Blood Sacrifice (2012)

"I transferred my essence into your body, now you will be trapped forever as a bodiless head."

Part two in my exploration of W.A.V.E. Productions. This time in the form of a Satanic head with the power of hypnosis. A hackneyed plot about a man forced to sacrifice young women so that a bodiless head can possess him. When he's eventually caught he's sent to prison until his death. The head uses his former assistant and son in law to carry out the plan. It's pretty loose beyond that, as always, the main objective is to see girls in their panties.

I don't think it's a stretch to say that this one borrowed from Microwave Massacre a little bit and probably Blood Feast (Though I pretty much accuse everyone of ripping off Blood Feast),  and vaguely from every occult movie ever made. It's aimless, while it's not exactly original, It's not a convincing rip-off either.

Remember this couch, I'll be bringing up again.

 I have a soft spot for satanic panic SOV films. I'm always looking for something to fill the void of 666: The End is Near or Cauldron: Baptism of Blood. Though the likelihood of reaching Nollywood status or Ted V. Mikels' level of digital video hospice is remote. But where Blood Sacrifice lacks in insane Nigerian church logic and Spencer's gifts ambiance, it makes up with awkwardly placed over-sized human prop hearts...

And gorgeous outdated bedroom sets with missing drawers...

and someone's Dragon collection...

And a video store that has a Dr. Caligari poster...

Where there's a dream of sacrificing awkward middle aged virgins on home video, you'll find a happy viewer in me.


Long Live W.A.V.E.!!!

L'Inferno -1911

I've always had a soft spot for vivid depictions of Hell on film. I'm not a religious person so the envisionment of such a classical realm of nightmares is something that belongs in the more fantastic elements of fiction. That being said, L'Inferno was not only the first feature length film made in Italy but also the very first film adaption of Dante's Inferno.

As I'm sure you all know, the story follows Dante and his guide Virgil through the various circles of hell. Each segment being explained to us on a title card then shown in a vivid Goya-esque sequence of torment, deformities, strange beasties and sadness. Similar to the works of Georges Melies and Segundo de Chomon, the effects are absolutely stellar. In the dawn of the motion picture industry there was something really magical happening with costumes, effects and photography. Creatures in fantasy and horror films from the genesis of it's inception have a surreal and other worldly quality to them. Take the tiger from L'Inferno for instance. It doesn't look "real", but it moves in a way that doesn't look fake. I'm sure it's a trick of puppetry and the graininess of the film, but it gives a sense of unease that I can only compare to other creatures in other films from this time.

When I watch a film like L'Inferno, other film titles which it surely must have influenced dance through my head. Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages being at the top of the list. The similarity in how the devils and minions dance and writhe around is irrefutable. Even jumping forward to the 1960's with Jigoku and I would bet my bottom dollar it was one of Pasolini's favorite films. It's quite possible that every film version of Hell EVER was referring back to the Divine Comedy, but since L'Inferno beat them all to the punch I'd like to think of it as the ultimate influence of all film works of Hellish content. The added music by Tangerine Dream was at first a bit off-putting (mostly because of the vocals) but it grows on you and eventually feels like a natural part of the experience.

Sorry if this review is a little less in depth than most. It's a masterpiece of it's time and with it's exquisite visuals it leaves very little to critique. It breezes by at 70 minutes and is a staple to anyone silent horror collection.

 I give it five farts!

Child of Peach - 1984/1987

As you may know, I have a particular fondness for foreign, weird, archaic or just plain horrible kids movies. Despite having seen lots of other Asian fantasy flicks, but I realized that Taiwanese films, at least as far as family films are concerned, are relatively new to me. So I was more than up for the challenge. My  introduction to the world of Peach Kid was by stumbling upon a clip from the second film on youtube while doing some cultural mining. I plan to review that film later, but if you'd like to see the clip, click HERE, it's only 34 seconds and will make you a believer.

So I sought it out (plus the sequel) and let it collect dust for a few months, as I do, before finally feeling the need to engage in some cute Taiwanese kung-fu fantasy peach loving weirdness. Thankfully my copy had subs, but they were very soft and bleeding through the image at times so much squinting was involved. The story begins with a family living in an enchanted (or is it radioactive?) garden. A man and woman along with  their baby, protect a mystic sword and are aided by three anthropomorphic animal children. One, a "cock" (or just "bird" if you prefer, which in this case I do as it is not a term I find easy to use in reference to a kid running around in a feather suit), another, a dog and the last, a monkey. These animal children can shape shift at will and despite their petite childlike frames, are little magical fighting machines. One day a villainous tokusatsu looking bad guy named "King Devil" comes along to steal the mystic sword. A fight ensues, the animal children are blasted out of frame and the man protecting the sword, the garden and it's inhabitants is killed. His wife is struck by some kind of laser beam as well and I can only assume she eventually dies too because, the last we see of her is placing her baby inside a giant peach (who without hesitation sends it's pit flying to make room) and instructs a magical little fairy (who decided to pop in unexpected) to make sure the peach takes good care of her baby. End scene.

The giant peach, which can fly by the way takes the baby far away until it finally encounters an elderly childless couple. Though at first the peach is off put by the couple since, naturally, they try to eat it. An extended chase/fight scene follows where at one point the granny is set on fire and the peach "pisses" on her to put it out. I'm not kidding about that part. At first I was like "oh, it's just peach juice", but the old lady announces that it's salty and then becomes increasingly angry because the peach uses her as it's own personal toilet. It even says "piss" in plain English on the screen.

see?

After all of this chaos ensues, the peach is pretty much over the whole thing and is ready to decimate the oldies, when the fairy steps and and assures the peach that they're good people and would make perfect adoptive parents for the little peach baby. So, out hatches Child of Peach.

From here on the story basically follows peach child growing (very quickly) and developing his super strength. When Peach Kid becomes a big Peach Kid, the audience may notice that he's a bit on the effeminate side. That's because, the actor they chose to play Peach Kid is actually an actress. Lam Siu-Lau, who made a whole mess of fantasy action flicks in the 80's, all of them I'd like to see. When King Devil begins his reign over the village, using the power of the stolen sword, Peach Kid steps in to defeat King Devil and his group of demonic minions. There's one particularly cool scene where we get to see King Devil in what I can only assume is Hell (wouldn't "King Devil" be Satan?) and all of his demon lackies are kind of meandering through the foggy darkness in a somehow very effective Jigoku-esque scene that makes me totally not want to go to Hell. Totally. Because, you know, I needed Child of Peach to convince me.

The middle part of the movie lost me a bit. All of the action, fantasy, costumes, and special effects were great but occasionally with foreign films such as this, the humor is lost in translation, at least for me anyway. I notice it more in certain cultures and with certain genres more than others. Family films are tricky because they're meant to be light so lots of silliness and general joke telling gets thrown around. When you're not apart of that culture it can feel like a whole lot of filler. Thankfully, Child of Peach didn't lose my attention for too long before coming back strong with an amazingly fantastic finale that totally left me anticipating the next film in the series.

Kind of spoilery, but who cares...?

My two favorite moments in the final showdown against King Devil...

1. The animal children come back with a vengeance....

Those monkey arms are KILLIN' me!

for real though...

Now they are half animal/half human. Well...make that mostly human with obscure animal arms and generally disproportionate body parts.


2. We discover that when the peach is cut into pieces with the mystic sword, it reassembles itself to me a marrionette-esque peach MAN.

WOW. you gotta see that thing in action. It's so fucking cute.

So Child of Peach was a success. My first Taiwanese kid's movie and it was a gem. And if the aforementioned youtube clip and all of this magical goodness wasn't enough to convince you to stick around for my review of the second film, perhaps this title card will do the trick.

Indeed, Magic of Stell.

Until next time, my beastly kittens...



P.S... I'm still a little confused about the year it was made. Several other review I've come across have said either 1986 or 1987. IMDB said 1984 but it also seemed to have the wrong actress listed as Peach Boy. Very confusing. If anyone cares to chime in I'd love to put this baby to bed.

P.S.S. All of the pictures used were borrowed from fellow bloggers because I'm a lazy fart. Sorry, guys. But check out Die Danger Die Die Kill and Golden Pigsy's sites. Both fine blogs who you should visit more often.

Belladonna of Sadness (1973)

Can't talk about the movie without revealing some spoiler, so brace yo'self...

I stumbled upon this movie by accident while doing some online research. With no prior knowledge or interest in anything related to it. After seeing some still I was fascinated by it's beauty. The style was much different that I'd seen in any Japanese animated film. The term "anime" wouldn't come around for a few years and Belladonna of Sadness seemed to have no stylistic confinements to what we would now call "anime" in any case. I decided to track it down. It's a tragic story about a lovely young woman who on her wedding night is raped by the town overlord in some kind of savage ritual. Her husband treats her very coldly after the incident. Late at night she wallows in her sadness when she begins being visited by a tiny penis shaped devil spirit. He claims to be apart of her and begins planting the seed of witchery in her mind. While also pleasuring her with his obvious bawdiness. Rumors start to spread about Jeanne being possessed by the devil, as her social status plummets her descent into psycho sexual activities with the devil heighten. He tries to force her to be his satanic bride, still claiming to love her putz husband she declines but agrees to continue prostituting herself in myriad of demonic adultery. Kind of a shitty deal for everyone if you ask me. After being completely cast out by both the village and her husband Jeanne finally concedes to the devil's offer in exchange for the ultimate power of destruction.

The film deals with some seriously heady subjects. Based on the book "La Sorcière" by the French historian Jules Michelet in 1862. Known for being a liberal feminist, he used the topic of witchcraft and sexuality as a rebellious commentary against the brute reality of the French Revolution, the barbaric customs of Western Civilization and the persecution of women by the Catholic Church. 

When Jeanne's wish has been granted she witnesses much suffering by the people who've mistreated her, then she's condemned to be a witch and is burned alive. In an unexpected plot twist during her burning she transfigures into a saint like figure. We're given the impression that she is supposed to be a representation of Joan of Arc. As Jeanne is burned on a cross the image of St. Joan overlays as to tie the characters together in some way. I wasn't quite sure how to take this at first. It was an odd thing to throw out there at the end of a movie. I read one point of view that comments on the misogyny of comparing a hellbitch of satan to an iconic symbol of free will such as Joan of Arc. I think that's a little extreme. Circumstantially, Jeanne went through a lot. Raped by society, discarded by her husband and inevitably giving in to her final option. While some see chauvinistic undertones, others see her submission into darkness actually an acceptance of personal freedom and power. In the 14th century was there anything more wicked than a sexually awakened woman, spurned by her husband, feeling confidant and free? I find it a little more likely that given the devil's claims of being apart of her, that these elements are a sardonic allegory for her mental and emotional suffering. A way to cope in a guilt driven fantasy. There really is no devil at all. She awakens her libido by herself with no need for her husband or any other creep. 

The animation style of this film is direct influence of Gustav Klimt and Aubrey Beardsley. An absolutely gorgeous, illuminating tapestry of of classical and experimental imagery. The eroticism is executed in very different ways then I'd ever seen in animated film. Sometimes violent, horrifying and dark; sometimes sensual, enticing and flowery. At first glimpse I was afraid it would be a storybook style animation; still-framed illustrations set to a comprehensive dialogue. Although certain scenes stagnate in such a way it's often interrupted by a burst of lsd fraught psychedelia. Expressive, operatic, mod, gothic, art nouveau inspired. There are moments I would say it even has shades of Peter Max and Alphonse Mucha. The fluidity of the water color and pastels creates a pastiche that seems to dance to the jazzy Japanese rock fusion score.

There's also some hilariously juvenile moments of the film...

The film was put out by Mushi, the same animation company as Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion. I have no idea how this sleazy hallucinogenic adult film sprung from such a wholesome company. With it's unrelenting brutality and perversions it makes our adult cartoons of the day, such as Fritz the Cat and Jungle Burger look relatively tame. Never in print in the U.S., if you can manage to track down a subtitled copy I would highly recommend it. For admirers and perverts alike, Belladonna of Sadness deserves a lot more attention.  Even if you find yourself a little lost in the socio-political subplot, you'll certainly find yourself captivated by the bewitching atmosphere that this wildly intoxicating film creates.

Top 10 Appearances of Satan in Film

I was thinking about how cool Satan is the other day. Not the serious biblical version of Satan. The characterization of the Devil in movies. What makes a good movie devil? There are basically two different types you'll likely see in a movie he's featured in. There's the horror Satan. He's a really bad guy. Responsible for possession and the gnashing of teeth and whatnot. Then there's the bargaining Devil, Mephistopheles. He's much more charming, generally suave and disguises himself as the guy you'd least likely expect to steal your soul. Sometimes he doesn't even want your soul, occasionally he's just a teacher of very harsh lessons. I'm fascinated with the interpretations of Satan on screen. Can you think of a better Super Villain? It doesn't get much more intense then the Devil himself. So I decided to make an admittedly uneven list of my favorite appearances of Satan. There's still a lot I haven't seen. I feel almost foolish for not being able to list the Devil Rides Out or Vincent Price in the Story of Mankind. I sadly have not seen those films and probably a good portion of other classics. I made a point to make this list specifically personifications or embodiments of Satan. No Anti-Christs, no devil worshiping cults, no exorcism movies, none of that unless the big bad boss himself makes an appearance.

By the way, this whole blog is just full of SPOILERS. So if you don't want to know that characters you might not have known were actually Satan until the end of the movie, um...don't read this. You've been warned.

I had to leave a few off. Either I ran out of room or it didn't meet my strict standards. One flick I was very displeased for having to omit was Jan Svankmajer's 1994 esoteric rendition of Faust.

Having a list of Satan appearances without mentioning Faust is like writing an essay on Hell in literature and leaving out Dante's Inferno. It belongs here, yet it's overpowering elements of puppetry and animation went against the idea that Satan is personified. In this masterpiece, Satan speaks through strange dolls and marionettes. Faust Lesson is a notable entry to the genre and is easily my favorite take on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's monumental tale of man's thirst for knowledge versus his moral integrity.

On that note, let's get to the list! without further adieu...


10.

Tim Curry in Legend (1985)

I figured I should go ahead and get this one out of the way for #10. I thought about leaving it off for something perhaps a little less obvious, but who am I trying to kid? I can't leave this guy off! Tim Curry was a bad ass Satan , or Lord of Darkness rather. He often refers to another entity as being higher than he. I always assumed that Darkness itself was actually "Satan" and he is just it's incarnate. I mean, he has his army of goblins kill unicorns for Christ's sake. He is one ugly dude, complete with horns, hooves and a big red face. Somehow still managing to look like Tim Curry. He's easily the coolest mainstream Satan. The only thing that's disappointing about him is that he is somehow defeated by Tom Cruise of all people. Ugh.



9.

Charlie Davoa in the Killing of Satan (1983)

Possibly one of the most underrated b-movies of all time. This Satan is responsible for more nonsense and mayhem than any other on my list. The characters in this movie have a hard time trying to kill this Satan. His obstacles include laser blasting, boulder dashing and snake slapping. His bad ass sorcery has to be seeen to be believed <3




8.

Anton Lavey in The Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969)

When it comes to the occult you can always turn to Kenneth Anger for delivering a shamelessly iconoclastic product. The Invocation of My Demon Brother is arguably Anger's best short, and certainly his crowning achievement of the hippie movement. The (roughly) 10 minute short features a colorful cast of characters for a movie with zero dialog. Mick Jagger (who also did the wonderful score), Keith Richards, Kenneth Anger himself, Bobby Beausoleil who would later that year be convinced of killing Gary Hinman under the orders of Charles Manson, and none other than the creator of the Church of Satan, Anton Lavey AS Satan himself. Lavey only made two film appearances (this and the Devil's Rain, in which he also played Satan). As a character, I find him unassailably cool, but then again you only see him for a brief moment in this film so his appearance doesn't warrant I higher spot on this list. I couldn't exactly NOT include him though could I?! That would be like not including an Aleister Crowley film appearance or the Devil himself. As you can see, he's dressed like what I can only assume inspired Francis Buxton's devil costume in the Pee Wee's Big Adventure. I like that he's more of a cartoonish devil than something dark and grim. Perhaps my standards are a bit skewed. As I said, I like Anton Lavey as a character and in pop culture. His song "Satan Takes a Holiday" is pure camp, and seeing him in this classic art house favorite was a real treat.




7.

Tom Waits in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

I think we all thought it at one time or another. "Tom Waits should totally play Satan"...ok, maybe that was just me. It's always a delight to see Waits' film appearances, and this long awaited almost-didn't-happen Terry Gilliam film appeased my appetite in more ways than one. Waits plays the "devil on your shoulder" type in this one. He really doesn't seem like a bad guy at all, in fact I'd quite enjoy his company if Satan was really like this. In the end he appears to be more like Doctor Parnassus' friend than foe. That's why he's officially this lists nicest Devil, aw shucks :-)




6.

Peter Cook in Bedazzled (1967)

Not all Satans are serious. Some are just down right delightful. In Bedazzled we're treated to Peter Cook's mischievous antics against a lovesick Dudley Moore. He's more of a whimsical prankster devil. At his hellacious factory he has a conveyor belt where new hit records are being delivered specifically for him to scratch and repackage. He's the "be careful what you wish for" kind of Devil as he takes the pussified Moore through a series of would-be fantasies gone awry. It's hard to imagine that the atrocious remake with Elizabeth Hurley sprung from the loins of this comedic masterpiece.




5.


Jose Luis Aguirre ‘Trotsky’ in Santa Claus (1959)

      Once you've entered the world of cheesy Mexican kids movies, there's really no turning back. It's like making a pact with the devil in its own way. Anything with K. Gordon Murray's name attached to it is sure to be a riot. He's also responsible for Robot Vs. the Aztec Mummy, the Witch's Mirror not to mention a slue of mediocre sexploitation and El Santo movies. Add to the that, the UNfamous Rene Cardona being in the directors seat! Oh yeah, it just doesn't get better than this! "Pitch" is the bright red devil whose goal is to ruin Christmas for all the little boys and girls. I guess he's more of a minion of hell than thee actual Satan himself, but whadaya want?! For all intents and purposes he is a representation of the Devil. This movie is pure unbridled camp. Probably the plushiest movie in my Satanic roster from back when kids' movies really had something to offer and their makers had some balls!

     4.

   John Goodman in Barton Fink (1991)

      Leave it to the Cohens to insert a subtle (or not so subtle) average Joe kinda Satan in one of their bleak comedies. For the record, I'm new to Barton Fink. I only saw it this week and it was actually the inspiration for this entire list. Some people doubt that Goodman was Satan at all. I guess those people assume the hotel walls igniting into flame was just for dramatic effect? Or that his role defining quote "I'll Show You the Life of the Mind!" was just the ramblings of "Madman Mundt"? I think it's safe to say that this Faustian tale of selling ones soul to Hollywood is a bit more straight forward than that. John Goodman as Charlie Meadows falls under the likable Devil category. He's not bargaining for Barton's soul, he's just letting Fink's own arrogance lead the him down a path of misfortune, with a little extra push. In the end, Barton is trapped. Contractually shackled to Los Angeles and the broken existence of a fallen hack writer.




   3.

     
   Burgess Meredith in The Sentinel (1977)

                                                                    

      My love for Burgess Meredith may have made me a bit biased in bumping this entry to the #3 spot, but you know what? The ending of this otherwise mediocre film really shocked me! This is where that spoiler alert really comes into effect. When it's realized that the beautiful apartment our lady protagonist is living in is the gateway to Hell and that our sweet little old guy neighbor is actually the human manifestation of SATAN, I was literally floored. Consider my mind blown. I just love him and his charming face so much that I can't even begin to imagine him squashing a spider let alone being the Prince of Darkness. I don't have much to add other than "Holy Shit, I love Burgess Meredith"...

    2.

    

    Benjamin Christensen in Haxan:Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922)

      Perhaps the earliest and still one of the most frightening portrayals of Satanism, witchcraft and the occult to be put on film. Haxan is like a Goya painting come to life. No film has ever matched it's beauty and horror and there will likely never be anything that tops it in that respect. Benjamin Christensen wrote, directed and starred as the beast like Devil in this fantastic opus of science and story telling. It was banned in America for it's shocking portrayal of torture and sexual perversion, which even in the pre-code 1920's, was unheard of in decent film going society. The public was not ready for such graphic depictions of debauchery. I could see how it may have influenced directors such as Kenneth Anger whose themes of magick and ritual would still be considered controversial some 30-50 years later. Now Haxan is more than a cult classic, it's a legend and I whole heartedly consider it one of the greatest efforts ever emblazoned on film. The copy readily available now includes a score done by Jean-Luc Ponty and narration by William S. Burroughs. Can you think of anything more incredible? I raise my glass to Benjamin Christensen. Cheers.




   1.

    
   Danny Elfman in Forbidden Zone (1982)

It's been quite few years since I've even breached this subject and I'm fairly certain it's never been mentioned in this blog. Forbidden Zone is pretty much the movie that started it all for me. Being a dumb teenager with nothing more than a few slashers in her collection I somehow ended up with a vhs copy of Forbidden Zone. It changed everything. It heightened my standards of "weird movies", it opened up new doors as far as my musical taste goes and most of all it introduced me to a Pre-Tim Burton Danny Elfman.The entire film is a strange vaudevillian Alice in Wonderland inspired tale of a girl finding herself in the 6th Dimension. She falls in love with it's midget King, a dashing Herve Villechaize. Of course his Queen, the forever iconic Susan-fucking-Tyrell has something to say about that. The whole movie is like a lurid Max Fleischer cartoon come to life. The high light for me? Danny Elfman scored the film along with The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. Before they were simply "Oingo Boingo" they were a traveling theater group, and Forbidden Zone was a way of capturing their monkeyshines on film. Danny Elfman plays the Satanic conductor of this mad circus. An image so vivid and profound that I painted it on my bedroom wall at my Dad's house...

This is obviously a choice made for very personal reasons. I basically orchestrated my entire taste in cinema around my fondness of Forbidden Zone. Danny Elfman's animated interpretation of the Devil made me want more of what I was seeing. Of course there's nothing quite like Forbidden Zone and there's no portrayal of Satan quite so jovial. That in itself if the primary reason he has earned the # 1 spot.

Danny Elfman encompassed what's unabashedly cool about the Devil. My point in writing this blog is not to say that evil is good and Godliness sucks. We need these characters in fiction to make movies interesting. Whether they're monstrous or funny, the caricature of Satan isn't something to be feared, it's something to be embraced. As the Ultimate Super Villain or the ultimate Irony. Satan's infamy is a powerful archetype in the realms of there cinematic stratosphere. He reminds us of our own humanity. Despite your religion or lack there of, the image of Satan is alarming. In any culture El Diablo is recognizable, and we can't help but be reminded of our own morality and death. I think that's why so many people are uncomfortable talking about Satan and everything that he represents. It's not really about facing him its about facing ourselves and our choices in life.

Well that pretty much sums it up! I hope you enjoyed my list. I know there's a lot not included here. Maybe this will be annual thing I post around Easter? In the meantime, what are some of your favorite on-screen Devils?