Tag Archives: review

Horror on the Lens: Raiders of the Living Dead (dir by Samuel M. Sherman and Brett Piper)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi there and welcome to October!  This is our favorite time of the year here at the Shattered Lens because October is horror month.  For the past three years, we have celebrated every October by reviewing and showing some of our favorite horror movies, shows, books, and music.  That’s a tradition that I’m looking forward to helping to continue this year.

Let’s start things off with the 1986 epic, Raiders of the Living Dead!

I reviewed this film last year but to recap, it’s the story of a creepy boy, a laser gun, a reporter, and a bunch of zombies.  There’s a mad scientist involved, too.  There always is.  The movie opens with a truck being hijacked and then the action shifts to a power plant and, honestly, I have no idea what any of it means.  Technically, Raiders of the Living Dead is not exactly a good film but it is a film unlike any other that you’ve seen.  If nothing else, it’s a film that you watch and you can’t help but admire the fact that it somehow got made and went on to find a small but kind of appreciative cult audience.  It’s just a very strange film and a good one to start October with, no?

Plus, it has got the greatest zombie-centric theme song ever!  The opening credits alone are worth the price of admission (which, incidentally, is free because those of us at the Shattered Lens love you!)

So, here is Raiders of the Living Dead. 

Enjoy!

The Things You Find On Netflix: Deadly Detention (dir by Blair Hayes)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

If you’re in high school and you have to do Saturday detention in an abandoned, but perhaps haunted, prison, there’s a good chance that you’re gong to die.

That’s the main lesson that can picked up from the 2017 film Deadly Detention, which I watched via Netflix a few nights ago.  Old prison.  Sex.  Detention.  It all leads to death.  Of course, you really shouldn’t need a movie to teach you that lesson.  I mean, it’s just common sense.  STAY OUT OF THE OLD PRISONS, PEOPLE!  Especially if it’s got a death row because you just know there’s going to be a lot of pissed off ghosts floating around there….

The good thing about Deadly Detention is that it realizes that abandoned prison=death should be common sense as well.  It’s an extremely self-aware movie, fully indulging in all of the slasher movie cliches while, at the same time, poking cheerful fun at them.  Deadly Detention may start out as a horror film but, after about 15 minutes or so, it turns into a full-blown comedy and it’s actually pretty fun to watch.

Why are our students attending detention?  Well, it turns out that the majority of them have been framed, which explains why even the popular school athlete is being punished.  Why are they attending detention in a prison?  Well, it seems that a pack of rabid possums were somehow released into the school.  Now, of course, being the former country girl that I am, I immediately knew something strange was happening because possums are actually immune to rabies.  So, seriously, if you see a possum in your back yard, don’t panic!  They’re harmless.

Among those spending their Saturday in detention:

Officer Pete (Kevin Blake), the quiet hall cop,

Miss Presley (Gillian Vigman), the principal who brings her very big and very pointed principal-of-the-year trophy with her,

Lexie (Alex Frnka), the rebellious school tramp who turns out to be a lot more smarter than anyone gave her credit for,

Jessica (Sarah Davenport), the school athlete who has always been driven to be the best,

Barrett (Henry Zaga), the hilariously vain and shallow rich kid whose main hope is that, if he dies, he’ll still look good,

Kevin (Coy Stewart), the gay religious kid who turns out to actually have a lot more depth than anyone originally suspected,

and Taylor (Jennifer Robyn Jacobs), the cheerfully strange girl who knows all the stories about all the ghosts.

Now, you may be thinking that this cast of characters sounds familiar and it’s true that they’re all deliberately meant to invoke various slasher movie tropes.  At the same time, I suspect that they’re also meant to remind us of the members of The Breakfast Club as well.  However, each character is so well-cast and each actor seems to be having so much fun that they all soon develop their own individual identities.  In fact, this cast is so fun to watch that it’s kind of sad once the blood starts to spill.

But spill, it does.  Soon, the detainees find themselves having to figure out how to escape the prison while an unseen stalker taunts them over the intercom.  What sets this film apart from many other Netflix slasher films is that the students all seem to know that they’re in a horror film and they tend to comment on the action accordingly.  When it comes to a horror-comedy, a film always has to decide if it’s going to be more of a horror or a comedy and, early on, Deadly Detention embraces the comedy label and it turns out that the film made the right choice.  Thanks to a likable cast and some clever dialogue, Deadly Detention is an entertaining 90 minutes.

As I said, the entire cast is good but Alex Frnka, Coy Stewart, and Jennifer Robyn Jacobs especially deserve a lot of credit for taking characters who could have been cliches and instead turning them into fairly compelling human beings.  Alex Frnka not only gets all the best lines but she makes them even better with a delivery that’s perfectly perched between sincerity and snarkiness.  The same can be said of the film as a whole.

Cleaning Out The DVR: Boy of the Streets (dir by William Nigh)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to New York City, circa 1937!

It’s a place where the extremely wealthy carefully avoid the districts dominated by the extremely poor, like the Bowery.  In the Bowery, families live in tenements and worried mothers can only cry as they watch their sons join street gangs and their daughters settle for a life of abuse and loss.  Sure, there’s a few do-gooders.  Occasionally, there’s a cop who is convinced that no boy is a lost cause.  Sometimes, you’ll run into a doctor who is determined to provide adequate medical care to the inhabitants of the Bowery.  In fact, you might even see a rich person who is determined to spread about some charity.  But, for the most pat, life in the Bowery is just one hopeless day after another.

14 year-old Chuck Brennan (Jackie Cooper) lives in the Bowery.  He’s got a gang of boys who will do anything that he tells them to do and, despite the fact that Chuck is obviously smarter than almost everyone else around him, he has no interest in being a role model or decent citizen or anything else of that matter.  Chuck lives in a shabby apartment with his mother (Marjorie Main) and his father (Guy Usher).  Chuck looks up to his father who apparently knows important people and is often out of town on “business.”  However, when Chuck discovers that his father is actually a low-level hood who works for the local political machine, Chuck is not only disillusioned but also inspired to go find some gangsters to team up with himself.

The system says that Chuck is a hopeless case but not everyone agree.  Officer Rourke (Robert Emmett O’Connor) thinks that there’s hope for Chuck, he just needs something or someone to straighten him out.  (Like maybe a stint in the Navy….)  And then there’s Nora (Maureen O’Connor), the sweet Irish girl who lives in Chuck’s building and who is often heard singing to her deathly ill mother.

In the end, it’s all up to Chuck.  Will he pursue a life of crime or the life of an honest man?  Will he be a man like his father or will he end the cycle of crime and desperation?

Boy of the Streets is a low-budget, black-and-white film from 1937.  It was produced by Monogram Pictures and, much like Dead End (which came out the same year and featured a superficially similar storyline), it’s a film that mixes social commentary with a bit of gangster action.  The film’s low-budget doesn’t do it any favors and there’s nothing particularly surprising to be found in the film’s plot but child actor Jackie Cooper is convincingly cocky as the swaggering Chuck and Marjorie Main does a good job as his anguished mother.  (Interestingly, Main also played Humphrey Bogart’s mother in Dead End.)

Boy of the Streets is a good example of a film that I never would have seen if not for TCM.  (I recorded it off of TCM way back in June.)  That’s one reason why I’ll always be thankful for TCM.  At a time when so many people seem to be determined to destroy history, TCM is celebrating it.

A Blast From The Past: The Good Loser (dir by Herk Harvey)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Director Herk Harvey

What’s more important?  Being a good winner or a good loser?

Does being a good winner make it more difficult to be a good loser?

Should an individual loss matter if it contributes to a team victory?

When your child loses, is it a good idea to relentlessly taunt them about it?

These questions and more are explored in the 1953 short film, The Good Loser.  This is one of those films that they used to show in schools in order to teach students how to …. well I’m not sure what anyone learns in The Good Loser.  It tells the story of Ray, who is the best public speaker in all of Kansas or, at least, he is until he makes the mistake of agreeing to mentor Marilyn.  After Marilyn beats him at the speech and debate tournament, Ray throws a little hissy fit.  It doesn’t help that everyone — from his classmates to his own father — is making fun of him for losing to his protegee.

“What do you think?” the narrator asks and I’ll tell you.  I’ve never been a good loser so I totally think that Ray has every right to drop out of school and spend the rest of his life wandering around the country, drifting from job-to-job and refusing to trust anyone.  “Second place just means you’re the best loser.”  A teacher said that to me once and the end result was …. well, actually, I think I was kinda like, “Really?  The best?”  Anyway….

Now, if you’re wondering why I’m sharing this video in October, it’s because this film was directed by Herk Harvey.  Harvey made a career out of directing short educational films but, to horror audiences, he’s best known for directing a classic horror film called Carnival of Souls.  Carnival of Souls is a film that I’ll be sharing on later in the month.  On the surface, The Good Loser may not appear to have much in common with Carnival of Souls.  However, I think you can compare Ray’s insensitive classmates to the insensitive ghosts who haunted Candace Hilligoss in Carnival.  If nothing, they’re all similarly relentless.  They’re also all jerks, if you ask me.

What do you think?

Music Video of the Day: Monster by Big Data, feat. Jamie Liddell (2018, dir by Ghost+Cow)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to October!

Since this is the first post of the first day of Horrorthon, it just seemed appropriate to select the video of Big Data’s Monster as music video of the day.  This wonderfully paranoid video will inspire you to put Alexa back in the box.  Or, at the very least, to consider doing it.  I mean, could you really live without her?  Anyway, this video has a nice sort of Wes Craven/John Carpenter feel to it.  Those glowing red eyes are haunting.

It’s a well acted video too and Big Data was kind enough to list the full cast and crew on YouTube.  (More artists should do this.)  Here they are:

Directed by GHOST + COW

Written by BIG DATA and GHOST + COW

Story and Executive Produced by BIG DATA

Produced by Steve Cozzarelli

Players:

Claire Burns as Mary

David Levin as Gerry

Juliet Brett as Alison

Alexander Jameson as Brandon

Sondra James Weil – Neighbor

Lizy Ryan as L1ZY

Director of Photography – Luke McCoubrey

Edited by Geordie Anderson

Score and original music by BIG DATA

Sound design and mix by Brian Goodheart

Sonic Union Producer – Halle Petro

Colored by Ashley Ayarza

Nice Shoes Producer – Elizabeth Mitchell

VFX artist – Tim Mearini

Production designer – Jana Bergstedt

Makeup / SFX artist – Emma Berley

Art PA / Driver – Scott Raven

Wardrobe Stylist – Kayci Rothweiler

1st AD – Ruby Walters

Assistant camera – Julian Tran

Sound mixer – Edward Morris

Camera PA – Beth Fletcher

Key Grip – Jesse Moritz

Grips – Landon Yost, Mitch Perrin

Gaffer – Jesse Sanchez-Strauss Swing – Rylie Patterson

Production assistants – Smij McBee, Angie Blas

Special thanks to alldayeveryday productions, De Boer Media

EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS to the Gudis Family for their incredible generosity.

As for the rest of October, I can’t guarantee that every music video that we’re going to share this month is going to have a horror theme.  To be honest, there aren’t that many good horror-themed music videos out there and we already featured the majority of them over the past two Octobers.  I mean, there’s only so many times that we can analyze Number of the Beast.  Still, we’ll be keeping our eyes open for any good videos we may have missed and, as we do every October, we’ll do our best to keep things properly spooky here at the TSL Bunker!

Enjoy October and get ready for the greatest Horrorthon ever!

 

Film Review: The Wedding Chapel (dir by Vanessa Parise)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Sarah (Emmanuelle Vaughier) is a painter who is frustrated because, despite her obvious technical skills, her work still lacks the spark of passion and imagination that it needs to be truly special.  Not only is her first show panned by a snooty art critic but her boyfriend dumps her on the same night!

Jeanie (Shelley Long) is a widow who is still adjusting to life as a single woman.

They are mother and daughter and together …. THEY SOLVE CRIMES!

No, actually, they don’t.  (Though I will say that I think a film or a show or a series of books about a mother/daughter crime solving team would be great and I’m a bit shocked that there aren’t more of them out there.)  Instead, what Sarah and Jeanie do is they return to the small town where they once lived.  It turns out that greedy developers want to tear down the family home. It’s all about eminent domain, which is a totally evil thing that should be condemned more frequently in the movies.

Anyway, it turns out that it’s not just the family home that’s due to be demolished.  The developers are also planning on tearing down the nearby chapel.  While Jeanie’s busy having flashbacks to her teenage years, Sarah’s getting involved in trying to save both the chapel and the house!  Helping out Sarah is a local politician and lawyer with the unfortunate name of Roger Waters (Mark Deklin).  Not helping Sarah is the local sheriff, who keeps arresting Sarah, tossing her in jail, and forcing her to wear one of those really unflattering orange jumpsuits.  Roger bails Sarah out so many times that he soon finds himself falling in love with her.  Sarah, however, doesn’t want to get tied down in a small town.  She has an artistic career to pursue, assuming that she can get in touch with her emotions.

Speaking of love, Jeanie is haunted by memories of her ex-boyfriend, Larry.  As far as Jeanie knows, Larry left for Vietnam and never returned.  She’s always assumed that he must have died during the war but what if …. well, let’s say that he didn’t die in the war.  And what if Larry (Barclay Hope) just happens to be living in that small town?

Oh my God, love’s all around!

First released in 2013, The Wedding Chapel is an exceedingly pleasant film.  Seriously, almost everyone in the film is extremely considerate and nice.  Even the oafish sheriff doesn’t mean to be a jerk.  He’s just doing his job.  Sarah attempts an act of civil disobedience but it’s literally the most mild protest that you could imagine.  This is the type of movie where everyone lives in a nice house and every lawn is perfectly manicured.  Even the abandoned buildings are surrounded by freshly cut grass.  The chapel may be deserted but you’d never know it from looking at it.

It’s a thoroughly predictable movie but, at the same time, it’s too good-natured to be disliked.  No one curses.  No one makes any racy jokes.  This is the type of movie that you could safely recommend to your great-grandmother without having to worry about her getting mad at you afterwards.  Emmanuelle Vaughier gives a pretty good performance as Sarah and director Vanessa Parise does what she can to keep the film from drowning in sentiment.

Since the Halloween season is upon us and this site is going to be 90% horror for the rest of October, I decided that the final movie I would watch in September would be the least terrifying film I could find.  The Wedding Chapel filled that role well.

Music Video Of The Day: High and Dry by Radiohead (1996, dir by Paul Cunningham)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Saturday was my sister Melissa’s birthday!  This is her favorite Radiohead song and I have to admit that I like it a lot as well.  I’m also a huge fan of this video.

But you know who reportedly does not care much for this song or this video?  Thom Yorke.  The leader singer of Radiohead has called the song “very bad” and apparently, it was only released because the band was being pressured by their label to release something with “commercial appeal.”  And I can understand why Yorke would by annoyed by that.  Certainly, the song is not as complex or enigmatic as other Radiohead songs.  It’s pretty simple by their standards.

But, I still like it.  If it’s a guilty pleasure, so be it.  It’s a song that you can sing along with and it just puts you into a certain mood and …. okay, I’m kind of starting to understand why Thom doesn’t care for the song.  It’s a good song but, outside of the melancholy tone, it doesn’t seem like a song that only could have come from Radiohead.  It’s a little bit generic when compared to some of the band’s other songs but it’s still definitely effective.  So if I ever meet Thom Yorke, I’ll probably keep my feelings about this song to myself.

(Either that or I’ll blurt out, “My sister loves High and Dry!  If I call her, will you sing it to her?!”  And then I’ll probably be escorted outside by security.)

I read that he also didn’t care much for this video.  Again, I have to disagree.  I like all the drama in the diner and I also like the fact that no one seems to notice either the car blowing up or the businessman getting murdered.  Instead, of everyone’s too busy in their own little world.

Happy birthday, Melissa Anne!

Enjoy!

Music Video Of The Day: Good Intentions by Magdalena Bay (2019, dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s been said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions and perhaps that’s true.  Actually, I’m totally sure that’s true.  That’s one reason why I don’t ever assign any sort of moral judgment to my intentions.  I just intend and hopefully, things work out.

Anyway, that doesn’t have much to do with this video, which is actually kinda trippy and hypnotic.  What would you do if a brain ever floated near you.  I’d probably freak out a little.  Brains are very strange looking and it kind of disturbs me that apparently, everything about us is collected in something that looks like an alien.  For that reason, I’m definitely happy that people have both heads and skulls because really, you don’t want to see anyone’s brain.  That would just be disturbing.

Enjoy!