Brief Thoughts - BLOOD RED SKY (2021)

I finally caught up to the Netflix production BLOOD RED SKY (2021) and the impressive reviews I’d read were accurate. This European made thriller is a sharp and clever variation on vampires that manages to be an excellent horror film and a heartfelt drama simultaneously. I think it’s best to see this with the least amount of prior knowledge possible. In fact, I wish new viewers were allowed to see it without knowing that it was actually a vampire tale at all, but the mandatory online trailer that plays automatically makes that reveal obvious. Regardless, this is one of the best vampire films I’ve seen in years and benefits from excellent direction and a tight, smart script. The international cast seems to know they have a good piece of work here and really sell every twist the story throws their way. If every Netflix horror film was this well done I’d spend most nights planted in front of the streaming service. Highly recommended. 

Brief Thoughts - UNKNOWN ORIGINS (2020)

The other night I was scrolling through Netflix looking for something interesting to watch in a few spare hours before bedtime. I spotted a movie described as a police thriller with detectives on the hunt for a serial killer with an odd methodology for choosing victims. Intrigued, I pushed play and that is all it took for me to stumble across quite a fun, entertaining movie that I will now recommend to you. UNKNOWN ORIGINS (2020) is exactly what it says on the tin but it's also packed with much more.

My first surprise was that it is a Spanish film – sometimes I forget that most Spanish movies are not horror!  NetFlix offers both an English dubbed soundtrack or the original Spanish with English subtitles so I choose the subtitled version. Because I want to have other viewers experience this tale in a similar way to myself, I'll refrain from giving away some of the neat little details that really turned this into a fun exercise. I'll just say that there is a hunt for a serial killer and that there is one character who is steeped in comic book stories and history whose knowledge factors into the investigation. Beyond that I'll just point the curious toward this movie and urge you to check it out. It's not quite perfect as there are at least a couple of moments when the script is rushing relationships to a friendlier status than it should. But overall, this is a smart, entertaining thriller with at least one foot stuck firmly in the superhero realm. It manages to be ‘of’ that genre while still commenting on it from several different angles. The subtitles were excellent but recent Spanish films that I've seen on Netflix with English dubs have been respectable and not something you have to overlook. Whichever audio you pick I think you’ll enjoy this little gem.

What I Watched in February

Last month's bizarre snow week allowed me to dive deeper into the offerings on NetFlix and Prime than usual. Luckily, although a couple of films were not as good as I had hoped, the three pictured above were very entertaining and fully worth recommending. I would also point to the excellent mockumentary THE HISTORY OF TIME TRAVEL (2014) and BELOW ZERO (2021) as good choices for your time. 

THE LIST 

NECROMANCER (1988) – 6 (interesting low budget horror) 

UNDERWATER! (1955) – 6 (beautiful but nothing special treasure hunt with Jane Russell)

AS ABOVE, SO BELOW (2014) – 5 (found footage horror)

HIS HOUSE (2020) – 7 (haunting tale of refugees in a new country)

DON’T KNOCK TWICE (2020) – 7 (well done British ghost tale)

KISS KISS BANG BANG (1966) – 7 (incredibly silly Italian spy spoof - very fun)

HIGHLY DANGEROUS (1950) – 7 (British spy adventure written by Eric Ambler)

CROSSROADS TO CRIME (1960) – 6 (Gerry Anderson crime tale)

INVISIBLE AGENT (1942) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

TURKEY SHOOT (1982) - 7 (rewatch on Blu)

THE MILLERSON CASE (1947) - 5 (OK Crime Doctor tale)

MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981) – 8 (rewatch on Bu)

THE WIND (1986) – 6 (bizarre Greek-set horror) 

HAUNTING ON FRATERNITY ROW (2018) – 4 (might have worked if it was not all found footage)

CASTLE OF THE CREEPING FLESH (1968) – 4 (mess of a Gothic creeper)

KING KONG (1933) – 10 (rewatch on Blu)

THE SWORDSMAN (1948) – 8 (great tale of Scottish clan wars with Romeo & Juliette thrown in)

WE SUMMON THE DARKNESS (2019) – 7 (well done 80’s-set horror)

GHOST STORIES (2020) – 6 (Indian horror anthology – the first two tales are best)

FRACTURED (2019) – 8 (nothing new but well done)

STRANGE CONFESSION (1945) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

MURDER ON THE BLACKBOARD (1934) – 6 (the second Hildegarde Withers mystery)

VICIOUS LIPS (1986) – 3 (just a mess)

RED DOT (2021) – 6 (pretty standard thriller until a surprise but still only OK)

1BR (2019) – 8 (interesting thriller that has a nice punch)

THE ONE-ARMED EXECUTIONER (1980) – 7 (cop on the vengeance trail!)

THE LEGEND OF SPIDER FOREST (1971) – 7 (on Blu as VENOM) (mysterious goings on in English countryside)

BEFORE I WAKE (2016) – 7 (weakest Mike Flanagan film but still good)

THE MAN WHO WAS SHERLOCK HOLMES (1937) – 9 (excellent German adventure)

THE SUSPICIONS OF MR. WHICHER: THE MURDER AT ROAD HILL HOUSE (2011) – 7

SON OF KONG (1933) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

THE HISTORY OF TIME TRAVEL (2014) – 7 (well done SF faux documentary)

SHADOWS OF BLOOD (1988) – 2 (Naschy’s nadir)

VIVARIUM (2020) – 7 (fascinating science fiction)

THE TERROR WITHIN (1989) – 6 (rewatch on Blu)

BELOW ZERO (2021) – 7 (Spanish crime thriller)

LADY GODIVA OF COVENTRY (1955) – 6 (interesting but not great period tale)

THE GHOST OF MONK’S ISLAND (1966) – 5  (British children’s adventure tale)

TOOLBOX MURDERS 2 (2013) – 2

What I Watched In November

NetFlix’s THE BABYSITTER (2017) was a fun if slightly too silly horror film that had much to recommend it. The cast was likable and the script was clever enough to make its over-the-top splatter effects acceptable even when they became gratuitous. There was no real need for a sequel although the ending did present the possibility. The film did mark a major ‘first’ for me in that it represented the first time a film directed by McG didn’t make me gag. He has always seemed like the filmmaking equivalent of a radio shock jock or an aggressive stand comedian striving to scream the jokes at you in case they aren’t actually funny. THE BABYSITTER seems like the first time his ADD style had found a script that could overcome his inability to coherently tell a story without stumbling over his own ego.

Now we have THE BABYSITTER: KILLER QUEEN (2020) and, surprisingly, I enjoyed it about as much as the first one. McG is back in the director’s chair and proves that this burgeoning franchise is one he does not intend to screw up (sorry about that, Terminator). This film picks up a couple of years later with the surviving teenage boy having a hard time getting through high school. It seems that the body of the murderous Babysitter from the first film was never found so his story of a satanic blood cult is not believed. His doctors have him on a number of drugs to treat his ‘delusions’ and he has started to make his peace with the past when his current crush invites him out for a night in a secluded cabin. Cue the return of the blood cult and violent shenanigans are underway.

This sequel has the same strengths and weaknesses that the original had so you’ll know if you want to revisit this whacked-out world for more dumb fun. The worst crime the film wallows in is the stupid need to splash every possible cast member with blood at every possible opportunity. And it must always be splashed or squirted or spurted in the actor’s face because that is a visual that is never NOT funny, right? Yeah. So, there could have been a lot less of that and I’d like the film more - but it was still a pretty good time. I’ll be interested to see where they go with the inevitable third in the series.

THE LIST 

ANTRUM (2018) – 6 (interesting mockumentary about a deadly film) 

BAD DREAMS (1988) – 5 (flat tale of a cult survivor in therapy) 

BLACK BOX (2020) – 7 (solid tale of a man trying to recover his memories) 

DEAD & BURIED (1981) – 9 (rewatch on Blu) 

STAGE FRIGHT (2014) – 7 (odd combo of slasher and musical that worked for me) 

PATRICK STILL LIVES (1980) - 4 (outrageous, idiotic and near pornographic) 

DR. NO (19862) – 9 (rewatch on Blu) 

THE FALCON’S ADVENTURE (1946) – 6 (the last of the RKO series) 

PHANTOM LADY (1944) – 8 (excellent film noir) 

ABBOT & COSTELLO MEET THE INVISIBLE MAN (1951) – 6 (rewatch) 

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963) – 9 (rewatch on Blu) 

DREAM NO EVIL (1970) – 6 (fascinating low budget horror) 

THE GOLDEN ARROW (1962) – 6 

THE BLACK CASTLE (1952) - 7 

HOWL OF THE DEVIL (1988) – 7 (rewatch) 

THE NEW MUTANTS (2020) – 7 (well done mutant horror film) 

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (2013) – 7 

SON OF GODZILLA (1967) – 6 (rewatch on Blu) 

TOOLBOX MURDERS (2004) – 6 (much better than it should be) 

THE BABYSITTER: KILLER QUEEN (2020) – 7 (maybe too comedically gory but fun) 

CRUEL JAWS (1995) – 3 (Mattei remakes JAWS and it is terrible in the funniest ways) 

THE SMART BLONDE (1937) – 8 (rewatch of the first Torchy Blane film) 

THE LATE GEORGE APLEY (1947) – 8 (Ronald Coleman as a Boston stuffed-shirt in 1912) 

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK: APOCALYPSE WAR (2020) – 8 (dark is right!) 

FLY-AWAY BABY (1937) – 7 (rewatch – Torchy Blane) 

SUPERMAN: RED SON (2020) – 8 (alternate history DC tale) 

What I Watched in July

NetFlix recently debuted THE OLD GUARD (2020) which is a new comic book to film adaptation. Remember when those were rare? Well, this is a comic book I was unfamiliar with, so I tuned in because I was intrigued to see star Charlize Theron who I enjoy watching in nearly anything. And then I learned that the film was directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood who I recognized as the director of THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES (2008) and LOVE & BASKETBALL (2000). This film is her first step into action cinema although she got some practice directing (and producing) some more action-oriented television shows. From the evidence here she is ready for nearly anything.

The film tells the story of a small group of immortal people able to sustain a near infinite amount of physical damage without dying. Drawn to war they have served as mercenaries for centuries lead by the oldest of their number Andromache "Andy" of Scythia played by Theron. Andy has tasked the group with trying to help people and improve the world rather than act as simple hired killers but has become depressed over the last few years convinced that their work isn’t doing any good. She sees the world getting worse overall and isn’t sure what to do. Persuaded by a former CIA operative to go on a rescue mission the team is instead ambushed and mercilessly gunned down. They survive this – of course – but their resurrection is captured on camera and now they know that someone out there is aware of their abilities. Complicating matters is that the team also senses in Afghanistan that a new one of their special kind has come into being meaning they have to help this new recruit understand their new world.

I was stunned by how quickly I was wrapped up in THE OLD GUARD’s story. I liked the characters immediately and loved that there was so much backstory communicated with such economy. The actors feel as if they really have been together for centuries and are comfortable with knowing their companions good and bad sides. The story doesn’t give up its surprises too early leading you down a twisty path that ends in a very satisfying place. On top of that, I was surprised by how emotionally invested I became as the film went on. I found myself liking these people and rooting for them to overcome the worst struggle any of them have faced before. There is a scene in which a member of the team expresses his love for another in the most poetic and beautiful language I’ve ever heard in a film of this type. It explained perfectly why this man will do anything for his beloved and was one of the most touching screen moments I’ve witnessed in years. All that surrounded by a great story and exciting action scenes! Bring on the sequel!

THE LIST

FLASH GORDON (1980) – 8 (rewatch on Blu)
YOUNG MR. LINCOLN (1939) – 8
JUNGLE CAPTIVE (1945) – 6
THE BANANA SPLITS MOVIE (2019) – 6
THE MARK OF THE DEAD (1961) – 6 (Mexican mad scientist horror tale)
MEXICAN HAYRIDE (1948) – 6 (Abbot & Costello con game)
COBRA (1986) – 3 (rewatch on Blu) (so, so bad!)
THE OLD GUARD (2020) – 9 (excellent comic book adaptation)
THE VAMPIRE (1957) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)
THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN (1942) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)
REVENGE OF THE NINJA (1983) – 4 (rewatch) (terrible but fun)
DOUBLE FACE (1969) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)
RAGE OF HONOR (1987) – 4 (rewatch)
AMERICAN RICKSHAW (1989) – 7 (kind of amazing)
LOS VAMPIROS DE COYOACAN (1974) – 6 (silly, fun Masked wrestler film)
A GAME OF DEATH (1945) – 7 (good remake of The Most Dangerous Game)
TINTORERA (1977) – 7 (well done drama - short version)
THE PROJECTED MAN (1966) – 7 (solid British variation THE FLY)
ROY COLT AND WINCHESTER JACK (1970) – 3 (rewatch on Blu)
THE FALCON’S ALIBI (1946) – 6
SPECTRE (2015) – 8 (rewatch)
VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS (2017) – 8 (rewatch)
PRIMAL RAGE (1989) – 4
MISSILE TO THE MOON (1958) – 4 (rewatch on Blu)
ORLAK – THE HELL OF FRANKENSTEIN (1960) – 5 (Mexican mad science /revenge plot)

NetFlix Commercial from SNL

This sums up my feeling of being drowned in content. Not just from NetFlix but from everywhere! I'm thrilled to have so many choices but this comedic view of the 'eternal scroll' is right on the money. Madness! 

BRIGHT (2017)

Although Netflix has been a destination point for quality television for a number of years now, their feature film production arm has not exactly been top notch. There are number of Netflix produced feature films that you can see on the service but I'll just mention the two action movies that I'm aware of as 'Netflix films' and focus specifically on their big holiday release of BRIGHT.

Many months ago I watched their production SPECTRAL (2016) and observed at the time that it was a rolling disaster filled with obvious post production work to attempt to bring the film into some kind of serviceable form. That ultimately failed and created a movie that starts out interesting and then bumbles and trips its way straight into abject pointless stupidity and disaster. Proving that there seems to be some glitch with spotting script problems and/or just well-produced and thought out ideas for stories, we come now to BRIGHT (2017).

Netflix has certainly spent the money to make this a good movie. They signed on a star in Will Smith, an excellent group of character actors to fill out the cast, a director who has made at least one very good film and a production team that surely knows how to put together a good-looking product. The weak link in this entire affair is definitely Max Landis' weak-ass script. When my girlfriend read the description of BRIGHT she quickly gleaned something that I should have thought of myself when she compared it immediately to the 1988 film ALIEN NATION. Indeed, as soon as she said that, it was clear to me that BRIGHT is little more than a slightly more convoluted, slightly more expensive and definitely more poorly scripted version of ALIEN NATION. In the 1988 film refugee aliens land on Earth and years later are still trying to assimilate into human society. One of these aliens has now become the first cop on the LAPD and is partnered with an older police officer who doesn't want the assignment. On a call they discover a crime that is much bigger than they can handle alone but also learn that they may not be able to trust their superiors on the force. BRIGHT uses that template but makes a huge world-building mistake.

In this film orcs, elves, fairies, trolls and all sorts of other fantasy creatures are real and have co-existed with humanity for centuries if not forever. But, the modern day Earth of the film is just our world with a couple of thin layers of fantasy details laid over the top. We are shown anti-orc graffiti to delineate that group as the most discriminated against in this society with obvious criminal gangs and heavily segregated neighborhoods making their lower status clear. And then we see that the highest level of this world is occupied by elves who seem to run everything they wish to, along with their well paid human sycophants. Herein lies the fail - if this world has existed with all these races co-mingling for centuries why does it so closely resemble our Earth of 2017? If magic is real why has technology advanced to the level it has in this reality? We're given a few casual lines about the past of this world but never anything to indicate how and why things are as they are. Even the occasional line referencing real historical events such as the Alamo create more questions than they settle. We're not even given a real motivation for the villains' actions beyond just reacquiring a lost magic wand. The story needed at LOT more background information to establish a place that felt like something more than a tossed off idea. This script needed more eyes on it to fix it's inherent thinness.

It doesn't help that the script's dialog is pretty weak as well, substituting profanity for emotion and bad jokes for character devolvement. Will Smith does his best with the material as does the always interesting Joel Edgerton as his orc cop partner but they can't save the poorly constructed narrative. Also, I think Smith may have pulled the chain on his MEN IN BLACK character one too many times now and it might be time to retire it completely. The director handles the action scenes well and actually generates some tension and suspense once things get moving but that and the excellent cinematography are the only consistently well done elements in this thing.

If you're curious, check it out but go in with lowered expectations and hope that NetFlix starts finding better scripts for their big action epics - and soon! 

SPECTRAL (2016)

I was curious about this NetFlix produced military/SF/horror film for many reasons, not the least of which is that if it was well done perhaps the SyFy stink could be removed from non-theatrical science fiction films. From what I've seen of the clutter of SyFy style movies this is a cut above them but not by much and not by enough.

The film's story seems cobbled together from elements of several other movies but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. If a film is clever enough it can combine ideas from various sources and magic them into something new and exciting. Unfortunately SPECTRAL falls somewhere in the middle of that scale never fully making me forget that it just isn't very original or all that good.

The film's biggest problem is that it tells a pretty straightforward tale but keeps tripping itself up with the details. During a war in a generic eastern European city American soldiers equipped with fancy goggles begin to spot what look like ghosts in the ruins of the destroyed buildings. These human shaped things can kill with a touch and are soon presenting a major problem for the military. The inventor of the goggles is brought into the warzone to attempt to explain what is happening and things escalate into a slaughter and then a siege. The cast is good and everyone is doing their level best to bring seriousness and solidity to the story but, much like the titular creatures, the plot becomes hazy and transparent. The film never clearly establishes a sense of paranoia about the creatures, so the characters only seem worried about being attacked when the plot calls for it. Instead, these people should be terrified all the time that these monsters that can walk through walls might be anywhere at any time. Also, at first the 'ghosts' can only be seen through the goggles and then when a special light is shined on them but the movie abandons this conceit several times for either a cool image or to have someone react in fear. This lack of consistency really irked me.

James Badge Dale as the inventor is very good and it's a shame to see him waste his efforts on this poorly scripted film. It really is the script that is the trouble here. The visuals are mostly excellent but the story is half-baked nonsense requiring multiple leaps of logic that are laughable. Making things worse is dialog that never rises above serviceable and often becomes pathetically silly. Excellent character actor Bruce Greenwood is given a speech before the final assault that is supposed to be a rousing call to arms but is so badly written it becomes embarrassing. Indeed, the film is so badly written that for the last half of the running time fully 50% of the dialog has been replaced after the fact. There is so much overdubbing that I started to think the entire streaming movie had gone out of sync with the soundtrack. It took a few minutes to realize that someone was trying to fix the bad script in the editing room. They failed.

SPECTRAL isn't a terrible movie but it is a missed opportunity to make a really good one. I enjoyed it for the visuals and the actions sequences but that's about all. It looks good, though, and I hope everyone was well paid. 

Brief Thoughts - STUNG (2015)

The other night I watched another recent horror effort on NetFlix and once again I struck gold! I went in knowing very little about the story other than it surely had something to do with bugs and that is really all you need to know about it as well. Well - I'll give you a bit more information to whet your appetite.

Paul (Matt O'Leary) and Julia (Jessica Cook) are caterers hired to provide food and drink for an afternoon outdoor event at a country estate house. Affairs go well even though Paul's mild clumsiness threatens to derail things at points. But once the sun goes down the guests are suddenly attacked by a swarm of very aggressive insects that begin to do more than just sting the party-goers. Soon the survivors are barricaded inside the mansion fighting off an ever increasing threat of creepy, crawly monsters intent on killing everyone in sight.

STUNG is a great example of smart filmmaking at every level. The script is clever in it's use of the standard monster film structure and is well written enough to give us characters that are relatable without being caricatures or stereotypes. The story is played straight but some solid humor grows out of the personalities of the various individuals. First time feature director Benni Diez handles the story very well getting great performances from the younger cast and giving veteran Lance Henriksen one of the best small roles he's had in a few years. The special effects are very well done with a good combination of impressive, elaborate practical creatures and enhancing CGI blended together incredibly well. This is a great little film that would do well with an appreciative crowd or with a solo viewer looking for a good new find. Highly recommended!

Brief Thoughts - WE ARE STILL HERE (2015)

Last night I finally watched this film on NetFlix. I'd heard several people compliment it so I pushed play and settled in. To say that I was pleased with WE ARE STILL HERE would be an understatement. This film turns out to be the best haunted house/malevolent ghost horror films I've seen in years. I won't spoil anything about the story other than to say it takes place during a snowy 1979 winter at an isolated country home. Said home has a dark history stretching back decades that has kept the place deserted most of the time. A grieving couple have chosen to move into the house to get away from memories of their recently passed son but the wife still feels the presence of that child. Things escalate when another couple come to visit them for a weekend.

This is a very well written and strongly acted movie. The script is well paced, clever and features a few smart twists on this type of story. The cast is fantastic with genre stalwarts Barbara Crampton and Larry Fessenden doing a fair amount of the heavy lifting. It was also great to see Monty Markham in a supporting role as the neighbor that lets the new homeowners in on the house's past. Ghost story lovers should be aware that the level of graphic violence in the latter half of the film is pretty high. I highly recommend seeking this one out.   

Brief Thoughts - THE HALLOW (2015)

I may be a little late to the game with this one but I was quite impressed with THE HALLOW (2015). It's a very well made monster story set in dark, spooky woods of a superstitious, rural area of Ireland. A couple and their newborn child move into a cottage near the forest to facilitate the husband's job of marking trees to be removed for a planned construction project. The locals warn them about poking round certain sections of the woods but are reluctant to spell out exactly why. Soon enough clues are dropped by fearful town elders, gnarled figures are dimly seen at night and odd, creepy events begin to plague the family in their new home. All these warning signs are ignored or brushed aside until finally an all out, nighttime assault on the cottage begins and the couple realizes that they - and especially their baby - are in much more danger than they ever considered possible. 

This is an atmospheric, nerve-jangling tale that handles the set-up of its monster mythology just as well as it does its third act assault and siege. The film is very well directed with a small, talented cast doing a uniformly strong job of making the entire affair affecting and believable. Adding to the dark tone of the story are the creatures lurking in the woods. The monster designs are fantastic and the performers in the elaborate effects liquidly shuffle and slither behind trees and rocks making the quick glimpses we get of them even more disturbing. Even when we can finally get a lingering look at them later on they still seem otherworldly and alien.

I recommend this very highly. You don't see very many new monster films these days that aren't geared toward automatic self-parody and I'm heartened to see such a good one can still get made.  For the curious it's currently on NetFlix and would make a good choice for the coming Halloween season. 

Re-visiting Battlestar Galactica (1978)

File this one under "Damn you, NetFlix!" If not for the push button ease of availability of this series I would not be doing this.

I'll start from the beginning.

For no good reason I have decided to re-read the entire run of Marvel BattleStar Galactica comic books from the late 1970's. As a child of that decade I have fond remembrances of the show, the novels that were created as off-shoots and the comics books too. In fact if memory serves they usually managed to tell better tales than the often dull and repetitive TV show on which they were based. So I have gathered most of the 23 issue run in front of me (gallery post to follow) and thought it would be neat - in a completist sort of way - to also push play on NetFlix and revisit the original show for the first time in years. Oh my.

My dim memories of the show as dull and labored turn out to be very accurate with the added slight of being much more silly than I recalled. Clearly this show was written to appeal mainly to children under twelve. It is insultingly simplistic in its plotting, cartoonishly broad in its characterizations and incredibly slipshod in its production. With all those detriments it still somehow manages to also wedge far too many complications into its story - a least in the three episode long pilot film. Motivations are often ill defined to the point that I twice backed the show up to make sure I hadn't missed some important point. After the pilot I proceeded to the first regular episode which is a two part tale that sets up the search for Earth that is to drive the series. I remembered the Egyptian sets but it was very amusing to see that they sent some second unit folks to the site of the Great Pyramids to shoot some long distance shots of extras that are supposed to be Loren Greene, Richard Hatch and Jane Seymour. The doubling is laughably bad with the bright white wig on Mr. Greene's stand-in being especially fun. And once again, this story is needlessly overcomplicated and drawn out as if they were hurting for running time. I hope the rest of the show is less padded or I'm going to have trouble getting through the whole run. 

At this point there is no way the comics can be anything other than an improvement! I'll report back.

Brief Thoughts - HOUSEBOUND (2014)

Just a very quick note to bring attention to the film HOUSEBOUND (2014) that is currently streaming on NetFlix. I had been advised by several online friends to seek this one out and now that I have I will follow suit.

SEE THIS MOVIE!

There.

Now, a few non-spoiler details. HOUSEBOUND is best gone into with no or little prior knowledge of the plot but I will say that it would be categorized as a horror/comedy and has elements that wouldn't feel out of place in one of fellow Kiwi filmmaker Peter Jackson's early work. The story involves a young lady forced to return to her childhood home to serves eight months of house arrest. As any woman in her early twenties might, she feels resentment at the situation and frustration with her mom and step-father. She gradually starts trying to make use of her time and eventually her boredom turned curiosity results in learning that her mother thinks the house is haunted! Soon enough she too begins to notice things that only seem explainable by supernatural means. That is all I will say.

Modern Doctor Who Finally Wins Me Over!

I'm on record as not being a huge fan of the modern Doctor Who show. I'm much more a fan of the original run from 1963 to 1989 with their low budgets, silly monsters and inventive scripts but I've always found the 21st century version to be a little too off from what I like in Who. Not that I haven't enjoyed the show in general but I've found the reliance on stories set on present day Earth irritating since they clearly have a LOT more cash to spend on the show than past producers. During the years of the much beloved 10th Doctor I became increasingly pissed by this fallback setting until things got to the point that I would turn an episode off once I discovered that, once again, we're in modern day London. I would eventually return to finish the story but I did it more out a sense of obligation than desire. That is not a good reason to watch a television show.

So, once they switched actors in the lead role I stepped away from Doctor Who and ignored the Matt Smith run of episodes regardless of the praise I read online. After all- I had heard the same talk about the first four years and had been only occasionally pleased by the onscreen results.

About six months ago, at the insistence of author Steve Sullivan, I decided to finally watch the first Smith episode and I was impressed - but not impressed enough to watch more. Cut to this past holiday season when - for no good reason - I watched the second episode of the fifth season/series and was very happy with it! The Beast Below is set in the far future and in deep space where the city of London has been set on course for a new planet. Yes! This is the kind of setting that I think of when I think Doctor Who! So I watched the next episode and it involved a trip back to WWII London to help Winston Churchill deal with a nasty Dalek problem. YES! The past AND Daleks! Perfect! Then the show presented a two episode tale that brings back the most impressive modern addition to the Who rouges gallery The Weeping Angels while pointing toward future events that the Doctor has yet to experience. "You had my interest but now you have my attention." Later in the season the Silurians return giving us one of those great links back to the old Doctors and there is even a reoccurring nod to first few incarnations of the character that show real affection for the full history of this great program. This is a modern version of Who I can completely enjoy!

The only problem is that I noticed about a week ago that, as of the first of February, Doctor Who will be dropped from NetFlix. This means that after that time it will be very difficult for me to watch more of the show as I don't really want to purchase the newer series. Damn.  I should have listened to Steve sooner and caught up faster. Oh well- let's see how far I can get into season/series six before January is over. The ending of season five was excellent!

Brief Thoughts - BREAKHEART PASS (1975)

I was in the mood for some wintery western action and noticed this solid little film was on NetFlix. Press Play! I've seen this movie a couple of times now and it holds up very well as a well paced mystery set on a train in the old west and might now qualify as Comfort Viewing for me. In fact, 'mystery set on a train in the old west' may just be the most perfect description to get me to watch any film in the world. The cast here is excellent with the often undervalued Bronson doing a great job while backed up by a fantastic cast of legendary character actors that includes Richard Crenna, Charles Durning, Ben Johnson, Ed Lauter, David Huddleston and Robert Tessier. What a lineup! My only complaint with the film is that it feels a little too trimmed down, as if there is a slightly longer and possibly better movie lurking in between the edits - but that doesn't stop me from loving what is presented.

I think this film has been overlooked, even by Bronson fans, but it is ripe for discovery now by a whole new generation of movie fans. Check it out!

Brief Thoughts- SNOWPIERCER (2013)

I find myself in the odd place of naysayer about a much lauded science fiction film. By way of NetFlix I finally caught SNOWPIERCER (2013) and after all the hubbub over the past year I was excited to experience its dystopian vision. For the first hour or so I watched and got a few thrills out of the set up and the excellent cast as they laid out the scenario and introduced the plot but I felt oddly unaffected. I thought it might be a case in which the second half would cement things and bring everything into focus so I was patient. After all- the movie looked great and was being rendered beautifully onscreen so surely the story would catch fire eventually.

Instead I found that as the film progresses I was less involved in the story and was simply hanging on to see what the final act would do to end things. The further forward in the titular train the vengeful rebels traveled the less believable the entire tale seemed until I lost all ability to care and my suspension of disbelief evaporated. The space necessary to make this perpetual motion machine seem real was just not portrayed successfully enough for me and all I kept thinking was 'Do you have to pass through all of these train cars to eat sushi?'

Don't get me wrong- I know the whole tale is a metaphor for society and the necessity for the exploited under classes to fight for the rights that the wealthy claim and hold by force. But once the fictional structure becomes silly and implausible it begins to feel like a very pretty economics lecture punctuated by a few well played scenes of violence. Hell! I agree with the class war sentiments of the story but by the end I just didn't care very much about the characters or their efforts because their plight was so artificial and improbable.

It's a shame - there is a lot to be impressed by in the film but overall its only worth a single watch as food for discussion.

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1989)

Because it was October and I love horror movies I finally caught up with this version of the classic tale via NetFlix. I had shunned it for the past twenty five years out of fear it would be a barely gussied up slasher and I was right. While it IS a little more than what I thought it might be, overall it is a sad reduction of the original story that turns the plot into a simple stalk and slash effort of irritating silliness. Strangely, as I was watching it unfold and deteriorate I realized that this approach wasn't actually the problem - the story COULD be boiled down to the components of a typical slasher and still work very well. But the things that trip this film up are two bad choices linked to the audience the producers were aiming to target.

First problem - over the top gore. I have no problem with some well done blood & guts flung across the screen but almost every time its used here its so exaggerated in its extremity that it becomes ridiculous. The filmmakers sling fake blood around the sets like they got a deal at the special effects house. Sometimes more is less.

Second problem- they decided to have their Phantom be both superhumanly strong and able to teleport around his victims. This is the saddest of all slasher movies tropes best seen in all its idiotic glory in FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 8. This is when the villain can magically be dozens of yards from where they were mere seconds before with just the use of a (not so) clever edit. To give this movie credit, the teleportation scenes are done with an identically dressed stand in for star Robert Englund but it is still a ludicrous thing to pull. It yanks me right out of the film and reminds me that the movie isn't really interested in making me invested in the story - it only wants to shock me. Ho hum.

It's sad to see this film fall short when there is evidence of so much effort onscreen. The sets and costumes are very good even if the clothing suffers from that Hollywood problem of being a little to fresh to be believed as everyday wear for these characters. The cinematography is gorgeous, the script isn't bad and most of the cast is solid (the lead actress is a bit wooden) but the slasher ideas end up overwhelming the film and dragging it down.

Brief Thoughts - HAUNTER (2013)

Last night I finally caught up with HAUNTER (2013) by director Vincenzo Natali and it was fantastic! I probably should shy away from over praising the film out of the fear that readers of this blog will go into it with their expectations set high and feel disappointed but - I really loved this movie. It is a ghost story with a very intriguing twist but that twist is only the beginning of the tale with many great moments to follow. I've been a fan of Natali's past work since CUBE (1997) through SPLICE (2009) and I had known this was his newest movie I would have watched it the minute it popped up for possible viewing. (This reminds me that I still need to see his 2002 film CYPHER which promises to be a spy story!) I love the mood that the director is able to evoke in his films. There is a slightly heightened reality combined with the banality of the everyday that is unique and has the effect making his movies feel like something is about to happen at any time. They are smoothly told and the direction is naturalistic and uncomplicated in the way information is presented. Natali is an excellent director whose work seems incapable of connecting with a huge audience but it is perfect for me. I think his ideas are just too out of the mainstream - too quirky - to make most viewers comfortable with his stories.

The cast of HAUNTER is very good with Abigail Breslin showing real skill as the main character and excellent Canadian character actor Stephen McHattie being a creepy bastard in brilliant fashion. The little boy that plays Breslin's brother is a bit stiff in his role but that is the only sour performance note in the entire movie. If you've seen and liked his earlier films or even if they seemed too odd in the past, give this one a try. It might be his most accessible horror work to date and in a better world would have been a hit in theaters. It is available to stream on Netflix which is where I watched it.