Movie Review - The Night Of Something Strange

The Night Of Something Strange

2016

Production Companies:  Hurricane Bridge Entertainment, Duke Studios, SRS Cinema, Virtual IntaActive Inc., White Lightning Productions

After all the Zombie films that are stagnating the genre it was a breath of fre... er... fetid and decaying air to watch this movie.  Zombies are now starting to move out of the horror genre and starting to appear in drama's like The Walking Dead - that's right I called it a drama, which it mainly is as it deals with everyday issues and the Zombies are just a secondary encumbrance for the survivors.   They have also appeared in sci-fi where once again they have been relegated from the scary to the infected.  So when this film placed the Zombie back on the major scary list I was over the moon.

I also have to give the writers Ron Bonk, Mean Gene, and Jonathan Straiton (who also directed) a big thank you for kicking the story in the political correct bollocks as this film makes even the darkest matters humorous.  These Zombies are driven by sex and not a hunger for eating flesh and brains.

All hell begins to break out when a caretaker at a morgue takes an interest in one of the females on the slab.  After a little necrophilic love, he goes to finish off his work for the night.  If he had paid attention to the medical chart he would've seen she had died from an unknown sexually transmitted disease.  From then on, anyone he bumps uglies with becomes infected and gets the sexual craving.  One of my favourite scenes is when one of the young men returns to his motel room and finds his girlfriend passed out on the bed.  The trouble is that it isn't his girlfriend but one of his male buddies.  The hilarity reaches fever pitch after the copulation has ended and a sheriff is banging on their door.  Unable to disengage himself he has to drag his friend across the bed.  I was laughing so hard I nearly wet myself.  The dark humour in this movie is superb.

One of the things making this an above average horror is the direction as Straiton creates a nice rollercoaster ride of pace and has a brilliant ability to give the comedic moments the correct timing to add wallop to the punchline; there are also some nice camera shots and differing camera angle which make it a visually interesting movie.  The other plus is the quality of the acting, which I was happy to observe was above average.  There are some scenes that are a little hammed up, though I believe this was intentional as it fits perfectly with the feel of the film.  Another plus is the special effects, which are more than possible.  The Syphilis that start to eat away at the zombies is pretty yucky to look at and is a great idea.

So if you aren't too worried about sexual and graphic content and love non-politically correct comedy with a lot of dark humour then this film is for you.  It's also nice to see the Zombies back in the horror seat.  This is now one of my favourite horror and comedy films, though I can understand why you will either love it or hate it.

Movie Review - The Possession Of Michael King

The Possession Of Michael King

2014

Production Companies:  Gold Circle Films & Quickfire Films.

This film surprised me... and in a good way...  I liked it!

I was interested in the concept of the story and this brought me to view the film.  A family man loses his wife and is understandably absorbed by the deep loss he feels.  He believes that her death could have been negated:  They had previously been to a fortune teller-come-medium who had informed them to stay at home when they should have been on vacation.  Had they ignored her advice his wife would still be alive.  This sets off a train of thought in his brain and he decides to prove that the occult and paranormal are not real.  Being a documentary film maker he resolves to get the evidence on film.

You know that he's going to be proved wrong and in a very dark and nasty way.  Though, this is the case you don't know exactly what is coming.  King then heads off to different people and groups who purport to be able to conjure dark entities and demons.

What I liked most about this film was the standard of acting which is of a high standard.  Shane Johnson does well to hold the story and the film together as the lead.  His portrayal of King and the many emotions he goes through is believable.  There are also a couple of actors you may have seen before - Dale Dickey who plays the Fortune Teller and Cullen Douglas who is the mortician, he gives the character a suitably creepy feel.

I also loved the fact that on his visit to the Satanists they tell him what to expect from the demon he has chosen through psychography... and then we see this manifestation appear and grow slowly... then when they are later confronted we learn they never believed in it, it was just a way to get laid - a bit of kinkiness.  This was just a little thing but it added a depth and a moral.

The drawback is that the film is done similar to found footage films so there is a lot of shaky camera work.  Though there are some nice camera angles which add to the atmosphere of the film.  There's also an overuse of grey filters.  I know this is to create a bleak atmosphere but it would have been nice if this could have been done differently.  Coloured filters are tired and old - they need to be retired or at least take a rest.  God gave you an imagination and artistic licence, come on and use it.

There are some scenes that run on too long when the action should be starting to pick up and a couple which appear superfluous to the film.  These just niggled me as they felt like time fillers - we could have had character and story development instead.

The special effects are superb and the pentagram carving is disturbing.  I don't squirm much - I would have normally said, at all - but this had me agonizing with him; so a big thumbs up for that.

This isn't the best possession film out there but it is worth a viewing and I would recommend all fans of horror and possession flicks to give it a watch.  I may even give this another viewing sometime.

Movie Review - Blood From The Mummy's Tomb

Blood From The Mummy's Tomb

1971

Production Companies:  Hammer Films & EMI Films

The first thing I noticed when watching this movie is the gaping distance between this and the horror movies of today.  There are two glaringly obvious differences.

Firstly:  Scope.  This film takes you to Egypt and the tombs of the Pharaohs where we see the Queen being interred in her tomb and the rights the priest's carry out, along with the beginnings of her curse.  We then move to England where the action continues between three different locations.  In modern horror films, the story usually takes place in one location in one time period.

Secondly:  Story.  There's more going off in this film than most of today's horror.  I know this is based on an actual novel where most of the modern films are based on the director's ideas.  The end product can also suffer from budgetary issues which may restrict them to one location and hence hinder the story.

The other differences are acting talent and direction.  I have to admit that Hammer used to get some pretty top notch actors in their films.  Even the bit-parts are covered by a better-than-average cast and this is the case in this film.  Due to that fact, this is a highly enjoyable and believable story that I found myself fully immersed in.  It also didn't hurt that Valerie Leon is one of the most beautiful actresses on the planet and does a great job in the lead role as Margaret Fuchs and the Egyptian Queen Tera.  Along with Andre Keir, who people from Dr Who: Dalek's Invasion Earth 2150AD and Quatermass and the Pit, and James Villiers this is a strong cast.

As for the directing, it was an absolute blessing not to see shaky cam.  I do wish that more directors would invest in fixed and smooth-moving camera mounts.  I remember there being some negative input for the Evil-Deads shaky cam through the woods - now that is some of the smoothest camera work when compared to today's efforts.  Also, all the scenes are watchable in daylight.  Dark scenes are lit and visible, with the director using lighting to build mood and atmosphere; the viewer doesn't have to turn off any lighting even ambient just to make out what's happening - just because a scene is shot in total darkness doesn't make it scary.  There's also no grey filters, which are so overused today, everything is shot in glorious colour.  This actually helps the film as it doesn't make the audience depressed and sad.

Though the special effects are outdated by today's standards they are few, as the director uses the story and the atmosphere to build up the tension, suspense, and horror.  Though the effects that are used are passable.  I did love the severed hand - you can't beat a good severed hand - and the constantly bleeding stub its decapitation left behind.

This is one truly lush and lavish, well shot and acted horror film which still has strength in today's horror market.  I would recommend everybody to watch this film as it's one of the best Hammer released.  I would even watch this one again... and probably sooner rather than later.