New Reviews
Updated January 4th, 2010
God Told Me To (1976)- Man, this one starts off great! Regular folks are going on rampages and killing for no other reason than "God told them to". A deeply religious detective takes up the case and a deepening mystery builds up. And then... We take a 90 degree left turn and all sense is left at the door. Suddenly we’re thrown into a story about alien abduction, virgin births, and the director’s apparent vagina obsession (it’s not a good thing either). I really dug about the first half of this, and really hated the second half. It starts off with such a mysterious, gritty, indie New York film feel, and ends up as being some goofy 70s sci-fi trash. D.
Brood, The (1976)- Cronenberg explores the demons in us all, or in this case the snowsuit wearing little devils in one particularly strange lady who had a rough childhood, and plans her revenge, via her subconscious and her psychiatrist, together the three of them birth these wicked little things. Yeah, this is a weird one and a little hard to explain really. The acting is really good, as is the directing, and the dialogue works for something so seemingly silly on the surface. No, it isn’t extremely frightening, and may even at times be almost laughable, still, I liked it, it is fairly unique and creates a good little atmosphere. B.
Let the Right One In (2008)- A great Swedish vampire tale about a junior high/middle school aged boy who is repeatedly picked on by the bullies. His new neighbor happens to be a 12 year old girl, who is also a vicious vampire (she’s been 12 for a really long time). She befriends him and the two carry on a bizarre friendship in the snowed in town. This is everything "Twilight" only dreamed of being. Damn near a masterpiece I think. Yeah, it is moody, slow moving, and on the surface, bland, for better lack of adjectives, so if you want to be spoon fed look elsewhere. If you like them moody, this is for you. A+
Deathdream (1974)- Retelling of ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ story. A kid is killed in ‘The War’ (we’re never really told what war other than it is not WWII or Korea so it is a pretty safe assumption that it is Vietnam). His family is devastated when the telegram arrives, especially the mother who just refuses to accept the truth. Then suddenly late one night the kid (Andy) shows up at home (other than him hitchhiking we are never really cued in as to how he got home) and everyone is relieved and amazed at the mistake the army made. But all is not well as Andy spends his days sitting and staring into space, or rocking in his rocking chair staring at the walls. He doesn’t want a party, he doesn’t want people to know he is home, and is showing violent reactions when he doesn’t get his way. And then there is the truck driver who was killed by a hitchhiker in an army uniform the night Andy arrived. Everyone starts to notice these things except his mother who lives in denial, content that her son is home from the war. This is a product of the low budget 70s and it shows. Bad lighting, poor cinematography, etc. but it still holds up well, with some good acting and engrossing story. At the simple horror movie level it also works, a tad slow at times but there are some classic sequences (the drive-in scene among the best), but on a deeper level as a metaphor for the effect loosing a son (or daughter) in a war has on a family is pretty heavy, and maybe even heavier is the idea that some of those who do return home alive are not the same, with post traumatic stress disorder, etc. clouding them the rest of their lives. So yeah, it is OK as a horror movie, but as a study of the effects of war disguised as a horror movie it works really well, despite the few weaknesses mentioned above. A-.