Thirst (2009)

 

There aren't many movies I'd classify as revisionist vampire movies. Thirst would fit such a description. It would be a great antithesis to The Lost Boys in that instead of vampirism being fun it really sucks. Vampirism in this movie is like being a diseased addict, but with added superhuman powers. I've always said vampirism is an allegory for addiction and this takes that premise fully. It combines it would the idea of vampirism being a disease. Blood is the medicine, but how you get it is the addiction part. There are many different themes in this movie as well. Survivors guilt, worship of someone who isn't as great as they seem to be, power corrupts, right to life, all of those are things you can find in this film. It also has an interesting, but dysfunctional love story at it's center with the vampirism complicating it. It's not just a great horror movie, but has some good romance, dark comedy, and a noir femme fatale vibe as well. 

Sang-Hyun (Song Kang-ho) is a catholic priest who volunteers at a hospital.  Sang-Hyun is dedicated to his faith but secretly suffers from doubts and loneliness. There are some scenes early on of him beating himself with a belt. After contracting a virus that kills many others he miraculously survives after receiving a blood transfusion of an unknown donor. At first everything seems normal and many people attend his services and view him not only as a miracle but as a saint. People visit his congregation believing he has a healing power. Among those who visit him is his sick childhood friend Kang-woo (Shin Ha-kyun) and his family. 

Kang-woo invites Sang-Hyun over to his house for dinner. Sang-Hyun develops an infatuation with Kang-woo's wife Tae-ju (Kim Ok-bin). Tae-ju was found by the family as a child an adopted into it and eventually marries Kang-woo probably for some security. She is treated by the family similarly to how Harry Potter is treated by the Dursleys. Maybe not quite as bad, but on that level. I like how Sang-Hyun's vampirism is activated when he smells or senses Tae-ju's blood while she is on her period. That starts the string of some weird connections between blood, bodily fluids, sex and vampirism in this film. For example when Tae-ju and Sang-Hyun start their affair he gets a certain thrill, and she reciprocates, from biting her. Their whole relationship and his transformation into a vampire started with blood transfusions and it leads to everything he does with her. She is drawn to him at first because he is much more physically able than her husband. 

Meanwhile because his vampirism has been activated Sang-hyun struggles to contain the effects of the virus as he needs more blood to contain it. That is why blood in it's own way is medicine to the virus in this film but how people go about to get it could be seen as the addiction allegory. For example, Sang-hyun usually steals blood transfusion packs or sometimes drains blood from dying patients at the hospital. That could be seen as someone only having indulging in lighter drugs. At the same time the head of his congregation wants to become a vampire so he can see. After telling him everything he has to do in order to sustain himself Sang-hyun is disgusted at this so he leaves the congregation. 

Spoiler Section 

When him and Tae-ju plan to runoff together, Sang-hyun finally tells her about his vampirism. At first she is scared until he pulls a Clark Kent-Lois Lane moment and flies with her into the air. She tells him at the the supposed abuse Kang-woo has been doing to her and he agrees to kill him. They all go on a fishing trip and Kang-woo is forcibly drowned by Sang-hyun. In some darkly comedic and creepy scenes Kang-woo haunts them and they both see him at certain times like while they have sex. This guilt haunts Tae-ju enough that she begs to be killed so she can be with him again after admitting she was abusing herself and not Kang-woo wasn't touching her. This is all admitted in front of Kang-woo and Tae-ju's adopted mother, Mrs. Ra (Kim Hae Sook). That brings another scary but also darkly comedic element to this movie as she is in a vegetative state after what happened to Kang-woo. The movie does a great job of showing just her eyes moving to be apart of certain scenes which must be scary hearing people admitting to killing her son. At the same time it brings some levity because of how funny it can be at times. 

Both out of loneliness and guilt, Sang-hyun brings back Tae-ju after killing her. She turns into a vampire. They quickly clash as Tae-ju is much more comfortable killing people than Sang-hyun is. At one point Sang-hyun is forced to kill his superior at the congregation to keep living. This starts his guilt trip. While at a dinner at Kang-woo's friend's house Mrs. Ra finds a way to communicate during a game that Tae-ju and Sang-hyun killed Kang-woo. This results in Tae-ju killing two of the people and Sang-Hyun sparing the other but making it seemed like he killed the other one. They agree to leave. Before leaving, Sang-hyun out of guilt goes to the camp of the many people who have the virus. He pretends to rape a woman so they no longer see him as a saint. Again this is another darkly comedic sequence. He tricks Tae-ju into going to an isolated area where they will die near the sun. Every way Tae-ju tries to make sure they will be covered by darkness he thwarts. In a final scene they sit together accepting their death proving that while dysfunctional they did love each other.

I don't always like to tell the whole plots on my reviews but I found it necessary here because the different themes relate to different parts of the plot in this movie and moments of tonal shift come at certain moments. You do finally get some more bloody vampire carnage toward the end of the movie but really this has so much more than that. The vampire disease being a sort of allegory for something like AIDS or some incurable virus. The femme fatale noir type storyline with Tae-ju and her manipulation. The worship of someone who is actually not what you think, which goes both ways with Sang-Hyun and the blind priest and also how the people with the virus see him. In addition, the survivor and murderer's guilt that builds on him throughout the film. Lastly the addiction allegory where Tae-ju is like a hardcore drug addict Sang-Hyun cannot control. This is a vampire movie that is about so much more than typical vampire movie with many elements in it's story that you just don't see in other vampire movies. In the case of must Korean films it is a little long but certainly worth the time. 

Rating: 9/10

Trivia: This was the first mainstream Korean film to show full frontal male nudity

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQz3dJ137jg 

The Case of the Scorpion's Tale

 

What I enjoy most about Sergio Martino's giallo movies is that they are all different. Some are more psychological, and the settings are always different. While The Case of the Scorpion's Tale is the most regular of all his giallo movies that doesn't make it any less good. The kills in this are bloody and gory, especially for gialli of the time. It makes full use of some great Greek locations. There are multiple narratives and perspectives to always keep you on edge. There is a Psycho moment about 30 minutes in that gives a sense that no one is safe, heightening the stakes and tension. There is also some great camera work, especially in some of the kill scenes that makes certain moments more claustrophobic. It also has a big alumni of many of his other movies making it his most versatile cast. Because of the many different narratives it makes this one great upon rewatch as you notice more and more details linking the different characters together like a spiderweb. 

The film starts with a cheating wife, Lisa Baumer (Ida Galli) making a call to her secret hook up guy. The plane her husband on explodes. This explosion by the way features the best and most obvious miniature ever. Lisa finds out she is the beneficiary of $1,000,000. Her husband's banker hires an insurance investigator, Peter Lynch (George Hilton) to investigate. At the same time another man who had been blackmailing Lisa is also killed. Lisa meets with Lara Florakis (Janine Reynaud) and her muscle Sharif (Luis Barboo). Lara says that Lisa's husband and her were supposed to run off together and she thinks Lisa had something to do with her death. Lisa is eventually killed about 30 minutes in and her money that she got in Greece is stolen. A journalist named Cleo (Anita Strindberg) enters the picture as she thinks Peter is innocent of the crime and two start a relationship. At the same time Greek inspector Stavros (Luigi Pistilli) and Interpol agent John Stanley (Alberto De Martino) attempt to solve the crime. 

First off I love how well paced this is. As I said Lisa is killed about 30 minutes in. Deaths or confrontations of some sort happen almost every minutes. During a couple kill scenes specifically Martino makes great use of close ups to keep the viewer on edge and claustrophobic in the kill scenes. There are some incredible kills in this as well. There is one amazing one where a person's throat is slit and you see the blood shoot all over a window. The sound of the razor going through the throat in that same scene is great as well. There is another great kill with a broken bottle going into someone's eye. There is one great chase sequence where a character is pursued in slow motion throughout their place, then killed. The killer moves to someone else where they have a roof chase resulting in the victim hanging from the roof. The killer uses their knife to cut the victim's hands forcing them to fall. Cleo is pursued by the killer at one point in this green lighting that looks great. 

Martino had a way of shooting both in close ups but just in general, where people's facial features look great. I'm sure the Arrow HD blu-ray helps but I love how clear people's faces look and how colorful their eyes are. This only helps enhance the beauty of Galli and Strindberg, the latter specifically has one of the best jawlines ever and looks like a stone carved goddess at times. There is one weird side angle Martino uses randomly, almost like a picture you take on your phone that you accidentally put the wide way. I enjoy the dynamic between the two authority figures in this movie. There is one exchange between them where they talk about the killer and his motives. "In my opinion the murderer is a sex maniac." "A sex maniac who kills men and women and makes off with one million dollars?!" "Even a sex maniac has to pay his laundry bill." At the same time George Hilton's charisma and charm and Strindberg's striking beauty is a great fit and their relationship feels real. There is a cute scene where she cooks for him and he takes a bite of the food and doesn't like it. A whole can of paprika is then revealed in the food. These are scenes and moments that give giallo movies levity that I love.

Spoiler Section

There are little hints throughout that I love that Peter could be the killer. I enjoy picking these up more on rewatch. For example his boss says he won't get fired if he doesn't find the missing money. Another interesting thing about this movie is the two killer scenario. Or at least two people who try to kill others. I still don't even understand who is the killer at what times completely. It makes this movie a Scream type of affair where you think about who the killer is at what times upon rewatch. While the final reveal makes sense there are threads to it that I'm still not even 100% sure about. I still don't really even know if the airline hostess involved in Peter's plan had something to do with the husband's death. I do like how the Scorpion cufflink becomes a false alibi or a plant for Peter. The final chase is great as well. The boat part of it gives me a Dead Calm vibe. Anita looks incredible in that transparent purple suit and that other bikini she wears. All of those narratives that I find out more about upon rewatch, Bruno Nicolai's great score, and the great locations make this one different and great. 

Rating: 10/10

Trivia: A lot of the core cast members appeared together in Martino's other gialli. Strindberg and Pistilli in Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I have the Key, De Mendoza and Hilton in Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCzVcU_nSV8

Maniac (1980)

 

Maniac takes the same psychological character study and the seedy parts of New York that Taxi Driver had and it combines it with the blood and gore effects of Dawn of the Dead. Joe Spinell plays a killer so disturbing because you see the different dimensions of his character. The whiny, repressed version of his character reliving his childhood trauma, the charming social version of him later on, and the version of him that disregards everyone and only thinks about the next scalp he wants. The film shows the loneliness someone can have, being so alone in such a big city like New York. That not only applies to the main character as we join his madness but also the victims who are so alone in such a big place never being able to get any help. The movie shows not only what such a maniac can do to people but how he could be anyone, anywhere and you would never know. Those elements along with Tom Savini's incredible and excessive gore effects make Maniac a disturbing, but fascinating watch. 

The film starts out with Frank Zito (Joe Spinell) murdering a couple at a beach. It then follows him as he murders a prostitute, a couple going for sexcapade near the Varrazano Narrows bridge, and a nurse he stalks after she leaves work. These murder sequences are long and drawn out for the most part as we see Frank usually stalking his victims before getting them isolated and alone. These murders are usually intercut with him bringing home body parts in bags and we see his home filled with mannequins wearing the scalps of his previous victims. He usually talks to himself imagining past conversations with his mother who seemingly abused him. The second half of the film switches gears and shows Frank's more social and cunning side. He bonds with a photographer named Anna (Caroline Munro) over their love of art. Frank uses his new friend to find more victims at a fashion shoot she does. As the body count piles up Frank goes to pay his respects to his mother before a date with Anna leading to more reveals about his past trauma and memorable exploitation style stinger ending. 

What I liked about the first half of the movie was how long and drawn out the murder sequences were. You are really along for the ride with Frank as he methodically chooses and stalks his victims. While the first kill is just him choking out a prostitute the amount of time that kill takes feels real and it sticks with me. The first couple he kills in the movie is just a preview for coming events where you really see the blood on a throat slit with a razor and a kill with a garrote wire. Sets you up for everything Tom Savini will do throughout. The second couple he kills brings one of Tom Savini's best makeup effects ever where Tom Savini actually doubled Joe Spinell's character holding a shotgun and Savini blows up a mold of his own head. The next murder of the nurse is long and drawn out as first see Frank stalking her down a street, then through a train station and then in a subway bathroom. The scene in the bathroom is really suspenseful as we see him leave. She thinks he has left until he appears and stabs her with a small sword near the sink. That scene inspired Alex Aja for a similar scene in High Tension. It is interesting that in the couple's murders the men get it worse, if not just as bad as the women do. With the couple he kills with the shotgun the women's kill is actually offscreen! Odd for a slasher movie that was protested by feminists. 

Many of the women including the prostitute, the nurse, and later Rita are shown alone and in Rita's case in her home when Frank kills them. This shows not only the fear of being alone but a real fear I'm sure many women have of walking home alone or being alone at times in this world. It almost shows that women shouldn't even open the door for people as Frank uses an excuse for her to open the door so he can unlock the latch so he can break in later. Rita's kill is another disturbing one as he ties her up and talks to himself and says he won't kill her and that he will keep her forever. 

Frank's motives are a bit mysterious at times throughout this film. His trauma is revealed later as his mother was apparently a prostitute who used to lock him in the closet while she had sex with men. Through his mannequins it seems like he is not only recreating his mother but also blames her for why he feels like he has to kill. Yet at other times it seems like he is control only for him to lose control at random moments. This is best shown during the scene at the graveyard where Frank starts breaking down and then suddenly starts strangling Anna. You never really know if he has a split personality or if he's more schizophrenic.  At times he seems perfectly okay but then you hear Spinell's weird breathing that adds to the unsettling feel of the character. The scenes of him in his home are true WTF moments yet it feels like how a killer would really talk to themselves and what their thoughts aloud would be. Jay Chattaway's score also adds a great ambience to many sequences and he has this certain cue that he plays during certain reveals that is memorable. For example when he turns off his lights at the bridge or when he takes Rita's necklace there is a certain high pitched cue that plays. The ending is a true WTF moment you usually see in these exploitation movies that makes no sense logically but adds something else memorable to the film and more of Savini's great makeup and gore effects. The women coming alive as he seemingly can't rein in his trauma is great. It's almost as if suicide feels like a better option to him than getting caught for murder and the revenge of all his victims is what he uses to justify it. I'm not sure but that ending is open to interpretation. 

• SLASHER MOVIE ANATOMY:
• Prior Evil: Killer was abused and locked in a closet as a child exposing him to things he should not have seen and creating a feeling of dependence that he uses as a motivation
• Body Count: 7
• Whodunit: No. Literally the opposite as the movie is a character study where we are on the ride with the killer
• Mask or outfit: None
• Locale: New York City 
• Best Kill: Shotgun head explosion
• Gimmick: Taking the scalps off of women 

INSTRUMENTS OF DEATH

• Garrote Wire
• Straight Razor
• Dagger
• Short Sword
• Shotgun

SLASHER MOVIE TAXONOMY

• Kingdom: Movie
• Phylum: Horror
• Class: Slasher
• Order: Exploitation
• Family: Upper body nudity one one woman
• Genus: Realistic
• Species: Character study psychological thriller

Rating: 10/10

Trivia: Daria Nicolodi was supposed to play Anna. Caroline Munro ended up playing the role because her husband at the time gave money to the production of the film. Film critic Gene Siskel walked out of the movie after the infamous shotgun scene. When Joe Spinell died of hemophilia after a cut the cops that came to his house to investigate found the mold of his severed head at the end of the film on his mantle.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxsmw8nmNkU

Dark Passage

 

Dark Passage is a unique movie for it's time. It goes around half the film before it shows the main star's face. Early on it makes great use of the first person perspective, and later shadow to avoid showing Humphrey Bogart's face. The first half of the film gives you so much tension because you're not only unsure of what the main character looks like but he's evading the law after a prison escape and trying to find out who killed his wife and possibly framed him for the crime. The second half of the movie gets a little bogged down in the romantic plot and the mystery becomes a bit too predictable for this to be great. The first half though is as brilliant and tense of mystery thriller in the noir era as I have ever seen. 

The film starts with Humphrey Bogart's character Vincent Parry escaping his way out of a San Quentin aboard a barrel in a truck. After tipping the barrel over and falling he hides his shirt in a bush. He quickly hitches a ride with Baker (Clifton Young) who is immediately suspicious of his appearance. He hears about an escaped convict with Vincent's description and Vincent punches him out. A stranger named Irene (Lauren Bacall) picks him up. She is revealed to have a father who was falsely convicted and takes an interest in Vincent's case. Her friend Madge (Agnes Moorehead) knocks on the door at one point and Parry reveals through narration he had been with Madge and she had testified against him after he broke up with her. 

While in a taxi the driver recognizes Parry. He is actually sympathetic toward him and offers to take him to person he knows specializing in plastic surgery. He gets the surgery and this is when we finally see Bogart's face, albeit bandaged for the first time in the movie. He had arranged to stay with a friend whom he later finds murdered. He goes back to Irene. They fall in love but Parry has to leave to find out who killed his wife and prove his innocence in George's murder. 

The pacing of the first half is very quick and never feels boring. There is a tense scene where Vincent is recovering and listens in on the conversations that Madge and George, Irene's boyfriend at the time have. I actually don't mind the romantic subplot between Bogey and Bacall as their chemistry is great. It does take away something from the main plot of the movie though and really bogs the movie down a bit. There is another great scene where after Vincent leaves he is quickly suspected by a police officer in a restaurant after not having an ID. He eventually escapes from the officer by moving quickly in front of a moving car. 

Spoiler Section

While I like that Baker shows up again, the fact he was involved with the whole thing is a bit on the nose. It's a bit too cute. Madge is an interesting character as this cat lady who resents any man who rejects her and who she can't have. I just think this movie either needed one more person involved or another person's narrative to not be quite as predictable. As it stands I don't mind the second half but it is like eating the fries after you've all ready eaten an amazing burger instead of eating them a bit at once. It doesn't feel complete. The ending where Vincent manages to leave the country live well with Irene is nice though. Madge is a truly evil character though not necessarily a traditional femme fatale which is different for one of these movies. I do wonder if this movie would have been even better if Bogart's face was never shown or only shown at the end. For some reason I think that unique blocking and first person perspective would have actually been interesting throughout the whole movie and not just the first half. For marketing purposes I'm sure that could never happen. Though it could happen now. This movie must have had some influence on the Fugitive and even Face/Off has this to thank as well. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Trivia: When Vincent sees a newspaper clipping of Irene's that shows a headline of her father being convicted for killing her mother the picture is of director Delmer Daves

Trailer: 

A Man Called Blade AKA Mannaja

 

In the late 1970s the spaghetti western genre was dying in Italy. Keoma and a Man Called Blade were the last two great spaghetti westerns. Interestingly enough both films feature a similar storyline. The main hero, a drifter comes into a town that has a dictator of sorts oppressing the people and taking the resources. The heroes in both movies either lose or have lost their father and are trying to get revenge. Both characters in each respective movie get into a huge fight with three different people in a similar set piece. They also have scores by Maurizio De Angelis featuring the same vocalist. Maurizio Merli trades his badge for spurs and plays an awesome tough, but not invincible western character. The movie has plenty of awesome gunfights, blood squibs, and Merli throwing tomahawks that make this one very entertaining. The revenge storyline has some twists and diversions that make this one more interesting. Just like many Italian genre films there is a fascist allegory as well. 

The film starts with Blade (Maurizio Merli) capturing a criminal Craven (Donald O'Brien) by throwing a tomahawk into his arm. The scene then transitions to a saloon where Blade finds out that the local town leader Ed McGowan played by Philippe Leroy banned weapons and bounty hunting in the town. Blade goes to ask McGowan for work and his muscleman Voller Shows up. Voller is portrayed by the always effectively villainous John Steiner. Similar to the fight between Keoma and his three brothers in that movie, Blade fights three men and then Voller in the mud. Blade gets away. Later the same three men try to kill in a mountain pass but the boulders they drop don't kill him and he kills all three of them. He is found by some traveling dancers. He starts to fall for Angela (Martine Brochard). 

John Steiner just has a villainous look

It is eventually revealed that Voller has been working with a gang robbing the silver coming from the mine. He kidnaps McGowan's daughter, Deborah (Sonja Jeannine). Blade confronts McGowan over his part in his father's death. He eventually decides that his revenge isn't worth it and sets out to recover McGowan's daughter. This however leads to Blade being captured as in a twist Deborah is in love with Voller. They bury Blade up to his head in the sand and leave him for dead and to be blinded by the sun. Craven finds him and helps him recover setting up a confrontation between Blade and Voller. 

There were a lot of things I liked about this movie. I like how early on it's established how tough Blade is and how confident he is. Merli exudes the same type of charisma he does in the crime movies he is in. Right away he wants to enter a poker game and says my $5000 is right here point at Donald O' Brien's character. I like Donald O' Brien in any western movie as he has a certain type of charisma as slimy characters. The harsh harmonica theme that plays throughout was memorable and reminded me of the use of a shrill harmonica in Once Upon a Time In The West. I liked the foggy look and atmosphere in the fight between Blade and Voller's men. That same look is seen in the final confrontation in the end. I enjoy the more autonomous prostitute type of character that Martine Brochard plays. 

In the middle of the film when Voller and his men rob the wagon of silver I love the editing and intercutting between him and his men killing everyone with the women dancing. I love the blood squibs that come in the form of gunshots and tomahawk throws throughout this movie. The subversion to the revenge plot is interesting. When Blade decides his revenge isn't worth it McGowan had told him his father's death was an accident. McGowan is still a bad guy however because he overworks people and doesn't give them their share of pay or of good living. When Voller kills McGowan later it is comparable to a bad, but somewhat moral leader getting killed by the person they keep in check. When the workers are treated even more badly by Voller and crew they lead an uprising. With any real uprising they are disadvantaged because they have no guns. It leads to a pointless massacre on both sides. This doesn't play much of a part in the main story but I still enjoy it because it gives the movie some more pathos. 

The final duel plays out similar to something like A Fistful of Dollars. The main hero recovers and fights the bad guys. There are some twists here though. I'm not even entirely sure that Blade is actually blind or if he says that trying to prove Craven's trust. When he finds out Craven betrayed him he kills him. The final confrontation in the cave is awesome. I always find some way to compliment how Martino does sound in his movies and the echoing gunshot in the cave is awesome. While this movie may have done a lot of similar things to other spaghetti westerns I just find it endlessly entertaining. 

Rating: 9/10 

Trivia: The reason the exteriors have so much fog and smoke is because the filmmakers were trying to hide the fact the studio needed to be renovated. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F74PWzGxjBo

Strange Shadows in an Empty Room AKA Blazing Magnum

 

Most giallo-poliziottesco hybrids don't balance the two genres quite like this one. The mystery and whodunit aspect are quite interesting. Stuart Whitman plays a believably tough cop on the case to investigate who killed his younger sister, giving this movie some pathos as well. The ten minute car chase supervised by the great Remy Juienne is one of the best car chases ever. In addition to that there are some great fistfights where Stuart Whitman seems unbeatable. The biggest flaw with this movie, and it is big is how convoluted the plot is. I can usually understand all of the plot threads in most giallo movies upon rewatch but there are characters who have no part in this story being a part of the buildup to the reveal. While the ending mystery reveal is good and the final chase is great some of the links to the main reveal feel completely unnecessary. The Canadian location work is good and different for a movie like this, and the pacing is quite good. It's never boring. 

Synopsis: When Louise Saitta dies in Montreal, her brother Tony an Ottawa police captain, finds out his sister was murdered and tries to find out who did it. Along the way he finds out some things about his sister he didn't expect. 

The film starts with cop Tony Saitta chasing down some criminals and getting into a shootout with some in a store. Just like Dirty Harry he carries the Smith and Wesson Model 29 .44 magnum. There are some good blood squibs after he chases down the suspects and shoots them. Meanwhile Tony's younger sister Louise (Carole Laure) who goes to school in Montreal is seen arguing with the school doctor, George Tracer (Martin Laudau) by her ex-boyfriend Fred (Jean LeClerc). Louise is later poisoned at a party. John Saxon's character, a cop who works with Tony later confirms this. The movie does a good job showing who everyone in the room is and making you think any of them could be the suspect.

Tony goes to investigate the case. They hold Tracer for the murder. Tracer was having an affair with Louise apparently so that is why Tony suspects him. He tries to prove he didn't have anything to do with it by getting drugs he used to help Louise but he can't find them in his bag. Another person who works at the school Margie (Gayle Hunnicutt) saw him give the drugs but can't prove they were in the original seal. After this is when all the plot threads start. A woman is beaten and is later found in a junkyard crusher. In their car a photo is found of Louise wearing a necklace. Apparently the person is transgender. Tony finds out where these people are after going to shop where the necklace was. This starts the recurring thing in this movie where people who barely have anything to do with the plot are investigated because they had something to do with this necklace. 

The transgender people lead Tony to an informant who eventually leads them to another guy involved with the necklace, that leads them to another guy. All of the action scenes involving these characters are great. The fight with the trans people is fun. The chase with the second guy at a train station is fun. There is a part where Whitman or his stunt double does a great fall on the side of an escalator and drops down about 10 feet. The scene ends with him interrogating the guy by drowning him in a bathroom sink. The next guy gets to his car and an awesome 10 minute chase scene starts with some sports style replay angles of certain moments. The chase goes from busy streets to a gravel like pit. It is eventually found out that Louise was blackmailing Tracer and he is let go. The guy in the car chase who Tony chases down says Louise had the necklace. 

Spoiler Section

Louise had a blind roommate named Julie (Tisa Farrow). There are a couple of thrilling scenes with her character. One early on when she thinks she hears someone in the room and is tricked into going outside and nearly walking off the building as the overpass near her room is being repaired. Later Margie wants to tell her something and is killed in her room. Julie is pursued down the stairs and eventually gets outside where she is almost ran over several times before Tony gets there. At first it seems as if Terence (Jean Marshand) is the killer as he is found hung but is eventually revealed that Fred is the killer. Him and Louise had stolen the necklace and had killed the woman who had it. This leads to an exciting final chase through the hospital and Tony shooting down Fred in a helicopter. While this movie has some great fistfights and one of the best car chases ever, mystery is good but the payoff isn't so great. There are too many characters with links to the mystery that have nothing to do with Louise's murder. While this movie has a whodunit aspect it is more linked to the object of the necklace itself rather than Louise's murder which I think takes something away from this movie. The performances are decent and I do enjoy Stuart Whitman as he is both tough and somewhat human. The score is great as well. It has that brass instrument combined with funk sound that a lot of the great Eurocrime movies have. 

Rating: 8/10 The action more than makes up for the convoluted story. 

Trivia: Clips of the car chase are used in the Geico commericial "does a dog chase cats?" Keir Dullea was offered a major role.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0KnKBtCyEk

Bad Moon

Bad Moon features some of the best makeup and gore effects ever in a werewolf movie. The werewolf itself is a good design with the exception of the eyes which look a little too plastic. The story is quite interesting too because the werewolf, or the man who happens to be the werewolf and a family's dog are in every scene making this an interesting beast versus beast movie. I've always said that vampires could be an allegory for drug addiction and werewolves are more of an allegory for an incurable disease or multiple personality disorder. In this case however the story focuses on a man thinking going back to his family will cure him of the werewolf affliction making this a good allegory for addiction and the toll it can take on a family.

A look at the wolf in this movie

Synopsis: Ted (Michael Paré) is working in Nepal when he and his girlfriend are attacked by a mysterious creature. Ted, though brutally maimed, survives, but his girlfriend is not so lucky. To help his recovery, Ted moves close to his sister, Janet (Mariel Hemingway), and her son, Brett (Mason Gamble), but soon realizes he was attacked by a werewolf. Ted is helpless to stop his transformation and only Brett's German shepherd, Thor, is able to see that Ted is a danger to everyone around him.

The movie starts with two photojournalists in Nepal, Ted (Michael Pare) and Marjorie (Johanna Lebovitz) getting attacked by a werewolf while having sex. The mutilation effects are particularly great here. The claw effects on Ted's upper torso look gnarly. You do see a bit of the werewolf here as well. The movie doesn't take long to show you the design. In the first of some inversions of werewolf tropes Ted blows off the head of the werewolf with a shotgun. This movie shows you don't need silver bullets to kill them. The movie then transitions to attorney Janet (Mariel Hemingway) and her son Brett (Mason Gamble) and their dog Thor. Thor is hostile, but rightfully so toward a con artist who appears at their driveway trying to get the dog to bite him so he can sue them. This shows Janet to be.competent and unafraid woman. 

Meanwhile Ted is staying in a trailer somewhere in the pacific northwest. He invites Janet, Brett and Thor to visit him. Thor is immediately suspicious of Ted for obvious reasons. Ted declines an offer to stay with Janet. An electrical worker is later killed by the werewolf near the woods where Ted is staying. While the practical effects are lesser on this kill you feel the impact of the wolf's bite as blood shoots from under the worker's hardhat. In a good transition sequence Ted is shown calling Janet asking to come stay with them. The scene then shows cops and reporters right outside of his trailer.

While Ted is initially a pleasant presence for the family, his building clash with Thor leads to complications. At first Thor is just content staring at Ted before he goes into the woods to "go on a run," One night Thor manages to attack and drive off the werewolf. The con artist returns one night and and brutally killed by the werewolf with a bunch of awesome shooting blood squibs go through the wound in his throat. Brett and Ted have a fun conversation while watching a werewolf movie where Ted laughs at the fact that the legend is that someone only turns into a werewolf during the full moon. We as an audience know it happens to him every night, another inversion of werewolf movie tropes. 

Eventually Ted baits Thor into biting him. Animal control authorities come and take Thor away in a heartbreaking scene where the dog fights to get free and Brett tries to fight to get to him. Ted who at first warned his family of a possible killer animal presence has become more selfish and doesn't seem to want to resign himself to his condition and instead is putting his family at risk. Again, this is where this movie is relatable to an addict as Thor could represent the one person in the family who doesn't want them around. Janet later breaks into Ted's trailer and finds his journal entries. While I like the idea of family love being something that could cure Ted's condition I don't think the movie elaborates on it enough. Maybe that's the point though is that Ted believes that could help him but it never actually has a chance. He's like a dying person clinging on to hope he can somehow live. 

In the film's finale Janet confronts Ted in the woods. He transforms into the werewolf. The first part of the transformation which is just all makeup looks quite good as Michael Pare's eyes change. The second part looks like both a blend of CGI and practical and I really like the "Wolfman" design of him in the middle of his transformation looking half man and half wolf. The last part of the transformation looks horribly fake and dated and looks all CGI. While the makeup effects in this are flawless, the creature effects are and the digital effects aren't good. 

Brett breaks Thor out of the animal pound and brings him home where Thor and the werewolf fight. With help from Janet and her magnum revolver the werewolf is eventually killed. Thor survives and him and Ted have a final goodbye in the woods as Ted is dying from the injuries he sustained as a werewolf, something different and cool. While this movie has problems with how basic the story is I like how the character development only comes from the scenes where Ted and Thor are on screen. The inversions to traditional werewolf tropes are interesting and the makeup effects are nothing short of amazing. Mariel Hemingway and Mason Gamble are decent enough in their performances. Thor is the heart of this movie though. Great dog actor whoever it is. 

Rating: 8/10 

Trivia: The film departs from the source novel with specifics quite a bit. The family was bigger and the details of how the dog sees the family as it's pack that must be defended and it's confusion about the werewolf's threat doesn't come through as much in detail as it does in Wayne Smith's novel.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJJuCvWR9fM