Well, we’re nearly done with October and, traditionally, this is when all of us in the Shattered Lens Bunker gather in front of the television in Arleigh’s penthouse suite, eat popcorn, drink diet coke, and gossip about whoever has the day off.
Of course, after we do that, I duck back into my office and I watch the classic 1962 film, Carnival of Souls!
Reportedly, David Lynch is a huge fan of Carnival of Souls and, when you watch the film, it’s easy to see why. The film follows a somewhat odd woman (played, in her one and only starring role, by Candace Hilligoss) who, after a car accident, is haunted by visions of ghostly figures. This dream-like film was independently produced and distributed. At the time, it didn’t get much attention but it has since been recognized as a classic and very influential horror film.
This was director Herk Harvey’s only feature film. Before and after making this film, he specialized in making educational and industrial shorts (some of which we’ve watched this month), the type of films that encouraged students not to cheat on tests and employees not to take their jobs for granted. Harvey also appears in this film, playing “The Man” who haunts Hilligoss as she travels across the country.
I’ve always liked the trailer for Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond. It does a good job of capturing the dream-like amtosphere of Fulci’s classic film.
2. Raiders of Atlantis (1983)
Raiders of Atlantis is hardly my favorite Ruggero Deodato film but I do really like the trailer. Add to that, I think this might be the only Deodato trailer that’s actually safe for work. The trailer for Cannibal Holocaust features that body being found with the stake driven through it. The House on the Edge of the Park trailer features the scene with straight razor. Meanwhile, the trailer for Raiders of Atlantis has fun music and a laser-shooting statue! It also has Tony King shouting, “Come on, come on, come on!”
3. Zombie 5: Killing Birds (1987)
This movie sucks but, for some reason, I’ve always found the trailer to be very effective. I think it’s the scene with the woman smiling despite being pinned to the wall and apparently dead. That’s pure nightmare fuel.
4. Spasmo (1974)
This is from director Umberto Lenzi. I sometimes feel as if I’m the only person in the world who likes this film. As for the trailer, I just enjoy the anguished cries of “Spasmo! Spasmo!”
5. Lisa and the Devil (1973)
This is one of my favorite Mario Bava films. Yes, some of it is because the lead character is named Lisa. I’ll admit it, I like my name. However, it’s a really good film as well!
6. Tenebrae (1982)
And finally, here is the trailer for Dario Argento’s brilliant, Tenebrae!
Seriously, if you want to have a truly wonderful Halloween, watch some Italian horror! If you haven’t already discovered Bava, Fulci, Argento, Lenzi, Soavi, D’Amato, and all the rest, now is the perfect time to do so! Do it now before their work gets canceled by the online puritan mob.
We Summon The Darkness is a horror/comedy that has got a devilish little twist that I can’t spoil in this review.
That’s a shame because, believe me, I would love to spoil it. I would love to tell you all about the twist and about how much I love the twit and how clever I felt it all was but really, this is a twist that you need to experience for yourself. I don’t know if it’s really possible to go into a movie blind anymore but if there’s any movie that benefits from being viewed with as little foreknowledge as possible, it’s We Summon The Darkness.
I can tell you that that movie takes place in Indiana in 1988. It follows six people — three women and three guys — over the course of one long and very eventful night. It starts with Alexis (Alexandria Daddario), Val (Maddie Hasson), and Bev (Amy Forsyth) heading to a heavy metal concert out in the middle of nowhere. As they head to the concert, we see glimpses over an evangelist (Johnny Knoxville) railing against heavy metal and Satanism. We also hear some random news reports about some recent murders, all of which appear to have been the work of Satanists. It’s obvious that this film takes place in a very religious community, one that feels it is currently under attack from the forces of darkness.
At the concert, the girls meet up with three dorky guys, Mark (Keenan Johnson), Kovacs (Logan Miller), and Ivan (Austin Swift). Ivan is the leader of the guys, an outspoken atheist who is clearly skeptical of all of this Satanic panic. Mark, meanwhile, is celebrating one last hurrah before heading off to Los Angeles. Alexis invites the boys to come back to her father’s mansion, which is apparently empty for the night. The boys agree and….
….all Hell breaks loose.
And that’s all I’m going to tell you about the plot. In fact, I probably shared too much already. What I will say is that the film takes you by surprise. Just from reading about the film’s opening few minutes, you may think you know who these characters are but, instead, they surprise you. You may also think that you know how all of the chaos at the mansion is going to play out but again, the film surprises you.
We Summon The Darkness is a clever and intense mix of horror and satire, one that keeps the audience guessing. From the strong opening to the twisty conclusion, this is a film that grabs your attention and refuses to let it go. Director Marc Meyers does a great job of ramping up the tension and he’s helped by a wonderful cast, all of whom bring their odd characters to life. Alexandra Daddario and Ivan Swift are the cast stand-outs, with Daddario especially tearing through the film like a force of nature. Though I initially assumed that Johnny Knoxville’s role was an example of stunt casting, he actually gives a good performance as a character who turns out to be far more important than you might initially assume.
We Summon The Darkness can currently be summoned from Netflix and it’s worth the watch.
The 1959 film, Compulsion, tells the story of two wealthy young men — Judd Steiner (Dean Stockwell) and Artie Strauss (Bradford Dillman) — who think that they can outsmart anyone. Judd started college when he was only 14 and he speaks several different languages. Artie, the more loquacious and sociable of the two, is convinced that he can talk his way out of anything. Desiring to prove that they’re capable of committing the perfect crime, Judd and Artie kill a young boy who is walking home from school.
At first, it seems like Judd and Artie may have pulled it off. The police seem to be baffled. Local reporter Sid Brooks (Martin Milner) dutifully reports that there are no leads. Judd and Artie are convinced that both their wealth and their superior intelligence will protect them. However, Judd soon discovers that he can’t find his eyeglasses. Where he could he have lost them? Well, he does remember struggling a bit during the murder …. could they have been knocked off? What if they’re at the scene of the crime….
Based on a novel by Meyer London, Compulsion retells the infamous story of Leopold and Loeb, the two students who murdered another student in order to show their devotion to Nietzsche. In real life, of course, both Leopold and Loeb were arrested when one of their possessions was discovered at the crime scene. In the end, the two were convicted of murder and the only thing that prevented them from being hanged was an impassioned closing plea from their lawyer, Clarence Darrow. Darrow argued not that the murderers deserved any mercy but that the death penalty itself was immoral and barbaric. Supposedly, his final speech went on for 12 hours, which is odd to me. I can’t imagine ever listening to anyone speak for 12 hours.
Leopold and Loeb’s crimes have served as the basis for several movies. Hitchcock’s Rope was based on Leopold and Loeb. So was the far less interesting Murder By Numbers. Compulsion, however, seems to stick the closest to the facts of the case, with the two killers being driven by a combination of arrogance and alienation. While Artie appears to simply be a sociopath, the far more neurotic Judd is driven by a need to win Artie’s approval. (I’ve read conflicting accounts about the nature of Leopold and Loeb’s relationship. Some accounts say that they were lovers while others say that they were just intensely close friends. Compulsion keeps things ambiguous but it certainly implies that Leopold — or Judd — was obsessed with Leob.)
Bradford Dillman and Dean Stockwell are well-cast as Artie and Judd. Stockwell’s neurotic performance certainly shows why, if Anthony Perkins had refused the role of Norman Bates in Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock was planning to offer the role to him. There’s a good deal of pleasure in watching the two murderers get tripped up by the same cops and prosecutors to whom they considered themselves to be intellectually superior. This is especially true in the scene where Artie realizes that he’s not as good at fooling people are he originally assumed he was.
That said, the film is pretty much stolen by Orson Welles, who plays the role of attorney Johnathan Wilk, a stand-in for Clarence Darrow. Welles doesn’t show up until the final 30 minutes of the film but he’s such a commanding screen presence and so comfortable with the role of the theatrical attorney that he thoroughly dominates your impressions of the film. Though Welles was apparently annoyed that he hadn’t been asked to direct the movie, he still gives one of his best performances and he delivers his final plea against capital punishment with the powerful conviction of a man who believed every word that he was saying.
Overall, Compulsion is an intensely watchable film. Even if you know how the story is going to turn out, you’ll want to see it for the performances of Stockwell, Dillman, and especially Orson Welles.
Judging from twitter, a lot of people are either outraged or pretending to be outraged about the upcoming film Songbird. Songbird imagines a 2024 in which continued COVID lockdowns have transformed the world into a Hellish dystopia.
Speaking for myself, it sounds like the film is just being honest about how a lot of people are feeling right now. If nothing else, a film like can be cathartic for people who are feeling worried. Too often, when there’s a crisis, people are shamed for having doubts. They’re ordered to forget about their fears and just trust the powers that be. Unfortunately, when the powers that be have consistently shown themselves to be a bunch of out-of-touch elitists, it’s hard to take much comfort in them. Certainly, when your leaders are saying, “You’re going to be locked down and if you complain, you’re going to be punished,” films like this seems like an inevitable by-product of a year’s worth of resentment.
This 1986 film tells the story of what happens when one local mall decides that it’s had enough of thievery and vandalism.
First off, automatic locks and shutters are installed. What that means is that, at a certain hour, anyone who is inside the mall is going to be trapped there until the morning. Secondly, three robots are used as a security force. They’re called Protectors and they roll around, looking for thieves and keeping people safe. Don’t worry about getting mistaken for a thief, of course. As long as you’ve got a badge, the protector will just say, “Thank you and have a good day.”
It all seems perfect but …. what if the robots malfunction? What if they ignore the badges and just start killing anyone unlucky enough to be trapped in the mall for the night? Surely, that could never happen, right?
Of course, it does happen. Thanks to a freak electrical storm, the Protectors come to life and set out to keep the mall safe from intruders. First, they kill the technicians that are supposed to keeping a watch over them. Then, they kill a janitor named Walter Paisley (played, of course, by Dick Miller). Then, they set off after the six attractive people who were having a sleep-over in one of the stores.
So, what did I learn from Chopping Mall?
Well, I was tempted to say that I learned not to shoplift but actually, no one in the movie gets in trouble for shoplifting. I guess the main thing I learned is not to walk around the mall in my underwear because that definitely seems to be something that will cause the Protectors to blow up your head.
I also learned that, if you’re tapped in the mall with a bunch of killer robots, the best place to go is the sporting goods store because that store not only has a lot of automatic rifles but also an unlimited supply of ammunition. Of course, I already learned that from Dawn of the Dead but it’s always good to be reminded….
Anyway, Chopping Mall is a lot of fun. It’s undeniably dated. Just the fact that everyone’s life revolves around a mall tells you just how dated it is. I guess if they made the film now, it would have to take place at an Ikea store or maybe an Amazon warehouse. But the fact that the film is dated is a part of what makes it so much fun to watch. Seriously, it’s amazing all of the stuff that apparently used to go on at the local mall in the 80s.
Despite the fact that they have a bad habit of killing people, the Protectors are actually kind of cute. If nothing else, they’re unfailingly polite. You have to love the fact that they’ll wish you a nice day even after they’ve killed you. Surprisingly enough, the humans are just as likable as the Protectors. For a film about killer robots, Chopping Mall is surprisingly well-acted by a likable cast. Russell Todd, who was the best-looking man to ever be killed by Jason Voorhees, is in this film and he’s as broodingly handsome here as he was in Friday the 13th Part II.
Chopping Mall is a good mix of humor and thrills and robots and exploding heads and Dick Miller. This is 80s mall horror at its best!
Detective Sam Deitz (Leo Rossi) is back and somehow, his life is even more crappy than before.
Detective Deitz is still an intense New Yorker struggling to fit in with the laid back California lifestyle. Watching a Relentless film, you would think that it’s a crime to be laid back in New York. After three films, Deitz should no longer be as much of a fish out of water as he is in Relentless 3.
Deitz is now divorced and he hardly ever sees his son. That bothers him but also means that there aren’t anymore arguments between Deitz and his wife about him bringing his work home. Deitz is now out on the dating scene. The movie spends a lot of time on scenes of Deitz trying to pick up women. It’s not easy because he’s an intense New Yorker and they’re all laid back California girls. He eventually meets and falls for Paula (Signy Coleman).
Meanwhile, there’s a new serial killer on the scene. Walter (William Forsythe) lives with a mentally unstable woman and is always bragging about how he’s a star. He picks up women in bars, take them home, kills them, and then has sex with their dead bodies before eventually dumping them around Los Angeles. Even though Deitz no longer wants to chase serial killers, he agrees to serve as a consultant. When Walter finds out that the famous Sam Deitz is working the case, he decides to make it personal. Being a “star,” Walter wants to compete with the best.
Relentless 3 gets off to a good start but it runs out of gas quickly. William Forsythe is an effective villain and some of the early scenes of him picking up women are suspenseful. Also, there’s an effective scene where Walter mails Deitz a patch of tattooed skin and proves, as if there was any doubt, that Walter was one sick puppy. But the movie, which should be a relentless cat-and-mouse game between Deitz and Walter, gets sidetracked with all of the scenes of Deitz trying to get back into the dating scene. For all the build-up, the final confrontation between Deitz and Walter feels like a let down. This Relentless film just isn’t relentless enough.
Leo Rossi still does a good job as Deitz but it seems like we learned as much as we need to know about the character during the first two Relentless films and nothing that Deitz does surprises us anymore. Despite good performances from Rossi and Forsythe, Relentless 3 never comes together.
In this short film from 1958, the high school press club is thrown into chaos when their faculty sponsor selects Ben Curtis to be the editor-in-chief of the school paper.
Bob Stevens can’t believe it, because Ben doesn’t have an outgoing personality and he doesn’t come from a rich family. Ben, himself, is shocked because he feels like all of the other students are snobs who have no interest in being friendly. But the teacher sees something in Ben.
Can everyone learn to understand each other and put out a worthy school paper? Luckily, there’s a narrator present to encourage everyone to set aside their differences and …. understand. Just in case we miss the film’s message, the same event is shown to us three separate times from three different points of view.
This film was directed by Herk Harvey. Harvey directed a ton of educational films in the 50s and 60s. However, he’s best known for directing one of the most important horror films of all time, Carnival of Souls! I’ll be sharing Carnival of Souls tomorrow. For now, try to understand others.
