November 30th, 2014 - Devil Seed (2012)

Everything I've read about Devil Seed says it's pretty much just an Exorcist rip-off. But I haven't seen that (tsk tsk) so I can't comment. But to me, it did seem reminiscent of another big horror hit - here's how I saw the pitch go: "Think of the Paranormal Activity franchise. Although no found footage stuff. And instead of just haunting this girl, the demon gets her pregnant. And we'll make it cheap. And in Canada."

November 29th, 2014 - The Boogens (1981)

With a name like The Boogens, I think it's reasonable to expect that our antagonists would be impish little monsters that cause havoc/kill people, a la Gremlins/Ghoulies/etc. But that's not the case here. In fact, if you're expecting a lot of monster action, you'll be pretty disappointed - we're maybe an hour into things before we see our first full Boogen. But while it doesn't deliver in that department, it is a just plain fun and uncynical early 80's horror flick. The Boogens has really likable characters (including the dog Tiger, who may be my new favorite cinematic canine), a straightforward story, and fun special effects.

Oh, and there is a legitimate "Oh Hi Mark!" 25 years before its time. If you know my love for The Room, you know this just tickles me pink.

November 28th, 2014 - The Driller Killer (1979)

Another movie from the Thankgiving trip. I'm thankful for archive.org! So, I wasn't taking notes, and this may be a bit on the brief side. I was planning to watch something that would help satiate my Black Friday bloodlust (seriously, I don't think I could feel any more depressed about the state of our society than the day after Thanksgiving. The combo of stressful family time and the idolization of sales just gets to me, I guess.) Driller Killer seemed like it would fit the bill. It's an odd, grindhousey film and doesn't have much by the way of a traditional narrative, but was off-kilter and creative enough to be interesting. Plus, sleazy and grimy New York City!

Driller Killer centers around a struggling artist named Reno (Abel Ferrara, who also directed) - he's the emotionally explosive type of artist, prone to yelling and berating his two female roommates (one of whom he's in a relationship with, I think). He obviously has a lot of talent, but doesn't have the money to show for it. The pictures in his apartment are really cool - sort of surreal, but with great detail/technical-prowess/finesse. Despite being months behind in rent and having trouble paying the bills, he thinks his next painting, a psychedelic buffalo, is his masterpiece and will bring him the big bucks. He cracks under the pressure (I think) and starts killing people with a drill. It's not really that plot-heavy.

November 27th, 2014 - Beast from Haunted Cave (1959)

This was a Thanksgiving weekend trip movie. Which meant I needed something I could download to the old tablet. I came across archive.org about a month ago - it's a pretty rad (and legal) site where you can download many different types of media for free. The people who own the rights on any sort of property in any sort of medium can upload it there - with movies you can either stream through the site or download them. So I perused the horror section and came up with Beast from Haunted Cave. I knew I probably wouldn't be up for anything crazy after a long day of driving and family, so I wanted something that would go down easy. I didn't end up taking any notes, but I'm afraid there just isn't all that much to say about it anyways. It's a pretty bland 50's monster flick with really nothing to get excited about.

You might think this would be about a beast, but really it's more about a gang of bandits at a ski resort (shot on location in "picturesque" South Dakota). They have a plan to rob a bank or some such place - whatever it is, there are gold bars there. They will steal the loot and cross-country ski to an isolated cabin where a helicopter will pick them up. Along for the ride is Gil (Michael Forest), a ski guide who will help them get to the cabin but is ignorant of their illegal shenanigans.

November 26th, 2014 - The Howling IV: The Original Nightmare (1988)

First off, check out this theme song. Does that really make you want to watch a scary werewolf movie?

Another Howling, another sequel unrelated to the last. Despite *really* hating part 3, I was oddly anticipating part 4. Maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment. And it definitely isn't a good movie. But it's kind of a good "bad movie," at least for a little while. It's interesting: part 3 tries to be funny and ends up being seriously bad, and part 4 tries to be serious and ends up funny bad.

November 25th, 2014 - The Phantom of the Opera (1998)

I have limited Phantom experience. Up until now, I've only seen the musical (I may have fallen asleep) and watched a pretty okay 80's retelling of it called Phantom of the Mall. But I gather one needn't be familiar with the mythology to enjoy Dario Argento's take on the tale. When it starts off with an abandoned baby in a basket floating down an underground river (baby Moses style), which then gets rescued and raised by telepathic rats (!), you have to figure you've already strayed a bit from the canonical telling of the tale.

But yeah, this movie is pretty damned great. I know director Dario Argento starts to get some flak around this time, so I was a little hesitant at first, but I loved this movie. It's stylish, surreal, and kind of goofy. It's unquestionably it's own beast, and I can't think of any other movie to compare it to. The Phantom of the Opera is just awesomely odd.

November 24th, 2014 - Meridian (1990)

Meridian was on another budget pack of mine (The Midnight Horror Collection). Four of the eight are Charles Band jams. I have a kind of affection for his films (bearing in mind that I've only seen a handful). Even when they are really bad, they are always watchable to me. I recently watched The GingerDead Man and have the sneaking suspicion that Evil Bong will be next. But Meridian is a little older (1990), and it's clearly more of an attempt at a mainstream film than some of his "little-things killing people" movies. I don't know if it went direct to video, but there is some money on screen here. The Italian scenery is awesome (they shoot in a particularly good-looking sculpture garden), the monster effects are good, and it's got a game cast. Unfortunately, it's at the behest of a story that's quite convoluted and unsuccessfully tries to bridge the gap between horror and romance.

Now, I've never been into the "adult" fairy tales, which I think is what Meridian is going for. It's sort of a riff on Beauty and the Beast, and includes ghosts, magic, and a family curse (the fairy tale part). It's also got some blood and a lot of nudity (the adult part). But to me, the two just don't mix well. There are ways to successfully portray the fantastic elements of a fairy tale in an adult way (Neil Gaiman comes to mind), but it fails far more often than it works for me. You try to take the best of both worlds, and end up alienating fans of both instead.