Film Review: "Evil Dead Rise" (2023)

*Get "Evil Dead Rise" on Amazon here*
*Get "Evil Dead Rise" Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Stephen McKeon on Amazon here*
*Get Necronomicon blank notebook props on Amazon here*
*Get "Evil Dead"/Necronomicon merchandise on Amazon here*

The "Evil Dead" franchise continues with this gory prequel, showing how things began and how we eventually ended up out in a cabin in the woods.

Semi-estranged sisters, pregnant Beth (Lily Sullivan) and mom Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), are reunited in Los Angeles on the same night that an earthquake shakes Ellie's gorgeous but dilapidated high rise apartment building that is due to be torn down. Ellie's kids- climate warrior Bridget (Gabrielle Echols), aspiring DJ Danny (Morgan Davies, and young Kassie (Nell Fisher) discover an abandoned bank vault in the basement of the building, and Danny unwisely grabs some old vinyl and a strange book from the now unsealed vault. Danny plays the recordings, the book does some odd things on its own, and literally all Hell breaks loose.

From the opening attack, and a very memorable title sequence, writer/director Lee Cronin starts things off with a bang and never lets up. There is no exposition, no "let me get this straight..." dialogue, the broken family and the audience are thrown into the melee and left to fend for themselves. Unfortunately, this is sometimes a detriment, as Cronin can't keep all the plates spinning at once. A couple of scenes suck all the tension out of the film, and it takes a little while to pull the viewer back in. This is a modern horror film, so stupid decisions and predictable plot points abound. The cast, unfamiliar to me, is top notch. Sullivan and Sutherland stand out, and are bolstered by a capable supporting cast. Stephen McKeon's musical score is a triumph, and Cronin doesn't feel the need to resort to jump scares. The art direction and set decoration were Oscar nomination-worthy. This was shot in New Zealand, which gives the film a nice, off-kilter feel.

It was nice to watch a franchise film where I didn't have to "do homework" by viewing hours of preceding films and television episodes to get caught up. The positives barely outweigh the negatives, and I am warning anyone who might want to watch this- "Evil Dead Rise" is one of the goriest mainstream films I have ever seen, and I've seen a lot.

Stats:
(2023) 96 min. (6/10)
-Written and Directed by Lee Cronin
-Cast: Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland, Gabrielle Echols, Morgan Davies, Nell Fisher, Jayden Daniels, Mark Mitchinson, Mirabai Pease, Richard Crouchley, Anne-Maree Thomas, Noah Paul, Tai Wano, Bruce Campbell
-(US:R)-(UK:18)-(Au:R18+)- Very strong physical violence, strong gun violence, very strong violence involving children, extreme gore, profanity, some sexual references, very strong adult situations, tobacco use

Film Review: "The Tomb of Nosferatu" (2023)

*Get "Nosferatu" (1922) on Amazon here*
*Get "The Music of Hollywood Graveyard" by Giuseppe Vasapolli, bonus track by Arthur Dark on Amazon here*
*Get Zombie Junior by Arthur Dark on Amazon here*
*Get "Shadow of the Vampire" on Amazon here*

Arthur Dark of the fantastic YouTube channel "Hollywood Graveyard" takes another stab at turning the cemetery video tour on its head, and comes up with a fun idea.

Arthur (Arthur Dark) and Helen (Lauren Foulk credited as Lauren Ashley) tour Europe, visiting the graves of the director and cast of 1922's "Nosferatu," as well as the film's locations. While in a graveyard, Helen is possessed by an entity who has ties to the film, and Arthur must rescue her.

The film is a strange combination of horror and documentary, but the fun comes from Dark and Foulk's scenes being shot silent film-style, as the original "Nosferatu" was shot by F.W. Murnau. Dark and Nathan D. Lee have fun with the medium without calling attention to themselves in deference to both the original film and the visits to the cemeteries and the film's locations. The film is not bloody or horrific in the least, and Dark brings the same respect he shows on "Hollywood Graveyard" to this project. Giuseppe Vasapolli's music is beyond perfect, just like his theme on the YouTube channel, and this clocks in at a brisk thirty-six minutes.

I liked this a little better than Dark's "The Graves of Edgar Allan Poe & The Women Who Haunted Him," and I think it would interest any fan of horror, German film, and film history.

Stats:
(2023) 36 min. (7/10)
-Written and Directed by Arthur Dark & Nathan D. Lee
-Cast: Arthur Dark, Lauren Foulk, Matthew Toronto, Susie Schwab, Karie Bible, Max Schreck, Greta Schroder, Gustav von Wangenheim
-(US: NR)- Mild adult situations

Film Review: "The Mother" (2023)

*Get Jennifer Lopez wall decor on Amazon here*
*Watch "This Is Me...Now" on Amazon Prime Video here*
*Watch "The Greatest Love Story Never Told" on Amazon Prime Video here*
*Get "Dance Again...The Hits" by Jennifer Lopez on Amazon here*

The screenplay to "The Mother" is so bad, you don't have to wait until the end credits to ruminate on its flaws. The glaring plot holes and errors of logic occur in real time, and all the scenes of Jennifer Lopez kicking butt aren't going to save it.

Lopez is the title character, a perfect-shot military assassin who gets caught between two ruthless arms dealers- Adrian (Joseph Fiennes) and Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal) in a confusing guns-and-love triangle. She ends up pregnant, and gives birth to a girl who is immediately put up for adoption. Because of the danger to her daughter, Lopez must go on the run, using sympathetic FBI agent Cruise (Omari Hardwick) as her eyes and ears on her daughter's upbringing. Bad guys come back into The Mother's life in a big way after the-now twelve year old daughter Zoe's (Lucy Paez) whereabouts are discovered, and The Mother must spring into The Action.

Caro directs the film with confidence. There are long, complicated action sequences, and the cast is athletic and ready. A few too many overhead drone shots to be sure, but given the right screenplay, Caro could have directed set-pieces that enhanced the story and added to the suspense. This screenplay is not the right screenplay. I found myself wondering out loud what the writers were thinking. The characters onscreen weren't thinking, I could be an elite assassin, too, up against this bunch of henchmen. Every action film cliche ever concocted seems to have found its way onto the screen. At one point, there was a purposeful car crash that I saw coming a mile away, and the driver of the car that was struck should have also known what was literally coming from a mile away. The story tries to get metaphysical with the introduction of a mother wolf and her cubs that gets sillier as it goes along. The locations are used to their fullest extent, and are beautiful to look at. Lopez has some nice scenes, but her character is busy being off-putting and secretive, and her lack of emotion renders her performance stilted. Paez is pretty good as the twelve year old whose life is suddenly upended, but I found Hardwick's role bizarre. I'm beginning to think Cruise started out as two characters- the special agent whose life the Mother saves, and the helpy helperton who befriends Zoe's new family to keep an eye on her. Although villains, Bernal and Fiennes are barely here. With some name and gender switching, this could have served as a weak James Bond entry, or any other action film with an infinitely wealthy, special-ops protagonist who must go into isolation and await the standard army of villains to attack. The very final scene could have made a darker statement about the preceding two hours, but instead we get the warm fuzzies.

I went in cold to "The Mother," having no idea about its existence until it popped up on a streaming service. The film feels longer than under two hours, and it took me two days to complete. There is a lot about "The Mother" that should have worked.

Stats:
(2023) 115 min. (4/10)
-Directed by Niki Caro
-Screenplay by Misha Green and Andrea Berloff and Peter Craig, Story by Misha Green
-Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Joseph Fiennes, Gael Garcia Bernal, Lucy Paez, Omari Hardwick, Edie Falco, Paul Raci, Jesse Garcia, Yvonne Senat Jones, Michael Karl Richards, Link Baker, Mayumi Yoshida, Ryan Cowie
(R)- Strong physical violence, strong gun violence, gore, profanity, adult situations, drug abuse, alcohol and tobacco use
Media Viewed: Streaming

Film Review: "Mel Brooks: Seriously...Well, Almost" (2024)

*Get Mel Brooks--Seriously! Essays on the Films, Television Shows, and Standup, edited by Sue Matheson on Amazon here*
*Get "Frances" on Amazon here*
*Get "The Fly" on Amazon here*
*Get "The Elephant Man" on Amazon here*

The film makers pull a bait-and-switch on the viewer with this disappointing documentary.

The description for the film promised that comedy legend Mel Brooks was going to discuss the films he produced uncredited. He didn't want his name attached to "The Elephant Man," David Lynch's heartbreaking 1980 drama, because with a title like that people might mistake it for one of his comedies. Brooks also had his hand in "Frances" and David Cronenberg's "The Fly," all films that no one should be guffawing at.

The film is a filmed interview with Brooks, who is as spry and sharp as ever as he closes in on 100 years old, and padded with onscreen factoids about whatever the subject being discussed is- including his comedies. In fact, despite the description, more time is spent on his comedies than his dramas. While this was very interesting, I still wanted to learn more about what attracted him to these heavy dramas and genre fare (1986's "Solarbabies" starring Jami Gertz and Jason Patric isn't even mentioned). The film makers waste time telling the viewer who Alfred Hitchcock and Errol Flynn are, and I spotted a misspelling in the end credits that should not have been there. Brooks mentions his wife Anne Bancroft, and I could have listened to another three hours of stories about her, instead of how "High Anxiety" got greenlighted.

"Mel Brooks: Seriously... Well, Almost" was a quick watch, and just as hurried. I looked at it as nothing but filler on a New Year's Eve before a new year brings in new movies.

Stats:
(2024) 38 min. (4/10)
-Directed by Stanley Isaacs
-Featuring Mel Brooks, Michael Gruskoff, Alan Ladd Jr.
-(US: NR)- Some profanity

Film Review: "The Devil's Chair" (2007)

*Get "The Devil's Chair" on Amazon here*
*Get "Songbird" on Amazon here*
*Get "Hangman" on Amazon here*
*Get "Blood River" on Amazon here*

Patient Nick (Andrew Howard), living in a mental institution, is released into the care of psychiatrist Dr. Willard (David Gant) and must return to the scene of the crime that put him away four years earlier. The film starts out strong, with an unlikeable protagonist, good practical gore effects, and some really terrible computer animated effects, but it tends to drag here and there, with the lead character finally breaking the fourth wall. Much has been written about the film literally insulting the horror fan, but some of us in the community have thicker skins than that. The finale is ugly, and the last scene only led to more questions. I was going to give it a very good rating up until those last few minutes.

Stats:
(2007) 91 min. (3/10)
-Directed by Adam Mason
-Written by Adam Mason, Simon Boyes
-Cast: Andrew Howard, Louise Griffiths, David Gant, Elize du Toit, Matt Berry, Pollyanna Rose, Graham Riddell, Olivia Hill, Nadja Brand, Eric M. Breiman, Gary MacKay, Paul Sweeney
(US: Unrated)-(UK: 18)-(Au: R18+)- Strong physical violence, sexual violence, strong gore, strong profanity, sexual references, strong adult situations, drug abuse, alcohol and tobacco use.

Film Review: "Girl 27" (2007)

*Get "Girl 27" on Amazon here*
*Get Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow by David Stenn on Amazon here*
*Get Clara Bow: Runnin' Wild by David Stenn on Amazon here*
*Get Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer by Scott Eyman on Amazon here*

Author David Stenn had just finished writing a biography of Jean Harlow when he discovered the story of Patricia Douglas.

In 1937, seventeen year old Douglas was one of a hundred girls brought in to entertain a group of MGM film sellers who were partying in Hollywood at a convention. She was assaulted by David Ross, one of the sellers. There is incredible newsreel footage of the film sellers' arrival, MGM chairman Louis B. Mayer, and David Ross. Stenn, in his only directing effort as of this writing, then opens the film up and engages the viewer in many connected stories.

Stenn could not believe the headlines he was reading about Douglas' case and how film studios had a tight grip on local law enforcement and government with Douglas' case made to disappear. The daughter of Clark Gable and Loretta Young, Judy Lewis, is also interviewed about her incredible life journey of being born out of wedlock to Young, given to an orphanage, and then being "adopted" by her natural mother- all to avoid a scandal. Another assault victim, Eloise Spann, is covered and her family's story is heartbreaking. Stenn's pursuit of Douglas is chronicled, and we finally get to see Douglas onscreen. The way her life was changed by the assault, as confirmed by her estranged daughter and a grandson, is also emotional.

To say Ross, who died in the early 1960s with no charges ever brought against him, ruined Douglas' life would be an understatement. Everything was changed by the assault. Douglas' relationships with everyone around her was ruined. She was a virgin when attacked, and her life took a downward spiral that never recovered. There is no happy ending- Douglas doesn't lovingly reunite with her family, get revenge on Ross, or receive an official apology from the City of Los Angeles or MGM. She never smiles during the documentary, leading a sad and solitary life of late-night television, and not eating well after a few broken marriages. No one believed Douglas, despite a witness and necessary medical attention, so she bottled it up and shut down for the next few decades. She became a nobody living in an apartment in Las Vegas and watching MTV for the dancing- she was a background dancer in a few films, and was still a fan.

Eloise Spann, who committed suicide in 1960, could have been a great singer on film but stopped singing after her attack. Her adult son had never heard his mother sing until he was played an old film clip. As an audience, we don't get to hear Spann's voice because the studio holding the film's rights wouldn't release them to the documentary film makers, which speaks volumes about how things are in Hollywood all these years later.

Watch this movie and fight back against our culture of cruelty.

Stats:
(2007) 86 min. (9/10)
-Written and Directed by David Stenn
-With: Patricia Douglas, David Stenn, Judy Lewis, Peggy Montgomery, Richard W. Bann, Greta Van Susteren, Eloise Spann, Louis B. Mayer
-(Not Rated)- Physical violence, some sexual violence, sexual references, strong sexual violence references, strong sexual violence against children references, strong adult situations, alcohol and tobacco use
-Media Viewed: Streaming

Film Review: "Albert Fish: In Sin He Found Salvation" (2007)

*Get "Albert Fish: In Sin He Found Salvation" on Amazon here*
*Get "The Gray Man" on Amazon here*
*Get Albert Fish In His Own Words: The Shocking Confessions of the Child Killing Cannibal, edited by John Borowski on Amazon here*
*Get Deranged: The Shocking True Story of America's Most Fiendish Killer! by Harold Schechter on Amazon here*

While a sometimes interesting documentary about child murderer Albert Fish, film maker John Borowski tries to one up the horror of Fish's crimes with little success.

On the surface, Albert Fish was a kindly old man shuffling around New York in the 1930s. In reality, he was a child molester, killer, and cannibal who was regularly nabbed by police on lesser charges but released and not charged since he was perceived to be harmless to society at large. Little did society know he was racking up a body count when he wasn't feeding his sadomasochistic lifestyle.

Dramatically narrated by Tony Jay, the documentary is very informative. Fish was a single father to six children, all adults when he was finally caught and later executed, and his descendants are still around today. His crimes were monstrous, and he wrote about them with a sick glee, preying on the impoverished because no one cared about them enough to look into their missing children cases- who's going to kidnap the child of a poor family if there is no money to pay a ransom? Katherine Ramsland is interviewed for her psychological insights, and artist Joe Coleman is interviewed because he owns the original confessional letter written by Fish about the last murder he committed.

Borowski's direction and script run hot and cold as his budget can't quite cover his desire to make this more than a talking-heads-and-reenactments documentary. Cheap video effects and drawn-out fantasy elements to Fish's crimes don't play as well as they may have looked on paper. This is an unrated documentary, so there are some nude scenes and profanity, but not any gory dramatizations of Fish's crimes. Coleman is always an interesting interview subject, but he gets caught up in his own navel gazing about Fish, assigning him ethereal qualities and elevating him to god-like status, when he was actually an insane individual who needs to be studied by forensic psychiatrists to find out just what happened to create him. I would be interested to see if his children and their progeny suffered the same mental problems, and what kind of lives they led knowing about Grandpa Albert.

Also known as simply "Albert Fish," this documentary isn't as unwatchable as some reviews would have you believe, but I wish Borowski would have stuck to the facts of the case and not tried to subjugate the viewers' imagination as well. Fish was evil enough on his own, he didn't need help.

Stats:
(2007) 86 min. (5/10)
-Written and Directed by John Borowski
-With Tony Jay, Albert Fish, Oto Brezina, Joe Coleman, Katherine Ramsland, Derek Gaspar, Cooney Horvath, Garrett Shriver, Nathan Hall, Kasey Skinner, Harvey Fisher, Bob Dunsworth, David Sherman
-(Not Rated)- Physical violence, sexual violence, violence against children, some extreme gore, very strong violence against children references, profanity, very strong sexual references, some sexual content, nudity, very strong adult situations
-Media Viewed: Streaming