The Witch (2015)

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

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

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

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

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

Rating: 9.5/10

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

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

 

Visitor Q

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rating: 10/10 

Trivia: The film was shot in seven days. 

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

Uncle Sam (1996)

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rating: 5.5/10

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

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

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

INSTRUMENTS OF DEATH

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

SLASHER MOVIE TAXONOMY

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

Spoiler Section

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

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

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

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

Rating: 10/10 

English Dubbing Cast: 

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

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

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

Torso

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

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

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

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

Spoiler Section

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

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

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

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

English Dubbing Cast:

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

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

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

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

 

The Host (2006)

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

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

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

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

The Monster in this movie

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

Spoiler Section 

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

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

Rating; 9.5/10

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

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

 

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

 

Someone once said that if you want vengeance dig two graves, one for yourself. I can't think of any movie that encapsulates that quote so perfectly. There's many different forms of vengeance within this movie, avenging your daughter, getting revenge on people who stole your money and your kidney, suicidal revenge out of spite. While all forms of revenge and what it does the characters in this movie is dark, it is sad and tragic that nothing in this movie that happens needed to happen if the main character weren't so naive at the beginning. Later on more tragic things happen as result of the main character's deafness and someone innocent is hurt making this movie quite sad. That contrasts well with the dark comedy South Korean's are able to put in their films that always feels appropriate and adds some levity into this bloody, hyper violent tragedy. 

The movie follows Ryu (Park Don-jin) who is a deaf mute man who works in a factory. Ryu's sister (Im Ji-eun) is in need of a kidney transplant. This leads to what is the best example of South Korean dark comedy that finds it's way into a lot of their movies. Their neighbors, or maybe just four boys gathered in a room are masturbating through the wall to the sound of Ryu's sister in pain, though they think she is having sex. The boys are all doing different things to get off like one of them having a nude magazine to taped to the other's back. One of the better examples of the comedy you see in these movies. 

The first mistake Ryu makes is going to black market organ dealers who steal his kidney and his severance pay. Just days later they find a real kidney donor but Ryu can no longer afford the operation. After that his radical anarchist girlfriend Cha Yeong-mi (Bae Doona) berates him for doing that. She suggests kidnapping Ryu's boss's daughter and forcing him to pay a ransom. They change plans however when they see a worker for the President of the company, Park Dong-jin (Sung Kang-ho), trying to commit suicide in front of him. After this they kidnap Park's daughter Yu-Sun (Han Bo-bae). All of this comes together relatively quickly and in transitions. It's not some elaborate heist type of moment when they get her. The same thing happens when Park delivers the money. 

Spoiler Section

While all of this comes together rather quickly the second half takes its time with the revenge elements. Ryu's sister commits suicide while Ryu gets the ransom money. She didn't know as she was babysitting Yu-sun that she had been kidnapped. I'm still not sure if this was because she was upset that her being sick forced Ryu to do such a thing or if it was out of guilt. Still it is a way of revenge against Ryu as he gotten what he needed to help yet she didn't want it because their morals were compromised. In a tragic scene Ryu goes to bury his sister in rocks near a river. Yu-sun is with him and she goes into the water and drowns as Ryu is unable to hear her. The two innocent people in this story are now dead. 

A man near the river sees this and tells Park what he saw. Park eventually figures out who Ryu and Cha Yeong-mi are. At the same time Ryu finds the black market dealers. What adds a sense of villainy to these people even more is that Ryu helped the older woman, presumably the mother of the two men with her medicine before they did his operation and they still stole his money and his kidney. In an insanely violent moment, he kills one of the brothers by stabbing him in the throat with a screwdriver and then beats the other with a baseball bat. He is stabbed by the woman before killing her offscreen. While all this is happening Park goes into their house and electrocutes Cha Yeong-mi to death. This sets up a final confrontation between Ryu and Park that has some of the most violent and cringe-worthy moments I've seen in a movie in a while. I'm normally desensitized to most forms of film violence but slicing the achilles tendon, whether it's in this, Hostel or Pet Sematary always makes me wince. The visual of all that blood in the water that comes from Ryu is really something. Cha Yeong-mi had been protesting when she was taken and promised Park that members of her organization would find him. They do and he is killed at the movie's end. 

I like how tragic this story is. All of the characters are flawed in some way yet there really aren't any good guys or bad guys, just innocence in the case of Yu-sun and Ryu's sister. The violence, especially in that scene where Ryu gets his revenge is great. The Korean penchant for dark comedy gives this movie some good levity at times. Bae Doona is stunning. While the movie is a little long a I think some of the confrontations in the second half could have been sped up this stands as one of the better tragic vengeance movies I've seen. Most action movies characters can get away with revenge but this story shows that revenge doesn't lead to anything good. I like that. 

Rating; 9/10

Trivia: This is the first film in history to have a sex scene with sign language

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lOuAeUiNiY