Combat Shock

 

When people think of Troma movies they don't think about the real life horror of homelessness, drug addiction, war PTSD,  and unemployment. This is a perfect low-budget independent film. It made me feel scared because of how real everything seemed and how plausible it was to me. The movie goes out of its way to show the graffitied, grimy overpasses and underpasses of Staten Island which are a real part of any city. This movie also makes great use of a nightmare logic where A PTSD and drug ridden former soldier can't seem to separate his nightmares from real life. As the movie goes on it also has some practical effects and bloody gunshot violence that reminded me of the violence in movies like the Godfather and Taxi Driver.

The Film starts with former soldier Frankie Dunlan (Rick Giovinazzo) having a nightmare to his time in the Vietnam war. There is something very surreal about this nightmare. For most of the time he is alone and all of the sudden bombs will be falling and then they won't, Vietnamese soldiers will be around and they won't. It is nightmare logic where you don't know if he is reliving anything or having a complete nightmare. Once Frankie wakes up he has arguments with his wife Cathy (Veronica Stork). Everything about their living situation is a disaster. Their milk is spoiled, wallpaper is crumbling, their toilet is clogged. Frankie has been out of work for four months and they are starving. Worse, their baby is a mutant of sorts and when we see it basically looks like an alien combined with a baby. The way it keeps crying at random times combined with how it looks reminded me of Eraserhead.

Frankie takes a trip into town to go to the Department of Labor office. Along the way he has flashbacks to arguments with his father where his father was against him having black people as friends and marrying Cathy. It seems as though they have not spoken since the war. Dripping water in sinks gives him PTSD attacks. We see once he was taken prisoner. Once he was wounded and kept in a hospital for three years. 

Frankie owes money to the local drug dealer and loan shark, Paco. While going into town he is harassed and beaten up by Paco and his two goons. Later his friend Mike is also harassed by Paco. Mike ends up dying near some train tracks after overdosing. Meanwhile Frankie goes to the division of labor and the agent there says he doesn't have enough skill to get a job and should go back to school and learn a trade. 

I like how this movie goes over the vicious cycle of addiction. Frankie may have gotten addicted to morphine during the Vietnam war. He has no money but yet we know he has spent it on drugs before. He has no job and another kid on the way, a kid he shouldn't have had, which feels real. What makes Frankie different from his friend Mike is that he fought in a war and has nothing to show for it. He has no benefits, no job or other skill that can be used to live, and he is tortured by PTSD and in turn drug abuse because of it. Mike later points out to him that the possibility of going to jail is better than living the way they live. That inspires Frankie to steal a prostitute's purse later. Before that happens though, one of the few moments of serenity happens in this movie where Frankie meets a child prostitute in the street and just has fun talking to her for a minute. We learn she is managed by Paco. That scene of just the two of them together is quite short but it joins one of my favorite moments in movies, the happy moments in movies that are otherwise depressing or you just know they won't go well for the main character. Movies like the Hermit and the monster eating and drinking in the Bride of Frankenstein. Frankie eventually calls his father for help which is a another great dramatic moment. Frankie's father had though he was dead because he was declared K.I.A. Frankie's dad cannot help though because he is dying of a heart condition and has lost his business and money as a result. They do share a nice apology and goodbyes.

Spoiler Section

Eventually when Frankie steals the prostitute's purse he is seen and pursued by Paco and his goons. The prostitute had taken Mike's gun earlier when she found his body near the train tracks. Frankie uses the gun to shoot Paco and his two goons. There is some awesome slow motion gunshot blood squibs in that moment. Similar to Taxi Driver it is one of the more heroic moments for Frankie as you know the child prostitutes might have a chance to a better life with Paco gone. It also revealed at this time that Frankie's company had encountered a Vietnamese village that all committed suicide, afraid to be killed or raped by American soldiers. Frankie believes he must "save" his family from the same fate. He goes home and kills his wife by shooting her and then puts his baby in the oven. It should be noted he fist shoots his wife right in the stomach where his baby is. When he gets home I do like the showed framing of ilm that happens he replays his Vietnam experiences in his mind, almost like being in a movie theater. When the police come to his house, Frankie commits suicide and I love the brain splatter going all over the wall, but also the leaking blood coming from his brain on the impact. One of the best headshots ever. A hell of a way to end this. It should be noted to that before Frankie dies he takes a drink from the spoiled milk which is like yogurt at point. The milk is a symbol for his life, spoiled and expired. 

I just loved the relentlessness of this movie. A real portrayal of what can happen to someone if they don't get help either because of addiction or PTSD. The real life horror of not being able to feed your family, not having a place to live, not being able to get a job, and being harassed by people you need to pay debts to. It just feels real and raw and scarier than most horror movies that aren't as relatable. I do enjoy some of the synth music by Frankie himself, Rick Giovinazzo. 

Rating: 10/10

Trivia: The Vietnam war flashback scenes were shot in the swamps of Staten Island. Buddy Giovinazzo borrowed lights and camera equipment from teaching film school to make the movie. He also used money from his wedding to finance it. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLZQJh3MUYk

Watch this movie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFg7jaBwR4E I would highly recommend getting the Troma Now streaming service free trial and watching a more upscaled and cleaned up version there.

Graduation Day

 

Red herrings, fake outs, and interesting kills galore in this one. This combines a fun high school movie on it's own with a slasher film with some possible giallo influence and similarities. The biggest flaw of this one is the runtime, pacing, and characters. While the first two acts are balanced well, this pulls a Girls Nite Out and inserts a draggy and pointless investigation scene into the third act. Christopher George and Linnea Quigley add some much needed ethos to their parts. Patch Mackenzie does a serviceable job playing of the toughest heroines in slasher movies. The film also benefits from a very Bernard Herrman sounding score by Arthur Kempel and a soundtrack featuring the rock band Felony.

The film starts with Laura Ramstead collapsing during a track meet. It is revealed later that she died of a blood clot. This all takes place during a montage of people at different events and an awesome disco rock song playing in the background.  Right before graduation, Laura's sister, Anne comes to get her trophy. Meanwhile everyone who was a member of the track team starts getting killed. The killer is seen wearing the same gray sweatshirt and using a stopwatch similar to the Coach of the track team, Coach Michaels (Christopher George). 

I'll just start right away by saying there are some good kills in this one. Knives to the neck, Tracheotomies with a fencing sword, bayoneted footballs to the stomach, beheadings with a fencing sword, pole vaulting onto spikes near the landing mat, and slow motion gunshot blood squibs. The tracheotomy kill is my favorite as we see the blood squirt back out of a person's back where the wound was. The football kill is cool as it is edited similarly to the Steve Christie kill in Friday the 13th as we see his first person view as the character approaches the killer. The first kill with the knife is cool as you see the blood hit the camera. Most of the kills feature rapidly high pitched strings with low pitched horns that again sounds like something out of Friday the 13th or a Bernard Herrman score. During most of the kills there is this interesting frame jumping thing where the screen rapidly switches between images, sometimes of Laura and the victim's dead body. 

There are similarities to giallo movies. The killer is seen with black gloves. They have a picture they cross off with lipstick or something like that to show they have killed certain members of the track team. I always enjoy that sorta thing in slasher movies. The killer also has a cool gimmick by timing a stop watch for 30 seconds, similar to how the coach said to Laura as she was running her sprint. 

Christopher George plays the overbearing gym coach, who at times can be mean, though I do think he ultimately cares about his players and getting them success. For most of the movie you may not like him but you never get to the point of hating him. Linnea Quigley, pre-boob-job and in one of her first film appearances plays a student fraternizing with the music teacher. Patch Mackenzie is good as Laura's older sister, an Ensign in the Navy. She takes no shit from anyone. Getting a ride to town she is harassed by the driver and she grabs his balls and says something like "If you even breathe in my direction you'll be eating your balls for lunch." Later when her alcoholic stepfather threatens to slap her around she simply says I wouldn't do that I've learned some things in the military. 

This film has problems with the pacing and runtime. While I enjoyed the chase between Linnea Quigley's character and the killer in the woods, combined with Felony's music in the background I thought it went on a little too long. While I always enjoy when characters actually catch on to the killings in slasher movies I didn't think a third act investigation was necessary. I did like seeing character actor, Carmine Argenziano as the cop though. The movie also has too many scenes of the Principal (Michael Pataki) taking calls in his office in that third act. Just have the security guard at the school be the one investigating and have him show up for that final confrontation at the end. Problem and cutting runtime solved.

There are almost too many red herrings in this movie. The movie obviously wants you to think Coach Michaels is the killer but that would be too obvious. There is a scene where the principal shows how many knives he has in his desk. The scene with the principal just spending time in his office reminded me of the Henry Winkler scenes in Scream. Even Anne is shown to be a red herring at one point taking off black gloves. This movie has so many fake outs too where either someone sees the killer and someone else pops up to ease the tension or it just is a fake out. 

Spoiler Section

It is eventually revealed Laura's 40 year old looking boyfriend, Kevin (E. Danny Murphy) is doing the killing. He has Laura's body in his room in a graduation gown. He reveals himself while fighting with Coach Michaels and the inspector shoots Coach Michaels while he holds a knife to Kevin thinking he would kill him otherwise. Anne and Kevin fighting under the bleachers of the school's field and Kevin impaled on the spikes in a closet. The film ends with a stupid and pointless stinger where Anne wakes from a nightmare thinking Kevin is in her room but it is really her drunk stepfather coming into be mean to her.

SLASHER MOVIE ANATOMY:

• Prior Evil: A girl dies while running sprints at a track event. Killer seeks revenge on the team.
• Body Count: 9
• Whodunit: Yes
• Mask or outfit: Gray sweatshirt, black gloves, at times a fencing mask
• Locale: High School
• Best Kill: Tracheotomy through the neck with a fencing sword
• Spot the famous person: Vanna White as Doris

INSTRUMENTS OF DEATH

• Knive: 1

• Fencing Sword: 3

• Bayoneted Football: 1

• Gunshot to the stomach: 1

• Metal Spikes: 2

• Blood clot in heart: 1

SLASHER MOVIE TAXONOMY

·         Kingdom: Movie

·         Phylum: Serious but fun

·         Class: Slasher

·         Order: 80s

·         Family: Upper body female nudity from Linnea Quigley (Surprise!) and Denise Cheshire as the gymnast Sally

·         Genus: So many red herrings and fake outs but a serious film tonally 

·         Species: Not too bloody but not tame.

Rating: 7/10

Trivia: Linnea Quigley replaced a different actress whose head mold is still used for the character's beheaded body

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMQYzw-9e6o

Thriller: a Cruel Picture AKA They Call Her One Eye

 

An exploitative movie with substance. A movie showing how prostitution can be like slavery, whilst showing it in ways that are exploitative. I have never seen another exploitation movie that borders on hardcore pornography at times as much as this does. The story between the main character and her parents is actually heartbreaking and brings the exploitative into drama. The filmmaking is brilliant. Great use of super slow motion editing, a character who has go through trials and tribulations for her revenge, the best yellow color palette I've ever seen in a movie, and one of the most iconic and influential characters to come from an exploitation movie. Just like the movies it influenced like Ms .45 the main character becomes an antihero at times and gets lost in vengeance so much so that you start to question them.

An example of the beautiful yellow color palette

The movie starts with a young girl Madeleine, being sexually abused in the woods. This is one of the few scenes in the movie that does not feel exploitative and more real compared to later. Years later, Madeleine is a mute as a result of the encounter. After going to one of her doctor's appointments in the city she misses a bus ride home. A man named Tony (Heinz Hopf) takes her out and brings her back to his place. Tony proceeds to drug her drink. He then injects her with heroin for 10 days so she becomes dependent and makes her a prostitute. He also writes letters to her parents saying that she hates them and wants to be away from them. This eventually drives her parents to suicide. 

While seeing her first "client" Madeleine scratches him in the face, prompting Tony to stab one of her eyes making her blind in one eye. She is called One Eye afterwards. She is subject to brutal sex by one client and she is assaulted by a female client. Eventually Madeleine meets Sally (Solveig Andersson) who tells her of her own plan to escape and go to rehab with extra money she has been stashing. Madeleine starts going into town for karate lessons, shooting lessons, and driving lessons. 

Spoiler Section

Madeleine eventually buys a car and a double barreled shotgun. She uses that to kill her other clients. The movie ends with her tying Tony's neck to a horse while the rest of his body is trapped by rocks. She watches him suffocate to death. 

I love so much of the filmmaking here. When Madeleine starts to get revenge it is great. She earns it. Not just by having us suffer with her showing us what Tony and the other clients do to her but also by having all the different montages of her lessons and showing her getting better while all the different instructors give her feedback. While Lindberg's performance is mostly understated, there is one moment that I can't forget. It is the moment when she goes back to her hometown and sees her parents have committed suicide as the result of her letters. There is a moment where she eavesdrops on a conversation and hears them talking about how it was her fault. A single tear rushes down her eye. An image I can't forget. Something Abel Ferrara quite possibly pulled from this movie for Ms .45 was the changing color of the character's clothing. As Madeleine loses her innocence she starts wearing red instead of yellow, then finally all black at the end. There are other yellow color moments I love in this like the yellow mailbox in one scene, and the yellow couch she sits one in Tony's house. It even goes full circle in a way when you see the first client she kills wearing yellow. 

I love the slow-motion editing during the revenge scenes. Not only is it cool for the blood squibs, but also really cool for the reactions, the scattered flying objects, and the smoke and muzzle flashes from her guns. I love the slow spurt of blood when the police officer spits it out after she hits him. I don't necessarily love the color of the blood which kinda looks like hot sauce but I go with it. The score is really cool too. Some great use of organ at times but it also has that psychedelic feel at times. 

As much I enjoyed this I thought it could have been shorter. As much as I love the super slow motion scenes they go on a little long, specifically the part with the cops fighting her. The same can be said for all the more hardcore nudity and sex scenes where you literally see full on testicles, vagina, and anus. It was like a porno and that surprised me. Most movies with sex I always say is nothing compared to a porno and this was actually like one at times during the scenes with one particular client. While the scenes are many and long it does make you feel more angry and you just want the vengeance to come sooner so when it does you are happier. There are a few plot holes here too. Again this is an exploitation movie but I can't believe the parents either didn't recognize her handwriting. Now if the letters Tony sent were typed that I can understand. The whole drug addiction thing I don't quite get either. Yes drug addiction is one thing but the movie makes it seem like the women will die without drugs which isn't accurate. 

At a certain point Madeleine's quest for revenge becomes so consuming that she starts assaulting police officers, though that was just to get away. She also gets into a car chase and kills many innocent bystanders in car explosions. While I never turned against her it made me think that she has no chance to be likable after the vengeance is over. That was her purpose. I'm glad the movie ends with just her getting the vengeance because you know things couldn't have gone well for her after that. I am wondering if the They Call Her One Eye version of the movie is more up my alley in terms of pacing, though I'm sure there are a.lot of the more lurid elements cut out. 

Rating: 9/10

Trivia: Christina Lindberg has said she didn't appear in any of the hardcore sex scenes in the film. The nudity we do see of her looks good though.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CAZs88T0Jw

Ms .45

 

A lot of people call this a feminist revenge movie. There are elements of that such as a woman taking her power back and putting us in the mindset of how women are objectified in an urban setting. This movie is more like a descent into madness using murder to cope with trauma. At a certain point much like Death Wish the revenge becomes depersonalized and more like an addiction used to cope with trauma and loss. I associate this with the urban grit and grime movies made in 70s and 80s New York, a setting and location that I love. Zoe Lund gives one of the best performances of a mute character in any movie. 

The movie starts with Thana (Zoe Lund) at work. She works as a seamstress. Early on we see an example of how her boss is a bit creepy as he pats her on the head. This is the first time he shows that he feels he is above her. The women then all leave work and start getting catcalled on the street. A man breaks into Thana's apartment, but before she even goes up there she is raped by a man wearing a mask. She is unable to scream because she is mute. When she gets back to her apartment she is attacked by a robber. The robber then rapes her after finding out she is mute because she can't tell him where her money is. Thana is able to reach for a paper weight and smack him in the face, then bludgeons him to death with an iron. She starts cutting apart his body and putting the body parts in trash bags. Thana goes to work the next day but has a PTSD attack when her boss tears a garment off of a mannequin. 

Thana later drops a bag of body parts near a fence and a man we had seen catcalling women on the street picks it up and goes after her. Thana runs until she is in a blocked alley and shoots the man with her rapist's pistol when he comes at her. This starts the trend of all the men she kills in this movie being ones that are either taking advantage of women or treating them actually like how she treats her dead rapist: meat. Thana starts going out every night, dressing in more uninhibited clothing and wearing lipstick and makeup. She goes around killing pimps, photographers, sheiks, and other random gang members trying to corner her. She is eventually asked by her boss to a Halloween party where things reach a breaking point for Thana. 

Spoiler Section

What I love about analyzing this movie is finding the line between feminist revenge fantasy and vigilante. When Thana kills that first man chasing after her we don't know if he is intending to her harm. Yet his catcalling and calling women "cunt" on the street justify his death. I do like that similar to Charles Bronson in Death Wish she gets sick after her first kill, showing humanity. Every person she kills is someone who either preys on women or takes advantage of them. In Thana's case as her boss even talks about at some point, her affliction actually makes her an easier target. She learns to not only dress to back her power, becoming a woman "who looks like she is asking for it," as victim blamers would say. Her use of subtle gestures, nods, and just the look in her eyes at times, because she can't talk is enough of an invitation for these men. While every man she kills could be ones that deserve to die, that changes one night. She stalks a random man who is just making out with his girlfriend on a street corner and in a good suspense scene he gets into his apartment before she can shoot him. There is another man who vents to her and she only decides to shoot him when he says he strangled his wife's cat after he found she was cheating on him. When she goes to shoot him the gun is empty and he takes it and kills himself, taking the away the satisfaction from her. Things reach a breaking point at the party where Thana starts seeing every man as the same as her rapist and starts shooting many random people before one of her friends from work stabs her from behind. 

Some of Thana's changing looks throughout the movie

Instead of a happy ending we get a character consumed and addicted to vengeance getting killed by the people she viewed as allies. Thana starts skipping her job everyday and only going out at night, again the type of behavior of someone who can't cope with trauma. That is ultimately one of the two things this movie is about trauma and when does the revenge to cope with it go too far? 

There are many different filmmaking decisions I love here. Obviously the late 70s and early 80s New York location shooting is something I love. I love seeing all the buildings, real businesses, extras, and that whole graffiti laden grit and grime setting. There are some magnificent shots throughout. I love how the drain of guts, really disgusting by the way, is crossfading with the face of her rapist. I love some of the close up shots of Zoe Lund's eyes, particularly when the photographer puts his hand on her shoulder and asks her to come to his place. I love how her expression there goes from timid and afraid to confirming. Her performance is all in the eyes. I love that shot of the gang members cornering her in that circle. The saxophone and jazz music by Joe Delia, particularly during the Halloween party is great. 

Speaking of the Halloween party I love how that takes a page from Thriller: A Cruel Picture. The long take slow motion, with the gunshots, and blood squibs and the slowly exploding squibs is just incredible. In those shots I even like the objects clattering and crashing. Even the way Thana dresses is inspired by that movie to me. Thana goes from dressing real homely, to dressing red and black after her first kill and finally black all over for most of the movie. That is similar to the character in Thriller dressing first in yellow, then red, and then black. 

Ferrara also does even more things I like. He shows the tenant horror and drama just like he did in Driller Killer. Thana's landlord is constantly up in her business. Always asking her why she is going out, who her friends are, wondering why she starts dressing and looking differently, and even going into her room. Just like how Driller Killer showed tenant living as an artist in New York City, this shows the horror and everyday life of a woman. Catcalled, harassed by photographers, pimps, and bosses that try to take advantage of you. It proves that there are those type of men everywhere that only want to objectify women. By not showing Zoe Lund naked, that makes this less of exploitation movie and really more of a vigilante rape and revenge movie. 

Rating: 9.5/10

Trivia: The gun used by Thana (Zoe Lund) is actually a nine millimeter caliber pistol and not .45 caliber. Abel Ferrara played the first rapist in the mask.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvCg0mRePOM

The Virgin Spring

 

The influence can be seen on the plot, structure, and character of the The Last House on the Left. This is an incredibly beautiful film to watch. There are so many black and white images that will stick with you. I haven't seen many period pieces that make me feel like I'm watching the movie at a different time in time. This is one of them. While this movie is about the destruction of innocence by the cruelty of man it is also about two conflicting religions. One, catholicism represents forgiveness, commitment, and guilt, while paganism and norse mythology represents vengeance, jealousy, and temptation. 

The film starts by introducing us to Ingeri (Gunnel Lindblom) the servant, and maybe adopted daughter of the Tore family. We see her praying to Odin and it is made clear she is jealous of her sister and the blood daughter of the Tore family, Karin (Birgitta Pettersson). Her parents Christian (Max Von Sydow) and Mareta (Birgitta Valberg) spoil her in some way and try to keep her closed off to the rest of the world. There is a ritual where a virgin has to take candles to a church and the family sends Karin, along with Ingeri, to do it.

While on the path to the church Ingeri stays with the bridge keeper for a while, leaving Karin alone. Karin is raped by two men, who also have a boy with them. Ingeri catches up and watches while this happens. They kill Karin by beating her upside the head with a club. Later the three men come across the Christian's house while looking for a place to stay. They have dinner and eventually one of the the men presents Karin's garments to Mareta as a gift. This is when they realize that Karin is dead. Christian interrogates Ingeri about what happened and she tells him about her jealousy toward Karin. Christian goes and kills all three men. The family then goes to find her body and when they remove her head from the sand a spring flows out of it. Christian pledges to build a church on the place where the body was found. 

There is some amazing cinematography in this movie. The shot of Max Von Sydow shaking the tree with the woods, mountains, and clouds in the background is great. I love that shot of the white snow falling over Karin's body with the white and bright clothes she wears possibly representing her innocence. Everything from the houses with only one story and one big room looks like the period as well as the clothes. I love all of the woodland locations as well. It may just be that black and white cinematography but when I watch this I feel immersed in the setting. 

The great shot of Max Von Sydow with the tree. Good for any black metal album cover.

The great shot of Karin's body lying in the middle of the ground

There is some great foreshadowing to things that happen early on. The beggar in the movie says a poetic quote, "flying birds find something, sitting birds only find death. I have found both women and churches." This seems to be a prediction for Ingeri just watching as Karin is assaulted as well as finding her body and Tore pledging to build a church. In the woods Karin and Ingeri have a conversation about men. Ingeri even mentions what if one tries to force themself upon you and Karin says she would fight them off. 

Karin's character throughout the film represents an innocence, clearly connected to virginity. Once that is taken she is killed right after. What is interesting though is the almost fairy tale feel to her character. The journey she goes on, the the men she encounters, the clothes she wears, all feels like some kind of fairy tale. I don't want to blame her for what happens to her, though her parents deserve some blame. I know people probably had intentions bad then, but just sending her with a servant? It makes no sense to me. The parents clearly haven't educated her about how not everyone has good intentions. That hits her full force right as she is about to be raped. As soon as she is willing to go anywhere with those men and gives her food she has all ready lost because they interpret that as some kind of invitation. The mute man even says the same things that Ingeri was saying corrupted men will say.

A lot is made about the contrast between Paganism and catholicism in this movie. The bridge keeper in what he says about hearing the whispers of men and how he recognized Ingeri, and his blindness in one eye is a representation of Odin. Ingeri is tempted to stay with him and then rejects him when he makes advances on her. Similar to Don't Torture a Duckling she later blames herself for Karin's death after praying to Odin and feels that guilt. The weapon used by Tore to kill the men has a got with horns as the handle. Ingeri puts a frog inside one of Karin's loaves of bread. The men don't pray with Karin when she gives them food in the forest, but later they do when at dinner with Tore's family. At the end of the film, Tore gives a passionate monologue about how God let him even do the act of vengeance in the first place, but also he will dedicate his life to penance and build a church in the spot where she died. This is all how those different religions are represented differently. I also love the quote the beggar says to the boy about guilt,"See the smoke trembling under the roof as if with fright? Yet when it gets out in the air, it has the whole sky to swirl about in. But it doesn't know that, so it huddles and trembles in the soot under the roof. It's the same with people. They quiver like a leaf in the storm, afraid of what they know and what they don't know." 

The vengeance scene itself, while not bloody is still brutal. When Tore throws the boy across the room to kill him that is when you realize that all men have cruelty inside them. A point of the movie. Similar to the Last House on the Left I love how the men sit around looking guilty while Karin starts to walk away after the rape happens. While this wasn't an amazing movie entertainment wise I enjoyed the different things to talk about and many of the individual camera shots. As my first Bergman movie, I can see the hype and it is nicer to see a younger Max Von Sydow absolutely killing it with his performance. 

Rating: 8/10

Trivia: The film is inspired by Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon. This movie in turn inspired the Last House on the Left. Bergman later called it a poor imitation of Kurosawa, despite that fact it won an Oscar for best foreign language film. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgDC7JsxfcM

The Last House On The Left (1972)

 

If I could keep the consistent tone of this movie's remake and combine it with the nihilistic hopelessness of this film it would be nearly perfect. Every performance, save for David Hess isn't good enough to elevate this into greatness. There are many things about this movie that don't work because of the independent nature of it. While I can't hold it against Wes Craven and the crew involved that doesn't mean I have to like it either. The music, editing, and acting could all be better given different choices with a bigger budget. That being said there are flashes of brilliance throughout this whole movie. The scenes in the woods, as shocking as they are end in such a reverent way. In the last 15 minutes or so David Hess cements himself as one of the best villains in cinema history. While some people see this movie as a Vietnam allegory I see it as a total destruction of innocence in many ways.

The film starts with Mari Collingwood (Sandra Peabody) leaving her parents on the eve of her 17th birthday to go to a concert with her friend Phyllis Stone (Lucy Grantham). While on their way home from the concert Mari and Phyllis, who both had previously been interested in doing drugs, are tricked into a home by Junior Stillo (Marc Sheffler) under the false pretense of giving them drugs. Junior is the heroin addicted son of Krug Stillo, (David Hess) a murderer who recently escaped prison. Krug and his gang also consists of his girlfriend Sadie (Jeramie Rain) and Weasel (Fred Lincoln). They take Mari and Phyllis to the woods and force them into one degrading act after another. This includes making them pee in their pants, stripping them naked, making them perform sexual acts with each other. It seems like they are only having fun at first until Phyllis tries to escape and they stab her to death. Mari is raped and basically concedes her own death as Krug shoots her. Meanwhile, Mari's parents are planning a surprise party and low and behold guess who shows up to the house to stay the night...

When it comes to the loss of innocence angle this film has many dimensions. When we first see Mari we see her naked in the shower, making her less innocent to us as an audience. She is about to leave the house without a bra which her father calls her out for. Her mother then comes in and they all have a conversation about how women are more liberal in that time than before. Mari talks about how the bras in her mother's young age made their "tits look like missiles." Since this film was made around the time of the sexual revolution and right on the steps to the door of Roe V. Wade this is relevant. Mari's innocence is further corrupted by her wanting to indulge in vices like drugs and drinking with Phyllis. While it is not her doing, she is made to strip naked in front of others and is finally raped by Krug destroying any notion of innocence entirely. 

This idea of the loss of innocence is comparable to what soldiers go through. Some of them around the time of the Vietnam war were drafted around 18 years old, some fought even younger than that, they probably indulged in those same things underage or just of age in the military and they went through the same adversity Phyllis goes through fighting for her life.

Transitioning to her parents, they also go through a loss of innocence. Their innocence from killing, innocence from immorality are broken. While I can't relate to the time this movie was filmed I can still see what Craven was going for. This allegory to war is made even more evident by the radio programs that play which would have been the way people heard the news about the status of the war and people's deaths back then. Just like Mari's upper class parents they don't really care about that stuff until it hits them right at their front door step. If they were listening they would have known who Krug and the gang were when they showed up. I don't know if it shows something like they are above those kind of people but it shows they are content with their own life until they have to go through some adversity of their own. The cross cutting between them at home baking pies and Krug's gang are not well done but they serve the purpose of again showing the difference between people who live hard, adverse lives with those who are content. The dinner scene later and what Krug says about all the silverware they have shows the difference in life of privilege. Soldiers and people in prison never have those luxuries.

Going back to my thesis, this movie's tone is all over the place. While some of David Hess's folk music hits right, most of the music in this film, in particular the banjo and kazoo music feels way out of place. The bumbling cops only serve to pad runtime and their car breaking down serves as a lame way of getting them out of the way as they catch on to the fact that it was Krug's car near the Collingwood's home. I do like seeing a young Martin Kove though. Apart from the tone, the editing during some of the films fight sequences is terrible. That is probably because they had no budget for stunts and every fight had to be real.

David Hess shows flashes of what he becomes later. I do enjoy his more soft spoken comedic side at times like when he talks to the girls about wanting grass. He shows that intensity when he tells Junior to shut up early on. He doesn't reach full Hess though until the end when he toys with Dr. John while fighting him. That is when Hess turns into one of the best villains ever! I love how he keeps saying hey I'll give you another punch or how he talks about how Mari died right in front of him. He only cements his place further as one of the best villains in the sequence where he bullies Junior into killing himself with the gun. There is something so chilling about how he can from 0-100 and the intensity of how he says "BLOW YOUR BRAINS OUT!" Hess's performance in both Hitch-Hike and The House on the Edge of the Park is better to me and more complete. 

There are other character subtleties I like in this too. Junior in particular has some interesting moments. Early on there is an interesting scene between him and Sadie in the bathtub where it is clear he likes Sadie. Later when Sadie says she won't do anything until more girls are there, that could be why Junior invites Mari and Phyllis in. When he is the one to suggest that Mari and Phyllis "make it with each other," it is actually a way of protecting them from further harm. 

There are many other things I like too. There is something almost biblical about how Mari's death happens. Her reading the prayers, her slowly walking away as the gang follows. I love how that was filmed. I love how scary it is when Phyllis is surrounded in the cemetery. David Hess's subtle shaking of his head when Mari asks if Phyllis is alive. Junior having Mari's necklace and that being what gives them away to the parents. The well placed and scary dream sequence with Weasel. I thought that was going into Oldboy territory for a second there. 

While I like many things about this movie I can't excuse the things I don't like. You could've just cut the cops entirely and made this shorter and more concise. I wish the music could have been different. While I can understand the choices of acting I can't help but compare that to better performances I've seen in exploitation films. Craven would get better as a filmmaker. This movie has flashes. The allegories and acting would be better in The Hills Have Eyes. There is more FX driven work and style in A Nightmare on Elm Street. With New Nightmare and Scream he would perfect the line between style, real looking FX, better editing, and most importantly mixing more levity with scares. This is a great preview of things to come for his work. 

Rating: 6.5/10

Trivia: Sandra Peabody (Mari) was actually terrified during shooting. At one point she even walked off set. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gftu8RjqJ_o

Manhunt in the City (1975)

 

My favorite Eurocrime movie is not actually one that has a lot of action. This movie deals with the depersonalized nature of revenge from the person who is impacted to those in authority. The police have no real connection to Henry Silva's character's daughter in this movie so they don't understand his feelings about his daughter's murder. A tombstone maker comes to the house at point and tries to exploit the daughter's death for money. On the other side of things a right-wing vigilante group exploits the lust for vengeance for their own gain. That is what this movie is all is how everyone has a connection to the the death of a little girl but no one really understands how it feels to lose her except her parents. In the end the movie asks the question is vengeance more important than justice and is the feeling of closure more important than you getting revenge yourself? 

The film starts with a montage with Henry Silva's character David working construction. Bruno Nicolai's low and high note piano score setting a tone. One of his best theme's in my opinion. We see David's daughter Clara walking on the street and a blind man asks her for help walking to a bank. Suddenly the man breaks into the bank with several other robbers and it is clear he is in disguise. After robbing the bank he shoots and kills David's daughter. Meanwhile David had been buying a locket of some kind for his daughter and the musical theme for this locket keeps playing throughout the film whenever she is seen in flashbacks.

The investigating cop, Inspector Bertone (Raymond Pellegrin) keeps telling David that the cops are going to do something but they never do. David is too impatient and wants justice even if he has to take matters into his own hands. The Inspector constantly talks about there aren't enough men to do the job. David at one point says something like only an idiot would be a cop with the lousy pay you get. That starts some of the similarities in this movie to real life, particularly modern day America. Cops are criticized no matter how they do their jobs, but at times it is warranted. David eventually finds out from his journalist friend, Giordani (Silvano Tranquilli) that the cop who was supposed to be guarding the bank was called off to get his superior's wife to the hairdresser. This is also similar to rich people getting help or protection from cops while those that actually need it are left to fend for themselves. Think about all the rich and powerful people in America and the world that have bodyguards and protection yet many places in inner cities like Chicago there are people killed and criminalized each day. That is what this movie made me think about. Not only that but the cops in this movie have all their priorities wrong. In one scene David and his wife Vera (Luciana Paluzzi) are harassed by a street gang that vandalizes their car. Vera's purse is stolen and David gives chase but they are cornered. Many civilians show up, showing the power of just a group of people united by common cause, and the criminals leave. Yet when the cops show up they want to arrest David because they saw him run a red light. This is type of anger that Umberto Lenzi's crime films always make me feel as I feel exactly like the main character because of that depersonalized nature of revenge and how the cops can't even help him in that situation. 

As I mentioned before there are different ways in which people try to exploit the death of David's daughter. A right-wing vigilante group headed by a Lawyer named Mieli (Claudio Gora) and a former police Lieutenant (Luciano Catenacci) want David's help in fighting crime. They have him come along with them when they break into the house of two criminals supposedly responsible for a purse snatching resulting in a woman's death. They break the men's hands with meat tenderizers. David is horrified, mainly because their response is just as violent, if not more so than the actual crime but it doesn't connect to David. Once again brilliant by Lenzi, this movie makes us feel bad for those men because they have nothing to do with the main story. At some point a man comes by the house while Vera is on the phone and in an intense scene he sneaks around the house making Vera suspicious. Eventually he presents that he makes tombstones and keeps shoving the pamphlet for the products in her face and she kicks him out. That was a great scene for Luciana Paluzzi.

The last thing Clara said before she died was something about a scorpion. David begins to investigate. In a giallo-like subplot he finds a man wearing a scorpion bracelet at a bar. With the help of a trans prostitute he eventually arranges a meeting. That meeting never happens though because the Scorpion's men beat up the prostitute and get David's address. In a very Straw Dogs sequence, David and Vera hold up in their home from the attackers. David distracts them but is cornered and beaten up by Scorpion and his men. 

Spoiler Section

The Inspector actually shows his competence later in the film. The cops corner a group of drug dealers in a boat, have a shootout that results in their death. This was after they had found the getaway car from the robbery with the beard and wig that was the Scorpion's design. The Lawyer and his extremist group eventually tell David where Scorpion supposedly is. David goes to a farmhouse. There is some awesome shotgun-spread-blood-squibs as David cleans house with an over-under shotgun. While at the morgue the Inspector tells Giordani that David actually killed a group of random drug dealers and the real Scorpion was killed in the boat shootout as one of the men had a scorpion tattooed on his wrist. So in the end David was exploited by the group. I can't think of that ever happening. Any extremist political group lives off the good intention of others for both financial and personal gain. While it is interesting that patience with the cops might have paid off, this movie plays things both ways a bit. I think it is trying to say in the end that the feeling of closure you can get from justice can be found whichever way you decide to go. The problem is if the Inspector had actually arrested David at the end of the film he would have been left with no future. Still though, the film shows that an Inspector is competent but other cops, like the street cops who want to arrest David are only looking to make a quota. So the world is full of human beings with their own interests and sometimes that gets in the way of what is best for everyone. 

Rating: 10/10 My favorite Eurocrime movie

English Dubbing Cast:

• Edward Mannix dubs Raymond Pellegrin as Inspector Bertone
• Susan Spafford dubs Luciana Paluzzi as Vera

Il Boss AKA the Boss (1973)

 

A movie that shows just how futile and phony the so called honor is between Mafiosos. Time and time again throughout this film one Mafia boss or hitman will just do what they want either for financial or self preservation purposes which is really what being a criminal is about. There is no honor in it. It's all about who gets rich or who gets dead, or who removes who from someone's way. While there are some violent shootouts in this film and some great blood squibs, the best part about this is trying to point out who the next person is to betray someone. This movie is a spider web of who is against who and whom is trying to kill whom at certain points. Henry Silva is awesome as the one Mafia enforcer who is always one step ahead. This also features a great piano-heavy, electric guitar and drum score by Luis Bacalov that gives the movie a signature soundscape. I would encourage more than one watch of this film or taking notes as it is hard to keep track of who is who and their motivations all in one watch.

The film starts with Mafia enforcer Nick Lanzetta (Henry Silva) killing several men with a grenade launcher in a theater. He then uses his silenced pistol to kill the rest of the men. Lanzetta is working for Don Corrasco (Richard Conte). He also works with Don Giuseppe D'Aniello (Claudio Nicastro). Eventually the brother of one of the Mafiosos Lanzetta killed, Don Antonino Attardi (Andrea Aureli) has another boss, Cocchi (Pier Paolo Capponi) kidnap Don Giuseppe's daughter, Rina (Antonia Santilli). This leads to all out gang war where loyalties are tested and betrayals happen again and again. At the same time Commissioner Tori (Gianni Garko) quarrels with the Questore (Vittorio Caprioli) over how to handle things from the police side of things. Commissioner Tori is eventually shown to be working with or alongside the mob at times. Pignataro (Marino Mase) and Lawyer Rizzo (Corrado Guipa) are other players revealed to be working for Don Carrasco and the other Roman mobsters respectively for each.

Now do you understand why this could be confusing upon one watch will all the players involved? Anyway, there are some great shootouts and awesome moments throughout. I enjoy one camera angle where we see Carlo and Pignataro talk where all you can see is them through the rear view mirror. There is an awesome slow motion shootout where the bodies fall in slow motion after Pignataro shoots them. That whole sequence is a tribute to Godfather christening as other men are stabbed with knives and machine gunned while trying to get away. Similar to Moe Greene's death in the Godfather one other man is killed while getting a back rub. There some other great shootouts through out and many awesome headshot-gunshot-blood-squibs as a result of silenced pistol kills. There is an awesome car stunt when Lanzetta is getting Rina and he hits a car and splits it in half.

Spoiler Section

After Rina is kidnapped things get set in motion. After Don Giuseppe goes to pay the ransom, Lanzetta kills him and takes the money. Carlo betrays Cocchi by telling them where Rina is. Lanzetta rescues Rina and Pignataro kills Carlo. The Lawyer then shows up saying that more bloodshed could threaten Don Corrasco's position and he has Lanzetta kill many of Cocchi's men. Don Corrasco eventually asks Commissioner Tori to kill Lanzetta and he fails. Pignataro helps Lanzetta kill the men who come for him. Pignataro eventually kills Don Corrasco. He is told by the Lawyer to kill Lanzetta but in a similar move to the ending of the Mechanic, Lanzetta survives and kills him. The movie ends with the Lawyer on the phone. While all this happens Lanzetta begins a troubling sadomasochistic relationship with Rina who is a nymphomaniac. 

Rating: 9/10

English Dubbing Cast: 

• Edward Mannix dubs Pier Paolo Capponi as Cocchi 
• Frank Von Kuegelen dubs Howard Ross as Melende
• Robert Spafford dubs Andrea Aureli as Don Antonino Attardi
• Michael Forest dubs Gianni Musy as Carlo Attardi
• Edmund Purdom dubs Corrado Gaipa as Lawyer Rizzo
• Ted Rusoff dubs Gianni Garko as Commissioner Tori

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ka0kivkyxY

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGgmOQLIwbE

Hellraiser: Hellworld

 

Every fake out and every twist is predictable and cringy. There isn't a single amount of originality as this borrows not only in ideas but in style from the Post-Scream slasher era and Saw. Instead of being the meta self-aware Scream of the series this is more like Halloween: Resurrection. An installment that feels like an insult rather than something smart. Making Hellraiser some kind of movie, mythology, or video game people know about in the real world does not a good movie make. I'm willing to forgive some things because there are some good effects in this movie, minus the 2005 CGI, Lance Henriksen is great like always, and I like any slasher type of movie with some bloody kills. From a writing and story perspective I can rip apart this movie scene by scene. While most people may not like the era this movie was from it takes me back to my childhood where I was just discovering pop culture. So the raves, cellphones, giant computers, and hard rock punk music is a soft spot for me because it takes me back to that era. This would be a good movie to play a drinking game to. Drink every time a fake out or predictable twist happens and you're on your way to a fun night.

The movie starts with a friend of a group named Adam, committing suicide. Adam had become so immersed in the Hellworld video game, a real life video game based off the Hellraiser film series. At the funeral the friends Mike (Henry Cavill), Chelsea (Katheryn Winnick), Jake (Christopher Jacot), Derrick (Khary Peyton), and Allison (Anna Tolputt) blame themselves for not being able to prevent his suicide. Chelsea has a nightmare and when she wakes up she sees Mike wearing a Chatterer cenobite mask. This is one of the few clever moments from the movie as it is common to see flashes of the same things you see in nightmares after you wake up and because Mike is wearing a mask it is an interesting fake out. It is a preview for coming attractions though because its one of many instances in this movie where the filmmakers think they have outsmarted you.

The friend group is invited to a party of Hellworld players. Chelsea is at first reluctant to go but eventually does. At the party Jake is reunited with the group after keeping distant from them. This whole thing is shades of I Still Know What you Did Last Summer. The party is at a giant mansion, owned by the mysterious Host (Lance Henriksen). Everyone at the party has been given masks with four numbers on them and cellphones to communicate. The Host gives them a tour of the house and shows off his Hellraiser collection including a painting of LeMerchant who created the box. He offers them all a drink and Chelsea and Jake turn him down. While giving a tour of the autopsy and morgue area he stabs Chelsea with a needle which she seemingly has hallucinated.

Spoiler Section

At that point the group mostly goes their separate ways. Allison is the first to be killed in a very Saw like trap where razor blades cut her throat. Mike is seduced by multiple women and is eventually lured into the morgue where he is killed while hanging from a hook. Derrick loses his inhaler is eventually lured to the morgue room where he is beheaded. Jake is stabbed in his fingers early on by retractable blades by a puzzle box the Host had offered him. 

I do like some of the effects in this film. Every kill is sufficiently bloody, though the effects are questionable at times. When Allison is killed there is a lot of spraying blood but no heavy effects work. Though we see her as a cenobite later and there are some cool effects around the impact point on her throat. Same thing goes for Mike who looks like a cool zombie later on. One cop investigating eventually gets a spear through the mouth by Pinhead though the spear looks like CGI. That doesn't end there. When the Host is killed toward the end of the film his body is split in half, quite possibly a callback to Aliens for Lance Henriksen. There are some cool shots in this movie too, though it is plagued by the quick slow-motion to fast motion editing of the popular Saw films. I do like when Derrick's head lands in that bowl and the red blood splashes. I like how dark Allison's blood looks in that cool blue room she is in. I like the shots through the holes in the coffins.

There are some meta elements to this movie I thought were interesting and I wish it had gone further with that. I did enjoy the part where Derrick and Mike see a topless woman and have the exchange of "gratuitous tit shot." "Necessary tit shot," as if they are speaking to the audience. The Hellworld game looks like some quick click game online and not MMORPG by any stretch of the imagination. If they had actually gone into a video game this would've been better. One of the bigger problems of this movie is that by setting it in the real world I question everything that isn't supernatural. Some of the previous sequels use nightmare logic and the supernatural powers of the puzzle box to suspend my disbelief. This is all done through drugs whether by the drink or what the Host does to attack Jake and Chelsea. Do drugs really work like this? Later the Host says it shows them their biggest fears and their guilty conscience but if Chelsea doesn't believe in Hellworld why is she scared of Pinhead? There are other moments too where I cringed. When Jake turned around and killed Chelsea only for that to be another fake out I was like really? Give it up. If this movie had made more commentary on how obsessed people can get with video games to the point of addiction that would've at least allowed for more social commentary but that just goes surface level. The Nokia cellphone stuff and the fake outs on the voices feels straight out of Scream 3 and not an aspect of that movie you want inspiration from.

While it was interesting to see some actors who have gone on to do some things most of the performances are quite bad. That doesn't include Lance Henriksen who puts real commitment into every line as if he believes it. Katheryn Winnick is hot as fuck so I'm willing to forgive that performance. Henry Cavill spends most of the movie wide-eyed and open-mouthed like he's playing the Joker or something. His MGTOW moment where he lets the woman keep sucking him off while Chelsea is calling for help was quite funny though.

Eventually it is revealed that the Host is Adam's father as Chelsea finds pictures of them in the attic. He had drugged them all and buried them all alive. In a very Nightmare on Elm Street move Mike, Allison, and Derrick are killed in similar ways from in the drug trance. I do enjoy how Derrick has the nightmare about losing his inhaler and that is how he dies. Jake and Chelsea survive and the same cop whom Chelsea saw earlier saves them. I must admit the nightmare logic and how it translates to them and their surroundings is a bit better as the film goes on. Could those cellphones really work in a coffin though? Especially at that time. I do enjoy the twist of the Host opening the puzzle box only to really be killed because it breaks some of the meta stuff within this movie making you think that the Hellraiser stuff isn't real. The final fake out though of Chelsea and Jake seeing the Host in the car is stupid and unnecessary. 

Rating: 3.5/10 

Trivia: This movie has a record of 92 instances of product placement for one product in a film. The Nokia 3210 cellphone being that product. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO6bOMSTIqk