I have never felt this uncomfortable watching a film. Which is quite an accomplishment. Faces of Death sets out to do exactly what it does, disturb the fuck out of you with death. I don’t know what part of me thought I might enjoy this film. I think more than anything, I watched this film for its notoriety. As a horror movie completionist I had to know if Faces of Death had earned its spot in the most notorious echelons of the genre. It has earned that spot.
“What’s it like having sex with David Cronenberg?” That’s how I was going to start this review. The reason being that so many of Cronenberg’s films are about scary sex. Cronenberg’s first film, Shivers was about sex-crazed zombies, Naked Lunch and Videodrome were full of phallic imagery and things going in and out of various orifices, and don’t get me started about Crash. Not the Matt Dillon film. I’m not that twisted.
When I found out Cronenberg’s second film, Rabid was about a young woman played by a famous porn star with a bloodsucking hole in her armpit, I was sure I was going to see a healthy dose of triple X terror. I was going to dive into what makes Toronto’s number one provocateur tick. Instead, I watched a film that was a typical monster film. It’s a well made and well-acted monster movie, but it’s not perverted, it’s not even that explicit. If you ranked all of Cronenberg’s films I imagine Rabid would be right square in the middle? So what is the middle? More importantly, why did I still open my review talking about sex with David Cronenberg? Let’s find out.
At a glance, Daughters of Darkness looks like a trashy exploitation flick. Us horror buffs know the type. Your dime-a-dozen euro-horror (usually Italian) bloodsoaked booboramas with bad dubbing but for some reason an amazing soundtrack. Well, Daughters of Darkness does have an amazing soundtrack but it’s also not an exploitation flick. This is a classy affair better suited for a spot in the Criterion Collection than a midnight showing at a sleazy grind house theater.
This movie is metal as fuck. I mean it must be, right? If not for this film we wouldn’t have the greatest metal band of all time. Birmingham’s best would still be “Earth” and everyone knows the Earth is not metal. Except that it is 35% iron, 15% silicon, and 13% magnesium, but it doesn’t rock. Though it is a rock, but I digress.
So why did Earth become Black Sabbath? The band had their pick of the litter of badass Mario Bava titles; Black Sunday, Blood and Black Lace, Planet of the Vampires. The story goes the band saw Black Sabbath playing on a marquee across the street, noticed more people were seeing the movie than their show and thus changed their name to Black Sabbath, and thank Satan they did. Black Sabbath is one of the best band names on the face of this non-metal Earth. There’s a classiness to the word “Sabbath” and yet it feels gothic and evil. Like a Holiday for demons. In fact, the name is so good it’s actually better than the movie it’s attached too.
Welcome to Shocktober! The annual Mildly Pleased marathon where we will review 30 horror movies in 30 days with a surprise on the 31st. This year’s theme is “Shuddertober” meaning we will only be reviewing films available on the fantastic streaming service, or should I say “Screaming service”? Shudder. For the schedule and full list of films CLICK HERE . Or if you want to be surprised than just wait and it will come. There isn’t any actual reason to write the post it’s just a tradition. So kick back, eat a Snickers chocked full of razor blades, and let us entertain you. Or should I say, enter-PAIN? No, entertain is better.
The first question I had walking out of Mandy at the SIFF Cinema Uptown was “What does this remind me of… if anything?” I still ponder this because Mandy is so weird the only way I can make sense of it is to try to recognize any similarities it has with other weird films. The best I could come up with is a kinship with the 1981 adult animated cult classic Heavy Metal. Both films contain a great deal of fantasy and sci-fi imagery, explicit violence, and a heavy metal soundtrack.Yet Mandy feels weirder. Yes, I’m saying a film about flying cars and zombie pilots is less weird than the latest Nic Cage movie.
If you weren’t aware a new Halloween movie is coming out on October 19th. The film is a sequel, or is it a soft reboot? Either way, it’s the first Halloween film in nine years. Or as the makers want you to believe, the first in 40 years. What this means is that writer/director David Gordon Green along with his fart-ner (funny?) in crime Danny McBride has penned a direct sequel to the original Halloween. One that erases Halloween’s entire legacy after John Carpenter’s 1978 original.
What I aim to do every Friday from here until the release of this new film is answer the question “Is this a legacy worth remembering?” Which means I will review every installment in the Halloween series. I’ve seen all the films before but I thought it might be fun to revisit the franchise in this format. After all, everyone is entitled to one good scare. That’s a tagline for the original Halloween. Doesn’t really make any sense how I used it.
