there. How long was that cat stuck in the wall? Or did it get in there another way? Either way I really love this ending. I love how Floriana went full femme fatale when she pushed Ivan Rassimov off the cliff. She further reveals she killed Oliviero's mother and had the maid killed. Doesn't want to share the money with anyone that one. I've said before that All the Colors of the Dark seems like an influence on Eyes Wide Shut but this movie made me rally think Kubrick watched gialli, or least some of Martino's. Oliviero's typewriter says vendetta over and over again and it really reminded me of the typewriter part in The Shining.

This movie has actually gotten better for me overtime and it's now one of my favorite gialli and another A+ from Martino. Edwige is getting around to everyone in this movie, so much so it makes me think I would've had a chance to hook up with her in the 70s. This is meanest Pistilli has ever been in a movie but it fits the character well. Any score in Martino's movies is good and of course Bruno Nicolai did the score so you can never go wrong there. Seeing my two biggest giallo crushes, with Fenech and Strindberg in the same movie is awesome. 

Rating: 10/10 

English Dubbing Cast: 

• Edward Mannix subs Luigi Pistilli as Oliviero
• Susan Spafford dubs Anita Strindberg as Irina
• Frank Von Kuegelen dubs Riccardo Salvino as Dario

Trivia: Edwige gets top billing even though she doesn't appear until 32 minutes in. The title of the film is a reference to a note received by Fenech's character in the Strange of Mrs.Wardh.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYs8Tcz9HW8

Torso

By 1973 the giallo genre had all ready reached it's peak. 1971 was for the giallo what 1981 was for the slasher film. It was basically a combination of 1982-1984 as well as the genre was so saturated that I think Italians were all ready getting bored. Martino's Torso introduced something new, the slasher formula. Most gialli, with some exceptions mostly took place around one location, focused more on investigation, and had money or revenge as the motive for the killer. Martino's movie not only has a more psychological and psychosexual motive for the killer, but it has the organizing principle of the girls taking off on vacation, and focuses much more on the slasher aspect and the characters in the second half than typical giallo movies did. The movie is quite erotic, bordering on sleaze but I think Martino was trying to call out the audience. So many men in this movie are shown to be leering, spying, or in some cases just assaulting women and I think Martino by placing the audience in the same shots as many of these men is calling us out for enjoying it. 

After a steamy credits sequence, the film starts with a professor (John Richardson) giving a lecture to some of his students. In this sequence and right after the lecture ends you meet all of the principal characters. Flo (Patrizia Aidutori) goes for a sexcapade later that night with her boyfriend. Right away we see something different from a typical giallo as the killer is wearing a gray ski mask and not the typical leather getup. While the kills here aren't exceptionally brutal there are some bloody throat slashes to see in the aftermath. Flo looked amazing by the way with those brown eyes and that pink dress. This is the first of five pairs of breasts we see in this movie with her before she is killed. 

Soon after, Carol (Conchita Airoldi) is also killed after going to a hippie commune and seemingly getting cold about having sex in front of many people. This is another fantastic sequence involving Carol getting drowned in mud, and then having her eyes gouged out after which is the goriest moment in the movie. Carol was seen with Dani's (Tina Aumont) Uncle Nino (Carlo Alighero) possibly making him a suspect. I like a lot of these college students and the first half switches perspectives back and forth between Dani and Jane (Suzy Kendall) so well that it's hard to tell who the possible final girl will be. Jane is more mature than Dani and spends a lot of time flirting with the Professor. Meanwhile Dani is being stalked by the impotent Stefano (Roberto Bisacco). At one point Stefano corners her says he needs to talk to her but ends up just trying to force himself on her. Before Carol died she was buying a newspaper from a street vendor and he tries to underneath the stand to peek below her skirt. Those are just two examples of how the men act in the first half of the film. Again, even through the male gaze Martino seems to be calling you out for it. Instead of just having the camera ogle these women he shows it from the perspective of the vendor. 

Part of a red and black scarf, which is called a foulard in the movie, really fun word, was found at Carol's murder sight. Dani had seen Stefano wearing the scarf but the vendor has sold a lot of them. As in typical giallo fashion Dani is warned by a phone call not to say or remember who she saw wearing the foulard. The vendor tries to blackmail the killer and in typical fashion when he goes to meet the killer he himself is killed. This is a nasty sequence as well, if not a bit funny. The killer repeatedly rams a car into his against a building. What is funny about it is the cutting to a dummy. 

Spoiler Section

At the advising of Uncle Nino Dani and her friends Ursula (Carla Brait), and Katia (Angela Covello) go to stay in a country villa. Jane follows them in her car. Meanwhile a person who ends up becoming the doctor in the town with the villa (Luc Merenda) has been seen around the University. First at the vendor stand with Carol and he later rides in the same compartment with the girls. As soon as these girls arrive in town many men are gathered around them just ogling them. They some particularly politically incorrect things about Ursula like "She has legs that could run faster than a jackrabbit." "From here you can see the source of the Nile," real lines in this movie folks. Literally the first thing you hear from any of these men is "Look at those knockers." A line that makes me laugh every time. The dubbing only makes it funnier. The local shoeshiner goes to spy on the girls at night and is found by the killer and slashed to death. Jane meanwhile gets her car fixed. The mechanic is the only other man in this movie, besides the doctor who isn't a total pervert in this movie. It should be noted that the shoeshiner was spying on Ursula and Katia having sex. Another voyeurism shot. Earlier right before Dani leaves her uncle spies on her wearing a towel. Not the first weird Uncle-niece relationship in Martino's movies, see Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key.

The next morning after the first night at the villa, the local milkman shows up and leers at the girls who are all topless laying in chairs. This is a funny moment as Jane sees him from the top of house and clumsily falls down the stairs. This where doctor Luc Merenda comes to the rescue. Previously we had seen him leering at the women in other scenes but it's more in a way just to throw you off. I think this scene shows he's the real good guy. Later Dani is sure she sees Stefano in the bushes. That night they get a knock at the door and Stefano falls, dead. The scene then cuts after the women scream. This is an interesting editing choice as you don't see any of these kills. Jane wakes up the next morning and finds the women dead. The next scenes feature an amazing cat and mouse game between Jane and the killer. It reminds me quite a bit of something like Wait Until Dark where there is a less able person trying to get away from someone dangerous in one location. 

All ready this seems more like a slasher film. It ditched the investigatory aspect for women organized in one location who don't know a killer is around. That is a big aspect that separates giallo from slasher is investigation is usually swapped for not knowing any killing is happening until the end. As in the case of most slashers a character shows up at the end to save the final girl. Jane continues to stay locked in the room, trying to get a key underneath the door as the killer has locked her out not actually knowing she is in the room. At the same time he is cutting up the bodies. Later the milkman says there were four women in the villa. The killer only thought there were three. This sets up the final reveal. The killer is the professor who became a misogynist as a result of something that happened to him when he was a kid. His brother fell from a cliff while trying to get a girl's doll after saying that if they got the doll they would get to see her panties. Again in typical slasher fashion the killer says Jane is "pure" compared to the other girls he killed. Merenda shows up and fights the doctor out the barn and near the cliff. There is an awesome moment where Merenda does a dropkick. A preview for what he would do a lot more with his Eurocrime movies. In a great moment the shadow of the killer walking back from the cliff looks like the Professor but turns out to be the doctor when he approaches. 

I really like how this movie bridges the gap between slasher and giallo. Martino as usual has brilliant camerawork including some amazing wide shots of the town from an aerial view and from the villa. The english dub adds some levity to it. I like how Martino makes you feel just like some of the men in this movie while using the male gaze. The kills are a little tame but the suspense at times makes up for it. Guido and Maurizio De Angelis add a sultry feel to the score. As usual Martino does a great job shooting people's eyes and it only makes Suzy Kendall and Tina Aumont specifically look more beautiful. 

English Dubbing Cast:

• Susan Spafford dubbed Suzy Kendall as Jane
• Carolyn De Fonseca dubbed the prostitute Stefano sees
• Frank Von Kuegelen dubs a man in the small town who says "Look at those knockers."

Rating : 9/10 I think this would have been a 10 years ago but now it's a nine. While I enjoy the final cat and mouse game in the finale but the movie feels slightly long and certain moments could be sped up near the end. 

Trivia: No one knew who the killer was while making the movie. Because of all the red herrings actresses in the film thought someone else they had never seen was the character doing all the killing. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rePn8wK-tg4

 

The Host (2006)

I don't usually watch many monster movies for the characters as well as the monsters. This may be the best family of characters in any monster, disaster, or pandemic movie. A movie where the family has to come together in the face of adversity. Every character in this family is flawed in some way and they all work together to save the one person who has a great future. The one innocent captured by the monster. What I like about this movie is how many different genres are melded into it. None of them in a bad way or feeling like it's taking away from the other. Monster movie, pandemic or virus movie, kidnapping movie, political and military satire movie all rolled up into one. It's like George A. Romero teamed up with Ishiro Honda with some South Korean sensibilities and writing and made one movie together. 

The movie starts with two scientists talking about dumping "dirty formaldehyde," down the drain into a South Korean river. Now two hundred bottles of formaldehyde would never cause such a mutation in a river, especially for what looks like a giant killer tadpole crossed with a bass to appear. That is that satirical element though and and good start for a monster movie. Veteran American actor Scott Wilson portrays the American scientist. The formaldehyde in the water pollutes it and causes many fish and habitats to die. This is relatable to real life as how many times has science interfered with something like this or how many times has pollution caused problems with the water? I went to college in a town where muskies were put in the river and now guess what, theres no other fish in that river! So while the monster thing is an exaggeration, this could actually happen in a different way on a smaller scale.

The next thing the movie does is introduce us to the family of characters in this. Park Gang-du (Song Kang-ho) runs a snack bar with his father Hee-bong (Byun Hee-bong). Gang-du has a brother Nam-il an alcoholic former university student. His sister Nam-joo is an olympic archer. They show her flaw by showing her only getting a bronze medal as.the timer runs out on her before she can make the final shot. Gang-du frequently falls asleep at the register while running the snack bar. None of these characters are flawless. Gang-du does have a young daughter Hyun-seo who is embarrassed by her family. Her mother left when she was younger. 

One day people see tentacles and evidence of something large in the river. They start throwing stuff in and the monster attacks. This a unusually quick appearance for a monster in a monster movie. It also shows the monster attacking during the day. I would compare this to the tripod attacks in War of the Worlds in that the monster isn't so large that it destroys all the buildings and infrastructure but it's big enough and fast enough to keep up with all the people running, killing many and causing chaos among big crowds. While the monster is a lot of CGI, especially moving, it still looks pretty good today. Not great, but decent. It's much better than SYFY original creature feature monsters. During this chaos, Gang-du grabs Hyun-seo's hand but then loses her and releases he grabbed the wrong hand. In a great dramatic sequence where the music stops and Gang-du sees Hyun-seo behind him and she is grabbed the monster. This sequence and the style and Gang-du making yet another silly mistake is repeated later. I like it though because it makes him human and how many people have lost their kids in a big crowd of people? It feels real. 

The Monster in this movie

At a funeral for all the victims starts the great use of dark comedy within Korean movies. While the four family members reunite and mourn the loss of Hyun-seo, their exaggeratory nature makes the scene funny as they cry but also fall ant trip over each other. In the background someone talks about a car outside that is parked wrong. Again Koreans just know how to add this stuff in their movies and not have it feel out of place. Meanwhile Hyun-seo is shown to be alive and well in the sewers. She finds a way to call Gang-du on a cellphone. The American military has shown up and quarantined anyone who had contact with the monster. They say it hosts a deadly virus. This is the start of the more Romero side of the plot. 

Spoiler Section 

Gang-du and his family find a way to escape and get guns. They confront the creature during the day. Gang-du makes another fateful mistake as he incorrectly tells his father that there is another shell left in the shotgun but when he goes to shoot the monster he is out. The monster brutally flails him around and kills him. Again good contrast between the comedy and dramatic horror and action. The family eventually all split off. A bounty has been placed on the family. Gang-du is eventually captured and learns that the virus was a coverup for what really happened at the beginning of the movie. I can't think of anything that relates better to present day after the pandemic started in 2020. The family all meet up to battle the monster again. Nam-joo gets some good shots in with her bow which is a real fist pump moment. It is revealed that Hyun-seo had been eaten. A little boy named Se-joo had been in the sewer with her and Gang-du revives him. Gan-du kills the monster with a pole. After mourning Hyun-seo he eventually inherits his father's shop and adopts Se-joo. 

There are more moments throughout the second half that I like. While the monster carnage int this isn't amazing the kills can be quite brutal, but not necessarily bloody. I really like the moment where the monster goes to the sewer and regurgitates all of the bones he ate. Another great dark comedy moment is when Gang-du falls asleep in the store and his brother and sister talk about how pathetic he is and his father says yes he is pathetic but you have to protect him. That is yet another great dramatic moment with some comedy. I find it interesting from a South Korean perspective that the American military is really the biggest antagonist in this movie because they divide the family for parts of the movie but also lie about the virus and could easily kill the monster anytime but choose not to. Again the Romero movies felt like an influence but so did movies like High and Low just the kidnapper being a monster. I love everyone in that family and they are the heart of this movie. 

Rating; 9.5/10

Trivia: The ticket sales mathematically say that around 20% of the Korean population at the time saw this movie. That doesn't account for people who saw the movie more than once though. The film was such a hit that a statue of the monster was made near the Han River. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HRTy26s4hw